164 VOYAGE TO THE 



Though we were prevented from examining these 

 mummies by the watchfulness of the natives, we 

 were more successful at the island to the eastward, 

 off which we first anchored. We there found six 

 bodies under a projecting part of a cliff, which over- 

 hung them sufficiently to protect them from the in- 

 clemency of the weather. Above them we noticed 

 a child suspended by a string round its waist tied to 

 a projecting crag. The bodies of the adults were 

 placed parallel, with their heads to the N. E., as in 

 the other instance. They were wrapped first in 

 cloth, then in matting, and again covered over with 

 thick folds of cloth secured by a small cord lashing. 

 Mr. Collie, the surgeon, made an incision into the 

 stomach of one of the newest mummies, which ap- 

 peared the most hardened, and found the membra- 

 neous part of the abdomen dried and shrivelled up, 

 enclosing an indurated earthy substance, which at 

 first induced him to believe it had undergone the 

 process of embalming ; but finding afterwards mem- 

 branes and earthy matter within a cranium similarly 

 dried, and knowing that there was no way in which 

 any extraneous substance could have been introduced 

 there, except by the vertebral canal, he was induced 

 to alter his opinion, which, he says, had nothing to 

 support it, but the idea that putrefaction must have 

 taken place without some counteracting agent. This 

 complete desiccation of the human frame is not un- 

 frequent in these seas, nor indeed in other places ; 

 but it requires considerable care and attention to do 

 it effectually. The method formerly pursued at 

 Otaheite, was to keep the corpse constantly wiped 

 dry, and well lubricated with cocoa-nut oil. Our 

 intercourse with the Gambier Islanders did not 



