234 cook's first voyage 17^9. 



Earee, or chief, his skull is not buried with the rest of 

 the bones, but is wrapped up in fine cloth, and put 

 in a kind of box made for that purpose, which is also 

 placed in the Morai. This coffer is called Ewharre 

 no te Orometua, the house of a teacher or master. 

 After this the mourning ceases, except some of the 

 women continue to be really afflicted for the loss, 

 and in that case they will sometimes suddenly wound 

 themselves with the shark's tooth wherever they hap- 

 pen to be : this perhaps will account for the passion 

 of grief in which Terapo wounded herself at the 

 fort ; some accidental circumstance might forcibly 

 revive the remembrance of a friend or relation whom 

 she had lost, with a pungency of regret and tender- 

 ness which forced a vent by tears, and prompted her 

 to a repetition of the funeral rite. 



The ceremonies, however, do not cease with the 

 mourning : prayers are still said by the priest, who 

 is well paid by the surviving relations, and offerings 

 made at the Morai. Some of the things, which from 

 time to time are deposited there, are emblematical : 

 a young plantain represents the deceased, and the 

 bunch of feathers the deity who is invoked. The 

 priest places himself over against the symbol of the 

 god, accompanied by some of the relations, who are 

 furnished with a small offering, and repeats his 

 oraison in a set form, consisting of separate sen- 

 tences ; at the same time weaving the leaves of the 

 cocoa-nut into different forms, which he afterwards 

 deposits upon the ground where the bones have been 

 interred ; the deity is then addressed by a shrill 

 screech, which is used only upon that occasion. 

 When the priest retires, the tuft of feathers is re- 

 moved, and the provisions left to putrify, or be 

 devoured by the rats. 



Of the religion of these people, we were not able 

 to acquire any clear and consistent knowledge : we 

 found it like the religion of most other countries, 

 involved in mystery, and perplexed with apparent 



