424 TREATMENT OF THE SICK. 



illness so improbable as here. As soon as the pa- 

 tient is obliged to take to his bed, he is imme- 

 diately surrounded by his nearest relations, es- 

 pecially of the female sex, who, weeping, and 

 singing mournful songs in a most lamentable 

 tone, propose to themselves, by this means, to 

 effect his recovery, or at least to procure him 

 some relief from his sufferings. The worse he 

 grows, the larger the assembly, and the louder 

 the noise becomes; even his friends and ac- 

 quaintances come flocking in : when there is no 

 more room within the house, they congregate 

 round the door, and continue mourning, crying, 

 and howling, inside and outside, till the sufferer 

 expires. This perpetual disturbance, the con- 

 stant remembrance of death it occasions, and 

 the infection of the air from the number of 

 breaths in the crowded apartment, naturally 

 produce a very prejudicial effect, and no doubt 

 many die rather in consequence of these proofs 

 of sympathy than of their disease. 



Kahumanna, having concluded her business 

 in O Tuai, arrived at length in Hanaruro with 

 the King^s brother, a handsome boy of thirteen. 

 I paid her a visit, and was very graciously 



