FUNERALS IN TA VI 'UNI. 79 



day. Perplexed in thought, with a deep gloom on my mind, 

 feeling my blood curdle, and the " hair of my flesh to stand 

 up," I approached the young king, whom I could only regard 

 with abhorrence. He seemed greatly moved, put his arm 

 round and embraced me, saying before I could speak : " See ! 

 the father of us two is dead." " Dead !" I exclaimed, in a 

 tone of surprise " dead ! No !" " Yes," he answered ; " his 

 spirit is gone. You see his body move ; but that it does un- 

 consciously." Knowing that it would be useless to dispute the 

 point, I went on to say the chief object of myself and my col- 

 league was to beg him to "love us and prevent anymore 

 women from being strangled, as he could not by multiplying 

 the dead render any benefit to his father." He replied, " There 

 are only two, but they shall suffice. Were not you missionaries 

 here, we would make an end of all the women sitting around." 

 The queen, who pretended grief, cried : " Why is it that I am 

 not strangled 1" The king gave as a reason that there was no 

 one present of sufficiently high rank to suffocate her. 



' Preparations were made for removing the bodies, and we 

 retired. In doing so, I noticed an interesting female, oiled, and 

 dressed in a new liku, carrying a long bamboo, the top of which 

 contained about a pint of water, which, as the bodies were 

 carried out of one door, she poured on the threshold of another. 

 The bodies of the women were placed on either end of a canoe, 

 with the old king on the front deck attended by the queen and 

 the mata, who with a fan kept the insects off him. The shell 

 ornaments were then taken off his person, which was covered 

 with cloth and mats, and the earth heaped upon him. He was 

 heard to cough after a considerable quantity of earth had been 

 thrown in the grave. 



' A family on the opposite coast, Vanua Levu, enjoys the 

 privilege of supplying a hale man to be buried with the king, 



