CHAP. IV.J TREATMENT OF THE DEAD. 63 



which is not at any fixed time, but generally takes 

 place during the first year, when the flesh is suffi- 

 ciently decomposed. All the clothes and utensils 

 of the deceased are either left in the house which 

 he inhabited or are buried with him. The body is 

 placed in a sort of canoe-shaped coffin among the 

 foliage of a tree in a grove, where it remains for 

 several months. It is then taken down ; the bones 

 are washed and cleaned, and finally deposited in a 

 small covered box, which is sometimes carved, and 

 resembles a canoe ; it is elevated aboveground, on 

 a column standing in the village, in the neighbour- 

 hood of the houses of the surviving relations. 

 Sometimes the bones are placed in a hollow tree 

 in some secret spot of the wood, or in a limestone 

 cavern, of which there are many in the island, or 

 in some chasm of the rocks difficult of access. If 

 the man was of great consequence, such as an ariki, 

 or hereditary chief, a mausoleum of exquisite carved- 

 work is erected in the centre of the village, into 

 which the body is brought in a sitting posture, 

 dressed in the best mats of the deceased, and orna- 

 mented with feathers. The human figures on the 

 monument are generally meant to represent him in 

 whose memory it is erected, his wife, children, and 

 ancestors ; and all the figures are designated with 

 their names. The putting forth the tongue to an 

 enormous extent in these carvings is the symbol of 

 valour, courage, and defiance, and is found in almost 

 all the native sculptures. 



