288 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



a great deal of ceremony, they dig a hole and bury them all 

 in it, as so many offerings to the gods ; but their skulls 

 are never after taken up. 



" Before we parted, we were asked if the solemnity at 

 which we had been present answered our expectations ; what 

 opinion we had of its efficacy ; and whether we performed 

 such acts of worship in our own country ? During the 

 celebration of the horrid ceremony, we had preserved a 

 profound silence, but as soon as it was closed had made 

 no scruple in expressing our sentiments very freely about 

 it to Otoo and those who attended him ; of course, there- 

 fore, I could not conceal my detestation of it in a subsequent 

 conversation with Towha. Omai was made use of as our 

 interpreter, and he entered into our arguments with so 

 much spirit that this chief seemed to be in great wrath, 

 especially when he was told that if he had put a man to 

 death in England as he had done here, his rank would not 

 have protected him from being hanged for it. Upon this 

 he exclaimed, maeno I maeno ! (vile 1 vile 1 ) and would not 

 hear another word. During this debate many of the natives 

 were present, chiefly the attendants and servants of Towha 

 himself ; and when Omai began to explain the punishment 

 that would be inflicted in England upon the greatest man 

 if he killed the meanest servant, they seemed to listen with 

 great attention, and were probably of a different opinion 

 from that of their master on this subject. 



" On the 4th a party of us dined ashore with Omai, who 

 gave excellent fare, consisting of fish, fowls, pork, and 

 puddings. After dinner I attended Otoo, who had been 

 one of the party, back to his house, where I found all his 

 servants very busy getting a quantity of provisions ready for 

 me. Amongst other articles there was a large hog, which 

 they killed in my presence. There was also a large pudding, 

 the whole process in making which I saw. It was composed 

 of bread fruit, ripe plantains, taro, and palm or pandanus 

 nuts, each rasped, scraped, or beat up fine, and baked by 

 itself. A quantity of juice, pressed from cocoa-nut kernels, 

 was put into a large tray or wooden vessel. The other 

 articles, hot from the oven, were deposited in this vessel, and 

 a few hot stones were also put in to make the contents 

 simmer. Three or four men made use of sticks to stir the 

 several ingredients till they were incorporated one with 

 another, and the juice of the cocoa-nut was turned to oil, 

 so that the whole mass at last became of the consistency of 

 a hasty-pudding. Some of these puddings are excellent, 

 and few that we make in England equal them. Otoo's hog 

 being baked, and the pudding which I have described being 

 made, they, together with two living hogs and a quantity 



