246 CAPTAIN COOK 



in his hands while he made a long speech. Then 

 he presented his offerings, and so ended his first 

 ceremony of worship. 



When Cook landed he was received by four 

 men who carried wands decorated with dog's 

 hair at one end, and who walked in front of him 

 calling aloud a short sentence in which could be 

 distinguished the name of Orono or Olono. 



Koah led the Captain of the Resolution into 

 the moral, a sacred spot which served the natives 

 as cemetery or temple. There, after a ritual 

 which consisted of chanting and prayers, Cook 

 was clothed once more in the red cloth, symboli- 

 cal of his divinity, and seated between two 

 wooden idols. He was then offered a pig, bread, 

 fruit and coconuts. 



One of the priests chewed the kernel of a coco- 

 nut, and, having wrapped it in a piece of cloth, 

 he rubbed it on Cook's face, the back of his head, 

 his hands and shoulders. Then Koah put in his 

 mouth pieces of roast pork. Since this sacred 

 food did not seem to Cook as fresh as it might 

 have been, he refused it. Thereupon Koah, with 

 perfect delicacy, chewed the pieces himself and 

 offered them, ready masticated, to the lips of the 

 reincarnated Lono, who, in spite of all his cour- 

 age, could not face the divine sustenance. 



Cook, who lent himself cheerfully to these 

 strange rites, returned to the shore with the same 



