66 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



tabued to all but the king. If the captor of a turtle tasted a 

 morsel thereof lie was heavily fined, being required to at once 

 bring it to the king. Then, according to ancient ceremonial, the 

 turtle being laid upon its back, the head turned towards the door 

 before the house of the king, the king himself wrapped in fine 

 mats pronounced over it the following incantation : 

 Te ulu o te Fonu e soa, 

 Te ikamua e soa, 

 Te ikamuli e soa, 

 Te vaesiosio e soa, 

 Te alaya mua e soa, 

 Te matua tinae e soa, 

 Te pulou e soa, 

 Te matua tua e soa, 

 Te gakau e soa, 

 Te laukape e soa, 

 Te fatumanava e soa, 

 Te ate e soa, 

 Te mama e soa, 

 E kiukiu te fua. 



For the following translation of the above I am indebted to 

 Mr. John O'Brien, the resident trader : 



Incantation to Turtle. 

 The head of the turtle is alike, 

 The two fore flappers are alike, 

 The two hind flappers are alike, 

 The white and the green fats aro alike, 

 The heart is alike, 

 The belly shell is alike, 

 The back shell is alike, 

 The guts are alike, 

 The yellow fat is alike, 

 The heart is alike, 

 The rump is alike, 

 The lights are alike, 

 Thousands and thousands of eggs. 



At Tonga Mariner tells us that, " Turtle are considered almost 

 a prohibited food, at least very few will venture to eat them 

 without first offering a portion to some god, or sending some to 

 any chief that may Tt>e at hand."* 



At Rakaanga Dr. Gill informs us that, " All turtle were 

 formerly sacred, being eaten only by kings and priests, f It is 



* Mariner Tonga, ii., 1817, p. 133. 



fThis writer has published an interesting legend from Rakaanga 

 (The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1892, p. 38), where the " motif" is 

 the failure of the people to bring to the king the sacred turtle." 



