SACRED STONES. 89 
living as an epiphyte on other trees, it soon acquires such 
dimensions that it kills its supporter, and henceforward 
must draw its nourishment from the soil. There are 
fine specimens of the Baka on the Isthmus of Kadavu; 
and on an islet belonging to Mr. Hennig the aerial 
root of the Baka formed a cabin in which Mr. Pritchard, 
myself, and all our boat’s crew took shelter during a 
heavy tropical shower; and twenty persons might have 
found room there. The crown of this tree was one hun- 
dred and tifty-two feet in diameter, or four hundred and 
fifty-six feet in circumference. The horizontal branches 
and the large roots issuing from all parts of the stem, 
and more sparingly from the branches, rendered this 
tree a noble object, well calculated to inspire pleasure or 
awe. The Rev. W. Moore lamented the destruction of 
one of these fine trees near Rewa, committed by a sick 
man in hopes that it might be pleasing to the Christian 
God, and incline him to favour his convalescence. These 
sacred groves and trees were not worshipped as gods, 
but, as in the Odic religions of our ancestors, looked 
upon as places where certain gods had taken up their 
abode. 
Sacred stones, to which the natives pay reverence, 
exist in Fiji; for instance, near Vuna and Bau, as well 
as in many other parts of Polynesia. Fully granting 
their being the supposed abode of certain gods and 
goddesses, as has been contended, we can only hope to 
arrive at their real meaning and primary origin, by con- 
sidering them in connection with the ideas associated 
with or represented by other monoliths. I would par- 
ticularly direct attention to their peculiar shape, of 
