168 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS cu. vir 
complaint was colic, which did not appear to me to be at all 
violent. JI asked her what medicine she took, she told me 
none, and that she depended entirely upon the priest, who 
had been trying to free her from her distemper by his 
prayers and ceremonies, which, she said, he would repeat till 
she was well, showing me at the same time branches of 
the Thespesia populnea, which he had left with her. After 
this I left her, and whether through the priest’s ceremonies 
or her own constitution, she came down to our tents com- 
pletely recovered in three days’ time. 
I never happened to be present when the priests per- 
formed their ceremonies for the cure of sick people; but 
one of our gentlemen who was informed me that they con- 
sisted of nothing but the repetition of certain fixed sentences, 
during which time the priest plaited leaves of the cocoanut 
tree into different figures, neatly enough; some of which he 
fastened to the fingers and toes of the sick man, who was at 
the time uncovered, out of respect to the prayers. The 
whole ceremony almost exactly resembled their method 
of praying at the marais, which I shall by and by describe. 
They appear, however, to have some knowledge of medicine, 
besides these operations of priestcraft. That they have 
skilful surgeons among them we easily gathered from the 
dreadful scars of wounds which we frequently saw cured, 
some of which were far greater than any I have seen any- 
where else; and these were made by stones which these 
people throw with slings with great dexterity and force. 
One man I particularly recollect whose face was almost 
entirely destroyed; yet this dreadful wound had healed 
cleanly without any ulcer remaining. Tupia, who has had 
several wounds, had one made by a spear headed with the 
bone of a sting-ray’s tail which had pierced right through 
his body, entering at his back and coming out just under 
his breast ; yet this has been so well cured that the remain- 
ing scar is as smooth and as small as any I have seen from 
the cures by our best European surgeons. 
Vulnerary herbs they have many, nor do they seem at 
all nice in the choice of them. They have plenty of such 
