34 TAHITI. 



poorou, and aiti trees. It is, like the other morais, an enclosure of 

 quadrangular form, about sixty yards in height, and thirty in breadth. 

 The wall is about ten feet thick and four feet high. The lower part 

 of it is composed of five rows of round stones, of uniform size, each 

 about the size of a man's head, which the natives now call turtle- 

 heads, arranged like cannon-balls in an arsenal. On these lies a 

 course of square stones. The corners of the wall are strengthened by 

 square blocks. There was also a flat stone, placed upright, at each 

 corner, and another in the middle of the enclosure, the last of which 

 is called a preaching-stone. 



The chief of Panawea likewise stated, that there used to be in each 

 of these morais a sort of platform, supported by stakes, on which 

 were laid the bodies of human victims, and the carcasses of hogs, on 

 which the tehee or god was supposed to feed ; that the dead brought 

 to the place for interment were not buried immediately, but were 

 placed in a hut until all the flesh was consumed, after which the 

 bones were carefully cleaned, and, with the exception of the skull, 

 wrapped in many folds of tapa, and deposited in the enclosure ; that 

 the skull was taken home by the nearest relative, and kept as a 

 talisman. He added, that only the bones of chiefs were honoured in 

 this way, while those of lower rank were deposited on the outside of 

 the enclosure. 



Other accounts, however, state that these morais were never used 

 as ordinary places of burial, but that the bodies of enemies slain in 

 battle were brought to them, and consumed in a fire made on a thick 

 part of the wall. 



The party saw an old man, who had his deposit of bread-fruit in 

 one of these morais. The bread-fruit in its crude state will keep 

 only for a short time ; but if buried in pits, it ferments and forms a 

 substance which may be long preserved, called masi. This substance 

 has a taste like that of bee-bread, and is used at sea, in the voyages 

 the natives make to the Paumotu Group, and in their excursions in 

 search of pearls. 



The next place the party reached was Papara, at which Mr. Ors- 

 mond of the Mission resides. Taati, who has been named as one of 

 the great chiefs, has his usual abode here, but was absent on a visit 

 to the ships. Mr. Orsmond was kind enough to offer to such of the 

 party as felt too much fatigued to proceed farther on foot, a passage 

 to Papieti in his boat. 



The coral reef is interrupted in front of the small bay which makes 



