THE KINGS MILL ISLANDERS. 91 



fruits of the season are also offered to this god. Every family of any 

 distinction has one of these stones, which is considered by many of 

 them rather in the light of an altar than of an idol. 



The female deity, Itivini, is worshipped in a small circle, formed by 

 a number of coral stones, three feet in diameter, which is covered with 

 white gravel ; in the centre a cocoa-nut is set up. At the time prayers 

 are offered to her, this nut is bound with a wreath of leaves, and 

 anointed with cocoanut-oil. 



There is another female deity, called Itituapea, who is worshipped 

 at a fiat coral stone situated on the reef between the islets of Kuria 

 and Oneoka; the two are known on the chart by the name of Kuria. 

 Any one passing it, either on foot or in canoes, never fails to invoke 

 her favour, and if they have any food, leave a part of it on the stone, 

 which is never taken away. 



The skulls of ancestors are carefully preserved by their family, and 

 held in great reverence. When they desire to invoke their spirits, 

 these skulls are taken down, wreathed with leaves, laid on a new mat, 

 anointed with oil, and presented with food. Fish and animals that 

 are held sacred are only addressed with prayers by their worshippers. 



According to Wood, the names of Tabu-eriki, Itivini, and Itituapea 

 are unknown at Makin, and the only spirits the natives of that island 

 worship are those of their deceased ancestors. The custom on the 

 death of a great chief is to set up a similar stone and deck it with 

 cocoanut-leaves, after which such offerings as have been mentioned 

 are made to it. Kirby thought, from what he had seen, that the natives 

 of Kuria believed that their gods also had once been chiefs, who from 

 the lapse of time had been forgotten. For the performance of these 

 duties there are priests, but they do not enjoy any particular respect 

 or power on that account. The priests are called iboya or boya, and 

 are not a distinct class : any young man of high rank and possessed of 

 shrewdness may become a priest. Every family of consequence has 

 a priest to attend to its tutelar deity, who performs the rites and cere- 

 monies. The perquisites of priests consist only in the food offered to 

 the god, which the former takes away after it has remained a short 

 time, and eats it at his own house. In the absence of the priest, the 

 father of the family officiates by offering up family prayer, and the food 

 is removed and eaten by some elderly person belonging to the house- 

 hold. Prayers are offered up either in a sitting or standing posture, 

 and are accompanied by no particular ceremony or gesticulations. 

 The prayers are usually petitions for health, long life, success in war, 



