508 APPENDIX. 



went out in search of a fish called " olua," which is represented as a 

 fathom in length ; if this fish could not be found, a man, who had 

 broken the taboo, was hooked in the mouth, killed, and dragged to the 

 altar; if the observance of the taboo had been very strict, and none 

 was found delinquent, a squirrel was substituted, and was offered to 

 the idol in like manner. If a man was sacrificed, the king took hold 

 of one of the feet of both the hog and man, and thus presented them 

 to the god, saying, " Here is my offering to you ; let me live ; let me 

 have the country I desire to conquer." They then all retire and feast. 

 A chief, called the " Turtle," then came forward, and prayed with 

 uplifted hands. If any one offended by making a noise, he was in- 

 stantly killed. The women afterwards brought their tax of tapa, 

 which is put into the fifth house in the heiau. 



On the seventh day, they all bathed; after which they were all 

 clothed in new maros from the tapas ; they then sat down in rows, 

 placing themselves in various attitudes, with the hands raised up or 

 placed on their shoulders, and each was obliged to remain in the same 

 attitude until the ceremony of prayer was concluded. Afterwards 

 eighty hogs were distributed among the people. They then repeat the 

 " Aha" and the " Kaili," the prayers before spoken of; and the 

 favourite wife of the king then came with a hog and fine mat, which 

 she offered, with prayers and the " Amama," and requested that she 

 might live and be preserved by the king. 



On the eighth day, the whole ceremony was finished, all the taboo 

 removed, and a general council of the chiefs held, as to the mode of 

 carrying on the war, when they went to conquer the land they had 

 sacrificed and prayed for. After the wars were ended, heiaus for 

 peace and the prosperity of the kingdom were built, to insure fertility 

 and plenty to the land. 



IV. 



[Copy.] 



U. S. Ship Vincennes, 



October 31st, 1840. 

 Charles Wilkes, Esq., 



Respected Sir — We, the undersigned, petty officers, seamen, ordi- 

 nary seamen, &c, belonging to this ship, beg leave to request the par- 

 ticular favour, that after Peter Sweeny is punished, that he may be 

 discharged from this ship and the Expedition. His conduct during 

 the time he has been shipped, warrants us in saying, he is no sailor, 



