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SOUTH SEA 
as a sacrifice ! Many a loving maiden, when she heard 
of the king’s death, felt a pang rush through her heart, 
and a whirling through her brain, when she thought of 
the youth who had won her affections. On such occa- 
sions it was usual for the Erie, or chief of each district, 
to select a young man from that part of the country over 
which he had control, and to send him to the proper 
place as one of the victims to be immolated at the shrine 
of the deceased king, so that there was a dreadful uncer- 
tainty in the minds of the whole people, until the unfor- 
tunates were chosen ; and there was no appeal against the 
will of the chief, so that, when the summons was made, 
there remained no hope for the unhappy chosen one. 
In the village of Waikukii, of which Nahi was the 
chieftain or erie, lived Tuanoa, a young man, and 
Kinau, his betrothed bride. They had resided near each 
other from their infancy, and even in that early dawning 
of the mind and the affections they were observed con- 
stantly together, and no doubt at that time there was 
interwoven with their young heart-strings the tender pas- 
sion of love, that “ grew with their growth and strength- 
ened with their strength. 7 ’ Tuanoa was a fine young 
man, much beloved by his neighbours ; he was active 
and brave in the extreme, and he had performed many 
acts of prowess, which gave him a standing place within 
the circle of the conquerors at a feast, or “ houra houra,” 
and he was withal of a most kind and affectionate dis- 
position, of which his friends and neighbours were well 
aware. Kinau, his beloved maiden, was the most beau- 
tiful girl in the village, and of good family and estate, 
