THE “ HAKARI^\ A FEAST. 139 
musket ; the bones are all tied together, decked 
with feathers of the ganiiet, rolled up in blankets, 
carried to the grove, and placed in their last re- 
ceptacle, securely fastened up, and gaudily deco- 
rated with red and white. Feasting then com- 
mences, which lasts several days : dancing, sing- 
ing, whistling, wrestling, quarrelling, buying, 
selling, and telling lies, go on, till the feast is 
ended ; wdien every one returns home, laden with 
presents of food, which had previously been placed 
in a row, three baskets deep, for the purpose of 
being carried away by the visiters. 
There is another feast given at another period 
of the year, called the Hakari ; but it is totally 
different from the Hahunga ; the visiters bringing 
the cooked food, and receiving from their hosts an 
immense quantity, piled up in the form of a pyra- 
mid, eighty feet high, and twenty feet square at 
the base. This amazing pile is sometimes made 
up of dried fish, and, at other times, of potatoes, 
according to the purpose for which the feast is 
prepared. It is generally given as a payment for 
one of the same kind received by them some years 
before, and for which a satisfaction in kind is ex- 
pected. The method of conducting it is as follows : 
— A large number of strong poles are erected ; 
and stages are made at a distance from each other 
of from eight to ten feet, till they reach the top. 
Sometimes these piles are from eighty to ninety 
feet high, and from twenty to thirty feet at the 
base, gradually rising to a point : when filled, they 
