46 OTA H 
gular habit. When the bones are ftripped of their flefli, 
and become dry, they are buried. This regard to their 
dead is very remarkable : one of the fhip’s company hap¬ 
pening to pull a flower from a tree which grew on one of 
their fepulchral inclofures, an Indian came fuddenly 
behind him and ftruck him ; and a party of Tailors, who 
Were fent to get feme Tones for ballafl for the fliip, had 
like to have been embroiled-with the natives, by pulling 
down fome part of an inclofure of this kind. This (bade 
under which their dead are laid is called tupapow; the in¬ 
clofure in which their bones aredepofited is called morai: 
thefe latter, as has been already related, arealfo places of 
worfliip. 
Captain Cook, who had fome reafon to believe that, 
among the religious cuftoms of this people, human facri- 
fices were fometimes offered up to their deities, went to 
a morai, or place of worfliip, accompanied by Capt. 
Furneaux, having with them a fii'ior who fpoke the lan¬ 
guage tolerably well, and feveral of the natives. In the 
morai was a kind of bier, with a died erected over it, on 
which lay a corpfe and fome provifions Captain Cook 
then alked if the plantains were for the Eatua ? if they fi¬ 
eri ficed to the Eatua hogs, dogs, fowds, &c. ? To all of 
which an intelligent native anfwered in the affirmative. 
He then alked if they facrificect men to the Eatua ? He 
was anfwered, taato eno, “ bad men they did ; firft tipar- 
rahy, beating them till they were dead.” He then alked 
if good men were put to death in this manner ? His an- 
fwer was no, only taato eno. The captain then alked if 
any earees (nobles) were? The native replied, They 
bad hogs to give the Eatua. He was then alked if tow- 
tows, who had no hogs, dogs, or fowls, but yet were 
good men, were ever lacrificed to the Eatua ? The an- 
fwerftill was, No, only bad men. Many other queftions 
were put to him ; all his anfwers to which feem to con¬ 
firm the idea, that men for certain crimes were con¬ 
demned to be lacrificed to the gods, provided they did not 
poffefs any property which they might give for their re¬ 
demption : and Capt. Cook, on his laft vifit to Otaheite, 
in 1777, took the opportunity of attending Otoo to a 
morai at one of thefe public folemnities. The unhappy 
vitfiim, offered to the objeCf of their worfliip on this oc- 
cafion, was a middle-aged man, who was one of the low- 
eft clal’s of the people; and he had been feledted, not on 
account of any particular crime committed by him me¬ 
riting death. In general, however, fuch guilty perfotis 
are chofen for their facrifices ; or elfe, common low fel¬ 
lows, who ftroii about from place to place, and from if- 
land to ifland, without having any fixed abode, or any 
vifible way of getting an honefl livelihood. This perfon 
appeared to have been privately knocked on the head 
with a (tone; for thole who are devoted to fuffer, in order 
to perform this bloody aft of worfliip, are never apprifed 
of their fate, till the blow is given that terminates their 
exiltence. Whenever any one of the great chiefs thinks 
a human facrifice neceffary on any particular emergency, 
lie pitches upon the viftim. Some of his trufty lei vants 
are then fent, who fall upon him fuddenly, and put him 
to death with a club, or by Honing him. The king is 
next acquainted with it, whole prefence at the folemnities 
that follow is abfolutely neceffary. The folemnity itfelf 
’ is called Poore Eree, or Chief’s Prayer; and the viftim 
who is offered up, taata-tnhoo, or confecrated man. 
The morai, which is a place of worfliip, facrifice, and bu¬ 
rial, where the facrifice was now offered, is that where the 
fupreme chief of the whole ifland is always buried, and is 
appropriated to his family and fome of the principal peo¬ 
ple ; it differs little from the common ones, except in ex¬ 
tent. Its principal part is a large oblong pile of Hones, 
lying loofely upon each other, about twelve or fourteen 
feet high, contracted towards the top, with a fquare area 
on each fide, loofely paved with pebble-Hones, under 
which the bones of the chiefs are buried. At a little dis¬ 
tance from the end nearefi the fea is the place where the 
facrifices are offered, which, for a confiderable extent, is 
E I T E. 
alfo loofely paved. Here is a very large fcaffold, on which 
the offerings of fruits and other vegetables are laid ; but 
the animals are depofited on a fmallerone, and the human 
facrifices are buried underdifferent parts of the pavement. 
There are feveral other relics which ignorant fuperflition 
has fcattered about this place. But one place, more par¬ 
ticular than the refl, is a heap of Hones, at the end of the 
large fcaffold, before which the human facrifice was of¬ 
fered ; and on a kind of platform at one fide are laid the 
Ikulls of all the human facrifices, which are taken up af¬ 
ter they have been feveral months under ground. .It 
cannot lefs than be regretted, that a practice lb horrid, 
and fuch bloody rites of worfliip, fliould prevail, as is 
probably the cafe, through all the widely-extended 
illands of the Pacific Ocean. 
When Capt. Cook was at Otaheite in 1773, in company 
with Capt. Furneaux, the latter took on-board his fliip 
(the Adventure) a young man named Omai. This youth 
is find to have had fome property in his native foil, of 
which he was difpoffeffed by the people of Bolabola : but 
he was not one of the earees, or gentry of that country, 
but of the middling clafs of people. He-was eminent 
neither for figure, fliape, nor complexion ; his colour 
being of deep hue, refembling a toivtow, or one of the 
common people ; and both Capt. Cook and Mr. Forffer 
agreed in thinking him no proper fample of the inhabi¬ 
tants of thofe illands, in refpeCt of perfonal beauty. How¬ 
ever, they were both of opinion, that the qualities of his 
heart and head refembled thofe of jiis countrymen in ge¬ 
neral, and that no one of the natives would have given 
more general fatisfaCtion by his behaviour vvhilfl he re¬ 
mained in England. I-Ie is deferibed as poffeffing a good 
underffanding, quick parts, and honeff principles : not 
an extraordinary genius ; yet not at all deficient in intel¬ 
ligence, which appeared from his knowledge of the game 
of chefs, in which he made an amazing proficiency. His 
principal patrons, whilff in England, were, the earl of 
Sandwich, Mr. Banks, and Dr. Solander. The earl in¬ 
troduced him to his majefly at Kew ; and, during his Hay 
in England, he was careffed by many of the principal 
nobility. Pie naturally imitated that eafy politenefs which 
is prevalent among the great, and which is one of the 
ornaments of civilized fociety. Indeed, he adopted the 
manners, the occupations, and amufements, of his com¬ 
panions in general, and gave many proofs of a quick per¬ 
ception and a lively fancy. Pie appears, however, to have 
been treated, whilff he refided here, rather as a fafhion- 
able exhibition, than as a rational being. No attention 
feems to have been paid to the enriching his mind with 
ufeful knowledge, fuch as might have rendered him a va¬ 
luable acquifition to his country on his return thither ; 
no means were ufed to inffruCt him in agriculture, or any 
mechanical art or ufeful manufacture; and, above all, to 
poffefs him with a moral fenfe ; to teach him the exalted 
ideas of virtue, and the fublime principles of revealed re¬ 
ligion. After a flay of two years in England, and having 
been inoculated for the fmall-pox, he embarked with 
Capt. Cook, on-board the Refolution, on his return 
home, loaded with a profufion of prefents. At parting 
with his friends here, his tears flowed plentifully, and 
his whole behaviour befpoke him to be fincerely affeCted 
at the feparation ; but, though he lived in the midff of 
amufements during his refidence in England, his return 
to his native country was always in his thoughts ; and, 
though he was not impatient to go, he exprelfed a fatis¬ 
faCtion as the time of his return approached. It was in 
Augufl 1777, that Capt. Cook vifited Otaheite for the 
lafi time, having Omai with him. But his conduCt was 
fo imprudent, that he foon forfeited the friendfliip of 
Otoo, and of every other perfon of note in the ifland. He 
affociated with none but vagabonds and Hrangers, whofe 
foie views were to plunder him ; and thus incurred the ill- 
will of the principal chiefs. The captain, therefore, fettled 
him in the ifland of Huaheine; and, having provided 
a comfortable habitation, with fuitable accommodations 
4 for 
