100 
CUSTOMS BEDATING TO THE DEAD. 
being considered an indispensable duty to the remains of chiels, 
all the friends and relatives of the dead were summoned to 
assist, and a great feast was given on tbe occasion. The bones 
when scraped, were painted with red ochre and oil, and orna¬ 
mented with feather’s; they were then carefully wrapped up 
in a fine mat, which was also surrounded with several others; 
this being done, the sacred bundle was deposited in a small 
canoe, which was elevated on a pole, or oftentimes it was placed 
in a miniature house, similarly raised up, or else the bones 
were carried to the top of some sacred tree, and there left on 
a small stage; sometimes they were put in a hollow trunk, or 
conveyed to a cave or fissure of tire rocks, where they were 
finally left. But it was not uncommon to burn them ; when 
that was done, it was called the tahunga, or burning. 
When a person died, food was placed by his side, and some 
also with him in the grave, as it was supposed the spirit of the 
deceased fed on the spirit of tbe food given it. 
At Taranaki, the child of a chief was buried in the wliare 
tapu, i.e. its father’s house, in the middle of which a grave was 
dug, and covered over with boards, on which the family slept. 
The child had a taro placed in each hand, so that if he 
descended into the reinga, he might have food. When the 
relatives thought that the body was sufficiently decomposed, 
they dug it up, and scraped the bones, which were afterwards 
placed in an ornamented basket, and suspended from the ridge¬ 
pole of the mahau, or verandah, and from time to time the 
priest karakied over them, to assist the soul in ascending 
through the different heavens. If it did not reach the eighth 
heaven, its abode was not very comfortable. The tenth was 
regarded as the chief residence of the gods. Every time a 
prayer was uttered over the bones, it was supposed to aid the 
soul in its ascent. When asked why they placed the taro in 
the hands, if they thought the soul ascended to heaven, the 
reply was, they were not sure whether it ascended or descended; 
they knew the body descended, and they thought it probable 
the soul did the same; therefore, they put a seed taro in 
the grave, that, should such be the case, they might be right 
both ways. 
