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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
or was really in earnest. The king repeated his direc¬ 
tion ; a fire was made^ the turtle baked, and served up 
at the next repast. The people of the king’s house¬ 
hold stood, in mute expectation of some fearful 
visitation of the god’s anger, as soon as the king should 
touch a morsel of the fish; by which he had, in this 
instance, committed, as they imagined, an act of daring 
impiety. The king cut up the turtle, and began 
to eat it, inviting some that sat at meat with him 
to do the same; but no one could be induced to touch 
it, as they expected every moment to see him either 
fall down dead, or seized with strong convulsions. 
The king endeavoured to convince his companions that 
their idea of the power of the gods was altogether 
imaginary, and that they had been the subjects of com¬ 
plete delusion; but the people could not believe him; 
and although the meal was finished without any evil 
result, they carried away the dishes with many ex¬ 
pressions of astonishment, confidently expecting some 
judgment would overtake him before the morrow, for 
they could not believe that an act of sacrilege, such as 
he had been guilty of, could be committed with impu¬ 
nity. 
The conduct and conversation of Pomare in reference 
to the gods, on this and similar occasions, must neces¬ 
sarily have weakened the influence of idolatry on the 
minds of those by whom he was attended; and if it 
produced no immediate and salutary effect on them, it 
doubtless confirmed his own belief in the vanity of idols, 
and the folly of indulging either hope or fear respecting 
them. A number of the principal chiefs of the Leeward 
Islands, as well as the adherents to his cause, and the 
friends of his family in Tahiti, constantly resided with the 
