POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 517 
at different times; that the ancestors or relatives of 
the deceased performed this operation; that the spirit 
thus passed through the god, and if it underwent this 
process of being eaten, &c. three different times, it became 
a deified or imperishable spirit, might visit the world, 
and inspire others. 
They had a kind of heaven, which they called Miru, 
The heaven most familiar, especially in the Leeward 
Islands, is Rohutu noanoa, sweet-scented Rohutu. This 
was situated near Tamahani unauna, glorious Tama- 
hani, the resort of departed spirits, a celebrated moun¬ 
tain on the north-west side of Raiatea. The perfumed 
Rohutu, though invisible but to spirits, was somewhere 
between the former settlement and the district of Tipae- 
hapa on the north side of Raiatea. It was described as 
a beautiful place, quite an elysium, where the air was 
remarkably salubrious, flowers abundant, highly odori¬ 
ferous, and in perpetual blossom. Here the Areois, and 
others raised to this state, followed all the amusements 
and pursuits to which they had been accustomed in the 
world, without intermission or end. Here was food in 
abundance, and every indulgence. It is worthy of 
remark, that the misery of the one, and enjoyments of the 
other, debasing as they were, were the destiny of indivi¬ 
duals, altogether irrespective of their moral character and 
virtuous conduct. The only crimes that were visited by 
the displeasure of their deities were the neglect of some 
rite or ceremony, or the failing to furnish required offer¬ 
ings. I have often, in conversations with the people and 
sometimes with the priests, endeavoured to ascertain 
whether they had any idea of a person’s condition in a 
future state being connected with his disposition and 
general conduct in this; but I never could learn that 
