POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
52; 
ing then was often most distressing, but as soon as 
the spirit had departed, the individuals became quite 
ungovernable. 
They not only wailed in the loudest and most affecting 
tone, but tore their hair, rent their garments, and cut 
themselves with shark's teeth or knives in a most shock¬ 
ing manner. The instrument usually employed was a 
small cane, about four inches long, with five or six shark's 
teeth fixed in, on opposite sides. With one of these in¬ 
struments every female provided herself after marriage, 
and on occasions of death it was unsparingly used. 
With some this was not sufficient 3 they prepared a 
short instrument, something like a plumber's mallet, 
about five or six inches long, rounded at one end for a 
handle, and armed with two or three rows of shark's 
teeth fixed in the wood, at the other. With this, on the 
death of a relative or a friend, they cut themselves un ^ 
mercifully, striking the head, temples, cheek, and breast, 
till the blood flowed profusely from the wounds. At the 
same time they uttered the most deafening and agonizing 
cries; and the distortion of their countenances, their torn 
and dishevelled hair, the mingled tears and blood that 
covered their bodies, their wild gestures and unruly con¬ 
duct, often gave them a frightful and almost inhuman 
appearance. This cruelty was principally performed by 
the females, but not by them only; the men committed 
on these occasions the same enormities, and not only cut 
themselves, but came armed with clubs and other deadly 
weapons. 
The otohaa commenced with the nearest relations of 
the deceased, but it was not confined to them | so soon as 
the tidings spread, and the sound of the lamentations 
was heard through the neighbourhood, the friends and 
