POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
207 
solid pyramidal structure was raised^ in front of which 
the images were kept^ and the altars fixed. These piles 
were often immense. That which formed one side of 
the square of the large temple in Atehuru^ according to 
Mr. Wilson^ by whom it was visited when in a state of 
preservation^ was two hundred and seventy feet long, 
ninety-four wide at the base, and fifty feet high, being at 
the summit one hundred and eighty feet long, and six wide. 
A flight of steps led to its summit; the bottom step was 
six feet high. The outer stones of the pyramid, com¬ 
posed of coral and basalt, were laid with great care, and 
hewn or squared with immense labour, especially the 
tiavd, or corner stones. 
National Temple. 
Within the enclosure, the houses of the priests, and 
keepers of the idols, were erected. Ruins of temples 
are found in every situation: on the summit of a hill, as 
