240 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
nut in the sea, continuing his prayers, and narrowly 
watching its descent, he thereby pretended to ascertain 
the result of any measures in which those by whom he 
was employed were interested. The patu was frequently 
resorted to while negociations for peace were carried 
on between parties who had been engaged in war. Divi¬ 
nation was employed to discover the cause or author of 
sickness, or to ascertain the fate of a fleet or a canoe 
that might have commenced a distant or hazardous voy¬ 
age. This latter was often used in the islands to the 
westward of the Society group. 
The natives had also recourse to several kinds of divi¬ 
nation, for discovering the perpetrators of acts of injury, 
especially theft. Among these was a kind of water 
ordeal. It resembled in a great degree the wai harm of 
the Hawaiians. When the parties who had been robbed 
wished to use this method of discovering the thief, they 
sent for a priest, who, on being informed of the circum¬ 
stances connected with the theft, offered prayers to his 
demon. He now directed a hole to be dug in the floor 
of the house, and filled with water; then taking a young 
plantain in his hand, he stood over the hole, and offered 
his prayers to the god, whom he invoked, and who, if pro¬ 
pitious, was supposed to conduct the spirit of the thief to 
the house, and place it over the water. The image of 
the spirit, which they imagined resembled the person of 
the man, was, according to their account, reflected in the 
water, and being perceived by the priest, he named the 
individual, or the parties, who had committed the theft, 
stating that the god had shewn him the image in the 
water. The priests were rather careful how they fixed 
upon an individual, as the accused had but slight pros¬ 
pect of escaping, if unable to falsify the charge; but when 
