POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
281 
crime was supposed to have been committed. Whenever 
a chief of any distinction was afflicted^ some neglect or 
insult was supposed to have been shewn to the gods or 
the priest^ and the most costly offerings were made to 
avert the effects of their wrath^ and secure the recovery 
of the chieftain. Human victims were sometimes sacri- 
ficed^ ceremonies performed^ and prayers offered. These 
were not made to the national idolj but to the tutelar god 
of the family. 
They were all^ at times, unavailing | and when they 
imagined, in consequence of the rank or ancestry of the 
chief, that the deity ought to have been propitious, but 
they found he 'was not, and the sufferer did not recover, 
with a singular promptitude, in powerful contrast %vith 
their ordinary conduct towards their gods, they execrated 
the idol, and banished him from the temple, choosing 
in his place some other deity that they hoped would be 
favourable. 
The interest manifested in the recovery of their chief 
would depend much upon his age. If advanced in years, 
comparatively little concern would be felt for his restora¬ 
tion. Old age was seldom treated with respect, often 
with contempt and cruelty. 
In seasons of illness, especially if protracted, the com¬ 
mon people, and the aged, received but little attention. 
If the malady was not soon relieved by the prayers of the 
priest, and the remedies he administered, the sufferer 
was abandoned. Sometimes he was allowed to remain 
in the house of those with whom he was connected.— 
But, in general, a small temporary hut was erected with 
a few cocoa-nut leaves, either near a stream, or at a short, 
distance from the dwelling. Into this, as to the con¬ 
demned cell, the sick person was removed. For a time,, 
II. 
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