POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
513 
drowned in the river^ than that he had fallen into their 
hands. This they evidently did, to shew that what the 
king thought would induce them to make an uncon- 
ditional surrender, had not so subdued them; and the 
survivor, Taatahee, directed the ambassadress to tell 
Pomare, that when he had experienced the same fate as 
Rua, then, and not till then, might he expect peace. 
When the reduction of a fortress was a matter of 
importance, the co-operation of the gods was again 
invoked, and the Hiamoea performed. This was a reli¬ 
gious ceremony, in which the finest mats, cloth, and 
other valuable spoils, were taken by the victorious party, 
as near to the fortress as it was safe to approach. Here 
they took the different articles of property in their hands, 
and, holding them up, offered them to the gods, who, it 
was supposed, had hitherto favoured the besieged; the 
priests frequently exclaiming to the following effect 
—Tam in the interior or fortress, Oro in the interior 
or fortress, &c. come to the sea, here are your offerings, 
&c. The priests of the besieged, on the contrary, endea¬ 
voured to detain the gods, by exhibiting whatever pro¬ 
perty they possessed, if they considered the god likely 
to leave them. A warrior would often offer himself, and 
say, Eiaha e haere, Leave us not, here is your offer¬ 
ing, O Oro ! even I \” It is hardly possible to avoid 
admiring the patriotism evinced on such occasions. It 
was a devotion worthy of a better cause. 
Although the besieged might offer their human sacrifices, 
they must perform what, under these circumstances, would 
be called Taaraa-moua, the fall from the mountain, and 
which they carried as near the temple of the tutelar deity 
as their enemies would allow them to approach, when, 
having deposited their offering, they fled to the fortress, 
n. 3 u 
