F0MARE DEFEATED. 
33 
god of the foreigners. This not only aroused the 
jealousy of the chief, and the rage of Otu, but 
haying nearly cost Mr. Broomhall and his companions 
their lives, it made the Missionaries extremely 
cautious in administering medicine to any of the 
chiefs. Native remedies were now applied, to 
relieve the sufferings of Oripaia, but they were 
unavailing, and, after languishing for some time in 
the greatest agony, he expired. The body of the 
deceased chief was embalmed by a process peculiar 
to the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, and 
already described. It was placed on a kind of 
platform ; and a number of superstitious ceremonies 
were observed. During the performance of these 
rites, Pomare’s orator, and some of the inhabitants 
of Matavai, used insulting expressions in reference 
to the corpse; which so incensed Otu, that, aided 
by the chief priest, he immediately made war upon 
the district of Matavai. Late in the evening, the 
Missionaries and people had some intimation of 
his intention : before daylight the next morning, 
the attack was commenced at one end of the dis¬ 
trict ; the inhabitants fled before the assailants; 
and by sunrise, the warriors of Otu had scoured 
the district from one end to the other, driving 
before them every inhabitant, excepting a few in 
the immediate vicinity of the Missionary dwellings. 
Several warriors, with clubs and spears, surrounded 
the Missionary house, but its inmates remained 
unmolested; and in the course of the day, Haa- 
manemane arrived, and assured the Mission family 
no evil was designed against them. In the even¬ 
ing they were also visited in an amicable manner 
by Otu and his queen. 
In connexion with this attack upon the district 
of Matavai, which belonged to Pom are, Otu and 
II. D 
