BURYING ALIVE. 
49 
with spear in hand, they would exclaim, Tui i vaho , 
pierce through—and thus transfix him to the couch 
on which he was lying. 
Sometimes they buried the sick alive. When 
this was designed, they dug a pit, and then, per¬ 
haps, proposed to the invalid to bathe, offering to 
carry him to the water, either in their arms, or 
placed on a board; but, instead of conveying him 
to the place of bathing, they would carry him to 
the pit, and throw him in. Here, if any cries were 
made, they threw down large stones in order to 
stifle his voice, filled up the grave with earth, and 
then returned to their dwellings. 
The natives once gave me an account of an un¬ 
happy sufferer, whom they were conveying to the 
grave; he perceived it at a short distance before 
they approached, and, influenced by fear, sprang 
from the board, and endeavoured to escape. He 
was pursued, and crippled by a large stone, and 
thus secured by the murderers. I was acquainted 
with two persons, who were sawyers, and resided 
some time in the island of Huahine, who had both 
been engaged in burying one of their companions, 
merely because they felt the few attentions re¬ 
quired, a burden. One of them, whose name was 
Papehara, is dead; the other is still living. 
It is unnecessary to add to these details. Every 
friend to humanity will rejoice to know, that since 
the subversion of that system, under the sanction 
of which they were practised, they have ceased ; 
and that now, from the influence of Christian 
principles, although the aged do not receive 
that veneration which is paid to gray hairs and 
length of years in some countries, they are treated 
with kindness. 
The sick are also nursed with attention by their 
III. E 
