POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
108 
to draw its roots out of the ground at the approach 
of the ceremony, and to leap into the hand of the 
person who was sent for it. 
The inauguration ceremony, answering to coro¬ 
nation among other nations, consisted in girding 
the king with the maro ura , or sacred girdle of red 
feathers ; which not only raised him to the highest 
earthly station, but identified him with their gods. 
The maro or girdle was made with the beaten fibres 
of the aoa; with these a number of terw, red fea¬ 
thers, taken from the images of their deities, were 
interwoven with feathers of other colours. The maro 
thus became sacred, even as the person of the gods, 
the feathers being supposed to retain all the dread¬ 
ful attributes of power and vengeance which the 
idols possessed, and with which it was designed to 
endow the king. The sacred girdle which was shewn 
to Capt. Cook in the marae at Atehuru, and which 
was used by the sovereigns of Tahiti, was five yards 
long, and fifteen inches wide. It was covered with 
red and yellow feathers: one end was bordered with 
eight pieces, about the size and shape of a horse¬ 
shoe, and fringed with black feathers; the other end 
was forked; the feathers were ranged in square 
figures. The pendant which Capt. Wallis hoisted 
at Matavai was attached to this girdle. Every part 
of the proceeding was marked by its absurdity or 
its wickedness, but the most affecting circumstance 
was the murderous cruelty attending even the pre¬ 
paration for its celebration. 
In order to render the gods propitious to the 
transmission of this power, a human victim was 
sacrificed when they commenced the fatu raa , 
or manufacture of this girdle. This unhappy 
wretch was called the sacrifice for the man raa titi , 
commencement or fastening on of the sacred maro. 
