THE FIRST CAPTIVE SACRIFICED. 289 
When the first warrior fell on either side, a 
horrid shout of exultation and of triumph was 
raised by the victors, which echoed along the line, 
striking a panic through the ranks of their antago¬ 
nists, it being considered an intimation of the 
favour of the gods towards the victorious parties. 
Around the body the struggle became dread¬ 
ful ; and if the victors bore him away, he was 
despoiled of his ornaments, and then seized by the 
priests, or left to be offered to the gods at the close 
of the battle. 
The first man seized on before quite dead was 
offered in sacrifice, and called te mataahaetumu 
Taaroa —the first rending of the root. The victim 
was not taken to the temple, but the head was 
bound round with sacred cinet brought from the 
temple, and the body laid alive upon a number of 
spears, and thus borne on men's shoulders along 
the ranks, in the midst or rear of the army, 
the priest of Oro walking by the side, offering his 
prayer to the god, and watching the writhings and 
involuntary agitation of the dying man. If a tear 
fell from his eye, it was said to be weeping for his 
land. If he clenched the fist, it was an indication 
that his party would resist to the last, and con¬ 
quest to the captors was uncertain, &c. If these 
auguries were deemed favourable, he pronounced 
victory as certain. Such indications were consi¬ 
dered most encouraging, as earnests of the god’s co* 
operation. Sometimes the first victim was called Te 
ivi o te vai o Tu: the head was completely covered 
as low as the neck with successive bandages of 
cinet, carried to the temple, and burned before 
Taaroa; and was generally regarded as an earnest 
of the defeat of his party, and the destruction of 
his family. 
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