348 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
was wrapped in the basket of cocoa-nut leaves, 
and frequently deposited on the branches of an 
adjacent tree. After remaining a considerable 
time, it was taken down, and the bones were buried 
beneath the rude pavement of the marae. These 
horrid rites were not unfrequent, and the number 
offered at their great festivals was truly appalling. 
The seasons of worship were both stated and 
occasional. The latter were those in which the 
gods were sought under national calamities, as the 
desolation of war, or the alarming illness of the 
king or chiefs. In addition to the rites connected 
with actual war, there were two that followed its 
termination. The principal of these, Rau mata 
vehi raa , was designed to purify the land from the 
defilement occasioned by the incursions or devas¬ 
tations of an enemy, who had perhaps ravaged the 
country, demolished the temples, destroyed or 
mutilated the idols, broken down the altars, and 
used as fuel the unus , or curiously carved pieces of 
wood marking the sacred places of interment, 
and emblematical of tiis or spirits. Preparatory 
to this ceremony, the temples were rebuilt, new 
altars reared, new images, inspired or inhabited by 
the gods, placed in the maraes, and fresh unus 
erected. 
At the close of the rites in the new temples, the 
parties repaired to the sea-beach, where the chief 
priest offered a short prayer, and the people 
dragged a small net of cocoa-nut leaves through a 
shallow part of the sea, and usually detached 
small fragments of coral from the bottom, which 
were brought to the shore. These were denomi¬ 
nated fish, and were delivered to the priest, who 
conveyed them to the temple, and deposited them 
on the altar, offering at the same time an uhu or 
