THE DEVOTED HOG. 
371 
most celebrated oracle of the people. It does not 
appear that there were any persons specially ap¬ 
pointed to consult the gods. The priest, who 
officiated in other services, presented the offerings, 
and proposed the inquiries of those who thus 
sought supernatural direction. 
No event of importance was determined, nor 
any enterprise of hazard or consequence under¬ 
taken, without, in the first instance, inquiring of 
the gods its result. The priest was directed, 
as they expressed it, to spread the matter before 
the idol, and to wait the intimation of his will, or 
the prediction of its consequences. The priest, 
who was called taura , or tairoiro , repaired to the 
temple, presented the offerings, and proposed the 
inquiry, while the parties by whom he was em¬ 
ployed anxiously waited his report. 
In all matters of great and national importance, 
however, the gods were generally consulted by the 
buaa tapena , or dedicated hog. The animal was 
strangled, the hair singed or burnt off by the 
application of torches of reeds, and the hog was 
conveyed to the sacred pavement, in front of the 
depository of the idol. It was there embowelled, 
and if the movements of the entrails, after being 
taken out, were quick or continued, it was regarded 
as an omen of success. This mode of consulting 
the god was generally resorted to, prior to engaging 
in war, or during the existence of hostilities. The 
hog was now bathed with its own blood, and the 
priest offered his prayers over it, and then laid the 
sacred cocoa-nut leaf round it, as the tapau, or 
means by which the god might enter, and through 
the sacrifice manifest his will. The heart and its 
appurtenances were placed on the small altar, 
while the carcase was placed with great care in an 
2 b 2 
