WATER ORDEAL. 
379 
method of discovering the thief, they sent for a 
priest, who, on being informed of the circumstances 
connected with the theft, offered prayers to his 
demon. He now directed a hole to be dug in the 
floor of the house, and filled with water; then, 
taking a young plantain in his hand, he stood over 
the hole, and offered his prayers to the god, whom 
he invoked, and who, if propitious, was supposed 
to conduct the spirit of the thief to the house, and 
place it over the water. The image of the spirit, 
which they imagined resembled the person of the 
man, was, according to their account, reflected in 
the water, and being perceived by the priest, he 
named the individual, or the parties, who had com¬ 
mitted the theft, stating that the god had shewn 
him the image in the water. The priests were 
rather careful how they fixed on an individual, as 
the accused had but slight prospect of escaping, if 
unable to falsify the charge; but when he could do 
this, the credit of the god, and the influence of the 
priest, were materially diminished. 
Sometimes the priest, after the first attempt, 
declared that no answer had been returned, and 
deferred till the following day the repetition of his 
enchantments. The report, however, that this 
measure had been resorted to, generally spread 
among the people, and the thief, alarmed at the 
consequences of having the gods engaged against 
him, usually returned the stolen property under 
cover of the night, and by this superseded 
the necessity for further inquiries. — Like the 
oracles among the nations of antiquity, which 
gradually declined after the propagation of Chris¬ 
tianity, the divinations and spells of the South Sea 
Islanders have been laid aside since their recep¬ 
tion of the gospel. The only oracle they now 
