60 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
on the preceding evening, and again recommended the 
Son of God as all-sufficient to save. I afterwards saw 
a party at buhenehene. This is one of the most popu¬ 
lar games in the Sandwich Islands, and the favourite 
amusement of the king, and higher order of chiefs, fre¬ 
quently occupying them whole days together. It prin¬ 
cipally consists in hiding a small stone under one of 
five pieces of native tapa, so as to prevent the specta¬ 
tors from discovering under which piece it is hid. The 
parties at play sit cross-legged, on mats spread on the 
ground, each one holding in his right hand a small 
elastic rod, about three feet long, and highly polished. 
At the small end of this stick there is a narrow slit or 
hole, through which a piece of dog’s skin, with a tuft 
of shaggy hair on it, or a piece of ti leaf, is usually 
drawn. Five pieces of tapa, of different colours, each 
loosely folded up like a bundle, are then placed be¬ 
tween the tw'o parties, which generally consists of five 
persons each. One person is then selected on each 
side to hide the stone. He who is first to hide it, takes 
it in his right hand, lifts up the cloth at one end, puts 
his arm under as far as his elbow, and, passing it along 
several times, underneath the five pieces of cloth, which 
lie in a line contiguous to each other, he finally leaves 
it under one of them. The other party sit opposite, 
watching closely the action in the muscles of the upper 
part of his arm; and, it is said, that adepts can dis¬ 
cover the place where the stone is deposited, by ob¬ 
serving the change that takes place in those muscles, 
when the hand ceases to grasp it. Having deposited the 
stone, the hider withdraws his arm; and, with many ges¬ 
tures, separates the contiguous pieces of cloth into five 
distinct heaps, leaving a narrow space between each. 
