76 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
sions, their dread of perishing at sea frequently led 
them to make vows to some favourite deity; and if 
they ever reached the land, it was their first business 
to repair to the temple, and fulfil their vows. These 
vows were generally considered most sacred engage¬ 
ments ; and it was expected that, sooner or later, some 
judgment would overtake those who failed to perform 
them. It is not improbable, that the priests of those 
idols, in order to maintain their influence over the peo¬ 
ple, either poisoned the delinquents, or caused them to 
sustain some other injury. 
Karaipahoa was also a famous idol, originally be¬ 
longing to Morokai. It was a middling-sized wooden 
image, curiously carved ; the arms were extended, the 
fingers spread out, the head was ornamented with 
human hair, and the widely distended mouth was arm¬ 
ed with rows of shark’s teeth. 
The wood of which the image was made was so 
poisonous, that if a small piece of it was chipped into 
a dish of poe, or steeped in water, whoever ate the 
poe, or drank the water, the natives reported, would 
certainly die in less than twenty-four hours after¬ 
wards. We were never able to procure a sight of 
this image, though we have been repeatedly informed 
that it still exists, not indeed in one compact image, 
as it was divided in several parts on the death of 
Tamehameha, and distributed among the principal 
chiefs. 
It is a known fact, that the natives use several kinds 
of vegetable poison ; and probably the wood of which 
the idol was made is poisonous. But the report of the 
virulence of the poison is most likely one of the many 
stratagems so frequently employed by the chiefs and 
