THROUGH HAWAII. 
83 
sacred house stood, in which he resided during the sea¬ 
son of strict tabu , and at the north end, the place occu¬ 
pied by the houses of priests, who, with the exception 
of the king, were the only persons permitted to dwell 
within the sacred enclosure. Holes were seen on the 
walls, all around this, as well as the lower terraces, 
where wooden idols of varied size and shape formerly 
stood, casting their hideous stare in every direction. 
Tairi, or KuJcairimoku, a large wooden idol, crowned 
with a helmet, and covered with red feathers, the favou¬ 
rite war-god of Tamehameha, was the principal idol. 
To him the heiau was dedicated, and for his occasional 
residence it was built. On the day in which he was 
brought within its precincts, vast offerings of fruit, 
hogs, and dogs, were presented, and no less than eleven 
human victims immolated on its altars. And, although 
the huge pile now resembles a dismantled fortress, 
whose frown no longer strikes terror through the sur¬ 
rounding country, yet it is impossible to walk over 
such a golgotha, or contemplate a spot which must 
often have resembled a pandemonium more than any 
thing on earth, without a strong feeling of horror at the 
recollection of the bloody and infernal rites so fre¬ 
quently practised within its walls. Thanks be to God, 
the idols are destroyed! Thanks to his name, the glo¬ 
rious gospel of his Son, who was manifested to destroy 
the works of the devil, has reached these heretofore 
desolate shores! May the Holy Spirit make it the 
“ savour of life unto life 5 ' to the remnant of the people! 
Leaving Bukohola, accompanied by some natives, I 
visited MairiJcini, another heiau, a few hundred yards 
nearer the shore. It was nearly equal in its dimen¬ 
sions to that on the summit of the hill, but inferior in 
