166 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
dared to be singular ; and though they must have seen 
many deaths, have parted with but few of their teeth. 
Among this number is Karaimoku, a chief next in 
authority to the king, not more than one of whose 
teeth are deficient. 
Cutting one or both ears was formerly practised on 
these occasions; but as we never saw more than one 
or two old men thus disfigured, the custom appears to 
have been discontinued. 
Another badge of mourning, assumed principally by 
the chiefs, is that of tatauing a black spot or line on 
the tongue, in the same manner as other parts of their 
bodies are tataued. 
All these usages, though singular, are innocent, com¬ 
pared with others, which, until very recently, were 
practised on every similar event. As soon as the chief 
had expired, the whole neighbourhood exhibited a 
scene of confusion, wickedness, and cruelty, seldom 
witnessed even in the most barbarous society. The 
people ran to and fro without their clothes, appearing 
and acting more like demons than human beings ; every 
vice was practised, and almost every species of crime 
perpetrated. Houses were burnt, property plundered, 
even murder sometimes committed, and the gratifica¬ 
tion of every base and savage feeling sought without 
restraint. «Injuries or accidents, long forgotten per¬ 
haps by the offending party, were now revenged with 
unrelenting cruelty. Hence many of the people of 
Maui, dreading their recurrence, when Keopuolani was 
thought to be near her end, took their effects into the 
enclosure belonging to the missionaries there, and re¬ 
quested permission to remain there, hoping to find a 
sanctuary within their premises amidst the general 
