350 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
the god by name, and exclaiming, “ Be not angry, 
or let thy wrath be appeased; here we are : look 
on us, and be satisfied/’ &c. It does not appear 
that these men were actually sacrificed, but pro¬ 
bably they appeared in this humiliating manner 
with ropes about their necks, to propitiate the 
deity, and to shew their readiness to die, if it 
should be required. 
While these ceremonies were observed, the pro¬ 
gress of the disease was marked, by the friends of 
the afflicted, with intense anxiety. If recovery 
followed, it was attributed to the pacification of 
the deities; but if the disease increased, or ter¬ 
minated fatally, the god was regarded as inex¬ 
orable, and was usually banished from the temple, 
and his image destroyed. 
Religious rites were connected with almost 
every act of their lives. An ubu or prayer was 
offered before they ate their food, when they tilled 
their ground, planted their gardens, built their 
houses, launched their canoes, cast their nets, 
and commenced or concluded a journey. The 
first fish taken periodically on their shores, toge¬ 
ther with a number of kinds regarded as sacred, 
were conveyed to the altar. The first-fruits of 
their orchards and gardens were also taumaha , or 
offered, with a portion of their live-stock, which 
consisted of pigs, dogs, and fowls, as it was sup¬ 
posed death would be inflicted on the owner or the 
occupant of the land, from which the god should 
not receive such acknowledgment. 
The bure arii, a ceremony in which the king 
acknowledged the supremacy of the gods, was 
attended with considerable pomp ; but one 
of the principal stated festivals was the pae 
atua, which was held every three moons. On 
