408 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
riage, and on occasions of death it was unsparingly 
used. 
With some this was not sufficient; they prepared 
a short instrument, something like a plumber’s 
mallet, about five or six inches long, rounded at 
one end for a handle, and armed with two or three 
rows of shark’s teeth fixed in the wood, at the 
other. With this, on the death of a relative or a 
friend, they cut themselves unmercifully, striking 
the head, temples, cheek, and breast, till the blood 
flowed profusely from the wounds. At the same 
time they uttered the most deafening and agonizing 
cries; and the distortion of their countenances, 
their torn and dishevelled hair, the mingled tears 
and blood that covered their bodies, their wild 
gestures and unruly conduct, often gave them a 
frightful and almost inhuman appearance. This 
cruelty was principally performed by the females, 
but not by them only; the men committed on these 
occasions the same enormities, and not only cut 
themselves, but came armed with clubs and other 
deadly weapons. 
The otohaa commenced with the nearest rela¬ 
tions of the deceased, but it was not confined to 
them; so soon as the tidings spread, and the 
sound of the lamentations was heard through the 
neighbourhood, the friends and relatives repaired 
to the spot, and joined in the tragic performance. 
I am not prepared to say that the same enor¬ 
mities were practised here as in the Sandwich 
Islands at these times, but on the death of a king 
or principal chief the scenes exhibited in and 
around the house were in appearance demoniacal. 
The relatives and members of the household began; 
the other chiefs of the island and their relatives 
came to sympathize with the survivors, and, on 
