186 
VOYAGE TO THE 
when from Sinai he gave, with thunderings and with light¬ 
nings, the tables of the law. 
No w r onder, then, that the uninstructed natives had long 
worshipped, in this place, the mysterious powers of nature. 
Here it was that they supposed the gods of the Island had 
their favourite abodes, and that, from this centre of their 
power, they often shook the land, when it pleased them to 
pass under ground to visit the sea, and take delight in open 
places. The first pair who arrived at the Island, with the 
animals and fruits necessary for their subsistence, met the 
fire gods, say they, on their first landing, and propitiated 
them by offerings of part of their provisions. These they 
accepted, and retired to their dwellings in Kairauea, whence 
they have seldom come but as the punishers of evil men, or 
in vengeance of the violation of their sanctuary. Hence no 
ohelo berry was eaten on Peli, till some had been offered to 
the goddess of the same name : the sandal-wood was not 
cut, nor the fern roots dug, without propitiating her by 
locks of hair, and often more precious things. Frequently 
the hog and the dog were sacrificed to procure her favour ; 
and never was the ground disturbed or any thing carried 
away from Kairauea. This worship is now no more. The 
hut in which we passed the night had witnessed one of the 
