4 to 
A VOYAGE TO 
1777- wafhing them with water. When the hands are in this date, 
. ^ ly ' they call it taboo rema. Taboo, in general, dgnifies forbid" 
den; and rema is their word for hand. 
When the taboo is incurred, by paying obeifance to a great 
perfonage, it is thus eafily wafhed off. But, in fome other 
cafes, it mud neceffarily continue for a certain time. We 
have frequently feen women, who have been taboo rema , fed 
by others. At the expiration of the time, the interdicted 
perfon wadies herfelf in one of their baths, which are dirty 
holes, for the mod part, of brackidi water. She then waits 
upon the king, and, after making her obeifance in the ufual 
way, lays hold of his foot and applies it to her bread, 
dioulders, and other parts of her body. He then embraces 
her on each dioulder; after which die retires, purified from 
her uncleannefs. I do not know that it is always necedary 
to come to the king for this purpofe ; though Omai adured 
me it was. If this be fo, it may be one reafon why he is, 
for the mod part, travelling from illand to idand. I faw 
this ceremony performed, by him, two or three times ; and 
once by Feenou, to one of his own women; but as Omai 
was not then with me, I could not afk the occadon. 
Taboo , as I have before obferved, is a word of an extendve 
fignidcation. Human facridces are called tangata taboo ; and 
when any thing is forbidden to be eat, or made ufe of, they 
fay, that it is taboo . They tell us, that, if the king fhould 
happen to go into a houfe belonging to a fubjeCt, that 
houfe would be taboo , and could never more be inhabited by 
the owner; fo that, wherever he travels, there are particu¬ 
lar houfes for his reception. Old Toobou, at this time, 
predded over the taboo ; that is, if Omai comprehended the 
matter rightly, he and his deputies infpeCted all the pro¬ 
duce of the idand ; taking care that every man fhould cul¬ 
tivate 
