A VOYAGE TO 
»777* and, it I miftook not, they called it the prayer of the maro. 
—«/ When it was finifhed, the badge of royalty was carefully 
folded up, put into the cloth, and depofited again upon the 
moral. 
The other bundle, which 1 have diilinguifhed by the 
name of the ark, was next opened, at one end. But we 
were not allowed to go near enough to examine its myfte- 
rious contents. The information we received was, that 
the Eatooa , to whom they had been facrificing, and whofe 
name is Ooro , was concealed in it; or rather, what is fup- 
pofed to reprefent him. This facred repolitory is made of 
the twilled fibres of the hufk of the cocoa-nut, fhaped 
fomewhat like a large fid, or fugar-loaf; that is, roundifh, 
with one end much thicker than the other. We had, very 
often, got fmall ones from different people, but never knew 
their ufe before. 
By this time, the pig, that had been killed, was cleaned, 
and the entrails taken out. Thefe happened to have a con- 
liderable fliare of thofe convulfive motions, which often 
appear, in different parts, after an animal is killed; and 
this was confidered by the fpe£lators as a very favourable 
omen to the expedition, on account of which the facrifices 
had been offered. After being expofed for fome time, that 
thofe who chofe, might examine their appearances, the en¬ 
trails were carried to the priefls, and laid down before 
them. While one of their number prayed, another in- 
fpedled the entrails more narrowly, and kept turning them 
gently with a flick. When they had been fufhciently exa¬ 
mined, they were thrown into the fire, and left to con- 
fume. The facrificed pig, and its liver, &c. were now put 
upon the whatta , where the dog had been depofited the 
day before; and then all the feathers, except the oftrich 
plume^ 
