162 
A VOYAGE TO 
December ^ eatin £ one tiiem properly, introduces a piece of wood 
^^ecem^er. undenieatll t ^Q forefkin, and defires him to look afide at 
fomething he pretends is coming. Having thus engaged the 
young man’s attention to another objedt, he cuts through 
the fkin upon the wood, with a fhark’s tooth, generally at 
one ftroke. He then feparates, or rather turns back the di¬ 
vided parts; and, having put on a bandage, proceeds to 
perform the fame operation on the other lads. At the end 
of five days they bathe, and the bandages being taken off, 
the matter is cleaned away. At the end of five days more, 
they bathe again, and are well; but a thicknefs of the 
prepuce, where it was cut, remaining, they go again to the 
mountains with the Tahoua and fervant; and a fire being 
prepared, and fome ftones heated, the Tahoua puts the pre¬ 
puce between two of them, and fqueezes it gently, which 
removes the thicknefs. They then return home, having. 
their heads, and other parts of their bodies, adorned with 
odoriferous flowers ; and the Tahoua is rewarded for his fer- 
vices by their fathers, in proportion to their feveral abili¬ 
ties, with prefents of hogs and cloth; and if they be poor, 
their relations are liberal on the occafion. 
Their religious fyftem is extenfive, and, in many inftances, 
lingular; but few of the common people have a perfect 
knowledge of it; that being confined chiefly to their priefts, 
who are pretty numerous. They do not feem to pay refpedt 
to one God as poffeffing pre-eminence; but believe in a 
plurality of divinities, who are all very powerful; and, in 
this cafe, as different parts of the illand, and the other iflands 
in the neighbourhood, have different ones, the inhabitants 
of each, no doubt, think that they have chofen the moil 
eminent, or, at leaf:, one who is invefted with power fuffi- 
cient to protect them, and to fupply all their wants. If he 
fliould 
