363 
PLACE OF REFUGE. 
except one, whom, as he was a great favourite, he 
refused at first to give up; but, the god being 
urgent, he sacrificed him also, and the priest and 
himself were all that remained. Upwards of eighty 
victims, they added, were offered at that time, in 
obedience to the audible demands of the insatiate 
demon. We have heard the same account at 
other places, of eighty victims being slain at one 
time; and though, perhaps, the account may ex¬ 
ceed the number actually immolated, the tradition 
serves to shew the savage character of the gods, 
who, in the opinion of the natives, could require 
such prodigal waste of human life. 
In the afternoon we visited Pakarana , the pu- 
honua, or place of refuge, for all this part of the 
island. It was a large enclosure, less extensive, 
however, than that at Honaunau. The walls, 
though of great antiquity, were of inferior height 
and dimensions. In the midst of the enclosure, 
under a wide-spreading pandanus, was a small 
house, called Ke Hale o Riroa, (The House of 
Riroa,) from the circumstance of its containing the 
bones of a king of that name, who was the grand¬ 
son of Umi, and, according to their traditions, 
reigned in Hawaii about fifteen generations back. 
We tried, but could not gain admittance to the 
paliu tabu, or sacred enclosure. We also endea¬ 
voured to obtain a sight of the bones of Riroa, 
but the man who had charge of the house told us 
we must offer a hog before we could be admitted; 
that Tamehameha, whenever he entered, had 
always sent offerings; that Rihoriho, since he had 
become king, had done the same, and that no one 
could be admitted on other conditions. 
Finding us unwilling to comply, yet anxious to 
see the bones, they directed us to a rudely carved 
