246 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
in this respect is not uniform, but is regulated’ by 
circumstances. At 
On reaching the burying-ground, we stand by 
the side of the grave, which is usually about six 
feet deep, and when the coffin is lowered down, 
address the friends of the deceased, and the spec- 
tators, and conclude the service with a short 
prayer. 
At first they believed that the deceased must be 
in some degree benefited by this service; and 
that such should occasionally have been thei 
ideas, 1s not surprising, when we consider the 
mass of delusion from which they had been so 
recently delivered. This, however, rendered it 
necessary for us to be more explicit in impressing 
upon their minds, that the state of the dead was 
unalterably fixed, and that our own benefit alone 
could be advanced by attending it.—But the views 
and ceremonies connected with death, and with 
the disposal of the body, either in the pagan or 
Christian manner, are unimportant in comparison 
with the change in the individuals who have died, 
and the views and anticipations which, under these 
systems, different individuals have entertained. 
‘One thing, of all I have read or heard,” said the 
aged and venerable Matahira, ‘‘now supports my 
mind—Christ has said, ‘I am the way.’” 
‘* He the beloved Son, 
The Son beloved, Jesus Christ, 
The Father gave, 
That we through him might live,” 
was sung by another in the native language, with 
the last breath she drew. ‘‘I am happy, I am 
happy,’ were among the last words of the late 
distinguished regent of the Sandwich Islands. 
