DISTRICT OF OPOA. 315 
distinguished as the cradle of their mythology, the 
birth-place and residence of Oro, the region to 
which disembodied spirits resorted, the seat of 
their oracle, and the abode of those priests whose 
predictions for many generations regulated the 
expectations of the nation. It is also mtimately 
connected with the most important matters in the 
traditionary history and ancient religion of the 
people. Opoa is the most remarkable place m 
Raiatea; of its earth, according to some of their 
traditions, the first pair were made by Tu or 
Taaroa, and on its soil they fixed their abode. 
Here Oro held his court. It was called Hawai; and 
as distant colonies are said to have proceeded from 
it, it was probably the place at which some of the 
first inhabitants of the South Sea Islands arrived. 
It has also long been a place of celebrity, not only 
in Raiatea, but throughout the whole of the 
Society Islands. It was the hereditary land of 
the reigning family, and the usual residence of 
the king and his household. But the most 
remarkable object connected with Opoa, was the 
large marae, or temple, where the national idol was 
worshipped, and human victims were sacrificed. 
These offerings were not only brought from the 
districts of Raiatea and the adjacent islands, 
but also from the windward group, and even 
from the more distant islands to the south and 
south-east. 
The worship of Oro, in the marae here, appears 
to have been of the most sanguinary kind; human 
immolation was frequent, and, in addition to the 
bones and other relics of the former sacrifices, now 
scattered among the ruins of the temple, there is 
still a large enclosure, the walls of which are 
formed entirely of human skulls. The horrid 
