CHAP. II.

INTERVIEW WITH OTOO, KING OF THE ISLAND.—IMPRUDENT CONDUCT OF OMAI.—EMPLOYMENTS ON SHORE.—EUROPEAN ANIMALS LANDED.—PARTICULARS ABOUT A NATIVE WHO HAD VISITED LIMA—ABOUT OEDIDEE.—A REVOLT IN EIMEO.—WAR WITH THAT ISLAND DETERMINED UPON, IN A COUNCIL OF CHIEFS.—A HUMAN SACRIFICE ON THAT ACCOUNT.—A PARTICULAR RELATION OF THE CEREMONIES AT THE GREAT MORAI, WHERE THE SACRIFICE WAS OFFERED.—OTHER BARBAROUS CUSTOMS OF THIS PEOPLE.

About nine o’clock in the morning, Otoo, the king of the whole island, attended by a great number of canoes full of people, came from Oparre, his place of residence, and having landed on Matavai Point, sent a message on board, expressing his desire to see me there. Accordingly I landed, accompanied by Omai, and some of the officers. We found a prodigious number of people assembled on this occasion, and in the midst of them was the king, attended by his father, his two brothers, and three sisters. I went up first and saluted him, being followed by Omai, who kneeled and embraced his legs. He had prepared himself for this ceremony, by dressing himself in his very best suit of clothes, and behaved with a great deal of respect and modesty. Nevertheless, very little notice was taken of him. Perhaps envy had some share in producing this cold reception. He made the chief a present of a large piece of red feathers, and about two or three yards of gold cloth; and I gave him a suit of fine linen, a gold-laced hat, some tools, and, what was of more value than all the other articles, a quantity of red feathers, and one of the bonnets in use at the Friendly Islands.

After the hurry of this visit was over, the king and the whole royal family accompanied me on board, followed by several canoes, laden with all kind of provisions, in quantity sufficient to have served the companies of both ships for a week. Each of the family owned, or pretended to own, a part; so that I had a present from every one of them; and every one of them had a separate present in return from me; which was the great object in view. Soon after, the king’s mother, who had not been present at the first interview, came on board, bringing with her a quantity of provisions and cloth, which she divided between me and Omai; for, although he was but little noticed at first by his countrymen, they no sooner gained the knowledge of his riches, than they began to court his friendship. I encouraged this as much as I could: for it was my wish to fix him with Otoo. As I intended to leave all my European animals at this island, I thought he would be able to give some instruction about the management of them, and about their use. Besides, I knew and saw, that the farther he was from his native island, he would be the better respected. But, unfortunately, poor Omai rejected my advice, and conducted himself in so imprudent a manner, that he soon lost the friendship of Otoo, and of every other person of note in Otaheite. He associated with none but vagabonds and strangers, whose sole views were to plunder him; and, if I had not interfered, they would not have left him a single article worth the carrying from the island. This necessarily drew upon him the ill-will of the principal chiefs; who found that they could not procure, from any one in the ships, such valuable presents as Omai bestowed on the lowest of the people, his companions.

As soon as we had dined, a party of us accompanied Otoo to Oparre, taking with us the poultry, with which we were to stock the island. They consisted of a peacock and hen (which Lord Besborough was so kind as to send me for this purpose a few days before I left London); a turkey-cock and hen; one gander, and three geese; a drake, and four ducks. All these I left at Oparre, in the possession of Otoo; and the geese and ducks began to breed, before we sailed. We found there, a gander, which the natives told us, was the same that Captain Wallis had given to Oberea ten years before; several goats; and the Spanish bull, whom they kept tied to a tree, near Otoo’s house. I never saw a finer animal of his kind. He was now the property of Etary, and had been brought from Oheitepeha to this place, in order to be shipped for Bolabola. But it passes my comprehension, how they can contrive to carry him in one of their canoes. If we had not arrived, it would have been of little consequence who had the property of him, as, without a cow, he could be of no use; and none had been left with him. Though the natives told us that there were cows on board the Spanish ships, and that they took them away with them, I cannot believe this; and should rather suppose, that they had died in the passage from Lima. The next day, I sent the three cows, that I had on board, to this bull; and the bull, which I had brought, the horse and mare, and sheep, I put ashore at Matavai.

Having thus disposed of these passengers, I found myself lightened of a very heavy burthen. The trouble and vexation that attended the bringing of this living cargo thus far, is hardly to be conceived. But the satisfaction that I felt, in having been so fortunate as to fulfil his Majesty’s humane design, in sending such valuable animals, to supply the wants of two worthy nations, sufficiently recompensed me for the many anxious hours I had passed, before this subordinate object of my voyage could be carried into execution.

As I intended to make some stay here, we set up the two observatories on Matavai Point. Adjoining to them, two tents were pitched for the reception of a guard, and of such people as it might be necessary to leave on shore, in different departments. At this station, I intrusted the command to Mr. King; who, at the same time, attended the observations for ascertaining the going of the time-keeper, and other purposes. During our stay, various necessary operations employed the crews of both ships. The Discovery’s main-mast was carried ashore, and made as good as ever. Our sails and water-casks were repaired; the ships were caulked; and the rigging all overhauled. We also inspected all the bread that we had on board in casks; and had the satisfaction to find, that but little of it was damaged.

On the 26th, I had a piece of ground cleared for a garden, and planted it with several articles; very few of which, I believe, the natives will ever look after. Some melons, potatoes, and two pine-apple plants, were in a fair way of succeeding, before we left the place. I had brought from the Friendly Islands several shaddock-trees. These I also planted here; and they can hardly fail of success, unless their growth should be checked by the same premature curiosity, which destroyed a vine planted by the Spaniards at Oheitepeha. A number of the natives got together, to taste the first fruit it bore; but, as the grapes were still sour, they considered it as little better than poison, and it was unanimously determined, to tread it under foot. In that state, Omai found it by chance, and was overjoyed at the discovery. For he had a full confidence, that, if he had but grapes, he could easily make wine. Accordingly, he had several slips cut from off the tree, to carry away with him; and we pruned and put in order the remains of it. Probably, grown wise by Omai’s instructions, they may now suffer the fruit to grow to perfection, and not pass so hasty a sentence upon it again.

We had not been eight-and-forty hours at anchor in Matavai Bay, before we were visited by our old friends, whose names are recorded in the account of my last voyage. Not one of them came empty-handed; so that we had more provisions than we knew what to do with. What was still more, we were under no apprehensions of exhausting the island, which presented to our eyes every mark of the most exuberant plenty, in every article of refreshment.

Soon after our arrival here, one of the natives, whom the Spaniards had carried with them to Lima, paid us a visit; but, in his external appearance, he was not distinguishable from the rest of his countrymen. However, he had not forgot some Spanish words which he had acquired, though he pronounced them badly. Amongst them, the most frequent were, si Sennor; and, when a stranger was introduced to him, he did not fail to rise up and accost him, as well as he could.

We also found here the young man whom we called Oedidee, but whose real name is Heete-heete. I had carried him from Ulietea in 1773, and brought him back in 1774; after he had visited the Friendly Islands, New Zealand, Easter Island, and the Marqueses, and been on board my ship, in that extensive navigation, about seven months. He was, at least, as tenacious of his good breeding, as the man who had been at Lima; and yes, Sir, or if you please, Sir, were as frequently repeated by him, as si Sennor, was by the other. Heete-heete, who is a native of Bolabola, had arrived in Otaheite about three months before, with no other intention, that we could learn, than to gratify his curiosity, or, perhaps, some other favourite passion; which are, very often, the only object of the pursuit of other travelling gentlemen. It was evident, however, that he preferred the modes, and even garb, of his countrymen, to ours. For, though I gave him some clothes, which our Admiralty Board had been pleased to send for his use, (to which I added a chest of tools, and a few other articles, as a present from myself,) he declined wearing them, after a few days. This instance, and that of the person who had been at Lima, may be urged as a proof of the strong propensity natural to man, of returning to habits acquired at an early age, and only interrupted by accident. And, perhaps, it may be concluded, that even Omai, who had imbibed almost the whole English manners, will, in a very short time after our leaving him, like Oedidee, and the visitor of Lima, return to his own native garments.

In the morning of the 27th, a man came from Oheitepeha, and told us that two Spanish ships had anchored in that bay the night before; and, in confirmation of this intelligence, he produced a piece of coarse blue cloth, which he said he got out of one of the ships; and which, indeed, in appearance, was almost quite new. He added, that Mateema was in one of the ships; and that they were to come down to Matavai in a day or two. Some other circumstances which he mentioned, with the foregoing ones, gave the story so much the air of truth, that I dispatched Lieutenant Williamson in a boat, to look into Oheitepeha bay; and, in the mean time, I put the ships into a proper posture of defence. For, though England and Spain were in peace when I left Europe, for aught I knew, a different scene might, by this time, have opened. However, on farther inquiry, we had reason to think that the fellow who brought the intelligence had imposed upon us; and this was put beyond all doubt, when Mr. Williamson returned next day; who made his report to me, that he had been at Oheitepeha, and found that no ships were there now, and that none had been there since we left it. The people of this part of the island, where we now were, indeed, told us, from the beginning, that it was a fiction invented by those of Tiaraboo. But what view they could have, we were at a loss to conceive, unless they supposed, that the report would have some effect in making us quit the island, and, by that means, deprive the people of Otaheite-nooe of the advantages they might reap from our ships continuing there; the inhabitants of the two parts of the island being inveterate enemies to each other.

From the time of our arrival at Matavai, the weather had been very unsettled, with more or less rain every day, till the 29th; before which we were not able to get equal altitudes of the sun for ascertaining the going of the time-keeper. The same cause also retarded the caulking, and other necessary repairs of the ships.

In the evening of this day, the natives made a precipitate retreat, both from on board the ships, and from our station on shore. For what reason, we could not, at first, learn; though, in general, we guessed it arose from their knowing that some theft had been committed, and apprehending punishment on that account. At length, I understood what had happened. One of the surgeon’s mates had been in the country to purchase curiosities, and had taken with him four hatchets for that purpose. Having employed one of the natives to carry them for him, the fellow took an opportunity to run off with so valuable a prize. This was the cause of the sudden flight, in which Otoo himself, and his whole family, had joined; and it was with difficulty that I stopped them, after following them two or three miles. As I had resolved to take no measures for the recovery of the hatchets, in order to put my people upon their guard against such negligence for the future, I found no difficulty in bringing the natives back, and in restoring every thing to its usual tranquillity.

Hitherto, the attention of Otoo and his people had been confined to us; but, next morning, a new scene of business opened, by the arrival of some messengers from Eimeo, or (as it is much oftener called by the natives) Morea [4] , with intelligence that the people in that island were in arms; and that Otoo’s partizans there had been worsted, and obliged to retreat to the mountains. The quarrel between the two islands, which commenced in 1774, as mentioned in the account of my last voyage, had, it seems, partly subsisted ever since. The formidable armament which I saw, at that time, and described [5] , had sailed soon after I then left Otaheite; but the malcontents of Eimeo had made so stout a resistance, that the fleet had returned without effecting much; and now another expedition was necessary.

On the arrival of these messengers, all the chiefs, who happened to be at Matavai, assembled at Otoo’s house, where I actually was at the time, and had the honour to be admitted into their council. One of the messengers opened the business of the assembly, in a speech of considerable length. But I understood little of it, besides its general purport, which was to explain the situation of affairs in Eimeo; and to excite the assembled chiefs of Otaheite to arm on the occasion. This opinion was combated by others, who were against commencing hostilities; and the debate was carried on with great order; no more than one man speaking at a time. At last they became very noisy, and I expected that our meeting would have ended like a Polish diet. But the contending great men cooled as fast as they grew warm, and order was soon restored. At length, the party for war prevailed; and it was determined that a strong force should be sent to assist their friends in Eimeo. But this resolution was far from being unanimous. Otoo, during the whole debate, remained silent; except that, now and then, he addressed a word or two to the speakers. Those of the council, who were for prosecuting the war, applied to me for my assistance; and all of them wanted to know what part I would take. Omai was sent for to be my interpreter; but, as he could not be found, I was obliged to speak for myself, and told them, as well as I could, that as I was not thoroughly acquainted with the dispute, and as the people of Eimeo had never offended me, I could not think myself at liberty to engage in hostilities against them. With this declaration they either were, or seemed, satisfied. The assembly then broke up; but, before I left them, Otoo desired me to come to him in the afternoon, and to bring Omai with me.

Accordingly, a party of us waited upon him at the appointed time; and we were conducted by him to his father, in whose presence the dispute with Eimeo was again talked over. Being very desirous of devising some method to bring about an accommodation, I sounded the old chief on that head, but we found him deaf to any such proposal, and fully determined to prosecute the war. He repeated the solicitations which I had already resisted, about giving them my assistance. On our inquiring into the cause of the war, we were told, that, some years ago, a brother of Waheadooa, of Tieraboo, was sent to Eimeo, at the request of Maheine, a popular chief of that island, to be their king; but that he had not been there a week before Maheine, having caused him to be killed, set up for himself, in opposition to Tierataboonooe, his sister’s son, who became the lawful heir; or else had been pitched upon, by the people of Otaheite, to succeed to the government on the death of the other.

Towha, who is a relation of Otoo, and chief of the district of Tettaha, a man of much weight in the island, and who had been commander-in-chief of the armament fitted out against Eimeo in 1774, happened not to be at Matavai at this time; and, consequently, was not present at any of these consultations. It, however, appeared that he was no stranger to what was transacted; and that he entered with more spirit into the affair than any other chief; for, early in the morning of the 1st of September, a messenger arrived from him to acquaint Otoo, that he had killed a man to be sacrificed to Eatooa, to implore the assistance of the god against Eimeo. This act of worship was to be performed at the great Morai at Attahooroo; and Otoo’s presence, it seems, was absolutely necessary on that solemn occasion.

That the offering of human sacrifices is part of the religious institutions of this island, had been mentioned by Mons. Bougainville, on the authority of the native whom he carried with him to France. During my last visit to Otaheite, and while I had opportunities of conversing with Omai on the subject, I had satisfied myself that there was too much reason to admit, that such a practice, however inconsistent with the general humanity of the people, was here adopted. But as this was one of those extraordinary facts, about which many are apt to retain doubts, unless the relater himself has had ocular proof to confirm what he had heard from others, I thought this a good opportunity of obtaining the highest evidence of its certainty, by being present myself at the solemnity; and, accordingly, proposed to Otoo that I might be allowed to accompany him. To this he readily consented; and we immediately set out in my boat, with my old friend Potatou, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Webber; Omai following in a canoe.

In our way we landed upon a little island, which lies off Tettaha, where we found Towha and his retinue. After some little conversation between the two chiefs, on the subject of the war, Towha addressed himself to me, asking my assistance. When I excused myself, he seemed angry; thinking it strange that I, who had always declared myself to be the friend of their island, would not now go and fight against its enemies. Before we parted, he gave to Otoo two or three red feathers, tied up in a tuft; and a lean, half-starved dog was put into a canoe that was to accompany us. We then embarked again, taking on board a priest who was to assist at the solemnity.

A Morai, or Burying Place, at Otaheite.

As soon as we landed at Attahooroo, which was about two o’clock in the afternoon, Otoo expressed his desire that the seamen might be ordered to remain in the boat; and that Mr. Anderson, Mr. Webber, and myself, might take off our hats, as soon as we should come to the morai, to which we immediately proceeded, attended by a great many men and some boys; but not one woman. We found four priests, and their attendants or assistants, waiting for us. The dead body, or sacrifice, was in a small canoe that lay on the beach, and partly in the wash of the sea, fronting the morai. Two of the priests, with some of their attendants, were sitting by the canoe; the others at the morai. Our company stopped about twenty or thirty paces from the priests. Here Otoo placed himself; we, and a few others, standing by him; while the bulk of the people remained at a greater distance.

The ceremonies now began. One of the priest’s attendants brought a young plantain tree, and laid it down before Otoo. Another approached with a small tuft of red feathers, twisted on some fibres of the cocoa-nut-husk, with which he touched one of the king’s feet, and then retired with it to his companions. One of the priests, seated at the morai, facing those who were upon the beach, now began a long prayer; and, at certain times, sent down young plantain-trees, which were laid upon the sacrifice. During this prayer, a man, who stood by the officiating priest, held in his hands two bundles, seemingly of cloth. In one of them, as we afterwards found, was the royal maro; and the other, if I may be allowed the expression, was the ark of the Eatooa. As soon as the prayer was ended, the priests at the morai, with their attendants, went and sat down by those upon the beach, carrying with them the two bundles. Here they renewed their prayers; during which the plantain-trees were taken, one by one, at different times, from off the sacrifice; which was partly wrapped up in cocoa leaves and small branches. It was now taken out of the canoe, and laid upon the beach, with the feet to the sea. The priests placed themselves around it, some sitting and others standing; and one or more of them, repeated sentences for about ten minutes. The dead body was now uncovered, by removing the leaves and branches, and laid in a parallel direction with the seashore. One of the priests then, standing at the feet of it, pronounced a long prayer, in which he was, at times, joined by the others; each holding in his hand a tuft of red feathers. In the course of this prayer, some hair was pulled off the head of the sacrifice, and the left eye taken out; both of which were presented to Otoo, wrapped up in a green leaf. He did not, however, touch it; but gave to the man who presented it the tuft of feathers which he had received from Towha. This, with the hair and eye, was carried back to the priests. Soon after, Otoo sent to them another piece of feathers, which he had given me in the morning to keep in my pocket. During some part of this last ceremony, a king-fisher making a noise in the trees, Otoo turned to me, saying, “That is the Eatooa;” and seemed to look upon it to be a good omen.

The body was then carried a little way with its head towards the morai, and laid under a tree, near which were fixed three broad thin pieces of wood, differently but rudely carved. The bundles of cloth were laid on a part of the morai, and the tufts of red feathers were placed at the feet of the sacrifice, round which the priests took their stations; and we were now allowed to go as near as we pleased. He who seemed to be the chief priest sat at a small distance and spoke for a quarter of an hour, but with different tones and gestures, so that he seemed often to expostulate with the dead person, to whom he constantly addressed himself; and sometimes asked several questions, seemingly with respect to the propriety of his having been killed. At other times he made several demands, as if the deceased either now had power himself, or interest with the divinity to engage him to comply with such requests. Amongst which, we understood, he asked him to deliver Eimeo Maheine, its chief, the hogs, women, and other things of the island, into their hands; which was, indeed, the express intention of the sacrifice. He then chanted a prayer, which lasted half an hour, in a whining, melancholy tone, accompanied by two other priests; and in which Potatou and some others joined. In the course of this prayer, some more hair was plucked by a priest from the head of the corpse, and put upon one of the bundles. After this, the chief priest prayed alone, holding in his hand the feathers which came from Towha. When he had finished, he gave them to another, who prayed in like manner. Then all the tufts of feathers were laid upon the bundles of cloth; which closed the ceremony at this place.

The corpse was then carried up to the most conspicuous part of the morai, with the feathers, the two bundles of cloth, and the drums; the last of which beat slowly. The feathers and bundles were laid against the pile of stones, and the corpse at the foot of them. The priests having again seated themselves round it, renewed their prayers; while some of the attendants dug a hole about two feet deep, into which they threw the unhappy victim, and covered it with earth and stones. While they were putting him into the grave, a boy squeaked aloud, and Omai said to me, that it was the Eatooa. During this time, a fire having been made, the dog before mentioned was produced and killed, by twisting his neck and suffocating him. The hair was singed off and the entrails taken out and thrown into the fire, where they were left to consume. But the heart, liver, and kidneys were only roasted, by being laid on the stones for a few minutes; and the body of the dog, after being besmeared with the blood which had been collected in a cocoa-nut shell, and dried over the fire, was, with the liver, &c. carried and laid down before the priests, who sat praying round the grave. They continued their ejaculations over the dog for some time, while two men, at intervals, beat on two drums very loud; and a boy screamed as before, in a loud shrill voice, three different times. This, as we were told, was to invite the Eatooa to feast on the banquet that they had prepared for him. As soon as the priests had ended their prayers, the carcase of the dog, with what belonged to it, were laid on a whatta, or scaffold, about six feet high, that stood close by, on which lay the remains of two other dogs, and of two pigs which had lately been sacrificed, and at this time emitted an intolerable stench. This kept us at a greater distance than would otherwise have been required of us. For after the victim was removed from the seaside toward the morai, we were allowed to approach as near as we pleased. Indeed, after that, neither seriousness nor attention were much observed by the spectators. When the dog was put upon the whatta, the priests and attendants gave a kind of shout, which closed the ceremonies for the present. The day being now also closed, we were conducted to a house belonging to Potatou, where we were entertained and lodged for the night. We had been told that the religious rites were to be renewed in the morning; and I would not leave the place, while any thing remained to be seen.

Being unwilling to lose any part of the solemnity, some of us repaired to the scene of action pretty early, but found nothing going forward. However, soon after, a pig was sacrificed, and laid upon the same whatta with the others. About eight o’clock, Otoo took us again to the morai, where the priests and a great number of men were by this time assembled. The two bundles occupied the place in which we had seen them deposited the preceding evening; the two drums stood in the front of the morai, but somewhat nearer it than before; and the priests were beyond them. Otoo placed himself between the two drums, and desired me to stand by him.

The ceremony began as usual, with bringing a young plantain-tree, and laying it down at the king’s feet. After this a prayer was repeated by the priests, who held in their hands several tufts of red feathers, and also a plume of ostrich feathers, which I had given to Otoo on my first arrival, and had been consecrated to this use. When the priests had made an end of the prayer, they changed their station, placing themselves between us and the morai, and one of them, the same person who had acted the principal part the day before, began another prayer, which lasted about half an hour. During the continuance of this, the tufts of feathers were, one by one, carried and laid upon the ark of the Eatooa.

Some little time after, four pigs were produced; one of which was immediately killed, and the others were taken to a stye hard by, probably reserved for some future occasion of sacrifice. One of the bundles was now untied, and it was found, as I have before observed, to contain the maro, with which these people invest their kings, and which seems to answer, in some degree, to the European ensigns of royalty. It was carefully taken out of the cloth in which it had been wrapped up, and spread at full length upon the ground before the priests. It is a girdle about five yards long and fifteen inches broad, and, from its name, seems to be put on in the same manner as is the common maro, or piece of cloth used by these people to wrap round the waist. It was ornamented with red and yellow feathers, but mostly with the latter, taken from a dove found upon the island. The one end was bordered with eight pieces, each about the size and shape of a horse-shoe having their edges fringed with black feathers. The other end was forked, and the points were of different lengths. The feathers were in square compartments, ranged in two rows, and otherwise so disposed as to produce a pleasing effect. They had been first pasted or fixed upon some of their own country cloth, and then sewed to the upper end of the pendant which Captain Wallis had displayed, and left flying ashore, the first time that he landed at Matavai. This was what they told us; and we had no reason to doubt it, as we could easily trace the remains of an English pendant. About six or eight inches square of the maro was unornamented, there being no feathers upon that space, except a few that had been sent by Waheadooa, as already mentioned. The priests made a long prayer relative to this part of the ceremony; and, if I mistook not, they called it the prayer of the maro. When it was finished, the badge of royalty was carefully folded up, put into the cloth, and deposited again upon the morai.

The other bundle, which I have distinguished by the name of the ark, was next opened at one end. But we were not allowed to go near enough to examine its mysterious contents. The information we received was, that the Eatooa, to whom they had been sacrificing, and whose name is Ooro, was concealed in it; or rather, what is supposed to represent him. This sacred repository is made of the twisted fibres of the husk of the cocoa-nut, shaped somewhat like a large fid or sugar-loaf, that is, roundish, with one end much thicker than the other. We had very often got small ones from different people, but never knew their use before.

By this time the pig that had been killed, was cleaned, and the entrails taken out. These happened to have a considerable share of those convulsive motions, which often appear in different parts after an animal is killed, and this was considered by the spectators as a very favourable omen to the expedition, on account of which the sacrifices had been offered. After being exposed for some time, that those who chose might examine their appearances, the entrails were carried to the priests and laid down before them. While one of their number prayed, another inspected the entrails more narrowly and kept turning them gently with a stick. When they had been sufficiently examined, they were thrown into the fire and left to consume. The sacrificed pig, and its liver, &c. were now put upon the whatta, where the dog had been deposited the day before; and then all the feathers, except the ostrich-plume, were inclosed with the Eatooa in the ark; and the solemnity finally closed.

Four double canoes lay upon the beach, before the place of sacrifice, all the morning. On the fore-part of each of these was fixed a small platform covered with palm-leaves tied in mysterious knots; and this also is called a morai. Some cocoa-nuts, plantains, pieces of bread-fruit, fish, and other things, lay upon each of these naval morais. We were told that they belonged to the Eatooa, and that they were to attend the fleet designed to go against Eimeo.

The unhappy victim offered to the object of their worship upon this occasion, seemed to be a middle-aged man, and, as we were told, was a towtow, that is, one of the lowest class of the people. But, after all my inquiries, I could not learn that he had been pitched upon on account of any particular crime committed by him meriting death. It is certain, however, that they generally make choice of such guilty persons for their sacrifice, or else of common low fellows, who stroll about from place to place and from island to island, without having any fixed abode, or any visible way of getting an honest livelihood, of which description of men enough are to be met with at these islands. Having had an opportunity of examining the appearance of the body of the poor sufferer now offered up, I could observe that it was bloody about the head and face, and a good deal bruised upon the right temple; which marked the manner of his being killed. And we were told, that he had been privately knocked on the head with a stone.

Those who are devoted to suffer, in order to perform this bloody act of worship, are never apprized of their fate till the blow is given that puts an end to their existence. Whenever any one of the great chiefs thinks a human sacrifice necessary on any particular emergency, he pitches upon the victim. Some of his trusty servants are then sent, who fall upon him suddenly, and put him to death with a club or by stoning him. The king is next acquainted with it, whose presence at the solemn rites that follow is, as I was told, absolutely necessary; and, indeed, on the present occasion, we could observe that Otoo bore a principal part. The solemnity itself is called Poore Eree, or chief’s prayer; and the victim who is offered up Taata-taboo, or consecrated man. This is the only instance where we have heard the word taboo used at this island, where it seems to have the same mysterious signification as at Tonga, though it is there applied to all cases where things are not to be touched. But at Otaheite, the word raa serves the same purpose, and is full as extensive in its meaning.

The morai (which, undoubtedly, is a place of worship, sacrifice, and burial, at the same time), where the sacrifice was now offered, is that where the supreme chief of the whole island is always buried, and is appropriated to his family and some of the principal people. It differs little from the common ones, except in extent. Its principal part is a large oblong, pile of stones, lying loosely upon each other, about twelve or fourteen feet high, contracted towards the top, with a square area on each side loosely paved with pebble stones, under which the bones of the chiefs are buried. At a little distance from the end nearest the sea, is the place where the sacrifices are offered; which, for a considerable extent is also loosely paved. There is here a very large scaffold or whatta, on which the offerings of fruits and other vegetables are laid. But the animals are deposited on a smaller one already mentioned, and the human sacrifices are buried under different parts of the pavement. There are several other relics which ignorant superstition had scattered about this place, such as small stones raised in different parts of the pavement, some with bits of cloth tied round them, others covered with it; and, upon the side of the large pile which fronts the area, are placed a great many pieces of carved wood, which are supposed to be sometimes the residence of their divinities, and, consequently, held sacred. But one place, more particular than the rest, is a heap of stones at one end of the large whatta, before which the sacrifice was offered, with a kind of platform at one side. On this are laid the skulls of all the human sacrifices, which are taken up after they have been several months under ground. Just above them are placed a great number of the pieces of wood; and it was also here where the maro, and the other bundle supposed to contain the god Ooro (and which I call the ark), were laid during the ceremony; a circumstance which denotes its agreement with the altar of other nations.

It is much to be regretted, that a practice so horrid in its own nature and so destructive of that inviolable right of self-preservation, which every one is born with, should be found still existing; and (such is the power of superstition to counteract the first principles of humanity!) existing amongst a people in many other respects emerged from the brutal manners of savage life. What is still worse, it is probable that these bloody rites of worship are prevalent throughout all the wide extended islands of the Pacific Ocean. The similarity of customs and language, which our late voyages have enabled us to trace between the most distant of these islands, makes it not unlikely that some of the most important articles of their religious institutions should agree. And, indeed, we have the most authentic information that human sacrifices continue to be offered at the Friendly Islands. When I described the Natche at Tonge-taboo, I mentioned that, on the approaching sequel of that festival, we had been told that ten men were to be sacrificed. This may give us an idea of the extent of this religious massacre in that island. And though we should suppose that never more than one person is sacrificed, on any single occasion at Otaheite, it is more than probable that these occasions happen so frequently, as to make a shocking waste of the human race; for I counted no less than forty-nine skulls of former victims lying before the morai, where we saw one more added to the number. And as none of those skulls had as yet suffered any considerable change from the weather, it may hence be inferred, that no great length of time had elapsed, since, at least, this considerable number of unhappy wretches had been offered upon this altar of blood.

The custom, though no consideration can make it cease to be abominable, might be thought less detrimental, in some respects, if it served to impress any awe for the divinity or reverence for religion, upon the minds of the multitude. But this is so far from being the case, that though a great number of people had assembled at the morai on this occasion, they did not seem to show any proper reverence for what was doing or saying during the celebration of the rites. And Omai happening to arrive after they had begun, many of the spectators flocked round him, and were engaged the remainder of the time in making him relate some of his adventures, which they listened to with great attention, regardless of the solemn offices performing by their priests. Indeed, the priests themselves, except the one who chiefly repeated the prayers, either from their being familiarized to such objects, or from want of confidence in the efficacy of their institutions, observed very little of that solemnity, which is necessary to give to religious performances their due weight. Their dress was only an ordinary one; they conversed together without scruple; and the only attempt made by them to preserve any appearance of decency, was by exerting their authority to prevent the people from coming upon the very spot where the ceremonies were performed, and to suffer us, as strangers, to advance a little forward. They were, however, very candid in their answers to any questions that were put to them concerning the institution. And particularly, on being asked what the intention of it was? they said that it was an old custom, and was agreeable to their god, who delighted in, or, in other words, came and fed upon the sacrifices; in consequence of which, he complied with their petitions. Upon its being objected that he could not feed on these, as he was neither seen to do it, nor were the bodies of the animals quickly consumed; and that, as to the human victim, they prevented his feeding on him, by burying him. But to all this they answered, that he came in the night, but invisibly, and fed only on the soul or immaterial part, which, according to their doctrine, remains about the place of sacrifice, until the body of the victim be entirely wasted by putrefaction.

It were much to be wished that this deluded people may learn to entertain the same horror of murdering their fellow-creatures, in order to furnish such an invisible banquet to their god, as they now have of feeding, corporeally, on human flesh themselves. And, yet, we have great reason to believe, that there was a time when they were cannibals. We were told (and, indeed, partly saw it), that it is a necessary ceremony, when a poor wretch is sacrificed, for the priest to take out the left eye. This he presents to the king, holding it to his mouth, which he desires him to open; but, instead of putting it in, immediately withdraws it. This they call “eating the man,” or, “food for the chief;” and, perhaps, we may observe here some traces of former times, when the dead body was really feasted upon.

But not to insist upon this; it is certain, that human sacrifices are not the only barbarous custom we find still prevailing amongst this benevolent, humane people. For, besides cutting out the jaw-bones of their enemies slain in battle, which they carry about as trophies, they, in some measure, offer their dead bodies as a sacrifice to the Eatooa. Soon after a battle, in which they have been victors, they collect all the dead that have fallen into their hands, and bring them to the morai, where, with a great deal of ceremony, they dig a hole, and bury them all in it, as so many offerings to the gods; but their skulls are never after taken up.

Their own great chiefs, that fall in battle, are treated in a different manner. We were informed, that their late king Tootaha, Tubourai-tamaide, and another chief, who fell with them in the battle, fought with those of Tiaraboo, and were brought to this morai, at Attahooroo. There their bowels were cut out by the priests, before the great altar, and the bodies afterwards buried in three different places, which were pointed out to us, in the great pile of stones, that compose the most conspicuous part of this morai. And their common men, who also fell in this battle, were all buried in one hole, at the foot of the pile. This, Omai, who was present, told me was done the day after the battle, with much pomp and ceremony, and in the midst of a great concourse of people, as a thanksgiving-offering to the Eatooa, for the victory they had obtained; while the vanquished had taken refuge in the mountains. There they remained a week, or ten days, till the fury of the victors was over, and a treaty set on foot, by which it was agreed, that Otoo should be declared king of the whole island; and the solemnity of investing him with the maro, was performed at the same morai, with great pomp, in the presence of all the principal men of the country.