In the afternoon we went on shore again, and saw but few of the natives in the country, which, though very pleasant, looks like an uninhabited or deserted place. We saw some morais, [see pl. X.] or burial places, which are similar in all these islands, and went into one of them, in which there was a whatee, or altar, with a roasted hog, and fish upon it, designed as an offering to the Ethooa, or god. Near to the whatee, or altar, there was a large house, which contained the coong-drums used at their solemnities: and, adjoining to this house, were several large cages of wood, having awnings of palm-leaves upon them. These cages are called Oro, and rested upon beams laid upon others that stood upright, and seemed in-tended for the reception of the birds sacred to Ethooa, of which there are two that fly about their morais, the grey heron, and a blue and brown king-fisher. These morais are paved, or rather covered with a sort of coral, and planted with various sorts of flowering shrubs, such as nonoah, etoa, and hibiscus. At the front of the morai, which faces the sea, they have built a fort of amphitheatre, of large rough stones; and, among these stones, there are a great many long boards set up, carved in various figures, according to their fancy. Every family of note has one of these morais ornamented as much as they can afford *. I have been told that the inhabitants of these three isles worship the rainbow, which they call Toomeitee no Tane.

* A kind of priest, [see pl. XI.] called heiva, attends these Morais, cloathed in a feather gar-ment, ornamented with round pieces of mother-of-pearl, and a very high cap on his head, made of cane, or bamboo, the front of which is feather-work; the edges beset with quills stripped of the plumage. He has also a sort of breast-plate, of a semicircular shape, made of a kind of wicker-work, on which they weave their plaited twine in a variety of figures: over this they put feathers of a green pigeon in rows; and between the rows is a semicircular row of Shark's teeth. The edge of the breast-plate is fringed with fine white dog's hair.

This priest is commonly attended with two boys, painted black, who assist him in placing the hog and fish for the Ethooa; as also in strewing the body of the defunct with leaves and flowers of bamboo; and, for two or three days after, is constantly employed in ranging the adjacent fields and woods, from which every one retires on his approach. The relations, in the mean time, build a temporary house near the Morai, where they assemble, and the females mourn for the deceased, by singing songs of grief; howling, and wounding their bodies in different places with shark's teeth; after which they bathe their wounds in the sea or river, and again return to howl and cut themselves, which they continue for three days. After the body is corrupted, and the bones become bare, the skeleton is deposited in a sort of stone pyramid built for that purpose.

Voyaging Accounts