half an hour's silence ensued; nobody daring to deliver his sentiments. The company then rose, by Finow's order, and followed him to his. house. As he passed the body, he ordered it to be lifted up and carried before him. When the procession arrived, the body was laid down on the outside of the house, and washed all over with a mixture of oil and water (as is always customary.) This office was performed by one of Finow's wives and Mr. Mariner; nobody else offering to do it, on account of their objections to being taboo'd*. Finow's wife did not * No person can touch a dead chief without being taboo'd for ten lunar months, except chiefs, who are only taboo'd for three, four, or five months, according to the superiority of the dead chief; except again it be the body of Tooitonga, and then even the greatest chief would be taboo'd ten months, as was the case with Finow's wife above mentioned. During the time a man is taboo'd he must not feed himself with his own hands, but must be fed by somebody else: he must not even use a toothpick himself, but must guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he is hungry and there is no one to feed him, he must go down upon his hands and knees, and pick up his victuals with his mouth and if he infringes upon any of these rules, it is firmly expected that he will swell up and die: and this belief is so strong that Mr. Mariner thinks no native ever made an experiment to prove the contrary. They often saw him feed himself with his hands after having touched dead chiefs, and not observing his health to decline, they attributed it to his being a foreigner, and being governed by different Gods. mind it, because she was already taboo'd from having touched the dead body of the late Tooitonga nine months before, and had consequently got accustomed to the inconveniences of it; and Mr. Mariner did not hesitate to do this last office to his friend, because he had no superstitious fears of the consequences of not submitting to it. The body, being washed, was brought, into the house, laid on a large bale of gnatoo, and anointed with sandal wood oil. Toobo Neuha's wives (four in number) now came in to mourn over the dead body of their departed chief. They entered beating their breasts and faces, and screaming with all the agony and frantic agitations of mad women. They sat down close round the corpse, and in a most dismal strain began singing O yaooé! seooké! O yaooé! goóa máte é. Alas! woe is me! Alas! he is dead! Alas! how I respect him! Alas! how I lament his loss! Alas! here are his ruins! These verses were repeated over and over again, without any order, during the whole night; the mourners frequently beating their breasts and faces, and now and then making exclamations regarding themselves, as to what would become of them now they had lost their great chief and protector, and with him all their happiness and comfort. The house was lighted up by lamps with cocoa-nut oil. About one hundred and fifty persons were present, among whom were Finow and Mr. Mariner; both of whom staid the whole night. Finow's wives retired to rest. Mr. Mariner deeply felt on his mind the depressing influence of these sorrowful lamentations. The poor unfortunate women at intervals only sobbed and mourned for a time, then broke out loudly as before; till by degrees, the voice growing weak, sunk into a hoarse murmur; as if all the powers of the soul were fast declining under a weight of anguish, never to rise again; then a heart-rending exclamation of sorrow from one spread its contagion to all the rest; and thus was the whole night spent in lamentations for the death of a good and great man; who, as far as human judgment can determine, was unjustly accused, and undeservedly sacrificed. During all this time, the chiefs and warriors of the king kept themselves on the alarm, ex pecting every moment a revolt from the people of Toobo Neuha. Every thing, however, remained quiet. The following morning Finow issued orders for the body to be carried on board a canoe along with him, to proceed to the island of Wiha; this was accordingly done, and they set sail, sixty or seventy other canoes following, with the Vavaoo people, and several of the king's warriors. When they arrived at Wiha, a grave was opened for Toobo Neuha in the fytoca* of his ancestors, wherein his body was deposited in the presence of all who came in the canoes, besides a considerable number of the natives of the island †. As soon as the corpse was let down into the grave, one of those who had assassinated him, Chioolooa, a great warrior and a powerful man, advanced forward into the middle of the * Fytoca, a burying-place, including the grave, the mount in which it is sunk, and a sort of shed over it. The grave of a chief's family is a vault, lined at the bottom with one large stone, one at each side, and one at the foot and head, and is about eight feet long, six feet broad, and eight feet deep, covered at the top with one large stone. †The ceremony of this burial is omitted, as being similar to, though not quite so formal, as what will be described hereafter on the occasion of Finow's death. circle, brandishing his club, and addressed the Vavaoo people to the following effect: "If there "be any among you harbouring secret thoughts "of revenge, keep them no longer buried in your bosom, meditating plans of future in"surrection, but come now forth and fight me on the spot, for, by sacrificing me, you will revenge his death: I am the man who acted " a principal part in his death; come on, then, "one and all, and wreak your vengeance on 66 66 my head!"—Nobody, however, accepted this challenge; not but there were many Vavaoo chiefs who would willingly have done it, had they not thought better to reserve themselves, to effect a future and more signal vengeance. The stone was now put over the grave, and the company dispersed. During the whole of this time, in consequence of Finow's orders, every circumstance was attended to that might prevent an insurrection on the part of the Vavaoo warriors. The four carronades which Finow had brought with him were drawn up before the fencing in which he meant to reside during his stay: the Vavaoo people were forbidden to carry any offensive weapons, whilst those of Hapai were ordered to be under arms, and to keep themselves on the alert. |