who were now all assembled and seated round the body, began a most dismal lamentation, similar to that at Neafoo; in the mean time a number of people, whose business it is to prepare graves, were digging the place of interment within the fytoca, under the direction of Lanagi, a mataboole whose office is to superintend such affairs. Having dug about ten feet, they came to the large stone vault, such as was described in the note p. 153; a rope being then fastened double round one end of the stone, which always remains a little raised for this purpose by means of certain bodies placed underneath; it was raised by the main strength of 150 or 200 men, pulling at the two ends of the rope, towards the opposite edge of the grave, till it was brought up on end. The body, being oiled with sandal-wood oil and then wrapped in Hamoa mats, was handed down on a large bale of gnatoo into the grave; the bale of gnatoo was then, as is customary, taken by the beforementioned mataboole as his perquisite. Next, the body of his daughter, in the model of a canoe, was let down in like manner and placed

kind of gnatoo of very superior quality, but of the same colour and pattern, and this is used on occasions of rejoicing.

VOL. I.

DD

.

by his side. The great stone was then lowered down with a loud shout. Immediately certain matabooles and warriors ran like men frantic round and about the fytoca, exclaiming, "Alas! "how great is our loss! Finow! you are "departed; witness this proof of our love and "loyalty!" At the same time they cut and bruised their own heads with clubs, knives, axes, &c.

The whole company now formed themselves into a single line, the women first and afterwards the men, but without any particular order as to rank, and proceeded towards Lico (or the back of the island, as they term it, because there is no opening for large canoes), for the purpose (as customary) of getting a quantity of sand in small baskets, for the use directly to be described. The guns were not

This grave, which was considered a large one, is capacious enough to hold thirty bodies. Two bodies which Mr. Mariner saw there, and which were in a very dry but perfect state, had been buried, as he was told by old men, when they wome first and consequently must have been there upwards of forty years; while several others, of which nothing remained but the bones, had not been buried so long: this circumstance the natives suppose to be owing to different kinds of constitution, though, in all probabilits, fo the kind or length of disease of which they died.

however taken in the procession, as the young prince considered the measure now unnecessary, every thing appearing perfectly quiet, for if any party had intended to revolt, they would have done it on their way from Neafoo to the grave, whilst they had clubs and spears in their possession, and not during the ceremony of burial, before which every man, according to custom, deposits his arms in the neighbouring houses. It is true they might afterwards have taken up their arms again and planned mischief, but the prince, who had always his spies about, neither perceiving nor hearing of any symptoms of disturbance, did not wish to seem fearful of revolt, which would have been the case had he taken the guns with him to the back of the island, and which he could not have done with any plausible pretence, such as he had for carrying them to Felletoa.

In their road to the back of the island they sang loudly the whole way, as a signal to all who might be in the road or adjacent fields to hide themselves as quickly as possible, for it is sacrilegious for any body to be seen abroad by the procession during this part of the ceremony; and if any man had unfortunately made his appearance, he would undoubtedly have been pursued by one of the party, and

soon dispatched with the club. So strictly is this attended to, that nobody in Mr. Mariner's time recollected a breach of a law so well known. Even if a common man was to be buried, and Finow himself was to be upon the road, or in the neighbourhood of the procession, whilst going to get sand at the back of the island, he would immediately hide himself; not that they would knock out the king's brains on such an occasion, but it would be thought sacrilegious and unlucky, the gods of Bolotoo being supposed to be present at the time. The chiefs are particularly careful not to infringe upon sacred laws, lest they should. set an example of disobedience to the people. The song on this occasion, which is very short, is sung first by the men, and then by the women, and so on alternately, and intimates (though Mr. Mariner has forgotten the exact words) that the fala (which is the name of this part of the ceremony) is coming, and that every body must get out of the way.

When they arrived at the back of the island, where any body may be present to see them, and, on this occasion, it was at the part called Mofooé, every one proceeded to make a small basket of the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, holding about two quarts, and to fill it with

sand: this being done, each of the men carried two upon a stick across the shoulder, one at each end—while the women only carried one, pressed, in general, against the left hip, or rather upon it, by the hand of the same side, and supported by the hand of the opposite side, brought backwards across the loins, which they consider the easiest mode for women to carry small burdens*; they then proceeded back the same way, and with the same ceremony, to the grave. By this time the grave above the vault was nearly filled with the earth lately dug out, the remaining small space being left to be filled up by the sand, which is always more than enough for this purpose, that the mount, of which the fytoca consists, may be strewed in like manner, it being considered a great embellishment to a grave to have it thus covered, and is thought to appear very well from a distance, where the clean sand may be seen on the outside of the fytoca; besides which, it is the custom, and nobody can explain the reason why,--which is the case with several of their customs.

This

This mode, which the women use, is called fafa; that which the men use, as just described, ámo; carrying in the hand by the side, taggi-taggi;-whilst the general term for any mode of carrying is fooa.