an Attahooroo man; afterward
Potatou spoke with much greater fluency and grace than any of them;
for, in general, they spoke in short broken sentences, with a motion
of the hand that was rather awkward. Tooteo, Otoo's orator, spoke
next; and, after him, a man from Eimeo. Two or three more speeches
were made; but not much attended to. Omai told me, that the speeches
declared, that they should not fight, but all be friends. As many of
the speakers expressed themselves with warmth, possibly there were
some recriminations and protestations of their good intentions. In
the midst of their speaking, a man of Attahooroo got up, with a sling
fastened to his waist, and a large stone placed upon his shoulder.
After parading near a quarter of an hour, in the open space, repeating
something in a singing tone, he threw the stone down. This stone,
and a plantain-tree that lay at Otoo's feet, were, after the speeches
ended, carried to the _morai_: and one of the priests, and Otoo with
him, said something upon the occasion.

"On our return to Oparre, the sea-breeze having set in, we were
obliged to land; and had a pleasant walk through almost the whole
extent of Tettaha to Oparre. A tree, with two bundles of dried leaves
suspended upon it, marked the boundary of the two districts. The man
who had performed the ceremony of the stone and sling came with us.
With him, Otoo's father had a long conversation. He seemed very angry.
I understood, he was enraged at the part Towha had taken in the Eimeo
business."

From what I can judge of this solemnity, as thus described by Mr King,
it had not been wholly a thanksgiving, as Omai told us, but rather a
confirmation of the treaty, or perhaps both. The grave, which Mr King
speaks of, seems to be the very spot where the celebration of the
rites began, when the human sacrifice, at which I was present, was
offered, and before which the victim was laid, after being removed
from the sea side. It is at this part of the _morai_ also that they
first invest their kings with the _maro_. Omai, who had been present
when Otoo was made king, described to me the whole ceremony, when we
were here; and I find it to be almost the same as this that Mr King
has now described, though we understood it to be upon a very different
occasion. The plantain-tree, so often mentioned, is always the first
thing introduced, not only in all their religious ceremonies, but in
all their debates, whether of a public or private nat