he
express intention of the sacrifice. He then chanted a prayer, which
lasted near 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 their attendants dug a hole about two feet
deep, into which they threw the unhappy victim, and covered it over
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 hot stones for a
few minutes; and the body of the dog, after being besmeared with the
blood, which had been collected into 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 carcass
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 greate