e arrangement of others
is changed. Oe and tana are never used now in place of the plural outou
and tatou; but in old folk-lore it is the classical style of addressing
the gods in the collective sense. Tahutahu means sorcery, and also to
kindle a fire.'

* * * * *

So far Miss Henry, on this occasion, and the archaic nature of the hymn,
with the reference to a mythical leader of the revolt of women, deserves
the attention of anthropologists, apart from the singular character of
the rite described. In the third number of the Journal (vol. ii.) the
following editorial note is published:

'Miss Tenira Henry authorises us to say that her sister and her
sister's little child were some of those who joined in the Uum-Ti
ceremony referred to in vol. ii. p. 108, and in the preceding note,
and actually walked over the red-hot stones. The illustration of the
performance given in the last number of the Journal, it appears, is
actually from a photograph taken by Lieutenant Morne, the original of
which Miss Henry has sent us for inspection.--EDITOR.'

Corroborative Evidence

The following corroborative account is given in the Journal, from a
source vaguely described as 'a pamphlet published in San Francisco, by
Mr. Hastwell:'

'The natives of Raiatea have some performances so entirely out of the
ordinary course of events as to institute (sic) inquiry relative to a
proper solution.

'On September 20, 1885, I witnessed the wonderful, and to me
inexplicable, performance of passing through the "fiery furnace."

'The furnace that I saw was an excavation of three or four feet in the
ground, in a circular form (sloping upwards), and about thirty feet
across. The excavation was filled with logs and wood, and then covered
with large stones. A fire was built underneath, and kept burning for a
day. When I witnessed it, on the second day, the flames were pouring up
through the interstices of the rocks, which were heated to a red and
white heat. When everything was in readiness, and the furnace still
pouring out its intense heat, the natives marched up with bare feet to
the edge of the furnace, where they halted for a moment, and after a few
passes of the wand made of the branches of the ti-plant by the leader,
who repeated a few words in the native language, they stepped down on the
rocks and walked leisurely across to the other side, stepping from stone
to stone. This was repeated five times, withou