y polluted,
for ten lunar months, during which time he or she might not touch food
with their own hands. But for chiefs the period of pollution was
limited to three, four, or five months, according to the superiority of
the dead chief. Only when the dead body which they had touched was that
of the sacred chief, the Tooitonga, they were all tabooed for ten
months, however high their rank; for example, the king's wife was
tabooed for that length of time during the residence of Mariner, because
she had touched the dead body of the Tooitonga. During the time that a
person was tabooed, he might not feed himself with his own hands, but
must be fed by somebody else: he might not even use a toothpick himself,
but might guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he was
hungry and had no one to feed him, he must go down on his hands and
knees, and pick up his victuals with his mouth; and if he infringed any
of these rules, it was firmly expected that he would swell up and
die.[219] Captain Cook observed this custom in operation at Tongataboo.
On one of his walks he met with a party of women at supper, and noticed
that two of them were being fed by others. On asking the reason, he was
answered _taboo mattee_, that is, "Death taboo." It was explained to him
that one of the women had washed the dead body of a chief two months
before, and that consequently she might not handle any food for five
months. The other had performed the same office for the corpse of
another person of inferior rank, and was now under the same restriction,
but not for so long a time.[220] The tabooed women at Finow's grave were
supplied with food by the new king, Finow the Second. The food was
brought and placed on the ground at some distance from the grave, or
else it was deposited before the temporary house to which the chief of
the tabooed women retired to be fed. With the provisions was also sent
every day a supply of torches to light up the burial-ground by night.
The torches were held up by a woman of inferior rank, who, when she was
tired, was relieved in her office by another. During the twenty days of
mourning, if any one passed the burial-ground, he had to go at a slow
pace, with his head bowed down, and his hands clasped before him; and
if he carried a burden, he must lower it from his shoulder and carry it
in his hands or on his bended arms; but if he could not do so
conveniently, he had to make a circuit to avoid the grave.

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