POLYNESIA
him an object of the highest concern. For this pur- pose rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quan- tities of other food were presented at the maraes ; but still a tabu, or sacrifice, was demanded. Pomare, there- fore, sent two of his messengers to the house of the vic- tim whom he had marked for the occasion. On reach- ing the place, they inquired of the wife where her husband was. She replied that he was in such a place, planting bananas. ' Well,' they continued, ' we are thirsty ; give us some cocoa-nut water.' She told them that she had no nuts in the house, but that they were at liberty to climb the trees, and take as many as the}' desired. They then requested her to lend them the o, which is a piece of iron-wood, about four feet long and an inch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut. She cheerfully complied with their wishes, little imagining that she was giving them the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a fa- tal blow upon the head of her husband. Upon receiv- ing the o, the men left the house, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, having become rather suspicious, followed them shortly after, and reached the place just in time to see the blow inflicted and her hus- band fall. She rushed forward to give vent to her agonized feelings and take a last embrace; but she was immediately seized and bound band and foot, while the body of her murdered husband was placed in a long basket made of cocoa-nut leaves and borne from her sight. It appears that they were always exceedingly careful to prevent the wife or daughter, or any female relative, from touching the corpse, for so polluted were females considered that a victim would have been des- ecrated by a woman's touch or breath to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to the gods. While the men were carrying their victim to the marae, he recovered from the stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut leaf basket, he said to bis murderers, ' Friends, I know what you intend to do with me: you are about to kill me, and offer me as a tabu to your savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy, for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt my soul ; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of whom the missionaries have brought to our island : you may kill my body, but you cannot hurt my soul.' Instead of being moved to compassion by his affecting address, they laid him down upon the ground, placed a stone under his head, and with another beat it to pieces. In this state they carried him to their ' savage gods.' " This was the last sacrifice offered to the gods of Tahiti ; for soon after Christianity was embraced, and the altars of their gods ceased to be stained with human blood.
The Polynesians, in their heathen state, had very pe- culiar opinions on the subject of a future world. The Tahitians believed that there were two places for de- parted spirits. Among the Barotongans paradise was a very long house encircled with beautiful shrubs and flowers, which never lost their bloom or fragrance. The inmates, enjoying perpetual youth and beauty, spent their days in dancing, festivity, and merriment. The hell of the Karotongans consisted in being compelled to crawl around this house, witnessing the enjoyment of its inmates without the possibility of sharing it. The terms on which any one could find an entrance into paradise, as Mr. Williams informs us, were these : " In order to secure the admission of a departed spirit to fut- ure joys, the corpse was dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the head was wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig was then baked whole, and placed upon the body of the de- ceased, surrounded by a pile of vegetable food. After this, supposing the departed person to have been a son, the father would thus address the corpse: 'My son, when you were alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken ill I did my best to restore you to health ; and now you are dead, there's your nomae o, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain
an entrance into the palace of Tiki' (the name of the god of this paradise), ' and do not come to this world again to disturb and alarm us.' The whole would then be buried : and if they received no intimation to the contrary within a few days of the interment, the rela- tives believed that the pig and the other food had ob- tained for him the desired admittance. If, however, a cricket was heard on the premises it was considered an ill omen, and they would immediately utter the most dismal howlings, and such expressions as the following : ' Oh, our brother ! his spirit has not entered the par- adise; he is suffering from hunger — he is shivering with cold !' Forthwith the grave would be opened and the offering repeated. This was generally successful."