pieces of carving, (which, we were informed,
were all tombs reared in honour of the memory
of several former chiefs, and all tabooed);
was erected a small hut, covered in at the top
with thatch, but open at the sides. In the
centre of this hut the bones of the deceased
chief were exposed to view. After having
undergone the process of decomposition during
four months’ exposure to heat, wind, and
rain, they had been collected, cleaned, and
decorated with a quantity of fresh white feathers,
which rendered the appearance of the
skull still more frightful.
The women here invariably perform the
parts of chief mourners: a group of them,
with the widow of the deceased at their heady
kept up a most mournful cadence, and at every
pause in their dismal song slashed their skins
with a piece of shell, till their faces, necks,
and arms were literally streaming down with
blood. This mourning and cutting is completely
a matter of business, and is sometimes
carried on without their feeling any real sorrow
or sympathy. Parties kept arriving; and
when there was not room for them to thrust
themselves round the hut, they sat down in
groups, perfectly unconcerned, employing
themselves in cleaning their firelocks, or playing
off* upon each other some practical joke;
but the moment a vacant space was presented
near the hut, they deliberately stripped themselves,
put on a most sorrowful countenance,
and seating themselves as near to the ornamented
bones as possible, they immediately
began their howling and slashing: no one
seemed to like the idea of being outdone by
his neighbour ; but when the time allotted
to this ceremony had expired, all instantly
jumped up, wiped themselves, put on their
mats, and joined the busy throng. There
was, indeed, one real mourner, who never
moved from the bones, nor once lifted up her
eyes from them ; she neither howled nor cut
herself, and yet she inspired me with pity and
commiseration for her forlorn state. This
woman had been the only wife of the late
chief j and I was informed they had lived
many years together, and had a large family :
she looked as if she herself was on the very
brink of the grave. The contemplation of the