ceffary, I left the command to Mr. Williamfon, w ho had
landed with me, and made an excurfion into the country, up
the valley, accompanied by Mr. Anderfon and Mr. Webber.;
the former o f whom was as w e ll qualified to defcribe with
the pen, as the latter was to reprefent w ith his pencil, every
th in g we m igh t m e e t w ith worthy o f obfervation. A n u merous
train o f natives followed u s ; and one o f them,
whom I had diftinguifhed fo r his activity in k e ep in g the reft
in order, I made choice o f as our guide. T his man, from
time to time, p roclaimed our approach; and every one, whom
w e met, fe ll proftrate upon the ground, and remained in
that pofition till we had paffed. This, as I afterward under-
flood, is the mode o f payin g their refpedl to their , own
great Chiefs. As w e ranged down the coaft from the Eaft,
in the ihips, we had obferved at every village one or more
elevated white objects, lik e pyramids or rather o b e lilk s ;
and one o f thefe, which I gueffed to be at leaft fifty feet high,
was ve ry confpicuous from the ihip's anchoring ftation,
and feemed to be at no great diftance up this valley. To
have a nearer infpeftion o f it, was the principal objefit o f
m y walk. Our guide perfectly underftood that we wiflied
to be conduiled to it. But it happened to be fo placed, that
we could not get at it, being feparated from us by the pool
o f water. However, there being another o f th e fame kind
within our reach, about h a lf a mile off, upon our fide o f
the valley, we fet out to vifit that. The moment we got to
it, we faw that it flood in a burying-ground, or moral; the
refemblance o f which, in many refpeds, to thofe we were
fo well acquainted with at other iflands in this ocean, and
particularly Otaheite, could not but ftrike us ; and we alfo
foon found, that the feveral parts that compofe it, were
called by the fame names. It was an oblong .fpac.e, o f
confiderable
confiderable extent, furrounded b y a w all o f ftone, about four 177s-
' 7 J an u a r y .
feet high. T h e fpace inclofed was loofely paved with fmaller 1— «—
ñones; and at one end o f it, flood what I call the pyramid, but,
in the lan gu ag e o f the illand, is named henananoo; which appeared
evidently to be an exadt model o f the larger one, obferved
by us from the Ihips. It was about four feet fquare at
the bafe, and about twenty feet h igh . T h e four fides were
compofed o f fmall poles interwoven with twigs and branches,
thus fo rm in g an indifferent wicke r-wo rk, hollow or open
within, from bottom to top. It feemed to be rather in a ruinous
f ta te ; but there were fufficient remaining marks, to fliew, .
that it had o rig ina lly been covered w ith a thin, light, g re y
cloth ; which thefe people, it fhould feem, conlecrate to religious
p u rp o fe s ; as we could fee a good deal o f it h an gin
g in different parts o f the moral ? and fome o f it had been
forced upon me when I firft landed. On each fide o f the
pyramid were long pieces o f w ick e r-w o rk , called hereanee,
in the fame ruinous condition ; with two flender poles, in clin
ing to each other, at one corner, where fome plantains
w ere laid upon a board, fixed at the he ight o f five or fix feet.
T his they called herairemy; and informed us, that the fru it
was an offering to their God, which makes it agree e x a illy
with the whatta o f Otaheite. Before the henananoo were a
few pieces o f wood, carved into fomething lik e human
figures, w h ich , with a ftone near two feet high , covered
with pieces o f cloth, called hoho, and confecrated to Tongarooa,
who is the God o f thefe people, ftill more and more reminded
us o f what we ufed to meet with in the morals o f the
iflands we had lately left *. Adjoining to thefe, on the
outfide o f the moral, was a fmall fhed, no b igg er than a dog-
* Seè' the defcription o f the moral, in Otaheite, where'the human facrifice was offered,
at which Captain Cook was prelent. s -
, V o i . II. . D d kennel,