1777- ' m g it ftrange, that I, who had always declared m y fe lf to he
■September. ^ friend Qf th eir iflahd, 'w o u ld not now go and fight
a g a in ft its enemies. Before w e parted, he gave to Otoo tw6
•or three red feathers, tied up in a t u f t ; and a lean ha lf-
JJarved dog was put into a canoe that was to accompany us.
We then embarked again, tak in g on board a prieft w ho was
.to affift at the folemnity.
As foon as we landed at Attahooroo, w h ich was about
two o’clock in the afternoon, Otoo expreffed his defire that
the feamen m igh t be ordered to remain in the b o a t ; and
that Mr. Anderfon, Mr. Webber, and myfelf, migh t take o ff
our hats, as foon as w e fliould come to the moral, to which
w e immediately proceeded, attended by a great many men,
and fome b o y s ; but not one woman. We found four
priefts, and their attendants, or affiftants, w a itin g for us.
T h e dead body, or facrifice, was in a fmall canoe that lay
o n the beach, and partly in the waih o f the fea, fronting
the moral. T w o o f the priefts, with fome o f their attendants,
were fitting b y the canoe; the others at the moral. Our
company flopped about twenty or thirty paces - from the
priefts. Here Otoo placed h im fe lf; we, and a few others
{landing b y h im ; while the b u lk o f the people remained at
a greater diftance.
T h e ceremonies now began. One o f the prieft’s attendants
brought a y o u n g plantain-tree, and laid it down before
Otoo. Another approached with a fmall tuft o f red fe a thers,
twilled on fome fibres o f the cocoa-nut hu lk, with
which he touched one o f the k in g ’s feet, and then retired
w ith it to his companions. One o f the priefts, feated at the
moral, fa c in g thofe who were upon the beach, now began a
lo n g p ra y e r ; and, at certain times, fent down y o u n g pljintaintain
trees, which were laid upon the facrifice. Du ring this ‘ 777-
prayer, a man, who flood by the officiating prieft, held in ,Set,lember-.
his hands two bundles, feemingly o f cloth. In one o f them,
as we afterward found, was thé royal maro-, and the other,'
i f I may be allowed the expreffion, was the ark o f the'
Eatood. As foon as the prayer was ended, the priefts at the
moral, with their attendants, went and fat down by thofe
upon the beach, ca rryin g with them the two bundles. Plere
they renewed their p ra y e r y during w hich .the plantain-
trees were taken, one by one, at different times, from o ff
the facrifice ; which was partly wrapped up in cocoa leaves
and - fmall branches. It was now taken out o f the canoe,
and laid upon the beach, w ith the feet to the fea. The
priefts placed themfelves around it, fome fitting and others
Handing ; and one, or more o f them, repeated fentences for
about ten minutes. T h e dead body was now uncovered, by
removing the leaves and branches, and laid in a parallel direction
with the fea-ihore. One o f the priefts then, Handin
g at the feet o f it, pronounced a long prayer, in which he
was, at times, joined by the others; each holding in his
hand a tuft o f red feathers. In the courfe o f this prayer,
fome hair was pulled o ff the head o f the facrifice, and the
left eye taken o u t; both which were prefented to Otoo,
wiapped up in a green leaf. He did not, however touch it ;
but gave, to the man who prefented it, the tuft o f feathers,
which he had received from Towha. T his, with the hair
and eye, was carried back to the priefts. Soon after, Otoo
fent to them another piece o f feathers, which he had given
me in the morning to keep in my pocket. During fome
part o f this lad ceremony, a king-fifher making a noife in
the trees, Otoo turned to me, faying, “ That is the Eatooa "
and feemed to look upon it to be a good omen.
Vor.-II. F T hé