December prepared,, and fome¿tones heated, the Tahoua puts the pre-
1 i ' puce between two o f them, and fqueezes it gently, which*
removes the thicknefs. T h e y then return home, h a v in g
their heads, and other parts o f their bodies, adorned w ith
odoriferous flowers; and the Tahouah-rewarded for his fe'r-
vices by their fathers, in proportion to their feveral abilities,
w ith prefents o f hogs-and. c lo th ; and i f they be poor,,
their relations are liberal on the occafion.
T h e ir religious fyftem is extenfive, and, in many infiances,
A n g u la r ; but few o f the common people have a perfefb
kn owledge o f i t ; that being confined, chiefly to-their priefts,
w h o are pretty numerous:. T h e y do not feem to pay refpeit
to one God as poffefling pre-eminence; but believe in a
plurality o f divinities, w h o are all very p ow e r fu l; and, in
this cafe, as different parts o f the ifland, and the other iilands-
8 in the neighbourhood, have different ones, the inhabitants
o f each, no doubt, think that they have chofen the moft
eminent, or, at leaft, one who is inveiled with power fuffi>
cient to pro tefl them, and to fupply a ll their wants. I f he
ihould not anfwer their e xp ed ition s , they thin k it n o - im piety
to change ; as. has ve ry lately happened in Tiaraboo,.
where, in the room o f the two divinities formerly honoured-
there, Oraa *, God o f Bolabola, has been adopted, I ihould
fuppofe, becaufe he is the protestor o f a people who have
been victorious in w a r ; and as, flnce they have made this
change, they have been very fucce fsful themfelves againflr
the inhabitants o f Otaheite-nooe, they impute it entirely to
Oraa, who, as they literally fay, fights their battles.
The ir afliduity in ferving their Gods is remarkably con-
fpicuous. Not only the whattas, or offering-places o f the
* W e have here another inftance o f the fame word being differently p ronouncedly
®ur people. Captain C ook, as appears above,, fpeaks o f Ollaj as the Bolabola God.
morais,
morais, are commoRly loaded with fruits and, animals ; bu t ‘ 1 7 7 7 .
there are few houfes where you do not meet with a fmall Dl;cember'.
place o f the fame fort near them. Many o f them are fo
rig id ly forupulous, that they will not begin a meal, without
firfl la yin g afide a morfel for the Eatooa; and we had an oppo
rtunity, during this voyage, o f feeing their fuperftitious
zea l carried to a moil pernicious he ight, in the inflance o f
human faerifices; the occafions o f offering which, I doubt,
a re too frequent. Perhaps, - they have recourfe to them
when misfortunes o c c u r ; fo r they alked, i f one o f our men,
w ho happened to be confined, when we were detained by
a contrary wind, was taboo ? T h e ir prayers are alfo ve ry fre quent,
which they chant, much after the manner o f the
fongs in their feftive entertainments. And the women, as
in Other cafes, are alfo obliged to fhew their inferiority in
religious obfervances j fo r it is required o f them, that they
ihould partly uncover themfelves, as they pafs the morais-
or take a confiderable circuit to avoid them. T h ou gh they
ha ve no notion, that their God muit always be conferring
benefits, without fometimes forgetting them, or fuffering
e v il to b e fall them, th e y feem to regard this lefs than the
attempts o f fome more inaufpicious being to hurt tliem.
T h e y tell us, that Etee is an evil fpirit, who fometimes does
■them m ifc h ie f ; and to whom, as well as to their god, the y
make offerings. But the mifchiefs they apprehend from
a n y fuperior invifible beings, are confined to things merely
temporal.
T h e y believe the foul to be both immaterial and immortal.
T h e y fay, that it keeps fluttering about the lips during the
pangs o f death ; and that then it afcends, and mixes with, or, '
as they exprefs it, is eaten by the deity. In this ftate it remains
I 2 fo r