The following ceremony is then performed; the priest begins by rubbing two pieces of green wood upon each other, till, by the friction, a kind of powder, like snuff, is produced, which is so hot, that on being placed in dry grass, and blown upon, it takes fire; with this, a large pile of wood is kindled, and allowed to burn a certain time. He then takes three nuts of an oily nature, called tootooee; having broken the shells, one of the kernels is thrown into the fire, at which time he says an anana, or prayer; and while the nut is crackling in the fire, repeats the words Muckeeroio kanaka ai kooee, that is, kill or shoot the fellow. The same ceremonies take place with each of the nuts, provided the thief does not appear before they are consumed.
This, however, but seldom happens; the culprit generally makes his appearence with the stolen property, which is restored to the owner, and the offence punished by a fine of four pigs. He is then dismissed, with strict injunctions not to commit the like crime in future, under pain of a more severe penalty. The pigs are taken to the morai, where they are offered up as sacrifices, and afterwards eaten by the priests.
Should it happen that the unfortunate criminal does not make his appearance during the awful ceremony, his fate is inevitable; had he the whole island to bestow, not one word of the prayer could be recalled, nor the anger of the Etooah appeased. The circumstance is reported to the king, and proclamation made throughout the island, that a certain person has been robbed, and that those who are guilty have been prayed to death.
So firm is their belief in the power of these prayers, that the culprit pines away, refusing to take any sustenance, and at last falls a sacrifice to his credulity.
The priests also practice medicine. Bathing is their great specific. If the patient is too weak to be carried to the sea, he is washed with salt water. The oil extracted from a nut, called tootooee, is used as a purgative; and a black mineral substance, reduced to a powder, as an emetic. This is very powerful in its effects; half the quantity that can be laid on a sixpence forming a sufficient dose.
I have but few particulars to give of their religious opinions. Their principal god, to whom they attribute the creation of the world, is called Etooah; and they have seven or eight subordinate deities, whose images are in the morai, and to whom offerings are made as well as to the Etooah. Their names I cannot recollect.
They believe in a future state, where they will be rewarded or punished for their conduct in this life. Their belief in the efficacy of prayer has already been remarked. During the time I lived with the king, it was reported that some person had prayed him to death; in order to counteract the effects of this, the daughter of a chief prostrated herself before the house, and turning towards the setting sun, prayed with great fervency. I did not then understand the language, and imagined that she was addressing that luminary; but William Moxely explained that part to me. She said, How could the sun rise and set, or the moon perform her revolutions, if there were not some superior Being who regulated their motions.
They have a tradition of a general deluge. According to their account, the sea once overflowed the whole world, except Mouna Kaa, in Owhyhee, and swept away all the inhabitants but one pair, who saved themselves on that mountain, and are the parents of the present race of mankind.
Their morais, or places of worship, consist of one large house, or temple, with some smaller ones round it, in which are the images of their inferior gods. The tabooed, or consecrated precincts, are marked out by four square posts, which stand thirty or forty yards from the building. In the inside of the principal house there is a screen or curtain of white cloth, hung across one end, within which the image of Etooah is placed. When sacrifices are offered, the priests and chiefs enter occasionally within this space, going in at one side and out at the other. Although present on one occasion, I did not enter this recess, partly because I was doubtful of the propriety of doing so, and also on account of the difficulty I had in moving myself, and the risk of getting my wounds injured among the crowd.