The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third Voyage

by James Cook

Accordingly, a party of us waited upon him at the appointed time; and we were conducted by him to his father, in whose presence the dispute with Eimeo was again talked over. Being very desirous of devising some method to bring about an accommodation, I sounded the old chief on that head, but we found him deaf to any such proposal, and fully determined to prosecute the war. He repeated the solicitations which I had already resisted, about giving them my assistance. On our inquiring into the cause of the war, we were told, that, some years ago, a brother of Waheadooa, of Tieraboo, was sent to Eimeo, at the request of Maheine, a popular chief of that island, to be their king; but that he had not been there a week before Maheine, having caused him to be killed, set up for himself, in opposition to Tierataboonooe, his sister’s son, who became the lawful heir; or else had been pitched upon, by the people of Otaheite, to succeed to the government on the death of the other.

Towha, who is a relation of Otoo, and chief of the district of Tettaha, a man of much weight in the island, and who had been commander-in-chief of the armament fitted out against Eimeo in 1774, happened not to be at Matavai at this time; and, consequently, was not present at any of these consultations. It, however, appeared that he was no stranger to what was transacted; and that he entered with more spirit into the affair than any other chief; for, early in the morning of the 1st of September, a messenger arrived from him to acquaint Otoo, that he had killed a man to be sacrificed to Eatooa, to implore the assistance of the god against Eimeo. This act of worship was to be performed at the great Morai at Attahooroo; and Otoo’s presence, it seems, was absolutely necessary on that solemn occasion.

That the offering of human sacrifices is part of the religious institutions of this island, had been mentioned by Mons. Bougainville, on the authority of the native whom he carried with him to France. During my last visit to Otaheite, and while I had opportunities of conversing with Omai on the subject, I had satisfied myself that there was too much reason to admit, that such a practice, however inconsistent with the general humanity of the people, was here adopted. But as this was one of those extraordinary facts, about which many are apt to retain doubts, unless the relater himself has had ocular proof to confirm what he had heard from others, I thought this a good opportunity of obtaining the highest evidence of its certainty, by being present myself at the solemnity; and, accordingly, proposed to Otoo that I might be allowed to accompany him. To this he readily consented; and we immediately set out in my boat, with my old friend Potatou, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Webber; Omai following in a canoe.

In our way we landed upon a little island, which lies off Tettaha, where we found Towha and his retinue. After some little conversation between the two chiefs, on the subject of the war, Towha addressed himself to me, asking my assistance. When I excused myself, he seemed angry; thinking it strange that I, who had always declared myself to be the friend of their island, would not now go and fight against its enemies. Before we parted, he gave to Otoo two or three red feathers, tied up in a tuft; and a lean, half-starved dog was put into a canoe that was to accompany us. We then embarked again, taking on board a priest who was to assist at the solemnity.

A Morai, or Burying Place, at Otaheite.

As soon as we landed at Attahooroo, which was about two o’clock in the afternoon, Otoo expressed his desire that the seamen might be ordered to remain in the boat; and that Mr. Anderson, Mr. Webber, and myself, might take off our hats, as soon as we should come to the morai, to which we immediately proceeded, attended by a great many men and some boys; but not one woman. We found four priests, and their attendants or assistants, waiting for us. The dead body, or sacrifice, was in a small canoe that lay on the beach, and partly in the wash of the sea, fronting the morai. Two of the priests, with some of their attendants, were sitting by the canoe; the others at the morai. Our company stopped about twenty or thirty paces from the priests. Here Otoo placed himself; we, and a few others, standing by him; while the bulk of the people remained at a greater distance.

The ceremonies now began. One of the priest’s attendants brought a young plantain tree, and laid it down before Otoo. Another approached with a small tuft of red feathers, twisted on some fibres of the cocoa-nut-husk, with which he touched one of the king’s feet, and then retired with it to his companions. One of the priests, seated at the morai, facing those who were upon the beach, now began a long prayer; and, at certain times, sent down young plantain-trees, which were laid upon the sacrifice. During this prayer, a man, who stood by the officiating priest, held in his hands two bundles, seemingly of cloth. In one of them, as we afterwards found, was the royal maro; and the other, if I may be allowed the expression, was the ark of the Eatooa. As soon as the prayer was ended, the priests at the morai, with their attendants, went and sat down by those upon the beach, carrying with them the two bundles. Here they renewed their prayers; during which the plantain-trees were taken, one by one, at different times, from off the sacrifice; which was partly wrapped up in cocoa leaves and small branches. It was now taken out of the canoe, and laid upon the beach, with the feet to the sea. The priests placed themselves around it, some sitting and others standing; and one or more of them, repeated sentences for about ten minutes. The dead body was now uncovered, by removing the leaves and branches, and laid in a parallel direction with the seashore. One of the priests then, standing at the feet of it, pronounced a long prayer, in which he was, at times, joined by the others; each holding in his hand a tuft of red feathers. In the course of this prayer, some hair was pulled off the head of the sacrifice, and the left eye taken out; both of which were presented to Otoo, wrapped up in a green leaf. He did not, however, touch it; but gave to the man who presented it the tuft of feathers which he had received from Towha. This, with the hair and eye, was carried back to the priests. Soon after, Otoo sent to them another piece of feathers, which he had given me in the morning to keep in my pocket. During some part of this last ceremony, a king-fisher making a noise in the trees, Otoo turned to me, saying, “That is the Eatooa;” and seemed to look upon it to be a good omen.

The body was then carried a little way with its head towards the morai, and laid under a tree, near which were fixed three broad thin pieces of wood, differently but rudely carved. The bundles of cloth were laid on a part of the morai, and the tufts of red feathers were placed at the feet of the sacrifice, round which the priests took their stations; and we were now allowed to go as near as we pleased. He who seemed to be the chief priest sat at a small distance and spoke for a quarter of an hour, but with different tones and gestures, so that he seemed often to expostulate with the dead person, to whom he constantly addressed himself; and sometimes asked several questions, seemingly with respect to the propriety of his having been killed. At other times he made several demands, as if the deceased either now had power himself, or interest with the divinity to engage him to comply with such requests. Amongst which, we understood, he asked him to deliver Eimeo Maheine, its chief, the hogs, women, and other things of the island, into their hands; which was, indeed, the express intention of the sacrifice. He then chanted a prayer, which lasted half an hour, in a whining, melancholy tone, accompanied by two other priests; and in which Potatou and some others joined. In the course of this prayer, some more hair was plucked by a priest from the head of the corpse, and put upon one of the bundles. After this, the chief priest prayed alone, holding in his hand the feathers which came from Towha. When he had finished, he gave them to another, who prayed in like manner. Then all the tufts of feathers were laid upon the bundles of cloth; which closed the ceremony at this place.

The corpse was then carried up to the most conspicuous part of the morai, with the feathers, the two bundles of cloth, and the drums; the last of which beat slowly. The feathers and bundles were laid against the pile of stones, and the corpse at the foot of them. The priests having again seated themselves round it, renewed their prayers; while some of the attendants dug a hole about two feet deep, into which they threw the unhappy victim, and covered it with earth and stones. While they were putting him into the grave, a boy squeaked aloud, and Omai said to me, that it was the Eatooa. During this time, a fire having been made, the dog before mentioned was produced and killed, by twisting his neck and suffocating him. The hair was singed off and the entrails taken out and thrown into the fire, where they were left to consume. But the heart, liver, and kidneys were only roasted, by being laid on the stones for a few minutes; and the body of the dog, after being besmeared with the blood which had been collected in a cocoa-nut shell, and dried over the fire, was, with the liver, &c. carried and laid down before the priests, who sat praying round the grave. They continued their ejaculations over the dog for some time, while two men, at intervals, beat on two drums very loud; and a boy screamed as before, in a loud shrill voice, three different times. This, as we were told, was to invite the Eatooa to feast on the banquet that they had prepared for him. As soon as the priests had ended their prayers, the carcase of the dog, with what belonged to it, were laid on a whatta, or scaffold, about six feet high, that stood close by, on which lay the remains of two other dogs, and of two pigs which had lately been sacrificed, and at this time emitted an intolerable stench. This kept us at a greater distance than would otherwise have been required of us. For after the victim was removed from the seaside toward the morai, we were allowed to approach as near as we pleased. Indeed, after that, neither seriousness nor attention were much observed by the spectators. When the dog was put upon the whatta, the priests and attendants gave a kind of shout, which closed the ceremonies for the present. The day being now also closed, we were conducted to a house belonging to Potatou, where we were entertained and lodged for the night. We had been told that the religious rites were to be renewed in the morning; and I would not leave the place, while any thing remained to be seen.