NEAR the Friendly and Hapaee groups are several hundred islands, and Cook spent more than one month passing from one to another, being everywhere received with great cordiality by the inhabitants and helped to all manner of provisions that the islands produced. At Tongataboo, or Tonga, one of the most fertile and important in the Friendly Group, Cook made a landing, and was almost immediately visited by a king named Poulaho, by whom he was conducted to a small, but very neat house, admirably situated, which was kindly placed at his service during his stay. Soon after taking possession, Cook was visited by the King and a large number of his subjects, who took a position in the level, grass-covered area around it, while the King and his immediate attendants, among whom were several women, entered the house. Upon being seated, a root of the kava plant was brought in, and laid at the King's feet, which, by his direction, was divided into several pieces and distributed among a number of both sexes, who immediately fell to chewing the bits and spitting the secretion into a bowl. In this manner it was that their favorite drink was prepared, quite palatable to the natives, but a gorge rose in the throat of Cook when he was offered a cup, made of plantain leaves, filled with this strange decoction. A baked hog and two baskets of yams were then divided into ten portions and distributed among the persons of rank, who, however, were not permitted to either eat or drink in the presence of the King. Although the feast was prepared as a special mark of favor to Cook, he could not bring himself to be a partaker, at which abstinence the King nevertheless took no offence, considering that he had acquitted himself of a duty to his white visitor.

Two days later an entertainment was given in honor of Cook, which was attended by nearly 12,000 persons, and in which four parties of dancers, numbering 96, 32, 32 and 60 respectively, with half as many more drummers and choristers, participated. The dancers consisted of several divisions in ranks, in which the men, carrying small paddles, performed a great variety of evolutions, keeping time to a low, dirge-like monotone. This dancing continued from 11 P.M. until 3 o'clock in the morning, and the entertainment then concluded with wrestling and boxing matches.

INITIATORY CEREMONIES OF ROYALTY.

Ten days before Cook took his departure from these people, he witnessed by the King's invitation, a solemn ceremony called Natche, which was the initiation of the King's son into certain royal privileges, among others being that of eating with his father. On account of inability to freely talk with the natives, and Omai's imperfect understanding of the language, Cook was not able to acquaint himself with the full signification of the ceremonies. A very large number of people gathered in a wide area, in the middle of which a house had been set up to represent a morai, or temple. At the appointed time, some hundreds of subjects made their appearance, carrying poles to which short sticks, representing yams, were tied, and began a quick march before the King and his son--who were seated on the ground to themselves--followed by a dozen spear bearers, and in the rear, an old man carrying a live pigeon. This procession passed twice around the King, and then proceeded to the morai, where they deposited their burdens. After this, the crowd rose and repaired to another part of the area, where they re-assembled before the King and Prince, who had likewise changed their positions. The men who had carried the poles were all of rank, and now made their obeisances and acknowledgments to their rulers, after which a prayer or oration was pronounced by one of the King's counsellors or chief priests. This ceremony was followed by hundreds of subjects of both sexes paying honor to the King and Prince, by approaching and touching their heads to the ground, after which fourteen women of royal rank came in pairs, carrying between them a narrow piece of white cloth, some eight feet in length, which they wrapped about the Prince. Following these, came two men bearing green branches, which they presented towards the Prince, and then bore away again. The ceremony was concluded by a man of rank breaking one of the poles that had been carried in the procession, and the pronouncement of what appeared to be a benediction.

BURIAL ALIVE OF CRIMINALS.

Fiji Islands are only two hundred miles from the Friendly Group, yet Cook had such report of the savagery of the people that he had small desire to pay them a visit. He was told, and the report was confirmed by other voyagers, that the Fijians were not only intensely hostile to every other people, but that they exceeded the New Zealanders in their liking for human flesh; that they not only ate the bodies of their enemies slain in battle, but occasionally devoured their own dead. Their savagery extended yet further, for it was their custom to bury their criminals alive, after which the body was exhumed and eaten.

The Fiji are a group of 250 islands, the northernmost of which were first discovered by Tasman in 1643. Turtle Island, one of the southernmost, was discovered by Cook in 1773, but it was not until Wilson's visit to them in 1797, that the customs of the people were positively determined. It is, therefore, possible that the Tongans, who held little intercourse with the Fijians, gave them a worse reputation than they justly deserved; but what he thus heard prompted Cook to forego his first intention to visit them.

It was not until July 15th (1777) that Cook left the Friendly Islands, and proceeded on to Otaheite, but on the 8th of August he came in sight of land, which the natives called Toobouai. Several canoes, filled with people, approached the ship, but though they spoke the Otaheite language and Omai tried hard to induce them to come on board, not one of the canoes would approach closer than the distance of a bow shot. They, in turn, besought Cook to land, but the anchorage was unsafe, and his anxiety to continue the voyage prompted him to lay off shore only a few hours. When the natives saw that it was Cook's purpose to pass the island without stopping, one of the canoes in which were only two persons, came a little closer, while the man in the bow began blowing a conch-shell, repeating two or three notes which were not wholly unmusical. "What the blowing of the conch portended, I cannot say," writes Cook, "but I never found it the messenger of peace." In this connection, Mr. Ellis says: "This instrument is used in war to stimulate action by the priests in the temple, and also by the herald and others on board their fleet. Its sound is more horrific than that of the drum. The largest shells (of a species of murex) are usually selected for the purpose, and are sometimes above a foot in length, and seven or eight inches in diameter at the mouth. In order to facilitate the blowing of this trumpet, they make a perforation, about an inch in diameter, near the apex of the shell. Into this they insert a bamboo cane, about three feet in length, which is secured by binding it to the shell with fine braid; the aperture is rendered air-tight by cementing the outside of it with a resinous gum from the bread-fruit tree. These shells are blown when a procession walks to the temple, or the warriors march to battle, at the inauguration of the king, during the worship at the temple, or when a taboo, or restriction, is imposed in the name of the gods. The sound is extremely loud, and the most monotonous and dismal that it is possible to imagine."

MEETING OF OMAI AND HIS FRIENDS.

On August 12th, the island of Maitea, one of the Society Group, was sighted, and directly after the shore of Otaheite came into view. Anchorage having been made, several canoes came off to the ship, when Cook was surprised to find that the natives took little notice of Omai, though they knew him to be one of their countrymen who had long been absent. They exhibited not the least curiosity to learn his experience while abroad, nor did their indiference change until he showed them the great quantity of curious things which he had brought back with him. At the sight of them, Ootee, a chief who knew Omai, manifested an immediate interest and offered his friendship, in exchange for which Omai presented him with some red feathers. Upon going on shore on the following day, Cook was taken to a hut wherein lay the remains of a prominent chief named Waheiadooa, whom Cook had known, and who had died twenty months before. The hut, or house, had been specially constructed for the body of the chief, who was held in great veneration. Two men, in white robes, were in constant attendance, to dress and undress the dead chief, and to replenish supplies of provisions which the spirit was supposed to stand in need of. The body was in a half recumbent position, or what was believed by the natives to be a restful situation, and surrounded with bright clothes which imparted to the place the appearance of a shrine, which it was no doubt intended to be.

On the following day Cook sailed for Matavai Bay, near by, and on landing there was cordially received by the natives, who also gave a joyous welcome to Omai. Nearly all the goats, hogs, cattle, and peacocks, which Cook had brought, were distributed among the chiefs, who received them with many expressions of gratitude, and in return, brought an enormous quantity of provisions, as a present to the crews of the two ships.

OFFERING A HUMAN SACRIFICE.

Cook had not been in Matavai Bay two days before he learned that the war between Otaheite and Eimeo, which was inaugurated at the time of his last departure from the island, had been continued at intervals, and that a council of chiefs was then called to consider the policy of prosecuting hostilities with greater vigor. Directly after receiving this news, Cook was invited to attend the meeting of the council, and he gladly accepted. The attendance consisted of about twenty chiefs, each of whom in his turn made a speech before King Otoo, some being in favor of, and others opposed to a continuance of the war, so that no decision seemed to have been arrived at during this meeting. On the following day, Cook was invited to attend before the King, with Omai as interpreter. The old King was entirely deaf, and could only talk and receive responses by signs; but he soon made known his intention of sending another naval force against Eimeo, and so far disregarded Cook's remonstrances that he earnestly solicited his aid. Thus matters stood, with no active measures taken but a great deal of threatenings, until September 1st, when a messenger arrived from a chief named Tettaha, a relative of the King, who was commander-in-chief of the armament fitted out against Eimeo in 1774, bearing intelligence that he had killed a man to be sacrificed to Eotua, to obtain the assistance of that god against Eimeo. The sacrificial rites were to be presently performed at the great morai in a neighboring district, and Cook sought and obtained permission of Otoo to witness the ceremony.

When the time appointed arrived, Cook set off in a canoe, accompanied by a chief named Potatou, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Webber, and Omai, and in a few hours arrived at Attahooroo, the place where the sacrificial rites were to be performed. He found a numerous crowd assembled, and four priests and their several assistants seated at the morai, waiting his arrival. The body that was to be sacrificed lay in a canoe that had been landed, but was still in the wash of the sea. Cook thus describes the ceremonies which followed: "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 bench, 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 Eotua. As soon as the prayer was ended, the priests at the morai, with their attendants, went and sat down by those upon the bench, 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 some 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 sea-shore. 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 kingfisher making a noise in the trees, Otoo turned to me, saying, "That is the Eotua," and seemed to look upon it as a good omen.

"The body was then carried a little way with its head toward 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 now laid on a part of the morai, and the tufts of red feathers were then 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 appeared 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 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.

GHASTLY CEREMONIES.

"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 Eotua. 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, etc., 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 the boy screamed as before, in a loud shrill voice, three different times. This, as we were told, was to invite the Eotua to feast on the banquet that they had prepared for him. As soon as the priests had ended their prayers, the carcass of the dog, with what belonged to it, was laid on a whatta, or scaffold, about six feet high, that stood close by, on which lay the remains of two other dogs, and 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 sea-side toward the morai, we were allowed to approach as near as we pleased. Indeed, after that, neither seriousness nor attention was 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 anything remained to be seen.

"Being unwilling to lose any part of the solemnity, some of us repaired to the scene of action pretty early, but found nothing going forward. However, soon after a pig was sacrificed, and laid upon the same whatta with the others. About eight o'clock, Otoo took us again to the morai, where the priests and a great number of men were by this time assembled. The two bundles occupied the place in which we had seen them deposited the preceding evening; the two drums stood in front of the morai, but somewhere nearer it than before, and the priests were beyond them. Otoo placed himself between the two drums, and desired me to stand by him. The ceremony began, as usual, with bringing a young plantain-tree, and laying it down at the King's feet. After this, a prayer was repeated by the priests, who held in their hands several tufts of red feathers, and also a plume of ostrich feathers, which I had given to Otoo on my first arrival, and had been consecrated to this use. When the priests had made an end of the prayer, they changed their station, placing themselves between us and the morai, and one of them, the same person who had acted the principal part the day before, began another prayer, which lasted about half an hour. During the continuance of this, the tufts of feathers were, one by one, carried and laid upon the ark of the Eotua.

CONSECRATION OF THE CORPSE.

"Some little time after, four pigs were produced, one of which was immediately killed, and the others were taken to a sty hard by, probably reserved for some future occasion of sacrifice. One of the bundles was now untied, and it was found, as I have before observed, to contain the maro, with which these people invest their kings, and which seems to answer, in some degree, to the European ensigns of royalty. It was carefully taken out of the cloth in which it had been wrapped up, and spread at full length upon the ground before the priests. It is a girdle about five yards long and fifteen inches broad, and from its name, seems to be put on in the same manner as is the common maro, or piece of cloth used by these people to wrap round the waist. It was ornamented with red and yellow feathers, but mostly the latter, taken from a dove found upon the island. The one end was bordered with eight pieces, each about the size and shape of a horse-shoe, having their edges fringed with black feathers. The other end was forked, and the points were of different lengths. The feathers were in square compartments, ranged in two rows, and otherwise so disposed as to produce a pleasing effect. They had been first pasted or fixed upon some of their own country cloth, and then sewed to the upper end of the pendant which Captain Wallis had displayed, and left flying ashore, the first time that he landed at Matavai. This was what they told us, and we had no reason to doubt it, as we could easily trace the remains of an English pendant. About six or eight inches square of the maro was unornamented, there being no feathers upon that space, except a few that had been sent by Waheadooa, as already mentioned. The priests made a long prayer relative to this part of the ceremony; and, if I mistook not, they called it the prayer of the maro. When it was finished, the badge of royalty was carefully folded up, put into the cloth, and deposited again upon the morai.

"The other bundle, which I have distinguished by the name of the ark, was next opened at one end. But we were not allowed to go near enough to examine its mysterious contents. The information we received was that the Eotua, to whom they had been sacrificing and whose name is Ooro, was concealed in it, or rather what is supposed to represent him. This sacred repository is made of twisted fibres of the husk of the cocoa-nut, shaped something like a large fid or sugar-loaf, that is, roundish, with one end much thicker than the other. We had very often got small ones from different people, but never knew their use before.

"By this time the pig that had been killed was cleaned and the entrails taken out. These happened to have a considerable share of those convulsive motions which often appear in different parts after an animal is killed, and this was considered by the spectators as a very favorable omen to the expedition, on account of which the sacrifices had been offered. After being exposed for some time, that those who chose might examine their appearances, the entrails were carried to the priests and laid down before them. While one of their number prayed another inspected the entrails more narrowly and kept turning them gently with a stick. When they had been sufficiently examined they were thrown into the fire and left to consume. The sacrificed pig, and its liver, etc., were now put upon the whatta, where the dog had been deposited the day before; and then all the feathers except the ostrich-plume were enclosed with the Eotua in the ark, and the solemnity finally closed.

PROCURING THE SACRIFICES.

"Four double canoes lay upon the beach before the place of sacrifice all the morning. On the forepart of each of these was fixed a small platform covered with palm leaves tied in mysterious knots; and this also is called a morai. Some cocoa-nuts, plantains, pieces of bread-fruit, fish and other things lay upon each of these naval morais. We were told that they belonged to the Eotua, and that they were to attend the fleet designed to go against Eimeo. The unhappy victim offered to the object of their worship upon this occasion seemed to be a middle-aged man, and as we were told was a towtow, that is, one of the lowest class of the people. But after all my inquiries I could not learn that he had been pitched upon on account of any particular crime committed by him meriting death. It is certain, however, that they generally make choice of such guilty persons for their sacrifice, or else of some common low fellows who stroll about from place to place and from island to island, without having any fixed abode or any visible way of getting an honest livelihood, of which description of men enough are to be met with at these islands. Having had an opportunity of examining the appearance of the body of the poor sufferer now offered up, I could observe that it was bloody about the head and face and a good deal bruised upon the right temple, which marked the manner of his being killed. And we were told that he had been privately knocked on the head with a stone.

"Those who are devoted to suffer, in order to perform this bloody act of worship, are never apprised of their fate till the blow is given that puts an end to their existence. Whenever any one of the great chiefs thinks a human sacrifice necessary on any particular emergency, he pitches upon the victim. Some of his trusty servants are then sent, who fall upon him suddenly, and put him to death with a club, or by stoning him. The King is next acquainted with it, whose presence at the solemn rites that follow is, as I was told, absolutely necessary; and, indeed, on the present occasion, we could observe that Otoo bore a principal part. The solemnity itself is called Poore Eree, or chief's prayer; and the victim who is offered up is Taata-taboo, or consecrated man. This is the only instance where we have heard the word taboo used at this island, where it seems to have the same mysterious signification as at Tonga, though it is there applied to all cases where things are not to be touched. But at Otaheite the word raa serves the same purpose, and is fully as extensive in its meaning.

THE SACRED DEAD HOUSE.

"The morai (which, undoubtedly, is a place of worship, sacrifice and burial at the same time), where the sacrifice was now offered, was the place where the supreme chief of the whole island is always buried, and is appropriated to his family and some of the principal people. It differs little from the common ones, except in extent. Its principal part is a large oblong pile of stones, lying loosely upon each other, about twelve or fourteen feet high, contracted towards the top, with a square area on each side loosely paved with pebble stones, under which the bones of the chiefs are buried. At a little distance from the end nearest the sea is the place where the sacrifices are offered, which, for a considerable extent, is also loosely paved. There is here a very large scaffold or whatta, on which the offerings of fruits and other vegetables are laid. But the animals are deposited on a smaller one already mentioned, and the human sacrifices are buried under different parts of the pavement. There are several other relics which ignorant superstition had scattered about this place, such as small stones raised in different parts of the pavement, some with bits of cloth tied round them, others covered with it; and upon the side of the large pile which fronts the area are placed a great many pieces of carved wood, which are supposed to be sometimes the residence of their divinities, and consequently held sacred. But one place, more particularly than the rest, is a heap of stones at one end of a large whatta, before which the sacrifice was offered, with a kind of platform at one side. On this are laid the skulls of all the human sacrifices, which are taken up after they have been several months under ground. Just above them are placed a great number of the pieces of wood; and it was also here where the maro, and the other bundle supposed to contain the god Ooro (place of the ark), were laid during the ceremony--a circumstance which denotes its agreement with the altar of other nations.

"It is much to be regretted that a practice so horrid in its own nature, and so destructive of that inviolable right of self-preservation which everyone is born with, should be found still existing; and (such is the power of superstition to counteract the first principles of humanity) existing too among a people who in many other respects are emerged from the brutal manners of savage life. What is still worse, it is probable that these bloody rites of worship are prevalent throughout all the wide-extended islands of the Pacific Ocean. The similarity of customs and language, which our late voyages have enabled us to trace between the most distant of these islands, makes it not unlikely that some of the most important articles of their religious institutions should agree. And, indeed, we have the most authentic information that human sacrifices continue to be offered at the Friendly Islands. When I described the Natche at Tonge-taboo, I mentioned that, on the approaching sequel of that festival, we had been told that ten men were to be sacrificed. This may give us an idea of the extent of this religious massacre in that island. And though we should suppose that never more than one person is sacrificed on any single occasion at Otaheite, it is more than probable that these occasions happen so frequently as to make a shocking waste of the human race; for I counted no less than forty-nine skulls of former victims lying before the morai, where we saw one more added to the number. And as none of those skulls had as yet suffered any considerable change from the weather, it may hence be inferred, that no great length of time had elapsed since, at least, this considerable number of unhappy wretches had been offered upon this altar of blood."

Cook might have observed that the nature of Pacific islanders--or of all the world, for that matter--appears to be more savage, not as they approach the equator, but as they are found nearer to the Antarctic circle. Readers of this book cannot fail to notice a striking difference in the brutal instincts of the peoples living south of the equator, and to observe that reports of all voyagers to lands north of that line confirm the opinion that human nature exhibits more merciful traits in the northern latitudes than in the equatorial or southern; and this is true of the civilized as well as of the barbaric, though the most accomplished ethnologist or psychologist is at a loss for a reason to explain why it should be so.

Westward and south of Otaheite there were formerly to be seen among the islanders customs of the most revolting barbarity. Nor has the influence of missionaries, powerful as it is, been able as yet to totally suppress the almost incredible savagery of these people. The Fijians have always been distinguished for their astounding cruelties, and in one respect their depravity exceeds that of all their neighbors. Thus, while many are cannibals, to these horrible practices the Fijians added that of burying their victims alive and afterwards resurrecting and devouring the corpses, none of which customs ever obtained among islanders north of the equator.