The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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