The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third Voyage — John Shaqi
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
Otoo was not more attentive to supply our wants, by a succession of
presents, than he was to contribute to our amusement, by a succession of
diversions. A party of us having gone down to Oparre, on the 10th, he
treated us with what may be called a play. His three sisters were the
actresses; and the dresses they appeared in were new and elegant; that
is, more so than we had usually met with at any of these islands. But
the principal object I had in view, this day, in going to Oparre, was to
take a view of an embalmed corpse, which some of our gentlemen had
happened to meet with at that place, near the residence of Otoo. On
enquiry, I found it to be the remains of Tee, a chief well known to me,
when I was at this island, during my last voyage. It was lying in a
_toopapaoo_, more elegantly constructed than their common ones, and in
all respects similar to that lately seen by us at Oheitepeha, in which
the remains of Waheadooa are deposited, embalmed in the same manner.
When we arrived at the place, the body was under cover, and wrapped up
in cloth, within the _toopapaoo_; but, at my desire, the man who had the
care of it brought it out, and laid it upon a kind of bier, in such a
manner, that we had as full a view of it as we could wish; but we were
not allowed to go within the pales that inclosed the _toopapaoo_. After
he had thus exhibited the corpse, he hung the place with mats and cloth,
so disposed as to produce a very pretty effect. We found the body not
only entire in every part; but, what surprized us much more, was, that
putrefaction seemed scarcely to be begun, as there was not the least
disagreeable smell proceeding from it, though the climate is one of the
hottest, and Tee had been dead above four months. The only remarkable
alteration that had happened, was a shrinking of the muscular parts of
the eyes; but the hair and nails were in their original state, and still
adhered firmly; and the several joints were quite pliable, or in that
kind of relaxed state which happens to persons who faint suddenly. Such
were Mr. Anderson’s remarks to me, who also told me, that, on his
enquiring into the method of effecting this preservation of their dead
bodies, he had been informed that soon after their death, they are
disembowelled, by drawing the intestines, and other _viscera_, out at
the _anus_; and the whole cavity is then filled or stuffed with cloth,
introduced through the same part; that when any moisture appeared on the
skin, it was carefully dried up, and the bodies afterward rubbed all
over with a large quantity of perfumed cocoa-nut oil; which, being
frequently repeated, preserved them a great many months; but that, at
last, they gradually moulder away. This was the information Mr. Anderson
received; for my own part, I could not learn any more about their mode
of operation than what Omai told me, who said, that they made use of the
juice of a plant which grows amongst the mountains; of cocoa-nut oil;
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