When the child is about two or three months old, a ceremony is performed which is remarkable for its resemblance to Christian baptism. The origin of the ceremony is not known, and even the signification of the words which are employed is very obscure. Very few persons are present at the ceremony, which is carried on with much mystery, and is performed by the priest. The three principal parts of the rite are that the child should be laid on a mat, that it should be sprinkled with water by the priest, and that certain words should be used. As far as has been ascertained, the mode of conducting the ceremony is as follows: The women and girls bring the child and lay it on a mat, while the priest stands by with a green branch dipped in a calabash of water. A sort of incantation is then said, after which the priest sprinkles the child with water. The incantation differs according to the sex of the child, but the sense of it is very obscure. Indeed, even the natives cannot explain the meaning of the greater part of the incantation: so that in all probability it consists of obsolete words, the sounds of which have been retained, while their sense has been lost. As far as can be ascertained, the incantation consists of a sort of dialogue between the priest and the women who lay the child on the mat. The following lines are given by Dieffenbach, as the translation of the beginning of the incantation said over female children. He does not, however, guarantee its entire accuracy, and remarks that the true sense of several of the words is very doubtful. The translation runs as follows: _Girls._ “We wish this child to be immersed.”--_Priest._ “Let it be sprinkled.” _Girls._ “We wish the child to live to womanhood.”--_Priest._ “Dance for Atua.” _Girls._ “Me ta nganahau.” (These words are unintelligible.)--_Priest._ “It is sprinkled in the waters of Atua.” _Girls._ “The mat is spread.”--_Priest._ “Dance in a circle.” “Thread the dance.” The reader must here be told that the word “Atua” signifies a god, and that the word which is translated as “womanhood” is a term that signifies the tattooing of the lips, which is performed when girls are admitted into the ranks of women. The above sentences form only the commencement of the incantation, the remainder of which is wholly unintelligible.