r peculiar traits, there is none more
strange than the passion they seem to indulge for collecting human
heads. These are necessary accompaniments in many transactions of
their lives, particularly in their marriages, and no one can marry
unless he has a certain number of heads; indeed, those who cannot
obtain these are looked upon with disdain by the females. A young man
wishing to wed, and making application to marry her for whom he has
formed an attachment, repairs with the girl's father to the rajah
or chief, who immediately inquires respecting the number of heads
he has procured, and generally decides that he ought to obtain one
or two more, according to his age, and the number the girl's father
may have procured, before he can be accepted. He at once takes his
canoe and some trusty followers, and departs on his bloody errand,
waylaying the unsuspecting or surprising the defenceless, whose head
he immediately cuts off, and then makes a hurried retreat. With this
he repairs to the dwelling of his mistress, or sends intelligence
of his success before him. On his arrival, he is met by a joyous
group of females, who receive him with every demonstration of joy,
and gladly accept his ghastly offering.

Various barbarous ceremonies now take place, among which the heads
undergo inspection to ascertain if they are fresh; and, in order to
prove this, none of the brain must be removed, nor must they have been
submitted to smoke to destroy the smell. After these preliminaries,
the family honor of the bride is supposed to be satisfied, and she is
not allowed to refuse to marry. A feast is now made, and the couple
are seated in the midst naked, holding the bloody heads, when handfuls
of rice are thrown over them, with prayers that they may be happy and
fruitful. After this, the bridegroom repairs in state to the house of
the bride, where he is received at the door by one of her friends,
who sprinkles him with the blood of a cock, and her with that of a
hen. This completes the affair, and they are man and wife.

[Cremation.] Funerals are likewise consecrated by similar offerings,
the corpse remaining in the house until a slave can be procured,
by purchase or otherwise, whom they design to behead at the time the
body is burnt. This is done in order that the defunct may be attended
by a slave on his way to the other world or realms of bliss. After
being burnt, the ashes of the deceased are gathered in an urn, and
the head of the s