8. My attention was drawn to this by
Mr. Laing, writing from New Zealand. The article is by Miss Tenira
Henry, of Honolulu, a young lady of the island. The Council of the
Society, not having seen the rite, 'do not guarantee the truth of the
story, but willingly publish it for the sake of the incantation.' Miss
Henry begins with a description of the ti-plant (Dracaena terminalis),
which 'requires to be well baked before being eaten.' She proceeds thus:

'The ti-ovens are frequently thirty feet in diameter, and the large
stones, heaped upon small logs of wood, take about twenty-four hours to
get properly heated. Then they are flattened down, by means of long
green poles, and the trunks of a few banana-trees are stripped up and
strewn over them to cause steam. The ti-roots are then thrown in whole,
accompanied by short pieces of ape-root (Arum costatum), that are not
quite so thick as the ti, but grow to the length of six feet and more.
The oven is then covered over with large leaves and soil, and left so for
about three days, when the ti and the ape are taken out well cooked, and
of a rich, light-brown colour. The ape prevents the ti from getting too
dry in the oven.

'There is a strange ceremony connected with the Uum Ti (or ti-oven), that
used to be practised by the heathen priests at Raiatea, but can now be
performed by only two individuals (Tupua and Taero), both descendants of
priests. This ceremony consisted in causing people to walk in procession
through the hot oven when flattened down, before anything had been placed
in it, and without any preparation whatever, bare-footed or shod, and on
their emergence not even smelling of fire. The manner of doing this was
told by Tupua, who heads the procession in the picture, to Monsieur
Morne, Lieutenant de Vaisseau, who also took the photograph {163} of it,
about two years ago, at Uturoa, Raiatea, which, being on bad paper, was
copied off by Mr. Barnfield, of Honolulu. All the white residents of the
place, as well as the French officers, were present to see the ceremony,
which is rarely performed nowadays.

'No one has yet been able to solve the mystery of this surprising feat,
but it is to be hoped that scientists will endeavour to do so while those
men who practise it still live.

Tupua's Incantation used in Walking Over the Uum-Ti.--Translation

'Hold the leaves of the ti-plant before picking them, and say: "O hosts
of gods! awake, arise! You and I