bs and spears, who, rushing
into the area, began to cut and mangle themselves in a most dreadful
manner. Many struck their heads such violent blows with their clubs that
the sound could be heard thirty or forty yards off, and they repeated
them till the blood ran down in streams. Others, who had spears, thrust
them through their thighs, arms, and cheeks, all the while calling on
the deceased in a most affecting manner. A native of Fiji, who had been
a servant of the late king, appeared quite frantic; he entered the area
with fire in his hand, and having previously oiled his hair, he set it
ablaze, and ran about with it all on flame. When they had satisfied or
exhausted themselves with this manner of torment, they sat down, beat
their faces with their fists, and then retired. A second party then
inflicted on themselves the same cruelties. A third party next entered,
shouting and blowing shells; four of the foremost held stones, which
they used to knock out their teeth, while those who blew the shells
employed them as knives with which they hacked their heads in a shocking
manner. A man who had a spear pierced his arm with it just above the
elbow, and with it sticking fast in his flesh ran about the area for
some time. Another, who seemed to be a principal chief, acted as if
quite bereft of his senses; he ran to every corner of the area, and at
each station beat his head with a club till the blood flowed down on his
shoulders. At this point the missionary, unable to bear the sight of
these self-inflicted tortures, quitted the scene. When his colleagues
visited the place some hours later in the afternoon, they found the
natives of both sexes still at the dreadful work of cutting and mangling
themselves. In the course of these proceedings a party of mourners
entered the area, sixteen of whom had recently cut off their little
fingers. They were followed by another party with clubs and spears, who
battered and wounded themselves in the usual fashion, and also
disfigured their faces with coco-nut husks, which they had fastened to
the knuckles of both hands. The missionaries noticed that the mourners
who were either related to the dead king or had held office under him,
were the most cruel to themselves; some of them thrust two, three, and
even four spears into their arms, and so danced round the area, while
others broke off the spear-heads in their flesh.[207]

[204] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 345 _sq._ As to the