and young, men, women, and
children, took part in it, and battered their scalps till the blood
streamed down over their faces and bodies. This proof of their devotion
was supposed to be acceptable to the deity, who, gratified by the sight
of their flowing blood, would answer their prayers for health, good
crops, and victory in war.[92] At the feast of the cockle god in May
prayers were offered up to the divine shell-fish that he would be
pleased to cure the coughs and other ailments usually prevalent at that
season, which in Samoa forms the transition from the wet to the dry
months.[93] At the festival of an owl god, which fell about the month of
April, the offerings and prayers were particularly directed towards the
removal of caterpillars from the plantations; for these insects were
believed to be the servants of the owl god, who could send them as his
ministers of vengeance to lay waste the fields and orchards of the
impious.[94] Elsewhere the owl was a war god, and at the beginning of
the annual fish festivals the chiefs and people of the village assembled
round the opening of the first oven and gave the first fish to the
god.[95] A family, who had the eel for their household god, showed their
gratitude to him for his kindness by presenting him with the first
fruits of their taro plantation.[96] Another family believed their deity
to be incarnate in centipedes; and if a member of the family fell ill or
was bitten by a centipede, they would offer the divine reptile a fine
mat and a fan, with a prayer for the recovery of the patient.[97] The
utility of a fine mat and a fan to a centipede is too obvious to be
insisted on. Sometimes offerings were made to a god, not to persuade him
to come, but to induce him to go away. For example, where gods or
spirits were believed to voyage along the coast, offerings of food were
often set down on the beach as an inducement to the spirits to take the
victuals and pass on without calling at that particular place.[98]

[89] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20, 26, 29, 41, 44, 47,
53, 57.

[90] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20 _sq._

[91] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20, 26, 29; W. T.
Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. 123.

[92] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 57.

[93] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 41.

[94] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 47.

[95] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 25 _sq._

[96] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 70 _sq._

[97] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 47 _sq._