eature of the _morai_. Common
men who perished in the same battle were all buried in a single hole at
the foot of the pile. The spots where the bodies of the king and chiefs
reposed were pointed out to Captain Cook and his companions.[118]

[118] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 40 _sq._

Again, in the island of Tahiti, the naturalist George Forster, who
accompanied Captain Cook, saw a stone building, "in form of the frustum
of a pyramid," constructed in terraces or steps, and measuring about
twenty yards in length at the base. "This the native said was a
burying-place and place of worship, _marai_, and distinguished it by the
name of _marai no-Aheatua_, the burying-place of Aheatua, the present
king of Tiarroboo."[119]

[119] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, i. 267.

Again, in the island of Huahine, the missionaries Tyerman and Bennet saw
"a pagan _marae_ hard by, where the sovereigns of Huahine were
buried--and where, indeed, they lay in more than oriental state, each
one resting in his bed, at the foot of the Sacred Mountain, beneath the
umbrage of the magnificent _aoa_ [tree], and near the beach for ever
washed by waters that roll round the world.... The great _marae_ itself
was dedicated to Tani, the father of the gods here; but the whole ground
adjacent was marked with the vestiges of smaller _maraes_--private
places for worship and family interment--while this was the capital of
the island and the headquarters of royalty and idolatry."[120] A little
later, speaking of the same sacred place, the missionaries observe, "The
first _marae_ that we visited was the sepulchral one of the kings of
Huahine, for many generations. It was an oblong inclosure, forty-five
feet long by twenty broad, fenced with a strong stone wall. Here the
bodies of the deceased, according to the manner of the country, being
bound up, with the arms doubled to their shoulders, the legs bent under
their thighs and both forced upwards against the abdomen, were let down,
without coffins, into a hole prepared for their reception, and just deep
enough to allow the earth to cover their heads."[121]

[120] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 271.

[121] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 280.

One of our best authorities on these islands, William Ellis, speaks of
the _maraes_ (_morais_), whether they belonged to private families, to
districts, or to the kings, as being "the general depositories of the
bones of the departed,