been chosen for
sacrifice, the family to which he belonged was regarded as taboo or
devoted to the altar, and when another victim was wanted, he was more
frequently taken from that family than from any other. Similarly, a
district which had once furnished victims was thenceforth devoted.
Hence, at the approach of ceremonies which were usually accompanied by
human sacrifices, the members of certain families and the inhabitants of
certain districts used to flee to the mountains and hide in caves till
the ceremony was over. But the doomed man was seldom apprised of his
fate beforehand. A sudden blow with a club or a stone on the nape of the
neck was the usual way of despatching him, lest the body should be
mangled or a bone broken. If the blow had only stunned him, he was soon
killed, and the corpse, placed in a long basket of coco-nut leaves, was
carried to the temple and offered to the god by being set before the
idol. In dedicating it the priest took out one of the eyes and handed it
on a leaf to the king, who made as if he would swallow it, but passed it
on to a priest or attendant. After the ceremony the body, still wrapt in
coco-nut leaves, was often deposited on the branches of a neighbouring
tree, where it remained some time. Finally, the bones were taken down
and buried under the pavement of the temple (_marae_).[153]

[153] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 345-348. Compare J. Cook,
_Voyages_, iii. 168 _sqq._ vi. 28-41; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp.
350 _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 549, ii. 38
_sq._

In the family, according to patriarchal usage, the father was the
priest, but the priests of the national temples formed a distinct class;
their office was hereditary. The high priesthood was often held by a
member of the royal family, and sometimes the king himself acted as the
national priest. The duties of the priests were to recite prayers, to
present offerings, and to sacrifice victims. Their prayers, usually
uttered in shrill, chanting tones, were often exceedingly long and full
of repetitions.[154] They had plenty of employment, being called in to
officiate on all occasions, whether at birth or at death, at feasts or
in sickness; for they were the physicians as well as the clergy of the
country. They professed to possess extraordinary powers, such as to
promote conception or to effect abortion, to cause or to heal disease,
to pray the evil spirit into food, and even to kill men outright. H