f old.[244] At one point on the
western coast of Tahiti, where the mountains advance in precipices close
to the sea, the road which skirts their base is a place of fear to the
natives. For in these precipices are caves full of skulls, and the
ghosts who reside in the caverns are reported sometimes to weary of
their own society and to come down to the road for company, where in a
sportive vein they play all sorts of tricks on passers-by. Not so long
ago three Tahitians were riding home at dusk from Papeete, where they
had been drinking rum. Just at the pass under the cliff they were
surprised by ghosts, who threw them into the ditch at the side of the
road. So great is the dread which the natives entertain of apparitions
at this spot that the Government has been compelled to divert the road,
so that it no longer skirts the foot of the haunted mountain, but gives
it a wide berth, and runs in a long sweep by the edge of the sea.[245]

[244] A. Baessler, _Neue Suedsee-Bilder_, p. 37.

[245] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 83 _sq._

Again, at another point on the west coast of Tahiti, where mighty
mountains, a glorious sea, and little coral islands with their groves of
palms, offer a view of enchanting beauty, there is said to be a cave
containing the skulls of chiefs in a jutting cliff half-way up the
mountain. The cave was in charge of an old man in whose family the
office of guardian was hereditary. It had been entrusted to him by his
father on his deathbed, and the son had kept the secret faithfully ever
since. In vain did a traveller seek to persuade the old man to guide him
to the cave; in vain did the chief himself beg of him to reveal the
grotto which concealed the mouldering relics of his forefathers. The
guardian was obdurate; he believed that the world was not wide enough to
hold two men who knew the holy place. He assured the traveller that
nobody could reach the cave without the help of the ghosts, so
perpendicular and so smooth was the face of the cliff that led up to it.
When he himself wished to make his way to it, his custom was to go to
the foot of the crag and pray, till the spirits came and wafted him
lightly up and down again; otherwise it would have been a sheer
impossibility for him to ascend and descend.[246]

[246] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 81 _sq._

Sec. 10. _The Worship of the Dead_

The belief in the existence of the spirits of the dead, and in their
power to help or harm the liv