e precipice, and
the waterfall; but all around and below, the sides are clothed with the
exquisite verdure of the southern clime, the palm, the bread-fruit, the
yam, and all that can delight the eye; and both this and a little
satellite islet are fenced in by an encircling coral reef, within which
is clear still deep water, fit for navies to ride in, and approachable
through numerous inlets in its natural breakwater. It was a spot of much
distinction, containing the temple of the god Oro, who was revered by all
the surrounding groups, as the god of war, to whom children were
dedicated to make them courageous. There dreadful human sacrifices were
offered, concluded by cannibal feasts. Whenever such a sacrifice was
required, the priest and king despatched messengers to the chiefs of the
districts around to inquire whether they had a broken calabash, or a
rotten cocoa-nut. These terms indicated a man whom they would be willing
to give up. The victim was then either knocked down with a blow of a
small stone at the back of his head, or else speared in his own house;
and when one man of a family had thus been sacrificed, all the rest had
the same horrid preference.

The last human victim of Tahiti was verily a martyr. He was designated
because he had begun to pray. The emissaries came to his house and asked
his wife where he was. Then, borrowing from her the ironwood stick used
for breaking open cocoa-nuts, they went after him, and knocked him down
with it, binding him hand and foot, and placing him in a long basket made
of cocoa-nut leaves. His wife rushed forward, but was kept away, as the
touch or breath of a woman is considered to pollute a sacrifice. The
man, however, recovered the blow, and spoke out boldly: "Friends, I know
what you intend to do with me. You are about to kill me, and offer me up
as a _tabae_ to your savage gods. I know it is vain for me to beg for
mercy, for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you
cannot hurt my soul, for I have begun to pray to JESUS."

On hearing this, his bearers set him on the ground, put one stone under
his head, and beat out his brains with another, and thus died the last
Tahitian sacrifice, truly baptized in his own blood. The other gods
besides Oro were numerous, and there were also many animals supposed to
be possessed with familiar spirits. A chief was once in the cabin of a
ship where there was a talking cockatoo: the moment the bird spoke he