consideration, and one that had not occurred to
me. We were still hesitating, and uncertain what course to pursue, when
Mowno came in, looking much troubled, and carrying in his hand the
mysterious package, the object and meaning of which I forgot to explain.

"A stone, folded in the leaves of the miro, sent by the king, or
paramount chief, to the subordinate chiefs of districts or villages, is
the customary method of notifying the latter that they are expected to
furnish a human victim for some approaching sacrifice. The principal
occasions upon which these are required, are at the building of national
maraes, at the commencement of a war, or in cases of the serious illness
of a superior chief. The number of victims sacrificed, is proportioned
to the magnitude of the occasion; as many as a score have sometimes been
offered to propitiate the gods during the severe sickness of a powerful
chief. The priests signify to the chief the number required; the latter
then sends out his runner or messenger, (te vea), who delivers to each
of the subordinate chiefs, one of these packages for each victim to be
furnished from his immediate district. The odious duty of designating
the individuals to be taken, then devolves upon the subordinate, and
having decided upon this, he sends a number of armed men to secure the
destined victims before they secrete themselves or flee into the woods,
as those who have any reason to fear being selected generally do, at the
first appearance of the dreaded messenger, or even as soon as it is
publicly known that an occasion is at hand for which human sacrifices
will be required. When secured, the doomed persons are most commonly
killed on the spot by the chief's men, and the bodies wrapped in
cocoa-nut leaves and carried to the temple. Sometimes, however, they
are preserved alive, and slain by the priests themselves at the altar.

"Upon the arrival of the messenger, as already related, with a
requisition for one victim from the village, the majority of Mowno's
advisers had insisted upon selecting Rokoa for that purpose, and thus
avoiding the necessity of sacrificing one of their own people. The
priest had gone further still, and proposed to seize upon us all, and
send Barton and myself to the two neighbouring villages, to be furnished
by them as their quota of victims. To these councils, Mowno had opposed
a determined resistance, and he had finally sent his followers to
despatch an old man na