The papahia is extensively used. It is a low solid block or stool, supported by four short legs, and smoothly polished on the top. It is cut out of one piece of wood, and is used instead of a mortar for pounding bread-fruit, plantains, or bruising taro; which is done by placing these upon the papahia, and beating them with a short stone pestle called a penu. This is usually made with a black sort of basalt, found chiefly in the island of Maurua, the most western of the group. The penu is sometimes constructed from a species of porous coral.*

The water used for washing their feet is kept in bottles called aano, made from the shells of large and fullgrown cocoanuts. That which they drink is contained in calabashes, which are much larger than any I ever saw used for the same purpose in the Sandwich Islands, but destitute of ornament. They are kept in nets of cinet, and suspended from some part of the dwelling. It is customary with them to wash their hands both before and after eating. The dishes used for this purpose

were often curiously carved. One that I brought from the Austral Islands, of which the accompanying woodcut gives a correct representation, is neither inelegant nor rude.

The drinking cups are made of the cocoanut-shell after it is full-grown, but before it is perfectly ripe. The shell is then soft, and is scraped until much thinner than a saucer, and frequently transparent. They are of a yellow colour, and plain, though the cups formerly used for drinking ava were carved. These are the prin

*A fine specimen of that kind of penu, which I procured at Rurutu, is deposited in the Missionary Museum at Austin Friars.

cipal utensils in the preparation of their food; they are kept remarkably clean, and, when not in use, suspended from some part of the dwelling, or hung upon a stand.

The fata, or stand, is a single light post planted in the floor, with one or two projections, and a notch on the top, from which the calabashes of water, baskets of food, umetes, &c. are suspended. Great labour was formerly bestowed on this piece of furniture, and the fata pua was considered an ornament to the house in which it was erected. About a foot from the ground a projection extended six or eight inches wide, completely round, flat on the top, but concave on the under side, in order to prevent rats or mice from ascending and gaining access to the food. Their only knife was a piece of bamboo-cane, with which they would cut up a pig, dog, or fish with great facility.

The carriage of fruits and roots from the garden to the dwelling-house, and the constructing of their ovens, in which much of their food is still prepared according to their former custom, is generally performed by the men, while the preparation for the meal within doors is made by the females.

CHAPTER VIII.

Account of the music and amusements of the islanders-Description of the sacred drum-Heiva drum, &c.- Occasions of their use-The bu, or trumpet -Ihara-The vivo, or flute-General character of their songs-Elegiao singularly beautiful-Translation of a war-song-Ballads a kind of classical authority-Entertainments and amusements-Taupiti, or festival-Wrestling and boxing-Effects of victory and defeat-Foot-races-Martial games -Sham-fights Naval reviews-Apai, bandy, or cricket-Tuiraa, or football--The haruraa puu, a female game-Native dances-Heiva, &c.-The te-a or archery-Bows and arrows-Religious ceremonies connected with the game--Never used by the Society islanders except in their amusements --Discontinued since the introduction of Christianity.

As a people, the South Sea islanders were peculiarly addicted to pleasure; and to their music, dances, and other amusements nearly as much of their time was devoted as to all other avocations. Their music wanted almost every quality that could render it agreeable to an ear accustomed to harmony, and was deficient in all that

constitutes excellence. It was generally boisterous and wild, and, with the exception of the soft and plaintive warblings of the native flute, was distinguished by nothing so much as its discordant, deafening sounds.

The principal musical instrument used by the South Sea islanders was the pahu, or drum. This varied in size and shape according to the purpose for which it was designed. Their drums were all cut out of a solid piece of wood. The block out of which they were made, being hollowed out from one end, remaining solid at the other, and having the top covered with a piece of shark's skin, occasioned their frequently resembling, in construction and appearance a kettle-drum. The pua and the reva, which are remarkably close-grained and durable, were esteemed the most suitable kinds of

wood for the manufacture of their drums. The large drums were called pahu, and the smaller ones toere. The pahu ra, sacred drum, which was rutu, or beaten, on every occasion of extraordinary ceremony at the idol temple, was particularly large, standing sometimes eight feet high. The sides of one that I saw in Tane's marae at Maeva were not more than a foot in diameter; but many were much larger. In some of the islands these instruments were very curiously carved. One which I brought from High Island, and have deposited in the Missionary Museum, is not inelegantly decorated:

others, however, I have seen, exhibiting very superior workmanship.

The drums used in their heivas and dances were ingeniously made. Their construction resembled that of those employed in the temple; the skin forming the head was fastened to the open work at the bottom by strings of cinet, made of the fibres of the cocoanut-husk. Drums were among the martial music of the Tahitians, and were used to animate the men when proceeding to battle. The drums beaten as accompaniments to the recital of their songs were the same in shape, but smaller. They were all neatly made, and finely polished. The large drums were beaten with two heavy sticks, the smaller ones with the naked hand. When used, they were not suspended from the shoulders of the performers, but fixed upon the ground, and consequently produced no very musical effect. The sound of the large drum at the temple, which was sometimes beaten at midnight, and associations connected therewith, were most terrific. The inhabitants at Maeva, where my house stood, within a few yards of the ruins of the temple, have frequently told me, that at the midnight hour, when the victim was probably to be offered on the following day, they have often been startled from their slumbers by the deep thrilling sound of the sacred drum; and, as its portentous sounds have reverberated among the rocks of the valley, every individual through the whole district has trembled with fear of the gods, or apprehension of being seized as the victim for sacrifice.

The sound of the trumpet, or shell, a species of murex, used in war to stimulate in action, by the priests in the temple, and also by the herald, and others on board their fleets, was more horrific than that of the drum. The largest shells were usually selected for this purpose, and were sometimes above a foot in length, and seven or eight inches in diameter at the mouth. In order to facilitate the blowing of this trumpet, they made a perforation, about an inch in diameter, near the apex of the shell. Into this they inserted a bamboo cane, about three feet in length, which was secured by binding it to the shell with fine braid; the aperture was rendered air-tight by cementing the outsides of it with a resinous gum from the bread-fruit-tree. These shells were blown when a procession walked to the temple, or their warriors marched to battle, at the inauguration of the king,

73

The Trumpet-Shell

during the worship at the temple, or when a tabu or restriction was imposed in the name of the gods. We have sometimes heard them blown. The sound is extremely loud, but the most monotonous and dismal that it is possible to imagine.

The ihara was another exceedingly noisy instrument. It was formed from the single joint of a large bamboo-cane, cut off a short distance beyond the two ends or joints. In the centre a long aperture was made from one joint towards the other. The ihara, when used, was placed horizontally on the ground, and beaten with sticks. It was not used in their worship, but simply as an amusement; its sounds were harsh and discordant. In its shape, &c. the ihara of the Polynesians appears to resemble the toponaztli of the Mexicans, described by Claverigo. The huehuetl, or drum, of the latter appears