or Tangata, in this country) taboo (tafoo, as here pronounced); and in the other, a hog, which had also been made an offering to the divinity.  At a little distance from these, near the middle of the morai, were three more of these square inclosed places, with two pieces of carved wood at each, and upon them a heap of fern.  These, we were told, were the graves of three chiefs; and before them was an oblong, inclosed space, to which our conductor also gave the name of Tangata taboo; telling us, so explicitly, that we could not mistake his meaning, that three human sacrifices had been buried there; that is, one at the funeral of each chief.  It was with most sincere concern, that I could trace, on such undoubted evidence, the prevalence of these bloody rites, throughout this immense ocean, amongst people disjoined by such a distance, and even ignorant of each other’s existence, though so strongly marked as originally of the same nation.  It was no small addition to this concern, to reflect, that every appearance led us to believe, that the barbarous practice was very general here.  The island seemed to abound with such places of sacrifice as this which we were now visiting, and which appeared to be one of the most inconsiderable of them, being far less conspicuous than several others which we had seen, as we sailed along the coast, and particularly than that on the opposite side of the water, in this valley, the white henananoo, or pyramid, of which, we were now almost sure, derived its colour only from pieces of the consecrated cloth laid over it.  In several parts, within the inclosure of this burying-ground, were planted trees of the cordia sebestina some of the morinda citrifolia, and several plants of the etee, or jeejee, of Tongataboo, with the leaves of which the hemanaa was thatched; and, as I observed, that this plant was not made use of in thatching their dwelling-houses, probably it is reserved entirely for religious purposes.

Our road to and from the morai, which I have described, lay through the plantations.  The greatest part of the ground was quite flat, with ditches full of water intersecting different parts, and roads that seemed artificially raised to some height.  The interspaces were, in general, planted with taro, which grows here with great strength, as the fields are sunk below the common level, so as to contain the water necessary to nourish the roots.  This water probably comes from the same source, which supplies the large pool from which we filled our casks.  On the drier spaces were several spots, where the cloth-mulberry was planted, in regular rows; also growing vigorously, and kept very clean.  The cocoa-trees were not in so thriving a state, and were all low, but the plantain-trees made a better appearance, though they were not large.  In general, the trees round this village, and which were seen at many of those which we passed before we anchored, are the cordia sebestina, but of a more diminutive size than the product of the southern isles.  The greatest part of the village stands near the beach, and consists of above sixty houses there; but, perhaps, about forty more stand scattered about, farther up the country, toward the burying-place.