Volume 1

Polynesian researches, during a residence of nearly six years in the South Sea Islands; including descriptions of the natural history and scenery of the islands--with remarks on the history, mythology, traditions, government, arts, manners, and customs of the inhabitants / By William Ellis.

  • Ellis, William, 1794-1872.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Polynesian researches, during a residence of nearly six years in the South Sea Islands; including descriptions of the natural history and scenery of the islands--with remarks on the history, mythology, traditions, government, arts, manners, and customs of the inhabitants / By William Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Under the influence of these causes, in the course of a few weeks the muscles dried up, and the whole body appeared as if covered with a kind of parchment. It was then clothed, and fixed in a sitting posture; a small altar was erected before it, and offerings of fruit, food, and flowers, daily presented by the relatives, or the priest appointed to attend the body. In this state it was preserved many months, and when it decayed, the skull was carefully kept by the family, while the other bones, &c. were buried within the precincts of the family temple. It is singular that the practice of preserving the bodies of their dead by the process of embalming, which has been thought to indicate a high degree of civilization, and which was carried to such perfection by one of the most celebrated nations of antiquity, some thousand years ago, should be found to prevail among this people. It is also practised by other distant nations of the Pacific, and on some of the coasts washed by its waters. In commencing the process of embalming, and placing the body on the bier, another priest was employed, who was called the tahua bure tiapapau, literally “corpse-pray ing priest.” His office was singular: when the house for the dead had been erected, and the corpse placed upon the platform or bier, the priest ordered a hole to be dug in the earth or floor, near the foot of the platform. Over this he prayed to the god, by whom it was supposed the spirit of the deceased had been required. The purport of his prayer was, that all the dead man’s sins, and especially that for which his soul had been called to the po, might be deposited there, that they might not attach in any degree to the survivors, and that the anger of the god might be appeased.