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.

    566/578 (page 532)
    It was, throughout, adapted to awaken tenderness, and feelings of regret at the event, and sympathy with the survivors. Several weeks after the decease of a chief or person of distinction, another singular ceremony, called a heva, was performed by the relatives or dependants. The princi- pal actor in this procession was a priest, or relative, who wore a curious dress, the most imposing part of wdiich was the head-ornament, or parae. A cap of thick native cloth was fitted close to the head; in front were two large broad mother-of-pearl shells, covering the face like a mask, with one small aperture through which the wearer could look. Above the mask a number of beautiful, long, white, red-tipped, tail feathers of the tropic bird, were fixed, diverging like rays; beneath the mask was a curved piece of thin yet strong board, six or nine inches wide in the centre, but narrow at the ends, which were turned upwards, and gave it the appearance of a cres- cent. Attached to this was a beautiful kind of net-work of small pieces of brilliant mother-of-pearl shell, each piece being about an inch, or an inch and a half long, and less than a quarter of an inch wide. Every piece was finely polished, and reduced to the thinness of a card, a small perforation was made at each corner, and the pieces fastened together by five threads passed through these perforations. They were fixed perpendi- cularly to the board, and extended nearly from one end to the othei. The depth varied according to the taste or means of the family, but it was generally nine inches or a foot. The labour in making this part of the parae must have been excessive* The many hundred pieces ot mother-of-