Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/208

142 wife did not mind it, because she was ah-eady tahoo'd from having touched the dead body of the late Tooitonga nine months before, and had consequently got accustomed to the inconve- niences of it ; and Mr. Mariner did not hesitate to do this last office to his friend, because he had no superstitious fears of the consequences of not submitting to the taboo. The body, be- ing washed, was brought into the house, laid on a large bale of gnatoo, and anointed with sandal wood oil. Toobo Nuha's widows (four in number) now came in to mourn over the dead body of their departed chief. They en^ tered beating their breasts and faces, and screaming with all the agony and frantic agita- tions of mad women. They sat down close round the corpse, and in a most dismal strain began singing months, as was the case with Finow's wife above mention- ed. During the time a man is taboo" d he must not feed him- self with his own hands, but must be fed by somebody else : he must not even use a toothpick himself, but must guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he is hun- gry and there is no one to feed him, he must go down upon his hands and knees, and pick up his victuals Avith his mouth : and if he infringes upon any of these rules, it is firmly expected that he will swell up and die : and this be- lief is so strong that Mr. Mariner thinks no native ever made an experiment to prove the contrary. They often saw him feed himself with his liands after having touched dead chiefs, and not observing his health to decline, they attributed it to liis being a foreigner, and being governed by different Gods.