Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/459

Rh THE TONGA ISLANDS. 393 tdpa*y by applying it once upon each cheek bone J after which, the place was rubbed with the astringent berry of the matchi^ which oc- casions it to bleed, and with the blood they smeared about the wound, in a circular form, to nearly two inches in diameter, giving them- selves a very unseemly appearance |. They re- peat this friction with the berry every day, making the wound bleed afresh : and the men, in the mean time, neglect to shave, and to oil themselves during the day; they do, however, at night, for the comfort which this operation affords. After having, in the first place, burnt their cheeks and shaved their heads, they built for themselves small temporary .huts, for their own accommodation during the time of mourn- ing, which lasts twenty days. The women, who have become tabooed by touching the dead body, remain constantly in the fytoca, except when they want food, for which they retire to one or other of these temporary houses, to be fed as mentioned in the note, p. 141, but they sleep in stamped or imprinted with any pattern. t Those whose love for the deceased is very great, or who wish it to be thought so, instead of burning their cheeks in the way mentioned, rub off the cuticle by beating and rub- bing their cheeks with platt wound round their hands, made of the husk of the cocoa-nut 3 and this is a most painful operation.
 * Tdpa differs from gnatoo merely by its not being