Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/505

Rh gods for the sins of the sick man. These sacrifices, however, were found of no avail;—greater, therefore, were soon had recourse to: and accordingly three or four children were strangled, at different times, in the manner which has already been related; and invocations were made to the deities at fytocas, consecrated houses, and in the persons of the priests, but still without effect, for the gods were deaf to their entreaties; and the illness of the sacred chief grew every day more alarming. As a last resource, therefore, to excite the compassion of the deities, they carried the emaciated person of Tooitonga to the place where his provisions were accustomed to be cooked ;