Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/160

102 seven feet high, and too bulky in proportion to its height; the whole was neatly covered with feathers—white to represent skin, and black to represent hair, and tallow on the head, where were three protuberances which we should have called horns, but the Indians called them tata ete (little men). The image was called by them Manne. They said it was the only one of the kind in Otahite, and readily attempted to explain its use, but their language was totally unintelligible, and seemed to refer to some customs to which we are perfect strangers. Several miles farther on we went ashore again, though we saw nothing remarkable but a burying-ground, whose pavement was unusually neat. It was ornamented by a pyramid about five feet high, covered entirely with the fruits of Pandanus odorus and Cratæva gynandra. In the middle, near the pyramid, was a small image of stone very roughly worked, the first instance of carving in stone that I have seen among these people. This they seemed to value, as it was protected from the weather by a kind of shed built purposely over it. Near it were three human skulls, laid in order, very white and clean, and quite perfect.

We afterwards took a walk towards a point on which we had from afar observed trees of etoa (Casuarina equisetifolia), from whence we judged that there would be some marai in the neighbourhood; nor were we disappointed, for we had no sooner arrived there than we were struck with the sight of a most enormous pile, certainly the masterpiece of Indian architecture in this island, and so all the inhabitants allowed. Its size and workmanship almost exceed belief. Its form was similar to that of marais in general, resembling the roof of a house, not smooth at the sides, but formed into eleven steps, each of these four feet in height, making in all 44 feet; its length was 267 feet, its breadth 71 feet. Every one of these steps was formed of white coral stones, most of them neatly squared and polished; the rest were round pebbles, but these, from their uniformity of size and roundness, seemed to have been worked. Some of the coral stones were very large, one I measured was 3½ by 2½ feet.