Note 21 — PREFACE.

The king with an attendant then came forward carrying a pig, and on coming near the front of the tree, offered prayer there, after which the king offered the pig and a man (victim) to the tree, chanting appealingly, the king saying: “O thou standing ohia, here is an offering to thee of pig and coconut. Give me life. Give life to the chiefs and all the people.” Then the priest arose, waved an axe in dedication to the deity, and touched the trunk of the ohia tree with the axe. He sat down praying loudly. A man felled the said ohia tree for an idol. A man was then put to death as a sacrifice from the king to the god. After these things, the king commanded that the pigs, ten in number, be roasted. Then the king offered the man as a gift to the god. This was a human sacrifice, an outcast, according to priestly law. And when the pigs were cooked they all sat down to eat, and after they were filled, the king made preparations for going home. The feather deities stood in a row in front of the people, the said ohia tree deity being far in advance of the feather deities. It was completely covered with foliage. Then all the deities and the priests and the chiefs came down, shouting their praises to god. And a man, in a high-pitched voice, called out, “E Kuamu, e Kuamu;”21 the people from front to rear responding, “Mu, e kuawa, e kuawa, wa, e ku wau a lanakila no.”22 Thus shouted all the people along the line, their voices being raised as commanded by the priest on this occasion of moving the ohia god.