Note 222 — Chapter V · (continued 2)

J. R. Forster, op. cit. pp. 544 sq. In the southern peninsula of Tahiti, both on the coast and inland, Captain Cook saw many sepulchral buildings, and he described them as "decorated with many carved boards, which were set upright, and on the top of which were various figures of birds and men: on one in particular there was the representation of a cock, which was painted red and yellow, to imitate the feathers of that animal, and rude images of men were, in some of them, placed one upon the head of another." See J. Cook, Voyages, i. 150 sq. These "carved boards" were no doubt of the same sort as the tees or teehees described by the two Forsters. No other writer seems to mention the figures of birds carved on them.