The Chief Was At This
Time Rather Notorious From Having Lately Hung One Of His
Wives And A Slave For Adultery.
When one of the missionaries
remonstrated with him he seemed surprised, and said
he thought he was exactly following the English method.
Old Shongi, who happened to be in England during the
Queen's trial, expressed great disapprobation at the whole
proceeding:
He said he had five wives, and he would rather
cut off all their heads than be so much troubled about one.
Leaving this village, we crossed over to another, seated on
a hill-side at a little distance. The daughter of a chief, who
was still a heathen, had died there five days before. The
hovel in which she had expired had been burnt to the ground:
her body being enclosed between two small canoes, was
placed upright on the ground, and protected by an enclosure
bearing wooden images of their gods, and the whole was
painted bright red, so as to be conspicuous from afar. Her
gown was fastened to the coffin, and her hair being cut off
was cast at its foot. The relatives of the family had torn
the flesh of their arms, bodies, and faces, so that they were
covered with clotted blood; and the old women looked most
filthy, disgusting objects. On the following day some of the
officers visited this place, and found the women still howling
and cutting themselves.
We continued our walk, and soon reached Waiomio. Here
there are some singular masses of limestone, resembling
ruined castles.
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