having on one side a pyramid of stone work, 44 feet high, on an oblong base 267 feet by 87. The natives, instead of burying a dead body, placed it in a sitting or reclining posture, on a kind of hammock or cot, supported by posts, and covered with an awning; and when the flesh was wasted away, they interred the bones in the morai. Their altars were a kind of scaffolds, supported by wooden pillars where offerings of hogs, dogs, fish, plantains, &c, were left for their gods. Very few of their idols were observed. The southern peninsula, named Tiarabu, was found to be a distinct kingdom, not under the sway of Tootahah, but having its own independent chief, Waheatua.
The people of Otaheite were observed to be remarkably hospitable, kind, and open, and very attentive to personal cleanliness; but their character, in other respects, was grossly immoral. Their propensity to steal and defraud has already been noticed; and they were so lacivious, as to have no sense of modesty or decency. The females would openly lay themselves down on mats, and invite the strangers to their embraces. On one occasion, a youth and a girl performed the rites of Venus in presence of a large company, while Oberea herself stood by, and gave directions, as mistress of the ceremonies. At another time, a female of rank, who visited Mr. Banks at his tent with a present, paid her respects to him, by lifting her garments up to her waist, turning round to him three times, and then dropping them. Our navigators discovered, that a large and popular society existed in the island, called the society of the arreoy, including several persons of rank, of both sexes; the object of whose association was the unrestrained
