The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-21 00:00:00

horribly accoutred for death, having affixed rounr!
his neck the head of his son, whose body formed
part of the infernal banquet then exhibited. Here,
for the first time, to the disgrace of the female cha-
racter, a few women appeared. Some few wives or
mothers, whose husbands or whose sons had been
in their turn killed and eaten, approached the poor
old man, and plucking the hair of his head and his
beard, pricking him with the teeth of some fish or
other animal, inflicted ❑pon him every possible bodily
torture, while the inventions of their demoniacal
countrymen, were doing their utmost to agonise his
mind ! Captain Briggs, who witnessed all this, de-
termined to save this poor man's life arid that of the
boy, who was also to be sacrificed, if such could be
done by either force or price. The boy was brought
forth to die. A man had the axe extended over his
head, and was about to cleave it in twain, when
Captain Briggs, at a hazard which may be easily
understood, seized him, and by threats and entreatie,,
the risk of which at such a time he cannot now con-
template without shuddering, obtained the life of the
boy altogether, and that of the old man for the
time ! The next day he was taken to another
place, where his doom was sealed with every cir-
cumstance of horror and atrocity. The boy still

lives. Captain Briggs paid the ransom of his-life in
muskets and gunpowder. He conveyed him in
safety to his ship, and he is now here, in Hobart
Town, gratefully acknowledging his obligation to
the worthy man who saved him from death.
In the meantime the bloody banquet went on, the
Hecho, the Robulloh, and the rest, devouring the'
contents of the baskets we have described with the
greatest delight. The manner in which the bodies
had been salted, at nearly the hottest season of the
year, had been too imperfect to prevent the process
of decomposition from proceeding to so considerable
an extent that the worms crawled from the putrid
flesh as it was devoured. It was a horrible sight.
Captain Briggs had the curiosity to open one of the
baskets which was near hint. It contained the
head and body of a beautiful young female. One
of the officers of the ship who was with him had
resolution enough to dissect the breast away with
his penknife; he wrapped it up in a handkerchief,
took it on board the Dragon, put it into spirits, and
presented it to a gentleman in Hobart Town, in
whose possession it now is.
While this dreadful scene was going on, the Ma.
rinewie was confined in irons in the fore-cabin of the
English brig of which we have spoken. On the
passage from Banks's Harbour to Cook's Strait
this chieftain and Lis wife, well knowing the dread-
ful tortures which awaited them from their feroci-
ous enemies, took an effectual method of preventing
their daughter from undergoing the sufferings to
which they knew she was destined : they strangled
her. The Captain then placed both the Marinewie
and his wife in irons to prevent them from also de-
stroying themselves. They were landed on the 12th
November by the Robulloh, and conveyed from the
coast some short distance into the interior. Captain
Briggs was not able to ascertain their fate, but we
understood that it was intended that after they had
been dispatched with all the torture usual in such
cases, the heart of Marinewie should be sent to be
eaten by the Hecho's mother, the widow of the
Payie, who had been eaten by the Marinewie, that
the Robulloh should eat his brains, the Hecho his
eyes, the Hecho's sister his tongue, and that the
rest of his body should be sent as presents to the
Chiefs in the interior.

Having now given our readers some insight of the
progress of civilization effected by the Missionaries
during a period of upwards of twenty years' resi-
dence at these naturally high-favoured islands, we
shall now state how far their efforts have succeeded
as respects the conversion of these people from
their heathen habits to Christianity. There is not
one single man or woman in the whole country who
has really and in perfect sincerity renegaded from
the native idolatry They have now, as they have
had ever since the first discovery of their islands by
Europeans, a God, a Devil, and a Spirit. They
fear all, but they love neither. They have no reli-
gious principles whatever; neither are they (perhaps
the only good trait in ;heir character) very much
subjected to the infirmity of being priest-ridden.
They have a description of female priests, whose
occupation will be better understood if we apply to
them the term witches. Captain Briggs mentions
one of these whom he saw, named Anorighie, as the
most beautiful woman in the country. It is re-
markable that the word " taboo," which implies
being rendered sacredly impervious to all touch or
communication, is common to all the Islands in the

Southern Pacific, from New Zealand to the Sand-
wich Islands. When a chief takes a wife, she is ta-
bood, and inconstancy on her part is death to her
and her paramour. Any man can tabood his house
or his land by some trifling present to the Chief, and '
the violation of it is death. 'When any of their
slaves die, their bodies are given to be eaten by the
pigs. If their children die under a certain age the
bodies are put into a sort of trough covered with a
mat, and hoisted upon a pole about six or seven feet
high, where they are left to moulder away. When
the Chiefs die a natural death their bodies are burnt
with much ceremony. Their ordinary burial places
are so strictly tabood, that it is next to impossible
for even a stranger to penetrate into them. They
express excessive joy and grief in the same manner,
by inflicting severe wounds upon themselves with
the sharp bone of a fish until the blood runs down in
torrents. The females frequently exchange their
infants with each other, and a mother whose infant
dies before it is weaned will frequently replace it by
a puppy or a young seal, both of which animals
have been seen nursed by women. In a word their
habits ate exactly as they were when their island was
first visited by Europeans, with this exception, that
they have now fire-arms in general use throughout
the island, and the work of human destruction goes
on with proportionate increased activity. The
Chiefs begin to take a wider range in their desire
to obtain the most powerful and effectual instruments
of death. They know the superiority of cannon over
musketry, and they express an anxious desire to be fur-
nished with these formidable engines, well know-
ing that the possessors of such will be enabled to ob-
tain a greater quantity of their favourite food, by the
increased means thereby afforded them of carrying
death and destruction in whatever direction their

appetite, or their vindictiveness, may carry them.
This is the only effect of their communication with
Europeans which yet appears. We should like to
hear the most bigotted of the whole body of Mis-
sionaries justify this. It will require more than or-
dinary Missionary ingenuity to attempt it.
We have exceeded our limits, and we have only
furnished our readers with the text of the subject,
the comtnentary is yet to come.

The following dialogue in the hand-writinc,
toifo
nMirn.
tI
hi
eu ca ims se ,a
sand
nb ed a ra
gvariousthe
sm. at
papers
o f coor rtrieui7t-
gentleman :—" ' Fraternal Dialogue between John Bull
and his brother Jonathan. (Dated July, 1825.')
Jonathan—You are a very good .and constant customer,
John, at my shop, for flour, hoops, staves, and many other
articles of my trade ; you are good pay, and I am always
glad to deal with you. John—l believe all you say—l
wish to continue a good customer ; but I must say your
mode of dealing with me is rather hard. Every time I
travel to, or send to your shop (Sunday or not), I am
ohhged to pay double toll at the turnpike-gate, which is close
keforp it. •Jon.—Yetr need not take that trouble. I prefer
sending my goods to my customers by spy own porters ;
and, as they are always ready and punctual in deli-
vering the packages, I do not see why you should corn,
plain. :John—l complain because my own cart and
horses have nothing to do, and my people are upon the
poor-rate, whilst lam paying you for porterage. 1 will Lot
go on this way. Jon.—Well! we will consider of it next
Christina., when the partners in our firm meet to talk
aver the concern. (John remains patient for another
year ; when, finding the Sunday toll still continued, he
asks what Brother Jonathan and his firm have decided.
July, 1826.) Jon.—We have resolved to giant a new
lease of the tolls, without making any alteration in the
terms. John—You have ! then I withdraw my custom.
Jon.—The devil you do ! (Aside.) We mistook him for
a more patient ass than he proves to be. How shall we
contrive to bring him back to our shop?"