The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-21
SCIENCE
AND FIRE
Papa Ita's Walking
Discussed by
Observer.
HOW THE STONES
ARE KEPT HOT
The Performance Not a Miracle
to Prof. Langley Though Full
of Great interest.

Y HAD heard that it was performed
in Tahiti in 1897, and several per
Il sons there assured me of their hav-
ing seen it, and one of them Of his
having walked through the fire himself
under the guidance of the priest. Papa
tia. who is said to be one of the last
remnants of a certain order of priest
hood of Raiatea, and who had also per
formed the rite at the island of Hawaii
some time in the present year. A pit
was dug in which large stones were
heated red hot by a fire which had been
burning many hours. The upper stones
were pushed away just before the cere-
mony, so as to leave the lower stones
to tread upon, and over these, glow
ing red hot" according to the newspa-
per accounts), Papa-Ita had walked
with naked feet, exciting such enthus-
iasm that he was treated with great
consideration by the whites, and by the
natives as a god.
1 found it commonly believed in Ia
hiti that any one who chose to walk
after him, European or native, could
do SO in safety, secure in the magic
which he exercises if his instructions
were exactly followed. Here in Tahiti,
where he had walked" four years be-
fore, it was generally believed among
the natives, and even among the Euro
peans present who had seen the cere-
mony, that if any one turned around
to look back he Immediately was burn
ed, and 1 was told that all those who
! followed him through the fire were eX-
pected not to turn until they reached
! the other side in safety, when he again
entered the fire and led them back by
the path by which he had come. was
further told by several who had tried
| it that the heat was not felt upon the
feet, and that when shoes were worn
| the soles were not burned (for those
| who followed the priests directions)
but it was added by all that much heat
was felt about the head.
Such absolutely extraordinary &C
counts of the performances had been
given to me that 1 could not doubt that
| if all these were verified by my own
observation, it would mean nothing less
| to me than a departure from the Gus
tomary order of nature, and something
very we'll worth the seeing, indeed.
Papa-ita is the finest looking native
THAT 1 have seen; tall, dignified in bear
| ing, with unusually intelligent features.
! l learned from him that he would per-
form the ceremony on Wednesday, June
| II. the day before the sailing of our
| ship. Papa-Ita himself spoke no Eng
| lish, and 1 conversed with him briefly
through an interpreter. He said that
he walked over the hot stones. without
danger by virtue of spells which he was
able to utter, and by the aid of god
dess Cor devil as my interpreter had
it,, who was formerly native of the
islands. The spells, he said, were some
thing which he could teach another.
was told by others that there was a
still older priest in the island of Raia-
tea, whose disciple he was, although he
had pupils of his own, and that he could
send his spirit" to Raiatea to secure
the permission of his senior priest if
necessary. In answer to my inquiry as
| to what preparations ne was going to
make for the rite in the two or three
days before it, he said he was going to
pass them in prayer.
The place selected for the ceremony
fortunately was not far from the ship.
/ went there at noon and found that
a large shallow pit or trench had been
dug, about nine feet deep. Lying near
by was a pile containing some cords
of rough wood, and a pile of rounded
water-worn stones, weighing, 1 should
think from forty to eighty-four pounds
apiece They were, perhaps, 200 II
numbers, and all of porous basait, {
feature the Importance of which viii
be seen later. The wood was placed il
the trench, the fire was lighted and the
stones heaped on it, as 1 was told, di
. rectly after I left, or at about II o'clock
ITAt 4 o'clock Prof. Langley went owe
again and found the preparations yer!
nearly completed
Native feet are not like European
ones, and Mr.. Richardson, the chief en-
gineer of the ship, mentioned that n
= had himself seen elsewhere native
standing, unconcerned, with naked fee
on the cover of pipes conveying stear
: at about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, wher
no European foot could even light
: rest for minute. The stones, ther
, were hot The crucial question wal
how hot was the upper part of this laye
on which the feet were to rest an in
slant in passing? I could think of n
ready thermometric method that coul
give an absolutely trustworthy ar
swer, but I could possibly determine o
the spot the thermal equivalent of or
of the hottest stones trodden on.
- was subsequently shown that the stor
might be much cooler at one part tina
another) Most obviously, even tn
was not an easy thing to do in the CT
cumstances, but I decided to try to g
at least a trustworthy approximate
By the aid of Chief Engineer Richard
son, who attended with a stoker ar
. one of the quartermasters, kindly d