The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-10-22
SCIENCE
AND FIRE
Papa Ita's Walking
Discussed by
Observer.

ing seen II. 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. 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-1ta had walked
with naked feet, exciting such enthus-
iasm that he was treated with great
consideration by the whites, and by the
natives as n god.
! I found II 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, il was generally believed among
the natives, and even among the Euro
peans present who had seen the cere-
mony. that IL any one turned around
to look back he Immediately was burn
ed, and l 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
To- T.. l.YI tviA
1t that the heat was not felt upon the
! feet, and that when shoes were worn
the soes were not burned tfor those
who followed the priests directions)
but 1t was added by all that much heat
was felt about the head.
! Such absolutely extraordinary ac-
counts of the performances had been
given to me that could not doubt that
| If all these were verified by my own
observation, it would mean nothing less
to me than n departure from the GUS
tomary order of nature, and something
very well worth the seeing, indeed.
Papa-Ita is the finest looking native
that have seen; tall, dignified in bear
ing, with unusually intelligent features.
| learned from him that he would per-
IlOTln the ceremony On w Juhc
II. the day before the sailing of our
ship. Papa-Ita himself spoke no Eng
llsh, and 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 a god
dess Cor devil as my interpreter had
IT'D, who was formerly a 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 II
necessary. In answer to my inquiry as
to what preparations he 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.
l went there at noon and found that
a large shallow pit or trench had been
dug. about nine feet deep. Lying near
by was u pile containing some cords
of rough wood. and a pile OF rounded
water-worn stones, weighing, / should
think, from forty to eighty-four pounds
apiece. They were, perhaps, 200 in
numbers, and all of porous basalt, a
feature the Importance of which will
be seen later. The wood was placed In
the trench, the fire was lighted and the
stones heaped on it, as l was told, di-
rectly after left, or at about IL o'clock.
lat o'clock Prof. Langley went over
again and found the preparations very
nearly completed
Native feet are not like European
ones. and Mr.. Richardson, the chief en-
gineer of the ship, mentioned that he
had himself seen elsewhere natives
standing. unconcerned, with naked feet
on the cover Of pipes conveying steam
at about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, where
no European foot could even lightly
rest for minute. The stones. then,
were hot. The crucial question was.
how hot was the upper part of this layer
on which the feet were to rest an in
slant in passing? l could think of no
ready thermometric method that could
give an absolutely trustworthy an
swer, but | could possibly determine on
the spot the thermal equivalent OF one
of the hottest stones trodden on. ct
was subsequently shown that the stone
might be much cooler at one part than
anotherD Most obviously, even this
was not an easy thing to do in the cir
cumstances. but decided to try to get
at least a trustworthy approximation.
By the aid of Chief Engineer Richard
son, who attended with stoker and
one OF the quartermasters, kindly de-
tailed by the ships master Capt. Law
less, ! prepared for the rough but con-
elusive experiment presently described
1t was nearly 40 o'clock when six
acolytes tnatives), wearing crowns of
flowers, wreathed with garlands and
bearing poles nearly fifteen feet long
ostensibly to be used as levers in top
!, ping over the upper stonsG nTpN.re1
They were supposed to need such Iona
poles because 4! the distan % ut wh.S :
| .h,,y r,:Isf StanI on account IN ia q,