pronouncing his or her name. The idea evidently was to secure a public recognition of the god and clanship of each of the rising generation—for their own guidance in the ceremonial of heathen life, and for the guidance of priests and chiefs afterwards. The greatest possible sin in heathenism was ‘ta atua,’ i.e., to kill a fellow worshipper by stealth. In general, it might be done in battle. Otherwise, such a blow was regarded as falling upon the god himself; the literal sense of ‘ta atua’ being, god-striking or god-killing. Such crimes were generally the consequence of ignorance; to prevent the priests and chiefs from such blundering, these occasional ‘namings’ were appointed. In the event of war, and a consequent redistribution of lands, the favour of all the principal gods must be secured by favours shown to their worshippers—at least to a selection of a few to keep up the worship of each idol. A great feasting invariably succeeded this ceremony of ‘naming.’” Mr. Mair, in the paper already referred to, says that the Mori-oris had neither songs nor chants; but in this he is undoubtedly in error. Mr. Shand has made, I am told, a considerable collection of their chants, which I hope he will soon publish. It appears, indeed, that in all their principal ceremonies chants, or karakias, were used. Their modes of burial were various. While living, they almost invariably selected their own spot for interment; sometimes on a high hill commanding a view of the sea, some atua rock, or the vicinity of their food-yielding miko. Others were lashed to young trees, and some were bound in a canoe and sent to sea. The most common mode, however, was this: When a person conceived the approach of death to be near, he would select a long piece of the heart of ake ake, about the thickness of a man's wrist, and sharpened at one end. Upon the top he would rudely carve the figure of a bird or a fish. He would then go to a particular spot, and kindle a fire with brushwood. Where the fire died out, he would stick in the ake ake, and that was to be the place of his sepulture. When dead, the arms were forced back against the chest, and securely bound there with plaited green flax ropes; the hands were bound together and drawn over the knees, and a stick was then inserted between the arms and knees. This was the orthodox method of trussing a body, and it was sometimes a work of great difficulty; for, when the body became rigid, the efforts of many men were required to bring it into a proper position. This being done, the dead was enveloped in plaited flax matting, and interred as far as the knees, the upper portion of the body being invariably above the soil. To this very day, clearing away land, one frequently lights upon leg and arm hones pointing upwards. Others, again, would be bound to two or three young trees growing closely together, in which case the body would be placed in