ALTHOUGH I had been baffled in my attempts to learn the origin of
the Feast of Calabashes, yet it seemed very plain to me that it
was principally, if not wholly, of a religious character. As a
religious solemnity, however, it had not at all corresponded with
the horrible descriptions of Polynesian worship which we have
received in some published narratives, and especially in those
accounts of the evangelized islands with which the missionaries
have favoured us. Did not the sacred character of these persons
render the purity of their intentions unquestionable, I should
certainly be led to suppose that they had exaggerated the evils
of Paganism, in order to enhance the merit of their own
disinterested labours.
In a certain work incidentally treating of the 'Washington, or
Nort
