pelai

Updated: July 16, 2025

The corpse was laid in a pit till the flesh decayed, the bones were then cleaned, and a part of them distributed among the relations and friends to be preserved as relics, part laid in consecrated ground. Dying persons sometimes desired that their bones should be thrown into the crater of the volcano at O Wahi, which was inhabited by the revered god Pelai.

Otto von Kotzebue - A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2