elevated. The adulation addressed to the prince, and the inflated terms in which his greatness was described, were not less pompous than those used in the presence of a Chinese emperor or a Turkish sultan. Not only was it declared that Oro, the god of war, was the father of the king, but his houses were called the clouds of heaven, his canoe was denominated the rainbow, his voice was thunder, the torches in his palace were styled lightning, and his movement from one district to another, though on the shoulders of a porter, was expressed by the metaphor of flying through the air. But the majesty of Polynesian thrones is not in all respects consistent; for the same potentate who at one time appears decked with the most splendid of royal insignia, surrounded by priests, and venerated as a god, is at another time seen stooping to the most ordinary occupations, and holding equal converse with the lowest of his domestics.

The household was maintained by the produce of the hereditary lands, and also by certain supplies exigible from the principal proprietors of the soil. The former being seldom found sufficient for the wants of the palace, application appears to have been regularly made to the raatiras, who, without submitting to any fixed rule, held themselves bound to comply with the demands of the king's steward at his periodical visits. The provisions thus granted were not unfrequently cooked and ready for the royal table; cloth was also presented for dresses to the servants; and, on some occasions, these aids extended to canoes, and even to houses, when his majesty happened to visit parts of his dominions where he had no convenient residence.*

Although in theory the government of the Georgian and Society islands might be pronounced despotic, in practice it' was found to admit a large portion of popular influence, as exercised by the owners of land, the natural representatives of an agricultural people. The king had usually near his person one confidential chief, who officiating as prime minister, advised him in all matters of importance; but this high functionary, unlike those in more regular constitutions, was not responsible to any class of persons for the counsel he might happen to give. So great, however, was the authority of the raatiras, that no decision involving the momentous question

Every reader must observe the resemblance between these usages and the purveyance and maintenance at one time common in England.

of peace or war, was ever adopted without their concurrence. The national assemblies were commonly held in the open air, and the utmost freedom of speech was allowed to every one whose rank entitled him to a place and a voice in their deliberations. Orators appeared on each side in all cases where the matter under consideration admitted of debate; and the king himself usually took a part in the discussion, urging his own views without any reserve. The speakers, on most occasions, possessed greater control over their reason than over their passions; and it was not uncommon to see a difference of opinion, after being pressed in angry words, followed by scenes of fury and bloodshed. If it was resolved to go to war, each chieftain retired to his own district, summoned his retainers, put arms into their hands, and prepared to lead them forth to join the banner of the sovereign.

Whenever a measure was adopted which concerned the great body of the inhabitants, a messenger was despatched throughout the island, who, after the manner of the ancient Celts, carried in his hand an emblematical proclamation, to which every loyal subject was ready to give obedience. Instead of the fiery cross, the royal envoy in the Georgian islands displayed a bunch of twigs bearing their green leaves; and when he entered the lands of a chief, he repaired instantly to his house, presented a single leaf, and forthwith delivered the orders of the king. If the token was accepted, the raatira was understood to express his compliance with the injunction thereby conveyed to him; but if he declined to receive it, his opposition to the policy of the government in this particular case was held to be distinctly manifested. To refuse, indeed, or to return the proffered leaf, was in general deemed equivalent to an act of rebellion; and if the monarch found himself sufficiently strong, the refractory vassal was not long allowed to pass without due punishment.*

In a state of society so simple, it will not appear surprising that there was no regular code of laws, nor any courts of justice; and hence, except in offences against the supreme authorities, the rulers were seldom called upon to interpose the exercise of power. Personal security and the rights of property were enforced no further than the influence of the chiefs could be exerted in behalf of their respective dependants; and those who had little hope of succeeding by an appeal to arms, were content to adopt the alternative of submitting to Ellis, vol. iii., p. 122.

whatever, wrongs or loss might be inflicted on them. Among the lower class, retaliation for theft or personal violence usually superseded every other rule of jurisprudence; a principle which was so generally recognised, that the offenders seldom resisted, knowing that the claims of the injured party would be supported by the great body of the people throughout the district. In no respect were their actions and practice less regular than in crimes against chastity; for while lewdness was hardly regarded as offensive to good manners, adultery was sometimes punished with death. So lax on other occasions were their sentiments on this head, that when a husband adopted a taio or friend, his wife was understood to be their common property; while those in the higher rank who practised polygamy, saw nothing wrong when their ladies attached themselves to other men, if duly recommended.

The sanction of law in the South sea, as elsewhere, rested chiefly on the authority of religion; and there can not be any doubt that the sacrifice of victims to the gods when supposed to be offended, was a powerful engine in the possession of government. When the priest announced that the wrath of Heaven required an atonement, the king, whose duty it was to watch over the safety of his land, gave orders for the selection of a proper person; and it being observed by the people that individuals who had shown any marked disaffec tion toward the state were commonly chosen, they were more careful to render an unhesitating obedience to the will of the sovereign. It is related by one of the missionaries, that when a victim was required, the monarch despatched to the chiefs of the various districts, certain messengers, who, upon enter ing their dwellings, were wont to ask whether they had a broken calabash at hand, or a rotten cocoa-nut. These or similar terms were invariably used and well understood when such applications were made. It generally happened that some one of the chiefs had an individual on his grounds whom he was not unwilling to devote to the horrid purpose in view. When, therefore, the request was announced, he notified by a motion of the hand or movement of the eye the person whom he wished to be taken. The only weapon with which the assassins were armed was a small stone concealed in the fist; and one of them striking the doomed man a stunning blow on the back of the head, the others rushed in and completed the murder. The body was then carried, amidst songs and shouts of savage triumph, to the marai, where it was offered to the

gods. This inhuman practice was rendered still more dreadful by a circumstance, which, probably intended to prevent revenge on the part of the survivers, occasioned the utmost wretchedness and alarm. As soon as one of a family was selected as an offering to the vindictive spirit of their imaginary divinities, all the other males belonging to it considered themselves as devoted. It availed them nothing to remove to another island, for the reason of their migration was soon made known; and whenever a sacrifice was needed, it was sought among the unfortunate refugees. The missionary, on whose authority we relate these facts, had in his own household a domestic, all of whose brothers had been immolated on the altar, and he himself had been eight times hunted with dogs in the neighbouring mountains; but, being an extraordinary runner, as well as ingenious in devising resources, he contrived to elude his pursuers until the inhabitants of his island embraced the gospel, and no longer looked to such oblations.*

The practice of taboo, in like manner, placed a vast influence in the hands of the ruler. A universal interdict was constantly at his command; and, whether in matters of finance, provisions, or any other branch of national economy, he had the minds and bodies of his subjects entirely under his control. The introduction of Christianity has indeed effected an extensive and most beneficial change in the political opinions, the manners, and belief of the natives; but before we enter upon those interesting points, we shall briefly notice some opinions and usages which prevailed among the eastern Polynesians at the time when they were first visited by navigators from Europe.

On all the inquiries which respect the origin of the human race and the nature of the gods, their impressions were extremely vague, ridiculous, and in many cases inconsistent. They traced their own existence to progenitors, who, though they had sprung from a divine source, were led by inclination or necessity to fix their abode upon earth, with whom, even after they were removed by death, they continued to hold some mysterious connexion. Hence their forefathers and their divinities being in many cases identified, the same forms of adoration were directed to both. But as the imagination of a savage does not long remain satisfied with ideal forms, the inhabitants of all the Polynesian groups were found to have adopted the usual expedient of supplying themselves with an * Williams's Missionary Enterprises, p. 555.

object on which they might fix their eyes, when engaged in the various ceremonies of their rude worship. The idols, we are told, were different in every island, there being no one type or symbol which had secured the approval of the general mind.

In some cases there is reason to believe that their notions have received a certain coloring from an occasional intercourse with Europeans. For example, in Otaheite it is mentioned as a tradition received from their fathers that the first human pair owed their existence to the god Taaroa, who, after he had formed the world, created man out of red earth. It is added that this deity one day caused the man to fall asleep, and, while he lay in a state of insensibility took out one of his bones, of which he made a woman, whom he gave to him as his wife. Some of the islanders maintain that the name of the female was Ivi, which would by them be pronounced Evé. The native term literally signifies a bone; but figuratively it is also applied to a widow and to a victim slain in war. It is justly remarked, that, should a stricter inquiry confirm the truth of this statement, more especially with regard to the antiquity of the opinion, it will afford one of the most remarkable oral traditions yet known relative to the origin of the human race.*

The traces of primeval belief which prevail among the people of the South sea, will be found to lend great probability to the conclusion, that the nations whence they originally emigrated must have been acquainted with some of the leading facts contained in the Mosaical history. Other of their tenets appear to bear a great resemblance to the more striking features of Hindoo cosmogony. The account of the creation given in the Institutes of Menu accords in no small degree with the Polynesian legends as to the production of the visible world by the power of their god. The Bramins say, that he having willed to produce various beings from his own divine substance, first, with a thought, created the waters, and placed in them a productive seed. That seed became an egg, bright as gold, blazing like the luminary with a thousand beams, and in that egg he was himself born, in the form of Brahma, the great forefather of all spirits. The waters were called

* Polynesian Researches, vol. i., p. 110. Mr. Ellis, who collected with great care the floating notions of the people, is disposed to think that Ivi or Eve is the only aboriginal part of the story, as far as it respects the mother of the human race.