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James Morrison Journal
On Tahiti and the Tahitians

Relegous & other Customs

When they make an offering to the Deity, the Hog is brought to the Moral where it is killd and Cleand as if for eating, it is then besmeard with its own Blood and placed on the alter to rot and they suppose the Deity is Gratified by eating the Soul of the Victim as he also does of those who die, Whether Man or Beast, but those who are killd on purpose for him have always the effect of procuring favours for the Maker of the Sacrafice. The Priests then Dress the in trails with Bread fruit & Roots, and eat them on the Morai, and as they observe the Birds often eat the Plantains they frequently lay a bunch or two of the Best sort on the Alter together with Fish, Fowles &c. and they are scarce ever without some thing on them.

The first Fruits of all kinds are offered to the Deity, next to the Chief and to the Lord of the Mannor before they eat any themselves, and the Fish in like Manner; if a Man has a Fishing Seine to Wet or a New Canoe to launch he makes a Feast on the Morai for the Priests, who offer up Plantain trees and prayers for their success, and the First fish always goes to the Morai where the priest offers it with prayers, The Next to the Priests, the 3rd to the Chief and the 4th to the Lord of the Mannor or landlord; and till all these are served they never taste the Fruits of their labour. The first pig is always offered at 8 or ten Days old and a Chicken of the Brood is also offered, and for their Children they always make an offering according to their ability and is either a Pig or a Fowle.

If any thing toutches the Alter, or even the Sacred Ground about the Morai, let the Value be ever so great it is deemd Sacred, and for that reason can never be brought into unhallow'd ground, or toutchd but by the Priests & should a Hog or Dog &c. run into any of the Sacred Grounds they are killd for sacrafice. When a Feast is made on any Morai it is always from a Freewill Offering (& of which they have many) and the Whole of the Victuals must be eaten there & not removed from the Sacred Ground, let the quantity be what it will. The Breast & one shoulder of evry hog is the Chief's share but in his absence they fall to the Priests with the Head & Intrails which is their own share, nevertheless if any person at hand is Intitled to eat on the Morai and has not been served they invite him or them to partake. When the priest or preists (as beforesaid) attend these Feasts they and all who enter on the Morai Must be Naked to the Waist, but when they attend any Ceremony off the Morai they have their Shoulders Covered and their Head anointed with Oil, a kind of Turban bound on with Secred leaves a Breastplate (Calld Tawmee) on their Breast and their Cloaths bound on with a Sash or Girdle of Braided hair or Cocoanut Fibers neatlyplatted of a Great length, and Made up in Bights or doubles, with a Tasell at each end.

The Provisions brought to the Morai must be dressd on it, and near the House where Baskets are kept for keeping it in, should it last three or four days.

They always wash themselves before, and after they eat, and should a Dead lizard, Mouse or rat toutch them they would wash before they handled any Food and should they happen to find one in or near their oven or toutch any of their Culinary Utensils they would use them No More. Notwitshtanding which the[y] will eat a Hog which has died if they know of No disorder which might be the Occasion of his Death.

If any person toutches a dead body except of those killd by War, or for Sacrafice, is rendered unclean and can toutch no provisions with their hands for one Month, during which time they must be fed by another. If the Man killd in War be toutched by a relation they must undergo the like but otherwise Washing is sufficient. If any person have a running sore or large Ulcers they are toutchd by no person else and if they die the House wherein they lived is burnt with evry thing belonging to it.

When Mourning for the Death of any relation they Shave the Fore part of their heads and sometimes the hind part together with their Eye brows & beards and Cut their heads with Sharks teeth in excess of Grief or Joy. See the Mourning Ceremony.

They always Venerate the Grey heads, and are kind to Strangers, and protect the Fatherless & the Widow.

A Child may Curse its Father, Mother, Uncle or Aunt but it would be Blasphemy for them to Curse it. The Child may not Curse its Grand Father, Grandmother, Brothers or Sisters but the Grand Father or Grandmother may Curse their Grand Children with Impunity, but it is Death For any Man to Blaspheme or revile the Gods or the King.

When they Marry they Never Join with their Blood relations but a Man May take two Sisters, and a Woman two Brothers at the same time if they are all agreeable, and it is lookd upon [as] a piece of Great friendship for a Man to Cohabit with the Wife of His adopted freind if She is agreeable: the Adopted friend being always accounted as a brother.

If a woman has [a] husband and he dies without Issue the Husbands Brother takes her; if He has no wife and should he have Issue by Her the Children are Calld by the Former Brothers Name, & take his estate; but should he have a Wife he keeps her at his house till she gets a husband and she is still acknowledged as one of the Family.

If a Man has a reason to part with his Wife he informs her of it to which she mostly agrees, deeming it reproachful to remain after such notice; he then Devides all His Goods and Chatties with her, and she leaves him and takes the Female Children with her leaving him the Males. If she lives single she always Claims the rights of a Wife, and tho they do not Cohabit, always look on each other as Friends and Apply to each other for any little property which at any Future period of their seperation they may stand in need of and each enjoys their own estate but should they Choose to live together after such seperation it lies at their own option and they may return to each other at any time. If the Woman takes an other husband she relinquishes all claim to her rights in her first Husband, and Can demand No More of Him but Her own estate and her part of the Goods as before discribed. If a Man finds his Neighbour, or one who is not his adopted Friend in the Act of Adultry with his Wife he has the Law in His own Hands and may if He thinks proper put One or both of them to Death with impunity or punnish His wife with Stripes, and Plunder the House of the Offender; the latter is the Most Common but I have known two Men killd, who were taken in the Fact, and no further enquirey made then the Acknowledgement of the partys present to Certify the Fact.

Their Marriages are no other then an agreement between the Partys and their Friends, and tho the Young are uncontrouled, they Generally take the Advice of their parents and Friends; which being setled, they Join and are Calld Man & Wife without Ceremony, except the Greeting of their Friends who present them with Hogs, Cloth and Sundry Necessary Articles. If the Woman is a Virgin Her Friends Must perform an Amoa (a Ceremony to be hereafter described) to their New Son in law before the Males of her Family Can Eat any provisions with Him, or that He has toutch'd. The Young Man exchanges Names with his Fatherinlaw, and the Woman with Her Mother in law; if she has had a Husband before, the Exchange of Names and presents is the only Necessary Ceremony. The Husband then Claims his Wifes Posessions, which are delivered to him without reserve, and they Having Houses on each live where they think Proper (but should they part, then the Wifes property returns to herself as before said).

If they Have Children they proceed thus—
When a Child is born whether Male or Female it is taken to the Family Morai (of Which evry Family have one) by a Person who is employd to attend it while the Mother Goes into a Warm Bath—and the Father and Priests repair to the Morai and offer a Young Pig or a Fowle or two to the Deity, and a Priest, who is well paid for His trouble, Cuts off the Childs Navel String within Six or eight inches of the Belly with [a] piece of split Bamboo and while the others are praying buries it in the Morai. A Temporary hut is then prepared Near the Morai to which the Mother repairs, and the Child is brought to her by the servant appointed to attend it and who must remain there with the Mother & Child till the rest of the Navel string drops off, which may be either kept in a house Sacred to the Child, or buried in the Morai. If the Child is Male, they May bury the Navel string as soon as it Comes off, which may be Six or Eight days but if Female it is somtimes kept a Fortnight or Three Weeks, during which time the Mother toutches no kind of Provisions herself, but is fed by another person, and whosoever else toutches the Child must undergo the Same restriction till an Amoa is performed to take it off, previous to which an offering Must be Made of a Plantain tree and a Young Pig, or a Fowle or two for the Mother, which is done as soon as the Navel string is buried or the time fulfild for the removal of the Child from the Morai nearer the Fathers House which is built for and sacred to the Childs use, but still they Can not enter that House nor toutch the Child with the same Cloths on which they wear when they eat their own provisions—to take off which from the Father & Uncles, a Second Amoa must be performed and from the Mother & Aunts, a Third before the Child may Come into a house where its Father and Uncles Eat, a Fourth and for the Mother & Aunts a Fifth.

If the Child is Male there is one More which is performd when He adopts a Friend, which is the whole required to make his head Free, evry thing he toutches being in his Minority or Sacred State is made Sacred by his toutch and rendered useless to any other. If the Child is Female there are two others, one when she gets a husband that Her Male relations may Eat of the Provisions which he has toutchd, and another that they may eat out of the same Dish and then her Head becomes Free also but she is generally free before these two except her head should toutch any thing.

These Ceremonies when performed for the Males are Calld Amoa only, but for the Females they add Fwhatoe, signifying something more, as they have one more then the Males—for the Males Hogs or Fowles and Cloth are always [presented] but for the Females if they can not raise them, a Fish will do—but however this is seldom the Case, and they are No way sparing in the performance of these rights and much Feasting then takes place. Evry thing the Children happen to toutch before these rites are all performd is rendered sacred and thrown in a place adj oining to the House in which they live, and raild in for that purpose; they are always Careful how they go about and should a Childs Head toutch a Tree by the Carelessness of the attendant, the Tree tho ever so valuable is Cut down and destroyed root and branch, and if it should break a limb of another or bruise the Bark in its fall that tree Must be destroyed also; nor must they use the timber for fuel. Some of the Weomen are 16 or seventeen Years old before all their rites are performd, which makes them very cautious what house they go into or what things they toutch—but the Men are Generally Made free as fast as the father can get it done which is somtimes by Six Years old and somtimes not till twelve; the Children of People of rank are generally longer before they have all their rites performed, then the lower sort as it has a Grander appearance by being long about & they always make large Feasts on these Occasions.

The reason of all these Ceremonies are that as soon as a Child is born it being the Fruit of the Father and Mother is superior to either, as Much as the Fruit is to the Tree for food, for which reason the Child is as soon as born the Head of the Family and the Honor and Dignity of the Father is transferd to the first born Child whether Male or Female, and before all these rites are performd the Parents are not thought worthy to partake of its Food, but as they have always a sufficient provision for themselves and have the ruling for their Children those of High Rank defer the performance under Collour of it being Grand to have their Children longer in a Sacred State, tho in fact it is that they may Continue longer in Power, but those of low degree have no intrest in it and therefore get it done sooner, and as soon as the Childs head is free it then becomes perfectly its own Master and May act for it self—Where this uncommon Custom, so contrary to Nature, took its rise we could never learn, it having been with them from time immemorial but it may in some measure account for the difference in stature between the Higher and lower Classes of People—the latter Class having sooner their liberty have earlyer Connections with each other then the Higher and the Chiefs in particular are Mostly arrived at years of Maturity and Manhood before they Cohabit with their Weomen.

The Amoa we saw thus performd at a Marriage Ceremony, and differs very little from that performd through the different degrees of Childhood—The Friends of Both parties being assembled at the Morai the Young Man and his Wife were placed on a large quantity of Cloth spread for the Purpose Near the Morai alongside of each other, the Man on the right of His Wife—opposite them at the Distance of 30 or 40 Yards and at the other end of the Cloth sat the Father, Mother, Uncles & Aunts of the Bride, a Priest then having Furnishd the Mother with several pieces of Sugar Cane and some leaves from the Rowavva (or Sacred Tree) she takes a sharks tooth and Cutting Her head on the Fore part, lets a Drop of Blood fall on each piece of the Sugar Cane and placing a peice on a leaf give[s] two to the Father and each of the Uncles & Aunts and keeps two for herself, these they place on the Palms of their hands and holding them up to their Foreheads rise up and proceed slowly along the Cloth till they arrive where the Young Couple sit, keeping their bodys half bent all the way; and having deposited the leaves and Sugar Cane at the feet of the Young Pair they retire without speaking in the same Manner to their Seats. The Priest then advances with a Branch of the Rowawa in his hand and Makes a long Prayer; which having finishd, He goes to the Young Couple and biding 'God bless them in their Union' (or as they express it in their Sleeping together) he takes up the leaves and pieces of Sugar Cane and proceeds to the Morai, where he burys them with prayers and makes an Offering to the Deity of a Hog &c. and in the Meantime the Couple rise and go to their Parents and they Embrace them and bestow their blessings on them.

The Cloth is then gathered up, and Presented to the Son in law, who generally throws part of it out for the Young People present to scramble for, and they are proud that can get a Narrow Strip of it to put on in Honor to the rite and wear it till it is expended telling all they know how they obtaind it—the Company then return to the Bridegrooms house and he sends three or Four Hogs to his Father in law, who has them immediately killd, and a Feast Made of which all the Males of both Familys partake; a Feast is also prepared for the Weomen and all partake of the Festivity.

The Father of the Bride then delivers her portion to Her Husband as before discribed and an exchange of Names takes place. When a Man adopts a Friend for his Son the Ceremonie is the same, only placing the Boy in the place of the Woman, the Ceremonie is ratified, and the boy & his friends exchange Names and are ever after lookd as one of the Family, the New Friend becoming the adopted son of the Boys Father—this Frindship is most religiously kept, and never disolves till Death, tho they may seperate, and make temporary Friends while absent, but when they meet they always acknowledge each other.

And should a Brother or one who is an adopted friend become poor or loose his land in War, he has nothing more to do but go to his Brother, or Friend, and live with him partaking of all he posesses as long as he lives & his wife and Family with him if he has any—or if any relation or Friend, tho not in immediate want, conies to the House of his Friend, he is always fed while he Stays and is Not only welcome to take away what he pleases but is loaded with presents.

They are ever Courteous to the Stranger and Hospitable to the Wayfaring Man and what they have is always at the service of their Visitors—and when a Stranger enters a House he is Saluted by the Master and perhaps all the Family With Mannowa (Welcome) Yowrye t'Eatooa te' Narria mye (God save you in your Coming) & Yowrrana te Tirre raa (God save you in Your Journey) and the like Compliments at parting.

People of Note always travel by Water about their own Island, and as there is a number of Houses Built by the Chiefs of each district for the reception of strangers, they are never at a loss for an Inn; some of these Houses are 150 feet long 50 or 60 wide, and 30 or 35 high. As soon as they land they Haul up their Canoes, Near their Inn and send Notice to the Nearest of the same Rank, who repair to the place Immediately with provisions for them—and if they stay long enough evry one of the same Class in the District supplys them with one days provisions for all their Company—In fine Weather they put up any where, and erect temporary sheds in the Most convenient place.

If any person of whatever Class he may be should be travelling by land and Meets None who Invite him or should happen to be unacquainted in the District he is passing through and has occasion for provisions, he enquires the Name of the first Ratirra and repairs to his house—on his entring he receives the usual Compliments and having made known his business, the Master of the House Immediately orders provisions to be got ready for him, and the Mistress entertains his Wife in the same Manner & they enjoy a secret pleasure at having had the good fortune to have the Strangers come to their House and they are for ever after deemd friends tho they had never seen each other.

When they meet each other, after but a short absence, they embrace each other as we do but instead of kissing each other they Join Noses and Draw in each others breath through the Nostrils; somtimes in token of great love they almost suffocate each other by their long Continuance of their embrace—this Method is common to both Sexes, but if they have been long absent the Weomen Weep and Cut their heads with a sharks tooth till the blood flows copiously, which is always the Case in either excess whether of Grief or Joy to show their love. They always perform this Ceremony on the slightest accident happening to their Children and evry Woman is provided with one or two as soon as she is Married, as they never Cut their heads before and have them wrappd in Cloth, and fastened with the Pitch of the Bread fruit, so that the points stick out about a quarter of an inch like lancets.

When a Chief or Stranger of rank from other Islands Visits them they perform a Ceremony Calld Ootdoo which is a Peace offering, which is done thus—the Chief or Stranger having taken up his residence in One of the Houses built for the reception of Strangers (of which there are several at convenient places in evry district) the Chiefs and people of the District Assemble near the spot with their presents, each Chief being attended by a Priest with Young Plantain trees & Pigs, they then take their places opposite the Stranger about 30 or 40 yards from Him, and the Priest of the First Chief begins by tying a Young Pig and a small bunch of Red Feathers to a young Plantain Tree, makes a long speech, welcomes the Stranger in the Name of His Master and the People, and then lays the Plantain & Pig down at the Strangers feet who takes the red feathers and sticks them in his Ear or hair. A Number of Hogs Cloth &c. are then brought in and presented to Him by the Chiefs Men—and the inferior Chiefs and landed Men go through the same Ceremony, each presenting him with a pig or Fowle with a Plantain tree, which is the Emblem of Peace on all occasions, and used in all civil and religeous Ceremonies and their present of Hogs & Cloth and when the Whole have made their offering and presents the Stranger is invited to a Feast prepared for Him of Baked Hogs Breadfruit &c. &c.—of which none but himself and his retinue partakes. I have seen at one of these Feasts 50 Hogs Baked and as much provisions as one Hundred Men could Carry prepared for a Stranger of Quality for one Day; and repeated for several days in the same District, each Person of the same rank providing one Days food.

But nevertheless it is better to visit in quality of a private Gentleman then of a Chief; tho.both fare sumptuously yet the gentlemen are the Most Numerous and they may expend more time in One District in a Continual feast somtimes they make a Months stay in one District but seldom Hurry when they are on a Visit. The lower Classes always entertain those of their Class or Society in the same Manner, according to their Abilitys but they Mostly prefer the Method of Visiting in the retinue of Cheifs and Gentlemen and this Method of living draws many Young People into the roving Society of the Areeuoy, which shall be discribed in turn, and as they always find plenty of Food, and raiment without Much trouble they Never think of Settling till they Arrive at Mans estate, if they do then.

When People of equal rank visit each other in their own or other Districts they are always made welcome by Greetings as soon as they enter the House as before discribed and as soon as they are Seated, the Master of the House orders a feast to be prepared for them, and enquires the Cause of their Visit, What they want &c. to all which they Answer without hesitation or Preface and their Wants being made known they are instantly promised to be supplyd if the other has it in His power and in the Meantime they are presented with a piece or two of Cloth and one or more live Hogs by way of earnest of their being supply'd; and if the Man of the House has not what his Visitors Want, He begs them to stay at His House till He can procure sufficient to supply their Wants among his Neighbours.

All the Provisions dressd for the Visitors they Must take with them, it being accounted no treat if any of the Family partake with them. Nor do they Call any thing a present which Nature produces, except accompanied by somthing which is procured by the Assistance of labour or the Art of Man; for which reason they always give Cloth or some thing else with their Gifts, Provisions being held of No value being produced by Nature, and they think it not proper to make store of them.

They never return thanks, but by deed, having no Word in their language expressive of it and when they part they always use Compliments—they always beg their Visitors to remain with them till they are perfectly well satisfied with their treatment for should any depart unsatisfied they would get a bad Name, those who are not Well treated never failing to declare how they have been used and in this Manner they frequently make a Visit of several Months getting a little from one, and a little from another till they get what they want before they return Home.

The Tennants (or Mattaeyna) hold their lands of the Towha (Lord of the Manner) or Ratirra (Squire) to whom they pay their rent by Making Cloth, when they want it, or supplying His demands in hogs, if they have them; if they have none he requires none, and never forces them to find what they have not—It is no disgrace for a Man to be poor, and he is no less regarded on that account, but to be Rich and Covetous is a disgrace to Human Nature & should a Man betray such a sign and not freely part with what He has, His Neighbours would soon put Him on a level with the Poorest of themselves, by laying his posessions waste and hardly leave him a house to live in—a Man of such a discription would be accounted a hateful Person and before they would incur such a Name as that of Covetous or Stingy, they would part with the Cloth off their back, and go naked till they got more.

If any Man is Caught in the act of Theft and is immediately put to Death, the Person who killd him is brought to No account for it. But if the Thief escapes & the Property is afterwards found o'n Him the Person whose property it is, may plunder him of His Goods and Chattels which the Theif always submits to, the Owner leaving with Him the property which he stole and taking all the rest, but should he absent himself, and take His goods off His land, the Person Injured may oblige the Thiefs land lord to deliver to Him the House & land which the Thief did posess till the damage is made good or ransom it with Hogs to the full satisfaction of the Party injured. This latter Mode is mostly practised: as if the land was once put into posession, the Party so holding it could never be removed except by War, or the Commission of some Crime against the Chief; after such ransom is paid the Squire may if He pleases compromise Matters, with the Thief, and let him return, on Condition that He pays the Ransom or gets Friends to do it for him, or give it to some other who has been distressd by War and the Theif must go and live on His Friends.

They Have Carved Wooden Images of Men which they call Etee set up as boundaries of their Estates, not to pay devotion to but to remind passengers below & of equal rank to the Posessor and owner of that land, to strip the Cloths off their shoulders & heads, as they pass by in Compliment to the Owner—All ranks of People must pay this Homage as they Pass the land belonging to the Earee da hye or King—The Etee or Image denoting the Kings land is remarkably larger then the Common size, and the Towhas or Ratirras land is known by a Number of little White Flags being fixed in different parts beside the Etee—any neglect or refusal of these Honors are the occasion of Disputes and often are the occasion of Wars or Houshold Broils between the partys—if the owner is a Minor, the affront is the greater, the Mother instantly applys the Sharks tooth to Her head in Grief that Her Child should be insulted, & the Father flys to strip by force those who have offended. If the offender makes a Concession by offering a Plantation leaf and declaring their Ignorance, the Matter is settled but if they continue obstinate Blows ensue which increase as the Friends of each party become acquainted with the affair, who repair Armd to the place and the Battle becomes general and often ends with the loss of some lives, and often involvs whole Districts in a War With each other, and a Chief and his people may be driven from the land through the means of a quarrel arising from the neglect or refusing to pay the proper Compliment to a poor Mans Child, tho the Father might have been beaten with impunity by one who might quarrel with Him, but no Man must presume to treat the Heirs of large estates with such contempt or neglect on pain of Death and such insults often end in the total extripation of one of the Familys concernd, it being deemd Blasphemy to Call them by a Wrong Name.

Their Chiefs are accounted the Head not only of the people but of the Priests, and evry other Society that are instituted amongst them and being accounted more then merely their superiors; none refuse to pay them the proper Homage and they are always parti cular in performing their part strictly where it is due; evry Chief paying that Homage to the Child of another.

They have few law disputes; and Private disputes between Men relative to themselves only seldom produce a Blow, and I cannot say that ever I saw a Blow given in consequence of a quarrel which did not arise from such grounds as before discribed. If any dispute should happen about the boundarys of their land, as they have No Records nor any deeds of Gift they always refer to the Neighbours for a decision, who new Mark the bounds of each Mans land, and None disproves of such decision, as they are very superstitious in religious rites they would rather submit to let the whole be Common to both, then either would undertake to Mark his own bounds, fearing that he should be punishd with sickness or Disease if He incroachd on the property of His Neighbour. This and all other Disputes is settled by the Neighbours and the party who is declared to be in the wrong, almost always submits at the first word and making a Peace offering to the Man offended, declares himself in fault, and desires he may think no more of it. No Man ever Claims a right to any land but his own, or His adopted Freinds, which he may Use during his Friends life, and should his Friend die without any other Heir the Adopted friend is always considered as the right owner and no man disputes his right. If a Man bequeaths the Whole, or a part of His land or property to any Person before his Death, and there are Witnesses to prove such bequest none objects to it—tho the Heir himself should be absent and know nothing of it till the Witnesses inform him of the right he has and call him home to take posession. These rules are handed down from the Father to the Son and they want no law to keep them in force and Nature has taught them to Use all Men as they would be Used by them, which is their common standard, and tho there are some exceptions Yet that I may [assert] with no more then truth is their General Charracter. They have a Ceremony Calld Rahooe which is a Kind of Jubilee but have No fixd time allotted for keeping it—It is a Prohibition or Embargo laid on the Provisions, & Stock, in Whole or in Part; in any one or More Districts to prevent a Decrease by consuming the Provisions or Stock in or transporting them out of the Districts so Raahooe'd, which they are forced to observe under pain of being driven from their land. The Chiefs, Towhas, & Ratirras may at their Will and Pleasure Rahooe the whole or any particular Species of Provisions, Stock, Fish &c. within Their own limits and When they think Necessary to prevent a great decrease of Hogs they can Rahooe them thro the whole District—but the King can at his own discretion Rahooe several districts—and sends his orders accordingly to the Chiefs, Towhas & Ratirras to prohibit the expenditure or removal of such Provisions as he shall name within their Several Districts and Estates for the time Specified by Him; but he generally takes the advice of the Inferior—Chiefs, Priests &c.—and they have always timely Notice before it takes place, and know the Reason why it is to take place and on the Day fixd proclamation is made by Cryers for that Purpose and a large Bundle of Bamboo leaves hung up to the first tree at each end of the District, or part Rahooed, to give notice to all passengers that all within the limits are under such Circumstances & to inform them what treatment they may expect in them. A Hog and part of such provisions as are rahooed are hung up near the Road in some Conspicuos place, the Hog being killd and hung up by the Heels—When the Rahooe is taken off the leaves are taken down, and a Feast of the Jubilee takes place after an Offering has been made at the Cheifs Morai, which lasts Three Weeks or a Month, to which the Chiefs and People resort, and they are all entertained by Contributions laid on the People of the District or Districts which have been Rahooed who resort to One to keep the Feast and each of them Get ready daily by two o Clock or thereabouts one Hog with a proper proportion of Vegetables, which is brought to the Place of Rendezvouz and there Devided into Seventeen proportions, one for each District, which being delivered to the Chief of Each, it is taken to their seperate Rendezvouses, and divided by the Servants, giving each of Towhas & Ratirras their share, and they again divide it among their people and every thing is carried on with the Greatest Harmony, no quarrels ever ensuing at these Feasts—The Feast is Calld Towrooa Aree (the Chiefs Feast); after dinner they amuse themselves with Wrestling Dancing, Throwing the Javlin, Running for Hogs, & Scrambling for Cloth &c.—which are Given by the Chiefs or holder of the Feasts.

Many of the Areeuoys always attend at these Feasts and as they are Mostly Young Men who are active & lively they help the sport; the things put up for the Scramble are Canoes, Hogs, Cloth, Bamboos of Oil &ca. which being brought into an open Space by the Servants of the Chiefs who keep the Hogs fast till the time appointed and they are always the wildest they can pick out, that they may Make the Better sport; the Canoes have Masts fixd to hang the Oil up to, and being placed at equal distance from each other have the Cloth hung up by the ends between them. A Priest then advances, and Makes a long prayer at the end of which He throws a young plantain tree into one of the Canoes, and the Hogs being turned loose the scramble is begun by all ages & sexes, and as they are frequently numerous they afford some sport before they are all taken.

The Canoes, except they happen to be seized by a whole family, are Generally torn to pieces, the Cloth is generally torn in ribbands, which are worn as Trophies, and preferd to whole pieces obtaind any other Way, the Fowles are frequently torn in pieces and the Hogs and Goats often Get Killd in the Scramble—but if a Man takes a Hog fairly, it is his own; and none will attempt to wrest it from him except two or more happen to lay hold at the same time; and should a Man receive a bruise or breake a limb by being thrown he never blames any person, as they never willingly hurt each other.

Tho the Chiefs or Ratirras have power to put on these Rahooes on their land, without the Consent or approbation of each other, yet they seldom do except to prevent a scarcity—and then Hogs are the principal objects of it; tho it frequently extends to several other kinds of Provisions, but when the King sees it necessary to prevent a scarcity by a Number of People being Collected in one district, such as the Arrival of a Ship or of a Fleet of Canoes when Numbers resort to see the strangers; after the first feasting is over he puts on a Rahooe till they shall return home or the Concourse of People shall lessen and the Visitors be distributed, otherwise they would distroy the whole stock and breed a Famine there—and at such times the Reefs are Rahooed to prevent the Shell & other fish from being distroyd, which would otherwise be the Case as they flock from all parts of the Island to view the strangers without bringing Provisions for their Own Use, generally giving to the Strangers all they bring with them, and trusting to the District they come to for food—which the owners are ashamed to refuse while they have any for themselves. When the People return homewards the Rahooe is taken off, that the Strangers may be suppld, who are nevertheless plentifully fed from the Neighbouring Districts where the Rahooe has not been put on. The Rahooe on the reefs is signified by placing Bushes along the part Rahooed, with bits of white cloth tied to them, and after they appear there No person dare fish there on pain of forfeiting their Lands but they may fish with Nets hooks &c. in their Canoes by which Means they procure good Supplys, if the Beach is Rahooed they Must not lanch a Canoe off to fish, or any other purpose; but this never Happens but when the Kings Flag is passing.

Besides the Feast of the Jubilee, or Rahooe, they make a Feast on the Morai, at which none can be present but Raa or Sacred Men. This always Consists of one or more hogs and other Provisions, with plenty of Yava. These are Mostly held on Family Morais belonging to the Ratirras, and are Calld Oboo Nooe—at them the Chief of the Padtoo and all the Ratirra and priests attend, and when the Provisions are taken out of the Oven, the Preists make a long Prayer by Way of Grace, and taking a Piece of Bamboo for a knife (if they have knives they must not be brought there else they Could not carry them away again) and taking a part of each sort with a bit of Yava puts them on a Plantain leaf and with a Prayer offers them on the alter or on top of the House. Mean time some of the rest Desect the Hog or Hogs and distribute them as before discribed and they begin, but should a Stranger pass at the time, they send to invite him and if he is not known to any present, they enquire if He be a Raa or Noa man, to which he answers truely and if he be Raa or Sacred he partakes of the Feast; if Noa or unhallowed He refuses, none ever attempting to impose on Strangers in such Matters as they are liable to be found out afterwards, when Death would be the result of the Fraud. The Weomen have also their Feasts, which are Calld Oehvimoo; they are Generally of Fish. Of these their Male Servants May partake—and so may any other Man they are held on the Common Ground in such place as they find Convenient.

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