1777' THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 401 



who is to pay obeisance squats down before the 

 chief, and bows the head to the sole of his foot; 

 which, when he sits, is so placed that it can be easily 

 come at ; and having tapped, or touched it with 

 the under and upper side of the fingers of both 

 hands, he rises up and retires. It should seem, 

 that the king cannot refuse any one who chooses to 

 pay him this homage, which is called moe moea ; for 

 the common people would frequently take it into 

 their heads to do it when he was walking ; and he 

 was always obliged to stop, and hold up one of his 

 feet behind him, till they had performed the ce- 

 remony. This, to a heavy unwieldy man, like 

 Poulaho, must be attended with some trouble and 

 pain ; and I have sometimes seen him make a run, 

 though very unable, to get out of the way, or to 

 reach a place where he might conveniently sit 

 down. The hands, after this application of them 

 to the chief's feet, are, in some cases, rendered 

 useless for a time; for, until they be washed, they 

 must not touch any kind of food. This interdiction 

 in a country where water is so scarce, would seem 

 to be attended with some inconvenience ; but they 

 are never at a loss for a succedaneum ; and a piece 

 of any juicy plant, which they can easily procure 

 immediately, being rubbed upon them, this serves 

 for the purpose of purification, as well as washing 

 them with water. When the hands are in this 

 state, they call it taboo rema. Taboo, in general, 

 signifies forbidden, and rema is their word for hand. 

 When the taboo is incurred by paying obeisance 

 to a great personage, it is thus easily washed off. 

 But in some other cases it must necessarily con- 

 tinue for a certain time. We have frequently seen 

 women, who have been taboo rema, fed by others. 

 At the expiration of the time, the interdicted per- 

 son washes herself in one of their baths, which are 

 dirty holes, for the most part, of brackish water. 

 She then waits upon the king, and after making her 



