A HISTORY OF TAHITI 127 



his own name to Pomare (night cough). He was now in his prime and 

 six feet four inches in height, and armed with a huge club, he was well 

 equipped to inspire terror among his subjects. 



Pomare enjoyed the immeasurable advantage of being chief of the 

 region of Papeete (the water basket), for this having the best harbor of 

 the island enabled him to gather enormous fortunes of nails, hatchets, 

 and red feathers from ships, only, however, to be robbed by his rivals 

 upon the departure of his European friends. Thus when the Bounty 

 came to Tahiti he was in the direst straits having been forced to " declare 

 dividends " for the benefit of every other Ariirahi of the island. How- 

 ever the sixteen mutineers marooned upon Tahiti found it to their ad- 

 vantage to aid Pomare, and they turned their guns upon his rivals with 

 such cruel slaughter that in a few months he was tyrant not only of 

 Tahiti but of the island of Eimeo. Probably it was fortunate for his 

 schemes that no sooner was his tyranny secured than the avenging 

 Pandora came to capture and remove his villainous assistants, who 

 doubtless would in the end have murdered their royal master. 



This period wherein one of the high chiefs secured the services of 

 unprincipled white men armed with guns had its parallel in Fiji where 

 it led to the rise of Mbau; in Hawaii it enabled Kamehameha to con- 

 quer the entire archipelago; and in Tonga, aided by Europeans, it 

 secured the preeminence of George Tubou. 



As in the wars of the roses, the leaders suffered more than the people 

 in these bloody raids for power, and thus the commoners, their local 

 overlords being slain, began to rise in influence, and something akin to 

 public opinion commenced to murmur as a growing check upon the 

 tyrant who now assumed the role of autocrat whereas formerly he had 

 been but a moderator. Thus in old times, generosity was considered to 

 be an Ariirahi's highest virtue, and often he gave so lavishly of the 

 tribute he received that in worldly goods he was poorer than many a 

 servant in his train. 



(To be continued) 



