208 STATE OF SOCIETY. [1839. 



fringement of them is punished, usually with promptitude, 

 by expelling the offender from the church and forbidding his 

 attendance on public worship. Deep disgrace always at- 

 taches to those who have been thus dealt with. In the 

 heathen towns, crimes are punished by expulsion from the 

 particular village or community to which the offending per- 

 son belongs, by exposure of the body to the heat of the sun, 

 by flogging, by cutting off the ears, by confiscation of prop- 

 erty, or by being compelled to eat noxious herbs. A murder 

 is avenged by the friends and relatives of the deceased, by 

 putting to death the murderer and his family, if they are 

 within reach. A compensation, however, is sometimes made, 

 in property, for a murder ; and there are places of refuge, 

 such as the tombs of great chiefs, which are deemed sacred, 

 and those who escape to them are free from molestation. 



Numerous divinities are worshipped by the heathen, and 

 were formerly held in reverence and esteem by all the inhab- 

 itants of the group. They have one chief, or principal god ; 

 three war gods ; a god of earthquakes ; a god who supports 

 the earth ; gods of lightning, wind, and rain ; and a great 

 number of inferior deities, called aitus. Each chief has his 

 aitu, or familiar spirit, who adheres to him through life, like 

 the Demon of the ancient Greek, and whose commands he 

 is bound to obey. Some of the chiefs, whose vanity and 

 self-esteem are pretty prominent, believe that after death 

 they become aitus, and, in turn, exercise the office of spirit- 

 ual guide and protector. These aitus are adopted arbitrarily, 

 and, in general, are birds, animals, or reptiles. After their 

 conversion, the christian chiefs treated them with little cere- 

 mony ; and it, is said of one, whose aitu was fresh water eels, 

 that the first thing he did was to kill and ml them. 



It is now but about thirty years since the missionaries of 

 the British Board began their labors in the Samoan Group. 

 Relying solely upon moral suasion, preaching, in truth, a 

 gospel of peace, and discarding entirely the use of forcible 

 means, they have obtained an influence which is felt, and 



