PRACTICES OF THE EBRIOI. 141 
so far as to present to a welcome guest, a sister, 
a daughter, or even a wife; and they have been 
known to sell them for pearls, pieces of glass, 
or implements of iron. -The women who dis- 
tributed their favours indiscriminately, were 
almost always of the lowest class; but a most 
licentious association called Ehrioi, including 
both sexes, existed among the higher. Re- 
nouncing matrimony, and the hopes of progeny, 
its members rambled about the island leading 
the most dissolute lives ; and if a child was born 
among them, the laws of the society compelled 
its murder, or the expulsion of the mother. The 
men were all warriors, and stood in high estima- 
tion among the people. ‘The Ehrioi themselves 
were proud of the title, and even the King O Tu 
belonged to this profligate institution, to which, 
fortunately, the Missionaries have put an end. 
Where such manners prevailed, and woman 
was regarded merely as an object of pleasure, 
she could not stand in very high estimation; 
and love, in its best sense, remained wholly un- 
known among them. Hence the women of 
Tahaiti, although not so much secluded as 
among many other nations, were not permitted 
