332 AUSTRALASIAN AND POLYNESIAN 
by the bravery of the entire tribe. Rarely did women fight ; 
their part was to stand a little de4znd the husband, to carry baskets 
of stones and weapons with which to supply the warriors. 
Heavy ¢koru clothes were thrown by the wives over these spears 
‘to turn their points aside from the mark. 
At Rarotonga, &c., the soil was the sole property of the high 
‘chiefs (areki) and under-chiefs. These distributed the land in 
accordance with their own wishes . 
I do not consider that orphans were in general ill-treated ; the 
uncles, as a matter of course, looked after their welfare. In the 
native language there is but one word for “ father” and “ uncle.” 
It was of the last importance to the tribe that their numbers 
should be kept up; hence the care taken of the children, and their 
careful education in mimic war. 
There are no restrictions as to converse, but as to kissing 
(“rubbing of noses”) plenty. The rule is to “kiss” only near 
relatives on either side. The elders of the tribe settle these 
knotty points. Many a quarrel have I had to compose, the 
ground of the dispute being that the lady had no right to permit 
‘So-and-so to kiss her. The usual defence is, ‘‘it was done openly, 
and therefore could bear no ill significance.” Half the troubles 
in native life arise from this source ; the other half from land- 
grabbing, or, as the natives phrase it, ‘ land-eating.” 
Woman is the slave of man in heathen society. She plants, 
carries home the food, collects the firewood and succulent oven- 
leaves, cooks her lord’s meal, spreads out supper on hibiscus 
leaves (in lieu of plates, and of the same size), never omitting the 
sea-water, used as sauce and salt. Torch-fishing is woman’s 
occupation only. Whenever she gets home, often in ‘the small 
hours of the morning, a special oven for these dainties must be 
prepared by her for husband and children. The wife is expected 
not only to feed but to clothe her husband. She strips off the 
bark of the paper-mulberry (Bvoussonetia papyrifera), steeps it in 
running water, beats it out with a square iron-wood mallet, pastes 
the strips together, stains the cloth, or, with the aid of leaves, 
makes designs on it, glazes the outer side, that her lord may strut 
about in his new clothes. A/7s duty is to defend land and life, to 
plant and weed, and to fish with hook or net or spear. The wife, 
in her torchlight fishing, simply grabs sleepy fish, or puts her 
hand in holes which they haunt (often to her cost), but never 
uses either canoe, hook, or net. 
But as their children (girls) grow up, all the duties of the 
mother are performed by the daughters. And the strange thing 
is, that they are perfectly content with their lot. To see a 
‘woman emerge from the mud of a taro-patch (up to her waist), in 
which she has been planting taro-tops (no man at Mangaia plants 
.a taro-patch), and then go to the stream to wash herself, excites 
pity. But she does not think herself to need pity. 
