RACES BIBLIOGRAPHY COMMITTEE. 335 
represented one side of it; the chiefs of the northern (left) side 
of the island represented the other side. The under-chiefs 
everywhere symbolized the lesser rafters ; individuals the separate 
leaves of thatch covering. Yet, by a subtle process of thought, 
the state itself—with its great and lesser chiefs, and its numerous 
members—was but the visible expression of a spirit-dwelling in 
under-world, in which the major and minor divinities did not 
merely live, but actually constituted it ; the major gods being the 
pillars and main rafters, the minor gods the lesser rafters, 
&e., &e. The safety of the state consisted’ in this—that in the 
spirit-temple in the nether-world there should be no schism or rent ; 
for should there be one, divisions will immediately arise in the 
visible state, z.e., in the councils of the great chiefs; the necessary 
consequences being war and bloodshed. 
The order of descent in regal families was usually from father 
to son; but with great land or warrior chiefs it was different, 
the brothers of the deceased taking precedence of his sons, 
for the excellent reason that it was their strong arms that won 
or preserved the tribal lands. The kings were sacred men, priests 
of the great tutelar divinities ; therefore the representative of the 
senior branch in each generation was held in the greatest 
veneration, irrespective of age and sex, as being the visible 
mouth-piece and shrine of the invisible and immortal gods. But 
no female was competent to offer “prayers” (karakia), however 
well versed in them. 
The elders and wise men of the tribe constituted the tribal 
council. The paramount chief or king must endorse their advice, 
else it was not law. It was the duty of the presiding chief to 
ask the opinion of the elders on any point. 
Punishment for theft of food was the destruction of everything 
edible on the land belonging to the family of the thief, or the 
taking of the culprit’s life. In general, the former penalty was 
for members of the tribe; the latter for outsiders. In some 
islands all offences were punished with one—the death—penalty. 
No idea of proportion between an offence and its punishment 
existed in the native mind. Asa rule, a chief might do anything 
he liked ; not so the members of the tribe. 
Polynesian chiefs were invariably fine men. Makea Daméla 
of Rarotonga would have been considered a very tall man but 
for his extreme corpulence. He seemed to waddle, not to walk. 
In his infancy he had (as was usual with the children of high 
chiefs) three or four wet nurses at the same time. His eldest 
brother weighed 312 lbs., their father nearly 5 cwt. 
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC, 
In the Hervey Group the huts were in the form of a rectangle, 
and made of reeds. The thatch used by the common people was 
