MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



453 



him as if he were the god himself; 

 if tlie king happen to be present, 

 he retires to a respectful distance, 

 and sits down among the body of 

 the spectators, so would Veaclii, 

 and so would even the high divine 

 chief Tooitonga, because a god is 

 believed to exist at that moment 

 in the priest, and to speak from 

 his mouth : but at other times a 

 priest has no other respect paid to 

 him than what his own proper 

 family rank may require. They 

 generally belong to the lower order 

 of chiefs, or to the matabooles, 

 though sometimes great chiefs are 

 thus visited by tlie gods, and the 

 king himself has been inspired by 

 Tali-y-toobo, the chief of the gods. 

 During the time a priest is in- 

 spired he is looked on with moj-e 

 or less veneration, according to 

 the rank of the god that inspires 

 him. But more upon tliis subject 

 under the head of religion. 



The civil ranks of society may 

 be thus divided j How, or King ; 

 Egi, or Nobles ; Matabooles ; 

 Mooas, and Tooas. 



The How, or King, is an arbi- 

 trary monarch, deriving his right 

 to the throne partly from here- 

 ditary succession, and partly from 

 military power, wliich latter he 

 is occasionally obliged to exert to 

 secure himself in the former. His 

 power and influence over the minds 

 of the people is derived from the 

 following circumstances ; viz. he- 

 reditary right ; supposed protec- 

 tion of tlie gods, if he is the lawful 

 heir; his reiiutation as a wairior ; 

 the noljility of liis descent ; and 

 lastly, but not Icastly, the strength 

 and number of his lighting men. 

 He, of course, possesses the great- 

 est power of any individual, but, 

 in respect to rank, as liefore ob- 



served, he is differently circum- 

 stanced. In this last particular, 

 not only Tooitonga, A'eachi, and 

 priests actually inspired, are su- 

 perior to him, but even several 

 other nobles are higher in rank, 

 not as to office or power, but as to 

 blood, or descent, for nobility con- 

 sists in being related either to 

 Tooitonga, Veachi, or the How, 

 and the nearer any family is related 

 to them, the iiobler it is ; those 

 related to Tooitonga being nobler 

 than those equally related to Vea- 

 chi, and those related to ihis latter 

 being more noble than those 

 equally related to the How. 

 Hence it appears that there must 

 be many egis more noble even 

 tlian the king himself, and to such 

 the king, meeting them, must 

 shew the same marks of respect 

 as are usual from an inferior to a 

 superior : and if he were to touch 

 any thing personally belonging to 

 the superior chief, as himself, or 

 his garments, or the mat on which 

 he sleeps, he becomes tabooed, as 

 it is termed, or under the prohi- 

 bition to feed himself with his 

 own hands ; or, if he does, it is at 

 the risk of becoming diseased, or 

 suffering some other calamity from 

 the gods as a punishment: but 

 from this taboo he can readily free 

 himself, by performing the cere- 

 mony of mot-moe, \vhich consists 

 in touching, with both hands, the 

 feet of the superior chief, or of 

 one equal to him : but more of 

 these ceremonies in tlieir proper 

 place. 



Egi, oi' Nobles. All those per- 

 sons are egi, or nobles, or chiefs 

 (for we have used tiiese terras syno- 

 nymously) , w ho aie any way related 

 either to the family of Ti oitonga, 

 or Veftchi, or the How: and all 



and 



