96 THE "TAPU." [PARTI. 



implanted in man at the beginning of his existence. 

 These singular characteristics lead us to believe that 

 the islands of the great ocean were peopled in periods 

 long passed away. On the other hand, we are led 

 to suppose that the primitive stock from which 

 all these islanders have sprung was possessed of a 

 certain degree of civilization, of which we now see 

 only the remains. 



The first discoverers found a certain form of 

 society in the more populous islands ; it was divided 

 into castes, and the rigorous law of the " tapu " 

 was imposed upon it, and kept up by a priest caste. 

 The traditions and legends, and even a common 

 legislator; the names of the highest being, Atua, 

 and of the inferior deities ; their agriculture, their 

 architecture, their art of weaving and carving, all 

 these seem to confirm the belief that the New Zea- 

 landers, as well as the other Polynesians, are de- 

 scended from a common stock, which was, it is 

 true, in a state of infancy, yet was civilized, and 

 understood the art of navigation in a higher degree 

 than they do now. The traditions of Tahiti, Ha- 

 waii, and New Zealand point out that the inhabit- 

 ants formerly made distant voyages, which they 

 would now be unable to accomplish. Indeed, we 

 might in this case dispense with the theory above 

 advanced, and say that when their migration took 

 place they had better means of traversing the sea. 

 But where is the early cradle, where the original 

 dwelling-place of this ancient people, with which 



