CHAP. VI.] THE " TAPU." 105 



priest or priestess with some simple ceremonies and 

 prayers. Also a child or a grandchild can take the 

 " tapu" off. The man subject to the " tapu" touches 

 the child, and takes drink or food from its hands : 

 the "tapu" is thus removed, but the child is in its 

 turn "tapu" during the day of the ceremony. The 

 breaking of the " tapu," if the crime does not become 

 known, is, they believe, punished by the Atua, who 

 inflicts disease upon the criminal ; if discovered, it is 

 punished by him whom it regards, and often becomes 

 the cause of war. 



I have dwelt thus long on this singular custom to 

 show under how many various forms it appears. It 

 comprises, indeed, everything that we would call 

 law, custom, etiquette, prejudice, and superstition ; 

 and has, therefore, its good as well as its bad effects. 



From intimate acquaintance with the savage I am 

 led to believe that, as long as he lives by himself, he 

 possesses more virtues than vices, at least as regards 

 his own tribe. Adultery and theft are uncommon : 

 the latter is punished by exercising the lex talionis. 

 To discover a thief I have seen them resort^ to the 

 ordeal of drawing lots. After the experience of 

 some time I still continue to regard the New Zea- 

 landers as a very honest people, far more so than 

 the lower classes of the European colonists. 



The tribes in their relation to each other, as long 

 as they are at peace, have certain established customs, 

 which are legal with them. A slave who runs 

 away to his own or to another tribe is invariably 



