178 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS CH. vn 



It is not to be expected that in a government of this 

 kind justice can be properly administered, we saw indeed 

 no signs of punishment during our stay. Tupia, however, 

 always insisted upon it that theft was punished with death, 

 and smaller crimes in proportion. All punishments, how- 

 ever, were the business of the injured party, who, if superior 

 to him who committed the crime, easily executed them by 

 means of his more numerous attendants ; equals seldom 

 chose to molest each other, unless countenanced by their 

 superiors, who assisted them to defend their unjust acquisi- 

 tions. The chiefs, however, to whom in reality all kinds 

 of property belong, punish their dependents for crimes 

 committed against each other, and the dependents of others, 

 if caught doing wrong within their districts. 



