354 MYSTIC ISLES 



also a caste of priests subject to the chief, their power 

 all derived from him, but yet tending to become heredi- 

 tary by the priests instructing their sons in the cere- 

 monies and by taking care of the temple." 



"That 's the way the Aaron family got control of the 

 Jewish priesthood," I interpolated. "They gave the 

 people what they wanted, first a golden calf god, and 

 then an ark, and they had charge of both." 



The chief frowned. He was a confirmed Bible 

 reader, and the Old Testament was so much like the 

 Tahitian legends that he believed every word of it. 



"The Arii," he said, "were sacred and had miraculous 

 strength and powers. The food they touched was for 

 others poison. There was a head in each Arii family to 

 whom the others were subject; he was often an infant, 

 and almost always a young man, for the eldest son of 

 the chief was chief and the father only regent. This 

 custom continued until comparatively recently in most 

 families besides those of the Arii. The Arii were the 

 descendants of the last conquerors of these islands. 

 But their advent must have been ancient, for their 

 power was uncontested, and their rights were so many, 

 their duties so few, and the devotion of the people to 

 them was so great, that only centuries could have estab- 

 lished them so firmly. Probably they came after the 

 Raatira. The Raatira were separated by too great a 

 barrier to have assisted in the conquest. No Raatira 

 could become an Arii; no Arii a Raatira. The latter 

 were closer to the commoners, and paid the same respect 

 to the Arii as did the Manahune. 



"If an Arii woman wedded a Raatira man, the mar- 

 riage was said to be with a taata ino, ino meaning lit- 



