OF THE SOUTH SEAS 355 



erally bad, and taata man. This term applied to all not 

 Arii, and indicated the contempt of the Arii for all be- 

 low them. The Arii had many words solely for their 

 own use, and tapu, or prohibited, to all others ; they had 

 a hundred privileges. The Raatira were probably the 

 power broken by the Arii. The Raatira had conquered 

 the Manahune, and were themselves bested by the Arii, 

 the newest come." 



The chief sighed. He was like an old Irish story- 

 teller recounting the departed glories of Erin. 



I read to him in French Bovis' opinions that the Raa- 

 tira, defeated, retained part of their lands, served the 

 new masters, and kept in subjection the people they had 

 themselves beaten. They attached themselves to the 

 Arii of their district, fought for them in their quarrels 

 or wars, and were consulted in assemblies, and allowed 

 to speak to the crowd. I recalled that this was a priv- 

 ilege dearly prized by all Polynesians, the lack of read- 

 ing and writing having, as in Greece, developed oratory 

 and orators to a remarkable excellence. I was in Ha- 

 waii when the offices of the first legislature under the 

 American flag were campaigned for, after years of re- 

 pression by the sugar planters' oligarchy, and I had 

 heard the natives speak a score of times, and always 

 with delight and wonder. They valued free speech. 



"The Arii were shrewd," said Chief Tetuanui, "and 

 early invented a plan for keeping the Raatira in sub- 

 jection. If two Raatira disputed possession of land, 

 the one who believed himself defrauded could yield to 

 the king or a member of the royal family the land, to 

 which he usually had no right at all. The Arii thus got 

 possession of more and more land from time to time, 



