356 MYSTIC ISLES 



and the Raatira were loath to contend among them- 

 selves. 



"The Manahune owned nothing by law, but they 

 lived on the lands of Arii and Raatira, and were seldom 

 evicted. They had the fruits of their labor with a tithe 

 or so for their masters; they left to their children their 

 accumulations, tentative, but actual, and their service 

 was pleasant; more in the nature of gifts than rent. 

 The Manahune could not rise above his caste except by 

 the rare nomination of the king, but they could become 

 Teuteu Arii, or servants of an Arii, and might thus 

 acquire immense importance. 



"Like the eunuchs at courts or the mistresses of the 

 noble and rich," I remarked. 



The chief shrugged his shoulders. 



"The Manahune might become a priest or even join 

 the society of the Arioi," he rejoined. "The govern- 

 ment was simple. The will of the prince was supreme, 

 but by custom things ran smoothly, and the prince, or 

 Arii, had seldom to urge his power. There were, of 

 course, instances of extortion, of bursts of anger, of 

 feuds, of jealousies; but most of the time the Raatira 

 saw that the Arii were well served, and were their inter- 

 mediates with the commoners. The regular obligations 

 of the inferior classes were to meet at certain times to 

 hand to the chiefs presents, food, clothing or useful in- 

 struments, and they sought to exceed one another in 

 generosity. They met to build houses, to repair them, 

 or to construct the rock foundations of houses, accord- 

 ing to the importance of the chief, or Arii. They built 

 the canoes, made the nets, and did the fishing. The sea 



