OF THE SOUTH SEAS 445 



ascended it but priests, ecstatics, and the man who car- 

 ried the god. Only he and the high priest might touch 

 this idol. The demoniacs were usually in collusion with 

 the priests, willy-nilly. 



The idol was the king's or prince's god. Each had 

 his own. A royal idol was wrapped in precious cloths 

 and adorned with feathers, made usually of ironwood, 

 and was about six feet long. They diminished in size 

 with the importance of the owner, and among the com- 

 moners might be put in a pocket or a piece of bamboo, 

 like the pocket saints one buys in Rome. Besides, every 

 chief and little chief had his own marae, which might be 

 very small indeed, as family shrines. Of great religious 

 events the royal maraes were the scenes, and the high 

 priests were attached to these. The personnel of the 

 marae was : 



The king, chief, or master of the temple; all cere- 

 monies were for his benefit. The high priest and his as- 

 sistants, the latter ordinary priests. The high priests 

 served only the maraes of the first rank. The orero, 

 who were preachers or poets; the oripou, or night run- 

 ners; the guardian porters of the idol. The sorcerers 

 or demoniacs. 



Thus there were six ranks in the service of the temple. 

 The high priest was supreme under the king, and de- 

 cided when a human sacrifice was demanded by the gods. 

 He was a kind of cardinal or bishop, and his jurisdiction 

 extended over the maraes in the territory of his master. 

 The priests' functions were like those of the high priest 

 except that they were subordinate, and they could not 

 replace him in certain ceremonies. The orero was the 

 living book of the religion, the holy chants of tradition, 



