Ch. v. the Islands of the South Sea. 83 



but our information is sufficient to assure us that 

 the state of society in all the principal groups of 

 them is in most respects extremely similar. 

 Among the Friendly and Sandwich islanders, the 

 same feudal system and feudal turbulence, the 

 same extraordinary power of the chiefs and de- 

 graded state of the lower orders of society, and 

 nearly the same promiscuous intercourse among 

 a great part of the people, have been found to 

 prevail, as in Otaheite. 



In the Friendly Islands, though the power of 

 the king was said to be unlimited, and the life 

 and property of the subject at his disposal ; yet it 

 appeared that some of the other chiefs acted like 

 petty sovereigns, and frequently thwarted his 

 measures, of which he often complained. "But 

 " however independent " (Captain Cook says) 

 " on the despotic power of the king the great 

 " men may be, we saw instances enough to prove 

 " that the lower orders of people have no pro- 

 " perty nor safety for their persons, but at the 

 " will of the chiefs to whom they respectively 

 " belong."* The chiefs often beat the inferior 

 people most unmercifully ;t and, when any of them 

 were caught in a theft on board the ships, their 

 masters, far from interceding for them, would 

 often advise the killing of them,^ which, as the 

 chiefs themselves appeared to have no great hor- 

 ror of the crime of theft, could only arise from 



* Cook's Third Voy. vol. i. p. 406. 

 + p. 232. 

 % p. 233. 



g2 



