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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by John W. Church 



MARQUESAN NATIVES PREPARING THEIR FAMOUS DISH, "pOIPOl" 



This food, made of fermented breadfruit, is not to be confused with Hawaii's palatable 

 pot. The Marquesan "staff of life" has an acrid taste. Together with raw fish, it forms the 

 principal diet of the natives. 



lions of women have lived and died in 

 these islands in intimate touch with can- 

 nibalism, none of whom has ever tasted 

 human flesh. 



The all-powerful tapu was the "law 

 and the prophets" of the Marquesan. His 

 religion has perplexed every investigator 

 who has attempted to understand it, pos- 

 sibly because there is so little to under- 

 stand. The tiki had its priest, who 

 ranked next to the king in power and was 

 often consulted by him. How far, if at 

 all, the will of the god, as interpreted by 

 the priest, might limit the power of the 

 king has never been solved. But the 

 king's will was held sacred to a degree 

 unbelievable in savages whose bump of 

 veneration was almost a depression. 



Certainly the knowledge that the break- 

 ing of the simplest tapu meant death 

 acted somewhat as a deterrent, but all 

 evidence and tradition points to the fact 

 thai a desire to obey the tribal law rather 

 than fear of tbc punishment to follow its 



infraction was the mental attitude of the 

 Marquesan. 



Several well-established tapus existed 

 in cotnmon throughout the group, al- 

 though any of these could be lifted by 

 the king of any valley for the public weal 

 or private royal pleasure. 



THINGS WOMEN WERE FORBIDDEN TO DO 



Some of the tapus for the guidance of 

 the women would, I suspect, incite a suf- 

 fragette to spectacular wrath. 



Without exception on any island, wo- 

 men might not eat "long pig" ; 



Nor brown pig, a delicacy much en- 

 joyed by the men folks in the absence of 

 the longer variety ; 



Nor dally with bonita or squid, the two 

 fishes most in favor with the Marquesan 

 palate ; 



Nor, except on special occasions, eat 

 fresh breadfruit, bananas, or coconut; 



Nor could they go in canoes, a provi- 



