7 he Areois. 
55 
sort of native cloth, the badge of their order, 
and presented him to the members, who were 
convened in full assembly. The Areois, as 
such, had distinct names, and, at his intro¬ 
duction, the candidate received from the chief 
of the body the name by which in future he 
would be known among them. He was now 
directed in the first instance to murder his 
children—a deed of horrid barbarity—which 
he was in general only too ready to perpetrate. 
He was then instructed to bend his left arm, 
and strike his right hand upon the bend of the 
left elbow, which at the same time he struck 
against his side, whilst he repeated the song, 
or invocation, for the occasion. He was then 
commanded to seize the waist-cloth worn by 
the chief woman present, and by this act he 
completed his initiation, and became a member 
of the seventh, or lowest class. 
“ There can be no doubt that the desire of 
females to become members of this strange 
association was caused by the many privileges 
it afforded them. The principal of these was 
that, by becoming an Areoi, a woman was 
enabled to eat the same food as the men ; for 
the restrictions of the tabu upon women in this 
