Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
56 
respect were very severe. Females, even of 
the highest rank, were prohibited, on pain of 
death, from eating the flesh of animals offered 
to the gods, which was always reserved for the 
men ; but once admitted to the ranks of the 
Areois, they were regarded as the equals of 
men in every respect, and partook of the same 
food.” 
And so these people travelled about from 
village to village, and from island to island, and 
sang and danced, and acted for days together ; 
but though these “were the general amusements 
of the Areois, they were not the only purposes 
for which they assembled.” They included 
“All monstrous, all prodigious things.” 
The Jesuit Canova, in the account he gives 
of the Uritois of the Caroline Islands, says :— 
“It is absolutely impossible for the average 
human mind to conceive the frightful cruelty, 
the hideous debauchery, and unparalleled licen¬ 
tiousness to which these people surrender 
themselves when practising their soul-terrifying 
rites.” 
Yet their power and influence were extra- 
