296 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
weapons^ the numerous folds of native cloth that formed 
their cumbrous dress^ their high^ broad, spread turbans, 
the lofty sterns of their vessels, grotesque and rudely 
carved, together with the broad streamers floating in the 
breeze, combined to inspire them .with the most elevated 
ideas of their naval prowess. The effect thus produced 
was greatly heightened by the appearance of the sacred 
canoes, bearing the images or the emblems of the gods, 
the flag of the gods, and the officiating or attending 
priests. Often, while the vessels were thus ranged along 
the beach, the king stood in a small one, drawn 
by a number of his men, who walked in the sea. In 
front of each canoe he paused, and addressed a short 
harangue to the warriors, and an uhu^ or invocation, to 
the gods. After this was ended, at a signal given, the 
whole fleet was in a moment launched upon the bosom 
of the ocean, and pulled with rapidity and great dex¬ 
terity to a considerable distance from the shore, where 
the several varieties of their naval tactics were ex¬ 
hibited ; after which, they returned in regular order, 
with remarkable precision, to the shore. 
Many of their games were most laborious. One at 
which the men played, called apai^ or paipai^ resembled 
a sport in some parts denominated bandy.'’ A similar 
game, called palican, was formerly a frequent amusement 
among the aborigines of South America, and those in¬ 
habiting the northern parts of the same continent, even 
as far as Canada. A ball is provided, and the players 
are furnished with sticks about three or four feet long, 
bent at one end; with these they strike the ball, each 
party endeavouring to send it beyond the boundary 
mark of their opponents. The ball is made with tough 
shreds of native cloth, tightly knotted together. The 
