338 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
the people, or whether it was the power of paternal affec¬ 
tion, by which they were influenced, it is not necessary 
now to inquire; but the fact is consolatory. If the little 
stranger was, from irresolution, the mingled emotions 
that struggled for mastery in its mother’s bosom, or 
any other cause, suffered to live ten minutes or half an 
hour, it was safe; instead of a monster’s grasp, it received 
a mother’s caresses, and a mother’s smile, and was after¬ 
wards treated with the greatest tenderness. The cruel 
act was indeed often committed by the mother’s hand ; 
but there were times, when a mother’s love, a mother’s 
feelings, overcame the iron force of pagan custom, and all 
the mother’s influence and endeavours have been used to 
preserve her child. Most affecting instances, which I 
forbear reciting, have been detailed by some, who now 
perhaps are childless, of the struggles between the 
mother to preserve, and the father and relatives to destroy, 
the infant. This has arisen from the motives of false 
pride, by which they were on some occasions influ¬ 
enced. 
The reasons assigned for this practice, though varied, 
were uniformly shameful and criminal. The first is, the 
regulation of the Areoi institution, in order to be a mem¬ 
ber of which, it was necessary, in obedience to the 
express injunction of the tutelar gods of the order, that 
no child should be permitted to live. Another cause 
was the weakness and transient duration of the con¬ 
jugal bond, whereby, although the marriage contract 
was formed by individuals in the higher ranks of 
society, with persons of corresponding rank, fidelity 
was seldom maintained. 
The marriage tie was dissolved whenever either of 
the parties desired it j and though amongst their 
