POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
343 
from kindling fires, or from burning torches, for 
several days. The child was, soon after its birth, 
invested with the name and office of its father, who 
was henceforward considered its inferior. This, how¬ 
ever, during the minority of the child, was merely 
nominal ; the father exercised all authority, though in the 
name of the child. The children were frequently nursed 
at the breast till they were able to walk, although they 
were fed with other food. 
As soon as the child was able to eat, a basket was 
provided, and its food was kept distinct from that 
of the parent. During the period of infancy, the 
children were seldom clothed, and were generally laid or 
carried in a horizontal position. They were never con¬ 
fined in bandages, or wrapped in tight clothing, but 
though remarkably plump and healthy in appearance, 
they were generally very weak until nearly twelve 
months old. 
The Tahitian parents and nurses were careful in 
observing the features of the countenance, and the shape 
of the child’s head, during the period of infancy, and 
often pressed or spread out the nostrils of the females, 
as a flat nose was considered by them a mark of beauty. 
The forehead and the back of the head, of the boys, were 
pressed upwards, so that the upper part of the skull 
appeared in the shape of a wedge. This, they said, was 
done, to add to the terror of their aspect, when they 
should become warriors. They were very careful to 
kaune, or shave, the child’s head with a shark’s tooth. 
This must have been a tedious, and sometimes a painful 
operation, yet it was frequently repeated ; and although 
every idolatrous ceremony, connected with the treatment 
of their children, has been discontinued for a number of 
