10 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
of conveyance, we were set down safe and dry 
upon the pavement. Here we experienced a very 
hearty welcome from the chiefs and people. Their 
salutations were cordial, though unaccompanied by 
the ceremonies that were formerly regarded as in¬ 
dispensable. Considering the islanders as an un¬ 
civilized people, they seem to have been the most 
ceremonious of any with whom we ate acquainted. 
This peculiarity appears to have accompanied them 
to the temples, to have distinguished the homage 
and the service they rendered to their gods, to 
have marked their affairs of state, and the car¬ 
riage of the people towards their rulers, to have 
pervaded the whole of their social intercourse, to 
have been mingled with their most ordinary avo¬ 
cations, and even their rude and diversified amuse¬ 
ments. Their salutations were often exceedingly 
ceremonious. When a chieftain from another island, 
or from any distant part, arrived, he seldom pro¬ 
ceeded at once to the shore, but usually landed, in 
the first instance, on some of the small islands near. 
The king often attended in person, to welcome his 
guest, or, if unable to do this himself, sent one of 
his principal chiefs. 
When the canoes of the visitor approached the 
shore, the chiefs assembled on the beach. Long 
orations were pronounced by both parties before the 
guests stepped on the soil: as soon as they were 
landed, a kind of circle was formed by the people 3 
the king or chiefs on the one side, and the strangers 
on the other; the latter brought their marotai, or 
offering, to the king and the gods, and accompanied 
its presentation with an address, expressive of the 
