POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
361 
inferior to that worn by some of the chiefs in attendance 
upon him. 
In some of the islands to the westward^ at the cere¬ 
monies of the temple, the people, to shew their homage, 
wound folds of cloth repeatedly round the body of the 
king, till he was unable to move, and appeared as if it 
was only a man’s head resting on the immense hale of 
cloth in which he was enclosed. I do not know that the 
kings of Tahiti ever experienced such treatment from 
their subjects. The kings of the former were left in this 
ludicrous and helpless situation, while the people tra¬ 
velled round the island, boxing and wrestling, in honour 
of their sovereign, throughout every district. 
The regal establishment was maintained by the pro¬ 
duce of the hereditary districts of the reigning family, 
and the requisitions made upon the people. Although 
the authority of the king was supreme, and his power 
undisputed, yet he does not appear to have been consi¬ 
dered as the absolute proprietor of the land, nor do the 
occupants seem to have been mere tenants at will, as was 
the fact in the Sandwich Islands. 
There were certain districts which constituted the 
patrimony of the royal family | in these they could walk 
abroad, as they were sacred lands. The other districts 
were regarded as belonging to their respective occupants 
or proprietors, who were generally raatiras, and whose 
interest in the soil was distinct from that of the king, 
and often more extensive. These lands they inherited 
from their ancestors, and bequeathed them to their 
children, or whomsoever they chose to select as their 
heirs. At their death the parties to whom land had 
been thus left, entered into undisturbed possession, as of 
rightful property. 
3 a 
II. 
