POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
457 
tives of their own islands. The sentencing of such sailors 
as may desert from their ships, or may be found on shore 
after their vessels have sailed, to hard labour on the public 
roads or quays, is probably the most effectual plan they 
could have adopted to deter seamen from the very frequent 
practice of forsaking their vessels. 
The promulgation of an official printed code among the 
inhabitants of these islands, not only formed an epoch in 
their history, but introduced a new order of feeling and 
action in their civil relations, as a community governed by 
laws which they had deliberately and unitedly adopted. 
Perspiscuity and plainness had been studied in the fram¬ 
ing of their laws, and in several instances we should have 
preferred even greater explicitness. The public admini¬ 
stration of justice, under the former system, had been 
exceedingly unceremonious and simple; and although the 
change now introduced had rendered it rather more com¬ 
plex, it was not intricate or perplexing. In several of 
the islands, I believe, court-houses were built. There were 
none, however, in Huahine when I left, though I have since 
heard that they were erecting one for the chief judges. 
No investigations or trials have ever taken place with 
closed doors,'’ but all causes are tried in open court. 
In some of the islands, the bell-man goes round the dis¬ 
trict, to give public notice before any trial takes place. 
Their places of justice have usually been the governor's 
house, or the open air, frequently the court-yard in 
front of the chief's dwelling, an open space in the centre 
of the settlement, or near the sea-beach. A wide-spread¬ 
ing tree, or clump, is usually selected, and under its shade 
the bench is fixed and the trial attended. The hour of 
sun-rise is usually chosen, as they prefer the coolness of 
the morning to the heat of noon. 
3 N 
II. 
