114 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
when the people saw them in the evening, as they 
passed near his abode, instead of saying the torches 
were burning in the palace, they would observe 
that the lightning was flashing in the clouds of 
heaven. When he passed from one district to 
another on the shoulders of his bearers, instead of 
speaking of his travelling from one place to another, 
they always used the word mahuta , which signifies 
to fly; and hence described his journey by saying, 
that the king was flying from one district of the 
island to another. 
The establishment and habits of the king often 
exhibited the most striking contrast; at one time 
he was seen surrounded by the priests, and in¬ 
vested with the insignia of royalty, and divinity 
itself; or appeared in public on the shoulders of 
his bearers, while the people expressed every in¬ 
dication of superstitious reverence and fear. At 
other times, he might be seen on terms of the 
greatest familiarity with his attendants and do¬ 
mestics. 
He never wore a crown, or any badge of dignity, 
and, in general, there was no difference between 
his dress and that of the chiefs by whom he was 
surrounded, excepting that the fine cloth and 
matting, called vane, with which he was often 
arrayed, were more rare and valuable than the 
dress worn by others. His raiment frequently 
consisted of the ordinary pareu, or ahu pu, in 
quality often inferior to that worn by some of the 
chiefs in attendance upon him. 
In some of the islands to the westward, at the 
ceremonies 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 rest- 
