THE LAW OF FORCE. 
123 
wanderer “ upon the road but if the king’s con¬ 
duct was considered arbitrary, and the individual 
justified in his refusal by the other chiefs, they 
would tapea , or detain him, and protest to the 
king against his removal. The parties generally 
knew each other’s strength and influence, and 
those who had little hopes of succeeding by an 
appeal to arms, usually conceded whatever was 
required. Personal security, and the rights of 
private property, were unknown; and the admi¬ 
nistration of justice by the chiefs in the several 
districts, and the king over the whole, was regu¬ 
lated more by the relative power than by the 
merits of their cause. 
They had no regular code of laws, nor any 
public courts of justice, and, excepting in offences 
against the king and chiefs, the rulers were 
seldom appealed to. The people in general 
avenged their own injuries. Death or banishment 
was the punishment usually inflicted by the chiefs, 
and frequently the objects of their displeasure were 
marked out as victims for sacrifice. 
Destitute, however, as they were of even oral 
laws or institutes, there were many acts, which, by 
general consent, were considered criminal, and 
deserving punishment. These were orure hau 9 
rebellion, or shaking the government, withholding 
supplies, or even speaking contemptuously of the 
king or his administration. So heinous was this 
offence, that the criminal was not only liable to 
banishment, or the forfeiture of his life, but a 
human sacrifice must be offered, to atone for the 
guilt, and appease the displeasure of the gods 
against the people of the land in which it had 
been committed. Lewdness was not regarded as 
a crime, but adultery was sometimes punished 
