154 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
feet deep, and, with their platforms in front or in 
the centre, were capable of holding fifty fighting 
men.* The vaatii, or sacred canoe, was always 
strong and large, more highly ornamented with 
carving and feathers than any of the others. Small 
houses were erected in each, and the image of the 
god, sometimes in the shape of a large bird, at 
other times resembling a hollow cylinder, orna¬ 
mented with various coloured feathers, was kept 
in these houses. Here their prayers were preferred, 
and their sacrifices offered. 
Their war canoes were strong, well-built, and 
highly ornamented. They formerly possessed large 
and magnificent fleets of these, and other large 
canoes; and, at their general public meetings, or 
festivals, no small portion of the entertainment was 
derived from the regattas, or naval reviews, in 
which the whole fleet, ornamented with carved 
images, and decorated with flags and streamers, of 
various native-coloured cloth, went through their 
different tactics with great precision. On these 
occasions the crews by which they were navigated, 
anxious to gain the plaudits of the king and chiefs, 
emulated each other in the exhibition of their sea¬ 
manship. The vaati, or sacred canoes, formed 
part of every fleet, and were generally the most 
imposing in appearance, and attractive in their 
decorations. 
The peculiar and almost classical shape of the 
large Tahitian canoes, the elevated prow and stern, 
the rude figures, carving, and other ornaments, the 
loose-flowing drapery of the natives on board, and 
the maritime aspect of their general places of 
abode, are all adapted to produce a singular effect 
* In Cook’s voyages a description is given of some, one 
hundred and eight feet long. 
