164 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
laying down the keel and building the hull, some 
making and fixing the sails, and others fastening 
the outriggers, or adding the ornaments. The 
principal chiefs usually kept canoe-builders at¬ 
tached to their establishments, but the inferior 
chiefs generally hire workmen, paying them a 
given number of pigs, or fathoms of cloth, for 
a canoe, and finding them in provision while they 
are employed. The trees that are cut down in the 
mountains, or the interior of the islands, are often 
hollowed out there, sometimes by burning, but 
generally by the adze, or cut into the shape de¬ 
signed, and then brought down to the shore. 
Idolatry was interwoven with their naval archi¬ 
tecture, as well as every other pursuit. The priest 
had certain ceremonies to perform, and numerous 
and costly offerings were made to the gods of the 
chief, and of the craft or profession, when the 
keel was laid, when the canoe was finished, and 
when it was launched. Valuable canoes were 
often among the national offerings presented to 
the gods, and afterwards sacred to the service of 
the idol. 
The double canoes of the Society Islands were 
larger, and more imposing in appearance, than 
most of those used in New Zealand or the 
Sandwich Islands, but not so strong as the 
former, nor so neat and light as the latter. I 
have, however, made several voyages in them. 
In fine weather, and with a fair wind, they are 
tolerably safe and comfortable; but when the 
weather is rough, and the wind contrary, they are 
miserable sea-boats, and are tossed about com¬ 
pletely at the mercy of the winds. Many of the 
natives that have set out on voyages from one 
island to another, have been carried from the 
