DANCES-ARCHERY* 
217 
and attractive. Besides the distinguished females 
who performed the hura, there were others who 
were regarded as appendages to the exhibition. 
These were the faata, who were men, generally 
four in number, who were arrayed in fringed mats, 
fastened round the waist, and each was a sort of 
clown or harlequin. Their business was, during 
the intervals between the different parts of the 
hura, to dance in the most comic and ludicrous 
manner, for the mirth of the spectators. They 
were called ei ataraa na te mataitai —cause of 
laughter to the lookers on. The heva tiaraau was 
another dance, inferior to the hura, and not more 
objectionable. There were many others, but they 
were all too indelicate or obscene to be noticed. 
These were sometimes held in the open air, but 
more frequently performed under the cover of the 
houses, erected in most of the districts for public 
entertainments. These structures were frequently 
spacious, and well built; consisting of a roof sup¬ 
ported by pillars, without any shelter for the sides. 
A low fence, called aumoa , surrounded the house ; 
and the inside was covered with mats, on which 
the company sat and the dancers performed. The 
pat a a , or prompter, sat by the drum, and regulated 
the several parts of the performance. After the 
athletic exercises of the day, the dances ensued in 
the evening, and were often continued till the 
dawn of the following morning. There were gods 
supposed to preside over their dances, whose sanc¬ 
tion patronized the debasing immoralities con¬ 
nected with them. 
The te-a , or archery, was also a sacred game, 
more so, perhaps, than any other ; it was also 
called heiva te-a, play, or amusement of archery. 
The bows, arrows, quiver, and cloth in which they 
