342 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
branches of the aged trees, the plaintive and 
moaning sound of the wind passing through the 
leaves of the casuarina, often resembling the wild 
notes of the Eolian harp—and the dark walls of 
the temple, with the grotesque and horrific appear¬ 
ance of the idols—combined to inspire extraordi¬ 
nary emotions of superstitious terror, and to nur¬ 
ture that deep feeling of dread which characterized 
the worshippers of Tahiti’s sanguinary deities. 
The priests of the national temples were a dis¬ 
tinct class ; the office of the priesthood was here¬ 
ditary in all its departments. In the family, 
according to the patriarchal usage, the father was 
the priest; in the village or district, the family of 
the priest was sacred, and his office was held by 
one who was also a chief. The king was some¬ 
times the priest of the nation, and the highest 
sacerdotal dignity was often possessed by some 
member of the reigning family. The intimate 
connexion between their false religion and politi¬ 
cal despotism, is, however, most distinctly shown 
in the fact of the king’s personifying the god, and 
receiving the offerings brought to the temple, and 
the prayers of the supplicants, which have been 
frequently presented to Tamatoa, the present king 
of Raiatea. The only motives by which they were 
influenced in their religious homage, or service, 
were, with very few exceptions, superstitious fear, 
revenge towards their enemies, a desire to avert 
the dreadful consequences of the anger of the 
gods, and to secure their sanction and aid in the 
commission of the grossest crimes. 
Their worship consisted in preferring prayers, 
presenting offerings, and sacrificing victims. Their 
ubus , or prayers, though occasionally brief, were 
often exceedingly protracted, containing many 
