*156 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
address, expressive of his obligations to him in reaching 
the place with security. Whenever war was proclaim¬ 
ed, and during the period of actual hostilities, a white 
flag was unfurled on the top of a tall spear, at each end 
of the enclosure, and, until the conclusion of peace, 
waved the symbol of hope to those who, vanquished 
in fight, might flee thither for protection. It was fixed 
a short distance from the walls on the outside, and to 
to the spot on which this banner was unfurled, the vic¬ 
torious warrior might chase his routed foes; but here, 
he must himself fall back; beyond it he must not 
advance one step, on pain of forfeiting his life. The 
priests, and their adherents, would immediately put to 
death any one who should have the temerity to follow 
or molest those who were once within the pale of the 
palm tabu; and, as they expressed it, under the shade 
or protection of the spirit of Keave, the tutelar deity of 
the place. 
In one part of the enclosure, houses were formerly 
erected for the priests, and others for the refugees, who, 
after a certain period, or at the cessation of war, were 
dismissed by the priests, and returned unmolested to 
their dwellings and families; no one venturing to in¬ 
jure those, who, when they fled to the gods, had been 
by them protected. We could not learn the length of 
time it was necessary for them to remain in the puaho- 
nua; but it did not appear to be more than two or 
three days. After that, they either attached them¬ 
selves to the service of the priests, or returned to their 
homes. 
The puhonua at Honaunau is capacious, capable of 
containing a vast multitude of people. In time of war, 
the females, children, and old people of the neighbour- 
