THROUGH HAWAII. 
mi 
however, said that the tabu was very strictly ob 
served, and the punishments incurred by breaking it 
invariably inflicted on the transgressor ; adding, at the 
same time, that Tamehameha always supposed his 
success, in every enterprise, to be owing to the strict 
attention he paid to the service and requirements of his 
god. Many persons, he said, had been burnt on the 
adjoining hills, for having broken the tabu enjoined by 
the priests of Tairi. 
The Tabu formed an important and essential part of 
their cruel system of idolatry, and was one of the 
strongest means of its support. 
In most of the Polynesian dialects, the usual meaning 
of the word tabu is, sacred. It doe§ not, however, im¬ 
ply any moral quality, but expresses a connexion with 
the gods, or a separation from ordinary purposes, and 
exclusive appropriation to persons or things considered 
sacred. Those chiefs who trace their genealogy to the 
gods, are called arii tabu , chiefs sacred, from their sup¬ 
posed connexion with the gods ; and a temple is called 
a wahi tabu, place sacred, because devoted exclusively 
to the abode and worship of the gods. It is a distinct 
word from rahui, to prohibit, as the ohelo berries at 
Kirauea were said to be prohibited, being tabu na Pele , 
sacred for Pele, and is opposed to the word noa, which 
means general or common. Hence the system, which 
prohibited females from eating with the men, and from 
eating, except on special occasions, any fruits or ani¬ 
mals ever offered in sacrifice to the gods, while it 
allowed the men to partake of them, was called the Ai 
tabu, eating sacred, but the present state of things is 
called the Ai noa , eating generally, or having food in 
common. 
