126 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
recorded by the early Missionaries. I have also 
heard that they sometimes bound the thief hand 
and foot, and, putting him into an old rotten 
canoe, towed him out to sea, and there left him 
adrift, to sink in the ocean, or become a prey to 
the sharks. 
The haru raa , or seizing all the property of de¬ 
linquents, was the most frequent retaliation, among 
the lower class, for this and other crimes. The 
servants of the chiefs, or injured party, went to 
the house of the offenders, and took by force what¬ 
ever they found, carrying away every article worth 
possessing, and destroying the rest. If the in¬ 
habitants of the house received previous intimation 
of their purpose, they generally removed or secreted 
their most valuable property, but seldom attempted 
to resist the seizure, even though every article of 
food and clothing, and the mats on which they 
slept, should be taken away. 
This mode of retaliation for theft, or other 
injury, was so generally recognized as just, that, 
although the party thus plundered might be more 
powerful than those who plundered them, they 
would not attempt to prevent the seizure : had 
they done so, the population of the district would 
have assisted those, who, according to established 
custom, were thus punishing the aggressors. Such 
was the usual method resorted to for punishing 
petty thefts committed among themselves. They 
were generally satisfied with seizing whatever they 
could find in the houses, yards, or gardens of the 
offenders; but when it was practised by order of 
he king or chiefs, the culprit was banished from 
ftis house or lands, and reduced to a state of com¬ 
plete destitution. 
Great difficulty was often experienced in dis- 
