128 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
distinguished guest, or the celebration of a na¬ 
tional festival. No regular system of taxation 
prevailed, but every kind of property was furnished 
by the chiefs and people in great abundance, not 
only for the king, but for the purpose of enriching 
those who were the objects of his favour. 
However abundant the supplies might be which 
the king received, he was in general more necessi¬ 
tous than many of the chiefs. Applications from the 
chiefs, for food, for cloth, canoes, and every other 
valuable article furnished by the people, were so fre¬ 
quent and importunate, that more than was barely 
sufficient for his own use seldom remained long in 
his possession. A present of food was usually 
accompanied with several hundred yards of native 
cloth, and a number of fine large double canoes ; 
yet every article was often distributed among the 
chiefs and favourites on the very day it arrived ; 
and so urgent were the applicants, that they did 
not wait till the articles were brought, but often 
extorted from the king a promise that he would 
give them the first bale of cloth, or double canoe, 
he might receive. At times they went beyond 
this; and when a chief, who considered the king 
under obligations to him, knew that the inhabit¬ 
ants of a district were preparing a present for their 
sovereign, which would include any articles he 
wished to possess, he would go to the king, and 
tapao, mark or bespeak it, even before it was 
finished. A promise given under these circum¬ 
stances was usually regarded as binding, though it 
often involved the king in difficulties, and kept 
him necessitous. 
In the estimation of the people, generosity was 
among the greatest virtues of a king; and illi- 
berality was most unpopular. In describing a 
