COCK-FIGHTING. 
221 
CHAP. IX. 
Cockfighting—Aquatic sports—Swimming in the surf— 
Danger from sharks—Juvenile amusements—Account 
of the Areois, the institution peculiar to the inhabitants 
of the Pacific—Antiquity of the Areoi society—Tradi¬ 
tion of its origin—Account of its founders—Infanticide 
enjoined with its establishment—General character of 
the Areois—Tiieir voyages—Public dances—Buildings 
for their accommodation—Marine exhibitions—Oppres¬ 
sion and injury occasioned by their visits—Distinction 
of rank among them—Estimation in which they are 
held—Mode of admission—Ceremonies attending ad¬ 
vancement to the higher orders—Demoralizing nature 
of their usages—Singular rites at their death and inter¬ 
ment—Description of Rohutunoanoa, the Areois hea¬ 
ven—Reflections on the baneful tendency of the Areoi 
society, and its dissolution. 
The most ancient, but certainly not the most inno¬ 
cent game among the Tahitians, was the faatito- 
raamoa , literally, the causing fighting among fowls, 
or cock-fighting. The traditions of the people 
state, that fowls have existed in the islands as long 
as the people, that they came with the first colo¬ 
nists by whom the islands were peopled, or that 
they were made by Taaroa at the same time that 
men were made. The traditions and songs of the 
islanders, connected with their amusements, are as 
ancient as any in existence among them. The 
Tahitians do not appear to have staked any pro¬ 
perty, or laid any bets, on their favourite birds, but 
to have trained and fought them for the sake of the 
