THE TABU. 
385 
ragement he gave to all foreigners visiting the 
islands, was, no doubt, advantageous in these 
respects. He has been called the Alfred of the 
Hawaiians; but he appears rather to have been 
their Alexander, ambition and a desire of conquest 
having been his ruling passions during the greater 
part of his life, though towards its close avarice 
superseded them. It has been stated, that he pro¬ 
jected an invasion of the Society Islands ; but the 
report, from many conversations on the subject 
with the natives, appears destitute of all founda¬ 
tion. Miomioi also pointed out the family heiau 
of Tamehameha, of which Tair was the god, and 
the heiau was.called Hare o Tairi , House of Tairi, 
It was an insignificant pile of stones, on a jutting 
point of volcanic rocks. Miomioi, however, said 
that the tabu was very strictly observed, and the 
punishments incurred by breaking it invariably 
inflicted on the transgressor; adding, at the same 
time, that Tamehameha always supposed his suc¬ 
cess, 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 does 
not, however, imply any moral quality, but ex¬ 
presses a connexion with the gods, or a separation 
from ordinary purposes, and exclusive appropria¬ 
tion to persons or things considered sacred ; some¬ 
times it means devoted as by a vow. Those chiefs 
who trace their genealogy to the gods are called 
iv. 2 c 
