ARCHERY.

within my garden at Huahine.

219

It was a stone

pile, about three or four feet high, of a triangular form, one side of the angle being convex.

When the preparations were completed, the archer ascended this platform, and, kneeling on one knee, drew the string of the bow with the right hand, till the head of the arrow touched the centre of the bow, when it was discharged with great force. It was an effort of much strength in this position to draw the bowstring so far. The line often broke, and the bow fell from the archer's hand when the arrow was discharged. The distance to which it was shot, though various, was frequently three hundred yards. A number of men, from three to twelve, with small white flags in their hands, were stationed, to watch the arrows in their fall. When those of one party went farther than those of the other, they waved the flags as a signal to the party below. When they fell short, they held down their flags, but lifted up their foot, exclaiming uau pau, beaten.

This was a sport in the highest esteem, the king and chiefs usually attending to witness the exercise. As soon as the game was finished, the bow, with the quiver of arrows, was delivered to the charge of a proper person: the archers repaired to the marae, and were obliged to exchange their dress, and bathe their persons, before they could take refreshment, or enter their dwellings. It is astonishing to notice how intimately their system of religion was interwoven with every pursuit of their lives. Their wars, their labours, and their amusements, were all under the control of their gods. Paruatetavae was the god of archers.

The arrows they employed were sometimes beautifully stained and variegated. The bows were

plain, but the quivers were often elegant in shape and appearance. They were made with the single joint of a bamboo cane, three feet six or nine inches long, and about two inches in diameter. The outside was sometimes handsomely stained, and finely polished at the top and the bottom; they were adorned with braided cord, and plaited The cap or cover of the quiver was a small, handsome, well-formed cocoa-nut, of a dark brown chocolate colour, highly polished, and attached to the quiver by a cord passing up the inner side of the quiver, and fastened near the bottom.

human hair.

The bow and arrow were never used by the Society Islanders excepting in their amusements; hence, perhaps, their arrows, though pointed, were not barbed, and they did not shoot at a mark. In throwing the spear, and the stone from the sling, both of which they used in battle, they were accustomed to set up a mark; and practised, that they might throw with precision, as well as force. In the Sandwich Islands, they are used also as an amusement, especially in shooting rats, but are not included in their accoutrements for battle; while in the Friendly Islands, the bow was not only employed on occasions of festivity, but also used in war; this, however, may have arisen from their proximity to the Feejee Islands, where it is a general weapon. In the Society and Sandwich Islands, it is now altogether laid aside, in consequence of its connexion with their former idolatry. I do not think the Missionaries ever inculcated its discontinuance, but the adults do not appear to have thought of following this, or any other game, since Christianity has been introduced among them.

COCK-FIGHTING.

221

CHAP. IX.

Cockfighting-Aquatic sports-Swimming in the surfDanger from sharks-Juvenile amusements-Account of the Areois, the institution peculiar to the inhabitants of the Pacific-Antiquity of the Areoi society-Tradition of its origin-Account of its founders-Infanticide enjoined with its establishment-General character of the Areois-Their voyages-Public dances-Buildings for their accommodation-Marine exhibitions-Oppression and injury occasioned by their visits -- Distinction of rank among them-Estimation in which they are held-Mode of admission-Ceremonies attending advancement to the higher orders-Demoralizing nature of their usages-Singular rites at their death and interment-Description of Rohutunoanoa, the Areois heaven-Reflections on the baneful tendency of the Areoi society, and its dissolution.

THE most ancient, but certainly not the most innocent game among the Tahitians, was the faatitoraamoa, 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 colonists 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 property, or laid any bets, on their favourite birds, but to have trained and fought them for the sake of the

gratification they derived from beholding them destroy each other. Long before the first foreign vessel was seen off their shores, they were accustomed to train and to fight their birds. The fowls designed for fighting were fed with great care; a finely carved fatapua, or stand, was made as a perch for the birds. This was planted in the house, and the bird fastened to it by a piece of cinet, braided flat that it might not injure the leg. No other substance would have been secure against the attacks of his beak. Their food was chiefly poe, or bruised bread-fruit, rolled up in the hand like paste, and given in small pieces. The fowl was taught to open his mouth to receive his food and his water, which was poured from his master's hand. It was also customary to sprinkle water over these birds to refresh them.

The natives were universally addicted to this sport. The inhabitants of one district often matched their birds against those of another, or those of one division of a district against those of another. They do not appear to have entertained any predilection for particular colour in the fowls, but seem to have esteemed all alike. They never trimmed any of the feathers, but were proud to see them with heavy wings, full-feathered necks, and long tails. They also accustomed them to fight without artificial spurs, or other means of injury. In order that the birds might be as fresh as possible, they fought them early in the morning, soon after day-break, while the air was cool, and before they became languid from heat. than two were seldom engaged at once, and so soon as one bird avoided the other, he was considered as vi, or beaten. Victory was declared in favour of his opponent, and they were immediately

More

SWIMMING IN THE SURF.

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parted. This amusement was sometimes continued for several days successively, and, as well as the other recreations, was patronized by their idols. Ruaifaatoa, the god of cockfighters, appears among the earliest of their inferior divinities.

Like the inhabitants of most of the islands of the Pacific, the Tahitians are fond of the water, and lose all dread of it before they are old enough to know the danger to which we should consider them exposed. They are among the best divers in the world, and spend much of their time in the sea, not only when engaged in acts of labour, but when following their amusements. One of their favourite sports is the horue or faahee, swimming in the surf, when the waves are high, and the billows break in foam and spray among the reefs. Individuals of all ranks and ages, and both sexes, follow this pastime with the greatest avidity. They usually selected the openings in the reefs, or entrances of some of the bays, for their sport; where the long heavy billows of the ocean rolled in unbroken majesty upon the reef or the shore. They used a small board, which they called papa fahee-swam from the beach to a considerable distance, sometimes nearly a mile, watched the swell of the wave, and when it reached them, resting their bosom on the short flat pointed board, they mounted on its summit, and, amid the foam and spray, rode on the crest of the wave to the shore sometimes they halted among the coral rocks, over which the waves broke in splendid confusion. When they approached the shore, they slid off the board which they grasped with the hand, and either fell behind the wave, or plunged toward the deep, and allowed it to pass over their heads.

Sometimes they were thrown with violence