On the other hand, Nadab and Abihu, who "offered strange fire before
Jahveh, which he had not commanded them," were swiftly devoured by
Jahveh's fire; he who sacrificed anywhere except at the allotted place
was to be "cut off from his people"; so was he who ate blood; and the
details of the upholstery of the Tabernacle, of the millinery of the
priests' vestments, and of the cabinet work of the ark, can plead direct
authority from Jahveh, no less than moral commands.

Amongst the Tongans, the sacrifices were regarded as gifts of food and
drink offered to the divine Atuas, just as the articles deposited by the
graves of the recently dead were meant as food for Atuas of lower rank.
A kava root was a constant form of offering all over Polynesia. In the
excellent work of the Rev. George Turner, entitled _Nineteen Years in
Polynesia_ (p. 241), I find it said of the Samoans (near neighbours of
the Tongans):--

_The offerings_ were principally cooked food. As in ancient
Greece so in Samoa, the first cup was in honour of the god.
It was either poured out on the ground or _waved_ towards
the heavens, reminding us again of the Mosaic ceremonies.
The chiefs all drank a portion out of the same cup, according to
rank; and after that, the food brought as an offering was
divided and eaten '_there before the Lord._'

In Tonga, when they consulted a god who had a priest, the latter, as
representative of the god, had the first cup; but if the god, like
Ta-li-y-Tooboo, had no priest, then the chief place was left vacant, and
was supposed to be occupied by the god himself. When the first cup of
kava was filled, the mataboole who acted as master of the ceremonies
said, "Give it to your god," and it was offered, though only as a matter
of form. In Tonga and Samoa there were many sacred places or _morais,_
with houses of the ordinary construction, but which served as temples in
consequence of being dedicated to various gods; and there were altars
on which the sacrifices were offered; nevertheless there were few or
no images. Mariner mentions none in Tonga, and the Samoans seem to have
been regarded as no better than atheists by other Polynesians because
they had none. It does not appear that either of these peoples had
images even of their family or ancestral gods.

In Tahiti and the adjacent islands, Moerenhout (t. i. p. 471) makes the
very interesting observation, not only that idols were often absent,
but that, wher