h men, tasting
pig, and other delicacies. She became the equal and companion of
these most interesting of her race, and talent in herself received
due honor. She sacrificed her children for a career, as is done to-day
less bloodily.

Believers in the immortality of the soul, the Arioi imagined a heaven
suited to their own wishes. They called it Rohutu noa-noa, or Fragrant
Paradise. In it all were in the first flush of virility, and enjoyed
the good things promised the faithful by Mohammed. The road to this
abode of houris and roasted pig was not to be trod in sackcloth or
in ashes, but in wreaths and with gaily colored bodies. To the sound
of drums and of flutes they were to dance and sing for the honor
of their merry god, Oro, and after a lifetime of joy and license,
of denial of nothing, unless it hurt their order, they were to die
to an eternity of celestial riot.

As old as the gods was the society of the Arioi, said the
Tahitians. Oro, the chief god, took a human wife, and descended on a
rainbow to her home. He spent his nights with her, and every morning
returned to the heavens. Two of his younger brothers searched for him,
and lacking wedding presents, one transformed himself into a pig and
a bunch of red feathers. The other presented these, and though they
remained with the wedded pair, the brother took back his own form. Oro,
to reward them, made them gods and Arioi. Ever after a pig and red
feathers were offerings to the idol of Oro by the Arioi. The brothers
formed the society and named the charter members of it in different
islands, and by these names those holding their offices were known
until they were abolished.

When called together by their chief, the members of the order made a
round of visits throughout the archipelago, in as many as seventy great
canoes, carrying with them their costumes and musical instruments
and their servants. They were usually welcomed enthusiastically
at their landing, and pigs, fruits, and kava prepared for their
delectation. They were gorgeous-looking performers in their pantomimes,
for besides tattooing, which marked their rank, they were decorated
with charcoal and the scarlet dye mati, and wore girdles of yellow
ti-leaves, or vests of ripe, golden plantain-leaves. Their heads were
wreathed in the yellow and red leaves of the hutu, and perhaps behind
an ear they wore a flower of brilliant hue.

They had seven ranks, like the chairs of a secret order in Europe or
in t