y
thing is forbidden to be eat, or made use of, they say, that is _taboo_.
They tell us, that if the king should happen to go into a house
belonging to a subject, that house would be _taboo_, and could never be
more inhabited by the owner; so that wherever he travels, there are
particular houses for his reception. Old Toobou at this time presided
over the _taboo_, that is, if Omai comprehended the matter rightly, he
and his deputies inspected all the produce of the island, taking care
that every man should cultivate and plant his quota, and ordering what
should he eat, and what not. By this wise regulation, they effectually
guard against a famine; a sufficient quantity of ground is employed in
raising provisions, and every article thus raised, is secured from
unnecessary waste.

By another prudent regulation in their government, they have an officer
over the police, or something like it. This department, when we were
amongst them, was administered by Feenou, whose business, we were told,
it was to punish all offenders, whether against the state, or against
individuals. He was also generalissimo, and commanded the warriors when
called out upon service; but by all accounts this is very seldom. The
king frequently took some pains to inform us of Feenou's office; and,
among other things, told us, that if he himself should become a bad man,
Feenou would kill him. What I understood by this expression of being a
bad man, was, that if he did not govern according to law, or custom,
Feenou would be ordered, by the other great men, or the people at large,
to put him to death. There should seem to be no doubt, that a sovereign
thus liable to be controuled, and punished for an abuse of power, cannot
be called a despotic monarch.

When we consider the number of islands that compose this little state,
and the distance at which some of them lie from the seat of government,
attempts to throw off the yoke, and to acquire independency, it should
seem, might be apprehended. But they tell us that this never happens.
One reason why they are not thus disturbed, by domestic quarrels, may be
this: That all the powerful chiefs, as we have already mentioned, reside
at Tongataboo. They also secure the dependence of the other islands, by
the celerity of their operations; for if, at any time, a troublesome and
popular man should start up in any of them, Feenou, or whoever holds his
office, is immediately dispatched thither to kill him. By this mean