Tahaitians went so far as to present to a
welcome guest, a sister, a daughter, or even a wife; and they have been
known to sell them for pearls, pieces of glass, or implements of iron.
The women who distributed their favours indiscriminately, were almost
always of the lowest class; but a most licentious association called
Ehrioi, including both sexes, existed among the higher. Renouncing
matrimony, and the hopes of progeny, its members rambled about the
island leading the most dissolute lives; and if a child was born among
them, the laws of the society compelled its murder, or the expulsion of
the mother. The men were all warriors, and stood in high estimation
among the people. The Ehrioi themselves were proud of the title, and
even the King O Tu belonged to this profligate institution, to which,
fortunately, the Missionaries have put an end.

Where such manners prevailed, and woman was regarded merely as an object
of pleasure, she could not stand in very high estimation; and love, in
its best sense, remained wholly unknown among them. Hence the women of
Tahaiti, although not so much secluded as among many other nations, were
not permitted to eat with the men, and when the King and the Royal
Family visited Cook, on board his ship, he was obliged to entertain even
the princesses in a separate cabin.

The fidelity of a wife among the Tahaitians required that she should not
favour any man without the knowledge and consent of her husband; and a
beating was the punishment generally incurred by a violation of this
duty.

Among the failings of the Tahaitians, their love of the intoxicating
liquor which they prepared from the much cultivated Ava root, must not
be omitted. Nor have the Missionaries been wholly unsuccessful in this
respect. The drink is no longer allowed to be prepared, nor even the
root to be cultivated; but unfortunately, its place has been partly
supplied by the introduction of our wine and brandy; we, however, never
saw a drunken person.

Having now noticed all that was reprehensible in the otherwise amiable
character of the Ante-christian Tahaitian, I hope the reader, in
consideration of his many good qualities, will forgive his faults, and,
in a friendly disposition towards him, cast a glance upon his innocent
amusements, which were chiefly derived from music, dancing, mock-fights,
and theatrical representations.

Their musical instruments were very simple, and of two kinds only: the
one, a sort of fl