f some chief, probably the chief of the district,
or the person to whom they appertained. If an inferior chief had given
cause of offence to one of a higher rank, the feelings of the latter at the
moment seemed the only measure of his punishment. If he had the good
fortune to escape the first transports of his superior's rage, he generally
found means, through the mediation of some third person, to compound for
his crime by a part or the whole of his property and effects. These were
the only facts that came to our knowledge on this head.

The religion of these people resembles, in most of its principal features,
that of the Society and Friendly Islands. Their _morais_, their _whattas_,
their idols, their sacrifices, and their sacred songs, all of which they
have in common with each other, are convincing proofs that their religious
notions are derived from the same source. In the length and number of their
ceremonies, this branch indeed far exceeds the rest; and though in all
these countries there is a certain class of men, to whose care the
performance of their religious rites is committed, yet we never met with a
regular society of priests, till we discovered the cloisters of Kakooa in
Karakakooa Bay. The head of this order was called _Orono_; a title which we
imagined to imply something highly sacred, and which, in the person of
Omeeah, was honoured almost to adoration. It is probable, that the
privilege of entering into this order (at least as to the principal offices
in it) is limited to certain families. Omeeah, the _Orono_, was the son of
Kaoo, and the uncle of Kaireekeea, which last presided, during the absence
of his grandfather, in all religious ceremonies at the _morai_. It was also
remarked, that the child of Omeeah, an only son, about five years old, was
never suffered to appear without a number of attendants, and such other
marks of care and solicitude as we saw no other like instance of. This
seemed to indicate that his life was an object of the greatest moment, and
that he was destined to succeed to the high rank of his father.

It has been mentioned, that the title of _Orono_, with all its honours, was
given to Captain Cook; and it is also certain that they regarded us
generally as a race of people superior to themselves, and used often to say
that great _Eatoua_ dwelled in our country. The little image, which we have
before described as the favourite idol on the _morai_ in Karakakooa Bay,
they call _Koon