not
allowed to enter their houses or to hold any direct communication with
their families who had remained there, till they had been rendered
common (_noa_) by a ceremony of desecration. Before that ceremony took
place, the warriors were obliged to throw away the remains of the bodies
of their foes on which, as usual, they had been feasting; for being
sacred food the flesh could only be touched by sacred or tabooed
persons. One woman only, the _wahine ariki_, as she was called, that is
the elder female of the elder branch of the stock from which the tribe
traced their descent, was permitted to touch the sanctified meat;
indeed, in order to carry out the ritual of desecration in due form she
was expected and required to swallow an ear of the first enemy killed in
battle.[101] A warlike expedition might lay even people at home under a
taboo; for all who remained behind, including old men, women, and
slaves, were often required to observe a rigid fast and to abstain from
smoking till the return of the warriors.[102]

[92] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 84 _sq._

[93] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 84; R. Taylor, _Te
Ika A Maui_, p. 163.

[94] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp.
268 _sq._, _s.v._ "Noa."

[95] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 85 _sq._; R.
Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 163, 164.

[96] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 40.

[97] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et a la
recherche de la Perouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833),
iii. 685; W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 86; E.
Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 104 _sq._; Servant,
"Notice sur la Nouvelle-Zelande," _Annales de la Propagation de
la Foi_, xv. (1843) p. 23; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 166
_sq._; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. 104 _sqq._ The
taboo could be got rid of more simply by the tabooed man
touching his child or grandchild and taking food or drink from
the child's hands. But when that was done, the taboo was
transferred to the child, who retained it for the rest of the
day. See E. Dieffenbach, _op. cit._ ii. 105.

[98] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 85; R. Taylor,
_Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 165 _sq._; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha
Maori, pp. 103 _sq._

[99] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 85.

[100] _Old New