be of its father or to the tribe of
its mother; this they did by pronouncing over the infant the name either
of the father's or of the mother's god. Commonly the father had the
preference; but occasionally, when the father's tribe was one from which
human victims for sacrifice were regularly drawn, the mother would seek
to save the child's life by having the name of her tribal god pronounced
over it and so adopting it into her own tribe.[11] Circumcision in an
imperfect form was practised in the Hervey Islands from time immemorial.
It was usually performed on a youth about the age of sixteen. The
operation was indispensable to marriage. No woman would knowingly marry
an uncircumcised husband. The greatest insult that could be offered to
a man was to accuse him of being uncircumcised. The rite is said to have
been invented by the god Rongo in order to seduce the beautiful wife of
his brother Tangaroa, and he enjoined the observance of circumcision
upon his worshippers.[12] In Rarotonga it was customary to mould a
child's head into a high shape by pressing the forehead and the back of
the head between slabs of soft wood. This practice did not obtain on
Mangaia nor, apparently, on any other island of the Hervey Group.[13]

[11] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 323,
330, 331, 333.

[12] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp.
327-329. In the operation the prepuce was slit longitudinally,
and the divided pieces were drawn underneath and twisted, so as
in time to form a small knot under the urethra. As to the
ceremony of assigning a child either to its father's or to its
mother's tribe, see W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South
Pacific_ (London, 1876), pp. 36 _sq._

[13] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 326.

In Rarotonga four ranks of society were recognised. These were the
_ariki_, or king; the _mataiapo_, or governors of districts; the
_rangatira_, or landowners; and the _unga_, or tenants. A man was
accounted great according to the number of his _kaingas_ or farms, which
contained from one to five acres. These were let to tenants, who, like
vassals under the feudal system, obeyed the orders of their superior,
assisted him in erecting his house, in building his canoe, in making
fishing-nets, and in other occupations, besides bringing him a certain
portion of the produce of his lands.[14]

[14] John Williams, _Na