nd G.
Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 326-328. Compare J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p.
174, "Wherever they go they exercise power to seize what they
want from the inhabitants. They smite their hand on their breast
and say '_Harre_, give,' whenever they covet any thing, and none
dares deny them. They never work; live by plunder; yet are
highly respected, as none but persons of rank are admitted among
them." This last statement, however, is contradicted by Ellis,
who says (_op. cit._ i. 239) that "the fraternity was not
confined to any particular rank or grade in society, but was
composed of individuals from every class."

[62] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 197.

Not the least of the privileges, real or imaginary, enjoyed by the
Areois was that after death their spirits were believed to pass without
difficulty to that paradise of delights to which otherwise none but the
noble and wealthy could hope to attain.[63]

[63] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 245 _sq._, 397; J. A. Moerenhout,
_op. cit._ i. 434 _sq._

In spite of the profligate life which the Areoi led and their addiction
to a round of frivolous amusements and entertainments, it seems likely
that the Society was originally founded for some serious purpose, though
the accounts which have come down to us hardly enable us to determine,
or even to conjecture with a fair degree of probability, what that
purpose was. That its aim was religious might be inferred on general
grounds, and is confirmed by the close relation in which the Society
stood to the national god Oro. Not only is Oro said to have founded the
Society, but before a troop of Areois set out on their peregrinations
they were obliged to kill many pigs in sacrifice to him and to offer
large quantities of plantains, bananas, and other fruits on his altars.
Moreover, temporary shrines were erected in their canoes for the worship
of Oro's two divine brothers, Orotetefa and Urutetefa, who were
traditionally said to have been the first members of the Society and
were regarded as its tutelary deities. In these shrines the principal
symbols were a stone for each of the brothers taken from Oro's temple,
and a few red feathers from the inside of his sacred image. Into these
symbols the gods were supposed to enter when the priest pronounced a
short prayer immediately before the sailing of the fleet.[64]

[64] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 234.

We might be better able to understand the purpos