hey made use of bundles of
little sticks of different sizes, one of which they drew from a bundle
at the conclusion of each prayer. It was their duty on solemn occasions
to recite these liturgies or sacred poems while they paced slowly by
night round the temples (_morais_) and other holy places; hence they
went by the name of _harepo_, which means "Walkers by night." We are
told that if at these times they made a mistake in a single word or
hesitated for a moment, they stopped and returned home; and if the
subject of their prayers chanced to be some enterprise in which they
desired to enlist the favour of the gods, such a mistake or hesitation
was enough to cause the undertaking to be abandoned irretrievably, since
success in it was believed to be impossible. Nothing, it is said, could
be more astonishing than the memory displayed by these men, while they
recited, word for word, and for nights together, the ancient traditions
of which the mutilated and mangled remains would demand the assiduous
study of several years. The office of sacred recorder (_harepo_) was
hereditary in the male line; the sons were trained in the duties from
their earliest years, but only such as were endowed with an excellent
memory could satisfy the requirements of the profession. They believed
that a good memory was a gift of the gods.[164]

[164] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 504-507.

Sec. 6. _The Doctrine of the Human Soul_

Of the Society Islanders we are informed that "they believe every man to
have a separate being within him, named _tee_, which acts in consequence
of the impression of the senses, and combines ideas into thoughts. This
being, which we would call the soul, exists after death, and lodges in
the wooden images which are placed round the burying-places, and which
are called by the same name, _tee_."[165] When they were asked in what
part of the body the soul resides, they always answered that it was
seated in the belly or in the bowels (_I roto te obou_). They would not
admit that the brain could be the seat of thought or the heart of the
affections; and in support of their opinion they alleged the agitation
of the bowels in strong emotion, such as fear and desire.[166] Hence,
too, they called thoughts by a phrase which signifies "words in the
belly" (_parou no te oboo_).[167]

[165] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 151 _sq._
Compare J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage round
the W