uivalent to a
ratification of amity and good-will between the persons, who thereby
acquired a claim to mutual protection and the enjoyment of each other's
property and even of their wives, if they happened to be married men.
The custom was not limited to the natives; they readily exchanged names
with Europeans and granted them the privileges which flowed from the
pact. It is even said that some natives gave their own names to animals,
which thenceforth became sacred for them and for the rest of the tribe.
This led to so many inconveniences that the priests had to forbid the
practice of exchanging names with animals.[45]

[45] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 16 _sq._, 158 _sq._; Clavel, _op.
cit._ pp. 61 _sq._

Sec. 5. _Amusements, Dancing-places, Banqueting-halls_

A favourite amusement of the islanders was racing or combating on
stilts. A stilt was composed of two pieces, a pole of light wood which
the runner held in his hand, and a step or foot-rest of hard wood, on
which he planted one of his feet. The step or foot-rest was often
adorned with human figures curiously carved, which are said to have
represented gods. The races or combats took place on the paved areas
which were to be seen in most villages, and which formed the scene of
public entertainments. In these contests each runner or combatant tried
to get in the way of his adversary, and, balancing himself on one stilt,
to strike his rival with the other, so as to bring him to the ground
amid the laughter and jeers of the spectators. It has sometimes been
supposed that the use of stilts in the Marquesas originated in the
practical purpose of enabling people to cross a stream without wetting
their feet. But the supposition is highly improbable. For, on the one
hand, the streams in the islands are mere rivulets, which dry up for the
greater part of the year; and, on the other hand, the natives are almost
amphibious, often spending whole days in the water, and swimming for
hours without fatigue. Hence it is absurd to imagine that they invented
stilts simply to keep their feet dry at crossing a shallow stream.[46]

[46] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 119 _sq._, 124; Langsdorff, _op.
cit._ i. 146; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 124-126; Vincendon-Dumoulin
et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 284; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p.
96. As for the ability of the natives to swim in the sea for
hours without fatigue, compare J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to
the Souther