en as they could
also, it can be imagined that the main connecting links between the
heads of families and their chief, and that which marked him out most
prominently as a superior, was this marriage, or rather polygamy
business.

The land in Samoa is owned alike by the chiefs and these heads of
families. The land belonging to each family is well known, and the
person who, for the time being, holds the title of the family head,
has the right to dispose of it. It is the same with the chiefs. There
are certain tracts of bush or forest land which belong to them. The
uncultivated bush is sometimes claimed by those who own the land on
its borders. The lagoon also, as far as the reef, is considered the
property of those off whose village it is situated. Although the power
of selling land, and doing other things of importance affecting all
the members of the family, is vested in the titled head of the family,
yet the said responsible party dare not do anything without formally
consulting all concerned. Were he to persist in attempting to do
otherwise, they would take his title from him, and give it to another.
The members of a family can thus take the title from their head, and
heads of families can unite and take the title from their chief, and
give it to his brother, or uncle, or some other member of the chief
family, who, they think, will act more in accordance with their
wishes.

The chief of the village and the heads of families formed the
legislative body of the place, and the common court of appeal in all
cases of difficulty. One of these heads of families was the sort of
Prime Minister of the chief. It was his special business to call a
meeting, and it was also his province to send notice to the other
heads of families, on the arrival of a party of strangers, and to say
what each was to provide towards entertaining hospitably the village
guests. Having no written language, of course they had no written
laws; still, as far back as we can trace, they had well understood
laws for the prevention of theft, adultery, assault, and murder,
together with many other minor things, such as disrespectful language
to a chief, calling him a pig, for instance, rude behaviour to
strangers, pulling down a fence, or maliciously cutting a fruit-tree.
Nor had they only the mere laws; the further back we go in their
history, we find that their penalties were all the more severe. Death
was the usual punishment for murder and adultery; and