efinite functions
of the priesthood, most of whom were hardly to be distinguished from the
rest of their countrymen, I am wholly at a loss where to look for the
authority which regulates this potent institution. It is imposed upon
something to-day, and withdrawn to-morrow; while its operations in other
cases are perpetual. Sometimes its restrictions only affect a single
individual--sometimes a particular family--sometimes a whole tribe; and, in
a few instances, they extend not merely over the various clans on a single
island, but over all the inhabitants of an entire group. In illustration
of this latter peculiarity, I may cite the law which forbids a female to
enter a canoe--a prohibition which prevails upon all the northern Marquesas
Islands.

The word itself (taboo) is used in more than one signification. It is
sometimes used by a parent to his child, when, in the exercise of parental
authority, he forbids it to perform a particular action. Anything opposed
to the ordinary customs of the islanders, although not expressly
prohibited, is said to be "taboo."

The Typee language is one very difficult to be acquired; it bears a close
resemblance to the other Polynesian dialects, all of which show a common
origin. The duplication of words, as "lumee lumee," "poee poee," "muee
muee," is one of their peculiar features. But another, and a more annoying
one, is the different sense in which one and the same word is employed;
its various meanings all have a certain connection, which only makes the
matter more puzzling. So one brisk, lively little word is obliged, like a
servant in a poor family, to perform all sorts of duties. For instance--one
particular combination of syllables expresses the ideas of sleep, rest,
reclining, sitting, leaning, and all other things anyways analogous
thereto, the particular meaning being shown chiefly by a variety of
gestures, and the eloquent expression of the countenance.

CHAPTER XXX

Strange custom of the islanders--Their chanting, and the
peculiarity of their voice--Rapture of the king at first hearing a
song--A new dignity conferred on the author--Musical instruments in
the valley--Admiration of the savages at beholding a pugilistic
performance--Swimming infant--Beautiful tresses of the
girls--Ointment for the hair.

Sadly discursive as I have already been, I must still further entreat the