Division, Government &c.
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elective and evry Chief in the Society Isles becomes a Candidate. The Chiefs are Numerous and evry district has two or three besides others who reside as private Gentlemen on their own estates, while out of Employ being still regarded as Chiefs tho residing as a Squire under another and when they are Calld into Office they leave their estates to the Care of their Friends who have no rent to pay except supplying such demands as are made by the Chiefs in Common as if the land belongd to any other person.
Before I proceed any farther it may be requisite to the better explanation of their Manners & Customs, to discribe the Different Classes into which they are Devided which are Four viz 1st Earee rahi or Nooe or King — Earee, Chief of a District, which are Greater or less according to their Posessions, 2nd Towha which answers to Lord of the Mannor, 3rd Ratirra — Esquire, & 4th Mannahowne or Mattaeyna — Tennants; amongst each of these classes are Some Raa or Sacred and some Noa, Unhalloed or Common; servants are Calld Tewtew in General but those who wait on Weomen are Calld Tewty by way of derision — tho it is not uncommon to find Young Men of the first Familys and the Younger Brothers of Chiefs in the Service of the Fair Sex but by debasing themselves thus, they are rendered Incapable of assisting at any religeous Ceremony.
The Chiefs have each Personal estates and when in Office have either a District or Part of One Calld a Patdoo which maintains them by Contributions — under them are The Towha & Ratirra each holding his land independant of the Other, any Ratirra can put a Raahooe on his own division (which is so named from their power to prohibit the expenditure of any species of Provisions on his own land) — the Chief on His Patdoo and the King on the Whole, or any Number of Districts, but if the Chiefs should not act up to the Dignity of their Office they may be devested of their Office, but they are still Chiefs, and tho the King may be stripd of his Government he still retains his royalty and none but one of the Two Familys can ever enjoy that Dignity while they are in being — so that it is no more then a Change in the Ministry, with the other Chiefs it is the same and they often Change stations.
When a king is invested with the Marro Oora or red sash of Royalty, he sends two Flags round the Island by different routs and those who acknowledge his Supremacy pass them with Ceremony, and attend his Corronation with evry Cheif a Human Sacrafice, but if they refuse to acknowledge him they Break the Staff
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Indigenous Histories |  |
© Derived from the 1935 Print Edition edited by Owen Rutter, page 167, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-morrison-036.html