“If an Arii woman wedded a Raatira man, the marriage was said to be with a taata ino, ino meaning literally bad, and taata man.  This term applied to all not Arii, and indicated the contempt of the Arii for all below them.  The Arii had many words solely for their own use, and tapu, or prohibited, to all others; they had a hundred privileges.  The Raatira were probably the power broken by the Arii.  The Raatira had conquered the Manahune, and were themselves bested by the Arii, the newest come.”

The chief sighed.  He was like an old Irish storyteller recounting the departed glories of Erin.

I read to him in French Bovis’ opinions that the Raatira, defeated, retained part of their lands, served the new masters, and kept in subjection the people they had themselves beaten.  They attached themselves to the Arii of their district, fought for them in their quarrels or wars, and were consulted in assemblies, and allowed to speak to the crowd.  I recalled that this was a privilege dearly prized by all Polynesians, the lack of reading and writing having, as in Greece, developed oratory and orators to a remarkable excellence.  I was in Hawaii when the offices of the first legislature under the American flag were campaigned for, after years of repression by the sugar planters’ oligarchy, and I had heard the natives speak a score of times, and always with delight and wonder.  They valued free speech.

“The Arii were shrewd,” said Chief Tetuanui, “and early invented a plan for keeping the Raatira in subjection.  If two Raatira disputed possession of land, the one who believed himself defrauded could yield to the king or a member of the royal family the land, to which he usually had no right at all.  The Arii thus got possession of more and more land from time to time, and the Raatira were loath to contend among themselves.

“The Manahune owned nothing by law, but they lived on the lands of Arii and Raatira, and were seldom evicted.  They had the fruits of their labor with a tithe or so for their masters; they left to their children their accumulations, tentative, but actual, and their service was pleasant; more in the nature of gifts than rent.  The Manahune could not rise above his caste except by the rare nomination of the king, but they could become Teuteu Arii, or servants of an Arii, and might thus acquire immense importance.

“Like the eunuchs at courts or the mistresses of the noble and rich,” I remarked.

The chief shrugged his shoulders.

“The Manahune might become a priest or even join the society of the Arioi,” he rejoined.  “The government was simple.  The will of the prince was supreme, but by custom things ran smoothly, and the prince, or Arii, had seldom to urge his power.  There were, of course, instances of extortion, of bursts of anger, of feuds, of jealousies; but most of the time the Raatira saw that the Arii were well served, and were their intermediates with the commoners.