Concubinage.—­When the newly-married woman took up her abode in the family of her husband she was attended by a daughter of her brother, who was, in fact, a concubine.  Her brother considered that if he did not give up his daughter for this purpose, he should fail in duty and respect towards his sister, and incur the displeasure of their household god.  Failing her brother, her mother’s relatives supplied her with this maid of honour.  Hence, with his wife, a chief had one, two, or three concubines.  Each of these took with her tonga as a dowry, which, perhaps, was the most important part of the business, for, after presenting her dowry, she might live with him or not, as she pleased.  Often the addition of these concubines to the family was attended with all the display and ceremonies of a regular marriage.

Polygamy.—­The marriage ceremony being such a prolific source of festivities and profit to the chief and his friends, the latter, whether he was disposed to do it or not, often urged on another and another repetition of what we have described.  They took the thing almost entirely into their own hands, looked out for a match in a rich family, and, if that family was agreeable to it, the affair was pushed on, whether or not the daughter was disposed to it.  She, too, as a matter of etiquette, must be attended by her complement of one or more young women.  According to this system, a chief might have some ten or a dozen wives and concubines in a short time.  Owing, however, to quarrelling and jealousies, many of them soon returned to their parental home; and it was rare to find a chief with more than two wives living with him at the same time.

Divorce.—­If the marriage had been contracted merely for the sake of the property and festivities of the occasion, the wife was not likely to be more than a few days or weeks with her husband.  With or without leave, she soon found her way home to her parents.  If, however, a couple had lived together for years and wished to separate, if they were mutually agreed, they did it in a more formal way.  They talked over the matter coolly, made a fair division of their property, and then the wife was conveyed back to her friends, taking with her any young children, and leaving those more advanced with their father.  A woman might thus go home and separate entirely from her husband; but, while that husband lived, she dared not marry another.  Nor could she marry even after his death, if he was a chief of high rank, without the special permission of the family with which she had connected herself by marriage.  Any one who broke through the custom, and married her without this, was liable to have his life taken from him by that family, or at least he had to pay them a heavy fine.