in the usual way, lays hold of his foot and applies it to her breast, shoulders, and other parts of her body.  He then embraces her on each shoulder, after which she retires, purified from her uncleanness.  I do not know that it is always necessary to come to the king for this purpose, though Omai assured me it was.  If this be so, it may be one reason why he is, for the most part, travelling from island to island.  I saw this ceremony performed by him two or three times, and once by Feenou, to one of his own women; but as Omai was not then with me, I could not ask the occasion.

Taboo, as I have before observed, is a word of an extensive signification.  Human sacrifices are called tangata taboo; and when any thing is forbidden to be eat, or made use of, they say, that is taboo.  They tell us, that if the king should happen to go into a house belonging to a subject, that house would be taboo, and could never be more inhabited by the owner; so that wherever he travels, there are particular houses for his reception.  Old Toobou at this time presided over the taboo, that is, if Omai comprehended the matter rightly, he and his deputies inspected all the produce of the island, taking care that every man should cultivate and plant his quota, and ordering what should he eat, and what not.  By this wise regulation, they effectually guard against a famine; a sufficient quantity of ground is employed in raising provisions, and every article thus raised, is secured from unnecessary waste.

By another prudent regulation in their government, they have an officer over the police, or something like it.  This department, when we were amongst them, was administered by Feenou, whose business, we were told, it was to punish all offenders, whether against the state, or against individuals.  He was also generalissimo, and commanded the warriors when called out upon service; but by all accounts this is very seldom.  The king frequently took some pains to inform us of Feenou’s office; and, among other things, told us, that if he himself should become a bad man, Feenou would kill him.  What I understood by this expression of being a bad man, was, that if he did not govern according to law, or custom, Feenou would be ordered, by the other great men, or the people at large, to put him to death.  There should seem to be no doubt, that a sovereign thus liable to be controuled, and punished for an abuse of power, cannot be called a despotic monarch.

When we consider the number of islands that compose this little state, and the distance at which some of them lie from the seat of government, attempts to throw off the yoke, and to acquire independency, it should seem, might be apprehended.  But they tell us that this never happens.  One reason why they are not thus disturbed, by domestic quarrels, may be this:  That all the powerful chiefs, as we have already mentioned, reside at Tongataboo.  They also secure the dependence of the other islands, by the celerity of their operations; for if, at any time, a troublesome and popular man should start up in any of them, Feenou, or whoever holds his office, is immediately dispatched thither to kill him.  By this means, they crush a rebellion in its very infancy.