. The history of mankind . King Lunalilo of Hawaii. (From a photo-graph. ) 286 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND the western islands, there were forests, roads, beaches, which were tambu. Un-doubtedly, in the later times of religious corruption, taboo was shamelesslymisused for the selfish objects of priests and chiefs. Thus once upon a time. Samoan warrior in fo/a-clothing. (From the Godeffroy Album) King Kamehameha I., who more than anyone else profited by this power toserve his political ends, laid a taboo on a mountain near Honolulu, because hetook the quartz crystals found there for diamonds. When H
. The history of mankind . King Lunalilo of Hawaii. (From a photo-graph. ) 286 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND the western islands, there were forests, roads, beaches, which were tambu. Un-doubtedly, in the later times of religious corruption, taboo was shamelesslymisused for the selfish objects of priests and chiefs. Thus once upon a time. Samoan warrior in fo/a-clothing. (From the Godeffroy Album) King Kamehameha I., who more than anyone else profited by this power toserve his political ends, laid a taboo on a mountain near Honolulu, because hetook the quartz crystals found there for diamonds. When Hawaii in 1840 THE FAMILY AND THE STATE IN OCEANIA 287 tabooed for the space of five years all the herds of oxen which were beingunmercifully decimated, taboo became a measure of government. The old sacredtaboo becomes a police regulation. Formerly its influence cannot have been soextensive, since divinity was limited to the kings ; now it has been spread over allthe business of life. Even where the custom itself has become remote from its religious origin, thepenalties for breach of taboo have retained a religious character. Thus, too, thestrongest trespasses against taboo obviously lay in the religious direction. Desecra-tions of temples were the greatest sins. The penalties, indeed, fall mostly uponthe lower classes and t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectethnology, bookyear18
