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Easter Island: Early Witnesses
William Thomson
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To reach the landing-place the boats had to pass a small isolated rock upon which many persons had congregated, and who sang a song of welcome, accompanied by gestures showing that the visit was acceptable. On shore the party was surrounded by a crowd clamorous to obtain something from the strangers, the few presents offered were accepted, and then everything that came handy appropriated in the most open manner. This led to a scuffle, in which sticks and stones were freely used, resulting in a fight in which the native chief was shot and killed. The punishment of the natives, according to European ideas, was both cruel, and unnecessary. La Pérouse judged the same crimes more leniently, and did not feel justified in committing murder to avenge petty thefts. The outrages perpetrated upon the defenseless people by Captain Rugg, of the Friend, and other freebooters, including the Peruvian slavers, require no comment.
THIEVING.
The natives did not attach any moral delinquency to the practice of thieving. They had a god of thieving, and successful operations were believed to be accomplished under his patronage, and only detected when not sanctioned by that spirit. The detected thief was made to suffer for his crime by an established system of retaliation peculiar to themselves, but the individual never lost caste or the respect of his friends. Thieves caught in the act might be beaten, knocked about, and the aggressor was permitted to offer no resistance in the efforts to escape, although he might be the largest and most powerful. Before the retaliation could be enforced, the theft had to be proven and fixed beyond question, then the plundered individual was at liberty to recover the value of the loss from any property available belonging to the robber, and in the event of the value not being recovered, articles of value could be destroyed to equalize the amount. Retaliation for theft could be enforced by the weak and feeble against the strong and powerful, and any resistance would call to their aid the entire community.
The rite of circumcision so common throughout Polynesia, is unknown here, and their language contains no equivalent word for it. At the present time, all the natives have professed Christianity, and the ancient customs have been replaced by the ceremonies of the church to a great extent, but since the departure of the missionaries there has been a tendency to return to the old ideas, and many superstitions and practices are mingled with their religion. The marriage ceremony is performed by the acting priest in the church, but the practice is permitted with children who have not reached the age of puberty, and the betrothal is conducted by parents, the relations of the female paying a stipulated amount, generally in food to be consumed by the friends at the feast given to celebrate the event. It is not certain that polygamy ever existed, but an ancient custom permitted the husband to sell or lease his wife to another for a stated term. On account of the disproportion in the number of the sexes, celibacy was a matter of necessity, and
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