Excerpt from A Second Missionary Visit to the Friendly and Feejee Islands, in the Year 1850 R lost condition, and have sought and found 'cy of God through Christ. Being new creatures Christ Jesus, they are following after o what rer things are true, whatsoever things are honest, ttsoever things are just, whatsoever things are e, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 1gs are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise. The Missionaries are ng them in this pursuit; and it is hoped that facts contained in the following pages will induce mtinued and increased support to those Funds by ch the Missionaries are enabled to follow up the 'k they have so happily commenced. If any ependent confirmation of the statements con ned in these volumes be considered desirable, the tor has great pleasure in referring to a beautiful ime recently published by a lady in America. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book explores the role of mana in past and present configurations of chiefly power in the Pacific. Chiefs are often seen as transitional figures between traditional (tribal or feudal) and modern forms of leadership, the latter characterized by rationality and the nation-state with its accompanying bureaucracy. Today, the political arena in the Pacific, although occupied by presidents, members of parliament and court justices, is still ruled by chiefs supporting their authority by tradition, including the notion of mana. Mana may be defined as divine inspiration or energy that manifests itself in persons, objects, places and natural phenomena. Polynesian chiefs have mana because of their descent from ancient gods. Other key concepts such as asymmetrical ideology, mythical constructions of social reality, and social drama are elaborated and applied to a wide specter of ethnographic examples. The configuration and reconfiguration of Tongan chieftaincy and kingship in this book are analyzed as an extended case study of the gradual, and sometimes shock-like, integration of a Polynes ian culture into a global structure, a nation-state, partly imposed from the outside (missionarization, colonization) but also generated from within including state formation and the recent quest for democracy. Together with other Polynesian examples, this forms a relevant illustration of both continuity and change in the configuration of mana and chieftaincy in processes of globalization in the Pacific.

Originally published in 1933, this book forms one of two volumes on the religious, mythical and cosmic structures of Central Polynesia.

Originally published in 1937, this presents a detailed account of religious and mythical structures in Central Polynesia.