The revenues for the maintenance of the royal household were
derived from the patrimonial domain, from the produce of the sacred
lands situated in certain districts, and the requisitions made from
time to time, upon the people. The proprietary right to landed
estates was vested in individuals, and they could be transferred like
any other property by sale, by will or donation. The boundary lines
of the different landowners were accurately traced, and were fre-
quently marked by tii or carved images which denoted the extent
of the possessions of each respective proprietor. Wills were made
orally ; the sick man called his friends together and declared, in their
presence, in what manner he desired his property to be disposed of,
and the last behest of the dying man was considered sacred and was
executed with fidelity.
The districts, in which the islands were divided, were governed by
chiefs who belonged to the class of hid arii or the raatiras, and
although they acknowledged the supremacy of the king, yet they
exercised sovereign power within the limits of their jurisdiction. The
inferior raatiras exercised absolute authority over their dependents ;
but the king was nominally the dispenser of law and the fountain of
justice throughout the whole country.
