The living wind of Tu.”
The natives regard the wind as an indication of the presence of their god, if not the god himself. After this ceremony the youths were considered as men, though they were narrowly watched for some time by the priest, and they were liable to be put to death if they broke any of the sacred rules of the tapu. They could not carry a load, cut their own hair, or plait a woman’s. If one of them was discovered by the priest doing any of these things, he assumed his authority, and pronounced the sentence of death by saying “Go away, go away.” This so affected the person to whom it was addressed, that it was quite sufficient to kill him.
There was another ceremony performed after fighting, which was supposed to confer a benefit on all who had been engaged in the battle, and were successful in killing or making slaves. It was called he pureinga, which means a taking off of that sacredness which had been put upon them before the fight, or, in other words, the taking off the tapu:
“There is the wind;
The wind rests;
The wind is feeding;
The wind which gathers—
O wind subside!
O living wind!
O sacred wind of Tu!