ABSTRACT
Tahiti consists of two circular pieces of land joined by a mile-wide isthmus, shaped rather like an uneven hourglass. The largest part is about eighteen miles in diameter and the smaller about ten. Tahitian society was hedged with complex ritual and taboos and 'The Tahitians had several etiquette patterns related to food. One of these was a desire, or more probably a socially enforced custom, to share one's food with anyone who requested it, regardless of the smallness of the available amount'. The limited command of each others' language and concepts inhibited understanding of such abstract notions but 'So numerous were the gods of Tahiti that the early missionaries came to the conclusion that there were almost as many of these immortal souls as there were people on the island'. The Tahitians had structures and areas of land which were sacred and served the purposes of a European church.
