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HAWAIKI
there, and are to be found there at this day. If this temple was of the height—twelve fathoms = 72 feet—mentioned in the tradition, or even half that height, and considering its purpose, it seems a fair inference that it
The Marae of Mahaiatea, Tahiti, in 1788.
was built of stone, or something more permanent than the usual edifices we know of in the Pacific. Of course the Polynesians did use stone in their sacred places, as witness the several pyramidal structures found formerly in Tahiti, of which Mahai-atea,[1] Papara district, was a particularly fine specimen. But this marae was solid
- ↑ Mahai-atea is of quite modern date, having been built in the seventeenth century. It is related that the blocks of stone of which the internal part is made, were handed from one to another by Te Teva clan, all the way from wherever the stones were found. The larger facing blocks of course could not be carried in this manner. The same story is told of Kohala heiau (or marae) in Hawaii.
