_Twins_ were rare. Triplets still more so; indeed, there is only a
vague tradition of such a thing. Twins were supposed to be of one
mind, and to think, feel, and act alike, during the time of infancy
and childhood at least. There were a few instances of large families,
but four or five would be the average.

_Adopted Children._--The number of children seen in a family was
small, occasioned, to a great extent, by the bad management and
consequent mortality of children, and also a custom which prevailed of
parting with their children to friends who wished to adopt them. The
general rule was for the husband to give away his child to his sister.
She and her husband gave, in return for the child, some foreign
property, just as if they had received so many fine mats or native
cloth. The adopted child was viewed as "_tonga_" and was, to the
family who adopted it, a channel through which native property (or
"_tonga_") continued to flow to that family from the parents of the
child. On the other hand, the child was to its parents a source of
obtaining foreign property (or "_oloa_") from the parties who adopted
it, not only at the time of its adoption, but as long as the child
lived. Hence the custom of adoption was not so much the want of
natural affection as the sacrifice of it to this systematic facility
of traffic in native and foreign property. Hence, also, parents may
have had in their family adopted children, and their own real children
elsewhere.

_Employments._--Girls always, and boys for four or five years, were
under the special charge of the mother, and followed her in domestic
avocations. The girl was taught to draw water, gather shell-fish, make
mats and native cloth. The boy after a time followed his father, and