How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
All that day the drums resounded, the priests chanted, and the multitude feasted and roared till sunset, when the throng dispersed, and the Taboo Groves were again abandoned to quiet and repose (23.20)
The Typee religion seems to have periods of great activity, and then periods where no one much thinks about it at all.
Quote #8
As a religious solemnity, however, it had not at all corresponded with the horrible descriptions of Polynesian worship which we have received in some published narratives, and especially in those accounts of the evangelized islands with which the missionaries have favoured us. (24.1)
In Melville's view, it's possible that the missionaries might have been using dramatized descriptions for an activist end.
Quote #9
The fact is, that there is a vast deal of unintentional humbuggery in some of the accounts we have from scientific men concerning the religious institutions of Polynesia. (24.4)
Let us pause to appreciate the use of "humbuggery." After that, realize that Melville was aware that he was up against a tide of misinterpretation and outright bigotry.