Himene are formal choral Tahitian songs, often of religious nature. Himene is a Tahitian term derived from the English word hymn. The first Western explorer to visit the Society Islands / Tahiti was Wallace, who claimed them for England. The first colonisers and missionaries to the native people were thus English Protestants. Himene are based in verse and harmonic structure on Protestant hymns. A more raucous set of songs is called himene tarava. (See imene tuki and imene metua of the Cook Islands / Rarotonga).