William Mariner

“ After having heard this account, Finow asked several questions respecting the nature of money: what is it made of?—is it like iron? can it be fashioned like iron into various useful instruments? if not, why cannot people procure what, they want in the way of barter? — but where is money to be got? — if it be made, then every man ought to spend his time in making money; that when he has got plenty, he may be able afterwards to obtain whatever else he wants. ”

“ The chiefs began to take Morgan's statement into serious consideration; there certainly was a great mortality among them: the white men often assembled, and sang very loud; besides which, they would not let the Tonga people be present; and to prevent them even from peeping through the crevices of the reed fencing of the house, they stopt them up with all kinds of filth, knowing that the cleanliness of the Tonga people would not then allow them even to approach. And the chiefs said to themselves, if these people are doing no harm, why do not they allow us to be present? ”

“ They paraded up and down for some time, brandishing their clubs and spears, and exhibiting a sort of sham fight. Finow sat with several other chiefs in the house on the malái [16] . Each warrior of note ran singly close up to Finow, and striking his club violently on the ground, cried out "this is the club for——," mentioning the name of some individual enemy whom he meant particularly to seek out and engage; others running up in the same way, exclaimed, "Fear not, Finow; no sooner shall we land at Tonga than here is the club with which I will kill any one who dares to oppose us." ”

“ Gifted by nature with that amazing grasp of mind which seizes every thing within its reach, and then, dissatisfied with what it has obtained, is ever restless in the endeavour to obtain more, how dull and irksome must have been to him the dominion of a few islands, which he did not dare to leave to conquer others, lest he should be dispos- sessed of them by the treachery of chiefs, and the fickleness of an undisciplined army. ”

“ About a week afterwards, a warrior, named Havili, requested leave of Finow to permit him to go in a large canoe, with an armed party, to the north-west part of the island, to secure a number of hogs, which the enemy kept there in a fencing, observing, that it would be but proper to relish the Vavaoo yams with a little Vavaoo pork! Havili was a man remarkable for laying hold of every opportunity of undertaking secret expeditions by night; and he was thought to have killed more men in his time than any other warrior. ”

“ We pray thee not to be merciless, but spare the life of the woman [1] for the sake of her father, who has always been attentive to every religious ceremony [2] : but if thy anger is justly excited by some crime or misdemeanor committed by any other of us who are here assembled, we entreat thee to inflict on the guilty one the punishment which he merits, and not to let go thy vengeance on one who was born but as yesterday. ”

“ Toobó Nuha, who was without any offensive weapon, as he had been without any suspicion, warded off several blows with his hands and arms; till both these being broken, he was unable to lift them up, when a blow from Toobó Tóa on the head made him stagger, another knocked him down, and he was beaten as long as signs of life remained, and for some time after. At this moment a young warrior, whose name was Latoo Ila, and whose father had been formerly killed, under strong suspicions of conspiracy by Toobó Nuha, came up to the spot, possessed by a spirit of implacable revenge. ”

“ Mariner also witnessed several instances of this. The Sandwich-island women have so many severe and impolitic restrictions with regard to food, that it would be unreasonable perhaps to expect that they should on all secure occasions be very faithfully strict: the punishment for such offences, however, is death. It is very well worth while to compare the state of the women in the Sandwich islands with that of the women of Tonga: it will afford an interesting proof how much a line of conduct, influenced by liberality and respect towards females, is productive of morality. ”

“ With regard to the Society islands, where missionaries have so long established themselves, we have not yet an intimate, and what may be called a domestic history of the people: this, I think, is much to be regretted: if it be not already too late, it will perhaps be so in a few years, when their native customs and notions will become so mingled with what is European, that little profitable knowledge will be derivable from them. In New Zealand, a novel and interesting scene lies open; the church missionary society have there set on foot their benevolent purposes. ”

“ This certainly was a bold act for a man who had never before fired a gun in his life, and might in the worst case have been productive of the best effects, for, if the enemy had come in considerable numbers, as was at the moment falsely imagined, and this man had not had such presence of mind, all Finow's army might have been put completely to the rout, their guns taken from them, and a vast number of them slain: as it was, the report of the gun, awakening all who were yet asleep, induced such a degree of consternation as is scarcely to be conceived ”

“ Moreover, as the education of children ought, in one point of view, to be chiefly founded upon a knowledge of their notions and habits, so ought all attempts at civilization (which is only another kind of education) to be built upon our acquaintance with the customs and modes of thinking of the people on whom we wish to superinduce new trains of habits and sentiments,—so that we may educate or lead them out of bad into better,—out of imperfection towards perfection. ”

“ The people of this island, however, had heard of the assassination of Toogoo Ahoo by a canoe from the Hapai islands, and were determined to resist the claims of Finow, not by an open war, but in a mode much more harassing and tedious; and he accordingly found the reduction of Vavaoo exceedingly troublesome and dangerous. The enemy, always avoiding a general engagement, frequently molested them with sudden and violent assaults, either under cover of the darkness of the night, or during the day from their hiding-places. ”

“ The bodies being placed in a row before Finow, a man rose up, and counting the bodies, declared aloud their number. The king then ordered that so many should be allotted to such a god, and so many to such another, and so of the rest. The names of these gods were Tali y Toobo, Tooi fooa Bolotoo, Lau file Tonga, Toobo lalo Tonga, and Chenitacala: the two first only are imaginary beings, the others are souls of departed chiefs; the last of all is a goddess, the soul of a female chief of that name. ”

“ He had indeed all along espoused the cause of Finow against the adherents of his father, which may seem strange, as Finow himself was a principal accomplice in that assassination, though his policy did not allow him to be the immediate perpetrator. But Toobó Tóa knew well that he should have no chance of success against so strong a power as that of Finow; he therefore joined him, that he might have, some time or another, an opportunity, however dangerous the attempt, of wreaking a signal vengeance on Toobó Nuha. ”

“ They brought intelligence that it was not the wish of Toe Oomoo and her chiefs to be at war with Hapai, but that they considered it a duty they owed to themselves to act with strong measures in regard to Finow, whom they esteemed of so treacherous a cha- racter, that a peace with him now would only be the forerunner of disaster and inglorious death to themselves, and on this account, they chose rather to meet their fate in the field, than to live an idle and peaceful life for a short time, and at length be cruelly murdered to satisfy his revenge. ”

“ Most of the greatest and bravest warriors stationed themselves in the left wing, with the view of descending, with all their concentrated power, on Finow's right wing, commanded by Toobó Tóa, along with whom were the other principal men that had assassinated Toobó Nuha, six or seven in number: against each of these twenty of the enemy's left wing had orders to throw their spears, at a signal to be given, without directing their attention particularly to any one else, each party of twenty having singled out its man. ”

“ The crisis was now fast approaching, for he had well prepared the way for it, by constantly whispering into the ear of Finow something disadvantageous to the character of Toobó Nuha. At one time he represented him to be the meditator of certain conspiracies; at another the enviable possessor of a happier island, (Vavaoo,) much more productive of every article of convenience and luxury: sometimes he insinuated that Toobó Nuha did not pay sufficient annual tribute, considering the fertility of the island and the superior dignity of Finow ”

“ Among the garrison of Hihifo there was a chief named Ata; he was not an old man, but he had a great reputation for political wisdom, and military skill. He was a native of the island, but at the time of the revolution his friends and acquaintance had all gone over to the Hapai islands for peace and safety. He however resolved to remain for the sake of his oldest and most sincere friend, Teoo Cava, and to assist and stand by him to the last ”

“ Mariner is intimately conversant are those upon which we have hitherto had least information, and to such we have accordingly thought it best to confine our subject. It is hoped, therefore, that all deficiencies with regard to botany, zoology, and mineralogy, will be thought amply compensated by abundance of information in respect of the religious and political, moral and domestic habits of an interesting portion of the human species, in whose character there is undoubtedly much to be admired, and a vast deal that lays a just claim to our attentive observation. ”

“ Brown, the whaling master, lying dead upon the beach: the body was naked, and much bruised about the head and chest. They asked Mr. Mariner, by words and signs, if they had done right in killing him;—as he returned them no answer, one of them lifted up his club to knock out his brains, but was prevented by a superior chief, who ordered them to take their prisoner on board a large sailing canoe. Whilst here, he observed upon the beach an old man, whose countenance did not speak much in his favour, parading up and down with a large club in his hand. ”

“ Shortly after the fortress was finished, a canoe arrived from the Hapai islands with Tonga-mana, a chief of the line of Tooitonga, who came from Toobó Toa, with a request to know how the inachi [3] was to be sent to Tooitonga, seeing that Finow had declared that no communication whatever was to be kept up with Hapai. As all on board were habited in mats, with leaves of the ifi tree round their necks, as a token of submission, and that they came upon a religious duty, they were permitted to land. ”

“ It must here be remarked that those gods who have priests are invoked in the person, of the inspired priest wherever he may happen to be : those who have no priest are invoked at the consecrated house by a mataboole, as was the case in the late instance with Tali-y-Toobo, who has no priest. Toobb Total was thus invoked every day, in the person of his priest, during a fortnight or three weeks. Seated at the head of the cava ring*, he seemed much affected, and generally shed a profusion of tears. ”

“ These martial improvements were in their progress at the time of Captain Cook's arrival, but not in general practice; for having few or no civil dissensions among themselves, the knowledge of these things was confined principally to certain young chiefs and their adherents, who had been at the Fiji islands. Captain Cook describes some evolutions practised by the natives as being forms of war, and indeed they have that appearance; but they are to be considered rather as games and dances, which the Tonga people had learnt from the island of Nuha. ”

“ Thus was the island of Tonga, to which war had hitherto been a stranger, torn by civil strife, and at times given up a prey to famine, a situation worse perhaps than that under the tyranny of Toogoo Ahoo. Besides their domestic troubles, every year they were disturbed by attacks from Finow, who made it his annual custom to make a descent upon one or other of their fortresses, and sometimes upon several of them in the same season ”

“ Mariner's intentions, and of his consciousness of the accuracy of his details, that he readily consents to put into the hands of others the easiest method in his power of satisfying themselves of the truth of what is told them.
There are other points of view, in which, I think, the importance of this subject may be seen: a knowledge of the language helps to throw a considerable light in the path of those who choose to investigate the origin of the people, or how far they may be related to other nations of the same immense ocean. ”

“ All the chiefs and matabooles were now assembled on the malai at Neafoo. Among the rest was Voona, to whom the prince went up, and intimated the necessity of removing the body of his father to Félletóa. It would have been thought very disrespectful if he had not mentioned this to Voona before he issued orders respecting it, because Voona was a very great chief, even greater than Finow himself, and such a reserve on such a public occasion, towards a superior, would have been an act offensive to the gods. ”

“ Some, with a kind of sullen and stupid resignation, offered no resistance, but waited for the hand of fate to dispatch them, no matter in what mode: others, that were already lying on the ground wounded, were stuck with spears, and beaten about with clubs by boys who followed the expedition to be trained to the horrors of war, and who delighted in the opportunity of gratifying their ferocious and cruel disposition. Every house that was not on fire was plundered of its contents ”