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command of Lioofau, suspected some deception, and made a speedy retreat.

The

The king and his army being arrived at their fortress, the sixty bodies were shared out to the different gods that had houses dedicated to them within the place. In performing this ceremony the people formed a large circle on the ground, with the king at the upper end. The bodies being placed in a row before Finow, aman 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. 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. This being done, the bodies were carried away, and laid before the houses of the different gods to whom they were allotted: where, after they had remained three or four hours, those who had left relations among the garrison of Neafoo, were carried away and buried; and the remainder, which were only nine or ten in number, were conveyed to the water side, and there disposed of in different ways: two or three were hung up on a

tree; a couple were burnt; three were cut open from motives of curiosity to see whether their insides were sound and entire,* and to practise surgical operations upon, hereafter to be described; and lastly, two or three were cut up to be cooked and eaten, of which about forty men partook. This was the second instance of cannibalism that Mr. Mariner witnessed, but the natives of these islands are not to be called cannibals on this account: so far from its being a general practice, it is on the contrary generally held in abhorrence, and where it is occasionally done, it is only by young warriors, who do it in imitation of the Fiji islanders, attaching to it an idea that there is something in it designating a fierce, warlike, and manly spirit. When they returned to Neafoo after their inhuman repast, several persons, particularly women, avoided them, saying, "Yaooé moe ky tangata," away! you are a man-eater.

The bodies being thus all disposed of, Finow

* It is a firm belief with the people that if a man infringes upon the Taboo (see p. 150) or commits any sacrilege, his liver or some other viscus is liable to become enlarged and schirrous: they therefore often open dead bodies out of curiosity, to see if they have been sacrilegious in their life time. The natives of these islands are particularly subject to schirrous tumours.

began to make enquiries respecting the alleged treason of Lioofau, and finding no one capable of urging any thing against him, and he solemnly declaring his innocence, and stating that his son must have invented this tale to answer some purpose with the enemy; moreover, having always borne a good character and been well beloved by his men, and believed to have been always firmly attached to the interests of Finow, he was set at liberty and restored to his post.

The day after this chief was reinstated, Finow ordered the ceremony of drinking cava to the priest of his tutelar god Toobo Totai, by way of gratitude for the late victory. This eeremony is exactly the same as that of invoking a god through the medium of his priest: and consists merely in the customary form of sitting down to make cava in the presence of a priest, (he presiding at the head of the ring). In this instance, after the cava, pork, &c. had been served out, one of the matabooles, in a few words, thanked the god in the person of the priest for the late signal victories. The priest in answer, after waiting for another dish of cava, declared that Finow would at length succeed in his war against Felletoa, but that this fortress was not the strongest power he had to

contend with, for the seeds of insurrection were already sown in his own army, and although Lioofau was perfectly innocent of what had been alleged against him, yet there was one at no great distance from him for whom so much could not be said. The god having condescended to declare this, left his priest, and the latter arose and went away; the company then broke up. Finow pretended to take no notice of what the priest declared, not wishing the circumstance to be much noticed by others,

The following day an adopted son of Finow brought him secret intelligence that he had heard that several men had been sent off at different times, by Mappa Haano, to the fortress of Felletoa, to concert with the enemy on the subject of revolt, and that this chief had the intention of doing what Lioofau had been unjustly accused of and imprisoned for. The king im mediately sent for Mappa Haano, who obeyed the summons, and came drest up in mats, with green leaves round his neck, (marks of humiliation and fear) attended by a priest. When they arrived opposite Finow's house they sat down before it; then the priest rose and advancing nearer to Finow, who was seated just within the eaves of the house, he again sat down before him, and stated that Mappa Haano had requested his in

termediation, to express for him the sentiments. of self-accusation with which he felt himself oppressed, and his acknowledgment of the justice of his fate, if Finow should think proper to take away his life. The king replied, that he did not mean to take away his life, for that it was not the custom at Tonga, to kill those of whom one has no reason to be afraid, and that he did not think itworth his while to destroy a mere butterfly, (an insignificant being) but that he should take other measures of punishment not less exemplary. He then desired the culprit to consider himself for the future as divested of all power and rank, no longer to be the commander of men, but a single and unprotected individual; that his chiefship from that moment was null, and that consequently he was never more to take his seat as a chief at his cava ceremonies. A certain chief, who was present, observed to Finow that if he suffered this man to live, although he was deprived of power, he might nevertheless by pernicious counsel, inspire other chiefs with sentiments derogatory to the welfare of Finow's government. To which the king replied, that this was not a war between men, in whose success or ill success the gods took no interest, but one in which his tutelar god, Toobo Totai, presided in a particular manner over his fortune

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