his brow bold and intelligent, with a little austerity; his eye large and penetrating, yet joined to an expression of mildness; his nose aquiline and large, his lips well made and expressive; his teeth remarkably large, white, and regular; his lower jaw rather prominent; his cheek bones also rather prominent, compared with those of Europeans.-All his features were well developed, and declared a strong and energetic mind, with that sort of intellectual expression which belongs not so much to the sage as to the warlike chieftain: ambition sat high on his front, and guided all his energies: his deep and penetrating eye, and his firm and masculine deportment, while they inspired his adherents with confidence, struck awe to the minds of conspirators:-his actions were, for the most part, steady and determined, and directed to some well studied purpose: his resolve was fate, and those who obeyed him with reluctance trembled, not without reason. He appeared, almost constantly, in deep thought, and did not often smile ;-when he spoke, in matters of some importance, it was not without first holding up the balance in his mind, to weigh well what he had to say: persuasion hung upon his lip, and the flow of his eloquence was such, that many of his enemies were afraid to listen to him, lest they should be led to view the subject in a light prejudicial to their interests. Although, in matters of consequence, he always seemed to weigh well what he had to say, in subjects of minor importance he was very quick in reply: his voice was loud, not harsh but mellow, and his pronunciation remarkably distinct. When he laughed, which was not on trifling occasions, it was so loud as to be heard at an incredible distance; and with a very strange noise preceding it, as if he were hallooing after somebody a long way off, and the same kind of noise as he always made when in a passion: and this was peculiar to him. When in his house, however, giving orders about his domestic arrangements, his voice was uncommonly mild, and very low. In regard to his sentiments of religion and policy, they may be pretty well gathered from sundry passages in the narrative-with respect to his religion in particular, it is difficult to say whether he had any it is certain that he disbelieved most of the doctrines taught by the priests; for although he believed that they were really inspired, when they pretended to be so, yet he thought that frequently a great deal of what they declared to be the sentiments of the god, was their own invention; and this particularly in regard to what did not suit his own sentiments. He never, however, declared his opinion of these things in public; though he expressed them, very decidedly, to Mr. Mariner, and some of his intimate friends. He used to say that the gods would always favour that party in war, in which there were the greatest chiefs and warriors. He did not believe that the gods paid much attention in other respects to the affairs of mankind; nor did he think they could have any reason for doing so, -no more than man could have any reason or interest in attending to the affairs of the gods. He believed in the doctrine of a future state, agreeably to the notions entertained by his countrymen; that is, that chiefs and matabooles, having souls, exist hereafter in Bolotoo, according to their rank in this world; but that the common people, having no souls, or those only that die with their bodies, are without any hope of a future existence. Such was the character of the late How of the Tonga islands,-a character not without a considerable share of merit; in some respects not unworthy imitation, and in every respect highly interesting. We have pourtrayed it at some length, because such characters do not often come under our observation; and it is proper that we should know what men are and may be in a savage state, if we wish to judge with tolerable accuracy of the human character in a civilized state, and, by comparison of the two together, to approach to a better knowledge of human nature in the abstract; a science of all sciences the most truly interesting; a science to which all others are but auxiliary; and without which all others would be but vain subtleties, fatiguing in the pursuit, and unsatisfactory in the possession. We come now to view the island of Vavaoo under the dominion of a man of a very different turn of mind; of a man whose intellect was of a very superior kind; and who, unlike his late father, was void of inordinate political ambition, and sought the happiness of his people, not the extension of his own power; an admirer of the arts, a philosopher among savages! But to shew better the contrast between the two, we need only mention, that, when the late king was not at his house, and it was necessary to seek for him, he was generally to be found at some public place, at some VOL. I, F F |