there in quest of us, and in the afternoon of the 7th, we bid adieu to Pulo Leat, where it is not wonderful that, in our situation, we should have suffered some hardship and privation; but it is remarkable, indeed, that, surround ed by so many dangers, the occurrence of any one of which would have proved fatal, that we should have escaped the whole. We had, for example, great reason to be thankful that the ship did not fall from the rocks on which she first struck into deeper water, for then all must have perished ;-that no accident happened to the boats which conveyed the embassy to Batavia; for, in that case, we should never have been heard of;-that we found water;-that no mutiny or division took place among ourselves;-that we had been able and willing to stand our ground against the pirates;—and that the Ternate had succeeded in anchoring in sight of the island; which she was enabled to do by a fortuitous slant of wind for an hour or two. Had we been unfortunate in any one of these circumstances, few would have remained to tell our tale.

An Account of the Natives of the TONGA ISLANDS in the South Pacific Ocean. Compiled and arranged from the extensive Communications of Mr. William Mariner, several years resident in those is lands. By JOHN MARTIN, M.D. In 2 vols. Svo. The Tonga islands, named by Capt. Cook the Friendly islands, of which, one of the principal was known under the appellation of VOL. LIX.

Tongataboo, lie nearly in latitude 20 S. to the west of Otaheite. William Mariner, then a youth, was engaged by his father's consent to accompany Captain Duck in a ship which had a two-fold commission, which was first to cruise for prizes, and then to double Cape Horn, and proceed into the Pacific Ocean in search of whales. The vessel, named the Port-au-Prince, having met with small success in the earlier part of her cruise, entered upon the second part of her commission, and employed a considerable part of the year 1806 in whaling. At length the ship anchored for the last time at Lefooga, one of the Friendly Islands, where it was deserted, first by four of the crew, and then by fifteen others. This desertion was probably the cause of an attack by the natives, which took place on the first of December 1806, and ended in the death of all the crew except Mariner, who was probably preserved in consequence of his youth. He fortunately attracted the notice of Finow, the king of the islands, before whom he was brought, and by whose orders the ship was run aground and plundered."

Mariner, who was born near London, on September 10, 1791, was somewhat past 15 at the time of this unhappy event. Under the patronage of Finow, and after his death, of his son, he passed some years in tolerable comfort; and he, with some of his remaining companions who had gone ashore before the massacre, were engaged to join an expedition against the Isle of Tonga. At length, in the year 1810, being with three other men, in a canoe of his own, he 9 G

cast

cast his eye upon a sail just as the sun had descended beneath it, and directed his men to paddle him on board. As they made some scruple, he gave a violent stab in the loins with a musket to one of the three, which disabled him, and the other two submitted to his orders. The vessel proved to be the English brig Favourite, bound to Macao roads, and thence to England. To this fortunate escape, for such it was, the history of the Tonga islands owes its origin, as will appear from the preceding account of its composition. His arrival at Gravesend is dated in June 1811.

From the voluminous narrative relating to these isles we shall only copy the 17th chapter, in which are discussed the different ranks in society under which the natives are distributed, from the king to the peasant.

The rank or estimation in which individuals are held in society at the Tonga islands may be most conveniently treated of, first, under three different points of view, viz. religious, civil, and professional, with reference to their mythology, political subordination, and their arts and manufactures; and secondly, with reference to old age, female sex, and infancy. In this chapter, we propose to speak merely of rank in society, and the degree of respect due from one man to another; all which is determined in regard to every individual, by one or other, or more of the foregoing circumstances, mythology, politics, arts, age, sex, and childhood.

To divide society into distinct classes, and to discourse of the degree of rank or respect accruing to individuals, accordingly as they

may belong to one or other of these classes, would be a task very difficult to execute, and perhaps impossible in respect to the people of these islands; at least, not without making numerous exceptions and explanations, which would only be the means of rendering the description both tedious and complicate. For one and the same individual (a priest), who to-day is held in scarcely any estimation, may to-morrow (under the influence of the inspiration of some god), take place of every body present, seat himself at the head of the cava ring, be respected as the god himself, and his discourse attentively listened to as oracular. Again,-the king himself, whom one might suppose to be the greatcst person in the country, (and in fact he has the greatest power) is by no means the highest noble, but must yield in point of rank to many others. In this order of things, therefore, we shall first speak of those persons to whom rank and respect is yielded, on the score of religious circumstances; and these are Tooitonga, Veachi, and the priests.

We here speak of Tooitonga as if actually existing in his full rank, with all the public honours of religious estimation; but it will be recollected, that before Mr. Mari'ner's departure from Vavaoo the king had done away entirely with all the ceremonies formerly considered due to the divine character of this chief; and as this was done immediately after Tooitonga's death, his son did not succeed to this high title; so that if affairs still remain in the same state at Vavaoo, there is at present no Tooitonga, and probably never

again will be; but if there should happen some violent political change, it is possible the son of the late divine chief may be raised to that honour: we therefore speak of Tooitonga as if actually existing. The family name of Tooitonga is Fatafehi, and the present head of the family the only son (of legitimate rank) is now a youth of about 16 or 17 years of age; his name is Fatafehi Low fili Tonga: he is still considered a chief of high rank, and has respect paid to him accordingly.

Tooitonga and Veachi are both acknowledged descendants of chief gods who formerly visited the islands of Tonga, but whether their original mothers were goddesses or merely natives of Tonga, is a question which they do not pretend to decide. Of these two personages, Tooitonga, as may be guessed from his title, is far higher in rank; the word imports chief of Tonga, which island has always been considered the most noble of all the Friendly islands, and from time immemorial the greatest chiefs have been accustomed to make it their principal place of residence, and after their decease to be buried there in the tombs of their ancestors. This island moreover gives name, by way of preeminence, to all the islands taken collectively, as a capital town sometimes gives name to a country; and withal it has acquired the epithet of sacred, túboo, and is thus sometimes called Tonga taboo, denoting its excellence; from this circumstance it is erroneously noted down in our charts Tongataboo; but táboo is only an epithet occasionally used. The respect which is shewn to Tooi

tonga, and the high rank which he holds in society, is wholly of a religious nature, and is far superior, when occasion demands it, to that which is shewn even to the king himself; for this latter, as will by and by be seen, is by no means of the most noble descent, but yields in this respect to Tooitonga, Veachi, and several families related to them; and if the king were accidentally to meet any chief of nobler descent than himself, he would have to sit down on the ground till the other had passed him, which is a mark of respect that a common peasant would be obliged to shew to any chief or egi whatsoever; and for this reason the king never associates with any chief superior to himself, and always endeavours to avoid meeting them, and they in like manner endeavour to avoid him, that he might not be put to the trouble of sitting down while they passed: for if any one were to forego this ceremony in presence of a superior egi, some calamity from the gods would be expected as a punishment for the omission. Sitting down is with them a mark of respect, as standing up is with us, before a superior; upon the principle, perhaps, that in this posture a man cannot so readily attack or assassinate the person in whose presence he is; or it may be that in this posture lowering his height is significant of his rank or merit being humbled in presence of the other.

There are many ceremonies which characterise the high respect and veneration shewn to Tooitonga; but as in this place we are discoursing of rank, not of ceremonies, the full description of 2 G 2

the

the latter must be deferred till we come to speak of religious rites. Here we shall only mention, in a general way, in what these ceremonies chiefly consist.

1. The grand ceremony of ina'chi, which is performed once a year (about the month of October), and consists in offering the first fruits of the year to Tooitonga. It was supposed that if this ceremony were neglected, the vengeance of the gods would fall in a signal manner upon the people.

2. Peculiarity of his marriage

ceremony.

3. Peculiarity of his burial ceremony.

4. Peculiarity of the mourning for his decease.

5. Tooitonga is not circumcised, as all the other men are, unless he goes to foreign islands to undergo this ceremony; nor is he tattowed.

6. Peculiarities of speech used in regard to Tooitonga; for instance, if the king or any chief but Tooitonga be sick, they say he is ténga túngi, but Tooitonga being sick, he is said to be boolooʻhi: so with many other words that are used exclusively for him, and which will be noticed hereafter.

These things are mentioned in this place, merely to afford an idea of the high veneration in which Tooitonga is held; for to whom but the greatest personage can such peculiarities belong? Notwithstanding his high rank, however, he has comparatively but very little absolute power, which extends in a direct and positive manner only to his own family and attendants as to his property, he

has somewhat more than the generality of the nobles, but much less than the king, who by his arbitrary sovereignty can lay claim to almost any thing.

Thus all that can be said in this place of Tooitonga is, that he is by far the greatest egi, having the credit of a high divine original, and that all respect and veneration is therefore due to him.

Veachi, as mentioned before, is another egi of divine original, but far from being equal to Tooitonga. The king, indeed, avoids his presence, the same as he would that of Tooitonga, and always pays him the usual obeisance when he happens to meet him: but he has no peculiar marks of high respect shewn to him, as are shewn to Tooitonga; that is to say, no ceremonies that are, in themselves, peculiar and different from what are shewn to other chiefs by their inferiors. There is this one universal acknowledgment, however, viz. that he is a great chief descended from a god, that he is next in rank to Tooitonga, and superior to every other chief. His name has no known literal meaning that Mr. Mariner can discover.

Priests or Fahe-gehe. The term fahe-gehe means split off, separate, or distinct from, and is applied to signify a priest, or man, who has a peculiar or distinct sort of mind or soul, differing from that of the generality of mankind, which disposes some god occasionally to inspire him. These inspirations, of which an account has been given vol. i. p. 105, frequently happen, and on such occasions the priest has the same deference and respect shewn to

him as if he were the god himself; if the king happen to be present, he retires to a respectful distance, and sits down among the body of the spectators, so would Veachi, and so would even the high divine chief Tooitonga, because a god is believed to exist at that moment in the priest, and to speak from his mouth but at other times a priest has no other respect paid to him than what his own proper family rank may require. They generally belong to the lower order of chiefs, or to the matabooles, though sometimes great chiefs are thus visited by the gods, and the king himself has been inspired by Tali-y-toobo, the chief of the gods. During the time a priest is inspired he is looked on with more or less veneration, according to the rank of the god that inspires him. But more upon this subject under the head of religion.

The civil ranks of society may be thus divided; How, or King; Egi, or Nobles; Matabooles; Mooas, and Tooas.

The How, or King, is an arbitrary monarch, deriving his right to the throne partly from here ditary succession, and partly from military power, which latter he is occasionally obliged to exert to secure himself in the former. His power and influence over the minds of the people is derived from the following circumstances; viz. hereditary right; supposed protection of the gods, if he is the lawful heir; his reputation as a warrior; the nobility of his descent; and lastly, but not leastly, the strength and number of his fighting men. He, of course, possesses the greatest power of any individual, but, in respect to rank, as before ob

served, he is differently circumstanced. In this last particular, not only Tooitonga, Veachi, and priests actually inspired, are superior to him, but even several other nobles are higher in rank, not as to office or power, but as to blood, or descent, for nobility consists in being related either to Tooitonga, Veachi, or the How, and the nearer any family is related to them, the nobler it is; those related to Tooitonga being nobler than those equally related to Veachi, and those related to this latter being more noble than those equally related to the How. Hence it appears that there must be many egis more noble even than the king himself, and to such the king, meeting them, must shew the same marks of respect as are usual from an inferior to a superior and if he were to touch any thing personally belonging to the superior chief, as himself, or his garments, or the mat on which he sleeps, he becomes tabooed, as it is termed, or under the prohibition to feed himself with his own hands; or, if he does, it is at the risk of becoming diseased, or suffering some other calamity from the gods as a punishment: but from this taboo he can readily free himself, by performing the ceremony of moe-moe, which consists in touching, with both hands, the feet of the superior chief, or of one equal to him: but more of these ceremonies in their proper place.

Egi, or Nobles. All those persons are eg, or nobles, or chiefs (for we have used these terms synonymously), who are any way related either to the family of Tooitonga, or Veachi, or the How: and all

and