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whether their own notions upon this subject are consistent with the good order of society, &c. To this we can make no other answer than by referring to the actual state of society there, and pointing out those evils which may be supposed to arise from their wrong notions upon this subject.

In the first place, it is universally considered a positive duty in every married woman to remain true to her husband. What we mean by a married woman is, one who cohabits with a man, and lives under his roof and protection, holding an establishment of him. A woman's marriage is frequently independent of her consent, she having been betrothed by her parents, at an early age, to some chief, mataboole or mooa: perhaps about one third of the married women have been thus betrothed; the remaining two thirds have married with their free consent. Every married woman must remain with her husband whether she choose it or not, until he please to divorce her. Mr. Mariner thinks that about two thirds of the women are married, and of this number full half remain with their husbands till death separates them; that is to say, full one third of the female population remain married till either themselves or their husbands die: the remaining two thirds

are married and are soon divorced, and are married again perhaps three, four, or five times in their lives, with the exception of a few who, from whim or some accidental cause, are never married; so that about one third of the whole female population, as before stated, are at any given point of time unmarried. This calculation is made with due reference to the women living on the plantations, who are almost all married to the tooas who till the ground, and remain constantly so; the unmarried women, therefore, live principally at the mooa, or place where the chiefs, matabooles, &c. dwell, and are attendants upon them or their wives. Girls that are too young to be marriageable are not taken into account. Having thus ascertained, as nearly as possible, the proportion of married women, we shall make an enquiry how far it may reasonably be supposed they are entitled to the reputation of fidelity. During the whole of Mr. Mariner's four years residence at one or other of these islands, he had frequent opportunities of intimacy with the wives of chiefs; for being a foreigner, and a white man, he was free from a great many restrictions to which the natives are subject: for instance, whenever he pleased he could go in the houses of Finow's wives, or of the wives

of other chiefs, and converse freely with them as long as he chose, which was a liberty that no male native could take beside the husband, relations, or the cooks that carried in the victuals; and from habit they became so much accustomed to his company and conversation as to think very little more of his presence than of one of their own sex, and consequently he had every favourable opportunity of becoming acquainted with their habits and sentiments, particularly as one of the old king's wives, his adopted mother, was a woman of very good sense and unaffected manners, and freely answered him upon all points that related to her happiness, to that of her female acquaintance, or to the condition of the women in general; besides which, it must be recollected, that Mr. Mariner, being upon the greatest intimacy with the principal chiefs, was acquainted with most of their intrigues, which they did not scruple` to relate to him, both on account of the confidence they had in him, and his being a foreigner *.

* This seems an odd reason for placing confidence in such matters; but it arises from this circumstance, that, being a foreigner, he was not supposed to take that interest in their concerns which might lead a native to thwart any conduct which he did not happen to approve of.

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With such opportunities of knowing the habits of the natives, relative to the subject in question, Mr. Mariner is decidedly of opinion that infidelity among the married women is comparatively very rare. He only recollects three successful instances of planned intrigue during the whole of his time; one at the Hapai islands, on the part of Voogi, (the young chief -mentioned on the occasion of the old king's -death,) who was considered the handsomest man at the Tonga islands; and two on the part of the present king, whose high rank and authority must on the one hand render his attentions flattering to the women, whilst on the other it may be supposed to excite a little apprehension of the consequences of a refusal. A fourth instance may perhaps be added, on the part of the late king, in respect to Foonagi, (see Vol. I. p. 437.) but this is only upon suspicion. Several other instances no doubt there were, at different islands; but as so few were known to him, who had better opportunities of information than any native, we may presume that infidelity on the part of the women is a very unfrequent occurrence; and where it does happen, it must be with the connivance of their female attendants and servants, who are always with them, and attend them abroad, not

as spies over their conduct, but as companions, it not being thought decorous, particularly for the wife of a chief, to walk out by herself: the wives of matabooles and mooas may walk out in the neighbourhood without attendants, but never to any distance. These are, therefore, great restrictions mpon the conduct of married women; but there is one still greater, viz. the fear of discovery, which must operate very strongly on the part of the wives of great chiefs, in whom an act of infidelity might occasion her husband to prevent a repetition by killing her and as to the wives of persons of lesser rank, they might at least expect a severe beating, and the offender himself come off as badly, if not worse: but, independent of these restrictions, &c. Mr. Mariner is of opinion that the women are disposed to be faithful to their husbands, as being in their own acknowledgment their superiors, guardians, and protectors; and most of them, he firmly believes, are much attached to them, as he judges from their conduct when they become widows: witness the behaviour of Toobo Neuha's widows, (Vol. I. p. 151.) and those of the late king, (p. 384.) Mafi Habe, Mr. Mariner's adopted mother, did not, after the king died, marry another, or admit a lover; although Voogi, who