He felt curious to discover what opinion they had entertained of the natives of Tonga, and found, uniformly, that they were considered a very treacherous race; whilst the Tongans, as already related, accuse the Fiji people of possessing the same bad character. From all that he has seen and heard, however, he is disposed to believe that the Fiji people fight with more fury than they of Tonga; but that the latter, where they have been seriously injured, harbour sentiments of revenge for a longer time. Mr Mariner witnessed no instance of cannibalism among them, but they made no scruple to acknowledge that such instances were very frequent; and Cow Mooala's account of the feast of Chichia was confirmed by the report of several of the natives of Pau, who spoke of it with much indifference. He had it also confirmed by a native of Tonga, resident at Pau, who acted as his interpreter, and who was present at this horrible feast. The language of these people is very different in sound from the Tonga language, and is much more harsh to pronounce; it is replete with very strong percussions of the tongue, and with a frequent rattling of the letter r. It is ráther a curious fact, if true, and it appears to be so from all we can learn that the language of the Sandwich islanders is more similar to the Tonga language than that of Fiji, though not more than one ninth part of the distance from Tonga.

There were several Englishmen (or Americans) at the island of Pau, but none of them wished to come away in the Favourite, except one; and as Captain Fisk had already more hands on board than he wanted, and as this man was not thrown accidentally (by shipwreck or otherwise) among

these people, but had left his ship voluntarily, the captain did not choose to take him. It is much to be regretted that most of these men were, from all report, but indifferent characters, and had left their respective ships from no good motive. They had frequent quarrels among themselves, in which two or three were murdered. Mr Mariner's information upon this point is partly from Fiji natives who visited Tonga; and since his return to London, an Englishman who lived two or three years at Pau, and whom he accidentally met near town, declared that he was heartily glad to come away, being afraid to live on the same island with his companions.

The Favourite, having laid in her store of sandal-wood, after five or six days stay at Pau, weighed anchor and resumed her voyage, and, in about five weeks, arrived at Macao. At an early opportunity Mr Mariner procured the following certificate from Captain Fisk, thinking it might be of service to him, being totally unknown to any body:

"This is to certify, that the bearer, William Mariner, belonged to the unfortunate ship the Port au Prince, that was cut off at the Hapai Islands, and that he was taken from thence by the brig Favourite." (Signed) "A FISK."" Macao Roads, Dec. 28. 1810."

As he had but little money in his possession,+

* This man's name is Thomas Lee; he lived at that time at Hendon, and was frequently employed in bringing hay to London. He has since left that place, and is somewhere in town, but we have not been able to find him. He was very well acquainted with Cow Mooala, the Tonga mataboole.

+He had about fifty or sixty dollars, part of which had been given to him by his adopted mother, Mafi Habe; the

he resolved, the first opportunity, to enter on board one of the East India Company's ships bound to England, and work his passage home. It happened, however, luckily, that he fell in with the officers of the Company's cruiser, the Antelope, who, taking an interest in his story, corroborated by the account of Captain Fisk, they invited him on board the Antelope, where, with the permission of Captain Ross, he remained for a couple of months, till an opportunity offered of going to England. He is happy to acknowledge, through this medium, his deepest sense of obligation to this gentleman in particular, and to his officers in general, for their extraordinary civility and kindness; nor must he omit Captain Robert Welbank, of the Honourable East India Company's ship, the Cuffnells, who, on the recommendation of Captain Ross, received him on board his ship, and gave him his passage to England.

The Cuffnells arrived at Gravesend in June 1811, when Mr Mariner went on shore, and immediately came up to town; but, whilst looking out for his father's house, who in the mean while had changed his residence, he was impressed and sent on board the tender. He immediately wrote to a friend, to acquaint his father with his arrival and his situation. His father, not less overjoyed than surprised at this unexpected information, repaired on board to visit his son, whom, an hour before, he had imagined if alive, to be resident among a savage people on the other side of the

remainder he procured from a female native of Lefooga, by giving her a consideration for them in beads, &c. These dollars belonged originally to the Port au Prince.

*

globe, with little or no view of making his escape. After seven years long, hopeless absence, the hour of meeting arrived, the circumstances and sentiments of which we leave to the imagination. Mr Mariner found his father in mourning for his mother. Each had much to relate; but this was not the time for free and unreserved communication. Whilst the son was a prisoner, the father had to exert himself to procure his liberation, in which he at length succeeded after a week's detention.

As it may be considered interesting to know the fate of all the ship's company of the Port au Prince, we shall conclude this chapter with a list of those who, along with Mr Mariner, survived her capture. Besides the eight natives of the Sandwich Islands, there were belonging to the ship fifty-two persons; twenty-six (including Mr M.), were on board at the time the ship was taken, and, of these twenty-two were massacred on the spot. Of those who were on shore, three, besides Mr Brown, the whaling-master, were also murdered, making, in all, twenty-six, who lost their lives on that disastrous occasion. The remaining twentysix are correctly accounted for in the following list. The eight natives of the Sandwich Islands, probably, had a hint from their countryman, TooiTooi, to keep themselves out of harm's way, which they effectually did. The ensuing statement, therefore, is drawn up in the order in which the different events happened.

*Mr Mariner's father had heard from William Towel, who had escaped about eighteen months before him, that his son was living, and still at Vavaoo; but he had represented his situation as rather hazardous and hopeless.

JOHN SCOTLAND, Gunner; JACOB MYERS, Seamen; WILLIAM FORD, Seaman.-Left Namooca in a small paddling canoe, and were never afterwards heard of: supposed to have been lost, as a paddle belonging to that canoe was found shortly afterwards, washed on shore at Namooca Igi.

JOHN HEARSEY, Sail-maker.-Left the island of Tonga in an American vessel; but was accidentally drowned at the Fiji Islands, as reported by some Englishmen at Fiji. WILLIAM TOWEL, Captain's steward; ROBERT FITZGE RALD, a boy.-Left Vavaoo in the Mercury, a Botany Bay schooner, at a time when Mr Mariner was at the Hapai Islands. William Towel lately resided in Crossstreet, Westmorland-place, City-road.

1

HUGH WILLIAMS, Seaman; JEREMIAH HIGGINS, and JOHN PARISH, Landsmen.-Escaped from Vavaoo thirteen months before Mr Mariner, in the Hope, Captain Chase, of New York. This is the Captain that refused to take Mr Mariner on board, stating, that he had hands enough! Jeremiah Higgins now resides at Aylesbury.

JOHN WATSON, Seaman.-Had gone to the Fiji Islands with a Tonga chief, but Mr Mariner did not hear any thing of him there.

SAMUEL CARLTON, Boatswain; GEORGE WOOD, Carpenter's mate; WILLIAM SINGLETON, Landsman; ALEXANDER MACAY, a boy.-Were at the island of Tonga at the time the Favourite arrived off the Hapai Islands, and lost that opportunity of escape. Mr Mariner has since heard that Samuel Carlton came away afterwards in another vessel. JAMES WATERS, Ordinary Seaman.-Refused to leave Vavaoo on account of age and infirmities.

NICHOLAS BLAKE, Seaman; WILLIAM BROWN, and TнOMAS EVERSFIELD, boys; JOHN ROBERTS, a black native of the island of Tortola, a boy.-Refused to leave the Hapai Islands under various pretences. *

WILLIAM STEVENSON, a child of two years of age, native of the Sandwich Islands, the son of a British subject, resident at Woahoo, whence the sail-maker had taken him in the Port au Prince, at the request of his father, that he might be brought to his relations in Scotland to be educated. This child was adopted by the daughter of