gale of wind: the men landed, and were charmed with the truly kind reception they met with; but in a day or two, finding the climate much too warm for their constitution, they wisely betook themselves again to their canoe, and with some difficulty reached the Fiji islands, bringing sundry marvellous accounts of the nature of the country, and the reception they met with. This story is prevalent, not only at Tonga and Fiji, but also at Hamoa (the Navigator's island.) Some of the Fiji people believe it: the Hamoa people doubt it very much; and the Tonga people deny it altogether.

The natives of the Tonga islands have a traditionary story respecting the origin of turtles; and as we are here discoursing about their notions of the world, which in some measure involves their knowledge of natural history, it ought properly to be told in this place.

A considerable time after the existence of mankind at Tonga, a certain god, who lived in the sky, and whose name was Langi, received a command from the superior gods of Bolotoo to attend a grand conference, shortly to be held at the latter place, on some point of universal importance. Now it happened that the god Langi had several children; among others, two daughters, beautiful young goddesses, who

VOL. II.

K

were of an age in which vanity and the desire to be admired was beginning to be a very strong passion, and consequently they had often expressed their wish to see the islands of Tonga, and to visit the people that dwelt there; but their father was too wise readily to give his consent. Business of importance, however, now demanded his absence from the sky; but being fearful that his unexperienced daughters might in the mean time descend to Tonga, he gave them the strictest commands not to leave their celestial residence till his return; and as a motive for their obedience, he promised to conduct them, when he came back, to Tonga, and gratify their wish with safety to themselves. With a view to strengthen his injunctions, and better to ensure their compliance, he represented in lively colours the many dangers they would subject themselves to, by infringing upon his commands in the first place, he told them that the Hotooa Pow (mischievous gods), who resided at Tonga, would take every opportunity to molest them, and to throw difficulties and dangers in their way. Besides which, there were other evils of greater consequence to fear; for they were so beautiful (he told them), that the men of Tonga would furiously fight among themselves to obtain them for their wives, and

that these quarrels occasioned by them would,' no doubt, offend the superior gods of Bolotoo, and he (Langi) should thereby get into disgrace. The two goddesses having promised obedience to their father's orders, he descended with speed to Bolotoo. He had scarcely left the sky, when they began to reason together on what he had told them: one said to the other, our father has only promised to take us to Tonga to keep us here till he comes back; for has he not often promised us the same thing and never fulfilled his word? True! said the other, let us go to Tonga by ourselves for a little time, just to look at the máma people, and we will return before he shall know any thing of it; besides, (said both of them together) has he not' told us that we are more beautiful than the women of Tonga? Yes! let us go immediately to Tonga and be admired, for in the sky there are many other goddesses nearly as beautiful as ourselves, and we are scarcely noticed. Upon this they descended together to the island of Tonga, and, having alighted in a lonely place, they walked towards the mooa, discoursing as they went on the homage that was soon to be paid to their charms. When they arrived at the mooa, they found the king and all his chiefs and principal people engaged in some

grand ceremony of rejoicing, and were then drinking their cava. The moment they arrived all eyes were turned upon them, and all hearts, except those that envied, were filled with admiration and love. The young chiefs vied with each other in shewing them the most signal attentions; they already began to be jealous of each other; they left off drinking cava, and the whole assembly was put in confusion. At length the young men began to quarrel among themselves, but the king, to settle all disputes, by virtue of his superior power took them home. to his own residence: the sun had scarcely set, however, before certain chiefs, with a strong armed force, rescued them from the king's house the whole island was soon in a state of confusion and alarm, and early the following morning a bloody war was commenced. In the mean time the gods of Bolotoo heard what was going forward at Tonga, and they imme

It is not the least remarkable trait in the character of the Tonga people, that on almost all occasions they shew very marked attention to females; and we believe that among all the different clusters of islands in the South Seas, the natives of these are singular in this respect. The women of Tonga are not obliged to labour to procure the necessaries of life for their idle husbands: the men work; the women do chiefly those offices that are requisite for domestic comfort, and for the promotion of health and cleanliness.

diately with great indignation charged poor Langi with being the cause of these disturbances: this god said in his defence, that he had ordered his daughters to remain at home, but unfortunately they were disobedient children. He immediately left the synod of gods, and flew with all speed to Tonga, where he found that one of his daughters, by having eaten of the productions of the place, had deprived herself of immortality, and was already dead. The loss of his daughter enraged him to the utmost extreme; he sought for the other, and, seizing her by the hair, he severed her head from her body: the head he threw into the sea, and flew, with rage and disappointment, back to the sky. The head in a short time turned into a turtle, and was the origin and source of all the turtle now found in the world.

This story obtains almost universal credit at the Tonga islands; in consequence, turtles are considered as almost a prohibited food, at least very few will venture to eat them without first offering a portion to some god, or sending some to any chief that may be at hand and there are many that will not eat turtle on any account, being fearful of its producing enlarged livers, or some such visceral complaint. It is