considerable distance from the head, resembling an immense wig, from four to nine inches thick, being raised equally from the head, at the top, back, and sides. Like the Tonga people, they generally go bareheaded; but to preserve this fine headdress from being injured by the dews of the night, they usually cover it with about a square yard of white gnatoo, beaten out very fine, so as to appear light and elegant, which is quite sufficient to keep off the moisture. They tie it on with remarkable neatness. At the Fiji Islands the girls and boys go quite naked, the former till they are about ten, the latter till fourteen; after which the girls wear the usual dress of the women, a sort of circular apron, about a foot or fourteen inches broad, worn quite round the waist. When they grow older, it is increased to about a foot and a half in breadth. At the age of fourteen the boy begins to wear the mahi, or usual dress of the men, which has been accurately described by Captain Cook, as seen by him at the Sandwich Islands. At the Fiji Islands it is of greater length, being wrapped round the body many times; one end passing between the legs, so as to represent, when adjusted, what in surgery is called a T bandage. Children are married by their parents (or rather betrothed to each other) when they are three or four years old. This circumstance gives rise to the complaint usually made by the natives of Tonga who visit Figi, that they can find no woman but who is under the protection of a jealous husband. This Cow Mooala sadly complained of; and it leads us to the inference, that the women there are very faithful. A man may have several wives; but the greatest chief, that is, she who is of the best family, is the principal wife; and in respect to her, if her husband die first, she must be strangled on the day of his death, and afterwards buried with him. Mr Mariner knows this fact from what happened at Vavaoo, a short time after the peace with Toe Oomoo; and as it was not mentioned at that time, the present seems a fit opportunity. Among Finow's followers, a certain chief, a native of Fiji, fell ill and died; his wife, also a native of Fiji, in accordance with the religious notions in which she had been brought up, considered it a breach of duty to outlive him ; she therefore desired to be strangled. All her Tonga friends endeavoured to dissuade her from what appeared to them so unnecessary and useless an act; but she was determined, she said, to fulfil her duty, failing which she should never be happy in her mind, the hotooas of Fiji would punish her; and thus, by living, she should only incur fresh miseries. Her friends, finding all remonstrances in vain, allowed her to do as she pleased. She accordingly laid herself down in the ground, by the side of her deceased husband, with her face upwards; and desiring a couple of Fiji men to perform their duty, they put a band of gnatoo round her neck, and, pulling at each end, soon accomplished her wishes. In the evening they were buried together in the same grave, in a sitting posture, according to the Fiji custom. Mr Mariner happened not to be present when she was strangled, but arrived in time to see them buried, and to hear the account of the recent * * It used to be the custom at Tonga, when the divine chief, Tooitonga, died, to strangle his chief wife; but this absurd practice was left off during Mr Mariner's time. event from those who had been eye-witnesses. Both sexes adopt the custom of making an incision in the lobe of each ear, and introducing a piece, about an inch long, of the mid rib of the plantain leaf, to keep it distended. When healed, they insert a thicker piece, and afterwards a still larger portion of the wood itself, so as to cause the lobe of the ear spread and hang down considerably. This practice, as it is considered ornamental, the women carry to a much greater extent than the men; and at length introduce such large pieces, that the ear hangs down almost to the shoulder, the opening being about ten inches in circumference. Frequently, by overstretching the lobe, it splits; and there are many women seen with it hanging down in two slips! Their skins are by no means so smoth and sleek as those of the Tonga people, owing to the circumstance of their not oiling themselves. At the Fiji Islands the gods are consulted in much the same way as at Tonga. There are, indeed, some few trifling differences in the ceremony, but these Mr Mariner is not sufficiently acquainted with to state accurately; for although he was afterwards at Pau, he had not an opportunity of seeing the ceremony. Close to Pau lies a very small island, called Chichia, which is in itself a fortress almost impregnable. The nearest part is not more than a hundred yards from Pau, and, at low water, joins it by a ridge of sand. At this place, there is a high rock, almost perforated by nature, and which art has rendered completely so. The rock is converted into a strong fortress, commanding the whole island, which, indeed, is rendered inaccessible in every part, by a heavy surf and dangerous rocks, except just to the left of the large rock, and that part is defended by a high fencing. On this island several natives of Tonga resided, for the chief was partial to them, his wife being a native of that place; and he readily admitted Cow Mooala and his men to come also and reside among them. Cow Mooala took an active part with the chief of Chichia in his war against the people of Pau. This war had been kept up for a long time, the people of Chichia constantly committing depredations on the people of Pau, without these being at all able to retaliate; and from time to time they had taken a great number of prisoners. A few days before the period that Cow Mooala had fixed on for his return to Vavaoo, the chief of Chichia made a sortie from his stronghold, and gave a general battle to the people of Pau. The men of Chichia were victorious, and returned in triumph to their little island. The chief, elated by these victories, resolved now to have an extraordinary feast before the departure of Cow Mooala. On the following day, therefore, a grand warlike dance was performed by the men, with bracelets of fringed bark under their knees, and of shells under their arms; their bodies and faces painted with various configurations, in black and yellow, producing, no doubt, a strange appearance. Each man was armed with a club and spear; and, thus equipped, the whole body of them exhibited various warlike attitudes, such as throwing the spear, striking with the club, &c.-shouting and singing alternately. When they had finished their dancing, they sat down to drink cava; after which the chief gave orders to his cooks to bring forward the feast. Immediately they advanced two and two, each couple bearing on their shoulders a basket, in which was the body of a man barbacued like a hog. The bodies were placed before the chief, who, on a large green, was seated at the head of his company. When these victims were placed on the ground, hogs were brought in like manner; afterwards, baskets of yams, on each of which was a baked fowl. These being all deposited, the number of dishes was counted, and announced aloud to the chief, when there appeared to be two hundred human bodies, two hundred hogs, two hundred baskets of yams, and a like number of fowls. The provisions were then divided into various portions, and each declared to be the portion of such a god; after which, they were given to the care of as many principal chiefs, who shared them out to all their dependants, so that every man and woman in the island had a portion of each of these articles, whether they chose to eat them or not. It would be, perhaps, increasing the horror of this picture beyond the truth to state that every person present partook of human flesh. These unfortunate victims were sacrificed and cooked more for a matter of form, probably, than any thing else. But it must be confessed that the chiefs, warriors, and more ferocious part of the company, partook of the inhuman diet, and that several of them feasted on it. Such, at least, was the account of Cow Mooala; and Mr Mariner has too much reason to think it true, because he afterwards heard the same account from several of the natives of Chichia who visited Tonga. A few days afterwards Cow Mooala set sail for Vavaco, where he arrived safe with about fifty at |
