prisoners were soon dispatched: their flesh was cut up into small portions, washed with seawater, wrapped up in plantain leaves, and roasted under hot stones: two or three were embowelled and baked whole the same as a pig*. Mr. Mariner was not tempted to partake of this kind of diet, though the smell of it, when cooked, was exceedingly delicious. A few days now elapsed without any signs of the canoes from Hapai, and the distress of those who did not choose to eat human flesh was very great. Mr. Mariner had been two days and a half without eating any thing: when, passing by a house where they were cooking something, he walked in, with the pleasing hope of getting something that his stomach would bear, if it were only a piece of a rat; on enquiry, he was told, they had got some pork, and a man offered him a piece of liver, which he eagerly accepted, and was raising to his mouth, when he saw, by the smile on the countenance of the man, that it was human liver; overcome by disgust, he threw it in the man's face, who ́only laughed, and asked him if it was not better to eat good meat than die of hunger.

When Captain Cook visited these islands,

* For their different methods of cooking, reference must be made to the second vol. of the work.

cannibalism was scarcely thought of amongst them but the Feejee people soon taught them this, as well as the art of war; and a famine, which happened some time afterwards, rendered the expedient for a time almost necessary. On this occasion they way-laid and murdered one another to supply themselves with food; and they still tell an anecdote of four brothers, who, in this time of scarcity, invited their aunt to come and partake of a large yam, which they said they had secretly procured: the poor woman, glad of the idea of getting something to eat, and pleased with the kindness of her nephews, went to their house, where they soon dispatched her, and she herself formed the materials of a repast. Since that period, there was a great scarcity at one of the fortresses on the island of Tonga, called Nookoo Nookoo: two daughters of a chief of this place agreed to play at the game of lafo* against two young chiefs belonging to the same place, upon the following conditions: if the girls won the game, they were to divide a yam, which they had in their possession, and give half to the young chiefs; but if, on the contrary, these won the game, they were still to have half the yam, but were to go out and kill a man, and

* This game will be described in the second vol. of the work.

give half his body to the girls: the result was, that the latter won the game, and giving half their yam to the two chiefs, waited for the performan e of their agreement. The two young men set out, under cover of the darkness of the night, and concealed themselves near an enemy's fortress. Early in the morning, a man came out of the fortress to fetch some salt water from the shore in cocoa-nut shells, which he carried with him for the purpose. When he approached the place where the two lay concealed, they started out upon him, killed him with their clubs, and, at the risk of their lives, brought his body to Nookoo Nookoo, where they divided it in half, and faithfully performed their promise with the young women.

It was more than a fortnight before the canoes returned from the Hapai islands with a supply of provisions, owing to the bad state of the weather. Shortly after, the garrison of Nookoo Nookoo sent to request leave to bury the dead bodies of their relations who had fallen during the siege. This being granted, they came and singled out about half a dozen, from the 350 that lay about, whom they knew, from particular circumstances, to be their relations. These they took home to Nookoo Nookoo, leaving all the rest where they found them.

Every day a number of deserters from dif

ferent garrisons came over to Finow: they all brought intelligence that Finow might shortly expect an attack from one or other of them: the fortress of Nioocalofa was, however, now well prepared to receive them. In the meanwhile, the chief of a fortress called Bea, about four miles to the eastward, entered into an alliance with Finow, or rather submitted to his dominion, acknowledging him king of Tonga. The name of this chief was Tarky′.

Having remained a fortnight or three weeks in daily expectation of an attack from an enemy, and seeing yet no signs of it, Finow became exceedingly impatient; for he was desirous of returning to the Hapai islands to perform the ceremony of fuccalahi, which, being of a religious nature, it was indispensably necessary to do. The nature of this ceremony, and the occasion of it, requires to be explained. At the death of Tooitonga, (their great divine chief) there is such a constant feasting for nearly a month, as to threaten a future scarcity of certain kinds of provisions: to prevent which evil, a prohibition, or taboo, is afterwards laid upon hogs, fowls, and cocoa-nuts, so that nobody but great chiefs may use them for food, under pain of death. This taboo lasts about eight months. When Mr. Mariner first arrived at these

pre

islands, Tooitonga, the predecessor of the sent Tooitonga, had just died, and the ceremony of his burial was being performed; though this gentleman had not the opportunity of witnessing it. All the feasting consequent upon this event being over, the taboo was imposed upon the articles above named; and now, after the lapse of eight months, comes the period to take it off, and the ceremony of doing this is called fuccalahi. It must be mentioned, by the way, that two or three plantations are not subject to this taboo, to the end that hogs, fowls, and cocoa-nuts, may be furnished for occasional religious ceremonies, and for the consumption of the higher order of chiefs. If the above ceremony is not performed in due time, it is supposed that the Gods will become exceedingly angry, and revenge themselves by the death of some of their great chiefs.

Finow, as before stated, seeing no appearance of an enemy, and being anxious to return to Hapai for the performance of this ceremony, consulted the Gods, and was admonished by them to proceed to the Hapai islands as soon as possible. With this view, he at first intended to make some further arrangements with Tarky′, and to leave a hundred of his men to garrison Nioocalofa till his return: but being