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hours Finow came out of the inner fencing, followed by Toobo Neuha and his own daughter; as they passed on, Mr. Mariner followed her, and the female attendant walked last.—It was now night, but somewhat moonlight. As they passed the corner of the outer fencing, Toobo Toa and the four men just spoken of rushed from their hiding place, and made a violent assault on Toobo Neuha: the first blow of a club he received on his shoulder, (intended for his head :) he immediately exclaimed "O yaooé Finow, teu máte (oh! Finow, am I to be killed?)" and retiring a few steps set his back against the fencing: Finow, who was several paces in advance, immediately made what was thought a feigned attempt to defend him, exclaiming "O yaooé seeoké gooa máte e tangáta! (alas! this noble man is killed!)" but he was held from his strong, yet pretended endeavour to run to his assistance, by some other attendants of Toobo Toa, who came up and forced Finow into the fencing. (It must be recollected that Finow did not choose to bring his whaling knife with him.) Toobo Neuha, who was without any offensive weapon, as he had been without any suspicion, warded off several blows with his hands and arms; till both these being broken, he was unable to lift them up, when a

blow from Toobo Toa, on the head, made him stagger, another knocked him down, and he was beaten as long as signs of life remained, and for some time after. At this moment a young warrior, whose name was Latoo Ila, and whose father had been formerly killed, under strong suspicions of conspiracy by Toobo Neuha, came up to the spot, possessed by a spirit of implacable revenge. He struck the body of the dead chief several times, and exclaimed, "The time of vengeance is come! thou hast "been long enough the chief of Vavaoo, living "in ease and luxury; thou murderer of my "father! I would have declared my sentiments

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long ago, if I could have depended upon others to second me; not that I feared death

by making thee my enemy, but the vengeance "of my chief, Toobo Toa, was first to be satis

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fied, and it was a duty I owed the spirit of my "father to preserve my life as long as possible, “that I might have the satisfaction to see thee "thus lie stinking! (dead!)" he then repeated the blows several times upon his stomach.

On the first noise of the scuffle, Mr. Mariner imagining that Finow himself was attacked, attempted to rush forward, though unarmed, to his assistance, but was prevented by a strong

man, who taking him round the body, pinioned his arms to his side. The women, on hearing the sound of the blows, and the exclamation of Toobo Neuha, ran screaming into the fencing. In about ten minutes after the affair, nearly two hundred of Finow's people assembled, armed with clubs and spears, to a party of whom, with a chief at their head, Finow gave orders to go immediately to Toobo Neuha's people, who were at their temporary houses on the shore, and command them, in his name, to go on board their respective canoes, except the principal Vavaoo chiefs, who were to come into his presence. These orders were scarcely given when one of the late chief's adopted sons came before Finow, and striking his club against the ground, exclaimed "Why sit you there idle? "--why do you not rouse yourself and your

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men, to revenge the death of the fallen hero? "if it had been your lot to have sunk thus "beneath the clubs of your enemies, would "he have hesitated to have sacrificed his life "for your revenge?—How great a chief he "was! how sadly he died!" reply, and the young warrior

and sat down.

Finow made no

retired a little,

The affection of the Vavaoo people for their

chief was great, but they thought the present a very disadvantageous opportunity of seeking revenge. They were in a part of the country where their enemies would be very numerous; their canoes would perhaps be taken from them, and their retreat thus cut off. When they received Finow's orders, they immediately obeyed, the great body of them going into their respective canoes, and their chiefs coming into the king's presence: where, when they arrived, they sat before him, their heads bowed down in dejection and utter sadness.—Finow, in his usual style of artful eloquence, made them a speech, in which he positively declared his innocence of the murder, and his previous ignorance of its having been about to take place. He acknowledged, however, that Toobo Toa confided to him his intentions, and asked his assistance, which he promised; but that he had made this promise without meaning to fulfil it; thinking by this means to satisfy for a time the urgent solicitations of that chief: lest, not having made it, he should undertake this rash act before proper measures could be adopted to prevent it.

While he was yet speaking, his own wives and women, having been sent for, came and sat down behind him. His speech being ended,

half an hour's silence ensued; nobody daring to deliver his sentiments. The company then rose, by Finow's order, and followed him to his house. As he passed the body, he ordered it to be lifted up and carried before him. When the procession arrived, the body was laid down on the outside of the house, and washed all over with a mixture of oil and water (as is always customary.) This office was performed by one of Finow's wives and Mr. Mariner; nobody else offering to do it, on account of their objections to being taboo'd*. Finow's wife did not • No person can touch a dead chief without being taboo'd for ten lunar months, except chiefs, who are only taboo'd for three, four, or five months, according to the superiority of the dead chief; except again it be the body of Tooitonga, and then even the greatest chief would be taboo'd ten months, as was the case with Finow's wife above mentioned. During the time a man is taboo'd he must not feed himself with his own hands, but must be fed by somebody else he must not even use a toothpick himself, but must guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he is hungry and there is no one to feed him, he must go down upon his hands and knees, and pick up his victuals with his mouth and if he infringes upon any of these rules, it is firmly expected that he will swell up and die: and this belief is so strong that Mr. Mariner thinks no native ever made an experiment to prove the contrary. They often saw him feed himself with his hands after having touched dead chiefs, and not observing his health to decline, they attributed it to his being a foreigner, and being governed by different Gods.