destroy this plantation. In the mean time a young chief revolted to the enemy, and communicated Finow's intentions with certain additional details, which, however false, served to raise him in the opinion of the enemy, and establish his credit with them. He informed them, over and above the actual truth, that his own father Lioofau was to remain behind in the colo (fortress) with a small party to defend it, but that being secretly an enemy to Finow, he would without doubt readily yield up the place to them. Upon the strength of this information they laid their plan accordingly: a large party of warriors, well armed, were to conceal themselves in a thick wood at no great distance from the field of yams, through which wood passed a road leading from Finow's colo: they were to lie down on the ground and cover themselves with branches, &c. that as soon as Finow's army had passed, they might be able to cut off their retreat: at the same time another strong party was to advance upon Neafoo, and take advantage of the supposed treacherous disposition of Lioofau.

Finow having arranged his plan, set off very early in the morning with the far larger part of his men, leaving the remainder under the command of Lioofau to take care of the colo.

Very fortunately for Finow, before he had advanced far, he met a man who had deserted from the enemy, and who informed him of their knowledge of his expedition, their plan of frustrating his object, as well as the alleged treachery of Lioofau. The king upon hearing this, before he advanced a step farther, ordered Lioofau into immediate confinement, with a strong guard over him. This being done, he proceeded towards the fortress of Felletoa, and taking advantage of the information given him by the deserter, actually hemmed in the very party that would otherwise have done the same to him. These, finding themselves, contrary to their expectations, surrounded by Finow's army, and seeing no other resource than to endeavour to force their way through, made the attempt, and succeeded, after a hard struggle, attended by great slaughter: sixty of the enemy were killed, and fourteen or fifteen of the Hapai people also fell. The enemy now retreated towards the field of yams, to join those who were stationed there for its defence; and Finow, thinking it hazardous to make a farther attack, retired back upon Neafoo, taking with him the sixty dead bodies. The other party of the enemy that had, in the mean while, advanced to Neafoo, finding the place not under the

command of Lioofau, suspected some deception, and made a speedy retreat.

The

The king and his army being arrived at their fortress, the sixty bodies were shared out to the different gods that had houses dedicated to them within the place. In performing this ceremony the people formed a large circle on the ground, with the king at the upper end. The bodies being placed in a row before Finow, a man rose up, and counting the bodies, declared aloud their number. The king then ordered that so many should be allotted to such a god, and so many to such another, and so of the rest. names of these gods were Tali y Toobo, Tooi fooa Bolotoo, Lau file Tonga, Toobo lalo Tonga, and Chenitacala: the two first only are imaginary beings, the others are souls of departed chiefs; the last of all is a goddess, the soul of a female chief of that name. This being done, the bodies were carried away, and laid before the houses of the different gods to whom they were allotted: where, after they had remained three or four hours, those who had left relations among the garrison of Neafoo, were carried away and buried; and the remainder, which were only nine or ten in number, were conveyed to the water side, and there disposed of in different ways: two or three were hung up on a

*

tree; a couple were burnt; three were cut open from motives of curiosity to see whether their insides were sound and entire, and to practise surgical operations upon, hereafter to be described; and lastly, two or three were cut up to be cooked and eaten, of which about forty men partook. This was the second instance of cannibalism that Mr. Mariner witnessed, but the natives of these islands are not to be called cannibals on this account: so far from its being a general practice, it is on the contrary generally held in abhorrence, and where it is occasionally done, it is only by young warriors, who do it in imitation of the Fiji islanders, attaching to it an idea that there is something in it designating a fierce, warlike, and manly spirit. When they returned to Neafoo after their inhuman repast, several persons, particularly women, avoided them, saying, "Yaooé moe ky tangata," away! you are a man-eater.

The bodies being thus all disposed of, Finow

It is a firm belief with the people that if a man infringes upon the Taboo (see p. 150) or commits any sacrilege, his liver or some other viscus is liable to become enlarged and schirrous they therefore often open dead bodies out of curiosity, to see if they have been sacrilegious in their life time. The natives of these islands are particularly subject to schirrous tumours.

began to make enquiries respecting the alleged treason of Lioofau, and finding no one capable of urging any thing against him, and he solemnly declaring his innocence, and stating that his son must have invented this tale to answer some purpose with the enemy; moreover, having always borne a good character and been well beloved by his men, and believed to have been always firmly attached to the interests of Finow, he was set at liberty and restored to his post.

The day after this chief was reinstated, Finow ordered the ceremony of drinking cava to the priest of his tutelar god Toobo Totai, by way of gratitude for the late victory. This ceremony is exactly the same as that of invoking a god through the medium of his priest: and consists merely in the customary form of sitting down to make cava in the presence of a priest, (he presiding at the head of the ring). In this instance, after the cava, pork, &c. had been served out, one of the matabooles, in a few words, thanked the god in the person of the priest for the late signal victories. The priest in answer, after waiting for another dish of cava, declared that Finow would at length succeed in his war against Felletoa, but that this fortress was not the strongest power he had to