.

in company with Mr. Mariner and others, should go and present him with cava at his residence, as soon as the above chiefs were seized. Mr. Mariner was to sit next to him, and was to ask him for his spear, as if to look at it from curiosity; for this spear was a remarkably good one, headed with the bones of the tail of the fy, (sting-ray,) and which he always carried about with him: Mr. Mariner could take this liberty better than any one else, as he was more or less acquainted with him; and being a foreigner, his curiosity would appear more plausible, and less subject to suspicion: having got it into his hands, he was to throw it away, and this was to be the signal for the seizure. Before Cacahoo had time to hear of what was going forward at Macave, the appointed party arrived at his house, and presented him cava. *Mr. Ma

* Mr. Mariner was not, in many instances, a voluntary supporter of Finow's conduct: but as necessity has no law, in some cases he was obliged to conform, where he would willingly have been excused, upon the principle, that of two evils the least is to be chosen. To an honest mind it is always an ungrateful task to use any species of deception. Mr. Mariner was in the service of the king: the latter thought proper to secure certain persons, among whom was one who could not easily have been taken without Mr. Mariner's assistance; that is to say, without bloodshed and a loss

riner took his seat next to him: and, after a while, asked him for his spear, that he might examine the head of it; which having got into his possession, he watched an opportunity, and threw it suddenly away in a moment his enemies were upon him; but he sprang from the ground like an enraged lion, and burst away from them repeatedly, with such prodigious strength, that it was with the greatest difficulty they could bind and secure him. They then took their prisoner down to the sea-coast, and put him on board a canoe, to be drowned with the rest in the afternoon.

These transactions happened between (about) eight and ten in the morning; after which all the Hapai chiefs and warriors, that were with the king, appeared under arms, as also a certain Vavaoo chief, named Paoónga, a relation and confidant of Finow; all the rest of the Vavaoo chiefs and matabooles remaining un

of lives. The king was on all occasions his friend and protector; he felt it therefore his duty to conform to his views, where there appeared nothing intrinsically bad. Had he known what would have been the fate of Cacahoo, viz. to e condemned without trial,-let the consequences be what they might, he would not have submitted; and, in that case, by losing Finow's friendship, and incurring his displeasure, he would not, in all probability, have lived for us to have heard of him.

armed, lest they might excite in Finow a suspicion that they meant to take hostile measures. About mid-day, or a little after, the large canoe, in which were the prisoners, lashed hand and foot, pushed out to sea, under the command of Lolo Hea Malohi, an adopted son of Finow. They had on board three old small canoes, in a very leaky, rotten state, in which the prisoners were destined to be put, and thus to be left gradually to sink, leaving the victims to reflect on their approaching dissolution, without having it in their power to help themselves.

The distance they had to go was about two leagues: the weather being calm, the canoe was obliged to be paddled most of the way. In the mean while, some conversation passed between the prisoners, particularly between Nowfaho and Booboonoo. Nowfaho observed to Booboonoo, that it would have been much better if they had never made a peace with Finow, and, to a certain degree, he upbraided Booboonoo with not having followed his advice in this particular: to this the latter replied, that he did not at all regret the late peace with Finow, for, being his relation, he felt himself attached to his interests, and as to his own life, he thought it of no Value, since

the king did not think his services worth having. Nowfaho stated, that he had a presentiment of his fate that very morning; for, as he was going along the road from Feletoa to Macave, he met a native woman of Hapai, and, as he passed, he felt a strong inclination, he knew not from what cause, to kill her; and this bias of his mind was so powerful, that he could not help turning back and effecting his purpose; at the same time he felt a secret presentiment that he was going to die, and this murder that he had committed appeared now to be a piece of vengeance on the Hapai people, weak, indeed, in itself, yet better than no revenge at all. Nowfaho, among other things, lamented that his friend Booboonoo had not repaired to the Fiji islands when peace was first made, and, by that means, have preserved his life: as to his own safety, he said it was not a matter of much consequence; he only lamented that he was not about to die in an honourable way. Booboonoo expressed sentiments to the same purpose. Cacahoo now and then joined in the conversation, remarking, that he only lamented his death inasmuch as no opportunity had been afforded him of revenging himself upon his enemies, by sacrificing a few of them.

They were eighteen prisoners on board, of

whom the greater part, before they arrived at the place where they were to be sunk, begged that the manner of their death might be changed to the more expeditious one of having their brains knocked out with a club, or their heads cleaved with an axe: this was granted them, and the work of execution was immediately begun. Having dispatched three in this way, it was proposed, for the sake of convenience, that the remainder, who begged to be thus favoured, should be taken to a neighbouring small island to be executed; which being agreed on, they disputed by the way who should kill such a one, and who another. Such was the conversation, not of warriors, for knocking out brains was no new thing to them, but of others not so well versed in the art of destruction, who were heartily glad of this opportunity of exercising their skill without danger; for, coward-like, they did not dare to attempt it in the field of battle. The victims being brought on shore, nine were dispatched at nearly the same time, which, with the three killed in the canoe, made twelve, who desired this form of death. The remaining six being chiefs, and staunch warriors of superior bravery, scorned to beg any favour of their enemies, and were accordingly taken out to sea, lashed i