happened either to be killed in battle or to die of disease, during the time Mr. Mariner remained at these islands; and they would often question him whether it were not owing to the interference of the English gods as a punishment; to which he always answered them in the affirmative, with a view to his own safety, and to inspire them with respect for the invisible powers, which, according to their notions, presided over the welfare of England and of Englishmen. Some of the natives, in joke, used to say, that they would kill Mr. Mariner, to see if the hotooas (gods) of England would revenge his death, alleging their disbelief in the unsolicited agency of the English hotooas, and their opinion rather that Mr. Mariner himself had been the cause of their death by his prayers, soliciting his gods to revenge the death of his countrymen. This, however, was a notion chiefly of the lower orders: the higher classes were of opinion, that the hotooas of England operated of their own accord, without any intervention or prayer. Finow was strongly of this opinion, observing that it was but fair to suppose that, in the same proportion as the white men were superior to them in knowledge, so were the hotooas of white men superior to

their hotooas in divine power. But to return from this digression.

Cow Mooala, after remaining a considerable time at Navihi Levoo, sailed with his people for Tacownove, which is a district on the western side of Pau, the largest of the Fiji islands. Pau is much resorted to by American vessels, and vessels from Port Jackson, for sandalwood, which grows to perfection only at a certain part of the island, called Vooi'a. The principal market for this article is China; and the demand for it is so great, in proportion to the smallness of the place which produces it, that it is now growing scarce, and, consequently, dearer. Formerly they would give a considerable quantity for a few nails, but now they demand axes and chisels, and those, too, of the best quality, for they have gradually become judges of such things: whales' teeth are also given in exchange for it. The chiefs of the Fiji islands very seldom oil themselves, and, consequently, require very little of this wood, the principal use of it being to scent the oil. The natives of the Tonga islands, however, who require a considerable quantity of it for the above purpose, complain heavily of its scarcity; and what renders the matter still worse for them, is, that the Fiji people, demanding a

greater number of axes and chisels for a given quantity of the wood, these implements are growing very scarce at the Tonga islands, and plentiful at Fiji. Before the Tonga people acquired iron implements, they usually gave whales' teeth, gnatoo, mats for sails, and platt; but whales' teeth are exceedingly scarce, and the other articles are too bulky for ready exportation. The sting of the fish called stingray was also occasionally given, but these stings, which they use for the points of spears, are by no means plentiful. This fish is found in the greatest quantity at an island called Ooea, which lies about mid-way between Vavaoo and Hamoa. Another article of exchange is a peculiar species of shell, which they find only at Vavaoo, and is also scarce. It has already been remarked (see note, p. 319) that the sandal-wood tree will not bear to be transplanted to Tonga.

During the time Cow Mooala was at Pau, a vessel was wrecked on a reef off that island. All the crew, except a couple, perished. The wreck was taken possession of by the natives; they got out of her a number of dollars, and a quantity of muslins, with some other EastIndia commodities. From these circumstances it would appear that she was an American

smuggler on her return from Peru, with part of her original cargo undisposed of. One of the men was afterwards killed in a quarrel with the other. Mr. Mariner could not learn

the name of the vessel.

The

The people of Pau gave Cow Mooala an account of an enormous lizard, which they supposed must have come from Bolotoo, and sent by the gods. They stated that, late one evening, a canoe put in at a neighbouring small island, to remain there for the night, being on her way to some more distant island. weather being very hot, and the crew much fatigued, they resolved to sleep out the night upon the open beach. beach. When they had been asleep some time, they were awakened on a sudden by the loud cries of one of their companions; starting up, they observed by the light of the moon, with the utmost astonishment, a prodigious lizard (as they termed it), plunge into the water. At this they were greatly alarmed, and, missing a man, they went farther up the country for safety. Early in the morning, one of them (a young lad), went into the sea to bathe, and was also snatched away by the monster. The whole island was soon in a state of alarm, every body, on hearing the news, flocked to the

In the

beach, but no lizard was to be seen. course of the day, those who belonged to the canoe took their departure. A few days elapsed, during which the prodigy was no where to be seen, and they supposed it was gone away altogether, imagining it to have been a visitation from a god for some crime they had committed. One evening, however, while a woman was washing some talo root in a salt water lake, about a quarter of a mile from the beach, surrounded by thick rushes, the monster suddenly made his appearance, and, seizing the unfortunate woman, plunged with her into the lake. The people of the neighbouring houses having given the alarm, all the inhabitants of the island were soon up in arms, and, running to the spot, uttered loud exclamations, and threw stones and various things into the lake; in consequence of which, the animal, being disturbed, rushed out, and made towards the sea, pursued by a number of men, who threw spears at him; but these were of no avail, his hard scales proved impenetrable to such weapons, and this circumstance, filling them with increased alarm and wonder, made them dreadfully afraid of him, and confirmed them in the opinion that it must be a god, for they saw him escape unhurt into the sea. In this way