several wives; but the greatest chief, that is, she who is of the best family, is the principal wife; and in respect to her,—if her husband dies first, she must be strangled on the day of his death, and afterwards buried with him. Mr. Mariner knows this fact from what happened at Vavaoo, a short time after the peace with Toe Oomoo; and as it was not mentioned at that time, the present is a fit opportunity to relate it. Among Finow's followers, there was a certain chief, a native of Fiji, who about that period fell ill and died: his wife, who was also a native of Fiji, in accordance with the religious notions in which she had been brought up, considered it a breach of duty to outlive him; she therefore desired to be strangled. All her Tonga friends endeavoured to dissuade her from what appeared to them so unnecessary and useless an act; but no! she was determined, she said, to fulfil her duty, in defect of which she should never be happy in her mind,—the hotooas of Fiji would punish her; and thus, by living, she should only incur fresh miseries. Her friends, finding all remonstrance in vain, allowed her to do as she pleased: she accordingly laid herself down on the ground by the side of her deceased husband, with her face upwards; and desiring a couple

of Fiji men to perform their duty, they put a band of gnatoo round her neck, and pulling at each end, soon ended her existence*. In the evening they were buried together in the same grave, in a sitting posture, according to the Fiji custom. Mr. Mariner happened not to be present when she was strangled, but arrived in time to see them buried, and to hear the account of the recent event from those who had been eye-witnesses.

Both sexes at the Fiji islands adopt the custom of making an incision in the lobe of each ear, and introducing a piece, about an inch long, of the stem of the plantain leaf, to keep it distended when healed, they introduce a thicker piece, and afterwards a still larger piece of the wood of the tree itself, so as to cause the lobe of the ear to spread and hang down considerably. This practice, as it is considered ornamental, the women carry to a much greater extent than the men; and at length introduce such large pieces, that the lobe of the ear hangs down almost as low as the shoulder, the opening thus made being about ten inches in circumference. Fre

It used to be the custom at Tonga, when the divine chief, Tooitonga, died, to strangle his chief wife; but this absurd practice was left off during Mr. Mariner's time.

quently, by overstretching the lobe, it splits; and there are many women seen with it hanging down in two slips!! Their skins are by no means so smooth and sleek as those of the Tonga people, owing, probably, to the circumstance of their not oiling themselves.

The gods are consulted much in the same way as at Tonga: there are, indeed, some few trifling differences in the ceremony, but these Mr. Mariner is not sufficiently acquainted with to state accurately; although he was afterwards at Pau, he had not an opportunity of seeing this ceremony.

Close to Pau lies a very small island, called Chichia, which is in itself a fortress almost impregnable. The nearest part is not more than a hundred yards from Pau; and, at low water, joins it by a ridge of sand. At the place where this ridge joins Chichia, there is a high rock, almost perforated by nature, and which art has rendered completely so. This rock is converted into a strong fortress, commanding the whole island, which, indeed, is rendered inaccessible in every part, by a heavy surf and dangerous rocks, except just to the left of the large rock, and that part is defended by a high fencing. On this small but strong island several natives of Tonga resided, for

the chief was partial to them, because his wife was a native of that place; he therefore readily admitted Cow Mooala and his men to come also and reside with him. Cow Mooala took an active part with the chief of Chichia in his war against the people of Pau.

From

This war had been kept up for a long time, the people of Chichia constantly committing depredations on the people of Pau, without these being at all able to retaliate. time to time they had taken a great number of prisoners, which were kept apart for a purpose directly to be mentioned. A few days before the period that Cow Mooala had fixed on for his return to Vavaoo, the chief of Chichia made a sortie from his strong hold, and gave a general battle to the people of Pau. The men of Chichia were victorious, and returned in triumph to their little island. The chief, elated by these victories, resolved now to have an extraordinary feast before the departure of Cow Mooala. On the following day, therefore, a grand warlike dance was performed by the men, with bracelets of fringed bark under their knees, and of shells round their arms. Their bodies and faces were painted with various configurations, in black and yellow, producing, no doubt, a

strange appearance. Each man was armed with a club and spear; and, thus equipped, the whole body of them exhibited various warlike attitudes, such as throwing the spear, striking with the club, &c.—shouting and singing alternately. When they had finished their dancing, they sat down to drink cava; after which the chief gave orders to his cooks to bring forward the feast: immediately they advanced two and two, each couple bearing on their shoulders a basket, in which was the body of a man barbacued like a hog. The bodies were placed before the chief, who was seated at the head of his company, on a large green. When all these victims were placed on the ground, hogs were brought in like manner; after that, baskets of yams, on each of which was a baked fowl. These being deposited in like manner, the number of dishes was counted, and announced aloud to the chief, when there appeared to be two hundred human bodies, two hundred hogs, two hundred baskets of yams, and a like number of fowls. The provisions were then divided into various portions, and each declared to be the portion of such a god; after which they were given to the care of as many principal chiefs, who shared them out to all their dependants, so that every man and woman in the island had

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