Early in the morning of this day, all the relations of the deceased chief, together with those who formed his household, and also the women who were tabooed by having touched his dead body, whilst oiling and preparing it, went to the back of the island (without any particular order or ceremony) to procure a number of flat pebbles, principally white, but a few black, for which they made baskets on the spot to carry them in as before mentioned, when they went to procure sand. With these they returned to the grave, and strewed the inside of the house with the white ones, as also the outside about the fytoca, as a decoration to it: the black pebbles they strewed only upon the white ones, which covered the ground directly over the body, to about the length and breadth of a man, in the form of a very eccentric ellipsis. After this, the house over the fytoca was closed up at both ends with a reed fencing, reaching from the eaves to the ground, and, at the front and back, with a sort of basket-work, made of the young branches of the cocoa-nut tree, split and interwoven in a very curious and ornamental way, which remain till the next burial, when they are taken down, and, after the conclusion of the ceremony, new ones are put up in like manner. A large quan

tity of provisions was now sent to the marly' by the chiefs of the different districts of the island, ready prepared and cooked; as also a considerable quantity prepared by Finow's own household: among these provisions was a good supply of cava root. After the chiefs, matabooles, and others, were all assembled, the provisions and cava were served out in the usual way. During this time no speech was made, nor did any particular occurrence take place. The company afterwards repaired each to his respective house, and got ready for a grand wrestling-match and entertainment of dancing the Méë too Buggi (literally, the dance, standing up with paddles. See second volume).

During the intervals of the dances, several matabooles, warriors, and others, ran before the grave, bruising and cutting their heads with clubs, axes, &c., as proofs of their fidelity to the late chief: among them, two boys, one about twelve, the other about fourteen years of age (sons of matabooles), made themselves very conspicuous in this kind of self infliction; the youngest in particular, whose father was killed in the service of the late chief, during the great revolution at Tonga, after having given his head two or three hard knocks, ran

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up to the grave in a fit of enthusiasm, and, dashing his club with all his force against the ground, exclaimed, "Finow! why should I at"tempt thus to express my love and fidelity "towards you? my wish is, that the gods of Bolotoo permit me to live long enough to

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prove my fidelity to your son:" he then again raised his club, and, running about, bruised and cut his little head in so many places, that he was covered with streams of blood. This demonstration on the part of the young hero was thought very highly of by every one present, though, according to custom, nothing at that time was said in his praise ; agreeably to their maxim, that praise raises a man's opinions of his own merit too high, and fills him with self conceit. The late How's fishermen now advanced forward, to shew their love for their deceased master in the usual way; though, instead of a club or axe, each bore the paddle of a canoe, with which he beat and bruised his head at intervals, making similar exclamations to those so often related. In one respect, however, they were somewhat singular; that is, in having three arrows stuck through each cheek, in a slanting direction, so that, while their points came quite through the cheek into the mouth, the other ends went over

their shoulders, and were kept in that situation by another arrow, the point of which was tied to the ends of the arrows passing over one shoulder, and the other end to those of the arrows passing over the other shoulder, so as to form a triangle; and with this horrible equipment they walked round the grave, beating their faces and heads, as before stated, with the paddles, or pinching up the skin of the breast, and sticking a spear quite through; all this, to prove their love and affection for the deceased chief.

After these exhibitions of cruelty were over, this day's ceremony (which altogether lasted about six hours) was finished by a grand wrestling-match, which being ended, every one retired to his respective house or occupation; and thus terminated the ceremony of burying the king of the Tonga islands.

Finow's character, as a politician, at least in point of ambition and design, may vie with that of any member of more civilized society; he wanted only education and a larger field of action, to make himself a thousand times more powerful than he was. Gifted by nature with that amazing grasp of mind which seizes every thing within its reach, and then, dissatisfied with what it has obtained, is ever restless in

the endeavour to obtain more, how dull and irksome must have been to him the dominion of a few islands, which he did not dare to leave to conquer others, lest he should be dispossessed of them by the treachery of chiefs, and the fickleness of an undisciplined army. His ever restless and ambitious spirit would frequently vent itself in such expressions as the following: Oh, that the gods would make me king of

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England! there is not an island in the whole. "world, however small, but what I would then "subject to my power: the king of England "does not deserve the dominion he enjoys; "possessed of so many great ships, why does "he suffer such petty islands as those of Tonga "continually to insult his people with acts of "treachery? Where I he would I send tamely to "ask for yams and pigs? No, I would come with "the front of battle;* and with the thunder of "Bolotane† I would shew who ought to be chief. "None but men of enterprising spirit should be "in possession of guns; let such rule the earth, "and be those their vassals who can bear to

* Mooa tow, which literally means the front or fore-part of battle, is a very usual expression among them.

+ The expression they use for the noise of guns; the word Britain they cannot pronounce in any other way than Bolotánë.