318 customs. [1840. 



they may be engaged. These are hummed or sung, when at 

 labor, whether it be beating tapa, weaving mats, plucking 

 the bread-fruit, or sculling the canoe. The heathen have 

 their war and love dances, as among the Samoiins; but they 

 are by no means so beastly or sensual in their habits and 

 appetites, as the same class in the Navigator Group. Their 

 principal musical instrument is the drum, or toki, which is 

 made of the half section of a circular hollow log of hard sono- 

 rous wood. 



No general head is recognized in the Tonga Group, though 

 the king of Tongataboo and the southern islands is usually 

 regarded as superior in rank to the other kings and chiefs. 

 There are different tribes, often on the same island, and not- 

 withstanding there may be a nominal king to whom all pay 

 allegiance, their loyalty is not of the most devoted kind, 

 being neither very loud in its profession, nor enthusiastic in 

 its manifestation. Ail business affecting the general wel- 

 fare, is transacted in the fonos, or councils. 



Tonga was originally the sacred island of the group, and 

 here were the principal morals, and temples, to which the na- 

 tives of the other islands were obliged to bring their votive offer- 

 ings. These temples are now maintained by the heathen in 

 some of the districts, yet ancient superstitions and observances 

 are fast losing their hold upoifc the minds of the people. The 

 religion of the heathen is not exactly feticism, — though they 

 have images of some of their gods, — for most of their divinities 

 are purely imaginary, and many, perhaps, are the distin- 

 guished heroes and kings of Tonga in former days, apotheo- 

 sized by their countrymen for their good deeds and qualities, 

 whether real or fanciful. They worship a great number of dei- 

 ties, who are fabled to possess unlimited power over them, for 

 good or for evil. These are called the gods of Bulotu, or Atua 

 faka Bulotu, and are supposed to be immortal. Their oldest 

 god was Maui, who drew the islands out of the sea with a 

 hook and line ; he and his two sons live under the earth, and 

 when he turns over he produces earthquakes ; the worship of 

 this divinity is now entirely neglected. Tangaloa is their 



