THEPACIFICOCEAN. 41 



tlvate and plant his quota; and ordering what fliould be '777. 

 eat, and what not. By this wife regulation, they efFecftually wl^L^ 

 guard againft a famine ; a fufficient quantity of ground is 

 employed in raifing provifions ; and every article, thus raifed, 

 is fecured from unnece/Tary walle. 



By another prudent regulation, in their Government, 

 they have an officer over the police ; or fomething like it. 

 This department, when we were amongft them, was admi- 

 niftered by Feenou ; whofe bufmefs, we were told, it was, to 

 punifli all offenders, whether againft the ftate, or againft in- 

 dividuals. He was alfo Generaliffimo, and commanded the 

 warriors, when called out upon fervice ; but, by all ac- 

 counts, this is very feldom. The king, frequently, took 

 fome pains to inform us of Feenou's office; and, among other 

 things, told us, that if he himfelf fliould become a bad man, 

 Feenou would kill him. What I underftood, by this expref- 

 fion of being a bad man, was, that, if he did not govern 

 according to law, or cuftom, Feenou would be ordered, by 

 the other great men, or by the people at large, to put him 

 to death. There fliould feem to be no doubt, that a Sove- 

 reign, thus liable to be controuled, and puniflied for an abufe 

 of power, cannot be called a defpotic monarch. 



When we confider the number of iflands that compofe 

 this little ftate, and the diftance at which fome of them lie 

 from the feat of Government, attempts to throw off the 

 yoke, and to acquire independency, it fliould feem, might 

 be apprehended. But they tell us, that this never happens. 

 One reafon why they are not thus difturbed, by domeftic 

 quarrels, may be this : That all the powerful Chiefs, as we 

 have already mentioned, rcfide at Tongataboo. They alfo 

 fecure the dependence of the other iflands, by the celerity 

 of their operations ; for if, at any time, a troublefomc and 



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