CHARACTERS. 



529 



only tlie door- way open, whicli 

 was never closed, night nor day. 



Such spacious habitations are 

 necessary for the chiefs, whose 

 Iiousehold, in general, is large, as 

 composed of, many attendants. 

 But there are generally small 

 apartments contiguous to the 

 house, in whicli his wives and 

 children lodge. One of his wives, 

 however, for the most part, slept 

 with liim in the same room, in a 

 space separated from the rest by 

 inclosures of takkabou, or mat- 

 ting, three feet high, fitted up to 

 the beams that went across to the 

 centre post, to keep it upright. 



The household of Mulkaamair 

 was considerable. He had at dif- 

 ferent times from four to eight 

 wives, eight sons, and five daugh- 

 ters, besides many attendants. The 

 children were all in great subjec- 

 tion to him, and of different rank 

 and dignity according to the rank 

 of their respective mothers. For 

 family dignity, in Tcngutaboo, 

 descends not from the father but 

 the mother, owing, it is probable, 

 to the frequency of divorce, and 

 of illicit intercourse. When tiie 

 day declined, about seven o'clock, 

 if they were not disposed to dance, 

 they would retire to bed, or, more 

 properly, to recline on their mat- 

 ting. 



But when fhcy had retired, the 

 ' most social employment of the day 

 took place. As they lay reclining 

 at tlieir ease, Mulkaamair and his 

 numerous household, that lay 

 round him, would commence con- 

 versation? that amused them till 

 ihey all fell asleep. 



1 have been delighted for hours 

 in listening tolhese nocturnal con- 

 fabulations, and often very much 

 surprised and improved by the 

 ghrewdness of their observations 



Voj.. LII. 



and the good sense of their reason- 

 ings. When they were all lain 

 down, the chief would say, " Tou 

 tella-noa." " Let us have some 

 conversation." Another would 

 answer, Tou tellanoa gee aha, i. e. 

 « what shall we talk about." A 

 third would reply, " Tou Tellanoa 

 papa langee." " Let us talk of the 

 men of the sky." They called us 

 " the men of the sky," because, 

 observing that the sky appeared 

 to touch the ocean, in the distant 

 horizon, and knowing that we 

 came from an immense distance, 

 they concluded that wc must have 

 come through the sky to arrive 

 at Tongataboo. 



I have heard them for hours 

 talking of us, our articles, dress, 

 and customs, and entertaining 

 each other with conjectures re- 

 specting the distance of the coun- 

 try whence we came, the nature 

 of it, its productions, iSrc. &c. 



Their patriarchal mode of life, 

 in which the younger and inferior 

 part always surround the chief, as 

 the father of one large family, is 

 calculated much to refine and im- 

 prove their mental faculties, and 

 to polish their language and be- 

 haviour. 



The social intercourse, and the 

 ceremonious carriage, which were 

 constantlj' kept up in the families 

 of the chiefs, produced a refine- 

 ment of ideas, a polish of language 

 and expression, and an elegant 

 ■gracel'ulriess of manner, in a de- 

 gree, as superior and distinct ironi 

 those of the lower and laborious 

 classes, as the man of letters, or 

 the polished courtier differs from 

 the clown. The lower orders used 

 terms of a much meaner or coarser 

 import : tiie higher orders were so 

 much refined, as often, for amuse- 

 ment, to take ofi" the vulgar, by 



'J M 



