MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



451 



again will be ; but if there should 

 happen some violent political 

 change, it is possible the son of 

 the late divine chief may be raised 

 to that honour : we therefore speak 

 of Tooitonga as if actually exist- 

 ing. The family name of Tooi- 

 tonga is Fatafehi, and the present 

 head of the family the only son 

 (of legitimate rank) is now a youth 

 of about IG or 17 years of age ; 

 his name is Fatafehi Low fili Ton- 

 ga : he is still considered a chief 

 of high rank, and has lespect paid 

 to him accordingly. 



Tooitonga and Veachi arc both 

 acknowledged descendants of chief 

 gods who formerly visited the is- 

 lands of Tonga, but whether their 

 original mothers were goddesses 

 or merely natives of Tonga, is a 

 question which they do not pretend 

 to decide. Of these two ])crson- 

 ages, Tooitonga, as may be guessed 

 from his title, is far higher in 

 rank ; — the word imports chief of 

 Tonga, which island has, always 

 been considered the most noble of 

 all the Friendly islands, and from 

 time immemorial the greatest 

 chiefs have been accustomed to 

 make it their princip;d place of re- 

 sidence, and after their decease to 

 be buried there in the tombs of 

 their ancestors. This island more- 

 over gives name, by way of pre- 

 eminence, to all the islands taken 

 collectively, as a caj)ital town 

 sometimes gives name to a coun- 

 tj-y ; and withal it has acquired 

 the epitliet of sacred, taboo, and 

 is thus sometimes called Tonga 

 taboo, denoting its excellence 5 

 from this ciicumstance it is erro- 

 neously noted down in our charts 

 Tongataboo ; but taboo is only an 

 epithet occasionally used. The 

 respect which is shewn to Tooi- 



tonga, and the high rank which 

 he holds in society, is wholly of a 

 religious nature, and is far siqie- 

 rior, when occasion demands it, 

 to that which is shewn even to the 

 king himself J for this latter, as 

 will by and by be seen, is by no 

 means of the most noble descent, 

 but yields in this respect to Tooi- 

 tonga, Veachi, and several families 

 related to them ; and if the king- 

 were accidentally to meet any chief 

 of nobler descent than himself, he 

 would have to sit (U)wn on the 

 grovmd till the other had passed 

 him, which is a mark of respect 

 that a common peasant would be 

 obliged to shew to any chief or egi 

 whatsoever; and for this reason 

 the king never associates with any 

 chief superior to himself, and al- 

 ways endeavours to avoid meeting 

 them, and they in like manner en- 

 deavour to avoid him, that he 

 might not be put to the trouble 

 of sitting down whilj they passed : 

 for if any one were to forego this 

 ceremony in presence of a superior 

 egi, some calamity from the gods 

 would be cx])ected as a punish- 

 ment for the omission. Silting 

 down is with them a mark of re- 

 spect, as standing up is with us, 

 before a superior ; upon the prin- 

 ciple, perhaps, that in this posture 

 a man cannot so readily attack or 

 assassinate the person in whose 

 presence he is ; or it may be that 

 in this posture lowering his height 

 is significant of his rank or merit 

 being humbled in presence of tlio 

 other. 



There are many ceremonies 

 which characterise the higli re- 

 s|)ect and veneration shewn to 

 Tooitonga ; but as in tliis place 

 we are discoursing of lank, not of 

 ceremonies, the full description of 



2 G 2 the 



