756 
Friendly which is supposed to have become but recently known to 
Islands. 
the others, and whose warlike inhabitants, scarcely yet 
Govern Subdued, are greatly dreaded, and their friendship care- 
ment. 
fully cultivated by the other islanders. The capital and 
seat of government is Tongataboo ; but the king resides 
decasionally on the other islands, particularly Hamao, 
the inhabitants of which appeared to be held in great es- 
timation. The king was said to possess unbounded «u- 
thority, and to have the absolute disposal of the lives and 
property of his subjects ; but there appeared rather to be 
a kind of subordination, similar to the feudal system 
which formerly prevailed in Europe, as the more potent 
chiefs acted the part of petty sovereigns among their re- 
spective followers, and frequently counteracted the mea- 
sures of the monarch. ‘Tongataboo is divided into nu- 
merous districts, each of which has its proper chief, who 
dispenses justice, and decides disputes within his own 
territory, and who generally possess estates in the other 
- islands, from which they receive supplies of provisions. 
This island is called by the natives the Land of Chiefs, 
while the subordinate isles are stigmatized withthe ap- 
pellation of Lands of Servants. Its ordinary name also 
Tongataboo, signifies the Sacred Isle, because it is the 
residence of the Duatonga, the head of a family, suppo- 
sed to have come originally from the sky, * and who seems 
to hold the station of high priest. ‘The king bears the 
title of Tooe Tonga, according to Cook ; but according 
to later narratives, Duganaboota. The utmost order and 
decortim are observed in his presence, and in that of the 
other chiefs! Whenever he sits down, all the attendants 
seat themselves before him in the form of a semicircle, 
leaving a sufficient space between them and him, into 
which no one, unless he has particular business, presumes 
to come. When any person wishes to address his ma- 
jesty, he comes forward, and’ seats himself before him, 
delivering in a few words what he has to say. In direct 
opposition to European manners, it is accounted the 
greatest rudeness for any one'to stand while he speaks to 
a superior ; and even when the king is walking along, all 
who méet him must sit down till he has passed. hen 
it is intended to do homage more directly, either to the 
sovereign or tlie chiefs, the person who pays the obedi- 
ence squats down before the supérior, bows his head to 
the sole of the prince’s foot, which he touches with the 
under and upper side of the fingers of each hand, and 
then rising up retires. The crown is hereditary ; but it 
was mentioned to Captain Cook by the reigning king, 
that if he were to fail in his duties, the collective body 
of the chiefs and the people would authorise the comman- 
der of the forces to depose him, and put him to death. 
This very ‘prince dying before his son was of age, the 
sovereignty was wrested out of his family by a powerful 
chief, after it had continued about 140 years in one line. 
The king seems to be considered as lord of the soil, 
and upon him devolves the landed property of ‘every 
subject at his death ; but it is customary for the sove- 
reign to grant the estate to the eldest son of the decea- 
sed, upon condition of providing for the other children. 
The different classes of the chiefs are very numerous ; 
but few of them possess extensive districts of territory. 
They are called by thie people, * the lords of the earth,” 
and exercise a despotic authority over their respective 
vassals, The most profound silerice and respectful at- 
* The missionaries were in like manner called by the natives of T 
peared to touch the ocean in the distant horizon, and i 
come through the sky to arrive at their island. 
FRIENDLY ISLANDS. 
tention are observed, when any of them addresses a body 
Friendly 
of their dependants; and ns of dissatisfaction Islands - 
pen no symptoms 
or disobedience were ever perceived the latter, 
Every ——_ their possession is sictinden belong« 
ing to the chief, who takes from them without ceremony. 
whatever he may need. However scanty their supply 
of provisions, they are required to cook a: portion of it for 
his use; and, in a time of scarcity, he often:sends his 
attendants round the district, with orders, for a certain 
quantity to be prepared in.a limited time, which he stores 
up for himself and his household, while the wretched _ 
people are reduced to subsist on the coarsest roots, or to 
beg back a little of their own fruits, to keep them from 
starving. Nor do the lower classes merely labour for 
themselves and their respective chiefs, but are free 
quently sent, as a species of tax or tribute from their 
lords, to work on the lands of the sovereign ; and, inad« 
dition to all these arbitrary exactions, they are treated by 
their superiors with the utmost harshness and brutality. 
The inhabitants of the Friendly islands acknowledge Retigion. 
a supreme divinity residing in the heavens, and directs 
ing the elements ;. but worship at the same time a 
plurality of deities, each of whom has a peculiar admi- 
nistration, one presiding over the wind, another over the 
sea, another over the rain, &c. They ascribe earthquakes 
to the motions of a giant, who supports their island on 
his shoulders ; and, as. they imagine the shaking to be 
occasioned. by his becoming drowsy, they hasten to shout 
as loudly as possible, and to beat the ground with sticks, 
in order to rouze him, lest by his stumbling through 
sleep, he should throw the island from his shoulders. 
Each district also worships its appropriate god; and 
even every individual is supposed to have a particular 
spirit attending him, who sends afilictions and maladies 
when he is displeased, and, when. irreconcileable, occa 
sions death itself... To render him propitious, the rela- 
tions or dependents of the patient frequently wound them- 
selves, or cut off their little finger, and sometimes even 
‘some of his wives, children, or domestics, are put to 
death. They consider the power of their deities.as con- 
fined to the present life, and their evil deeds as meeting 
always with punishment upon earth, Hence they em- 
ploy every method to render them. propitious, applying 
to them for a continuance of plenty, and supplicating 
their aid in time- of suffering. They solemnly implore 
the blessing of the supreme divinity when they plant their 
crops, and express their gratitude when they gather them. 
Hence there is an annual assembly of the chiefs of Ton- 
gataboo, and of all the neighbouring islands, at the dwel- 
ling of Duatonga, the high priest, to offer the first fruits 
of their fields to him, as the minister and representative 
of the god who causes fertility. They do not appear to 
worship any visible part of creation, or any idols formed 
by their own hands; nor do they offer any animal vic- 
tims, although on certain occasions they sacrifice human 
beings. : : 
They have no priests, but every man presents his own 
offering. They discover a wonderfully just idea of the 
immortality of the soul, and in some degree also of :its 
immaterial nature. They believe, that, immediately af- 
ter the death of the body, the souls of the chiefs are 
swiftly conveyed to a distant island, where are no 
longer subject to death, where every kind of is spon« 
. “ The men of the sky ;”” because observing that the sky ap- 
knowing that they came from a great distance, they concluded that they must have 
