342 THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY mi 



She related that she had dreamed that the late How [King] 

 appeared to her and, with a countenance full of disappointment, 

 asked why there yet remained at Yavaoo so many evil-designing 

 persons : for he declared that, since he had been at Bolotoo, his 

 spirit had been disturbed l by the evil machinations of wicked 

 men conspiring against his son ; but he declared that * ' the 

 youth " should not be molested nor his power shaken by the 

 spirit of rebellion ; that he therefore came to her with a warning 

 voice to prevent such disastrous consequences (vol. i. p. 424). 



On inquiry it turned out that the charm of 

 tattao had been performed on Finow's grave, with 

 the view of injuring his son, the reigning king, 

 and it is to be presumed that it was this sorcerer's 

 work which had " disturbed " Finow's spirit. The 

 Rev. Richard Taylor says in the work already 

 cited : " The account given of the witch of Endor 

 agrees most remarkably with the witches of New 

 Zealand" (p. 45). 



The Tongans also believed in a mode of divin- 

 ation (essentially similar to the casting of lots) 

 the twirling of a cocoanut. 



The object of inquiry ... is chiefly whether a sick person 

 will recover ; for this purpose the nut being placed on the 

 ground, a relation of the sick person determines that, if the nut, 

 when again at rest, points to such a quarter, the east for 

 example, that the sick man will recover ; he then prays aloud 

 to the patron god of the family that he will be pleased to direct 

 the nut so that it may indicate the truth ; the nut being next 

 spun, the result is attended to with confidence, at least with a 

 full conviction that it will truly declare the intentions of the 

 gods at the time (vol. ii. p. 227). 



1 Compare : "And Samuel said unto Saul, Why hast thou dis- 

 quieted me ?" (1 Sam. xxviii. 15.) 



