114 A MISSION TO VITI. 



followed tatooing as a trade ; for a trade it was and is, 

 quite as much as tailoring is in our own country, and 

 requiring by far greater care and caution. The blue 

 tracery once made cannot, li'ke a coat or pair of trousers, 

 be thrown aside when spoilt in the cut, but has to be 

 worn for life, exposed to all the remarks which good 

 and ill-natured friends may be disposed to make. A 

 tradition, current in Tonga and Fiji, corroborates the 

 fact of tatooing having been derived from the latter 

 group. It is stated, that at a remote period the king 

 of Tonga (Tui Toga) sent a mission to Fiji, in order to 

 ascertain whether, as had been reported, the women of 

 those islands were tatooed. On reaching the island of 

 Ogea, in the eastern part of Fiji, the mission, with some 

 difficulty, made the natives comprehend that they wished 

 to find out what sex was tatooed (qia) ; to which the 

 Fijians replied, " Qia na alewa " (women are tatooed). 

 In obedience to orders, the first person met had been 

 asked, and as a plain answer to a plain question had 

 been obtained, the mission departed homewards. There 

 were no other means of remembering the answer than 

 by repeating it continually. This was done without 

 interruption until their canoe reached the Ogea pas- 

 sage, where, the sea becoming rough, apprehensions 

 about the safety of the canoe began to be entertained, 

 and in the ensuing excitement the repetition of the pre- 

 cious words was neglected. Suddenly the neglect was 

 perceived, and it was asked all round what the words 

 were. Somebody replied, " Qia na tagane " (men are 

 tatooed), instead of " Qia na alewa " (women are 

 tatooed) ; which mistake, passing unnoticed, was re- 



