182 



King George's town. 



TONGATABOO. 



King George's house. Return of the mes- 

 senger sent to the heathen party. 



is a fine intelligent-looking woman, with good sense 

 and much good feeling, and entered warmly into 

 the arrangements. She was despatched with a 

 written proposal for the conference, and was to 

 return the next day. She is called the sacred 

 daughter, 'and goes where she likes without being 

 molested. 



After the council was over, I went with Mr. 

 Tucker to the missionary houses, passing through 

 the town (if so it may be called), composed entirely 

 of reed huts, of small dimensions, and enclosed 

 with wicker-work fences. The missionary houses 

 are on the outskirts ; the whole contains about six 

 hundred houses ; and on looking into a few, they 

 did not appear to be very cleanly. The houses are 

 built after the fashion of the Samoans, only the 

 sides are of wicker-work, made of the slender 

 sugar-cane. The dwellings of the missionaries are 

 very like those of the better sort, and are within an 

 enclosure ; and the only difference I observed 

 was, that they had glazed windows. Like the 

 others, they had no floors, and the earth was 

 covered with mats. 



Mrs. Tucker, whom we found exceedingly intelli- 

 gent, gave us a kind welcome. She has for some 

 time been the principal instructress of both old and 

 young : I can myself vouch for the unexpected 

 proficiency of some of her scholars in speaking 

 English. To her and her husband I feel much in- 

 debted for their answers to the many inquiries -re- 

 specting the state of things in the island, the 

 employments and character of the natives, their 

 wars, manners, and customs. They appeared inde- 

 fatigable in their exertions for what they considered 

 the good of the natives; among other things, they 

 have endeavoured to introduce a variety of vege- 

 tables and fruits : cabbages, turnips, and mustard 

 were seen ; among the fruits, were pine-apples and 

 custard-apples, which thrive well; oranges have 

 been introduced, but do not succeed, because they 

 are injured by an insect, which leaves its larvse on 

 the fruit, and causes it to fall before it reaches 

 maturity. They are obliged to pull all their fi-uits 

 before they are ripe, in consequence of their liability 

 to destruction by the ants, if left to ripen on the 

 tree. 



King George, or Taufaahau, is building his town 

 near by, just without the fortification of King Jo- 

 siah : it is an enclosure of four hundred yards 

 square; the fence consists of close wicker-work, 

 made of the small sugar-cane, and in order to 

 make it stronger, several thicknesses are put toge- 

 ther : this makes a more effective defence than one 

 would imagine; it is about eight feet high, and 

 trimmed off on the top, and when new has a very 

 pretty appearance. The permanency and arrange- 

 ment with which the town is laid out, make Tau- 

 faahau's intentions quite evident. The avenues 

 cross the square diagonally, the gates being at the 

 corners, and in the centre is a large area, left for a 

 chapel. 



The houses of King Josiah's or Tubou's town 

 are mostly within the fortress; this is a high mud 

 wall or embankment, on the top of which is a 

 wicker-work fence; on the outside of the wall is a 

 ditch, twelve feet wide by five feet deep. There 

 are three principal gateways, which are very 

 narrow entrances, formed by thick cocoa-nut posts, 

 set firmly and closely in the ground, admitting only 

 two persons at a time; these entrances are about 



fifteen feet long, and in order to secure them against 

 an attack, they are so arranged as to be filled up 

 with earth; they have likewise a number of hollow 

 logs buried in the wall, and set obliquely, serving 

 as loop-holes, through which they may have a cross- 

 fire at their enemies as they approach. These 

 loop-holes can only be used for muskets, and have 

 been introduced since the natives began to use fire- 

 arms, or since the time of Mariner, for he makes 

 no mention of them in describing the fortresses. 



King George's house is near by : it was originally 

 built at Hihifo, for a chapel; the chief of that place 

 gave it to Taufaahau, and it was divided into three 

 parts, and brought to Nukualofa in canoes. On my 

 visit the king was not at home, but Mr. Tucker 

 asked me to walk in. The building is not a large 

 one; it is divided into three apartments by tapa 

 screens, and was partly furnished. I observed 

 many decanters and tumblers on a shelf, the former 

 well-filled to appearance with spirits and gin; but 

 I had no opportunity of knowing actually what the 

 contents were. Many of the queen's waiting-maids 

 were present, arranging the house previous to her 

 arrival; she was hourly expected from Hapai, and 

 is reported to be the most beautiful woman in the 

 group. The new town is rapidly progressing ; 

 great regularity exists, and every thing is so 

 arranged that each company of warriors with their 

 families are assigned a particular quarter in which 

 to build; they have come prepared, too, for the 

 purpose, having brought many parts of their houses 

 with them. These houses have a temporary ap- 

 pearance, although they are very comfortable; and 

 the rapidity with which they build them is astonish- 

 ing : the enclosure, and about fifty houses, were 

 built in three days; twelve men can complete a 

 house in a little more than a day. The average 

 size of the houses is fifteen by twenty feet, and 

 about fifteen feet high under the ridge-pole; they 

 are of circular or elliptical form. The furniture of 

 the natives consists of their implements of war, ava- 

 bowl, a chest or box for their valuables, and a set 

 of mats, some of which are made for the floors, and 

 others for screens; the latter are about two feet in 

 width, and are seen partly surrounding them when 

 sitting, standing on their edges, which are sup- 

 ported by scrolls at each end ; they are pretty, some 

 of them being much ornamented. 



They have great quantities of tapa cloth, in a 

 thin sort of which they use to roll themselves at 

 night, as a security against the musquitoes, with 

 which their island abounds. The new town is 

 beautifully situated in a bread-fruit and cocoa-nut 

 grove, which gives it perpetual shade, whilst it is 

 sufficiently open to admit the cool breeze. 



On the 26th, agreeably to my engagement, I 

 moved the ship to the island of Pangai-Moutu, in 

 order to be near the place of meeting of the con- 

 ference between the two belligerent parties, and 

 to protect both from the treachery they seemed 

 mutually to fear. Pangai-Moutu is about three 

 and a half miles from Nukualofa, and is now con- 

 sidered as neutral ground ; the anchorage is a 

 good and safe one. Our messenger, Anne Eliza 

 Tubou, returned, and gave me assurances that the 

 heathen were willing to meet in conference ; that 

 they desired peace, and to be left in the quiet en- 

 joyment of their land and their gods, and did not 

 wish to interfere or have any thing to do with the 

 new religion. They again asked me, if they came, 



