188 



Missionary labours. Feats of the 

 Tongese in swimming. 



TONGATABOO. 



Geological structure of Tonga. 

 Vegetation. Cultivation. 



been in operation since 1832. Many of the women 

 can sew, and a great number of the natives have 

 learned to read and write ; a few of them have 

 been taught the rules of arithmetic, and the prin- 

 ciples of geography. A very great improvement 

 has taken place in the morals of" the Christian part 

 of the community ; but the attachment of the 

 people to their ancient usages is so strong, and the 

 island so little visited by civilized nations, that 

 they have not had that stimulus to improvement 

 which others have derived from such advantages. 



While I bear witness to the arduous labours 

 and well-conducted operations of these missionaries, 

 I cannot help remarking that I was disappointed 

 in finding religious intolerance existing among 

 them. It was to be expected, that among a class 

 so devoted, and undergoing so many privations, 

 dangers, and sacrifices for the cause they are 

 engaged in, charity would not have been wanting ; 

 and that they would have extended a friendly 

 hand to all, of whatever persuasion, who came 

 within their sphere of duty, especially those en- 

 gaged in similar duties with themselves ; but an 

 instance of intolerance came to my knowledge 

 here, that I regretted to hear of. On board " The 

 Currency Lass" were two Catholic missionaries, 

 who had been in this small vessel of one hundred 

 and twenty tons for five months, and three weeks 

 of that time they were in this harbour, without 

 having received even an invitation to visit the 

 shore from the Wesleyan missionaries, nor were 

 any civilities whatever offered or paid to them. I 

 can easily conceive why objections should be made 

 to their preaching or remaining to propagate their 

 creed in a field that was already occupied ; but to 

 withhold from them the common courtesies of life, 

 in the present state of the world, surprised me not 

 a little; and I am satisfied that the example set in 

 this case by the missionaries has caused much 

 remark among the natives themselves upon this 

 want of hospitality. They cannot understand the 

 dogmas of the different sects of Christians, so that 

 they naturally look upon them all as missionaries of 

 this same faith, and cannot see why they should 

 treat each other with less courtesy than is extended 

 to those who are not missionaries. Their ideas of 

 enemies only extend to those who fight, which they 

 well 'know all missionaries refuse to do. Were 

 missionaries aware of the unfavourable impression 

 produced on the minds of most of the natives by 

 such intolerance, it would never be practised, parti- 

 cularly as it is calculated to excite prejudices in 

 strangers who visit their different mission stations, 

 which not unfrequently so blinds them that they 

 go away with unfavourable impressions. Every 

 endeavour is frequently made by those whites 

 who are resident near them to store up and repeat 

 these facts, with exaggerations, which go far to 

 damp the ardour of those who are interested in 

 forwarding the great cause in which they are en- 

 gaged. For all these considerations, they ought to 

 avoid, by every means, falling short of that high- 

 minded liberality that is expected from them. 



The Tongese are remarkable for their feats in 

 swimming, and are very daring when sailing their 

 canoes. An instance was told me that occurred in 

 1839, the year before our visit, which is looked 

 upon as a well-established fact in this group. Two 

 canoes left Hapai for Vavao ; on their way, the 

 wind arose and blew a strong gale from the north 



directly against them; one of them was driven back 

 and landed at Ofalanga, an uninhabited island of 

 the group, occasionally visited by the natives, for 

 nuts, shells, fish, &c. ; in the other canoe as they 

 were taking in sail, a man fell overboard, and the 

 wind and sea being strong and high, it was found 

 impossible to save him without risking the lives of 

 all on board, and he was given up; this was about 

 four o'clock, and the canoe was just in sight of 

 land. The man accordingly turned his face towards 

 Hapai, and resolved to reach it if possible ; he 

 knew the wind was north, and directed his course 

 by feeling the wind in his right and left ear, intend- 

 ing to swim before it; he continued swimming, and 

 resting by floating upon the water, until the moon 

 rose; he then steered his course by that luminary, 

 and thus continued until morning, when he was 

 near land, and almost within reach of the coral 

 reef. When he had thus nearly escaped drowning, 

 he was on the point of becoming the prey of a huge 

 shark, whose jaws he avoided by reaching the 

 coral shelf ; he then landed upon the island, which 

 proved to be Ofnlanga, where the first canoe had 

 been driven ; the crew found him on the beach 

 senseless, and attended to him ; he soon was brought 

 to, and shortly afterwards recovered his strength. 

 This man's name is Theophilus Tohu; he is a na- 

 tive of Huano on the island of Hapai. The canoe 

 from which he was lost returned to Huano before 

 Theophilus did, and when he reached his home, he 

 found his friends had passed through the usual 

 ceremonies of his funeral. 



The island of Tongataboo is of coral formation, 

 and with extensive coral reefs to the northward of 

 it ; it has a shallow lagoon, which extends about 

 ten miles into the interior. The soil is deeper than 

 upon any island of coral formation we have yet 

 visited; it is nearly a dead level, with the exception 

 of a few hillocks, thirty or forty feet high ; the soil 

 is a rich and fertile vegetable mould, and it is not 

 composed of sand, as in the other coral islands. 

 The vegetation, probably for this reason, does not 

 altogether resemble that found on those islands. 

 The luxuriance of the foliage is not surpassed. 

 Some few specimens of pumice have been found on 

 its shores, probably drifted there from the island 

 of Tofooa, which is said to have an active volcano. 

 Tofooa is the highest island of the group, and next 

 in height is Eooa. There is a marked difference 

 in the appearance of the islands of Eooa and Tonga; 

 on the former of which there is comparatively little 

 vegetation. 



On Tonga, although the vegetation equals any 

 within the tropics, I was struck with the exag- 

 gerated accounts of the cultivation of the island; 

 for, so far from finding it a perfect garden, exhibit- i 

 ing the greatest care in its cultivation, it now 

 appeared to be entirely neglected. The yam-grounds 

 are more in the interior of the island, and in conse- 

 quence of the war, there was no safety in passing 

 beyond the limits of the party which possessed the 

 north part of the island, or that in the vicinity of 

 Nukualofa. 



The natives cultivate yams, sweet-potatoes, ba- 

 nanas, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, sugar cane, shaddock, 

 limes, and the ti (spondias dulcis); the pandanus is 

 much attended to, and is one of their most useful 

 trees, and of it all their mats are made ; a little 

 corn is grown, and they have the papaw-apple 

 (papaya), and water-melon. The missionaries 



