196 



Canoe of Tanoa, the king of 

 Ambau. 



OVOLAU. 



King Tanoa' s visit to the 

 Vincennes. 



parted company with us), through carelessness, on 

 tlie reef off the island of Nairai, in fine moonlight, 

 with the reef full in view; here she remained some 

 hours, having had a narrow escape from total 

 wreck ; she, however, only lost a part of her false 

 keel. Lieutenant Carr, the first-lieutenant of the 

 Vincennes, was immediately put in command of 

 her. The Peacock and Flying-Fish were now 

 ordered to prepare for sea with all despatch. 



I must confess I felt great anxiety for the safety 

 of our parties in the boats, and issued the foregoing 

 orders very particularly, in order to avoid all mis- 

 apprehension, and to leave as little as possible to 

 the discretion of the officers who had charge of the 

 boats. They were all well armed, and the boats 

 were provided with boarding-nettings ; for I felt 

 satisfied that any inattention or want of care would 

 inevitably lead to the destruction, if not of the 

 whole, at least some of the party : the accident 

 that had recently occurred to the tender of the 

 Leonidas, showed that the least degree of confi- 

 dence reposed in the natives was attended with 

 great risk, and that so treacherous a people were 

 not to be trusted under any circumstances. A 

 departure from these instructions, and an undue 

 confidence, resulting from having for a long time 

 escaped the many dangers encountered, was, I 

 regret to say, the cause of the loss we met with 

 before leaving this group, and taught, when too 

 late, the necessity of obeying strictly the orders of 

 their commanding officer, whether absent or pre- 

 sent. 



On the 12th, whilst engaged at the observatory, 

 the canoe of Tanoa, the king of Ambau, was dis- 

 covered rounding the southern point of the island : 

 it had a magnificent appearance, with its immense 

 sail of white mats ; the pennants streaming from 

 its yard, denoted it at once as belonging to some 

 great chief. It was a fit accompaniment to the 

 magnificent scenery around, and advanced rapidly 

 and gracefully along; it was a single canoe, one hun- 

 dred feet in length, with an outrigger of large size, 

 ornamented with a great number (two thousand five 

 hundred) of the cyprsea ovula shells ; its velocity 

 was almost inconceivable, and every one was struck 

 with the adroitness with which it was managed 

 and landed on the beach *. 



Tanoa disembarked, accompanied by his atten- 

 dants, who are generally Tonga men, forty of whom 

 had the direction and sailing of his canoe. Shortly 

 after landing, he was met by Mr. Vanderford, who 

 had formerly been shipwrecked here, and who had 

 lived under his protection for ten months. The 

 meeting was a curious one : the old chief walked 

 up to him, and stood looking, first on one side and 

 then on the other, without noticing him, and pre- 

 tending that he did not see him ; Mr. Vanderford 

 then walked up to him, clapped him on the back, 

 and called him by name, when they both began 

 laughing heartily. Mr. Vanderford spoke much of 

 the kindness of Tanoa to him during his residence 

 among the people of Ambau : it is true, that he 

 robbed him of every thing but his skin, but then 

 he protected him from the attacks of others. 

 Shortly afterwards a large double canoe arrived, 



* I was told that Tanoa frequently amuses himself, when 

 sailing, by running down canoes, leaving those who belong 

 to them to recover their canoe and property the best way 

 they can. 



entirely manned by Tonga people, under their two 

 chiefs, Lajika and Tubou Total, who were both of 

 them, with about five hundred of their followers, 

 paying Tanoa a visit at Ambau ; they were the 

 sons of Tubou Ninha, and nephews of the cele- 

 brated Finau. Tubou Total told me that he and 

 his brothers had been residing several years in the 

 Feejees ; that they were employed building canoes 

 on some of the eastern islands, and that it gene- 

 rally took them seven years from the time they 

 left Tonga, to finish them and return. 



Tanoa took up his abode in the mbure, or coun- 

 cil-house, which is the place where all strangers 

 are entertained. Here he seated himself, with his 

 principal attendants about him, when his orator, 

 or prime minister, made a complimentary oration, 

 at the end of which a clapping of hands took place; 

 to this oration one of the principal townspeople 

 replied. This is the usual mode of conducting the 

 ceremony : the guest, the moment he arrives, gives 

 a condensed account of all his doings since they last 

 saw each other, ending with many compliments; to 

 which the host replies in equally flattering terms, 

 wishing him all kinds of happiness and prosperity. 

 This ceremony being over, Tanoa despatched David 

 Whippy on board to inform me of his arrival, when 

 I immediately sent Lieutenant Carr to call upon 

 him and inform him that my boat would be at the 

 shore in the morning for him. Food was then 

 brought by the Levukians, according to their native 

 custom: it consisted of two large baskets containing 

 each a roasted pig, yams, taro, bread-fruit, &c., 

 which were placed before the company ; this present 

 was accompanied by another speech, to which the 

 prime minister again replied; then came clapping 

 of hands, and the feast ended with ava drinking. 



On the following morning, when the boat landed, 

 the three chiefs were waiting on the beach, and all 

 came on board, the large canoe following the boat; 

 every thing was prepared to give them a most 

 marked reception, excepting the salute. Tanoa was 

 the first to mount the side of the ship, where I was 

 ready to receive him, with the officers at the gang- 

 way. When he reached the deck, he was evidently 

 much astonished, particularly when he saw the 

 marines, with their muskets, presenting arms, and 

 so many officers. The novel sight, to him, of my 

 large Newfoundland dog, Sydney, who did not alto- 

 gether like the sable appearance of his majesty, the 

 noise of the drum and boatswain's pipe, combined 1 

 to cause him some alarm, and he evinced a disposi- 

 tion to retire, keeping himself close to the ship's 

 side. He was, after the fashion of his group, al- 

 most naked, having a small maro passed around his 

 loins, with long ends to it, and a large turban of 

 tapa cloth in folds about his head, so as almost to 

 hide the expression of his countenance; his face was 

 bedaubed with oil and ivory-black, as were also his 

 long beard and mustaches, the natural hue of which 

 I understood was quite gray. From his begrimed 

 look he has obtained the sobriquet of " Old Snuff," 

 among the whites; he is about sixty-five years old, 

 tall, slender, and rather bent by age; on his breast, 

 hanging from his neck, he wore an ornament made 

 of mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, and ivory, not 

 very neatly put together, and as large as a dinner- 

 plate (called divandina) ; on his arms he had shell 

 armlets (called ygato), made of the trochus-shell, 

 by grinding them down to the form of rings; his 

 countenance was indicative of intelligence and 



