History of Rewa. 



FEEJEE GROUP. 



Character of Phillips. 



225 



I should recover, particularly those who had advised 

 j and wished to uphold Koraitamano. The queen 

 becoming aware of their hesitation, on the following 

 morning took some whales' teeth and other valu- 

 ables, and presented them herself to the chiefs, 

 saying they were sent by the king to purchase the 

 death of his son. Fearing to hold out any longer, 

 they went to Koraitamano and announced to him 

 the fatal mandate, and he was immediately killed. 

 They then proceeded to the king's house to report 

 that the deed was done, and on approaching the 

 couch of the king, the putrescent odour which pro- 

 ceeded from the corpse at once disclosed to them 

 the deception that had been practised. It was, 

 however, too late to amend the matter, and Mado- 

 novi, the eldest son of the queen, now succeeded his 

 father without opposition. One of the first acts of 

 Madonovi was to build an mbure over the spot 

 where his father was murdered. His succession 

 deprived Seru and Thokanauto (Phillips) of their 

 right to the throne, and of course excited their 

 hostility to the reigning chief, who was by no means 

 so popular as his father, and did not govern to the 

 satisfaction of his subjects. Seru, who was the 

 oldest of the two malcontents, was a very tall and 

 remarkably handsome man, and had great influence 

 among the people, which excited the jealousy of the 

 king. Such was his strength that it is said he 

 could knock down a full-grown hog by a blow on 

 the forehead, and would break a cocoa-nut by 

 striking it on his elbow. 



Mutual words of defiance had passed between 

 the two brothers, and they were living in daily 

 expectation of some encounter that would bring on 

 serious disturbances. During the height of this 

 feeling, they met on the road, where the scene 

 that was enacted was quite remarkable, and the 

 narration of it by Phillips equally so. 



Seru had one of the short missile clubs (ula) in 

 his girdle, which Feejee men usually wear stuck 

 in behind. As Madonovi approached, Seru placed 

 his back against the fence, without any design. 

 The king had three shaddocks (molitivi) in his 

 hand, of which, as he came up to Seru, he held 

 one up and called out in sport, that he meant to 

 throw it at him. The thought then came into 

 Seru's mind that if the king threw and hit him he 

 would let him pass, but that if he missed he would 

 take the opportunity to put him to death. He, 

 therefore, replied to his brother in the same jocose 

 manner, " Throw, but if you miss, I'll try." The 

 king threw, but missed. He then drew nearer, 

 and holding up another of the shaddocks, cried 

 out, " This time 1 will hit you." To which Seru 

 replied, " Take care ; if you miss, then I'll try." 

 The king threw again, but Seru, by a quick move- 

 ment, avoided the. missile. Madonovi then ad- 

 vanced to within two or three yards of Seru, 

 saying, " This time I think I shall hit you." Seru 

 made himself ready to avoid it, and with his hands 

 behind him, said, " If you miss, then 1 take my 

 turn." The king threw the third time and missed, 

 for Seru stooped, and the shaddock passed over 

 his shoulder. Seru then drew himself up, flourished 

 his club in the air, and exclaimed in tones of 

 exulting mockery, " Aha, I think you did not see 

 this !" With that he hurled his weapon with so 

 deadly an aim that it crushed the skull of the king, 

 and killed him on the spot. 



As soon as this event became known, the queen 



with her other sons fled to Ambau, leaving the 

 supreme power in the hands of Seru, who, how- 

 ever, did not take the title of Ndraketi, but adopted 

 that of Tui Sawau, after the chief town of Mbenga, 

 on which he had made war and captured, and by 

 which title he was thenceforth known. He was 

 not, however, long left to enjoy his authority. The 

 exiled family made several unsuccessful attempts 

 to destroy him, and at last induced Vendovi, by a 

 large bribe, to undertake his destruction. Vendovi 

 managed to get to Rewa unobserved, and looking 

 in at the door of Thokanauto's house, saw Tui 

 Sawau lying on his mat eating. He immediately 

 levelled his musket and shot him. Four balls 

 passed through his breast, but such was the 

 strength of his constitution, that he survived for 

 eight days. This occurred in the year 1827. 



When it became known at Ambau that this fra- 

 tricide had been committed, the queen and her 

 sons returned to Rewa, and Kania assumed the 

 direction of the government, to the exclusion of 

 Thokanauto. 



The character of Phillips, who calls himself the 

 white man's friend, is rather equivocal. He is 

 said while young to have been fed mostly on 

 human flesh. When I saw him on board my ship 

 at Levuka, I told him I had heard that he liked 

 this food, and I thought that he showed much 

 shame at being considered a cannibal by us. His 

 youthful practices, which he told as though some 

 credit were due to himself for a change in his 

 latter conduct, will tend to show how early these 

 natives employ themselves in inflicting pain on 

 each other. One of these was to set a sharp- 

 pointed stick in the ground, cover it with earth, 

 and then challenge another boy to jump with him. 

 He would then leap in such a manner that the boy 

 on following his example would alight upon the 

 pointed stick, and run it through his foot. He is 

 said also to be frequently employed by the king as 

 an instrument of his vengeance. The missionaries 

 relate that he was once sent to kill a native by the 

 king's order, upon which he went to the person's 

 house, and told him that " The king has sent me 

 to kill you;" to which he replied, " It is good only 

 that I should die." Phillips struck, but only 

 stunned him, after which he returned, and told 

 the king he had not succeeded in killing him. 

 When the man recovered, Phillips was again sent 

 back, and succeeded in giving him his deathblow, 

 which he received with the same resignation as 

 before. Notwithstanding his bad traits, he is cer- 

 tainly one of the most intelligent natives that I 

 have met witli in all Polynesia. He possesses 

 much information respecting his own people, and 

 would, if the king allowed it, be the means of 

 effecting many improvements. He has already 

 introduced some into his own establishment, and 

 is very desirous of learning, but he unfortunately 

 has not sufficient knowledge to distinguish between 

 good and evil. He visits all the vessels that touch 

 at this group, and says that he passes most of his 

 time on board of them. He produces many re- 

 commendations from their commanders, which, 

 besides recommending him, give the very salutary 

 precaution of always being on their guard while 

 among these natives. 



The prisoners on board the Peacock were early 

 in motion on the following morning, looking anxi- 

 ously for the return of Ngaraningiou; and many 



Q 



