Curious Stone Monume^it — Entertainment at Hifo. 1 73 



sion he took three of our officers to Moa, a native town situated 

 near the south-east extremity of the island. From there they 

 went on to a place eight miles to the southward, where there is 

 a famous megalithic structure of unknown origin, which has been 

 described and figured by Brenchly in his "Voyage of the Ciira^oa." 

 As our experience differs somewhat from Brenchly's, I may be 

 excused for making a few remarks thereon. The monument — if 

 such it can be called — consists of three large slabs of coral rock, 

 two of which are planted vertically in the ground at a distance 

 of about fifteen feet apart, while the third forms a horizontal span, 

 resting on its edges in slots made in the summits of the vertical 

 slabs. The height of the structure, of which the picture gives 

 a good idea, is about fifteen feet. We were, I regret to say, 

 unable to obtain any information — legendary or otherwise — con- 

 cerning the origin of this remarkable structure. 



He also took us on a very pleasant excursion to a village called 

 Hifo, which lies about eleven miles to the south-west of Nukualofa. 

 The party consisted of Wellington Gnu (pronounced "Mou"), David 

 Tonga, the principal of the native school. Captain Maclear, and 

 myself. Our means of locomotion consisted of two buggies, in 

 which we started on the outward journey by a circuitous route, 

 so as to take in the village of Bea and four or five others on our 

 way. On arriving at Hifo, we halted in the centre of the village, 

 on an open patch of sward under the shade of several large vi 

 trees {Spondias didcis), on whose branches were hanging large 

 numbers of fox bats {Pteropus keraudrenii), of which we obtained 

 specimens. We were now formally introduced to the chief of 

 Hifo, who at once announced that a feast would speedily be pre- 

 pared in honour of our visit, and pending the necessary culinary 

 arrangements, invited us to walk through his dominions. In an 

 adjacent bay we were pointed out the place where Cook had 

 formerly anchored his vessel, a matter of great interest to the 

 Tongans, who are keenly alive to the fact that the period of 

 Cook's visit formed the great turning-point in their history 



