104 THE CRUISE OF THE ' CUBAQOA.' 



CHArTEIi VI. 



TONOATABU— TONGA r77?ODT— oontimu-d. 



(July 17 to 2i.) 



\iiniei'oiis Islands — Volcano of Latte — First Trip on Shove — Royal Palace — 

 Schools — Muscular Christianity — The Wesleyan Mission and its Chapel — 

 Captain Croker and the Siege of Bea — Msit to King George — The King's 

 Eeturn-visit — His Majesty dines on Board — Fear of tlie French — A. Dinner 

 at the King's — Catholic Missionaries — Council House — The Kava-ring — 

 Public School Examinations — Xative Diversions — Reniarliable Monument^ 

 The Island and its Productions^Cliniate — Malndii'S — Populalion — The Race 

 and its Customs — Christianity and its Effects — Relations of the Tongans with 

 the Fijians — Governnieut and Constitution. 



().\ July 15, at seven o'clock .\.Ji., we left the deep watens 

 of the port of Vtivau, and steamed towards Tongatabu. 

 We took what is called the passage of the ' Astrolabe,' and 

 saw a number of islands which, though Ij'ing low, that is to 

 say, not more than from five to ten feet above the level of the 

 sea, presented a very pleasing appearance by their verdure, 

 and their trees growing down to the water's edge, The 

 smallest are of a roundish form, but the largest are oblong. 

 Pretty bays gracefully indent their coasts ; the soil of all of 

 tliem appeared to me to be volcanic. On our starboard 

 side, but at a distance from us, rose the volcanic cone of 

 the little isle of Latte, from which a Avhitish smoke issued. 

 In tlic afternoon we sighted the low isles of the Ilapai 

 grouj) ; towards evening our soundings showed onl_y ten 



