TONGATABU. 109 



not exhibit to us anything approaching to a smile. We 

 communicated with him through an EngUshmau, named 

 Moss, who is his interpreter and private secretary. We 

 were offered a glass of wine which we declined. After 

 having thus paid our respects to the King we asked his per- 

 mission to make a tour in liis domains. He replied that he 

 had great pleasure in granting it, and we retired from the 

 royal presence. 



We crossed through the village by the principal street, 

 which was filled with natives. The houses, oblong in shape 

 instead of round as at Samoa, are for the most part sur- 

 rounded by a small inclosure shut in by the usual fences 

 made of cocoa-nut leaves, and are shaded by bread-fruit 

 and other varieties of trees. We went to the public school, 

 then to the college, which is called ' The Institution,' situated 

 behind the former on the same grass-plot. There we met 

 with the two Weslej-an missionaries with their children, 

 who were waiting to show us over their establishments. 

 The public school was empty ; as in those I had already 

 seen, it was void of benches or desks, the scholars being 

 in the habit of sitting on mats. The Institution, which 

 is intended for training masters and mistresses, who must 

 pass an examination before they are qualified to teach, con- 

 sists of twenty small houses built in two lines parallel Avith 

 each other, with a broad road running between ihem. 

 These houses or huts are covered with sugar-cane leaves, 

 and are divided into three compartments, by the usual cocoa- 

 mit-leaf partitions ; one of them serving as a bed-room, 



