MAAFU. 243 
ploit took place at Lomolomo. Two Fijian chiefs fight- 
ing against each other, Maafu’s assistance was solicited, 
and readily given to the weaker party, to which a Ton- 
guese teacher of Christianity was attached. After the 
stronger party had been defeated by the combined 
efforts of its Fijian and Tonguese opponents, the native 
conquerors found themselves so heavily indebted to 
their foreign ally, and so much in his power, that they 
became easy victims to his intrigues to usurp their au- 
thority altogether. Maafu never espoused a cause on 
its own merits. The principle upon which, in this in- 
stance, and in almost every other, he seems to have 
acted, was to assist the weaker party against the 
stronger, and after its defeat turn round upon his 
allies, with whose weaknesses he had become perfectly 
acquainted during their familiar intercourse.* The 
quarrel at Lomolomo made him master of the whole 
grouplet of Vanua Balavu, and having thus obtained a 
solid footing, his rise was rapid. lated with success, 
he used to challenge any chiefs to try their courage and 
skill in a canoe of equal size, and with an equal number 
of men to his own; but no one, not even Ratu Mara, 
justly looked upon as the most able sailor and comman- 
der of Fiji, could be induced to accept the challenge. 
The second opportunity that presented itself to Maafu 
for extending his power was offered by interfering at 
Matuka. There again two chiefs were quarrelling, and 
the party to which the Tonguese teacher belonged, was 
* Even in Tonga his conduct was identically the same. Compare 
Farmer’s detailed account of the rebellion in which he took part. ‘Tonga 
and the Friendly Islands,’ p. 398. 
R 2 
