14 



TONGATABOO. 



which leaves its larvse on the fruit, and causes it to fail before it 

 reaches maturity. They are obliged to pull all their fruits before 

 they are ripe, in consequence of their liability to destruction by the 

 ants, if left to ripen on the tree. 



The houses of King Josiah's or Tubou's town are mostly within 

 the fortress; this is a high mud wall or embankment, on the top 

 of which is a wicker-work fence; on the outside of the wall is a 

 ditch, twelve feet wide by five feet deep. There are three principal 

 gateways, which are very narrow entrances, formed by thick cocoa- 

 nut posts, set firmly and closely in the ground, admitting only two 

 persons at a time; these entrances are about fifteen feet long, and in 

 order to secure them against an attack, they are so arranged as to be 

 filled up with earth; they have likewise a number of hollow logs 

 buried in the wall, and set obliquely, serving as loop-holes, through 

 which they may have a cross-fire at their enemies as they approach. 

 These loop-holes can only be used for muskets, and have been intro- 

 duced since the natives began to use fire-arms, or since the time of 

 Mariner, for he makes no mention of them in describing the fortresses. 



