T U T U I L A. 75 



The greatest restraint on the conduct of the chiefs, appears to be 

 the fear of losing the good name of their ancestors, and of not handing 

 it down to posterity pure and unspotted. This feeling seems to govern 

 their conduct, and from the information I received, may be made use 

 of as an appeal to them, to avoid doing evil, and to do right. 



The missionary, the Rev. Mr. Murray, deserves the greatest credit 

 for this state of things. He has unbounded influence over the natives, 

 and deserves it. The ten commandments are the common law of the 

 island, wherever Christianity has taken root, and any infringement of 

 them is surely punished ; — the guilty persons being put out of the 

 church, and denied the privilege of attending worship. They are 

 looked upon as having fallen, and are consequently avoided. This 

 fear of public ' opinion, I was informed, was found to be sufficient to 

 deter them from the commission of crimes and immoral practices. 



The tapa or rugs worn by distinguished chiefs, were preserved, and 

 were formerly much venerated by them. Since the introduction of 

 Christianity, however, such has been its influence that they will now 

 readily part with any thing of the kind. Pomale w 7 as induced to let 

 us have those in his possession, and also exchanged the " war spirit" 

 mat for a small present for his wife. 



On the 17th, our friend Toa gave us an invitation to visit him at 

 his town of Fungasar, on the north side of the island. It is situated 

 on the next bay to that now called Massacre Bay, where De Langle 

 was killed. The path across the island is a very difficult one to 

 travel ; it leads up through the valley, and across the dividing ridge, 

 which is quite precipitous. The rain which had fallen made it very 

 slippery, and the journey was fatiguing to those not accustomed to this 

 kind of walking. 



I was much struck here with the manliness and intelligence of the 

 natives, and with their frank open expression of countenance. The 

 colour of their complexion is rather darker than that of the natives 

 of Tahiti. The outlines of face and figure are very like those we had 

 left, their hair and eyes black, and their teeth good and white. Some 

 of them had frizzled hair, but it was generally straight. 



Just before arriving at the village, we were met by Toa, and some of 

 nis relations and attendants, who welcomed us to his village, saluting 

 me by rubbing his nose w 7 ith my hand ; this is the usual custom. 



He ordered a pig, taro, bread-fruit, &c, &c, for our entertainment. 

 These were cooked in the universal Polynesian mode, by being 

 covered up in a hole with hot stones. We were soon told that the 

 feast was ready, but having had some experience of their cooking, we 



