8 TONGA TABOO. 
shaped somewhat like that used by stone-cutters ; it gives a sound not 
unlike a distant gong, and it is said may be heard from seven to ten 
miles. 
From the top of this hill (sixty feet high, and the most elevated 
point on the island) there is an extensive view, over the island on one 
hand, and on the other over the encircling reefs and the deep blue sea. 
I felt familiar with the scenes around me, from the description I had 
often read in Mariner’s Tonga Islands, and feel great pleasure in con- 
firming the admirable and accurate description there given. The 
names we heard were familiar to us, and we found, through the natives 
and missionaries, that many of the descendants of the persons of whom 
he speaks were present. 
I was within the fortification of Nukualofa, the scene of many of . 
the exploits which Mariner relates. I was now surrounded by large 
numbers of warriors, all grotesquely dressed and ready for the fight, 
with clubs, spears, and muskets. In addition to the usual tapa around 
their waist, they had yellow and straw-coloured ribands, made of the 
pandanus-leaves, tied around their arms above the elbows, on their 
legs above and below the knees, and on their bodies: some had them 
tied and gathered up in knots; others wore them as scarfs—some on 
the right shoulder, some on the left, and others on both shoulders. 
Some of these sashes were beautifully white, about three inches wide, 
and quite pliable. Many of them had fanciful head-dresses, some with 
natural and others with artificial flowers over their turbans (called 
sala); and nearly all had their faces painted in the most grotesque 
manner, with red, yellow, white, and black stripes, crossing the face 
in all directions. Some were seen with a jet black face and vermilion 
nose; others with half the face painted white. Whena body of some 
eight hundred of these dark-looking, well-formed warriors, all eager 
for the fight, and going to and fro to join their several companies, is 
seen, it is hardly possible to describe the effect. The scene was novel 
in the extreme, and entirely unexpected, for I considered that we were 
on a mission of peace. A few minutes’ conversation with Mr. Tucker 
accounted for it all. The evening before, the “Devil’s” party, it 
appeared, had attacked their yam-grounds ; some of the natives were 
wounded on both sides; and great fear had been entertained that they 
would have followed up their attack even to the town of Nukualofa; 
most of the warriors had, therefore, been under arms the whole night. 
We were led through all this confusion to the small hut of 'Tubou 
or King Josiah: here we were presented to his majesty, with whom 
I shook hands. He was sitting on a mat winding a ball of sennit, 
which he had been making, and at which occupation he continued for 
