.p.. Missionary labour*.— Featu of the 



TONGATABOO. 



Ucologic&l ilnjeture nf TnnR»- 

 Variation Cu Itlratiun. 



been in operation since 1032. Many of the women 

 can sew, and a great number of the natives hove 

 learned to read and write ; a few of them have 

 been taught the rules of arithmetic, and the prin- 

 cipled of geography. A very great improvement 

 has taken place in the morals of the Christian part 

 of the community ; but the attachment uf the 

 people to their ancient usages is so strong, and the 

 island so little visited by civilized nations, tlmt 

 tiny haw nui had that stimulus t<i improvement 

 which others have derived from such advantages. 



While I bear witness to the arduous labours 

 and well-conducted operations of these missionaries, 

 1 cannot help remarking that I was disappointed 

 in finding religious intolerance existing among 

 them. It was to be expected, that among a class 

 bo devoted, and undergoing so many privations, 

 dangers, atid sacrifices for the cause they are 

 engaged hi, charity would not have been wanting ; 

 and that they would have extended n fri- tidly 

 hand to nil, of whatever persuasion, who came 

 within their sphere of duty, especially those en- 

 gaged in similar duties with themselves ; but an 

 instance of intolerance came to my knowledge 

 hen?, that I regretted to hear of. On board " The 

 Currency Lass" were two Catholic missionaries, 

 who had fan in this small vessel of one hundred 

 and twenty tons for five months, and three weeks 

 of that time tiny were in this harbour, without 

 having received even an invitation to visit the 

 shore from the WVtdeyan missionaries, nor were 

 any civilities whatever oil', red or paid to them. 1 

 can easily conceive why objections should be made 

 to their preaching or remaining to propagate their 

 creed in a field that was already occupied ; hut to 

 withhold from them the common courtesies of life, 

 in the present state of the world, surprised me not 

 a little; atid I am satisfied that the example set in 

 this case by the missionaries has caused much 

 remark among the natives themselves upon this 

 want of hospitality. They cannot understand the 

 dogmas of the different seels of Christians, so that 

 they naturally look upon them all as missionaries of 

 this same faith, and cannot see why they should 

 treat each other with less courtesy than is extended 

 to those who are not missionaries. Their ideas of 

 enemies only extend to those who fight, which they 

 well know all missionaries refuse to dn. Wore 

 missionaries aware of the unfavourable impression 

 produced oil the minds of most of the natiies by 

 such intolerance, it would never be practised, parti- 

 cularly as it is calculated to excite prejudices bj 

 strangers who visit their different missiou stations, 

 which not unfrequrntly so blinds them that tiny 

 go away with unfavourable imprcasious. Every 

 endeavour is frequently made by those whites 

 iv ho are resident near them to store np and iv],iat 

 these facts, with exaggerations, which go far to 

 damp the ardour of those who are interested in 

 forwarding the great cause in w hich they are en- 

 gaged. For all these considerations, they ought to 

 avoid, by every means, falling short of that high- 

 minded liberality that is expected from them. 



The Tongeao are remarkable for their feals in 

 swimming, atid are very daring when sailing their 

 canoes. An instance was mid me that occurred in 

 18119, the year before our visit, which is looked 

 upon as a well-established fact in this group. Two 

 canoes left llapai for Vavao ; on their way, the 

 wind arose and blew a strong gale from the iiorth 



directly against them; one nf them was driven hack 

 and landed at Otalanga, an uninhabited island of 

 the group, occasionally visited by the natives, for 

 mi!.-, -lo-il-. li-h, &e. ; in the other ran*.,.- .in they 

 were taking in sail, a man fell overboard, and the 

 wind and sea being strong and high, it was found 

 impossible to stive him without risking the lives of 

 all on board, and he was given up; this was about 

 four o'clock, and the canoe was just in sight of 

 laud. The man aceordiugly turned his face towards 

 llapai, and resolved to reach it if possible; he 

 knew the wind was north, and directed his course 

 by feeling the whid in Ins right and left car, intend- 

 ing to swim before it; he continued swimming, mid 

 resting by floating upon the water, until the union 

 rose; lie then steered his course by that luminary, 

 and thus continued until morning, when he was 

 near land, and almost within reach of the coral 

 reef. When he had thus nearly escaped drowning, 

 tie was on the point of becoming the prey of a huge 

 shark, whose jaws he avoided by reaching the 

 coral shelf; he then landed upon the. island, which 

 proved to be Ofalanga, w here the first canoe had 

 been driven ; the crew found him on the beach 

 senseless, an-1 atr--in[eii |.> him: he -t.mn was brought 

 to, and shortly afterwards recovered his strength. 

 This man's name is Theophilus Tohu; he is a na- 

 tive of lluano on the island of llapai. The cams- 

 from which he was lost returned to lluano before 

 Theophilus did, and when he reached bis home, he 

 found his friends had passed through the usual 

 ceremonies of his funeral. 



The island of Tongataboo is of coral forunai-ti, 

 and with extensive coral reefs lo the northward of 

 it ; it has a shallow lagoon, which extends about 

 ten miles into the interior. The soil is deeper than 

 upon any inland of coral formation we have yet 

 viniied; it is m arly a dead h-vel, with the exception 

 of a few hillocks, thirty or forty feet high; the soil 

 is a rich and fertile vegetable mould, and it is not 

 composed of sand, as in the other coral islands. 

 The vegetation, probably for this reason, does not 

 altogether resemble thai found on those islands. 

 The luxuriance of the foliage is not surpassed. 

 .Some few specimen* of pumice have been found on 

 its shores, probably drifted there from the inland 

 of Tofooa, which is said to have an active volcano. 

 Tofooa is the highest island of the group, and next 

 in height is Kooa. There is a marked difference 

 in the appearance oT the islands of Eooa and Tonga; 

 on the former of which there is comparatively little 

 vegetation. 



< In Tonga, although the vegetation equals any 

 within the tropics, J was struck with the exag- 

 gerated accounts of the cultivation of ihe island; 

 for, so far from finding it a perfect garden, exhibit- 

 ing the greatest care in its cultivation, it now 

 appeared to he entirely neglected. The yam-grounds 

 are more in the interior of the island, and in conse- 

 quence of the war, there was no safety in passing 

 beyond tho limits of the party which possessed the 

 north part of the island, or that in the vicinity of 

 Nukualofa. 



The natives cultivate yams, sweet -potatoes, ba- 

 nanas, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, sugar cane, shaddock, 

 limes, and the li (spondias do lei*); the pan dan us is 

 much attended to, and is one of their mo&i useful 

 trees, and of it all their mats arc made ; a little 

 corn is grown, ami they have the papaw-applc 

 (paptiya), and water-melon. The missionaries 



