■JOO 



Uebdliou against T*noa. 



Tanon, Koniaivunmilavti, Mum, mid Danduu, of 

 Ambau, .NVioiidrakete, chief of Nikelo, mul Muso- 

 malun, of Vjwii. Tanoa, on being advised of this, 

 ttmk no means to frustrate their plans openly, but 

 appears to have U= > ■ 1 1 > Titeu "hat on his guard. 



It) tho third year of his reign, whilst on a visit 

 to Ovolan to attend to 1m plantation of yams, the 

 rebellion broke out, of which bo was noon advtecd, 

 and fled to finrn, where his enemies followed htm; 

 hut he continued his (light to Somu-somu, Use 

 people of which had been always his friends and 

 supporter*. I lore he found protection, his de- 

 fenders being too numerous for his enemies, Tho 

 conspirators tried, however, to urge upon the in the 

 propriety id giving up their king, saving that they 

 only desired lie should return and reign over them; 

 but the people of Soimi-sotnu deemed ibis too 

 shnllow a pretence to he listened to. After Tanoa's 

 expulsion, the rebels installed his brother Kornainn- 

 karinakula as King. Tanoa remained under the 

 protection of the chief of Somu-somu f<ir three 

 years, in gratitude for which he made over to him 

 all the windward inlands, viz, Lakeinba, Naiau, 

 \e. During all this period, Tnnoa was carrying on 

 a aurt of warfare against the re be In, with the aid of 

 the natives of the eastern group and l hose of Rewa, 

 who remained faithful to hint, encouraging them all 

 in his power, collecting his reve from the for- 

 mer, which he distributed bountifully nmung hia 

 adherents, and buying over others to bis interests. 



As Tanon was about to sail hir Lnkembn, word 

 was brought to him, that his nephew, called Nona, 

 residing on Naiau, a neighbouring island, had been 

 bribed by tho chiefs to put him to dentil, lie 

 therefore, on his way, stopped at Naiau, and when 

 Ilia nephew approached him under the guise of 

 friendship, Tanon at once caused him, with all his 

 family and adherents, to be seized and put to 



death. 



Tanoa, finding his strength increasing, concluded 

 lo prosecute the war with more activity. In order 

 to do so, after having first collected all his means, 

 he removed to Hewn, where he established him- 

 self, ami lo gon his secret intrigues to undermine 

 and dissipate his enemies' forces. Ho was so suc- 

 cessful in this, that in a short time he had gained 

 over all their allies, as well as the towns on the 

 main land or brge island in rh<- vicinity, and even 

 many of the chiefs at Ambau. The latter object 

 was effected through the influence of hi.- s'-u, Itatu 

 Seru, who had been suffered to nmaiu there during 

 the whole war, although not without frequent 

 attempts being made on his life, which he escaped 

 from through his unceasing vigilance and that 

 of his adherents. During the latter part of 

 the time, he waa constantly in communication 

 with his father, who kept him well supplied 

 with the articles in which the riches of rl;<- 

 natives consist : theso were liberally distributed 

 among the Lasikaus, or fishermen, and pained 

 the most of tins class over to his interests. 

 All things being arranged, on n certain day the 

 signal was given, mid most of the allies declared 

 for Tnnna. Whilst the rebel chiefs were in con- 

 sternation at this unexpected event, the Lasi leans 

 rime and attacked them, A severe contest ensued; 

 but it is said the fishermen, having built a wall 

 dividing their part of the town from that of the 

 Ambau people, set fire to their opponents" quarter, 

 I and reduced it to ashes. The latter Med for 



r :u_o to the main land, across tho shallow isth- 

 mus, but found themselves here opposed by the 

 king with his army, who slaughtered all those 

 w ho had escaped from Ambau. This done, Tanua 

 entered Ambau in triumph, and receiving the 

 submission of all tin? neighbouring towns, resumed 

 the government, after an absence of five years. 

 This recovery of his kingdom took place in 1/137. 

 Being thus re-established, Tanoa, in order cll'cc- 

 lualU to destroy his enemies, sent messages to 

 the different town-;, with presents, to induce the 

 inhabitants of the places whither the rebels had 

 fled to put them to death. In this he soon sue- 

 ncded, and their former friends were thus made 

 tho instruments of their punishment. Tanoa 

 having succeeded in establishing his rule, put a 

 stop to all further slaughter ; but all the prin- 

 cipal chiefs who had opposed him, except Maso- 

 mnlun, of Viwn, had been slain. Tanoa*s authority 

 was now acknowledged in all his former domi- 

 nions ; but this has not put an cud to the petty 

 wars. The three chief cities, Arnhnu, Tlewa, and 

 Naitasiri, are frequently at war, not withstanding 

 they are aJJ three closely connected by alliances 

 with each other. Hero, in fact, is the great seat 

 of power in the group, lliouudiit varies occasionally. 

 These three places form, as it were, a triangle, the 

 tt\-> former being on the north and south coasts, 

 while that of Naitasiri is situated iuland, on the 

 Wailevu, or Peale's river. These disturbances 

 most frequently oceur between Ambau and Rewa. 

 Tanoa takes no part in these contests, but when 

 he thinks the belligerents have fought long enough 

 he sends the Rewa people word to "come and beg 

 pardon," after the 1-Yejee custom, which they 

 invariably do, even though they may have been 

 victorious. 



Mr. Brackcnridge, our horticulturist, was soon 

 busily engaged in preparing the garden for our 

 seeds. I had been anxious that this should be 

 done as soon as possible, in order that we might 

 have a chance of seeing it in a prosperous state 

 before we left the island ; and I feel much in- 

 debted to him for the zeal he manifested. About 

 twciilt natives Mere employed in putting up the 

 fence, ihe chief having agreed with each of them 

 to make two fathoms of it. Some were employed 

 in clearing away the weeds, and others iu bringing 

 reeds and stakes down from the mountains. Mr. 

 Brackcnridge marked out the line for the fence, 

 but they could not be induced to follow it, or 

 observe any regularity, each individual making 

 his allotted part according to his own fancy; these 

 separate portions were afterwards joined together, 

 forming a zigzag work. The parts of the enclo- 

 sure were tied together by a species of doliehos, 

 crossed, braced, and wattled like basket -work, lite 

 whnle making a tight fence, which answered the 

 purpose well enough. 



I he digging of the ground was performed with 

 a long pointed pole, which they thrust into the 

 ground with both hands, and by swinging on the 

 upper end, they contrived to raise up large pieces 

 of the soil, which was quite hard. After this, two 

 sailors with spades smoothed it. The centre of the 

 garden had been a repository for their dead, where 

 many stones had once been placed, w hich had be- 

 come scattered. These the natives were told to 

 throw in a pile in the centre. They went on dig- 

 ging for sonic time, probably without an idea 



