History of Rewn FEEJEE GROUP. Character ofl'hillliia, 



22f) 



should recover, particularly those wbp had advised 

 and wished to uphold Koraitamaiio/. The u.uccn 

 becoming aware oi' their hesitation, on the following 

 morning took some whales' teeth and other valu- 

 ables, anil presented them herself to the chiefs, 

 saying they were sent by the kinj; to purchase the 

 death of his son. Fearing to hold out any longer, 

 tiny went tu Koraiiamano and announced to hint 

 the fatal mandate, and lie was immediately killed. 

 They tlien proceeded to the king's house to report 

 that the deed was done, and on approaching the 

 emieh of the king, the putrescent odour which pro- 

 ceeded from the corpse at once disclosed to them 

 the deception that had been practised. It was, 

 however, too hit.? lo amend the matter, and Mado- 

 novi, the eldest sj<ii of the queen, now succeeded his 

 father without opposition, One of the first acts of 

 Madunovi was to huild an mbure over the spot 

 where his father was murdered. His succession 

 deprived Seru and Thukanautn (Phillips) of their 

 right to the throne, and of course excited their 

 hostility to the reigning chief, who was by no means 

 so popular as his father, and did not govern to the 

 satisfaction of his subjects. Seru, who was the 

 oldest of the two malcontents, was a very tall and 

 remarkably handsome man, and had great influence 

 among the people, which excited the jealousy of the 

 king. Such was his strength that it is said be 

 could knock down a full grown hog by a blow on 

 the forehead, and would break a cocoa-nut by 

 striking it on his elbow. 



Mutual words of defiance had passed between 

 the two brothers, and they were living in daily 

 expectation of some encounter that would bring on 

 serious disturbances. During the height of this 

 feeling, they met mi the road, where the scene 

 that was enacted was quite remarkable, and the 

 narration of it by Phillip* equally so. 



Situ had one uf the short missile clubs (uln) in 

 his girdle, which Feejee men usually wear stuck 

 in behind. As Madonovi approached, Seru placed 

 his back against the fence, without any design. 

 The king had three shaddocks (mulitivi) in his 

 hand, of which, as In- came up to Seru, he held 

 one up and called out in sport, that he meant to 

 throw it at him. The thought then came into 

 Sena's mind that if the king threw and hit him he 

 would let him pass, but that if he missed he would 

 take the opportunity to put him to death, lie, 

 therefore, replied to his In-other in the same jocose 

 maimer, " Throw, but if you miss, I'll try." The 

 king threw, but missed. He then drew nearer, 

 and holding up another of the shaddocks, cried 

 out, "This time 1 will hit yon." To which Sent 

 replied, " Take care ; if you miss, then I'll try." 

 The king threw again, but Seru, by a quick move- 

 ment, avoided the missile. Madotiovi then nd- 

 vanced to within two or three yards of Seru, 

 saving. " This lime I think 1 shall bit you." Seru 

 mode himself ready to avoid it, and w ith his hands 

 behind him, said, " If you iniss, then 1 take my 

 turn." The king threw the third time and missed, 

 fur Seru stooped, and the shaddock posted over 

 bis shoulder. Seru then drew himself up, nourished 

 his club in the air, and exclaimed in tones of 

 exulting mockery, * Aha, I think you did not eee 

 this !" With thai he buried his weapon with so 

 deadly mi aim tiiat it crushed the skull uf the king, 

 and killed him on the spot. 



As soon as this event became known, the queen 



with her other sons fled to Ambau, leaving the 

 supreme power in the hands of Seru, who, how- 

 ever, did not take the title of Ndraketi, but adopted 

 that of Tin Sawau, after the chief town of Mbcnga, 

 on which he had made war and captured, and by 

 which title be was thenceforth known, lie was 

 not, however, long left U> enjoy bin authority. The 

 exiled family made several unsuccessful attempts 

 to destroy him, and at last induced Vendovi, by a 

 large bribe, to undertake bis destnieti-n. Vendovi 

 managed to get to Uewa unobserved, and looking 

 in at the door of Thnkannulo's house, saw Tui 

 Sa wan lying on his mat eating, lie immediately 

 levelled his musket and shot him. Four balls 

 passed through his breast, but such was the 

 strength of his constitution, that he survived for 

 night days. This occurred in the year 18Y7. 



When it became known at Ambau that this fra- 

 tricide had been committed, the queen ami lor 

 sons returned to Kewa, and Kania assumed the 

 d ir ection of the government, to the exclusion of 

 Thokatinuto. 



The character of Phillips, w ho calls himself the 

 white man's friend, is rather equivocal. He is 

 said while young tu have been fed mostly on 

 human flesh. When I saw him on board my ship 

 at Levuka, I told him I had heard that he Jiked 

 tliis food, and I thought that he showed much 

 shame at being considered a cannibal by us. His 

 youthful practices, which he told as though some 

 credit were due to himself for a change in his 

 latter conduct, will tend to show how early these 

 natives employ themselves in indicting pain on 

 each other. One of these was to set a sharp- 

 pointed stick in the ground, cover it with earth, 

 and then challenge another boy to jump with him. 

 He would then leap in such a manner that the boy 

 on following bis example would alight upon the 

 pointed stick, and run it through his foot. He is 

 said also to be frequently employed by the king as 

 an instrument of his vengeonee. The missionaries 

 relate that be was etiee sent to kill a native by the 

 kind's order, upon which he went to the person's 

 house, and told him that "The king has sent mo 

 to kill you;" to which he replied, u It is good only 

 that I should die." Phillips struck, lint only 

 stunned hiin, after which he returned, and told 

 the king he had not succeeded in killing him. 

 When ihc man recovered, Phillips was again sent 

 back, and succeeded in giving him his deathblow, 

 which he rec-ived with ihe same resignation as 

 [ before. Notwithstanding his bad traits, he is cer- 

 tainly one of the most intelligent natives that I 

 have" met with in all Polynesia. He possesses 

 much iut'."i-maii..ii respecting his own people, and 

 would, if the king allowed it, be the means of 

 effecting runny improvements. He has already 

 introduced some into his own establishment, and 

 is very desirous of learning, hut he unfortunately 

 has not sufficient knowledge to distinguish bet ween 

 good and evil. He visits all the vcsscIb that touch 

 at this group, and soys that he passes most of his 

 time on board of them. He produces many re- 

 commendations from their commanders, which, 

 besides recommending him. give the very salutary 

 precaution of always being on their guard while 

 among these natives. 



The prisoners on board the Peacock were early 

 in motion on the following morning, looking anxi- 

 ous!) f*-r the return of Nganmingiou; and many 



