337 
THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
with his father; an honour he had not, as yet, been admit¬ 
ted to. 
We arrived at Mooa about eight o’clock, and found the 
king, with a large circle of attendants fitting before him, 
within an inclofure fo fmall and dirty, as to excite my 
wonder that any fuch could be found in that neighbour¬ 
hood. They were intent upon their ufual morning occu¬ 
pation-, in preparing a bowl of kava. As this was no li¬ 
quor for us, we walked out to vifit fome of our friends, 
and to obferve what preparations might be making for the 
ceremony, which w r as foon to begin. About ten o’clock, 
the people began to affemble in a large area, which is be¬ 
fore the malaee , or great houfe, to which we had been con¬ 
duced the firft time we vifited Mooa. At the end of a 
road, that opens into this area, flood fome men with fpears 
and clubs, who kept conflantly reciting, or chanting, fhort 
fentences, in a mournful tone, which conveyed fome idea 
of diflrefs, and as if they called for fomething. This was 
continued about an hour; and, in the mean time, many 
people came down the road, each of them bringing a yam, 
tied to the middle of a pole, which they laid down, be¬ 
fore the perfons who continued repeating the fentences. 
While this was going on, the king and prince arrived, and 
feated themfelves upon the area; and we were defired to 
lit dowm by them, but to pull off our hats, and to untie our 
hair. The bearers of the yams being all come in, each 
pole was taken up between two men, who carried it over 
their fhoulders. After forming themfelves into companies, 
of ten or twelve perfons each, they marched acrofs the 
place, with a quick pace; each company, headed by a man 
bearing a club or lpear, and guarded, on the right, by feve-: 
ral others, armed with different weapons. A man carrying 
i ol, I. Xx a living 
