An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands/Introduction
INTRODUCTION.
The cluster of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, whose inhabitants constitute the subject of the present work, is that to which Captain Cook gave the epithet "Friendly:" his chart of the Friendly[1] Islands however does not include Vavaoo, which he did not visit; and as this island is the largest, and now comparatively the most important of all those belonging to the same archipelago, which, in his time, were under the same government, and still speak precisely the same language, and follow the same customs, we have thought it expedient to denote them all by one common name, which the natives themselves give them, viz. "Tonga" or, the Tonga Islands[2].
As I presume it would be unnecessary to offer any apologies for presenting to the public the following account of a people, of whose government, religion, customs, and language, so little has hitherto been published[3], I shall proceed at once to give a simple statement of the circumstances which first gave rise to it, and the authority under which it has been conducted.
In the year 1811 I accidentally heard that Mr. William Mariner, the bearer of a letter from the East Indies to one of my connections in London, had been a resident at the Friendly Islands during the space of four years; and, my curiosity being strongly excited, I solicited his acquaintance. In the course of three or four interviews I discovered, with much satisfaction, that the information he was able to communicate respecting the people with whom he had been so long and so intimately associated was very far superior to any thing that had yet appeared before the public. His answers to several inquiries, regarding their religion, government, and habits of life, were given with that kind of unassuming confidence which bespeaks a thorough intimacy with the subject, and carries with it the conviction of truth:—in fact, having been thrown upon those islands at an early age, his young and flexible mind had so accorded itself with the habits and circumstances of the natives, that he could not feel any disposition to overrate or embellish what to him was neither strange nor new. To my inquiries respecting his intentions of publishing, he replied, that having necessarily been, for several years, out of the habit either of writing or reading, or of that turn of thinking requisite for composition and arrangement, he was apprehensive his endeavours would fail in doing that justice to the work which I seemed to think its importance demanded: he modestly proposed, however, to submit the subject to my consideration for a future opportunity. In the mean while circumstances called him away to the West Indies: on his return he brought me memoranda of the principal events at the Tonga islands, in the order in which they had happened during his residence there, together with a description of the most important religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of about four or five hundred words. The inspection of these materials served greatly to increase the interest which I had already taken in the matter, and I urged the necessity of committing the whole to paper while every thing remained fresh in his memory. To facilitate this object, I proposed to undertake the composition and arrangement of the intended work, whilst Mr. Mariner should direct his view solely to noting down all that he had seen and heard as his memory might spontaneously furnish it, in order that these materials might afterwards be made, from time to time, subjects of conversation, strict scrutiny, amplification, arrangement and composition. Not one of the ensuing pages has therefore been written without Mr. Mariner's presence, that he might be consulted in regard to every little circumstance or observation that could in the smallest degree affect the truth of the subject under consideration: and, in this way, it is presumed that a great deal more useful and interesting matter has been elicited than would, probably have occurred to him through the medium of his own unassisted reflections; for conversation calls to mind many things that would otherwise have escaped the memory, it constantly demands elucidations; one idea gives birth to another, until the whole subject lies completely unfolded to the mind.
With regard to arrangement: in the first place is related an account of the voyage of the Port au Prince, it being esteemed sufficiently interesting, as it involves a combination of untoward circumstances that led ultimately to the destruction of the ship: the whole of this has been faithfully composed from a journal kept by Mr. Mariner on board. Next follows a narrative, or rather, as it may be termed, a historical account, of all the important and interesting events that occurred during his stay at the Tonga Islands; not merely as they regarded himself, but with an aspect to the different changes, religious and political, since they affected, in a most important manner, the situation of public affairs: and that this portion of the work may be better understood, a comparison is drawn between the state of these islands upon Mr. Mariner's arrival, and that in which Captain Cook had previously found them; in doing which the revolution of Tonga[4], and other important and highly interesting events which had taken place in the mean while, are given according to the account of the principal natives of divers parties, who had been eye-witnesses. The narration of events being brought down to the period of Mr. Mariner's fortunate escape[5], the remainder of the work furnishes a more intimate detail of the state of society in regard to rank and professions; their religious and political government; the names and attributes of their principal gods; their notions of the human soul, and of a future state of existence; an investigation of their moral principles, and of their state of morals; a description of their most important religious ceremonies; an account of the healing art, with a detail of some important surgical operations practised by them; a description of their principal manufactures; their games and amusements; music, songs, &c.; and, lastly, a grammar of their language, and a vocabulary to the extent of above two thousand genuine Tonga words.
As it will, no doubt, be satisfactory to the reader to know how the rules and idioms of this heretofore unwritten language have been investigated, it is proper to state that Mr. Mariner carefully selected out of an English dictionary all those words to which he could find appropriate Tonga words, or well adapted phrases; and having myself assiduously attended to the elementary sounds of the language, and determined upon a plan of orthography, I undertook the charge of arranging all the Tonga words alphabetically, by which means my ear and eye became accustomed to them, and several were stored up in my memory. In the mean while Mr. Mariner wrote down several dialogues and popular tales in the Tonga language; and I afterwards exercised myself, with his assistance, and that of the vocabulary, in making literal translations to them, and thus became acquainted, more or less, with the idiom; and, at the same time, I had the opportunity of furnishing the Tonga part, of the vocabulary, from the dialogues and tales, with other words. In the next place, having written down sundry examples in English, illustrative of every part of speech, in a variety of forms, and upon a variety of subjects, I gave them to Mr. Mariner to translate into Tonga, according to the strict idiom of that language: by this method we began to perceive what could be translated, and what could not; we discovered where the Tonga language was poor in expression, and where it was more richly endowed; what were the fundamental principles of construction, and what the particular idioms and exceptions to the general rules:—and thus proceeding, step by step, the character and genius of the language were unfolded; and, at length, we arrived at that degree of theoretical knowledge of the structure of it which is now, for the first time, presented to the public.
Every attempt to afford accurate information respecting the manners, customs, and sentiments of any portion of the human species, cannot but be considered, in these enlightened days, at least a laudable undertaking; but to bestow much time and pains upon an investigation of the principles of a barbarous language, like the one in question, will, no doubt, in the eyes of many persons, appear more curious than useful; and how far such a view of the subject may be correct, every reader will judge for himself; to me it appears almost as great a deficiency in the history of a nation to overlook the structure of its language, as to neglect any portion of its moral or political character. In taking, for example, the Tonga people, Mr. Mariner could only arrive at a thorough knowledge of their religious, political, and moral character, and the spirit of their religious and political sentiments, through the medium of their language, for all accounts that had been given of them were little better than bare descriptions of outside appearances, every thing else, for want of this same medium, being founded in mere conjecture: so it is easy for a traveller to give an accurate description of the outside of a building, to which he has no admittance, and make some rude guess as to its interior form; but the object of the present work is chiefly to describe the inside of this structure, that the reader may see the form, dimensions, ornaments, and general merit of its various passages and apartments, to which the Tonga language is in this instance the master-key, and is here offered to all whom accident or design may lead to the same spot, that they may make the same researches in much less time, and with much less hazard and difficulty, than it originally cost the first investigator: and it certainly must be considered some proof of the uprightness of Mr. Mariner's intentions, and of his consciousness of the accuracy of his details, that he readily consents to put into the hands of others the easiest method in his power of satisfying themselves of the truth of what is told them.
There are other points of view, in which, I think, the importance of this subject may be seen: a knowledge of the language helps to throw a considerable light in the path of those who choose to investigate the origin of the people, or how far they may be related to other nations of the same immense ocean. In regard to the philologist, it will help his inquiries into the theory of human language generally; and in respect of the metaphysician, he will not be displeased if we offer to his notice the structure of a language which has advanced in its progress up to the present time, among a people who have no conception of any method of noting down their ideas, and yet pride themselves upon the uniform accuracy with which they speak and pronounce their language. There is, moreover, another class of readers, who will by no means regret that this subject has been thus far investigated; I mean those who take a laudable pleasure in looking forward to the civilization and religious instruction of savage nations, to effect which in the most rational manner is certainly to speak to them in their own language[6];—and to construct a dictionary and grammar of it, and teach them to read it, is to do more for them than themselves could effect in many centuries. Lastly, I must beg leave to observe that it is not every European, whom accident or design may station in those islands for a few years, that can learn their language with accuracy; for the idiom is so different from our civilized and more artificial forms of speech, that it must be chiefly young persons, with minds very susceptible of the impressions of spoken language, and of the gestures accompanying it, that can readily accomplish this object without the assistance of an interpreter:—and as Mr. Mariner had acquired this under circumstances peculiarly favourable, it appeared to me paramount to a duty to use those means that lay in my power to prevent all that he had learnt in this respect from sinking for ever into oblivion.
As it is a matter of the highest importance that Mr. Mariner^s qualifications as a narrator of what he had seen and heard should be known to the public, in order that a proper judgment may be formed of the degree of credit to be attached to the present volumes, I shall here give a short account of his education and of his habits, as far as they may bear more or less upon the subject in question.
His father, Mr. Magnus Mariner, who is still living[7], was formerly the owner of a hired armed vessel, of which he was also the commander, and served in this capacity under Lord Cornwallis, in the American war. About that period, having sustained some severe losses in the American trade, he returned to England, married, and resided in London. He has had several children, the second of whom is William, the subject of our present memoir, who was born at Highbury Place, Islington, September 10, 1791. At an early age his father sent him to Mr. Mitchel's Academy, at Ware, in Hertfordshire. After remaining there five or six years, with the exception of the vacations, he returned home at the age of thirteen, in consequence of the death of Mr. Mitchel. The advantages he had already derived from his education were considerable: besides the common acquisitions of reading, writing, and arithmetic, he had made much progress in his knowledge of history, geography, and the French language, and also some advance in the first rudiments of the Latin. His father being of opinion that his education was already sufficient for the line of life he meant him to pursue, i. e. the sea, resolved to keep him at home till something suitable and advantageous should offer. William, however, was not very anxious for a mere maritime life, and his mother being wholly averse to it, his father was at length dissuaded from his intention, and placed him in the office of a friend of his, Mr. Harrison[8], a respectable attorney, with whom he was to remain a few months previous to articles being signed. Six weeks had scarcely elapsed before an event happened, which, though trifling enough in itself, served to make a complete change in his future prospects.
Captain Duck, who had formerly served his apprenticeship to William's father, was about to sail in the Port au Prince private ship of war[9], belonging to Mr. Robert Bent[10], of London. This vessel had a twofold commission; if not very successful in her cruize for prizes within certain latitudes, she was to double Cape Horn, and proceed into the Pacific Ocean in search of whales. Captain Duck before his departure came to take leave of William's father: after dinner, the conversation naturally turned upon the ensuing voyage, when Captain Duck, who was a man of very sanguine expectations, spoke with great confidence of speedy success and an early return, and gave such flattering descriptions of that mode of life, that William was quickly possessed with the strongest desire to accompany him. Captain Duck offered him the greatest encouragements, and the consent of his father being obtained, he took him on board in a few days, under his immediate protection. The events of the voyage, and other particulars subsequent thereto, will be seen hereafter. During that time he acted in the capacity of captain's clerk, which though not an usual office on board a privateer, he chose for the sake of employment.
Such simply is an account of his education, and of those early circumstances which laid the groundwork for future and more extraordinary events. With respect to his character, I may from good authority give some account of him while yet at school[11]. At this early period he shewed evident proofs of a mind very susceptible of external impressions, disposed to activity and fond of information; whilst from his habits and sentiments one would suppose him fitted for a life of change and adventure. He was fond of books of travels, and he used often to say how much he should like to live among savages and meet with strange occurrences; a disposition not uncommon among some young minds, but which those who are fond of presentiments will readily account for, in their own way. His sports and amusements were frequently those of an active, adventurous, and sometimes of a daring kind. With respect to the dispositions of his heart, suffice it to say, they are such as do him much honour.
The subsequent events of his life have made a considerable change in his personal character and external habits, insomuch that I have heard it observed by those of his friends who knew him formerly, that they could scarcely recognise him to be the same person. His love of adventure has changed into a sedateness of character and disposition to rest and quiet, which may easily be conceived to arise from disappointments, and unexpected hardships and dangers, experienced at too early a period of life. He is rather taciturn than loquacious, and under ordinary circumstances much more inclined to speak of the events of his life as common occurrences than as interesting anecdotes, which happens no doubt from his early, frequent, and familiar intimacy with unusual situations; when, however, he is animated with social converse, he furnishes descriptions that are very interesting and natural. His memory is very retentive, and his account of things is exceedingly correct and uniform: of this I have had numberless proofs, and one in particular I shall mention. I happened to mislay the English version which he had written out at his leisure, of the speech of Finow the king on first coming into power: after the lapse of a few weeks, not finding it, I was under the necessity of requesting him to write another, which he did in the same method as before, by calling to his mind the original Tonga in which it was spoken. Sometime afterwards I found the first, and was much pleased to discover so little difference between them, that they appeared almost like copies, which sufficiently evinced the correctness with which he remembered the original Tonga, and at the same time furnished an instance of the characteristic uniformity of his expression in his own language. Two or three months afterwards I reminded him of the propriety of writing down in the Tonga language all that he knew of their popular tales, speeches, songs, &c. while they were fresh in his memory; he did so, and at a subsequent period when the dictionary of the language was in a state of forwardness, I translated them literally with his occasional assistance, and had a new proof of the correctness, as to sense, of what he had before given me of Finow's speech, the English copies of which I had all along kept in my possession. As a retentive memory was a quality particularly essential to Mr. Mariner, under the circumstances in which he was placed, it is worth mentioning, that even when I became first acquainted with him he was able to read and translate French with considerable ease and fluency, although he had scarcely seen a French book, or spoken French since he had left school, a period of nearly eight years, during four of which he had resided among an uncivilized people, and had been constantly practising their language. But, however excellent may be his memory, it would avail but little, if he had only seen a great deal without noticing much; I am very happy therefore to have it in my power to give some decided proofs that he possesses also that very valuable quality in a traveller, a spirit of observation.
Early in the month of May last, "Campbell's Voyage round the World" was published at Edinburgh, a considerable portion of which work is occupied in describing the manners and customs of the Sandwich islands, where the author resided about thirteen months. At the period of this publication, the greater part of the following sheets was already printed off, at least as far as the grammar. On perusing Mr. Campbell's interesting book, I was not a little gratified to find confirmations of some things related by Mr. Mariner respecting those islands, which as he had only been there about three weeks, furnished me with additional proofs, if more were wanting, of his scrupulous accuracy and attention. Having put the book into his hands to peruse, he soon returned it to me, with the substance of the following observations: from which it will appear, that notwithstanding his short stay at those islands, he had made good use of his time, and that afterwards he did not neglect to obtain confirmations of what he had learnt, and farther information from a few natives of the Sandwich islands who were with him at Tonga; insomuch that he is enabled to state some things in the way of explanation which the before-mentioned work does not contain. I shall mention the different subjects in the order in which they occur in Mr. Campbell's book, paging them accordingly; and if that author, or his editor, Mr. Smith, sees any thing in Mr. Mariner's statements which he knows or believes to be incorrect, he will perhaps take an opportunity of stating his objections.
Page 123. The chief named "Crymakoo" Mr. Mariner was very well acquainted with: his name, as pronounced by some of the natives, is Cáramacoớ. The reason of the indecision in regard to the pronunciation of Sandwich island words will be given below.
P. 126. "Provisions were abundant" at Mowee, "and much cheaper than either at Owhyhee or Wahoo:" this, Mr. Mariner was informed, was occasioned by that island being much less frequented with shipping, and because few great chiefs lived there.
P. 128. It is "a great object of ambition among the higher ranks to have white people to reside with them." The king very strongly solicited Mr. Mariner to remain with him and be his secretary.
P. 140. The author, in this page, speaks of the narrow-minded principle of the white residents, who would not teach the natives how to read or to make looms, under the idea of losing their esteem by rendering themselves less necessary to them. Mr. Mariner had often occasion to remark the truth of this, and several times heard this maxim of the white people, "not to teach the natives more than was sufficient to gain themselves a good footing."
P. 142. The chief here called "Terremytee" Mr. Mariner was also well acquainted with: his name, according to our system of orthography, (see the grammar), is Térremyty'; the two ys being pronounced like our i in kite, sight; but the first is light and the last heavy.
P. 146. William Stevenson here mentioned was the father of the child whom the Port au Prince brought to the Tonga islands, and of whom an account is given in the present work. Vol. II. p. 72.
P. 149. Captain Vancouver's promise to the king of the Sandwich islands is here noticed: Mr. Mariner several times heard the king speak of it, and always in a way that shewed he had placed much confidence in it. The king's name, here spelt "Tamaahmaah," is pronounced by Mr. Mariner, and is expressed by our orthography Támmeahméha; the first aspirate following the a and the latter preceding it. The editor, Mr. Smith, in note, p. 210, remarks the different modes of spelling and pronouncing this name, employed by different travellers, and that the C and the T are scarcely to be distinguished in the pronunciation of the language. The fact is, there are few of the natives but who have lost some of their front teeth, owing to an absurd custom of knocking them out as a sacrifice, for much the same purpose as the Tonga people cut off their little fingers: the consequence is, that their pronunciation, to the ears of a foreigner, is exceedingly indistinct: they often confound the r and the l, possibly from this cause; but their indiscriminate use of the hard c, and the t, Mr. Mariner is convinced, arises from this source; for instance, their word for "England" and for "country foreign," as given by Mr. Campbell, is "Kaheite," or "Caheite;" but which properly should be Taheite, and is taken from the island of that name, which we call Otaheite; and why this word Taheite has been adopted to designate foreign countries generally, and England particularly, I conceive to be because Captain Cook and his people were the first strangers, and consequently the first Englishmen they recollect to have seen, and who had come lately from Otaheite: hence, Taheite (or Caheite, as they who are too sensible of the inconvenience of wanting teeth call it), very naturally at first signified the land whence Englishmen come; but at length, understanding there were many other countries in the world, they adopted this word as a general name for any foreign land. The more proper word for England, which the best informed among them use, is Pritánë from Britain. The phrase which Mr. Campbell uses for an Otaheitan is "Kanaka boolla-boolla," which should be properly Tanata Bola-bola, and does not signify literally a man of Otaheite, but a man of Bola-bola, which is the last of the Society islands which Captain Cook had left when he discovered the Sandwich islands. Mr. Campbell, in another place, instead of using as above the word kanaka, to signify a man, adopts the proper term tanata', and which is very similar to the Tonga word for man, viz. Tangata. It is well to mention that Otaheite is also called by the Tonga people Taheite.
P. 156. Boyd, the white resident, noticed as being inspector of the native shipwrights, had the same occupation even in Mr. Mariner's time, (1806). The purchase of the Lilly-bird, here mentioned, he also heard the particulars of: the white residents called her the Lady-bird. Besides the schooner, the king gave the American captain 4000 dollars, and a number of hogs, in exchange for her. When Mr. Mariner saw her, she was being coppered, under the direction of Boyd. The king said that he should invade Atooi as soon as she should be ready for sea.
P. 157. Clerk, captain of the king's packet, and Hairbottle, captain of the Lilly-bird, Mr. Mariner also knew very well. The latter very often acted as pilot; he might also be called harbour-master to the king. He is mentioned in the second volume of the present work, p. 62.
P. 162. The author here mentions the laborious method of cultivating taro, and states, that even the king sometimes assisted in it, but why he could not conjecture, unless to set an example of industry to his people, but which, he acknowledges, they scarcely seem to want. Mr. Mariner was informed that other great chiefs as well as the king often assisted at this, and all kinds of laborious exercise, to render the body active, strong, and capable of enduring hardships.
P. 165. The number of white people on Wahoo is here stated to be nearly sixty: in Mr. Mariner's time they were counted at ninety-four.
P. 166. The author speaks of the drunkenness of the white people. Mr. Mariner observes that the natives also are strongly addicted to the same vice, when they can get the liquor, but that the king, to prevent such excesses, allowed of no stills but what were under the inspection of his officers, and that all spirit distilled was his property, which he sold or gave as favour or reward to whom he chose.
P. 167. The author here says, "There were no missionaries upon the island during the time I remained in it, at which I was often much surprised." Neither were there any in Mr. Mariner's time, and when the king was questioned upon the subject of Christianity, this was his remarkable reply: "I should be afraid to adopt so dangerous an expedient as Christianity; for I think no Christian king can govern in the absolute manner in which I do, and yet be loved by his subjects as I am by mine: such a religion might perhaps answer very well in the course of a few generations; but what chief would sanction it in the beginning, with the risk of its subverting his own power, and involving the islands in war? I have made a fixed determination not to suffer it." This declaration was made in the cabin of the Port au Prince, Mr. Mariner being present; Isaac Davis, one of the white residents, was the translator. Mr. Mariner is convinced that Davis gave a faithful representation of the sentiments of the king; for although the latter does not speak English, he often seems to understand what is spoken in that language, and frequently gives his nod of assent or dissent accordingly: it is indeed a question whether he does not understand English better than he pretends, but pleads ignorance from motives of policy. Mr. Mariner had afterwards ample confirmation of the king's sentiments in regard to Christianity from his Sandwich-island companions, at Tonga.
P. 170. The king's prime minister, Naai, nicknamed by the white people, Billy Pitt, was also well known to Mr. Mariner, who received from him a present of a very handsome helmet.
P. 179. On a certain occasion of ceremony, the king "is obliged to stand till three spears are darted at him: he must catch the first with his hand, and with it ward off the other two. This is not a mere formality. The spear is thrown itwh the utmost force; and should the king lose his life there is no help for it." Mr. Mariner was told by the natives, that it was impossible the king could lose his life or even be wounded on this occasion; for should he chance to miss a spear, his tutelar god would catch it or turn it aside, rather than allow him to be hurt.
P. 185. The author here speaks of the use of Ava, (or as the Tonga people call it, Cava), which he never saw employed but as a medicine to prevent corpulency, ardent spirits being adopted as a luxury instead of it. Mr. Mariner, when he was at Wahoo, saw it drunk twice as a luxury, and was told that several of the old men still preferred it to spirits. It must be remembered that this was four years before Mr. Campbell's time.
P. 188. It is here remarked that the women are much disposed to break the taboo: the author says, "I have known them eat of the forbidden delicacies of pork and shark's flesh. What would be the consequence of a discovery I know not." Mr. Mariner also witnessed several instances of this. The Sandwich-island women have so many severe and impolitic restrictions with regard to food, that it would be unreasonable perhaps to expect that they should on all secure occasions be very faithfully strict: the punishment for such offences, however, is death. It is very well worth while to compare the state of the women in the Sandwich islands with that of the women of Tonga: it will afford an interesting proof how much a line of conduct, influenced by liberality and respect towards females, is productive of morality.
P. 206—7. The author here mentions a custom of the queen, that of preserving the bones of her father, wrapt up carefully in a piece of cloth, "because she loved her father so dearly." Mr. Mariner saw these bones, and on enquiry, found it was not merely a custom of the queen, but a common practice among them.
P. 209. In regard to the question, whether the natives of the Sandwich islands are cannibals, Mr. Mariner is disposed to believe that they are not; those natives who were with him at Tonga always strongly denied the charge.
These several statements, it is hoped, the reader will not think tedious: they serve as very fair proofs of the accuracy with which Mr. Mariner noticed what he saw, and the fidelity of his memory in retaining it. Some of these statements, as before mentioned, are inserted in the body of the present work, and were printed off before Mr. Campbell's book was published: to these may be added, the knowledge of the Sandwich islanders in the use of emetics and cathartics, as related in the second volume of this work, p. 232, and in Mr. Campbell's book, p. 174; and it is worth notice, that from the difference of the ingredients mentioned in the two accounts, it appears they are acquainted with more than one kind of each medicine. In regard to what Mr. Mariner relates concerning the bones of Captain Cook, (see Vol. II. p. 62), it is rather extraordinary that Mr. Campbell makes no mention of any thing of the kind: it is possible the custom was dropped before his time, under the idea of giving offence to the English people. Mr. Mariner has no doubt of the fact, from the positive manner in which it was related to him by Hairbottle, and afterwards by those Sandwich-island natives that were with him at Tonga: perhaps Mr. Campbell can throw some light upon the subject.
Having thus far sketched an outline of Mr. Mariner's education and early habits, and given some instances in proof of his qualifications as a narrator, it remains to furnish a short account of the advantageous opportunities which fell in his way. In the first place, it must be stated, that he was by far the best educated of all those who survived the capture of the Port au Prince. From the first moment the king of the Tonga islands saw him, he conceived a strong prejudice in his favour, and gave orders to those who had the management of the conspiracy, that if they should find it necessary to make a great slaughter, they were nevertheless to preserve his life;—this was the commencement of a friendship which lasted till the king's death: he gave him a residence within his own fencing; appointed one of his wives, a very sensible and well informed woman, to be his adopted mother, that she might employ her time in instructing him in the language and exact customs of the country: he admitted him to all his conferences with his chiefs, priests, and matabooles: at length he adopted him as his own son, and gave him the name of a favourite son, (Togi Oocumméa), who had died a few years before: wherever the king went, Mr. Mariner might accompany him if he chose: in all the battles fought by the king, Mr. Mariner was present. After his death, his son, who succeeded, equally extended to him his patronage and protection, or rather Mr. Mariner might be called his dearest brother, his constant, intimate, and confidential friend; and so sorry was the young king to part with him, that he actually proposed to give up his dominions to his uncle, and accompany Mr. Mariner to England,—a sufficient proof that the latter possessed those qualities of mind calculated to inspire a high degree of confidence and friendship. But perhaps I am anticipating too much of some of the subjects of the following sheets; it appears to me, however, proper to state these things, that the mind of the reader may be prepared, without mistrust, for the quantity of interesting matter which so young a man has collected and remembered.
It is now four years since Mr. Mariner's arrival from the West Indies; during which period he has been situated in the counting-house of a respectable merchant in the city, where he is still. His health is by no means good: this and other circumstances have occasioned the work several times to be suspended for above two months together; for, as I have before stated, not a single page of it has been written, even from his own memoranda, without his presence, which, in general, I could only have in the evening, or at night, after the hours of business, and his health did not always admit of such additional employment of his attention. He resides at No. 5, Edward's-place, Hackney-road.
In regard to my own labour in the present work I shall say but little. I am sensible there are many faults, and though I am by no means disposed to trouble the reader with unseasonable apologies, I beg leave to state, that the following pages were not written in the order they were destined to assume, but at very uncertain and irregular periods, as the result of various conversations; that sometimes the vocabulary, at other times the narrative matter; at one period the grammar of the language, and at another the descriptions of ceremonies, formed the subject of discourse, indiscriminately, as opportunity offered: consequently, many phrases may have been used which the judicious critic will perhaps think too familiar and conversational, and which, under other circumstances, would easily have been avoided. In short, it is the excellence of the materials, tolerably well arranged, not any supposed merit in the composition, which is here offered as a subject of claim to the honour of public attention.
In respect to natural history, not much has been inserted, and that with little or no attempt at scientific distinctions of terms; for this being a branch of knowledge with which Mr. Mariner was but little acquainted, such distinctions might only lead to error and confusion; besides this subject has been in some degree handled by other travellers, whilst the topics with which Mr. Mariner is intimately conversant are those upon which we have hitherto had least information, and to such we have accordingly thought it best to confine our subject. It is hoped, therefore, that all deficiencies with regard to botany, zoology, and mineralogy, will be thought amply compensated by abundance of information in respect of the religious and political, moral and domestic habits of an interesting portion of the human species, in whose character there is undoubtedly much to be admired, and a vast deal that lays a just claim to our attentive observation.
The specimens of music which are noted down in the second volume, p. 324, I am indebted for to an intelligent friend, who did me the favour to express them upon paper, from Mr. Mariner's voice.
27, Basinghall-street,
Dec. 1816.
- ↑ He gave them this name on account of the apparent amicable disposition of the natives towards him; but in reality their intention was to massacre him and his friends, and take the two ships, as they did afterwards the Port au Prince. See Vol. II. p. 60.
- ↑ These islands, therefore, consist of the island of Tonga, which gives name to the whole, the cluster called the Hapai islands, and the island of Vavaoo. See the Map.
- ↑ The accounts of circumnavigators are imperfect by reason of the shortness of their stay; of these, however, Captain Cook's is the most accurate. The missionaries might have furnished us with more intimate details, but their accounts relate rather to the history of their mission than that of the natives. One of them, an anonymous writer, in a small volume entitled, "A Four Years Residence at Tongataboo," gives a very imperfect account of the people, himself being the chief subject of his narrative.
- ↑ From the "Transactions of the Missionary Society," it appears that this event took place in May, 1799.
- ↑ The term escape is here used with propriety, for although Mr. M. was well treated, and had every thing that he could there want, the opportunities of returning home were very rare, and when he was about to profit from one that presented itself, his intention was opposed, and he was under the necessity of destroying one of the natives to accomplish his purpose.
- ↑ The king and several other chiefs at the Tonga islands appeared quite surprised when Mr. Mariner informed them that the object of the missionaries had been to instruct them in the religion of the white people: they had thought that the latter came to live among them merely from choice, as liking the climate better than their own.
- ↑ Resident at No. 14, Johnson Street, Commercial Road.
- ↑ Late of Burr Street, Aldgate.
- ↑ Of nearly 500 tons, 96 men, and mounting 24 long nine and twelve pounders, besides 8 twelve pound carronades on the quarter-deck.
- ↑ Now of West Moulsey, near Hampton-Court.
- ↑ The authority I here speak of is my friend Mr. Whiston Bristow. This gentleman accidentally called one evening at my house, when Mr. Mariner was entertaining the author of "The Farmer's Boy" with some account of his travels. Mr. Bristow had scarcely taken his seat, when Mr. Mariner recognised him to be an old school-fellow, and most inti mate associate. It need scarcely be added, that this event gave additional interest to his recital and furnished me with the opportunity of becoming better acquainted with Mr. Mariner's character. This happened in the early part of my acquaintance with him.