Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/416

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CHAPTER XII.

Finow's younger daughter falls sick—Petitions to the gods—Farther account of the mode of invocation—Finow's illness—Debate among the gods respecting Finow—This debate causes thunder and lightning—Supposed effect of Finow's illness and recovery on his daughter—His daughter conveyed to the island of Ofoo—Her death—Ceremony of her burial—Strange custom of the people of Haraoa—Finow's illness—Petitions to the gods—Strangulation of a child in the way of sacrifice—Finow's death—Political state of the Tonga islands, occasioned by this event—Grief of Finow's daughter—Mr. Mariner rebuked by the prince for his grief at Finow's death—Suspicious conduct of Voona—Consultation of the god Toobo Toty′—Report of what had been Finow's intentions previous to his death—The prince consults with his uncle on matters of political government relative to his succession.


Shortly after Toobó Malóhi and his followers had departed for the Hapai islands, Finow's younger daughter, named Sáw-aw mái Lalángi (which, in the Hamoa language, means descended from the sky), about six or seven years of age, fell sick; on which occasion she was removed from her father's house to another inside a fencing, consecrated to Tali-y-Toobo, the patron god of the Hows. Almost every morning a hog was killed, dressed, and pre-