An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, Volume 1Constable and Company, 1827 - Ethnology |
Other editions - View all
An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean ... John Martin,William Mariner No preview available - 2018 |
An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean ... John Martin,William Mariner No preview available - 2022 |
Common terms and phrases
accordingly afterwards appeared arms arrived bale of gnatoo bird body Bolotoo brought Captain Cook carronades cava root ceremony chiefs and matabooles club cocoa-nut consecrated Cow Mooala custom death endeavour enemy father feet Felletoa fencing Fiji Islands Finow fono fortress four friends garrison gave gods ground guns Hamoa hand Hapai Islands head Hihifo hogs immediately island of Tonga killed king king of Tonga large canoe length lest malai Malohi Mariner Mariner's mats mind morning natives Neafoo night Nioo Nioocalofa Nookoo occasion orders Paita party plantains Port au Prince Port Jackson present priest prisoners proceeded procure remained respect returned revenge sail seated sentiments ship side soon spears taken Tarky Teoo Cava thing thought tion Toe Oomoo Tonga Islands Toobó Nuha Toobo Toa Toogoo Ahoo Tooi Tooitonga took Vavaoo chiefs vessel warriors whilst women yams young chief
Popular passages
Page 100 - ... then takes up a club that is placed by him for the purpose, turns it over and regards it attentively; he then looks up earnestly, now to the right, now to the left, and now again at the club; afterwards he looks up again and about him in like manner, and then again fixes his eyes on the club, and so on for several times. At length he suddenly raises the club, and, after a moment's pause, strikes the ground or the adjacent part of the house with considerable force, immediately the god leaves him,...
Page 113 - I ?" and then without stopping for any attempt at an explanation, he impatiently ordered Mr. Mariner to write something else, and thus employed him for three or four hours in putting down the names of different persons, places, and things, and making the other man read them. This afforded extraordinary diversion to Finow, and to all the men and women present, particularly as he now and then whispered a little love anecdote, which was strictly written down and audibly read by the other, not a little...
Page 243 - We will plait thick wreaths of jidle for our heads, and prepare strings of hooni for our necks, that their whiteness may show off the colour of our skins. Mark how the uncultivated spectators are profuse of their applause ! But now the dance is over. Let us remain here to-night, and feast and be cheerful ; and to-morrow we will depart for the Mooa.
Page 309 - Tooitonga, or any of his family), but which, to us, may well appear barbarous in the extreme ; that is to say, the custom of cutting and wounding themselves with clubs, stones, knives, or sharp shells. One at a time, or two or three together, would...
Page 112 - ... within himself; but his thoughts reflected no light upon the subject. At length he sent for Mr. Mariner, and desired him to write down something: the latter asked what he would choose to have written; he replied, put down me: he accordingly wrote "Feenow...
Page 243 - ... land productive of weeds, and opened untimely graves for departed heroes! Our chiefs can now no longer enjoy the sweet pleasure of wandering alone by moonlight in search of their mistresses: but let us banish sorrow from our hearts: since we are at war, we must think and act like the natives of Fiji, who first taught us this destructive art. Let us therefore enjoy the present time, for to-morrow perhaps or the next day we may die.
Page 60 - Mariner's sight, on coming upon deck, was enough to thrill the stoutest heart : there sat upon the companion a short squab naked figure, of about fifty years of age. with a seaman's jacket, soaked with blood, thrown over one shoulder, on the other rested his ironwood club, spattered with blood and brains...
Page 214 - ... The nature of this cavern will be better understood if we imagine a hollow rock rising sixty feet or more above the surface of the water, into the cavity of which there is no known entrance but one, and that is...
Page 327 - Oh, that the gods would make me king of England! There is not an island in the whole world, however small, but what I would then subject to my power. The king of England does not deserve the dominion he enjoys; possessed of so many great ships, why does he suffer such petty islands as those of Tonga continually to insult his people with acts of treachery? Where I he, would I send tamely to ask for yams and pigs?
Page 242 - ... recitative by either sex; and in the Tonga language has neither rhymes nor regular measure, although some of their songs have both. It is perhaps a curious circumstance that love and war seldom form the subjects of their songs, but mostly scenery and moral reflections.