ur 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. We will dress ourselves
with _chi coola_, and put bands of white _tappa_ round our waists. We
will plait thick wreaths of _jiale_ 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. How
troublesome are the young men, begging for our wreaths of flowers! while
they say in their flattery, 'See how charming these young girls look
coming from _Licoo_!--how beautiful are their skins, diffusing around a
fragrance like the flowering precipice of _Mataloco_:--Let us also visit
_Licoo_. We will depart to-morrow.'"--_An Account of the Natives of the
Tonga Islands, etc._, 1817, i. 307, 308. See, too, for another version,
ed. 1827, vol. ii. Appendix, p. xl.]

[369] {599}[Bolotoo is a visionary island to the north westward, the
home of the Gods. The souls of chieftains, priests, and, possibly, the
gentry, ascend to Bolotoo after death; but the souls of the lower
classes "come to dust" with their bodies.--_An Account, etc._, 1817, ii.
104, 105.]

[370] [The toa, or drooping casuarina (_C. equisetifolia_). "Formerly
the toa was regarded as sacred, and planted in groves round the 'Morais'
of Tahiti."--_Polynesia_, by G. F. Angas, 1866, p. 44.]

[371] {600}[The capital town of an island.]

[372] ["The preparation of _gnatoo_, or _tappa_-cloth, from the inner
bark of the paper mulberry tree, occupies much of the time of the Tongan
women. The bark, after being soaked in water, is beaten out by means of
wooden mallets, which are grooved longitudinally.... Early in the
morning," says Mariner, "when the air is calm and still, the beating of
the _gnatoo_ at all the plantations about has a very pleasing effect;
some sounds being near at hand, and others almost lost by the distance,
some a little more acute, others more grave, and all with remarkable
regularity, produce a musical variety that is ... heightened by the
singing of