island of Lefooga (Lifuka), and two or three others of smaller
importance elsewhere.[65] Another patron god of the royal family,
called Alai Valoo, had a large consecrated enclosure in the island of
Ofoo; he had also at least one priest and was very frequently consulted
in behalf of sick persons.[66]

[65] W. Mariner, _Tonga Island_, ii. 104 _sq._

[66] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii, 107 _sq._

To desecrate any of these holy houses or enclosures was a most serious
offence. When Mariner was in the islands it happened that two boys, who
had belonged to the crew of his ship, were detected in the act of
stealing a bale of bark-cloth from a consecrated house. If they had been
natives, they would instantly have been punished with death; but the
chiefs, taking into consideration the youth and inexperience of the
offenders, who were foreigners and ignorant of native customs, decided
that for that time the crime might be overlooked. Nevertheless, to
appease the anger of the god, to whom the house was consecrated, it was
deemed necessary to address him humbly on the subject. Accordingly his
priest, followed by chiefs and their ministers (_matabooles_), all
dressed in mats with leaves of the _ifi_ tree[67] round their necks in
token of humility and sorrow, went in solemn procession to the house;
they sat down before it, and the priest addressed the divinity to the
following purport: "Here you see the chiefs and _matabooles_ that have
come to thee, hoping that thou wilt be merciful: the boys are young, and
being foreigners, are not so well acquainted with our customs, and did
not reflect upon the greatness of the crime: we pray thee, therefore,
not to punish the people for the sins of these thoughtless youths: we
have spared them, and hope that thou wilt be merciful and spare us." The
priest then rose up, and they all retired in the same way they had come.
The chiefs, and particularly the king, severely reprimanded the boys,
endeavouring to impress on their minds the enormity of their offence,
and assuring them that they owed their lives only to their presumed
ignorance of the heinousness of the crime.[68]

[67] The _ifi_ tree, of which the leaves were used by the
Tongans in many religious ceremonies, is a species of chestnut
(_Inocarpus edulis_) which grows in Indonesia, but is thought to
be a native of America. It is supposed that the Polynesians
brought the seeds of this tree with them into the