by the other, which is also of great size. The most
modern of the tombs is that of Laufilitonga, the last to bear the title
of Tooitonga. He died a Christian about 1840 and was buried in the tomb
of very inferior size which crowns the village cemetery. The most
ancient cannot be dated; but that some are older than A.D. 1535 may be
inferred from the tradition that Takalaua, a Tooitonga, was assassinated
about that time because he was a tyrant who compelled his people to drag
great stones from Liku, at the back of the island, to the burial ground
at Mooa; the distance is about a mile and a half.[150]

[150] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of
Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii.
(1902) pp. 86 _sq._, 88 n.^2. As to the legend of the tyrant
Takalaua, see _id._ _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, pp.
294-302.

The first, so far as I know, to see and describe these remarkable tombs
were the earliest missionaries to Tonga about the end of the eighteenth
century. Speaking of the burial ground at Mooa, where lay interred the
divine chiefs whose title was Tooitonga and whose family name was
Futtaf[=a]ihe or Fatafehi, the missionaries observe that "the
_fiatookas_ are remarkable. There lie the Futtaf[=a]ihes for many
generations, some vast and ruinous, which is the case with the largest;
the house on the top of it is fallen, and the area and tomb itself
overgrown with wood and weeds."[151] Later on they had the advantage of
being conducted over the august cemetery by the Futtaf[=a]ihe or
Tooitonga of the day in person, who gave them some explanations
concerning these sepulchres of his ancestors. To quote their
description, they say that the tombs "lie ranged in a line eastward from
his house, among a grove of trees, and are many in number, and of
different constructions: some, in a square form, were not in the least
raised above the level of the common ground; a row of large stones
formed the sides, and at each corner two high stones were placed upright
at right angles to each other, and in a line with their respective
sides: others were such as the brethren describe that of Moom[=o]oe to
be: and a third sort were built square like the first; the largest of
which was at the base one hundred and fifty-six feet by one hundred and
forty; it had four steps from the bottom to the top, that run quite
round the pile: one stone composed the height of each step, a part of it
being