hereupon one of the
ministers (_matabooles_) of the living Tooitonga arose, advanced, and
sat down before the grave, a little in front of the men who had brought
the yams. Next he addressed the gods generally, and afterwards
particularly, mentioning the late Tooitonga and the names of several
others. In doing so he returned thanks for their divine bounty in
favouring the land with the prospect of a good harvest, and prayed that
their beneficence might be continued in future. In this harvest
thanksgiving the spirit of the dead Tooitonga seems to have ranked on an
equality with the original or superhuman gods; indeed, in a sense he
took precedence of them, since the offerings were presented at his
grave. The first-fruits, we are told, were offered to the gods in the
person of the divine chief Tooitonga.[178]

[178] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 196-202, compare p. 78.
The ceremony was also witnessed, though not understood, by
Captain Cook (_Voyages_, v. 363 _sqq._) and by the first English
missionaries (Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the
Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. 264 _sq._).

On the whole we may conclude that, however sharp a distinction was drawn
in theory between the old gods, who had always been gods, and the new
gods, who had once been men, the line which divided them in practice was
wavering and blurred. The dead men and women were fast rising, if they
had not already risen, to an equality with the ancient deities. We may
even surmise that some of these old gods themselves were human beings,
whose original humanity was forgotten.

The tombs of the kings and sacred chiefs may be described as megalithic
monuments in so far as immense stones were often employed in the
construction either of the enclosing walls or of the high steps which
led up to the summit of the mound where the grave was dug. It is
possible, and indeed probable, that great stones were similarly employed
as ornaments or accessories of the consecrated houses or temples of the
primary gods, but of such an employment I have met with no express
notice among our authorities. So far as their descriptions allow us to
judge, these megalithic monuments of the Tongans were purely sepulchral
in character; they were dedicated only to the worship of the dead. But
there exists at least one other remarkable megalithic monument in these
islands of which the original meaning is quite uncertain, and of which
consequently we cann