Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Quarterly Review, Vol. 17: April and July, 1817
One superstition remained in full force when F inow made this his most formidable attempt upon Tonga. On the western shore of that island is a piece of ground about half a mile square, where from time immemorial the greatest chiefs have been buried; on this account it is considered sacred; no person may be prevented from landing there, and if the must inveterate enemies should meet there, -they must restrain their hatred, on pain of the dis pleasure of the gods, to be manifested by some great calamity, or by untimely death. Here Finow landed with several of his chiefs to perform a ceremony at his father's grave. All who attended put on mats instead of their usual dress, and wreatlns'of the leaves of the Iii-tree round their necks, as significant of respect and hu mility. They sat down before the grave cross-legged, beating their cheeks for half a minute. One of the Matabooles (the companions, counsellors, and ministers of the chiefs) then ad dressed the spirit of the dead, invoking him to favour and pro tect F inow: He comes to battle hoping he is not doing wrong; he has always held Tooitonga in the highest respect, and has at tended to all religious ceremonies with exactness.' Pieces of cars root were then laid as an offering before the grave. Meantime the army were painting their faces and bodies for battle in their canoes, and the enemy on shore ran up and down the beach with furious gestures and shouts of defiance, 'splashing up the water with their clubs, brandishing them in the air, and ?ourishing their spears - a striking scene when contrasted with the inviolableness of the burial ground and the rites which were paid to the dead.
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