Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/125

Rh the sun was; that when the sun was in the east the watch would point to such a mark, and when the sun was highest it would point here, and when in the west it would point there; and this, he said, the watch would do, although it was in a house, and could not see the sun; and in the night-time, he added, it would tell what portion of a day's length it would be before the sun would rise again. It would be difficult to convey an adequate idea of their astonishment: one said it was an animal, another said it was a plant; and when this man told them it was manufactured, they all exclaimed Fonnooa boto! what an ingenious people! All this Mr. Mariner collected partly by their gestures, and afterwards more fully when he understood their language, and conversed with this man, who always prided himself upon his knowledge of the use of a watch, calling himself Papalangi (an European).

About the 20th of December, Mr. Mariner returned to Lefooga along with Finow. His life was still not only uncomfortable, but often exposed to many dangers, or, at best, he suffered many insults from the wantonness and malevolence of the lower orders. Tooi Tooi was by no means his friend, but, on the contrary, endeavoured to persuade Finow to kill both him and the other Englishmen; lest a ship should