Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/133

Rh against the enemy. The bows and arrows which before that period had been in use among the people of Tonga were of a weaker kind, and fitted rather for sport than war,—for the purpose of shooting rats, birds, &c. From the fierce and warlike people of those islands, however, they speedily learned to construct bows and arrows of a much more martial and formidable nature; and soon became acquainted with a better form of the spear, and a superior method of holding and throwing that missile weapon. They also imitated them by degrees in the practice of painting their faces, and the use of a peculiar dress in time of war, giving a fierce appearance, calculated to strike terror into the minds of their enemies. These martial improvements were in their progress at the time of Captain Cook's arrival, but not in general practice; for having few or no civil dissensions among themselves, the knowledge of these things was confined principally to certain young chiefs and their adherents, who had been at the Fiji islands. Captain Cook describes some evolutions practised by the natives as being forms of war, and indeed they have that appearance; but they are to be considered rather as games and dances, which the Tonga people had learnt from the island of Nuha. None of the oldest natives could give any account of their first