Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/165

Rh purpose of procuring reeds to rebuild the fortress of Nioocalofa. This step was taken by the admonition of the gods, who were consulted on the occasion through the medium of the priests.

As the invocation of the gods, and inspiration of the priests, are circumstances that will often occur in the course of this work, it will be well to take the present opportunity of describing them.

The night previous to the consultation of the oracle, the chief orders his cooks to kill and prepare a hog, and to procure a basket of yams, and two bunches of ripe plantains. These things being got ready, the next morning they are carried to the place where the priest resides, or wherever he may be at that time: the priest is sometimes previously apprised of the circumstance, at other times not. The chiefs and matabooles clothe themselves in mats, and repair to the place where the priest is to be found: if it be at a house, the priest seats himself just within the eaves ; if at a distance, he seats himself on any convenient spot of ground, and the matabooles seat themselves on either hand, so as would form a circle, or rather an ellipsis, if