Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/205

Rh " been long enough the chief of Vavaoo, living " in ease and luxury; thou murderer of my " father! I would have declared my sentiments ' long ago, if I could have depended upon ' others to second me; not that I feared death ' by making thee my enemy, but the vengeance " of my chief, Toobó Tóa, was first to be satis- " fied, and it was a duty I owed the spirit of my " father to preserve my life as long as possible, " that I might have the satisfaction to see thee " thus lie stinking! (dead!)" he then repeated the blows several times upon his stomach.

On the first noise of the scuffle, Mr. Mariner imagining that Finow himself was attacked, attempted to rush forward, though unarmed, to his assistance, but was prevented by a strong man, who taking him round the body, pinioned his arms to his side. The women, on hearing the sound of the blows, and the exclamation of Toobó Nuha, ran screaming into the fencing. In about ten minutes after the affair, nearly two hundred of Finow's people assembled, armed with clubs and spears, to a party of whom, with a chief at their head, Finow gave orders to go immediately to Toobó Nuha's people, who were at their temporary houses on the shore, and command them, in his name, to go on board their respective canoes, except the principal Vavaoo chiefs, who were to come into