Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/296

230 notched and blooded it a good deal) and pre- tend it was done in the battle against a living foe ; but such things are always suspected, and held in ridicule. Finow having for a considerable time in- spected the fortification, praising every where the judgment with which it was planned, re- tired to the house which had formerly belonged to Toobo Nuha, where he passed the night. The following morning he summoned a general meeting of all the inhabitants of Vavaoo, which was soon accomplished, as the people were all at one or other of the two fortresses. He then gave directions to all the principal men respect- ing the cultivation of the country, which the late war had reduced to a sad state. He com- manded that every one should be as frugal as possible in his food, that the present scarcity might be recompensed with future abundance. He ordered his fishermen to supply him and his chiefs with plenty of fish, that the consumption of pork might be lessened. Having settled these matters, he next gave orders that the large fortress of Felletoa should be taken down, its fencing carried away by any body who might want it, its banks levelled with the ground, and its ditches filled up; urging, as his reason, that there was no necessity for a garrisoned place in time of peace, particularly "