Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/297

Rh THE TONGA ISLANDS. 231 in a spot which could be so much better em- ployed for building an additional number of more commodious dwellings. The fortress of Neafoo, he said, might remain, for it was a place not convenient to live at, and therefore it was not worth while to take any trouble about it. These were his ostensible reasons, but his real motives were easy to be seen into : he was - apprehensive, that, in the event of another in- surrection, his enemies might again possess themselves of this strong hold ; but as to the other fortress, if he did not succeed in securing it for himself, he could easily dispossess his ene- mies of it, by destroying it with his carronades whenever he thought proper. These orders were begun immediately to be put into execution, under the inspection of the chiefs of the different districts of the island. The following day the king gave orders to Toobo Toa to proceed back to the Hapai islands, of which he constituted him tributary chief J the tributes* were to be sent to Vavaoo dried fish, live birds, &c. } and is levied upon every man's property in proportion as he can spare. The quantity is sometimes determined by the chief of each district, though generally by the v?ill of each individual, who will always take care to send quite as much as he can well afford, lest the superior chief should be offended with him, and deprive him of all that he has. This tribute is paid twice a year 5 once
 * The tribute .generally consists of yams, mats, gnatoo,