Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/332

266 266 TRANSACTIONS AT probably covered : and even if it were not con- cealed it would transmit no current of air in- wardly unless the tide were going out, which he thinks was not the case. At the time Hig- gins was there the weather was perfectly calm, not a breath of wind stirring ; consequently, the influx of air must have been occasioned by the descent of the surface of water within : on the other hand, when the water rises the air must rush out. This cavern therefore may be said to respire like an animal ; the rise and fall of the tide acting as a diaphragm, and the above-mentioned narrow passage as a breathing hole. Jeremiah Higgins also heard the story of the young chief and his mistress, which perfectly accorded in all the material points with what is told above : it appears from his narration as well as from Mr. Mariner's, that the natives give this account of the two lovers as a piece of true history, not a romance. There is a sort of shelf at the farther end of the cavern and high up, which is pointed out as having been used for a bed-place. Mnow and his party having finished their cava, dived out of the cavern, and resumed their proper dress : after v/hich they proceeded across the country, and got into the public roads, to amuse themselves with the sport of shooting rats. These animals are not so large