Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/383

Rh THE TONGA ISLANDS. 31"^ versed with some of its natives, as well as with those of the other islands, who were at Tonga in his time ; besides which he has since been at Pan, one of the Fiji islands, and consequently is able to form some judgment. The inhabit- ants of Navihi Levoo are not only more fero- cious, but they are much better skilled in war than those of the other islands, and are there- fore much dreaded by them: to give them- selves a fiercer appearance, they bore a hole through the soft part of the septum of the nose, through which, in time of war, they stick a couple of feathers, nine or twelve inches long, which spread out over each side of the face, like immense mustaches, giving them a very formidable appearance. The worst feature of their barbarism is the horrible practice of eating human flesh, which they carry to a greater extent than any of the other Fiji people. The chief of the island was reported to have a re- markable appetite in this way, we must not take him therefore as a sample for the rest ; for he was not in the habit of sacrificing his pri- soners immediately, (finding them perhaps too tough for his delicate stomach,) but of actually ordering them to be operated on, and put in such a state as to get both fat and tender, after- wards to be killed as he might want them. The hands and feet, particularly the latter, are con- sidered the choicest parts..