Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/388

322 TRANSACTIONS AT heavily of its scarcity; and what renders the matter still worse for them, is, that the Fiji people, demanding a greater number of axes and chisels for a given quantity of the wood, these implements are growing very scarce at the Tonga islands, and plentiful at Fiji. Before the Tonga people acquired iron implements, they usually gave whales* teeth, gnatoo, mats for sails, and platt ; but whales' teeth are ex- ceedingly scarce, and the other articles are too bulky for ready exportation. The sting of the fish called stingray was also occasionally given^ but these stings, which they use for the points of spears, are by no means plentiful. This fish is found in the greatest quantity at an island called Ooea, which lies about mid-way between Vavaoo and Hamoa. Another article of ex- change is a peculiar species of shell, which they find only at Vavaoo, and is also scarce. It has already been remarked that the sandal-wood tree will not bear to be transplanted to Tonga. During the time Cow Mooala was at Pau, a vessel was wrecked on a reef off that island. All the crew, except a couple, perished. The wreck was taken possession of by the natives they got out of her a number of dollars, and a quantity of muslins, with some other East India commodities. From these circumstances it would appear that she was an American smuggler on