Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/389

Rh TilE TONGA ISLANDS, 3^3 her return from Peru, with part of her original cargo undisposed of. One of the men was after* Wards killed in a quarrel with the other. Mr* Mariner could not learn the name of the vessel. The people of Pau gave Cow Mooala an ac- count of an enormous lizard, which they sup- posed must have come from Bolotoo, and sent by the gods. They stated that, late one even-* ing, a canoe put in at a neighbouring small island, to remain there for the night, being on her way to some more distant island. The weather being very hot, and the crew much fatigued, they resolved to sleep out the night upon the open beach. When they had been asleep some time, they were awakened on a sudden by the loud cries of one of their com- panions; starting up, they observed by the light of the moon, with the utmost astonishment, a prodigious lizard (as they termed it), plunge into the water. At this they were greatly alarmed, and, missing a man, they went farther up the country for safety. Early in the morn- ing, one of them (a young lad) went into the lea to bathe, and was also snatched away by the monster. The whole island was soon in a state of alarm ; every body, on hearing the news, flocked to the beach, but no lizard was to be seen. In the course of the day, they who be- longed to the canoe took their departure. A Y 2