Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/489

Rh who was a party concerned in taking the Port au Prince), was a woman of uncommon penetration and discernment, and, on that account, as well as from the circumstance of her being the daughter of a chief who was a friend of the late Finow's father, was highly regarded by the late king, and who attached himself to her so much, that it is supposed she lived with him as his mistress during the time that she was actually the wife of her first husband. She was a woman extremely religious, and universally respected, on account of her accurate knowledge with regard to all religious ceremonies, on which subject she was frequently consulted by the chiefs; and, upon political matters, Finow himself often consulted her, for in this, also, she stood eminent in the esteem of every one. To Finow she seemed as much attached as he to her; and, after his death, mourned his loss with a sorrow beyond the reach of comfort. She, above all others, was most attentive in decorating with flowers planted by her own hand, and, with the utmost solicitude, keeping in order the fytoca where lay the body of her deceased friend. For the space of six months this faithful mourner scarcely ever slept but on his grave, watering it with her tears, and disturbing the silence of the night with her sighs. One day she went, with the deepest affliction, to the house of Mo-oonga