Soon after the procession came in, as on the day before; each two persons bearing on their shoulders a pole, round the middle of which, a cocoa-nut leaf was plaited. These were deposited with ceremonies similar to those observed on the preceding day. This first procession was followed by a second; the men composing which, brought baskets, such as are usually employed by this people to carry provisions in, and made of palm leaves. These were followed, by a third procession, in which were brought different kinds of small fish, each fixed at the end of a forked stick. The baskets were carried up to an old man, whom I took to be the chief priest, and who sat on the prince's right hand, without the shed. He held each in his hand, while he made a short speech or prayer, then laid it down, and called for another, repeating the same words as before; and thus he went through the whole number of baskets. The fish were presented, one by one, on the forked sticks, as they came in, to two men, who sat on the left, and who, till now, held green branches in their hands. The first fish they laid down on their right, and the second on their left. When the third was presented, a stout-looking man, who sat behind the other two, reached his arm over between them, and made a snatch at it; as also did the other two at the very same time. Thus they seemed to contend for every fish that was presented; but as there were two hands against one, besides the advantage of situation, the man behind got nothing but pieces; for he never quitted his bold, till the fish was torn out of his hand, and what little remained in it he shook out behind him. The others laid what they got on the right and left alternately. At length, either by accident or design, the man behind got possession of a whole fish, without either of the other two so much as touching it. At this the word mareeai, which signifies very good or well done, was uttered in a low voice throughout the whole crowd. It seemed that he had performed now all that was expected from him, for he made no attempt upon the few fish that came after. These fish, as also the baskets, were all delivered, by the persons who brought them in, sitting; and, in the same order and manner, the small poles, which the first procession carried, had been laid upon the ground.
The last procession being closed, there was some speaking or praying by different persons. Then, on some signal being given, we all started up, ran several paces to the left, and sat down with our backs to the prince, and the few who remained with him; I was desired not to look behind me. However, neither this injunction nor the remembrance of Lot's wife, discouraged me from facing about. I now saw that the prince had turned his face to the morai. But this last movement had brought so many people between him and me, that I could not perceive what was doing. I was afterward assured, that, at this very time, the prince was admitted to the high honour of eating with his father, which, till now, had never been permitted to him; a piece of roasted yam being presented to each of them for this purpose; This was the more probable, as we had been told before-hand, that this was to happen during the solemnity, and as all the people turned their backs to them at this time, which they always do when their monarch eats.
After some little time, we all faced about, and formed a semicircle before the prince, leaving a large open space between us. Presently there appeared some men coming toward us, two and two, bearing large sticks or poles upon their shoulders, making a noise that might be called singing, and waving their hands as they advanced. When they had got close up to us, they made a shew of walking very fast, without proceeding a single step. Immediately after, three or four men started up from the crowd, with large sticks in their hands, who ran toward those newcomers. The latter instantly threw down the poles from their shoulders, and scampered off; and the others attacked the poles, and, having beat them most unmercifully, returned to their places. As the pole-bearers ran off, they gave the challenge that is usual here in wrestling; and, not long after, a number of stout fellows came from the same quarter, repeating the challenge as they advanced. These were opposed by a party who came from the opposite side almost at the same instant. The two parties paraded about the area for a few minutes, and then retired, each to their own side. After this, there were wrestling and boxing-matches for about half an hour. Then two men seated themselves before the prince, and made speeches, addressed, as I thought, entirely to him. With this the solemnity ended, and the whole assembly broke up.
I now went and examined the several baskets which had been presented; a curiosity that I was not allowed before to indulge, because every thing was then taboo. But the solemnity being now over, they became simply what I found them to be, empty baskets. So that, whatever they were supposed to contain, was emblematically represented. And so, indeed, was every other thing which had been brought in procession, except the fish.
We endeavoured in vain to find out the meaning, not only of the ceremony in general, which is called Natche, but of its different parts. We seldom got any other answer to our enquiries, but taboo, a word which, I have before observed, is applied to many other things. But as the prince was evidently the principal person concerned in it, and as we had been told by the king ten days before the celebration of the Natche, that the people would bring in yams for him and his son to eat together, and as he even described some part of the ceremony, we concluded, from what he had then said, and from what we now saw, that an oath of allegiance, if I may so express myself, or solemn promise, was on this occasion made to the prince, as the immediate successor to the regal dignity, to stand by him, and to furnish him with the several articles that were here emblematically represented. This seems the more probable, as all the principal people of the island, whom we had ever seen, assisted in the processions. But, be this as it may, the whole was conducted with a great deal of mysterious solemnity; and that there was a mixture of religion in the institution was evident, not only from the place where it was performed, but from the manner of performing it. Our dress and deportment had never been called in question upon any former occasion whatever. Now, it was expected that we should be uncovered as low as the waist; that our hair should be loose, and flowing over our shoulders; that we should, like themselves, sit cross-legged; and, at times, in the most humble posture, with down-cast eyes, and hands locked together; all which requisites were most devoutly observed by the whole assembly. And, lastly, every one was excluded from the solemnity; but the principal people, and those who assisted in the celebration. All these circumstances were to me a sufficient testimony, that, upon this occasion, they consider themselves as acting under the immediate inspection of a Supreme Being;
The present Natche may be considered, from the above account of it, as merely figurative. For the small quantity of yams, which we saw the first day, could not be intended as a general contribution; and, indeed, we were given to understand, that they were a portion consecrated to the Otooa, or Divinity. But we were informed, that, in about three months, there would be performed, on the same account, a far more important and grander solemnity; on which occasion, not only the tribute of Tongataboo, but that of Hepaee, Vavaoo, and of all the other islands; would be brought to the chief, and confirmed more awfully, by sacrificing ten human victims from amongst the inferior sort of people. A horrid solemnity indeed! and which is a most significant instance of the influence of gloomy and ignorant superstition, over the minds of one of the most benevolent and humane nations upon earth. On enquiring into the reasons of so barbarous a practice, they only said, that it was a necessary part of the Natche, and that, if they omitted it, the Deity would certainly destroy their king.
Before the assembly broke up, the day was far spent; and as we were at some distance from the ships, and had an intricate navigation to go through, we were in haste to set out from Mooa. When I took leave of Poulaho, he pressed me much to stay till the next day, to be present at a funeral ceremony. The wife of Mareewagee, who was mother-in-law to the king, had lately died, and her corpse had, on account of the Natche, been carried on board a canoe that lay in the lagoon. Poulaho told me, that, as soon as he had paid the last offices to her, he would attend me to Eooa, but, if I did not wait, he would follow me thither. I understood at the same time, that, if it had not been for the death of this woman, most of the chiefs would have accompanied us to that island, where, it seems, all of them have possessions. I would gladly have waited to see this ceremony also, had not the tide been now favourable for the ships to get through the narrows. The wind besides, which, for several days past, had been very boisterous, was now moderate and settled, and to have lost this opportunity, might have detained us a fortnight longer. But what was decisive against my waiting, we understood that the funeral ceremonies would last five days, which was too long a time, as the ships lay in such a situation, that I could not get to sea at pleasure. I, however, assured the king, that, if we did not sail, I should certainly visit him again the next day. And so we all took leave of him, and set out for the ships, where we arrived about eight o'clock in the evening.
I had forgot to mention, that Omai was present at this second day's ceremony as well as myself, but we were not together, nor did I know that he was there, till it was almost over. He afterward told me, that, as soon as the king saw that I had stolen out from the plantation, he sent several people, one after another, to desire me to come back. Probably, these messengers were not admitted to the place where I was, for I saw nothing of them. At last, intelligence was brought to the chief, that I had actually stripped, in conformity to their custom; and then he told Omai, that he might be present also, if he would comply with all necessary forms. Omai had no objection, as nothing was required of him, but to conform to the custom of his own country. Accordingly, he was furnished with a proper dress, and appeared at the ceremony as one of the natives. It is likely, that one reason of our being excluded at first, was an apprehension, that we would not submit to the requisites to qualify us to assist.
While I was attending the Natche at Mooa, I ordered the horses, bull and cow, and goats, to be brought thither, thinking that they would be safer there, under the eyes of the chiefs, than at a place that would be, in a manner, deserted, the moment after our departure. Besides the above-mentioned animals, we left with our friends here, a young boar, and three young sows, of the English breed. They were exceedingly desirous of them, judging, no doubt, that they would greatly improve their own breed, which is rather small. Feenou also got from us two rabbits, a buck and a doe; and, before we sailed, we were told that young ones had been already produced. If the cattle succeed, of which I make no doubt, it will be a vast acquisition to these islands; and as Tongataboo is a fine level country, the horses cannot but be useful.
On the 10th, at eight o'clock in the morning, we weighed anchor, and, with a steady gale at S.E., turned through the channel, between the small isles called Makkahaa and Monooafai, it being much wider than the channel between the last-mentioned island and Pangimodoo. The flood set strong in our favour, till we were the length of the channel leading up to the lagoon, where the flood from the eastward meets that from the west. This, together with the indraught of the lagoon, and of the shoals before it, causeth strong ripplings and whirlpools. To add to these dangers, the depth of water in the channel exceeds the length of a cable; so that there is no anchorage, except close to the rocks, where we meet with forty and forty-five fathoms, over a bottom of dark sand. But then, here, a ship would be exposed to the whirlpools. This frustrated the design which I had formed, of coming to an anchor as soon as we were through the narrows, and of making an excursion to see the funeral. I chose rather to lose that ceremony, than to leave the ships in a situation in which I did not think them safe. We continued to ply to windward, between the two tides, without either gaining or losing an inch, till near high water, when, by a favourable slant, we got into the eastern tide's influence. We expected, there, to find the ebb to run strong to the eastward in our favour, but it proved so inconsiderable, that, at any other time, it would not have been noticed. This informed us, that most of the water which flows into the lagoon, comes from the N.W., and returns the same way. About five in the afternoon, finding that we could not get to sea before it was dark, I came to an anchor, under the shore of Tongataboo, in forty-five fathoms water, and about two cables length from the reef, that runs along that side of the island. The Discovery dropped anchor under our stern; but before the anchor took hold, she drove off the bank, and did not recover it till after midnight.