PORT AU PRINCE.
53
CHAPTER III.
The ship plundered by Finow's orders—Accidents on board—The ship burned—Guns hauled on shore—Visit to the Island of Whiha—Surprise of the natives at the sight of a watch—Mr. Mariner deprived of his books and papers, as being considered instruments of witchcraft—Anecdote of the missionaries—Remarks on the present state of the islands, compared with that when Captain Cook visited them—Political history of the islands during the foregoing twelve or fifteen years, viz. Expedition to the Fiji Islands—Insurrection at Tonga—Assassination of the king—Civil war—Return of the expedition to the Fiji Islands, which joins the insurgents—Finow conquers the Hapai Islands—His cruelty towards his prisoners—Annual invasion of the Island of Tonga—Mr. Mariner and his companions receive orders to join an expedition against the Island of Tonga, and to employ the guns—Anecdote of an insane woman—Finow's fleet sails for Namooca—The fleet arrives off a consecrated place at Tonga—Description of a ceremony called Toogi—Preparations for battle—Description of the fortification of Nioocalofa.
After the ship was run aground, the following two or three days were employed in striking the masts, and conveying on shore two of the carronades and eight barrels of gunpowder; all that remained was too much damaged for use. Many of the natives, in the mean while, were busily engaged in stripping the upper works of their iron, and knocking the hoops off
