and drest after the warlike manner of the Fiji islands. They paraded up and down for some time, brandishing their clubs and spears, and exhibiting a sort of sham fight. Finow sat with several other chiefs in the house on the malái[1] . Each warrior of note ran singly close up to Finow, and striking his club violently on the ground, cried out "this is the club for," mentioning the name of some individual enemy whom he meant particularly to seek out and engage; others running up in the same way, exclaimed, "Fear not, Finow; no sooner shall we land at Tonga than here is the club with which I will kill any one who dares to oppose us." Finow and the chiefs thanked them for their sentiments of love and loyalty, and then he addressed them in a speech to the following purpose: "Be brave in battle; fear not death: it is far better to die in war than to live to be assassinated at home, or to perish by a lingering disease."
After remaining a day and a night at this island, they again put to sea with the additional force of six canoes, and made sail for Namooca, where they arrived in a few hours. Here they
- ↑ The malái is a grass-plat, about three acres in extent, with a house on it, and is used for various public purposes, as in the present instance; there are generally four or five of them on each island. As Vavaoo is comparatively a large island, it has fourteen or fifteen.
