THE TONGA ISLANDS. 245 not enquire into such particulars as he other- wise would have done: but the most wonderful part of the story is, that the whole track of ground through which the body was dragged had ever since been destitute of grass, as well as the spot on which it lay for two or three days. It was this cii'cumstance, principally, that engaged Mr. Mariner to visit the place, and there, indeed, he found the bare track of o'l'ound from the beach to near the place where they say he was buried; nor has it much the appearance of a beaten path, besides that it leads to and from places, where there are but few inhabitants: at the termination of this track there is a bare place, lying transversely, about the length and breadth of a man. However trivial such relations may appear in themselves, they are worth mentioning, with a view to contrast them with the accounts given by credible travellers, that they may tend to prove how far the statements of the natives may be depended on; besides which, in some instances, as in the present, they shew what kind of superstitions they are subject to (for another instance of this kind, see the affair of the missionaries, p. 61). As to the bare track, although it may not now have much the appear- ance of a beaten path, owing to the grass hav- ing grown irregularly on either side, yet there
