THE TONGA ISLANDS. 309 gion ; this, however, is not absolutely the case ; for although they strip all strangers, without distinction, that come within their power, yet in return they fit them out with other canoes, (en- tirely at the expense of the chiefs who shared the plunder;) and supply them with so much of the produce of the island as may be necessary to support them in their way home ; together with presents of their gnatoo, mats, tortoise-shell, &c. : and withal behave very kindly: but not one single article that has been taken from them, however small the value, is again return- ed, even with the most earnest entreaty. Cow Mooala's canoe was laden with sandal wood*, esteemed a very rich commodity at Tonga, but not one splinter of it was ever returned to him ; although the natives of Fotoona could make no use of it, not having adopted the practice of oiling themselves. His canoe was dragged on shore, broken to pieces, and offered up to the gods ; afterward the planks were shared out among the chiefs, who devoted them to the
- Sandal wood is of the growth of one of the Fiji islands,
called Pau, and of only one spot upon this island, called Vooia. It has, indeed, been planted upon other of the Fiji islands, but without coining to any state of perfection. It has also been transplanted to the Tonga islands, but with as little success : for the wood thus produced possesses little or no scent, and consequently is unfit for their purpose, viz. to perfume the oil with which they anoint themselves.
