TALES OF THE SUNNY SOUTH.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 279, 22 November 1913, Page 9

TALES OF THE SUNNY SOUTH.

m (By the REV. W. &LADE.) ADVENTURES IN TONGA— CAVE OF HTIXGA. IV. It was inevitable that, situated as he was in Vava.u under the special patronage of the principal chief Finau, raud obliged to accompany him on his ! expeditions, both in peace and war, Mariner would meet with strange adveni/UKis and take part in not a, few doubtful schemes. He had no books to read and no writing material to while away the long Tongan nigJrts, and so. ■perforce hie mind would be free to receive the tales and legends with which it is .the duty of the native story tellers to amuse the leisure of the chiefs. The Tongaru* are a. branch of a great Malay Polyuesian race, and share, with their kinsmen who arc scattered over the island groups of the Pacific the picturesque mythology and legends peculiar to the race. The method of preserving these seems common to all. It was by mean* of certain families to whom beI longed th? hereditary duty a.nd privilege of storing in their mind* the natural J mythology and traditions. Among the Maoris it appears to have been the duty 'of the toh.un.gas; in Fiji every great chief included among his retinue a per■son called the dautalanoa, the storyj teller. The Sajmauo have the Tusitela— J the name 'they gave to R. L. Ktevenson — land the Tongaiia the Matabuli. In the ' tropics the evenings are long; the 'length of the day varies only two hours I between midwinter and anidaumme.r, and ithe twilight is so short as to be hardly! 'appreciable, Before the advent cf the I 'European trader with l-i.mp-i and kerosene, the only light in the houses during i the tedious nouns between and !sleeping time was such as was obtained j by burning cofoamrt oil or resinous bits of wood. (Je.ncrallj spe-aldnjr, the even- . ing* wen spent in the dark. an.l must ' have been deadly dull. It was them. i ■when conversation languished and time] hung heavy, .that the chief would call i ■upon the hereditary purveyor of ruyt.hsi i and legends to entertain the company I ! by recounting past events. Tribal wars.' ! family genealogies, strange dreams, • superstitious tains, the exploits of previ- , ' mis generations—it was a varied reper- 1 ; toire from .which the story-teller drc-wj . ins materia!. That, the legendary lore I of the tribes was preserved from genera- 1 ] lion to generation. The new era hart n.bol- 1 ( ishrrl the office of story-teller, while pi;ch \ of the stories as we.re put into writing by ! rarly missionaries and others are still I available, but with the passing of the. old order muoh has perished. The Polynesian story-teller h:is left mo successors, and the new generation takes little interest in the past history of the race. During the four and a-half yenn* of hits residence with Finau, Mariner had many opportunities of hearing Ton;ran j stories, until 'they bcounf imprinted! upon his memory.' which wae naturally 1 retentive. I Fanau was an active chief, always ' planning and executing expeditions for I the extension and consolidation of Wβ own power, and Mariner was required to accompany him on these. Thpy fre- ! quently involved groat pers-orra] risk, ajiid on more than one o>-t-a&ir>n Mariner's i escape from dea/Ui was little short of I miraculous. On several oocardons be was ! required to assist in deeds of treachery I and bloodshed which must llavo been ■ repufrruuit to his own inclinations, yet in his position he dared not refuse. As an illustration <if this, the Ftory of th<- fono of Makari i.- worth telling. I Ma-kari war. an important village on I Vavau. and FJnau bad reason to suspect ' its chief ,men of disloyalty to himself j and of plotting apa-ins-t him. Tie resolved to crush the conspiracy, and did it in true Polynesian fashion. Attended i by chosen men. Finau went to Makard I and summoned a fono, or council, that !i ho might address the people. The fono ! over, the kava bowl, always a prominent 1 article in Polynesian cerrmion.ie.=i, was , filled and drunk, the chiefs of the dis- , trict being especially zeaJoue in itn prei paration as a proof of loyalty to Fina.u. I V\"hen the bowl had been drained, and all I present expected Finan to order a second, I suddenly he pronounced loudly the word • "Buki" (stop). It was a preconcerted signal, and immediately all the chiefs and wa.rriors suspected of conspiracy were seized and bound. Several of them , were taken immediately to the. beach I and killed, while others were, reserved ! for a more humiliating method of cxecui lion —namely, to be drowned at se.i. But one impart.i conspirator was not at Kite fono. He was a chief named Kaka.hu. J He happened to be sufTprinp from a skin ! affection, which kept him at home. The j problem was how to capture him before I news of the other arrests reached him. I Here Mariner was called upon to help. but to his credit, be it said, he consented only upon Finau promising that Kakahu'e life should be spared — a promise, the worth ess of which Mariner oujrht by that time to have well known. The plan "wa-3 as follows: — Mariner, w:ith a few of Finau's men, was •to vis-it Kakahn and convey to him a bowl of the fono kava. Mariner, as a BuTopean irot bound by Tongan etiquette, w.is to sit beside JCakahu and . *a»-4k to sec bis spjjar. which was of exceptional workmanship. Having got the spear into his hands. Mariner was to throw it away, ajtd that was to be toe signal to the ot.lw\rs to poize- the unsuspecting and disarm Kakahu. The •plan «a<-ciH-,lerl. Mariner gat the Rpeax and flung it through the open door. Instantly Fin&uVi men were upon the doomed ,-liicf, but. though taken by surprise, he fought like a lion, and it wne -with the greatest diflicnJty tha* they 'bound him. They th*>n carried him to the beach and placed him on a canoe to bo drowned with th<- others. That afternoon they were carried out to eea by a. la.r;>t> canoe, which also had on board three small leaky canoes. Tn .these the r-ondranned men were placed, bound hand and foot, and out in the deep, blue ocean the canoes wore dropped overboard to sink gradually with their freight. They died as brave men always die. expressing to ear-h other as they [ sank 'iheJT folly in having trusted FinaiL Eighteen men perished in t.haf. way. It may perhaps keep us from ,p.itrsin£r thpm overmiK-h to know thai one of t.hf men thus drowned himseif fo having killed th.i! inornir.'.' in ii-i.--;i*poll-ing woman whom lie h ippcnnd to mrrt, merely because the li»t of intirrW sni.TPd .him. To hr compelled l-> participate in fnich could not hut. quicken "Mariner* dri-ir' l t-n p.-soa-r?c from the abodes of cruelty. A more attractive incident, in Mariner's Tnnffan life '^.]i ; hi« visit, io the famous rave of HiiTisa and the story of its fir.-r discovrry. Hnng;? is a small, ieland f<jutb-Tv<«t of Vavau. and Finau, luring nothing important on hand, re-

solved -to visit it and indulge in the old Tongan epoft of shooting rate. Four-foot-ed game ie extremely rare in. the South Sea Islands, and on Tonga was confined to an indigenous rodent. We should regard rat-shooting as poor 6port, but the Tongane had no other except J bird-shooting and, of course, flehing. As usual, Mariner formed one of Finau'e party. .At. Ilunga there is a peculiar cavern, the only entrance to which ie several feet below the surface of the eea. It is formed by a hollow rock which rises from 40 to GOt't above the surface of the water, which flows into it on the sea side through a submarine entrance. Finan . proposed one afternoon to go inside this cavern and drink kava. Mariner happened to be away whe.n the proposal was made, and, on returning to the party, was surprised to see the Tongans diving into the sea and not coming up He asked the last man who -was just preparing to dive what it meant. "Follow ■ me,' , said the man, "-and I will take you where you have never been before." Mariner had previously heard of the cavern, and dived after the Tongan, whose direction he could see by the light colour of hie heels. After diving through a narrow passage, he found himself inside the cave, and heard the voices of Fin.au and his people. As soon as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom—for all the light which penetrated the cave was what passed through 'the water at the entrance Mariner was able to examine •the interior. The roof was a"bout 40ft high and -was hung with stalactites, resembling eome-what the ornamental roof of an old Gothic church. But, to add to the interest of the cavern, an old Matabuli related the romance of its discovery as follows:—A young chief was hunting a turtle, which suddenly disappeared as through the ocean floor. Curious to discover the reason, the chief explored the point at which the turtle disappeared from eight, and to hie astonishment found himself inside the cave. He kept hie discovery -a secret, not knowing what purpose it might serve. Now. the ruling chief of Vavau at that time was tyrannical and cruel, and at last another chief concocted a pl-an of insurrection to rid the island of the tyrant. But. being betrayed 'by one of his own people, ho -was arrested, taken nut to eea, and drowned. The vengeance of the tyrant extended to the flea.l man's family and relatives, all lof whom were ordered to be slain, that J none of his race might remain. One of hie daughters -was a young and beautiful ! girl, betrothed to a chief of high rank, i but she. too, would have been put to I death had it not been for the intervenItion of the discoveTeT of the cave of I Hunga. Re wae in love with the girl, ! but. knowing she was intended for an- [ other of greater rank than his own, he I had not dared to make his love known. i Now crime his opportunity. Hearing of I the death sentence which the tyrant had ! passed on the whole family, the young ; lover tried to communicate with the girl, imploring her to place herself under hie care and he -would save her life. She consented, and. waiting till night, the couple embarked on a canoe and set out for Flunga. On the way the young man told the wondering girl of the cave, and that he intended to hide her there till he could convey her 1-0 Fiji. They safely reached Hunpra, and, piloted by him, the (girl reached the interior of the cave. The. lover had already prepared food, and there was a. convenient ledge on which she might rest. leaving her there, the young man returned early to Vavau lest his adventure should be suspected. As a considerable time must elapse before he could arrange to escape to Fiji, the rover had to maintain the. girl for some months in her place of concealment. He dared not visit her too often lost he be , followed and the Tctreat discovered. Yet be managed to convey to the maiden fine tappa for drees, cocoa oil for unguent, food and water for sustenance. At length the young chief thought it safe to announce his intended journey to Fiji to his own kinsfolk, and requested them to accompany him, but strictly enjoined them not to divulge the plan. They fell in -with the proposal and secretly prepared the canoe ar<d the food necessary for so long a journey. As the day of departure drew near the young chief-was aeked if be would -not take a wife "with him, to which he replied that perhaps he would find one on the way. The canoe sailed, and as they approached Himga the Kterreman was directed to approach a certain point. Then the young man told his friends to wait, -as he was going into the sea for hie wife. He dived overboaH and disappeared. The people in the canoe waited, and as he did not come np they concluded he had 'been seized by some monster of the deep. They were still discussing their leaders strange action and what was beet to be done -when, to their amazement, almost to then- dismay, ,be appeared in company with a beautiful maiden, and both climbed into the canoe. The mystery was soon explained, and they reached Fiji in safety, where they lived for a couple of years. Then, hearing that the tyrant of Vavau was dead. they all returned to their own land to live in peace and happiness.