BEAUTIFUL TONGA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 106, 18 April 1933, Page 7

BEAUTIFUL TONGA

LORD BLEDISLOE’S VISIT EXCURSION TO HAAMONGA. PICTURESQUE RECEPTION. (Special to Press Assn.: By Radio.) (Received 18 10.30 a.m.) DIOMEDE, April 17. An excursion to the Stonehenge ot Tonga known as Haauionga, was made by 'their Excellencies and party to-day as the guests ot the Government oi Tonga. It is believed that Haainonga, which is tnlithon, was limit by a Tongan king about 1200 A.D., the method followed being similar to that used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. It consists of three huge blocks ot stone, two being upright and one crossway, the hitter fitting into a groove on top of the vertical stones. A short distance away are the tombs ol aijcient kings, where massive blocks of atone are used. The visitors were accompanied by Queen Salute, the acting Prime Minister and many prominent citizens and public officials. A formal reception had been arranged on a most elaborate •cale. The guests spent a perfect day •mid picturesque and beautiful surroundings attended by hundreds of Tangans arrayed in holiday glory. It was a scene of peculiar and appealing beauty, enhanced by a lovely •etting of sylvan glades While the guests were at luncheon in • specially built pavilion, which was a work of art, relays of Tongans presented national dances with amazing grace and precision, singing songs most melodiously. Little children took part in entertaining numbers with a degree of gravity which was conspicuously absent from their light-hearted seniors. The singers chanted the praises of Tonga and its monarchs, past and present, not omitting courteous tributes to the distinguished visitors. Presents of tappa cloths and other articles were made, and the visitors were decorated with fibre and arrayed in floral adornments used on festal occasions, eventually returning from the scene in a very gay appearance indeed. His Excellency, in an appreciativ D speech, thanked the Queen and hei Government for the kind reception and generous hospitality. Especially gratifying to him, he observed, was the excellent feeling of the people towards England and the British Empire. He would have the greatest pleasure in informing His Majesty of the cordinl’t’ with which his representatives had been received as guests and given such an enthusiastic and picturesque welcome. The Diomede sails for Vavau at 4 •’clock this afternoon.