TONGA.
GOVERNMENT AND GRADATIONS OF RANK.
FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN TONGA AND FIJI -- THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION
-- GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE TONGANS -- THEIR DRESS -- THE GNATOO,
AND MODE OF WEARING IT -- MAKING THE GNATOO -- BEATING, JOINING, AND
PRINTING THE PIECES -- THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GNATOO AND TAPPA --
ORNAMENTS WORN BY THE TONGANS -- WHALE’S TEETH, AND THE VALUE SET
ON THEM -- FINOW AND THE TEETH -- DISTINCTIONS OF RANK -- SECULAR
AND RELIGIOUS RANK -- THE TOOI-TONGA, HIS ORIGIN AND PRIVILEGES --
THE VEACHI -- THE HOW, OR KING, OFTEN INFERIOR IN RANK TO MANY OF
HIS CHIEFS -- THE EGI, OR NOBLES -- THE MATABOOLES, THEIR RANK AND
DUTIES -- THE MOOAS, OR GENTRY; AND THE TOOAS, OR COMMON PEOPLE
-- MATRIMONIAL ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT RANKS --
TREATMENT OF WOMEN.
Our readers may remember that, in the account of the Fiji Islands, it
was mentioned that there was one nation which was held by the Fijians
as free from their usual custom of killing and eating all visitors to
their coast. These people are the inhabitants of the Tongan group,
popularly known as the Friendly Islands. Owing to their courage in war
and superior intellect, they have performed toward the Fijians the same
part that has so often been played by more civilized people. On one or
two occasions they found the Fijian chiefs hard pressed by rebellion,
took the part of their hosts, crushed the rebel forces, and restored
the chiefs to power.
A remarkable instance of this timely aid occurred as late as 1855.
Thakombau, of whom we have already heard, was in danger of losing his
life and throne together through a rebellion led by a chief named
Mara. Fortunately, he had previously given a magnificent canoe to the
Tongan king, who sailed over, according to custom, accompanied with
a large fleet, in order to receive the royal present with due honor.
He instantly led his forces against the rebels, stormed a fort called
Kamba which was held by them, took it, and utterly dispersed the enemy,
Mara himself only escaping by running over the sharp shells of the
reef, thereby nearly cutting his feet to pieces, and swimming to a
neighboring town on the coast.
After this exploit, the Tongan chief followed up his blow by sailing
to the island of Taviuni, where another rebellion was raging in
consequence of the murder of the chief by his sons. He put an end to
this rebellion also, inquired which of the murdered chief’s other sons
had the best claim to his father’s rank, and installed him formally.
The vanquished rebels, finding that the Tongan leader was too strong
for them, tried to entrap him in an ambuscade, but only succeeded in
murdering one of his chiefs. The Tongans immediately landed on the
island, and avenged the death of their friends in a most terrible
manner. A large party of Tongan warriors was afterward left under the
command of a chief named Maafu, a relation of the king, and by means of
this force the rebels were effectually suppressed.
As might be expected, the Tongans took advantage of their situation,
and enacted over again the fable of the deer, the horse, and the man.
Some four hundred of them generally remain in Fiji, and domineer over
the natives much like armies of occupation in other countries. A Tongan
warrior has not the least scruple in going to a strange village,
entering the house that pleases him best, and installing himself in the
best place with the simple words: “This part of the house is mine.” He
takes the best of the food, and, if he builds a canoe, merely acts as
foreman, making the Fijians do all the hard work. There is nothing
that the Tongans do, however, which so much incenses the natives as
their careless habit of shaking the bread-fruit trees in order to
procure the fruit, which ought always to be gathered by hand.
It is said, and perhaps with reason, that the Tongans contemplate the
complete conquest of the Fijian group; and from their experience,
courage, and discipline, and the fear which they have contrived to
instil into the Fijians, there is little doubt that the attempt, if it
were to be made, would be a successful one. The Fijian warrior fights
on his own account, each man separately, while the Tongans act in
unison; so that the Fijians who have fought against them compare them
to the gods, against whom it is useless to struggle.
As may be gathered from these particulars, the Tongans are a superior
race to the Fijian. They are, indeed, a different people altogether;
the Fijians belonging to the Papuan race, whereas the Tongans belong
to the Polynesian race, which does not possess the very crisp hair and
rough skin of the Papuans; and, as a rule, is much lighter in skin,
the complexions being often as white as that of many Europeans. They
are, on the whole a singularly handsome set of people, the beauty not
being limited to the men, as is the case with so many savage tribes,
but possessed equally, if not to a superior extent, by the women. The
portrait of a daughter of a Tongan chief, on the 973d page, will verify
this statement.
The dress of both sexes is made of similar materials, but is
differently arranged. The fabric is called in the Tongan language
“gnatoo,” and is almost identical with the Fijian masi. It is made from
the bark of the same tree, and is beaten out in very similar fashion,
except perhaps that the Tongan women are more particular than those of
Fiji in the care and delicacy with which they beat out the bark with
their grooved mallets. The gnatoo varies somewhat in quality according
to the island in which it is made, that of Vavau being considered as
the finest.
In putting on the gnatoo, there is nearly as much diversity as in the
arrangement of a Scotch plaid, and the mode in which it is arranged
serves to denote difference of rank. The most fashionable mode, which
is practised by the chiefs, is to wrap a portion of it round the loins
in such a manner that the folds allow fair play to the limbs, and then
to pass the remainder round the waist like a broad belt, and tuck the
ends under the belt in front of the body. The portion which forms the
belt is so arranged that it can be loosened at any moment and thrown
over the head and shoulder. This is always done when the wearer is
obliged to be abroad in the night time.
The gnatoo of the men measures about eight feet in length, by six in
width. Under the gnatoo is a belt made of the same material. Women have
a larger piece of gnatoo than the men, and arrange it in folds which
are as graceful as those of antique art, and seem as likely to fall off
the person. This, however, is never the case, and, even if the gnatoo
were by any accident to slip, the women wear under it a small mat or
petticoat about a foot in depth.
As this gnatoo plays so important a part in the clothing of the
Polynesians, its manufacture will now be described, the account being
taken from Mariner’s valuable history of the Tongans:--“A circular
incision being made round the tree near the root with a shell, deep
enough to penetrate the bark, the tree is broken off at that point,
which its slenderness readily admits of. When a number of them are thus
laid on the ground, they are left in the sun a couple of days to become
partially dry, so that the inner and outer bark may be stripped off
together, without danger of leaving any of the fibres behind.
“The bark is then soaked in water for a day and a night, and scraped
carefully with shells for the purpose of removing the outer bark or
epidermis, which is thrown away. The inner bark is then rolled up
lengthwise, and soaked in water for another day. It now swells, becomes
tougher, and more capable of being beaten out into a fine texture.
“Being thus far prepared, the operation of _too-too_, or beating
commences. This part of the work is performed by means of a mallet a
foot long and two inches thick, in the form of a parallelopipedon, two
opposite sides being grooved horizontally to the depth and breadth of
about a line, with intervals of a quarter of an inch.
“The bark, which is from two to three feet long, and one to three
inches broad, is then laid on a beam of wood about six feet long and
nine inches in breadth and thickness, which is supported about an inch
from the ground by pieces of wood at each end, so as to allow of a
certain degree of vibration. Two or three women generally sit at the
same beam; each places her bark transversely upon the beam immediately
before her, and while she beats with her right hand, with her left she
moves it slowly to and fro, so that every part becomes beaten alike.
The grooved side of the mallet is used first, and the smooth side
afterward.
“They generally beat alternately, and early in the morning, when the
air is calm and still, the beating of gnatoo in all the plantations
has a very pleasing effect. Some sounds being near at hand, and others
almost lost by the distance,--some a little more acute, and others more
grave,--and all with remarkable regularity, produce a remarkable effect
that is very agreeable, and not a little heightened by the singing of
the birds and the cheerful influence of the scene. When one hand is
fatigued, the mallet is dexterously transferred to the other, without
occasioning the smallest sensible delay.
“In the course of about half an hour, it is brought to a sufficient
degree of thinness, being so much spread laterally as to be now
nearly square when unfolded; for it must be observed that they double
it several times during the process, by which means it spreads more
equally and is prevented from breaking. The bark thus prepared is
called _fetagi_, and is mostly put aside till they have a sufficient
quantity to go on at a future time with the second part of the
operation, which is called _cocanga_, or printing with _coca_.
“When this is to be done, a number employ themselves in gathering the
berries of the _toe_, the pulp of which serves for paste (but the
mucilaginous substance of the mahoá root is sometimes substituted for
it); at the same time others are busy scraping off the soft bark of the
cocoa tree and the _toodi-tooi_ tree, either of which, when wrung out
without water yields a reddish-brown juice, to be used as a dye.
“The stamp is made of the dried leaves of the _paoongo_ sewed together
so as to be of a sufficient size, and afterward embroidered, according
to various devices, with the wiry fibre of the cocoa-nut husk. Making
these stamps is another employment of the women, and mostly women of
rank. They are generally about two feet long, and a foot and a half
broad. They are tied on to the convex side of half cylinders of wood,
usually about six or eight feet long, to admit two or three similar
operations to go on at the same time.
“The stamp being thus fixed, with the embroidered side uppermost, a
piece of the prepared bark is laid on it, and smeared over with a
folded piece of gnatoo dipped in one of the reddish-brown liquids
before mentioned, so that the whole surface of the prepared bark
becomes stained, but particularly those parts raised by the design in
the stamp. Another piece of gnatoo is now laid upon it, but not quite
so broad, which adheres by virtue of the mucilaginous quality in the
dye, and this in like manner is smeared over; then a third in the same
way.
“The substance is now three layers in thickness. Others are then added
to increase it in length and breadth by pasting the edges of these over
the first, but not so as there shall be in any place more than three
folds, which is easily managed, as the margin of one layer falls short
of the margin of the one under it.
“During the whole process each layer is stamped separately, so that
the pattern may be said to exist in the very substance of the gnatoo;
and when one portion is thus printed to the size of the stamp, the
material being moved farther on, the next portion, either in length or
breadth, becomes stamped, the pattern beginning close to the spot where
the other ended. Thus they go on printing and enlarging it to about six
feet in breadth, and generally about forty or fifty yards in length. It
is then carefully folded up and baked under ground, which causes the
dye to become rather dark, and more firmly fixed in the fibre; beside
which it deprives it of a peculiar smoky smell which belongs to the
coca.
“When it has been thus exposed to heat for a few hours, it is spread
out on a grass plat, or on the sand of the seashore, and the finishing
operation of _toogi-hea_ commences, _i. e._ staining it in certain
places with the juice of the _hea_, which constitutes a brilliant red
varnish. This is done in straight lines along those places where the
edges of the printed portions join each other, and serves to conceal
the little irregularities there; also in sundry other places, in the
form of round spots, about an inch and a quarter in diameter. After
this the gnatoo is exposed one night to the dew, and the next day,
being dried in the sun, it is packed up in bales to be used when
required. When gnatoo is not printed or stained, it is called _tappa_.”
Various ornaments are worn by both sexes among the Tongans, among
which may be enumerated a kind of creeper, with flowers at intervals
along the stem. This is passed round the neck or the waist, and has a
singularly graceful and becoming appearance. The most valued ornament
is, however, that which is made of the ivory of the whale’s teeth, so
cut as to resemble in miniature the tooth itself. They are of different
sizes, varying from one inch to four inches in length, and strung
together by a cord passing through a hole bored in their thick ends.
These teeth are even more valued in Tonga than in Fiji, and a common
man would not dare to have one in his possession, knowing well that he
would assuredly lose his life on the very first occasion that offered
the slightest opportunity of an accusation. Once Finow, the King of
Tonga, was told of a whale which had been stranded on a little island
inhabited only by a man and his wife. When Finow reached the place he
found that the teeth had been removed, and ordered the man and woman
into custody on the charge of stealing them. Both denied that they
had more than two teeth, which they gave up, whereupon the man was
immediately killed with a club, and the woman threatened with a similar
fate. Under fear of this threat she produced two more teeth which she
had hidden, but, refusing to acknowledge that she knew of any others,
met with the same fate as her husband. Many years afterward the missing
teeth were discovered, the woman having buried them in the ground.
This anecdote shows the value in which whales’ teeth are held, the
king taking the trouble to go in person to claim them, and the woman
allowing herself to be killed rather than part with her treasures.
[Illustration: (1.) INTERIOR OF A TONGAN HOUSE. (See page 981.)]
[Illustration: (2.) BURIAL OF A LIVING KING. (See page 966.)]
A good idea of the appearance of a Tongan woman of rank may be obtained
from the illustration No. 1, on the preceding page, which represents
the interior of a chief’s house, and part of his family.
In the foreground is one of the odd wooden pillows which are so much
in vogue throughout Polynesia; while one of the most conspicuous
objects is a roll of narrow matting, which is used for the purpose of
surrounding men and women of high rank as they sit on the floor. Within
it is seated the chief’s wife, in the graceful attitude adopted by the
Tongans, exhibiting the simple and really elegant folds of the gnatoo
dress. The reader will observe the apparent looseness with which the
dress is put on, the folds lying so loosely that they seem ready to
slip every moment. They are, however, perfectly tight, and there is not
the least danger of their slipping.
Within doors the children never wear any clothing until they are two
years old; but when they go out, their parents always wrap round them a
piece of gnatoo or tappa. The natives are exceedingly fastidious about
their dress, criticising every fold with minute care, and spending a
considerable time in arranging them. Even when bathing, they always
array themselves in a slight dress made for such occasions, going
aside for the purpose of exchanging the usual gnatoo for an apron of
leaves or matting. So disrespectful is utter nudity reckoned among the
Tongans, that if a man be obliged to undress near the spot where a
chief is buried, the leaf apron is worn while the dress is changed.
* * * * *
We now come to the various divisions of rank in Tonga, and the mode of
government. Ranks may be divided into two distinct orders, namely, the
religious and the civil. We must take them in this order, because among
the Tongans religious takes the precedence of civil rank.
By far the greatest man in point of rank is the TOOI-TONGA. This word
literally signifies Chief of Tonga, and is given because the man who
bears it is the greatest man in Tonga, which is the chief of the whole
group of islands. The word does not represent a name, but a rank, the
family name being Fatagehi, and the rank passes downward by legitimate
descent. So great a man is the Tooi-tonga, that in his presence no man
may stand, but is obliged to sit down in the attitude of respect. Even
the king is not exempt from this law; and if he should happen to meet
the Tooi-tonga, he would have to squat down humbly until the great man
had passed by.
The Tooi-tonga stands alone in many particulars, and, according to
our ideas, he has plenty of dignity, but very little comfort, leading
a life somewhat like that of the spiritual Emperor of Japan. He has
certainly one advantage over his fellows: he does not undergo the
operation of tattooing, because there is no one of sufficiently high
rank to draw the blood of so sacred a personage. He is married after
a manner peculiar to himself, is buried in a peculiar manner, and is
mourned in a peculiar manner. He is so sacred, that in speaking of him
another language is used, many phrases being reserved expressly for
the Tooi-tonga. These are probably relics of an ancient and nearly
lost language, as is the case with the incantations of the New Zealand
priests.
The reason for this extraordinary veneration is, that the Tooi-tonga is
supposed to be a direct descendant of a chief god who was accustomed to
visit the islands; but whether his female ancestor was a goddess or a
native of earth is an open question with the Tongans. In spite of all
the veneration which is shown to him, the Tooi-tonga has very little
real power, and in this respect is far surpassed by the king, and
equalled by many of the nobles.
There is another chief, the VEACHI, who is also supposed to have a
divine origin, and is therefore held in higher veneration than any of
the chiefs, but is inferior to the Tooi-tonga. It is true that in his
presence the king has to sit on the ground in the attitude of humility,
and that he is considered a being next in rank to the great Tooi-tonga
himself; but the other marks of veneration, such as a separate
language, and different modes of marriage, burial, and mourning, are
not paid to him; and in power he is equalled by many of the chiefs.
Next in rank, but at a very great distance, come the priests. These men
receive their name from their capability of being inspired by certain
gods, and, except when actually inspired, have no special rank, and are
paid no honor except such as may belong to them as private individuals.
Mariner remarks that he never knew a case in which a priest was a
chief. The king occasionally becomes inspired, because there is one
god who cannot speak except by the royal mouth; but the king is not,
in consequence, considered as a priest. Neither are the Tooi-tonga and
Veachi considered as priests, nor is there any connexion between them
and the priesthood.
Should, in an assembly, a priest become inspired, he is immediately
held in the highest veneration as long as the inspiration lasts,
because a god is supposed to be speaking through his lips. If, on such
an occasion, the king should be present, he immediately leaves his
place, and sits humbly among the spectators. Even the great Tooi-tonga
himself acts in the same manner, and, though the descendant of a god,
he retires before the actual presence of a divinity.
So much for the spiritual rank, and we now pass to the temporal rank.
The highest man in a secular point of view is the HOW, or king, who is
the most powerful of all the chiefs, and yet may be in point of rank
inferior to the poorest of his nobles, or EGIS. Rank is measured in
Tonga by relationship to the Tooi-tonga or Veachi, the relatives of the
former being held superior to those of the latter. The consequence is,
that the king may meet a poor man who has scarcely any power, and yet
who is so high in rank above the king that the latter must sit down
till his superior has passed. Should he not do so, or should he by any
accident touch anything that belonged to his superior, the tapu would
assume its sway, and he would not be permitted to feed himself with
his own hands until he had gone to his superior, and saluted him by
touching his feet.
In consequence of these customs, the king avoids associating with
nobles who are his superior in rank, and they in their turn keep out
of his way as far as possible, so as not to humiliate him by making
him sit while they stand. Originally, the king was a descendant of the
Tooi-tonga, and thus was equally high in spiritual and temporal rank.
But when the throne was usurped by other families, the king still
retained the temporal power, though he yielded in spiritual rank to
others.
Next to the king come the EGIS, or nobles. These are all relations of
the Tooi-tonga, the Veachi, or the king, kinship to the king being held
as conferring rank because he holds the reins of power. Rank descends
in Tonga, as in other Polynesian islands, through the female line,
so that all the children of an Egi woman possess the rank of Egi, no
matter who may be the father.
After the nobles come the MATABOOLES, or councillors, who are the
companions and advisers of the chiefs, and take their rank from that
of the chief to whom they are attached. They are always the heads
of families, and are mostly men of mature age and experience, so
that their advice is highly valued. The eldest son of a Mataboole is
carefully trained to take his father’s place when he dies, and is
thoroughly versed in all the rites and ceremonies, the administration
of laws, and the many points of etiquette about which the Tongans are
so fastidious. He also learns all the traditionary records of his
people, and by the time that he is thirty years old or so is perfectly
acquainted with his profession. But until his father dies he has
no rank, and is merely one of the ordinary gentry, who will now be
described.
Last of all those who possess any rank are the gentry, or MOOAS.
All the sons of Matabooles are Mooas, and act as assistants of the
Matabooles, aiding on great ceremonies in managing the dances,
distributing food, and so forth. Like their superiors, they attach
themselves to the service of some chief, and derive their relative
consequence from his rank. As a rule, the Mooas all profess some art,
such as canoe building, ivory carving, and superintending funeral
rites, in which three occupations the Matabooles also take part. They
also preside over the makers of stone coffins, the makers of nets, the
fishermen, and the architects, and all these employments are hereditary.
Just as the children and brothers of Matabooles take the next lowest
rank, that of Mooa, so do those of Mooas take the next lowest rank,
and are considered as TOOAS, or plebeians. In this case, however, the
eldest son of a Mooa assumes the rank of his father after his death,
and is therefore more respected than his brothers, who are regarded
like younger sons among ourselves. The Tooas do all the menial work,
and act as cooks, barbers, tattooers, club-carvers, and so forth. The
two latter occupations, however, as requiring artistic skill, are also
practised by Mooas.
It will be seen from this brief sketch how elaborate, and yet how
intelligible, is this system of the Tongans, even when complicated with
the double grades of spiritual and temporal rank. This respect for
rank is carried even into the privacy of home. If, for example, an Egi
woman marries a Mataboole, or a Mooa, she retains her original rank,
which is shared by all her children, so that both she and her children
are superior to the husband and father. He, on his part, has to play
a double _rôle_. He is master in his own house, and his wife submits
to him as implicitly as if he were of the same rank as herself. Yet
he acknowledges the superior rank both of his wife and children, and,
before he even ventures to feed himself with his own hands, he goes
through the ceremony of touching the feet of his wife or either of his
children, in order to free himself from the tapu.
When the case is reversed, and a man of high rank marries a woman of
an inferior station, she does not rise to the rank of her husband, but
retains her original station, which is inherited by her children, who,
together with herself, have to touch the feet of the husband whenever
they eat. They imagine that if they did not do so a terrible sickness
would consume them. When Mariner lived among the Tongans, he did not
trouble himself about the tapu, much to the horror of the natives, who
expected that the offended gods would wreak their vengeance on him.
Finding that he suffered no harm, they accounted for the phenomenon by
the fact that he was a white man, and therefore had nothing to do with
the gods of the Tongans.
In consequence of the strictness of this system, Finow, who was king
when Mariner lived among the Tongan islands, used to feel annoyed if
even a child of superior rank were brought near him, and used angrily
to order it to be taken away. Such conduct, however, would not be
thought right unless both parties were nearly equal in rank; and if,
for example, the Tooi-tonga’s child had been brought near the king, he
would at once have done homage after the customary fashion.
Some very curious modifications of this custom prevail throughout
Tongan society. For example, any one may choose a foster-mother, even
though his own mother be alive, and he may choose her from any rank.
Generally her rank is inferior to that of her adopted son, but even
this connection between them does not earn for her any particular
respect. She would be much more honored as an attendant of a young
chief than as his foster-mother.
So elaborate and yet simple a system implies a degree of refinement
which we could hardly expect among savages. In consonance with this
refinement is the treatment of women, who are by no means oppressed
and hard-worked slaves, as is the case with most savage nations.
Consequently the women possess a gentle freedom of demeanor and grace
of form which are never found among those people where women are merely
the drudges of the men. So long ago as 1777, Captain Cook noticed that
the women were much more delicately formed than the men, that they were
beautifully proportioned, and that the hands were so small and soft
that they would compare favorably with the finest examples in Europe
and America. Hard and constant labor, such as is usually the lot of
savage women, deteriorates the form greatly, as indeed we can see among
ourselves, by comparing together a high-bred lady and a field laborer.
The two hardly seem to belong to the same race, or scarcely to the same
sex.
The Tongan women certainly do work, but they are not condemned to do it
all, the men taking the hard labor on themselves, and leaving the women
the lighter tasks, such as beating gnatoo, plaiting baskets, making
crockery, and the like. At the great dances, the women are not only
allowed to be present, but assist in them, taking as important a share
as the men, and infusing into the dance a really cultivated grace which
would not exist without them.
The light-colored hue of the skin, which has already been mentioned,
is much more common among the women than the men, for the reason that
the better class of women take more care of themselves than the men;
and, though all classes live for the most part in the open air, the
wives and daughters of powerful and wealthy men are careful not to
expose themselves to the sun more than is absolutely necessary, so
that many of them, instead of being brown, are of a clear olive tint,
the effect of which is singularly beautiful when contrasted with their
dark clustering hair, their gnatoo garments, and the leaves and flowers
with which they adorn themselves, changing them several times daily.
Altogether, a Tongan chief looks, and is, a gentleman, and his wife a
lady.