THE TONGA ISLANDS.

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a foot and a half deep at low water), that ranacross the inlet at no great distance from Fel-letoa. Upon this shelf they were accustomed tofish every day, wading through the water. Onthese occasions,' 1 several men of their own partyhad frequently alarmed them by rushing outupon them, pretending to be the enemy, andhad repeated this so often, that, at length, theyonly laughed at the joke, and ridiculed the ideaof running away. One evening a party of Fi-now’s men, who had formed themselves for theexpress purpose of making an attack upon thesewomen, set out in a canoe, and sailed to a partof the island where they could land unobserved,and proceed to the spot where they were fish-ing, without any danger of discovery, on accountof the high bushes that were there in abundance.Being arrived on the spot, at an appointedsignal they rushed out upon the women, whoimmediately set up a hearty laugh, taking themfor their old friends, so fond of a joke; but,when they saw two or three knocked down withclubs, they ran away as fast as their strengthand the resistance of the water would let them,and the men after them in full pursuit. Therewere thirty of them, of which number five werekilled, and thirteen taken prisoners, the othertwelve escaping safe to the opposite shore. Inthis affair the wife of Finow’s son was very