OF THE TONGA PEOPLE.

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mony of moe-moe, before he will dare feed him-self with his own hands. This ceremony consistsin touching the soles of any superior chief’sfeet with the hands, first applying the palm,then the back of each hand; after which thehands must be rinsed in a little water, or, ifthere be no water near, they may be rubbedwith any part of the stem of the plantain or ba-nana tree, the moisture of which will do insteadof washing. He may then feed himself withoutdanger of any disease, which would otherwisehappen, as they think, from eating -with tabooedhands: but if any one think he may have already(unknowingly) eaten with tabooed hands, hethen sits down before a chief, and taking thefoot of the latter, presses the sole of it againsthis own abdomen, that the food which is-withinhim may do him no injury, and that conse-quently he may not swell up and die : this opera-tion is called fota, (i. e. to press.) It is tabooedalso to eat when a superior relation is present,unless the back is turned towards him: forwhen a person’s back is turned towards another,that other may be said, in one sense, not to bein his presence: also to eat food which a su-perior relation or chief has touched; and ifeither of these taboos is accidentally infringedupon, the ceremony of fota must be performed.If any one is tabooed by touching the person