OF THE TONGA PEOPLE.

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pected to fall on the head of the sacrilegious per-petrator. But it is only when a number of cursesare repeated in a string, as it were, and pro-nounced firmly, and with real malevolence, thatthey are supposed to have any effect; but not eventhen, if the party who curses is considerably lowerin rank than theparty cursed. When a whole stringis thus uttered, it is properly called vangi, and isoften to the amount of thirty or forty in num-ber. Mr. Mariner has heard one consisting ofeighty maledictions, all disposed in rhyme; therhyme, however, is not necessary: for a tolera-ble fair sample of this wonderful charm, the fol-lowing may be taken : “ Dig up your father by“ moonlight, and make soup of his bones; bake“ his skin to cracknel; gnaw his skull; devour“ your mother; dig up your aunt, and cut her“ to pieces; feed upon the earth of your grave;“ chew the heart of your grandfather; swallow“ the eyes of your uncle; strike your god; eat“ the gristly bones of your children; suck out“ the brains of your grandmother; dress your-“ self up in the skin of your father, and tie it on“ with the entrails of your mother,” &c.&c.&c.

As to the charm of ta nioo, it consists in spin-ning a cocoa-nut with the husk on, and judgingby the direction of the upper part, when again atrest, of the object of inquiry, which is chiefly,whether a sick person will recover: for this

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