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cumstance, yet this one consideration tendsstrongly to corroborate the idea. It is highlyprobable that neither of them went out on avoyage of discovery, or if such an opinion beadmitted, there is little doubt but that the peo-ple of Tonga first made the attempt, althoughthe construction and rigging of their canoeswere at that time far inferior. The grounds forthis opinion are, first, their situation to wind-ward, and secondly, their superior enterprisingspirit, in affairs of navigation, which may besaid to constitute a feature of their nationalcharacter. Their superiority in this respect isso great, that no native of Fiji , as far as is known,ever ventured to Tonga but in a canoe mannedwith Tonga people, nor ever ventured back tohis own islands, but under the same guidanceand protection. If we look to the voyage ofCow Mooala, related in Chap. 10, we cannotbut entertain a very favourable idea of his ma-ritime skill. He sailed from the Fiji islands forthose of Tonga , but the state of the weatherprevented him making them; then he steeredfor the Navigator’s islands; and the weatherbeing still unfavourable, he was drifted to Fo-toona, where his canoe was destroyed, and hiscargo of sandal wood taken from him. Not-withstanding these misfortunes, as soon as an-other large canoe was built, he again ventured