Show TRAVELS I 1 LETTER NO i sunday aug 1895 A meeting was held at the mission house at mua at 9 a III our congregation consisted of only six adult natives and some children elder eider durham and myself were the speakers he also translating for me our subjects were the book of mormon the supposed origin of the polynesian race the restoration of the gospel and its first principles all seemed pleased among those present were alipate our only member on Tonga tabu and another baptized member from also a particular friend who answers to the modest appellation of charley but whose real native name is salesi salesi is the tongan tor for cearley Cn arley this is an intelligent man and a preacher in the pui church he has been kind to the elders from the beginning and says he assisted elder brigham smoot in his preparation of the only tract published by our people in the tongan language he expressed himself as a firm believer in all our doc trines brines and said that he expects to be come a member of the church at some future day he suggested that our elders here would find it to their addad ad vari tage to pay particular attention to ape chiefs or leading mefi men and officials in the different villages as the were a great people to follow their chiefs it once the chiefs were converted to mormonism the majority ot of the people would in his opinion soon follow but it was something unusual with the natives to take an independent individual stand in anything ot of importance and especially in departing from the religion ot of their chiefs or what is the popular religion of the land we held another meeting in the afternoon after which some ot of us elders attended services at the regular kr wesleyan village church in mua which he took irom from the 3rd ard chapter of Ge genesis and he grew quite eloquent in his delivery before lie he got through the singing was noisy enough but by no means sweet or harmonious most of the congregation gre gation sat on mats on the floor after afler the meeting the ministers and others mine came forward and shook hands bands with us warmly but they made no overtures to religious conversations the brethren tell me that the native wesleyan minis wilt will hardly ever argue with them on doctrinal points in the evening the usual testimony meeting was held in the mission house bouse at mua at which all the elders present seven of us spoke briefly I 1 in perusing literature on the polynesian race I 1 find that several authors refer to the apparent similarity between some of the characteristics religious cere ceremonies inori etc of the polynesians and the ancient jews or israelites they alsto gep generally rally favor the theory of a common origin and close relationship between betwee enn all the brown colored inhabitants of polynesia including those of the hawaiian islands samoa tongo bongo new zealand the society islands the caumo tu lu archipelago and other groups between new zealand and america though most whites try to advance the cries for an eastward emigration irom froin asia and the east indies they all have to acknowledge that the proofs are lacking to sustain the same commenting upon the origin and prehistoric immigration of the polynesian race the rev thomas west in his tn ten years in south central polynesia v writes there can be no doubt that the Ton guese religion bore in several particulars a striking resemblance to the ritual and economy of the jewish ceremonial law indeed this similarity prevails more are less in the various various groups of polynesia nor can it be denied thelt that many of the inhabitants have strongly marked jewish features but it requires tarther farther research and more proof before we can adopt the conclusion some have come to that any portion of the people are of israe I 1 i t ish extraction A few of these points of resemblance may here be specified as a matter of interest I 1 there obtained among the ton bonese a regular division of time into months and years these divisions being worked by the recurrence of sacred seasons and public feasts which were observed with religious ceremony and were under the sanction of ane most rigorous laws it is also remarkable that the Ton guese have some knowledge of an intercalary mou h the use and disuse of which have led to many discussion among themselves 2 the entire system of tabu by which times persons and places or things were made sacred and the many religious restrictions and prohibitions connected therewith may be easily in as a relic much changed and corrupted from t the be ceremonial observances of the jews 3 The great feast of the ikaji 11 or oft offering oftering ering of first fruits to the gods every year seems a custom of religious ceremony ot of purely jewish origin 4 the same may be said of the rite of circumcise circum cism which was regularly practiced by them an person was considered mean and desnica ble and the custom has only disappeared in recent years 5 every person and thing that touched a dead body was considered unclean and remained so until alter after the elapse ot of a certain number of days during that allotted time those whose duties compelled them to do the rites of burial were not allowed to feed themselves or to touch the food prepared by others they were therefore care fully fed by attendants 6 females alter after child birth and alter after other periods of infirmity were enjoined strict separation and were subjected to ceremonial pu purifications 7 Tong nese had cities of refuge corresponding to those instituted among the jews ane uses and functions resembled in some of their features those of the mosaic law the taula or priest was supposed to become inspired by the god as his shrine or representative while receiving and answering the prayers rayer 1 l and sand sacrifices of the worshippers wor shippers jah these ese were offered through the feao I 1 or attendant upon the taula and it was also his bis duty to maint maintain ain the god house or temple in due repair and order monday aug I 1 spent the day at the mission house attending to my duties as historian and also conversed with some of the natives who came to see us through the aid of the other brethren tuesday aug after attending to the usual routine of work at the mission house we heid a council meeting in the evening at which it was decided by unanimous vote that elder james R walker and charles E jensen should accompany me on my way toward samoa as far as the vavan group of islands distant miles from Tong atuba and these open up the gospel door or endeavor to establish a new field of missionary labor among the inhabitants which comprise almost five thousand or more than one coruth of all the natives of the tongan kingdom with the departure of the two elders named only four missionaries will be left to hold the fort on Tonga tabu but this is also considered quite ample under the present circumstances wednesday aug after the days work at the mission house at mua I 1 took a stroll out through the town and adjoining bush together with elder alfred M durham on our walk we visited some peculiar ancient works in the shape of raised squares the natives say are old native burying grounds one of these squares which is regularly terraced measures feet feel in length by about go 90 in breadth the terraces are three in number built on the same principle as the square raised over the rein remains ains of the late king george at at first one was led to believe that the face of the ter races w ere built of huge rock one of which measured 21 feet in length by about 6 feet in width and breadth but on closer observation I 1 was inclined to the belief that though hard as rock lock it is a sort of concrete or cement compound which as the centuries rolled by became hardened there are nearly a score ot of similar squares though smaller than the one described in the same neighborhood we also visited two of the village graveyards the natives after making the proper excavation for the reception of a dead body never returns the dirt thrown out to the grave but after lowering the remains of the dead they fill up the grave with clean white sand obtained from the sea shore this accounts for the high ground which distinguishes all native burying grounds in tonga thursday aug in reading william mariners marinero Ma tonga islands to day I 1 was struck forcibly with the apparent similarity between many of the characteristics customs and bw bat its of the and the american indians which goes far to prove that their origin is the same that they all belong to the sane branch odthe human cami y the old heathen religion oi of the tongan was based upon plurality of gods representing both good and evil and some of which they conceived of as eternal gods and others as more temporal deities in many respects the tongan religion was much akin to the scandinavian mythology comprehending odin as the chief temporal god an and a number of other gods representing war peace love etc there is a certain rock on the island of huga Ho onga which is still pointed out by the natives as the immediate ini cause of the origin of the tongan islands it happened once before these islands were in ex distance istance says mr mardener Ma riener that one of their goda went out fishing with line and hook it chanced however that the hook got fixed in a rock at the bottom ol of the sea and in consequence bt 0 the god pulling the line he abrew up all the tongan islands which they say would have formed une one great land but the line breaking the act was in compete comp ete and matters were left as they now are they show a hole in the rock about two leet feet in diameter which quite perforates it and in which Tang aloas hook got fixed friday aug aoth at 3 p m elders durham walker jensen atkin ai kinson shill leanard and masef boarded the little mission boat which h has as been christened Hila tali and sailed tor for the side of the lagoon we were going in to hold a meeting which had been appointed in the capital for the evening the wind being favorable we had haa a most pleasant sail across the a goon lasting a little over one hour As the boat glided swiftly over the face of the water the air was made to re sound with the sweet songs of zion a number of the brethren being good singers and members ot of choirs when at home we also enjoyed the usual two mile walk through the tropical forest or bush and cocoa nut groves and arrived at at 5 p in we at once sat to work preparing the falemai fa lekai or large dining hall which the mier of the kingdom of tonga had granted us the use for the occasion at p in m the appointed hour for the lecture about sixty people including most ot the white inhabitants of Nu kalota and a lew few from other places had assembled and we commenced the first latter day saints meeting ever held in the tongan capital capita for white people by singing arise 0 glorious zion etc after which elder james R walker offered a short prayer and then the hymn redeemer of israel etc was sung next followed the lecture as advertised by elder andrew jenson of salt sail lake city who spoke an hour and ten minutes on the history religion general characteristics etc of the latter day saints he was listened to with very close attention and apparent deep interest throughout the gospel standard high is raised I 1 I 1 etc was sung and benediction offered by elder altred alfred M durham among those present who expressed themselves highly pleased with the meeting was wm win Fr eskow the german consul through whose influence partly we had obtained the hall in which to give the lecture after the meeting all we elders wended bended our way back through the bush the bright tropical moon beaming beautifully upon us and lighting up our way and at io 10 p m we again boarded our trusty little boats boat and pulled out for mua four miles away As the wind hard against us we had to row all the way but we enjoyed it for we were a happy little crowd who felt truly thankful to the lord tor for having heard our prayers and granted us a good meeting after two hours hour shard hard rowing ag against wind and wave we reached the ast mua ua shore and cast anchor off the rear of the missi mission ort premises we waded ashore the tide being out and the water consequently too shallow for the boat to float into the little harbor or inlet the still hour of midnight found us once more entering the portals of our peaceful little mission home at mua saturday aug aist after working at historical labor part of the day I 1 set out for a walk through the bush in the afternoon accompanied by elders atkinson shill and leonard after traveling about three hours in the midst of a drenching rainstorm against which our umbrellas afforded only partial protection tec tion we reached the ocean on the opposite side of the island where we obtained a good view ot of the neighboring island of eua situated about eleven miles out from the southeast shore of Tonga tabu we now entered a great cave the main object of our ramble the entrance to which is quite small and so low that one has to crawl on all fours to g get in in but which opens out to most magnificent grottos and chambers further in we explored several very large rooms in which abounded curious and fantastic water formations of all sorts but whose hose broken and uneven floors made progress sow slow and difficult an extensive lake system containing numerous arms and strange connections covered the lower side of several large rooms we went in I 1 should judge about five hundred feet and would have gone further had we possessed more lanterns the natives cici n that the cave is several miles long and relates a story of a woman who many years ago got lost in there but who finally succeeded in reaching the top of the ground through an opening near mua three miles away this is is undoubtedly an exaggeration but it is nevertheless a very interesting and extensive underground system by far the largest cave I 1 have ever seen if such a cave were situated in a thickly populated country or on a regular route of travel it would be visited by tens of thousands of people on our return to mua we took another more roundabout round about road in order to avoid the wet grass in the bush and thus passed through the village of hav elu being hungry we also helped ourselves to a niu the native name for a cocoa nut and a or cummy apple called by the natives olesi which in taste and size resembles american mush melon we drank the milk of the coco a nut and ate its flesh with much relish there is a law in tonga which authorizes traveling people who are hun ry to enter premises and ery f elp themselves to all the fruit they can eat but they are not at liberty to waste or to carry any away if tonga lay on the way of the genuine arr air 0 lean ican tramp I 1 am afraid that that law would be very much allured but there are no real tramps in tonga sunday sept two general meetings Inee tings were held at the mission house at mua only a few children attended the forenoon meeting while a nice little congregation of adult natives attended the afternoon services and listened attentively tent ively to a discourse on the first principles of the gospel and the book of mormon by elder eider durham this being the first sunday of he month it was observed as fast day and in the evening at our little testimony meeting the sacrament was administered and all the brethren spoke it was observed that we seven elders who had spent nearly two weeks in pleasant association together get ei would most likely never meet again in in the same place three of us being about to depart for other fields of labor late in in the afternoon in in company with elder eider durham I 1 visited the neighboring village of balaki situated about one half mile southwest of the mission house at this vill village agia stands a very large banyan tree native name the combined trunk roots of which measures about one hundred feet in circumference |