Show written for this paper TRAVELS LETTER NO monday and tuesday september 2nd and sud sad 3rd ard 1895 was spent by your correspondent adent 1 at the mission house at maua alro Tonga nga tabu in writing and reading and conversing with a few natives who visited us the are area a very proud mind and haughty race many ot of whom think themselves superior to white people they are very sensitive to blame and I 1 great lovers of praise and it is said that both the earlier and later sectarian learned how to take advantage of this when they wanted a liberal donation from them such was generally raised in special meetings called li baaba in which the solicitor after having received money from some native would get up and declare the tact to the whole congregation and praise the donor in the highest terms this naturally would induce others who loved to be praised to donate liberally also and even to excel the previous giver and this would go on till sometimes the assembly would grow wild with excite meat at and many acting from the impulse of the moment would give away nearly all they possessed these li baaba meetings are still held and with almost 1 the he same success as formerly wednesday september ath elders james R welker and charles E jensen bound for and myself bound for samoa accompanied as far as by elders durham and atkinson left mua early in the morning 4 and being favored with a southeasterly wind we crossed the lagoon in about an hour bour leaving the boat at the usual place of anchorage we walked to the capital from whence we sent a vehicle back for our luggage on our nearing them the wharf we noticed a great gathering of people there and we were informed that the young king ot of tonga was about to pay a visit on board the british man of war penguin which was lying at anchor off the wharf this gave gave us an excellent opportunity of witnessing quite an impressive display of royalty on a smil mall scale strung along the grassy road passing gassing the palace and along the jetty leading out to the pier were about one hundred men dressed in white coats and pantaloons who did service as a guard of honor for the occasion in front oi of the custom house sheds about halt way between the palace and the pier twenty armed soldiers were stationed jd they were dressed in red coats and blue pants and had dark colored caps with a gold colored band around them lor kw head bead covering their leather belts with brass fastenings together with their brass coat coa t buttons and the brass orna meats fastened tast ened to the front of their caps gave them quite an imposing appearance then there was the royal band iva consisting on that occasion of eighteen members and that many instruments indu including cling the drums drums which discoursed amic that in sweetness and harmony harmon could cid compare favorably with some american bands that I 1 ana am acquainted with after waiting a short time the king was seen leaving the palace accompanied r by five others who walked in F double file between the lines the king ky who is rather a good looking young man only twenty one years old but weighing nearly pounds and measuring 6 feet 24 inches in height was dressed in a tight fitting suit ot of navy blue and on his head be wore a light colored helmet while his shoulder and breast was properly decorated as becomes genuine royalty he walked with a regular and firm step carrying himself in strict military style by his bis side walked mr leefe the british consul at tonga immediately behind them walked mr J B watkin the kings special adviser and the head of the tongan free church and aho governor ot of while george finau a very stout native and the crown prince of the kingdom but at present the governor of keppel island and another native chiel chief made up the rear due honor was paid his majesty mai esty as he passed along the lines and among others the mormon E ders present on the occasion lifted their hats respectfully to the greatest tongan alive y the distance from the palace to the outer end of the jetty is about a quarter of a mile land and having reached the wharf his royal highness and escort boarded the royal boat which was waiting wailing for them and which was manned by ten royal oarsmen oarsman and a helmsman just before the king stepped on board the ten oarsman arose to ane ir feet and raised their oars to the perpendicular di cular remaining in that position till the six distinguished passengers were seated then at a given sig nalof the hel helmsman or boat commander the ten men as with one accord dropped their oars into their proper positions on the sides of the boat and then taking their seats commenced their very artistic and graceful rowing toward the british man of war which in honor of the occasion had ordered its crew up in the yardarm where they stood erect like so many statutes till the king and escorts had boarded the vessel the kings aings party only remained on board the man of war about halt half an hour when he returned in the same boat that had brought him out I 1 have never seen finer and more m ore perfect rowing than that tha at executed on this occasion by these tongan natives the sight was truly pleasing to the eye and the long white boat flying the royal standard ahead and the tongan flag on the mast looked beautiful lul as it was propelled so systematically over the water the party marched back the way it came the band the soldiers and the guard ol of honor occupying the same positions as when the party went out and going through the same performance As the steamer ovalau which was due from new zealand had not arrived yet we returned to mua in the evening rowing all the way across the lagoon lag in the evening elder durham and myself visited mr lombard one of th the white merchants of mua and an old resident of the place we also wit nes ed a most beautiful total eclipse ol of the moon thursday september ath once more elders Wal walker leer jensen and myself left mua accompanied hy by elders alfred M durham who presides over the ton tongan an mission miss iod tf and arhos amos A atkinson alter after taking final leave of elders george W abill bill and george M leonard the usual sailing and walking brought us as safely to where we found tte the ovalau lying at the wharf after giving the parting hand to elders durham and atkinson who returned to mua ire we boarded the steamer and spent the night on board on our arrival at today we saw a shark measuring eleven feet in length and weighing about five hundred pounds which had bad been caught the night defore we also conversed with a native of Pit cairns island by the name of young who is a great grandson of the original edward young one of the mutineers muti ot of the ship bounty who first settled Pet cairns island over nine hundred years ago this man together with two companions had just arrived at nuku anuku alofa in an american seventh day adventist missionary vessel the present population ot of Pit cairns island is about in number are all adherents of the seventh day adventists though the they f were formerly members of the church of england friday sept 6 accordi g to previous appointment elders welker jenson jduson and myself landed and had a pleasant interview with king george II 11 at the royal palace in nuku anuku alofa being introduced by mr watkin I 1 conversed with the king about fifteen minutes partly direct and partly through mr watkin as interpreter the king understands a little english but spoke it very imperfectly I 1 endeavored to convey to him a correct idea of utah and her people and explained briefly briedy our method ot of preaching the gospel throughout the whole world and also told him that ten of our elders were now laboring in his kingdom I 1 also showed him some salt lake city views vies and a specimen of the rock of which the salt lake city temple is built all ail ot of which seemed to please him very much alter an interview with the king we watched the preparations going on for a great native least near the palace the occasion was a visit ot of a number of singers and their friends frota from who had just landed with their food and mats and were now busily engaged in carrying roasted pigs cooked kava roots and other food trout front the landing to their camping ground behind the palace the smaller hogs and lighter parcels two men would carry op on poles between them but the large hogs and the heavier Erti articles cles they had mounted on a number of sleds consisting of forked logs or trees to which they had attached very long roots in lieu of ropes and the men marching itt in double file pulling at these natural ropes would drag the sled over the green grassy lawn while they were shouting and singing their native songs in in fuu chorus keeping time with their feet in this manner the men marched backward and forward between the landing and place of encampment until all the food was baroug brought ht up every t time ime the lots long double file of stalwart fellows arrived at the camping ground they were greeted and praised by the loca chiefs who had taken their position tor for that purpose sitting in a long line with crossed legs near the temporary sheds which had been built for the accommodation of the visitors the sight aas was truly interesting while some of the men were only covered with their usual scanty clothing a shirt and a waistcloth others were loaded down with native cloth and costly mats ebka i they bey had wrapped around them until their arms would almost extend straight buttrom oat from their bodies and some of the doth drag behind them several feet it is customary on great feast occasions tor for the nati natives vesto to wehr wear about their per sans sons all the mats and cloth they own it is is ii i ai i exhibition of wealth and always calls forth alorth admiration and praise from their fellows the women are on the lead in this regard and we saw some of them who could hardly walk because ot of the immense weight of their wraps to a people who generally prefer to go nearly naked such a unnecessary and awkward clothing in as hot a day as this was was must have been very uncomfortable indeed some ot of the women had also anointed their heads necks and shoulders wi h cocoa nut oil until their skin ac bally shone like rising sun stove polish 11 while the visitors were engaged in gathering their food in the manner described the local natives were arly engaged in gathering hogs hava etc in an adjoining lot we counted seventy five cooked hogs and pigs in one place alone and it would seem that nearly all the pigs on the is land of Tonga tabu than been slaughtered to do justice to the occasion anis particular feast is supposed to last for a week or more a vocal music contest between the singers of and those of Tonga tabu being a part of the program but the tongan people care more tor for eating and drinking than for singing hence the pigs and other good food form the centre ol of attraction it is is characteristic act also ot of the th athey hardly ever kill pigs for family consumption but raise them exclusively for use at feasts by invitation of captain graham commander of the seventh nth day adventist brigantine pitcairn which was lying off the wharf we boarded that vessel which hails irom from san francisco and is bound for the fiji group we remained on board for some time conversing with the captain who gave me literature and in ormed us that the numerical strength of the seventh day adventists throughout the world is about with headquarters nead quarters at battle creek michigan the pitcairn Pil cairn which is the only vessel owned by the society was built in america in 1890 and named in honor of the island whose name it bears we also boarded the norwegian brig nebo of einstad Tin stad and had a an in interesting te conversation with the captain deos johannesen Johanne ses in telling him that we lived in utah he exclaimed instinctively men det arjo avor Mormon erne be yes was our reply and we are mormon elders ja sa he said good natured enough but with an expression that suggested that though he was pleased to meet two of his scandinavian din avian cousins far away in the 1 topics he would have been better pleased if we had not been mormons cormons Mor mons at 4 p in elders welker jensen and myself again boarded the steamer ova lau and a few minutes later we were under way sailing for about one hundred miles away after passing several small islands one of which was malinda Ma linoa where a number of natives were executed a few years ago for making in an u attempt to assassinate premier B baker me r we found ourselves in in the open ocean with a smooth sea and a pleasant ocea breeze blowing irom from the southeast saturday september having sailed all night we cast anchor off ba gail bagai Ba ngai on the island of at 8 0 clock a in soon afterwards elders T omas D adams albert L jones robert A smith and alfred A kotord who are laboring as missionaries on the group came out in a small boat to meet us they had been informed of my intended visit ay b y letter after the usual greeting characteristic of mormon elders in a foreign land we landed at the village of bagai and walked a very short distance to the house in which the missionaries made their home in a rented room we spent the forenoon culling history from the local missionary record and then walked to the residence of brother james E giles the only white convert to mormonism in the tongan mission and partook of a splendid dinner after this we took a walk across the island to the opposite coast drinking cocoanut coco anut milk on the way after returning to the missionary room we continued our historical labors and in the evening held a meeting for the white inhabitants at the residence of mr giles I 1 lectured to them over an hour on the religion and history of the latter later day saints and had very good atten attend tim n we then conversed with some ot of the people who re bained for the purpose after afier the meeting was closed we also sang saing songs and hymns until a late hour and then re turned to the missionary room where the still hour of midnight found some of us still working on the history of the mission while others conversed sang and related missionary experiences and we had no sleep that night the elders on the group have been a tittle little more successful than those laboring on Tonga tabu as they have baptized twelve persons one ot of them a white man since the mission was first opened on the group in may 1893 but otherwise it is the hardest field ot of labor of the two belonging to the group there are sixteen inhabited islands some of which are many miles apart and not easy of access through the kindness of the white traders located on the different islands the elders have been able to visit all ot of the most important members member of the group and it may be said in this connection that nearly all the white people in the group have been very kind and hospitable to the elders since their first arrival there they have not only given the missionaries sion aries free passages on their trading vessels but have lodged and fed them on many different occasions when the natives seemed indisposed to give th a welcome sunday sept 8 having worked all night we repaired to the beach at 5 a m where the three ot of us who were going away said goodbye to elders jones and kofoed while elders adams and smith rowed us out to the steamer atter after a short conversation on board we gave the parting hand and exchanged god bless jou you with these brethren who returned to the shore with the boat and elders welker jen sen and myself repaired to our respective rooms to sleep a little just as the native passengers on board were singing their morning hymns and ofle offering ring their customary prayers whether or not they are really sincere or devoted to their religion this can be said ot of the tongan christians that thayas they as a rule are very |