The authorities sent off protests against the further occupancy of the house at Tumai, and requested that we would vacate it. They stated it was the place they had for assembling; it was the only place they had for meeting together to debate their local affairs, and it was also the place where their young were taught. They also took the opportunity of mentioning that the fertility of their island was not equal to the wants of its population; and that every draft upon them for live-stock, &c., was an oppression. In this there was obvious dissimulation; because they sent away to other countries a good deal of the produce of their land, and a great deal as tribute, while we paid well for whatever we got. The commodore had notified them of his intention of going up to their capital, Sheudi, distant some four miles from the anchorage, to pay his respects to the prince-regent at the palace; they did not covet the honor; they trusted he would not confer it.
Not far from Tumai are a number of the native tombs, beautifully located on green hill-sides. They are large, built in the form of a horse-shoe, with a cemented dome fronted by a little court, into which you descend by a flight of stone steps, and are kept whitened with great assiduity by the surviving relatives. The most attractive and romantic spots are chosen for their location. Their reverence and care for the homes of the dead, may well put to the blush, the wickedness of Christian communities who make streets through graves and graveyards.
In a grove of pines, at Tumai, not far from the landing-place, is a secluded spot, which appears to have been set aside for the interment of foreigners. Our ships buried some of our men and one officer there. As soon as the graves are closed the authorities cause them to be well built over, without charge, in a parallelogram, with coral rock and cement, leaving an inclination toward the feet that the rain may run off. Any inscription that the friends please, may either be imbedded in the masonry or erected at the head, which will be respected and preserved by the natives. On copper plates, tacked on wooden crosses at the end of some of these tombs, I read:—
“Wm. Hares, seaman in his Britannic majesty’s ship, ‘Alceste,’ aged 21 years, lies buried here, October 16th, 1816. This monument was erected by the king and inhabitants of this most hospitable island.”