How the Tongans Came to Fiji

Now was the earth hidden from his sight because of the great height to which he had climbed; and he could see nothing but the sun by day, and the moon and the stars by night, while the clouds lay far beneath his feet: and still, as bending his head backwards he looked up, he could see no end to the great black rock. Yet, however. he went climbing on, higher and ever higher, till in the middle of the night his strength failed him; and, fainting, he fell to the ground.

When his spirit came back to him again he looked up, and saw that he was in a pleasant land, full of trees and sweet-smelling flowers, whereon the sun was shining brightly; but there were no coconut trees, nor could he see any man. Then he began to weep bitterly, as he thought of his home and his friends, and how that he would see them no more.

Now this land to which he had climbed was the Sky; and the Sky-king heard his weeping, and said, “You wretched man there! Why are you weeping?”

“I am weeping, sir,” answered he, “because I am a stranger in a strange land. My country is Samoa, and I know that I shall see it no more for ever.”

Then did the Sky-king pity him, and said, “Weep not, for you shall see your land again, and your wife, and your children, and your friends. See this turtle. Get on its back, and it will carry you safe to Samoa. Only mind this, when it begins to move, do you hide your face in your hands, and look not up again till the turtle crawls ashore. Know now that, if you do not follow my words, a great and terrible evil will befall you. And when you reach your land remember to give the turtle a coconut and a coconut-leaf mat, of the kind called ‘tambakau,’ that we may plant the nut, and learn how to make mats out of its leaves; for we have none in this our country. Go now, the turtle is ready.”

So Lekambai thanked the Sky-king and promised faithfully to remember all his words; then, hiding his face in his hands, he mounted upon the turtle’s back, whereupon it leapt at once with him down into the sea, into which they fell with a great splash, sinking down deep into the midst of the waters, till Lekambai was nearly choked for want of breath; but still he remembered the words of the Sky-king, and kept his hands tight over his eyes.

Then the turtle rose again to the surface, and went swimming swiftly over the waves with Lekambai on its back, covering his eyes with his hands, lest he should look up and die. Many voices sounded in his ears, persuading him to uncover his eyes; but he would not. The sharks called after him, and said, “We are coming! We, the sharks, are coming to eat you!” but still he covered his eyes. The wind howled past him, screaming into his ears, “I am strong! I will blow you off into the sea.” The waves roared, as he went sailing over them, “Yet will we swallow you up,” and the dolphin, more cunning than any other fish, leaped high out of the water close to him, and said, “See! Here comes sailing a canoe from your own land, from Samoa. It is your friends looking for you;” but still Lekambai covered his eyes tightly with his hands, for he feared the words of the Sky-king.

All night they went on swiftly over the waters; and when morning dawned a great bird flew past, crying aloud, “Lekambai! Lekambai! Look up, for Samoa is in sight.” But he would not; and presently his feet struck against the ground, and the turtle crawled up on the beach. Then he looked up and found that he had landed close to his own town; so he leaped to the ground, and ran in amongst his friends, who welcomed him back as one from the dead, weeping over him for joy that he had returned once more — he whom they had mourned, as lost, for so long a time.

So it fell out that he forgot the turtle, thinking of nothing but his wife and his children and his friends who were thronging around, kissing him, and weeping over him, and asking many questions, so that it was long before he thought again of the turtle; and then he remembered the mat and the coconut which he had promised to the Sky-king: whereupon he ran down again to the beach, and found that the turtle was gone, for it had grown tired of waiting and hungry, and had therefore swum off a little way along the reef (as far, perhaps, as from here to Nuku-nuku) to look for some seaweed to eat; and there some of the townsfolk saw it, and speared it, and killed it.

Now Lekambai, when he could not find the turtle, ran along the beach in great fear, looking for it; and when he came to the place where the fishing canoes were at anchor, he found it lying dead upon the beach, while his townsmen were heating an oven wherein to cook it.

Then was he very sorry; great was his grief; and he said, “What is this you have done, my friends? An evil thing, a wretched thing! You have killed my friend — he who brought me hither over the sea. What shall I do? How can I now send my gifts to the Sky-king? lau-e, lau-g! A miserable man am I!” And they wept together.

Then said Lekambai, “Useless now is our weeping. Put out the fire in the oven, and let us dig it deeper down to form a grave, and therein let us bury the turtle that you have killed. Oh, evil day!”

So they dug the grave, digging it deep — very deep, such as had never been dug before; for they were five days digging it, and they had to put down the stem of a tall coconut palm as a ladder whereon they might climb up with the earth from the grave; and at the bottom, on the sixth day, they laid the turtle, burying also therewith a mat and a coconut, which were the gifts asked for by the Sky-king.

Now all this time the Sky-king was wondering that the turtle did not come back again, after carrying Lekambai to Samoa; therefore he sent a sandpiper to see what was the matter; and the sandpiper came by, just as they were covering in the grave. So he swept down amongst the crowd, brushing with his wings the head of a lad called Lavai-pani, and then returned to make his report to the Sky-king.

Now from that time Lavai-pani remained a child. That generation passed away, and the next, and a third, and still he was the same as on the day when the turtle was buried in the deep grave, and when the sandpiper brushed his head with its wings. Little children grew old, and greyheaded, and died; their children also, and their grandchildren passed away, but Lavai-pani was still but a boy: and so, when many years were gone by, the Samoans forgot where the turtle was buried; for he only among them all knew the place of its grave, and he was silent.

Then, in the after days, this tale came to the ears of the King of Tonga; and he said to his people, “Sail now away to Samoa, and bring me the shell of that turtle, that I may make therewith fish hooks, such as our grandfathers formerly employed. Good enough for you are the shells of turtles which we find in our land; but for me, the great King, let there be hooks made from the shell of the turtle which came down from heaven.”

So a big canoe sailed, full of men, and the messenger reported the words of the King to the people of Samoa; but they laughed, and said, “It is an idle tale. Your sailing is in vain. There is not one among us who knows the place where the turtle is buried; and how, then, can we find its shell?” Therefore, the Tongans went back again to their land, and reported this to their King. But, when he heard their report, his rage was great; and he said, “You, O disobedient ones! Loose not your sail from the mast to bring it ashore; but hoist it again at once, and bring me the shell of that turtle. Why should you wish to die?” So they sailed away in sorrow and great fear.

When they came again to Samoa, all the people gathered together, and inquired of the old men as to where was the grave of the turtle which had come down from heaven, but none of them knew. This only they knew — that their fathers had told them how it had brought Lekambai over the waters to their land, but as to its burial-place, not one of them could tell where it was. Then Lavai-pani, the silent one, stood up and said, “Let not your souls be small, ye chiefs from Tonga. I can show you the grave of the turtle, for I was there when it was buried.” But they were angry, and cried out, “What words are these? Have you brought this lad hither to mock us? Here are men whose heads are grey, they can remember nothing about the turtle; and this impudent one — a boy, a child — tells us that he saw it buried. What words perchance are these?”

Then said the Samoans, “We know not whether he be a child or not. He is not one of this generation. When our old men were boys, he was a boy among them; and their fathers said that he was the same in their time also. Let us listen to his words, for never before have we heard him speak.”

When the Tongans heard this, they wondered and were silent; but the boy said, “Come, let us go to the grave of the turtle.” And he took them to the place, saying, “Here was the turtle buried. Dig here, and you will find its shell.”

So they dug till the sun went down, but found nothing; and cried out in anger, “This is a deceiver. He is mocking us. Where, then, is the turtle-shell, that we may take it to our King and live?”

But Lavai-pani laughed, and turned to his people, saying, “See, now, the foolishness of these Tongans! Twice have they sailed hither across the waters from their land to get this shell, and now they have not patience to dig for it. Five days were our fathers in digging this grave, and do you expect to find the shell to-day? Dig four days more, and you will find it.”

So they continued digging, and on the evening of the fifth day they found the shell and the bones of the turtle; and great then was their joy, for they said, “Now we live!”

Then they went sailing back to Tonga, carrying with them the shell. Twelve pieces thereof they gave to the King, but the thirteenth they kept for themselves, hiding it. So the King was angry, and said, “Here are only twelve pieces. Where, then, is the thirteenth? See, here is one piece missing, for the shell is not whole.” And they said, “It is true, sir, that there were thirteen pieces; but the men of Samoa said to us, ‘Take you these twelve to the great chief, your King, and let the thirteenth stay with us.’ But we answered, ‘Not so; we will have all the shell.’ Then were they angry, and said to us, ‘Take your twelve pieces, and go. Why should we kill you? ‘ So we feared, for they were many; and the thirteenth piece is still with them.”

But the King glowed with anger, and cried aloud, “Go back this very day, and bring me the piece you have left behind.”

So they sailed again in great fear; and when they were outside the reef, they said, “What shall we do? We cannot go back to Samoa; and if we return to our own land, the King will kill us; let us, therefore, follow the wind, and perhaps it will take us to some land where we may live. Oh evil day! Why did we hide the thirteenth piece and not give it up to our lord the King?”

So they kept away before the wind which was then blowing, and when it shifted, they did not sheet home their sail, but steered always before the wind; and so it fell out that, after many days, they came to Kandavu near Fiji.

Now, Kandavu was then subject to Rewa, and the King of Rewa took them away, giving them land near his town, where their children dwell at this day. A turtle shell also was the god they worshipped till the “lotu” of the white men spread over all these lands.

And this is how the men of Tonga came down to Fiji.

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