ANOTHER COOK RELIC.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3391, 5 December 1911, Page 3

ANOTHER COOK RELIC.

Cl FT TO TONCAN CHIEF PRESENTED TO MITCHELL LIBRARY. A hundred and' thirty-nine years ago Captain Cook, on the occasion of Ins visit to Tonga, presented to a high chief, Taniaha, a large piece ot ha,ndniade woollen cloth, rather loosely woven and of a rusty red colour. The great navigator s gilt is to-day one of the most treasured possessions of the Tongans. It is regarded with almost as much veneration as the Buddhists regard the “sacred tooth, and has been kept wrapped up in rolls of the native “tappa,” so that neithei moth nor clust might corrupt. It has, out of reverence for the memory of tile great “Tuti” (Cook), been religiously preserved as an heirloom in the family of the Tni Tonga—that is, the spiritual king—onlv a privileged few, native or European* over having been permitted to view it, excepting on State occasions, when some members of the Ini Tonga’s family has been allowed to bedeck himself with it, and become the cvnosure of all eyes. ‘ A few years ago a descendant ot lamalm, at the suggestion of Mr Basil Thomson, who wrote the entertaining book about Tonga called Ihe Diversions of a Prime Minister, presented the relic to the Tongan Government, and it has been kept under lock and key ever since. Recently three strips were cut off the cloth, one being presented to Mr Malm fly .(the Assistant High Commissioner for the Western Pacific), another to Mr Humphrey Berkeley, the well-known Suva barrister, who has ever taken, a keen interest in the welfare of the natives, while the

third was secured by Mr Berkeley for presentation to the New South M ales Government, and is to be deposited m the Mitchell Library.

GENUINENESS OF THE RELIC. Mr M‘Gowen received the relic recently, accompanied by a letter that had been addressed to Air Berkeley from John Tobou Mateialona, the Premier of Tonga, certifying to its genuineness as follows:—“Mill you kindly present to the Governor of New South Wales the piece of cloth enclosed herewith. This piece is a portion of a large piece which was presented by Captain Cook to Tamaha, the High Chief of Haapai. I certify as Premier that the article is genuine, it having come into the possession of the Tongan Government from a direct descendant of the said Tamaha.”

TONGAN PREMIER’S GIFT. “When the Tongan Premier, who is a very old friend of mine, showed me this piece of cloth,” said Air Berkeley recently, in explaining how it was he had secured it for the New South Wales Government, “I said that there was a very fine collection of Cook relics in, Sydney* and I was certain that your Government would much appreciate any addition to it. He gave it without any demur, and asked me to make the presentation on behalf of the Tongan people.”

TRADITIONS OF COOK’S VISIT. Cook bestowed the name of the “Friendlv Islanders” on the Tongans, but little did lie know at that time how near he was to meeting death at their hands. According to Alariner, who lived there not many years after his visit, the chiefs intended to treacherously massacre Cook and his party while they were being -entertained at a torchlight dance on shore. But the plot miscarried, and the famous navigator and his companions managed to get away with their lives. They still talk in Tonga of “Tnti” as though he had visited those seas but twenty years ago. One of the native traditions, according to Air Basil 1 hornson, is that when the vessels were seen approaching Hiliifa in 1773 there was a, heated 1 discussion among tlic Tongans as to whence they came. “AYbence come they?” said one. “Seuke,” exclaimed the old chief Eikinaha, a noted wit in his day, “why, front-the- land of tho riches—from Babahmgi!” (cr, as we might say, from Broddmgnag), and the nickname Babalangi has stuck to Europeans ever since. Ba-ki-langi (“shooting up to heaven”) is the derivation which Fatafeli, the present representative of tho Tui Tonga, favors, meaning tho ships’ masts readied to the sky.