Mystery Of The Pacific,

TWENTY miles east of Nukualofa (chief town of Tonga), and easily reached by car, is one of the mysteries of the Pacific.

It is the famous Ha’amoga-a-Maui, an ancient trilithon. the history and purpose of which are now unknown.

It is believed, however, that the structure was erected about 1200 A.D., by Tu’itatui, one of the ancient line of Tui Toga, or rulers of Tonga.

Like the Pharaohs, he may have in tended it to be an imperishable monu ment of his reign. Possibly, it also served as a great gateway to the Royal compound.

The trilithon bears a slight resem

blance to the ancient Celtic monu ments at Stonehenge. Tradition says that the stones came from Uvea, one of the islands in the group, but it is more likely that they were cut out of the reef nearby—though traces of such a place have never been found.

Possibly, the enormou stones were put into position in the way that it is believed the ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids—namely, by piling sand into a mound, up which the cross-piece was hauled until it could be dropped into the groove on top of the vertical stones.

It is calculated that each of these stones weighs at least 50 tons.—E.G.O.

The Ancient Trilithon In Tonga.