Tongan history

for the first time visitor

The Tongan Past. By Patricia Ledyard, Published by Miss Ledyard, and available from Matheson, P.O. Box 46, Vavau, Tonga, or Vauau Press Ltd., P.O. Box 427, Nukualo fa, Tonga. SA6.

Since mid-century, Patricia Ledyard has lived in a delightful house at Utulei, separated by a mile of water from Neiafu, the second largest town in the Tongan group. The house com mands sweeping views of Vavau harbor, Mourelle’s Port of Refuge, surely one of the

most beautiful waterways in the beautiful South Pacific.

In these surroundings it has been easy for her to absorb the beauties of a Polynesian life, its calm but never static rhythms, its constant strengths, and the surprises it springs upon a Euro pean mind.

At long-spaced periods she has written two most readable books on Tongan village life and European contact, the first, Friendly Island, appearing in 1952. Her third book, The Tongan Past is a potted history of the kingdom which perhaps is aimed at those planning, or

engaged in, their first visit. Its charming, simple style makes pleasant reading, and the con tent is fairly comprehensive.

Beginning with the islands’ mythology she rests lightly on the years of legend and oral history before coming to the days of written record.

Here the compression of facts has led her into several misstatements, of little import ance to the body of the work but misstatements nonetheless.

Cook, for example, did not discover the way to avoid scur vy, nor did the admiralty always supply him with the most mod em navigational aids; and his death in Hawaii while he was engaged in aggression should surely not be classified as murder.

Such slight flaws matter not at all, but her compression of facts is more than a little unfair to Tupou 11, who maintained an essential independence of Ton ga against a belligerent and barely honest Britain, reluctant ly signing a protectorate agree ment under threat. Perhaps she has taken Basil Thomson’s Di versions of a Prime Minister a mite too literally. Nor do I think she gives due weight to the brilliant statesmanship of Queen Salote and her husband Tungi in their efforts to heal the schism between the two bran ches of the Wesleyan Church, nor her success in maintaining Tongan tradition practically in tact in an age when every other Polynesian centre in the world was markedly affected by Euro pean thought and attitudes.

The queen’s notable ability as poet and songwriter is some thing else I would have liked to read about here.

The present king, Tupou IV, gets scant mention, Miss Ledyard giving the reason that he should have no place in a study dealing with Tonga’s past Yet in the two decades of his mle Tonga has survived great changes. Something should certainly be said of his almost heroic efforts to lift his country from its one-crop eco nomy to meet the increased demands of its swelling popula tion.

However, such weaknesses will not detract from the plea sure many a buyer will take in the book as a memento of a

happy Tongan visit.

Olaf

Ruhen.