asked too; but that was a secondary consideration. She had to agree if
her parents were in favour of the match. If the present of food was
received and the reply favourable, the matter was considered settled.
There was also a somewhat formal meal directly after the marriage
ceremony.

All parties consenting, preparations commenced, and one, two, or
three months were spent collecting various kinds of property. All the
family and relatives of the bride were called upon to assist, and thus
they raised a great quantity of _tonga_, which included all kinds of
fine mats and native cloth, manufactured by the women. This was
invariably the dowry presented to the bridegroom and his friends on
the celebration of the nuptials. He and his friends, on the other
hand, collected in a similar manner for the family of the bride
_oloa_, which included canoes, pigs, and foreign property of any kind
which might fall into their hands, such as knives, hatchets, trinkets,
cloth, garments, etc., received through a Tongan canoe or a passing
vessel.

A time was fixed when the parties assembled. The bride and her
friends, taking with them her dowry, proceeded to the home of the
bridegroom, which might be in another settlement, or on an adjacent
island. If they were people of rank it was the custom that the
ceremonies of the occasion pass off in the marae. The marae is the
forum or place of public assembly--an open circular space, surrounded
by bread-fruit trees, under the shade of which the people sit. Here
the bridegroom and his friends and the whole village assembled,
together with the friends of the bride. All were seated cross-legged
around the marae, glistening from head to foot with scented oil, and
decked off with beads, garlands of sweet-smelling flowers, and