The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-30
A TONGA WEDDING.
Kava and Clothes Play Great Part in
 the Ceremony.

Kaya and Clothes Play Great Fart III
 the Ceremony.
 A familiar chorus caught our ears. and all unexpectedly we found our- selves at the concert room of the pre- ceding night As before, two lines of singers occupied the floor, but now they sported gala dress. Flowers and strangely twisted ornaments of dried grass decked their heads and beautiful garlands of leaves and blossoms wreathed their necks and arms. Their practice of wedding songs was inter- rupted by the arrival of confrere. who carried a little coarse rouge or raddle screwed up in scrap of paper. From every side brown hands were eagerly stretched out, and delicately shaped forefngers were dipped In the pigment. All too obviously the mystery of rouge was but a tradition with a people who had never seen red checks for, with solitary exception, they contented them selves with drawing a lively streak flown one side of the face. The odd maiden, who had happened to secure an extra quantity of the paint, further adorned herself by smearing red band across her upper lip. By illustrative Y ElEHS we SuCCGtuCu III c~NPioiiiihAS "HN'" pn the cheeks alone was color admissi- ble, and the damsels were not slow to avail themselves of the hint.
 Seeing the musicians prepare to seek the scene of the feast we betook our Belves again to the mansion of the hos- pitable Taimi, taking with us the gift of kava root which Tongan etiquette re- nuires you to present to your hostess. All the world, including plenty of our native fellow passengers, seemed to be now hastening to the great grassy lawn surrounded by orange trees, Whereon the ceremony was to take place. Many brown faces smiled at us; numerous soft voices wished us kind "Malo Ii le;" and grave fathers, marching with dignity under the eshelter of their black cotton umbrellas, gave us courteous sal- utation. To be accorded seat in the doorway of a chief is the highest pos sible honor in Tonga; and gracious Tai mi had prepared for our coming by placing the pew across the doorway. Sitting there in the shade, we looked at the spectacle outside as though at some marvellous living picture. Directly in front, under the tapa canopy, was high mound of slippery grass, designed to act as throne for bride and bride groom. The Polynesian has natural gift for pictorial effect; the company awaiting the arrival of the bridal par tv had grouped itself in a way that colId not have been improved upon by even the most skilled in stage manage ment Opposite the dais sat the flower decked singing girls. To the right, un- der the shade of an orange tree, was seated cluster of handsome and dig nif1ed elders, who at the close of each Item gravely complimented the per- formers. Behind them countless women and children, all in gay though scant raiment, were seated on the grass; while to the left the warriors and youths of Vavau were grouped in com pany. There was no crowding. Acting upon some unwritten law of precedence, each had taken up the position to which birth and social standing entitled him, leaving the entire center of the stage for the whole resembled exactly scene In some exquisitelv mounted plav-for the action yet to take place.
 The flower decked girls were singing, accompanying their voices with rhyth- mical gesture and hand clapping, when B distant sound of chanting caused a sudden stir among the assembly; and, looking in the direction indicated by Taimi's finger we caught a gleam Of vivid color advancing between the trunks of the giant cocoanut palms. The bridal procession was approaching. In front, walking abreast, came the welded pair-tall, handsome and of an lxcellent tawny hue. The bride, beautiful young girl exhibited a 1udi- rrously absurd appearance. Her shape k legs and feet were naked. She wore low bodice of scarlet satin bedeoked