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Tonga (FRIENDLY ISLANDS)

or FRIENDLY ISLANDS, an archipelago of very considerable exislands, the greater part of which are tent, and consisting of more than 150 spots. Most of them are of coral formaeither mere rocks or shoals, or desert tion; but some of them are volcanic in their origin , and in Tofoa there is an active volcano . The principal member of the group is Tongatabu or Sacred covered by Tasman in 1643, but were Tonga. The Tonga Islands were disnamed by Captain Cook, from the firm alliance that seemed to subsist among the natives, and from their courteous behavior to strangers. Among the products of the islands are yams, plantains, cocoahogs, fowls, fish, and all sorts of shell fish. The islands were first visited by missionaries in 1797. In 1827 the Cyc. Vol. IX