Kau Moala the Tongan Navigator

Extract

The whole question of Polynesian navigation is highly controversial. Dr. David Lewis's paper ‘Ara Moana: Stars of the Sea Road’, in the July issue of this journal, prompts me relate the story of Kau Moala in somewhat greater detail and to assess his achievements and motives, largely from his own account of his voyages.

Kau Moala was a Tongan Chief renowned for his epic feat of navigation which probably took place in the years just before 1800. The details come to us from a young English castaway named William Mariner, who spent several years in Tonga and knew Kau Moala personally. When Mariner got back to England his experiences were compiled by J. Martin and published by John Murray, London, in 1817. The work is generally known as ‘Mariner's Tonga’, the full title being An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands. The story of Kau Moala's famous Odyssey is given on pages 307–322 of volume I of the second edition, published in 1818. Mariner gives the Chief's name as Cow Mooaly.

The story starts with Kau Moala going from Tonga to Fiji to engage in some warlike adventures to enhance his prestige, as many another Tongan Chief had done before, and as several did later. After two years of fun and mischief he decided to return home, and set out in his large double canoe.