book chapter
Savage Island: an account of a sojourn in Niué and Tonga
J. Murray • London • Published In 1902 • Pages:
By: Thomson, Basil Home.
Abstract
This source is a somewhat informal account of the author's role in negotiating the treaty to make Tonga a British protectorate in 1900. As a former minister in the Tongan government, Thomson was returned to try to induce the new king to sign the treaty. The source consists mostly of accounts of meetings with old Tongan friends, his travels around the islands, and the travails of negotiating with the king. He briefly describes the political scene in Tonga as of 1900, gives some information on Tongan ideas on such things as law and justice, and the concepts of female beauty. There is a final chapter on Tongan music. The source provides more in the way of context and character sketches rather than concrete description.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2006
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Polynesia
- Document Type
- book chapter
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Government Official
- Document Rating
- 3: Good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent
- Analyst
- Martin J. Malone; 1978
- Field Date
- April-May 1900
- Coverage Date
- ca. 1777-1900
- Coverage Place
- Tonga
- Notes
- By Basil C. Thomson
- The information on the relation between Thomson and the King, and on the negotiations in general, has been indexed for International Relations (648).
- With music
- LCCN
- 02018440
- LCSH
- Tongans