William Mariner

William Charles Mariner (10 September 1791 – 20 October 1853) was an Englishman who lived in Tonga from 29November 1806 to (probably) 8November 1810. He published a memoir, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, which is one of the major sources of information about Tonga before it was influenced significantly by European cultures and Christianity. At age 14, Mariner was a ship's clerk aboard the British privateer Port au Prince. In 1806, while it was anchored off the Tongan island of Lifuka, in the Ha'apai island group, Port au Prince was seized by a chief named Fīnau ʻUlukālala. Of the 26 crew members, 22 were killed, while the chief spared Mariner and three others. Mariner lived in Tonga for four years, and during this time he became known as Toki 'Ukamea ("Iron Axe"). After returning to England, he dictated a detailed account of his experiences, a description of Tongan society and culture, and a grammar and dictionary of the Tongan language. Background and passage The Port au Prince was an English private ship of war of 500 tons, armed with 24 long nine and twelve-pound guns, and eight 12-pound carronades on the quarter deck. She carried a "letter of marque" which permitted her captain and crew to become pirates against the enemies of England, primarily France and Spain. In return for their pirate raids, any plunder was to be their own. Commanded by Captain Duck, she sailed for the New World on 12February 1805, having been given a twofold commission by her owner, a MrRobert Bent of London: to attack the Spanish ships of the New World and capture gold and valuables, but if she failed in that task her secondary objective was to sail into the Pacific in search of whales to be rendered for oil.