Friendly

or Tonga Islands, (The,) (tong'gah,) in the S. Pacific Ocean, form an archipelago of more than 150 islands, partly of coralline, and partly of volcanic origin; bet. 13°-25° S. Lat., and 1720-177° W. Lon. The chief island, Tonga taboo, contains abt. 8,000 in hab. These islands, first discovered by Tasman in 1643, derived their present pacific name from the friendline evinced by the natives to the navigator Capt. Cook. Since 1827, mi ionaries have succeeded in converting nearly the whole pop., abt. 25,000, to Christianity. [s. 386]