Histoire des naturels des îles Tonga. 1817

First french edition.
Embarked as a cabin boy on the Port au Prince which trades between America and the Pacific Islands. Mariner landed in 1806 at Lifuka, Tonga. Attacked by local populations, most of the crew lost their lives. William Mariner was, however, taken in by the future king of Tonga: Finau Ulukalala. An ethnologist before his time, he learned their language and was interested in their customs. Adopted by Finau to replace his deceased son, William Mariner took the name Toki'Ukamea as well as several wives who gave him twelve children in four years. Back in England his testimony remains one of the main sources of knowledge of the pre-Christian society of Tonga.