Just north of the airport runway on Lifuka, the Port Au Prince Memorial marks a poignant chapter in Tongan history. It commemorates the site where, on 26 November 1806, the captain and half of the crew of the Port au Prince were tragically massacred. This ship, originally French but captured by the British and converted into a privateer, is also significant as the vessel that brought William Mariner to Tonga. Mariner, an English writer, lived among the Tongans for four years and documented his experiences in the notable work "The Tongan Islands, William Mariner’s Account."