[3] His reign marked the growth of Christianity in Lau and the slow expansion of Tongan ambitions in Fiji, led by Enele Ma'afu.
[8] It is recorded that he only allowed the Methodist missionaries, David Cargill and William Cross, to stay on Lakeba and establish a church after the support of his nephew and heir, Vuetasau.
The latter conversion of his favourite daughter, Tagici (after being nursed back to health from a serious illness by a missionary) and the emerging role of Vaubula, Vuetasau’s brother, as an early Fijian preacher appears to have induced him to finally and publicly accept the Christian faith in 1849.
As he did not have the reserves of manpower like the Tui Cakau or Vunivalu of Bau he could never risk confrontation with his adversaries and the alternative was to maintain friendly relations over as wide a field as possible.
[9] His sovereignty over Lakeba and its dependencies were never likely threatened by Ma’afu, as Taliai through his mother descended from the royal Tuʻi Tonga[10] and Tu'i Kanokupolu lines.