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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76974 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+AT HOME IN FIJI
+
+[Illustration: OUR HOME IN FIJI.
+
+_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+                              AT HOME IN FIJI
+
+                                    BY
+                           C. F. GORDON CUMMING
+            AUTHOR OF ‘A LADY’S CRUISE IN A FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR’
+                ‘FROM THE HEBRIDES TO THE HIMALAYAS,’ ETC.
+
+                    NEW EDITION, COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
+
+                       _WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+                                 New York
+                    A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, 714 BROADWAY
+                                MDCCCLXXXII
+
+
+
+
+                                    TO
+
+                             DEAR LITTLE NEVIL
+
+                                    AND
+
+                          GEORGE HAMILTON GORDON
+
+                THESE NOTES OF ONE OF THE MANY SUNNY HOMES
+
+                         OF THEIR HAPPY CHILDHOOD
+
+                          ARE LOVINGLY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                      PAGE
+
+  INTRODUCTION,                                                          1
+
+                                CHAPTER I.
+
+  The voyage out,                                                        9
+
+                               CHAPTER II.
+
+  Sydney—Camellia trees—Orange gardens,                                 12
+
+                               CHAPTER III.
+
+  Life in the Blue Mountains—Death of Commodore Goodenough—Life
+  in the bush,                                                          19
+
+                               CHAPTER IV.
+
+  Arrive in Fiji—Tropical luxury in Levuka—King Thakombau—Plague
+  of measles,                                                           26
+
+                                CHAPTER V.
+
+  Levuka—The harbour—Coral-reef—Churches—Animal life—Plants—How
+  to brew yangona—Picnics—Spear-throwing,                               35
+
+                               CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Fijian spelling—The future capital—A planter’s life—Foreign
+  labour—Quaint postage-stamps,                                         53
+
+                               CHAPTER VII.
+
+  A canoe adventure—Sharks—Fever—The feast of worms—Results of
+  mission work—No means of locomotion—God’s acre,                       61
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  Life on Viti Levu—Suva—A floral clock—The Rewa river—Obsolete
+  customs—First night in a native house,                                70
+
+                               CHAPTER IX.
+
+  Bathing _al fresco_—The Upper Rewa—Barter—Native houses—A
+  funeral—Weddings—Grace,                                               80
+
+                                CHAPTER X.
+
+  Upper Rewa—Sunday among the converts—School examinations—A
+  “missionary meeting”—Savage ornaments—Red tape—_Mékés_—Evening
+  prayer—Marriages,                                                     85
+
+                               CHAPTER XI.
+
+  Christmas in Great Fiji—Pig feasts—Weddings—Fijian
+  names—Cannibal dainties—Christmas chimes—Sneezing—“Our Father”
+  in Fijian,                                                            96
+
+                               CHAPTER XII.
+
+  Quite alone in a mountain village—Return to Rewa—Basaltic
+  pillars—Rewa pottery—Bau—New Year’s eve—King Thakombau as an
+  elder of the Wesleyan Church—Pre-Christian times,                    107
+
+                              CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  A strange volcanic isle—Joeli Mbulu, a Tongan apostle—The
+  conversion of the people of Ono—Thakombau’s canoe—A royal
+  gardener—A small hurricane—Early prayers—Breakfast on
+  Thangalei—Between the breakers—At home at Nasova,                    121
+
+                               CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  Life at Nasova—Farmyard—Convict thatchers—Native festival at
+  Bau—Return to Nasova—Battles with crabs—Beginning of cannibal
+  disturbance—Fijian fairies—A storm,                                  134
+
+                               CHAPTER XV.
+
+  Government House—Pets—Curios—Crabs—Native police—Death of Mrs
+  de Ricci,                                                            147
+
+                               CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  Good Friday in Fiji—Isle Koro—Planters’ Houses—Labour—Making
+  native cloth—Great feasts—Weddings—Salaries of Wesleyan
+  missionaries and teachers,                                           156
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  Isle Ngau—Mud-crabs—Albinos—Bathing in the tropics—An earnest
+  congregation—A typical village—Fijian students—The burnt
+  waters—A narrow escape—Wreck of the Fitzroy,                         173
+
+                              CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  Taviuni—Tui Thakow—Missionary perils—Their fruit of peace—Ratu
+  Lala—Rambi Isle—Gipsy life—Vanua Levu—A mission conference—The
+  isle of Kia—A village feast,                                         191
+
+                               CHAPTER XIX.
+
+  The Chief of Mbua—Feudal rights—A night in a miserable
+  village—Church _à la_ St Columba—Night on a desert isle—Savu
+  Savu—Boiling springs—Their use—Past and future,                      211
+
+                               CHAPTER XX.
+
+  Nasova—The mountain war—A year’s progress—Fijian homage,             219
+
+                               CHAPTER XXI.
+
+  A planter’s house—Angora goats—A lovely shore—Sericulture—The
+  mosquito plague,                                                     235
+
+                              CHAPTER XXII.
+
+  The pottery districts of Viti Levu—A cannibal’s register—A
+  night in a corn-shed—Funeral of Ratu Taivita,                        243
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+  Start for New Zealand—Extinct volcanoes—Sir George Grey’s
+  treasures—Tree-kangaroos,                                            260
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+  Gold-mines—A new city—Native defences—Kauri forest—A hard
+  ride—Kati Kati—Tauranga Gate Pah, and cemetery—Ohinemutu—A
+  volcanic region,                                                     272
+
+                               CHAPTER XXV.
+
+  Bewildering new surroundings—The Maori dragon—Breakfast at
+  Wairoa—The mission-house—The hot lake—White terraces—Sulphur
+  and mud volcanoes—An unjust claim resisted—Champions from the
+  Antipodes,                                                           290
+
+                              CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+  Fijian rivers—Samoan envoys—Death of a true apostle—A
+  revival—Making a race-course—Mission to New Britain,                 307
+
+                              CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+  Various plantations—Crotons—Foreign labour—Green beetles—Loma
+  Loma—A Tongan colony—Hot springs,                                    328
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+  Notes on Fijian folk-lore—Legend of the rat and cuttle-fish:
+  the crane and the crab: essay of roast-pig: of gigantic
+  birds—Serpents worshipped as incarnate gods—Sacred stones
+  worshipped—Mythology and witchcraft,                                 345
+
+  APPENDIX,                                                            356
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                      PAGE
+
+  OUR HOME IN FIJI,                                          _Frontispiece_
+
+  ISLES OF OVALAU, MOTURIKI, BAU, AND VIWA. FROM VITI LEVU,            111
+
+  HOT SPRINGS, ISLE NGAU,                                              180
+
+  A CHIEF’S KITCHEN,                                                   208
+
+  MAP,                                                         _At the end_
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.—CANNIBAL FORK.
+
+
+The Cannibal Fork represented on the binding of this book is a facsimile
+of a fair average specimen. Some of the chiefs had forks eighteen inches
+long, of dark polished wood, with handles richly carved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With reference to the vegetables specially reserved for cannibal feasts,
+Dr Seemann describes the Boro dina (_Solanum anthropophagorum_) as a
+bushy shrub, seldom higher than six feet, with a dark glossy foliage,
+and berries of the shape and colour of tomatoes. This fruit has a faint
+aromatic smell, and is occasionally prepared like tomato-sauce. The
+leaves of this plant, and also of two middle-sized trees (the Mala wathi,
+_Trophis anthropophagorum_, and the Tudano, _Omalanthus pedicellatus_),
+were wrapped round the _bokola_ and baked with it on heated stones.
+
+
+
+
+AT HOME IN FIJI.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1874 it was announced that Fiji had been formally
+annexed by Great Britain: in other words, that her Majesty’s Government
+had finally decided to accept the offer of cession of the group
+repeatedly made by the highest chiefs of Fiji. To this course they were
+impelled chiefly by the conviction of their own utter inability to cope
+with certain unscrupulous white men, who had here established a footing
+beyond reach of English law, and who, to promote their own selfish
+schemes, did not scruple, by every means in their power, to foster the
+jealousies of the chiefs, and so to keep up the bloody intertribal wars
+by which the lands were laid waste, and the population decimated.
+
+In the prolonged struggle for power, two great chiefs rose
+pre-eminent—namely, Maafu, a powerful Tongan chief, who ruled supreme in
+one portion of the group; and Thakombau, who (at the instigation of the
+foreigners who had formed themselves into a government of which he was
+the nominal head) had been formally crowned as Tui Viti—_i.e._, King of
+Fiji. The position thus assumed by Thakombau proved, however, untenable.
+An adverse party of white men opposed every measure which the Government
+strove to enforce; and at length this nominal king, then upwards of
+seventy years of age, wearied by these unprofitable contentions,
+persuaded the other great chiefs to crave the protection of England’s
+Queen. Their petition was at first rejected; but, when repeated as an act
+of absolute and unconditional cession, it was deemed wise to accept it.
+
+Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., Governor of New South Wales, was
+deputed by the Home Government to visit the group in person. Accordingly,
+on 12th September 1874, he sailed from Sydney in H.M.S. Pearl, Commodore
+Goodenough, and arrived in Levuka (the headquarters of the white
+population of Fiji) on the 23d inst. Two days later he had a formal
+interview with Thakombau, in which he explained her Majesty’s willingness
+to accept the responsibility, and to endeavour to exercise her authority
+in such a manner as should best secure the prosperity and happiness of
+the people; adding, that such conditions as had been at first attached
+would render impracticable the proper government of the country. To this
+Thakombau replied—
+
+“The Queen is right; conditions are not chief-like. I was myself from the
+first opposed to them, but was overruled. If I give a chief a canoe, and
+he knows that I expect something from him, I do not say, ‘I give you this
+canoe on condition of your only sailing it on certain days, of your not
+letting such and such a man on to it, or of your only using a particular
+kind of rope with it;’ but I give him the canoe right out, and trust to
+his generosity and good faith to make me the return which he knows I
+expect. If I were to attach conditions, he would say, ‘I do not care to
+be bothered with your canoe; keep it yourself.’
+
+“Why should we have any anxiety about the future? What is the future?
+Britain.
+
+“Any Fijian chief who refuses to cede cannot have much wisdom. If matters
+remain as they are, Fiji will become like a piece of drift-wood on the
+sea, and be picked up by the first passer-by.
+
+“The whites who have come to Fiji are a bad lot. They are mere stalkers
+on the beach. The wars here have been far more the result of interference
+of intruders than the fault of the inhabitants.
+
+“Of one thing I am assured, that if we do not cede Fiji, the white
+stalkers on the beach, the cormorants, will open their maws and swallow
+us.
+
+“The white residents are going about influencing the minds of Tui Thakau
+and others, so as to prevent annexation, fearing that in case order is
+established a period may be put to their lawless proceedings.
+
+“By annexation the two races, white and black, will be bound together,
+and it will be impossible to sever them. The ‘interlacing’ has come.
+Fijians, as a nation, are of an unstable character; and a white man
+who wishes to get anything out of a Fijian, if he does not succeed in
+his object to-day will try again to-morrow, until the Fijian is either
+wearied out or over-persuaded, and gives in. But law will bind us
+together, and the stronger nation will lend stability to the weaker.”
+
+Sir Hercules Robinson next proceeded in H.M.S. Pearl to visit the great
+chief Maafu at his capital, Loma-Loma. Tui Thakau, another powerful
+chief, was present; and both declared their full assent to the cession
+and to the document already signed by Thakombau, which runs as follows:—
+
+“We, King of Fiji, together with other high chiefs of Fiji, hereby give
+our country, Fiji, unreservedly to her Britannic Majesty, Queen of Great
+Britain and Ireland. And we trust and repose fully in her that she will
+rule Fiji justly and affectionately, that we may continue to live in
+peace and prosperity.”
+
+Finally, on the 10th of October 1874, all the great chiefs assembled at
+Nasova (which was, and still continues to be, the seat of government, and
+is situated one mile from the town of Levuka), and there signed the deed
+of cession.
+
+The signatures affixed are as follows:—
+
+    CAKOBAU, R.
+      _Tui Viti and Vunivalu._
+    MAAFAU.
+    TUI CAKAU.
+    RATU EPELI.
+    VAKAWALETABUA.
+      _Tui Bua._
+    SAVENAKA.
+    ISIKELI.
+    ROKO TUI DREKETI.
+    NACAGILEVU.
+    RATU KINI.
+    RITOVA.
+    KATUNIVERE.
+    MATANITOBUA.
+        HERCULES ROBINSON.
+
+Thus did Fiji pass from the dominion of misrule to the orderly position
+of a British colony,—a change touchingly alluded to by the old king (or,
+as he is called by his own people, the Vuni Valu, or Root of War), who
+on this occasion desired his Prime Minister, Mr Thurston, to present his
+war-club to Queen Victoria. Mr Thurston interpreted the king’s words as
+follows:—
+
+“Your Excellency,—Before finally ceding his country to her Majesty the
+Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the king desires, through your
+Excellency, to give her Majesty the only thing he possesses that may
+interest her.
+
+“The king gives her Majesty his old and favourite war-club, the former,
+and, until lately the only known, law of Fiji.
+
+“In abandoning club law, and adopting the forms and principles of
+civilised societies, he laid by his old weapon and covered it with the
+emblems of peace. Many of his people, whole tribes, died and passed away
+under the old law; but hundreds of thousands still survive to learn and
+enjoy the newer and better state of things. The king adds only a few
+words. With this emblem of the past he sends his love to her Majesty,
+saying that he fully confides in her and in her children, who, succeeding
+her, shall become kings of Fiji, to exercise a watchful control over the
+welfare of his children and people; and who, having survived the barbaric
+law and age, are now submitting themselves, under her Majesty’s rule, to
+civilisation.”
+
+The king then handed the club to his Excellency, who informed Thakombau
+that he would not fail to transmit to the Queen the historic gift
+which he desired to present to her, and that he would at the same time
+communicate to her Majesty, _verbatim_, the trustful and gratifying
+message by which the gift was accompanied.
+
+This magnificent club, together with Thakombau’s huge _yangona_ bowl, is
+now in the safe keeping of Mr Franks (of the British Museum), and is kept
+with the Christie Collection in Victoria Street. Both club and bowl are
+at least twice the size of any others we have seen in the isles.
+
+Five days later Sir Hercules held a farewell meeting with the chiefs,
+many of whom had hitherto met only as open foes. In closing his farewell
+speech, he said—
+
+“I hope that all differences and animosities will now be forgotten and
+subdued. The Vuni Valu’s (Root of War) war-club has been sent with a
+dutiful and loving message to our Queen. I hope all other weapons of
+strife have in like manner been buried at the foot of the staff upon
+which we have raised the Union Jack.”
+
+To this the two chiefs, hitherto rivals for the supreme power, thus
+replied. First spoke Thakombau.
+
+“I hope that all present will now understand that they are her Majesty’s
+subjects and servants, and that, as the Governor has said, their future
+is in their own hands. They will be judged according to their behaviour
+and their deserts, and according to such judgment they will stand or fall.
+
+“We know that we are not here now simply as an independent body of Fijian
+chiefs, but as subordinate agents of the British Crown; and being bound
+together by strength and power, that strength and power will be able to
+overcome anything which tends to interfere with or interrupt the present
+unity.
+
+“Any chief attempting to pursue a course of disloyalty must expect to be
+dealt with on his own merits, and not to escape by any subterfuge, or by
+relying upon any Fijian customs, or upon his high family connections.”
+
+Maafu then said—
+
+“What more can any of us say? The unity of to-day has been our desire
+for years. I have now been twenty years in Fiji, and I have never before
+seen such a sight as I see to-day—Fiji actually and truly united. We
+tried a government ourselves; we did not succeed. That has passed away.
+Another and a better and more permanent state of things has been brought
+into existence. I believe that I speak the mind of all present when I say
+that we are really and truly united in heart and will, and we are all
+gratified with what we have heard. We are true men, and will return to
+our homes knowing that the unity of Fiji is a fact, and that peace and
+prosperity will follow.”
+
+On the eve of Sir Hercules’s departure, a deputation of the Wesleyan
+Mission waited upon him to express their intense satisfaction with the
+deed of cession; but for which, they considered that their work as
+Christian missionaries would have received serious injury. They added:
+“We venture to remind your Excellency that it is not forty years since
+missionaries representing the British Wesleyan Churches came to Fiji,
+then in a state of savage heathenism; and that, but for the blessing of
+God upon their labours, there would have been no British Fiji at the
+present day.”
+
+Sir Hercules’s reply must have been truly gratifying to his hearers. Its
+conclusion was—
+
+“I fervently trust that a new era has now dawned upon Fiji, and that
+under British rule the moral as well as the material progress of the
+new colony may, by the blessing of Providence, be effectually secured.
+The great social advances which have already been made within the last
+forty years from savage heathenism, are due to the self-denying and
+unostentatious labours of the Wesleyan Church; and I can therefore
+heartily wish to your missionary enterprise in this country continued
+vitality and success.
+
+“With renewed thanks for the good wishes which you are pleased to express
+for myself personally, I have, &c.,
+
+                                                       “HERCULES ROBINSON.
+
+    “To the Rev. JOSEPH WATERHOUSE,
+          ”      SAMUEL BROOKES,
+          ”      D. S. WYLIE.”
+
+With reference to the provision to be made for the chiefs who had thus
+voluntarily resigned their rights, without knowing to what extent these
+might be really taken from them, Sir Hercules suggested that Thakombau
+should receive a pension of £1500 a-year, and a present of £1000 to buy
+a much-coveted little vessel for his own use; that in the event of his
+death, his queen, Andi Lydia, should continue to receive £1000 a-year
+for her life. Their three sons would probably find employment under
+Government, with suitable salaries; as would also be the case with the
+principal chiefs, all of whom would continue to hold their office of
+Rokos of the twelve Provinces—a native dignity held in much reverence.
+
+In January 1875 the Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, K.C.M.G. (son
+of George, fourth Earl of Aberdeen), was appointed first Governor of
+Fiji,—an archipelago containing seventy or eighty inhabited islands, some
+of which are of considerable size, the largest, Viti Levu, or Great Fiji,
+being about ninety miles long by fifty broad, nearly the same area as the
+counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex, Berkshire, and Hampshire.
+The next in size, Vanua Levu, the Great Land, is upwards of one hundred
+miles long by twenty-five wide, somewhat smaller than Cornwall,
+Devonshire, and Somerset. Taviuni and Khandavu are each twenty-five
+miles long; while Bau, the native capital, is scarcely a mile in length.
+Besides these, there are upwards of one hundred and fifty uninhabited
+islets; and each of the principal islands forms a centre round which
+cluster from twenty to thirty minor isles, forming groups as distinct
+and as widely separated as are the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Scilly
+Isles, and their people are equally unknown to one another. The climate
+is, for the tropics, unusually healthy. At the time of the cession, they
+were inhabited by about 1500 whites and 150,000 natives.[1] It was June
+1875 ere Sir Arthur reached the colony, and, to quote his own words[2]—
+
+    “The state of things which disclosed itself to me on my
+    arrival was not encouraging. A terrible pestilence, heedlessly
+    admitted, had swept away one-third of the entire native
+    population. Though its violence had diminished, its ravages had
+    not wholly ceased. Even where it had passed by, it had left
+    behind it terror and despair. The same cause had carried off
+    many of the imported labourers of the planters, who, from a
+    variety of causes, were themselves, for the most part, reduced
+    to the greatest straits. The revenue had fallen short of even
+    the modest estimate of Sir H. Robinson, whilst the expenditure
+    had largely exceeded his anticipations. The introduction of
+    labour from other parts of the Pacific had almost ceased.
+    The season had been unfavourable for agriculture, wet, and
+    unhealthy, and gloom and discontent pervaded all classes.
+
+    “The white settlers had apparently imagined that, by some
+    magical process, the assumption of sovereignty by Great
+    Britain was to be followed by an immediate change from
+    poverty to wealth, from struggling indigence to prosperity;
+    that their claims to land would be at once allowed; that an
+    abundant supply of labour would be at once found for them;
+    and that their claims to supremacy over the natives, which
+    the Government of Cakobau—whatever its faults—had steadily
+    refused to recognise, would be at once acknowledged. They
+    were, therefore, bitterly disappointed to find their hopes not
+    realised.
+
+    “The natives were cowed and disheartened by the pestilence,
+    which they believed to have been introduced purposely to
+    destroy them,—a belief encouraged, I am ashamed to say, by some
+    of our own countrymen, and which was probably the main cause of
+    the disturbances in the Highlands of Viti Levu in the following
+    year. They were perplexed by reiterated assurances, from the
+    whites living among them, that by the mere fact of annexation
+    to Great Britain their own laws and customs had been abolished;
+    that their rules of succession, and for the transmission of
+    property, had no longer any existence; that many of their
+    cherished habits were illegal; that their lands had become
+    the property of the Crown; and that they would themselves
+    be expected, if not required, to labour on white men’s
+    plantations. They were told, moreover, that all distinctions of
+    rank among them were at an end,—a notification more perplexing
+    than pleasing, in its suddenness, to the people generally, and
+    which naturally caused irritation and distrust among the higher
+    chiefs.
+
+    “A third element in the population, the immigrant labourers
+    from other parts of Polynesia, whose contracts of service had
+    long expired, but whose employers had no means to send them
+    back to their homes, and who had remained, in some cases, for
+    many years in by no means voluntary servitude, were exasperated
+    by the bad faith they had experienced.
+
+    “At the end of the year 1875 I found myself with a revenue
+    of £16,000, from which I had to meet an expenditure of over
+    £70,000, and at the head of a dissatisfied and impoverished
+    white population of some 1500 persons, in the midst of a native
+    population nearly one hundred times as large, suspicious,
+    watchful, and uneasy; while on but too many estates, bands of
+    wrongfully detained immigrants formed a real, though apparently
+    unrecognised, source of danger.
+
+    “It is not my object, in the present paper, to narrate the
+    steps taken in the administration of the government since that
+    time. Suffice it to say, generally, that the revenue of the
+    colony has swelled rapidly from £16,000 in 1875 to £38,000
+    in 1876; £47,000 in 1877, and over £61,000 in 1878,[3] while
+    the expenditure has been reduced to a level with the income;
+    that the receipts from customs, which were, in 1875, but
+    £8000, amounted in 1878, under practically the same tariff,
+    to £20,000; that the imports have nearly doubled in value,
+    and the exports (which exceed the imports) have quite done
+    so; that the Polynesian labourers, whose term of service had
+    expired, have been conveyed home and replaced by labour newly
+    recruited; that more than 800 land titles have been settled
+    after laborious and minute investigation; that measures have
+    been passed by the Legislative Council which do honour to those
+    who framed them, and compare favourably with those of many
+    older colonies; that the Government service has been organised,
+    Courts of Law established; that a dangerous disturbance has
+    been put down quickly, cheaply, and effectually; that capital
+    is being invested; and that, after a careful investigation,
+    extending over more than a year, it has been reported to me,
+    by most competent and most cautious scientific authority, that
+    the annual value of the agricultural exports of the colony,
+    when its powers of production have been fully developed, will
+    probably exceed £10,000,000 sterling.”
+
+After alluding to the purely native organisation of Bulis, Rokos, and
+other functionaries whom Sir Arthur found it desirable to continue to
+employ in the same capacities, in the administration of local government,
+and in carrying out various measures, he goes on to speak of the system
+on which these were framed.
+
+    “It was always borne in mind that these regulations had, to a
+    great extent, to be administered by the natives themselves, and
+    that a code which they thoroughly understood and had taken part
+    in preparing, and which was in harmony with their own ideas
+    and modes of thought, would be far more easily worked, and
+    far more willingly and intelligently obeyed, than much better
+    regulations imposed by external force, but which they might
+    neither comprehend nor appreciate, and which would therefore be
+    of far less real utility....
+
+    “I may say that I have no reason to be dissatisfied with
+    the results. I have no doubt that the native magistrates
+    make mistakes, and sometimes grave mistakes; I have no doubt
+    that in individual instances the Roko Tuis are harsh and
+    overbearing; but it is, I think, far better that they should
+    now and then be so than that all share in the administration
+    should be taken away from them. The employment of natives in
+    the administration of the government was, indeed, a financial
+    necessity, for the means did not exist, and do not yet exist,
+    for the payment of such a staff of white officials as would
+    have been required had the services of natives been dispensed
+    with. But had no such imperative cause existed to render
+    their employment inevitable, I should equally have deemed it
+    to be required by considerations of policy. Unless removed
+    from their habitual places of residence, and treated with a
+    harshness wholly incompatible with the understanding on which
+    the islands had been ceded to England, chiefs of intelligence,
+    high rank, and great social influence, would have become, if
+    stripped of all authority, and deprived of all employment
+    except that of brooding over their own changed condition, very
+    dangerous elements in the colony. For, be it remembered, the
+    legal non-recognition of their position would not have in any
+    way deprived them of the power they possessed over those who
+    yielded to them an instinctive and unquestioning obedience.
+    As it is, they are cheerful and willing assistants to the
+    Government in the performance of its duties.
+
+    “The results of the system actually adopted were apparent when
+    the mountaineers of Viti Levu attacked the Christian villages
+    of the Singatoka. I appealed to the Rokos for help, and named
+    thirty men as the contingent each was to send. Had the same
+    state of mind existed that I found on my arrival, sullen and
+    reluctant submission would at best have been given to the
+    order, and more probably excuses would have been made for the
+    non-appearance of the force; the mischief would have spread,
+    and a long and costly war would have resulted. What was in
+    fact the answer to the appeal? From almost every province came
+    double the number of men asked for—picked men out of a host of
+    volunteers—and the troubles were suppressed by native forces
+    alone, without delay and at a trifling cost....
+
+    “I will only say one word on the future prospects of the
+    colony—namely, that I believe Fiji to be an admirable field for
+    the investment of large capital, whether in sugar or coffee
+    estates. Sugar grows spontaneously, is of the first quality,
+    and has a practically boundless market in Australia. As regards
+    coffee culture, Fiji is now in much the same position as Ceylon
+    thirty or forty years ago, and I have no doubt that those who
+    now found estates there will find them in no long time amply
+    remunerative. I have never seen finer tobacco than that raised
+    in Fiji, and the cotton produced there is admitted to be of the
+    best description.”
+
+Fiji lies 1760 miles N.-E. of Sydney, and 1175 miles N. of Auckland. The
+value of its principal exports may be gathered from the following table:—
+
+                    Coppra.    Cotton.     Sugar.
+    1875,           £40,003    £28,706     £3,417
+    1876,            45,908     21,122     10,433
+    1877,            79,403     15,690     16,170
+    1878,           122,194     20,700     18,640
+
+At the close of 1878 the area under cultivation was as follows:—
+
+    Coppra—_i.e._, cocoa-nut,   9166 acres.
+    Cotton,                     2390   ”
+    Sugar,                      1772   ”
+    Maize,                      1000   ”
+    Coffee,                     1219   ”
+
+The cultivation of coffee is as yet in its infancy.
+
+Tobacco, arrowroot, cocoa, cinchona, tea, vanilla, rice, pepper, &c.,
+have been produced as yet only in small quantities, experimentally.
+The export of green fruit for Australia and New Zealand is a rapidly
+increasing item. Thus in 1877, 3100 bunches of bananas were exported; in
+1878, 21,316 bunches; in 1879, 43,062 bunches.
+
+The form of Government is that of a Crown Colony, with Executive and
+Legislative Councils.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    THE VOYAGE OUT.
+
+
+                         ON BOARD THE MESSAGERIES MARITIMES S.S. ANADYR,
+                               NEARING POINT DE GALLE, _April 17, 1875_.
+
+MY DEAR FELLOW-ARAB,—You see I am “once more upon the waters,” but
+whither I am now bound is a problem which I defy you to guess. I had not
+time to write to you before my hurried departure from England, but you
+see my locomotive demon has allowed me a very short spell of rest (if
+rest it can be called, to rush all over England and Scotland, visiting
+innumerable friends and relations! Practically, I find such visiting
+involves more wear and tear of mind and body, than any amount of
+travelling in distant lands).
+
+Well, as you know, it is not yet six months since I returned home, after
+eighteen months of the most delightful wanderings in every corner of
+beautiful Ceylon. It needed all the warmth of family affection to make
+the bitter cold of an English winter even endurable, and my yearning for
+tropical heat and sunlight was for ever being reawakened by aggravating
+acquaintances, who invariably asked me, “Where are you going next?” As
+I had not the smallest prospect of ever again escaping from my native
+shores, I always answered, “To Fiji,” as being the most absurd answer
+that suggested itself to so foolish a question,—a place known to me only
+as being somehow associated with a schoolboy song about the King of the
+Cannibal Islands. Judge, then, of my amazement, when, one morning, I
+received a letter to tell me that Fiji had been annexed, and that Sir
+Arthur Hamilton Gordon had been appointed first Governor, and gravely
+suggesting that I should accompany Lady Gordon to her remote home. I need
+scarcely tell you that the temptation proved irresistible.
+
+To begin with, a cruise in the South Pacific has been one of the dreams
+of my life; and the idea of going actually to live for an indefinite
+period on isles where there are still a number of ferocious cannibals,
+has a savour of romance which you can imagine does not lack charm. And
+then to do it all so comfortably, gliding into the adventure so easily,
+without the slightest exertion on my own part, is far too rare a chance
+to be lost, in spite of the remonstrances of my sisters, who consider it
+quite unnatural of me to care to leave home again so soon.
+
+Naturally, when I announced my intention of really going, every one
+replied, “Of course you are only joking!” And indeed, even now, I myself
+find it difficult to think of Fiji or anything connected with it in any
+other light than that of a great joke; its very name has always been
+considered funny!
+
+Its whereabouts, and everything connected with it, are evidently matters
+of the vaguest uncertainty to all my friends. I did my best to appear
+astonished at their ignorance, but, between ourselves, I honestly confess
+to having possessed the very haziest ideas on the subject, up to the
+moment when that letter reached me, when, of course, I got an atlas and
+hunted Fiji up. As you probably have no map at hand, and are certain to
+be equally in the dark, I may as well tell you that it is a group of
+about 250 islands, of which about 70 are inhabited. That it is in the
+South Pacific, about ten degrees south of the Equator, thirty degrees
+east of the north coast of Australia, and twenty degrees north of New
+Zealand. This is a very rough description, but it is sufficient to make
+you realise the position.
+
+As yet, I only know of two people who have been there—one of whom, Harry
+Leefe, started from Cresswell last year to join an uncle who owns an
+island there, and grows cotton and cocoa-nuts. This Robinson Crusoe of
+the South Seas has for years past been to us enveloped in a halo of
+romance; and now I am looking forward to seeing him in his own home,
+and myself becoming “a resident in the South Seas.” Does it not sound
+delightful, and don’t you envy me? Before leaving London, I managed to
+get up some information by reading a cleverly compiled book on Fiji,
+by a man who has never been there; but he vouches for the group being
+a terrestrial paradise, where the soil need only be scratched to yield
+abundant harvests of every sort, and where every form of volcanic crag
+combines with tropical foliage to produce endless beauties. So I have
+invested in a goodly stock of drawing paper, and enough paints and
+brushes to last me a lifetime, and look forward to a most interesting
+sketching tour. The ground will have the advantage of being altogether
+new, which is an immense charm.
+
+And now we are fairly started, and a very large pleasant party we are.
+We (the Fijian family) assembled in London on the 22d March, for a
+short special service at King’s College Chapel, Somerset House, and
+next morning started for Paris, where we halted four days, embarking at
+Marseilles on Easter morning—an unsatisfactory moment for starting, but
+travellers cannot always choose their own times and seasons. This is a
+splendid steamer, 3600 tons, most comfortable in every respect, and with
+a capital table for such as appreciate French cookery.
+
+Our party consists of Sir Arthur and Lady Gordon, and two particularly
+nice little ones—namely, Nevil, a picturesque girl of six, with silky
+brown curls, and dark thoughtful eyes; and George, aged four, who is
+always called Jack, because from his boyhood he has worn real sailor’s
+clothes, made by a man-of-war’s tailor. Then comes their cousin, Arthur
+Gordon, who has a fine talent for drawing, and is Sir Arthur’s secretary.
+Captain Knollys, A.D.C., only joined us at Aden, bringing with him a
+very important member of the family—namely, Snip, a tiny black and tan
+terrier. Dr Mayo, Mr Mitchell, Mr Eyre, and Mr Le Hunte, at present
+complete our party, the latter being a young lawyer, and, moreover,
+our typical Briton,—a stalwart combination of Ireland and Yorkshire.
+Mr Mitchell was a tried friend in the West Indies. And Dr Mayo is a
+keen, clever man, a fellow of New College, Oxford, who has followed his
+profession in every camp in Europe, and in some in Asia, and now hopes
+to find an ample field for studying new forms of the ills that flesh is
+heir to among the various races of the Pacific. He is a good botanist and
+antiquarian, and is a mine of information on all topics. All these spend
+several hours a day learning Fijian, with the most exemplary patience and
+determination, by the help of vocabularies and dictionaries. Last but not
+least come the excellent Welsh nurse and faithful Portuguese under-nurse;
+and Mr and Mrs Abbey, major-domo and general heads of all departments,
+who have already lived with the Gordons in Trinidad and Mauritius, and
+there proved themselves pillars of Government House: a most comfortable
+and reliable couple, warranted to take good care of everything and
+everybody. They have two little boys—the youngest, Arky, a sunny-headed
+little mite.
+
+Captain and Mrs Havelock, and Dr and Mrs Macgregor, are to join us at
+Sydney, as are also the Judge and Attorney-General, Sir William and Lady
+Hackett, and Mr and Mrs de Ricci, so that the white population of Fiji
+will receive a large accession.
+
+I will add no more at present, except to say that, with my usual luck at
+this point, it was bitterly cold and very grey coming through the Suez
+Canal and down the Red Sea. There had been a heavy storm, which turned
+the sea to mud for some miles ere we reached Port Said, which was dirty
+and dull as usual,—heavy waves dashing over the breakwater, and Lake
+Menzaleh looking grey and dreary....—Ever yours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+    SYDNEY—CAMELLIA TREES—ORANGE GARDENS.
+
+
+                                        SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, _June 2_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—My last letter home was posted at Rockhampton, two days before
+we reached Brisbane. The latter lies twenty miles up a river, so a little
+steamer comes down to meet the big one and carry letters and passengers
+to and fro. On this occasion there was a special one for Sir Arthur,
+and he and his party were hospitably entertained by the Governor, Mr
+Cairns. His private secretary at present is Mr Maudslay, a son of the
+celebrated engineer. He has already travelled far and near for his own
+amusement, and we think it probable that some day he will find his way
+to Fiji and become one of our band of brothers, or Knights of the Round
+Table, if you think that sounds better. I should scarcely think Brisbane
+was a congenial atmosphere. It seemed to us a singularly uninteresting
+place, its botanical gardens being almost the only resource. Of course,
+in a semi-tropical climate like that of Queensland, there is always the
+attraction of very varied foliage; but we thought even this was somewhat
+stunted.
+
+We had lovely weather on our two days’ voyage from Brisbane, and also the
+day we arrived here. Unfortunately we just missed seeing the festivities
+for the Queen’s birthday, when every ship in the beautiful harbour was
+dressed, and there was an immense volunteer review. There are no military
+here, and the volunteers only meet on this one day. Lady Robinson is,
+however, to have a great ball to-night, when she promises to show us any
+number of Australian beauties.
+
+The accommodation of Government House is so very limited, and the family
+party so large, that it was as much as she could do to find room for
+Lady Gordon and the children. All the gentlemen have found quarters at
+an hotel; and Commodore and Mrs Goodenough, a most hospitable and kind
+couple, have managed to take me in. Never was there a better illustration
+of the old proverb that “where there is heart-room there is hearth-room,”
+for their house is tiny and yet shelters many friends. Lady Robinson
+kindly says that, though not living under her roof, I am nevertheless her
+guest. So I dine there most nights.
+
+How you would revel in the exquisite loveliness of the camellias! The
+dinner-table is most often decorated with delicate pink camellias and
+maidenhair fern; and the loveliest white ones are abundant as snowdrops
+in an English spring. Beautiful as these are, I am not enamoured of what
+we have hitherto seen of Australia as contrasted with Ceylon and India.
+To begin with, I have contrived to catch a severe cold, not improved by
+all these starlight walks to and from Government House, which is just too
+near to be worth driving to; and the climate is apparently as changeable
+as in England. We have had four consecutive days of incessant rain and
+cold, raw air, so on every side you hear people coughing and sneezing;
+and we are glad to cower over fires—for which, by the way, the coal comes
+from Newcastle.
+
+It is so absurd to hear the old familiar names out here. A man tells you
+he has just come from Morpeth, Oxford, or Hyde Park, Norwood or Sydenham,
+Waterloo, Waverley or Paddington, Birkenhead or Liverpool, Brighton or
+Cremorne, Clifton, St Leonard’s, Darlington, Anglesea, &c. It is quite a
+relief to hear so wholly novel a name as Wooloomoolloo!
+
+But truly all the attractions which have hitherto delighted me in foreign
+lands are here conspicuous by their absence. Apparently no native
+population. Certainly no rich colour; no statuesque tropical undress; no
+graceful cocoa-palms. Everything is British, even to the ploughman riding
+his horses home at night, and the four-horse omnibuses, and the hansom
+cab which drives you about the town at 4s. an hour, and the genuine
+unadulterated cockney accents of men born and bred in the colony. Of
+course it is interesting to see this Greater Britain mushroom, but it is
+difficult to believe that we are 14,000 miles from London! and I hope,
+before long, to get glimpses of bush-life.
+
+But of Sydney itself we run some danger of getting more than we wish,
+inasmuch as the difficulties of getting ready a house in Fiji are very
+great, especially from lack of hands to labour—a difficulty which has
+been sorely increased by a frightful plague of measles, which, by news
+just received, have (at the lowest computation) carried off one-fifth
+of the whole population of the Isles. Some rate it far higher. And
+the survivors are all disheartened and miserable, and unfit for work.
+So, although Sir Arthur is buying his doors and windows and planking
+ready-made here to facilitate his building, it may be months before he
+has a house ready for us; and meanwhile we must have one here, and a very
+difficult article it is to find. The gentlemen are house-hunting all over
+the place, with very bad success; and the worst of it is that there is so
+little time, as Sir Arthur must start for Fiji within ten days, and leave
+us settled here,—a dull prospect for Lady Gordon, and doubly so as she
+must be anxious at his running into such a sink of measles, he being the
+only one of the party who has never had them.
+
+We went to the opera last night. The most remarkable thing about it was
+the drop-scene, which was simply a huge advertisement sheet, with puffs
+of all sorts, from the newest sewing-machine to the most efficacious
+pills! Imagine the effect of this descending between each act of Anna
+Bolena! I regretted much that I had not rather accompanied Commodore and
+Mrs Goodenough, who spent the evening with a large party of blue-jackets.
+It is quite touching to see their cordial kindness to all the men, and
+extreme interest in all that concerns them; and yet the Commodore has
+the name of being stern. I can only say I never saw a face which more
+thoroughly revealed the genial nature within.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                                _June 10._
+
+We have had several pleasant expeditions in the neighbourhood. Last
+Monday, Sir Hercules having ordered a special train to take us to see the
+Blue Mountains, we started early and went as far as the wonderful zigzags
+by which the rail is carried across the mountains. I had the privilege of
+sitting on the engine, so I obtained an admirable view.
+
+The following day Mr Gordon, Capt. Knollys, Dr Macgregor, Dr Mayo, and
+Mr Eyre started for Fiji in H.M.S. Barracouta, so our first detachment
+is fairly under weigh. Sir Arthur is waiting for telegrams from England,
+and is to follow in H.M.S. Pearl with Commodore Goodenough. It has been
+decided that we are to remain at Pfahlert’s Hotel till he sends us orders
+to follow, which we hope may come soon.
+
+Meanwhile we find some attractions here. To-day we drove out to the South
+Heads, and had a most lovely walk along the cliffs. At the entrance to
+the harbour we came to a pretty little church perched among the rocks,
+and listened to the choir practising “The strain upraise,” while we sat
+basking in the sunshine, the whole air fragrant with the honeyed blossoms
+of the red and white epacris, which grows in profusion, and is suggestive
+of many-coloured heaths. Though the everlasting gum-tree is apparently
+the only indigenous growth, there is lovely foliage of all sorts in the
+gardens of innumerable villas, which lie dotted all over the countless
+headlands, and along the shores of the many creeks which branch off from
+this immense and most lovely harbour.
+
+In these gardens you find clumps of bamboo growing beside
+weeping-willows; holly-bushes, with clusters of scarlet berries,
+overshadowed by stiff date palms; broad-leaved plantains, contrasting
+with leafless trees; frost-dreading heliotrope beside wintry
+chrysanthemums and withered oak; while dark Norfolk Island pines
+serve as a background to large camellia-trees, literally one blaze of
+blossom, pink, white, crimson, and variegated. These grow in such rank
+profusion wherever they receive the slightest care, that we marvel to
+find them in so comparatively few gardens, especially as their value
+is so fully recognised that good blossoms fetch about 6d. a-piece; and
+market-gardeners allow millions to drop unheeded, rather than lower their
+price.
+
+There are lovely ferns in many of the little gullies, and delightful
+spots at which to land for picnics. One of the favourite “ploys” here is
+to start armed with a small hammer, a bottle of vinegar or some lemons,
+and slices of bread and butter, and find a feast of oysters on the rocks!
+Two days ago, the weather being warm and sunny, Lady Robinson took us
+in her steam-launch fourteen miles up one of the creeks. It was like
+a beautiful Scotch lake; and we caught glimpses of many lesser creeks
+branching off to right and left, all tempting us to explore. Now I must
+despatch my letter. So good-bye.—Your loving sister.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        PFAHLERT’S HOTEL, SYDNEY, _Sunday, June 20, 1875_.
+
+I told you in my last that the first detachment of our party started
+for Fiji in the Barracouta. Now so many have followed that we feel
+quite forsaken. This day last week Sir Arthur and Lady Gordon went to a
+farewell lunch on board H.M.S. Pearl with Commodore and Mrs Goodenough,
+and on Monday the Barracouta sailed. We sat in the beautiful botanic
+gardens to watch her pass down the harbour, carrying away so many of our
+friends—Sir Arthur, Mr Mitchell, and Mr Le Hunte of our own set, and the
+good kind Commodore and his officers. I do so envy them going off to
+the Isles, and of course it is a sore trial to Lady Gordon to be left
+here: it will be fully three months before we are allowed to follow. On
+Wednesday another detachment followed—namely, Mr and Mrs de Ricci, Mrs
+Macgregor and her little girl, Mrs Abbey and her two little boys. They
+went by the Meteor, a very small sailing ship, and I fear they are likely
+to have a very uncomfortable passage, lasting fully a fortnight.
+
+The people here are not encouraging as to our prospects. Many of them
+have lost a great deal of money which they had invested in Fijian
+plantations; and those who have had friends or relations there, in some
+cases ladies and children, give us most lamentable accounts of the
+hardships they had to undergo from want of the commonest necessaries of
+life, and dangerous voyages in open canoes. From all we hear, I think
+there can be no doubt a planter’s life in the Isles must be a most
+unenviable lot; but of course, as far as we individually are concerned,
+the way will be made smooth.
+
+I am preparing for emergencies by attending the infirmary several days a
+week, to pick up a few ideas about simple nursing. It is under the care
+of Miss Osborne, a cousin of Florence Nightingale. Evidently her whole
+heart is in her work, and everything is done thoroughly; and kindness
+and order reign supreme. I have been very much interested in some of the
+patients, especially in one poor sailor who hails from “the parish of
+Dyke.”[4]
+
+Nothing strikes me more here than the exceeding loyalty of the
+inhabitants. Every one speaks of England as “home,” though neither they
+nor their parents or grandparents ever saw the old country; and certainly
+our Queen has no more devoted subjects. To-day being her Majesty’s
+Accession, the churches were crowded; and at the cathedral this afternoon
+we had the “Coronation Anthem,” and then “God save the Queen.”
+
+I find here that it does not do to use the word _native_, as we are wont
+to do, with reference to the brown races. Here it is applied exclusively
+to white men born in the country, the hideous blacks being invariably
+described as _aborigines_. Hideous indeed they are, far beyond any race
+I have yet met with; and of so low a type that it is impossible, in
+their case, to regret that strange law of nature which seems to ordain
+the dying out of dark skinned races before the advance of civilisation,
+and which is nowhere so self-evident as in Australia, where they have
+simply faded away, notwithstanding the strict observance of their own
+most elaborate marriage laws, which set forth the various degrees of
+relationship between different tribes, and the rotations in which alone
+they are permitted to marry. Perhaps, however, if all tales be true
+concerning the ruthless policy of extermination practised by too many of
+the settlers on the frontier, and the manner in which tribes have been
+shot down wholesale for daring to trespass on the lands taken from them
+without any sort of right the extinction of the Australian black may be
+found to be less a law of nature than an illustration of the might that
+makes right. But certainly the few specimens we have come across have
+been unspeakably wretched, living in gipsy camps far more miserable than
+those of any British tinker, altogether dirty and debased.
+
+The Commodore rejoices us by saying that our Fijians are a very superior
+race, many of them really handsome, fine, stalwart men. He brought some
+Fijian yams on his return from the Isles, and had a dinner party, that
+we might all taste them. Anything Fijian is really as great a curiosity
+here as it would be in London. You know the Pearl took Sir Hercules to
+Fiji to make final arrangements about annexation; and when that business
+was settled, King Thakombau and his sons came to visit Sir Hercules and
+see something of civilisation. You can imagine how strange the great city
+must have seemed to men whose notion of a king’s palace is a one-roomed
+thatched house one storey high. The horses and carriages were still more
+wonderful; and as to the railway, that was beyond comprehension. But the
+old king took it all very philosophically, and was never so happy as when
+Lady Robinson’s little grand-daughter, a pretty little child with golden
+hair, crept on to his knee, whispering, “You won’t eat _me_, will you?”
+Or else he would lie down and rest on his own mat, keeping his big Bible
+beside him,—not that the old man could read it, for I believe his studies
+commenced rather too late in life, but he said “it made him feel so good!”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                              PFAHLERT’S HOTEL, _July 15_.
+
+DEAR EISA,—I have been all the morning waiting for the mail, sure of
+a letter from you, but I again have drawn a blank in that tantalising
+lottery. You can scarcely realise what a matter of interest the mails
+become in a place like this—the perpetual coming and going of the
+steamers, the signalling of their approach from the Heads, then watching
+them come up the harbour, right past Government House to their respective
+creeks. Such a lovely harbour as it is, and every headland dotted with
+picturesque villas! We have had both time and weather to enjoy it, the
+latter having been faultless ever since the rainy week which greeted our
+arrival, when it did pour with a vengeance. Now it is quite lovely, only
+the nights are too chilly sometimes for perfection. It is midwinter, you
+know, and all the deciduous trees are leafless. Leafless oak and apple
+trees beside camellia and orange trees in full flower and fruit! But the
+willows have not lost _their_ leaves, but grow beside great clumps of
+bamboo.
+
+The days slip away pleasantly. Many very kind friends plan delightful
+excursions for us, by land or water; and I learn what carriage-springs
+are capable of enduring when I see the daintiest little pony-phaetons
+driven, apparently at random, through the bush, across fields, or over
+the roughest cart-tracks. When we come to a paling, we deliberately
+take it down, and, of course, put it up again. Sometimes we come to
+dells where the loveliest maidenhair fern grows wild, and we fill the
+carriage with it and the pink epacris. As to the sweet wild geranium
+which abounds, it is thought quite extraordinary that we should care to
+gather it! Yesterday we went by rail to Paramatta, and drove to the great
+orange gardens, and noticed one group of trees from 40 to 45 feet high,
+the stems being nearly a foot in diameter, and the lowest branch three
+feet above my head. I do not remember any so large in Malta or elsewhere.
+It seemed strange to see these gardens with such wealth of fruit and
+blossom, while the neighbouring peach and pear orchards were all
+leafless. We drove on to the camellia gardens, and paid five shillings
+for quite a small basketful, though millions of blossoms were wasting
+their loveliness, and I would fain have carried off even those that lay
+unheeded on the grass. To-night there is a great ball at the Masonic
+Hall, to which we go, being bound to see everything.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+    LIFE IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS—DEATH OF COMMODORE GOODENOUGH—LIFE
+    IN THE BUSH.
+
+
+                     FROM A TINY COTTAGE AT THE WEATHERBOARD IN THE
+                  BLUE MOUNTAINS, NEW SOUTH WALES, Begun _Aug. 19, 1875_.
+
+You see I have contrived to escape from the region of fine clothes and
+prolonged meals! Oh dear, what a trial it is to be invited to luncheon at
+some lovely place, where you go expecting a pleasant day out of doors,
+and find an immense party assembled for a stiff dinner of many courses,
+which takes nearly the whole afternoon! The donors of the feast console
+themselves by a quiet evening stroll and late tea; but the poor guest has
+to return to undergo a second long dinner as usual. Nevertheless I have
+had many delightful days in the neighbourhood of Sydney.
+
+You have no notion what a size the harbour is, and how immense is the
+amount of shipping always coming and going! Great ships, and steamboats,
+and yachts, and tiny steam-launches,—sometimes I have counted eighteen
+or twenty steamers in sight at once. And then the out-of-the-way creeks
+are numberless. I think we have explored at least a score, sketching
+and picnicing, and I flatter myself I know the beauties of the harbour
+as well as the oldest Sydneyite. I learnt a good deal about it during a
+most enjoyable fortnight I spent with the Wentworths, whose lovely home,
+Greycliff, is close to the water, near the Heads, which are grand crags
+guarding the entrance, about six miles from the town. The Wentworths and
+Coopers own all the prettiest places thereabouts. We were out almost
+every day from morning till night, the boatmen making a fire and cooking
+our dinner in regular bush fashion,—fish just caught, potatoes and chops,
+&c.; and always bush tea, boiled with milk in a kettle,—and very good
+it is under the circumstances, though I do not advise you to adopt the
+fashion. Steaming a snapper is the summit of culinary art—a snapper
+being a large fish, which is cooked (cut up) with potatoes and scraps of
+bacon and onion. I confess I prefer the various small fish fried. One
+of the boatmen is Joe, a most jocular old black from Cape de Verd; the
+other, Jamie Lee, a true gipsy. Of course kindred spirits fraternised at
+once, and when he found I could pull a pretty strong oar, the conquest
+was complete! So we had days of gipsying and evenings of melody, Mrs
+Wentworth’s sister being one of the most perfect musicians I ever met. I
+have also spent some pleasant days with the Morts, whose lovely house,
+Greenoakes, is built as a dream of Alton Towers,—all gables outside, and
+good old carved oak inside. And such a garden of camellias, pink, red,
+and white—great trees of them! Amongst other things, Mr Mort owns one of
+the principal docks here, and an iron foundry; also a great dairy-farm on
+the coast, with 500 cows, all in milk! But his all-engrossing interest
+is a great freezing establishment for conveying meat to England. He has
+it killed in the mountains, brought to Sydney in iced trucks, and there
+received into genuine arctic regions, into which you descend shivering,
+and see innumerable carcases, all frozen as hard as stone. These are
+to be conveyed, frozen, to England, about 200 tons at a time. It is a
+gigantic experiment, on which Mr Mort has already sunk nearly £100,000.
+Everything about it is on new principles, and it is now _all but_ in
+working order. It has been the labour of years, and is now just about to
+see daylight.
+
+You perceive my writing is shaky. I am in the train, returning to Sydney,
+whirling past orange orchards, and endless dull bush, all of gum-trees.
+But everywhere there is an undergrowth of lovely bush flowers; and here
+and there, from the crevices of the rock, there hangs a veil of creamy
+blossom,— I think they are rock-lilies; and there are some scarlet
+lilies, like crowns of fire; and strange blossoms of the _waratau_,
+which I cannot describe, because it is so utterly unlike anything you
+ever saw,—something between a scarlet dahlia and an artichoke. But the
+glory of the bush is the feathery mimosa, which takes the place of
+our broom, and is covered with sheets of fragrant gold. There is also
+a lovely creeper (here they would say _vine_), with masses of lilac
+blossom—the Kennedia—which climbs the mimosas, and droops in richest
+trails of bright purply red. You can best realise the effect by picturing
+a bough of lilac wistaria overhanging a golden laburnum. Even the dull
+gum-trees, the eucalypti, become beautiful when covered with delicate
+yellowish blossoms. The sheep-farmers glory in the dreary tracts of land,
+the monotony of which is not varied by one gay flower. Happily the bush
+revels in colour, and I find upwards of fifteen totally different sorts
+of epacris—crimson, white, pink, and yellow. I call them heaths, but I am
+rebuked for so doing. Some are so fragrant that they scent the air like
+honey. But when I revel in wild flowers every one says, Oh, wait till you
+see the bush a month hence! It will be one carpet of many colours.
+
+I must account for being so much away from Lady Gordon. Captain and Mrs
+Havelock have now joined us, and they were old friends in Mauritius.
+Latterly Captain H. has been acting as Governor of Seychelles, but Sir
+Arthur requested that he should be appointed to Fiji, where, I believe,
+he is to act as treasurer. Mrs Havelock shares Lady Gordon’s taste for
+remaining quietly at home with the children, so they stay together at
+Sydney, while I do the sight-seeing. Mrs Havelock has one little girl,
+Rachel, Lady Gordon’s god-child,—such a quaint, nice, tiny child, whom
+Jack and Nevil regard as an interesting doll, requiring great care. They
+are the very nicest little couple possible,—coaxy, loving little things,
+and most picturesque. They are quite inseparable, and Lady Gordon has
+never left them for one night. Sir William and Lady Hackett have also
+arrived from Penang. He is to be judge in Fiji. Mr Maudslay, whom we
+met at Brisbane, has also joined our party. He is to be Sir Arthur’s
+extra secretary, and if he finds the country suits him, will perhaps get
+permanent work in the Isles. He is devoted to botany, natural history,
+and kindred subjects of interest. Mr Maudslay and another gentleman
+escorted me to the Blue Mountains last week, where we put up at a very
+cosy inn and expeditionised. The gorges with great cliffs are very
+fine, and the valleys densely wooded. Sometimes we went down into deep
+gullies with tree-ferns far above our heads—very beautiful. When my two
+companions had to return to Sydney, I went to the tiny cottage where I
+began this letter. My host was a wood-cutter, with a clean, tidy wife,
+and a number of very neat children. Such nice people! More independent
+and outspoken and self-respecting than English of the same class; and the
+children are all so well brought up. I had spent a long day alone on the
+verge of a gorge edged with great precipices, and was walking home calmly
+in the clear moonlight, when I perceived a small regiment coming to meet
+me. These were all the sturdy youngsters, in age ranging from five to
+ten, coming in search of my remains! The lion and the mice! They escorted
+me home cheerily, chatting right out on all subjects! It does seem odd
+to think of my being so at home, alone in these wild mountains, sitting
+all day by myself, miles from any human habitation, only seeing a pair of
+great eagles soaring overhead—no other living thing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                        _August 29, 1875._
+
+The mails brought letters from you and your mother—both most welcome.
+But alas! my pleasure in receiving them was marred by terrible tidings,
+which reached us at the same moment, of a most horrible tragedy (of which
+you must have heard ere now)—namely, the treacherous murder of Commodore
+Goodenough, who, as you know, was the one to welcome me on my arrival in
+Sydney, and to give me house-room for the first fortnight of our stay.
+One of the sunniest-hearted, most genial men I ever met, universally
+popular, and justly loved by all under his command. He was quite out of
+the common,—clever, the noblest type of an English naval officer, and
+as good as good could be. I mean, thoroughly religious,—the religion of
+a life showing itself in such care for his men, and for whatever could
+advance Christianity in the Isles, where he was constantly cruising
+about, and of which his knowledge was very great. Personally, he had
+endeared himself to us all as a genuine good friend. His last cruise was
+to take Sir Arthur to Fiji, where he was present at his installation,
+when King Thakombau formally made personal submission to him as the
+Queen’s representative. After this the Commodore took Sir Arthur in the
+Pearl to various Fijian isles; and then, dropping him, went off to look
+up some other groups. And I particularly want to impress upon you that
+these groups are as distinct as Russia, England, and India; and that the
+people of one may be incarnate devils, while the next are positively
+dove-like. Our Christianised Fijians are of the latter sort. But alas!
+the Commodore’s cruise was to Santa Cruz—the same group in which, in
+1871, Bishop Patteson was murdered. (I suppose you have read that most
+touching story.) Those islanders have always been difficult to deal
+with, not understanding good white men, and ready to avenge on them the
+kidnapping practised by the scum who haunt these seas in the labour
+traffic. So on this occasion the Commodore, as usual, landed unarmed,
+and went among the natives in friendly conversation, as he had done on
+a previous visit. Something unusual in their manner struck him, and he
+proposed a retreat to the boat, when suddenly, without a moment’s notice,
+one of them deliberately shot him with an arrow, which pierced his side.
+He was able to walk to the boat; but a second arrow struck him in the
+head, and four of his young sailors were wounded. Even then, with what
+seemed mistaken kindness, he would not allow any bloodshed in revenge,
+but made his men fire blank-cartridge to frighten away the people, and
+then set fire to their wretched huts as a sufficient punishment. Well,
+at first, none of the wounds were considered dangerous, but, as almost
+invariably happens in that climate, after a few days _tetanus_ (_i.e._,
+lock-jaw) set in, which means certain death in torture. The Commodore
+lingered eight days. When he found he could not recover, he called each
+of his officers in turn, and kissed them, and said good-bye. Then he made
+them carry him on to the quarter-deck, where he said good-bye to all his
+men, and prayed for them. Then came the bitter end. One young sailor died
+just before him; another next day. All this time the Pearl was sailing
+southward to get cooler climate for the sufferers, and so it came to
+pass that they were within two days’ sail of Sydney when, on Friday, his
+spirit passed away. On Monday the Pearl, with her ensign half mast, and
+yard-arms topped on end,[5] in token of her burden of sorrow, re-entered
+the harbour, and the terrible news spread like wildfire. I think some
+blessed angel must have whispered the truth to poor Mrs Goodenough,
+for she positively _knew_ the moment the Government House orderly came
+to summon her cousin, Mr Stanley of Alderley, whose departure had
+providentially been delayed. The only word he had to utter was “Santa
+Cruz.” That afternoon she was able to go on board and sit for three hours
+beside him (in the little cabin where they had spent so many happy hours,
+and where they always spent most of Sunday, going on board for service
+with the men). That was the one great comfort. On Wednesday she was able
+to follow him to the grave, with her two little sons. It was an immense
+public funeral. All the sailors, marines, naval reserve, training-ship,
+N.S.W. artillery, all public men, and thousands of citizens attended. His
+coffin was on one gun-carriage; those of the two sailors on another. They
+were laid on either side of him. He was only forty-four, and they were
+each about twenty years of age....
+
+I don’t suppose you can fully realise how _home_ this comes to us all.
+We have been so much thrown together, and we expected the Commodore
+to be so valuable an ally for Sir Arthur. To him the loss is not only
+that of a reliable friend, but literally of a right hand. And it is so
+disheartening that this second terrible shadow should overcloud the
+beginning of his work. It was bad enough before, when the awful scourge
+of measles was sweeping over the Isles, which literally carried off
+one-fourth of the whole population, marking the beginning of British
+rule for ever as a time of misery. You see my surroundings have become
+of awful earnest, instead of the merry little joke which I thought I
+was taking up in coming to Fiji. Not that I regret having come. On the
+contrary, I only rejoice to think that about ten days hence, if all
+is well, we shall be on our way there. A company of Royal Engineers
+are expected by the Whampoa in a few days, and as soon as they arrive,
+the Egmont is to take them and us to Fiji. I am glad to hear they are
+commanded by our old friend Colonel Pratt.
+
+I will write again in a few days.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+             DUNTROON, NEAR THE MURRUMBIDGEE HILLS, N.S. WALES, _Sept. 2_.
+
+DEAR EISA,—Here I am really in the Australian bush, though I find it
+hard to reconcile the term with living in a fine large house, with every
+appliance of the most advanced civilisation. I can assure you we were
+glad to find such comfort at the end of a long and very cold journey.
+
+The last detachment of our Fijian party started about three weeks
+ago—namely, the Havelocks and Sir William and Lady Hackett. Since their
+departure, Lady Gordon and the children have been living at Government
+House with the Robinsons; and Mr Maudslay and I have improved our time,
+first by exploring the Blue Mountains, where there is some grand scenery;
+and then we joined the Bishop of Grafton and Armadale and Mr Turner, and
+we came about two hundred miles, half by rail and half posting, to this
+place to see a true station. It is the property of the sole descendants
+of the old Campbells of Duntroon, on the Crinan Canal—most hospitable
+Scots. There are about 30,000 sheep, 500 horses, and 1000 head of cattle
+on the station; a most comfortable house, and everything most luxurious;
+lots of horses for riding or driving; and I am getting over my belief
+that all Australian horses are buck-jumpers. Yesterday we had a great
+picnic to a waterfall eighteen miles off. I drove there, sketched, and
+rode back over fine grassy country. It was characteristic; for, as we
+went along, we picked up recruits till we numbered in all seventeen
+riders—the brake with four horses, a dogcart, a buggie, and a cart. As
+to roads, no one here thinks of them. Without the slightest hesitation
+about springs, the brake and four will turn off into the bush, drive
+in and out among the trees, grazing the old stumps which stick up in
+every direction, and the felled or half-burnt timbers with which the
+ground is everywhere strewn, dodging morasses, and choosing the easiest
+bits of creeks (where you think you _must_ overturn), through fords,
+&c., &c., for mile after mile. In short, I shall never again believe in
+the possibility of breaking springs; for all carriages out here do the
+same thing, and they are all English built. An English coachman would
+utterly refuse to take the same carriage over a cart-road. A good deal
+of the country here is open, rolling downs, which afford very pleasant
+riding—miles and miles without a fence. We have just been to a ploughing
+match, at which the chief noteworthy fact was seeing all the farm lasses
+riding. Every lass has her pony; and a good many household servants
+arrive at their new situation on their own horse, just turn it out in
+their master’s paddock, and catch and saddle it whenever they want to
+ride to the town. (This is necessary for fords rather than distance.)
+The country is moderately pretty; but the weather is so bitterly cold
+that I have been driven in almost every time I have tried to get a
+sketch, generally by sleet, one day by downright snow. Doesn’t that
+sound strange to you, who are basking on heathery hills? One great charm
+of the bush here lies in the multitude of lovely cockatoos of every
+conceivable colour, especially pure white ones with lemon-coloured
+crests, or pearly-grey, “trimmed” with delicate pink. Some are very dark
+and handsome; and the green parrots are legion. The gentlemen have shot
+several, and given us their plumes. They have also shot several small
+bears,—most harmless little beasts.
+
+Sir Arthur writes to Lady Gordon that the house he found ready at Nasova
+is very tolerable, and that he has begun to build the new rooms, so we
+hope to find our Fiji home ready when we arrive. Good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+    ARRIVE IN FIJI—TROPICAL LUXURY IN LEVUKA—KING THAKOMBAU—PLAGUE
+    OF MEASLES.
+
+
+                       FROM MRS HAVELOCK’S HOUSE, LEVUKA, ISLE OF OVALAU,
+                                   FIJI, _Sunday, Sept. 26, 1875_.
+
+Here we actually are, safely landed in Fiji! We embarked on the Egmont on
+the 9th, and left Sydney at midnight. The Egmont was specially chartered
+to carry the Engineers. Their officers are Colonel Pratt, Captain
+Stewart, Mr Lake, and Dr Carew. Our only other companions were the Rev.
+Frederick and Mrs Langham, superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission, who
+have lived in the group for seventeen years, and have seen Fiji in all
+its changes; and many a tale of horror they have told me. They are a
+kind, genial couple, while she is a gentle little woman, whom it is hard
+to associate with such scenes as she has had to go through. Mr Langham
+made great friends with some of the Engineers; and a few of the more
+thoughtful men told him they were thinking that perhaps they might be of
+some use to the poor ignorant people,—perhaps teach some of them to read
+and write. Mr Langham expressed his pleasure at their good intentions,
+but added, “I think that you will find that some of them can read a
+little. We have already established some schools in Fiji,—_about fourteen
+hundred schools and nine hundred churches_!” I think the Engineers were
+not the only people who opened their eyes at this statement, which is
+strictly true!
+
+Our voyage was not altogether pleasant. The Pacific proved false to its
+name, and favoured us with “a northerly buster,” which is a much more
+rare occurrence than the “southerly buster,” of which we have heard so
+much, and which did not seem to find much favour with any one except
+the beautiful albatross, who evidently gloried in the gale. We were all
+more or less ill—even the captain; and we liked it all the less, as the
+wind drove us out of our course and allowed us no chance of touching at
+Norfolk Island, as we had hoped to do.
+
+Ten days’ steam brought us to Khandavu, a remote isle lying far to the
+south of the group, and rarely visited by the regular white inhabitants,
+yet the only Fijian isle ever seen by casual travellers, and
+consequently the text for many a lengthened description of the group.
+
+On the following morning, Sunday 19th, we neared Ovalau, and found
+ourselves surrounded by many isles, of which we caught glimpses from
+time to time; but thick mist alternated with downpours of rain, and the
+isles looked grey and cold, like many much nearer home! It was early dawn
+when we found ourselves lying off Levuka, the capital; but the land was
+shrouded in dense mist, and not a glimpse could we obtain of the hills,
+which rise to a height of 3000 feet just behind the town. What mattered
+more, we were for nine hours in rough water outside the coral-reef (which
+encircles the isle of Ovalau at about a mile from the shore), and were
+actually within sound of the church bells, though we could see literally
+nothing till a lull in the storm revealed the passage—_i.e._, the opening
+in the barrier reef, through which we passed into the quiet harbour of
+Levuka.
+
+Just then a bright gleam of sunshine fell like a ray of promise on the
+little town, with its background of richly wooded hills, and dark craggy
+pinnacles far overhead, appearing above the white wreaths of floating
+mist. It was very lovely, and we were duly charmed; but our delight on
+arriving was somewhat damped by finding ourselves utterly unexpected.
+Great was the perturbation in Levuka when the inhabitants, coming
+peacefully out of church, perceived the Egmont quietly steaming in!
+Greater still was the excitement at Nasova, for no one seemed to have
+believed Lady Gordon was really coming, and her new house is still a mere
+skeleton. Even the Engineers were not expected for some days. Indeed, the
+official information of their having left England arrived about an hour
+after themselves, by a mail _viâ_ New Zealand!
+
+After some delay Sir Arthur came and took us ashore to Nasova, where
+we had lunch in the house which was built to be the council-chamber of
+Thakombau’s Government—a place of many memories, the last being its use
+as a hospital-barrack during the recent terrible scourge of measles, from
+which, in spite of most tender nursing by Captain Olive, R.N., several of
+his men died. (I must explain that Captain Olive came here with Commodore
+Goodenough, and liked the place and people so much that he was appointed
+head of the native constabulary; and now he is a sort of additional
+A.D.C. to the Governor.)
+
+In the evening we all returned on board the Egmont, as no other quarters
+were ready for us. Early next morning Lady Gordon and the children
+went ashore, but I stayed on board, thinking I might as well secure a
+sketch of the town from the ship, as the view thence was lovely. In
+the afternoon Captain Knollys brought back the children, and Captain
+Havelock came to say that his wife had prepared a corner for me in her
+wee bungalow, charmingly perched on a breezy headland overlooking the
+harbour. This was pleasant news; and I soon found myself cordially
+welcomed to a most cosy little nest, very small, but one of the nicest
+little homes here.
+
+You need not imagine that the bungalows here are like those bowers of
+delight I have described to you in other tropical countries. There are
+no wide verandahs, over which veils of luxuriant creepers weave garlands
+of delight, and no heavy scent of tropical blossoms perfumes the night
+air. Here few people have had time, or care, to cultivate flowers; and
+somehow those who have, have only succeeded on a _very_ small scale.
+Even the fireflies, which we demand as a positive right in all tropical
+lands, are very few and very dim. As to the houses, they are all alike
+hideous, being built of wood (weatherboard is the word), and roofed
+with corrugated iron or zinc, on which the mad tropical rains pour with
+deafening noise; or else the burning sun beats so fiercely as wellnigh to
+stifle the inmates, to whom the luxuries of punkahs and ice are unknown;
+and even baths are by no means a matter of course, as in other hot
+countries.
+
+We have not come to a land flowing with milk and honey in any sense.
+Daily food is both difficult to obtain and expensive. Fish is scarcely to
+be had at any price, though the sea swarms with many good kinds. Foreign
+vegetables are not to be got for love or money. The supply of fruit is
+very scant, consisting only of indifferent bananas, pine-apples, and
+oranges; and such as are brought to market are very poor. Milk is 1s. a
+quart; eggs, 3s. a dozen. Indifferent meat is about the same price as
+in England; poultry a good deal dearer. Washing varies from 4s. to 6s.
+a dozen, not including dresses or petticoats; and any lady who ventures
+to have her cuffs and collars, or other small pieces, washed at home,
+finds that not one of the scrubbing fraternity will undertake her work.
+To people accustomed to washing in India and Ceylon at 1s. a dozen, this
+is of itself a startling item. As to house-rent in Levuka, it is simply
+exorbitant: four guineas a-week being the moderate price paid, though
+taken by the year, for this tiny little one-storeyed bungalow, the whole
+of which, offices included, would easily fit into a moderately large room
+at home. And this is the country to which the Colonial Office sends men
+at ridiculously small salaries, because, as they were told ere leaving
+England, living would cost them nothing, and they could save all their
+pay! Why, a man without private fortune could hardly live here at all!
+Of course, all imported goods are necessarily expensive, having to pay
+freight first to Sydney and then to Levuka.
+
+But oh, above all, the miseries every housekeeper must daily endure in
+wrestling with a household of utter savages, even supposing her to be
+fortunate enough to get a good well-meaning set! Hitherto my ideas of
+native servants have been derived from the faultless cooks and other
+excellent attendants of India, quick, wide-awake, and neat-handed;
+whereas here you probably begin by having one or two Fijians, who look
+very intelligent, but prove hopelessly stupid, or rather utterly careless
+about learning our strange new ways. Day after day you must show them
+exactly how everything is to be done, and may be certain that each time
+it will be done wrong, and that the moment your back is turned they will
+proceed to twist up a bit of tobacco in a banana-leaf, and deliberately
+smoke their cigarette before touching the work you have given them.
+Probably they will follow you to ask where the matches are, and the
+only answer to any remonstrance is “_malua_” (by-and-by), a universal
+principle which is the bane of Fijian life. They are very honest, though
+sometimes they cannot resist borrowing large English bath-towels, which
+make most tempting _sulus_ (_i.e._, kilt); and nice cambric handkerchiefs
+are a tempting covering for carefully-dressed hair. It would be quite
+right and proper that they should use things belonging to their own
+chiefs, so we need not wonder that they cannot always discriminate. But
+the would-be housekeeper certainly needs boundless patience and unfailing
+gentleness. Any other course would make a Fijian altogether give up the
+attempt to learn anything.
+
+Most people seem to prefer engaging servants from among the “foreign
+labour”—_i.e._, men who have been brought from other groups on a three
+years’ engagement to work. Most of these are truly hideous, but they
+are generally more diligent, and more anxious to learn their work,
+than the Fijians, who, as a rule, seem to be chiefly taken up with the
+contemplation of their own beauty: certainly many of them are unusually
+fine men, with strong muscular frame and good features, set off by a
+splendid head of frizzy hair—not so big as the gigantic mop they wore
+in heathen times, but still very large and carefully dressed. Some have
+really silky hair.
+
+But in the matter of servants, the chief difficulty is to get a cook who
+knows anything at all. The very unsatisfactory person known as an English
+“plain cook” would here be a household treasure, compared with the
+English or Chinese wretches who by turns experiment on your unfortunate
+digestion, at not less than £1 per week. I cannot tell how many changes
+Mrs Havelock, Mrs Macgregor, Mrs de Ricci, Lady Hackett, and Mrs Abbey,
+have already had in their respective households; but anyhow, it would be
+a long list. Mrs Abbey and her husband have already done wonders towards
+getting Nasova made habitable, and have also started a farmyard and a
+garden; so, eventually, we shall have poultry and vegetables secured.
+A room has been found for Lady Gordon—very noisy and uncomfortable,
+however; and the children are for the present living in a pretty little
+house close by, belonging to the Thurstons, who will scarcely care to
+give it up for long; so the work at the new rooms is being pushed on in
+earnest. Good-bye for the present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                     _September 29, 1875._
+
+... You may tell the boys that at last I really have seen the King of
+the Cannibal Islands, and a fine stately old fellow he is, with a bright
+intelligent countenance, and very chief-like, commanding carriage. I am
+told he was born about 1815, but he certainly appears older; his grey
+hair looks so strange round the brown face. He and several other high
+chiefs from various parts of the group have been staying at Driemba,
+a village of native houses just beyond Nasova, where they have been
+exchanging counsel on affairs of the State. I am told that he never
+appears so dignified as when he is addressing his brother chiefs on
+disputed questions. This afternoon they all came to Nasova for a farewell
+meeting with Sir Arthur ere returning to their respective dominions. Of
+course they had a solemn drinking of yangona, and one chief was appointed
+Roko of his district (_i.e._, chief officer in charge); after which there
+was a very pretty _méké_,[6] when a number of the people assembled to
+dance and sing, dressed in native cloth, gracefully worn as drapery, with
+kilts and fringes of black water-weed, long reedy grass-coloured leaves
+or climbing ferns thrown over one shoulder and round the waist, also
+round the arms and below the knee. They danced a circular dance, turning
+sunwise, with many varied figures, and with immense action, while the
+non-dancers stood in the middle, making vocal music and beating time on
+a drum. The words of these songs are very old, and never alter from the
+dialect in which they were at first composed, so they are not understood
+by the singers themselves. It was a very interesting scene.
+
+But I do regret not having seen the grand ceremony of Sir Arthur’s
+arrival, when (on the 25th June) Thakombau and all his sons, and five
+hundred vassals, came to Nasova, and formally did homage to him,—the
+first time the old chief has acknowledged any earthly superior. They
+brought the customary offerings of yams, turtle, &c. Then Thakombau’s
+herald carried a yangona root, of which the Vuni Valu (_i.e._, Root of
+War, as the old chief is generally called) broke off a small piece, which
+he placed in Sir Arthur’s hands, with a few words of greeting. Sir Arthur
+formally accepted the root, and the Vuni Valu then addressed his people,
+saying he was glad to welcome the Queen’s representative, and that he and
+all his people would obey her law as their only safeguard. Sir Arthur
+then addressed the chiefs, entreating them to put away their rivalries
+and jealousies, and work together for the common weal, suggesting to them
+as a parable, a canoe paddled by many men, some pulling backwards and
+some forwards; what would become of canoe and people?
+
+A week later, Sir Arthur was invited by Thakombau to a great
+meeting of chiefs at Bau, where there was a very solemn ceremonial,
+yangona-drinking, when all present formally acknowledged him as their
+feudal lord, and solemnly pledged him as such. There were about two
+hundred chiefs present, a greater number than had probably ever assembled
+before; indeed, hitherto, the majority had lived in such a condition
+of ceaseless warfare, that they had never met save as foes. Even the
+tiny isle of Bau, on which the meeting was held, was formerly divided
+into seven antagonistic communities, at war one with the other. So this
+meeting really was a very important act of feudal homage, and all present
+joined in the _tama_, a curious deep-toned acclamation of _ndua woh! ndua
+woh!_ which is the vassal’s salutation to his feudal lord, and which on
+this occasion proclaimed the Queen’s representative as their superior,
+the first chief of Fiji. Now all the people who pass Nasova (Government
+House), either by sea or land, shout this greeting.
+
+Certainly these brown men are a fine race. Such a contrast to the
+hideous blacks, of whom we saw a few, in Australia. The latter are such
+a wretched race, that it seems rather an advantage to humanity that they
+should die out; but it is a very different matter with these stalwart
+intelligent fellows and bright friendly women. And really it is too sad
+to hear of the awful ravages of the measles in the early part of this
+year.
+
+Do you realise that one-third of the whole population has died?—that
+is to say, 40,000 have died out of a population of 120,000. And the
+saddest thing of all is, that the terrible scourge was brought here in an
+English man-of-war, H.M.S. Dido, in which, last January, Thakombau and
+his sons returned from Sydney, where they had gone to visit Sir Hercules
+Robinson, and so prove their implicit confidence in their new friends
+and protectors. At Sydney, Ratu Joe and Ratu Timothy, the king’s younger
+sons, took measles of a mild type, as did also two servants; and on
+the return voyage the old chief was slightly unwell,—so slightly, that
+the question of quarantine was never even suggested, and on reaching
+Levuka he was allowed at once to go ashore. Vassals and kindred came
+from all parts of the group to receive him, and, according to custom,
+fervently sniffed his hand or his face, thereby, alas! breathing the
+unsuspected poison. A few days later Mr Layard held a meeting on the
+Rewa, to which came chiefs from all parts of the interior of Viti Levu,
+representing the mountain tribes; there were about a thousand people
+present. To this meeting went some from Levuka, who had already caught
+the measles, without being as yet unwell. The infection spread, and the
+seeds of the disease were thus carried by the mountain chiefs to their
+respective districts, where it rapidly extended, proving fatal to a vast
+number of the people, and to nearly all the chiefs who had been present
+at the meeting with the white chief (Mr Layard). Of course it was only
+natural that they should attribute this to poison or witchcraft, and
+that the tribes who had only recently accepted Christianity, or were
+on the eve of doing so, should conclude that this was a Heaven-sent
+punishment for forsaking the gods of their fathers and giving up their
+lands to the white men. So they retreated to their mountain strongholds,
+banished their teachers, returned to heathenism, and openly repudiated
+the recently accepted British rule. We heard of an instance in which
+one of the teachers having died, even the Christian villagers deemed it
+expedient so far to return to their old customs as to bury his wife and
+children in the same grave with him as a propitiation to the spirit of
+the murrain. But, as a rule, the Christians stood their ground firmly,
+and the marvel is that so very few should have relapsed. Among the first
+victims was a very good man, Ratu Savanatha, one of the most able and
+intelligent of the chiefs, and who had done all in his power to explain
+to the Kai Tholos (_i.e._, people of the mountains) the advantages of
+English rule.
+
+So from every corner of the group came tidings that the plague was
+raging. Whole villages were stricken down—young men and maidens, old
+men and children, lay dead or dying. The handful of white people, as
+a rule, did their utmost to help, and gave all the food and medicine
+they possessed; but their own labourers and their own children were
+stricken, and needed more care than they could give; nor were there
+lacking bad white men who went about telling the natives that the disease
+had been purposely introduced to kill them and get their lands. So the
+plain medical directions which were at once published were ignored, and
+the white man’s medicine too often refused, from a conviction that it
+would cause certain death. Native medicines, and bad, ill-cooked food,
+made matters worse. Of course anything like isolation of the sick was
+impossible; nor could they be prevented from rushing to the nearest
+water to cool their burning fever. How could men who are continually
+bathing and swimming be persuaded that this could harm them? So the rash
+was thrown in, and congestion of the lungs and dysentery of the most
+malignant type were brought on in thousands of cases.
+
+Apart from this irresistible craving to lie down in cool streams, it
+would have been a hard task for the poor sufferers to keep themselves
+dry, for an unparalleled rainfall converted whole districts into dreary
+swamps, where dysentery and starvation completed the work of death. The
+people were too weak to go to their gardens (which are often far away
+on some steep hillside), and so there were none to carry food; besides,
+a cold wretched walk through the long wet reeds was almost certain
+doom. At last the few who were well began to herd together, forsaking
+the sick, and scarcely exerting themselves to give them a drink of
+water, or prepare such food as they had. In some districts, as in the
+isle of Ono, the people were literally starving, digging up wild roots,
+and eating old cocoa-nuts only fit for making oil. Then they lay down,
+all alike stricken, for the most part awaiting the fate they deemed
+inevitable, with that strange apathetic calm which characterises a race
+wholly indifferent to life. At last the living were unable to bury the
+dead, and there was good cause to dread lest a worse pestilence, in the
+form of typhus, should be produced by the horrible putrefaction which
+poisoned the air. On the king’s little island of Bau (the special home of
+the nobles, and which is small and overcrowded), all were ill at once.
+Canoes bearing the dead were ceaselessly crossing to the mainland, where
+the graveyards lie; the cries of mourners and the death-drums resounded
+day and night. There, too, the people were starving; they had no strength
+to go ashore to the mainland for food. Many of the finest chiefs and
+teachers died.
+
+At the Missionary Institute all the students were down; but thanks to
+unwearied nursing day and night, most of them recovered.
+
+Of course all the native constabulary were seized; but, thanks to
+the devoted care of Lieutenant Olive, late of the Royal Marines,
+comparatively few died. He turned Nasova into a great hospital, and
+distributed his 150 patients all over it, appointing those who were less
+ill guards over the very sick, to prevent their yielding to the fatal
+impulse to rush into the cool blue sea, which lay so temptingly at their
+very door. By dint of indefatigable exertions, and a generosity that
+spared not the utmost expenditure of his private means on comforts, and
+indeed necessaries, for his sick men, he had the unspeakable satisfaction
+of saving all but ten, and these fell victims to their own craving for
+the cool waters. They managed to escape from their guards, and lay down
+in the sea, thus sealing their own doom.
+
+All the details that come from every isle are alike harrowing. Whole
+towns are deserted, every house closed. The dead have been buried in
+their own houses, and these having fallen, the raised foundation on which
+every Fijian house is built has now become a platform on which lie the
+graves of the whole family, marked by the red leaves of dracæna or other
+plants. Perhaps one wretched orphan alone survives. The coast towns
+seem to have suffered more severely than those in the mountains, owing
+to the fact of their being generally built in mangrove-swamps, or some
+other morass, as being better concealed and more easily defended in the
+intertribal wars which have hitherto been of ceaseless occurrence. We are
+told of some teachers who fled from their villages, but were overtaken
+by the disease and died. The majority acted as noble examples to their
+flocks, but many died at their posts; indeed one district alone has lost
+_ninety_, and the district next to it _forty_, native ministers and
+teachers, all carefully trained men,—a loss not to be quickly replaced.
+Of the 40,000 who are computed to have perished, 35,000 were personally
+known to the Wesleyan teachers as being either professedly Christians or
+under instruction.
+
+It appears that the measles, which we consider such a simple and
+infantile complaint, invariably assumes a character more like the
+plague when first introduced in one of these South Sea isles. In 1860
+it was unfortunately taken to the Mare Loyalty group, and one-fifth of
+the population died. The Dido unfortunately put three persons ashore on
+Norfolk Island, on her way to Fiji; they also carried the measles, which
+spread to the whole community. Afterwards she landed some time-expired
+labourers at the Isle Malicolo, and there too, it is reported that many
+have died.
+
+This is the first epidemic of any sort that has visited Fiji, and
+its results naturally make the introduction of any other infectious
+disease a thing to be dreaded. Just imagine how appalling would be the
+results of small-pox, for instance! And as hitherto there have been no
+quarantine laws, this might have been brought by any vessel. Even now
+there is the greatest anxiety lest it should be carried by the large
+steamers which call at Khandavu every month, on their way to and from San
+Francisco, Australia, and New Zealand. Of course the strictest quarantine
+regulations have now been issued; and Dr Mayo is stationed at Khandavu
+to enforce them, as also to vaccinate the whole population, and very
+monotonous work he finds it, however necessary. Happily the people take
+rather kindly to the operation. They have a fancy for making scars on
+their skin, both as a remedy and an ornament, so the process is rather
+attractive; and they come voluntarily to the doctor (whom they call
+_matai-ni-mate_, “carpenter of death”) to request his good offices. Now
+you will think I am never going to stop writing, so I may as well say
+good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+    LEVUKA—THE HARBOUR—CORAL-REEF—CHURCHES—ANIMAL LIFE—PLANTS—HOW
+    TO BREW YANGONA—PICNICS—SPEAR-THROWING.
+
+
+                   WITH MRS HAVELOCK, LEVUKA, _Saturday, October 2, 1875_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—I cannot say how I long to have you here to share the delight
+of sitting on this high headland overlooking the lovely sea. The air is
+balmy, and we almost always have a faint delicious breeze (sometimes
+it is anything but faint!) From this tiny garden we look down through
+a veil of glittering palm-leaves, brightened by a foreground of rosy
+oleanders, and vivid scarlet hybiscus; and between these glimmer the
+blue waters of the Pacific, and dreamy isles which seem to float on the
+horizon. I think, on a clear day, we can count eight or ten of these.
+
+Just below us lies the harbour, like a calm sea-lake, on which ride
+vessels of all sizes: trading schooners and brigs, which carry the
+produce of the isles to Australia and New Zealand. Larger vessels trade
+with Germany. Then there is an occasional man-of-war or merchant steamer,
+and always native canoes passing to and fro, with great three-cornered
+yellow mat sails, and brown men, who often sing quaint _mékés_ as they
+approach the town, with an odd sort of accompaniment on their _lali_,
+or wooden drum. The chiefs’ canoes carry a flag, and sometimes a fringe
+of streamers of native cloth floating from the sail; and the canoe
+itself is adorned at both ends with glistening white shells like poached
+eggs (_Cyprea oviformis_). Sometimes several canoes pass us racing, or
+they meet, and their sails at different angles form pretty groups. How
+striking a scene it must have been, when, in the old days, the chiefs
+sailed forth to war at the head of a large fleet of these! On one such
+occasion, when Thakombau went to attack Verata, he mustered a hundred
+and twenty-nine canoes. Only think how bravely they must have flown
+before the breeze, with the golden sunlight on the yellow sails! These
+canoes are balanced by large outriggers—that is, a beam of wood, or piece
+of cocoa-palm stem, floating alongside, and attached to the canoe by
+bamboos. They are most picturesque, and the great mat sails, seen against
+the intense blue of the water, are a valuable addition to the scene.
+Indeed the eye that loves exquisite colour can never weary here.
+
+The rich blue of the harbour is separated from the purplish indigo of
+the great ocean by a submarine rainbow of indescribable loveliness. This
+is caused by the coral-reef, which produces a gleaming ray as if from
+a hidden prism. The patches of coral, sea-weed, and sometimes white
+sand, lying at irregular depths, beneath a shallow covering of the most
+crystalline emerald-green water, produce every shade of aqua marine,
+mauve, sienna, and orange, all marvellously blended. The shades are
+continually varying with the ebb and flow of the tide, which at high
+water covers the reef to the depth of several feet, while at low tide
+patches here and there stand high and dry, or are covered by only a few
+inches of water; treacherous ground, however, on which to land, as the
+sharp coral spikes break under the feet, cutting the thickest leather,
+and perhaps landing you in a hole several feet in depth, with still
+sharper coral down below. The highest edge of the reef lies towards the
+ocean, and a line of dazzling white surf marks where the great green
+breakers wage their ceaseless warfare on the barrier; but the passage
+through the reef is plainly marked by a break in the white line, and a
+broad roadway of deep blue connecting the inner waters with the great
+deep; and this, again, passes in gradual gradations of colour, from the
+intense blue of the harbour to the glittering green of the shallow water
+on the inner side of the reef. Altogether it is most fascinating. The
+scene is loveliest at noon, when the sun is right overhead, and lights up
+the colours beneath the water on the coral caves. Also you must be some
+way up the hill to get a good view of the reef. Of the radiant opal tints
+which overspread sea, isles, and sky, at the outgoings of morning and
+evening, I need not tell you; our own northern shores supply sunrise and
+sunset colours more vivid than we often see in the tropics.
+
+This afternoon has been one of unmitigated enjoyment spent on the
+reef, where for so many days I have enviously watched the Fijian girls
+disporting themselves at low tide, and bringing back baskets full of all
+sort of curious fish, many of them literally rainbow-coloured. Some are
+most gorgeous, and are called parrot-fish. They have large bony beaks,
+rather than ordinary mouths, to enable them to feed on the coral, which
+at certain seasons are said to be “in flower,” and very unwholesome; so
+we always eat these radiant fish with some qualms, and not without good
+reason, for some people have had the ill-luck to get poisoned, and have
+suffered severely in consequence.
+
+Our great authority on all questions of natural history is Mr Layard
+(brother of Nineveh Layard), who, before annexation, held the office of
+British Consul in this place. He and his son have a special talent for
+capturing strange monsters of the deep, and I never call on Mrs Layard
+without her showing me some new object of interest. They live in a large
+old wooden house, built on the very edge of the water; in fact, the sea
+washes up underneath the verandah, which opens on to a long wooden pier
+in the last stages of decay. I should think the position most unsafe,
+in view of possible tidal waves, especially as a small mountain stream
+(which occasionally becomes a torrent) washes one side of the house,—so
+that from one window the inmates can have fresh-water fishing, and from
+the other salt. That old pier has been a source of infinite pleasure to
+many. It enables Mrs Layard to have a little fresh air, and a small
+walk, without venturing among the broken bottles and mud which form the
+beach; and her husband and son thence capture many strange creatures
+when they have not time to row off to the reef, which is, of course, the
+very ideal of a naturalist’s happy hunting-grounds, and there they took
+me this afternoon. You really cannot imagine anything more lovely than
+it was. The first essential is to go in a boat which draws very little
+water, and which has no new paint to be considered. Then when the tide is
+low, and the sea without a ripple, you float idly over the coral-beds,
+suffering your boat to lie at rest or drift with the current, as a stroke
+of the oars would disturb the clear surface of the water, beneath which
+lie such inexhaustible stores of loveliness. Every sort and kind of coral
+grow together there, from the outstretched branches, which look like
+garden shrubs, to the great tables of solid coral, on which lie strewn
+shells and sponges, and heaps of brain and mushroom corals.
+
+These living shrubs assume every shade of colour: some are delicate pink
+or blue; others of a brilliant mauve; some pale primrose. But vain is the
+attempt to carry home these beautiful flowers of the sea; their colour is
+their life. It is, in fact, simply a gelatinous slime, which drips away,
+as the living creatures melt away and die, when exposed to the upper
+air. So the corals we know in England are merely skeletons, and very
+poor substitutes for the lovely objects we see and covet in their native
+condition.
+
+Besides, like everything in that submarine garden, much of its charm is
+derived from the medium through which we behold it—the clear translucent
+water, which spreads a glamour of enchantment over objects already
+beautiful, glorifying the scarlet corallines and the waving branches of
+green and brown weed, wherein play exquisite fish of all vivid hues and
+sizes, from the tiniest gem-like atoms which flash in the light like
+sapphires and rubies, to the great big-headed parrot-fish, which has
+strong white teeth specially adapted for crunching the coral, and thence
+extracting the insects on which he feeds.
+
+There are great red fish, and purple-green fish, and some of bright gold,
+with bars or spots of black; but loveliest of all are the shoals of
+minute fish, some of the most vivid green, others of a blue that is quite
+dazzling. Some have markings so brilliant that I can only compare them to
+peacocks’ feathers. These all congregate in families, and a happy life
+they surely must have. Some of the loveliest of these are so tiny that
+you can keep a dozen in a tumbler; others are about the length of your
+finger. Only think what a prize they would be if we could convey them
+safely to the great aquariums of Britain! Besides these myriads of minute
+fish, there are all manner of living creatures which peep out from their
+homes beneath the ledges and crevices of the coral,—vigilant crabs of all
+sizes and colours, and sea-anemones in endless variety, and wonderful
+specimens of Echini.
+
+Picture to yourself first cousins of the fragile sea-eggs which used
+to rejoice our childhood, and make us marvel how they ever came
+ashore unbroken. These Fijian relations are armed with spikes like
+slate-pencils, nearly as thick as your middle finger, and a good deal
+longer. I think Mr Layard said their name is Acrocladia. To-day we
+captured a most extraordinary creature, a star-fish, which seemed as if
+it must be nearly related to the sea-urchin, for its fifteen arms were
+each covered with grey and orange spines, very sharp, precisely like
+those of the echinus, while the under side was a mass of pale-yellow
+fleshy feelers, like those of a sea-anemone, with a sucker at the end of
+each. It was a strange and most interesting creature when we first beheld
+it, but looked very unhappy when it found itself in a bucket; and when
+reduced to “a specimen,” it will be a poor ugly object.[7]
+
+We saw a great number of large star-fish, of the deepest Albert blue, and
+innumerable other beautiful things, which gained greatly in interest from
+being shown to me by one so familiar with them all as is Mr Layard. How
+you would delight in such an afternoon as this has been, and how the boys
+would revel in it! It is not altogether pleasant, however, to try walking
+on the reef, and you generally have to get natives to dive for anything
+particularly good. They never seem afraid of the many sharp teeth and
+stinging creatures which may dart out from the coral; and not being
+troubled by over-much raiment, they dive in and out like fishes (though,
+as a general rule, they do dislike wetting their hair). To them the reef
+is a source of endless amusement and profit, and at low tide there are
+generally some canoes lying in the shallow water; while the girls and
+young men are hunting for the spoils of the sea, which they carry in
+three-cornered baskets, slung from the waist. Of course they do not care
+to spoil their simple raiment with salt water, so a considerable portion
+of their dress on these occasions consists of deep fringes and garlands
+of many-coloured leaves, which are a most becoming drapery, with their
+rich brown skin and tawny head.
+
+The existence of these barrier-reefs is an unspeakable benefit to the
+isles, supplying them with natural breakwaters and harbours, surrounding
+each with a lagoon of calm, shallow water, on which the smallest boats
+can ply as safely as on an inland lake, and within shelter of which they
+can, in most places, pass from one isle to another. There is invariably
+a passage through the reef opposite the mouth of any river, as the
+coral insect cannot live within the influence of fresh water. Thus an
+entrance is secured to the haven of rest, and a very strait and narrow
+way it often is, and one which calls for careful steering, when the angry
+breakers are dashing in mad fury on the reef on either side—great rolling
+waves curling upward in a succession of mighty walls of green water, and
+falling in such a surging cataract of foam as would make short work of
+the luckless canoe that should drift within their reach. Once inside the
+reef all is secure, save when some unusual storm troubles even these calm
+waters, as it might ruffle the surface of any lake.
+
+It is hard to realise that these mighty sea-walls are indeed the work
+of microscopic insects,—star-like creatures, invisible to the naked
+eye; but so it is. It is said they cannot live at a greater depth than
+thirty fathoms, yet the height of the coral-wall is in many cases double
+or treble this measurement, and in some cases a sheer descent of two
+hundred fathoms has been found. The inference is, that many of these
+isles, as well as the ocean-bed from which the coral rises, are gradually
+subsiding, and the insects are continually working upwards. In some cases
+the island has altogether disappeared, and there remains only a circular
+or crescent shaped reef, perhaps fringed with cocoa-palms, encircling
+a calm lagoon of clear green water, the sea all round being of the
+deepest blue. These are called _atolls_, and are sometimes many miles in
+circumference. Some scarcely rise above the water-level, and only a ring
+of white coral sand betrays their existence.
+
+The coral-reef gives us various hints of the rise and fall in the level
+of the ocean-bed, for while some islands have wholly disappeared, others
+are even now emerging from the waters. In some groups coral-cliffs have
+been found forty feet above the water-level—in other words, above the
+height where the insect could live, thus showing clearly that these rocks
+have been gradually upheaved. But in the Fijian group there are few
+islands which are not almost encircled by a barrier-reef of considerable
+depth, which would seem to indicate that they are actually subsiding.
+However, the process is likely to be a slow one, and a matter of no great
+moment to the present generation, or their successors for many years to
+come.
+
+I have spun a longer yarn than I intended, but it will help you to
+realise the sort of things that I am daily looking at, and will make the
+boys wish they were with me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    _Monday, 4th October._
+
+DEAR JEAN,— ... I have just come in from such a scramble. Certainly
+those hills of Ovalau are most tantalising. From the sea they do look
+so attractive, and not particularly difficult to ascend; but when it
+comes to the attempt, you find that even in the rare instances where
+the semblance of a footpath exists, it takes a very good scrambler to
+follow it, over great boulders of rock, or up almost perpendicular banks
+of soapy mud. Should you attempt to leave the path, you find it almost
+impossible to force a passage through the dense underwood; and even the
+tracks, which from the sea look like grass, turn out to be tall reeds,
+reaching far above your head, and matted together with strong vines
+(which totally prevent your advance), and large spiders’ webs, which
+cling to your face and hair. Still, it is worth a considerable exertion,
+for the reward of at length reaching some point whence you can look down
+on the lovely sea and all the far-away isles.
+
+This island is itself quite beautiful, though by no means a desirable one
+on which to establish a capital, as it consists entirely of very steep
+hills, rising to a height of about 3000 feet, crowned with great crags,
+and rent by deep gorges densely wooded. The only available building land
+is a narrow strip on the edge of the sea; and though, of course, the
+lower spurs of the hills may gradually be dotted with villas, there is no
+possibility of extending the town unless by expensive terracing—a game
+which would certainly not be worth the candle, as saith the proverb.
+
+I must say the little town greatly exceeds our expectations. We had
+imagined it was still the haunt of uproarious planters and white men
+of the lowest type, described by visitors a few years ago, instead of
+which we find a most orderly and respectable community, of about 600
+whites, inhabiting 180 wooden houses. We are told that the reformation
+in the sobriety of the town is partly due to the Good Templars, who
+here muster a very considerable brotherhood. Doubtless their work is
+greatly facilitated by the increased price of gin, which in former days
+flowed like water, at the modest price of one shilling a bottle, but has
+now risen to five times that sum. It used to be said that ships needed
+no chart to bring them to Fiji, for they would find the way marked by
+floating gin-bottles, increasing in numbers as they approached the group.
+Those were the days when men meeting at noonday to discuss grave matters
+of business found their deliberations assisted by a jug of raw gin, to
+be drunk in tumblers as other men would drink water! Certainly if the
+multitude of broken bottles which strew the beach were any evidence of
+the amount of liquor consumed, we might imagine that the old drinking
+days were not yet wholly forgotten.
+
+The principal shops (or stores, as they are called) lie along the beach,
+and, without much outward show, are fully stocked with all things
+needful, which a European can buy at about one-third more than he would
+pay in England. But by a singular phase of commercial morality, a native
+wishing to purchase the same article is invariably made to pay a very
+much higher price, and this is done quite openly, as a generally accepted
+condition of trade! There are several respectable boarding-houses, and
+two or three hotels, where the planters find quarters when they come to
+this great metropolis.
+
+I am rather afraid you will not have a very dignified idea of our
+capital, when I confess that our great main street has only houses on one
+side, and the street itself is only a strip of rocky, muddy, or shingly
+sea-beach. Various attempts have been made to build up a low sea-wall,
+but this is invariably washed away by the next high tide. How the houses
+escape is a mystery.
+
+One thing that would strike you as peculiar would be to see a whole town
+without one chimney. There is a house which apparently has a couple,
+but these are only ventilators. You would also be impressed by our
+magnificent lighthouses—two wooden pyramids, which, seen at a certain
+angle to one another, mark the passage through the coral-reef. These are,
+I think, the only representatives of lighthouses in this most dangerous
+group. But at present the colony is too poor to build any, and Mother
+England is too stingy to allow us any.
+
+But whatever else is lacking, churches flourish. Besides the Wesleyan
+native chapels, there are a large Wesleyan church for the white
+population, a Roman Catholic church, and an Episcopal one. We, of course,
+belong to the latter; but at present our parson, Mr Floyd, is in New
+Zealand, so all the Governor’s staff take it by turns to officiate, two
+in the morning and two in the evening. They appear in surplices, and
+take their part well. Last Sunday morning Mr Le Hunte read prayers,
+and Captain Havelock one of Robertson’s sermons. Yesterday morning
+Captain Havelock read prayers, and Mr Maudslay preached a Kingsley. In
+the evening Mr Eyre read, and Mr Le Hunte preached; but I forget his
+subject, for such a tremendous storm of rain came down on the zinc roof
+that even his voice was drowned. After services we waited in vain for
+half an hour, and then waded home, fully a mile. Nurse and Mrs Abbey very
+sensibly left their dresses and bonnets in church!
+
+Mr Floyd has one of Bishop Patteson’s native clergy to assist him in a
+mission to the foreign labour, the Church of England most wisely judging
+it best to leave the Fijians wholly in the care of the Wesleyans, whose
+mission here has been so marvellously successful. But the foreign labour
+does seem almost a hopeless field. They are brought here from a multitude
+of isles, all talking different languages, and only remain three years in
+the group, so that the very small numbers that can be reached, even of
+those who find situations in Levuka, can scarcely be expected to learn
+much before they have to be sent back to their own isles as “time-expired
+labour.” Still, the little church does fill in the afternoons with a
+strangely motley congregation, and doubtless some seeds of good are
+carried back to the distant isles, which may bear fruit in due season.[8]
+
+There is yet another congregation which I have forgotten to
+mention—namely, our fellow-passengers, the company of Royal Engineers,
+who, finding the little English church already crowded, hold service by
+themselves in a thatched shed on the shore, open all round to admit the
+sweet sea-breeze, and overshadowed by large dark trees. It makes a very
+cool chapel, and we often linger as we pass to listen to the pleasant
+English voices and hearty singing.
+
+As I mentioned to you before, no preparation had been made to receive the
+Engineers on their arrival here, so they had to find temporary quarters
+for themselves till they could decide where to place their barracks,
+and then build them. It was no easy matter to find healthy quarters for
+so large a body of men in such a place, and Colonel Pratt was at first
+somewhat perplexed. By great good fortune a large empty storehouse was
+found half-way between Nasova and the town, so there they are housed for
+the present, and make the best of very uncomfortable quarters. They do
+look so hot, poor fellows, going about in uniform, with small caps, under
+just such a sun as that which makes men in India wear solah _topees_ and
+carry white umbrellas. Here (where the inhabitants take their ideas from
+Australia or New Zealand) such precautions are considered as unnecessary,
+as are all the luxuries which others, coming from India or kindred
+lands, would deem necessaries. The Engineers, however, have sun-helmets
+somewhere, but they are supposed to have gone on a little voyage by
+themselves to Melbourne, and are expected to arrive in the course of a
+few months! Colonel Pratt had considerable difficulty in getting either
+cool clothes or mosquito-nets for his men. The authorities could not
+understand why he should require them; and when he suggested that it was
+usual to supply such articles to troops on tropical service, the reply he
+received was—“Why, you don’t mean to say that Fiji is in the tropics?”
+That it is so we are all very well aware, but I think this is the best
+tropical climate any of us have yet found; there are few days when we
+have not a balmy breeze and soft grey clouds, and even the midsummer
+heat of December rarely shows a thermometer above 90°. I cannot find out
+that there is any especially rainy season, or any which is exempt from
+rain. Heavy thunderstorms are frequent at present, and I am told that
+about Christmas there is often much rain and an occasional hurricane. The
+latter, however, only happens once in several years; so you need not be
+in any special alarm for the safety of your dearly beloved sister,
+
+                                                               C. F. G. C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In one respect we are greatly disappointed in this place—_there are
+scarcely any flowers_. This strikes us all the more, as we have come here
+direct from Australia, where we left the whole country literally aflame
+with blossom. You cannot fancy anything more lovely. And here in the
+tropics, where people always vainly imagine that flowers are so abundant,
+we have fewer than in any place I have yet been to. Scarcely any house
+has even a flower-bed round the windows; and the very best garden in
+the place would, except for the beauty of its crotons and other shrubs,
+scarcely be dignified with the name in England; and yet infinite care is
+expended on it, and a handful of roses or other blossoms of any sort is
+the greatest boon its owner can bestow on us. As to wild flowers, I have
+walked day after day till I was weary, without finding as many flowers as
+would fill a small vase.
+
+The ferns, however, are exceedingly lovely. Innumerable species grow in
+richest profusion in every damp ravine, and great tufts of birds’-nest
+and other ferns cling to the mossy boughs of the grey old trees. Every
+here and there you come on a rocky stream or shady pool round which
+they cluster in such luxuriance and variety, that it makes you long
+to transport the whole fairy-like dell to some place where all fern
+lovers might revel in its beauty. And this is only the undergrowth;
+for the cool shade overhead is produced by the interwoven fronds of
+great tree-ferns—their exquisite crown of green supported by a slender
+stem from twenty to thirty feet high, up which twine delicate creepers
+of all sorts, which steal in and out among the great fronds, and so
+weave a canopy of exquisite beauty. Loveliest of all are the delicate
+climbing-ferns, the tender leaves of which—some richly _fringed_
+with seed—hang mid-air on long hair-like trails, or else, drooping
+in festoons, climb from tree to tree, forming a perfect network of
+loveliness. It is a most fairy-like foliage, and the people show their
+reverence for its beauty by calling it the _Wa Kolo_, or God’s fern.
+
+I ought to mention that though there are no flowers within reach, there
+are several flowering trees with unattainable, and, happily, not very
+tempting blossoms. They are all alike remarkable for having a most
+insignificant calyx, and being almost entirely composed of a great bunch
+of silky stamens which fall in showers on the ground below. The most
+attractive of these is the _kaveeka_, or Malay apple, which bears tufts
+of crimson blossom especially attractive to certain lovely scarlet and
+green parrots with purple heads, and which in due season bears a very
+juicy though insipid crimson or white fruit. These parrots are few and
+far between; and I miss the flocks of bright wings which so delighted me
+in my glimpse of Australian bush.—Good-bye once more.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                   _Sunday, 31st October._
+
+DEAR EISA,—The anxiously expected mail came in this morning and brought
+your welcome letter.... I am still staying with Mrs Havelock, for the new
+rooms at Nasova progress slowly. It is very difficult to push on work in
+a country where _malua_ (by-and-by) is the reigning principle in every
+action of life. But for myself, individually, I am most cosy here, and
+we all meet continually. Lady Gordon has instituted weekly picnics just
+for our own party, chiefly to get the gentlemen away from their incessant
+writing.
+
+We have already had three of these, so we have seen a good deal of this
+isle of Ovalau, and very lovely it is. We always go by boat; indeed there
+are no paths (except a footpath along the shore) where a sane man would
+venture to ride even if there were horses, which there are not. Only an
+enterprising butcher’s boy ventures to clamber up day by day to bring
+needful supplies to such houses as are perched on the steep hillsides.
+Captain Olive also has a horse; and now Nasova owns a pony on which Abbey
+gallops into Levuka to forage for the house. The astonishment of the
+natives at first sight of a horse knew no bounds. They gathered round it,
+exclaiming, “Oh, the great pig!” and one rashly approached to pull its
+tail, and was considerably startled by receiving a very severe kick.
+
+I suppose you know that one of the remarkable peculiarities of these
+isles is the strange lack of animal life. There were literally no
+indigenous four-footed creatures except rats and flying-foxes, and even
+the native rat has died out since foreign rats arrived from ships.
+Even the pigs, which in some places now run wild in the jungle, were
+originally introduced by the Tongans, who also brought cats, ducks,
+and fowls. As to other animals, such names as _seepi_ (mutton), _goti_
+(goat), _pussi_ (cat), _ose_ (horse), _collie_[9] (dog), and _bullama
+kow_ (beef), sufficiently betray their foreign origin. Really I do miss
+the troops of monkeys so familiar in India and Ceylon.
+
+Happily the list of Fijian reptiles is equally small, so that flies and
+mosquitoes are almost the only creatures we have to combat, and certainly
+they are an irritating plague. We know that centipedes and scorpions
+do exist, but they are very rare. I wish I could say as much for the
+cockroaches which infest every house, and are in their turn devoured by
+large spiders. I lay awake this morning watching the process. The unlucky
+cockroach contrived to get entangled in a strong web, and old Mr Spider
+darted out and tied him up securely, and then feasted at his leisure. Of
+course we carefully cherish these spider allies, and glory in webs which
+would greatly horrify your housemaids. The ants are also most energetic
+friends, and organise burial parties for the cockroaches as fast as we
+can kill them. Every morning we see solemn funerals moving across the
+verandah to the garden, and these are parties of about one hundred of the
+tiniest ants dragging away the corpse of a large cockroach.
+
+Happily serpents are almost unknown, and the few that exist are not
+venomous. So we walk through densest underwood, among dead leaves and
+decaying timber, without fear of meeting anything more alarming than
+innocent lizards or an occasional land-crab. Of lizards I have seen a
+large green kind, and scores of a tiny blue and bronze, which flash like
+jewels in the sunlight.
+
+Equally pleasant is the total absence of the countless species of thorny
+plants with which the whole jungle in Ceylon seemed to bristle. There I
+was for ever being torn and scratched by cruel thorns, and every shrub
+seemed armed with sharp needles—even the stems of certain kinds of
+palm-trees being covered with myriad little daggers and darning-needles
+two or three inches in length. Here the wild citron is the only thorny
+tree I have observed, and even that was not indigenous; so the contrast
+is highly in favour of Fiji, especially in the absence of serpents
+and other venomous reptiles. But, on the other hand, Fiji has traps
+for the unwary quite peculiar to itself. The commonest of these is
+the tree-nettle, which really is a large forest-tree. Beautiful but
+treacherous are its large glossy leaves, veined with red or white, most
+attractive to the eye, but anguish to the touch;—days will pass ere the
+pain of that burning sting subsides. However, forewarned is forearmed,
+and you are in no danger of accidentally touching these large showy
+trees, as you so often do the insignificant but obtrusive little nettle
+of our own woods.
+
+There are, however, several other trees which are so intensely poisonous
+that it is dangerous even to touch them accidentally. One of these is the
+_kaukaro_, or itch-plant, from which exudes a milky juice causing agony,
+especially if the tiniest drop should come, even near the eye. Instances
+have occurred when a man has ignorantly selected this wood, either as
+timber from which to fashion his canoe, or a spar suitable for his mast;
+and incautiously sitting on the wood while carpentering, has discovered,
+when too late, that the subtle poison had entered by every pore, and
+that his whole body was rapidly breaking out in angry spots, causing an
+irritation utterly unbearable, and lasting for months, sometimes years.
+
+As regards the general foliage, it is almost identical with that of
+Ceylon, though perhaps scarcely so rich. This, however, varies much on
+the different isles, and Ovalau is more noted for cliffs than for rich
+foliage. We shall see that in glory when we go to Taviuni. Here the only
+palm-trees are cocoa-nuts very much battered with the wind; and I miss
+the beautiful _kittool_ and several other palms which I loved in Ceylon.
+But I recognise various old friends, especially the large croton-tree,
+with silvery leaves and tufts of white blossom. Here it is known as the
+candle-nut, and reigns as monarch over an immense family of crotons
+of every shade of eccentricity both of form and colour. But the most
+gorgeous varieties are imported from isles nearer the equator.
+
+There are several splendid trees which are quite new to me, being
+peculiar to the South Seas. Such are the _ivi_[10] (pronounced _eevie_),
+or Tahitian chestnut, and the _ndelo_,[11] with large glossy leaves like
+the india-rubber tree. Both these are valuable as affording cool, deep
+shade. There is also the _vutu_,[12] with its blossoms like tufts of
+silk fringe; the _tavola_,[13] or native almond-tree; and the _ndawa_,
+whose young leaves are bright crimson, and give a gleam of colour to the
+general expanse of green. Then there is the _mbaka_, which grows like
+the sacred banyan of India, beginning its life as a humble parasite, and
+in old age presenting an intricate network of white stems, pillars, and
+roots. It bears a very small leaf.
+
+The commonest scrub-foliage is a hybiscus, with bluish-grey leaf, and
+pale primrose-coloured blossom, with a dark claret heart: it is a pretty
+flower on the tree, but dies when gathered. The inner bark yields a fibre
+which is greatly valued by the natives, and which they split and die
+yellow, red, or black, and make fringe kilts, to be worn either as sole
+raiment or over the _sulu_. It is also used by the fisher-folk for making
+their nets, especially the turtle-nets; but several other fibres are used
+for this purpose.
+
+On this island there really is no level ground at all; and you would
+marvel where the people contrive to raise their crops, for the steep
+hills rise from the sea-beach. But if you were to follow the course of
+the picturesque streamlets which find their way down dark-wooded ravines,
+you would find that every available corner is laid out in tiny terraced
+fields, or rather miniature swamps, in which are cultivated the yams,
+_taros_, and _kumalas_ (sweet potatoes), which are the staple of native
+food. In taste they somewhat resemble coarse potatoes, especially the
+yams, which sometimes attain a gigantic size—from one to ten feet in
+length—and are said sometimes to weigh 100 lb. In some districts there
+are two yam crops in a year.
+
+The _taro_ is of a bluish-grey colour, and both in appearance and
+consistency resembles mottled soap. Still I rather like it. Its leaves
+are like those of our own arum on a large scale (it is of the same
+family, _Arum esculentum_). One kind grows to a gigantic size, and its
+huge rich green leaves stand six or seven feet above their watery bed.
+You may often see a few plants of this giant arum close to the door of a
+house, and very ornamental they are; but the object for which they were
+placed there is to ward off the entrance of death or devils!
+
+The leaves of the yam are like those of a convolvulus, as is also its
+habit of growth, each plant being trained along a tall reed. There are a
+great many different kinds, including one the root of which is throughout
+of a vivid mauve.
+
+There are also tiny banana-gardens in every little crevice of the rock,
+and their great glossy leaves look cool and pleasant. There are about
+thirty varieties grown on these isles, and some bear immense pendent
+bunches with from one to two hundred fruits on each. The young inner
+leaf, which has not unrolled itself, is like the finest silk, and when
+warmed over the fire becomes quite waterproof, and is used as such. It
+is also used to tie up little bundles of sweet, oily pudding, in which
+the people delight. Do you realise that a banana or plantain leaf is from
+three to four feet long, and from ten to fifteen inches wide? Sometimes
+the girls carry them as parasols, and a very attractive picture they make.
+
+There is one fruit-bearing plant here which is just like a natural
+umbrella—namely, the _papaw_, which carries a handsome crown of deeply
+indented leaves on a tall curiously diapered stem, round which hangs a
+cluster of green and golden fruit, useful when unripe as a vegetable, and
+when ripe as a fruit. I am told that the leaves have the valuable quality
+of making tough meat tender if it is wrapped up or cooked in them; and
+also that they are useful in washing, being saponaceous, so that if
+soaked with dirty clothes they save a considerable amount of soap.
+
+Another plant, which to you is familiar as ornamental greenhouse foliage,
+is the dracæna (or ti-tree, as it is called in the colonies), which
+here is grown for the sake of its root, which is so large as sometimes
+to weigh 40 lb., and which answers the purpose of sugar. It is baked
+and used for puddings. It tastes like liquorice. The crown of long
+glossy leaves is useful as fodder where cattle exist; but here it is
+the equivalent of so many yards of green silk, and supplies some pretty
+damsel with a decent petticoat.
+
+The crimson dracæna is sacred to the dead, and is constantly planted
+on the graves, and very beautiful is the effect thus produced; while
+overhead droops the mournful dull green of the _noko-noko_, or
+casurina-tree, which I can only describe as somewhat resembling the
+Weymouth pine, and which seems to sigh with every faint breath of wind
+that stirs its pendent foliage.
+
+Here and there a small plantation of paper mulberry (_Broussonetia_),
+the bark of which supplies material for native cloth, or a patch of
+arrowroot, or perhaps a few tall sugar-canes or tufts of Indian corn,
+complete the common produce of the native gardens, and combine to produce
+an effect of rich and varied foliage.
+
+But I must tell you about our picnics. As I before said, they are
+always water-parties; so we muster several boats and canoes, and start
+as early as we possibly can to try and profit by the delicious cool
+of the morning. Our first expedition was to the neighbouring isle of
+Moturiki, which is Thakombau’s own private property, specially reserved
+from Europeans, so the people see few white faces. There was, however,
+no staring or mobbing, and we set them down as a very polite race. The
+moment we landed they brought us fresh cocoa-nuts to drink, and took us
+to a large native house with wide heavy thatch,—and very grateful was
+its cool shade after several hours in the glaring sun. Fine mats were
+spread for us at one end of the house, which is slightly raised for use
+of “the quality”—an especially fine one, of a peculiar make called _tambu
+kaisi_ (forbidden to commoners), being placed for the white chief; and on
+this, custom demands that he should sit alone, as it would be contrary to
+all native manners that even a chief’s wife should sit on his mat. Not
+that wives or women-folk are looked upon in Fiji as inferior animals:
+quite the contrary; their position is very good, and their influence
+acknowledged.
+
+Sir Arthur considers that a punctilious observance of the principal
+points in native etiquette is a means to secure respect and gain
+influence with the people who now hail him as their highest chief, so,
+amongst other ceremonies that have to be observed, is the invariable
+brewing of yangona (which you have heard spoken of in other groups as the
+_kava_). This, from a purely artistic point of view, is a very attractive
+scene, so I will describe it to you minutely. Picture to yourself the
+deep shade of the house, its brown smoke-thatched rafters and dark
+thatch-roof, with a film of blue smoke rising from the fireplace at the
+far end, which is simply a square in the floor edged with stones, round
+which, on mats, lie the boatmen, and a group of natives with flowers
+coquettishly stuck in their hair, and very slight drapery of native
+cloth, and fringes of bright croton-leaves. A great wooden bowl, with
+four legs, is then brought in. It is beautifully polished from long
+use, and has a purple bloom like that on a grape. A rope is fastened to
+it, and the end of this is thrown towards the chief. The yangona-root
+is then brought in, scraped and cleaned, cut up into small pieces, and
+distributed to a select circle of young men to chew. The operation is not
+_quite_ so nasty as might be supposed, as they repeatedly rinse their
+mouths with fresh water during the process, which occupies some time;
+while all the company sit round most solemnly, and some sing quaint
+_mékés_ (_i.e._, choruses), very wild and characteristic. They are so old
+that many of them are incomprehensible even to the singers, who merely
+repeat the words in an unknown tongue, as they learnt them from their
+parents.
+
+When the chewing process is complete, each man produces a lump of finely
+chewed white fibre. This is then deposited in a large wooden bowl, and
+one of the number is told off to pour water on the yangona, and wring
+it out through a piece of hybiscus fibre, which is like a piece of fine
+netting. A turbid yellowish fluid is thus produced, in taste resembling
+rhubarb and magnesia, flavoured with sal-volatile. It is handed round in
+cups made of the shell of large cocoa-nuts, the chief being the first
+to drink, while all the onlookers join in a very peculiar measured
+hand-clapping. When he is finished, they shout some exclamation in
+chorus, and clap hands in a different manner. Then all the others drink
+in regular order of precedence.
+
+Though no one pretends to like the taste of yangona, its after-effects
+are said to be so pleasantly stimulating that a considerable number of
+white men drink it habitually, and even insist on having it prepared by
+chewing, which is a custom imported from Tonga, and one which has never
+been adopted in the interior of Fiji, where the old manner of grating the
+root is preferred. It certainly sounds less nasty, but _connoisseurs_
+declare with one voice that grated yangona is not comparable to that
+which has been chewed![14] The gentlemen all say that, sometimes when
+they have had a very long day of hard walking, they are thankful to the
+native who brings them this, the only stimulant which he has to offer,
+and that its effect is like sal-volatile. Confirmed drinkers acquire a
+craving for it. Its action is peculiar, inasmuch as drunkenness from this
+cause does not affect the brain, but paralyses the muscles, so that a man
+lies helpless on the ground, perfectly aware of all that is going on.
+This is a condition not unknown to the British sailor in Fiji.
+
+This was the first time we had witnessed the scene, so of course we
+were exceedingly interested. Afterwards I had a long walk through the
+bush with Sir Arthur, Mr Maudslay, and Mr Le Hunte, Lady Gordon and
+Mrs Havelock preferring to rest. We had a grand scramble through
+rich vegetation, and we rested awhile in a quiet old graveyard partly
+overgrown with tall grasses, the graves all edged with the black stems
+of the tree-fern; and on many there is a low, red-leafed plant; on
+others, the tall red dracæna, with which the Fijians love to adorn the
+resting-place of their dead, as cypress or willow mark God’s acre in Old
+England. From this calm spot we overlooked the blue Pacific, dotted with
+many isles, chief of which is the clear-cut mountain outline of Viti
+Levu, the great isle, which I hope to visit ere long. How beautiful they
+all looked in the golden sunset light, as we rowed and sailed back to
+Nasova!
+
+Our next picnic was to the romantic Levoni valley at the back of this
+island. We sailed past Moturiki and two smaller isles, and then rowed
+two miles up a cool pleasant river with deep green shade till we reached
+a landing-place, whence we walked a short distance to the clean, tidy
+little native town of Baretta. Mr Maudslay and Baron von Hügel walked all
+the way across the mountains, a tough day’s work. I walked up the valley
+with Sir Arthur and Colonel Pratt, but stopped half-way to sketch the
+splendid tree-ferns. We hurried back, intending to start at four o’clock
+to catch the tide, but found all the children of both the Roman Catholic
+and Wesleyan schools assembled in separate flocks. They looked very nice
+with their pretty necklaces and fringes of flowers and bright leaves worn
+over the little kilt of native cloth, and across the chest. Each party
+performed a small _méké_, and did a little reading and writing, although
+Captain Knollys, as admiral of our fleet, deemed the delay highly
+imprudent, for the tide was falling fast. As it was, we had to walk some
+distance through mangrove-swamp and tall reeds, and it was 6 P.M. (the
+invariable hour of sunset) ere we embarked. So we had to row home in the
+dark, in danger from many coral patches, but reached Nasova safely at 9
+P.M., the children pretty well tired out.
+
+Last Tuesday our picnic was at a pretty sandy bay, shaded by large trees,
+seven miles along the coast in the opposite direction; but Sir Arthur and
+Mr Gordon were both unwell, and could not come, and Sir William Hackett
+also failed. On our way back we landed at Waitova, where the native
+police have their headquarters—a pretty, shady place, with a pleasant
+stream, the upper pools of which were Commodore Goodenough’s favourite
+bathing-place.
+
+Captain Olive lives there with his men, in a regular native house, and
+sleeps on a pile of about twenty fine Fijian mats. He has no chair, and
+no furniture. His glass and crockery at present consist of one cup and
+one tumbler. He feeds native-fashion, having his food brought to him on
+plaited trays and banana-leaves, the only remarkable object in the house
+being a large yangona-bowl. We went down to spend an afternoon there one
+day, and he fed us with sweet native puddings and pine-apples.
+
+When we landed there on Tuesday there was a large gathering of Fijians,
+playing at throwing spears, and a game called _tinqua_—which consists in
+throwing reeds, with oval wooden heads, called _toa_, that skim along the
+ground for 100 or 150 yards—and other sports. They were all adorned with
+the usual festal garlands and green leaves; their faces painted, some of
+a rich black, which is truly hideous, though I do not consider scarlet
+or blue to be much better. One man was painted all over spots like a
+leopard; some wore white cloth _sulus_ as full as an opera-dancer’s
+skirt; others wore little but the fringe of long black water-weed, with
+a great bunch of white _tappa_, _en panier_. The Vuni Valu’s daughter,
+Andi Arietta Kuilla (Lady Harriet Flag), was looking on. She is a huge,
+good-natured-looking woman; very clever, I am told.
+
+There was quite a stir in Levuka last Monday in honour of Miss Cudlip’s
+marriage to Mr Tucker. The bride’s family being very popular in the
+isles, a large number of the planters came to it, and they had a
+merry dance. The young couple started for their home on the big isle,
+three days’ journey in an open boat, _hoping_, if wind and tide prove
+favourable, to be able to touch at a friend’s house each night. No nice
+yacht-cabins here. I wonder how you would like such a life!
+
+Now little Rachel has come to carry me off to tea, so I must say
+good-bye.—Ever lovingly yours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+    FIJIAN SPELLING—THE FUTURE CAPITAL—A PLANTER’S LIFE—FOREIGN
+    LABOUR—QUAINT POSTAGE-STAMPS.
+
+
+                                               LEVUKA, _November 1, 1875_.
+
+MY DEAR GEORGE,—We are settling down into the quietest of lives, and I
+have no special news to give you; but the day is so lovely that I could
+not stay in the house, so I wandered up the hill to a huge boulder of
+grey rock, fringed with the loveliest ferns, on which I am now sitting,
+looking across the bluest of seas to the great isle of Viti Levu, whose
+mountains lie dreamily on the horizon. I must tell you that Viti Levu
+simply means Great Viti, which is the name by which these islands are
+always called by their own inhabitants, the name of Fiji, which we have
+adopted, being simply the Tongan mispronunciation of the word. If you
+look at a map of the group, you will see that this isle of Ovalau, though
+important by reason of its being the site of Levuka, the white men’s
+capital, is only a small isle lying off Viti Levu, as does also the tiny
+isle of Bau, on which is King Thakombau’s own particular capital.
+
+Owing to the peculiarity of orthodox Fijian spelling, you must pronounce
+an _m_ before the _b_—so that town is called MBau. Moreover, the sound
+of _th_ is represented by the letter _c_, so that I ought to spell
+Thakombau, Cacobau; and Tholo, which is mountain, should be Colo.
+Moreover, you must always sound the letter _n_ before _d_, _g_, and
+_q_. Now, isn’t this puzzling? I think you will admit the wisdom of
+my spelling Fijian words and names as you are expected to pronounce
+them. Certainly you could hardly be expected to understand the delicate
+compliment conveyed to Sir Arthur in the name of a new town which is
+called after him, Koro-i-aco, _aco_ being the equivalent of Arthur.
+
+Speaking of new towns, one of the principal topics of conversation here
+is the probability of the site of the capital being changed ere long, as
+Levuka is manifestly unsuited to develop into a town of such importance
+as it is hoped the capital of this new colony will ere long become. The
+first whites were thankful to settle here, because of being so near to
+Bau, and to friendly chiefs, and so it answered their purpose very well;
+but it is a place where there is no room for extension, and what land
+there is, is all in private hands; and the 180 houses, such as they
+are, look as if they had been accidentally dropped all over the small
+available space. They are all temporary buildings, either reed houses
+with thatched roofs, or wooden houses roofed with shingles or corrugated
+zinc,—most of them are just poor little cottages. The best wooden house
+will not stand this climate for more than eight or ten years, and then
+involves ceaseless repairs, so everything about the place looks poor and
+“disjaskit,” as the old wives in Scotland would say.
+
+Then the situation is in every respect bad. There is no stone suitable
+for building. The high hills of Ovalau attract the rain, and the
+temperature is higher than on other isles, never lower than 70°, and
+rising to 90°. The town faces the east, so that from early dawn the full
+heat of the sun beats on the hard cliffs of dark conglomerate rocks,
+which rise abruptly close round the little strip of land—in all not
+thirty acres—on which Levuka is built, and which is only from five to
+eight feet above the ordinary high-water mark. A considerable portion of
+this is devoted to swampy _taro_-fields; and drainage on any system is
+impossible, because a drain would simply find the water-level. Naturally,
+the place is not very healthy, and various other sites are proposed. Each
+of these is said to have a multitude of advantages, all of which will
+have to be officially reported upon.
+
+Nandi is recommended as having an admirable climate, several fine rivers,
+good stone for building, and as being a good riding country, and suitable
+for rearing cattle. But the chances seem in favour of Suva on Viti
+Levu, which also has good building stone, and a thermometer down to 72°
+occasionally. It is said to be the best harbour of refuge and port of
+call in the group, with abundant good anchorage for many vessels, and
+invariably smooth water—a place where hurricane waves are unknown, and
+which is a central position, and therefore suitable for all purposes. We
+are going to see this paradise before long, so you will hear all about it.
+
+Meanwhile the chance of any change is naturally most distasteful to the
+people who have settled here, for poor as the houses are, still they
+are homes, and any move would involve expenses which few could possibly
+afford. I had no conception till I came here that any whole community
+could be so poor. Before we arrived we heard much about the iniquities
+of the white population, and I have no doubt that there were many who
+were originally attracted here by the freedom from all restraint of any
+civilised government, and to whom the anarchy of the law was anything
+but a drawback. But those days are now a tale of the past, and what we
+do find are apparently good, well-intentioned people, struggling to keep
+up a respectable appearance, but utterly crushed by poverty. Many have
+battled for years in exile, enduring sore hardship and privation of every
+sort.
+
+Nothing can well be imagined harder than the present position of the
+planting community in these isles. Many of them, gentlemen by birth and
+education, came here long years ago and sank what money they possessed
+in purchase of land and the necessary outlay thereon. Or, still oftener,
+they started with the terrible drawback of having to borrow money at
+high interest—a yoke which, once assumed, could rarely be shaken off.
+Then followed long, lonely years of hard toil, too often resulting only
+in bitter disappointment from failing crops or devastating hurricanes,
+which in a few hours swept away the fruits of months of toil. Even when
+these disasters have not occurred, low prices and enormous expenses
+of freight to the colonies, as they call Australia or New Zealand, of
+storage there, and finally of transit to England, have reduced profits
+to a mere cipher. And thus it is that, utterly ruined and overwhelmed
+with debt, with health shattered by privation, and lack of what we deem
+positive necessaries of life, a very large proportion of the planters are
+left stranded,—literally without the means to get away, helpless, and
+wellnigh hopeless,—living just like the natives, on yams and wild pig,
+knowing no greater luxury than a bowl of yangona, and unable from sheer
+poverty to obtain the commonest comforts of civilised life. There are
+many houses in which beef and mutton, rice, barley, or flour, wine or
+spirits, even tea or coffee and sugar, are wellnigh forgotten luxuries.
+
+I am told that on the occasion of Sir Arthur’s arrival, when about two
+hundred of these gentlemen assembled at Levuka to meet him, many were
+compelled to absent themselves from sheer inability to face such small
+expenses as were involved by the journey and hotel quarters. Others could
+only meet it by bringing with them supplies of poultry and vegetables
+for sale in Levuka. Many are unable, from sheer poverty, to hire a
+sufficient number of labourers to work the estates, which at present they
+cannot sell,—all land-titles being so insecure, that until they have
+been formally examined and acknowledged by the British Government (Lands
+Commission), no capitalist would dream of investing in what might prove
+so worthless a speculation; and though the Lands Commission are doing
+their utmost to push on their work, it is a slow and difficult task,
+involving endless patient inquiry, and weighing of conflicting evidence.
+
+So, at the present moment, these people actually are worse off than they
+were before annexation—a sad discovery for men who had looked on that
+event as a magic spell which would at once disentangle this disordered
+skein. And they are now more down-hearted than ever.
+
+Once their land-titles are proved, and they can sell their estates to
+new-comers with full purses and fresh energy, times will doubtless
+improve, and it will be shown what these isles are really worth. As yet
+the golden age cannot be said to have dawned, and the resources of the
+country are still unknown. The cotton trade, which for a while was so
+flourishing, has for the present utterly failed, the silky sort grown
+here having lost favour with manufacturers. Coffee, sugar, and tobacco
+are all undeveloped. At present the principal articles of trade in the
+isles are a preparation of dried cocoa-nut known as _coppra_, from which
+oil is afterwards extracted, and the Bêches-de-mer, a species of hideous,
+large, black sea-slug, which, when dried, resemble lumps of india-rubber,
+and from which the Chinese make a rich soup, said to be equal in flavour
+to that produced from the far-famed gelatinous birds’ nests. This,
+and the pearly shell of a huge oyster, being natural products, afford
+occupation to many who have failed in more settled work. Consequently
+a large proportion of the white men who find life in Fiji so hard a
+struggle, are more or less directly engaged in the Bêches-de-mer and
+pearl-shell fisheries; and there are not wanting croakers who foresee a
+time when this supply will be exhausted.
+
+I believe the only new settlers since annexation are two Chinamen (as
+usual, always enterprising and cheerful in face of difficulties, and
+making money where no one else can do so). They have just rented ten
+acres of land here to start a vegetable garden, so we foresee an abundant
+supply for the town, and wealth for the deserving gardeners. Strange that
+no European should have thought of trying this. I do not, however, think
+that it could ever answer for poor working men to come here—certainly not
+as simple workers—for, of course, no one would dream of paying wages at
+European, or still less at colonial, rates, when he can get black labour
+for so little.
+
+The sum at which “foreign labour” is usually to be had is about £10 for
+passage-money, and £9 for three years’ work. This is generally paid in
+the form of goods to be taken home to the distant isles, and is one of
+the points found to require special Government inspection, the quantity
+and quality of goods supplied to the unsophisticated natives by sundry
+traders (on receipt of a planter’s order for £9 worth of stuff per
+head) being by no means calculated to give the onlookers a high view of
+white men’s commercial morality. The importation of foreign labour is
+now entirely in the hands of a Government immigration agent, to whom
+the owners and captains of all vessels employed in the labour trade
+are responsible for strict observance of sanitary and other rules, and
+through whom every master must engage his men and make all payments, and
+to whom he must return them at the date when their engagement expires,
+that they may be restored to their own homes at the time agreed on. Of
+course during the term of service the employer supplies food and tobacco,
+lodging (such as it is, in most cases), medicine, and a very small
+amount of raiment. But the hideous stories of kidnapping and brutal
+ill-treatment on board ship, or even on plantations, are now happily
+tales of the past.
+
+The supply of labourers is one of the vexed questions of the present, as
+each year the labour vessels bring back a smaller number of volunteers
+from the other groups; and the employment of Fijians on the plantations
+of white men is in no way encouraged by Government, which recognises as
+its first duty the care and preservation of these, the true owners of the
+soil, by whose own invitation, and for whose welfare primarily, England
+here rules. Considering how invariably dark races have been found to die
+out before the advance of the white races, the problem of whether this
+evil cannot be averted in the present instance is one of the deepest
+interest. It is therefore considered of the utmost importance that the
+natives should remain in their own villages, subject to their own chiefs,
+and cultivating their own lands, both for their own benefit and to enable
+them to contribute their just proportion of the Government taxes, which
+it has been found desirable to collect in produce from gardens specially
+cultivated for this purpose by each village. Now that the number of
+the people has been so appallingly reduced by measles, it is the more
+desirable that those that survive should not be encouraged to leave
+their homes. Consequently a comparatively small number of Fijians are
+in the service of white men, who, as a rule, are not anxious to secure
+the labour of men from neighbouring villages, but endeavour to engage
+those from other isles, who thus are virtually as much strangers in a
+strange land are as the labourers imported from other groups. It is said
+that only under these circumstances are Fijians found willing to work
+diligently on the plantations—no great wonder, considering how easily
+they can supply their own simple needs in their own homes.
+
+It is probable that arrangements will shortly be made for importing a
+large supply of Hindoo coolies from Calcutta, a measure which does not at
+present meet with cordial welcome, as of course the cost of transporting
+them to and fro will add materially to the expenses of the planters who
+engage them.
+
+Meanwhile, on all large plantations there are representatives of half
+the Polynesian Isles, each lot living somewhat apart from the others,
+in separate quarters, and all having distinctive characteristics to be
+dealt with and considered, their dispositions being as diverse as are
+their features and complexions. There are Tanna men, with long hair done
+in a multitude of tiny plaits; straight-haired Tokalaus from the Line
+Islands, with sallow skin and large dark eyes; woolly heads and grizzly
+heads of every variety from the Banks Islands and the Loyalty group, or
+Erromango.
+
+The men most sought after as really hard workers come from Tanna, in the
+New Hebrides; while some of their nearest neighbours in the same group
+prove utterly useless. But the least popular come from the Solomon Isles,
+these being literally untamable, preserving the instincts of their race,
+who are all ferocious cannibals and treacherous to a degree. Some even
+come from Santa Cruz, that name of bitter association, which, twice
+over—first in 1871, and again last August—has thrilled all the world
+with horror, when two of the noblest men who ever sailed the southern
+seas, striving so lovingly to do good everywhere, fell victims to the
+treacherous arrows of the people they would fain have helped. Of course
+you know I allude to Bishop Patteson and Commodore Goodenough—names
+worthy for evermore to be enshrined side by side among the foremost of
+Christian martyrs.
+
+Just imagine what cheerful work it must be for a planter beginning life
+in Fiji to watch for the arrival of a vessel freighted with foreign
+labour, the wildest-looking creatures you can possibly conceive; and
+then, having engaged a number of these for three years, to start for
+some remote estate on a distant isle, accompanied by a horde of utterly
+untutored savages from a dozen different groups, all having different
+customs and different languages, alike only in their total ignorance
+of the work required of them, and requiring to be taught everything
+from the very beginning. Picture to yourself having these for your
+only companions, and knowing that they are certain to leave you at the
+expiration of their three years’ service, just when you have, by dint
+of unwearied patience and trouble, succeeded in training them in some
+measure.
+
+There would be some compensation in such dismal work if it were to result
+in coining gold, and so securing a speedy return to England, or even
+the chance of making a really comfortable home out here; but the road
+to wealth in Fiji seems to be like the approach to heaven, strait and
+narrow, and few there be that find it.
+
+So you see that the prospect is not altogether inviting; and as regards
+the present state of the Isles, I should certainly not advise any one
+to come here at present to settle unless he has a good lump of money to
+invest in land—say, at least, £2000—and plenty capital to work it. The
+place is frightfully expensive, and for any one dependent on his pay is
+simply ruinous. All Government _employés_ have very low salaries, and
+find it almost impossible to live; and yet every post is eagerly sought
+by dozens of white men, craving a morsel of bread.
+
+Of course it is all very delightful for me who have nothing to think
+about, but just what enjoyment can be got out of the beautiful
+surroundings, with heaps of pleasant companions, and everything to make
+life agreeable, including blessed good health, which, I am thankful to
+say, is my invariable portion. I wish I could say as much for all the
+others, most of whom have had some twinges of illness; and all have had
+sore feet, arising, I fancy, from scratching mosquito-bites, which, in
+this moist climate, frequently results in very painful sores. So most of
+the party take it by turns to be lame. Mr Gordon suffers horribly from
+neuralgia, which is much encouraged by the mode of building here, the
+walls being merely made of reeds, through which the draughts blow freely;
+and though the air that thus comes in is generally celestial, sometimes a
+storm blows up before morning, and a cold, wet, rainy wind blows in. Last
+night we were all awakened by a noise like thunder on the roof, which is
+of zinc, as with all foreign houses here. It was a mad rain-storm beating
+right in at the open jalousies. Some people were fairly flooded out.
+To-day the weather is clear and lovely.
+
+I am still living with the Havelocks, who are kindness itself, and
+make me heartily welcome to a corner of their sweet little cottage—the
+nicest situation here. I am most fortunate to be with them, as Nasova
+(Government House) is still in a horrible mess, full of builders,
+carpenters, noise—no rest for any one anywhere—besides being much too
+low for the breeze—actually on the sea-level. I am going off soon to
+visit another island, Nananu, the property of Mr Leefe’s brother. Mrs
+L. most kindly wrote to invite me, and to say her husband would come in
+his boat to fetch me. One of the drawbacks to these expeditions is, that
+you may be becalmed and kept out at sea in a tiny schooner for several
+days,—which might be awkward, to say the least of it.
+
+We have had alarming rumours of the unsettled state of the disaffected
+tribes on the Great Island, but later reports make us believe them to
+have been greatly exaggerated. Sir Arthur intends going there in person,
+without even a body-guard—only sending a small body of native police
+beforehand. Now it is growing dark, for it is past six o’clock, at which
+hour the sun sets all the year round. We regret the long summer evenings,
+especially when returning from any distant expedition. However, we shall
+have the gain of no short days in winter. Now I must climb down from my
+rocky perch and get home while I can see my way, so good-bye.—Ever yours,
+
+                                                               C. F. G. C.
+
+Among other peculiarities of this small colony, our postage-stamps would
+amuse you. They were struck by the Government which crowned Thakombau
+king, and bear his initials, C. R. (Cacobau Rex). In the present
+necessity for rigid economy no new stamps are issued, but the letters
+V.R. partially obliterate the C.R., or rather, blend with them. Another
+curiosity is the bank-note of the late Government, which wisely eschews
+any binding “promise to pay,” and merely states that “the bearer is
+entitled to receive” his due, with the _sous entendu_, “Don’t he wish he
+may get it!” The suggestion may prove useful nearer home!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+    A CANOE ADVENTURE—SHARKS—FEVER—THE FEAST OF WORMS—RESULTS OF
+    MISSION WORK—NO MEANS OF LOCOMOTION—GODS ACRE.
+
+
+                                              LEVUKA, _November 16, 1875_.
+
+The happiest of happy birthdays to you, my dear Nell. I suppose you are
+not even awake yet, for you know our time is twelve hours ahead of yours.
+I wish I could look in on you all and have a long, long talk. Certainly
+it is a weary expanse of sea that separates us at present. I was within
+an ace of bringing my journeys to an end last Saturday; and as I don’t
+have many adventures to relate, I may as well tell you about it.
+
+We were going off for one of the Governor’s pleasant little picnics along
+the coast, but somehow one of the boats was not forthcoming, so, as I
+had always been anxious to go in a native canoe, it was agreed that I
+should go with Mr Gordon, Mr Maudslay, and Captain Havelock, and four
+Fijians, in the canoe which carried the luncheon. A canoe is built on
+the principle of having an outrigger alongside to balance her. When the
+big mat-sail is up, she runs like the wind; but, of course, every small
+ripple that breaks over the bow pours into her hold, so that a man has
+to stand astern bailing incessantly, which he generally does by kicking
+out the water with his foot. Some of the large canoes belonging to the
+chiefs are quite beautiful; but, as luck would have it, the luncheon-boat
+on this occasion was a very bad one, and unusually small, so that really
+we perhaps overweighted her. However, what happened was, that, as we
+were running full speed, a strong puff of wind caught us, twisted the
+sail, and ran her head under water. Of course she immediately filled, and
+apparently about thirty seconds might elapse before we foundered. The
+gentlemen instinctively tightened their girths to be ready for a swim,
+when happily the presence of mind of the Fijians in jumping overboard,
+and the sudden righting of the sail, changed the state of affairs,
+and after a deal of hard bailing our position became somewhat more
+satisfactory. The men rigged up a humble little sail, with which we sped
+onward at a much less exciting, but, under the circumstances, a good deal
+surer rate, and reached our destination in capital time for luncheon.
+
+Our halt this time was under one specially grand old tree close to the
+shore (white sand and large trees are both sufficiently rare to make them
+noteworthy on this isle of Ovalau). Of course, in coming home, room was
+made for me in the big boat, and the gentlemen agreed to walk home—rather
+a stretch for Mr Gordon, who, as I told you in my last, has had a very
+sharp attack of fever and neuralgia, and was still rather low when we
+came out. However, he seemed quite brightened up by the day’s exertions,
+and has now gone off with Mr Carew to the very wildest mountain district
+in all Fiji, where the cannibal and disaffected tribes live. Baron A.
+von Hügel went there some time ago to study the natives in their wild
+state, and try to buy some good specimens of their work. Of course these
+districts are the place of all others to collect curiosities. I don’t
+mean that this is Mr Gordon’s reason for going there. Sir Arthur is going
+very soon, and it is well to make straight his path.
+
+As concerns the boat incident, you may make your mind quite easy about
+its not happening again; for all the gentlemen are naturally in mortal
+fear of swimming in a sea swarming with sharks, and they’ll take good
+care not to incur such a double risk as having to look after me at the
+same time![15]
+
+Since I last wrote to you there has been a good deal of sickness going
+about of an unusual description; its principal feature being, that
+while your pulse continues quite steady, your temperature runs up to
+any extent, and you feel good for nothing. I’ve had a sharp touch of it
+myself, enough to pull me up for boasting about never being ill. I was
+laid up for a fortnight, which you can imagine rather astonished me.
+Really it was worth a little touch of illness to see how dear and kind
+every member of the Fijian family could be. You yourself could not have
+taken more care of me than did Mrs Havelock; and Lady Gordon, to whom
+walking is such an exertion in this hot climate, came toiling up the hill
+every day to see me, and sent me the strongest brown soups and port-wine
+to take at short intervals. Knowing how unattainable such luxuries are
+to most people on these isles, I marvel how they contrive to shake off
+similar attacks. Dr Macgregor, too, has proved himself a most kind friend
+and skilful doctor. He is such a good fellow. He and his wife both hail
+from Aberdeen, then went to Mauritius, whence Sir Arthur persuaded them
+to come here. To them, as also to Colonel Pratt, the ‘Inverness Couriers’
+afford unfailing interest.
+
+I find another centre of north-country sympathy in Mrs Havelock’s nurse,
+a cosy woman who has taken great care of me during my illness. She lived
+in Scotland for many years, till her husband’s regiment was ordered to
+Seychelles, where Captain Havelock was then acting Governor. She has a
+vivid recollection of Roualeyn; so has the carpenter who comes to work
+here. But so it is wherever I find Scotchmen. As to Dr Macgregor, he has
+known his book[16] by heart since he was ten years old! Now I really have
+nothing more to tell you. We are near midsummer, and have cold blustering
+winds and sharp showers. A fine day is quite exceptional. Good-bye. Love
+to each and all.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                              _Monday, November 22, 1875._
+
+DEAREST BESSIE,—I suppose Nell told you about my having an attack of
+fever. I’m all right again now, though not very strong yet. While I
+remember, I want you to tell the boys about an extraordinary fact in
+natural history, which, is, I believe, peculiar to these islands. It
+is called “The Balolo Festival”—in other words, The Feast of Worms—and
+occurred yesterday. The balolo[17] is a small sea-worm, long and thin as
+ordinary vermicelli. Some are fully a yard long; others about an inch. It
+has a jointed body and many legs, and lives in the deep sea.
+
+Only on two days in the whole year do these creatures come to the surface
+of the water. The first day is in October, which is hence called “Little
+Balolo,” when only a few appear. The natives know exactly when they are
+due, and are all on the look-out for them. They make their calculations
+by the position of certain stars. After this no more are seen till the
+high tide of the full moon, which occurs between the 20th and 25th of
+November, which hence takes the name of “Great Balolo,” when they rise to
+the surface in countless myriads, always before daybreak. In the Samoan
+Isles the day occurs about a fortnight earlier. At certain well-known
+points near the reefs, the whole sea, to the depth of several inches, is
+simply alive with these red, green, and brown creatures, which form one
+writhing mass, and are pursued by shoals of fish of all sizes, which come
+to share the feast with the human beings. The latter are in a state of
+the wildest excitement, for it is the merriest day of the year, and is
+looked forward to from one November to the next by all the young folk.
+
+About midnight they go out in their canoes, and anxiously await the
+appearance of the first few worms, and great is the struggle to secure
+these, which herald the approach of untold myriads. For several hours
+there is the merriest sport and laughter, every one bailing up the
+worms and trying who can most quickly fill his canoe, either by fair
+sport or by stealing from his neighbour. All is noise, scrambling, and
+excitement, the lads and lasses each carrying wicker-baskets with which
+they capture the worms without carrying too much salt water on board. As
+the day dawns, these mysterious creatures with one accord sink once more
+to their native depths, and by the moment of sunrise not one remains on
+the surface; nor will another be seen for a twelvemonth, when, true to
+its festival, the balolo will certainly return. Never has it been known
+to fail, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, white or brown. Nor is
+there any record of any one having seen one rise to the surface on any
+save the two appointed days, which are known as the “Little Balolo” and
+“Great Balolo.”
+
+Well do the natives know how needless it would be to look for one after
+sunrise, so all the canoes then return to land, wrap their balolo in
+bread-fruit leaves, cook them in ovens dug on the beach, and have a great
+feast—a regular whitebait dinner, in fact. So now you know the true
+meaning of the “Diet of Worms.” So great is the quantity taken, that the
+supply generally lasts for several days, being warmed up when required;
+and basketfuls are sent to friends at a distance, just as we in Scotland
+send a box of grouse. Such is our prejudice against all manner of worms,
+that few Europeans appreciate this dainty, which nevertheless is really
+not nasty, especially when eaten like potted meat, with bread and butter.
+It is rather like spinage, with a flavour of the sea,—perhaps I should
+compare it with the laver of the Scilly Isles. Captain Olive brought us
+some to taste, which had been given him by some of the Roman Catholic
+soldiers.
+
+Sad to say, both this year and last year the full moon tide occurred on
+Sunday morning, notwithstanding which, the irreligious little worms rose
+to the surface with their wonted punctuality. So rigid is the obedience
+of all the Wesleyans in the matter of Sabbatical observance, that not one
+of their canoes went out; whereas their Roman Catholic brethren, to whom
+more laxity is allowed, went forth rejoicing. The latter, however, are a
+very small minority, and you can imagine what an act of self-denial it
+must be to give up this highly-valued harvest of the sea on two following
+years. So rigid is the adherence to the letter of the old Sabbatical law
+throughout the group, that not a canoe will put to sea except to carry a
+teacher to a place of worship; nor will a native climb a tree to fetch
+a cocoa-nut, even when bribed with much coveted silver; in fact, the
+offer of silver is considered as a Satanic temptation to trade on _Singha
+tambu_, the holy day. Of course, to us this seems an overstraining of
+obedience, but then these people are still like children, for whom a
+strictly defined law has many advantages; and, moreover, many of them are
+still in the fervour of their first faith, and they certainly are the
+most devout race (_for Christians_) that I have ever seen.
+
+Strange indeed is the change that has come over these isles since first
+Messrs Cargill and Cross, Wesleyan missionaries, landed here, in the
+year 1835, resolved at the hazard of their lives to bring the light of
+Christianity to these ferocious cannibals. Imagine the faith and courage
+of the two white men, without any visible protection, landing in the
+midst of these bloodthirsty hordes, whose unknown language they had in
+the first instance to master; and day after day witnessing such scenes as
+chill one’s blood even to hear about. Many such have been described to
+me by eyewitnesses.
+
+Slow and disheartening was their labour for many years, yet so well has
+that little leaven worked, that, with the exception of the Kai Tholos,
+the wild highlanders, who still hold out in their mountain fastnesses,
+the eighty inhabited isles have all abjured cannibalism and other
+frightful customs, and have _lotued_ (_i.e._, embraced Christianity) in
+such good earnest as may well put to shame many more civilised nations.
+
+I often wish that some of the cavillers who are for ever sneering at
+Christian missions could see something of their results in these isles.
+But first they would have to recall the Fiji of ten years ago, when every
+man’s hand was against his neighbour, and the land had no rest from
+barbarous intertribal wars, in which the foe, without respect of age or
+sex, were looked upon only in the light of so much beef; the prisoners
+deliberately fattened for the slaughter; dead bodies dug up that had
+been buried ten or twelve days, and could only be cooked in the form of
+puddings; limbs cut off from living men and women, and cooked and eaten
+in presence of the victim, who had previously been compelled to dig the
+oven, and cut the firewood for the purpose; and this not only in time of
+war, when such atrocity might be deemed less inexcusable, but in time of
+peace, to gratify the caprice or appetite of the moment.
+
+Think of the sick buried alive; the array of widows who were deliberately
+strangled on the death of any great man; the living victims who were
+buried beside every post of a chief’s new house, and must needs stand
+clasping it, while the earth was gradually heaped over their devoted
+heads; or those who were bound hand and foot, and laid on the ground to
+act as rollers, when a chief launched a new canoe, and thus doomed to
+a death of excruciating agony;—a time when there was not the slightest
+security for life or property, and no man knew how quickly his own hour
+of doom might come; when whole villages were depopulated simply to supply
+their neighbours with fresh meat!
+
+Just think of all this, and of the change that has been wrought, and
+then just imagine white men who can sneer at missionary work in the way
+they do. Now you may pass from isle to isle, certain everywhere to find
+the same cordial reception by kindly men and women. Every village on
+the eighty inhabited isles has built for itself a tidy church, and a
+good house for its teacher or native minister, for whom the village also
+provides food and clothing _Can you realise that there are nine hundred
+Wesleyan churches in Fiji_, at every one of which the frequent services
+are crowded by devout congregations; that the schools are well attended;
+and that the first sound which greets your ear at dawn, and the last at
+night, is that of hymn-singing and most fervent worship, rising from each
+dwelling at the hour of family prayer?
+
+What these people may become after much contact with the common run of
+white men, we cannot, of course, tell, though we may unhappily guess. At
+present they are a body of simple and devout Christians, full of deepest
+reverence for their teachers and the message they bring, and only anxious
+to yield all obedience.
+
+Of course there are a number of white men here, as in other countries,
+who (themselves not caring one straw about any religion) declare that
+Christianity in these isles is merely nominal, adopted as a matter of
+expediency, and that half the people are still heathen at heart. Even
+were this true (and all outward signs go to disprove it), I wonder what
+such cavillers expect! I wonder if they know by what gradual steps our
+own British ancestors yielded to the Light, and for how many centuries
+idolatrous customs continued to prevail in our own isles! Yet here all
+traces of idolatry are utterly swept away.
+
+I wonder, too, if they ever remember that out of the four million
+inhabitants of London, one million are not recognised as even nominal
+members of any Christian sect; that of that million an exceedingly
+small number have, even once or twice in their lives, entered any place
+of worship; and of the remainder, I think, the largest charity could
+scarcely recognise many by any mark of special uprightness or devotion!
+It would be strange indeed, therefore, if these new converts had suddenly
+acquired a monopoly of Christian virtues.
+
+It is painfully suggestive to know that the thing chiefly deprecated
+by all who have the welfare of the people at heart, is their acquiring
+English, or being thrown in the way of foreigners.
+
+I hope you won’t think this a very long-winded letter. It is the last
+I shall write to you from Mrs Havelock’s pleasant little home, for the
+workmen have been getting on with the new house at Nasova, and to-day
+I am going to rejoin Lady Gordon there. Of course we have been meeting
+almost every day, as this house is on a small hill close by. In fact,
+this is the better situation of the two, being on a headland which
+catches every breeze; whereas Nasova is too much sheltered, and actually
+on the sea-level. There are only a dozen steps from the dining-room to
+the pier, from which, by the way, the gentlemen bathe every morning, in
+utter defiance of the sharks, which have been seen quite close to them.
+It certainly is risky.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                              NASOVA, _November 30, 1875_.
+
+MY DEAREST NELL,—Immense excitement prevailed here last night, the
+Colonial Secretary coming down to rouse up the Governor and staff, just
+as they had got comfortably to bed after a grand Levuka ball, to announce
+that, after all our doubts and fears, a large steamer has come with mails
+from San Francisco. We fear she has only come once in a way, not knowing
+the cruel decision of the New Zealand Government not to call here.
+Anyhow she will take our letters this time, so I may as well begin one,
+especially as it may be some time before I write again; for, two days
+hence, I am going with the Governor, Lady Gordon, Mr Maudslay, and the
+children, in the new little Government steamer to Suva, on Viti Levu[18]
+(Great Fiji). There is a good deal of work going on here, such as pulling
+down of old native huts, and levelling of earth, and painting the new
+house; and Dr Macgregor wants to get rid of us all till it is finished,
+so Sir Arthur has taken the so-called hotel, an empty house, at Suva, the
+proposed site of the new Capital. It will be very good for the children
+to have change of air. When they are snugly settled we are to go on to
+the Rewa, a very fertile district. If we have such lovely weather as this
+last week has been, it will be pleasant. But last night it poured, and
+looks as if it meant to do so again, which would spoil everything.
+
+From Rewa I am going on a grand expedition with the Langhams. Mr L. is
+the head of the Wesleyan Mission here. He and his wife travelled with us
+from Sydney, and we made great friends, and now they have asked me to
+go with them on a three weeks’ cruise up the Rewa river. We shall sleep
+every night in Fijian houses—large reed-huts—so we shall travel really in
+correct style, and yet quite comfortably. It is a great thing for me to
+have this chance, as none of our own set (Lady Gordon, Lady Halkett, Mrs
+de Ricci, Mrs Havelock, or Mrs Macgregor) ever care to leave their own
+roofs.
+
+Since I last wrote I have moved down from Mrs Havelock’s house to Nasova,
+where the new house is so far on that the children are sleeping in the
+large new drawing-room, and I am in possession of their nursery. But my
+own room is now quite ready; and I was busy yesterday, with the help of
+an acute darkie (Hindoo), in making it all cosy, putting up shelves, and
+hooks, and brackets, and pictures; and by the time I come back the garden
+in front of the windows will be quite in order and full of flowers.
+They do grow well here when any one takes any trouble; and Sir Arthur’s
+head man, Abbey, is possessed of an unbounded energy, which delights in
+organising everything. He works himself, and struggles to make a troop of
+idle careless Fijians do likewise, so garden, farm, and everything else
+are taking shape. He goes with us to Suva. Captain Knollys remains here
+in charge of everything, and to try to get the work done. He has command
+of a large body of Fijian police, or soldiers, who are always on guard
+here—picturesque people—who keep the place alive, and are to us a source
+of endless interest and amusement. There are also a lot of Engineers
+living in a native house on the green in front, so there is no lack of
+human beings about the place.
+
+Two days ago a large German man-of-war came in, the Gazelle: her band
+came and played here, and the Levuka world came to listen. Last night
+the German residents gave them a ball; but our distance from the scene
+of action (a long mile of vile footpath, and no alternative but walking)
+franks us ladies from appearing at any of these festivities.[19] There is
+literally no means of being carried, such as we are accustomed to find
+in all Eastern lands. Palanquins, sedan-chairs, dandies, kangos, and
+all such substitutes for carriages, are alike unknown, and if imported,
+it would be impossible to induce men to carry them (at least so we are
+told). So there is nothing for it but to tramp, either in the fierce sun,
+or, if after sunset, carrying lanterns to enable us to avoid the many
+snares and pit-falls of the great highroad. Some of the officers of the
+Gazelle lunched here yesterday, and some more dine to-night. They talk
+very good English.
+
+The only other events of the week have been two very sad deaths. One
+was that of the contractor for part of this house, a young man, only
+married three months ago; the other, a fine boy of twelve, who climbed a
+_keveeka_-tree, overhanging a rocky burn, to get bunches of red blossoms,
+and, alas! fell off on to the cruel boulders, fracturing his leg and arm,
+and doing internal injury besides. For a week they thought he might live,
+but the lock-jaw set in, as it commonly does in these climates, from
+very slight wounds (as in the cases of Bishop Patteson and Commodore
+Goodenough, and their men), and the poor fellow died. He is one of a
+large family; they are in dire grief, as you can fancy. His little
+brother was in the tree with him, and says he almost fainted with terror
+when he saw his brother fall, and can’t think how he got down himself.
+It made us all think of ‘Misunderstood’! The cemetery lies on a pleasant
+hill, one mile further along the shore, so we saw both funerals go past.
+The poor carpenter’s coffin was rowed in a boat, his friends following
+by the shore. But the boy’s funeral, which was a Roman Catholic one, was
+more ceremonial, and followed by a great number of children carrying
+flowers. I think the poor little brothers and sisters go to the grave
+almost daily.
+
+I don’t think there’s anything else to tell you, and I must get on with
+my preparations for the trip. I have got your photograph in the white
+frame, just in front of me, with such a lovely red rose and gardenia, and
+bit of stag’s-horn moss, beside it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    LIFE ON VITI LEVU—SUVA—A FLORAL CLOCK—THE REWA RIVER—OBSOLETE
+    CUSTOMS—FIRST NIGHT IN A NATIVE HOUSE.
+
+
+                         SUVA, IN VITI LEVU (GREAT FIJI), _December 10th_.
+
+DEAR EISA,—I find there is a chance of a mail to England, so, though I
+am dead beat, I send just a line to say I am flourishing and in lovely
+scenery, with many kind folk. Perhaps by the time this reaches you, you
+will have seen my last to Nelly, written just as we started on this
+cruise. The children wanted change, so Sir Arthur rented this big house,
+which was formerly a hotel, and brought us all here in the Government
+steamer. The house would all go into one average room at home, but by
+means of partitions half-way to the ceiling, the upper floor is divided
+into a sitting-room and six stalls for sleeping in. Of course it is
+practically all one room.
+
+There is only one other house here, the home of Mr Joski, a
+sugar-planter. His family are very kind, and do all in their power to
+make us comfortable. There is a large sugar-mill here, and the near
+hills are covered with cane; but this is, unfortunately, one of the
+districts where sugar has failed, and the planters are hopelessly ruined.
+It is so sad to see the deserted sugar-mill, and the fields of cane that
+are not considered worth cutting. It was absurd folly ever to plant cane
+at this place, the soil being scanty and utterly unsuitable. But this is
+one of the sites which runs the best chance of being chosen as the new
+capital (of the pauper colony), in which case the landowners will some
+day be rich.
+
+This harbour is simply lovely. From the flat (which is the site of the
+town in the air) we look across to hills in form like those of Torridon
+in Ross-shire, but covered with densest tropical vegetation, and watered
+by many rivers, each lovelier than the last. There are four of these
+quite near together, and every afternoon we explore one or other in the
+Governor’s charming boat, rowed by half-a-dozen brown beings with great
+fuzzy heads, and wearing a becoming dress of white, trimmed with crimson.
+
+This morning I had a good walk in the early morning to get a sketch
+from a lovely site. Then after breakfast we rowed up one of the rivers,
+and lunched on a grassy bank under a shady citron-tree, as far up as we
+could take the boat. The vegetation was too exquisite. We found several
+orchids new to us, and a lovely pink-and-white wax-like creeper. I never
+saw such wealth of ferns of every sort and kind, specially hundreds of
+tall tree-ferns, with stems about thirty feet, and masses of one like a
+gigantic Osmunda. I never can find seeds of the grandest, but I send you
+such as I have.
+
+We had an amusing expedition yesterday. I started early with Miss Joski,
+and our route lay along the top of the ridge, tall reeds far over our
+heads. Before we were aware of its approach, a tropical shower came on,
+and we were drenched (of course my dear shiny waterproof kept me dry, but
+my companion was soaked), so we made for a house where a good old Irish
+couple lived, with a troop of babies. They were just getting up. But in
+we marched, and prayed for dry clothes; and the good woman clothed Miss
+Joski from head to foot, and supplied me with dry stockings and boots.
+Then we joined our picnic breakfast to theirs. They insisted on killing
+a chicken in our honour; and our mutton sandwiches were a rare prize in
+a district where butcher-meat is unattainable. By this time the day was
+glorious, and we sketched till afternoon.
+
+Such a view, and such a flight of stairs down to the sea—a quarter of a
+mile, and almost perpendicular!
+
+To-morrow early we all start for the Rewa, another district, where there
+is a great native gathering to meet the Governor. Half of the charm of
+wandering in these mountains is the knowledge that two years ago we
+should certainly have been eaten!
+
+An express arrived yesterday from Levuka with English mails, and brought
+me a letter from Janie. Tell her I nearly lost my rings last Monday. We
+had been lunching up the inner harbour; the gentlemen had all gone off
+expeditionising, and Lady Gordon and I were sitting by the river with
+only Jack and Nevil, when a native woman came and crouched beside us. We
+gave her cakes and biscuits to encourage her, as we could not exchange
+words. Then she pointed admiringly to our rings, wishing to try them on;
+so I put mine on her hand, little dreaming that Fiji custom sanctions
+asking for anything you happen to fancy, and that it is an unheard-of
+breach of manners not to give it. So a moment later I looked up from my
+drawing just in time to see the proud woman disappearing in the bush with
+her prize! Of course I rescued my treasures, but fear she will think we
+were very ill bred!
+
+On Sunday we walked along the shore, and then by a path through the
+abandoned sugar-fields, till we came to the little native church, where,
+much to our amusement, the teacher told us that he regulates the hour
+of service by the opening of a Bauhinia blossom. He has no clock, but
+when the flower opens he beats the wooden _lali_, or drum, and then the
+people assemble. We watched this floral timepiece expand its blossoms to
+the early light; and then the congregation came trooping in to a quiet,
+earnest service, with singing, prayer, and preaching—all very devout. Of
+course the words spoken were to me only a sound, but rich and musical,
+full of vowels, and very like Italian. There is a great charm in such
+a scene; and as we sat on the mats during the sermon, it was pleasant
+to look out from the cool shade of the church, through the many open
+doors, to the calm blue sea and sky, seen through a frame of golden-green
+sugar-canes, the leaves just rustling in the faint breeze. Now I must
+stop; so good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        NAVOUNINDRALA,[20] ON THE REWA _Monday, 13th Dec._
+
+DEAREST EISA,—In my last letters home I mentioned that we were just
+starting for Rewa, where there is a great meeting of chiefs to welcome
+Sir Arthur and Lady Gordon, and it was arranged that I was then to join
+the Langhams on a voyage far up the river, where they are going to visit
+several new mission stations, among tribes who only a few months ago
+determined to become Christian, and requested that teachers might be sent
+to them. Native teachers were accordingly sent, and it is partly to judge
+of their progress that this expedition was planned.
+
+Starting from Suva in a head wind, about six hours’ hard rowing brought
+us to the Rewa, which is certainly a very fine river—the largest of the
+main island, Viti Levu, and navigable for fifty miles. It receives the
+waters of various mountain-streams (navigable only by canoes), and itself
+becomes so large a body of water, that, ere reaching the town of Rewa,
+its width is about equal to that of the Thames at London Bridge. Here it
+divides into a network of streams, and enters the sea by many mouths, all
+bordered with the monotonous green of the mangrove, which overspreads the
+dreary swamp with its extraordinary and intricate network of roots. We
+passed through some miles of this strange mangrove country, starting an
+innumerable number of wild duck, and at last reached Rewa,[21] which is
+a large village of the invariable thatched houses. Here we found a great
+gathering of the people to receive the Governor, on his first visit to
+this town; and as his boat approached, the river-banks were thronged with
+native chiefs and their followers, all squatting on the ground, in the
+correct attitude of respect—for Fijian etiquette prohibits an inferior
+from standing in presence of a superior, as strictly as it forbids him
+passing behind him.
+
+So great a concourse of people had rarely, if ever, been seen at Rewa:
+it was calculated that nearly 5000 were present, a number the more
+remarkable as the ravages of the measles last spring were peculiarly felt
+in this district, where it is computed that 8000 perished, including no
+less than ninety teachers, all carefully trained men,—a loss which cannot
+easily be replaced.
+
+Great were the preparations for the native festivities on the morrow, and
+you can imagine my dismay on learning that, owing to the irregularity of
+posts, and the day for this ceremony having been repeatedly deferred, Mr
+Langham had made all his arrangements for starting from Rewa that very
+day. And, in truth, we had not landed five minutes, when the mission boat
+arrived from Bau. Complicated arrangements had been made for teachers
+and people to come from distant points and meet us at different villages
+on each day of the week, so that delay was impossible. Consequently
+I was obliged to give up one thing or the other, which was intensely
+aggravating; but, on weighing both, the expedition into the interior
+was voted the more important; and so, with many regrets, I turned away
+from Rewa and its picturesque crowds, merely halting long enough to get
+some tea from Mrs Webb at the ever-hospitable Wesleyan mission station.
+Then we embarked in the large mission boat,—Mr and Mrs Langham and
+myself, rowed by half-a-dozen stalwart young students from the training
+institution at Bau.
+
+We had to row six miles up the river against wind and tide, and we were
+all very weary, especially the student boatmen, who had rowed nearly all
+the way from Bau, and whose time grew slower and slower, till I counted
+twelve seconds between each stroke. The sun was setting when we started,
+and shed a golden glow over the low flat shores of the river, where we
+hailed the sight of many cattle, pastured in real grassy meadows,—the
+first we have seen in Fiji. The soil here is richly alluvial, and from
+fourteen to fifteen feet in depth. It is expected to yield large returns
+to sugar-planters.
+
+Happily we had a glorious full moon, which made night clear as day;
+but it was past ten ere we reached Navousi, the house of Andi Kuilla,
+Thakombau’s favourite daughter, who was absent, and her people did not
+expect us till two days later; so her house was shut up, and there was
+some delay before a fire was lighted, water brought, tea made, and supper
+eaten, and our mosquito-nets hung up, and then family prayers in Fijian.
+So it was 12.30 before we turned in. It was my first night in a native
+house, which consists only of one large room for everybody. In a very
+fine chief’s house, such as this, large curtains of native cloth are
+hung up at night to divide the upper end into several snug compartments.
+There is no furniture whatever; and a pile of soft mats is the only
+bedding required. A Fijian pillow consists of a bamboo, or a bar of
+wood, standing on two wooden legs, six inches high, which supports the
+neck only (very much like the pillows of the Kaffirs, and on the same
+principle as those of Japan). Here it was invented to avoid spoiling
+the elaborately dressed hair, which formerly was a most important
+consideration. We, being given to luxury, each carry a soft pillow for
+our weary heads, and very fine nets to shield us from the attacks, not
+only of mosquitoes, but of a vicious, virulent, though scarcely visible,
+sand-fly, which infests the mangrove swamp and many parts of the river.
+We also carry sheets and a blanket in case of cold nights, and pieces,
+three yards long, of strong American cloth, to keep our bedding dry;
+also plaids, which we can hang up to build ourselves tiny rooms within
+the great public room, where all the boatmen, and sometimes many other
+people, will sleep.
+
+I was sorry that Andi Arietta Kuilla was not at home; I have met her
+at Nasova, and also seen her fishing with her maidens of noble birth,
+all clad in the lightest raiment, consisting chiefly of daintily woven
+garlands—for fishing, you must know, means bathing, and fun and frolic,
+in the warm bright sea. But here at Navousi she is the dignified widow of
+a very high chief of this district, which she rules with masculine vigour
+and wisdom.
+
+At daybreak we again embarked and proceeded up the river, frequently
+halting to call at the houses of English planters. Everywhere we heard
+the same distressing tale of failure and loss: worthless crops, or good
+crops lost by untoward delays of one sort or another; falling prices and
+ruined markets, and the sickening sinking of spirit by reason of hope
+deferred, because annexation had failed to act as a magic wand, at whose
+mere approach all grievances would be righted, and each man see his own
+heart’s desire fulfilled. At every house where we halted, we profited by
+that excellent institution of the colonies, tea at all hours—which we
+accepted the more readily knowing that we were bidding a long farewell
+to milk. But the tale of poverty was one which needed no telling, for
+it was too plainly written on every side, especially in the untidy,
+uncared-for homes. Of course there are exceptions, and we called at two
+houses whose gardens bright with scarlet hybiscus and other blossoms
+were pleasant to behold, and where generous gifts of oranges, from laden
+trees, were a welcome addition to our stores.
+
+It was sunset ere we reached our destination, the village of Delandamanu
+(_i.e._, the hill on whose top the _damanu_-trees grow), where it was
+arranged that we should sleep in the church—somewhat a startling idea at
+first, but one which seemed less unnatural from the fact of the church
+being just like any other clean, well-matted house; and of course all our
+food was brought in ready cooked. So we rigged up our tents as usual,
+and, for once, slept in church with full permission from the parson!
+
+In truth we had good reason to rejoice in our position, commanding a
+very lovely view of shapely mountain-ranges, and of the river winding
+through rich green country. The church stands on the side of a tiny hill,
+on the summit of which is the village graveyard. I observe these are
+almost invariably on hill-tops, generally very secluded, and in beautiful
+situations. They are often tasteful and well cared for, overshadowed by
+the mournful casurina or ironwood tree, called in Fijian _noko noko_,
+and adorned with tall red-leaved shrubs, dracæna, and others. The graves
+themselves are sometimes conical heaps of red earth, with white sand on
+the top, sometimes covered with small green pebbles, brought from afar,
+and sometimes merely edged with tree-fern wood. This one is peculiar,
+inasmuch as, although the dead are buried horizontally, the external
+grave slopes with the hill.
+
+Here we lingered long in the clear, beautiful moonlight, and here we
+returned with the first ray of dawn. A very old man, a Fijian version
+of Old Mortality, lives on the extreme summit of the little hill, and
+has charge of the village drums—I mean the wooden _lalis_, which used to
+be called _lali mbokolo_ (meaning the drum for the cannibal feast), but
+which now send forth their deep booming tones only to call the people
+to school or church. I should like to have stayed a good while at this
+place to sketch, and Mr Langham promises a longer halt on our return; but
+this time we had to hurry on and start at 6 A.M., having previously had
+prayers and breakfast.
+
+It did feel so odd to be living in a church! Happily it was beautifully
+clean. And oh, what a contrast to the house of a family of white planters
+where we called that day! The very picture of a poverty-stricken home.
+An English cottager would refuse to live in such a house, with its
+broken earthen floor. Such a contrast to the comfortable, thick, clean
+mats in the native houses we have been in. Yet white men in general
+seem to consider that they are bringing their families low indeed when
+they adopt a purely native house as home, and mats in lieu of chairs.
+Perhaps they are right, though for my own part I think I must confess
+to having rather a weakness for Fijian mat life. No doubt it tends to
+foster that indolence which is the bane of the islanders; and there is
+no denying that when once you have sunk down to rest on these soft,
+cool, tempting mats in the semi-darkness of a Fijian house, you do feel
+sorely disinclined to rise thence without very good cause. When this
+becomes a habit, it is a recognised evil known as mat-fever! Certainly
+the hard wooden chairs, or old, broken, worn-out sofas of these poor
+white homes, are in no danger of pampering habits of luxury. Yet at this
+place there were two bright lasses contriving to grow up somehow, and one
+of them reminded me of ‘Cometh up as a Flower,’ with her glorious halo
+of tangled yellow hair. This was the furthest point at which we found a
+white family. There were other neighbours, but after long battling with
+failing crops and ever-deepening poverty, they have all left the country
+in despair.
+
+A messenger has just arrived from Rewa bringing us letters. Mine is
+another proof of the utter irregularity of posts which depend on vague
+sailing-boats. Six weeks ago I accepted an invitation to go to the
+Leefes’ at Nananu, only a day’s sail from Levuka. Receiving no further
+message, I wrote, a fortnight later, to put off that visit for the
+present; and now I have a letter from Mr Leefe, who had come to Levuka
+at great inconvenience to fetch me; and though the distance _is_ “only a
+day’s sail,” it may involve a detention of many days.
+
+We have been here for four days, as it is a large central district;
+and are very cosily housed with “Richard,” the village teacher, a fine
+handsome fellow of the upper class, and one who takes pride in having his
+house a pattern of neatness and order, greatly to our comfort. Yesterday
+being Sunday, our crew dispersed at daybreak to hold services in many
+distant villages in remote valleys just emerging from heathenism. I
+scarcely recognised them when they all appeared in their clean white
+shirts and _sulus_, their ordinary working dress being merely a _sulu_,
+with wreaths of green leaves hanging in fringes from the waist and
+shoulders. But they are very particular about their Sunday shirts being
+well starched and ironed, and Mrs Langham’s nice Fijian girl, who helps
+them with their washing, has to bestow greater care on their garments
+than on her master’s. I think I told you that they are students from
+the Mission Institute—fine young fellows destined to become teachers or
+native ministers, according to their capacity, and in the meantime doing
+what they can by teaching in the villages through which they pass.
+
+The mission has in each district a certain number of such lads in
+training, and these, amongst them, do whatever work is required in the
+house and about the premises. Thence the most promising are drafted off
+to the college at Navouloa, which lies half-way between Rewa and Bau,
+where, after careful training, their ultimate destination is decided.
+
+You can imagine it is by no means an easy matter to keep 1400 schools
+supplied with teachers, though the people themselves are quite willing to
+support them. At the present moment this difficulty is greatly increased,
+owing to the number of teachers who died in the measles. Mr Webb has
+lost ninety, and Mr Langham forty; and other districts have suffered in
+proportion.
+
+The house is at this moment full of people, who have assembled from far
+and near to talk to Mr or Mrs Langham—men, women, and children. Naturally
+there is a considerable amount of chattering, to me incomprehensible. But
+it sounds musical, and rather like Italian, liquid, and full of vowels;
+not only simple vowels, but compounds, in which each letter is distinctly
+sounded, as _ai_, _au_, _ei_, _eu_, _oi_, _ou_, and _iu_. There are very
+few guttural or hissing sounds. You constantly hear names in which every
+other letter is a vowel, as, for example, Namosimalua, Natavutololo,
+Naivuruvuru, Verata, Verani, Ndrondro-vakawai, Lewe-ni-lovo, Vaka-loloma,
+Toa-levu, &c. The first words I learnt were of course the morning and
+evening greetings. _Siandra?_ (are you awake?) _Sa mothe?_ (are you
+asleep?) to which the people add _na maramma_ (lady), or _na turanga_
+(lord), or _saka_ (sir). When they say _Eo saka_ (yes, sir) very fast, it
+sounds as if they were saying it in English, which at first, hearing it
+from the students, I supposed to be the case. Few and laconic are my own
+phrases. _Maroroya_ is a prayer to those around me to be careful; _kusa
+kusa_ begs them to make haste; _sara sara_ (to look about one), fully
+satisfies any one who might wonder what I was staring at, and comes home
+to the Fijian mind as quite a natural condition; _sa legge mothe_, though
+no means courteous, advises them to go to sleep and leave me alone. What
+chiefly catches my ear are the number of words formed by reduplication,
+as _vesi vesi_, a little spear; _vale vale_, a little house; _kende
+kende_, a mountain; _noko noko_, ironwood; _vula vula_, white; _dre dre_,
+difficult; _mothe mothe_, bed (_mothe_ means sleep); _yau yau_, mist;
+_kata kata_, boiling; _lia lia_, silly; _wai wai_, oil; _levu_ is big;
+_lei lei_, small; _vulu vulu_, cramfull; _velo velo_, a canoe; _reki
+reki_, joy; _vuvu_, jealous; _dronga dronga_, hoarse, &c. And so in the
+names of places. I hear of Loma Loma, Somo Somo, Sau Sau, Drua Drua,
+Ruku Ruku, Savu Savu, and so on. In case you care to count in Fijian,
+here are the numerals. One, two, three, &c. _Dua_, _rua_, _tolu_, _va_,
+_lima_, _ono_, _vitu_, _walu_, _ciwa_ (_thiwa_), _tini_. Then come _tine
+ka dua_, _tine ka rua_, and so on up to twenty. There are certain nouns
+which in themselves express numbers, as: _sasa_, ten mats; _rara_, ten
+pigs; _bure_, ten clubs; _bola_, a hundred canoes; _selavo_, a thousand
+cocoa-nuts. These are used in combination with ordinary numerals, thus:
+_Rua sasa_, twenty mats; _tini selavo_, ten thousand nuts.
+
+I am told that the language is remarkably rich, and expresses minute
+shades of ideas. Thus there are three words for the possessive pronouns,
+varying with the nature of the noun following, as _my_ food, _my_ drink,
+or _my_ canoe. Personal pronouns are equally varied; there are no less
+than six words answering to our _we_.
+
+There are seven words to express different conditions of weariness, six
+to express seeing, a dozen for dirty, fourteen for to cut, sixteen for
+to strike. There are separate expressions for washing clothes, house,
+dishes, feet, hands, body, face, or head; also for such varied movement
+as that of a caterpillar, a lizard, or a serpent, or for the different
+manners in which it is possible to clap hands ceremonially.
+
+So you can understand that it is not only a very rich tongue, but also
+an exceedingly troublesome one to learn accurately; and as very slight
+mistakes are apt to convey to native ears very different ideas to
+those we wish to convey, you can understand that I prefer being very
+troublesome to my most patient companions, rather than plunge headlong
+into such difficulties.
+
+Of course both Mr and Mrs Langham talk it to perfection, for they have
+lived entirely with the people for seventeen years, and know every detail
+about all the native tribes and their chiefs, and their quarrels, and
+their domestic troubles. Mr Langham was for years going to and fro among
+the cannibal tribes, when they were all at war, as mediator and teacher,
+urging them to make peace and to abstain from the horrible customs of
+heathenism, and accept the loving law of Christ. His way is smooth enough
+now, but there was stiff work to do till very recent days; for he has
+seen Fiji in all its phases,—all successive varieties of governments or
+anarchies. And he and his gentle little wife have lived in the midst of
+fightings and wars, in the days when the name of Fiji was synonymous with
+cannibalism and cruelties of the most horrible description.
+
+Now I am going out to explore some of the trails which lead to higher
+ridges, that I may see the mountains in the interior, some of which
+rise to a height of 5000 or 6000 feet, but are hidden from us by nearer
+ranges. It makes me laugh now to remember how, the first day I was
+walking alone on the hills of Ovalau, I hid myself among the bushes from
+a solitary Fijian, the savage of my imagination. Now, in far wilder
+country, I walk alone in perfect security wherever fancy leads me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+    BATHING _AL FRESCO_—THE UPPER REWA—BARTER—NATIVE HOUSES—A
+    FUNERAL—WEDDINGS—GRACE.
+
+
+                        NAKORO VATU (THE STONE TOWN), _December 19, 1875_.
+
+DEAREST JEAN,—You will have heard from Eisa of our start from Rewa. Now
+we are a long way up the river, and indulging in a sort of continuous
+picnic, which is full of interest to me, though very difficult to
+describe so as to convey to you any idea of its fascination to one
+actually living in it.
+
+The stream, of course, narrowed rapidly as we ascended, and in doing
+so gained immensely in interest. Gradually we approached beautiful
+mountain-ranges, and whenever we landed and ascended even the smallest
+rising ground, we found ourselves encircled by a panorama of rare
+loveliness. But of course, so long as we were on the water-level
+our horizon was bounded by the river-banks, and after a while the
+mere loveliness of vegetation became almost monotonous, and we found
+ourselves gliding unheeding past forests of tree-ferns and grand old
+trees, festooned with a network of lianas, rich and rare, such as a few
+days previously would have driven us into ecstasies of delight. Here
+and there, where some quiet pool in a rocky stream offered a tempting
+bathing-place, we called a halt, and therein revelled, while the boatmen
+were boiling the kettle and preparing breakfast or lunch in some shady
+nook at a respectful distance. No words can describe to you how delicious
+are such impromptu bathes in clear sparkling streams, embowered in
+exquisite ferns, which meet overhead, throwing a cool shade on the water,
+and forming a lovely tracery, through which you get glimpses of the
+bluest sky. And the light that does reach you is mellowed, and the colour
+of the great fronds is like that tender green of beech-woods in early
+spring; and the water is so fresh and delightful that you would fain
+prolong your bathe all day.
+
+We halted several days at Navounindrala, where the river branches off
+into two heads, the Wai Nimala and the Wai Nimbooco, both too shallow at
+this season to admit of the large boat going any further; so, leaving it
+at the junction, we transferred our three selves to one very large canoe,
+while two ordinary ones carried our necessary goods. Thenceforward we
+paddled and poled by turns, as occasion demanded; and when any difficulty
+arose in ascending rapids, we invariably found ready helpers willing to
+lend us their aid.
+
+We first proceeded up the Wai Nimbooco, sleeping at various villages,
+in which no white women had previously set foot; nor, indeed, any white
+teacher, for it is only a year since these people were cannibal and
+heathen. The first native teachers sent to them died in the measles, and
+those now sent to replace them are men from the Windward Isles, half
+Tongan, and they find great difficulty in mastering the mountain dialect,
+which differs greatly from that of Bau and other coast districts. But the
+people seem eager to make the very most of their small advantages, and
+everywhere we find flourishing schools and most devout congregations; and
+our party receives cordial welcome, the villagers crowding round to shake
+hands, foreign fashion. I certainly prefer this to having my hand sniffed
+impressively!
+
+In some villages the people brought very curious bowls, clubs, and
+spears for sale, and I have greatly enlarged my collection. Some of the
+wood-carving is so fine that it fills me with wonder, when I remember
+that hitherto the only implements of these artists have been stone-axes,
+and rats’ or sharks’ teeth to do the finer work. Imagine the patience and
+contrivance which every carved spear-head represents. I bought several
+very tall carved walking-sticks, used by the old men, which I think some
+of you will like to adopt as alpenstocks, though you can never hope to
+look as picturesque as the fine old men who brought them to me. They
+generally ask for large strong knives, or so many fathoms of very wide
+strong white calico, in preference to money, and are very discriminating
+as to quality, having learnt by sad experience how worthless are the
+cheap Manchester fabrics sent to these isles for trade with natives—mere
+whitened shams, made up with dressing, and useless when washed.
+
+Each night we slept at a different native house, and became quite expert
+at rigging up our mosquito-curtains to the rafters, and constructing
+little rooms of matting, to give us each a corner to ourselves, always
+planned so as, if possible, to include an open door, to secure fresh air,
+for these people are as careful to exclude the night air as any old woman
+in Scotland.
+
+When our sleeping quarters are arranged, then comes the curious evening
+meal, followed by family prayers, with reading and singing, at which
+are present a troop of villagers, who have previously assembled to see
+the strange white people eat the food presented by themselves—happily
+with the addition of tea and sugar, and white bread, which Mrs Langham
+(notable housekeeper) succeeds in baking, on every possible occasion, in
+a small portable oven.
+
+All the houses, whether of chief or vassal, are alike built on a
+foundation of stones several feet high. Thus the house is raised above
+the damp ground. Sometimes you enter by steps, rudely hewn from one log;
+and a wooden bowl of water invites the visitor to wash his feet before
+entering. We invariably take off our boots to avoid dirtying the nice
+clean mats. Every house consists of only one room, varying, of course,
+in size; but the largest must be limited to the length of one piece of
+timber, which is the ridge-pole, and with two other roughly hewn trees,
+laid lengthwise, supports the frame-work of rafters, whereon rests the
+heavy thatched roof, the whole sustained by upright trees, notched at the
+top, and all bound together with strongly knotted stems of some forest
+vine. The sides are supported, and doorways formed, by black pillars,
+about ten feet in height, made of the stems of beautiful tree-ferns,
+which here grow in such abundance that they are commonly used for making
+fences, also for edging graves.
+
+In building a large house about a hundred of these pillars are required.
+Those forming the doorway are frequently bound with _sinnet_ (which is
+a kind of coarse string), black, brown, or yellow, interwoven so as to
+form most elaborate patterns, extremely artistic in effect. Sometimes in
+churches, all the rafters are thus adorned, each being of a different
+design, telling of the patient care that has been lavished on their
+decoration. Sometimes, too, they are ornamented with pure white shells
+(the _Cyprea ovula_), strings of which are also wreathed round the
+projecting ends of the ridge-pole, and hang thence in long graceful
+festoons.[22]
+
+The walls, both of houses and churches, are generally formed of reeds,
+with a thick outer coating of dried leaves. You can fancy how readily
+such buildings burn on the smallest provocation; the only marvel is why
+fires are not far more numerous, considering the extreme carelessness
+with which the blazing bamboos, which act the part of candles, are
+carried about; to say nothing of the fireplaces, of which there are
+occasionally several in one house, and which are merely hollows sunk in
+the floor, with an edge of rough wood dividing them from the mats. One
+of these is generally in the centre of the house. Chimneys are unknown
+luxuries; so the smoke floats about at random, and settles in rich brown
+layers on the rafters, and on the household goods that rest thereon,
+which sometimes include an old war-club of curious form, which probably
+has made short work of many a foeman’s skull, or a long black spear, with
+three or four feet of most beautiful and intricate carving extending
+upward from the head.
+
+There is generally a sort of scaffolding of rude posts and shelves above
+the fire, which is used for cooking, and here, through the thick blue
+wood-smoke you perceive various cooking-pots and earthenware jars. Carved
+wooden bowls of various form and size hang round the walls: some with
+curiously carved handles, of which you never see two alike, are used to
+contain oil; others are used in the manufacture of the noxious national
+drink called _yangona_ (elsewhere throughout the Pacific known as _kava_).
+
+The large wooden bowls in which the yangona is prepared, and the small
+cocoa-nut shells in which it is served, both acquire a beautiful enamel,
+sometimes of a bluish colour, which is called the bloom, and gives great
+value to the bowl. A few wooden pillows—merely a stick or bamboo on two
+short legs—complete the scanty household inventory. There is no more
+furniture of any sort.
+
+All round the fires lie the family and their friends on their mats,
+beneath which is spread a thick layer of soft dry grass.
+
+We always occupy what I may call the “company bedroom;” for though
+the whole floor of the house is alike covered with mats, the best are
+reserved for the upper end, which is generally raised about a foot,
+forming a sort of dais for the use of the principal persons present, and
+often carpeted with a pile of fine mats. This is invariably given up to
+us, and here, as I told you, we hang up our mosquito-curtains, and with
+the help of a few mats and plaids quickly rig up our simple tents.
+
+The other end of the room is generally crowded all day. Happily most of
+the natives clear out at night; but so long as the rare spectacle of
+three white faces is to be seen we cannot wonder at the interest created,
+one which, I am bound to say, is reciprocal. Many of our visitors walk
+for miles across the mountains, bringing us presents of food; for,
+however poor they may be themselves, the customs of Fiji require that the
+utmost hospitality should be shown to strangers; and in the case of such
+honoured guests as a missionary and his party, every care must be taken
+that they, at least, shall find no lack of whatever the villages can
+supply.
+
+After spending a week on the Wai Nimbooco we returned to the junction,
+and thence turned up the course of the other stream, the Wai Nimala, and
+at sunset reached this town. We were greatly tantalised by the charming
+position of the teacher’s house, on a somewhat isolated hill, commanding
+a grand view; but, as a matter of policy, we had to stay at the chief’s
+house, in the very middle of the village, and felt it close and stuffy,
+though it is a large house, very well built. Eight large trees form the
+main pillars, while upwards of one hundred fine tree-ferns have been
+sacrificed to make the small black pillars on either side. The walls are
+of double reeds, crossed; very beautiful patterns of fine sinnet-work
+(_i.e._, coloured string), on the lintels, and hanging curtains of long
+grass. The chief himself is ill, lying before a blazing fire, which, with
+a thermometer at about 80°, is scarcely our idea of comfort. The only
+thing he seemed to enjoy is an occasional bowl of very sweet tea, which
+Mrs L. makes for him, and which is a very great luxury; though to us the
+lack of milk is a continual drawback. Sometimes we make cream by grating
+cocoa-nut and squeezing it through a cloth; but though delicious for very
+occasional use, it is so rich that we very quickly take a strong aversion
+to it, and prefer to do without. Occasionally we get an egg, which,
+beaten up, is really an excellent substitute.
+
+A poor fellow in the house next to us was very ill all last night, and
+died this morning. He was a stranger, with no one to mourn for him, so
+he was rolled up in an old mat, with head and feet protruding, and thus
+carried to his grave. On reaching the place, Mr Langham found it had been
+dug too short, so it had to be lengthened at the last moment. It is a
+pretty burial-ground, the graves, as usual, edged with tree-fern wood. I
+had a solitary walk up the hill, through tall reeds, up gullies shaded by
+rank plantains, all matted with lovely vines, and had a grand view from
+the high ground. This village is clean and orderly.
+
+To-day being Sunday there has been much church-going,—very large and
+attentive congregations,—apparently most devout. After morning service
+there were no less than thirteen weddings! Some were new couples; others
+very old folk, who wished to be legally wedded on the occasion of their
+becoming Christian and _one-wived_. The superfluous wives are in large
+demand by men who hitherto have failed to secure domestic bliss. We also
+had several baptisms—one was a big child, who was so much alarmed at the
+sight of the white teacher that he ran away howling.
+
+At this moment I am surrounded by a crowd of brown women, who have crept
+up to me very shyly and cautiously, and are watching the progress of
+this letter with great interest. Already some of them have begun to
+learn writing, and many can read quite fluently. To-morrow there is to
+be a great school examination. Supper is ready—roast pig and _taro_;
+and all are hungry, but waiting for Mr L. to say grace,—so I must go.
+Good-night.—Your loving sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+    UPPER REWA—SUNDAY AMONG THE CONVERTS—SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS—A
+    “MISSIONARY MEETING”—SAVAGE ORNAMENTS—RED TAPE—_MÉKÉS_—EVENING
+    PRAYER—MARRIAGES.
+
+
+                      NIRUKURUKU, ON THE UPPER REWA RIVER, _December 23d_.
+
+MY DEAR ALEXA,—I have not written to you since I started on this trip,
+but of course you have heard all my news from the others. We came here
+yesterday in the canoe, as the rapids are so strong that the boat could
+not face them, and the men, strong as they are, had to call others to
+their aid, and even then had hard work to pull us up stream. But the
+scenery is most lovely, though we rarely leave the water-level, and the
+glimpses we do get of the grand mountains make us long to penetrate right
+up to them. But this would involve far too much walking for either Mrs
+Langham or myself, and there is no other means of locomotion. Oh, what
+I would give to have my dear Himalayan _dandie_ here, with a team of
+strong Paharis (hill-men) to carry me! The Highlanders here (the Kai
+Colos, men of the mountains) are just as strong, but the idea of carrying
+a lady has not yet occurred to them; indeed we are the first specimens of
+the race whom they have seen!
+
+This is the furthest point to which we can go, and here we are to spend
+Christmas, as Mr Langham is anxious to hold service himself on that day,
+and the people will assemble from far and near.
+
+I think it might well startle some of our sleepy congregations to find
+themselves in a Fijian church (of which there are 900 in these isles, for
+every village which becomes Christian begins by building a church and a
+teacher’s house, and undertakes to feed and clothe the latter, besides
+giving him small payment in kind for individual schooling).
+
+To say nothing of largely attended week-day evening services, there
+are on Sundays three regular services, beginning with a prayer-meeting
+at 6 A.M. Each of these is crowded, and a large number also attend
+Sunday-school in the afternoon; and many prove how attentively they have
+listened to the teacher by repeating on Monday the whole substance of the
+sermons preached the previous day.
+
+The form of service is much the same as in a Presbyterian church, with
+the addition of the Te Deum and Apostles’ Creed, which are chanted in the
+native fashion, the missionaries having wisely made use of native customs
+when practicable. The purely national tunes, if such I may call them,
+have a certain attraction in their drone-like monotony; those borrowed
+from us are generally discordant, but certainly heartily rendered; and
+the apparent earnestness in prayer of all present is most striking. Every
+one, without exception, kneels on the matted floor (of course there are
+no seats), and lies doubled up, with head resting on the earth, touching
+the bare feet of the kneeler in front of him. Here and there a tiny brown
+child stands beside its mother, the only creature not prostrate. You can
+look at this scene as long as you please, certain that no one will look
+up and catch you staring, for never a head is raised. So you overlook
+a closely packed mosaic of tawny frizzled heads, bare brown backs, and
+white _sulus_ (kilts).
+
+Nor is there the slightest reason for thinking that this is merely
+an outward show of devotion. Everything in daily life tends to prove
+its reality. The first sound that greets your ear in the morning, and
+the last at night, is the sound of family worship in every house in
+the village. I am positively assured that the presence of the white
+missionary makes no appreciable difference in the congregations, and
+that the churches are just as crowded when there is only the native
+teacher to lead the simple worship.
+
+One thing which strikes us forcibly in all our dealings with these people
+is their exceeding honesty. Day after day our goods are exposed in the
+freest manner, more especially on Sundays, when for several hours not a
+creature remains in the house where we happen to be staying, which is
+left with every door wide open, and all our things lying about. Boxes
+and bags which are known to contain knives and cloth and all manner
+of tempting treasures, stand unlocked, and yet, though the village is
+invariably within a stone’s-throw, we have never lost the value of a
+pin’s head. I confess, however, it was some time before I could stifle
+all qualms of misgiving on seeing a crowd of what some people might call
+savages swoop down on our property and carry it off piecemeal to the
+boat or village, as the case might be; but when day after day passed and
+nothing was ever missing, I gradually acquired the implicit trust which
+has proved so well founded.
+
+Poor as these people are, their generosity is most remarkable, and they
+give freely of such things as they have, both to those among themselves
+who may be in need, and also for the spread of the Christian cause.
+Not only does each village support its own teacher, but considerable
+offerings for a general fund are made at the annual school examinations
+and “missionary meetings.” Nothing could be more distressing than to have
+nothing to give on such a day, so those who have no money will walk miles
+across the hills, bringing some treasured bowl or spear for sale; and
+great is the anxiety to receive payment in numerous small coins, that no
+member of the family may appear empty-handed on the great feast-day. Very
+often, however, it is to obtain a copy of the precious Fijian Testament
+that the household treasure is thus offered for sale; for already an
+immense number can read, and are as well instructed in Bible history and
+precepts as any Scotch peasant of the good old school.
+
+What a very tame scene a school examination at home will seem after those
+we have here witnessed, with the multitude of brown scholars, all so very
+attentive! Certainly we have no cause to complain of over-dressing or use
+of artificial flowers; but the usual wreaths of green, lilac, or yellow
+leaves, hanging in long fringes from waist and shoulders, figure largely,
+also those made of long narrow leaves of the screw-pine, gaily dyed red
+and yellow.
+
+At one place we found the scholars, old and young, of eight villages
+assembled to receive us. They began, as usual, by coming up in
+procession, and each depositing an offering at the feet of the
+missionary. This generally consists of one root of yam or _taro_, a
+bunch of tobacco-leaves, a sugar-cane, or a yangona root; but on this
+occasion some discriminating scholars brought old war-clubs and bowls, to
+say nothing of a pile of the fringe dresses aforesaid! Then followed a
+_méké_, which is a quaint national dance with accompaniment of singing.
+
+Some of the old _mékés_ are not considered desirable, as, for example,
+that dance of death which accompanied the carrying of dead bodies to
+the temple, preparatory to cooking them, and others of heathen or
+immoral association. The schools are therefore encouraged to select new
+subjects. So they gave us a dance and pantomime all about the capture
+of Jerusalem, and very curious it was. Then they went through very
+creditable Scriptural examination and recitation, with some reading and
+writing, and finished off with a most extraordinary method of spelling
+and doing mental arithmetic. I cannot attempt to describe it, further
+than to say that though all the scholars as usual sat on the ground, the
+whole body was in perpetual motion, swaying from side to side, each row
+in opposite directions. There was incessant clapping of hands, now on one
+side, now on the other, now on the ground, now in mid-air, and all in
+measured time; while the calculations were shouted aloud, and apparently
+produced a correct result. The action gone through for the spelling and
+arithmetic lesson was quite different, though wholly indescribable. In
+all these movements the most accurate time is marked. In some schools
+geography is also taught, the lesson being a series of chanted questions
+and answers, which, however musical, can scarcely be expected to convey
+much meaning to the mind of the Fijian, who assuredly believes his own
+isles to be the greatest and most important in the world. At the close
+of the proceedings, each scholar approached in turn, and stripping off
+his or her green wreaths, laid them in a heap at our feet, whence they
+were removed by the boatmen for their own adornment. Such is a school
+examination in Fiji.
+
+As for the missionary meetings, they by no means resemble those held in
+Exeter Hall! They are simply great days of native merry-making, when the
+missionaries very wisely encourage the people to keep up the most popular
+and innocent of their national games and dances, and when all who attend
+bring offerings according to their ability and inclination.
+
+The first meeting of this sort at which I was present was held at the
+junction of two heads of the great Rewa river, the Wai Nimbooco and the
+Wai Nimala. On the first day, the people of seventeen towns (or villages)
+assembled, and the crowd must have numbered fully 2000. On the following
+day about ten more towns arrived, and, with slight variations, the
+programme was repeated. We sat under trees on the river-bank, facing the
+village green, and each town came up in turn in procession, all quaintly
+dressed up as if for a fancy ball, and marched slowly past us, every one
+carrying his offering in his mouth for greater security—a purse at once
+novel and self-acting; for, as both hands were often busy with spear and
+fan, it was a saving of trouble, and by no means disrespectful, just to
+spit out the coin on the mat spread to receive offerings. Some had quite
+a mouthful to give—three or four shillings. The latter was a sum much
+aimed at, as the donors of such large contributions had the pride of
+knowing that their names would appear in a printed list! an honour not
+wholly without attraction even in Fiji.
+
+The town then divided into two companies. One acted as orchestra, sitting
+on the ground,—some clapping hands, sometimes with the palms flat,
+sometimes hollowed, to produce diversity of tone—some striking the ground
+with short, resonant bamboos, held vertically, which produce a strange
+booming sound—all singing old words, the meaning of which they have in
+many cases forgotten. The chant is invariably commenced by one voice, and
+the chorus takes it up after a few notes. The other company danced,—the
+quaintest, wildest dances you can conceive, with much pantomime and most
+graceful action. Every action and posture one sees in a good ballet are
+found here; and such pretty grouping with fans, spears, or clubs. Many
+of the figures are very intricate, and the rapidity of movement and
+flexibility of the whole body are something marvellous,— it seems as if
+every muscle was in action, and all the postures are graceful. The dance
+gets wilder and more excited as it goes on, generally ending with an
+unearthly yell, in which all the spectators join.
+
+They are all sitting round in every available corner, generally spreading
+a bit of plantain-leaf on the ground to keep their dress clean: for, of
+course, every one is attired in his very best—perhaps a kilt of English
+long-cloth (or, far more attractive in our eyes, native cloth of rich
+brown pattern). White native cloth is worn as a girdle, and hangs behind
+in large folds; wreaths of long hanging grass are worn round the arms and
+legs, as well as on the body. Some even powder their hair black, or else
+wear huge wigs of heathen days, and crowns of scarlet parrots’ feathers.
+
+Most have their faces painted with every variety of colour, in stripes,
+circles, and spots. Some are all scarlet, with black spectacles, or _vice
+versâ_; some, of a very gaudy turn of mind, half blue and half scarlet.
+Some are painted half plain and half spotted, or striped like clowns. In
+short, fancy has free scope in devising grotesque patterns of every sort.
+Many are entirely blackened down to the waist, or perhaps have one side
+of the face and one shoulder dyed dark-red; but the commonest and ugliest
+freak of all is to paint only the nose bright scarlet, and the rest of
+the face dead black, and very hideous is the result.
+
+The paint-box on these occasions is simple: red ochre supplies one shade,
+and the seeds of the vermilion-tree, so dull in the pod, but so brilliant
+when crushed, supply another. The nearest wood-fire yields black in
+abundance; while a dark-brown fungus is found on the bark of certain
+trees, and finds immense favour with many who cannot understand how
+infinitely more beautiful is the rich brown of their own silky skin, with
+its gloss of cocoa-nut oil. The gaudy blue is a recent addition to their
+stock—from English laundries; and an unusually vivid scarlet likewise
+tells occasionally of dealings with British traders.[23]
+
+On great festivals the family jewels are all displayed. They consist of
+necklaces of whales’ teeth rudely fastened together with sinnet, or else
+most carefully cut into long curved strips like miniature tusks, highly
+polished, and strung together in the form of a great collar, which is
+worn with the curved points turning outwards like a frill. The average
+length of each tooth is about six inches; but some necklaces, which are
+treasured as heirlooms, are nearly double this size, and all the teeth
+are beautifully regular. Their effect when worn by a chief in full dress
+is singularly picturesque, though scarcely so becoming as the large
+curved boar’s tooth, which sometimes forms an almost double circle, and
+is worn suspended from the neck, the white ivory gleaming against the
+rich brown skin.
+
+The most artistic and uncommon ornament of a Fijian chief is a
+breast-plate from six to ten inches in diameter, made of polished whale’s
+tooth, sliced and inlaid with pearly shell, all most beautifully joined
+together. These, like all native work, whether wood-carving or ivory, not
+only claim admiration, but fill me with wonder at the patient ingenuity
+which could possibly produce such results with the tools hitherto
+possessed by these people, to whom metals were unknown, whose axes
+and hatchets were made of smooth and beautifully polished green-stone
+(precisely similar to the celts of our forefathers, and how they made
+these is to me incomprehensible). I have bought several tied with coarse
+sinnet to a rude handle of wood cut in the form of a bent knee. When the
+stone axe had accomplished the first rough shaping of the form required,
+a skilfully used fire-stick next came into use, and then a lump of
+mushroom coral, or a piece of the rough skin of the sting-ray, stretched
+on wood, acted as a rasp or file. A fine polish was attained by patient
+friction with pumice-stone and cocoa-nut oil. The only other tools of the
+Fijian workman consisted of broken shells, the teeth of rats and fishes,
+or the sharp spines of the echini, set in hard wood. Yet with these rude
+implements these untutored savages (if so we should call them) produced
+forms so artistic, and carving so elaborate and graceful, as must excite
+the keen admiration of all lovers of art.
+
+But alas for the vulgarising influence of contact with white men! Already
+the majority of the islanders have sold their own admirable ornaments,
+and wear instead trashy English necklaces, with perhaps a circular tin
+looking-glass attached, or an old cotton-reel in the ear instead of a
+rudely carved ear-ring. In the more frequented districts this lamentable
+change thrusts itself more forcibly on the attention, as almost all
+the fine old clubs and beautifully carved spears have been bought up,
+and miserable sticks and nondescript articles—including old European
+battle-axes—take their place.
+
+Here in the mountains each company carried spears, clubs, or fans, all of
+which played their part in the various dances—most of which are so old,
+that the meaning of the songs and pantomime are alike forgotten by the
+actors. In one long piece of by-play all the men of the village appeared
+dressed alike, their heads being plastered with lime, looking just like
+powdered footmen (only that they were brown and naked to the waist).
+It was so very solemn that we thought some terrible tragedy was being
+recounted; but we were told it was only a story about an empty basket!
+
+In one very odd dance, a queer, fluttering creature, with a huge fan in
+each hand to represent wings, kept dancing round and round a covey of
+cowering children, whom he bowled over, two at a time. Then, as they lay
+prone, he fanned them to life again, and so drove them along to join the
+orchestra. This is supposed to be a bird of prey providing for her young,
+and of a species unknown in Fiji!
+
+Somewhat similar is a dance in which half the men are armed with spears,
+the other half carry large fans of palm-leaf, or of native cloth
+stretched on a wooden frame, and adorned with blue and white streamers.
+At the end of each movement every dancer holds his fan high above his
+head with simultaneous action, uttering a wild, high-pitched war-cry.
+After an intricate dance, in which extraordinary feats of agility are
+displayed, these two companies form into separate lines and have a sham
+fight. Again and again the whole regiment of spearmen fall flat on the
+ground, as if all slain simultaneously, and the others, bending over
+them, fan them assiduously till life is restored, and they once more
+spring to their feet. This is a particularly pretty dance: no carefully
+studied ballet could be more effective.
+
+Another, which is particularly characteristic, is a club-dance, in
+which half the men present are armed with war-clubs of very varied and
+curious forms, while the others carry long and beautifully carved spears.
+Sometimes each man carries a spear in one hand and a club in the other;
+and often, I regret to say, a number of common muskets replace the old
+clubs, and look strangely out of keeping with the barbaric surroundings.
+On festivals such as these, many of the clubs are as carefully decorated
+as their owners. Coloured strips of _pandanus_ leaf or fibre-plaiting
+are wound around them, adorned with fringe-like tufts; some are rather
+coarsely touched up with scarlet or blue paint, which happily soon rubs
+off. These war-parties always advance slowly, attitudinising and swinging
+from side to side. Gradually they become more animated, brandish their
+spears and clubs, go through all manner of evolutions, keeping such
+perfect time that each line of warriors seems to move like one man—every
+hand and foot moving in unison. The speed and action go on increasing
+till each individual dancer seems to be performing the closing movements
+of a Highland fling or a sailor’s hornpipe, but with far more varied
+postures. At some of the larger gatherings, from two to three hundred
+dancers will join in the _méké_, and as they are generally the picked men
+of the district, the scene is the more effective. In every dance there is
+a leader, who by word and example regulates the time for every change in
+the figures. This post of honour is often awarded to a very small boy,
+son of the chief; and you cannot think how pretty it is to see all these
+splendid fellows moving like clock-work in obedience to the slightest
+action of a tiny child, most quaintly dressed, and entering keenly into
+his duties. He begins in the most dramatic manner by delivering a shrill
+exhortation to his _corps de ballet_, and then leads them with perfect
+accuracy through every manœuvre of advance, retreat, &c., &c.
+
+Each district has certain dances peculiar to itself, and the people of
+one neither can nor will join in the _méké_ of another. Thus the people
+of aristocratic Bau positively sneered when asked whether they could not
+perform some of the dances of their neighbours at Rewa, which monopolises
+the most graceful _méké_ of all—namely, one which represents the breaking
+of the waves on a coral-reef—a poetic idea admirably rendered. Years ago
+I remember the delight with which we hailed an exquisite statuette in Sir
+Noel Paton’s studio, representing the curling of a wave, by a beautiful
+female figure, supposed to be floating thereon; but I never dreamt that
+we should find the same idea so perfectly carried out by a race whom we
+have been wont to think of only as ruthless savages.
+
+The idea to be conveyed is that of the tide gradually rising on the
+reef, till at length there remains only a little coral isle, round
+which the angry breakers rage, flinging their white foam on every
+side. At first the dancers form in long lines and approach silently,
+to represent the quiet advance of the waves. After a while the lines
+break up into smaller companies, which advance with outspread hands and
+bodies bent forward, to represent rippling wavelets, the tiniest waves
+being represented by children. Quicker and quicker they come on, now
+advancing, now retreating, yet, like true waves, steadily progressing,
+and gradually closing on every side of the imaginary islet, round which
+they play or battle, after the manner of breakers, springing high in
+mid-air, and flinging their arms far above their heads to represent the
+action of spray. As they leap and toss their heads, the soft white _masi_
+or native cloth (which for greater effect they wear as a turban with
+long streamers, and also wind round the waist, thence it floats in long
+scarf-like ends) trembles and flutters in the breeze. The whole effect
+is most artistic, and the orchestra do their part by imitating the roar
+of the surf on the reef—a sound which to them has been a never-ceasing
+lullaby from the hour of their birth.
+
+Another _méké_ peculiar to this district represents a flock of
+flying-foxes in act of robbing a garden of ripe bananas. Perhaps a
+couple of hundred foxes will assemble, to say nothing of a company of
+little foxes. A tree bearing the coveted fruit is fastened to a strong
+pole in the centre of the ground—and it says much for the native sense
+of humour that, instead of hanging up a bunch of real bananas, they
+must needs devise an artificial bunch, with a square gin-bottle filled
+with oil hanging from the tip, to represent the great purple blossom.
+In the first figure of the dance scouts are sent out to see that the
+coast is clear, and they flutter round the imaginary garden with
+outstretched arms, imitating the cry of the flying-fox. Soon the whole
+flock approach, chattering noisily over the prospects of the feast,
+circling and fluttering round and round after the manner of all bats.
+Then one proceeds to climb the tree, and hangs himself up by the legs,
+head downwards, with outstretched arms, flapping his wings and crying
+just like a flying-fox. A second soon follows, and disputes his position.
+They squeal, and scratch, and bite one another, and a battle of the bats
+ensues, in which the first-comer is routed. After a while some one shoots
+the intruder, who falls helplessly from the tree. All this time the
+rest of the flock have been dancing and fluttering around, the peculiar
+movements of bats being admirably rendered, even to the rushing sound of
+wings, which is given by a jerk of the body, which causes all the _liqus_
+to swing simultaneously; and these being made of dried leaves of the
+_pandanus_ or screw-pine, which are long and narrow as a grass, rustle
+on the slightest movement, and their combined noise produces a rushing
+sound, greatly resembling that of the black-winged army.
+
+As an illustration of a comic dance, I may mention a pantomime
+representing a pig-hunt. He is supposed to be concealed in the long
+grass, and the hunters, round whose necks hang large boars’ tusks, very
+suggestive of danger from such a hidden foe, advance cautiously in search
+of him. At last he is found, captured alive, and dragged in triumph to
+the village, amid the acclamations of the spectators.[24]
+
+But on this particular occasion the representations were chiefly of such
+real warfare as that in which the dancers had so often been engaged,—the
+stealthy advance of scouts—the surprise, skirmish, and victory—dancers
+gradually working themselves up to a pitch of wildest excitement, and
+breaking forth into ear-piercing yells, in which the spectators did their
+part. This, and the painting and blackening of the warriors, produced
+an effect so truly diabolic, that it was hard to realise its being only
+a game. The _méké_ had gone on for nearly seven hours, when darkness
+closing in, compelled the remaining towns to reserve their dances, and
+the presentation of their offerings, till the following morning.
+
+It occurred to us that there might very likely be some torchlight dancing
+in the village, so after supper we strolled thither, but scarcely saw a
+creature out of doors. But from within almost every house we passed came
+the voice of most fervent family prayer, telling how the household and
+their guests were closing that day of much excitement.
+
+A man has just come up from Nakorovatu with the horrible news that a
+boy was killed there this morning by a shark, at the very spot where
+we embarked yesterday. The brute caught him by the leg, tore off the
+calf, and broke the bone. The shore was lined with spectators, but they
+could not help, and by the time that some men contrived to drag away the
+poor fellow he was so terribly injured that he died almost immediately.
+Several of our men bathed there yesterday, and we also occasionally bathe
+in the river when we can find no pleasanter or more secluded stream. But
+this really is most alarming, for we certainly thought ourselves safe
+from sharks at this distance from the sea—fully thirty miles. Lower down
+the river they are a fully recognised danger, and a man was recently
+carried off while bathing at Nundiokar, one of the villages where we
+halted, a few days ago.
+
+There is a perfect crowd of interesting young couples just coming in
+to be married, so I must watch the proceedings. The brides appear shy,
+and the bridegrooms bashful. I am sorry to observe that some of the
+brides are both ugly and old! They do not wear such quantities of pretty
+white and brown cloth as the brides on the coast; in fact, they wear
+exceedingly little of anything. Perhaps they were too poor to buy a
+_trousseau_. Anyhow, this is rather a dingy lot of weddings. Now good
+night—Your loving sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+    CHRISTMAS IN GREAT FIJI—PIG FEASTS—WEDDINGS—FIJIAN
+    NAMES—CANNIBAL DAINTIES—CHRISTMAS CHIMES—SNEEZING—“OUR FATHER”
+    IN FIJIAN.
+
+
+    (From a native Fijian house at Nirukuruku, a moated town on the
+    banks of the Wai Nimala, one of the many heads of the great
+    river Rewa, the richest land in Viti Levu—_i.e._, Great Fiji.)
+
+    “And strangely fell our Christmas Eve.”
+
+                                                    _Christmas Day, 1875._
+
+DEAR NELL,—Do you remember the Christmas Eve at the Bridge of Allan, when
+we first quoted that line to one another? when we had seen the last of
+the dear old home, and the newly fallen snow lay on our father’s grave,
+and we two looked down past that unfamiliar spire to the cold white world
+beyond, and wondered what might lie before us in the untried future? I
+have had some strange Christmases since then, but this is the strangest
+of all, as you would say could you only suddenly look in upon us....
+
+Though the people are so very friendly, and in many respects very nice,
+still this is undoubted life among savages; and after a while there is
+considerable sameness in halting at one village after another, taking
+up our quarters in its best house, which invariably consists only of
+one large room, the lower half of which is generally full of natives
+all day. Most of them clear out at night; but generally at least once
+a-day—sometimes twice in one day—they bring us a feast, consisting
+of a pig roasted whole—a sucking-pig, or an old one, as the case may
+be—wrapped up in large plantain-leaves, many baskets of cooked yams
+and _taros_, and native puddings tied up in leaves. Boiled vegetables
+(sometimes fish and crawfish) are brought in and offered again in the
+evening.
+
+Besides the regular feasts provided by each village, many of the
+marriage-parties send in offerings of food, as the parson’s share of
+their feast, so we are in no danger of starving. Yet the people really
+are very poor, and, except on such festal occasions as these, live only
+on yams. But wherever we have halted—and sometimes several times in the
+course of a day—“a feast” has been brought for us,—a procession of women
+carrying baskets full of cooked vegetables, purple or white yams, _taro_,
+and sweet potatoes, fowls in cooking-pots, fish, crawfish, prawns, and
+native puddings made of banana, and grated cocoa-nut sweetened with
+sugar-cane, and served in a large banana-leaf. At some places large
+fresh-water mussels, greatly resembling those of our Scotch rivers, have
+been supplied, and proved excellent. When served at table they resemble
+poached eggs, and when their thick white skin is cut open they yield a
+delicacy suggestive rather of a French _cuisine_ than of a Fijian hut.
+Where these abound they form an important article of food, as is shown
+by the piles of purple-lined shells which lie thickly strewn round the
+villages, and which made me wonder whether the pearl-yielding mussel of
+our Scotch rivers might not be found equally useful as an addition to the
+limited bill of fare of our own poor.
+
+Beef and mutton are luxuries which have only been introduced by white
+men for their own use, and are probably not to be found anywhere save in
+Levuka, the capital of the isles. But pigs were imported at an earlier
+period, and quickly found such favour with the people that they now roam
+at large in every village, and a feast of roast pork is to a Fijian the
+very crown of bliss.
+
+The highest honour, therefore, that can be shown to any guest, is to
+present him with a pig, sometimes full grown, sometimes an interesting
+suckling, but in any case roasted whole, which is accomplished by filling
+him with red-hot stones, and baking him in a hole in the ground, lined
+with more hot stones and green leaves. Wrapped in this leafy covering,
+he is next placed on a carved wooden tray, and borne triumphantly to the
+house where the stranger is lodging, and there deposited, with all the
+other good things aforesaid, on the mats near the furthest door, which
+naturally suffer a good deal in consequence.
+
+The feast is then formally presented, and as formally accepted, with
+set speeches and measured hand-clapping. The pig is then cut up, and
+the feast duly apportioned among all present, this distribution being
+also made strictly according to rule; for in Fiji rigid etiquette rules
+every action of life, and the most trifling mistake in such matters would
+cause as great dissatisfaction as a breach in the order of precedence
+at a European ceremonial. To apportion the pig’s head to any save the
+principal person present would inevitably result in that person leaving
+the house in high dudgeon; and as chiefs of various villages may have
+arrived simultaneously to visit the new-comer, it is sometimes an
+embarrassing question how to satisfy the dignity of all. Happily in
+our case the feasts are generally divided by Johnny, the head boatman,
+who, being himself a chief of this district, is well informed on all
+such matters. We are amusingly reminded of his nobility by hearing the
+clapping of hands, with which an admiring circle invariably proclaim the
+close of his meals.
+
+To-day, in honour of Christmas, this oft-recurring pig festival has been
+thrice repeated, and you can fancy how saturated with grease are the
+unfortunate mats near the door! I have induced the owner of the wooden
+tray which did duty both on this day and on Christmas Eve, to sell it to
+me, and shall take it away as an interesting memorial of the strangest
+Christmas dinner which has yet fallen to my share.
+
+We had also a novel Christmas Eve, marked not by the bringing in of a
+cheery Yule log, but by multitudinous marriages; for one result of the
+murrain of measles which desolated the isles a few months ago is that
+a matrimonial fever has set in. The widows and widowers, instructed by
+their chiefs, have interpreted some expressions of the great white chief
+as a recommendation to seek mutual consolation, and the infection spreads
+among all classes of the community, old and young. So it happened that
+on reaching this place, Nirukuruku, three days ago, we found no less
+than forty couples, belonging to this and the neighbouring villages, all
+waiting to be married on the arrival of the missionary, preferring his
+good offices to those of Aquilla, the native minister, just as a damsel
+nearer home might deem the knot more satisfactorily tied by her bishop
+than by the village curate. I cannot say, however, that these weddings
+gained much in pomp of ceremonial by the arrival of the great man; for,
+knowing the amount of inquiry involved by each marriage, and how very
+slow a process this might prove, it was deemed necessary to begin at
+once, so as to dispose of as many as possible without loss of time.
+
+All belonging to the village were therefore invited to present themselves
+as soon as possible; so, just as we had finished supper (sitting on our
+mats, and by the light of one dim candle, in a lantern) all the couples
+arrived. Being dark, and the call so sudden, few of the women had thought
+it necessary to put on the short low-bodied article which acts the part
+of jacket, but were dressed just like the men, with only a short white
+kilt (_sulu_ they call it); and very difficult it was, in the dim light,
+to tell which were which, and to get them rightly paired, and arranged
+along one side of the room; for, as a matter of course, the bashful
+couple arrive and depart separately, and would rather place themselves
+beside any one in the room than their own intended! Altogether, it was a
+very curious scene.
+
+Near us sat the native minister’s wife and family, diligently sewing
+Christmas raiment, by the light of a wick and oil in an old sardine-box,
+with the coaxiest of large-eyed brown babies looking on admiringly.
+Beyond, a group of brown boatmen lay round the fire, which, as usual,
+blazed in a sunken corner of the floor—no chimney of course. Some houses
+have several such fireplaces, merely enclosed by logs of cocoa-palm; and
+it certainly is a marvel that fires are not more frequent, especially as
+the candles, which are only bits of blazing bamboo, are carried about in
+the most careless way over the mats; and these are laid over a deep layer
+of soft dry grass.
+
+When inquiry as to statistics began, it was found that a considerable
+number of the couples were old hands—that is to say, they were recent
+converts, who, having renounced polygamy, were about to settle down in
+sober double harness, instead of the four-in-hand (at the very least) of
+previous matrimonial arrangements. The age and extreme ugliness of some
+of these brides suggested great constancy in their lords, and greater
+attractions in the ladies than mere personal beauty. The discarded wives
+invariably seem in great demand, as under the old system of polygamy a
+large proportion of the men were doomed to involuntary celibacy; the
+emancipated women have therefore no difficulty in selecting new homes,
+wherein they may hold undivided sway—an honour which may perhaps scarcely
+prove a source of unmingled satisfaction, considering the amount of hard
+work which falls to the lot of a Fijian wife, in fishing, and other
+necessary labour, which the lords of creation prefer generally to do by
+deputy, though he is accounted a sorry idler who sends his wife to dig in
+the distant yam-garden. The position of women in these isles has hitherto
+been as low, and their lot as hard, as in most other uncivilised lands;
+but Christian teachers are now doing their utmost to raise them in the
+social scale, and with considerable success—their bright intelligent
+faces telling, in many instances, how readily they will do their own
+share in improving their condition when once such a possibility has
+dawned on their minds.
+
+Some of the brides and bridegrooms retained their old original names,
+which, literally translated, are characteristic; those of the women
+being such as Spray of the Coral-reef, Queen of Parrot’s Land, Queen of
+Strangers, Smooth Water, Wife of the Morning Star, Paradise, Mother of
+her Grandchildren, Ten Whale’s Teeth (_i.e._, very precious).
+
+Some were cruelly ill named from their birth. To any one who has
+suffered from the sting of a Fijian nettle such a name as Lady Nettle
+seems rather a cruel one to bestow on a little innocent. Nor can
+Waning Moon, Drinker of Blood, or Mother of Cockroaches be considered
+flattering, though Mother of Pigeons sounds more kindly. Earthen Vessel
+is more complimentary than might at first sight appear, when we consider
+the preciousness of the water therein stored; while Waited for, Smooth
+Water, Sacred Cavern, One who Quiets, are all more or less pleasant.
+
+The men’s names are equally fanciful. Such are The Stone God, Great
+Shark, Bad Earth, Bad Stranger, New Child, More Dead Man’s Flesh, Abode
+of Treachery, Not Quite Cooked, Die out of Doors, Empty, Fire in the
+Bush, Spark of Fire, Day, Night, The Great Fowl, Quick as Lightning,
+Laggard, Imp, Eats like a God, King of Gluttony, Ill Cooked, Dead Man,
+Revenge, Carpenter,—and so _ad infinitum_.
+
+Where Christian names have been adopted at baptism they are almost
+invariably Scriptural names Fijianised, I had almost said Italianised.
+Such are _Taivita_ for David, Lydiana or Litia for Lydia, Mirama for
+Miriam, Nabooco for Nebuchadnezzar, Setavenie for Stephen, Zacheusa,
+Bartolomeo, Luki, Joeli, Amosi, Clementi, Solomoni, Jacopi, Josephi,
+Isaia, and Epeli, the latter representing Abel. In short, in any
+large assemblage you could scarcely fail to find namesakes of all the
+patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, with their mothers and wives,
+the Scriptures having been ransacked from beginning to end to afford
+sufficient variety. Some few modern names are heard, such as Alisi and
+Arietta, and occasionally the surname of some revered white man has been
+adopted, the prefix of Mr being especially insisted on!
+
+The preliminary inquiries respecting the happy couples, and the
+difficulty of ascertaining whether parents and guardians had, in some
+cases, given the necessary consent, took up so much time, that at last,
+wearied with the day’s journey, I could stand it no longer, but crept
+inside my tent (the old green plaid which has been the faithful companion
+of so many wanderings), and fell asleep to the sound of the old story,
+“Till death us do part,” oft repeated in Fijian tongue.
+
+The giving of a ring forms no part of the wedding service—indeed in this
+land of few personal ornaments even a tortoise-shell ring is a rare
+treasure. Plain circles cut out of pearly shell form bracelets for men,
+and equally common is a circle cut from a cocoa-nut and polished. The men
+also have a monopoly of the necklaces made of large whale’s teeth, and
+handsome breast-plates of pearl-shell and ivory, beautifully inlaid and
+polished; also of the large curly boar’s tusks, which form so becoming a
+neck-ornament.
+
+The feminine jewel-case is far more limited. It probably consists of one
+pink shell, tied on with a plait of sinnet, and English beads (only very
+tiny beads, which can be plaited into the finest patterns, find favour
+here). Sometimes a piece of carved whale’s tooth is worn as an ear-ring,
+or a string of dog’s teeth as a necklace,—and this pretty nearly exhausts
+the catalogue.
+
+Nor was the amount of raiment worn in heathen days oppressive. A thick
+fringe of coloured grass, or hybiscus fibre, from three to four inches in
+length, was the full dress of a young lady in the mountains,—indeed is
+so to this day among the tribes who have not yet adopted Christianity,
+or who, since the scourge of measles, have returned to heathenism. Most
+Christians, men and women alike, now wear a cloth reaching from the waist
+to the knee, and over this such decoration as fancy prompts—whether gay
+fringe of coloured grass, delicate creeping ferns, or bright golden
+croton-leaves, cunningly fastened so as to overlap one another, and form
+a close short petticoat,—and a very becoming dress it is, especially when
+worn by a group of pretty girls, perhaps standing beneath the shadow of
+a plantain-tree, or holding one of its broad leaves above their heads,
+to shield them from the burning rays of the sun, the rich tones of their
+brown figures standing out in strong relief against the vivid blue of the
+sky.
+
+How long the wedding ceremonials were protracted I cannot say, but when
+I awoke the following morning I learnt that nineteen more couples were
+waiting their turn; and again the slow process of inquiries had to be
+gone through, which occupied three hours. At eleven we started in the
+canoe, and floated down the river to Nivotheene, a very pretty moated
+village, tastefully laid out, with neat paths. It is a new village built
+on an old site, the young chief and his people of the Nathau tribe having
+returned to heathenism during the wars, when their old town was burnt by
+Thakombau’s people, since which time they have lived twelve miles farther
+up the river for security. Now they have again embraced the _lotu_, and
+come down from the mountains. But the tribe with whom we are now staying
+(at Nirukuruku) were formerly their bitter foes, and the under-current of
+distrust is still strong; and from various indications, both Mr and Mrs
+Langham feel so far suspicious of possible danger that they have yielded
+to the strongly urged advice of the native minister, and have decided
+to give up our visit to the inland town, as being unsafe. It would be
+foolish to get clubbed in a savage fray. It was at no great distance
+from this place that the Rev. Thomas Baker and seven Christian natives
+were treacherously murdered by the heathen tribe of Na-vosa in the year
+1867 (only eight years ago). They were all eaten. It is worthy of note
+that at least half-a-dozen different villages have pretended to be in
+possession of Mr Baker’s head—a case of multiplication of relics worthy
+of medieval days. The moat and ditch which enclose Nivotheene and so
+many other villages tell of the state of terrible insecurity of life and
+property in which these tribes have hitherto lived, but which, we would
+fain hope, has now become a story of the past.
+
+We lunched under a group of lovely trees, veiled with long trails of
+creepers, falling some thirty feet in wreaths of tender green, through
+which we looked down on the clear beautiful river, and to the mountains
+beyond. Afterwards we adjourned to the house of the young chief, and made
+friends with his pretty wife, whose bright intelligent smile almost made
+us forget the hideous fact that lines and curves of dark blue tattooing
+did their utmost to destroy the beauty of her mouth. In some districts
+this disfiguring honour is the portion of every married woman; in others
+it is reserved for mothers. There is also some tattooing of the body; but
+this, even in heathen undress, is invariably covered by the short _liku_,
+the four-inch deep fringe—and of course Christian usage discourages such
+painful adornment, which in the Fijian group has been always considered
+exclusively feminine. In the Tongan group, on the contrary, only the men
+indulge in it.
+
+As soon as our arrival became known, the villagers crowded in to inspect
+us, and to exchange sundry necklaces of whales’ teeth and carved wooden
+bowls for fathoms of cloth and much-coveted big knives. I bought from the
+villanous-looking old priest a couple of large wooden spoons, or scoops,
+made purposely for human broth; and we also got sundry cannibal forks,
+of carved wood, with four long prongs, which were used exclusively for
+human flesh, this being the only meat which might not be touched with the
+fingers, because it was supposed to produce a skin disease.
+
+Wishing to ascertain the truth of an assertion sometimes made, to the
+effect that women were not allowed to share in these cannibal feasts,
+we asked the young chief whether it was so. He denied it emphatically,
+adding, “I’d like to see the woman who would not eat her full share!” We
+then asked whether the manner of preparing human flesh was not different
+from that in which pork, for instance, was cooked. He misunderstood the
+question, and answered, “Oh! there’s no comparison between them—human
+flesh is so much the best!” Doubtless he has had good experience, having
+from his childhood been engaged in tribal wars, which afforded a rarely
+failing supply of dead foes. On every side of us fierce battles have been
+fought; and on a hill at the head of the valley stands Balavu, “the long
+town,” which, in 1871, was surprised by neighbouring tribes, who therein
+_slew and ate_ 260 persons! When they had finished eating them all they
+proceeded to eat the pigs!
+
+No less than three of our boatmen have lost their parents in these wars,
+and pointed out to us the spots where they had respectively been clubbed;
+one also pointed out the grave beside which (only two or three years ago)
+he had watched for ten nights and days, to be sure that his father’s body
+was not dug up and eaten. Even then it was scarcely secure, as bodies
+have been dug up after twelve days, at which stage (in the tropics!),
+as they could not be lifted whole, they were made into puddings! One
+favourite phase of cold-blooded revenge and insult was to collect the
+bones of bodies thus eaten and reduce them to powder. Then, when peace
+was restored, and the tribes next feasted together, this nice ingredient
+was added to some favourite pudding. Afterwards, should war again
+break out, it was the height of triumph to taunt the late guests with
+having eaten the dishonoured bones of their kindred. Yet the people who
+could plan and execute such deeds as these were so punctilious in some
+respects that it would have been considered the grossest breach of Fijian
+etiquette to take an enemy unawares: even in the case of a besieged town,
+formal notice must be sent to the foe that an assault was about to be
+made; it might then be delayed for many days, but the intimation must be
+sent, that the foe might be on their guard. Nevertheless tales of gross
+treachery prove that this chivalrous law was not always carried out.
+
+Another hideous act of revenge—one among many—was perpetrated near this
+spot. A chief had one daughter, of rare beauty, whom he loved dearly. The
+foes who could not conquer him in battle contrived to waylay her, as she
+came down to the river to fish. They carried her back to their village in
+the mountains, and there made a great feast of her dainty flesh, giving
+part of it to the pigs, as the grossest insult they could invent. Then
+her bones were scattered before the doors of the houses, that all comers
+might constantly walk over them and spit upon them.
+
+Is it not hard to realise that such deeds as these can so recently have
+been committed by the gentle friendly people among whom we now travel so
+safely, and whose child-like earnestness and devotion to the new religion
+of peace and love is so striking?
+
+Nothing is to me more difficult than to reconcile this mixture of
+utter heartlessness and indifference to the anguish of others, with
+the high-bred refined courtesy which seems so perfectly natural, not
+only to the chiefs, but to all these people. I can only account for it
+by considering how many British children have delighted in pulling off
+flies’ legs and wings, who, nevertheless, when they attained years of
+discretion, have turned out excellent members of the Humane Society. But
+then these people have always hitherto possessed both characteristics
+simultaneously, and it is only since they have become Christian that they
+have ceased to be cruel.
+
+Horrible as these stories are, they are mere trifles compared with many
+which are known to be facts, but which are utterly tales of the past
+wherever the _lotu_ has spread. I am sure that in all England you have
+had no congregation more devout than that which assembled here at dawn
+this morning.
+
+We returned from Nivotheene late yesterday evening in a drizzling rain,
+and found a great company waiting to present a roast pig in a large
+wooden dish; and another party had brought us puddings all the way from
+Nundiokar. So we spent Christmas Eve feasting!
+
+This morning—Christmas Day—the village was early astir, and soon after
+six the beating of the _lalis_ summoned us to morning service. The
+_lalis_ are the Fijian substitute for bells: a solid block of wood, six
+or eight feet in length, is hollowed out, like a canoe, and when struck
+with two sticks produces a deep reverberating tone, which is heard at an
+immense distance. Most villages have two of these lying side by side, and
+when struck by skilful players they are capable of producing an immense
+variety of notes. So you see we had Christmas chimes even in Fiji.
+
+The church was large, but not large enough for the congregation and the
+doors were, as usual in this district, so low that I had to stoop double
+to enter. With no window overhead the atmosphere may be imagined, though
+something has been done in the way of a simple system of ventilation, by
+passing a number of hollow bamboos through the roof, of course at such
+an angle as not to let rain enter. Unfortunately the whole congregation
+seemed afflicted with severe coughs and colds, and as yet it has not
+occurred to any charitable people at home to send out a shipload of
+pocket-handkerchiefs for the poor Fijians. I heartily wished on this
+occasion that some one had done so.
+
+In these mountain districts the intense heat of the day is often
+succeeded at night by the rising of a dense mist, which lies in the
+valleys like a quiet lake, and steals into the houses, chilling the
+sleepers, few of whom own any warm covering to counteract the sudden
+change of temperature, which, consequently, is very trying indeed; and
+coughs and snuffles are almost as common as in a British community.
+
+I observe that the act of sneezing here, as in most other lands, calls
+forth a kindly greeting. Here the familiar “Viva,” or “Bless you,” takes
+the form of _Mbula!_ “May you live!” or “Health to you!” to which the
+sneezer replies, _Mole_, “Thanks;” in former days custom required him to
+add, “May you club some one!” or “May your wife have twins!”[25]
+
+The ideas of distance, as described in miles, is vague indeed. Hearing
+of a native service to be held in a neighbouring valley, said to be only
+about two miles above the village where we had halted on the previous
+day, Mr Langham started after breakfast, intending to preach there.
+Knowing the valley to be of exceeding beauty, I purposed accompanying
+him, but some hints of the difficulty of the path happily made me change
+my purpose; knowing full well the extreme fatigue of even a short walk on
+these steep hill-paths, slipping and sliding in deep clay, a task not to
+be lightly undertaken beneath a burning noonday sun. It was evening ere
+the walkers returned, having never reached the village at all; for when,
+after two hours of hard exercise, crossing the stream thirteen times,
+and following a path so steep that it was suggestive of climbing up and
+down a well-soaped wall, they were told that they were about half-way,
+they deemed it well to give up the attempt, and so called a halt, resting
+awhile at a deserted village ere retracing the difficult way.
+
+From the hints Mr L. had received from some of the people, he deemed it
+advisable to carry a good revolver; for he mistrusted the young chief,
+and was rather startled when the latter was suddenly joined by four men
+carrying loaded muskets, and one with a heavy club, which seemed an
+unnecessary adjunct to attending a peaceful Christmas service. Whether
+there might have been real danger had they proceeded, it is impossible to
+say. As it was, no harm befell.
+
+In the course of the walk Mr Langham discovered that food was very scarce
+with these people, and that our friends of yesterday were sorely put
+to it for a Christmas dinner. Great was their satisfaction on being
+invited to send a canoe to bring back a share of what had been presented
+to our party; some of whom, however, could ill conceal their disgust at
+being called upon to resign so delicious a morsel as roast pig, to these
+hereditary foes. The practical working of the Christmas message of peace
+on earth and goodwill towards men, as exemplified by the privilege of
+feeding a hungering enemy, was one which they could not realise quite
+so quickly. Thus ends our Christmas Day in the heart of Viti Levu. And
+now it is high time to creep into my green plaid tent and sleep—so good
+night, and many a merry Christmas to you all!
+
+This house is beautifully clean, and wonderfully comfortable considering
+all things. It is the home of Aquilla, the native minister, who has
+a very nice neat wife, and four pretty little girls, including the
+nicest baby I have seen in Fiji. This afternoon little Mary was my sole
+companion on a long walk over steep hills, following a narrow path
+through the tall reeds, till we came to the place of graves (_ai mbulu
+mbulu_). We found a flat hill-top cleared, with the graves in the centre,
+overshadowed by one noble old tree. The view was magnificent. The Fijians
+invariably select a beautiful spot wherein to lay their dead, and also
+one difficult of access, and well concealed, pointing to the hideous
+dangers of cannibal days.
+
+I daresay you wonder if my dreams are not haunted by all the horrible
+stories I hear of those old days. Happily they are not; indeed the
+only thought that abides in my mind is of thankful wonder at a change
+which seems almost miraculous, so gentle and courteous are these people
+who, the last thing at night, and the first thing in the morning, slip
+quietly into the house, and kneel reverently while prayers are offered,
+invariably ending with the familiar blessing, which now falls on my ear
+as naturally as if uttered in our mother tongue:—
+
+“A loloma ni noda Turaga ko Jisu Karisito, kei na loloma ni Kalou ko
+Tamada, kei na veilomani ni Yalo Tabu me tiko vei keda kieega ogo ka tawa
+mudu. Emeni.”
+
+“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
+fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.”
+
+You must not forget to sound an _n_ before the letters _d_, _g_, and
+_q_, and an _m_ before _b_—thus: no_n_da—Tura_n_ga—Tama_n_da—Yalo
+Ta_m_bu—ke_n_da—o_n_go—mu_n_du.
+
+Now once more good night, and peaceful be your slumbers.
+
+_P.S._—In case you wish, to say the Lord’s Prayer in Fijian, here it is:—
+
+    “Our Father.
+
+    “Tama i keimami mai loma lagi, me vakavokovoko taki na yacamu,
+    me yaco mai na nomu lewa, me caka na nomu veitalia e vura vura
+    me vaka mai loma lagi. Solia mai vei keimami e na siga ogo
+    nakakana e yaga vei keimami.
+
+    “Kakua ni cudru vei keimami e na vuku ni neimami vala vala ca
+    me vaka keimami sa sega ni cudru vei ira sa vala vala ca vei
+    keimami.
+
+    “Kakua ni kauti keimami ki na vere, ia mai na ca ga mo ni
+    vaka bulai keimami; ni sa nomu na lewa kei na kaukauwa kei na
+    vakarokoroko e sega ni oti. Emeni.”
+
+The foregoing version of the Lord’s Prayer is that in general use. The
+version used by the Lotu Katolika—_i.e._, the Roman Catholic Church—is as
+follows:—
+
+    “Tama i keimami, ni sa tiko mai loma lagi, me tabu raki na yaca
+    muni; me yaco mai na nomuni lewa; me ia na loma muni e vura
+    vura me vaka mai loma lagi.
+
+    “Ni solia mai kivei keimami edai dai na keimani kakana ni vei
+    siga; mo ni vaka le cale cava mai na neimamii vala vala ca me
+    vaka keimami sa vaka le cale cava na nodra ko ira e rai vala
+    vala ei kivei keimami; ni kakua ni laivi keimami e nai vaka
+    caba caba; mo ni vaka bulai keimami mai na ca. Amene.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+    QUITE ALONE IN A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE—RETURN TO REWA—BASALTIC
+    PILLARS—REWA POTTERY—BAU—NEW YEAR’S EVE—KING THAKOMBAU AS AN
+    ELDER OF THE WESLEYAN CHURCH—PRE-CHRISTIAN TIMES.
+
+
+                                           NAKAMEROUSI, _Monday, Dec. 27_.
+
+DEAREST NELL,—I must begin a letter to you to-night, for the strangeness
+of the situation exceeds any I have yet happened on. I have left the
+Langhams at Nirukuruku, and am here quite by myself, very much at home in
+a Fijian hut, and surrounded by natives, most of whom were, till within
+the last two years, uncompromising cannibals, and who, moreover, have
+never before beheld the face of a white woman!
+
+The way it came about was this. When we were going up the river in hot
+haste, and with no time to loiter by the way, the village of Nakamerousi
+had attracted my especial admiration. It is perched on a steep bank,
+and looks right along a broad reach of the river to a beautiful
+mountain-range. Being anxious to secure a sketch from that point, it was
+agreed that I should take advantage of the return thither of Reuben,
+the native teacher, who, with the help of Joshua, one of the boatmen,
+accordingly paddled me down in a small canoe. Great was the astonishment
+of the villagers, and still greater that of Reuben’s exceedingly fat
+wife, in whose house I am spending the night. We made great friends,
+though I could hardly utter a word of Fijian, and probably few of those
+around me had ever heard a word of English.
+
+As seen from outside, this house promised well, but on entering I
+perceived that the first effort of civilisation had not improved the
+ordinary home. For the teachers have been encouraged to show the
+advantages of a separate sleeping-room, by having a third of the house
+screened off with a reed partition, but so little do they appreciate the
+innovation that they generally convert the inner room into a store-room
+for yams or lumber. So it is in this case. However, the kind fat old lady
+resigned the post of honour for my benefit, and here I have hung up my
+plaid-curtain and mosquito-net, thereby greatly interesting a crowd of
+spectators, who had previously watched the wonderful process of consuming
+chocolate and biscuits. One kind woman has brought water in a bamboo, and
+therewith filled my big brass basin (the old companion of my happy tent
+life in the Himalayas).
+
+Now a party of laughing brown children are holding up small torches of
+blazing bamboo, by the light of which I am writing; but the illumination
+seems to me so likely to end in a general blaze that I will not be
+responsible for it. And so good night. The girls are greatly delighted
+with my hair-brushes, especially my tooth-brush. I shall have to keep
+jealous guard lest they experiment with it! They themselves use wooden
+combs, sometimes ornamented with coloured string and beads.
+
+Really these falling sparks are too dangerous. Good night again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                 NAVOUNINDRALA, _Dec. 28_.
+
+Here we are back at the junction of the two streams, on which we have
+spent so strangely interesting a fortnight. Our voyage in the canoe is
+over, and we are once more on the main stream, at the point where we left
+the boat.
+
+I began this letter to you at beautiful Nakamerousi. As soon as possible
+I disappeared within my shawl-tent, and then commenced the family supper,
+followed by much smoking, in which the young ladies joined freely. At
+last I could stand it no longer, and begged them to desist, which they
+did forthwith with the utmost courtesy. A few minutes later all present
+joined in family prayers, then the house was cleared, and only Mrs Reuben
+and her small boys remained with me.
+
+On the following morning I with much difficulty escaped from the
+infliction of a great feast which the kind villagers had prepared for me,
+by contriving to make them understand that they should reserve it for
+the mission party. The mountains were magnificently clear, and I secured
+a satisfactory sketch ere the rest of the party arrived. Of course the
+people crowded round to inspect this new and extraordinary method of
+_writing the mountains_ in many colours; but they were most courteous
+and quiet, and as usual my only cause of complaint was their vile habit
+of incessantly spitting. From the first day that I commenced sketching
+in Fiji I discovered that here, as with most other semi-civilised races,
+white as well as coloured, the first sentence it was necessary to learn
+was a request to abstain from this noxious practice in my immediate
+neighbourhood!
+
+Now we are back in Ratu Richard’s nice tidy house, which to-day is like a
+botanical show; for on the way up I gave some children small silver coins
+for bringing me fronds of a lovely fern with ripe seed (which I enclose
+for Eisa), and also for other curious plants; so the whole population
+have been ransacking the bush, and have brought us many rare flowers. I
+never before saw so many in Fiji. But I fear the poor people are sorely
+disappointed that I do not want to buy them all. I have, however, just
+bought a very fine necklace of whale’s teeth, which I hope to show you
+some day. What a sensation it would make at a Northern Meeting Ball!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    BAU, _New Year’s Eve_.
+
+Nothing special occurred on our return journey. We called at the houses
+of several white men, and received most cordial welcome, and many cups of
+tea with milk, which after our long abstinence seemed true nectar. How
+strange it did seem once more to sit on chairs and at tables! I fear I
+rather regret giving up mat-life!
+
+We spent a pleasant day at Rewa with Mr and Mrs Webb, exchanging the news
+of the mountains for that of the great outer world, and did not we enjoy
+a civilised breakfast!
+
+Rewa is a large village of the invariable thatched houses, with an
+unusually fine thatched church, round which have been set up a series
+of rude stone pillars, some pentagonal,—which are supposed to have been
+brought from the basaltic cliffs at Khandavu, the outermost isle of the
+group. I noted a similar pillar among the ruins of the heathen temple
+at Bau; and here, at Rewa, Mr Webb has happily replaced several which
+formerly surrounded a large barrow where three chiefs are buried, and
+which some ruthless hand had overthrown. Mr Webb kindly took me all over
+the place, and showed me every point of interest.
+
+The town of Rewa consists of a cluster of villages, inhabited by various
+divisions of tribes, all subject to a central power. Each village
+is embosomed in luxuriant gardens of broad-leaved banana and tall
+sugar-cane, and we passed from one to another by tidy paths, bordered
+with ornamental shrubs, denoting unusual care.
+
+Here, as in our own land, the fisher town stands quite apart from the
+homes of the agricultural population, and intermarriage is equally rare.
+Thither we wended our way, in search of the curious pottery made by the
+very low caste women of the fisher tribe. We had not the luck to catch
+the potters at work, but from each little cottage specimens were brought
+to us, very varied in form, and of a greenish-red earthenware, glazed.
+Many of the forms are most artistic, the commonest consisting of a
+cluster of vases resembling a bunch of oranges, sometimes as many as six,
+all joined together by one handle. I grieve that their extreme fragility
+should allow so small a chance of many specimens reaching England in
+safety. However, I have ordered a good many to be made. I had the good
+fortune to secure several really old pieces in the mountains—finely
+shaped bowls and water-jars—and these have travelled so far without
+damage.
+
+[Illustration: ISLES OF OVALAU, MOTURIKI, BAU AND VIWA, FROM VITI LEVU.
+
+_p. 111._]
+
+In the afternoon we continued our voyage down one of the many branches
+into which the river here divides, entering the sea by many mouths, which
+are in fact salt-water creeks, winding through the dense mangrove-forest.
+We called at Navouloa, the training college for native students, now in
+charge of Mr Waterhouse.
+
+Thence a few hours’ sail brought us here to Bau, the native capital. It
+is a tiny island, lying close to the great isle of Viti Levu, with which
+indeed it is connected by a low neck of land, which is fordable at low
+tide. Small as it is, it holds a very important place in the estimation
+of a Fijian, being the home of the great chief Thakombau and all his
+family, and of nobles before whom the tribes of other districts bow in
+humblest deference, and to whom they grant special privileges. Its chief
+takes precedence of all other chiefs; and the mere fact of belonging to
+Bau gives a man a definite position. Moreover, the language of Bau is to
+the isles of Fiji as the Latin tongue is to the civilised world—the one
+language which all are bound to understand, however different may be that
+of each country.
+
+The town has great historic interest, but what with the ravages of
+fire and the pulling down of all the old temples (whose high-pitched
+roofs formerly gave some character to the town), it now possesses no
+architectural features whatever—the house of Thakombau, the ex-king (or,
+as he prefers to be called by his hereditary title, the Vuni Valu, or
+Root of War), being as simple a thatched cottage as any other round the
+beach. So this regal town consists only of a cluster of cottages on the
+water-level, overshadowed by several large trees. Each member of the
+royal family has his or her own house. There is the king’s house and the
+queen’s house, the king’s kitchen (which I think is rather larger than
+either), and the homes of their sons.
+
+The mission-station at Bau occupies the flat summit of the green hill
+which composes the island, and is a good illustration of how differently
+men estimate things. According to our views it is by far the best site on
+the island, but the missionaries were only allowed to build there because
+no native cared to leave the water-level, and the summit of the hillock
+was the receptacle for all the rubbish and filth of the town, and was,
+consequently, so undesirable a place of residence, that only the policy
+of securing a footing in the actual capital induced the mission to accept
+this site. But it was Hobson’s choice,—that or none.
+
+It must have been indeed a hateful home in those days, when you could not
+look down from the windows to the town below without witnessing scenes
+of unspeakable horror, the very thought of which is appalling; when the
+soil was saturated with blood, and the ovens were never cool, by reason
+of the multitude of human victims continually brought to replenish them.
+
+Now the site of the ovens is marked only by greener grass; but an old
+tree close by is covered, branch and stem, with notches, each one of
+which is the record of some poor wretch whose skull was dashed against a
+stone at the temple, the foundations of which are still to be seen a few
+steps further on. The tree is the sole survivor of a sacred grove, which,
+like that at Rewa, was cut down on account of the superstitious reverence
+in which it was held, and the dark memories attaching to it. Beside it
+is the well, where the bodies were brought to be washed, just below the
+mission wicket.
+
+Here, too, are the great wooden drums, which in those evil days only
+sounded a doom of death, or summoned the people to some scene of horrible
+revelry, but which now beat only to call them to Christian worship, or to
+summon them to school; and near the drums and the ovens the walls of a
+stone church are slowly rising.
+
+Very different, too, is the scene on the hill-top, where roses and
+jessamines now perfume the air around a pleasant home—while on one side
+cluster the mission buildings, where the students are fed and taught; and
+beautiful is the panorama of sea and isles which lies outstretched on two
+sides of the horizon, while on the other lie the near shores and distant
+mountains of Viti Levu.
+
+Great was the excitement of the juvenile population of this tiny isle
+when we arrived late last night, and each little urchin was trusted to
+carry some of our quaint treasures up the hill, and deposit them in the
+verandah, which really looked very much like a timber-yard when we looked
+out next morning! Such an _omnium gatherum_ of wooden pillows and clubs,
+spears and bowls, wooden trays and sticks, to say nothing of sundry
+pieces of pottery, and a pile of savage finery!
+
+The first to welcome us on landing was the native minister, Joeli Mbulu,
+a fine old Tongan chief. His features are beautiful, his colour clear
+olive, and he has grey hair and a long silky grey beard. He is just my
+ideal of what Abraham must have been, and would be worth a fortune to an
+artist as a patriarchal study.
+
+All the people are preparing for their New Year feast to-morrow, and
+have been all day coming up in crowds to consult Mrs Langham about their
+clothes and other matters.
+
+10 P.M.—I must write a few words just to prove that I am thinking of you
+all on this last night of the old year. _You_ are just about finishing
+breakfast. _We_ are just starting for the midnight service, which on this
+night (Watch-night the Wesleyans call it) is held in every church all
+over these isles. I shall wish you a glad New Year at the right moment.
+
+_First Sunday in 1876._—I left off to go to the midnight service. It
+was a very impressive scene, though the church having recently been
+blown down in a hurricane, and the large house for strangers which was
+next used having been burnt in a recent fire and the new one not being
+finished, the congregation have to meet in two smaller buildings.
+
+Churches here are just like the houses on a very large scale. They are on
+a raised foundation of stones for drainage, and are all built of trees
+and reeds, with high roof, thatched, and walls thickly coated outside
+with dry leaves. Of course they burn very readily. The pillars and
+rafters are often decorated with beautiful patterns in sinnet-work—that
+is, coloured string made of cocoa-nut fibre woven into elaborate patterns.
+
+On New Year’s Eve the churches are beautifully decorated with green
+leaves; and exquisitely made wreaths and necklaces of berries,
+alternating with bunches of tiny leaves and flowers, hang all about the
+lamps. They are very pretty, but of oppressive scent. At the midnight
+service two of the native teachers gave short addresses, and as the clock
+struck twelve there was a short interval for silent prayer. Then the Vuni
+Valu, the fine old ex-king, prayed, as a beginning of the New Year. They
+tell me his prayers are generally very striking and very touching.
+
+After service we all stood for a while in the bright starlight,
+exchanging New Year greetings, while the children indulged in noisily
+beating the _lalis_, the big wooden drums, and (alas for British
+importations!) rattling old tin cases! and so making night hideous. This
+New Year festival is an anniversary of purely English origin, the native
+method of marking seasons being simply by the yam crops.
+
+Thakombau is a very fine old man, stately and chief-like in his bearing,
+and with clear, penetrating eyes. It certainly was strange to hear
+the first words of prayer uttered in the New Year flowing from _his_
+lips, concerning whose youth and manhood we had heard such appalling
+tales—tales, moreover, which we knew to be undoubtedly true, beginning
+with that early feat of his childhood, when at the tender age of six,
+the young Seru, as he was then called, clubbed his first victim, a boy
+somewhat his senior.
+
+The first fifty years of his life were passed in wars and fightings, and
+disgraced by unspeakable barbarities, including the strangling of his
+father’s five wives, after the death of that old miscreant. But while
+still a determined heathen, he was not altogether unfriendly to the
+missionaries, whose remonstrances he would often endure, while rejecting
+their counsels. Their teaching was strongly supported by his wife, Andi
+Lytia, and his daughter Andi Arietta Kuilla (Lady Harriet Flag). The
+latter is a woman of masculine intellect, who rules her own district
+splendidly, and is the king’s best adviser. Like many another, however,
+Thakombau turned a deaf ear to all their arguments so long as his way was
+prosperous. It was not till 1854, when one tribe after another had thrown
+off his yoke, and his fame as a warrior was dimmed, that he began to lose
+faith in his own gods, and to listen with a more favourable ear to the
+counsels of the Christian King George of Tonga, who sent him a letter
+urging him also to become a worshipper of the Saviour.
+
+Like King David of old, in his heaviness of heart he thought upon God,
+and determined to join the _lotu_; and on the 30th of April he gave
+orders that the great drums (which ten days previously had been beaten
+to call the people to the temples for a great cannibal feast) should now
+sound to summon them to assemble in the great strangers’ house to worship
+the true God. About three hundred there met, and the Vuni Valu, with
+all his wives, children, and other relatives, knelt together in solemn
+adoration of the Christian’s God. Mr Calvert and Mr Waterhouse conducted
+the service. This was a day for which they had long worked and prayed,
+hoping against hope—a day ever to be remembered as one of the most
+important in the annals of Fiji.
+
+But the outward state of matters was very unsatisfactory. Thakombau’s
+implacable foe, the chief of Rewa, had acquired great power, and
+announced his intention of utterly destroying Bau and its king and
+people, whom he would soon eat; and proclaimed that he defied their new
+God Jehovah to save them. At the same time he had the courtesy to send
+a message to Mr Waterhouse to beg him and his family to leave the town
+before he set it on fire. At such a time it certainly needed both faith
+and courage to stick to his post, but both Mr Waterhouse and his devoted
+wife determined to hold their ground, greatly to the satisfaction of the
+king. Then followed a period of dire anxiety. There were fears within
+the isle, and fightings without—fears of treachery from hostile tribes
+living even on the little isle itself.
+
+But at the darkest hour came deliverance. The King of Rewa died of
+dysentery. His chiefs received Thakombau’s overtures of peace favourably.
+King George of Tonga came to Fiji, and somehow, unintentionally, drifted
+into the general war and helped to bring it to a speedy end. Seventy
+towns returned to their allegiance to Bau, and great was the wonder
+excited by the king’s clemency; his whole aim being to secure a lasting
+peace, and to induce all concerned to attend to the cultivation of the
+land and the interests of trade.
+
+All this time he had been carefully studying the doctrines of the faith
+he professed; but in his case, as in many others, it was deemed desirable
+to defer his baptism for a considerable period, till his instructors were
+convinced of his being thoroughly in earnest. It is a point on which the
+mission has always insisted strongly, that every convert should continue
+for a long period on probation, and receive careful individual training
+before being admitted to baptism. It was not till January 1857 that,
+having dismissed all his wives except one, Thakombau was publicly married
+to Audi Lytia, and they were baptised together.
+
+From that moment he has taken no retrograde step. Always resolute in
+whatever line of conduct he adopted, he has shown himself most truly so
+in the promotion of Christianity, and of every measure that promised to
+be for the good of his people. Determined and energetic in his relations
+to other chiefs, he has of late years thrown all his influence on behalf
+of peace and order, and now professes himself well content with the
+subordinate position he has accepted, believing that he has thereby
+consulted the best interests of all his countrymen.
+
+His eldest son, Ratu Abel, cannot look so placidly on the resignation
+of his birthright, and holds himself somewhat aloof from the foreign
+rulers. His half-brothers, Ratu Timothy and Ratu Joe, are more cordial,
+and, moreover, talk very good English. They are fine handsome fellows,
+and inherit something of their father’s stately carriage; indeed all the
+chiefs are distinguishable from the common herd by their dignity and
+grace of movement, the lack of which among some of the commoners is due,
+doubtless, to the fact that no Fijian dare stand upright in the presence
+of a superior: if at rest he must crouch before him (in no case presuming
+to pass behind him), or if in motion, must either crawl on all-fours or
+walk bending lowly. Even Thakombau’s own sons scarcely venture to stand
+upright before him. Naturally such a custom, continuing from generation
+to generation, becomes second nature.
+
+At early dawn on New Year’s morning I went out, the better to enjoy
+the loveliness of the scene, the soft balmy air, the dreamy beauty of
+the far-away isles, and the wondrous calm of the wide waters. I sat on
+a grassy hillock and watched the sun rise from the sea, reflected in
+dazzling light. Below me lay the peaceful village, where it seemed none
+were yet astir.
+
+I was leaning against a rude wooden pillar which marks the grave of
+Tanoa, Thakombau’s aged father, who to the last continued a vicious
+and obstinate cannibal. Nothing delighted him more than to return from
+tributary isles with the bodies of infants hanging from the yard-arms
+of his canoe, as tribute exacted from their parents! Horrible beyond
+description are the stories of his brutalities. I may just tell you one
+as a sample of many.
+
+One of his near kinsmen had offended him, and knowing how little pity he
+had to expect, sought by every means in his power to mollify him, humbly
+imploring his forgiveness. But the fiend responded by cutting off his arm
+at the elbow, and drinking the warm blood as it flowed. Then he cooked
+the arm, and ate it in presence of the sufferer, who afterwards was cut
+to pieces, limb by limb, while the brutal chief sat watching and gloating
+over the dying agonies of the miserable victim. Afterwards he sentenced
+his own youngest son to death, and compelled an elder brother to club him.
+
+When the time of his own death drew near—I think it was in the year
+1852—he gave special injunctions that his wives should on no account
+fail to accompany him to the spirit-world. Two English missionaries—Mr
+Calvert and Mr Watsford, who had for years vainly striven to convert
+this atrocious old heathen—now exerted their whole influence to try and
+persuade Thakombau to refrain from carrying out his father’s wicked
+will. These felt that success in this matter would be an earnest of
+wavering from heathendom on the part of the king. So Mr Calvert offered a
+princely gift of whale’s teeth, and even to have his own finger cut off
+(Vaka Viti—_i.e._, Fiji fashion), if only the lives of the women might
+be spared; but to no purpose. Mr Watsford offered twenty muskets, the
+mission whale-boat, and all his own personal property; but all in vain.
+Thakombau had just assumed the title of Tui Viti—King of Viti—and felt
+that his dignity would suffer by the omission of any customary ceremony.
+It is the privilege of an eldest son first to strangle his own mother,
+and then to assist in performing the same kind office for the other
+widows. So the five ladies were dressed with all pomp, and placed the
+new cords round their necks as proudly as though they had been precious
+ornaments; and Thakombau himself assisted the men whose office it was
+to strangle his mother and the four other women. Out of deference to
+the white men’s prayer, he offered life to one victim; but she refused
+it,—not from any love to her cruel lord, but simply because it was the
+custom of Fiji.
+
+So here they all lie side by side, on the green hillock overlooking the
+broad blue Pacific and the isles where the name of Tanoa was once so
+sorely dreaded.
+
+I turned back to the peaceful, pleasant mission-home, and lingered in the
+fragrant garden, looking across to Viwa, where the early missionaries
+established themselves before gaining a footing in Bau. Brave women were
+the wives of those men; and in many a scene of horror, and many a peril,
+did they prove themselves helps-meet for the men of earnest purpose whose
+lot they shared. I will give you one instance of the part they took here
+in those awful days—not remote days either; for the story I will tell you
+happened just thirty years ago.
+
+A piratical tribe, called the Mbutoni, had brought a large offering of
+their spoil as tribute to the old king, Tanoa. Custom required that
+a feast of human flesh should be prepared for them, but the larder
+was empty, and no prisoners of war could be obtained. Under these
+circumstances, it was the duty of Ngavindi, the chief of the _lasakau_,
+or fishermen, to provide victims. Two young men were accordingly
+entrapped; but these not being deemed sufficient, the wary fisher went
+forth with his men. They ran their canoes among the mangrove-bushes,
+and covered either end with green boughs, and then lay in wait. Soon a
+company of fourteen women came down to fish. They were seized and bound,
+and carried off to Bau to furnish a feast for the morrow. News of this
+reached Viwa, where Mrs Calvert and Mrs Lyth were living alone with
+their children, their husbands having gone to teach on another island.
+They determined to make an attempt to save the lives of their luckless
+sisters; so having induced a friendly native to take them across in his
+canoe, they started on their errand of mercy. As they neared the shore
+it was evident that the cannibals were in a state of frantic excitement:
+the death-drums were booming, muskets firing, in token of rejoicing;
+and then piercing shrieks rose above the wild din, and told that the
+horrid butchery had begun. It needed desperate courage for these two lone
+(and apparently unprotected) women to land on the isle and face that
+bloodthirsty rabble. But with resolute courage and unfailing faith they
+pressed on.
+
+On the beach they were met by a Christian chief, who led them through
+the crowd to Tanoa’s house, which it was death for any woman to enter.
+But unheeding their own safety, they forced their way in, with a whale’s
+tooth in each hand, as the customary offering when making a petition.
+The old man was so amazed at their courage, that he commanded that such
+as still lived should be spared; and a messenger was despatched to see
+that the order was obeyed. Nine had already perished; but five survived,
+and were set at liberty, blessing their brave deliverers, who, not
+satisfied with having gained their object so far, went straight to the
+house of Ngavindi, the chief butcher, who was sitting in full dress,
+rejoicing in his work. They spoke to him earnestly on the subject, and
+had the satisfaction of seeing that his chief wife and that of Thakombau
+cordially seconded their words. A few days later, H.M.S. Havannah
+touched the isles, and Captain Erskine went to Viwa to call at the
+mission. They had just sat down to tea, and he had just been delicately
+hinting his belief that many of the missionary stories about these nice
+well-conducted people were grossly exaggerated, when Ngavindi came in to
+ask Mrs Lyth about the great English ship. He was most kindly received,
+and took his place at table with perfect ease. Captain Erskine described
+him as a very handsome, prepossessing young fellow, of modest and gentle
+manners. He could scarcely believe that he had just been chief actor in
+this horrid business. Not long after this, Ngavindi was slain in battle,
+when attempting to carry off a dead body. One of his wives was sister
+to Thakombau, whose duty it now was to strangle her; but the tribe
+petitioned that her life might be spared, that her unborn child might
+become their chief. So the old mother offered herself as a substitute,
+and the king strangled her with his own hand—a hand which had already cut
+off the nose of one sister, as a punishment for being unfaithful to her
+husband.[26] So Ngavindi lay in state on a raised platform, with one
+dead wife at his side, and the corpse of his mother at his feet, and an
+attendant close by; and all were laid together in one grave.
+
+The day after Captain Erskine had made acquaintance with the gentle,
+courteous Ngavindi, he came to Bau, where he saw the bloody stone on
+which the heads of multitudes of victims had been dashed, when presented
+to the god at the chief temple. The Mbutoni guests were still in the
+stranger’s house, and to prove how well they had been received, they
+pointed out four or five large ovens in which the nine women had been
+cooked; and also the spot where a few months previously, after the
+capture of Lokia, a town belonging to Rewa, eighty corpses of those slain
+in battle had been heaped up, previous to being apportioned to the greedy
+warriors.
+
+But in a greater or less degree this was the ever-recurring story, and
+the days of joy and rejoicing for men, women, and little children, were
+those on which canoes arrived bringing _bokola_, which were thrown into
+the sea and ignominiously dragged ashore with shouts of joy, and made the
+occasion for wild orgies and mad dances of death.
+
+It was only people who had been killed that were considered good for
+food. Those who died a natural death were never eaten,—invariably
+buried. But it certainly is a wonder that the isles were not altogether
+depopulated, owing to the number who were killed. Thus in Namena, in the
+year 1851, fifty bodies were cooked for one feast. And when the men of
+Bau were at war with Verata, they carried off 260 bodies, seventeen of
+which were piled on a canoe and sent to Rewa, where they were received
+with wild joy, dragged about the town, and subjected to every species
+of indignity ere they finally reached the ovens. Then, too, just think
+of the number of lives sacrificed in a country where infanticide was a
+recognised institution, and where widows were strangled as a matter of
+course! Why, on one occasion, when there had been a horrible massacre
+of Namena people at Viwa, and upwards of one hundred fishermen had been
+murdered and their bodies carried as _bokola_ to the ovens at Bau, no
+less than eighty women were strangled to do honour to the dead, and the
+corpses lay strewn in every direction round the mission station! It
+is just thirty years since the Rev. John Watsford, writing from here,
+describes how twenty-eight victims had been seized in one day while
+fishing. They were brought here alive, and only stunned when they were
+put into the ovens. Some of the miserable creatures attempted to escape
+from the scorching bed of red-hot stones, but only to be driven back and
+buried in that living tomb, whence they were taken a few hours later to
+feast their barbarous captors. He adds, that probably more human beings
+were eaten on this little isle of Bau than anywhere else in Fiji. It is
+very hard indeed to realise that the peaceful village on which I am now
+looking has really been the scene of such horrors as these, and that many
+of the gentle, kindly people round me have actually taken part in them.
+
+Before we had finished breakfast, we had a New Year’s morning visit
+from the old king’s daughter, Andi Arietta Kuilla, accompanied by her
+beautiful youngest boy, little Timothy. She has two other children, Ratu
+Beny (Benjamin) and a little girl rejoicing in the name of Jane Emilia.
+We walked back with her to her father’s house, at the foot of this
+hill, and found her mother, Andi Lytia, the old queen, suffering from a
+very severe cough. She was lying on her mats beside a central fireplace
+(_i.e._, a square hollow in the floor). She wore only a long waist-cloth,
+a style of dress which displayed her ample proportions to the utmost, and
+being so huge, she did strike one as being rather undraped! But no one
+thinks anything about it, so I suppose it is only prejudice. Happily both
+these immense ladies are strikingly handsome, with massive features and
+clever heads, which have been proved to contain good brains.
+
+Their home, like those of their neighbours, is simply a large room strewn
+with mats, on which the family and their guests recline. The king’s own
+house stands apart, but he reserves a corner here, which is shut off by
+a heavy curtain of native cloth; and one uncomfortable-looking chair
+revealed his wish to conform to foreign customs. He thought it necessary
+to sit on this when I first entered the house, but soon sacrificed
+dignity to comfort, and reclined on his mat, while his family squatted
+round him.
+
+A large number of lamps attracted my attention, as did also two
+neck-pillows, each formed of a joint of the largest bamboo I have ever
+seen, measuring 5½ inches in diameter. It had drifted ashore from some
+unknown isle, and been brought to the Vuni Valu as a rare prize. It is
+certainly a curiosity, but not quite one’s idea of a comfortable pillow
+for a weary head. A Fijian pillow, however, is merely a neck-rest; the
+head still supports itself as it was taught to do in those days of the
+elaborate hair-dressing, on which the chiefs prided themselves so greatly
+that each considered it necessary to have his especial barber, whose joy
+and delight it was to adorn the head of his master with curls and twists
+and plaits, more numerous and more wonderful than those of any other
+chief.
+
+It was strangely suggestive of a stormy past to hear the old king, who
+was eager for particulars of our expedition up the Rewa, constantly
+asking Mr Langham to explain exactly where the different towns were of
+which we spoke. Then I found that neither he nor his daughter (whose own
+district is actually on the Rewa) had ever even heard of these towns;
+while as to seeing them, no tribe _ever_ saw anything beyond their own
+property unless they went as invaders in time of war. I showed Andi
+Kuilla sketches of places within a day’s march of her own property, but
+she had never seen any of them.
+
+Another suggestive thought is awakened when, on shaking the hand so
+cordially offered by these comely ladies, we are conscious of the absence
+of at least one finger. By such sacrifice the women of Fiji (like those
+of Tahiti and Hawaii) have hitherto shown their mourning for the dead,
+or made their appeal to the gods to save the sick. So you rarely meet a
+woman above middle age who has not lost one or both her little fingers.
+The operation is performed with a sharp shell, with which the mourner
+saws the first joint till she cuts it off. On the next occasion of
+mourning, she sacrifices the second joint. The little finger of the other
+hand supplies a third and fourth proof of sorrow. After this, the Fijian
+equivalent of wearing crape is to rub the poor mutilated stumps on rough
+stones till they bleed.
+
+I have been in sole possession of the house all the morning, every other
+creature being at church, notwithstanding a thermometer at about 90°,
+which decided my remaining on the hill-top in a fresher atmosphere than
+that of the crowded church. But I am going this afternoon to accompany
+Mr Langham, who holds service at a pretty village on the big isle, some
+way up a lovely river, so I may as well close this letter, ready for
+to-morrow’s mail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+    A STRANGE VOLCANIC ISLE—JOELI MBULU, A TONGAN APOSTLE—THE
+    CONVERSION OF THE PEOPLE OF ONO—THAKOMBAU’S CANOE—A ROYAL
+    GARDENER—A SMALL HURRICANE—EARLY PRAYERS—BREAKFAST ON
+    THANGALEI—BETWEEN THE BREAKERS—AT HOME AT NASOVA.
+
+
+                                               NASOVA, _January 14, 1876_.
+
+DEAREST NELL,—You see I have got safely home from my travels in the
+wilds, and I am bound to confess that there is a good deal to be said
+in favour of the comforts of civilisation, however strongly my gipsy
+instincts do at times assert themselves! I must tell you, however, of
+several delightful expeditions we made from Mrs Langham’s charming home
+at Bau. The first was to the neighbouring isle of Viwa, which was one of
+the early mission stations, and is now the home of Mr Lindsay, who has
+charge of a large district, extending to the mountains of Viti Levu. It
+was a pretty picture to see his two very fair delicate little girls in
+charge of a little Fijian maiden scarcely bigger than themselves. After a
+very pleasant afternoon we returned home by clear moonlight—a lovely walk
+through the forest was followed by a calm row across the bay. But a very
+common difficulty awaited us on reaching the shore. The tide was low; the
+boat lay far out, I think nearly a quarter of a mile, and the accepted
+way to reach it was to submit to be carried like monstrous dolls by one,
+sometimes by two, strong natives. However, nothing seems strange when you
+are used to it. It is only one’s first experience of anything which is
+startling.
+
+The two families agreed to devote the next day to exploring two small
+islands, visible from both homes, but which, being uninhabited, had never
+yet invited nearer inspection. You know I always say it is my mission in
+life to stir up my friends in all corners of the globe to take me to see
+places of interest close to their own homes, but never before visited by
+themselves. So next morning we all met at the small isle of Tomberrua,
+which is an ancient place of burial. Many old chiefs lie beneath the
+cocoa-palms, but their graves are all uncared for and overgrown. The
+lovely white sand tempted us to bathe in the warm sunny sea—a rare
+pleasure, for there are so few places tolerably safe from sharks.
+
+We then rowed to the other isle, Manbualau, which proved to be the most
+extraordinary specimen of volcanic formation I have ever seen; all one
+vast honeycomb of hard cutting rock, with deep fissures intervening
+between ridges so close together that you can step from one to the other.
+The rock is veiled with rank vegetation, which adds to the danger and
+difficulty of the scramble; and innumerable bats haunt the great Mbaka
+trees (a sort of Fijian banyan), which overshadow the whole, their
+countless interlacing stems finding a holding-ground in every crevice of
+the rock. It is an exceedingly curious place, utterly unlike anything I
+know elsewhere.
+
+I walked across the isle to the other side with the gentlemen but it
+was difficult to make our way, and the smell of bats was positively
+sickening; so we were glad to hurry back and join the rest of the party,
+who had kindled a fire and prepared a cheerful tea in our absence.
+
+The next few days slipped pleasantly by. I sketched various points of
+interest, such as the great Mbaka trees near the old king’s house, the
+foundations of the great temple, and the stone on which the victims’
+heads were dashed (which is a basaltic pillar from Khandavu).
+
+I went several times with Mrs Langham to see the noble old Tongan
+minister, Joeli Mbulu, whose wife, Echesa, is very unwell; such a
+nice, lady-like old woman, so kindly and so sensible. They belong to
+that fine race of Tongans who were, in fact, the earliest missionaries
+in these isles; for so soon as they themselves had embraced the new
+faith (as preached by the Wesleyan teachers in the Friendly Isles)
+they endeavoured to spread it wherever they journeyed; and as they had
+frequent intercourse with some parts of Fiji, it was not long before the
+Tongan sailors taught all they had learned to such of their own kinsmen
+as had already colonised here, and to such Fijians as could be induced to
+hear them. It was the moving tale of awful horrors told by these men, and
+the encouragement afforded by the sowing of that first seed, that induced
+the Rev. W. Cross and the Rev. David Cargill to leave the comparative
+comfort of their homes in Tonga to come and establish the mission in
+Fiji, where they landed in October 1835, at Lakemba, the principal island
+in a group at least 200 miles from here, where a considerable number of
+Tongans had already settled. These men proved invaluable helpers. Better
+pioneers could not have been desired. Men of strong energetic character
+and determination, keenly intelligent, physically superior to the average
+Fijian, and therefore commanding their respect, they had always taken
+the lead wherever they went; and as in their heathen days they had been
+foremost in reckless evil, they now threw their whole influence into
+the scale of good. Having an independent position of their own, and
+considerable power, they were able at once to establish all outward
+observances of religion, without fear of hindrance from the chiefs. And
+so something of the nature of Christianity was made, known more rapidly
+and more widely than it could have been by any other means. Of course
+this is not literally true of all the Tongans in the colony. There were
+many who, although they professed the new faith, continued as proud and
+haughty as ever, making themselves hated and feared as of yore; but
+the majority proved themselves truly in earnest, and many became most
+devoted teachers, ready to go forth to any distant point where there
+might be a chance of doing good.
+
+Foremost amongst these was Joeli Mbulu, a man whose faith is evidently
+an intense reality. I have rarely met any man so perfectly simple, or
+so unmistakably in earnest. He proved himself so thoroughly worthy of
+confidence that in due time he was ordained as a native minister, and
+sent to take charge of the remote cluster of isles, of which Ono is the
+principal. This little group lies about 150 miles south-east of Lakemba,
+to which it was tributary, and is the southernmost part of Fiji. The
+story of its early groping from its own deep darkness to the light, is
+so strange and touching, that I must tell you something about it. It was
+truly the story of
+
+    “An infant crying for the light,
+    And with no language but a cry.”
+
+In the year 1835, just before the first white missionaries came to Fiji,
+many events conspired to depress these poor people. An unusual number had
+been slain in their incessant wars, when an epidemic disease broke out
+which carried off many more. The survivors, much alarmed, thronged the
+temples of their gods, bringing large offerings of food, and such things
+as they possessed, and all rites of worship were diligently observed, but
+to no purpose.
+
+Just then a chief named Wai returned from Lakemba, where he had met a
+Fijian chief called Takei, who had been in the Friendly Islands, and had
+learnt something about Christianity. It amounted to little more than
+that there was but one God, whom all must serve continually, and that
+one day in seven was to be devoted to His worship. It was but a faint
+glimmer of light, but they determined to act on it. So on the sixth day
+they prepared their food for the seventh, on the morning of which they
+dressed, as for a festival, and assembled to worship this unknown God.
+But here a difficulty arose, as to how to set about it. In their dilemma
+they sent for the heathen priest, whose god they were now forsaking,
+and requested him to officiate for them. This he did, to the best of
+his power, offering a short and simple prayer for the blessing of the
+Christian’s God, but intimating that he himself was merely spokesman for
+his neighbours, being himself a worshipper of another God!
+
+This was the first act of Christian worship in the far-away isle of
+Ono. A great longing now arose for fuller knowledge of the truth; so
+when a whaling ship chanced to touch here for provisions on her way to
+Tonga, a passage was engaged on board of her for two men who were sent
+as messengers to ask for a teacher. But several months elapsed ere an
+answer could reach them, and meanwhile Christianity was spreading at
+Lakemba, and many Tongan converts (whose chief attraction to Fiji had
+been the wildly licentious life which they might there lead without let
+or hindrance), now decided to return to their own homes. A canoe-load of
+these started from Lakemba in May 1836, but were driven by contrary winds
+to the isle of Vatoa (the Turtle), about fifty miles from Ono. Here they
+heard of what had happened there, and one of their number (who at his
+baptism had taken the name of Josiah, and who had acted as their chaplain
+during the voyage), determined to go to Ono and teach the people all he
+knew. Great was their joy at his coming, and day by day he thenceforth
+led their devotions. Soon they built a chapel, which would hold 100
+persons. All this was done ere the messengers from Tonga returned to tell
+that white teachers had gone to Lakemba, and that to them they must apply
+for help. Another long delay.
+
+But meanwhile the desired teacher was being trained all unknown to them.
+One of their own islanders, a wild Ono lad, had contrived to wander all
+the way to Tonga, and you can fancy that several hundred miles in an
+open canoe is no easy journey, especially when every isle to which you
+may unintentionally drift is inhabited by fierce cannibals of unfriendly
+tribes. An ordinary canoe is a very unsafe vessel in a storm, and in
+heathen days shipwreck invariably meant death; for even should the crew
+reach the land in safety, and find themselves on shores which, under
+ordinary circumstances, would be friendly, they were declared to have
+salt water in their eyes, and were doomed to death and the oven. But the
+lad in question reached Tonga in safety, and there he found the people
+earnestly conforming to the new faith. He attended their services,
+learnt much, and on returning to Lakemba became truly converted, and
+for several years lived a consistent Christian life, taking the name of
+Isaac Ravuata. He soon learnt to read and write well, and acquired so
+much knowledge that he became a useful assistant in the mission. When,
+therefore, the message from Ono reached Lakemba, it was evident that he
+was the right man for the work; he was accordingly despatched, and gladly
+was he welcomed by his countrymen. He found that 120 persons had given up
+idolatry, and were thirsting for further knowledge of the Christian faith.
+
+The following year a Tongan teacher was sent to assist him; by this
+time three chapels had been built, and so anxious were the converts for
+instruction, that the Christian crew of the canoe said they had scarcely
+been allowed needful sleep, so eager were the people to learn all that
+they possibly could teach them. They found that the little isle of Vatoa
+had also become _lotu_, and all these people prayed that they might be
+visited by a white missionary who might administer the sacraments. It
+seemed hard to refuse such a prayer, but labourers were few and the work
+was vast. Mr Calvert and his wife were left quite alone at Lakemba,
+where Tui Nayau, the king, and most of his chiefs and people, continued
+heathen, and often antagonistic. Fifteen years elapsed before the king
+determined to accept the _lotu_. As far as possible, Mr Calvert travelled
+about this group of twenty isles, teaching the people, and now this
+further claim on time and strength seemed beyond his power. It was a
+long and dangerous journey to undertake in a frail canoe, and involved
+an absence certainly of weeks, possibly of months; and the thought of
+leaving his wife utterly alone in the midst of ferocious cannibals was
+altogether appalling. At this crisis it was she—a most gentle and loving
+woman—who came to his help, and urged him to go. Still there was the
+difficulty of getting a canoe sufficiently seaworthy for such a long
+and dangerous voyage. However, not long afterwards, a Tongan chief came
+to Lakemba in a large canoe, and consented to take Mr Calvert to Ono.
+There he found that a wonderful and cheering work had been accomplished,
+and that a large proportion of the people were living genuine Christian
+lives, thoroughly blameless. Of these he baptised upwards of two hundred,
+and married sixty-six couples, and by his encouragement and presence
+greatly cheered the little body of converts. It was not to be supposed
+that this movement had progressed without serious opposition from many of
+the heathen inhabitants, and many events occurred at this time, stranger
+than any fiction.
+
+Amongst other incidents, there was the baptism of Tovo, the beautiful
+daughter of the chief of Ono. She had become a devoted Christian, and
+delighted in doing all the good in her power, visiting the sick and
+teaching in the schools. But in infancy she had been betrothed to the
+old heathen king of Lakemba, who now claimed her to be his thirtieth
+wife. She resolutely refused to fulfil this heathen betrothal, her
+father and all the Christian chiefs fully supporting her. On returning
+to Lakemba, Mr Calvert learnt that the old king had fitted out a fleet
+of eleven canoes, manned with warriors, and intended going himself to
+seize his bride. He went to him, bearing the customary whale’s tooth
+as a peace-offering, and besought him to refrain from this marauding
+expedition; but finding his words were to no purpose, he solemnly warned
+him that in fighting against these people, he was fighting against
+the Almighty, whose care they had invoked. The king, nothing daunted,
+set sail, and reached the Christian isle of Vatoa, where he cruelly
+ill-treated the people, wantonly destroying their food and property.
+There he remained several days, waiting for a fair breeze; but he
+despatched four canoes with a hundred piratical warriors, to await him at
+Ono. These canoes were never heard of again. When the fair wind sprang
+up he started in person, but though he actually sighted Ono, the wind
+shifted, and he was blown far away to leeward. The breeze freshened;
+the canoes and all on board were in imminent danger. Almost by miracle
+they escaped and returned to Lakemba, when the king sent to Mr Calvert
+the feast which, in his hour of danger, he had vowed to his gods, and
+prayed that his words of warning might never follow him again. He
+expressed his willingness to accept the customary gift of property, in
+lieu of the young woman, that she might be free to marry any other man.
+However, before it arrived, he had again changed his purpose and kept the
+offerings, but still demanded the damsel. Nevertheless he did not venture
+to return to claim her, so she was left in peace and in the enjoyment of
+single blessedness, as no other suitor dared to come forward, the king
+not having relinquished his claim.
+
+Meanwhile the heathen people of Ono had done all in their power to
+persecute their Christian neighbours, who kept the peace as long as
+possible, but finally were driven to fighting. A civil war lasted for
+several weeks, which resulted in the complete defeat of the heathen.
+To their utter amazement, and contrary to all Fijian precedent, their
+lives were spared, and they were all freely pardoned, a course which
+naturally inclined them to respect the religion which taught such mercy.
+Consequently when, in 1842, Mr Williams visited Ono, he found that out
+of the 500 inhabitants only three persons were still nominally heathen,
+and these became Christians ere long. He baptised 200 persons, who had
+been waiting and longing for his coming. Portions of the New Testament
+and the morning service from the Book of Common Prayer were now printed
+in the Ono dialect, and eagerly sought by the people; and three years
+later, when Mr Calvert touched at the isle, he found all the population
+in a condition of religious fervour which filled him with thankfulness
+and amazement: the people were so intensely in earnest, and, on the
+whole, so calm and sensible. It was like a story of the early days of the
+Church—so wonderful was the flood of light and love that had been poured
+on these men and women, in answer to their exceeding longing to know the
+way of truth, and their whole-hearted acceptance of it. Some notes of
+their prayers and mutual exhortations, as spoken at the “love-feasts,”
+have been recorded, and, like many others which have been translated to
+me at different places, breathe such intensity of Christian love and
+devotion, as we are accustomed to look for only in the lives of great
+saints. They so rejoice in the radiance of this newly found Light, that
+they suppose it must flood the whole world on which it has once shone;
+while we, conscious of the dim grey faith which most prevails beneath our
+dim grey skies, are more inclined to echo Keble’s sad words—
+
+    “And of our scholars let us learn
+    Our own forgotten lore!”
+
+Many of the Ono men now desired to be allowed to go as teachers to other
+parts of Fiji (of course in peril of their lives). Of these, eight were
+selected, and in the simple prayer with which that meeting closed, the
+Tongan teacher, Silas Faone, exclaimed—“They go; we stay on this small
+isle according to Thy will. _We would all go, Thou knowest_, to make
+known the good tidings.” At the close of morning service 300 communicants
+knelt together at the Holy Communion; and on the following morning
+all the people assembled on the beach, and again knelt in prayer for
+blessings on the teaching of the eight first missionaries sent forth by
+the little lonely isle to preach the Gospel of Christ to the vicious
+cannibal tribes throughout the group.
+
+Urgently did these people desire the presence of a resident clergyman
+amongst themselves, and for some time the Society endeavoured so to
+arrange their districts as to comply with their wish; but as there were
+only six white missionaries to work in the eighty inhabited isles, it
+was found impossible to continue this. And thus it was that Joeli Mbulu
+came to be sent to Ono as a fully ordained minister; and zealously and
+efficiently did he work there, until more urgent need for his presence
+elsewhere compelled his removal to another district.
+
+It seems to be one of the most serious difficulties in the organising of
+all this great work, that excellent as are many of the native teachers,
+so small a number are found fit to undertake the responsibilities of
+higher work, such as the arrangement and control of an infant church.
+They always require the direct guidance of the missionary, and if this
+is long withheld, difficulties almost invariably arise. Such a noble
+exception as dear old Joeli is rare indeed.
+
+In the last few days I have also made great friends with the Vuni Valu
+and Andi Lytia, and some of her pretty attendants. I fancy the latter
+are remarkable pickles, and up to any amount of mischief in a quiet way,
+but in awesome terror of the old lady, as also of her daughter. Not that
+the morality encouraged by these is altogether in accordance with the
+views professed in civilised countries, especially as regards certain
+feudal rights of the chiefs; and we occasionally hear of little episodes
+in other parts of the group which prove that the old nature is not
+wholly eradicated, and that some of these courteous high-born dames are
+capable, under the influence of jealousy, of such diabolical actions as I
+dare not even hint at. Instances like these are, however, happily rare,
+and we must not expect absolute perfection to be a fruit of such very
+rapid growth. I am not quite sure that, if our police reports are to be
+credited, we have attained to it even in London, after so many centuries
+of all civilising and Christianising influences.
+
+Thakombau was in great wrath when we arrived, because a damsel who is
+his ward had married the chief of Rewa without his sanction. In old
+days there would have been fierce war in consequence. Now, however, he
+is gradually subsiding, and is much interested about the Fijian mission
+to New Britain. He proposes going himself in his yacht to look up the
+teachers, and take them stores of mats and water-jars; and he invites Mr
+Langham to accompany him, but of course this will not come off. He told
+us of his amazement on beholding so vast a city as Sydney. He said it
+gave him some idea of what heaven must be! We said we wished he could see
+London and Westminster Abbey. He replied that he could well imagine that
+the city of which Sydney was but an offshoot must indeed be of surpassing
+grandeur. Would he come to London? No; he feared to die at sea and be
+thrown overboard. But we had run that risk to see his isles, and here
+we were safe. Oh, it was only his age that deterred him; his son might
+perhaps go. While we were sitting with him, his niece arrived in a canoe,
+bringing her own mats and several loaves of bread. She sat down silently
+in a corner; no greeting passed, but her attendant mentioned the object
+of her visit, and the old couple took no further notice of her.
+
+One of the objects of interest in Bau is a very large canoe which
+Thakombau is building for himself, and which will carry a hundred
+persons, and much baggage. You can imagine that making such a canoe as
+this, with such rude tools as these people possessed formerly, was indeed
+a triumph of shipbuilding. First, there is the keel, made of several
+pieces of timber strongly joined; then the sides have to be built up
+without ribs, but they are closely fitted, and caulked with native cloth
+and a sort of pitch made from the bread-fruit tree; then the pieces are
+strongly sewed together with sinnet (which is string made of cocoa-nut
+fibre); a large platform is built over the middle of the canoe, and
+on this is a deck-house. The whole is balanced by a heavy log of wood
+attached to one side as an outrigger. Some large canoes are double—two
+are placed side by side, and the platform connects them. There are holes
+in the deck through which the sculling-oars are worked, and the helm is
+a great steer-oar about twenty feet long with a blade about eighteen
+inches wide. It can be worked from either end of the boat; and the one
+great sail is also dragged from end to end with infinite labour, so that
+at every tack bow and stern change parts. Such a canoe flying before the
+wind, and throwing up a fountain of white foam as it rushes through the
+water, is a very beautiful object, and one which I am never weary of
+watching. But there are many canoes which dare not approach Bau in this
+brave style, but have to lower their sail while yet a great way off, and
+scull humbly to the shore. If the canoes come from Somosomo (Taviuni)
+the scullers dare not even stand, but must squat in token of lowliest
+humility, shouting the _tama_ (obeisance) from time to time.
+
+In olden days the building of such a canoe as this would have entailed a
+whole series of cannibal feasts. First, as rejoicing when the keel was
+laid down; then feasts for the carpenters as each portion was completed;
+then living rollers to facilitate launching the canoe—and these, of
+course, were cooked and eaten; next, the deck of the canoe must be washed
+with blood; and finally, a great feast must be provided on the occasion
+of first taking down the mast. Sometimes as many as fifteen men were
+sacrificed for such a banquet. If a new canoe was brought to Bau which
+had not received its due baptism of blood, the chiefs would attack a
+neighbouring town to secure victims, that its reproach might be taken
+away!
+
+No fear of any such horrors now. The building of the great canoe
+progresses slowly, for workmen are now scarce; but the old king sits for
+hours watching it with pleasure, and then, taking advantage of the low
+tide, he tucks up his drapery of _tappa_, and wades almost knee-deep
+through the shallow water to the muddy shore of the main island, where he
+goes to work with his own hands in his yam-gardens,—chiefly to set a good
+example of honest labour to his people.
+
+Last Sunday Mr Langham took me to see another village, where he was
+to hold service. The morning was lovely—a dead calm and oppressive
+stillness. We had scarcely got home when the sky darkened, and it began
+to pour. Rain was much wanted for the yam crop, but this was decidedly
+in excess. We were to have started for Levuka at daybreak the following
+morning, but deemed it prudent to defer, as it was evident foul weather
+was approaching. The students went to the main isle to cut mangroves
+with which to bind the thatch, and make such preparations as they could.
+Darker and darker grew the sky, heavy grey clouds closed all round the
+horizon, hiding even the nearest isles. Then down came the rain—such a
+downpour as I have rarely seen, even in the tropics. Soon the wind rose
+in fitful gusts, howling and moaning. It increased steadily till it was
+actually a small hurricane.[27] Not such an awful one as they sometimes
+have even here, and not nearly so bad as a West Indian one, but by
+far the worst I have ever seen. It blew furiously all night, and one
+marvelled how any trees stood it—the palms were tossed about like mad
+things. Of course every blossom in the garden was gone. Even inside the
+coral-reef the sea was thundering in great crested waves. In the middle
+of the night the roof of my room began to leak so freely, that we thought
+the whole thatch would blow off, so Mr Langham rang a great bell, and all
+the young men, students at the mission, came up and swarmed over the
+roof and bound it with planks and long mangrove wands.
+
+In the morning the storm partially subsided, and as soon as any one could
+stand, the king’s fat handsome daughter came up herself to get some milk
+for his breakfast. Her simple attire consisted of a bath-towel worn round
+the waist and a pocket-handkerchief tied across the capacious bosom,
+below the arms! The king _has_ a cow of his own, but rarely contrives to
+get any milk; so he generally sends up to the Langhams for either a jug
+of milk or of ready-made tea with bread and butter!
+
+By evening the weather was quite settled, and there was a great calm;
+so, as Mr Langham had business to do in Levuka, he decided to start next
+morning. He kindly chartered a canoe to carry my precious collection
+of clubs, spears, and bowls; it started at midnight, and at 3.30 A.M.
+Mrs L. came herself to call me. She gave us a comfortable breakfast by
+lamp-light. Then the boatmen, according to invariable custom, came in to
+_lotu_ (family prayers), and with the first glimmer of dawn we started
+down the green hill, and found dear old Joeli waiting to speed us on our
+way. What a contrast to a cheerless start for the train on a January
+morning in England!
+
+We sailed before sunrise, and about 9 A.M. reached a pretty small island
+called Thangalei, where we breakfasted under the shadow of a magnificent
+Mbaka tree, whose many-pillared stem formed a large enclosure, which some
+very utilitarian person had converted into a pig-sty!
+
+We started again as soon as possible, but there was no wind all day, and
+rowing a heavy boat is slow work, and so it came to pass that we missed
+the tide and could not get inside the reef at the passage. We therefore
+had to row outside in the open sea, keeping at a safe distance from the
+great, grand, awful breakers which fell with such appalling force and
+thunderous roar on the massive coral barrier, tossing vast volumes of
+white spray high in mid-air, and concealing from us all the land except
+the mountain-tops. It was very unpleasant, for though the sea was calm,
+it had not quite forgotten its recent battle with the winds, and heaved
+in great swelling rollers, which would have swept us on to the reef had
+not the men pulled hard. At last we came to a very narrow passage, by
+which we entered the calm shallow water; but it was an anxious moment,
+for there was only just room for the boat to pass, and as the huge walls
+of green water towered up on either side and fell in cataracts of foam,
+it seemed as though they must swallow us up. The men pulled steadily
+and strong, but it was an intense relief when we glided safely into the
+peaceful blue water of that quiet haven, and an hour later reached the
+pier at Nasova, where I found all the party reassembled. They had come
+back from Suva in H.M.S. Nymphe, with Captain Grant Suttie, just before
+the gale on Monday night.
+
+Great was the excitement of unpacking my canoe-load of curiosities; for
+we are each trying who can make the very best collection—Sir Arthur, Mr
+Gordon, Captain Knollys, Mr Maudslay, Baron von Hügel, and myself. Our
+daily delight is to ransack the stores in Levuka, where the natives may
+have bartered old things for new, and great is the triumph of whoever
+succeeds in capturing some new form of bowl or quaint bit of carving. All
+our rooms are like museums, adorned with savage implements, and draped
+with native cloth of beautifully rich patterns, all hand-painted. The
+house has made great progress in our absence. The large new drawing-room,
+built entirely of wood, is really a very fine room, and has two large
+bow-windows, besides the usual multitude of glass doors opening on to
+the verandah. The garden, too, begins to reward Abbey’s care, and looks
+quite bright; and he is diligently striving to make a small lawn, which,
+however, is very difficult work. You really would say so if you saw the
+labour-boys patiently snipping the grass with old scissors!
+
+I have just been doing a round of visits to my especial friends, Mrs
+Havelock, Mrs Macgregor, Mrs D. Ricci, and the Layards. It seems as if I
+had been away for months; it is so pleasant coming back to such cordial
+welcome from them all. Captain Havelock took me to call on Mr Leefe, who
+is in Levuka for surgical treatment, his hand having been lacerated in
+a fibre-crushing machine. It was fearful agony, and he must have had a
+dreadful journey coming here by himself. It was impossible for his wife
+to accompany him, as all their live stock would inevitably have been left
+to die of neglect in her absence.
+
+Yesterday another of the Engineers died (his wife and children are on
+their way from England). This morning at sunrise the military funeral
+marched sadly past this house, with the Union-jack for a pall, and a
+party of sailors from H.M.S. Nymphe, with fife and drum. Several men fell
+out, overcome by the heat, which is simply grilling.
+
+Some officers from an American man-of-war have just come to call, so I
+may as well close this letter.—Your loving sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+    LIFE AT NASOVA—FARMYARD—CONVICT THATCHERS—NATIVE FESTIVAL AT
+    BAU—RETURN TO NASOVA—BATTLES WITH CRABS—BEGINNING OF CANNIBAL
+    DISTURBANCE—FIJIAN FAIRIES—A STORM.
+
+
+                                            NASOVA, FIJI, _March 1, 1876_.
+
+DEAR AUNT EMMA,—I have not yet written once direct to you, but I trust
+you nevertheless consider yourself bound to write to me; for you cannot
+realise how greatly we prize all home letters out here, and how we do
+watch for the mails. We have been so watching now for upwards of a week,
+the mail being long overdue, and a hundred times a-day we look up to see
+if no faint line of smoke on the horizon tells of its approach; and when
+it does come in with a whole month’s European news, can you not fancy
+what an anxious minute the opening of the mail-bag is? If only people
+at home could realise the delight their letters are to wanderers in far
+lands, I think they would surely write more regularly.
+
+I wish I could look in at you all, just for a good chat, but I should
+wish to carry with me a flood of sunshine, and this calm blessed sea,
+for I fear London is hardly as pretty to-day as Fiji; and whatever
+disadvantages this place possesses, it certainly has no lack of beauty.
+At present, however, it is terribly isolated—a small steamer to New
+Zealand being our only direct communication with the outer world, the
+Australian boats having deliberately dropped us, declaring that we don’t
+pay! However, for the last three months the great steamers running
+between San Francisco, New Zealand, and Australia have touched at
+Khandavu, our outermost isle, bringing and taking mails and passengers;
+but they are fighting hard to get off doing so, and only do it at all
+because their agent signed a contract which they find they cannot at
+present legally break.
+
+_March 7._—I began this letter a week ago, when we were waiting and
+watching for the mail. At last, when we were beginning to fear our little
+steamer had gone to the bottom, she returned with a few Australian
+letters, but the aggravating steamer from San Francisco never touched
+Khandavu at all; so all our English letters and papers have gone to New
+Zealand, and we shall not see them for six weeks. So much for being a
+poor colony, which cannot afford to build proper lighthouses. And poor
+it is with a vengeance. You cannot imagine anything more so. The whole
+white community are only just above starvation-point, and yet everything
+is very expensive.
+
+I cannot give you a better proof of the general poverty than the fact
+that scarcely any one in Levuka (the capital) owns a boat—the only
+other means of locomotion being to tramp on weary feet along the vilest
+of shingly footpaths. Even the officials—the Colonial Secretary and
+Auditor-General—have none. The Judge (Sir William Hackett) and the
+Attorney-General (Mr de Ricci) have a rickety old tub between them, which
+they either pull themselves, or man with two labour-boys, each great arm
+of the law supplying one! Of course the Governor has his own boat, in
+which Lady Gordon goes for a small row two or three times a-week; but
+it takes six of the native police to man it, and they are not always
+available. Moreover, it is such a good boat that there are very few
+places where it can ever be allowed to touch; and above all, it must keep
+a very respectful distance from the beautiful coral-reefs and patches,
+which are to me the chief delight of this place. I always envy the native
+women, who are for ever playing, and fishing, and finding wonderful
+treasures on the reef, but here the whites do not understand the interest
+of such pursuits. So my enjoyment of the reef consists in looking down on
+it from the hill above us, and lovely indeed it is.
+
+Just behind the house is a steep glen, with a rocky wee burn, overhung
+with good large trees, and these are matted with ferns and creepers. It
+is not a very fine piece of tropical scenery, but it is my own, in the
+sense that no one else ever takes the trouble to climb up. So there are
+few days that I do not scramble up to some pleasant perch among the grey
+boulders, whence I can look down through the fringe and frame of green
+leaves to the lovely blue sea, with the band of rainbow light that marks
+the coral-reef. I am writing there just now, in a cleft between two great
+rocks, and right glad to escape from the sound of many voices down at
+the house. For one of the aggravations of house-building out here (as
+in tropical countries generally) is, that to improve ventilation, the
+partitions between rooms always stop short of the ceiling. Consequently
+every word spoken in one is heard in all the others, to the great
+aggravation of the unwilling listener. How the gentlemen can concentrate
+their minds sufficiently to write business letters in their very noisy
+quarters, with people of all colours perpetually coming and going, is
+to me a standing mystery; and the annoyance is further aggravated by
+the fact that, in these one-storeyed houses, all rooms must of course
+be on the ground-floor, and all windows are shutterless glass doors,
+opening on to a public verandah; and you have to choose between sitting
+with several doors wide open to all comers, or stifling for lack of air
+by closing them. Certainly no one in Fiji can say that his house or
+his room is his castle, where he may rest undisturbed. I think, of all
+delights of a British house, there is none which we all shall henceforth
+prize more thankfully than the privilege of sitting at our own windows
+up stairs with closed doors. I am bound to say, however, that I am far
+better off than any one else in the house in this respect, having a very
+cosy nest in the new wing. But being next the nursery, the system of
+open roof makes the rooms virtually one; and though the two children,
+Jack and Nevil, are the very clearest and best of little chicks, and
+their Welsh nurse and Portuguese nursery-maid are likewise excellent, it
+does sometimes suggest itself that silence would be preferable. So then
+I creep up my glen and have an hour or two, with only the blue and gold
+lizards as companions.
+
+Happily in Fiji we have really no noxious creatures except mosquitoes
+(and they do swarm). But the houses are full of cockroaches, which
+eat everything—boots, shoes, clothes, &c.—and what they spare the
+mildew destroys. My drawing-paper is already spoilt, and our dresses
+and boots are green with mildew every morning. So are our collections
+of spears, clubs, and bowls, which require daily rubbing with oil.
+Another foe is a lovely white cockatoo, which has a special fancy for
+eating the best table-cloths and the gentlemen’s dress-clothes! We have
+a good many parrots about the place, more or less tame, which will
+come and perch on the tea-cups, upsetting more than they drink; and
+there are tame kingfishers, which eat the cockroaches (in which useful
+art they are assisted by huge spiders, which we love and cherish). A
+pair of laughing-jackasses walk about the apology for a garden, and
+jeer at everything; and sometimes they and the pigeons come into the
+drawing-room, and have to be driven out; and all farmyard creatures,
+carefully reared by Abbey since our arrival, roam about on every
+side,—cows, sheep, turkeys, geese, and fowls; and don’t they all cackle
+and gobble! You see there is so very little available ground for anything
+here on this rocky island, that everything is huddled up into no space at
+all. A very pet dog, with her puppies of two generations, complete the
+family.
+
+We are getting tolerably cosy at last; but it has been a slow
+process,—and it is little more than a month since we were able to take
+possession of the three new rooms which Sir Arthur has added to the old
+house—namely, a large drawing-room, a nursery, and bedroom, which last
+was built for Lady Gordon; but as she prefers remaining in the old house,
+it falls to my share. It is a simple wooden house; but so expensive is
+every detail of work here, that I believe it has cost Sir Arthur upwards
+of £1000; and as he refunds more than a third of his nominal salary as
+Governor to this wellnigh empty treasury, it follows that the post is by
+no means a lucrative one. Our new rooms are very nice; but in the wish
+to make the building less hideous than other houses here, Sir Arthur
+indulged in gable-ends, which, we are told, will probably result in our
+being left roofless the night of the first hurricane,—for which the
+weather prophets look about three weeks hence.
+
+They tell us that this intense heat will last about six weeks longer,
+when, the rainy season being over, we may expect a long spell of
+beautiful weather. Meanwhile we only have occasional rain—very heavy when
+it does fall.
+
+It was suddenly discovered that the roof of this old house (only four
+years old) was quite rotten—the thatch, I mean. So one hundred men were
+collected to repair it; and they are now crawling all over the roof like
+a swarm of ants, or else passing down the hill in long lines, bearing
+huge burdens of tall grass, ten feet high, with great white plumes of
+silky blossom. It is a very picturesque scene; but as they have been at
+it for about three weeks (and indeed there are always a tribe of workmen
+at some corner of the place, if not everywhere), we begin to wish they
+had finished, especially as many of them are unhappy-looking prisoners.
+One is a murderer, working in heavy chains; and though he looks very
+happy, generally climbing nimbly about the roof, notwithstanding this
+heavy weight, it makes me hot and miserable to see him. He was found
+guilty of the murder of a planter of the name of Burns, and his wife. It
+was a frightful story. I do not know why he was not hanged. He is working
+in chains because he has already escaped once and been recaptured; but
+from his extreme activity, I should think his fetters might prove a very
+slight impediment should he resolve to try his luck again. Another large
+body of men are working at the rough ground behind the house, turning it
+into a little garden. Already it is taking shape, and will doubtless be
+very nice by the time the capital is moved to another island, when it
+will probably be left to its fate. Sir Arthur is very anxious to effect
+this move, which undoubtedly will, in the long-run, prove a wise step;
+but in the meantime it will, of course, entail various hardships on many
+of these already hard-struggling people. But I daresay it will be a good
+while before anything is done about it. Everything here is very slow
+work, and the inhabitants have sore need of patience.
+
+It is pleasant to turn from the many cares and sorrows of the whites
+to the cheerier dark side of the picture; for the Fijians are always
+laughing, and seem always ready to sing and dance. Certainly they, too,
+are wretchedly poor; but they need very little, and are well off, where a
+white man would starve.
+
+_March 10._—I have just returned from a most delightful expedition,
+thanks, as usual, to the Wesleyan missionaries, to whose kind help I
+really am indebted for all I have yet seen of native life. Last week I
+had a letter from Andi Kuilla—_i.e._, Lady Flag—daughter of Thakombau,
+asking me to go and stay with her at Bau, the native capital, to be
+present at a grand gathering of the chiefs, when all their most striking
+Bau dances would be performed at the great annual missionary meeting. It
+is the custom here for every district to hold an annual social gathering,
+to which all the people bring their contributions for the funds of the
+mission. These they generally carry in their mouth for safety, and spit
+them on to a mat at the feet of the missionary. The advantage of this
+self-acting purse to men who have no pockets, and whose hands carry
+clubs or fans, is evident. Then they go off in grand procession and have
+a dance, which combines ballet with pantomime, all the dancers being
+dressed up in the most startling varieties of Fijian style. Paint of all
+colours; garlands of every sort of material, for every limb except the
+head, which is adorned with its own magnificent halo of spiral goldeny
+curls—tiny ones—the hair standing straight out from the head; it is
+dotted with one or two blossoms or sprigs of grass, coquettishly stuck in.
+
+Well, this invitation was most tempting, but there seemed at first no
+means of accepting it—no boat was to be had, and no escort. At last,
+in despair, I went off to ask a nice English girl, who talks perfect
+Fijian, if she would venture on coming alone with me (twenty-five miles
+in an open boat, supposing I could hire one). She agreed, and we went
+together to consult Mr Wylie, the missionary here. He at once solved all
+difficulties, and sent his own good boat for us at daybreak, in charge of
+a native teacher, who, he said, was only waiting for an opportunity to
+go to Bau. At the last moment, Captain Havelock, the Colonial Secretary,
+found he could manage to allow himself a holiday—the very first since
+his arrival. So we started most happily. We had a lovely day for our long
+row (no wind for sailing, however); halted for luncheon at a small sandy
+island covered with cocoa-palms, and rested under a splendid Mbaka tree
+(Fijian banyan); then on again, and reached Bau at sunset. It is a tiny
+island just off the mainland.
+
+We found kind Mr Langham waiting at the pier to welcome us and offer us
+comfortable quarters, as a Fijian house is not good for sleep on such
+occasions. It seemed to me the dancing was going on more or less for
+thirty-six hours, counting from the moment of our arrival, when a most
+picturesque rehearsal was going on in the bright moonlight! Of course
+there had been innumerable previous ones; for the figures are most
+elaborate, the movements very varied and like a complicated ballet in
+which every dancer (perhaps two hundred at once) must move in faultless
+time.
+
+As we came up to Thakombau’s quarters a hundred and fifty ladies of Bau
+were beginning their dance, each carrying a paddle of polished wood,
+which they waved and turned with simultaneous action. The general effect
+was most stately. (I should have said ladies and their attendants, for
+nowhere is all etiquette of rank and birth so rigidly cared for. All
+rank comes through the mother.) The dancers were led by Andi Lytia and
+Andi Kuilla, the ex-queen and her daughter. Both are very tall and
+stout,—really fine stately women. No high-bred English duchess could
+carry herself more nobly than these born ladies leading their Tongan
+minuet. One of the sons has just married a Tongan princess, a very pretty
+woman.
+
+Hitherto I had only seen them in the undress of their homes, with a white
+waist-cloth, and sometimes a tiny pinafore only just covering the breast.
+Even then no one could fail to be struck with their true dignity. It is
+just the same with the men—the fine old chief and his handsome sons. It
+is quite impossible to look at these people now and realise the appalling
+scenes in which at least the older ones have so often joined. Now the
+ladies were in full dress, consisting of a waist-cloth of very rare black
+_tappa_, tiny jackets of white silk edged with lace, and no ornament
+whatever save a small English locket, and a small tuft of scarlet flowers
+in their halo of hair—that of the old queen is quite grey. They both
+looked really handsome.
+
+Next day crowds of canoes kept arriving from every neighbouring island,
+and dancing and feasting went on all day. The grand _mékés_ came off
+in the afternoon, but many of the occasional ones were quite as
+pretty. Each district has dances peculiar to itself. Here there was
+not one spear-dance,—all clubs or fans. The men on these occasions are
+generally so painted and dressed up that you cannot recognise your
+dearest friend; and we were quite puzzled by the king’s handsome sons,
+Ratu Joe and Ratu Timothy, appearing, one scarlet the other black, down
+to the waist. But we were chiefly puzzled and attracted by one very
+fine fellow, all painted black, with a huge wreath and neck-garland of
+scarlet hybiscus and green leaves, and rattling garters made of many
+hanging strings of large cockle-shells, and the usual _liku_ (a sort
+of kilt or waist-drapery) of fringes of coloured _pandanus_ leaves, or
+fresh ferns, &c. Of course he carried a club, and was barefooted. This
+man distinguished himself greatly, and afterwards acted the part of a
+huge dog in a dance where all the children appeared on all-fours as cats
+(“pussies”). Eventually we discovered him to be a European known as Jack
+Cassell.
+
+One very pretty girl, Andi Karlotta, who is engaged to Ratu Joe, wore a
+rose-coloured bodice and _sulu_, and a tinge of red sprinkled over her
+hair, all to match. Very often now the girls wear streamers of English
+ribbon; but these Bau ladies hold their heads very high, and decided
+that, as girls on the mainland had adopted ribbon, they would _tambu_ it;
+so only a little lace-edging was allowed. In addition to the actual kilt,
+many of the men wear innumerable loops and folds, and even a trailing
+train, of white _tappa_, the effect of which is graceful. Some wore a
+headdress made of very delicate bands of it, from the forehead to the
+back of the neck, looking like tiny white wreaths; others wore a kind of
+turban of smoke-dried gauze, and large beautiful breast-plates of pearly
+shell inlaid with ivory.
+
+Just when the principal _mékés_ were over, a tremendous shower came on;
+happily not till the people had gone home to feast. Later it cleared up,
+and they danced the whole night in the moonlight, though the rain had
+converted half the grass into a lake. But as they had no satin shoes to
+think about, they danced right through it, and seemed very happy. Their
+commonest figure is a great double circle, working opposite ways, the
+orchestra standing in the middle, singing and beating time with bamboos;
+and sometimes they dance off like a very curly letter S to join another
+double circle.
+
+We sat up watching them from the mission garden till past 1 A.M.; for
+though we were all tired, there was a solemn conference going on at the
+house, the neighbouring brethren having all assembled to sit in judgment
+on the alleged delinquencies of a native minister. So, as their wives did
+not know whether they were to go home that night or not, all they could
+do was to lay their small children down to sleep in every corner. Finally
+one family departed, with two little ones, to row to a neighbouring isle
+and then carry the children a mile through the forest—one fair little
+thing carried by a Fijian child not much bigger than itself,—such a
+bright intelligent little monkey.
+
+When we awoke next morning the dancers were still in full swing; but soon
+after sunrise all departed in their canoes, singing as they sailed away,
+and all declaring it had been a very pleasant time.
+
+We foolishly allowed ourselves to be detained till towards noon, trusting
+to our host’s practice in catching tides (for only at certain hours can
+you cross the coral-reefs, and that only at certain points, miles apart).
+But a head-wind set in and made a nasty wobbly sea. Our men were not very
+fresh, and when we neared the isle where we had lunched on our way, we
+found we had lost the tide and had to row a long way round outside the
+reef, and then come in by a passage so very narrow that it was difficult
+to discern it in the very fitful moonlight. It was an anxious moment
+passing between the two great lines of breakers which mark the edge
+of every reef. Once inside, the danger is only of running aground on
+coral-patches.
+
+It was nearly 9 P.M. before we reached a small island where we were
+carried ashore and had supper on the sands under the palm-trees while our
+men rested. It was pleasant sitting in the moonlight, but when we had
+re-embarked very heavy rain came on; however, we had good waterproofs,
+and our men had a good coating of fresh oil, so it did no harm. It was
+clear moonlight when at last, at 1 A.M., we reached the pier, whereon
+lay sleeping a row of labour-boys, who had chosen this _al fresco_
+bedroom for the sake of the breeze. They are the servants from other
+isles, who work harder than Fijians. Fijians make most graceful table
+servants and good police. They look on their drill as a sort of _méké_,
+but they utterly abhor all hard work. So half the isles of the South
+Pacific are represented in the household. We woke the boys and got our
+things carried up to the house, crept up the verandah to my room without
+disturbing anybody, rigged up our mosquito-curtains, and had no further
+adventures save two battles with land-crabs, which came in and walked
+about clattering their claws against the woodwork, so that they had to be
+turned out. (I clubbed one one night in my anguish lest he should nip
+my toes, but the result was so horribly nasty, that now I always catch
+them and carry them down to the little stream hard by, to prevent their
+coming back)—rather an aggravating episode to occur twice in a night
+when you are very tired; and before I was well asleep again, a pathetic
+little cry came from the nursery, “Oh, I am so sick, and nurse has gone
+to bathe!” So I had to fly to the rescue, to find dear little Jack on the
+sick-list. He is better to-day, but the climate is a very trying one for
+children—debilitating, though not positively unhealthy.
+
+We have had intense heat and damp, but I think it is over now, and we
+have a sweet breeze, so long as we can sit in it; but unfortunately it
+does not reach rooms round the corner, so some are always hot. However,
+thanks to moving about a good deal for change of air, we all keep very
+fairly well.
+
+Though our household party is nominally a large one, two or three are
+generally absent. Captain Knollys and Mr Gordon have just returned from
+an expedition to the camp up in the mountains, in the heart of the
+disaffected district, among the wild big-heads, the Kai Tholos, or people
+of the mountains. Captain Olive was sent up there some time ago with a
+strong force of native police (very fine men, and he glories in them,
+and lives like them and with them). He made a regular fortified camp,
+on a plain in the heart of the mountains, and at first the mountaineers
+thought he certainly meant war; but by degrees they are getting tamer,
+and the one tribe which is most seriously antagonistic has been vainly
+trying to persuade others to back it up, and they have refused; so now
+we hope all fear of fighting is over. But it was necessary to send up
+some more armed men as a reinforcement, and a great mass of stuff for
+barter; so these two went in charge of it, and have brought us back very
+interesting sketches of places and people. Mr Gordon is a real artist,
+and his sketches are very clever.
+
+Up in the mountains the people are still heathen, and the dress is yet
+primitive. For full dress, women wear a fringe of grass four inches long.
+The men of the mountains when fully dressed wear a strip of _tappa_ tied
+in a very large bow, and trailing train. Their heads are gigantic, about
+eighteen inches in diameter, and some much larger; the stiff hair being
+very long and bent back in large bunches, makes it grow inward among the
+roots: of course it is rarely, if ever, dressed, and forms magnificent
+cover! As the inmates are apt to tickle, every big-head wears a long pin
+stuck through the hair to scratch with, and when the irritation becomes
+unbearable, he kindles a fire of banana-leaves, and, placing his wooden
+neck-pillow close to it, gets his head thoroughly smoked.
+
+These wooden neck-pillows occupy a prominent position in the annals of
+the Fijian police-courts. They are handy weapons; and a bolstering match
+in which they figure is apt to be a serious one. They are a great check
+on aggravating curtain-lectures, and are used everywhere all over the
+isles. Most pillows are a stick about one inch in diameter, resting on
+two legs.
+
+These Kai Tholos (Highlanders) have many legends and fairy tales which,
+unfortunately, no one who has really mastered the language can find time
+to collect. One is, that the great _dakua_ or _kaurie_ pine-forests are
+haunted by tiny men called _Vélé_, with high conical heads. They carry
+small hand-clubs, which they throw at all trespassers, who go mad in
+consequence; but (mark the coincidence with German fairy tales) if you
+have the wit to carry in your hand a fern-leaf, they are powerless, and
+fall at your feet, crying, “Spare me.” Once they all fell in love with a
+pretty human girl who strayed into the forest. They were so charmed with
+her that they kept her there a year before she managed to escape.
+
+I find that Mr Williams, one of the earlier missionaries, took some notes
+on this subject. He says:—
+
+“The Fijian peoples with invisible beings every remarkable spot: the
+lonely dell, the gloomy cave, the desolate rock, and the deep forest.
+Many of these, he believes, are on the alert to do him harm; therefore,
+in passing their territory, he throws down a few green leaves to
+propitiate the demon of the place. Among the principal objects of Fijian
+superstition are demons, ghosts, witches, wizards, fairies, evil-eyes,
+seers, and priests, all of whom he believes to possess supernatural
+power. A very old Fijian used to talk to me of ‘those little gods,’ with
+a faith as strong as that of a Highlander in his fairies. And these
+‘little gods’ are the fairies of Fiji. ‘When living near the Kauvandra
+mountains, I often used to hear them sing,’ said the old man; and
+his eyes brightened as he went on to tell how they would assemble in
+troops on the tops of the mountains and sing unweariedly. They were all
+little—‘like little children. I have often seen them and listened to
+their songs.’ These are the mountain fairies. There are other ‘little
+gods,’ called _luve-ni-wai_, children of the waters. My list contains
+more than fifty of their names, but I believe it is incomplete. They are
+represented as wild and fearful, and at certain festivals they visit
+their worshippers, who for several successive weeks assemble morning and
+evening to allure them by drumming with short bamboos. Little flags are
+placed at various inland passes to prevent these water-gods from passing
+on to the forests; so they halt at an enclosure where offerings have
+been prepared for them, and there the worshippers seat themselves and
+beat their bamboos, and others dance in most fantastic style, while one,
+called the _Linga Viu_, or shade-holder, dances in a circle all round the
+others, waving a sunshade which he alone is privileged to carry.”
+
+“There is a warlock, called _Ndrudru Sambo_, who is very tall, and of
+a grey colour, with a wide flat head; he breathes hard, and makes a
+clattering noise as he moves. He steals fish from the fishermen, and
+dainty bits of food wherever he finds them. If touched with a spear he
+instantly takes the form of a rat.”
+
+I find that is all I can learn of the fairies at present. Possibly the
+reward of £100, offered at Max Müller’s instigation, for a collection
+of such lore, may induce some one to find time to make one before it
+all dies out, as it invariably does when the people become civilised or
+Christianised and ashamed of old superstitions. Then good and bad all
+pass away together. But I must say the missionaries in Fiji have shown
+superlative common-sense in their method of dealing with native customs,
+discriminating between the innocent and the evil.
+
+We are especially grateful to the Kai Tholos for proving that
+Christianity has no connection with broadcloth, and in every way
+discouraging the adoption of European garments. I have only seen one man
+foolish enough to appear in such—a native minister—and I rejoiced to hear
+his superiors indulging in gentle sarcasm, which would certainly have
+its effect. But in some neighbouring groups—Tonga for instance, where
+the people are even a finer race than these—everything native is dying
+out. To encourage the import of foreign goods, the people are _forbidden
+by law to make or wear native cloth_, and they are encouraged to make
+themselves objects of ridicule by adopting European dress. Imagine
+Parisian bonnets and absurd hats on these picturesque heads. This is
+the last news from Tonga just brought by H.M.S. Nymphe (Captain Grant
+Suttie), which went there to take Mr Layard, Consul of Tonga, on official
+duty. The cruise was delightful, but with some shadows. One officer, Mr
+Grey, died quite suddenly; the armourer also died, but he was very ill
+before they started.
+
+Mr Gordon has gone off to-day to try and make an amicable temporary
+arrangement between some natives and a white settler, who all claim the
+same land. So the former spear the cattle of the latter and drive them
+down into the sea. The wretched beasts are dying of starvation; and as
+it may be a couple of years before the Lands Commission can decide on
+the ownership of the innumerable estates claimed by hundreds of people,
+the white man’s wife came here to crave some temporary interference. She
+wore a white dress and white lace, her hair in beautiful long ringlets, a
+large hat and feather, and is very interesting to look upon. I hear she
+is a splendid musician, and something of an artist. She is an Austrian
+lady who had money of her own, which her husband has invested in this
+charming way. I should think plantation life in Fiji was hard enough in
+any case; but when you come to being at logger-heads with the natives, it
+must be odious indeed.
+
+Now I think I have given you a long enough screed. I am sure dear old
+Lady Ruthven will like to hear “A letter from Fiji.” Please give her my
+kindest love.
+
+_March 16._—After all, our letters have never gone. The weather was so
+bad that it was impossible to finish necessary repairs to the Government
+steamer (which recently discovered a new coral-reef, greatly to her own
+discomfiture). The glass is falling steadily, and there is every symptom
+of an approaching hurricane, which will probably carry away our whole
+roof if it proves severe. Nor is this our only danger. This morning when
+daylight broke we found that my dear little burn in the rocky glen had
+swollen to an angry mountain torrent, and was tearing along, making new
+little streams and waterfalls in every direction—one right across the
+verandah. A squad of men have been working at a dike all the afternoon;
+but as it has rained steadily all day, and the bed of the stream is not
+ten feet from the drawing-room and nursery windows, we fully expect
+to be washed out to-night. So the drawing-room and my room have been
+entirely dismantled, and present a hideous sight of blank bare floors and
+packing-cases!
+
+As for the poor little attempt at a garden, young rivers are careering
+all over it. As yet our only flowers are balsams, raised from seed, not
+very interesting flowers, but our only treasures in this flowerless
+region. But really, what pleasure is there in making anything nice in
+such a country? I thought I would have my room very dandy, so I invested
+in a pair of tall vases to stand on carved brackets and hold ferns and
+grasses. Almost the first day I put them up, one sudden gust of wind blew
+them both over, and I found only fragments!
+
+The Governor has just come to despatch the gentlemen to dig out Mrs
+Macgregor, the doctor’s wife, who is being buried by a mud avalanche,
+and her husband is far too busy with his sick folk to look after her.
+The hospital is quite full, and he has out-patients in all directions.
+We certainly heard very false accounts of the healthiness of this place,
+especially the utter absence of sunstroke. At least three deaths have
+been due to it since we came. One victim was a Fijian, who dropped
+down dead at his work on Saturday; the other two were Engineers; and
+a labour-boy dropped down dead yesterday, but I do not know from what
+cause. A third Engineer died and was buried yesterday. They only landed
+here in September, and out of their corps of sixty men three have died,
+and many are on the sick-list. Just imagine that they have never yet got
+their sun-hats, or any white clothing, though this is by far the hottest
+place any of us have ever been in!
+
+The cemetery lies on a hill beyond us, and it is so sad seeing all the
+funerals pass. The last was that of a poor American sailor, who died in
+hospital, and four labour-boys trotted past, carrying him with no more
+ceremony than if the coffin had been an old packing-case.
+
+We have just had two interesting domestic events in the middle of the
+storm. The first was the arrival of a fine litter of young pigs, who
+chose this very awkward moment for their appearance. The other was the
+ruthless destruction of a cherished nest, just in front of the nursery
+window, where a Muscovy duck had made her home at the root of an old
+tree overhanging the water. We watched a sudden rush carry away her
+supporting-bank, and the poor thing looked up in despair, as, one after
+another, her eggs rolled into the stream. A Fijian rushed to the rescue
+up to his waist in water, saved the last six, and carried them and her
+off to the kitchen for safety, but she declines to sit on the surviving
+eggs.
+
+A fresh access of storm. My door has just blown violently open. We are
+putting up hurricane-bars, and expect to have an anxious night. The new
+roof of the old house is leaking all over.
+
+_March 17._—We have had a night of it, but as yet no hurricane. However,
+old hands tell us we cannot hope we are through the wood for ten days to
+come, after which we may count on six months of pleasant weather. The
+rainfall yesterday was 4½ inches, and all night the wind blew savagely;
+but the roof was very slightly damaged, and the stream kept in its proper
+channel. No harm was done, save that the boat-house was blown down.
+Luckily all the boats had been dragged up to the verandah for security.
+
+Last night at sunset we were watching a poor little cutter trying to
+beat in at the passage through the coral-reef. Then we lost sight of
+her in the utter darkness. This morning we hear she did reach a passage
+farther along the coast, but struck the reef and went down like a shot.
+The men got to shore, but she and her hard-earned cargo are lost. Her
+story may interest you. She was the private property of a tribe near
+Khandavu, who had the sense to see the advantages of owning a ship for
+themselves. About eighty of the tribe bound themselves to work for three
+years on plantations in order to pay off her price; and their long
+service has only just expired. So you see it is a serious loss to these
+poor folk.
+
+_March 18._—After a storm a calm. To-day is a dead calm—not a ripple on
+the sea. We do not know whether it is merely a case of _reculer pour
+mieux sauter_; but at all events, a vessel is to be despatched to-night
+to Khandavu on the chance of still being in time to catch the mail _viâ_
+Torres Straits. Anyhow, we hope we shall get some English letters, unless
+the storm blew the mail-steamers past us. We are rather anxious about
+Baron von Hügel, as he has for months been wandering about the mountains
+alone with natives, and a fortnight ago wrote that he was very ill. We
+expected him by the steamer to-day, but have no word of him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+    GOVERNMENT HOUSE—PETS—CURIOS—CRABS—NATIVE POLICE—DEATH OF MRS
+    DE RICCI.
+
+
+                                                 NASOVA, _March 23, 1876_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—We seem to have settled down to a quietly regular home-life,
+which really is very pleasant. When I think of the vile March winds which
+you are now enduring, and contrast them with our lovely mornings and
+evenings, when every breath is balm, I have only one exceeding longing,
+which is that you were here to share their luxury. Now that everything
+is well established, the house moves like a clock, of which Abbey and
+his wife are the mainspring. They have trained a set of Fijians to wait
+at table really admirably; they move gracefully and quickly, and look
+exceedingly handsome in a uniform Lady Gordon has devised. Simply a
+white kilt and shirt, trimmed with crimson, with short sleeves and
+square-cut neck, to show a large boar’s tooth against the clear brown
+throat. Then Sir Arthur has imported a Hindoo cook, and two excellent
+Hindoo valets, who are also upper housemaids. The rest of the household
+includes labour-boys of every colour and nation. We adhere to regular
+English hours—that is to say, coffee is brought to our rooms at seven
+A.M., and breakfast follows about nine; luncheon at one, tea at five,
+dinner soon after seven. There is no particular reason for having it
+later, as it is always dark by six.
+
+I must tell you of one triumph of common-sense in the adoption, by Sir
+Arthur and all his staff, of what we call the Nasova uniform—namely,
+dispensing with the misery of a coat, and substituting a bright-coloured
+silken waist-sash for braces: now all the gentlemen look fresh and
+cool. It is a very sad evening when first a new man-of-war comes in,
+especially one of some foreign nation, and the presence of punctilious
+strangers involves full dress. But as soon as ever friendly relations are
+established, they, too, are privileged to adopt this comfortable costume,
+greatly to their own satisfaction.
+
+At present H.M.S. Nymphe and H.M.S. Sapphire are both in harbour. Our
+cousin, Captain Grant Suttie, commands the former, and Mr Gordon’s
+brother, Cosmo, is her first lieutenant. Captain Murray commands the
+Sapphire, and prides himself, as well he may, on the perfection of her
+every detail. His own cabins are exquisitely dainty in every respect;
+and Jack and Nevil are devoted to the lovely silky spaniels which are
+his inseparable companions. Their own particular little black-and-tan
+terrier Snip, has a child almost as big as itself, by name Bones. It has
+attached itself to me; and now the family is further increased by a fat
+and sportive puppy, of which Bones stands in great awe.
+
+Sir Arthur has now acquired all manner of parrots—green and yellow,
+scarlet and black and purple—which wander all over the place. The most
+exquisite of all are the Kulas, tiny miniature parrots, combining
+green, scarlet, and purple in their gem-like plumage, and capable of
+being so thoroughly tamed that we have had them walking about the table
+at breakfast, climbing over the flowers, or sitting on our fingers,
+caressing us with their little rough tongues, and eating brown sugar and
+water, which, I believe, is the only safe food to give them. They are
+plucky little birds, and walk about the verandah on guard, and drive away
+the great big ducks, who stand in much awe of them. They also fight with
+the beautiful wee kingfisher. The latter is useful in the way of killing
+cockroaches. The other day Abbey observed one of the laughing-jackasses
+half choking with the effort to swallow something, and going to the
+rescue found the dear little kingfisher half-way down its throat; neither
+seemed any the worse, however. A few days afterwards he again heard a
+scuffle, and found both the jackasses trying to swallow the same rat; as
+neither would yield its prize, he carried out Solomon’s judgment with
+good effect, and both were satisfied!
+
+I have been very busy for some time in painting careful studies of all
+the best objects of native art which come to any of us in our several
+collections. All the different patterns of carved bowls, with or without
+curiously shaped legs—some for oil, some for drink; all the multiform
+clubs and spears; all curious necklaces and ornaments; and a wonderful
+variety of wooden pillows. It is really a very interesting occupation,
+and now I am beginning to make drawings of every piece of pottery that
+any one of us acquires. I determined to do this, both because the pieces
+are so brittle that comparatively few will reach England in safety even
+with most careful packing, and also because, as each old woman works just
+according to her own fancy, the best pieces, many of which are really
+most artistic, are never made in duplicate—at all events it is rarely
+possible to obtain a second, and things made to order are utter failures.
+
+Lady Gordon has had large shelves made at one end of the drawing-room,
+on which are placed some of our finest specimens of pottery, and very
+handsome they are, of rich greenish yellow and red, glazed with resin.
+For anti-macassars and sofa-covers we have handsome white native cloth,
+with rich brown pattern. And instead of a carpet, one large cool mat, on
+one corner of which Jack and Nevil (and any of their grown-up friends
+whom they can entrap) build vast castles with large wooden bricks which
+have just been made here. The dining-room is now beautifully decorated
+with trophies of spears and clubs, and great bowls, and native cloth. The
+house is all so thoroughly in keeping with the country; so infinitely
+preferable to any attempt at making a Europeanised “Government House,”
+and so much more suitable to Sir Arthur’s _rôle_ of premier chief of Fiji.
+
+There are one or two minor points, however, on which we should be better
+pleased if our home was not so purely Fijian; if, for instance, it were
+not so very attractive to the crabs—a family which share all a Briton’s
+love for travelling and inspecting the homes of other races. Here they
+bravely leave their native shore, and walk inland, wherever fancy leads
+them; and this, I regret to say, is frequently into our bedrooms, where
+they find hiding-places in dark corners behind boxes and portfolios,
+whence at night they sally forth to make further researches, clattering
+their shell-armour against the woodwork, occasionally knocking down
+something which wakens us with a sudden start, and up we spring to
+find perhaps a great broad-backed chap like a “parten” brandishing
+his powerful claws within a few inches of our unprotected toes. Then
+follows an exciting chase—a regular game at hide-and-seek—which probably
+awakens some of our sleeping neighbours, greatly to their disgust. Of
+course it results in the capture of the intruder, but then comes the
+question what to do with him. I cannot bring myself to stab him with a
+spine of cocoa-nut leaf, as the Fijian girls do (piercing him beneath
+the main claw, which is his only vulnerable point); so I carry him down
+to the stream and throw him in, hoping he will travel back to the sea.
+I have had many such nocturnal adventures, and confess that I wish the
+inquisitive crabs would stay at home.
+
+Not that these are by any means the only members of the crab family which
+explore our abodes. Nowhere have I seen such a number of hermit-crabs as
+swarm on these isles, occupying every shell on the beach, from the least
+to the greatest. There are literally myriads of them, and sometimes the
+whole shore appears to be moving. But these errant hermits are by no
+means content to remain on the sea-beach,—they wander far up the valleys,
+and meet us in most unexpected places, carrying their borrowed homes with
+them; and we occasionally find them creeping up our mosquito-nets, and in
+other equally startling hiding-places.
+
+There are also land-crabs which climb the tall cocoa-nut palms, and feed
+on the nuts, tearing them open with strong unpleasant-looking pincers.
+And one kind is more troublesome than an English mole or rabbit, from
+the aggravating manner in which it burrows in the ground, making such
+innumerable holes as to render any bit of grass quite honeycombed. It
+would be very dangerous to ride on.
+
+But by far the most attractive members of the crab family are those which
+inhabit such muddy shores as those of Suva harbour, near the mouths of
+the rivers, where they were to me an unfailing source of amusement.
+I spent hours watching them stealing cautiously out of their holes
+when they were sure the coast was clear, but darting back like a flash
+of lightning at the faintest movement of any living thing, even the
+vibration of the most cautious footstep. But if I waited very patiently
+and motionless, they presently reappeared one by one, till all along the
+shore I saw their strange bright-coloured claws waving aimlessly in the
+air. These crabs are tiny creatures, whose whole body rarely exceeds an
+inch in diameter; but they own one huge claw as large as their whole
+body, and when feeding they hold this up as a guard, as if shielding
+their eyes, while with a tiny one they gather up their food on the
+shore, lifting an atom at a time into their mouth. This large pincer is
+invariably of some bright colour—yellow, rose-colour, or scarlet—while
+the rest of the body is black and white, purply, or brown. You cannot
+think how curious it is to see the whole shore dotted with these waving
+yellow claws, which, on the very slightest movement on your part, vanish
+in the twinkling of an eye, and leave you standing alone on a dull
+expanse of brown mud, without a symptom to suggest the existence of this
+great army of crabs.
+
+How delighted Ran would be if he could only see the daring little bronze
+lizards, with bright blue tails, which keep darting about the verandah
+and all about the rooms. I am sitting on a long wicker-chair, and a big
+lizard and a little one have been playing hide-and-seek for the last
+two hours, the little one darting in and out through the holes in the
+wicker-work, sometimes at my back, sometimes darting under the chair and
+reappearing in front: sometimes I catch a glimpse of a head whose diamond
+eyes peep through the little round holes in the wicker; then a bit of
+blue tail just reveals itself; sometimes it hides in the folds of my
+dress. Altogether it is one of a family of great darlings.
+
+Besides these various strange creatures, we find continual amusement
+in watching the various natives who are constantly about the place. A
+detachment of the native police live in several cottages just on the
+other side of the _rara_, which is a small piece of rather level grass (a
+most rare and valuable possession). Here they drill morning and evening
+in correct European style; but I hope the word police will not suggest to
+you visions of the British “bobby.” These are a most picturesque force,
+and supply the Governor’s guard, boat-crews, orderlies, &c. We are such
+near neighbours that we hear their yangona _mékés_, whenever they brew
+their beloved grog; and we also have full benefit of morning and evening
+church parade and _lotu_. They have their own chaplain.
+
+Some of them are exceedingly fine men, with strong muscular frame and
+good features, set off by a splendid head of frizzy hair, which, I am
+happy to say, Captain Knollys encourages them to grow long. Of course
+it does not approach the gigantic mop of heathen days, but still it is
+very large and carefully groomed. They periodically dip the whole in
+coral-lime, and go about for a day or two white-headed; and very becoming
+it is to them. I cannot speak of this as of one of the mysteries of the
+toilet, for the washing is done in public. The girls when undergoing this
+process look like court beauties got up for a fancy ball; and as for the
+men, we might almost think we had a staff of powdered footmen, were it
+not for a scarlet hybiscus or tuft of coloured grass knowingly stuck in
+on one side; I even sometimes see one long cock’s feather. When the lime
+is washed off, the hair, now beautifully clean, is combed out to its full
+length, and while the roots retain their rich brown, the outer locks
+vary from a warm russet to a tawny yellow, according to the quality of
+the lime. Both colours harmonise well with the rich brown madder tone of
+the skin. This also varies, ranging through senna to clear olive in the
+men of Tongan or Samoan blood. The hair and body next share a coating of
+cocoa-nut oil, and not till you have seen this applied can you realise
+the force of the expression, “Oil to make him of a cheerful countenance.”
+A Fijian who, from poverty or other cause, has failed to oil himself, is
+a most wretched-looking creature.
+
+We have had a good many visits lately from different chiefs, several of
+whom have come to formal dinners, and have got through that ordeal in
+the most creditable manner. I should think that sitting on chairs for
+two hours, during a long series of courses of strange dishes, eaten with
+unwonted knives and forks, must be very trying to them; but they are so
+well bred, that they never allow themselves to appear bored, nor do they
+make any mistakes,—and of course the Fijian servants are on the alert to
+help them out of any dilemma; besides, at least one of the Governor’s
+interpreters is always of the party. Some of the ladies have been asked
+to dine, but have invariably excused themselves. They do not mind coming
+to luncheon, which is less alarming, and occasionally bring pretty
+children,—greatly to little Jack’s delight. He does love babies! Nevil
+rather despises them. A few days ago a party of Fijian ladies were caught
+in a tropical shower, just as they reached the house. All their pretty
+native finery was destroyed; but we found no difficulty about supplying
+dry clothing, as so little was required. Lady Gordon gave the principal
+lady a new shawl to wear as a _sulu_, and begged her to accept it, which
+she did with great satisfaction.
+
+I forgot to tell you of one very pretty expedition I had last week.
+Dr Macgregor had to visit the isle of Naingani to see if it would do
+for a quarantine station, so he asked me to go with him. He had the
+harbour-master’s boat, manned by six wild-looking Solomon Island and
+New Britain boatmen. Three hours’ steady rowing brought us to a pretty
+isle, with white coral shore, haunted by myriads of hermit-crabs, and
+overshadowed by very fine old _ndelo_ trees. We lunched beside a pool
+of fresh water on the shore, and found two good streamlets. The people
+seemed very poor. The coral-patches were lovely, and I found much
+amusement watching black and yellow sea slugs, with heads like flowers,
+and black and white star-fish. Then I sketched the great trees, while the
+doctor did his inspection; after which we had a lovely row home.
+
+There is a good deal of sickness going about just now. Amongst other
+sufferers is old Mrs Floyd, the mother of our parson, who has nursed her
+with such unwearied devotion, that now he is quite worn out. So last
+Sunday Captain Havelock undertook both services. He makes a first-rate
+chaplain.
+
+I have just been up the hill with Mrs Havelock. We sat under the shadow
+of a great rock, with breezy sunshine all round us, and the lovely
+harbour below. I wished you had been sitting there with me. We watched
+the glowing sunset colours, though we were facing due east. Every morning
+we see the sun rise out of the sea; and at night we sit out in the
+starlight and watch the Great Bear, which appears just over Levuka, and
+is very brilliant. It seems strange, does it not, that we, so low in the
+southern hemisphere, should look on such a familiar reminder of home?
+
+We have had a sad death in the family from gluttony! One of the
+omnivorous laughing-jackasses contrived to catch Mrs Abbey’s pet canary,
+and swallowed it, feathers and all. Strange to say, this actually proved
+too much for its digestion—or rather for its throat, for it died of
+suffocation. We shall hear its derisive laughter no more. Alas, poor
+jackass!
+
+The English mail has just brought me a budget of home-letters, and news
+of many matters that come to us as vivid reminders of the far-away grey
+isles, which I do sometimes long to see, for the sake of the many warm
+hearts they contain,—not that I find these lacking in any corner of the
+earth. Good-bye, darling.—Your loving sister.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                   FIJI, _March 29, 1876_.
+
+DEAREST NELL,—I have just received, and greatly enjoyed, my budget of
+home-letters.... At present I am staying in Levuka, nursing my pretty,
+nice little friend, Mrs de Ricci, who has a very severe attack of fever.
+She has been for ten days in great danger, and is even now in high
+delirium. She and I have been great friends ever since we first met in
+Sydney; for she is a bright sunny little woman, always ready to make the
+best of everything. Her husband is the Attorney-General here; but their
+household, like most others in this land of discomfort, consists of a
+rough Irish girleen and an unkempt Fijian lad; so when the bonny little
+woman was taken very ill, Dr Macgregor came to see if I would go to help
+for a night. I have stayed on ever since, as she knows me through her
+delirium, and is content generally to do what I ask her. So hitherto we
+have rejected the various kind offers of help from friendly neighbours,
+and have divided the watches between us, and so manage very well. Nursing
+is much simplified in the tropics, where you have not to think about
+fires, happing up clothes, and keeping out draughts. On the other hand,
+nothing will keep, and your milk and beef-tea and chicken-broth go bad
+almost before you can use them. Our patient has to eat something every
+hour; and sometimes it is difficult to keep things fresh. However, I
+think she is getting on pretty well.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                NASOVA, _Sunday, April 2_.
+
+Alas! our watching proved in vain. Yesterday morning, in the grey dawn,
+the sweet soul passed quietly away, unconsciously and without pain, in
+her early spring-time. She was only twenty-two. She had battled through
+the fever and subsequent dysentery, and we thought all danger was over,
+when suddenly a change for the worse set in, and it became evident there
+was no hope. We have the comfort of knowing that if human skill could
+have availed to keep her here, we certainly had excellent medical advice,
+having two very clever doctors—Macgregor and Mayo—in constant attendance,
+and two more in consultation.... Her one regret, since she arrived here,
+was that she had left her only child in England—a lovely little fellow,
+aged three. She has missed him sorely. Now we are glad to think that he
+is safe at home.... At sunset we laid her to rest, under the shadow of a
+great boulder of red rock, on a headland overlooking the sea, with palms
+and wild-citron trees and tall reedy grass all round,—a most lovely spot,
+especially at sunrise, when the sun comes up out of the sea—or in the
+beautiful moonlight. I found it one day while exploring the bush round
+the cemetery. It is within its boundaries, yet quite apart. Captain
+Knollys had a narrow path cleared yesterday leading to it. The evening
+was dreary beyond description. The sea and sky were leaden. We had the
+first part of the service in church by candle-light. Mr Maudslay had made
+a lovely cross of white flowers, which lay on the coffin. By the time
+we came out it was quite dark, and we stumbled along the wretched path
+through the town to the shore, where boats were waiting. Of course we
+were all present, and sad enough, as you may well believe; for this is a
+heavy cloud for our small community.
+
+It is two miles from the church to the cemetery (which lies a mile beyond
+Nasova). Happily it did not rain while we were going, but previous
+downpours had made the steep clay path leading up to the hill from the
+sea-beach so slippery, that it was all the sailors could do to carry the
+coffin (Captain Grant Suttie had sent his boats and men from the Nymphe).
+The service was read by the dim light of a lantern, and was scarcely
+ended when the rain fell in torrents—a dismal night indeed....
+
+To-day is clear and beautiful. Arthur Gordon went up the hill to search
+for lovely mosses, and Baron von Hügel and I made a large cross of ferns,
+white silky grass, and scarlet balsams, which we carried to the now
+sacred headland—one more spot of earth to recall our favourite motto,
+_Ci rivedremo_.[28] To-morrow a tall rude cross of cocoa-nut palm will
+be placed there, to mark the spot, till a permanent one of granite can
+come from England. On this island there is no stone suitable for the
+purpose,—nothing but coarse conglomerate. I do not need to tell you how
+closely this has touched us all, and tended to draw us together. One of
+our little sisterhood already gone, in her very prime.... Her husband
+returns to England by the first steamer to see his child.
+
+Sir William and Lady Hackett are also to leave almost immediately, he
+having been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in Ceylon.[29]...
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                        NASOVA, _April 6_.
+
+I have just received a most kind letter from the Langhams, who are going
+for a month’s cruise among the small isles in the centre of the group.
+They go in the mission-ship the Jubilee, and invite me to go with them.
+Of course I have accepted gladly; and the fact of the mission-house at
+Bau being thus left empty is such a grand chance of a change for Lady
+Gordon and the chicks, that the Governor has asked for the loan of it,
+which has been cordially granted, and Mrs Havelock will accompany them.
+
+We all felt that after such a trying time a change of scene would be very
+desirable; but one of the many drawbacks of this colony is, that there is
+literally no place to which ladies and children can go for a few days,
+unless such a chance as this occurs. Even the wretched house which Sir
+Arthur rented at Suva last December is now turned into a public-house,
+where we could not stay again; and however hospitably inclined our white
+neighbours may be, there are probably not half-a-dozen in the whole group
+who have even one spare room. So it happens that neither Mrs Havelock,
+Lady Hackett, Mrs Macgregor (nor dear little Mrs de Ricci), have had one
+day’s absence from Levuka since they landed here in July.
+
+I believe the real secret of preserving health in this climate is
+frequent change of air, and, as you know, I have been pretty constantly
+on the move. But it is not every lady who could enjoy the sort of
+prolonged gipsy or picnic life as much as I do. Now we are starting to
+try it in a new phase.
+
+H.M.S. Barracouta has just come into harbour, and Captain Stevens dined
+here last night. He unfortunately got mixed in the Samoan difficulties,
+and has brought Colonel Steinberger here as a prisoner, which is rather
+embarrassing. A few days ago a barque arrived here from Samoa, bringing
+eight wounded sailors belonging to the Barracouta. They got into an
+apparently senseless row with the natives, in which three blue-jackets
+were killed. Doubtless this will involve some further complication.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+    GOOD FRIDAY IN FIJI—ISLE KORO—PLANTERS’ HOUSES—LABOUR—MAKING
+    NATIVE CLOTH—GREAT FEASTS—WEDDINGS—SALARIES OF WESLEYAN
+    MISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS.
+
+
+                               NAMATHU, ISLE OF KORO, _Good Friday, 1876_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—It is raining heavily, and the wind is foul, and the Jubilee
+has had to run to safer anchorage, otherwise we were to have started
+this afternoon, to spend Easter on another island. I cannot say I regret
+the detention, as our surroundings here are pleasant and peaceful, and it
+is time I sent you a report of my wanderings.
+
+This day last year we were all in Paris, and spent the whole day in
+solemn crowded churches—La Madelaine and St Roch,—and at the latter,
+after the office of Les Ténébres, I followed the stream of people into
+the small dark chapel of the Entombment, where the sole ray of light
+falls on the sepulchre, and on the strangely lifelike groups of sculpture
+on either side, representing the Crucifixion and the Entombment, all the
+figures life-size. A most impressive scene.
+
+Very different are our surroundings to-day, housed in a large cool
+native house, the home of Isaaki, a fine old native minister, who has
+charge of this beautiful island. It is an unusually nice house, having
+actually two distinct rooms, so it is an easy matter to partition the
+inner one, and thus we each have a really cosy little nest, which is the
+more agreeable as this place is an important centre, and we have been
+here for five days. Wonderful to tell, the house has wooden doors, but
+it is a strange thing in a country so richly wooded as this to see that,
+owing to the scarcity of planks, all the doors are made of old, battered,
+and worm-eaten canoes; so also are the bridges, in those rare cases
+where anything is provided more elaborate than the slippery stem of a
+cocoa-palm. Stranger still is it to hear that in many of these beautiful
+isles stone is so rare that, when some time ago a white settler had
+procured a sandstone slab to place on a grave, the people came from miles
+round to sharpen their knives on it! The principal charm of this house
+is that it stands a little way apart from the village, on a quiet coral
+shore, close by the sea, with palms and other trees round it, and in this
+respect is a perfect paradise compared with some places, where our night
+quarters have been in some stuffy overcrowded house, in the very heart of
+the village.
+
+There is a fine church here (just a large native house, thatched and
+matted, with open doors all round it, which is by far the most suitable
+style of architecture for this climate), and this morning there was a
+crowded attendance. I stayed at home, knowing that the service would be
+very long; and the sound of a voice, or voices, speaking continuously in
+an unknown tongue, becomes exceedingly wearisome after a time, especially
+when the novel interest of watching the undulating pavement of tawny
+heads, brown backs, and white _sulus_ has worn off.
+
+I told you how kindly the Langhams offered to call for me at Levuka,
+and take me with them on this cruise in the mission-ship Jubilee, which
+is a 50-ton schooner. We started from Nasova at daybreak on April 8th,
+intending to go to the isle Nairai, but finding the wind favourable
+for Koro came here instead. Mrs Langham and I were both very sick all
+day, and very thankful when at sunset, we anchored off a village called
+Nambuna, where the teacher gave us entire possession of his small but
+tidy house, close to the sea, and embowered in tall plantains and
+cocoa-palms, and, moreover, enclosed by a fence made of tree-fern stems.
+Here we spent Palm Sunday, and had service under the shady _ndawa_
+trees, which are like large walnut-trees, with young red leaves. It was
+a very pretty scene. Also it was the first time I had been present at an
+open-air celebration of the Holy Communion, and this devout congregation
+of gentle savages, kneeling so reverently on the grassy sward, beside
+the calm blue sea, made our Palm Sunday service for 1876 one much to
+be remembered. In the evening we had an English service, to which came
+several planters and their families; and we walked home with one lady
+along the white shore in the clear bright moonlight. It was most lovely.
+The foliage is much richer than on Ovalau; and there are such good paths
+along the shore that riding would be delightful, if there were any horses.
+
+We left Nambuna the following morning in a rowing-boat, but owing to
+sundry delays lost the high tide, and only got on at all by most careful
+steering through intricate patches of lovely coral. Every few minutes
+we found ourselves in such shallow water that all the crew had to jump
+overboard; Mr Langham and a friend did likewise, not expecting to go
+above the knee, but before they could get in again they were over the
+waist! Finally, we fairly stuck, and the boat had to wait for the tide,
+while we were carried ashore, and walked on to the next village.
+
+We met a good many planters hereabouts,—all poor, many of them having
+sunk quite large fortunes on their plantations when Fijian cotton was
+selling at very high prices. Now they are sadly down-hearted; and many
+seem grievously disappointed that annexation, so far from working
+miracles of healing for shattered fortunes, appears for the present to
+have only added to their difficulties in many ways. But all were very
+kind to us, and seem cheered by even a glimpse of faces from the outer
+world. We called at Mr Chalmers’s very pretty estate, and he showed us
+all over his cocoa-nut fibre-works. He grows cotton and maize, but his
+principal crop is red and white arrowroot, which we saw in all stages
+of preparation. Then climbing a very steep path, we were welcomed by his
+pretty refined wife and daughters—bright handsome girls. They gave us tea
+with milk, though their goat only yields about a tumbler for the whole
+family, including several children. Certainly life on a Fijian plantation
+does not mean luxury, or rather it means such hardships as you, I am
+certain, cannot realise. Butcher-meat unattainable; poultry and eggs too
+precious for domestic use; fish-supply rare; fruit, as a rule, _nil_;
+even flour and groceries apt to run short. Daily fare consists of native
+vegetables, and perhaps a barrel of salt meat,—not an appetising diet,
+nor one to tempt a jaded palate, nor yet easily varied. Of course the
+importation of all sorts of preserved meats and fruits makes provisioning
+an easy matter for occasional travellers, but their constant use in a
+large family does not tend to economy.
+
+We heard abundant instances of the invariable ill-luck which seems to
+attend all efforts at improvement in this unfortunate country. At one
+house where we called, the owner, Mr Morey, had recently imported some
+valuable fowls. He discovered, when too late, that they were tainted with
+disease, which rapidly spread, and his own stock of two hundred fowls
+all died, besides turkeys, ducks, and guinea-fowl. We found his wife
+suffering torture from a form of ophthalmia which is very common in this
+country, known as _theeka_, from which, for the time, she was positively
+blind. Happily Mr Langham’s medical skill proved useful in relieving her
+agony. One gentleman whom we met was suffering severely from an illness
+called _waanganga_, which causes the muscles of the arm to contract in
+such a manner that for several days you cannot bend it.
+
+At one plantation we found an unpleasant instance of a state of things
+common enough hitherto, but now happily becoming impossible, as fast
+as the new order of law can make it so: A plantation worked by foreign
+labour, who declare that they were all kidnapped under circumstances of
+varied brutality, from the isles of Santo, Solomon, &c., and who have
+been illegally detained here for six years without receiving any pay.
+(The law provides for their being sent home after three years, with full
+pay.) Now an additional six months have slipped away, during which they
+have been detained, week by week, buoyed up by vain promises, and seeing
+men on neighbouring estates receiving a shilling a-week for every week
+they are detained, waiting for a ship to take them home. Naturally they
+are savage and sullen by turns, and repeatedly threaten the life of the
+young man left in charge of the estate, in the absence of the principal.
+He tells them that if they kill him they will be hanged for murder; but
+they say they would just as soon be hanged as live on in slavery.
+
+One says he left his wife and six children the morning he went with
+his best pig to trade with the great ship; some say their canoes were
+smashed by heavy weights dropped from the ship, which left them helpless
+and at the mercy(!) of the white men; others say they were inveigled on
+board to see machinery and other strange sights, and when they came on
+deck the land lay miles behind them. Some weeks ago one of them threw a
+spear at the young overseer. It was caught and checked by another man;
+but on his threatening the culprit with a licking, the whole body rose
+_en masse_, and in the dead of night came and took possession of his
+verandah, where he heard them all night consulting whether to kill him
+or not. Just before our arrival, two men rushed at him with knives, and
+he had just time to retreat to his house and snatch up an (unloaded)
+revolver, whereupon they retired. Now he has pacified them for the moment
+by distributing _sulus_, off a bale of cloth sent up by his employer
+to barter for _coppra_ (the men were literally naked); and he further
+promises to take a number of them to Levuka next week to tell their
+own story to the immigration agent. Do not such cases as these suggest
+plainly enough what deep wrongs to be avenged have led to such grievous
+results as the murder of Commodore Goodenough or Bishop Patteson?
+
+Even with respect to the Fijians, I am sorry to say that the _niceness_
+of the natives depends greatly on how _few_ whites they see. The
+inhabitants of the isles frequented by whites are immeasurably inferior
+to those in more remote districts, and far less trustworthy.
+
+Our next halt was at Nasau, a very pretty village on the shore, beneath
+palms and other foliage, with a steep wooded hill just behind it, and a
+carefully kept burial-ground with red-leaved plants on the graves. But I
+think the night was the most unpleasant we have spent in Fiji. The house
+given to us was in the very middle of the village, and so small as to
+have only one door and one small window, both of which were continually
+blocked up by a crowd of gaping spectators, who, contrary to all Fijian
+manners, would not go away even when we were vainly attempting to sleep.
+Unfortunately for us, a child died in a large house next door to us, and
+the whole night was devoted to doing honour to the parents. So while
+the mother and other women wailed at the top of their voices, the young
+folk danced in a circle in front of the house, singing their usual
+songs. This went on the whole night. You can fancy we did not sleep
+much! In the morning I went to the door of the house, where the family
+appeared as cheerful as usual, and pleasantly invited me to enter. In so
+doing I narrowly escaped treading on a mat at the doorway, which I then
+discovered was thrown over the dead child, a five-year-old little one.
+
+School and church service being over, I walked along the shore with Mrs
+Langham. It is a lovely coast, shaded by grand old trees, with here
+and there rich masses of creepers, which climb all over them, so that
+a group of a dozen _eevie_ trees appears like one gigantic mass of
+lovely trailing foliage. We saw a whole valley clothed with the great
+white convolvulus, which is excellent food for cattle. The leaves take
+every shade of metallic green, yellow, and bronze, and this effect is
+wonderfully lustrous.
+
+Isaaki, the venerable grey-haired minister, came to meet and welcome
+us. He is a very fine-looking old man, dignified and gentle, a striking
+contrast to a large number of Kai Tholos—_i.e._, mountain people—who
+were sent here as prisoners by the late Government, and who do look most
+miserable objects now. They will soon be sent back to their own district.
+The women are much and hideously tattooed round the mouth and all over
+the lips and about the shoulders, and their only clothing is a fringe of
+dried grass. The women of the coast happily indulge in an exceedingly
+small display of tattooing. Some have slight patterns on the hands and
+arms, which are considered attractive, but the majority only submitted to
+so much as was compulsory.[30]
+
+I have been much interested in watching various native manufactures.
+In one village called Natheva—_i.e._, the South—the women were making
+dresses of the streamers of pandanus, brightly dyed, and others were
+plaiting mats made of tall flags or reeds, which they cut into strips
+with a sharp shell. In another village I sat in the chief’s house
+watching the girls rasping sandal-wood with which to powder their hair
+and scent their hair-oil. One girl held the stick, and another had a
+large piece of skin of the sting ray-fish, stretched over another stick
+so rough as to act like a file as she rubbed it over the sandal-wood.
+There was formerly a considerable amount of this fragrant wood in these
+isles, but ruthless traders have swept the land so thoroughly, without
+the slightest thought of sparing young saplings, that now the tree
+scarcely exists, and the smallest fragment is dearly prized.
+
+Wherever we go, we find the women busy preparing native cloth from the
+bark of the paper mulberry tree, which they take off in long strips and
+steep in water to make the fibre separate from the green outer bark,
+which is scraped off with a sharp shell. Then the fibre is laid on a
+wooden board and beaten with a mallet, which is grooved longitudinally.
+A strip two inches wide can be beaten out to upwards of a foot in width,
+when it becomes gauze-like, and is used for festal attire; or else,
+dyed in burnt sugar and smoke-dried, it is a much-valued covering for
+the hair. But for general use, two strips of the wet fibre are beaten
+together, their own gluten causing them to adhere to one another; or if
+very strong cloth is required, three or even four thicknesses may be
+used. A number of such pieces are then neatly joined together with a glue
+made from the _taro_, or from arrowroot, and thus a piece can be made of
+any size or length required. Sometimes a great roll, a couple of hundred
+yards long, is prepared for presentation to a chief; or else a double
+square, twenty feet wide by perhaps thirty or forty in length, to be hung
+up as mosquito-curtains. The _masi_ at this stage is of a creamy white
+colour, very becoming to the brown creatures who wear it.
+
+So far it simply answers to calico. If gorgeous apparel or handsome
+furniture is required, it has next to be converted into painted _tappa_,
+and this is the prettiest part of the process, and requires considerable
+taste and skill. The patterns produced are exceedingly rich and handsome,
+generally in shades of brown, sometimes with black or deep red. I have
+seen pieces imported from Samoa in which a great deal of yellow is
+introduced; but though the Samoan cloth is much stronger, it is less
+tasteful. To sketch the design, the artist arranges thin strips of
+bamboo upon a convex board, and between them the pattern is indicated by
+curved bits of the midrib of a cocoa-nut leaf. The cloth is laid over
+this board and rubbed with a dye, which displays the pattern below, and
+thus the ground-work is prepared. Then the borders are very elaborately
+painted by a sort of stencil-work, the pattern being cut out of a banana
+leaf, heated over the fire, and laid on the _masi_. Then with a soft pad
+of cloth, dipped either in vegetable charcoal and water, or red earth
+liquefied with the sap of the candle-nut tree, or any other dye that
+takes her fancy, the artist does her work with deft neat fingers. I have
+succeeded in buying several small pieces of very beautiful design. The
+larger ones are generally being made by the order of some chief, or for
+some especial festivity.
+
+Another process which I have watched with considerable interest is that
+of the girls preparing _mandrai_, which is bread made of bananas and
+bread-fruit. A Fijian baker’s oven is simply a pit lined with plantain
+leaves and filled with bananas or bread-fruit, on which the girls tread
+to compress them into a pulpy mass: this they then cover with a thick
+layer of green leaves and stones, and leave it to ferment, a process
+which begins about the third day. The indescribable stench which poisons
+the air for half-a-mile round on the day when these dreadful pits are
+opened is simply intolerable,—at least to the uneducated nose of us, the
+_papalangi_ (_i.e._, foreigners); but the Fijian inhales it with delight,
+therein scenting the bread and puddings in which he most delights.
+
+These puddings are sometimes made on a gigantic scale, on the occasion
+of any great gathering of the tribes. One has been described to me as
+measuring twenty feet in circumference; and on the same occasion—namely,
+the marriage of old King Tanoa’s daughter to Ngavindi, the chief of the
+fisherman tribe—there was one dish of green leaves prepared, ten feet
+long by five wide, on which were piled turtles and pigs roasted whole:
+there was also a wall of cooked fish, five feet in height and sixty feet
+long. The puddings are generally made of _taro_, cooked and pounded,
+and made into small lumps, which are baked, and afterwards all heaped
+in one great pit lined with banana leaves, and mixed up with sugar-cane
+juice and pounded cocoa-nut. I have been told about one great feast for
+which nineteen gigantic puddings were prepared, the two largest being
+respectively nineteen and twenty-one feet in circumference. Verily our
+familiar Scottish haggis must bow to those Fijian cousins, and confess
+himself to be no longer the
+
+    “Great chieftain of the pudding race.”
+
+Certainly the masses of food accumulated on these great days beat
+everything we have heard of even at ancient Scottish funeral feasts.
+Enormous ovens were prepared (they would be so still, at any great
+gathering of chiefs). They are simply great pits, perhaps ten feet
+deep and twenty in diameter, which are lined with firewood, on which
+is arranged a layer of stones: when these are heated the animals to be
+roasted are laid on them, with several hot stones inside each to secure
+cooking throughout. Then comes a covering of leaves and earth, and the
+baking process completes itself. This, on a smaller scale, is the manner
+in which our daily pig is cooked. I have seen a bill of fare which
+included fifty pigs roasted whole, seventy baked turtles, fifteen tons of
+sweet pudding, fifty tons of yams and _taro_, and piles of yangona root,
+besides many trifling dainties.[31]
+
+Happily for us, the puddings are not all nasty; some are rather nice;
+and one preparation of arrowroot bread is excellent. Our daily pork
+is not served here with the same unerring regularity as it was on our
+mountain trip, where we lived in an ever-present atmosphere of roast-pig,
+fatted-pig, or sucking-pig, as the case might be,—pig it was always. Here
+fish, and even fowl and occasional eggs, form a delightful variety; and
+of course we always have tinned provisions in case of need.
+
+One thing which I do not think I have yet mentioned, is that in every
+village there is invariably one large house called the _buré_, where all
+the young men sleep. It would be contrary to all notions of propriety
+that they should occupy the same house as the women, even their nearest
+relations. In fact, brothers and sisters, or brothers-in-law and
+sisters-in-law, and various other near kinsfolk, are forbidden even to
+speak to one another, or to eat from the same dish. For a man to eat
+food left by a woman would be highly _infra dig._; and to unroll a mat
+belonging to a woman, or to lie down upon it, would be the height of
+impropriety. The laws of affinity in regard to marriage are very curious.
+First cousins, who are children of brother and sister, may intermarry,
+but the children of two men who are full brothers may on no account do
+so, indeed, may hardly speak to one another. No word exists to express
+uncle. All brothers are alike called father by their nephews, but the
+nephew has various rights greater than those of a son. In the matter of
+succession it is the brother, not the son, who succeeds as head of the
+family, and _he_ is succeeded by _his_ brother; finally, the succession
+reverts to the eldest son of the eldest brother. This order is, however,
+liable to modification by the rank of the mother, or the personal
+influence of the nephew, who enjoys most singular privileges. He is
+called a _vasu_, and in certain districts is allowed the extraordinary
+prerogative of claiming anything he wishes which belongs to his uncle or
+the uncle’s vassals, especially the uncle on the mother’s side. If the
+nephew is a _vasu levu_—_i.e._, the son of a high-born woman by a high
+chief—there is practically no limit to the exactions to which he may
+subject his unfortunate uncle. He may appropriate his new canoe, his best
+garments, his valuable curtains, mats, club, necklace—whatever he covets;
+and the uncle has no redress,—the action is _vaka Viti_ (custom of Fiji),
+and that argument is unanswerable. I have even heard of a nephew of a
+chief of Rewa who, having quarrelled with his uncle, exercised this right
+to the extent of seizing his store of gunpowder, and employing it against
+him.
+
+In the last few days there have been a great many weddings: and the
+people here are much more elaborately got up for the occasion than our
+friends in the mountains. Here both bride and bridegroom are swathed in
+so many yards of beautifully painted native cloth, that it is scarcely
+possible for them to move. As they could not walk any distance with this
+inconvenient weight of magnificence, those who come from other villages
+let their friends carry the wedding-garment, and then they dress under
+the trees beside the sea—a process which I have often watched with much
+interest. The cloth is rolled round the body in so many folds that the
+victim is simply a walking bale of stuff; besides this, great loops and
+folds are worn _en panier_, and a huge frill is so arranged as to stand
+up like a fan at the back. A train of eight or ten yards is carried by
+attendants; and the effect produced is really very handsome and becoming,
+especially when several couples arrive at church simultaneously. Some
+have come in the evening by torchlight—the torches made of bundles of
+reeds, which blaze brightly—and the scene has been a very pretty one.
+
+We went one evening to a wedding-feast, hoping to see some of the old
+distinctive ceremonies, such as Mrs Langham remembers in old days. But
+the graceful customs have been abandoned, together with the unseemly, and
+the young couple simply sat together, partook of pig and yam, and washed
+their hands in one bowl. The bride was the prettiest girl I have seen
+in Fiji. Her hair was powdered with finely-grated sandal-wood, and her
+wedding-dress consisted of folds of the finest gauze-like _masi_, crossed
+over each shoulder and under the breasts. One of the couples seemed to
+afford great amusement to the bystanders,—a very cheery little old maid
+was marrying a kindly-looking old man. They seemed quite happy about it
+themselves, so could afford to let the neighbours laugh. One poor young
+couple were not allowed to marry, as, at the last moment, Mr Langham
+discovered that the damsel was a minor, and her father absent.
+
+We were amused to see several brides and bridegrooms reappear, in simple
+attire, to take their place as scholars in the school-examinations, at
+which one charming brown baby appeared, toddling about, dressed in the
+cover of an old umbrella as its _sulu_! All the babies have the quaintest
+shaven heads, with odd little tufts of hair left as fancy prompts. The
+little girls generally have a long lock left on one side, forming a dozen
+very line plaits; many are quite little dandies, in their small kilts
+of fine white _masi_, or Turkey-red, and necklace of bright leaves,
+or the orange seed of the pandanus. Some are very fully attired in a
+scarlet pocket-handkerchief, tied across the breast, and forming a tiny
+petticoat. But the jolliest baby of all had no clothes at all, and could
+only just toddle; but it gravely followed the others, and tried to do
+_méké_, and dance like the big ones, to the great delight of its parents.
+When a Fijian woman carries her child, it invariably sits astride on her
+hip, her arm clasping its little body.
+
+Yesterday Mr Langham was busy the livelong day examining candidates for
+baptism, and holding a quarterly meeting of school teachers, from all
+parts of the isle. Mrs Langham had charge of all the wives; so Mr Morey
+and his mother and sisters kindly came to fetch me in their boat, and
+took me to a very pretty village, called Mundoo, beside the sea, and
+backed by richly wooded cliffs. I got a sketch from a rocky headland,
+commanding a fine view; and the old chief of the village sat by me,
+watching my work with keen interest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                             _Easter Day._
+
+Last Easter morning we embarked at Marseilles. What a busy, bustling day
+that was,—with all the inevitable fuss of a huge crowded ship starting on
+a long voyage! I cannot say that this has been a very quiet day, though
+peaceful enough.
+
+There was a crowded early service in the church here; and after breakfast
+Mr Morey brought his boat and took us all to Mundoo, the pretty village I
+told you of. There Mr Langham held service, after which he returned here
+for the afternoon work. I had a most lovely walk with the Moreys, and
+arrived here in time for an English service. We are to embark to-morrow
+at dawn, so I will only add Good night.—Your loving sister.
+
+I am quite sorry to leave Koro, and dear old Isaaki laments our
+departure quite pathetically; but we are to visit all the villages round
+the coast, while the Jubilee takes a run to other isles, on some work for
+the mission.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    NATAULOA, CHIEF TOWN IN THE ISLE NAIRAI, _April 21st_.
+
+We were ready before dawn, but had to walk a couple of miles along the
+coast to the point where the Jubilee was lying, and there found a native
+teacher, with his family and all their goods, waiting to be taken on
+board; and as there was only one tiny boat, it was 11 A.M. ere we sailed.
+Outside the reef there was a good deal of sea on, and we were both very
+sick all day, and could not get near Nairai. We spent a wretched night;
+for though there is a small cabin, it is so very stuffy that we prefer
+just lying on deck and making the best of it. At dawn we were still off
+the coast of beautiful Koro. We neared Nairai in the afternoon, but the
+wind fell, and we could not make the difficult passage through the reef,
+which is six miles from the island; so we had a second night lying on the
+deck, vainly seeking for a soft plank, and longing for the mats of the
+native houses. Happily the night was faultlessly lovely, and every cloud
+and star was mirrored in the glassy ocean. We lay watching the Southern
+Cross and the Great Bear; and Venus sank as Jupiter rose, casting long
+reflections of sparkling light. It does seem strange to look up night
+after night and see the old familiar stars, remembering how very nearly
+we are standing sole to sole,—at least we are within a week’s run of New
+Zealand, which is the exact antipodes of Britain. You see we have gained
+twelve hours on you, and often think of you as just sitting down to
+breakfast when we are turning in for the night!
+
+The singing at evening prayer on deck was actually pretty,—the Fijian
+teachers and the Rotumah crew having nice voices. Our captain (Martin by
+name) comes from Heligoland. His opinion of life in Fiji is not high.
+“Ay! it _is_ the country for makeshifts!”
+
+As the mention of our crew being Rotumans probably conveys no definite
+idea to your mind, I may as well mention that Rotumah is a little
+independent island lying by itself about three hundred miles to the north
+of Fiji, which is the nearest inhabited land.[32] It is a volcanic isle,
+with several long-extinct craters, now clothed with rich vegetation.
+It has a population of about four thousand; but owing to the strong
+propensity of the people for a seafaring life, a large proportion of
+these are generally absent. They are a small race, and of a clear
+copper colour. The story of how the first tidings of Christianity were
+carried to this isle by Tongan teachers,—of the vigorous hold which the
+new faith quickly took—of the virulent persecution that ensued—of the
+strongly rooted determination with which the converts held their ground,
+so that, when first visited by a white teacher, it was found that half
+the population were already professed Christians, who eagerly hailed his
+coming,—this story, I say, is one of the most remarkable episodes in the
+progress of Christianity in any part of the world. So I looked on these
+Rotumah men with especial interest as representatives of this people.
+
+The beautiful night wore away, and in the morning a kindly breeze sprang
+up and brought us straight to the passage, when, with a few tacks, we
+made this anchorage. The village is pretty enough, shadowed by large
+trees, actually on the shore; but the people seemed unhealthy, and the
+flies multitudinous, and the house prepared for us is buried in poor
+plantains, and is stuffy and damp.
+
+After due inspection, we determined on sleeping in the large matted
+church, close to the teacher’s house, offered us. Of course it is
+otherwise quite empty,—save for a pulpit adorned with white shells. So
+we curtained off one end of it and there slept in peace, while just
+beyond our screens, Mr Langham was holding a meeting of all the native
+teachers on the island,—such a fine sensible body of men. Next night
+there were four weddings, and so many friends assembled that we did not
+venture on rigging up our quarters till the very tedious ceremony was
+over,—tedious because of the amount of inquiry and cross-questioning
+involved, and dismally dark, as our one lantern was the sole light in the
+large dark church. So many strangers assembled from other villages that
+the teacher’s house, where we were by way of living, was crammed; so we
+had our breakfast in church, where I am now writing to you while waiting
+till the Jubilee is ready to sail,—the delay being caused by shipping the
+native minister and all his family, who go to another isle. We brought
+their successors with us. Also we take half-a-dozen lads, whose parents
+give them to the mission for special training at one of the institutions;
+then if they prove to be good stuff they will be promoted to the training
+college, and gradually advance to be teachers, and perhaps eventually
+native ministers in charge of large districts. The organisation is most
+perfect, and spreads like a web over every remote corner of the isles,
+always excepting the still heathen mountain districts.
+
+The work of a native teacher is no sinecure. To begin with, he may be
+sent to a distant island, where the dialect is so different from his own
+that he has to begin by learning the language of the people. In this the
+men of Bau have a great advantage over all others, their speech being
+the standard of pure Fijian, in which, consequently, the Scriptures are
+published, so they are understood by all the people; but the Bau men are
+themselves sometimes sorely puzzled, just as you might be if addressed in
+broad Yorkshire or Somerset. There are about sixteen distinct dialects
+spoken in the group, some of which are as different as Spanish is from
+Portuguese. Once appointed to a district, the teacher has to hold
+school three mornings a-week for children, three evenings for adults,
+one week-day service with address, two Sunday services with sermon,
+and early prayer-meeting in church. He must conduct daily morning and
+evening prayer in several houses; must visit the sick; pray and read the
+Scriptures with them; look after the people generally; bury the dead, and
+travel once a-week to report himself to the native minister, who perhaps
+lives at a considerable distance.
+
+His pay varies from ten to twenty shillings, paid quarterly _in kind_.
+Should the value of the gifts exceed the sum to which he is entitled
+(decided by stewards in each village), the surplus, which may be a few
+shillings, goes to eke out the pay of a man in a poorer place. He is
+provided with a free house, and works in his own garden. His dinner is
+provided for him on Sunday. Once a-month an offering of food is made by
+the village, perhaps sufficient to last for a couple of days. And once
+a-year there may perhaps be an extra offering of yams.
+
+A native minister is entitled to receive twenty-five shillings a-quarter,
+and possibly a hundred yams as his annual offering, but this is rarely
+paid in full. He is subject to the law of the Wesleyan Mission Society,
+which forbids a missionary to possess any land as private property, or to
+do any act of trade—_i.e._, buying to sell again. The salary he receives
+from the Society is £5 a-year, which is raised to £15 after fifteen
+years’ service. I think it may interest you to see a sample of the manner
+in which the quarterly contributions for teachers is paid. For instance,
+here is a table of the offertory in each village on the isle of Ngau, one
+of the richer districts. Others, such as the Ra coast, give much less.
+The sum here represented is the quarterly salary of both native minister
+and schoolmaster.
+
+  +-----------+-----------+---------+----------+---------+------------+
+  |           |  Pieces   |         |          |         |            |
+  | Bottles   | of native | Whales’ | Hanks of |         |   Total    |
+  | of oil.   |  cloth.   | teeth.  |  sinnet. | Money.  |   value.   |
+  +-----------+-----------+---------+----------+---------+------------+
+  |           |           |         |          |_s._ _d._| £ _s._ _d._|
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      2    |     12    |     9   |     8    | 16   0  | 1  10   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      —    |      7    |     —   |     —    |    —    | 0   3   6  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  | 5 gallons.|      5    |     1   |     —    |  1   6  | 0   8   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      7    |      2    |     2   | 1 basket.|    —    | 0  13   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      —    |      2    |     1   |     3    |  2   0  | 0   8   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  | 5 gallons.|     12    |     —   |     2    |    —    | 0  15   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      —    |      1    |     3   |     2    | 12   6  | 0  18   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      1    |      1    |     7   |     —    |  6   0  | 0  15   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      —    |      2    |     4   |     1    |  8   0  | 0  15   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      3    |      4    |     6   |     —    | 15   6  | 1   3   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      3    |      1    |     2   |     —    |  6   0  | 0   8   0  |
+  |           |           |         |          |         |            |
+  |      —    |      1    |     —   |     1    |  6   6  | 0   7   0  |
+  +-----------+-----------+---------+----------+---------+------------+
+
+I cannot say that a practical acquaintance with mission pay proves it
+to be of the very “fattening” character commonly supposed. All white
+missionaries, from the superintendent downwards, alike receive from the
+Society £180 per annum. For every child they are allowed £12, 12s. a-year
+till they are sixteen years of age, and an educational grant of £12,
+12s. from eight till sixteen years. The Society pays the extra insurance
+premium charged for Fiji up to £500 (_i.e._, £5 out of £16). And the
+insurance must be paid, being the sole provision for a widow. Thirty
+shillings a-year is allowed for medical stores for the whole family; and
+for these the natives are continually asking, and are never refused. £3
+extra is given in the event of a confinement. No yam-garden is allowed,
+but a free house is furnished, and about £12 is allowed to keep up a boat
+and crew for mission purposes. Goods are delivered in Levuka freight
+free, and brought thence by the mission schooner Jubilee. After ten
+years’ service a retiring pension of £40 a-year is allowed, rising to £60
+after twenty years, when a gift of £50 is made to furnish a house. Forty
+years’ service entitles a man to a pension of £140 a-year. A missionary
+may receive _no_ offerings from the people for his own use. Marriage and
+baptism fees, which are respectively 4s. and 1s., are all handed over
+to the general fund for circuit expenses, such as providing canoes, &c.
+The yams, &c., given at school examinations are given to poor teachers,
+or to the lads at the training institution. It is compulsory on every
+missionary to pay £6, 6s. a-year to the Superannuated Preachers’ Fund,
+and £1, 1s. a-year to the Educational Fund. Servants must be clothed and
+fed, and constant gifts of cloth, medicine, &c., made to poor teachers
+and others.
+
+You may judge from these particulars that a missionary’s income is not on
+that excessively luxurious scale which you might suppose from reading the
+comments made by many travellers, who have been hospitably entertained
+at mission stations as much-honoured guests, for whom even the fatted
+calf has not been spared, and who (seeing the air of bright comfort and
+neatness prevailing around) have failed to give honour due to the careful
+and excellent housekeeping which could produce such admirable results
+with smaller means than are squandered in many a slatternly and slovenly
+household.
+
+Many even make this comfort the text for a discourse on the superiority
+of the Romish missions, on the self-denial and ascetic lives of the
+priests, quite forgetting that in teaching such races as these, one of
+the most important objects is to give them the example of a happy loving
+home, bright with all pleasant influences of civilised life.
+
+To me one of the strangest things here is the unaccountable jealousy of
+the missionaries, and their marvellous influence with the people, which
+pervades all classes of white men, old residents and new-comers alike. To
+understand the position, you must recollect that, forty years ago, two
+missionaries landed on these isles, to find them peopled by cannibals
+of the most vicious type. Every form of crime that the human mind can
+conceive reigned and ran riot; and the few white settlers here were the
+worst type of reprobates, who could find no other hiding-place; for the
+earliest founders of this colony were a number of convicts, who, about
+1804, escaped from New South Wales, and managed to reach Fiji, where,
+by free use of firearms, they made themselves dreaded, and the chiefs
+courted them as useful allies in war. So these desperadoes gained a
+footing in the isles, and amazed the Fijians themselves by the atrocity
+of their lives. One man, known as Paddy Connor, left fifty sons and
+daughters to inherit his virtues!
+
+Such men as these had certainly not done much to smooth the way for
+Christian teachers; yet in the forty years which have elapsed since the
+Wesleyan missionaries landed here, they have won over a population of
+upwards of a hundred thousand ferocious cannibals. They have trained an
+immense body of native teachers—established schools in every village.
+The people themselves have built churches all over the isles, each of
+which has a crowded congregation; and there is scarcely a house which has
+not daily morning and evening family prayer—a sound never heard in the
+white men’s houses; and of course the old vile customs are dropped, and
+Christian manners take their place. Such is the system of supervision by
+the teachers, that any breach of right living must be at once known, and
+visited by the moral displeasure of those whom the people most respect.
+
+This (and the fact that besides feeding and clothing the native teachers,
+each village once a-year contributes to the general support of the
+mission) is the ground which white men take as an excuse for decrying the
+excellent missionaries. You hear of “their inordinate love of power” and
+“greediness;” their excellent moral influence is simply “priestcraft;”
+and though the speakers are invariably compelled to acknowledge the
+good work they have hitherto done, I have actually heard men in high
+position (who have never been beyond Levuka, nor set foot in a native
+church) speak as if that work was now finished, and it was high time the
+contributions of the people should be diverted from the support of the
+mission to the Government treasury; in fact, as if every shilling paid
+to their teachers was so much of which Government is being defrauded. It
+is the old story of kicking over the ladder by which you have climbed.
+For most certainly, but for the missionaries and their work here,
+England would have had small share in Fiji to-day. A questionable gain,
+I confess! I must say I am greatly disgusted by the tone in which I hear
+this matter discussed,—not by any of our own party, however, for they,
+one and all, hold the mission in the very highest honour, and constantly
+attend the native services.
+
+As you may possibly hear echoes of the anti-mission howl on the subject
+of ecclesiastical exactions, you may remember that it is invariably
+raised by men whose own poverty is certainly not due to the extent of
+their almsgiving; also that the actual working expenses of this great
+mission (with its 900 churches and 1400 schools, filled with ex-cannibals
+or their offspring) are between £4000 and £5000 a-year, a sum of which
+not above half has ever been collected in the isles, at the annual
+missionary meetings; and in no case is there any offertory in church.
+Of course, in the earlier years the mission was entirely supported by
+England and the colonies, and Fiji gave no help at all; but, naturally,
+the parent society expects each fully established church to become
+self-supporting, and to do something in its turn to establish new
+missions in districts or isles yet more remote, that so the little grain
+may expand and become a wide-spreading tree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+    ISLE NGAU—MUD CRABS—ALBINOS—BATHING IN THE TROPICS—AN EARNEST
+    CONGREGATION—A TYPICAL VILLAGE—FIJIAN STUDENTS—THE BURNT
+    WATERS—A NARROW ESCAPE—WRECK OF THE FITZROY.
+
+
+                   IN A TEACHER’S HOUSE AT VANUASO, ISLE NGAU, _April 26_.
+
+From Narai we had a fine run over to this isle, which is a land of high
+hills, deeply scored with valleys, wooded on one side, grassy on the
+other (at least apparently so, really covered with tall reeds). They look
+golden green as light misty showers pass over them while the sun shines.
+A gusty wind sprang up just as we made the passage, and entailed a good
+deal of beating before we could reach our anchorage off Sawaieke, which
+is the chief town on this island. We had some difficulty in landing,
+as the tide was low, leaving a broad expanse of mud; and the shore is
+fringed with mangrove, which always implies rather a swampy situation.
+We found cosy quarters in the house of Ratu Hosea, the native minister,
+a chief by birth, and a fine man (at present suspended from his office
+because he was so unfortunate as to box the ears of a very aggravating
+wife, who happened to die soon afterwards; so of course evil tongues gave
+him credit for having caused her death). In the church at Sawaieke all
+the beams are covered with _tappa_, with a pattern of large stars—very
+effective; and I was reminded of the “mortification boards” in Scotch
+kirks by seeing a regular churchwarden’s record, stating that “the doors
+and windows of this church cost 3000 yams!”
+
+I greatly enjoyed strolling along the shore here. A lovely path leads
+under great _eevie_ trees and through groves of cocoa-palms, with young
+palms growing up so thickly under them as to form a network of fronds,
+with an undergrowth of tall grasses, casting a light shade, through
+which the sunlight flickered. All along the shore are little streams with
+muddy banks, perforated with holes made by tiny crabs, prettier than
+those we saw at Suva. Besides those with the one large scarlet claw, we
+saw some with black back, green-spotted, others with scarlet back and
+black body, some black and green, with all their claws and legs scarlet,
+and some with bits of blue and white—most fascinating little creatures.
+We caught some, in spite of the marvellous rapidity with which they
+vanished.
+
+Starting at early dawn in a big canoe, the men poled us along the coast
+to the next village, Navukailange, which was less muddy than the last,
+but the surroundings less pretty. A picturesque crowd had assembled for
+the school examination; and a multitude of pigs of all colours and ages,
+with infant broods, pervaded the village, grunting cheerily. The same
+afternoon we visited two other villages. The tide was too low to allow
+the canoe to take us, so we walked along the beautiful shore by a good
+path, through rich wood, till we reached Vione. It was quite dark when
+we arrived, and we were very weary, but we went straight to the church,
+and there lay down to rest in peace, and presently the canoe arrived,
+having poled through the mangrove-swamp. A light was brought us, just a
+wick in an old sardine-box, and we made a cup of tea, without milk of
+course, and then the canoe brought us here, where we found good quarters
+in a teacher’s house, close by the sea, but were kept awake by a poor
+child coughing violently all night. All the coast hereabouts is covered
+with mangrove, forming a dense bush, intersected by salt-water creeks or
+rivers. The villages are built close to the water, and having this dense
+grove all around them, and no circulation of air, the heat is always very
+great, and mosquitoes, flies, and sand-flies abound.
+
+On this island we have seen three albinos, which, happily, are very rare
+objects. Even a sun-browned European face looks pale and lacking colour
+among these rich sienna and madder hues, but these poor creatures are
+truly hideous. The first I saw was a boy about eighteen years old; his
+flesh was pale pink, blotched on the shoulders, and his hair a very pale
+yellow, and eyes very weak. He was an unwholesome, naked-looking object,
+suggestive of a poor hermit-crab dragged out of its shell. Poor fellow!
+he shrank greatly from notice, and had clothed himself in all the fringe
+garments he could collect, partly because the white skin suffered so
+severely from exposure to the sun. The next albino I saw was a child,
+which might almost have been mistaken for a European, but it was purely
+Fijian. Of course half-castes exist, but they are not very numerous.
+The third albino was a woman of quite a natural white, with very fair
+hair, and pale-blue eyes. She was a Kai Tholo, and had blue tattooing
+round her mouth, but really was not an unpleasant object to look at.
+She seemed to have a natural attraction to her white sisters, and came
+about us constantly. She gave me a prettily woven basket, and seemed much
+gratified when I presented her with some bright green calico, evidently
+perceiving that it was becoming to her fair colouring. I am told that in
+one instance albino twins were born—a boy and a girl—much whiter than
+English children—and both grew up. We occasionally see men suffering from
+a form of leprosy which blanches the feet and hands. Though by no means
+“as white as snow,” the contrast with the brown body is very marked and
+horrible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+           THE TEACHER’S HOUSE AT LAMITI, ISLE NGAU, OR ANGAU, _April 27_.
+
+I am writing this letter in fragments,—just a few lines at a time—while
+waiting for our starts; and as we depend wholly on the tide, these are
+sometimes most inconvenient. Thus at the present moment, 8 P.M., we would
+fain be rigging up our mosquito-curtains in the large clean house which
+has been our home for the day. But, alas! Mr Langham has accumulated such
+a pile of work—church service, teachers’ meeting, school examinations,
+marriages, and baptisms,—to get through to-morrow at the next large town,
+that, to my unspeakable disgust, he cannot venture on waiting for the
+morning tide, so we have to do about fourteen miles’ poling in a canoe
+to-night, in total darkness, along a coast which by daylight is quite
+lovely. Besides, we are pretty well tired to begin with, having been up
+long before sunrise, and finished breakfast by 7 A.M., to catch this
+morning’s tide; and having got here before 9 A.M. have ever since been
+hanging about, looking at the village, the shore, schools, and quaint
+scholars (from tiny toddles to grown-up men and women), all more or
+less picturesquely dressed up, some with gauze-like _tappa_ worn over
+Turkey-red, with tufts of crimson or blue dyed fibre in the hair.
+
+While the Langhams were at a long church service, I stole off for a
+bathe, but to-day was eminently unsuccessful in my quest, from foolishly
+taking the advice of some Fijian women, whose ideas of bliss in this
+respect are not ours, publicity being no drawback. You really can hardly
+realise what an enchanting feature in our travels is our daily bath. No
+humdrum tub, filled by a commonplace housemaid, but a quiet pool on some
+exquisite stream, sometimes a clear babbling brook, just deep enough to
+lie down full length, beneath an overarching bower of great tree-ferns
+and young palm-fronds, all tangled with trailing creepers, and just
+leaving openings through which you see peeps of the bluest of skies, and
+tall palms far overhead. And sometimes the stream widens into a broad
+deep pool without a ripple, lying in the cool shade of a group of _eevie_
+trees, which are the commonest foliage here, like grand old walnut-trees.
+Conceive the delight of coming on such a stream after a couple of days
+on board ship, or after escaping from a dark Fijian house crammed with
+people, who, having presented various trays of steaming food, vegetables,
+fish, &c. (yesterday we had four pigs roasted whole, and two turtle,
+the latter invariably nasty), deem themselves rewarded by sitting down
+deliberately to enjoy a long fixed stare at the white pigs eating!
+Imagine, I say, escaping from this stew—and getting hotter still by a
+scramble in the grilling sun—and then following up the stream till you
+find a pool perfect in all respects, especially one with a waterfall just
+big enough to sit under, and therein plunging and rejoicing as you only
+can in water so warm as this! Of course, we are not always burdened with
+bathing-gowns, but a bathing-towel and a large white umbrella form an
+excellent substitute; and Mrs Langham has a Fijian girl whom we generally
+set to watch just in case of any chance wanderer, and then we each choose
+a bath after our own heart. But sometimes I come on such irresistible
+pools when I am scrambling about alone, where the tall reedy grasses are
+matted with large-leaved convolvuli, and not a sound is heard save the
+ripple of the stream over the stones, or the rustle of the leaves in the
+faint breeze, that I just slip in and revel, and go on my way rejoicing.
+I need scarcely say that our toilet on these expeditions is not very
+elaborate. Will you be shocked if I add, that having two or three ripe
+oranges, just gathered from the tree, greatly enhances the delight of the
+situation?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                               _Saturday Night, April 29._
+
+Well, we did start soon after eight, and passed five miles of coast, with
+just enough glimmer of light to see that it was unusually lovely; and
+even the boatmen (half-a-dozen fine stalwart fellows), mostly teachers,
+who volunteered to pole the canoe, told me how beautiful it was. But
+it was very dangerous coasting, with the reef close inshore, and large
+breakers just beyond us. The canoe rolled so that we had to hold on by
+both hands; and I confess to a malicious feeling of delight when the men
+owned they did not like it, and said they would rather wait for daylight.
+So we landed close to a tiny village, and made our way by the light of
+a lantern to the first house, where we found women, and a fire, and a
+welcome, but it was so small that we were glad indeed to find a tiny
+church close by. Here we had a cup of tea, with old cocoa-nut grated and
+squeezed instead of cream, and then rigged up mosquito-curtains. It was
+so tiny, that my green plaid hung across the middle just divided it into
+two wee rooms; and the doors were so low that we had to stoop double to
+crawl in.
+
+I woke in time to see a rosy sunrise over the sea, and walked alone along
+the coast till I found a delicious stream and a real “green-room” of
+leaves to dress in. Then we had breakfast on the shore (under palm-trees
+and broad-leaved plantains for a canopy), with the addition of yams and
+a fowl, brought by an admiring circle of villagers. And afterwards,
+according to invariable custom, “family” prayers before starting, as we
+also have at night, wherever we are,—sometimes on the deck, becalmed, in
+perfect moonlight, sometimes on the shore, oftenest in the house where
+we sleep; but in any case it is always interesting, were it only as a
+sight, when you see these very devout people, and remember how recently
+they were all cannibals. Even now we have adult baptisms at almost every
+island we come to. For though the people abjured heathenism _en masse_,
+and placed themselves under instruction, they are only baptised after
+careful individual training; in some cases not till they have been under
+tuition for four or five years.
+
+How well this system works you might infer could you see the crowd of
+earnest thoughtful-looking men and women who assemble at Holy Communion.
+Last Sunday the morning congregation was about 600, of whom 250 were
+communicants; and in the afternoon the service was repeated at a village
+three miles off, where there were about 100 more communicants. According
+to native custom, all the women sit on one side and the men on the other.
+The service is almost a literal translation from the English Prayer-Book
+(it is all Wesleyan here). The elements used are Fijian bread, generally
+of arrowroot and cocoa-nut, and for wine, the very weakest claret
+and water, it being illegal to give a drop of wine or spirits to any
+native—and the penalty is severe. It is a marvel whereat I never cease to
+wonder, to know what this whole race was, less than twenty years ago, and
+now to see what a fine race of kindly helpful people they are. I often
+think of this, when perhaps a dozen of them volunteer to escort me on any
+walk or scramble I plan, and of their own accord cut or trample my path
+through the tall reeds up the steepest hillside, and carefully help me
+over the innumerable streams, which are generally bridged by one slippery
+cocoa-nut stem. Of course my being with the missionary party accounts for
+their being all on the alert to be useful. Here, for instance, all the
+twenty native teachers of the island (we are now on Ngau), and as many
+more stewards, and a number of lay-preachers and female class-leaders,
+have assembled for their quarterly meeting, and the place is full of
+them. The result is an unusual crowd in the house, and a hideous amount
+of eating of yams and pig, in honour of this great occasion. It is all in
+the way of work, however; and, of course, to the people of these isles
+(where there is not one white resident) the mere pleasure of sitting
+staring at us, watching us eat and so forth, is a never-ending amusement.
+
+Naturally we sometimes get very much bored by it; and it is a triumphant
+moment when we contrive to give them the slip, and get away to some
+quiet stream for our bathe, as aforesaid. Sometimes two or three really
+pretty girls come with us to show us the way, and help us to scramble
+over the boulders, and then to keep watch that no one else may come near.
+I daresay they themselves manage to get a peep at the strange white
+creatures; but we watch them in their turn, and the gain is, I fear,
+undoubtedly on their side. Many of them would delight an artist, being
+really pretty, with lovely figures, only veiled by a short kilt of creamy
+white native cloth, and perhaps over that a fringe and necklace of green
+leaves, thrown over one shoulder and under the other. Perhaps they carry
+a large fern or plantain-leaf as umbrella, and as they skip over the grey
+boulders every attitude is a picture. To-night I wish them all safe at
+home.
+
+We are now at a village called Nougouloa—_i.e._, Black Sand. It is a very
+pretty tiny town, circular, with double ramparts and double moats, which
+in these peaceful days are used as _taro_ beds. A very large number of
+the inhabitants died in the measles—in some instances whole families; and
+they were buried where they lay, on the foundation of their houses, which
+were pulled down: and now patches of crimson-leaved dracæna, growing on
+the raised terraces, mark these “graves of a household.” Most of the
+little burial-grounds are pretty and well cared for: they are generally
+shaded by the _noko-noko_[33]—a dark, drooping foliage, which just now
+is covered with dainty little pink tassels, like our own larch tree.
+The great screw-pines, with the odd white pillared roots, are also now
+in blossom, and bear a tuft of very fragrant flowers in a case of white
+leaves.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                       _Wednesday, May 3._
+
+We are back at Sawaieke, and to-morrow morning return on board the
+Jubilee, taking away several lads as students. All their friends have
+come to see them off; and at the present moment no less than fourteen
+visitors of all ages and sexes are lying on the mats like herrings in
+a barrel, and have been gazing at us so steadily that at last they are
+fairly mesmerised, and have all fallen asleep, and of course will not
+stir till morning; so we shall have a chorus of grunting and coughing
+all night. The coughs are really dreadful; Mr Langham has to doctor the
+people right and left,—rather expensive work, and each missionary is only
+allowed 30s. a-year for medical stores!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                         NASOVA, _May 20_.
+
+I wrote so far before leaving Ngau. We got on board early, and a very
+unpleasant morning it was—raining steadily.
+
+All the relations came to the shore to weep over the emigrants starting
+for the Bau Training Institution—a very short day’s sail by canoe. They
+all blubbered freely (great big men), and smelt one another all over!
+Up to this time we had been coasting all about the isles of Koro, Ngau,
+Nairai, and Batique—the two former large and very beautiful, reminding
+me much of Ceylon. The mission ship, the Jubilee, took us from isle to
+isle, and then we coasted round from village to village in a canoe. As I
+have previously told you, each island is surrounded by an outer ring of
+coral-reef, so there is invariably smooth water right round the island
+where you can row or sail in perfect comfort. Of course it is very
+dangerous for the boats, as coral crops up in all manner of unexpected
+patches; and at low tide it is impossible in some places to get along.
+But at high tide you can always do so; and right round the coast there
+are picturesque villages at intervals of four or five miles, so we halted
+perhaps two nights at all the chief points—having previously sent word
+to the three or four nearest towns to assemble there for church service,
+school examinations, marriages, and baptisms. Of course there is apt
+to be a certain sameness in these; but as I was not bound to attend
+them, I often took advantage of the people being all occupied to go off
+for a quiet bathe or sketch. Many of the open-air services were most
+picturesque, being held under the great trees—sometimes by torchlight;
+and the school-gatherings are very pretty sights—the dresses being so
+fanciful. A large proportion of the scholars read and write well, and are
+getting on wonderfully with arithmetic,—especially in one village, where
+a poor leper, who in early life was trained at the Mission Institute, now
+employs himself as amateur assistant to the teacher. I have bought two
+very nice pieces of native cloth, which acted as christening-robes to two
+juveniles; the font was a cocoa-nut shell.
+
+There is generally a lovely path running right round every island, close
+to the sea-shore, under shadow of large trees with grand foliage, but of
+names unknown to you.
+
+We spent May-day at a town called Nawaikama—the Burnt Waters,—because of
+the hot springs. These are built in artificially, with a low wall, so as
+to confine them and form a warm pool. A beautiful cool stream divides
+just above the springs, and flows right round them; so when you have sat
+in the pool till you are parboiled (and, by the way, it is a very odd
+sensation to feel the hot water gushing up), you can take a plunge, or
+at least lie down and cool in the cold fresh stream close by. It is a
+pleasant bath-room, with tall palms for a canopy.
+
+[Illustration: HOT SPRINGS, ISLE NGAU.
+
+_p. 180._]
+
+The only place where we came in for any interest rather out of the
+humdrum ordinary of Fijian villages was the little island of Batique,
+where it had been impossible to send word of the coming of the great
+ecclesiastical powers; and as there is no anchorage, and dangerous reefs,
+the vessel had to beat about outside all the time we were there. So we
+only stayed one night, and on arriving found the whole town in a fever of
+excitement (a town is a small moated village), because the young women of
+Levuka had come over by appointment to bring a great present of English
+cloth to the chief, and to the women of Batique. Of course they expected
+mats, and painted cloth, and cocoa-nut oil in return; so all the Batique
+girls had been working for ages. We arrived just as the presentation
+of goods was about to be made. All the people assembled in the
+market-place—a square, overshadowed by great trees on raised banks—and
+then every woman brought the mat she had made, rolled up so as to show
+its bright edge of worsted (modern substitute for the parrots’ feathers
+of olden days). There were about 200 mats, and a good deal of fine
+painted cloth. After whales’ teeth had been duly presented to the chief,
+the presents were made, and much feasting ensued. It was a singularly
+inopportune time for the mission work; but as it had to be then or not at
+all, Mr Langham proceeded to hold service in the big square, and when
+that was over, had his school examination by moonlight and torchlight.
+The scene was picturesque, though the scholars had no time to make
+their usual wreaths and garlands. One pretty feature of such gatherings
+as these is, that at the close of the ceremony all come and lay their
+(superfluous) garments of native cloth and necklaces at the feet of the
+principal persons present. I only mean pretty theoretically—for of course
+the wearers look stripped and shabby after this, but the followers of the
+great men assume the garments thus laid down. It was ten o’clock before
+we left the square and betook us to our quarters in the little church,
+at either end of which we had hung up our curtains. Then we found there
+was a marriage to celebrate, so Mr L. went on with that in the middle
+of the church, while his wife and I slept the sleep of the weary—slept
+for a little while, soon to be awakened by the shouts and measured
+hand-clapping (like low thunder) of the crowd, who had again assembled
+in the market-place for a grand _méké_—dancing and singing—which went
+on the livelong night. At last it became so boisterous I thought I must
+go down and see the fun; so crept near under the shadow of the great
+plantain-leaves—but soon an envious gleam of moonlight revealed my
+presence, which caused some perturbation. I fancied I was less welcome
+than usual. The dancing I saw was commonplace, and not pretty, so I soon
+went back to bed. This was the end of my adventures.
+
+Next day found us at Bau, the native capital, where, you know, I have
+already stayed with the Langhams; and the following morning a favourable
+wind brought me here in three hours (last time I was fourteen hours).
+Everything is fresh and cosy. Already Nasova is like a different
+place—tidy garden, and pretty things all about, and my own room does
+look so very nice with all its Fijian decorations. But of the humans,
+I found only Lady Gordon and the chicks, and Baron von Hügel, the
+others having gone in three different detachments, with all the native
+police, to reinforce the camp already established in the great isle; for
+there has been mischief brewing for long, and at last the wild heathen
+mountaineers, Kai Tholos, have made a descent on several Christian
+villages, burnt the houses, and murdered the inhabitants—chiefly old men,
+women, and children, who had hidden in a cave. The Christians made a good
+defence, and in one place thoroughly beat the aggressors. It is a nasty
+business anyhow; but we trust it is nearly over now. However, no one can
+tell, and of course every one is anxious.
+
+I return to find that a home worry has arisen. The nice Welsh nurse
+is actually going to marry the Spanish washerman, and as Lady Gordon
+had not bound her legally to stay, she has no redress! Luckily, Mrs
+Abbey is willing to undertake the place, in addition to her own already
+heavy work, though she has two children of her own. Such an accident is
+really a serious matter in a place like this, where good servants cannot
+possibly be replaced.
+
+We have just heard of the total wreck of the steamer Egmont, which
+brought us here from Sydney. You may remember that she was specially
+chartered to bring the Royal Engineers to this place. Colonel Pratt and
+almost all his men have gone to Suva to open up a road into the interior
+of the great isle. There seems a fate, however, about the removal of the
+capital. Nothing can be done till the best harbours have been surveyed;
+and the survey was stopped three months ago, in obedience to an imaginary
+law of hurricanes, and the surveying ship Reynard, Captain Dawson, sent
+back to the colonies. Now he returns only to have a relapse of severe
+illness as soon as he enters Fijian waters, and has to go straight away
+again. But it is time something was done. This place, “in which fever
+and sunstroke are unknown,” is just a sink of low fever—one case after
+another. Both Dr Cruikshank[34] and Dr Carew have had it very severely.
+The latter (attached to the Engineers) has been sent to the colonies to
+recruit. It is said that till three years ago it really was unknown—now
+it is making up for lost time.
+
+Such a sad thing has just happened here. The captain of the new
+Government steamer Fitzroy had five children whom he adored: three
+died, and he had to leave his delicate wife and two remaining children
+in Sydney. News came that the two last children had died, but he had
+one point of comfort in the coming of his wife. He was to meet her at
+Khandavu (where the mails stop, a day’s steam from here). Instead of
+herself, came a letter from the doctor to say she was dying at Sydney.
+The poor fellow utterly lost his head, left his ship, and went off to
+Sydney. Luckily a passenger on board had been in the navy, and managed to
+bring the steamer safely back here, where a new captain has been found.
+We have just heard that Lady Hackett is very ill with low fever, and are
+going off to see her. Really there is no end to the amount of sickness
+here at present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                     FIJI, _May 20, 1876_.
+
+DEAR EISA.—I have just got safe home from my cruise about Koro, Ngau,
+Nairai, and Batique. I have one new fern—quite new to Mrs Langham and
+myself, but Baron von Hügel knows it, he thinks, in New Zealand. Most of
+the others, I think, I have already sent; but I think it well to go on
+sending seed[35] in case of previous packets having failed, or mildewed.
+The latter is the curse of this country, and nowhere is it a more cruel
+foe than in collecting plants. The Baron tells me he has collected in
+these isles upwards of 2000 specimens of all sorts of things (vegetable),
+and the mildew has destroyed about four-fifths of the whole!
+
+This comes home to me with especial force, in attempting to do Miss
+Bird’s behest of collecting ferns for her. In any case the pursuit is
+to me a novel one, for I have always steadily set my face against all
+manner of dried plants, and vowed nothing would ever induce me to have
+anything to do with such. But in obedience to her command, I started the
+largest portfolio in all Fiji, to enable me to preserve at least small
+sections of the splendid giants which form the glory of these isles
+(but which to my utterly ignorant eye appear identical with those of
+Australia and New Zealand). But after all, what can the biggest portfolio
+do when you have to deal with fronds eight or ten feet long by four or
+five feet wide? You can only preserve a fragment, which gives you no
+notion of the lovely original. This is especially true of what I call the
+umbrella-fern, one frond of which will quite cover a sleeping man lying
+down full length. However, I did what I could—lugged about this horrid
+great portfolio everywhere, full of blotting-paper and drying-paper, and
+most conscientiously preserved all the loveliest things I could get, I
+never knew before how long you have to search among the ferns (which
+as a whole look so beautiful) before you can get one quite perfect,
+especially one in seed. And I invariably found such when we were on some
+difficult scramble, with enough to do to get along with hands and feet;
+or else when we were hurrying on to catch a tide, with the prospect of a
+long row in either the canoe or a tiny boat, under a grilling sun; and
+generally, on reaching our destination, found the great portfolio and
+other superfluities all gone on board the ship, ready for the morrow’s
+start. Even when it was there all right, and the last hour of daylight
+devoted to the attempt to save the half-withered treasures of the day,
+there was invariably the mortification of finding those of the previous
+days covered with mildew—often the small fronds fairly dropping off. And
+now that I have got back again, and look at the result, I find nothing
+but page after page of smelly mould, with shrunken brown corpses of bits
+of what were once ferns. I only got half-a-dozen sketches on this trip,
+and they are all mildewed. The scenery, however, is lovely. I had hoped
+to have found some ferns collected for me here by one or two people whom
+I had asked to help me, and who had agreed to do so. The majority whom
+I asked at once refused point-blank; others said, “I go, sir,” and went
+not. All jeered at me, and congratulated me on my undertaking; some said
+“they had tried it once.” All agreed that the only chance of success is
+to change all the papers at least every other day—a pleasant prospect
+truly! However, the upshot is that no one has as yet brought me one fern;
+and those I collected with so much care are just a mass of mildew, the
+very smell of which is sickening. So you must tell Miss Bird, that though
+for love of her I will stick to the attempt, all I have done so far is
+utterly worthless.
+
+We have had a son of Mr Veitch, the seedsman, here lately. He worked hard
+at ferns for some months, and though much disappointed at getting nothing
+new, contrived with infinite trouble to collect many lovely things, all
+of which are now at the bottom of the sea, he having got wrecked on one
+of his expeditions—very trying!
+
+Tell your mother I have never yet had a chance of despatching her
+pottery, but it is greatly to her advantage, as I have gone on picking
+up bits here and there, and the case now contains nearly double as many
+specimens as when I first wrote to her. Mail closing—so good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                         NASOVA, _June 3_.
+
+If a heavenly climate, with balmy breezes, could make us happy, we are
+now enjoying these in perfection; but, alas! we are very down-hearted.
+It seems as if all our friends were forsaking us. We went yesterday to
+say good-bye to the Layards, he having been appointed Consul in New
+Caledonia. I shall miss them exceedingly. Their house was always an
+attractive point for a walk, which was invariably rewarded by seeing some
+interesting specimen of ornithology, or learning some point in natural
+history, on which Mr Layard is a first-rate authority. Our last afternoon
+together was devoted to an awful and solemn experiment. We resolved that
+we must bring ourselves to taste Bêches-de-mer soup (you know about
+the horrible-looking black sea-slugs, so precious to the Chinese, and
+which are so largely exported from here?). Well, Mr Layard commissioned
+Houng Lee, a Chinaman living in Levuka, to make a large tureen of this
+soup, and bring it to his house at luncheon-time. Very dubiously did we
+venture on the first spoonful; on the second still with caution: on the
+third with avidity. Finally, we forgot all about the hideous slugs, and
+with one accord returned for a second helping, and agreed that we had
+thoroughly enjoyed our luncheon. Now, alas! all our pleasant experiments
+are over—the big tumble-down old house, with the familiar pier, are
+deserted; and at this very moment the Layards are in the act of sailing
+out of harbour in H.M.S. Barracouta.
+
+But grievous beyond expression to Lady Gordon and myself is the fact
+that the Havelocks have decided on returning to England. You, surrounded
+by friends without number, cannot possibly realise to what an extent we
+shall miss these, our very greatest friends. There has scarcely been a
+day of which we have not spent part together—either we have gone up to
+their pretty cottage on the hill, or they have come to us for a pleasant
+chat. And Jack and Nevil are devoted to their dear little Rachel. Well,
+now it is all over. Already they are beginning preparations for selling
+off their furniture, and their very pretty glass and china,—of course at
+a heavy loss; and next month they will sail with Sir William and Lady
+Hackett, and all go home together. Our new Chief-Justice, Mr Gorrie, is
+expected by next mail. He comes from Mauritius.
+
+Now as concerns news since I last wrote. For a fortnight we continued
+here alone—Baron von Hügel being our only gentleman. He is “getting
+up” Fiji, and competes with Sir Arthur and Mr Maudslay for the most
+thoroughly perfect collection of curiosities. All the others were away
+in detachments in the mountains of Viti Levu, where the wild tribes
+are in rebellion. The Governor could not rest so far from the seat of
+action, so went off with Mr Maudslay. We expected them back about the
+16th May, but waited and waited in vain, in much anxiety. At last they
+steamed quietly in, and came in with the usual calm assumption of nothing
+of the slightest interest having occurred. I hear, however, that they
+ran into imminent danger, and escaped by a hair’s-breadth. The Governor
+insisted on walking across country from Nandi to Nandronga, about forty
+miles, attended only by Dr Macgregor and about a dozen native police.
+Nandronga is a town in the disturbed districts, where Arthur Gordon is
+now staying. Of course it was a long two days’ march; and the first
+night, the party halted at a village, without in the least realising
+that they had run straight to one of the scenes of action. In the houses
+they found only four or five helpless old men, all the rest having gone
+to fight. A sudden blaze revealed that the enemy had surprised, and were
+in the act of burning, the next village, two miles off, and of course
+the villagers immediately expected to share the like fate. Great was the
+consternation; and a council was held by Sir A. and the doctor whether
+to retreat at once, and retrace their steps, or advance many miles to
+the nearest plantation. Happily they decided to stay where they were,
+the available handful of men standing sentry round the village the whole
+night, watching for prowlers coming to burn the reed houses. Evidently
+the enemy were put off by finding them on the alert; for only one prowler
+came suddenly on a sentry, and instantly vanished in the darkness. Had
+they realised what a prize lay within their grasp, I think they would not
+have let that village escape. At dawn the march was continued—in fear and
+trembling, however; for it is not pleasant to know that these tribes are
+still cannibals. Sir Arthur also went himself to the camp at Nasauthoko,
+where Captain Knollys and his native police have their headquarters.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                         NASOVA, _June 9_.
+
+We had a very curious ceremony here this afternoon. A large body of our
+wild allies have arrived here from Bau on their way to Viti Levu, and
+to-day they came here to report themselves to Sir Arthur, and indulged in
+a little _bole bole_, which is a form of ceremonial boasting, to describe
+the great deeds of prowess they purpose to perform in the war. They are a
+magnificent body of men; and as they advanced, with blackened faces and
+kilts of long black water-weed like horse-hair, and streamers of white
+_masi_ floating from their arms and knees, brandishing their old Tower
+muskets, which replace the club of old days, they certainly did look
+most alarming. They performed a very striking “devil _méké_,” with wild
+attitudinising, ending with such unearthly yells as would really have
+made your blood run cold to hear, and were very suggestive of what these
+people must have been in old heathen days.
+
+When the wild men had received their gift of whales’ teeth, and had gone
+off to feast on turtle and pig, we went on board H.M.S. Pearl, which
+sailed into harbour under full canvas on Monday evening just at sunset.
+The last time she left this harbour was on the ill-fated expedition to
+Santa Cruz. It is not yet a year since I left Commodore Goodenough’s
+hospitable roof, and watched the Pearl sail out of Sydney harbour,
+bringing Sir Arthur to begin the new life in Fiji. Then came her awful
+return. Now we hear that she has been the scene of a series of brilliant
+balls, given by Commodore Hoskyns at Sydney. Verily changes are rapid!
+
+It was a great pleasure again to meet Captain Hastings and other friends.
+Dr Messer has been too ill to come ashore, but to-day he showed me some
+very interesting sketches of the New Hebrides idols, and other things.
+In the absence of its new occupant, we ventured to enter the cabin in
+which the sailor-martyr died—holy ground indeed. The Pearl sails again
+to-morrow.
+
+I have just been to see Mrs Macgregor. Both she and Mrs Garrick are very
+seriously ill from frightfully ulcerated sore-throat. Captain Stewart,
+R. E., has a sharp attack of fever; and Mr Lake has just been invalided
+to New Zealand. Sir William Hackett is quite laid up, and looks very ill
+indeed; Nevil, too, is very feverish. Altogether we are not in a very
+flourishing condition.
+
+Nothing amuses me more than the way in which people from opposite ends of
+the world are for ever meeting in unexpected places. The last instance I
+have come across was when two days ago I was sketching near Levuka, and
+took refuge from a shower at a carpenter’s shop. There I found a very old
+woman from Perthshire, who discoursed at great length on all members of
+the Breadalbane family, and the Baillies of Jarviswode, as she remembered
+them thirty-five years ago. It reminds me of my meeting General Troup in
+India, and his telling me he knew all my family intimately. But when we
+failed to find our topics of common interest altogether fluent, he added,
+“Well, it is fifty years since I have seen any of them!”
+
+I have nothing else of special interest to tell you. History repeats
+itself in so small a community. A considerable number of white men and
+brown have been dining here. There have been yangona _mékés_ in the
+moonlight, with wild songs, which are always attractive to me. We had a
+pretty _méké_, with fanciful dances, in honour of the Queen’s birthday
+(the Maramma Levu, or Great Lady). Jack, the little sailor, has been in
+his glory with so many ships in harbour—the Sapphire, the Alacrity, and
+the Pearl. He has had luncheon and tea on board of them all, and is an
+immense favourite with the blue-jackets. His naval tailor comes, gravely
+to measure him for his tiny garments; and his proudest days are those
+when he is allowed to go on board alone with one of the gentlemen. Mrs
+Abbey has planted tree-ferns round Mrs de Ricci’s grave; and there are
+few days when either her children, or Jack and Nevil, do not carry fresh
+flowers to lay on it. And I have sown scarlet and blue convolvulus, and
+other vines, all over the little headland. Good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                        NASOVA, _July 22_.
+
+... Our grievous separation is accomplished. The Havelocks and Hacketts
+started for England on the 6th, and, to know how sorely we miss them, you
+must needs come and live out here—in this country, to which most people
+come, only to leave it as soon as possible, and which has been accurately
+described as one in which every difficulty in the way of progress exists
+in fullest perfection. Why this should be, I really cannot tell, but it
+certainly appears to be the case.
+
+The mountain war continues, and Captain Knollys, as generalissimo, is
+permanently absent; all the other gentlemen come and go incessantly.
+The new judge, Mr Gorrie, accompanied Sir Arthur on his last trip, just
+to see something of the mountain tribes before they become civilised,
+like those of the coast. They returned here on the 3d, bringing Arthur
+Gordon in the well-earned character of “Conquering Hero,” he having, with
+a force of 1000 wild men, effectually quelled the disturbance in the
+district under his charge. Next day the Vuni Valu came here to lunch, and
+Maafu to dine. Both were anxious to hear all news of the war, but each
+great chief was happier in the absence of the other.
+
+A few days later a very fine body of picked men arrived here from
+Taviuni and Thakaundrove on their way to the scene of action. They did
+a war _méké_ on the green in front of the windows, and repeated the odd
+ceremony of “boasting,” which I have described in previous letters. On
+the 10th, the Governor, Mr Gordon, and his reinforcement of wild men,
+sailed in the Fitzroy to rejoin Captain Knollys, and now we are anxiously
+waiting for her return to take us across to Suva on a visit to Mrs Joski.
+
+_July 25._—We waited in vain. Yesterday Mr Wilkinson arrived, having
+travelled five days and nights in an open canoe, to bring a message from
+Sir Arthur, who is in the camp at Nasauthoko, to the effect that the
+Fitzroy is a total wreck. She struck on a coral-reef near the Singatoke
+river, having mistaken the entrance into a passage. It was midnight, and
+the land clouded by much smoke from burning the reeds for clearings.
+Captain Coxe and his crew have arrived in the two boats. All hands safe;
+but he, poor fellow, is sorely down-hearted at this mischance, and it
+certainly is a serious loss to the colony.
+
+_July 28._—A letter from the Langhams to say the Jubilee will call here
+to-morrow, and if I like to go in her to Bau, I can join them in a cruise
+all round Vanua Levu (the Great Land), Taviuni, and other isles. Of
+course such a chance is not one to be lost, so I am busy getting ready
+for the expedition. Probably you will not hear from me till my return.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    (Becalmed in mid-ocean—_i.e._, about twenty miles from Taviuni,
+    and the same from Vanua Levu.)
+
+                                              _Wednesday, August 2, 1876._
+
+MY DEAR LADY GORDON,—Is not this “riling”? To think that we were due in
+Taviuni last Friday, and that we were thence to have taken Mr J., the new
+missionary, to a great meeting with all the teachers, and office-bearers
+of all sorts, on Vanua Levu (at Nanduri). This meeting is to come off
+to-day: about 150 teachers, &c., and ever so many friends, are there
+assembled, wondering what delays the Jubilee; and here we are, doing the
+Ancient Mariner business to perfection, and apparently likely to lie
+where we are for an unlimited period. Of course when we do reach Taviuni,
+we shall not be able to stay there at all,—only just pick up Mr J., and,
+if possible, row along the coast to Wairiki and Somo Somo to fetch a
+native minister, while the Jubilee beats round the coast. This row will
+give us a small glimpse of the coast, and so far, is the one redeeming
+feature of our cruise. It is aggravating to know that if the captain had
+not wasted all the early morning, the Langhams were ready on Saturday
+to row miles to meet the Jubilee, as soon as she appeared, and start at
+once for Taviuni. As it was, they sighted us so late in the day, that
+they decided on waiting till Monday morning, by which time the wind had
+changed, and we had it right in our teeth. Though we were up at 3 A.M.,
+we only made Ovalau that day, and were off Nasova at sunset. I wonder
+if you saw us! Last night we were off Savu Savu, and would fain have
+landed to see the hot springs, but had to tack about remorselessly. Then
+came the calm; and all night long, we rolled and rolled. Now the rolling
+has ceased, and we are seesawing idiotically. Two consecutive nights
+have proved to me that the boards of the deck are undoubtedly hard; and
+till now Mrs Langham, little Annie Lindsay, and the Fijian girl Penina,
+the great Johnnie, and I myself, have all been horribly sick. Only Mr
+L. has been well. He is a very kind nurse; and it is quite touching to
+see how devoted both he and Mrs L. are to little Annie—a bright little
+five-year-old, full of life and fun, and as fond of them as they are
+of her. She can talk nothing but Fijian, and is a great pet with the
+natives,—a most joyous little person, on terms of intimate friendship
+with all the live-stock at Bau—cats, ducks, geese, fowls, and little
+pigs. Tell Jack and Nevil the bottles of jujubes and acid drops are a
+great success, both with big folk and small. As yet the only excitement
+has been in feeble attempts at cookery. Yesterday, after a thirty-six
+hours’ course of cold pork and dry bread (not feeling equal to those tins
+of mutton-broth), I bethought me of that long-treasured roll of Brand’s
+brown soup, which has never left my travelling-bag, and cut up a couple
+of inches in thin slices, and boiled them in the tea-kettle. The result
+was capital. But in spite of all commands to scour the tea-kettle, it was
+found this morning thickly coated with brown jelly! Well, this morning we
+tried the first tin of condensed milk. I still think it makes tea nastier
+than having none, but little Annie and Mr L. like it. Then we thought we
+would make a mess of it and corn-flour. So Mr L. and I each tried our
+hand at making a bowl. I made mine like arrowroot, without boiling, and
+rather liked it; but his brew failed: so at last he found an old black
+pot belonging to the ship, and boiled it up. It looked rather dingy
+and odd, but they all avowed it was better than mine; so we were each
+content. The two big pieces of waterproof were very acceptable for our
+bedding.
+
+I have no special Bau news to give you. Everything looked as usual—good
+bloom of roses and jessamine, and fresh sweet air. After morning church,
+I went to see Andi Kuilla, and gave her your message. She could not
+wait to talk then, as it seems they always hold a family prayer-meeting
+immediately after public service (having previously attended early
+service). I confess I thought that it showed wonderful powers of
+endurance. In the afternoon we went over to Viwa, where Mr L. held
+service, the Lindsays having gone to Namena. It is a very pretty place—a
+lovely walk of about a mile to the church; and beyond that the native
+graves, on a headland edged with big old trees, whose tangled roots twist
+right over the cliff down to the sea. Andi Kuilla came to evening tea,
+and to ask Mr L. for a copy-book, pen, &c., that she might improve her
+hand before writing you a Fijian letter herself. Ratu Timothy also sent
+up for lamp-wicks. There is scarcely an hour of the day that some member
+of the “royal family” does not send up for something or other. I found
+Mr L. had arranged that one of the native ministers, Ratu Isaiah, is to
+meet him on the coast of Viti Levu, about twenty miles from Nananu, and
+is to bring the mail. So I gave him a note to Mr Maudslay, asking him to
+send my letters also. If I have the luck to be dropped at Nananu, Mr L.
+will get them sent on. Now I will add no more; for you have no notion how
+hateful it is to write on your lap, holding a big umbrella with one hand,
+and sea-sawing all the time. The faintest little breeze is just springing
+up, and we are beginning to move—almost imperceptibly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                 VUNA POINT (NAVACA MISSION-HOUSE), 3 P.M.
+
+Just arrived, by dint of literally _rowing_ the Jubilee the last few
+miles,—such heavy mist and quiet rain that we could see nothing of the
+isle as we approached—only a vision of very high land and coast-line of
+rich foliage and fields. Instead of beach, coral and black rocks run to
+the very edge of the land. It seems so strange to see the branches of
+the trees literally overhanging the coral; and just beyond, the water
+is quite deep. The Lands Commission are living very near: we see their
+tents. Probably we shall walk along the coast so far, after tea, to see
+Colonel Pratt and the others. We sleep here, I am glad to say. No time
+for more. Much love to the bairns.—Ever yours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+    TAVIUNI—TUI THAKOW—MISSIONARY PERILS—THEIR FRUIT OF PEACE—RATU
+    LALA—RAMBI ISLE—GIPSY LIFE—VANUA LEVU—A MISSION CONFERENCE—THE
+    ISLE OF KIA—A VILLAGE FEAST.
+
+
+                                      SOMO SOMO, ISLE TAVIUNI, _August 4_.
+
+We had a very tedious passage coming here from Bau, but are now repaid
+by finding ourselves on this lovely island, which is generally called
+“the garden of Fiji,” because of the richness of its vegetation. We have
+seen only a small part of the coast, but that is one lovely tangle of
+natural foliage, which, seen from the sea, resembles a succession of
+green waterfalls, so richly do the vines of every graceful form shroud
+the great trees and tall ferns. You see I have adopted the word vine in
+its colonial acceptation, to describe all manner of creeping green things
+of the earth.
+
+Taviuni has one disadvantage—it lacks the perfect ring of coral which
+secures calm water and a sure harbour for most of its neighbours; and
+in stormy weather the shore is swept by heavy seas, unchecked by any
+protecting barrier-reef. It is about sixty miles in circumference, and is
+apparently one great mountain, about 2000 feet high. It is said to be an
+extinct volcano. On its summit lies a great lake which has formed in the
+crater, and thence descends in a clear stream, which flows into the sea
+at this village.[36]
+
+We landed at Vuna Point, and were thankful to find ourselves safely
+housed at the mission station. How we did enjoy a jug of fresh milk
+sent to us by a kind neighbour! The houses of several planters are here
+clustered within a very short distance of one another, making quite a
+pleasant little society. We called at several houses, each surrounded
+by orange-trees, scarlet hybiscus, gardenia, and other tropical shrubs,
+with veils of a tiny scarlet convolvulus; and we passed through a bit
+of the primeval forest—noble old trees with wonderful roots forming
+natural buttresses. Alas! they are all doomed to destruction. Here, as in
+every other beautiful corner of the earth which I have ever visited, the
+glories of the natural forest are rapidly vanishing before the planter’s
+axe, to make room for a more profitable, if less interesting vegetation.
+
+In the evening there was heavy rain, of which, I believe, this green
+isle receives a plentiful allowance. Happily yesterday morning was
+fine, and (while the Jubilee slowly beat up the coast to Wairiki, a
+distance of twelve miles) we took the boat and rowed close inshore.
+It was very lovely. Wairiki is one of the few spots in Fiji where the
+Roman Catholic Church has established something of a footing; and it is
+the home of two French priests, whose care extends to Somo Somo. The
+_lotu katolika_, however, has comparatively few adherents, the people
+in general having a strong preference for what they call the _lotu
+ndina_—“the true religion”—which, however, in this place seemed to be
+in a slovenly condition. We found the house of the native minister so
+unpleasant that we did not care to enter it, but made our way to the
+very ill-cared-for little church, and had our luncheon brought there,
+as it was raining heavily. We were now in the dominions of the great
+chief Tui Thakow, a very fine specimen of a high chief, second only to
+Thakombau, but, unfortunately, much addicted to drinking and other vices.
+Though affording kindly protection to both Catholic priests and Wesleyan
+teachers, he eschews the guidance of either, and scandalises both, by
+pursuing his own jovial views of domestic life, and keeping up as large
+an establishment as in the old heathen days—the ladies of his harem being
+practically without limit. His first queen, Andi Eleanor, is at present
+out of favour, and lives at Wairiki in a very picturesque house, of which
+I made a sketch when the rain stopped. She had some enormous bales of
+native cloth lying in the house. She is still very handsome, as is also
+her son Ratu Lala, whom I often see at Mr Thurston’s house.
+
+In the afternoon we had a heavy pull, rowing out to the Jubilee, and
+found her at anchor, the captain objecting to proceed that night, as the
+coral-patches make navigation dangerous in the dark. This delighted me,
+of course. So after some deliberation it was decided that we should row
+on to this place, Somo Somo, about four miles further, taking our food
+and bedding, as we were utterly uncertain where we should sleep, there
+being no teacher’s house there. But news of our coming preceded us,
+and on landing we were at once conducted to this very fine large house
+belonging to Tui Thakow. He himself is absent (supposed to be drunk at a
+neighbouring village), but Andi Luciana, the Fair Rosamond who at present
+fills the position of chief wife, and who is a daughter of Thakombau, did
+the honours with the innate dignity of her race. She is a fine handsome
+woman, with a very pleasant face. She is Andi Kuilla’s half-sister. Her
+first matrimonial venture was with Koroi Ramundra, at Bau—notwithstanding
+her sister’s warning, she having also tried him in the first instance,
+and found him unendurable. Andi Luciana rued the day too late, but the
+Vuni Valu came to the rescue, and divorced her, and then allowed her to
+come and be prime favourite in Tui Thakow’s harem.
+
+We went to call on Tui Thakow’s sister, Andi Eliza, a fine hearty old
+lady—the great pillar of the Wesleyan Church in this district. She
+cordially smelt all our hands, sniffing with especial devotion that of
+the newly-arrived missionary, a man who had never in his life been twenty
+miles from his own home in Cornwall, when he was appointed to the sole
+charge of this immense district, where there are vast arrears of lost
+ground to be made up. Fifty towns without any teacher at all! For some
+time there has been no one to undertake the charge of this district,
+and now the Society have sent out the only man they could get, but one
+who, certainly, is not very likely to impress these keen intelligent
+men; which is the more to be regretted, as they are so ready to give all
+honour to their white teacher and his message.
+
+This is a very pretty place, and after tea we strolled out again to see
+as much of it as we possibly could, first going through the village, and
+then exploring the valley behind us.
+
+We lingered a while beside the clear stream, resting under a large
+shaddock-tree, the whole air scented with its fragrant flowers, which are
+just like a very rich orange-blossom, and grow in large clusters. Then
+turning aside beneath the dark shadow of the bread-fruit trees, we sought
+the grave of Mr Cross—one of the two first missionaries who came to these
+stormy and blood-stained isles.
+
+As we stood by that grave in the quiet starlight, with scarcely a sound
+from the peaceful village to disturb the stillness of night, we could not
+but think of the strange change that has been wrought in so short a time.
+It was in 1835 that these two pioneers landed at Lakemba, far away at the
+eastern extremity of the group.
+
+Two years later, the King of Somo Somo (who like the present ruler was
+called Tui Thakow) came to Lakemba with his two sons and several hundred
+followers. When he saw the knives and hatchets, kettles and pots, which
+the Lakembans had received as barter for food and work, he immediately
+coveted possession of the goose which laid such golden eggs, so he urged
+the mission to come at once and settle at Somo Somo, promising every sort
+of advantage—that all the children should attend school, and that he and
+his people would give heed to what was taught. The invitation was of
+course accepted, though not without qualms, the people of Somo Somo being
+so noted for their excess in every conceivable form of crime, that their
+name was uttered with dread and even horror throughout the group.
+
+Upwards of a year elapsed ere it was possible to comply with the king’s
+request, as it was necessary to obtain further supplies of men and stores
+from England. (We do not find this rapid work even now, and it was a
+far more difficult matter in those days.) When, in the face of many
+difficulties, Mr Hunt and Mr Lyth arrived with their families at Somo
+Somo, hoping for the promised welcome, they found that, beyond being
+allowed the use of a large empty house belonging to the old king, their
+presence was utterly ignored.
+
+They had scarcely landed when news came that the king’s youngest son,
+Ra Mbithi, had been lost at sea; or rather, that his canoe had drifted
+to the isle of Ngau, where, as a matter of course, he was captured and
+eaten. Great was the lamentation made for him, and utterly vain were
+the prayers of the new-comers that the women doomed to death, according
+to custom, might be spared. Sixteen women were forthwith strangled, and
+their bodies buried close to the door of the great house in which the
+strangers were lodged. Then in quick succession they were compelled to
+witness scenes of cruelty and degradation too deep for words. Deeds of
+darkest abomination were the familiar sights of everyday life, and the
+people of Somo Somo proved themselves fully entitled to the character
+they bore throughout the group, of being the vilest of the vile. Cannibal
+feasts, attended by wildest orgies, were of constant occurrence, the
+bodies being cooked in ovens close to the house in which Mr Hunt and
+Mr Lyth had their quarters; and so great was the offence they gave by
+closing the doors to try and shut out the revolting scenes, that their
+own lives were endangered, and the king’s son, Tuikilakila, came up
+furiously, club in hand, threatening to kill Mr Lyth, who had ventured on
+remonstrance.
+
+There was one awful night in particular, when they believed their doom
+to be decided. There was no thought of defence, for that was quite
+impossible; but they closed the frail doors, hung up curtains of native
+cloth to hide them from the eyes that peered in through the slight reed
+wall on the great gloomy house, and throughout the long hours of that
+terrible night they knelt in prayer, expecting each moment that the
+savages would rush in and seal their doom. An awful brooding stillness
+prevailed, which suddenly was broken by a wild ringing yell; but it was
+not a death-shout. The people had determined to spare the strangers, and
+the call was an invitation to all the women to come out and dance, which
+they accordingly did.
+
+Scenes such as these marked the early years of the mission. So far from
+granting the promised protection, the chiefs opposed the work in every
+possible way, forbidding the people to become Christian on pain of death
+and the oven. The ladies and their children dared not leave the close
+house in the heart of the town, and their health suffered from the
+confinement.
+
+After a while Mr Lyth’s medical skill brought him into some repute, and
+the young chief was his first patient,—a man of magnificent stature and
+physical development. Mr Lyth attended him during a long illness, and had
+the satisfaction of seeing him recover his health, and also of feeling
+that he had in a measure won his friendship.
+
+The old king, too, was seriously ill, and claimed medical aid; but he
+was not a pleasant patient, as, on the slightest provocation, he would
+seize his club and threaten to kill his doctor, who on one occasion
+fled, leaving his coat-tail in the hand of his interesting patient—a
+loss not easily replaced at Somo Somo! It was at this time (1842) that
+Mr Cross came to stay here, to profit by Mr Lyth’s medical skill; but
+it was too late. The constant wearing anxieties of his life, first in
+the Friendly Islands, and afterwards at Lakemba and Viwa—continually
+striving and struggling with men fiercer and more degraded than any wild
+beasts—had utterly worn him out; and he arrived here only to enter into
+his well-earned rest, leaving a widow and five children. So he was laid
+here; and some little graves beside him tell of the sorrowing mothers
+whose little ones died in those sad years. Not long after this came
+the ceremony of the old king’s death. For some time he had gradually
+grown more and more feeble; and though a virulent old heathen, and most
+inveterate cannibal, his appearance was so venerable and benevolent, that
+the mission party had become positively attached to him. Latterly they
+had begun to acquire a little influence over him, and had succeeded in
+saving some women from being strangled, and some war-captives from being
+slain for the oven. Several large canoes had also been launched, and
+suffered to make their first voyage, without the sacrifice of one human
+victim,—a thing hitherto unprecedented; and though all Christian teaching
+was strongly opposed, it had not been wholly without result. Twenty-one
+persons had found courage openly to profess themselves converts, one of
+these being the king’s brother. So there was good reason to hope that the
+old man would be allowed to die a natural death; and the chief anxiety
+of Mr Williams, who had succeeded Mr Hunt as missionary here, was to
+save the lives of the women. Having left the old king apparently pretty
+well, he was much startled on hearing next morning that he was dead, and
+that preparations were being made for his funeral. He hurried back to
+the house, to find the family in the very act of strangling two veiled
+figures. Each was surrounded by a company of women, all sitting on the
+ground; and on either side of each group a row of eight or ten strong
+men were hauling a white cord, which was passed round the neck of the
+victim. Too late to save these, he passed on to look at the dead chief,
+and to his astonishment found him still alive, though his chief wife was
+preparing him for the grave, by covering him with a coat of black powder,
+tying streamers of white native cloth round his arms and legs, a scarlet
+handkerchief on his head, armlets, and head ornament of small white
+cowries, a necklace of large whales’ teeth, with long curved points, and
+an immense train of new native cloth, arranged in loose folds at his
+feet. This done, a blast of trumpet-shells was blown by the priests, and
+the chief priest, in the name of the people, hailed Tuikilakila as king,
+saying, “The sun of one king has set, but our king yet lives.” It is the
+Fijian rendering of “Le roi est mort; vive le roi!”
+
+Seeing that all pleading for the life of the old chief must be without
+avail, Mr Williams had to content himself with praying that the two women
+already strangled might suffice; and to this the young chief agreed,
+adding that, but for his intercession, all the women present should have
+died. Those who had already been put to death had been duly decorated,
+their faces covered with vermilion, their bodies oiled, and adorned
+with garlands of leaves and flowers. They were then wrapped in mats,
+and carried to the sea-shore, where they were laid on either end of a
+canoe. For some reason unexplained, the king might not be carried out by
+a common doorway; so the side of his house was broken down, and he too
+was carried to the canoe, where his queen sat by him, fanning him to keep
+off the flies. She had asked, with well-assumed grief, why she too might
+not be strangled, but was soothed by being assured that there was no one
+present of sufficiently high rank to act as her executioner.
+
+So the funeral procession started for Weilangi, where the chiefs of Somo
+Somo are buried, and the grave having been lined with mats, the two women
+were laid in it, as grass for the king’s grave; and then he too was laid
+therein (having first been stripped of his necklace and shell ornaments).
+Cloth and mats were heaped over him: and the poor old man was distinctly
+heard coughing while the earth was being heaped on him.
+
+So died the fierce chief Tui Thakow. A period of ceremonial mourning
+followed, when men shaved their heads, and women burnt their bodies and
+cut off their fingers, sixty of which were inserted in hollow reeds,
+and stuck along the eaves of the king’s house, as pleasant and fragrant
+tokens of sympathy.
+
+Tuikilakila being now the great and all-powerful chief, his determined
+opposition to the preaching of Christianity made the work of the mission
+almost hopeless. He publicly repeated his determination to kill and
+eat any of the people who should venture to interest themselves in
+the matter. So after toiling for two years more, in the face of this
+most disheartening opposition, Mr Williams determined to abandon this
+unfruitful field for a season. He had, however, to escape, almost by
+stratagem, as the mission stores and articles of barter were precious
+in the eyes of the people, who would have kept him prisoner had his
+intention been known.
+
+So evil continued to run riot unchecked; and Tuikilakila, who had assumed
+the royal title of Tui Thakow, continued his evil ways till 1854, when he
+was murdered, while asleep, by his own son. That son was murdered by his
+brother, to avenge the death of the father, and this brother was himself
+murdered in his turn. Then civil war broke out; the tribe became divided
+against itself; every man’s hand was against his neighbour; and soon the
+land was made desolate, and the town of Somo Somo, once the strongest
+power in Fiji, was left utterly deserted.
+
+Now that peace is established in the land, and that the successor of
+the old Tui Thakows is responsible to England for the wise government
+of his people, all might be well were it not for the fatal influence of
+drink,—that curse which the chiefs have so wisely made it a criminal
+offence to supply to their people, but which some of themselves, and this
+noble-looking fellow above all others, find it impossible to resist.[37]
+
+I send you all this long story just to give you a faint idea of the
+horrible scenes that formerly made up the simple incidents of daily life
+in this now quiet lovely place; but of course I cannot possibly expect
+you to realise them, as we do, who are actually on the spot—the more
+so, as my companions have been eyewitnesses of very similar scenes in
+different parts of the group, and have heard all details of these events
+from people who actually took part in them,—many of the worst cannibals
+of those days being now useful and devoted Christians; some are even
+teachers and class-leaders.
+
+The loveliness of the night tempting us to stroll further, we came to an
+old graveyard, and noticed that the fence round it also enclosed a large
+native house. Here it was that the father of the present Tui Thakow was
+murdered, and his wife strangled at the funeral. They were buried in the
+house, which was then abandoned and rendered _tambu_ (_i.e._, sacred or
+forbidden to touch) to all Fijians.
+
+We sat for long on a grassy hillock, rejoicing in the clear brilliant
+moonlight and balmy air, and quite regretted the necessity of sleep.
+Andi Luciana had most kindly given me her own especial corner, with her
+large so-called mosquito-curtains of native cloth: I took the precaution
+of hanging up my own, however. A similar screen had been prepared for Mr
+and Mrs Langham, and our hostess had retired with her ladies to sleep in
+a large house close by, called her kitchen. I could not help contrasting
+our peaceful night, left in possession of this clean new house, with that
+awful night of dread, when Mrs Lyth and Mrs Hunt, with their little ones,
+watched through the long hours in the dark, gloomy, old house, waiting
+for the moment of their massacre. We all slept in peace, and no ill
+dreams disturbed our rest.
+
+This morning it is raining heavily, to which fact you are indebted for
+this long letter. A kind white man—I think his name is M’Pherson—has
+just sent us in a bottle of milk, with some nice fresh bread, a pot
+of home-made marmalade, and a large basket of lemons, which are most
+refreshing on board ship. It is a most acceptable present, and we are
+about to enjoy our breakfast.
+
+      _Extract from the ‘Fiji Times,’ Wednesday, August 11, 1880._
+
+                      “INSTALLATION OF RATU LALA.
+
+    “The installation of Ratu Lala as Roko Tui Cakaudrove, in place
+    of his father the late Tui Cakau, took place at an early hour
+    on Thursday morning last at Somo Somo.
+
+    “His Excellency the Governor landed from H.M.S. Wolverene
+    between seven and eight o’clock, and immediately afterwards
+    proclamation was made by the Mati ni Vanuas of Cakaudrove that
+    the chief was about to be installed; an announcement which
+    was met by the beating of all the _lalis_ in the town, and by
+    peculiar cries and shouts by the people assembled from within
+    their houses, inside which, by immemorial usage, they were
+    expected to remain during the ceremony. After these regulation
+    cries, the most death-like silence was observed until the close
+    of the proceedings. The elders of the province then assembled
+    in the large house occupied by the late Tui Cakau, and were all
+    carefully seated according to the rank and precedence of each,
+    an operation requiring some time. When this was accomplished,
+    his Excellency and his staff entered the building and the
+    making of _yaqona_ commenced. According to the etiquette on
+    these occasions, this was made in silence, without any song
+    or _méké_; and, when made, various set forms of speech and
+    response were uttered, the names and deeds of the ancestors of
+    the new chief commemorated, and prayers for blessings on the
+    people, the fruits, the animals, &c., of the land, pronounced,
+    these being almost an exact counterpart of those formerly
+    addressed to the heathen gods, but which were now offered to
+    the True God and the Holy Spirit. On the conclusion of these
+    ceremonies, his Excellency declared the bowl of _yaqona_ just
+    taken from the _tanoa_, to be that for the drinking of the ‘Na
+    Turaga ko na Roko Ratu Tui Cakaudrove,’ thereby conferring that
+    designation on Ratu Lala, who drank its contents.
+
+    “When he had done so, the Mati ni Vanua again made
+    proclamation, and the same beating of _lalis_ and tumultuous
+    shouting which had preceded the commencement of the
+    proceedings, was repeated, and the injunction on the people to
+    remain within doors removed.
+
+    “A dinner was now brought in by the ladies of the place and
+    laid before the new Roko Tui, who, according to precedent, ate
+    a few mouthfuls. The native ceremonial being thus concluded,
+    the more European part of the ceremony began. His Excellency
+    took his seat on a raised platform covered with mats and
+    _masi_, and the young Roko, rising for the first time during
+    the proceedings, and having his long train of black and white
+    _masi_, perhaps thirty yards in length, supported by some of
+    his followers, approached his Excellency, and sitting before
+    him, took the oath of allegiance to the Queen, and one of
+    obedience to the Governor, placing his hands within those of
+    his Excellency as he did so. The Governor then delivered to
+    him the long staff of office, at the same time pronouncing
+    these words, ‘Take with this staff, authority to rule as Roko
+    Tui in the province of Cakaudrove. Take heed to the welfare of
+    the people submitted to your care. Be to them a father, not a
+    taskmaster. Lead them, guide them, teach them; and in all your
+    doings remember that strict and solemn account which you must
+    one day render at the judgment-seat of God.’
+
+    “The Roko having returned to his seat his Excellency made a
+    few brief remarks to those assembled, and the proceedings
+    terminated.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+               NANDURI, THE CHIEF TOWN OF MATHUATA VANUA LEVU, _August 7_.
+
+We arrived here yesterday. But you will like to hear of our voyage in
+detail. So to return to Somo Somo. When we went to say good-bye to Andi
+Luciana, we found her, with all her attendants, busily making native
+cloth, as were also most of the women in the town. They are preparing
+for a great meeting of the chiefs, at which all their finery will
+be required. However, I succeeded in buying several pieces of very
+delicately painted _tappa_.
+
+This great meeting, at which Sir Arthur is to be present, is a topic of
+vast interest. Already four houses, each twelve fathoms long, and tied
+with the best sinnet, have been built for guests, and there is a special
+house for the _kovana_ (governor). Already 150 turtle have been captured,
+and are kept in the turtle-fences, ready for the great festival: so it is
+to be a great event. In one house we found women making coarse pottery,
+but I was not tempted to add it to my collection.
+
+We had a long row to the Jubilee, and then made slow progress. All
+the morning there was hardly a breath stirring; but at noon the wind
+rose sharply, and about 3 P.M. it became so gusty, and the weather
+altogether so threatening, that the captain, not knowing the coast, and
+wisely avoiding unnecessary risk, decided to anchor for the night off
+Rambi Island. The water was so deep that we were able to anchor close
+to the shore, in a lovely bay. The island belongs exclusively to two
+planters—Messrs Dawson and Hill,—and the point where we landed was five
+miles from their house—that of their overseer occupying a prominent
+position on a high rock above us. He was, however, absent, and we found
+only two Tanna men in charge of the place.
+
+A tame cat, however, welcomed us with delight, and never left us—trotting
+beside us in all our rambles. We found pleasant paths leading through
+fine bush, the foliage very rich, and immense specimens of the
+bird’s-nest fern growing as a parasite on the _pandanus_ and other trees;
+then passing through a field of maize I gathered and ate half-ripe corn
+cobs, which were excellent—stolen bread being proverbially so: it is a
+beautiful crop, growing far above my head. Then we went on to inspect
+the deserted house, which stands on a great mass of brown rock, in the
+crevices of which grow huge hart’s-tongue and other ferns. It commands a
+lovely view of the bay on either side, but is the flimsiest of all the
+breezy houses I have seen in Fiji—merely built of open-work reeds—and as
+a stiff wind was blowing, we thought we should gain little by sleeping
+in it, so returned to the shore and took possession of a forsaken
+boat-house, where we spread our waterproofs, blankets, and pillows. The
+Fijian teachers who accompanied us prepared beds of dried plantain-leaves
+for themselves, and kindled a great fire on the beach, which they
+continually fed with dead palm-leaves to keep up a cheery blaze. There we
+boiled our kettle for tea, and had a cheery meal in the moonlight, and
+then explored the white sands till we came to picturesque dark rocks,
+encircling a tiny bay, with great trees overhanging the water—a gem of a
+bathing-place. We dare not often venture on sea-bathing, as we never know
+how close inshore the sharks will venture.
+
+The night proved stormy, and we rejoiced greatly that we were spending
+it on dry land. The island is about thirty miles in circumference, and
+is chiefly a great cocoa-nut plantation. The nuts are brought from all
+parts of the island to the machinery houses on the beach, below Mr Hill’s
+house, where they are broken up, and the kernel dried, either in the sun
+or by steam in the drying-house, by which process it becomes _coppra_;
+and being then packed in bags, is ready for export, to be converted
+into oil by great crushing-machines. The outer husk is then passed
+into machines known as “devils,” by which it is torn up, and the fibre
+combed out and cleaned, and passed through a screw-press, by which it is
+compressed into bales, and so prepared for the market, to reappear as
+mats and brushes, and other familiar objects. I wonder how many people,
+as they rub off English mud on such cocoa-mats, ever give a thought
+to the beautiful isles where that fibre was grown, or to the regiment
+of wild, almost naked, savages—the “foreign labour”—who, from one
+circumstance or another, have each left the far-away isle he calls home,
+to come and work the strange machinery on the white man’s plantation!
+
+At daybreak, after a hurried breakfast, we left the lovely island
+with much regret. A strong wind and a heavy sea gave us a rough, wet,
+unpleasant day while we crossed Natewa Bay, off Vanua Levu—thirty miles
+of open sea. Then we once more neared the land, entered the passage of
+Namooka, and were again in smooth water. Oh the blessedness of being
+safe inside the reef!—the delight of that sudden change from tossing in
+miserable discomfort on the great waste of unreasoning waters, to the
+perfect repose of gliding over the calm untroubled lake that lies within
+the mighty coral breakwater which the raging breakers may never overpass!
+
+We were now coasting close along the shore of Vanua Levu, which at this
+point is very bare and unfertile, in striking contrast to the luxuriant
+isles we had just left. The whole coast, with its fine mountain-ranges,
+reminded me strongly of Argyleshire, the _noko-noko_ (casurina trees)
+taking the place of birch. But for some stunted palms, and grotesque
+_pandanus_, we could not have told we were in the tropics; and indeed the
+cold blue-grey foliage of the latter is nowise suggestive of a land of
+sunny influences. Further on, the coast is edged with the glossy green
+of the _tiri_ (mangrove), which always tells of a hateful swampy shore,
+over which the roots of this water-loving tree spread in an inextricable
+network. Hidden in this swamp, swarming with mosquitoes, lies the
+deserted town of Mota, one of many which have been left desolate, either
+in consequence of intertribal war, or the ravages of the measles. Just
+before sunset we came to a lovely uninhabited isle, where we anchored
+for the night. Determined not to sleep on board the schooner, her cabin
+being stuffy, and her deck hard, we went ashore to explore. We landed
+on a beach of fine white sand, shadowed by palms and rich hardwood,
+and enclosed by high sandstone cliffs of warm colours: and here we had
+supper, and hunted for sleeping-quarters. We found an overhanging rock,
+just like the rock-temples of Ceylon, where the sacred images of Buddha
+are carved; and I really thought we looked rather like a row of Buddhas
+as we lay beneath this rock-canopy. What with the calm sea, and the
+mingled light of the red fires and the clear moonlight, glittering on the
+great waving palm-leaves, and all the brown teachers cooking their yams,
+it was a most picturesque scene; and the invariable evening prayer and
+singing acquires deeper interest when one thinks how recently a canoe,
+landing in such a place, would come in cautiously, not knowing whether
+hidden foes might not be lying in wait to club and eat its crew. The
+morning and evening family prayer is invariable.
+
+It was a lovely night, clear and beautiful. At sunrise we embarked,
+and sailed with a fair wind, still keeping close inshore. The scenery
+continued to suggest Argyleshire, range beyond range of mountains,
+detached masses of rock and islands, pretty colouring, but poor
+vegetation—a calm and pleasant sail.
+
+About noon we reached this town, Nanduri, which is the capital of this
+district of Mathuata. It is badly situated, being on a muddy shore,
+densely overgrown with mangrove, but it is very tidy and rather pretty.
+The quarters prepared for us were a tiny new house, built of coral-lime,
+and nicely matted. This, to the Fijian mind, is the very acme of
+architecture and foreign art. I confess to infinitely preferring the
+purely native house, with reed or leaf sides, and many doors. Food was
+immediately brought to us, according to the usual hospitable custom.
+Several women each carried a tray of plaited fibre, on which lay pieces
+of green banana-leaf, with yams of different sorts, _taro_, and sweet
+potatoes. Another had a black pot, in which was a fowl, which had been
+boiled with _taro_ tops, making an excellent soup; others had fresh-water
+prawns and small fish; and then came the height of culinary triumph, in
+several kinds of pudding with sweet sauce, all tied up in pieces of young
+banana-leaf, warmed over the fire to make them oil-proof, and looking
+like little green bags. Then came the formal customary little speeches
+of offering and accepting all these good things—of which we partook, and
+then went off to call upon the chief.
+
+The worthy man deemed it necessary quickly to don a shirt, with the tail
+worn outside, over his handsome chief-like drapery of _tappa_. He stood
+facing us for fully two minutes while he struggled with his buttons, ere
+he was ready to shake hands and welcome us to his town. Then he took
+us into his house to see his wife, after which ceremony our chief care
+was, as usual, to find some quiet shady corner where we might enjoy a
+bathe undisturbed. Our quest, however, proved unsatisfactory, the brook
+being shallow, and the group of admiring women and children unusually
+inquisitive. No wonder! Two white women were a sight rarely seen; and
+one being so tall, the other small, added interest to the spectacle. And
+when the pale creatures divested themselves of successive articles of
+raiment, so needlessly numerous, and then took off their boots, revealing
+stockings, and when the stockings gave place to feet many shades paler
+than the sun-browned face and hands, their curiosity on the subject knew
+no bounds; moreover, we were accompanied by Mrs Langham’s god-daughter, a
+very fair delicate little girl, whose sunny hair was always a source of
+delight to the people wherever we stopped. And indeed Mrs L. has herself
+such masses of beautiful long silky hair as might well astonish these
+women, accustomed from their childhood to have their own crisp locks
+cut within four inches of the head, round which it stands out like a
+halo—being always of a tawny sienna colour, from the lime with which it
+is so constantly washed.
+
+Having completed our toilet, we returned to the village, where there
+was service in a large church, which was crowded with a most devout
+congregation. Many strangers from surrounding villages were present,—as
+were also all interested in the teachers, schools and church matters
+generally,—to meet the superintendent, and decide certain questions;
+moreover, the chief was anxious that the annual mission meeting should be
+celebrated with unusual demonstration. So a very large number of persons
+had assembled, and many turtle had already been captured for the feast.
+
+I devoted this morning to sketching the curious little jail, a building
+of strong cocoa-nut posts, deeply sunken in the earth, which is dug out
+to make the cell, the earth being heaped up outside, almost to the eaves
+of the wide-thatched roof. It seemed as if the principal and speedy
+result of imprisonment must be suffocation; but the idea of having a jail
+at all is as novel as a black coat, and as foreign to Fijian custom. A
+canoe is just starting for some point whence letters are forwarded to
+Levuka, so I must close this.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                 NANDURI, VANUA LEVU, _Friday, August 11_.
+
+MY DEAR JEAN,—I have already sent Nell a long letter from here, now I
+will begin one to you, to carry on my story, though I can only write
+occasional fragments, as there are so many interesting things to see
+and do. It was a pleasant surprise in this remote district to find a
+countryman—Mr Fraser from Nairn, and his wife. They invited us to dine in
+their Fijian house, a simple one-roomed cottage, but made pleasant and
+home-like by a few decorative touches, and by the presence of the young
+mother and her little ones.
+
+The Langhams being necessarily much absorbed in matters relating to their
+work, these kind new friends undertook to show me as much as they could
+of the neighbourhood. So first we climbed up a green valley to a village
+on the brow of the hill, whence we had a fine view of this “Great Land”
+as we looked inwards to its mountain-ranges. Here we first found the
+sago-palm with its clusters of small nuts: and also gathered loads of
+lilac orchids. On our way back, looking seawards, we saw quite a fleet of
+picturesque canoes, with great yellow mat-sails, approaching the isle.
+Loud and discordant blasts on their shell-trumpets announced that they
+brought a large addition to the turtles required for the feast: five or
+six have been cooked every day since we arrived, a small item in the
+feeding of so great a multitude. They are cleaned and then baked in their
+shells. The chief also gives one thousand yams and three or four pigs
+daily. The amount of green fat that has been bestowed on us would have
+rejoiced a true _gourmet_; but his enjoyment would have been alloyed by
+the fact that the turtle are invariably cooked before presentation, and
+very badly cooked too, being invariably smoky and insipid.
+
+We reached the shore just as the canoes were unloading, and in a few
+moments fifteen large turtle lay on their backs on the grassy bank,
+flapping and gaping piteously. These were an offering to the chief from
+the new-comers. They have mustered in great force. Fully three thousand
+people have assembled on this wild coast. They have come from long
+distances, and from every direction, to attend this meeting of such
+teachers as there are, and to beg that a larger number may be provided.
+They say that sixty towns are now without teachers. But the difficulty
+is to provide the men fitted for the work, most of the candidates being
+simply young students, not ripe for such responsible posts.
+
+About twelve miles from Nanduri there is a small but very picturesque
+rocky island, called Kia,—a bold mass jutting up from the sea. I longed
+to see it nearer, and the Frasers most kindly agreed to accompany me.
+The chief lent us his fine large canoe and capital crew, which included
+several of his own kinsfolk—stalwart, chief-like men.
+
+We started soon after sunrise, and a fresh breeze carried us over in a
+couple of hours. The island is a perfect triumph of careful cultivation.
+By nature it was only a huge mass of bare rock; but so diligently
+have its inhabitants filled up every crevice with soil brought from
+the mainland, that they have succeeded in growing so many palms and
+bananas, that now, when seen from the sea, this once barren rock
+appears positively fertile. We landed at a village where the chief was
+superintending the finishing of a huge mat canoe sail, which was spread
+upon the ground in the cool shadow of a group of old trees. Of course
+we had to go through the form of being received in the house; but on
+expressing a wish to breakfast beside the sea, we were invited to sit on
+the mat-sail, and allowed to be happy in our own way.
+
+I only wish it were possible to convey to you all the impressions of
+delight of such a day as this—all the thousand details of beauty, which
+give such light and gladness to the life I find so fascinating, though
+it sounds so dry and dead when I try to put it into words. Just try if
+you can, ever so faintly, realise the picture. A calm glittering blue
+sea, white coral sands sparkling in the sunlight, ourselves in deep cool
+shade of dense glossy foliage, whence bunches of rosy silky tassels float
+down with every breath of air, as playthings for tiny brown children
+in lightest raiment. And then the multitude of wandering shells, each
+tenanted by a shy hermit crab, assembling cautiously round us to gather
+up stray crumbs. Close by are the graves of successive generations of
+these hardy fishers, who have lived and died on this tiny isle, without
+an aspiration beyond it. Now the graves are overgrown with tangles of the
+marine convolvulus with lilac blossom, while the starry white convolvulus
+hangs in light drapery from the rocks beyond. And beyond the sea rise the
+blue mountain-ranges of Vanua Levu, in ever-changing light and shadow.
+
+Mrs Fraser had brought her two little ones with her; so she decided to
+spend the day at this quiet spot, while her husband accompanied me on a
+walk round the island. Her perfect knowledge of the language makes her
+thoroughly at home with all these kindly people. So we started on our
+walk, which we found practicable, except at one point, where, the cliffs
+being precipitous, and the tide having risen, I had to accept the offer
+of a strong native to carry me round a headland to the next bay. He took
+me up in his arms like a big baby, and though forced to confess that I
+was _bimbi sara_—_i.e._, very heavy—he carried me ever so far round in
+the sea!
+
+We visited each of the four quaint little villages, and entered
+innumerable houses, searching for baskets of a particular kind only made
+here. In this quest we were tolerably successful, and stayed some time
+to watch the women weaving them with dexterous fingers: they are of
+very fine fibre and most intricate pattern. Of course we were objects
+of mutual interest, and the astonishment of the people at our sudden
+appearance knew no bounds. I doubt whether any of these people had ever
+seen a white woman before—Mrs Fraser’s presence, even at Nanduri, being
+purely accidental (her husband having just been appointed to superintend
+the formation of the new district gardens, by the produce of which every
+district is henceforth to pay its taxes).
+
+We succeeded in buying some interesting specimens of old manufactures,
+carved bowls, and stone axes, then turned aside to visit some most poetic
+burial-grounds. One of them haunts me still, it was so peaceful—a lonely
+grassy headland, with half-a-dozen graves, strewn with red or white
+coral, and shadowed by one palm. It was sheltered by great red cliffs,
+and beyond it lay the calm wide ocean bathed in glittering light. I
+would fain have lingered to sketch the scene, but we had to hurry on as
+fast as we could possibly walk. Such a scramble! As it was, we found on
+our return that the wind had changed, and we could not return to the
+mainland that night. At first we insisted on starting, and actually
+embarked, but we saw that the crew wore really afraid of danger, so
+of course we yielded and came ashore again, when the kind islanders
+brought us a capital supper. The people are all fishers, and a canoe-load
+of rainbow-coloured fish—some pure scarlet, some vivid green, some
+silvery—had just been brought in, as also many crabs.
+
+Most mothers would have been somewhat perturbed at such a _contretemps_;
+but Mrs Fraser took it quite calmly, and the people provided us with fine
+mats, and as a matter of course conducted us to the _vale ni lotu_ (the
+house of religion), where we slept undisturbed—my big sun-hat acting
+as my pillow. But after a while I awoke, and crept out into the clear
+moonlight, and sat alone on the silent shore, drinking in the delicious
+night breeze.
+
+Towards morning it blew pretty hard, but at sunrise Mr Fraser got a small
+canoe to enable me to reach a cliff which I wished to sketch; but the
+canoe was so tiny, and the sea so rough, that it was on the verge of
+swamping. We therefore landed, and walked as far as was possible. Then
+I got in alone, and the boatman, a ’cute, sturdy little fellow, half
+paddled, half swam, while I rapidly made my drawing.
+
+We walked back, found breakfast ready, and once more embarked. The fine
+canoe flew before the wind, cutting through the water beautifully, of
+course shipping seas and involving much bailing out—a process which is
+sometimes done with a wooden scoop, but more frequently by throwing out
+the water with the sole of the foot, using it like a hand. It needed
+half-a-dozen tacks to bring us to land; and each of these, in a canoe of
+this size, involves serious labour, as the base of the heavy triangular
+sail must be lifted by main force, and carried to the opposite end of the
+canoe by the combined strength of several men.
+
+On the way a bit of the great mat-sail came unsewn, and the men in charge
+(themselves high caste) were in such terror of arriving with anything
+wrong that we ran in behind the mangroves to sew it up ere they would
+venture to go on, as they dared not face the chief with anything out of
+order. This, his own canoe, is the only one which dares approach Nanduri
+with sail up and flag flying, and as he was not on board, even we dipped
+the flag as we drew near, the flag being a streamer of _masi_. All other
+canoes must lower their sail while at a considerable distance, and row to
+shore, as a mark of deep respect.
+
+We called on the chief to thank him for the loan of his canoe, and found
+his people dispensing food to their guests on rather an extensive scale
+of entertainment. The business part of the meeting was nearly over,
+and the people were all arriving for the solevu, or great feast of the
+morrow. In the evening there was singing, and some dancing by torchlight,
+but no Fijian cares to dance much till the moon rises, and that was not
+due before midnight.
+
+Next morning many more canoes arrived—such a pretty bustling scene; and
+as it would be rash to put on festal array before landing, all the best
+cloth and garlands came in baskets, and the whole shore was one great
+dressing-room, where the mysteries of the toilet were carried on in the
+sight of the sun. The weather was greatly in our favour, for though heavy
+clouds hung threateningly over us they merely shielded us from the sun,
+and no rain fell.
+
+Soon after breakfast we all went to the _rara_ (_i.e._, village green),
+where we were invited to sit beside the Roko (the chief, Tui Ndreketi).
+
+The principal business of the day was an exchange of presents. First
+of all the teachers and their special followers gave gifts of cloth
+and whales’ teeth to the great chief. So the six native ministers and
+about sixty teachers advanced, dressed up in many extra yards of native
+cloth, beautifully designed, and trailing on the ground in trains many
+yards long. Then followed people from other towns, also dressed up. They
+danced pretty dances, and all shook off their fine drapery at the feet of
+the chief—an example followed by the grave teachers, who made a pretty
+speech, formally presenting the _tappa_ to the Roko, and then retreated
+much shorn. The cloth made two great heaps, which the chief divided next
+morning among his followers. This giving took the whole morning.
+
+[Illustration: A CHIEF’S KITCHEN.
+
+_p. 208._]
+
+After lunch came what I may call the offertory, as every one brought
+according to his ability for the furtherance and support of Christian
+work. We now found our places set on the other side of the village green;
+lest it might seem as if the offerings now to be made were to the chief
+instead of the mission. First 1000 women advanced single file, each
+bringing a mat, or a bunch of live crabs, or dried fish, or a basket of
+yams—one brought a ludicrous roast parrot; then as many men came up,
+bringing six or eight large turtle, seven or eight live pigs, fowls,
+yams, palm-cloth, &c. One tiny child brought a large cock in his arms.
+He was such a jolly little chap—well oiled, with scarlet _sulu_ (kilt)
+of turkey-red, and white native cloth, and quaint, partially shaven
+head—they shave in such odd patterns, leaving little tufts and curls.
+Then followed all the usual very graceful dances, which I have so often
+described, and some new ones, in which every dancer carried a dried fish,
+let into a piece of a split cocoa-palm leaf, and waved it fan-like,
+just to mark them as fishers. Everywhere we note the same wonderful
+flexibility and marvellous time kept in most intricate ballet-figures.
+But coarse sticks take the place of the old carved clubs, and some
+ungraceful traces of British trade appear. Here one man was dressed in a
+large union-jack pocket-handkerchief! and a woman wore the foot and stalk
+of a broken wine-glass as an ear-ring! The people appear to be very poor,
+and less tasteful in making their necklace-garlands and kilts. At sunset
+there was a pause, and then Mr Langham gave the multitude what seemed to
+be a most impressive little address, and a few minutes later the whole
+3000 were kneeling prostrate on the grass. It was a very striking scene,
+remembering that these people are only just emerging from heathenism;
+but they are so very cordial to the mission, and so anxious to be
+taught, it seems hard that there should be such difficulty in getting
+native teachers trained, and this is greatly owing to the lack of white
+missionaries.
+
+To-night there is a dance by torchlight, which will become fast and
+furious when the moon rises. Already the people are having a right merry
+time. I have just been out with Mrs Langham for a little turn; but her
+husband was unable to come with us, and we did not like to mix much in so
+large a crowd, or indeed to be seen there, not knowing whether the dances
+might be such as we should seem to sanction. But it is wonderful, when
+you come to think of it, that two ladies and a little child should be
+able to go about at all, on such a night, among 3000 wild people, as yet
+so utterly untaught. But those who did notice us were all most courteous,
+and I am glad to have had even a glimpse of this wild weird scene, which,
+with its accompaniment of shouts, yells, and measured hand-clapping,
+is the most savage thing I have yet witnessed. Now we are back in our
+own coral-lime house. Mr Langham has just married a couple, and is now
+busy with his teachers. We leave this place to-morrow morning. It is a
+most hospitable district, and sufficiently uncivilised even for me! This
+morning a horrible old ex-cannibal crept close to Mr Langham, and then,
+as if he could not refrain, he put out his hand and stroked him down the
+thigh, licking his lips, and exclaiming with delight, “Oh, but you are
+nice and fat!”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                     ON BOARD THE JUBILEE, OFF NEIVAKA POINT, _August 13._
+
+We are lying at anchor here, and the others have gone ashore to hold
+service. I would fain go and bathe in the lovely little stream, but
+as such a proceeding would divide the attractions, and might diminish
+the congregation, I had better have a chat with you instead. We left
+Nanduri yesterday morning, after an incredible amount of hand-shaking,
+and “love-giving,” as the Christian Fijians say—_Sa loloma_ being their
+kindly greeting to us. They also have a graceful form of farewell,
+exactly answering to the “A demain,” “Au revoir,” “A rivederla,” or “Auf
+Wiedersehen,” of nations nearer home. When we say, _Sa lakki mothe_,
+which means “go to sleep,” they reply, _Roa roa_, “to-morrow morning,”
+meaning we shall meet again soon. Very pretty is their word for the
+twilight, _luma luma_, which just answers to our _gloaming_.
+
+I told you about our last evening at Nanduri.
+
+In the early morning all the mats, cloth, &c., presented to the mission
+were brought in and divided. I, as a visitor, was presented with a live
+turtle, a whale’s tooth, and four mats, also a basket and some fans from
+the chief’s wife. And when the pile of native cloth presented to the
+chief had been divided among his followers, I was able to buy some very
+beautiful specimens.
+
+Having formally taken leave of the Roko and his family, we embarked,
+leaving Mathuata with very pleasant impressions of the hearty genial
+kindness of its people. The day was lovely, and we were able to sail all
+the way inside the reef, so there was the double advantage of being in
+smooth water and seeing the coast to perfection. For the tropics, it is
+very barren, _pandanus_ and _noko-noko_ being the principal foliage. At
+this season the people in all parts of the isles have an annual burning
+of the tall reeds to clear the land for their plantations. The smoky haze
+gives a rich lurid colour to the atmosphere, and deepens the blue of the
+near mountains, while it blends the distant ranges in soft dreamy lights.
+
+We arrived here at sunset last night. Neivaka Point is a grand rocky
+headland, with a very pretty village, on a palm-fringed shore, with a
+clear stream, which here flows into the sea. We went ashore for an hour
+or so, but as we have to push on early this morning, it was decided that
+we must sleep on board. So we all lay on deck in the bright starlight,
+and towards morning there was clear moonlight, and then a lovely sunrise.
+I see the boat coming off from the shore, so we shall soon be under way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+    THE CHIEF OF MBUA—FEUDAL RIGHTS—A NIGHT IN A MISERABLE
+    VILLAGE—CHURCH _A LA_ ST COLUMBA—NIGHT ON A DESERT ISLE—SAVU
+    SAVU—BOILING SPRINGS—THEIR USE—PAST AND FUTURE.
+
+
+                                    NI SONI SONI, VANUA LEVU, _August 16_.
+
+We are resting in great peace in a large clean church, built of
+coral-lime. It stands apart from the village, on a grassy spit of land,
+divided from the sea-beach only by a border of Fijian lilies—overhead are
+tall cocoa-palms. It is a calm pleasant spot, and we hope for a night of
+peace and rest, of which we stand sorely in need.
+
+We hoped to have reached Mbua about noon on the 13th, but we had
+seventeen miles to make in a head-wind, so it was near sunset ere we
+anchored in the bay, after which we had to row three miles up the river,
+which, like the Rewa, has several mouths, and we tried the wrong one
+first, and rowed a considerable distance up a fine stream, dense with
+_tiri_ (mangrove) on either side. Then, retracing our ground, we made a
+fresh start for the town; but by this time it was so dark that we could
+only discern dark palms against the sky, and had to shout to people on
+the shore to learn our way.
+
+On reaching the mission station we found the inmates absent, but the
+students lighted up the house, and prepared tea and milk; and soon a kind
+neighbour (Miss Wilkinson) brought us a welcome gift of fresh butter and
+bread. I regret to say her father is suffering seriously from internal
+cramp, brought on by long exposure in the canoe coming to Nasova with the
+news of the wreck of the Fitzroy.
+
+A wild storm beat up in the night, and we were thankful to be on land.
+The country round is bleak and barren; but heavy rain-clouds and mists
+glorified the very shapeless ranges of hills, and suggested parts of
+Scotland.
+
+In the morning we called on the chief, Tui Mbua, a middle-aged man,
+with a pleasant-looking wife. Not long ago his favourite son committed
+suicide, in his rage at finding his father’s laws enforced against some
+of his peccadilloes, as if he had been a _kai-see_ (_i.e._, of low
+birth). Such very great laxity is allowed to chiefs by the feudal system
+(which always has prevailed in these isles, and is likely in a great
+measure to be continued), that it really must be difficult for a man
+always to stop at the exact point where a chief’s right becomes wrong.
+
+There is a system in force called _lala_, by which a chief may claim
+from his people whatever service or property is required for any public
+work affecting the good and honour of the tribe. This is considered
+right and proper, and his commands are willingly obeyed. But the system
+is liable to great abuse, being constantly called into action merely
+to gratify some whim or personal pleasure of a chief—as, for instance,
+when he covets some expensive article, and his people have to raise the
+payment. This abuse is called _vaka saurara_—_i.e._, “taking by force,”
+and is simply an oppressive form of levying black-mail. A common instance
+of the way in which this is done is when a chief (or more probably his
+son) starts on a journey with a party of his retainers, perhaps several
+canoe-loads of people (in former days they would all have been armed
+men). Perhaps they are going to some great feast (a _solevu_ or exchange
+of property), to which they must carry some offerings, expecting to
+receive a good exchange, each district bringing its own produce. They
+probably start literally empty-handed; but at every village where they
+halt, they demand not only food but gifts, and a Fijian thinks it
+shameful to refuse to give anything for which he is asked. So these
+rolling stones disprove the old proverb, for they gather as they go,
+and reach the _solevu_ well provided—their progress along the coast
+being marked by every manner of evil; for they regard neither rights
+of property nor domestic ties, but are simply a curse to the quiet
+hard-working villagers. They have only to see and covet any man’s goods,
+and straightway appropriate them.
+
+I believe the system, in its true and legitimate working, is considered
+both wise and good. It is apparently the only way to get a semi-civilised
+race to work well together for the good of the tribe; and it is a custom
+which, from time immemorial, has existed throughout the group, being
+the tribute rendered by the people at the bidding of their chief, to be
+repaid by protection and by a fair share of all goods acquired by the
+tribe. It applies to planting gardens, making roads, building houses and
+canoes, fishing for turtle, or any other work requiring combined action.
+People even from other districts may be summoned, and in return for their
+work receive daily food, and presents of cloth and whales’ teeth on their
+departure. Thus work is done quickly and well which would otherwise be
+impossible.
+
+Suppose a great canoe has to be built. All the best carpenters in the
+tribe are _lava’d_, and the fittings of the canoe are _lavaka’d_ from
+every village in the chief’s district. Each is required to furnish so
+many fathoms of narrow matting to make the great mat-sails. This is
+provided by the women of the village. Ropes, sails, tackling, and all
+the different fittings, are also thus provided. So is the food for the
+carpenters. Then when the new canoe is finished, the people must prepare
+a great feast at every place where it calls. When one great chief visits
+another, food is _lavaka’d_ for the entertainment of the strangers; and I
+am told that this occasions frightful waste, as each chief tries to outdo
+what others have done, that he may appear liberal before his guests. So
+these visits sometimes leave whole districts in a state of famine.
+
+We heard sore complaints in this district of the chief’s exactions of
+compulsory “presents” from the very poor villages hereabouts. A short
+time ago he ordered all the people from far and near to assemble and
+bring him 40,000 yams, 700 mats, and every man a whale’s tooth, each of
+which represents upwards of a shilling in value, but _means_ far more.
+It symbolises goodwill; and the giving of a whale’s tooth accompanies
+every action of the smallest importance—from asking for forgiveness, or
+claiming the clubbing of a foe, or bringing in his body. Well, of course,
+many of these poor men had not got a whale’s tooth, so they had to go and
+beg for them from their friends. One canoe which started on this quest
+was upset, and six men drowned. Two of them left tiny babies, who were
+brought to be christened at the most wretched of all the villages we have
+seen—one from which you could not conceive it possible to wish to extort
+the value of a pin. But it struck me that this great chief was far more
+inclined to receive than to give. After witnessing the generosity of
+the Mathuata chief, I was much amused when this man, with considerable
+formality, presented ten cocoa-nuts for the use of the teachers and crew
+of the Jubilee, being, I understand, his sole offering to the mission
+for the year. Evidently we have left the unsophisticated regions, and
+returned to those where white influence prevails!
+
+Returning on board, we found the wind was dead against us, and after
+vainly beating in great misery for several hours, we had to anchor for
+the night within sight of the Wilkinson’s house, and sorely regretted not
+having taken their advice to stay where we were. We had a hateful evening
+and night; and as the cabin was unendurable, there was nothing for it but
+to lie on deck in the rain and get soaked, which we did most thoroughly.
+
+We tried a fresh start in the morning, but there was still a head-wind
+and rain; and everything was so saturated and miserable, that it was
+resolved to anchor off the first village we came to. This proved to be
+Namau, a filthy village in the mangrove-swamp, poorer and more miserable
+than any place where we have yet been. The people looked diseased from
+sheer poverty, and we scarcely liked to enter their houses, but we were
+driven to desperation by the longing to try and dry our clothes; and
+their kindness and hospitality knew no bounds. They seemed delighted to
+welcome us to their poor homes, and heaped up blazing fires to dry us
+and all our goods. The fireplaces (as I have told you, when speaking of
+other isles) are placed wherever fancy prompts—just a sunken oblong,
+anywhere on the floor, with a few rounded stones, on which rest the large
+earthenware cooking-pots. Very picturesque!
+
+We divided ourselves among the different houses, and our goods were
+scattered all over the village; but everything, to the smallest trifle,
+was brought safely back, and a few small gifts were received with wonder
+and delight. The (very meagre) contents of my travelling-bag were gazed
+at with much interest, especially some photographs of sacred subjects
+in one of my books. They all called one another to look at and discuss
+these; one of the Crucifixion, Mary at the foot of the Cross, chiefly
+riveting their attention. I often wonder, considering how many of our
+own impressions of sacred things are due to pictures seen in early
+life, that their use is so entirely neglected in all these schools. It
+may be because the supply is not forthcoming. Certainly these highly
+imaginative people have always shown themselves wonderfully capable of
+realising things unseen; and even in their days of most gross idolatry,
+their religion was entirely an appeal to the imagination—wild legends
+of the gods, told in song, but very rarely reduced to the visible form
+of any idol. The only pictures I have seen in any native houses are
+portraits of (I think) Holloway, whose advertisements are duly sent to
+all native ministers in the group. The literature is of course thrown
+away on them, but the portraits, sometimes several in a row, ornament
+some prominent pillar.
+
+As soon as we were moderately dry, we settled ourselves for the
+night in the wretched little church, which is a miserable spot, with
+mangrove-swamp all round it. It is the tiniest little building of
+wicker-work—quite a St Columba style of architecture,[38] wattle without
+the daub; and the rainy wind blew through it, and the mosquitoes took
+refuge in it. We had a weary night. Being very tired, we all hoped for a
+good night’s rest, but had hardly fallen asleep when a cheerful brother
+missionary, in aggravating health and spirits, chanced to anchor at a
+neighbouring village, and in his delight at hearing his friends were so
+near, he came over and woke us all, and kept the gentlemen talking the
+whole night. Pleasant for Mrs L. and myself, who were vainly striving to
+sleep! At early dawn the two little orphan babies I told you about were
+brought to be christened, so we had to hurry over our dressing, and for
+once were right glad to return on board ship. How any human beings can
+deliberately build their villages in these mangrove-swamps passes my
+comprehension. It simply means living in the mud, with salt or brackish
+water on every side, and mosquitoes in myriads.
+
+Our quarters to-night seem strangely luxurious, and I must profit by them
+and sleep now,—so good night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                              _August 17._
+
+After all, I did not sleep long, for I woke to see such lovely moonlight
+that I crept out of my corner made of mats and my old green plaid, and
+went out to sit alone by the brink of the great waters, and watched the
+earliest lights before dawn. Now all are astir, and we are just starting.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+        CAPTAIN BARRACK’S HOUSE, SAVU SAVU, VANUA LEVU, _August 22, 1876_.
+
+I have been here for some days greatly enjoying the blessings of the
+land, and this most lovely scenery. We left Ni Soni Soni at dawn on the
+17th, purposing to make the isle of Taviuni, but finding the wind fair
+for Levuka, steered for that port. Another change of wind put a stop to
+that, and we could make but little way. After a weary day of beating,
+we succeeded in nearing the small uninhabited isle of Namena. Tempted
+by the lovely foliage which overhung the white sands and drooped right
+over the water, we landed in search of some shelter which might act as
+sleeping-quarters. After a long hunt, during which I cut my boots to
+pieces on the rocky coral shore, we found a slightly projecting rock—a
+poor shelter, but better than the hard deck. So we brought our mats
+and pillows ashore and made nests for ourselves by the light of the
+blazing fires at which the students did their cooking. Of course they
+were as much delighted as ourselves to escape the night on board, and
+their presence lent human interest to the scene, as they gathered in
+picturesque groups round the fires, or knelt together in evening prayer.
+The night proved tolerably fine, only a few heavy showers, which shot off
+the rock just past our toes, so we were quite dry. And you know in these
+favoured isles we have no fear of snakes or other noxious creatures; so
+we slept in peace, knowing that nothing more hurtful than a wandering
+crab could possibly assail us, and that he would run off in great fear
+the moment he discovered what strange beings had invaded his isle.
+
+Once more we embarked at dawn, and the wind blew us straight to this
+port, which I exceedingly longed to see, but our destination was Taviuni;
+so, much to my disgust, we tacked with the intention of crossing thither.
+For several hours we battled with the breeze—weary hours of tossing
+and sickness. We lost our main-topmast; and at last, finding that the
+wind had driven us back to this desired haven, it was resolved that the
+Langhams and myself should come ashore, and the vessel go on to Taviuni
+with such of the party as were thither bound, and return for us. So an
+hour later I found myself under this hospitable roof; but the Langhams
+make it a rule always to live in native towns, in order to be amongst the
+people. How I do revel in a fresh clean room all to myself, and abundance
+of new milk and scones!
+
+This place has a special interest on account of its boiling springs,—not
+that they are striking in themselves, but because there are so few places
+in the group where any trace of such phenomena is found. I have seen no
+other boiling springs except those at Ngau, but I hear there are some at
+Loma Loma, and there is a hot stream in Viti Levu called Wai Mbasanga.
+Here, too, occasional shocks of earthquake suggest that volcanic action
+is only dormant and may reawaken some day. The springs are quite boiling,
+but (as was the case of those we saw on the isle of Ngau) a stream of
+cold water flows close to them, and the people save themselves the
+trouble of getting firewood by boiling all their food in the springs.
+They take their crabs, bunches of bananas, yams or _taro_, wrap them up
+in banana-leaves and deposit them in the boiling spring; then they go and
+bathe some way off where the hot and cold streams have mixed, and return
+to find their dinner ready cooked. The water tastes utterly disgusting
+and very salt, but the food boiled in it is excellent; and the people
+who bathe here are free from many diseases. There are springs all along
+the shore for half a mile, just at high-water mark. The three principal
+ones bubble up in a circle like a small crater. They are intermittent,
+and the highest makes a fountain about two or three feet high. There used
+to be about fifteen springs in this circle, and the people came from
+far and near to cook their food, especially if they had any _bodies_ to
+boil. But in 1863 Tui Wainoonoo, a neighbouring chief, came and besieged
+the large strongly fortified town of Eroi further up the lake. He could
+not take it, and raised the siege just when the defenders were reduced
+to starvation, having only a few lemons for food. He, however, captured
+sixteen men, and Ramasi-Alewa, the old lady to whom the springs belonged.
+She was past seventy, and must have been very tough and smoke-dried;
+but as in her young days she had been a regular Joan of Arc, leading
+her tribe to battle, and herself fighting hand to hand with a hatchet,
+he determined to eat her. So he had her cooked with the sixteen men,
+and made a great feast; and then, to spite the people, before leaving
+the district, he attempted to choke up all the springs—in which amiable
+effort he partially succeeded.
+
+These springs were also a favourite place for depositing all superfluous
+babies, especially girls, who never got much of a welcome. They were
+popped in alive like so many lobsters, and treated with quite as little
+ceremony. I am told that there is an intermittent cold spring on a
+conical hill on the opposite side of the harbour. Some of the hot springs
+bubble up through the salt water below high-water mark.[39]
+
+I think Savu Savu is about the prettiest place I have yet seen. The
+harbour is so entirely enclosed by great hills that it is simply a salt
+lake, dotted with many isles, all richly wooded—too richly, for they are
+in consequence haunted by a plague of mosquitoes. Dr Mayo, who, you will
+remember, was one of our party coming out, has such a conviction that the
+hot springs will become important in course of time, that he has bought
+one of these pretty islands and built himself a house on it. It is not
+yet finished, and he is obliged to live at Khandavu as quarantine medical
+officer, much to his disgust, as his object in coming to Fiji was the
+hope of gaining large experience of native races. He brought out as his
+assistant a college servant, who lives by himself on the island and takes
+great charge of everything. I have just been across to see the unfinished
+house and tastefully planned shrubberies of foreign plants; but the
+island is infested by hordes of such vicious mosquitoes that I was fairly
+driven away.
+
+Of course we have made expeditions to all parts of the lovely lake,
+beginning with the native town of Eroi, to see the fortified hill which
+was so bravely defended. It is surrounded by very deep ditches, and
+only accessible by a very narrow path overgrown with dense vines. The
+thatched roofs of the village are half hidden by tall bananas and scarlet
+hybiscus, orange and lemon trees: the latter are of the prickly sort,
+which was planted near many fortifications as a natural defence. Another
+day we sailed across the bay to visit friends who there own a large
+plantation. Here we saw something of sugar-growing, sugar-crushing, and
+rum-distilling; also fields of splendid pine-apples—by far the finest
+we have seen in the isles. Turtles and pine-apples in abundance sound
+well, do they not? But I fear they do not compensate for lack of beef and
+mutton, and many another ordinary comfort.
+
+I find that Captain Barrack is just sending a little schooner across
+to Levuka, so I shall despatch this long journal to catch the mail. I
+only wish it might give any of you a thousandth part of the amusement
+which I have derived from the actual trip, notwithstanding all the
+discomforts.—Your loving sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+    NASOVA—THE MOUNTAIN WAR—A YEAR’S PROGRESS—FIJIAN HOMAGE.
+
+
+                                                NASOVA, _August 24, 1876_.
+
+DEAREST EISA,—Here I am once more safely back from a long cruise in the
+wilds, of which I have sent a full account to Jean. Our last halt was at
+Savu Savu—a lovely bay, which I left with great regret, resisting several
+cordial invitations to visit kind neighbours there. We started yesterday
+morning at dawn, but found the sails needed some repairs; so we waited
+five hours at the mouth of the harbour, and whiled away the time by
+inspecting the old buildings and machinery of a deserted plantation—the
+heavy cocoa-nut crushers and other expensive plant, now standing idle and
+useless—always a pitiful sight.
+
+We embarked in the afternoon and had a head-wind, which has been our evil
+fortune for every bit of open sea we have had on this cruise. Verily I
+am sick of sailing vessels! We had a wretched night—tossing about and
+lying on the very hard deck not venturing to unfasten pillows or plaids,
+from momentary expectation of shipping seas and downpours of rain. I
+confess it made me wish many times that I had stayed at the head of
+exquisite Savu Savu bay, which, they say, scarcely shows a ripple even
+when a hurricane sweeps the land. At daybreak this morning we were off
+the isle of Koro, and arrived here about breakfast-time to find that Lady
+Gordon and the children are at Suva, and that Arthur Gordon has returned
+from the mountain-war very seriously ill—from gastric, or maybe typhoid,
+fever. The war itself has just been brought to a very satisfactory
+conclusion, marking one bright point in Fijian history—the first since
+annexation; and it has all been settled quietly, without any sort of fuss.
+
+The Governor, Captain Knollys, Mr Maudslay, and Baron von Hügel, arrived
+last night. On their return from the mountains they had gone to Suva to
+see Lady Gordon, but were summoned here when Mr Gordon’s illness was
+found to be so serious. Happily, Mrs Abbey and her husband are both
+excellent nurses, and Abelak and the other Hindoo valet are most neat and
+patient attendants. Of course Dr Macgregor is here, and himself had the
+difficult task of conveying his patient all the way from the mountains,
+where the fever first developed itself, owing, we suppose, to exposure
+and want of proper food.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    _Wednesday, Sept. 13._
+
+Everything continues much as when I last wrote to you. Lady Gordon and
+the children are still at Suva, staying with Mrs Joski. Of course they
+must not return here just yet, though Mr Gordon is decidedly on the
+mend, and to day was able to walk into the drawing-room with slight help
+from Abbey; but he was very soon utterly tired out. Baron von Hügel is
+busy making an illustrated catalogue of his huge collection of Fijian
+_curios_, and I have been helping him a little, and also working up the
+sketches I got on my last cruise while they are still fresh in my mind.
+Our time on land was so cruelly short in proportion to that which we
+spent in misery on the sea, that I generally had to content myself with
+making very elaborate pencil-drawings with notes of colour, and these I
+am now working out.
+
+A terribly sad thing has just happened here, and cast quite a gloom over
+the town. Do you remember my telling you, just after our arrival here, of
+the marriage of a very popular girl to a young planter? A few days ago
+she became a happy mother, and all seemed well; but things went wrong,
+and she died yesterday. Her husband, supposing all danger to be over,
+had gone on business to another isle, and returned by the steamer this
+morning. All the flags in harbour and in the town were hung half mast
+during the funeral; and when the captain hailed the nearest vessel to
+ask who was dead, the poor fellow heard his wife’s name shouted back in
+answer.
+
+I have just been to see Mrs Macgregor in her new house. She is the only
+one of all our sisterhood of last year still remaining in Fiji. Her new
+house is, unfortunately, a good deal further from Nasova than the one she
+has hitherto had; but it is convenient for the Doctor, being close to the
+pretty little hospital, which is generally very full. I am sure you will
+be amused to hear that the Doctor has enlisted my services in quite a new
+branch of art. He is busy studying some curious skin diseases peculiar to
+certain of the imported labour, which gives the patient the appearance
+of being clad in moiré-antique, with a white watered pattern on a dark
+ground. Of these patterns he has made various rough drawings, which he
+has now set me to elaborate.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                           _September 16._
+
+Colonel Pratt has just been here to call, looking very ill. He has had a
+long spell of work at Suva with his Engineers, getting the land surveyed
+and the new road begun, which involves being out a great deal in a
+blazing sun, and is exceedingly trying.
+
+Sir Arthur rejoined Lady Gordon at Suva in the beginning of the month,
+Captain Knollys escorting him. The latter returned here two days ago, in
+a deluge of rain, having been four days coming from Suva, beating against
+a head-wind. Of course his boat was only provisioned fully for one day,
+so he and his men had very short commons for the last three days.
+
+Mr Gordon continues to improve very slowly, but we hope surely. The
+Doctor says that so soon as he can be moved, he must go to New Zealand
+for change of air. Our parson, Mr Floyd, is also going there next week.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                           _September 22._
+
+Last Monday Captain Knollys started for Suva, in the Governor’s beautiful
+new barge, which is a very handsome yet simple sixteen-oar boat, built
+for him in Sydney. It was built on the principle of the landlord who
+charged one of the Georges a guinea for a fresh egg,—not because eggs
+were scarce, but because kings are so. In this instance Fijian governors
+are scarce; and so, having ordered a boat worth about £300, Sir Arthur
+is justly indignant at receiving one charged £750, and apparently he can
+get no redress. Rather too hard, considering how scarce money is in this
+colony.
+
+The barge returned last night, bringing Sir Arthur and Lady Gordon and
+the children, who look all the better for their change of air. This house
+is really beginning to look quite cosy and home-like, and we all quite
+enjoy coming back to it from our various wanderings. Nevertheless I am
+already preparing for another start, as Captain Knollys offers me the
+loan of his nice new boat (his yacht, we call it); and it seems a good
+opportunity of paying my long-talked-of visit to Mrs Leefe at Nananu. So,
+if all is well, my next letter will be from her house.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+WAR LETTER.
+
+                                             NASOVA, _September 12, 1876_.
+
+DEAR GEORGE,—You ask for some details of the war with the mountain
+tribes. I wish you were here to hear about it yourself from Captain
+Knollys and Dr Macgregor, who have been giving me most thrilling accounts
+of some of their adventures.
+
+Mr Gordon got through his work sooner than the others, and returned
+here on the 3d of July, apparently in perfect health, and in very
+high spirits. He then returned to the seat of war, and joined Captain
+Knollys in the mountains, where they had some very rough and exhausting
+work in routing the enemy out of caves where they had taken refuge.
+This was satisfactorily done, and then, what with bad and insufficient
+food, and exposure, Mr Gordon utterly broke down: he had to be carried
+all the way to the coast,—four days’ very difficult march up and down
+steep mountain-paths, crossing and recrossing rivers and streams, and
+enduring great hardships. On the second day they were compelled to march
+thirty-six miles, and had to cross streams thirty-one times, &c., the
+Singatoko river eighteen times, and another stream thirteen times,—very
+exhausting and difficult work. At last a small steamer arrived to bring
+back the troops; and so he was brought here, and has ever since been very
+dangerously ill with low typhoid fever. However, he is now beginning to
+mend, and we hope ere long to see him as well as ever.
+
+Well now, to tell you as far as I can in detail. You know that soon after
+annexation, when the mountain tribes were only half inclined to accept
+English rule, and still less friendly to the _lotu_ (Christianity), the
+isles were swept by the terrible scourge of measles, which they assumed
+to be a judgment from their insulted gods. They therefore “threw off
+the cloth,” which is a formula for expressing that, by returning to
+total nakedness, they utterly defy the _matanitu_ or Government, and the
+_lotu_: they also allowed their hair to grow to the fullest-sized mop;
+and having thus resumed the part of heathen warriors or _tevoro_—_i.e._,
+devils—they proceeded, on April 12, 1876, to attack and burn the
+Christian villages of Nandi and Nandronga, and ate sundry women. They
+also attacked several Christian villages on the banks of the Singatoko
+river; but here the marauders were repulsed, and their own villages
+burned. They then attacked a village in the mountains, the people of
+which were Christians, and had supplied food to the Government forces.
+The villagers, old men, women, and children, took refuge in a cave,
+where the cannibals soon followed, guarding the entrances, and firing on
+them at intervals during the night. In the morning a party of friendly
+natives and police (or, as the people still call them, _sotiers_—_i.e._,
+soldiers) came to the rescue, and routed the _tevoro_.
+
+Sir Arthur was from the beginning anxious to avoid anything like a
+collision between white men and brown, and was therefore determined,
+if possible, to treat this disturbance as a police question, without
+requiring any aid from English troops. He was confident, moreover,
+that with the assistance of friendly chiefs, the matter could be
+satisfactorily settled, and that, too, at very small cost, before troops
+could even arrive from the colonies or elsewhere; so he resolved to
+dispense with all red tape—an article which only appeared on the scene
+once, and that in a rarely useful capacity, when Mr Maudslay, sorely
+puzzled how the Governor’s body-guard could carry their ammunition, being
+clad in short kilts, with neither pockets nor belts, instructed them how
+to make belts with bits of canvas, sewed with red tape, which was happily
+found in the Governor’s despatch-box. That was on a special occasion,
+when Sir Arthur (determined to see everything for himself) insisted on
+visiting the mountains in person, accompanied by Mr Maudslay. Before
+starting on a march of some danger, it occurred to Mr Maudslay to examine
+the arms of the guard. They consisted of most rotten old muskets. He says
+he carefully avoided firing one himself, but happily no accident occurred
+in testing them.
+
+It certainly is a marvel that no lives were lost from the use of such
+weapons—rusty old flint-lock or percussion-cap muskets, which had been
+lying by in store for many years, all more or less decayed: and these
+were in the hands of men accustomed to wield only spears and clubs. I
+think Captain Knollys’ force had only twenty Snider rifles, and a scanty
+supply of ammunition for even these, which were the backbone of the
+force. As to the old Tower muskets, some even of those selected as being
+the best, proved useless on reaching fighting-ground. A considerable
+amount of tiring was always necessary to clear the bush round any place
+where they encamped, to frighten lurking foes.
+
+When it was found that a collision with the Kai Tholos was inevitable,
+Sir Arthur sent to all the friendly chiefs to ask each for a small
+detachment of picked men. Double or treble the number asked for were
+sent, and a magnificent body of men was thus mustered, all eager for the
+fray. One body of 150 men from Bau came to Nasova to report themselves
+to the Governor before starting for the seat of war. All had their faces
+blackened to prevent the sun from blistering them—and savage indeed is
+the effect of this hideous cosmetic. They were almost all dressed alike
+in drapery of white _tappa_, and the _liku_ (fringe kilt) of black glossy
+water-weed, like horse-hair: they had streamers of _tappa_ floating from
+their arms and head. All were armed with old Tower muskets. They marched
+on to the _rara_—the green lawn before the house—and there performed the
+wildest devil _méké_, ending with unearthly yells. It was a very striking
+scene. Then they advanced, two or three at a time, throwing themselves
+into wild attitudes, brandishing their weapons, which formerly would have
+been spears or clubs, and trying who could make the most valiant boast
+concerning his intended prowess.[40] One cried, “I go to the mountains;
+my feet shall eat grass.” This was to express his eager speed. Another:
+“I long to be gone; I crave to meet the foe. You need not fear; here is
+your safeguard.” “This is only a musket,” cried another, flourishing
+his weapon; “but _I_ carry it.” Said the next: “We go to war, what
+hinders that we _fill all the ovens_?” (I fear that man hankered after
+the flesh-pots of Fiji!) Another, holding up his musket, cried, “This
+is the bridge over which you English shall pass into the mountains.”
+“Why do you white men cry out? _We_ go to the mountains, and will bruise
+even the rocks.” The second company came up stately, and only one acted
+spokesman. “This is Bau, that is enough.” Others gambolled about,
+extolling their (imaginary) club by name, as in olden days. When each had
+had his say, one advanced with a green twig, which he laid at the feet
+of the Governor’s native aide-de-camp. Then Mr Wilkinson made a little
+speech for the Governor, and a gift of symbolical whales’ teeth, which
+the messenger received crouching, and carried them to the corps, who also
+crouched low to receive them. Two huge turtles and other good food were
+then given, that they might feast before re-embarking on the Government
+steamer which carried them to the seat of war.
+
+Nearly the whole force of native police had already been despatched to
+the mountains, where a permanent camp had for some time been established
+at Nasauthoko, on the Singatoko river, in the western half of Viti Levu.
+Mr Gordon did a sketch of this camp, showing two circular camps, each
+containing about a dozen native houses inside a fence of reeds on an
+earthen wall, then a ditch, and a second and third palisade. This stands
+on a small piece of level ground, about 2000 feet above the sea, and
+surrounded by hills of about 5000 feet. Round this the police force had
+made large gardens, extending to the river, where they raise yam, _taro_,
+and bananas for food.
+
+The Governor appointed Captain Knollys commander-in-chief of the police
+and all these irregular forces, with Mr Gordon and Mr Le Hunte as
+sub-generals. Messrs Carew, Wilkinson, and Hefferman accompanied them as
+interpreters, being all men thoroughly acquainted with the chiefs and
+the people. Dr Macgregor was surgeon to the forces. The little army was
+divided into three bodies, whose common object was to prevent the enemy
+from reaching the great forests near the Singatoko, where they would
+have been very dangerous neighbours to the Christian tribes, and very
+difficult to dislodge.
+
+The contingent of which Mr Gordon had command, consisted of 1200
+undisciplined undrilled men of different tribes, each accustomed to
+render implicit obedience to their own chief only; and all those
+chiefs were jealous one of another, and always on the alert to scent
+out slights. Mr Gordon says his principal work consisted not so much
+in ordering details of fighting, as in taking a general direction,
+and preserving friendly relations between these chiefs, and smoothing
+their suspicions one of another. His task was rapidly and successfully
+accomplished. After sundry strongholds had been stormed and captured,
+several villages burned, and a considerable number of firearms seized,
+the cannibal tribes on the Singatoko surrendered, and 848 prisoners
+were taken. Of these, thirty-seven were known murderers, and were tried
+as such; thirty-five were found guilty, and of these, fourteen were
+summarily and most deservedly executed—the Governor being present to
+sanction the proceedings, and confirm the sentences: nine were shot and
+five hung. Their mode of death was regulated by the degree of their
+guilt, the worst criminals being accounted those who were actually
+receiving pay from the English Government, at the same time as they were
+in league with the cannibals. The prisoners were all distributed among
+friendly villages, where for a while they will have to work as labourers,
+till it is judged safe to let them return to their own districts. Once
+they have yielded themselves prisoners, they never dream of escaping—that
+would be contrary to the Fijian code of honour; so they merely require a
+nominal guard. This was in the latter part of June.
+
+Meanwhile Captain Knollys was greatly astonishing the foe in his district
+by sparing their growing crops, which was quite a new idea in Fijian
+warfare (where hitherto the first aim of an enemy had been to ravage
+the land, cut down the bread-fruit and banana trees, and burn the
+villages). He says the people at one place, Nambutautau, fortified their
+town by digging pit-falls in the long grass, and in these they placed
+sharp-pointed, bamboos, ready to impale the unwary! The mountain-towns
+are perched in all sorts of nooks, among great boulders of rock, or
+hidden in clumps of bushes, or in cliffs of the rock. It is a country
+fortified by nature, having precipitous crags honeycombed with caves,
+and clothed with dense forest. The natives throw up earth-works and
+bamboo fences further to strengthen their intrenchments. Sundry of these
+rock-fortresses were places of very great strength, but were nevertheless
+surprised and captured.
+
+I think Mr Le Hunte was chiefly in charge of the camp at Nasauthoko,
+which was a less exciting post, but one equally essential to the success
+of the whole.
+
+About July 10th, Captain Knollys learnt that a party of the cannibals
+had retreated to a certain valley. Dr Macgregor was with him, and they
+started in pursuit with about 200 men. They halted for supper, then
+waited till the moon rose—the men whiling away the time with quaint
+boasting, such as I have already described. Then came a difficult
+night-march through the forest, crossing streams and deep gorges.
+At daybreak they reached the Naindua caves, where huge boulders of
+conglomerate rock have fallen in, so as effectually to conceal the
+entrance. The whole valley is a network of caves, with a river flowing
+at the bottom of the gorge. The _tevoro_ (devils) were firing from many
+hidden crevices, their presence only betrayed by an occasional puff of
+smoke. They were, however, driven out, and ten men and sixty women and
+children captured. It was found that some of the worst men had only
+returned from Levuka a couple of weeks previously. They had been working
+for white men on a plantation in Taviuni, so that process does not appear
+to be necessarily an improving one.
+
+A nicely roasted human leg was lying on a mat, with cooked _taro_, neatly
+laid out for breakfast for the devil priest, or rather priest of the
+_vatu kalou_—_i.e._, war-god. This old _bete_—_i.e._, priest—was hideous
+to look upon,—a noted cannibal and excessive drinker of _yangona_, the
+result of which was that his skin was whitish, and he had become a sort
+of albino. Very disgusting he was, and yet his devotion to his son, a
+sickly lad, was so pathetic, that his captors were really touched by it.
+He was taken in the act of escaping from his appetising breakfast, which
+he doubtless sorely regretted, and which received decent burial.
+
+In the promiscuous firing that followed, several wounded men fell over
+the cliffs into the river. As a party retreated, routed, one man,
+thinking himself beyond the reach of fire, could not resist a little
+bravado, and coming to a dead halt, he proceeded, with all the dandyism
+of a feast-day, to arrange the long folds of white _tappa_ which floated
+in airy drapery, while he waved his great war-fan and challenged the foe,
+_Vaka viti_ (Fiji fashion), to come and be eaten, and he would roast them
+all. Dr Macgregor took a deliberate aim with his Snider rifle at 600
+yards, and, greatly to his own amazement, hit the astonished man, who
+fled wounded in the left arm. A week later he was captured, and became
+great friends with the Doctor, who naturally took especial interest in
+healing the wounds of his own production.
+
+The Doctor’s work has greatly astonished the cannibals, who marvel to
+see a man tending and healing his foes. He has taught them a new name
+for his profession, declaring himself much aggrieved at being called
+“carpenter of death,” when he is truly a “man of life;” so the Fijian
+dictionary owes him a new word. He performed one very difficult operation
+quite alone, in presence of a wondering crowd. It was necessary to
+amputate the leg of one of the prisoners, so he made such preparations
+as were possible, and commenced operations, when, as he was in the act
+of administering chloroform (_wai ni mothe_, the water of sleep), he
+perceived that his assistant was quite drunk. It was necessary to have
+him at once forcibly removed, and the only other white man in the place
+was Mr Gordon, who was very ill with fever. So here he found himself
+alone with the patient under chloroform, surrounded by a great circle
+of wild auxiliary tribes, all well accustomed to cut up human limbs for
+the larder, but wholly unable to understand the present proceeding. It
+was a difficult position. The operation must be performed, or certain
+death was inevitable; so he proceeded with a most difficult task, which
+happily proved quite successful, and the amazement of the spectators knew
+no bounds. The grateful patient, on recovering, demanded that the Doctor,
+who had deprived him of a leg, should supply a new one, and insisted on
+his keeping him into the bargain![41]
+
+One very sad incident in the cave-warfare was the death of a poor little
+girl aged seven, who was accidentally shot through the heart.
+
+The next places from which the foe had to be dislodged were the
+Naquaquatambua caves, which are a nest of large caves round a deep
+hollow—naturally a very strong post, and further fortified by the
+inmates. The entrance to the principal cave is by a cleft in the rock,
+not more than six feet wide, though perhaps twenty in height, and well
+concealed by the network of roots of a great _Mbaka_ (Fiji banyan), the
+interstices of the roots being filled up with rock-work, so as to form
+an outer wall, with loop-holes, through which to fire at assailants.
+Within is a large high cave in which were stored guns, ammunition, and
+provisions—yams, pigs, and _yangona_; while in an inner cave, beside a
+stream of water, were enormous stores of yams, whales’ teeth, _masi_,
+abundant firewood, and all things needful to hold out for a long siege.
+From the principal cave low passages lead to other caves, and these again
+have outlets; and all these were carefully concealed and well fortified:
+some could only be entered on hands and knees.
+
+Altogether the post was one which might have been held for ever, and when
+first the little Christian army was descried, on the hill facing them,
+the _tevoro_ amused themselves by a little of the usual boasting; but it
+seems their hearts failed them, for ere long a chief came out with a
+_soro_ (_i.e._, an atonement offering). This was refused, so he returned
+to the cave, and presently reappeared at the head of twenty-four men,
+vowing that only the women and one old man remained within. However,
+there was reason to believe that there were many more, and Captain
+Knollys explored as far as he dared venture; but as many of the caves
+could only be approached by crawling on hands and knees through low
+passages, and as the enemy occasionally fired from hidden openings, it
+was necessary to wait in patience. At last one man, who said he was the
+chief of the caves, declared he would come out in the morning, but not
+till then. Captain Knollys told him he must not come out, whereupon, from
+sheer spirit of opposition, out he came!
+
+A friendly chief, called Rovobokolo, was appointed to guard one cave
+full of people. He did so for two days and nights, but did not at all
+appreciate being fired at by unseen foes; so by a happy inspiration he
+suddenly cried out to bid them escape for their lives, as the _sotiers_
+(soldiers) had effected an entrance, and were about to fire into them.
+This was a pure romance, but it had the desired effect of bringing
+the foe to light. Forthwith they rushed out, and were of course taken
+prisoners—in all sixty-one men, and a great many women and children.
+
+There still remained a third set of caves at Nunuwai. It was, I think,
+on the 23d of July that the besieging force reached them. They lie along
+the bed of a stream, in a deep gulch, heavily wooded, quite filled
+up by great boulders fallen from above, and forming caves, only to
+be reached by crawling through crevices. These are innumerable, each
+forming a loop-hole through which a hidden foe could safely fire out upon
+assailants; consequently several of these were killed, only discovering
+their danger by a sudden flash from some hidden loop-hole. It was just as
+unpleasant a place to have to storm as you can possibly imagine.
+
+Happily the _tevoro_ appeared to be divided in their own minds, and,
+after much parley, one party agreed to surrender, but wished to bring
+their women with them—and these were in an inner cave, which could only
+be reached by diving through the water, under a rock, but each time their
+heads rose from the water the non-surrender party received them with
+levelled guns. They then expressed their determination to die in the
+caves, but after two days Captain Knollys hit on the odd expedient of
+enlisting some of the prisoners already taken as his allies, by promising
+them easier terms than they had any right to expect. So these entered the
+caves, and held long parley with the besieged, persuading about half of
+them to surrender. As the remainder still held out, they took up their
+quarters in the cave for the night, and amused themselves by blowing a
+war-shell, which so affected the delicate nerves of the _tevoro_ that
+they craved permission to come out—a permission which was withheld till
+morning, in order to enhance its value. Amongst other relics, Captain
+Knollys found the bones of one of his scouts, who had been killed some
+time previously: he had been cooked and his bones picked clean. About
+fifty men were here captured, and the most grievous criminals having
+been tried again in presence of the Governor, six were most deservedly
+executed, and the rest condemned to various terms of imprisonment or
+servitude in the villages of the allies, where they are sure of very kind
+treatment.
+
+Of course the judicial part of this business was the most trying to all
+concerned; but for once, I believe that all parties here are of one mind
+in agreeing that the executions were positively necessary, and a most
+wise measure. In every instance the man executed was either a notorious
+murderer of the worst type, or else a deserter from Government service,
+actually drawing Government pay. It is believed that this example once
+set will deter future malcontents from trying this little game again,
+and that much bloodshed will thus be averted, and a source of perpetual
+danger entirely extinguished. On the other hand, the leniency shown to
+the mass of the prisoners, the care of the wounded by skilled hands, with
+all medical appliances, are a wholly new, and to them incomprehensible,
+phase of British warfare.
+
+Our people (the Christians) were wonderfully quick in practising the
+mercy commanded; and though they keep up the old wild dances and songs
+round the body of each fallen foe as they bring him in, there has been
+no tendency to make a _bokolo_ of him, except in one instance, when one
+of the wildest of the friendly tribes (our allies) brought to Captain
+Knollys’ camp the body of a hostile chief just slain, and after much
+palaver (being very hungry) craved permission to eat him. Of course this
+was peremptorily refused, and immediate burial ordered. But when Captain
+Knollys sent a company of his own men in the morning to see that it
+had been done properly, they found the body barely a foot deep, which
+allowed room for just a suspicion that some hungry men were waiting for a
+convenient season to dig it up. Of course the foe had no scruples on the
+subject, and I fear they had several hearty meals at the expense of the
+assailants.
+
+It is fortunate they did not find out how short of provisions the
+besiegers were, for at one time their commissariat was at such a low
+ebb that for two whole days they had nothing to eat but a few taro-tops
+which they had the good luck to find—taro-tops being something like
+old turnip-tops and leaves. This, while the enemy had abundant stores
+of provisions! It is wonderful too, that, intrenched as they were in a
+series of positions, each of which was practically impregnable, they
+should have yielded so readily; and marvellously fortunate, too, that so
+few of their stray shots should have done any damage. The only white man
+touched was Dr Macgregor, who received a slight wound near the corner of
+the eye, which happily was not serious.
+
+There have been many most picturesque incidents in this little war. To
+begin with, there is the way in which the warriors march to battle, as if
+going to a dance, with scouts running on ahead of them fluttering large
+grass or palm-leaf fans, adorned with long streamers or ribbons like a
+Highlander’s bagpipes, only made of native cloth. With these they pretend
+to sweep away any hidden foes who may be lying in ambush.
+
+Then, too, is it not wonderful to think of what a war in this country
+has hitherto meant, and the appalling horrors involved? And now to think
+that, among all these so-called savage warriors, none should have in
+any way brought discredit on their character of chivalrous Christian
+soldiers. On the contrary, each body of men brought its own chaplain; and
+in all the excitement of a struggle with hereditary foes, which but a few
+years ago would have been a scene of horror and revolting bloodshed and
+crime, the camps were kept free from taint.
+
+It savours rather of an army of Puritans to know that every morning, at
+the very first streak of dawn, each separate tribe composing that little
+army mustered in array to join the teacher in saying the Lord’s Prayer,
+and a short prayer suited to the requirements of the day. And every
+evening, after the excitement of the day was over, each house separately
+had reading of the Scriptures, singing, and prayer; and every man in the
+force knelt as reverently as he would have done at family worship in his
+peaceful village home. I wonder of how many so-called civilised armies
+all this could be said?
+
+But to return to the caves. The last had scarcely been captured when Mr
+Gordon became utterly prostrate from what has proved to be a very serious
+attack of low typhoid fever. I told you he had been here for a few days
+after finishing work in his own district, and before proceeding to join
+Captain Knollys; and we think he must have contracted it here, as there
+have been several bad cases of the same type, and at least two men have
+died of it, including the builder of this house. The caves were right
+in the interior of Viti Levu; and as I mentioned to you, the return
+march was fearfully trying, both for a sick man and those in charge of
+him—Fijian mountain paths being pretty severe work for the strongest man.
+Happily Dr Macgregor was able to be in close attendance.
+
+To make matters worse, they had literally nothing that he could eat.
+The Doctor thought he had secured a prize in an old hen belonging to a
+teacher, but the owner begged she might be spared, as she was “giving
+milk”—a striking discovery in ornithology! But it seems this is the
+Fijian equivalent for _laying_. I suppose that as cows and hens are both
+imported animals, it was assumed that the same term would be equally
+expressive. But the teacher promised to bring some excellent eggs to make
+flip, and soon returned with a dozen. On the first being cracked a fine
+chicken appeared,—so _that_ was not of much use! At last they readied
+the coast, where a hospitable planter took care of the patient till a
+steamer, specially chartered for the occasion, arrived to take away most
+of the troops and about a hundred of the worst prisoners, who are to have
+a turn of hard work for their country’s good.
+
+The said steamer is one hired temporarily from New Zealand; but the
+luckless Government steamer Fitzroy, which was bought for £7000 when
+we came here, ran on to a coral-reef last month, and is a total
+wreck,—another bit of ill-luck for this poverty-stricken land. Her
+captain was the steadiest and most experienced man in the group, so it is
+a good proof of what dangerous navigation this is.
+
+Here Mr Gordon found an empty house, save for the presence of Mr and Mrs
+Abbey, the excellent major-domo and his admirable wife, who have nursed
+him with tenderest devotion, and are now rewarded by seeing him steadily
+amending. But for some days he was so very ill that an express was sent
+to Suva, in Viti Levu, to summon the Governor, who, with Captain Knollys
+and Baron von Hügel, had gone there, on their way back, to see Lady
+Gordon and her children, who are staying there for change of air.
+
+Just at this moment, I, knowing nothing of all this, returned
+unexpectedly from a three weeks’ cruise round Vanua Levu with my friends
+the Langhams, with whom I have now travelled for thirteen weeks in
+districts which otherwise would have been to me wholly inaccessible. But
+I have not time now to tell you anything about our cruise, so you must
+be content with this letter for the present. I forgot to tell you that
+we have a new inmate in the house—a remarkably nice young cannibal. His
+father is one of the worst cannibal chiefs captured by Captain Knollys,
+to whom both father and son have quite a romantic attachment!
+
+_Note._—On the 28th October 1876 the Governor issued a proclamation of
+free pardon to all the mountain-tribes who had fought against Government,
+granting free permission to all who had been carried as prisoners to
+other districts, and to those who might still be concealed in the bush
+or in caves, to return to their own districts, and rebuild their towns
+and cultivate their lands, only stipulating that the fortified places
+must not be reoccupied, but that sites should be selected more suitable
+to the peaceful inhabitants of a quiet land. Even at the date of this
+proclamation, he found that the disturbed districts were assuming an
+aspect of security and civilisation hitherto undreamt of. New towns were
+rapidly springing up by the rivers and in the plains, and cultivation
+was carried on in perfect security, in places which hitherto could not
+be worked at all, or only by armed men. Formerly constant distrust
+reigned between the different tribes—especially between the Christians
+and heathens; and not without good cause, as four hundred inhabitants
+of one Christian town had been treacherously clubbed by their heathen
+neighbours, having been induced by false pretences to leave their town.
+Now the wild tribes had all adopted the kilt of native cloth, and cut
+their hair to a reasonable length—sure proofs of general respectability.
+They had also welcomed the native Christian teachers, who had come to
+live in almost every village.
+
+A year later—October 1877—Sir Arthur Gordon revisited these districts. He
+found satisfactory progress everywhere—the people devoting their energies
+to agriculture instead of war—all, nominally at least, Christians; good
+new villages; good riding-paths (one forty miles in length from the coast
+to the permanent headquarters of native police at Fort Carnarvon); and
+these, though of purely native construction, were led by easy gradients
+along the hillsides, instead of following the steepest ridges, according
+to Fijian custom. Everywhere peace, order, and plenty prevailed. He
+was especially pleased to find one of the _tevoro_ chiefs, whom he
+had pardoned when under sentence of death (causing him to place his
+hands in his and swear fealty), now a useful and zealous officer of
+the Government. At Fort Carnarvon, about a thousand representatives of
+the wild tribes assembled to meet him and hear his words; and several
+hundred school-children, from the neighbouring villages, gathered
+together for one of their picturesque school-examinations. A large
+proportion of the children could read and write well—a most satisfactory
+result of one year’s tuition. According to invariable custom, the
+school-examination was enlivened by many of the wild, but often graceful
+and poetic, _mékés_—_i.e._, descriptive songs and dances. After several
+spear-dances, and one descriptive of a cow protecting her calf, and
+another of a hawk fluttering, came one which Sir Arthur thus describes in
+his private journal:—
+
+“Nasaucoko fan _méké_. Nai kalukalu, the Stars. This was a very curious
+_méké_. Two circular enclosures of bamboo, about five feet high, were
+erected, within which two parties of dancers began to whirl round, waving
+white _masi_ fans over their heads. Gradually, one by one, they came out
+of the door of their enclosure opposite each other. This was the rising
+of the stars. They met, danced the usual sort of dance, and, at one part
+of it, threw away their fans. This was to represent the shooting-stars.”
+
+On the following day he writes—
+
+“_Thursday._—To-day Buli Nadrau and all his people came to do their
+homage. Very pretty they looked, coming over the hill in an interminable
+line. The old gentleman was tremendously weighted in his state-robes,
+which were only put on him by his attendants a few yards before he
+reached me, and were, after he had passed me, at once taken off again,
+and presented. _Six hundred feet_ and more of black (or rather grey)
+_masi_ were heaped on him, and that not in the shape of an enormous
+train, like Tui Cakau’s, but all draped and festooned over his person and
+head.
+
+“_Friday._—Walked over to Korolevu, where I was received in a fashion
+which I have never seen elsewhere. The people were arranged in rows
+on each side of the _rara_. As I came into it, all the folks inclined
+their heads to the left shoulder, and, as I passed them, sank down
+into a slanting position to the left, like a row of nine-pins.... Most
+picturesque was the offering to me of the _magiti_ (feast), by moonlight,
+as I sat on the marble steps of the old _buré_ (devil temple), destroyed
+long ago. Most striking too was the scene in the village afterwards,—each
+household grouped in front of its own door, and later the sound of
+prayers from the various houses. Every one of the people here was, last
+year, a prisoner. Later I strolled up and down by myself alone, but in
+perfect security.... From one house I heard the voices of a number of
+women repeating the Lord’s Prayer. What a change from last year, when
+there was nothing here but heaps of ashes!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+    A PLANTER’S HOUSE—ANGORA GOATS—A LOVELY SHORE—SERICULTURE—THE
+    MOSQUITO PLAGUE.
+
+
+                     NANANU, A SMALL ISLE OFF VITI LEVU, _Sept. 30, 1876_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—At last I have reached the Robinson Crusoe home, about which
+we used to conjure up such visions of romance, whenever a letter from
+the far-away Fiji Isles reached the old vicarage in Northumberland. I
+came here last Tuesday with Baron von Hügel. Captain Knollys lent us his
+beautiful boat and a crew of native police: we had the great luck of a
+fair wind, and made the run in eight hours—which is exceptionally good
+time. You who have never been much in the way of travelling in small
+ships and boats can scarcely realise how tantalising are the constant
+delays to which we are liable from wind and weather.
+
+You would think that a home within eight hours’ run of the capital
+cannot be very isolated. Yet such are the difficulties of getting about
+and of leaving home, that since the day—now ten years ago—when Mr Leefe
+brought his bride here—a bright pretty girl of eighteen, with a tiny
+baby daughter—her sole expeditions have been one three months’ trip to
+Australia, when she was very ill, and one visit of six weeks to Levuka to
+stay with a friend, whose two children died while she was there,—so that
+was not a cheerful visit. And though a boat occasionally touches here, no
+ladies have ever done so except once, when Mrs Havelock called for three
+hours; and once also, some years ago, when a brother-planter fled here
+with his wife and family for refuge from the cannibals, and then the two
+families had to stow themselves as best they could in the one house of
+two rooms.
+
+Happily, there is now an extra house, or rather quite a group of
+half-a-dozen small semi-Fijian houses, which severally act as
+feeding-room, sitting-room, sleeping-rooms, kitchen, store-room, and
+silk-worm house. These are all clustered beneath the cool shadow of a
+couple of old trees, one of which spreads its great boughs towards the
+kitchen, and acts as larder,—for from these branches hang such pieces
+of kid or goat’s flesh as may be in stock. Here are the rough-and-ready
+essentials of an open-air carpenter’s shop; and beneath a central tree
+a small matted enclosure acts as the family bath-room, to which the
+labour-boys bring buckets of fresh water to fill a great wooden tub. But
+infinitely more pleasant is the delicious sea-bathing, in which we can
+here indulge most freely, without any dread of sharks. Imagine the charm
+of walking straight out of your bedroom on to the purest white sand, and
+plunging just as deep as you please in the very clearest water, warm
+enough to make it delightful to lie and bask there at early morning and
+at sunset! Sometimes two brown maidens come to disport themselves with us
+in the water, and they and Ethel swim and dive like fishes—swimming long
+distances under the water, and coming up, when least expected, to seize
+me, in hopes of startling me with an impression of sharks.
+
+Ethel, the tiny baby of ten years ago, is now a picturesque tall girl
+of eleven, a winsome wide-awake child, and a real little lady, but a
+thorough bushwoman, versed in all arts of foraging and bush-cooking, and
+her mother’s helper in many a care.
+
+My arrival here was a funny example of how we do things in Fiji. My
+visit has been under discussion for a whole year; and once, owing to
+miscarriage of letters, Mr Leefe even came to Levuka to fetch me when
+I had gone up the Rewa! This time I had written about a week before
+starting, to announce my coming. That letter has only just arrived a week
+after me. So of course I was not expected; and further, both Mrs Leefe
+and Ethel were suffering from severe cold and headache. However, I was
+most cordially welcomed, and shown the various objects of interest, but
+saw no symptom of any special quarters being awarded to me. At bed-time I
+was hospitably invited to share a bed with my hostess and her daughter—Mr
+L. and the Baron occupying a tiny house outside. I preferred a shake-down
+in the drawing-room, and at early dawn awoke in time to accompany Mrs
+Leefe and Ethel to milk the goats—which on paper sounds very pretty, and
+which in fine weather is really so. But when you come to the reality of
+having to start at 5 A.M. every morning of your life—fine weather or
+foul, in sickness or in health—and walk a mile and a half up and down
+very steep slippery hill-paths, which in wet weather are mere slides of
+red mud,—and, when the milking is done, return by the same path, making
+a walk of three miles before the day’s work has actually begun, you can
+imagine that this pretty pastoral scene becomes a tolerably fatiguing
+item in daily life.
+
+Of course to me there was the great charm of novelty—an early morning in
+lovely sunlight, blue sea and cocoa-palms on every side, and the very
+picturesque flock of goats. One of Mr Leefe’s most anxious experiments
+has been the introduction of Angora goats,—lovely white creatures, with
+long silky fleece. At great expense he procured two pair, and having
+killed off all the wild he-goats on the island, these beautiful strangers
+were established as monarchs of the isle. So the flock is now exceedingly
+pretty. There are 230 mothers, of all varieties of colour, and each
+has either one or two pure white kids, all, without exception, taking
+after their father. Alas! many of them are already orphans, one of these
+splendid fellows having met with a most untimely end. Its long fleece got
+entangled in a thorny lemon-bush, which held it prisoner, and it was not
+found till it was dead. The second narrowly escaped the same fate. It got
+astray, and was caught in a thicket by its horns, and was not discovered
+till the following day. It was, however, reported missing at night, and
+all hands turned out to seek for the lost father of the flock. Torches
+were lighted, and the search continued for some hours; at last it was
+given up as being vain, and all returned to sleep, when suddenly an alarm
+of fire was given, and the whole hill was seen to be in a blaze: a torch,
+carelessly dropped in the dry grass, had started a fire which spread
+rapidly, destroying a multitude of promising young palm-trees recently
+planted. Such are the risks of plantation life.
+
+The fine silky hair is not the sole advantage of introducing the Angora
+goat. Its flesh is said to be more tender than mutton, with a slight
+flavour of venison; and, moreover, such a flock will thrive where sheep
+could not find a living.[42]
+
+It was nearly eight o’clock before we got back from the milking, and from
+feeding the poultry and the pigs, and you may believe we did enjoy our
+good hot tea. But Mrs Leefe was so ill that she had to go to bed again.
+Generally she is very strong, and thinks nothing of walking ten or twelve
+miles.
+
+I thought it was now time to establish my regular sleeping-quarters. My
+host most generously offered to give up his own little grass hut for me;
+but on looking round, I discovered a tiny lumber-room partitioned off the
+dining-room, which is a house apart, and so close to the sea that I could
+almost step from the window into the water. I petitioned for the use
+of this small room, and with much help from Ethel and an acute Solomon
+Island girl, I cleared out many sacks of cuttle-fish bones, maize, and
+“produce” of all sorts, swept it out, laid down mats, fixed up a tiny
+bedstead, drove in nails on which to hang up clothes, and hung one of
+my waterproof sheets as a door, and so made quite a cosy wee den, in
+which I am now comfortably established. A “bedstead” would be quite an
+unnecessary adjunct in a Fijian house, with its flooring of soft grass
+and many mats; but here we have a wooden floor which would be too hard
+for comfort: besides, where maize has been stored, rats are wont to
+congregate. My little room has only one drawback, namely, that just at
+the window there remains one immovable trace of its former use—that is,
+the corn grinder, in which the men’s daily rations are ground, with such
+intolerable noise as invariably to drive me up the hill to escape from
+it. What must it be for the wretched native who has to do it, all the
+time receiving general abuse for the hideous row which he cannot avoid
+making!
+
+I think the plantation hands here are exclusively foreign labour, all the
+Fijians having been turned off when Mr Leefe purchased the whole island.
+He also has property on the mainland of Viti Levu, where his nephew Harry
+lives as superintendent, and keeps a store for the supply of cloth,
+lamps, sardines, tools, and other necessaries of life—a great convenience
+in this remote place. Most of his customers are natives.
+
+On our way here from Ovalau, we sailed close along the north-east coast
+of Viti Levu, which is most picturesque,—a fine rugged land, with narrow
+valleys hemmed in by great cliffs, and running down to the shore, where
+little villages nestle beneath great trees, from which hang the fishers’
+nets. I thought several points exceedingly beautiful, and hope to retrace
+the ground more leisurely and secure some good sketches. As we came
+nearer here, the scene became bleaker and less attractive. Still the
+general effect of the coast, as seen from this house, is like some of the
+better parts of Ross-shire; and the narrow strait which separates this
+isle from the mainland, is like a fine Highland loch.
+
+Nananu itself is rather a low flat island, in shape something like a
+star-fish, whence you perceive that you cannot walk far in any direction
+without looking down on the sea—the bluest sea, with lines and patches of
+vividly emerald green, marking where the coral-reef rises almost to the
+surface. All the centre of the star-fish is a great grassy hill, but each
+of its many arms is edged with a belt of magnificent old trees, which
+overshadow the whitest of coral-sand, and in some places quite overhang
+the water. You are tempted to bathe at every turn. One bay in particular
+is quite lovely. I have never seen another quite so fascinating in any
+country. It is an immense horse-shoe of the purest white sand, where for
+a mile and a half you can walk along the water’s edge, shaded by noble
+old _mdelo_, _mbaka_, _tavola_, and _eevie_ trees, making a belt of dense
+cool verdure.
+
+In every available corner of the land Mr Leefe is planting thousands of
+young cocoa-nut trees, which are expected to yield a good return some
+six years hence, provided no hurricane sweeps the isles. Many planters
+are now trusting chiefly to their nuts since cotton has so utterly
+failed. It is sad in so many places to see great tracts of forsaken
+cotton-fields,[43] with their pods of white soft fluff, which it no
+longer pays to collect.
+
+The cotton-bush bears a lovely pale-yellow flower with a deep
+claret-coloured centre, precisely similar to that of the _vau_, the
+common hybiscus, which forms the scrub of the isles, and yields the fibre
+so largely used by the natives. Curiously enough, an almost identical
+blossom is borne by a troublesome but beautiful weed which grows
+profusely in the deserted cotton-fields. A peculiar kind of brilliant
+beetle swarms in the cotton.
+
+The neglected fields are sadly suggestive of the fortunes of their
+owners. For the invariable history of almost every planter is a tale of
+trouble and loss,—of large sums of money sunk, and now yielding no return
+whatever. The varieties in the story are generally whether the crops have
+been destroyed by hurricanes, or the house and all that it contained was
+burnt to the ground,—often both in succession.[44]
+
+I constantly hear lamentable stories of the hardships which some of these
+gentlemen are, even now, enduring. I hear of some, personally known to
+my hosts, who for months together have tasted nothing but sweet-potatoes
+and yams, with water for their only drink: occasionally they struggle to
+rear a few fowls, not for home use, but to be exchanged for the luxuries
+of tea and sugar—and even these fowls generally come to grief. Of course
+goats can only be kept by the privileged few who possess a whole island.
+On the mainland they would make havoc in the gardens of the natives,
+and however carefully tended, would give rise to many difficulties. Even
+a cow is not kept without much trouble on the score of trespass, and
+involves a lad to look after her; and I am told that there are families
+now living on Taviuni too poor to pay even one labour-boy to help on the
+plantation; indeed I heard of one case in which the father was too weak
+to work, and all the family were living on wild roots, dug up by the
+children!
+
+My host, being a man of unbounded energy, blessed with a wife of the like
+temperament, has managed, by a hard struggle, to keep his head above
+water, and now ranks as an exceptionally well-to-do planter. Having his
+own “home farm,” he is able occasionally to kill some sort of animal,
+and its flesh, fresh or salt, generally furnishes the table with meat;
+but if press of work prevents his having time to slay and prepare any
+beast, a large _papaw_ tart, with a dish of yams and a pot of tea,
+suffices for palates not vitiated by over-much luxury. At present there
+is a sense of abundance in the house, for Mr Leefe has himself killed,
+skinned, and cut up a goat, the various portions of which now adorn the
+beautiful old tree larder; moreover, a small vessel has called here and
+left a barrel of flour, of which Mrs Leefe herself has made excellent
+scones. We are indebted to her skill for almost all our meals, her only
+assistant in the kitchen being a good-natured laughing boy from the
+Tokalau Isles, whose talents are as yet undeveloped. He manages to do the
+coarser laundry-work, with the help of a very wide-awake girl from the
+Solomon Isles (who, by the way, talks the prettiest English). But here,
+also, anything needing care or refinement falls to the mistress, who
+also has to attend to the family wardrobe; and hardest of all, to both
+mother and daughter, she has sole charge of Ethel’s lessons, especially
+that most grievous task, her music lesson. For she has managed to retain
+one pleasant reminder of the old life in a most musical home, in her
+treasured piano, the solace of many an evening when the toil of day is
+over. I will not say that it is strictly in tune. No piano can be kept in
+order in this land of mildew and damp.
+
+So Ethel is well on in music, but infinitely prefers out-of-doors
+occupations, and the companionship of all the living creatures, each of
+whom is a personal acquaintance—the poultry, the goats, the very pigs,
+whose name is legion. They live in a large pen by themselves near the
+sea, but are allowed to roam at large through the bush. At a given hour
+their supply of cocoa-nuts is carried to their pen, and a wooden _lali_
+(drum) is struck to summon them, when they assemble with a rush. They
+are hideously tame, and come running up to meet any members of the family
+who may pass in that direction, and gambol cheerfully round them.
+
+But one of the principal daily cares is that of attending to a great army
+of silk-worms, which have to be fed six times a-day: that means going
+out six times to gather fresh mulberry-leaves, each of which must be
+carefully dried. Then the trays have to be cleaned, the eggs examined,
+the newly-hatched worms carefully separated and placed on leaves to begin
+their new life. The cocoons have to be attended to, and guarded from the
+attacks of insects; in short, rearing silk-worms on this scale is a task
+requiring as much care and patience as any human nursery. This industry
+is an altogether new experiment in Fiji, where it might no doubt succeed,
+but for what will, I fear, prove an insuperable obstacle—namely, the
+price of labour here, as compared with that in the silk-growing districts
+of China. Here the whole work is at present done by Mrs Leefe and Ethel,
+as none of their people are sufficiently trustworthy to be trained as
+assistants. So you see the life of a planter’s wife leaves small time for
+idle day-dreams or novel-reading! It needs a brave heart, and abundant
+courage and perseverance, to say nothing of physical strength, to fulfil
+such daily tasks.
+
+To me, who have only to enjoy myself, there is an unspeakable charm
+in the easy-going open-air life here; and the air is wonderfully keen
+and bracing as compared with the climate of Levuka. We have had the
+thermometer at 74°, and have felt almost too cold. So all day long I
+wander about the isle, passing from one white sand bay to another, and
+keeping in the shelter of those great overhanging trees, whose dark
+foliage forms so perfect a screen from the ever-shining sun. The raised
+centre of the isle is, as I have told you, generally grassy; and here
+I sit morning and evening, overlooking the sea in every direction,
+and watching for the rare appearing of a sail. The only shade there,
+however, is that of the screw-pine, which grows abundantly, and makes
+an odd sketchable bit of foreground, with its long prickly leaves set
+screw-wise, and its roots like a cluster of white pillars, making the
+tree look as if it were walking on stilts. It bears a large scarlet
+or orange fruit, something like a pine-apple in appearance, but with
+so little on its woody sections to tempt the palate, that none save
+goat-herds, on whom the long day hangs heavy, care to gnaw them. True
+pine-apples have been planted in abundance, as also orange, lemon, and
+bread-fruit trees; so have the delicious native _keveeka_, which bears a
+fruit resembling a large transparent pink pear and answers the purpose
+of a cooling drink. Moreover, as I told you, Mr Leefe is planting
+thousands of young palms in every available crevice, on Sir Walter
+Scott’s principle of “Aye be stickin’ in a tree; it will be growing while
+ye are sleeping.” Close round the house there is a small kitchen-garden
+in which grow tiny tomatoes and the tree-pea—a shrub which bears pods
+very like those of our common green pea.
+
+Whenever Ethel can be spared from her home-duties she comes with me on my
+exploring expeditions, and sometimes carries a kettle, a small bottle of
+milk, and a little packet of tea and sugar; then, while I am sketching,
+she lights a fire and ministers to my comfort. The only drawback to the
+delightful shady nooks, which we prefer, is the multitude of mosquitoes
+which infest them. I am sure they scent out a fresh prey in me. Never
+shall I forget my first day here, when I settled down to make a careful
+study of a magnificent old banyan (identical, I think, with the _Ficus
+religiosa_ of India). The mosquitoes assembled in myriads. Vainly did
+Ethel and a wild-looking brown goat-herd sit, one on each side of me,
+holding branches, with which to beat them off; and vainly did I slay six
+or eight at a time, so often as I could pause to slap one hand on the
+other. Thicker and thicker they swarmed (for there was not a breath of
+air stirring in the thicket where we sat); so at last we had to give it
+up and fly to cool our fevered hands and faces in the sea; then we lay
+under the orange-trees in the old garden, and ate ripe golden fruit to
+our hearts’ content. Next time I go to sketch in any such sheltered spot,
+I shall hang up my mosquito-net to a tree, so as to lessen this maddening
+distraction—though, of course, it will be rather dazzling to draw looking
+through a fine white net.
+
+How funny some of our incidents of common life would seem to you! Last
+night I was awakened by the grunting of pigs all round my window, and
+guessed that they had broken through their fence and got into the garden.
+So I jumped up and gave them chase wildly, and succeeded in driving them
+all out.
+
+Mr Leefe owns a second small island, separated from this by a narrow
+channel; there he keeps another flock of goats, and yesterday went over
+to count them. He took us with him, much to Ethel’s delight, as the
+Fijian shepherd has a pretty baby, which is her namesake and great pet.
+We saw a curious natural rock-bridge on the coast, concerning which,
+tradition says, a shark jumped through a cave and left this rock standing.
+
+Baron von Hügel returned from the mainland this morning just as we came
+back from the goat-milking. He has collected some new curiosities, and
+gave me a funny old cannibal fork. He returns to Nasova to-day, and takes
+this letter to the mail. He is full of the loveliness of various places
+he has seen, and says I must manage to go and do some sketching. But how?
+That is the difficulty. Mrs Leefe, who has never yet seen anything, even
+within a few miles of this place, says she would delight in going if only
+it could be managed, but she does not see how she can be spared from her
+many home-cares; and it is equally difficult for either Mr Leefe or Harry
+to get away. And you know I never dream of going anywhere alone; besides,
+Mr Leefe has sold his good boat, and now has only a very small one. So
+really I do not see how it can be managed, though it is most tantalising.
+However, something may develop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+    THE POTTERY DISTRICTS OF VITI LEVU—A CANNIBAL’S REGISTER—A
+    NIGHT IN A CORN-SHED—FUNERAL OF RATU TAIVITA.
+
+
+      RATU PHILIMONE’S HOUSE, NA VATU (THE ROCK), RAKI RAKI, _October 10_.
+
+The difficulties have been overcome, and here I am on the mainland of
+beautiful Viti Levu. This is a delightful place to which Mr Leefe brought
+me about a week ago. Mrs Leefe provided us with a large basketful of
+provisions—newly-baked bread, and other good things; and on arriving
+here, we were most hospitably welcomed by the kindly native minister,
+Ratu Philimone, and his handsome pleasant wife Henrietta. The title Ratu
+marks the man who bears it as being of good birth; and this couple and
+their pretty children are of a very superior sort. Their house has quite
+a nice inner room, which they insisted on giving up to me, so I am really
+most comfortable here.
+
+Mr Leefe was only able to stay one whole day, long enough to take me over
+a good deal of the neighbourhood. Then as its rare beauty proved more
+and more fascinating on further acquaintance, he left me here in the
+hospitable care of Ratu Philimone, not, however, till he had also placed
+me in the charge of the police! in the person of Mr Jones, the officer
+of this district, who is most kind, and does his utmost to further all
+my wishes. So also does his friend and neighbour Mr Shinnock, who sends
+me a bottle of milk every morning, and one day a little pig’s leg: and
+now I hear that he has killed a kid for my especial benefit. He has also
+lent me his horse Sweep, a steady old fellow, and able to canter, though
+not much used to carrying a lady. I find I have left the girths of my
+side-saddle at Nasova, but Mr Jones most kindly lends me his, which are
+of leather, and he himself now uses a rope. He has a wooden saddle with
+goat-skin-cover. Truly did Captain Martin, our worthy skipper, remark
+that this is the country for makeshifts!
+
+This place is well described by its name. It is really Na Vatu (The
+Rock), being a huge rock-mass, quite detached from the great Kauvandra
+range of mountains, and standing alone on a level shore. The village in
+which I am living is on the sea-level, but a steep path up the beautiful
+crag leads to a lovely village, called Nai Songoliko, which consists of a
+number of small houses perched wherever they can find room all over the
+cliff, almost hidden by bread-fruit and other bowering trees, which cling
+to the rock as if by magic. From this point a narrow spur runs inland,
+and the view from there is quite beautiful—the bluest sea, dotted with
+isles and tinted by patches of coral-reef, lying outspread to right and
+left of the cliff. Each of these villages has a tidy well-built church.
+I think I have explored every corner of the great rock, and many of the
+tiny homes which lie so quaintly niched among the rocky boulders. Some
+of the people produced hidden treasures, which they offered me for sale;
+and I have bought several good things, including some stone axes. I think
+I must have mentioned to you that these are only just now passing out
+of common use here: they are brought to us tied with native string to a
+piece of wood shaped like a bent knee. Sometimes I see instances of the
+actual transition from the stone to the iron age, when some lucky man,
+having got a Birmingham adze, rejects his old stone celt and ties his new
+acquisition on to the same wooden handle.
+
+In one house I found a pretty young woman with a baby a fortnight old.
+Both were covered from head to foot with turmeric, with which their
+clothes were also smeared. I believe this is a precaution against the
+devices of certain evil spirits, of whom many of the people still stand
+in as great awe as many a devout old Highlander does of the bogies and
+warlocks of our own mountains. Those dark ranges of the Kauvandra are
+the especial haunts of various fairies and brownies, and we have heard
+legends enough to make us wish that some competent person would set
+about collecting them ere the old lore dies away.
+
+All over this crag and the neighbourhood there are luxuriant masses of
+the intensely blue clitoria, as also of a bean which is good for food,
+and bears white blossoms. The effect of the white and blue is so charming
+that I have proclaimed a general offer of fish-hooks, needles, and thread
+to all children who will collect seeds for me. So every evening a little
+troop of traders await my return; and I have now amassed a quantity of
+seed, which I intend to sow broadcast all over the hill behind Nasova.
+
+One of the chief places of interest in this neighbourhood is the town
+of Na Sava, which is peopled by the former inhabitants of the isle of
+Malaki, from which they were driven out by the whites as an act of
+vengeance for the murder of a white man whose boat touched on their
+inhospitable shore. That, at least, is one version of the story. Malaki
+lies just off this coast, and Mr Leefe took me to see it. It is a
+pleasant spot, grassy and wooded, but now left desolate. To its people is
+attributed the honour of having been the first in these isles to invent
+pottery, an art which is here carried to a perfection far surpassing
+anything found in other groups of the Pacific. I believe that pottery of
+some sort is found in all parts of Melanesia—the best specimens having
+been brought from New Guinea, and some also from the Admiralty Isles, New
+Britain, New Ireland, the Solomon Isles, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia.
+But these are all exceedingly coarse, and devoid of all artistic
+pretension. In Polynesia, on the other hand, the manufacture of pottery
+is apparently totally unknown.
+
+The Fijians are, as you know, a mixed race—partly Polynesian, partly
+Melanesian. Whether they derived their first idea of pottery from their
+Melanesian ancestors, and then greatly improved upon it; or whether, as
+they themselves say, their master in the art was the mason-bee, it is
+impossible to determine. Certain it is that the form of the cooking and
+water vessels in use in every Fijian home greatly resembles that of the
+little clay nests which this busy creature builds in every convenient
+corner. On our glass windows, in the doorways, or under the eaves where
+the swallows of our own land are wont to place theirs, we find these
+little earthen homes, globular or oblong, with an opening at one side,
+terminating in a narrow neck or passage with turned-back lip.
+
+I have often succeeded in detaching these unbroken, and they are perfect
+miniatures of the ordinary Fijian pots. They are made of the same blue
+clay, which the potter has learned to mix with sand. Once the idea was
+started, other objects in nature soon suggested variety of form, such as
+the shell of the turtle and the form of various fruits. Considering the
+coarseness of the clay used, and the rude manner in which the pots are
+fashioned, wholly by hand and by rule of thumb, and considering, also,
+that the manufacturers are people whom the civilised world are wont to
+regard as utter savages, I think that when you see my collection you
+will be greatly impressed by the artistic beauty and immense variety
+of form thus produced. Naturally what are made for ordinary domestic
+purposes—_i.e._, cooking and water pots—adhere pretty much to one type;
+but in the patterns with which these are decorated, and the manufacture
+of what we may call fancy articles, every potter follows her own taste,
+and the same exact form is very rarely reproduced. We have occasionally
+tried to get duplicates made to order, but the result has almost
+invariably been most unsatisfactory; and in no case will the potters of
+one district attempt to copy a piece which has been brought from some
+other island or district.
+
+It is for this reason that I have, as I mentioned to you, taken so
+much trouble to paint careful studies of many of the principal pieces
+which have passed through our hands, to whichever collectors they have
+belonged. I suppose I have fully sixty such studies, several of which
+include two or three pieces. The objects vary in size, from small bowls
+or water-jars, six or eight inches in height, to great cooking-pots,
+three feet deep; and the colours range from richest golden to a deep
+red, running into green, the colour being chiefly due to the glaze.
+That which is commonly used is the heated resin of the _ndakua_ pine,
+almost identical with the _kaurie_ pine of New Zealand, which yields the
+beautiful amber-like gum.
+
+There are certain forms which find general favour, and are very commonly
+made. Such are, clusters of four or six globes, the size of an orange,
+all connected one with another, and each having a hollow tube leading
+from one aperture at the top, by which all the globes are filled. On
+the same principle are rude imitations of canoes, joined together by
+one handle; also turtles, single or in pairs. These are of a very
+conventional type.
+
+When I was staying at Bau (which, tiny as it is, is divided into six
+towns), I was greatly interested in watching the potters of So So at
+work. So So is the fisher town, and the potters are generally wives of
+the fishermen. There I spent some hours in the picturesque hut of an old
+crone, trying to persuade her to model her turtles from a living one
+which was walking about on the mats; but she preferred her own monstrous
+ideal, and chuckled with delight every time the fins and feet of mine
+fell off.
+
+There, and I think also at Rewa, the women just beat out a flat piece of
+clay on their hand, and then gradually mould it into a cup-like form,
+with the help of a smooth stone held inside, and a wooden spatula with
+which to beat the outer surface. When their modelling is finished, the
+pieces are left to dry in a house for six or eight days, and are then
+taken to a quiet sheltered nook betwixt the sea and a great rock. Here a
+pile of light wood and small sticks is built, and on this the pots are
+laid. Dry grass is lightly piled over them, and small twigs over all.
+This pile is set on fire, and kept burning for about half an hour. Then,
+while still hot, the cooking-pots are well rubbed with an infusion of
+_tiri_—_i. e._, mangrove-bark—which is a dark-red dye, and gives the pots
+both colour and a slight glaze. Ornamental pots, and those for water, are
+kept in the house from four to eight days. They are first baked with a
+light grass-fire, afterwards with wood, and while still hot are glazed
+with the _ndakua_ resin I mentioned previously.
+
+There are slight variations in the process in different parts of the
+group, as on the north of Vanua Levu, where all the pottery we procured
+was unglazed. Several of the finest pieces I have seen were said to come
+from Na Sava, which is only a few miles from here; and I was the more
+anxious to see these people at work because of the tradition that their
+ancestresses first discovered the art. So Mr Jones sent word to the
+village chief that we proposed visiting his town in the afternoon. We
+walked up to Mr Shinnock’s house; and he welcomed us to a real planter’s
+bungalow, and gave us kid, _taro_, and tea, which we consumed in
+presence of a large circle of Fijian girls, who had assembled from other
+mountain-towns to see the pale-faced woman. _Na Maramma mbalavu_—the long
+lady—was the title by which I was invariably described.
+
+The horses having, after much trouble, been caught and saddled, we rode
+round the back of the rock till we came to Na Sava, which is quite a
+large village. Here the chief called upon the potters to assemble on the
+village-green and exhibit their skill. Of course this was taking them
+rather at a disadvantage, but it enabled us to see a good deal in a short
+time.
+
+The pottery is made entirely by hand—nothing of the nature of a wheel
+being known. The clay, having been mixed with fine sand, is rolled into
+long sausages, and these are coiled, one above the other, in a hollow
+circle, this forming the base of a round pot. Having partly moulded this
+into shape, the potter takes a smooth round stone in her left hand,
+and holds it inside the clay, while with the other hand she beats the
+exterior with a flat piece of wood like a spoon, and constantly moistens
+the clay. Fresh sausages are then built up round the top, and gradually
+narrowed till there only remains room to insert one finger (if for a
+water-pot), or the food (if for a cooking-pot); and these are, in like
+manner, beaten to a smooth surface, both inside and out. The rim of
+the vessel must now be fashioned, and then comes a final wetting and
+smoothing of the whole, and probably a very elaborate geometrical pattern
+is, last of all, marked with a small sharp stick. Sometimes a pattern is
+laid on in raised work, almost like clusters of grapes. The work must be
+done ere the day wanes, as towards sunset the clay falls, and will not
+mould obediently to the potter’s hand.
+
+We stayed a couple of hours watching different women at work, and tried
+hard ourselves to model a peculiar vase with three cups on one stand, of
+which I had secured one unique specimen, without being able to ascertain
+where it was made. I am very anxious to procure others of the same
+pattern, which is singularly graceful; so the women are to try and make
+several for me.[45]
+
+When the waning sun warned the potters to desist from working (and we
+found that the clay really did fall as fast as we attempted to model
+anything), we adjourned to the house of the village teacher to see his
+wife painting a very large and most beautiful piece of _tappa_. It was
+a heavy curtain, to which she was just putting the finishing touches.
+It was most artistic, and I coveted it exceedingly, and tried hard to
+bribe her to sell it to me. I have no doubt she coveted my dollars as
+much as I did her handiwork; but she dared not sell it, as it had already
+been annexed by the omnivorous Tui Mbua: so I had to content myself with
+watching her at work. She had designed an admirable and most intricate
+pattern, which she cut out on a heated banana-leaf, laid this on the
+cloth, and rubbed it over with a scrap of _masi_, dipped either in
+vegetable charcoal and water, or in red earth, liquefied with the sap of
+the candle-nut tree—_i.e._, the silvery-leaved croton.
+
+It is simply a form of stencilling, and only requires taste in arranging
+the patterns and colours, and a neat hand in executing them. But the
+result is handsome and artistic. And a great curtain of _tappa_ hung
+across a native house is such a striking and uncommon-looking kind of
+drapery, that it is certainly a matter of regret to know how surely this
+art is fated to die out before the influx of common English or American
+goods. In New Zealand, for instance, where it used to be made, it is
+now as wholly a thing of the past as the woad of our own ancestors. In
+Tonga, too, its use is greatly discouraged; and it is to be feared that
+future generations who visit Fiji may look for it as vainly as we now do
+for the wonderful hair-dressing which so amazed travellers in the last
+generation, but which was so intimately associated with ideas of war and
+cannibalism, that the Christians as a matter of course desisted from it.
+
+Yet it was really carried to such perfection as to rank as a high art.
+Each great chief had his own hair-dresser, who sometimes devoted several
+hours a-day to his master’s adornment, and displayed quite as much
+ingenuity in his designs as the potters or cloth-painters do in their
+work. The general aim was to produce a spherical mass about three feet
+in circumference; but a very successful hair-dresser has been known to
+bring this up to five feet! This mass was composed of twists or curls
+or tufts—oftenest of thousands of spiral curls, seven or eight inches
+long, shaped like a cone, with the base turned to the outside, and
+each individual hair turned inward. Others encouraged a tuft to grow
+so stiffly as to resemble a plume of feathers. Many had a bunch of
+“love-locks,” small long curls hanging on one side; others a few long
+very fine plaits hanging from behind the ear, or from one temple; or half
+the head was curled and half frizzled: it was also dyed according to
+taste. And some dandies liked to have their heads party-coloured, black,
+sienna, and red; in short, there was no limit to the strange varieties
+thus produced—far more diverse than the most fanciful devices of any
+fashionable lady in Europe.
+
+Now all this is a forgotten art, and though the gentlemen of our party
+who have returned from the war, saw a certain number of “big-heads,” as
+the _tevoro_—_i.e._, “devils,” or rather devil-worshippers—are called,
+I have seen no trace of it except in a few monstrous wigs, which still
+occasionally appear in the dances. One of Lady Gordon’s attendants, whose
+golden-brown hair is as soft and glossy as silk, retains one long tuft,
+which occasionally floats at liberty, at other times is plaited in a
+multitude of the finest braids, woven by the deft fingers of his love.
+
+We rode back from Na Sava along the shore, and had to cross a muddy flat
+part of a mangrove-swamp, on which the horse of our friend slipped and
+rolled over; but no serious damage was done, and we reached Philimone’s
+house in safety ere darkness closed in. The great cliff, shrouded in
+gloom, stood out dark against the golden sky, and cast long reflections
+on the glassy sea, which at high tide is so lovely, but at the ebb leaves
+a wide expanse of mud, not altogether unpicturesque, but very aggravating
+when one has to cross about a quarter of a mile of it to reach one’s
+boat. We had to do this both going and coming to Malaki, the potter’s old
+home, and the wretched boatmen had full benefit both of my weight and my
+companion’s.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                   BALI BALI POLICE STATION, _October 12_.
+
+You see I really am in charge of the police!
+
+After a very early breakfast this morning, I bade an affectionate
+farewell to Ratu Philimone and his kind wife Henrietta, and all their
+nice little brown children—such a pretty, well-behaved family group.
+Mr Jones brought the horses and saddled them, and then we rode over
+here, halting on the way to inspect a row of smallish stones, extending
+about two hundred yards. These were to represent the number of _bokola_
+(_i.e._, human bodies) actually eaten by two chiefs, Wanga Levu and Undri
+Undri—one stone for each body!
+
+Some one once suggested, as the very ideal of a hideous nightmare,
+that we should find ourselves face to face with a resurrection army,
+composed of every animal of whose flesh we have ever partaken—from the
+chicken-broth of our infancy, to the present day—sheep and oxen, calves
+and kids, red-deer and fallow-deer, rabbits and hares, geese, ducks,
+fowls, pheasants and partridges, grouse and woodcock, salmon and cod,
+herrings and trout, crabs and lobsters, and so on _ad infinitum_,—some
+men’s nightmare including elephants and giraffes, whales and hippopotami,
+and other zoological curiosities, each rigidly demanding his pound of
+flesh. But what would such a dream as this be compared with the horror
+of a similar vision in which the plaintiffs were mighty men of valour,
+showing the broken skull on which a treacherous club alighted, and
+claiming, not a pound of flesh only, but their whole bodies!
+
+For there were some of the more inveterate cannibals who allowed no
+man to share with them, and gloried in the multitude of men whom they
+had eaten, actually keeping a record of their number by erecting such
+lines of stones as those we saw here, which even now number 872, though
+at least 30 have been removed. Another member of the same family had
+registered 48, when his becoming a Christian compelled him to be
+satisfied with inferior meat!
+
+These men were such noted cannibals that all _bokola_ reserved for their
+special use were called by a Fijian word describing captured turtle,
+about to be deposited in the circular enclosures where they are kept
+till required—meaning that this capacious monster had room for all that
+came to him. His cannibal fork had also a distinctive name, descriptive
+of the enormous work done by so small a thing. In this country, where
+the precious imported whale’s tooth is the only ivory known, and where
+formerly there existed no animal to yield bone, human shin-bones were
+greatly prized to make sail-needles; so this man’s tribe must have been
+well provided! I do not think I have told you that at every cannibal
+feast there was served a certain vegetable,[46] which was considered
+as essential an adjunct to _bokola_ as mint-sauce is to lamb, or sage
+to goose. Its use, however, was prudential, as human flesh was found
+to be highly indigestible, and this herb acted as a corrective. It was
+therefore commonly grown in every village, to be ready when required.
+
+It is a pretty ride all the way from Na Vatu to Bali Bali, and we arrived
+here in time thoroughly to enjoy a second breakfast. The view from
+this point is a very unusual one, overlooking the salt-pans, which are
+artificially constructed shallow pools, in the midst of a wide stretch
+of dark mangrove-swamp. These are flooded at certain tides, and the
+evaporation yields a fair supply of salt. Half hidden in the mangrove
+is Na Vua Vua, the chief town of this district of Raki Raki, and in the
+distance lie the isles of Malaki and Nananu.
+
+After a short rest we rode up a very beautiful valley to see a hill
+crowned with a grand mass of rocks—Vatu Damu—which, as we approached,
+resembled Cyclopean fortifications. We climbed the hill and found a
+pretty village nestled at the base of the great rocks, and shaddock-trees
+loaded with blossom, which perfumed the air. Then we rode to another
+grand rock, Kasia Lili. I made a sketch of each, and then returned here.
+My host has most kindly given up his house to me, and has found quarters
+for himself with his “offisas,” as the people call the police.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                             _October 13._
+
+Another day filled with impressions of beauty. Few bits of Scotland can
+compare with the mountain scenery of these isles. I only wish it were
+possible to make expeditions inland, and explore the dark ravines and
+corries which seam the great mountain-range of the Kauvandra, along the
+base of which we have been riding all day.
+
+I was out before daybreak, and went down the hill to have a near look at
+a true Kai Tholo house, which I had detected yesterday. The Kai Tholo,
+_i.e._, mountain people, build totally different houses from those on the
+coast: they are like beehives, with a roof so high pitched as to suggest
+a tiny hive on the top of the first.
+
+After breakfast we rode to the base of another grand rock-mass—Vatu
+Mami—where a little colony of planters received us most cordially, and
+welcomed us to a real planter’s dinner, served in rough-and-ready style,
+but none the less acceptable, especially the invariable hot tea. Then we
+rode homeward, skirting the dark Kauvandra hills, and passing several
+villages more or less interesting from their situation. It was quite dark
+for the last hour, and we had several difficult creeks and gullies to
+cross, with banks rather like the side of a house; but the horses are so
+steady, and so perfectly used to this sort of ground, that they scrambled
+up and down like cats, and I had only to sit still and wonder what was
+going to happen next.
+
+Finally, we got home all safe, and found that Harry Leefe had arrived
+to take me back to Nananu. He was feasting on roast goat—one which our
+friend Mr Shinnock had most kindly brought over and killed during our
+absence. So we had a capital supper, with true hunger sauce.
+
+And now I may as well say good-night, as we start for Nananu at daybreak.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                     NANANU, _October 21_.
+
+DEAR NELL,—You see I am still here, very much at home, and quite happy. I
+find one becomes greatly enamoured of this sort of life. The weather is
+perfect, and there is a wonderful charm in the little isles, where the
+sea meets one at every turn, and from which we see such lovely morning
+and evening lights. The mainland is just far enough to be glorified; and
+I delight in the wide horizon which encompasses us. Last Tuesday we were
+on the highest ground, overlooking isles and coral-reefs, which intersect
+the blue deep water with lines and patches of vivid green, marking the
+shallows as clearly as if they were drawn on a map. We made a fire and
+cooked our tea in a “billy.”[47] Just as we had finished, H.M.S. Beagle
+hove in sight flying the Governor’s flag; so we hurried back, and arrived
+in time to welcome him and Captain Knollys. They were on their way to
+the camp at Nasauthoko, where Mr Le Hunte is now stationed; and they
+sailed the following morning.
+
+I am delighted to tell you that Mr Leefe is planning another expedition
+for me to the main isle. It certainly is most kind of him to take so
+much trouble, for every arrangement here involves many difficulties; and
+leaving home, even for a day, is very inconvenient. Still I do long to
+see something of the beautiful coast of which we had such tantalising
+glimpses on our way here.
+
+The first plan was, that we should go up by a small trading schooner
+which touched here yesterday, collecting produce; but at the last moment
+one of the precious Angora nannie-goats was found to be very ill, so Mr
+Leefe could not leave her. I regret to say she died this morning—a loss
+of £25, to say nothing of the value of her expected kid. They are such
+pretty refined creatures, and so tame, that we are all quite sad about
+this.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                    NVUNINDAWA ON VITI LEVU, _October 25_.
+
+Well, we have started on our trip. Mr Eastgate kindly lent us his large
+police-boat, manned by a sergeant and four constables. It arrived on
+Monday morning; but the wind was so very stormy that we delayed our start
+till Tuesday, when, taking advantage of the high tide to clear the reefs,
+we came to this village, to meet a friend, who arrived so late that we
+could proceed no further. We found the chief, Ratu Ezikeli, and his wife,
+Andi Thithilia, in possession of the house of Caleb the teacher, while
+their own was being rethatched; but they most courteously insisted on
+giving it up to us.
+
+When we unpacked the box of provisions so kindly prepared by Mrs Leefe,
+we found she had forgotten the non-essentials,—not one cup or plate,
+knife, fork, or spoon, was there. All we could muster between us was my
+pocket-knife and Mr Leefe’s small dirk. We sent a message to the chief
+to ask if he could lend us any cups. He sent us back the only article of
+foreign manufacture he possessed—which was the cover of a vegetable-dish!
+Mr Leefe adopted this as a drinking-vessel; I, being content with a
+smaller allowance, was provided with a cocoa-nut shell. Some pieces
+of bamboo supplied spoons and egg-cups; and with ample store of fresh
+banana-leaves to act as plates, we fared exceedingly well.
+
+Heavy rain came on at night, and our slumbers were much disturbed by the
+restlessness of the boatmen, who were, by way of sleeping, in the house
+(which is of the usual pattern, only one room); but Fijians, as a rule,
+are notoriously restless, and these men have been going in and out all
+night. Now they are making up for it by a long sleep, which is to us an
+unattainable boon. The rain is pouring steadily, and I fear we have lost
+all the fine weather.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       IN THE CHURCH AT NA SAU IN VITI LEVU, _October 26_.
+
+After all, the rain stopped quite suddenly, and we had a most lovely day
+of bright sunshine and beautiful colouring—every distant isle wonderfully
+distinct; in short, just that “clear shining after rain” which the old
+Hebrew poets so fully appreciated.
+
+We sailed at once, and reached Va Via about noon. This is one of the
+places I most wished to see. It is a lovely village close to the sea,
+built on white sand, and overshadowed by great _ndelo_ trees, with tufts
+of rosy tassels constantly dripping showers of pink stamens on all
+around. High dark cliffs enclose this little bay, casting a cool deep
+shadow during the morning and evening hours. To appreciate the delight
+of this, you must realise the heat of a tropical sun. One family there
+live in a cave with only a front fence of wattle and leaves. We found
+the house of Phineas, the village teacher, open, though the family was
+absent; so we ventured to borrow his kettle and were enjoying our tea
+under the dark trees, when his young wife returned and welcomed us
+gracefully. Leaving Mr Leefe to do the civilities, I walked up to the
+ridge which separates beautiful Va Via from this village. From this point
+the coast-view, looking either way, is simply exquisite—especially as
+seen in the radiant evening light. I secured one sketch last night, and
+another this morning; and when you see them, I know you will want to come
+to these lovely isles.
+
+When Mr Leefe rejoined me, we walked down to this village—the boat having
+already gone round to announce our approach. We were at once taken to
+the house of a most horrid-looking old chief. It was so stuffy, and so
+full of people, that we voted it quite unendurable, and adjourned to the
+church, too thankful to know that in so doing we shocked no prejudice
+of the people. It was cool and pleasant, and near the sea; and in its
+stillness we slept as only the weary can, making up for the previous
+night’s unrest.
+
+At sunrise I returned to the ridge and worked steadily till 2
+P.M.—breakfast being brought to me. When I came down I found Ratu
+Ezikeli[48] and Mr Jones, who had arrived by canoe. The latter
+accompanied us on a scramble up the bed of a very rocky stream, which
+was unusually picturesque, from the fact of a very remarkable series
+of waterfalls issuing from under huge boulders: it was suggestive of
+weird German fairy-tales and bottomless caverns. At last we reached
+a table-land of _taro_ fields on a very high level; there I found a
+woman bathing in a most delicious pool, so I halted and joined her—the
+gentlemen finding an equally fascinating bath further on. It was _vinaka
+sara_—that is to say, “very good,” as you may well understand.
+
+Refreshed and invigorated, we continued our wanderings till we came to
+a small village perched on the very face of a cliff—a dizzy site. A
+woman who had carried a heavy burden from the shore up to this point,
+now turned along the path that led round the cliff to her house,—a track
+so precipitous, that albeit not troubled with nerves, I did not care to
+face it. We sat awhile at the village overlooking a sea-view of exceeding
+beauty. While we lingered there, a native climbed up in hot haste to tell
+Mr Jones that the large canoe on which he had shipped all his household
+goods to transfer them to his new quarters, had been swamped on a reef,—a
+pleasant piece of news, which we thought might safely have been delayed
+till our descent.
+
+Returning to the village, where the rocky stream widens as it enters the
+sea, we crossed it in a minute cockle-shell, the smallest boat I ever saw
+in use. It had recently been washed ashore, and a tiny brown urchin was
+in possession of it, and ferried us across, one by one. The last thing
+washed up by the sea was a good waterproof cloak, blown off some vessel.
+
+One of the constables made a stew of salt goat and _taro_ for our supper,
+to which the gentlemen added very good scones of flour and sweet-potato.
+So we fared sumptuously; and now I am going to creep into my tent, which
+is in a corner of the church, so I hope for a peaceful, undisturbed night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                KORO TIKO, IN VITI LEVU BAY, _October 27_.
+
+This time we really are gipsying. I must just write a few lines by
+combined lantern and moonlight.
+
+We left the quiet church of Na Sau very early this morning. A three
+hours’ sail of dreamlike loveliness brought us to Viti Levu Bay, which is
+a blue sea lake, embosomed in great hills; its shores are richly wooded
+in parts, but there is some flat ground where good crops of maize are
+raised, and here and there, are strangely conical hills and broken crags,
+on which villages nestle in most inaccessible places.
+
+First I climbed one hill, and secured a careful sketch of the bay and the
+principal crag, while Mr Leefe went to call on a neighbouring planter, an
+Ayrshire man, who made some money at the diggings, and then settled here.
+Afterwards he took me there, and we were cordially welcomed and urged to
+stay; but I need hardly tell you that in fine weather I prefer any sort
+of camping out to a semi-European house of this description, surrounded
+by swarms of foreign labour. So I contented myself with admiring the
+wealth of golden maize laid out to dry in the open courtyard before the
+house; and then, having obtained leave to camp in a corn-shed beside the
+bay, where we had left our boat, we returned here.
+
+I greatly fear that our landlord is rather hurt at my preferring the
+corn-store beside the sea to his rough bachelor quarters inland, but
+I must hope he will forgive me. The building in question is the only
+one in this part of the bay, and is just a rough wooden shed, in
+which our friend stores his corn ready for shipping. The boatmen soon
+heaped up these sacks so as to leave us each a clear corner, and one
+for themselves. In one of these I hung up my tent as usual—_i.e._, my
+mosquito-net, with a curtain of black waterproof for a door. It is just
+like the little tents we used to make when we were children, and played
+at being gipsies.
+
+Having thus prepared our night quarters, we rowed across the bay to Koro
+Viti Levu (_koro_ means town), and here we found three tiny villages of
+small houses, quaintly perched in every available crevice of the rock,
+and on the summit of a great crag. There are always either a few plants
+of large-leaved banana, tobacco, or sugar-cane—or maybe a flowering
+shaddock, lemon, or hybiscus, with tufts of scarlet or yellow blossom to
+lend grace to these rock-nests, to say nothing of the interest of their
+brown inhabitants, who peep curiously at us as we approach.
+
+I stopped to sketch at the mouth of the Roko Roko river, then we walked
+to the summit of the crag, and across the promontory till we came to a
+cave where we found about a dozen very slightly clad women making great
+cooking-pots, more than two feet deep (some nearer three feet deep), and
+from twenty to thirty inches in diameter. It was a very striking scene,
+as we passed from the glare of the sunlight and of the glittering blue
+sea below us, and turned into this dark workshop. We remained for some
+time watching the women at work, while they chattered to the boatmen
+(the constables), doubtless glad of our visit to break the monotony of
+the day. It was wonderful to see with what skill they modelled such very
+large pots, simply by eye—attaining perfect symmetry, without a wheel or
+any other mechanical aid.
+
+In the cool of the evening we rowed back here, and the men prepared our
+supper, at which the grand centre dish was part of the leg of a young
+pig, which we found had been sent on board yesterday by a considerate
+young planter. While they were so occupied, I went along the shore till
+I found a good bathing-spot, where the roots of a great _mbaku_ tree had
+fashioned themselves into a screen, making an admirable dressing-room—so
+I had a delightful bathe by moonlight.
+
+Now the mosquitoes are becoming so troublesome that I shall be happier
+under my net in the corn-shed, though I quite grudge wasting this soft
+lovely moonlight. How the boatmen, who of course have no nets, can endure
+the mosquitoes, is to me a mystery.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                      NANANU, _Sunday 29_.
+
+We are back once more, you see, and enjoying the peace of a calm, quiet
+day. The stillness here is wonderful and pleasant. How I do hate all
+noise!
+
+We found that many fellow-creatures had also arranged to spend the night
+in the corn-shed. A multitude of rats had been attracted by the maize,
+and held high revel. Happily, however, they only disported themselves
+under the raised wattle-floor on which we and the corn-sacks rested; and
+for my own part, I know I was too weary to mind them, and soon slept in
+peace.
+
+At sunrise we climbed to the summit of the great crag beneath whose
+shadow we lay. It was a steep ascent, but a succession of beauties
+of vegetation and scenery helped us up. Near the top we found two
+villages, one of which was well fortified, in addition to holding a
+natural position of great strength. Only three years ago there was
+severe fighting here between two tribes, which resulted in a massacre of
+about 450 people, most of whom were eaten! Now the last possibility of
+disturbance is over, we believe, for ever; and a lady may wander over
+these hills alone, in perfect security.
+
+At the tiny rock village on the upper crag, the people pointed out a
+huge grave into which, they said, that last year, in the great sickness
+(meaning the measles), they began by throwing in their dead uncounted.
+After a while they did begin to keep count, and from that time till the
+plague subsided, seventy bodies were laid in that one pit.
+
+We descended the hill by another path, very pretty but overgrown; and we
+had to force our way through tall reeds, ginger, and turmeric plants,
+which was hot and exhausting.
+
+In the afternoon we started on our return cruise, and four hours of
+alternate stiff rowing and sailing brought us back here last night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    _November 1_, Sunrise.
+
+Yesterday evening Sir Arthur arrived here in the sixteen-oar barge on
+his return from the war district, where he has had final arrangements
+to make. Now it is to be hoped that the last spark of danger has been
+stamped out. Mr Le Hunte, having finished his work there, returns with
+Sir Arthur, leaving Captain Knollys for the present at the camp. They
+return to Nasova this morning, so I will send my letter to catch the
+mail. Good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    NASOVA, _November 13_.
+
+About three days after I last wrote to you, the little island-steamboat
+suddenly arrived, and an hour later I had bidden adieu to Nananu and to
+the kind friends who call it home. For a few hours we lay off Viti Levu
+bay to take in those identical corn-sacks with which we had become so
+intimately acquainted! The following morning I arrived here, found Lady
+Gordon and the children well, and everything about the place continuing
+to become cosier and more home-like month by month. How it was improved
+since we first arrived! The household pets have received several
+additions—namely, some young Kai Tholos, orphaned by the war.
+
+Yesterday a fine young chief, Ratu Taivita (that is, David), who was
+with Captain Knollys in the mountains, and has ever since been very ill
+from the hardships which he there endured, died. He was very popular,
+and his death is much mourned. It was decided that he should have a
+military funeral, as he was an officer in the native police, and that his
+companions in arms should assemble in force to pay him the last tokens
+of respect. He was buried this morning. I went to the funeral with
+Captain Olive and the Baron. We assembled at his father’s house; and it
+was a fine striking and touching picture that we there saw. Taivita was
+a fine handsome fellow, and he looked grand in death, lying on his mats,
+with dark native cloth thrown over him, and his mass of tawny silky hair
+thrown back almost on the lap of his sister, who sat on the mats at his
+head. The old chief, his father, sat at his feet, as one crushed with
+sorrow. Thakombau’s sons, Ratu Abel, Timothy, and Joe, with another very
+high chief, Ratu Johnny, were the pall-bearers; and the old Vuni Valu
+followed up the steep path which leads to the cemetery, where already so
+many have found a quiet resting-place beneath the tall palms and waving
+grasses. The grave was found to be too shallow, and all had to stand for
+an hour in the burning sun while it was deepened—a trying hour for both
+the father and the old Vuni Valu.
+
+There is a chance of sending letters to New Zealand, so I may as well
+despatch this.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    NASOVA, _December 22_.
+
+DEAR EISA,—There has been nothing special to tell you for a good while.
+Our principal events have been attending a concert in Levuka, given in
+aid of the hospital, and a dance given by the Engineer officers, in
+the old house formerly occupied by the Layards, and now by themselves.
+Happily, being on the sea-level, we were able to go and return by boat.
+Now we are much occupied with our approaching trip to New Zealand. Little
+Nevil has had a very severe attack of influenza, followed by fever. So Dr
+Macgregor has positively decided that the children must not spend another
+hot season here; and we are to start immediately for Khandavu, our
+outermost isle, which lies far to the south, and where the three Pacific
+mail-steamers continue to call every month, and tranship their passengers
+for San Francisco, New Zealand, and Australia, although under protest.
+So they have kept us on tenter-hooks for a year already, expecting that
+each month would be their last call—a very inconvenient condition. Even
+now, though the mail is due on Christmas Day, no one is sure that she
+will call, in which case we are to go all the way to New Zealand in the
+very uncomfortable little island-steamer, Star of the South. One thing to
+which we look forward with positive delight, is the prospect of once more
+seeing carriages and horses, and being able to enjoy comfortable drives.
+Do you realise that for more than a year we have not heard the sound of
+wheels![49] I believe the Engineers have imported a few wheelbarrows,
+which the Fijians at first carried about with great care. These are the
+only wheeled vehicles in the group. As to telegraphy, we have a sort of
+dim recollection that something of the sort exists, but it will be many a
+long day before its imperative messages reach us here.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+    START FOR NEW ZEALAND—EXTINCT VOLCANOES—SIR GEORGE GREY’S
+    TREASURES—TREE-KANGAROOS.
+
+
+                 AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, _Sunday Night, December 31, 1876_.
+
+All best greetings to you, one and all. We arrived yesterday in New
+Zealand, and it is now 10 P.M. on New Year’s Eve. We had to leave
+Nasova on Christmas Eve (Sunday), but not till the afternoon; so we had
+the pleasure of seeing our poor little church all transformed, by the
+help of great tree-ferns and palm-fronds, and a moderate amount of red
+cloth—simple but very effective decoration. The palm-fronds especially
+are invaluable, as one on each side of an arched window does all that is
+required.
+
+After luncheon we embarked—our party consisting of Lady Gordon, Jack
+and Nevil, Mrs Abbey and the Portuguese nurse, Mr Maudslay, and myself.
+The cabin was such an uncomfortable little hole that only the children
+were condemned to sleep there, while we preferred remaining on deck,
+notwithstanding some rain-squalls. We reached Khandavu on Christmas
+morning, and found a very fine large American steamer, the City of
+Sydney, waiting for the arrival of the mail from San Francisco, which
+was to give her the New Zealand passengers, and go on to Australia. Our
+little steamer did seem like a pigmy as we ran alongside of the great
+mail-steamer, with her clear deck, allowing an unbroken walk of about 300
+feet.
+
+We went on board at once, and the jovial old half-caste stewardess told
+us that on the last trip they carried 250 cabin passengers, besides an
+immense menagerie. We somewhat dreaded the probability of so huge an
+influx, and anxiously awaited the arrival of the San Francisco mail.
+She came, and a few moments later up went the yellow flag. Dr Mayo had
+found a case of suspected small-pox, so of course quarantined her at
+once. After the frightful scourge of measles, brought on by allowing
+one infected Fijian to land, you can quite understand that quarantine
+regulations are strict. Great was the excitement and discussion. The
+Australia wanted to give us all the New Zealand passengers, but our
+captain happily stood firm, proving that such a course would result in
+both ships being quarantined, and none available for the mail-service
+next month. So it was decided that both should go to Auckland. Our great
+ship was literally empty, and consequently very dull. We sailed at the
+same moment as the Australia, and though far apart, kept alongside of one
+another the whole way, and never saw another sail.
+
+Yesterday at dawn we neared Auckland, and the Australia slipped quietly
+into quarantine harbour, the poor fellow who was ill having settled
+all doubts by dying the previous day. He was buried at sea. Two fresh
+cases have also appeared. It is very trying for all the passengers,
+whose families are here, expecting them for the New Year. Meanwhile we
+came calmly to our anchorage; but as no one in Auckland seemed capable
+of realising that two steamers had arrived, and that we were not also
+in quarantine, no friends came to meet us; so we found our way to the
+principal hotel, which is not much to boast of, and is at present
+crowded for the races. However, the landlady managed to stow us away in
+a series of pigeon-holes, and I then found my way to the post-office,
+where I was assured there were no letters for any of us, but, after much
+perseverance, succeeded in extracting an enormous budget, including
+twelve home letters for myself, which kept me busy all the rest of the
+day.
+
+Our first impressions of Auckland are not imposing. It is a town of
+moderate size, now in a transition state from the wooden-house period to
+the brick era. What chiefly strikes me is, that even at this time of the
+races it is so quiet and orderly, scarcely a symptom of drink, and every
+one looks so comfortable and so tidily dressed.
+
+As yet I have seen no one who looks poor. Yet, on the other hand, we
+see no symptoms of wealth, such as met us at every turn in Sydney. But
+then, I fancy, all the rich people live down in the southern provinces,
+Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, which, I fear, we shall not be
+able to visit. From what we hear of financial difficulties in these
+parts, we are beginning to think that our poor little Fiji is, after all,
+not so exceptionally pauperish. Imagine this young colony having already
+contracted a national debt of upwards of twenty millions! But she follows
+the example of her mother, and bears the burden very cheerfully.
+
+To-day, being Sunday, I have been at two English churches, each having
+surpliced choir and bright Christmas decorations. This morning just in
+front of me sat a body of native police, Maoris. They are fine strapping
+fellows, like very good specimens of Englishmen, only a shade darker; but
+their captain, a very handsome man, is richly tattooed on both cheeks
+with dark-blue lines, like moustaches. They are the first coloured race
+I have seen who can assume the broadcloth of civilisation without being
+thereby hopelessly vulgarised. I am also much struck by the beauty of the
+Anglo-Maori half-castes, all previous experience in other lands having
+led me in a great measure to sympathise with the aversion commonly felt
+towards mixed races, who so often unite the worst characteristics of
+both. Here this rule seems to be reversed, and I am told that the mixed
+race is as superior intellectually as it is physically.
+
+At this season there are a large number of Maoris in town, attracted
+by the annual gifts so freely dispensed by the English Government. All
+the men are picturesque, and enliven their civilised costume by some
+touch of bright colours: a brilliant scarf, thrown round the hat or the
+shoulders, lends something of Spanish grace to the wearer. But hats
+trimmed with loads of commonest artificial flowers do not look in keeping
+with the shock of unkempt hair overhanging the great dark eyes, and long
+green-stone ear-rings of the girls, whose lips and chins are disfigured
+by curves of dark-blue tattooing. Many of them wear bright tartan shawls;
+and all seem sensitive to cold, for they are much wrapped up, even on
+these hot midsummer days.
+
+I have been amused at watching the meeting of several parties of friends.
+Their form of salutation is neither kissing, as in Europe, nor smelling
+one another, as in Fiji, but they press their noses together, which to
+our unaccustomed eye looks truly absurd.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                               _New Year’s Morning, 1877._
+
+I had written so far when my candle went out, so I sat in the dark
+listening to a real piper in the distance playing “The Campbells are
+Coming.” Then the clock struck midnight, and the Volunteer band marched
+down the street playing cheerily; and many bursts of anything but music
+arose on every side, proving the lungs of the people to be in exceedingly
+good condition.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                             DEVONSHIRE HOUSE, HOBSON STREET, _January 8_.
+
+We moved into these lodgings as soon as possible, and have had some
+pleasant drives and walks. Auckland lies, as it were, in a cluster of
+extinct volcanoes. The largest and most perfect specimen is Rangitoto—a
+great triple cone rising from a base of black lava, very rough and
+uninviting. The principal crater, near the town, is now known as
+Mount Eden, and its steep grassy slopes are dotted with pleasant
+English houses. On its summit there are still traces of the old Maori
+fortification, in artificially levelled terraces, surrounding the deep
+crater, in which a whole tribe might lie concealed in case of attack.
+I sat on the edge of the crater, and sketched the town looking towards
+three volcanoes. The country all round is dotted with these, but most of
+them are insignificant little hills. Of course they give great interest
+to the town, but it is not pretty, though the harbour is pleasant. It
+reminds me of some towns in the south of England, with the addition
+of a good land-locked harbour. All the beauty lies further south. The
+primeval forest which formerly clothed this now barren land has wholly
+disappeared. What the woodman’s axe spared has been swept away by
+ruthless burning.
+
+To-day we are going to stay with Sir George Grey on his island-home at
+Kawau. Mr Whittaker, who is now Prime Minister, has offered Lady Gordon
+the beautiful Government steamer Hinemoa, to take us there. On our way we
+are to call at the Wai Wera hot springs, which are much celebrated as a
+cure for rheumatism and other ailments. But though they lie in a pretty
+bay, the waters themselves have been imprisoned in baths; and a large
+hotel is built close by to accommodate a hundred patients.
+
+I am told, however, that there are some marvellously beautiful geysers
+and terraces of natural baths somewhere in the Maori country, not very
+far from here. I have not yet met any one who has seen them; for, as you
+know, people never do go to see things near home, but I hope to find my
+way there ere long.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                   ISLE OF KAWAU, TWENTY MILES FROM AUCKLAND, _January 9_.
+
+Yesterday morning Mr Whittaker came to escort us on board the Hinemoa,
+which brought us here in great comfort, to receive the most cordial of
+welcomes from kind Sir George Grey. I suppose you remember that he was
+Governor here many years ago, and proved himself the stanch friend, both
+of the Maoris and of the white settlers; then he was made Governor of the
+Cape of Good Hope (where he arrived just after Roualeyn returned from his
+lion-hunting).
+
+After this he was a second time appointed Governor of New Zealand. And
+so dearly does he love both the country and the people, that, when
+his term of office had expired, he bought this charming island, built
+a regular English house, and devoted himself to making it a little
+Paradise—an effort in which nature readily seconds him, so kindly does
+this good foster-mother (New Zealand) adopt every living thing, animal or
+vegetable, that is brought to her care.
+
+So palms and pines of many sorts here grow side by side, with all kinds
+of indigenous hard wood; hops and vines festoon orange-trees, while
+mulberries and loquats, apples, quinces, pears, and strawberries, all
+flourish. Peaches, apricots, and figs grow into luxuriant thickets
+wherever they are once planted, and bear fruit abundantly. Flowers are
+equally luxuriant,—and one tithe of the care bestowed on a garden in Fiji
+is here rewarded by a glow of blossom: sweet-peas, jessamine, mignonette,
+and many other wellnigh forgotten delights, make the whole air fragrant.
+
+The house stands at the head of a lovely little bay, and only a
+green lawn and a belt of tall flowering aloes intervene between
+it and the shore. This bay, like all the shores of the isle, is
+fringed with large trees, called by the Maoris Pohutakawa—_i.e._, the
+brine-sprinkled—because it loves to outstretch its wide boughs over
+the salt sea; but the English settlers call it the Christmas-tree,[50]
+because it invariably blossoms at Christmas-time, and boughs of its
+scarlet flowers take the place of holly in church-decoration. When in its
+prime, each tree is one mass of glowing scarlet; and the effect of its
+flame-coloured branches overhanging the bright blue water, and dripping
+showers of fiery stamens in the sea or on the grass, is positively
+dazzling. Already the first burst of colour is passing off, but enough
+remains to give marvellous beauty to the shores.
+
+The house is like a cosy old English home—every room wood-panelled,
+and full of strange treasures from many lands. Good old engravings and
+pictures; wonderful specimens of old Maori carving; weapons and robes
+of all sorts, including rare feather-cloaks; precious objects from the
+Summer Palace, including a jade-tablet, which was a page in the Emperor
+of China’s genealogy; priceless ancient gold jewels from Mexico; the
+stone-axe of the greatest monarch of the Sandwich Isles; and, strangest
+of all, some beautiful old china, which for the last two centuries has
+lain at the bottom of the sea, and has now been rescued from a vessel
+which was sunk off the Cape two hundred years ago. In the delightful
+library of carefully selected and valuable works are many old manuscripts
+of the greatest interest, including about fifteen bound volumes in Arabic
+character, but written in some dialect of Central Africa which is as
+yet unknown. These are an Ancient African history. Sir George knew of
+its existence, and advertised for it when he was Governor of the Cape.
+Many years afterwards, a case containing the volumes was brought to him
+by a man-of-war, whose captain stated that a fine old Arab gentleman
+at Zanzibar had brought it on board, and made him understand that it
+contained manuscripts which he had succeeded in rescuing from the
+interior. Only think what strange historical mysteries may one day be
+solved, when some Arabic scholar shall take to dialect-hunting in Central
+Africa, and return competent to read these now sealed books!
+
+The children are in Paradise, racing about and finding pets of every
+sort, all at large,—gold and silver pheasants, and multitudes of common
+ones. As to skylarks, the whole air seems musical with their lovely
+warble. I can hardly realise that they, like the too abundant thistles
+on the mainland, are all imported from Scotland. Last night we strolled
+up to the dairy—a nice clean English dairy. The path lay over swelling
+pasture-land—just like Sussex downs—with sheep and cattle feeding. After
+so long a spell in Fiji, where grass generally means tall reeds, meeting
+far above your head, the mere fact of walking over short meadow-grass is
+charming; and then to sit on it, watching the sun set over the sea, and
+listening to the
+
+          “Busy crowd
+    Of larks in purest air.”
+
+carried me right back to Gordonstown, and our own green hills overlooking
+the Moray Firth. This is the purest air you can imagine. It is just warm
+enough to be pleasant, and slightly bracing, but not too sudden a change
+from the tropics.
+
+I have just come in from an exquisite walk with our kind host. He does
+love this island, which he has beautified with so much care, and has been
+showing me all manner of interesting things. Amongst others, in a quiet
+glade of most carefully preserved native bush, we saw a large number of
+lovely little tree-kangaroos, of which Sir. George imported the first
+pair from New Guinea, and which have already multiplied exceedingly. They
+are small animals, as beautiful as they are rare, with the richest brown
+fur, and when feeding in the grassy glades you would naturally mistake
+them for hares; but at the faintest sound they sit upright, and standing
+on their long hind-legs, they bound away with a succession of leaps, and
+reappear springing from bough to bough, and peering cautiously from among
+the dark foliage.
+
+Besides these squirrel-like beauties, there are large numbers of common
+kangaroos, or wallabies, as they are commonly called; and herds of
+Indian elk, fallow deer, and even red deer, roam at large. Mr Maudslay
+looks forward to some pleasant days of pheasant-shooting, and also in
+pursuit of wild cattle and wild pigs. As to the wallabies, they are
+almost beneath the dignity of a true sportsman—so very deliberate is
+their strange leaping retreat, and so frequently do they pause to gaze
+wistfully at him. I believe that even these are imported animals, and
+that New Zealand, like Fiji, possessed literally no indigenous quadrupeds
+except a small rat. There are some specimens of the wingless birds still
+living on this isle as in a haven of refuge; and amongst the house
+treasures, there is a skeleton of the great extinct moa, which is like a
+gigantic ostrich.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                             _January 12._
+
+To-day we have had quite a novel excitement. A large party of Maoris
+arrived in half-a-dozen good English boats. They were fishing for
+sharks—not the common shark, though it also haunts these seas, but a
+small kind, rarely exceeding six feet in length, which they dry for
+winter food. As all the Maoris come here on the most friendly terms,
+Mr George (married to Sir George Grey’s niece) took Jack, Nevil, and
+myself on board their biggest boat. They had already caught upwards of
+fifty, which were thrown into the hold, and we saw ten more, caught with
+bait. When hauled in, the sharks receive a violent blow on the nose,
+which apparently kills them at once. In some seasons the Maoris catch as
+many as 15,000 off this island, and they take them to a small isle in
+the neighbourhood where they hang them up to dry; you can imagine how
+fragrant the atmosphere becomes! Mr George tells me he has seen a wall
+three hundred feet long, and at least six feet high, of this unsavoury
+winter store.
+
+Of course to me this glimpse of true Maori life has been most
+interesting. Afterwards the fishers came to see Sir George, for whom they
+have a great affection and respect, and with good cause. His knowledge
+of their language is said to be quite perfect. He has collected a great
+number of their old songs and legends, and published them; and now a sect
+called Hau-Hau, who have thrown off their early faith in Christianity,
+and made up an amalgamated religion for themselves, read this book in
+their churches as being the Maori Bible, and more edifying to them than
+the legends of Syria.
+
+It is so strange to hear Sir George tell of all the changes he has seen
+here since the days when he selected the sites of the settlements, each
+of which is now a great city—Christchurch for the English Church party,
+and Dunedin for the Scots. When he first knew the latter it was the home
+of one old sailor. Later he visited the place and found a flourishing
+village. After fifteen years, when he returned from the Cape of Good
+Hope, about 7000 people came out several miles to meet him, and took
+him by a back way to the great town hall, built on the site where first
+he had pitched his tent; then they led him to the front, where he was
+received by upwards of a thousand well-dressed ladies.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                      IN AN OLD MAORI PAH, KAWAU, _Sunday, Jan. 28, 1877_.
+
+DEAREST EISA,—The day is so lovely that I have brought my writing up to
+this pleasant old fort, and am sitting on the grassy top of a yellow
+sandstone cliff which rises sheer from a sea so clear that, as I look
+over the precipices, I can see the white-breasted cormorants (the
+_kawau_) dive for fish, and swim after them under water for ever so far.
+The only symptom of fighting which remains on this peaceful spot is a
+deep ditch which runs round the land side; but every marked headland
+hereabouts has been a _pah_ or fort, where in old days tattooed warriors
+fought to the death. Those on this island were noted pirates, and at
+last all the neighbouring tribes united to destroy them. It is peaceful
+enough now, but matters are by no means over secure on the mainland.[51]
+
+The state of things existing in this country ts most extraordinary.
+Imagine that, within twenty miles of Auckland, there is a vast tract of
+land on which no white man dare set foot. Only outlaws, murderers, and
+suchlike, are there allowed to take refuge, and justice cannot touch
+them. Sometimes out of respect to Sir George, they will give a personal
+friend of his permission to travel through the country; but when he sent
+Mr Maudslay up last week, they turned him back.
+
+A number of them come here to consult Sir George upon various matters.
+Most of them are very fine men; and what particularly strikes us is
+seeing how well they look in comfortable woollen suits. I believe the
+Maoris always did wear plenty of clothes—at least large blankets,
+beautifully made either of flax or _kiwi_ feathers. When Mr Maudslay
+was in their country last week, he showed them a number of Fijian
+photographs, at which they looked with keen interest; but were much
+shocked by the undress of the girls, which, they remarked, was even worse
+than that of the ladies at the Government House balls!
+
+The climate here is delicious: each day is like a very lovely English
+summer, or like our coolest days in Fiji. Indeed our life here is much
+the same as if we were living on one of the Fijian isles,—just as
+isolated and self-contained.
+
+Only once a-week does a steamer call with the mails, and great is the
+excitement it occasions. All the families living on the island (numbering
+about six, gardener, carpenter, shepherds, and labourers) assemble on the
+beach with all their babies. The six house-maidens, three of whom are the
+daughters of one of the resident families, also turn out. They wear neat
+cotton dresses, and large straw-hats, trimmed with white muslin and black
+velvet; and very nice and simple they look. Sir George extends to all his
+people the same genial cordiality and genuine kindness by which he makes
+us feel so thoroughly at home here. His one wish is that all should enjoy
+this little paradise of peace and beauty as much as he does himself. So
+every girl in the house is allowed two hours’ walk every afternoon, and
+the whole of Sunday afternoon; and once a-week they have a dance, to
+which they invite the few swains within reach, and have a very lively
+evening. Most of their fathers own a bit of land somewhere, and they will
+probably marry small landowners.
+
+Such a sad thing happened quite lately on the mainland just opposite
+here. A young man had just received his bride elect from her parents,
+and the two started alone to ride to Auckland (distant about twenty-five
+miles), there to get married. In the dusk he struck a match to light
+his pipe. His horse reared, threw him down a bank, and he was killed
+instantly. The wretched girl had to ride on alone till she reached a
+house, where she found people, who returned with her to rescue his body.
+Certainly the dwellers in thinly-peopled districts have to face many a
+rough bit on their path through life.
+
+As to ourselves, life goes on very peacefully, and very pleasantly. We
+explore all the lovely bays and the little valleys and headlands, and
+admire the care with which every natural advantage has been preserved and
+fresh beauties added. Certainly this is a paradise for acclimatisation;
+and in a very few years it will be hard to guess what is indigenous and
+what imported. There are pines and cypresses from every corner of the
+globe; Australian gums; silver-leaved trees from the Cape; and all manner
+of fruit-bearing trees, planted for the enjoyment of all alike. And
+these mingle freely with all forms of hardwood peculiar to New Zealand,
+notably the stately _kauri_ pine (_Dammara australis_), which is peculiar
+to the province of Auckland, and very similar to the _ndakua_ pine of
+Fiji; and neither of them would at the first glance be recognised by the
+unlearned to be pines at all, their foliage being small oblong leaves,
+and their cones insignificant; their stem is perfectly upright. There is
+an indigenous palm here, called the _nikau_, a species of areka; and the
+green dracæna (_Cordyline australis_) flourishes on all moist soil. The
+settlers call it the cabbage-tree, though its cluster of long handsome
+leaves crowning a tall stem is nowise suggestive of that familiar
+vegetable. The Maoris call it the _ti_ tree—by which name the whites,
+in common with the Australian blacks, call a scrubby shrub, somewhat
+resembling juniper or gigantic heather, which to the Maoris is known
+as _manakau_. Its foliage consists of tiny needles, while its delicate
+white blossoms resemble myrtle. It grows in dense thickets, and spreads
+so rapidly as to cause endless trouble to the settler who endeavours to
+convert the hillsides into such pleasant slopes of English grass as those
+which here appear so perfectly natural, that I could at first hardly
+believe them to be the result of patient toil.
+
+Just below the headland where I am now sitting, there are tufts of
+handsome green flags. This is the precious New Zealand flax (_Phormium
+tenax_). Its handsome stalk of red blossom (fully ten feet high) is a
+special attraction to the bees; and great are the treasures of wild honey
+to be dug out of the banks, by wily hunters. The long leaves of this flax
+are nature’s ready-made cords and straps, so strong is the fibre, and
+so readily do the leaves split into the narrowest strips. At the base
+of each leaf there is a coating of strong gum, which, I believe, is the
+chief difficulty in employing machinery in the manufacture of this flax,
+so as to render it a profitable article of commerce.
+
+As to tree-ferns of many kinds, their luxuriance is not to be surpassed.
+In some deep shady places I have seen them growing stems fully thirty
+feet high; while other green gullies are wholly overshadowed by great
+fronds which on the under side gleam like silver. Imagine the delight
+of losing yourself in such a dream of loveliness, and perhaps coming
+suddenly on a thicket of figs or peaches, loaded with ripe fruit! Then
+wandering homeward through the meadows, by the course of a sparkling
+brooklet, and gathering mushrooms and water-cresses in abundance, while
+overhead the larks are singing in chorus.
+
+Another luxury is the abundance of oysters. The island has a coast-line
+of about thirty miles, along which lie a succession of oyster-beds. Not
+content with covering the rocks, they grow on the lower branches of the
+beautiful “brine-sprinkled” _pohutakawa_ trees, which literally dip into
+the sea. And so we sit beneath their shadow and knock the oysters off
+with a sharp stone, and have feasts which any epicure might envy; for
+the oysters are of excellent flavour. I own that at first I did feel
+considerable repugnance to this method of eating my fellow-creatures
+(which certainly seemed near akin to the Fijian taste for eating various
+small fish alive); but having once been induced to try it, I plead guilty
+to being now foremost at every oyster picnic, being fully satisfied
+that the interesting mollusc must be devoid of nerves, and of all
+consciousness of the pleasures of existence!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                            _February 13._
+
+I must tell you about a wonderful effect of phosphorescence which I
+have seen on the last two nights while looking down from my window
+to the lovely little bay. On Sunday the 11th there had been violent
+thunderstorms, with vivid lightning and downpours of rain, leaden skies,
+and a bright-green sea. So heavy were the rain-storms that the whole bay
+was discoloured by the red mud washed down by the streamlets—a strange
+contrast to its usually faultless crystalline green. I chanced to look
+out about 11 P.M., and saw the whole bay glowing with pale white light;
+and fiery wavelets rippled right up beneath the trees and round the
+rocks, which stood out sharp and black. The effect was of a sea of living
+light, and as I beheld it, framed by dark trees, with tall flowering
+aloes cutting black against the dazzling light, it was a weird and
+wonderful scene. For about ten minutes I watched it entranced, then it
+slowly faded away, and the scene was changed to dense obscurity. Last
+night I looked out at the same hour, and saw nothing but darkness, but
+about midnight I was awakened by a deafening crash of thunder, followed
+by heavy rain. I guessed this would stir up whatever creatures caused
+the strange pallid light. Perhaps they are disturbed by the rain-drops,
+or perhaps they receive a small electric shock which starts them all
+dancing. Whatever be the cause, the result proved as I expected. Ere I
+could reach the window, the bay was illuminated by tiny ripples of fire,
+which gradually increased in size and number till all was one blaze of
+glowing dazzling light. This lasted for about five minutes, and then died
+completely away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                                _March 4._
+
+The Fiji mail has brought us most sad news—namely, the death from
+dysentery of Mrs Macgregor, the last remaining of our original
+sisterhood. I was with her the very day we left Levuka, and within
+six weeks she had passed away, leaving one wee lassie, little Nell,
+about three years old, also an older boy in Scotland. It seems such
+a little while since we watched Mrs de Ricci pass away from the same
+dread illness. And now we hear that Mr Eyre is very ill at Nasova, and
+that he must be sent here on sick-leave as soon as he can be moved.
+Colonel Pratt was invalided some time ago, and has been for some weeks
+in Auckland. Sir George invited him to come here, and we expected him by
+several successive steamers, but each time he was too ill to come; once
+he fainted twice in one day. Certainly he ought not to risk returning
+to Fiji. It seems too foolish—and poor Mrs Macgregor’s death is a
+terrible warning of how little resistance to dysentery can be made by a
+constitution when once enfeebled by the climate, and Colonel Pratt has
+long felt it to be trying and exhausting.[52]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+    GOLD MINES—A NEW CITY—NATIVE DEFENCES—KAURI FOREST—A HARD
+    RIDE—KATI KATI—TAURANGA GATE PAH, AND CEMETERY—OHINEMUTU—A
+    VOLCANIC REGION.
+
+
+                        GRAHAMSTOWN, THAMES GOLD-FIELDS, _March 23, 1877_.
+
+MY DEAR ALEXA,—You see I have struck quite a new line of country—very
+different to peaceful Kawau, which we left a fortnight ago, returning to
+Auckland for a change. Now Lady Gordon and the children have once more
+gone back to the isle, but I determined to see something of the country,
+so in the first instance came here to see real gold-diggings. Five hours
+by steamer brought me to this great baby town, where kindest welcome
+awaited me in the home of Captain Fraser, the warden of the gold-fields,
+an Inverness man, who has lived out here for many years, and is immensely
+respected. His wife comes from Fife, and I find we have several friends
+in common. Though a gentle little lady, she must be a woman of rare
+pluck, for all through the Maori war, when her husband had contracts for
+commissariat, &c., she herself had, in his absence, to superintend all
+the farrier and blacksmith work, do what she could to prevent the men
+from drinking (in which task she was often unsuccessful), and look after
+the packing and despatching of a whole regiment of pack-horses. She had
+also to keep all the accounts, and attend to many other matters. At other
+times she was left quite alone—that is, with only one maid-servant, and
+was warned every night that it would probably be her last. These are the
+sort of incidents you gather in those new countries, in the history of
+lives that seem so quiet!
+
+I am amused to find that the gold-fields here are really great rocky
+mountains, and that there is not a scrap of level ground in the place,
+except what has been artificially constructed. So, after all, I have
+not found my way to “the diggings” as I supposed. I find that term only
+applies to the alluvial gold-fields, where gold has been washed down from
+the mountains. Here it is all embedded in quartz-veins running through
+the rocks, and needs hard work to get it out.
+
+Eight years ago this place was all wild New Zealand bush—the mountains
+densely wooded to the shore. Now not a tree remains (save those planted
+in gardens); and the well-scraped hills are all burrowed, as if a colony
+of rabbits had been at work. When first gold was found here there was a
+grand rush, and this great town sprang up. Then it fell off; but within
+the last three weeks such a quantity of gold has been found in the
+Moanatairi mine, that the place is once more in a ferment, and large
+fortunes have been lost and won in a day over mining shares.
+
+Of course I went to see the lucky mine. We had to walk along a main
+tunnel, three-quarters of a mile long, all lighted with gas, and the
+whole roof sparkling with tiny green stars—the lamps of a very ugly
+worm (not our glow-worm). From this main tunnel shafts descend to the
+different mines, and, in some cases, side drives diverge. The latter,
+being easier of access, suited me best, and answered the purpose as well.
+I went into various burrows, where the men were hard at work—generally
+two in partnership; and some nice lads worked extra hard (with pickaxe)
+to try and find a scrap of gold for me.
+
+Then we went to see the batteries where the quartz is crushed and the
+gold extracted by various processes (all this by mighty machinery).
+But the most powerful of all is the huge pump, whose shaft is 650 feet
+deep, and which pumps all the mines. The water deposits silica in such
+quantities that the great tubes are coated every few days with an
+incrustation about an inch thick, that has to be removed with a chisel.
+
+A good deal of the gold can only be got by pounding the quartz till it
+becomes white mud (through which quicksilver is run to amalgamate the
+gold). Then the quicksilver is boiled and distilled, and it passes off
+in steam, leaving the gold pure. The gold is brought to the bank to be
+melted again and made into bricks. I was there yesterday when 12,000
+ounces were brought in, in six lumps larger than a man’s head. They had
+to be broken up with wedge and sledge-hammer, into pieces small enough
+for the melting-pot, out of which the red gold was poured, when liquid,
+into moulds, already greased—or rather oiled—which oil blazed up; and
+then the mould was cooled in water, and the golden brick produced.
+I said red gold,—for so it looked when melted; but the bricks are
+sickly-looking, owing to the amount of silver in the ore—30 per cent.
+
+So much for the gold which has produced this big baby town; but the
+town itself astonishes me most, as the growth of eight years—a large
+town, stretching along the shore for two miles; and apart from the huge
+batteries and chimneys and mining buildings of all sorts, it is quite a
+pleasant town,—great part of it built on land actually reclaimed from the
+sea by the mining-stuff thrown out (clean quartz and sandstone). Every
+miner has a nice house and garden, quantities of fruit and flowers, and
+generally a tidy wife and family.
+
+On Sunday all work stops, and the whole population turn out, well dressed
+and orderly. There are churches of every conceivable denomination—all
+well filled. The Church of England, where we were on Sunday, is large and
+handsome, with a £300 stained-glass window. A very fine naval reserve
+corps, and a military cadet corps, were present (all miners); and there
+is a strong volunteer corps of Scotchmen (also miners). Altogether, I
+never saw a more satisfactory community than this big baby mining city;
+and having the beautiful sea is such an advantage—steamers always coming
+and going. I cannot help comparing the advantages of life in New Zealand
+with those of poor colonists in Fiji: why, in the matter of house-rent
+alone,—Captain Fraser bought this pretty house, with good garden and
+grounds, for £400; whereas at Levuka the Havelocks were paying £218
+a-year rent for a much smaller house, with no garden to speak of.
+
+Captain Fraser has just told me that he will make arrangements to enable
+me to ride across country into the wonderful volcanic district which I am
+longing to see. My luggage will return to Auckland by one steamer, and go
+thence by another steamer to Tauranga, where I shall find it, so I can
+only keep as much as can be strapped to my side-saddle. When the plan was
+first suggested, I was told the tracks would be impassable and the ride
+impracticable; but Captain Fraser says that if I can stand some rough
+work, I can do it well enough. So he is taking no end of trouble to plan
+a pleasant expedition for me, and make my way easy; he will lend me his
+own horses, and is writing to his friends all along my route to request
+them to show me hospitality, and act escort from one point to the next.
+
+So next Tuesday I am to go by steamer up the river Thames to Ohinemuri,
+and thence ride to the house of Mr Allom, who is here now, but returns
+home to-morrow, and who will put me up for a night; and next day he and
+his daughter will ride with me to Kati Kati, a new Irish settlement of
+colonists from Belfast, headed by Mr Vesey Stewart. The colony includes
+one Englishman—namely, Arthur Fisher, Bishop Eden’s grandson! How I do
+stumble on home-links everywhere! He is to be electrified by a telegram,
+requesting him to meet us at the ford and guide us over. How astonished
+he will be!
+
+All further stages of the road are planned with equal care, so I have the
+prospect of a very delightful expedition.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    KATI KATI, _March 29_.
+
+... I must tell you about my journey here from the Thames gold-fields.
+First, three hours in a capital little steamer, the Te Aroha, up
+the lovely river Thames, passing through forests of the white pine
+(_kahikatia_), with shapely blue hills beyond, and the banks of the river
+fringed with lovely vegetation—New Zealand flax, convolvulus, tree-ferns,
+masses of sweet-brier (imported), and splendid weeping willows, also
+imported, but now growing more luxuriantly than I ever saw them do in
+England. And here and there rich pasture-land and many cattle feeding,
+mostly the property of the Maoris, for we were now passing through lands
+reserved by the natives, and saw many of their villages.
+
+We reached the steamboat’s destination at sunset, when the hills were
+crimson and purple, and had the luck to see a real native _pah_ which
+the inhabitants have just fortified, to prevent a hostile tribe from
+coming up the river. It was nothing to look at, only reeds and posts, but
+interesting of course. All the wild unkempt women came out to look at me,
+and we waved hands. Lucky for me that we were safe out of nose-rubbing
+distance! The civilised Maoris have taken to European ways in every
+respect—have English houses, carriages, &c.; even dressing-tables with
+white muslin covers and pink lining!
+
+At the landing-place I was met by Mr Allom. One of Captain Fraser’s
+horses had been sent for me; I have my own excellent saddle, and we had a
+lovely moonlight ride of about five miles along the beautiful Ohinemuri
+river (that means “the girl I have left”). I received most cordial
+welcome from Mrs Allom, a handsome pleasant lady (none the less so for
+many years of severe roughing), and the mother of a large family. They
+are now living in a rough wooden shanty, and themselves doing all their
+cooking, &c., in the one living-room. They made me most comfortable; and
+at break of day Mrs A. was astir, quietly and unaffectedly, preparing
+a capital breakfast (having fed the horses herself at 4 A.M.), and
+at 7 A.M. Mr A., his eldest daughter, and I, started to ride here—a
+twenty-five miles’ ride, which became twenty-eight by our having to make
+a long circuit round a swamp, as the foot-track which we were following
+crossed an innocent-looking creek, in which the foremost horse got
+hideously bogged.
+
+Our first mile lay through the most exquisite tract of bush I have
+ever seen anywhere, though my experience in tropical isles has made
+me somewhat fastidious in this matter. But here nature seems to have
+surpassed herself, as if rejoicing in her own loveliness, so artistic is
+the grouping of varied foliage and clumps of delicate tree-ferns, and so
+rich the undergrowth of all manner of humbler forms. I saw some clusters
+of tree-ferns whose stems were nearly forty feet high, and matted with
+luxuriant creepers. These just touched by gleams of sunlight, stealing
+through the dark masses of foliage overhead; groups of the tall _matai_
+and _rimu_, the red or white pine, mingling with the various kinds of
+hardwood. You cannot conceive anything more lovely. Imagine my disgust
+on hearing the practical comment of a settler on this dream of beauty:
+“Oh yes, that block has been reserved for firewood!” implying that all
+the now dull country round was equally beautiful till it was “improved”
+by wholesome burning, to facilitate clearings. Such is the march of
+civilisation in all lands!
+
+On the hills just above us lay a magnificent forest of the giant _kauri_
+pine, which is found only in this northern part of the north isle. It is
+a noble tree, its tall upright stems standing ranged like the pillars
+of some grand cathedral. It is so highly prized for timber that it is
+largely exported both to the southern isle and to Australia, consequently
+vast tracts which but a few years ago were primeval forest are now
+utterly denuded. It is from the scrub-land where these forests once stood
+that the precious _kauri_ gum is dug up in large clear lumps like amber.
+They are found within two feet of the surface, and are supposed to have
+been formed by the melting of the resin when the forests were burned.
+
+High up on the mountain-side lies the new gold-field, “the Ohinemuri,”
+only started two years ago. We could see the tiny tents and huts of the
+gold-miners, most of whom have their wives and families with them. It is
+a most romantic site for a camp, and one which I would fain have visited.
+The quartz is brought down thence by tramways to the batteries, which are
+placed further down the hill; and hard labour it has been to drag all
+that heavy machinery even so far, over hill and dale, through difficult
+bush, without even the semblance of a road. Such a gold-camp as this
+would be far more in keeping with our ideal, derived from Bret Harte,
+than the civilised city of Grahamstown, so I greatly regret that this was
+not included in my line of march; nothing could have been simpler, as my
+friends Captain Fraser and Mr Allom are in command of the whole.
+
+As it was, I wistfully turned away from the exquisite fern paradise
+and the dark _kauri_ forests, and then commenced a long ride across
+uninteresting plains bounded by commonplace hills. Towards noon we
+overlooked the seaboard, and paused to learn our day’s geography from the
+vast map outspread below us, the horses, meanwhile, feasting on a kind of
+veronica, a shrub with purple blossoms, evidently highly appreciated. We,
+too, were conscious of having breakfasted at an unwonted hour, but could
+find no cool shady spot where we could halt for luncheon, till we reached
+a Maori settlement on the sea-coast.
+
+Thence our way for the last few miles lay along the beach, on broad
+beautiful sand, with the wavelets rippling right under the horses’ feet.
+It would have been most enjoyable could we either have gone leisurely,
+or unburdened. But as it was, we had to hurry on, in order to cross a
+wide tidal creek at low tide, and already the tide was on the turn. So
+we had to keep up a hard swinging gallop, and (being as yet a novice
+in the arts of bush-travelling, in a land where there are no patient
+coolies ever ready to run miles and miles with luggage) I was encumbered
+with a heavy travelling-bag insecurely strapped to the pommel—sketching
+materials ditto—opera-glasses keeping time against my side, and a large
+umbrella, which I dared not open, though the sun was burning. Having
+to hold on to all these, and keep up our unflagging pace, was to me
+desperately fatiguing, and after all, we reached the creek too late,
+and there was nothing for it but to wait patiently at the little lonely
+telegraph-station for a couple of hours, when Mr Field, the civil young
+clerk, offered to row us to our destination (four miles).
+
+This proved fortunate, for the hard gallop in the sun had exhausted me,
+and all in a minute I turned giddy and unconscious, which would have
+been awkward had we been half-way across the wide, and at all times
+unpleasant, ford; as it was, I was all right in a few minutes, and Mr
+Field made me lie down in his wee room till it was time to start, when we
+had a lovely moonlight row, and landed here—all three, total strangers—to
+find that Arthur Fisher and our host and hostess were all alike absent.
+But we were most hospitably received by two sweet lady-like girls under
+thirteen, and five sons, the youngest a dear little fellow of four,
+with a kind good nurse. It had been intended that we should continue
+the ride to Tauranga to-day, but when I found it was forty miles, and
+no resting-place by the way, I cried off, and am going down the lake
+(twenty-five miles) by boat. Mr Allom and his daughter will return home
+from here.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                             OHINEMUTU, _Easter Day 1877_.
+
+Two years, this morning, since we sailed from Marseilles! This is not
+very like Easter Day, but is certainly novel. I might say, not suggestive
+of heaven so much as of the Inferno, for the land on every side of us
+is but a thin crust, through which boiling springs burst up in every
+direction, and clouds of hot steam rise from every tuft of ferns or
+tempting bit of foliage. Each spring seems to differ from all the others
+in the character of the water—the mineral qualities I mean; so when they
+have been duly analysed, there will be some to suit every complaint under
+heaven. Even now many people have been cured by them of long-standing
+rheumatism—but it is not safe to be the first to experimentalise. Not
+long ago two gentlemen determined to try all the springs in succession,
+and at last one of them became paralysed. However, it is safe enough to
+indulge in the usual regulated baths, in which you can remain as long as
+ever you please; and very delightful they are—no matter how tired you may
+be, you seem to come out all right. The regular thing, however, is for
+the whole population, of both sexes, to bathe together in the warm mud,
+and then swim about in the cool lake: and white gentlemen are apt to be
+rather startled when a dusky damsel swims up to them and offers a whiff
+of her pipe!
+
+But I must take up the thread of my story where I left off—namely, the
+voyage down the lake from the Irish settlement at Kati Kati to Tauranga.
+It was in a small boat, rowed by one old man. He accepted me as a “pal,”
+and told me off to steer, and didn’t he just keep me in order! But owing
+to the tides and the mangrove-swamps, which had to be avoided, it was
+4 P.M. before we were able to start, and it was 12 P.M. ere we reached
+Tauranga, and my poor old boy was so exhausted that he could not row
+round to the pier, so landed me on a mud-swamp half a mile off. Luckily
+it was a bright moonlight night, and so bitterly cold that a walk was
+quite a pleasure, though a good deal of it was ankle-deep in mud; so we
+left my saddle in the boat till morning, not without some qualms on my
+part, and started to find the house of Mrs Edgecumbe, to whom I had been
+consigned by Captain Fraser. Of course, the house was shut up, and I felt
+rather shy of walking up and knocking at such an hour. Happily my host
+was a light sleeper, and answered instantly; and in a second a cheery
+English maid welcomed me, took me to the kitchen and warmed me, by which
+time my host was dressed, and fed me with all good things. His wife had
+gone to Auckland with a sick child. They had arranged that Arthur Fisher
+was to be on the watch for me—on the pier—till all reasonable hours had
+passed. And there he actually did wait till 2 A.M., which, however, I
+did not know till next morning, when he came to escort me over the town
+of Tauranga, which has a deep interest, as the scene of one of the most
+dreadful fights with the Maoris—that of the Gate Pah, where so many
+English officers were killed. I found in the very picturesque cemetery
+the names of various men I knew. It is a lovely spot by the sea, and
+lovingly cared for—a green headland, where bright blossoms bloom beneath
+the shelter of English willows, and scented geraniums grow in wild
+profusion among the rocks.
+
+This was on Good Friday, and Arthur and I had naturally intended going
+to church; but we found closed doors, the parson and his people being
+in a curious state of antagonism. In Auckland all church services are
+elaborate, and the two bishops were holding mission services, but I
+cannot say the country districts seem very well cared for. As concerns
+the Maoris (who began by being as warm Christians as our Fijians now
+are), a vast multitude who, previous to the war, were apparently most
+reverent and devout, have now a profound contempt for the white man’s
+religion: and so, having either banished or murdered their teachers,
+they have invented new religions for themselves—strange compounds of many
+creeds, mingled with most utter absurdities. But even such as continue to
+be Christians now seem to be deserted by their teachers, and the churches
+stand empty. Even to-day—Easter—there has been no service in this large
+settlement.
+
+At Tauranga I was able to hire a good bush-carriage and strong four horse
+team, with relay, for the forty miles’ drive. Most of it lay through
+the bush, but its beauty has been destroyed by the wholesale felling of
+the tree-ferns, whose black stems are closely laid as sleepers across
+the worst parts of the very worst bush-road I ever saw. It seemed a
+more cruel misuse of these lovely plants than even the Fijian custom of
+employing them largely in house-building. Here, from their low estate,
+many of the forgiving plants put forth fresh fronds, and the muddy road
+was fringed with a border of tender green.
+
+On arriving here I found two tidy little hotels, and decided to stay at
+Mrs Wilson’s, where I have received the utmost hearty kindness, and am
+very well cared for. There are three ladies and some gentlemen staying in
+the house, for the sake of the healing waters.
+
+Ohinemutu is a native settlement on the shores of Lake Rotorua, situated
+in the very midst of boiling springs of every variety. As you look down
+on the village you catch glimpses of the little brown huts appearing
+and disappearing through veils of white vapour. The whole country round
+seems to be steaming, and every step requires caution lest you should
+carelessly plunge through the thin and treacherous crust of crisp baked
+soil, into unknown horrors that lie below. If you thrust a walking-stick
+into the ground, the steam immediately rises from the opening thus made.
+At every few steps you came to a boiling pool, often wellnigh concealed
+by a fringe of rare and delicate ferns of the most exquisitely vivid
+green—a peculiarity shared by all the plants which flourish in this
+perpetual vapour-bath. In some places a greenish gelatinous or slimy
+vegetable substance grows in the crevices of the rock where the boiling
+spray constantly falls. It belongs to the family of algæ, and ranks
+low in the scale of organisation. The marvel is, how any form of life
+can exist in such a temperature. It is the salamander of the vegetable
+kingdom.
+
+Here, as in every other volcanic region I have visited, I am struck by
+the exceeding coldness of springs and streams lying close to boiling
+fountains,—a system of hot and cold water baths which the Maoris
+readily adapt to use, by leading a small conduit from each to a rudely
+constructed tank, in which they can regulate the temperature by turning
+on the hot or cold stream. Some of the ordinary bathing pools, which
+are not thus artificially cooled, are so responsive to the influence of
+the north and east winds, that while these blow the temperature rises
+from 100° to 190°, and bathing becomes impossible till the wind changes.
+Very often the wind blows from the north-east every morning for weeks
+together, and dies away at sunset, when the water (which at noon had
+reached boiling-point) gradually becomes comparatively cool.
+
+The natives consider these luxurious baths to be a certain cure for all
+manner of ills. And so they doubtless are; but, as each pool differs
+from all its neighbours in its chemical combinations, it follows that
+bathing here at random must be about as unsafe, though decidedly not so
+unpleasant, as tasting all the contents of a chemist’s shop by turns. But
+a certain number of the pools have been so long tried by the Maoris that
+their beneficial results are well proven; and many sufferers, chiefly
+those afflicted with rheumatism, are carried up here totally helpless,
+and in most instances derive immense benefit from drinking and bathing in
+these mineral waters.
+
+Of the many thousand hot and cold springs which bubble around us in every
+direction, a limited number only have as yet been analysed, but these
+prove that the various chemical combinations are practically without
+number, no two pools being alike. All the mineral waters of Europe
+seem to be here represented—Harrogate and Leamington, Kreutznach and
+Wiesbaden, and many another—so that doubtless ere long this district
+will become a vast sanatorium, to which sufferers from all manner of
+diseases will be sent to nature’s own dispensary to find the healing
+waters suited to their need. There are mud-baths, containing sulphate
+of potash, soda, lime, alumina, iron, magnesia, hydrochloric acid,
+sulphuric acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, silica, and iodine. Other springs
+contain monosilicate of lime, of iron, manganese, chloride of potassium,
+of sodium, sulphate of soda and of lime, silica, phosphate of alumina,
+magnesia, chloride of potassium, oxide of iron, and various other
+chemical substances. I believe that carbonic acid has not been found; but
+small quantities of lithium, iodine, and bromine are present in almost
+every instance. In some cases iodine is found in considerable quantities,
+notably in those springs to which the Maoris chiefly resort for the cure
+of skin diseases.[53]
+
+All the ordinary cares of housekeeping are here greatly facilitated by
+nature. She provides so many cooking-pots that fires are needless—all
+stewing and boiling does itself to perfection. The food is either placed
+in a flax basket, and hung in the nearest pool, or else it is laid in a
+shallow hole and covered with layers of fern and earth to keep in the
+steam. In either case the result is excellent, and the cookery clean and
+simple. Laundry-work is made equally easy. Certain pools are set aside in
+which to boil clothes; and one of these, which is called Kairua, is the
+village laundry _par excellence_. Its waters are alkaline, and produce a
+cleansing lather; and they are so soft and warm that washing is merely a
+pleasant pastime to the laughing Maori girls. No soap is required. Mother
+Nature has provided all that is needful: sulphate of soda, chloride
+of potassium and of sodium, enter largely into her preparations for
+washing-day.
+
+My good landlady has had a bitter grief connected with her laundry-pool.
+About two months ago her youngest child toddled down the garden and fell
+in, and was so terribly scalded that it died immediately. I have heard
+several other cases of grown-up people and horses falling into boiling
+caldrons, but it seems to me marvellous that such accidents do not happen
+daily, so vague are the little paths, and so numerous the dangers.
+
+Even the narrow neck of greensward where the dead are laid in their last
+sleep is all steaming, and boiling springs bubble round the graves. We
+paused beside the grassy mound which marks where the little child was
+laid. There are no headstones to tell who lie there, but the place is
+marked by great wooden posts, with rudely carved heads, which at one
+time formed part of a noted _pah_, the greater part of which, however,
+has subsided beneath the lake. Only a few very fine pieces of quaint,
+grotesque, old Maori carving lie about the place, rotting on the ground;
+and none dare carry them away, for their ownership is disputed, and the
+place is _tapu_.
+
+The walls of the native council-house are entirely covered with this
+grotesque carving—hideous figures, with faces much tattooed, and oblique
+eyes of the Mongol type, formed of iridescent pearl-shell, but this is
+all modern work, and less elaborate than that of olden days, when time
+was not so marketable, and skilled labour more abundant.
+
+But I think the true village councils are held in the open air, where
+the favourite lounge is an open space rudely paved with large stones,
+which, by imprisoning the steam from some of the boiling springs, become
+pleasantly heated; and here the grave fathers of the hamlet love to
+recline, wrapped in their blankets or flax cloaks. Of course it is still
+more luxurious to sit up to your neck in a hot mud-bath, but it would
+not do to stay there all day. Some people prefer sulphur-baths, and
+these they can have to their hearts’ content within a short distance, as
+there are real sulphur-pools giving forth the most horrible fumes: and
+the ground all round is primrose-hued, being thickly incrusted with pure
+sulphur.
+
+But I believe that sulphur is found more abundantly at Tiritere, on the
+shores of Rotoiti, a beautiful lake, only separated from Rotorua by an
+isthmus half a mile in breadth, and likewise surrounded by chemical
+springs and bubbling mud-pools.
+
+Each of the little hotels has its own natural hot baths, in which it is
+the height of luxury and repose to lie for an hour or so at night after
+a hard day’s scramble. But, as I before said, the Maoris have no idea
+of such solitary enjoyment. To them bathing is a social delight, to be
+indulged in at all times and seasons, especially in the evenings, when
+young men and maidens, old men and children, assemble in the lake, which
+is pleasantly warmed by many hot springs. Certain pools are the special
+playgrounds of the children, and it is a most amusing sight to see these
+brown water-babies disporting themselves by the hour. They swim like
+fishes, as do also their elders, an accomplishment inherited from their
+beautiful ancestress, the lovely Hinemoa. She was the daughter of a grand
+old chief, whose tribe lived near the shores of this lake, and who would
+not suffer her to marry her heart’s choice, whose name was Tutenekai,
+and who lived on the island of Mokoia, in the middle of Lake Rotorua.
+They drew up all the canoes lest she should be tempted to go to him; and
+as the island is nearly four miles distant, they never dreamt that she
+would attempt to swim. But love triumphed. One night the sound of his
+lute came floating over the lake, and, determined not to be baffled, she
+took six hollow gourds and fastened them to her shoulders, three on each
+side. Then she fearlessly plunged into the dark waters, and swam till
+she was exhausted. Buoyed up by the gourds, she lay still and rested a
+while, then with renewed strength she swam onward, guided by the sound of
+the lute, and at last landed in safety. But having left her robe on the
+mainland, she shrank from appearing before her lover in the garb of Eve,
+so she hid herself in a warm spring, and there after a while he found
+her, and wrapped his cloak around her, and took her to his home, where
+she became his wife, and the mother of children beautiful as herself. And
+to this day her descendants are noted for their comeliness and for their
+clear olive complexion; and they love to tell the tale of how Hinemoa
+swam across the lake in the dark moonless night. On the Horo Horo ranges,
+on the road to Taupo, they point out a tall rock which bears her name.
+
+This island of Mokoia was formerly strongly fortified, and was the scene
+of bloody fights between the Arawa and Ngapuhi tribes. Here, for greater
+security, the Arawas kept the symbol of their worship, which was merely
+a lock of human hair, twined round a rope of paper mulberry bark. It
+was treated with deepest reverence, and kept in a house of most sacred
+wood, thatched with _Manga Manga_, a lovely climbing fern, similar to
+the _Wa kolou_, or god fern, with which the Fijians used to adorn the
+ridge-pole of their temples. Both Maoris and Fijians are remarkable for
+an almost total absence of any outward and visible representation of the
+gods whom they worshipped, so this curious symbol possessed especial
+interest. The sacred lock of hair came to grief in A.D. 1818, when the
+_pah_ was captured by the Ngapuhi tribe, and the god of the conquered was
+ignominiously tomahawked.
+
+I am now in the heart of a tract of marvellous volcanic country which
+extends from the great Lake Taupo to the sea-coast, and reappears at
+Whakari or White Island, about twenty-eight miles from the land, thus
+forming a volcanic chain extending over 150 miles. White Island, which is
+only about three miles in circumference, is itself an active volcano, and
+though the crater is not more than 860 feet above the sea-level, it sends
+forth volumes of steam which in calm weather are estimated to rise to a
+height of 2000 feet. Smaller geysers and hot sulphureous lakes cluster
+round this centre; and although some scrubby vegetation has sprung up, no
+living creature is here found.
+
+As seen from the sea, the shores of the island are apparently rich green
+meadows, but on nearer inspection these prove to be composed of pure
+crystallised sulphur: and the whole land is so heated that it is scarcely
+possible to walk over it. I have seen some beautiful specimens of sulphur
+which had been brought from there, resembling lumps of primrose-coloured
+rock.
+
+At the farther end of the volcanic chain lies the great Lake Taupo,
+which is about twenty by thirty miles in extent, and beyond which rises
+the sacred mountain Tongariro, an active volcano, vomiting fire and
+smoke from the cinder-cone, which rises dark and bare from a base of
+perpetual snow. Its height is 6500 feet, but it is overtopped by Ruapehu,
+the highest point in the island, one of its three snowy peaks rising to
+upwards of 9000 feet.
+
+Geologists suppose the bed of Lake Taupo to have been one vast crater;
+and it seems probable that it has some subterranean outlet, from the fact
+that the lake receives a much larger supply of water than that which
+it discharges by the Waikato river, which flows through it. The Maoris
+dare not approach the sacred isle in the centre of the lake for fear of
+an evil dragon which dwells there, and swallows every rash canoe that
+presumes to draw near,—a legend from which some infer that there really
+is a whirlpool there, caused by the rush of water down the old chimney
+of the crater. A great part of the lake is hemmed in by basaltic cliffs,
+rising sheer from the water about 700 feet, and quite inaccessible. Over
+these dash mountain torrents, which fall in silvery spray. The lake is
+ofttimes swept by sudden storms, and its angry waters make a gloomy
+foreground to the grand mountains beyond.
+
+The country between Mount Tongariro and Lake Taupo is all intensely
+volcanic; and the dark-green scrub which clothes the hills is dotted
+by columns and wreaths of steam, rising from thousands of boiling
+springs—those in the neighbourhood of the Waikato river falling over
+its rocky banks in seething cataracts, and depositing in their course a
+bed of white stalagmite, which adds greatly to their apparent size. At
+certain seasons these geysers are more active than at others. There is
+one which has been said to eject water with such violence as to swamp
+canoes at a distance of 100 yards; and another, the steam of which is
+visible at a distance of fifteen miles.
+
+Below the lake, on the Waikato river, is the Tewakaturou geyser, which
+used to throw water right across the river—130 yards—but is now nearly
+quiescent, and only gives a sobbing gasp and spout every few minutes,
+throwing up a splash of scalding water, as if it would drive away the
+ruthless thief who tries to steal “specimens” of its work. The geysers
+thereabouts are so numerous that from some points you can count from
+sixty to eighty columns of steam in sight at one moment; and at the
+point where the Waikato enters the lake there are upwards of 500 pools,
+either of boiling mud or boiling water; while the neighbouring mountain
+of Kakaramea seems to have been so thoroughly steamed as to be little
+more than a soft mass of half-boiled mud, with scalding water and steam
+issuing from every crevice. A tribe of Maoris were once rash enough to
+build a village near here, but it was overwhelmed by an avalanche of mud,
+and all the inhabitants perished.
+
+There is a Maori settlement in the midst of a very wonderful group of
+springs and terraces at Orakei-Korako, on the Waikato river, and the
+little brown huts are actually built on the mounds of white silica, with
+apparently no thought of danger. Chemical deposits of all sorts have
+stained the earth and rocks with every conceivable hue—copperas-green,
+ferruginous orange, the delicate primrose of sulphur, and every shade
+of salmon and pale rose colour, deepening to dark red, appear in marked
+contrast with the dazzling white silica and the dark-green scrub. Both
+the river-bank and the terraces are fringed with deep stalactites,
+streaked with these varied hues.
+
+Near this point there is a fairy-like alum-cave. The entrance is veiled
+by tall silver tree-ferns, growing in rank profusion; and the red walls
+of the cave are incrusted with pure white alum, deposited from a pool of
+the loveliest light-blue warm water. This place is about forty miles from
+Ohinemutu and thirty from the village of Taupo, which stands on the shore
+of the lake.
+
+Taupo is quite a large settlement, and possesses two hotels, a
+post-office, and even a telegraph. About two miles off lie a group
+of springs, which it is intended to treat as a sanatorium. They are
+Government property, and the land around them is fertile, and is laid
+out in gardens and grass fields. A picturesque blue river flows near,
+between steep crags, finely wooded: the descriptions of the spot are
+most attractive. One very singular boiling pool is known as the Witches’
+Caldron. It lies in a circular hollow in the river-bank, about thirty
+feet above the stream. The water is pure blue, but every shade of orange,
+brown, green, and red appear on the rocks around it. Heavy clouds of
+steam are constantly thrown up with a roaring noise.
+
+It matters little in what direction you travel in this weird region,
+fresh wonders reveal themselves on every hand. If, instead of taking
+the coach-road to Lake Taupo, you prefer riding there, you may follow a
+bridle-path along the Paeroa valley at the foot of a range of boiling
+mountains. Literally the whole Paeroa range is a boiling mass of
+chemicals, so thinly crusted over, that the most foolhardy adventurer
+dare not attempt to climb it, for even what to the eye appears solid
+ground, is all crumbling and brittle as pie-crust, from the constant
+action of internal steam, and all manner of gases. Sulphuric acid,
+sulphur and sulphuretted hydrogen, rise in intermittent clouds from the
+whole surface of the range, which, from base to summit, is covered with
+patches of yellow, grey, white, and red, which tell of solfataras and
+fumaroles, mud-pools and sulphur-banks. Some of the boiling springs take
+these colours, and the water of one is bright yellow, while the next
+is clear green. Many are fringed with purely tropical ferns, but the
+ordinary vegetation of a New Zealand bush contrives to flourish on the
+lower slopes of the range, and even fringes the Waikato river, which is
+quite hot.
+
+There is a road all the way from Tauranga to Lake Taupo, and thence
+to Napier, with coaches running weekly; and I regret more than I can
+express, not having allowed myself time to make this expedition, and
+to see all this marvellous region thoroughly. I could easily have left
+Kawau a little sooner had I realised the amazing interest that awaited
+me here—as it is, I dare not linger, for those aggravating Pacific
+mail-steamers vow that they will call at Fiji next month, positively for
+the last time. They have kept us thus on tenter-hooks for a year—never
+knowing from one mail to the next whether our letters would be dropped
+or not. About five months ago, when Mr Gordon had been sent here on
+sick-leave he hurried back much too soon, in order to catch the very last
+chance. You know how, three months ago, we came to Khandavu, scarcely
+venturing to hope the big steamer would call, and now we are told that
+if we choose to be ready to return by next mail we shall be dropped
+at Khandavu. How we are to get from there to Levuka will be the next
+question, as it is a long day’s steam, and now poor little Fiji possesses
+no steamer of any sort or kind! She cannot afford even to hire the little
+steamer which she had when we came away.
+
+So, much as we shall regret leaving New Zealand so hurriedly, we dare not
+lose this opportunity, as the option of going all the way to Sydney, on
+the chance of a steamer from there to Levuka, is not tempting. Therefore
+I must be satisfied with seeing the chief objects of interest in the
+neighbourhood of Rotomahana, “the hot lake,” round which are concentrated
+wonders of every description.
+
+I do not know what link exists between the Maoris and the Fijians, but
+some of the words in common use sound to me strongly akin. For instance,
+the name of the river which receives the hot springs is Waikato. In Fiji,
+boiling water is _kata kata na wai_—surely the two are identical? The
+ovens in which food is cooked are just the same as Fijian ovens, except
+that when the fire has been kindled, and the stones heated, a wet mat
+is laid over the red-hot stones, and over that a layer of green fern;
+then comes the food, and next another layer of fern, over which water
+is thrown, and the whole is quickly covered up with earth to prevent the
+steam from escaping. I must say our Fijians are immensely superior to
+these people in the matter of house-building. The Maori _wharries_ are
+wretched dirty little hovels, from which every breath of air is carefully
+excluded: being built actually on the ground, they are necessarily damp,
+and, in a rainy season, must be swamped, as there seems no attempt at
+drainage. They contrast very unfavourably with the clean comfortable
+Fijian houses, built on well-raised foundations, in which we have lived
+so happily. I think that to have to claim a night’s shelter in a Maori
+_wharry_ would be quite as uninviting as to be driven to accept the
+hospitality of a very poor Highland bothy.
+
+The people are alike in their love of smoking. Here men, women, and
+children smoke incessantly. They grow their own tobacco, and carve their
+own pipes from a sort of white stone found in this neighbourhood. I am
+glad the Fijians are content with the little cigarettes, which the girls
+twist up in bits of banana-leaf.
+
+I am to start for Rotomahana to-morrow morning, and return here just
+in time to catch the steamer at Tauranga. I hear there are some very
+curious sulphur-springs, white cones, and mud-baths at a place called
+Whaka-rewa-rewa, about three miles from here, so I am just going off to
+see them. I have borrowed an execrable side-saddle from a Maori girl,
+having left my own at Tauranga, and have hired a horse for the afternoon.
+Sissie Wilson, daughter of my landlady, is going with me—she rides a
+man’s saddle. I am told that in January and February the principal
+geyser at this place throws up a column of water from forty to fifty
+feet high at intervals of eight minutes, but I fear it will probably
+be as sleepy as the great geyser here, which is sometimes very active,
+but is now at rest. Many of these fountains are intermittent. Sometimes
+groups play alternately, at other times periodically, at intervals
+of so many minutes. These geysers seem to be strangely influenced by
+atmospheric changes. Captain Mair, whose headquarters are at Ohinemutu,
+has made careful observations of these phenomena. He says the geysers
+at Whaka-rewa-rewa are most active when the wind blows from the west or
+south-west, when they frequently throw up a fountain fifty or sixty feet
+high. From 7 to 9 A.M. and from 3 to 4 P.M. are their working hours,
+while the noontide is almost invariably a time of rest. There is one
+geyser known as the Bashful Geyser (Whakaha-rua) because it only begins
+to play after dark.
+
+10 P.M.—It is something to be able to say that I have returned here
+safely, for, indeed, exploring such a country as this is “no canny.”
+Certainly, I thought to-day that we were nearing the infernal regions.
+This morning I thought the springs here were fearful and wonderful,
+but they are nothing compared with those we have seen this afternoon.
+The great fountain refused to play, but I was fascinated by the white
+marble-like cones from which it and its smaller neighbours spout. They
+are like frozen snowdrifts, or heaps of gigantic wedding-cakes, from
+ten to twenty feet in height, with a thick coating of iced sugar. This
+is caused by the white silica, which is constantly deposited by the
+falling waters, rising from a funnel in the centre. To-day the geyser
+was so quiet that we were able to peer down into its depths, and could
+hear the water bubbling and boiling far below; but such prying is at all
+times rash, for at any moment a column of scalding water may shoot far
+overhead, and give one a shower-bath not to be quickly forgotten.
+
+These silvery cones seemed to be veined with gold, for each tiny
+air-tube and fissure is incrusted with sparkling crystals of sulphur,
+very tempting to touch, but hazardous—as the invisible steam rushing
+through them is more scalding than that from any larger surface. In the
+midst of the gleaming white cones there is one which is pure yellow,
+being altogether composed of sulphur, though a thin treacherous crust
+of black mud has partly overspread it, luring the unwary to step on to
+very dangerous ground, which is apt at any moment to give way. The most
+remarkable of these cones and basins are clustered round, and on, a
+little hill, and I soon scrambled to a higher level, to sketch the whole
+group, in spite of the remonstrance of a picturesque Maori, who seemed
+to have some dim idea that he could exact payment for allowing me this
+privilege. He was accompanied by a little girl, with a tiny toddling
+brother, the latter hugging a kitten in his small arms. It is a strange
+home in which to rear a family, but all seem strong and healthy. They
+live in a little _wharry_ close by, where they offer mineral specimens
+and petrifactions for sale.
+
+All along the Puaranga creek there are literally hundreds of geysers,
+solfataras, and boiling mud-pools, varying as much in temperature as in
+chemical properties. In two basins lying close together the thermometer
+registers respectively 185° and 55° Fahr.; and the colour of the water
+is equally diversified, varying from emerald-green or the clearest
+turquoise blue, to delicate rose or bright yellow, according to the
+character of the decomposed rock which chances to find itself in the
+great subterranean boiler. Some of the jets hiss and roar with deafening,
+bewildering noise; and, as the pools of black boiling mud gurgle and
+bubble, a feeling of creeping dread comes over one lest the ground should
+give way, or one’s foot slip, and so one should be engulfed in a grave of
+such unspeakable horror.
+
+I passed on from one new marvel to another, grieving to leave any corner
+unexplored, not knowing what strange beauties might lie hidden by each
+dark clump of bush; and yet fully warned that every step off the beaten
+track was fraught with real danger. But not till sunset could I turn
+away from scenes so fascinating—and then, oh dear! how hateful was the
+ride home on the Maori child’s saddle! I wished I had had courage to try
+riding like my companion. However, once here, a blessed remedy awaited
+me in the delicious natural hot bath, in which I have lain for the last
+hour, and forgotten all my aches and bruises, and now need only a good
+night’s rest to be quite ready for to-morrow’s journey in search of
+scenes still more wonderful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+    BEWILDERING NEW SURROUNDINGS—THE MAORI DRAGON—BREAKFAST AT
+    WAIROA—THE MISSION-HOUSE—THE HOT LAKE—WHITE TERRACES—SULPHUR
+    AND MUD VOLCANOES—AN UNJUST CLAIM RESISTED—CHAMPIONS FROM THE
+    ANTIPODES.
+
+
+                    IN A TINY TENT NEAR THE WHITE TERRACES, ROTOMAHANA,
+                              _Tuesday Night, April 3, 1877_.
+
+Now indeed I have found a land of wonders, such as, I fancy, has no
+equal, unless perhaps in the volcanic region of Hawaii, which, from all
+descriptions, must stand pre-eminent.[54] But all that I have seen
+here is truly amazing, and much as I had heard of it, the reality far
+surpasses my expectations. It is heaven and hell in alternate glimpses,
+so marvellous are some beauties, so dread the horrors.
+
+I can hardly persuade myself that it is only four days since I left
+Tauranga, so infinitely varied are all the new impressions which hour by
+hour have crowded upon me. I seem to have lived in a bewildering maze of
+steam and steam-power gone mad—columns of steam puffing up from every
+bush, steam roaring as though all the engines in Europe were bellowing
+and snorting simultaneously, or steam rising in quiet mists and wreaths
+as it is now doing even in this tiny tent which the Maoris pitched for us
+on what they knew to be one of the very few safe spots. Yet even here the
+steam is rising through the ground; the sheet of American cloth, which I
+laid beneath my blanket, is wrinkled like the hands of a washer-woman,
+though our tent is floored with thick layers of fern and _manukau_, and
+the paper on which I am writing is quite damp, as is all my drawing-paper.
+
+We have stood by to watch volcanoes being created, and then as quickly
+destroyed—volcanoes of mud and volcanoes of sulphur; we have watched
+geysers of every sort, active and quiescent, playing in green pools and
+in blue pools; and, above all, we have walked up and down, all over the
+wondrous marble stairways, till their loveliness has become a familiar
+thing; and oh, wonderful new sensation! new possibility in luxury!
+we have bathed in those perfect marble baths, selecting from among a
+thousand, the very pool of the exact temperature and depth that seemed
+most pleasant, and therein have lain rejoicing like true Maoris, till we
+ourselves were coated with a thin film of silica from the flinty water,
+so that we feel like satin, a delight to ourselves.
+
+It is so strange to look out from this little tent and see clouds of
+white steam continually curling up from the thicket of dark _manukau_
+scrub which lies between us and the blue lake, on the other side of
+which rise more dark hills, and another flight of terraces, not quite so
+large as these white ones, near which our tent is pitched, but in some
+respects even more beautiful. They are called the pink terraces, but
+are really of a pale salmon colour. You cannot think how lovely they
+are by moonlight! At the base of these pink terraces there is a great
+sulphur-volcano, which tinges all the land and water near it of a clear
+lemon colour. And from all the dark hills on every side rise columns of
+white steam, telling us how thin is the crust which divides us from the
+wonderful laboratory down below. Everything is so new and strange that I
+hardly know what to tell you first. Perhaps I had better begin in detail
+from the beginning.
+
+I left Ohinemutu at 6 A.M. on Monday morning, and a coach-and-four
+brought me fourteen miles over a road (if I may so call it) like the bed
+of the wildest mountain torrent. How any springs in the world can stand
+it I cannot imagine. We passed Lakes Tikitapa, Roto Rua, and Roto Kahahi
+(the blue lake and the lake of shells).
+
+Lake Tikitapa, which is overshadowed by steep wooded hills, is the scene
+of an old Maori legend, which tells how Tu-whare-toa, the St George of
+New Zealand, here did battle with Taniwha, the great dragon, which he
+conquered, but did not slay, only stipulating that it should thenceforth
+live quietly at the bottom of the lake. So now the only sign of life it
+gives is occasionally to trouble the dead calm of the deep blue waters,
+which rise in crested waves; and strangers think that this is the work
+of the mountain breeze, but the Maoris know that Taniwha is turning over
+restlessly, weary of his long captivity.
+
+We reached Wairoa in time to breakfast at a comfortable well-kept little
+hotel, the present landlord of which is an Irish gentleman of good
+family—son of a general in her Majesty’s army. I sat at breakfast beside
+a private of the armed constabulary, in whom I recognised a member of one
+of the best old families in Suffolk. But having already found my coachman
+of the morning to be an agreeable and well-informed Oxford man, the son
+of an English vicar, who, like many another gentleman out here, has had
+his share of life’s ups and downs, I began to realise that I have reached
+a new world, in which every man must sink or swim on his own merits, or
+his own luck, as the case may be, but wholly irrespective of that of his
+forefathers.
+
+In the village of Wairoa a deserted church and school still stand to
+tell of the zeal of the early converts, whose Christianity proved as
+evanescent as the morning dew. At the outbreak of the war, they hanged
+one of their pastors, Mr Volkner; and the resident clergyman had to fly
+for his life.
+
+Once more I have had the good fortune to find myself in the position of
+friend’s friend, for I had scarcely finished breakfast when Mr Way (to
+whom Mr Edgecumbe had written about me) came to escort me to his pretty
+home, the pleasant old mission station, now, alas! no longer used in its
+former capacity, but still held by a member of the family. For Mrs Way
+was a daughter of the house, born and bred here, loving both place and
+people, and marking with bitter pain the change that has crept over them
+since evil white influence has worked as a poisonous leaven to overthrow
+all the good that Christian teachers had so patiently striven to instil,
+with apparently such good result.
+
+Greatly to my delight, Mrs Way volunteered to accompany me to the lakes,
+and to take with her a small tent, in which we might sleep for two
+or three nights. She herself speaks Maori like a native; and she has
+brought with her a dear old Maori nurse, who has been with her from her
+childhood, and who does our cooking. She also took a share in paddling
+our canoe.
+
+Great was the noise and hubbub which arose when the Maoris learned that
+we purposed going in a different canoe to that which they had already
+determined on sending. No other travellers had arrived that morning, and
+so the whole village was contending for the fleecing of this one lamb.
+Horrible was the din which ensued. A happy thought at length struck Mrs
+Way. She determined to draw lots who should accompany us, and the novelty
+of the proceeding at once restored amity, and a pleasant set of cheery
+good-natured lads fell to our lot. They were all delighted with fate’s
+decision, though well aware that my companion would allow no rum in her
+canoe. The rum is an objectionable feature, which is insisted on as an
+extra in all canoes engaged at the hotel, and which does not tend to
+improve the efficiency of the crew. The Maoris of the district have been
+so thoroughly spoilt by the English, that they are now rapacious to a
+degree, and well it is for me that I have Mrs Way to protect me. I was
+much amused to hear the Maoris all address her by her Christian name—the
+natural result of having all grown up together since childhood.
+
+The canoes are of the rudest description—merely a tree hollowed out—and,
+not being balanced by any outrigger, they are peculiarly liable to
+overturn on the shortest notice. The large canoes carry fourteen or
+fifteen persons sitting single file—two paddles for each passenger. We
+had a row of about eight miles across Lake Tarawara, a very beautiful
+lake at the foot of a mountain of the same name—a truncated cone of
+bare rock 2000 feet high, and so singularly symmetrical that it needs
+small imagination to behold in it the form of a vast tumulus; for it is
+the place of burial of the Arawa tribe, and is held so sacred that no
+traveller is allowed to set foot on it: the Maoris themselves consider it
+strictly _tapu_.
+
+The lake is about five miles wide by seven in length. Its rocky shores
+are fringed with fine old trees, and the whole scenery is delightful.
+We passed close by a rock where custom demands that tribute be paid to
+the Atua or guardian spirit of the lake, to insure fair weather. It is
+an easily pleased spirit, for our offerings were only scraps of our
+luncheon; nevertheless, the weather has continued perfect—no trifling
+matter on such an expedition as this.
+
+At the further side we ascended a creek with rapids, where we found the
+water quite warm; and in a few minutes we reached the hot lake, which
+lies about 900 feet above the level of the sea. I am told that many
+people say that their first feeling on arriving here is one of grievous
+disappointment. This, I confess, is to me incomprehensible, for though
+the general scenery round Rotomahana is not specially striking, it is
+certainly not ugly; and though the surrounding hills are only clothed
+with dark scrubby vegetation, they are relieved by countless wreaths
+of white vapour, marking the site of innumerable boiling springs and
+terraces, and suggesting the points of infinite interest, which lie
+hidden on every side.
+
+The lake itself is very small—not a mile long, and less than half that
+width; and though it appears blue enough when seen from the land, its
+waters are turbid and greenish, and no fish or other creatures live in
+it, as you can well imagine, the boiling springs being as active below
+its surface as on its shores. But an immense number of wild-fowl of many
+sorts breed here, and are jealously preserved by the Maoris, who during
+the breeding season will not allow a canoe to pass up the creek, and
+under no circumstances will suffer a gun to be fired here. They do not,
+however, object to snaring, and the wild duck are so numerous that they
+are easily captured. Oyster-catchers also abound, as do also the Pukeho,
+a large and very handsome blue bird with scarlet head and feet.
+
+On entering the lake, we found ourselves at the foot of the white
+marble terraces, which the Maoris call Te Tarata. I confess I quite
+despair of being able, by any words, to give you such a description as
+will enable you to form a true idea of their dreamlike beauty. They
+are in nature what the Taj Mahal at Agra is in architecture,—a thing
+indescribable—a fairy city of lace carved in pure marble,—a thousand
+waterfalls suddenly frozen and fringed with icicles. Perhaps you will
+best picture it to yourself as a steep hillside, artificially terraced so
+as to form hundreds of tiny fields—flooded rice-fields, such as we see in
+mountainous parts of India, and elsewhere; but the stone-work enclosing
+and sustaining each little lake is of white marble, fringed with
+stalactites resembling the most creamy-white coral, which, if it escapes
+the barbarous hands of tourists, should grow more beautiful year by year,
+as the ever-trickling water drips over it. So rapid is the deposit, that
+fern-leaves and sticks which drop into the water are in a few days so
+thickly incrusted, that they look as if they had been crystallised by
+a confectioner; and sometimes a dead bird falls in, and is apparently
+petrified while its flesh is still quite fresh.
+
+So there are feathers and ferns enough to supply travellers with harmless
+mementoes, if only they would be content with these; but I regret to say
+that the method of proving the rapidity of this deposit which finds most
+favour with the snobs of all nations, is that of writing their names in
+pencil on the smooth porcelain surface, where, within a few hours, it is
+rendered indelible by a thin transparent coating of silica. One crime
+against good taste leads to another; and some ugly scars on the fair
+white surface show where curiosity hunters have taken the trouble to cut
+out and appropriate certain names of note.
+
+To our shame be it spoken, this practice has called forth a grave rebuke
+from the Maoris, who have had a notice printed, in English, imploring
+visitors to abstain from defacing the beautiful terraces, either by
+writing their names or by breaking off stalactites, the slow deposit of
+ages.
+
+The total height of the white terraces is only about 150 feet, and the
+width at the base about 300 feet; but the amount of beauty of detail
+crowded into this space defies description. While some of the terraces
+are so deep and bold as to suggest marble battlements of fairy citadels,
+others resemble gigantic clam-shells, filled to the brim with the
+most exquisite blue water, sometimes tinged with violet, which, as it
+drips from the lip of the shell, forms a deep fringe of the loveliest
+stalactites, generally pure white, but sometimes tinged with other
+colours. Each great shell-like bath partly overhangs the one below it,
+so that in some the bather can find shelter from the sun beneath this
+wonderful canopy with its dripping gems. All the lovely forms of frost
+crystals are here produced in enduring material, which alternately
+suggests rare mosses and fine lace-work, all alike carved in white
+alabaster.
+
+The source of all this beauty is a large boiling pool, situated about
+150 feet above the lake. It is about 30 feet in diameter, and lies in a
+crater of about 260 feet in circumference, enclosing it on three sides
+with steep reddish cliffs, while on the fourth side, whence the marble
+terraces descend to the lake, there is a rocky island about 12 feet high,
+which seems to suggest that the walls of the crater may once have formed
+a complete circle, and have gradually been decomposed by the action of
+steam. By watching the ebb and flow of the boiling waves, it is generally
+possible to reach this island and look into the water-crater. Here, from
+unfathomable depths, wells a fountain of the most exquisite turquoise
+blue, and through the crystalline waters you discern the coral-like
+border which fringes both the inner and outer lip of the great porcelain
+basin which lines the crater.
+
+When the wind blows from the south, the water sinks far down into the
+depths of the crater, and then, instead of the ordinary cream colour, the
+dazzling whiteness of the basin, and of the whole series of terraces,
+is like that of driven snow. At such times you can look right down the
+funnel, which measures about eight feet across: its sides are smooth,
+and as perpendicular as the shaft of a well. But such a sight cannot
+be obtained without risk; for occasionally, without a moment’s notice,
+a vast column of water shoots far into the air, with a tremendous
+explosion, and the whole stairway becomes the bed of one wide waterfall.
+Generally, however, it is pretty safe to venture while the wind is
+southerly. But so soon as it changes, the water rises at the rate of
+three or four feet in an hour, heaving and roaring as it does so, till
+at length it shoots heavenward in a dazzling column sixty feet high and
+above twenty in diameter, and descends in blue ripples which overflow the
+terraces. The ordinary condition of the pool is tolerably equable, and
+only a slight upheaval of the centre, like that of a boiling, bubbling
+pot, marks it as a geyser. Its temperature is about 210° Fahr.; but the
+water gradually cools in its descent, and the basins near the level of
+the lake are comparatively cool. So this wonderful series of shell-shaped
+baths are not only of all sizes and depths, but also of every shade of
+temperature; and the height of luxury in bathing is to revel in each by
+turn, increasing in warmth as you approach the summit, or decreasing as
+you descend towards the lake.
+
+Half the charm of these natural baths consists in the exquisite colour
+of the water, which is a chemical turquoise blue, so vivid that it is
+even reflected on the cloud of white steam which for ever rises from
+the crater. The tone of the sky has no influence whatever in imparting
+this hue, which never varies, and looks strangely incongruous with a
+primrose or daffodil sunset, or when, as this morning, the grey clouds
+were flushed with rose-colour, but not a bit of blue was in the sky.
+Perhaps I may best describe the colour as cobalt dissolved in milk, but
+then it is perfectly transparent, and in some pools the water is tinged
+with amethyst, in others it is like liquid opals. I am quite at a loss to
+account for these varied colours, as all the pools are filled from one
+source, and the lovely cream-coloured basins in which the water lies are
+all formed by the continual deposit from the water itself.
+
+I think the most plausible theory I have heard suggested as to the
+formation of these terraces is, that before the wall of the crater gave
+way, and allowed the imprisoned waters to escape, the hillside was
+clothed with the same scrub of dark _ti_ tree or _manukau_ and fern as
+covers all the country round; but as year by year the fluid flint flowed
+over and incrusted it, the whole became the basis for the series of
+pools, irregular in shape, size, and depth as we now behold them. You can
+imagine readily enough how a shrub like a gigantic heather-bush, thus
+bent forward by the pressure of water, would eventually become the rim of
+a very deep pool, in which swimmers would find ample room to move, while
+reeds and ferns would form only a shallow basin,—a fit bath for children.
+This theory, too, would account for the lip of some basins being smooth,
+or like a coil of rope carved in marble, while others are in just such
+clusters of stalactite as might be formed were a huge _manukau_ bush
+the foundation on which the deposit was commenced. So delicate and
+apparently brittle is this nature-carved lace-work, that at first I felt
+compelled to tread lightly so as not to injure it; but I soon saw that
+this caution was needless, so I now reserve all my care to avoid stepping
+unnecessarily into the hot pools. I need scarcely tell you that such
+walking as this makes short work of the strongest boots!
+
+With the rashness of a “new chum” (which is the colonial term to express
+a very green new arrival), I determined to ascend to the red cliff
+overlooking the crater, much to the disgust of the Maori who had taken
+charge of me, and whose experience had taught him a wholesome dread
+of the thin treacherous crust over which we had to climb. Finding his
+remonstrances were vain, he contented himself with cutting branches of
+brushwood with which to cover the most doubtful spots on which we had
+to tread. This acted in the same manner as huge Canadian snow-shoes,
+in diminishing the risk of the thin crust of soil giving way beneath
+our footsteps. But certainly the peril is greater than I at first
+realised; for the whole rock is so undermined and disintegrated by the
+perpetual action of subterranean steam, that there is always danger of
+its crumbling away on the slightest pressure. When I rejoined Mrs Way,
+she heard my guide tell his companions that it was now their turn to
+escort the rash white woman, but that he would not risk his life again by
+accompanying her on such expeditions.
+
+It seems that not long ago a gentleman persisted in thus exploring,
+though the Maoris positively refused to follow him. In a very few minutes
+a patch of apparently firm grass gave way, and he sank up to the waist;
+most fortunately it proved to be only a steam-hole. However, it was a
+sufficient warning, and he was happily able to scramble out by himself,
+and quickly retraced his steps.
+
+It was difficult to turn away from anything so fascinating as the
+fairy-like white terraces; but my companion told me of other wonders in
+store. So she led me by a narrow path through the low gloomy bush, with
+countless boiling springs bubbling and steaming on every side of us,—some
+so veiled by overhanging ferns as to be dangerously invisible, while
+others throw up jets of water which at certain seasons attain a height
+of from thirty to forty feet—their steam, of course, rising far higher.
+One of these forms a small, clear, sea-green lake, which it lashes into
+boiling waves—literally boiling—and ceaselessly breaking on the shore in
+white foam. The temperature of the pool is 210° Fahr.
+
+A few steps farther our path lay along a high ridge of rock, not two feet
+wide, separating two water-craters. In one lies a dark indigo-coloured
+pool, from which rises an upright column of dazzling white; while on
+the other side the water shoots out in a horizontal jet. Both are
+intermittent, and they play alternately. The colour of the volcanic rocks
+at that point is wonderful. The most vivid metallic gold, chrome yellow,
+green, brown, and red, appear mingled as in some strange patchwork, and
+the whole is traversed by myriad golden tubes of crystallised sulphur,
+through which the scalding steam issues in little white puffs.
+
+The noise of all these roaring fountains was something
+deafening,—vulgarly suggestive of a crowded railway junction, with
+high-pressure engines puffing and blowing on every side. Each moment we
+were enveloped in clouds of steam which hid everything from our view; and
+in places the fumes of sulphur almost choked us. Occasionally there was
+a pause—a moment of awful silence, followed by a subterranean rumbling
+of sulphureous gases, and then came a deafening explosion. It was a weird
+scene, yet so fascinating in its horror that only the recollection of how
+much there was still to see urged us onward.
+
+There are other geysers scattered all over the hill, each having its
+own Maori name, which is generally descriptive—such as “the sighing
+fountain,” “the quiet pool,” “the long water,” &c. Some spout three or
+four times a-day, others at regular intervals of so many minutes.
+
+I believe there are about twenty-five terraces of the same sort as the
+one I have described to you—not on so large a scale, but still of some
+importance; and besides these there are an immense number of smaller ones
+in this immediate neighbourhood. Some of the geysers which produce these,
+occasionally throw up jets to the height of from twenty to thirty feet.
+
+We halted a long time near an intermittent spring, which was playing in
+wild excitement, sometimes from one side of the basin, then the other,
+dashing its boiling waves against the enclosing rock walls with a mighty
+uproar. Sometimes for a few moments it seemed weary, and the clear
+transparent waters lay still and calm; then it uprose more turbulent than
+before, lashing itself into fury, and tossing up jets of solid water to
+a height of from twenty to thirty feet. Not far from this pool, there
+is a singular blowpipe on the side of the hill. It is only about a foot
+in diameter, but from it rushes a ceaseless column of steam, working at
+high-pressure, and shrieking like some distressed spirit.
+
+Still hurrying on through the dark _manukau_ scrub, we next found
+ourselves beside a lake of half-cooled liquid grey mud, dotted all over
+with small mud volcanoes, each a perfect model of Vesuvius. From every
+cone issued puffs of white steam, shortly followed by a discharge of
+boiling clay, which, trickling down the cone, gradually increased its
+size. So liquid was the mud, that each miniature volcano was perfectly
+reflected in the pool.
+
+On every side of us lay craters in which masses of thick boiling mud were
+being slowly upheaved—rising and falling with a dull muffled gurgle, and
+finally bursting in one huge bubble. It was a hideous sight, and gave
+me a more horrible feeling of repulsion than anything I ever remember.
+Dante might here have borrowed a new phase of horror for his ‘Inferno.’
+The bare idea, that by the slipping of a foot one might be hopelessly
+engulfed in so appalling a tomb, was too dreadful, and I confess I turned
+away shuddering.
+
+As we crossed a bed of dried-up cracked mud, our footsteps echoed as if
+the ground below was hollow, and it gave me a thrill of horror to think
+where we might land if that thin crust should give way! All the ground
+hereabouts is just steaming mud, but there are diversities in the degrees
+of horror. One mud-pool differs essentially from another. Many of them
+throw out a greasy clay of an ashen grey hue, which the Maoris eat with
+the greatest relish, not merely to appease hunger, but as a delicacy. A
+greedy man will swallow a pound weight of this edible clay immediately
+after a very good meal, and seems none the worse of his peck of dirt.
+Other mud-pools are full of dark slime, almost as black as pitch, and
+very hot: it is these which gurgle and burst in huge bubbles. Others,
+again, throw up enormous lumps of soft black mud, which fall back, to be
+again thrown up, as if the earth-spirits were indulging in a grim game at
+ball.
+
+Though bewildered by the clouds of steam which encompassed us on every
+side, we still pressed on, but in a few moments were brought to a
+standstill by so deafening a roar that no thunder-crash you ever heard
+could equal it. It proceeded from a deep fissure in the rocks, whence
+rose blinding clouds of steam. We approached this Devil’s Caldron as near
+as we dared, not able to hear a word either of us uttered; then, fairly
+stupefied, we turned away, thankful for the power of flight, and agreeing
+that we had surely been standing at the very mouth of hell.
+
+Two minutes later we paused beside a perfectly cold calm green lake. Its
+water, though not clear, is green in itself, and, moreover, reflects
+the green scrub and ferns which clothe the encircling hills. It is not
+particularly pretty, but so very calm and peaceful that it contrasted
+wonderfully with the appalling scene of turmoil and noise we had just
+left.
+
+Evening was now closing in, and it was time to think of supper, so
+retracing our steps past the horrible mud-lake, and threading our way
+cautiously among the craters, where we could hear the boiling mud giving
+great gulps (_wallops_ seems the only descriptive word), we emerged from
+the dark copse, and found ourselves on the shore of the lake just as the
+wonderful sunset tints shed their glory on the bare volcanic mountains
+round us, lending them a beauty not their own.
+
+We found that the Maori lads had pitched our little tent and made all
+ready for the night, and that some previous traveller had here built a
+tiny hut, of which the men took possession as their own quarters. Old
+Mary had cooked our food in a boiling pool close by, using a flax basket
+(exactly like those you so commonly see in England) as her cooking-pot.
+Presently the lads lighted a fire, and formed a picturesque group on the
+edge of the lake, while we sat listening to the mingled sounds of the
+night,—the rush of steam from the larger and more distant springs, the
+bubbling of those close round, and the shrill cries of the wild-fowl.
+
+It had been a day of new sensations, and full of interest from dawn till
+night. One more new experience remained, on which good old Mary strongly
+insisted—namely, that we should bathe in a pool of warm liquid mud. It is
+an artificially-constructed tank on the edge of the lake, to which the
+Maoris have brought water from a boiling spring by a small conduit. The
+old woman led the way cautiously along a path beset with dangers even in
+broad daylight. Finding the bath too hot, she dashed away the surface
+water, when we found the lower portion comparatively cool, whence we
+inferred that the water of the sulphureous hot spring must be lighter
+than that of the lake.
+
+Though not inviting to the eye, we found our mud-bath so enjoyable that
+it was with the utmost reluctance we at length left it, and plunged into
+the cold lake to avoid any fear of chill. It was very calm and beautiful
+in the quiet moonlight. The night air was keen, and we were glad of all
+our warm wraps, though the steam which stole up through the ground below
+us must have somewhat warmed the tent.
+
+The Maoris have the greatest faith in mud-baths; and there are certain
+pools to which they bring their sick from far and near. Coming up the
+creek to Rotomahana, we passed a native house built over a pool, in which
+a sick lad lives permanently. He was carried there several months ago,
+suffering from some aggravated hip-disease, and experienced considerable
+relief from lying in the water. But having been left there for some hours
+he very naturally fainted on being removed, so his kindred resolved to
+keep him permanently in the water, and there he has lain week after week,
+and will probably remain until he dies.
+
+At early dawn this morning we started in the canoe in search of fresh
+wonders, leaving the tent and our goods to take care of themselves. We
+took most of our food with us, but the men, having implicit trust in the
+honesty of all Maoris, left a piece of mutton, which Mrs Way had given
+them, to cook itself in a boiling spring, and on their return they found
+it had been stolen, contrary to all custom.
+
+We rowed first to the little isle Puai, part of which is actually a
+small volcano, and the rest soft mud and fissured rock, through which the
+steam comes hissing and puffing: nevertheless the existence of a small
+native hut shows that some travellers have selected this dangerous spot
+for their night-quarters. It certainly has the advantage of commanding a
+capital view all round; and as we looked back to our own camping-ground
+we saw the dark mountains veiled by a thousand columns of white steam,
+which also rose from the surface of the lake, mingling with the wreaths
+of morning mist. Had time allowed we might have visited fresh groups
+of geysers, terraces, fumaroles, and solfataras. As it was, we devoted
+the morning to the pink terraces, which, I think, would be the most
+fascinating place for camping, though the Maoris prefer our site, as
+offering superior culinary advantages. But such vulgar considerations
+would be outweighed by the charm of having perfect command, at all hours,
+of this, the very queen of all baths, and also by the beauty of the
+general view of the lake from the hill overlooking this terrace.
+
+This flight of marble basins differs from the others in that they have
+none of the sharp coral-like stalactites which, while they so greatly
+enhanced the beauty of the white terraces, do detract somewhat from
+the comfort of bathing in them, especially to foolish people who, like
+myself, cannot swim, and so dare not venture into the deeper pools. The
+pink terrace has no such drawback, its marble being so polished that you
+may walk barefooted over it, or strike yourself against the curved edges
+of the basins without the slightest discomfort. Rock and water are alike
+smooth and warm and pleasant, and you can prolong the delight of the bath
+to any extent, passing from one pool to another, sometimes receiving a
+gentle shower as the sparkling drops trickle from the overhanging rim
+of a pool, perhaps eight or ten feet above you, or else lying still in
+passive enjoyment, and watching the changing lights that flit across lake
+and hill, and all the time the kindly water is coating you with a thin
+film of that silica which makes the bath so smooth and the bather so
+silky.
+
+I wonder how it would pay to start a “Silica Bath Company” in London? We
+have certainly enough of flint in the old country, so silica cannot be
+lacking.
+
+These salmon-coloured terraces are subject to the same variations as
+their white neighbours. They, too, are formed by a geyser which plays in
+a basin about sixty feet above the lake. This lovely blue pool is also
+encircled on three sides by high bare cliffs of many colours. The pool is
+nearly fifty feet in diameter, and is surrounded by a marble platform
+about twenty feet in width, where you can generally walk in safety, but
+are always liable to a sudden rise and overflow of boiling water. We
+walked all over the terraces dry-shod this morning, but later in the day
+they were flooded to the depth of five inches.
+
+I got a large very careful drawing from the ridge overlooking these
+terraces, with our tent and the white terraces on the other side of the
+lake. From this point I observed a great cloud of primrose-coloured
+steam rising from a cone—so returning to the canoe, we rowed round to
+this spot, and found a large active volcano of the purest sulphur.
+The whole of the crater is pure yellow, and so are many of the rocks,
+and also the water of the lake for a considerable distance, making a
+strange foreground to the vivid blue of the distant lake and sky. In
+the afternoon we retraced much of the ground we went over yesterday, as
+of course I am anxious to secure drawings of some of the most striking
+scenes. One might work here for months and find strange new subjects
+every day. It certainly is not comfortable sketching-ground, as there
+are few spots where it would be possible to sit down, and it is no easy
+matter to hold a large block and work standing, even when a faithful
+Maori stands by to hold your colour-box. One man, Hémé, is very good and
+helpful, but the others rather hold aloof, being greatly awed by a number
+of their countrymen, who have arrived with other canoes, and are making
+themselves odious.
+
+It seems that, at the instigation of a white man (who, for his own
+reasons, was anxious to curry favour with the Maoris), they have issued
+a printed notice, to the effect that no one shall take photographs in
+this district without paying them a tax of £5 for that privilege. From
+the first moment of my arrival at Wairoa, my sketching-blocks became a
+source of keen interest to the natives, who therein scented a possibility
+of extortion. From that moment they have returned to the attack again and
+again; and though, happily for me, they consider it useless to attack
+a stupid woman who cannot understand them, they have never ceased to
+annoy Mrs Way, whom they consider bound to take their part, and are very
+angry indeed because she tries to make them understand that water-colour
+painting and photography are distinct arts. They have decided that I
+ought, on the contrary, to pay them a larger sum, because the coloured
+drawings give a truer idea of the place, and must therefore be more
+valuable. It was quite in vain to suggest that the sight of these
+pictures would induce fresh visitors to come and spend their much-coveted
+gold in the district. This only added fresh fuel to the fire. They
+said it was certain I should make a fortune by showing those pictures
+in Auckland, perhaps even in Britain, while they, owners of the place,
+would have no share in the profits. Of course I was determined not to pay
+the money, both from a natural aversion to being done, and also because
+such a precedent would have settled the question, to the detriment of all
+future sketchers. But you can imagine the annoyance which these noisy
+talkers have caused us: happily they are all camped at the other side of
+the lake.
+
+Now I am thoroughly tired, and am going to repeat the mud-bath of last
+night, and then turn in for a good night’s rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                   OLD MISSION STATION, WAIROA, _April 5_.
+
+We were aroused at 4 A.M. by Mr Way, who had ridden all the distance
+from Wairoa to bring us a loaf of bread, and to announce the unexpected
+arrival at his house of a party of friends, who purposed joining us in
+the course of the day. He had waded across the creek at the head of the
+lake; and having thus provided us with breakfast, he returned to rejoin
+his party at home.
+
+Being now thoroughly awake, and dear old Mary being equally so, we stole
+quietly out of the tent and went off to bathe at the white terraces.
+It was a lovely sunrise; the water was delicious—temptations to linger
+manifold. Altogether it was a good deal later than we thought, when we
+returned along the shore, gracefully draped in our plaids and blankets,
+but by no means fully attired. To my dismay I perceived a large party of
+Maoris assembled round our cooking-spring, and another canoe lying beside
+ours. Mary recognised the party as being with two Scotch gentlemen, who
+had arrived on the other side of the lake the previous day, and with whom
+we had fraternised by small exchanges of fish and bread, matches, and
+pepper and salt. Fortunately they had gone off to the mud volcanoes; so
+having dressed with all speed, we were able on their return to invite
+them to share our breakfast, just taken out of the hot spring. Their
+arrival was most opportune; for the Maoris, having talked themselves
+into great excitement, just then came up _en masse_ to inform Mrs Way
+that I must either at once pay them the coveted £5, or leave the place
+instantly. They were so very stormy and decided, that it would have been
+extremely unpleasant had we been alone. Happily the quiet determination
+of our new friends overawed them, and they fell back grumbling.
+
+After this little episode we fell into home talk, and one of them asked
+me if I was any relation to Colonel G. C. of Auchintoul. On hearing I was
+his sister, he proceeded to tell me how, last year, he was fishing on the
+Deveron, and, much to his embarrassment, had hooked a seven-pound trout
+with a very light trout-line, when happily Colonel G. C. espied him, came
+to the rescue, and gaffed the fish. Strange, was it not, that Bill should
+have rescued a stranger from a wild fish in Banffshire, and that in the
+following season the fisher should come to the antipodes, just in time to
+rescue me from the wild Maoris! Thanks to this seasonable reinforcement,
+I was able to do a good deal of steady work for several hours.
+
+In the course of the day, the other party of friends arrived, and
+included two ladies. Arthur Fisher also arrived. The day I left Tauranga
+he had been obliged to return to Kati Kati on business, which entailed
+a walk of forty miles. He walked back to Tauranga, which made forty
+more, before he was able to start on the actual trip to Rotomahana.
+Unfortunately he arrived so late that he had but a hurried glimpse of all
+the wonders.
+
+Then we all started to row back here, and all the canoes raced down Lake
+Tarawara. It was very amusing, and the rowers became immensely excited.
+Arriving here, our kind hosts insisted on giving up their own room to the
+other two ladies and me, and we all had a very cheery evening. Early this
+morning, however, the Maoris returned to the charge with renewed vigour,
+determined to extort that wretched £5. They tell Mary that my pictures
+shall never leave the district: that they will seize my portfolios and
+destroy them all. Mary says it is only bluster, but Mrs Way is not so
+sure; and as I should have no redress if irreparable damage is done, we
+have packed the precious sketches securely in the middle of a huge bundle
+of plaids and pillows, so as to escape attention, and the faithful Hémé
+will carry it to the coach.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                    MRS WILSON’S HOTEL, OHINEMUTU, 10 P.M.
+
+Victory! we have triumphed! By good luck a large party of Europeans
+happened to come up by coach, so we enlisted them, and formed altogether
+a party of fourteen whites, with the baggage in the middle. Then we
+marched through the village to the hotel, just as the coach-and-four was
+ready to start. The foe mustered strong, but apparently thought further
+attack undesirable, so we drove off in safety. But I confess I am glad
+to know that we are here on the territory of another tribe, who are not
+likely to sympathise with the people of Wairoa. Mrs Wilson has welcomed
+me back with the cordiality of an old friend, as have all the residents
+and visitors in the house—kind, hearty people.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                       AUCKLAND, _Feb. 8_.
+
+Before daybreak the following morning I was out sketching the steaming
+graveyard in the Old Pah; and after a very early breakfast started by
+coach for Tauranga, leaving the little village still shrouded in thick
+clouds of white steam, which sparkled in dewy beads on the webs of
+myriads of gossamer spiders. A light fire had passed over the ferny
+hills—so light that the skeletons of the brackens were left standing;
+and it seemed as if each branch of scorched fern, far as the eye could
+reach, was veiled with one of these fairy webs. Arriving at Tauranga, I
+found that kind Mrs Edgecumbe had, with her own hands, prepared a capital
+tea-dinner for me, her maid having, according to colonial custom, gone
+off suddenly, leaving her quite alone on her own resources, with four
+children to look after!
+
+An hour later I embarked in the coasting-steamer, where, much to my
+delight, I found Mrs Ferguson coming up from her remote station to see
+her sweet little daughter, who for the present is left in Auckland. We
+spent the night together, lying on a sky-light, tucked in beneath a
+pile of blankets, by the good old Scotch captain, who had previously
+administered to us a most comfortable glass of real hot toddy! It proved
+a dirty night of storm and rain; but we were quite cosy, and Ella filled
+me with amazement by accounts of the rides which she constantly has to do
+alone, often in the dark, to get nails or anything else required by the
+builders of her future home, and of the dangerous fords she has to cross,
+sometimes swimming her horse. She makes very light of all the hardships
+of her tent-life, which include cooking and baking for the party. It is
+wonderful what fragile and delicate ladies can do when they resolve to
+face colonial life!
+
+We arrived here safely, and I found Lady Gordon and the children and
+Colonel Pratt all ready for our return to Fiji, on board the Zealandia,
+which sails next Thursday. Mr Maudslay is expected from Wellington, just
+in time to accompany us. We all feel much better for our trip here:
+and though I greatly regret having seen nothing of the Southern Isle,
+we are not sorry to be going back to our island home.... It is rather
+aggravating, both to Lady Gordon and myself, that every one we meet
+insists on congratulating us on our very fortunate investments in the
+lucky Moanatairi mine. It is quite useless for us to assert that we only
+wish we had had such good luck, but that, unfortunately, the idea never
+entered our minds. The fact of my having been there is quite sufficient,
+and we are now looked upon as millionaires! We only wish it had been
+true! Poor Fiji stands greatly in need of such. Good-bye.—Your loving
+sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+    FIJIAN RIVERS—SAMOAN ENVOYS—DEATH OF A TRUE APOSTLE—A
+    REVIVAL—MAKING A RACE-COURSE—MISSION TO NEW BRITAIN.
+
+
+                                  SUVA, VITI LEVU, FIJI, _March 26, 1877_.
+
+MY DEAR NELL,—Once more we are safely back in the isles. We came from
+Auckland in the Zealandia—a noble vessel, upwards of 3200 tons. You can
+imagine how horrible was the change when she dropped us at Khandavu, and
+we found only the Barb, a wretched little ketch of about 35 tons (the
+best vessel poor Fiji had to send), and which was first to bring us here,
+and was then to return to take the other passengers and the mails to
+Levuka. We might well say “bad is the best,” for this, which at present
+is _the_ Government ship, has no accommodation of any sort for ladies.
+
+Fortunately we landed on a lovely day, and quite enjoyed our row up the
+harbour, whence we walked across the isthmus to the opposite bay, where
+the Barb was anchored. It is a lovely coast, with white sand and many
+shells, and thickly fringed with palms. We lunched on the shore, and then
+embarked. We had hardly set sail when it commenced to rain heavily. The
+tiny cabin was so stuffy that it seemed hard enough to condemn even the
+children to stay in it. They and their nurse had a miserable night of
+sickness. For ourselves, we considered a drenching to be the lesser evil
+of the two, so when night came on, we lay down on the deck with no awning
+and the rain pouring, while gusts of wind periodically blew our umbrellas
+inside out. The gentlemen, saturated and miserable, did their best to
+be cheery, and occasionally came round to offer us creature comfort
+in the way of bits of chocolate and biscuit, or a very needful nip of
+brandy or claret. So the long night wore through. At daybreak we were off
+Suva, but the mist was so dense that it was nearly noon before we could
+distinguish the passage through the coral reef, and run into harbour.
+You can imagine how glad we were to see the barge, and the gig with the
+nice Fijian boatmen, all so pleased to welcome us back; and soon we were
+comfortably housed in Mrs Joski’s pleasant home. (Nasova is, as usual,
+undergoing re-thatching.)
+
+Having landed us, the Barb returned to Khandavu to fetch the mails and
+the other passengers (including two ladies and a baby). Though the
+accommodation there was wretched enough, it must have been Paradise
+compared with what followed. For five days and nights they lay becalmed
+in pouring rain ere they reached Levuka! Such are the pleasures of
+travelling in Fiji! And yet its beauty atones for many discomforts; and
+the lovely days, when they do come, make up for all the rainy ones. And I
+do feel so glad once more to see canoes with quaint sails, and graceful
+living bronzes with artistic drapery. What a country this would be for
+an artist studying figure painting! The people love to see themselves on
+paper, and will sit as still as a rock for hours to be sketched. It is
+lamentable that such good models should be wasted.
+
+We had only been here one day when a messenger came from Nasova to say
+that a vessel had arrived from Samoa bringing a deputation of chiefs,
+representing the various conflicting parties there, who had come to
+discuss the subject of British protection, and to see for themselves how
+it is working in Fiji. So Sir Arthur, escorted by Mr Maudslay, went off
+to receive them.
+
+I think I have already told you that this is the spot which the Home
+Government has just selected as the site of the future capital. Great
+is the howl of dismay raised by the householders of Levuka at the
+idea of the change; but there is no immediate prospect of a serious
+migration from there, for as yet there are only four houses here. From
+this verandah we have a lovely view of the harbour and the beautiful
+mountain-ranges, seen through festoons of large-leaved _granadilla_,
+the great passion-flower, which at present is loaded with ripe fruit as
+big as a small pumpkin. These we eat with milk and sugar, and find them
+excellent. We have had some charming expeditions by boat and canoe, the
+latter being available in many places where we cannot take the boats.
+
+Nothing can exceed the loveliness of some of the many rivers which flow
+into Suva harbour, none too wide to admit of full enjoyment of the rich
+tropical foliage which clothes their banks, overhanging the stream, and
+sometimes mirrored on the clear waters. Delicate and beautiful creepers
+of every conceivable pattern, assuming forms more or less akin to our
+own Virginian creeper, convolvulus, and ash, only in infinite variety
+and luxuriance, blend their foliage one with another in inextricable
+confusion, and together overspread the tall trees, thence falling in long
+veils as of dripping leaves. Verily these green things of the earth are
+things of beauty. Loveliest of all is a climbing fern which the natives
+call the _Wa kolou_, or god fern,[55] and with which they make garlands
+either for their own shoulders, or to twine round the ridge-pole of
+their houses. And nowhere have I seen tree-ferns in greater abundance
+than here. You come upon banks so densely clothed with them that you
+distinguish no other form. Still it is hard to get reconciled to the
+wholesale destruction of so much beauty, which results from the use
+of the stem for ordinary purposes, such as making fences and supports
+for the interior of houses. Multitudes of wild duck haunt these quiet
+streams, and tantalise the sportsman by falling wounded, with just life
+enough to dive; and if only they can reach the tangled roots of the
+mangrove, they are never seen again.
+
+One day Adolphe Joski rowed me up the lovely Tama Vua river to see a
+village perched on a high crag. We landed, and climbed up a rock-stair,
+which was like the stairs of a dozen cathedral towers heaped one above
+the other, and as slippery as ice—rather a difficult approach to one’s
+home! Yet in this eyrie we found several families with their little
+ones, apparently perfectly content with their quarters. According to
+custom, the graves of the village are on a point still more difficult
+of access, in order that they may be safe from the desecrating hands of
+foes. Of course, the position of both village and graves tells of the
+days of war and cannibalism. Already some of the people have come down to
+a more convenient level; and we halted at a village near the river, and
+rested in the house of a fine old chief, whose fireplace and great black
+cooking-pots I sketched, while his graceful daughter sat by, watching my
+work, and peeling ripe delicious oranges, with which she fed me, while my
+companion talked to the old chief.
+
+Another day we all went to a neighbouring village to see Andi Clara,
+who is the nicest Fijian lady we know, and has such a pretty new
+brown baby. Last year’s baby has grown quite beautiful. It is Lady
+Gordon’s god-child, and called after her, Andi Racheli.[56] I halted
+that afternoon, to sketch in the sugar-cane fields; but the position
+proved bad for the arts, as my escort never ceased peeling canes, and
+administering small juicy pieces, which, though irresistible, were
+decidedly sticky.
+
+One day last week I started alone at daybreak to sketch a group of
+beautiful peaks; some points in the range are upwards of 4500 feet in
+height: my path lay through the deserted sugar-fields, where the cane is
+now left to run wild. Though useless for commerce, it is sufficiently
+luxuriant to reach far above my head, and that morning I found it
+dripping from the previous night’s rain. Of course I was soon soaked,
+and had enough to do to keep my paper dry. Following a faint old native
+track, I got into a glen full of dark _eevie_ trees (the Fijian chestnut
+tree). I pushed on, passing occasional patches of cultivation, yam and
+_taro_, thinking that where these were, I must find my way all right.
+Then I came to a limpid stream, overshadowed by a shaddock-tree, loaded
+with great ripe fruit, like huge oranges, pink inside; so I rested
+and ate shaddock, and then started afresh. Soon I lost all trace of
+the track, and I could scarcely force my way through the dense reedy
+grass, which is eight or ten feet high, and all matted with convolvulus.
+Whichever way I turned, up hill or down, it was all the same weary waste
+of tall reeds; and if by chance I found an old _taro_ patch, there
+remained no sign of any path. At last I concluded that I was really lost,
+and shouted till I was tired, hoping that some villager might have come
+to dig his yams; but no voice answered. Then I bethought me if only I
+could strike the glen again, I could scramble along in the bed of the
+stream till I hit the track; and at last I happily did so, and got home
+pretty well tired out, as you can imagine.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    BAU, _April 29, 1877_.
+
+After ten days at Suva it was decided that the whole party should return
+to headquarters at Nasova without waiting for the completion of the
+thatching, though it does cause a confusion and a hubbub all about the
+place. So we started—ourselves in a large new boat, the Abbeys in the
+gig, a third boat with luggage and servants, towing the Baron’s canoe,
+and two beautiful cutters (belonging to Mr Maudslay and Captain Knollys)
+bringing the rest of the household goods. We were thus quite a fleet.
+Five hours’ sail brought us to Rewa, where we went to see the wife of the
+chief, Andi Tartilia, who had a small daughter last week. This atom is
+called “The Lightning of Heaven.” It was handed to me on a tiny mat, very
+finely woven, and just its own size. It is against all Fijian custom that
+the child of a chief should leave nursing-arms for the first ten days,
+so many ladies of rank assemble and relieve guard. Five were sitting
+together, cuddled up in a huge piece of _tappa_, which was considered
+necessary to keep the baby warm. The mother lay close to the fireplace,
+in the middle of the floor, with a blazing fire, and an immense square of
+handsome _tappa_ thrown over her, covering a space of many yards. This
+with a thermometer at about 85°!
+
+We came here that same evening, and received our usual cordial welcome
+from Mr and Mrs Langham. Lady Gordon had arranged to proceed to Nasova
+the next day, but I gladly accepted an invitation to stay here a few
+days. I was all the better pleased to do so, as the party of Samoan
+chiefs having had their interview with the Governor regarding British
+protection, have been sent here for further information from the native
+chiefs, and of course their reception by the Vuni Valu and his people is
+a matter of great interest. The chiefs are representatives of the three
+parties who have been contending for mastery in Samoa, and who now crave
+the help of the British lion in settling their difficulties. Two of the
+party talk excellent English, and all are most intelligent. The two
+ladies are pretty, graceful girls.
+
+A curious piece of old Fijian etiquette was observed on their arrival.
+The little vessel which brought them from Ovalau had anchored at Bau the
+night we arrived here. Of course with ten Samoan gentlemen and two ladies
+on board so small a craft, the pleasure of getting ashore would have
+been very great. But this could not be dreamt of. Not till the following
+morning, when the Vuni Valu sent messengers to _swim_ off to them, with
+whales’ teeth and other gifts, and invite them to land, could they do so.
+Then they came ashore in great state, all very handsome chief-like men,
+dressed in heavy drapery of the thickest hand painted _tappa_. They were
+received by the Fijian chiefs, and conducted to Thakombau’s house, where
+there was a great ceremonial drinking of yangona.
+
+In the evening we went to call in due form on the Samoan ladies, and
+found them at the house of the king’s son, Ratu Timothy, and his pretty
+Tongan wife. Of course the great wooden yangona-bowl occupied a central
+position, and the party lay in picturesque groups on the mats all round.
+To-morrow they are all to be taken an expedition up the Rewa, to show
+them something of the country, the sugar-mills, &c.
+
+This evening I have been a lovely expedition with Mr Langham, up one
+of the beautiful little rivers on the mainland, to the village of Na
+Ooa Ooa. The stream gradually narrowed as we ascended, and we glided
+on beneath overhanging trees, in and out between old mangroves, which
+dropped their strange weird roots into the stream from a height of fully
+twenty feet. As we returned late in the evening to the river’s mouth,
+the clouds on the horizon were fiery as if at sunset, and the red moon
+rose from the sea like a ball of molten gold, casting long gleaming
+reflections on the still waters.
+
+Late as it was, on our return we went to see dear old Joeli Mbulu, the
+noble old Tongan minister of whom I have often spoken to you. Alas! his
+work is wellnigh finished. He is greatly changed this week—wasted to
+a shadow; but his face is perhaps more beautiful than ever, from its
+sweetness of expression and the bright look which at times lights it
+up,—just like some grand old apostle nearing his rest. He is very tall
+and stately, with a halo of white hair and long grey beard. His skin is
+very fair, like that of all the Tongans and Samoans. Generally he wears
+only his long white waist-cloth, almost to the feet, which are bare, and
+folds of native cloth round his loins. He has been a Christian teacher in
+Fiji for the last thirty years—that is, from the beginning—amid noise and
+tumult of war, and in the thick of all the devilry of cannibalism. He has
+been the old king’s special teacher,—and many a difficult day he has had
+with him and all his handsome, strong-willed sons and daughters. They are
+all very much attached to him; and some of them are generally with him
+now, fanning or just watching beside him.
+
+There is no doubt that his magnificent physical development has tended to
+increase his ascendancy over a race which naturally looks up to one whose
+stature at once proclaims him to be _tamata ndina_ (a man indeed). That
+such he is, is testified by the deep scars on one arm, which tell of such
+a triumph, and such power of endurance, as no Fijian living can boast of.
+
+Many years ago, he had a dream about an encounter with a shark. This so
+haunted him, that for many days he refused to swim, as was his wont, in
+the deep water near the mouth of the river. At length, yielding to the
+persuasions of other bold swimmers, he ventured in, and was far ahead of
+his companions, when suddenly he beheld the monster of his dream coming
+straight towards him. There was not a moment for hesitation. As the
+cruel jaws opened, he plunged his arm down the throat of the shark, and,
+grasping its tongue by the root, held it firmly, while with the other arm
+he swam towards the shore, dragging the brute after him. As he reached
+the bank he fell down in a dead faint from exhaustion and loss of blood;
+but his wounds were speedily dressed, and the arm recovered almost all
+its power.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                       BAU, _May 6, 1877_.
+
+The Samoan party returned last Thursday, much pleased with all they
+have seen. Next day the annual “missionary meeting” was held here,
+when, as you know, the people of the district assemble to bring their
+contributions for the support of the mission, and each village exhibits
+its favourite dance. On this occasion, one descriptive of catching a
+hundred fish had been specially ordered for the amusement of the Samoans,
+and was particularly good, as was also a fan dance. Then the ladies
+of Bau, headed by the old queen and her daughter, and all the young
+ladies of noble birth, sang a very fine _méké_, with appropriate stately
+gestures; and very well they looked,—all alike wearing the little white
+jacket, with low neck and short sleeves, and a fringe of bright yellow
+banana-leaf, torn into strips, round the waist, over their skirts of
+native cloth.
+
+As a study of colour, I specially noted one stalwart fellow wearing a
+garland of these golden leaves thrown over his madder-brown shoulders,
+and a gauzy film of sienna-coloured smoked _tappa_ over his hair, and
+folds of creamy-brown _tappa_ round the waist. He stood in relief against
+a clear blue sky—a study for an artist.
+
+On the following day, the Vuni Valu had ordered the people of four towns
+on the mainland to come over and perform a great _méké_ in honour of his
+guests, assembling as usual on the _rara_—_i.e._, the village green. They
+came, very elaborately dressed. First two hundred marched up, one hundred
+bringing rolled-up mats, and one hundred bearing _taro_, to be laid as
+offerings at the strangers’ feet. Other dancers brought sugar-canes and
+divers gifts. The first two hundred then stood up in double line facing
+us, one line constantly advancing and retreating under the arms of the
+others. This was exceedingly graceful. Their dress was almost uniform,
+most having very handsome large neck ornaments of carved shell. The
+measured hand-clapping was so regular that it sounded like one pair of
+hands each time.
+
+Then came a second company, bearing gifts of yams and pottery, which
+they added to the first heap. They also performed a very graceful dance
+like an elaborate ballet. This done, Thakombau formally presented the
+property to the Samoans, whose principal attendants proceeded to _count
+the amount given_, and return thanks for so many articles. Then two of
+the party arose (they were all dressed in kilts of rich brown native
+cloth, with necklaces of large red berries and green leaves). These
+two then performed an extraordinary dance, which greatly astonished the
+Fijians. They capered wildly round and round the _rara_ like a pair of
+spinning-tops, twirling a club round their head, and springing into the
+air in most wonderful style,—throwing the club up and catching it again.
+The Vuni Valu, who was looking on with intense interest, recognised this
+ceremony as an ancient Fijian form of accepting an offering.
+
+These Samoans are very handsome men, and their skin is a clear olive
+colour. In dancing so energetically, their kilts of native cloth very
+naturally became disarranged, and revealed complete knee-breeches of the
+most elaborate close tattooing. I wonder whether the _woad_ of our own
+ancestors was as artistically put on!
+
+They then proceeded to touch each offering, and next touched the crown of
+their head in token of acceptance. One of their party now made a speech,
+which their interpreter repeated to the Vuni Valu, after which they
+divided the spoil—apportioning gifts of food to the mission and to each
+house of note in Bau, and reserving the mats and pottery as their own
+share. Of course their daily food is given to them ready cooked.
+
+After the dances they came up to tea here, sitting at the table in most
+orthodox style, and were much amused looking at coloured stereoscopes.
+They were also delighted because a lady who is staying here played all
+the liveliest tunes she possibly could induce the harmonium to give
+forth; and they joined in singing “Home, sweet Home,” and similar old
+airs, which seemed familiar to them,—and, moreover, they sang them quite
+in tune, which I cannot say for most Fijians.
+
+In the evening we were all invited to join the party at the old king’s
+house. While waiting our summons we sat in the clear moonlight under
+the great Mbaka trees among the huge grey stones, which were formerly
+the foundation of the principal heathen temple, and the scene of many a
+bloody sacrifice. Now all was still and peaceful; for it was the hour of
+evening prayer, and each family was assembled in its own home for a few
+moments of quiet worship. Close by was the house in which lay dear old
+Joeli, fast passing away from the scene in which he has so steadfastly
+worked to bring about this great change.
+
+After a while the old chief sent to fetch us. We found him and his family
+seated on the mats in a semicircle—his guests in another semicircle
+facing him, and all the retainers crouching round. We were placed on
+mats at the upper end and the great wooden yangona-bowl stood opposite.
+This night the nectar was to be brewed by the Samoans, and we watched
+with interest to see wherein their customs in preparing their national
+drink differed from those of Fiji. In the first place, there were no
+songs during the process of chewing, which I regretted, as I delight in
+the wild measured chants which invariably accompany the yangona-brewing
+of Fiji, where there are special songs and distinct varieties of
+hand-clapping for each stage of the proceeding. Here, too, no woman
+touches the bowl.
+
+The Samoan girls not only helped in chewing, but one of them strained
+the mixture in the great wooden bowl through the hybiscus fibre, and
+most gracefully she did it. She had put off her heavy necklace of large
+scarlet berries, and wore only a white _sulu_ with fringe of green
+leaves, and a scarlet hybiscus in her rich sienna hair. It was a pretty
+picture. But the old king could scarcely conceal his contempt at the idea
+of seeing a woman deputed to such an office. It was not _vaka Viti_,
+he said—that is, not according to Fijian custom. A Samoan attendant,
+wearing only a _liku_, or kilt fringe of green leaves, carried round the
+cocoa-nut cup which the girl filled for each drinker, while a herald
+proclaimed the name of each in his social order. The name of a very high
+chief was whispered almost inaudibly, while that of his messenger was
+shouted. There was none of the measured hand-clapping so essential in
+Fiji while a chief is drinking, and when he has finished. In Samoa only
+the drinker himself claps his hands on returning the cup, which he hands
+back, instead of skimming it across the mat, _vaka Viti_.
+
+The chiefs had already held a great discussion on the state of affairs
+in their respective countries, and their inability to protect themselves
+against the wicked machinations of scheming white men of all nations,
+without the aid of some civilised Government. Much to our satisfaction,
+therefore, the old king, weary of talking business, asked the Samoans to
+let him see one of their dances. They at once consented; and, remarking
+that the highest chief was the best dancer, four of them agreed to dance,
+while the others sang and played a sort of accompaniment by clapping
+hands. At first the four sat on the ground, going through violent action
+of the arms, and hand-clapping all over their own bodies. They then
+sprang to their feet and danced a sort of wild Highland fling. Finally,
+they made most hideous faces at one another, and we agreed it must be a
+fragment of some old devil-dance. Afterwards they showed us a quieter
+dance, but it was utterly lacking in the grace of the Fijian _mékés_. The
+songs were very pretty; some reminded me of wild Gaelic airs, and they
+were sung in perfect tune, with good seconds.
+
+It was nearly midnight when we left the old king’s house; and hearing
+that a canoe had arrived from Levuka, we went to the Roko’s house to get
+our letters. Lady Gordon had sent a parcel of jujubes and acid drops for
+dear old Joeli, which we took to him. The noble face lighted up as we
+entered, and he greeted us as was his wont—with holy and loving words. He
+was perfectly calm, and the grand steadfast mind clear as ever; but it is
+evident that he is nearing his rest.
+
+To-day it is very hot; there is not a breath stirring. The sea is
+perfectly calm, and reflects every delicate cloud and distant isle. A
+canoe starts at daybreak, and will take this letter. So good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                       BAU, _May 7, 1877_.
+
+Last night there was great wailing and lamentation in Bau, for soon after
+midnight Joeli passed away, and died nobly as he had lived. He was quite
+conscious to the very last, and the expression of the grand old face
+was simply beautiful—so radiant, as of one without a shadow of doubt
+concerning the Home he was so near. No man ever more truly earned the
+right to say, “I have fought a good fight—I have kept the faith;” and
+none ever was more truly humble. If ever the crown of righteousness is
+awarded by a righteous Judge to His true and faithful servants, assuredly
+Joeli will not fail to stand in that blessed company.
+
+This morning we went to look once more on the face we all loved so
+truly. He looked grand in death as in life, lying on a square of rich
+black-brown _tappa_, his head pillowed on a large roll of native cloth,
+his beautiful white hair thrown back as a halo, and his long white
+beard adding to his patriarchal beauty. Over his feet were thrown
+two beautifully fine Samoan mats. His poor widow Ekkesa, his pretty
+grand-daughter, and many other women, and students from the college,
+were all weeping bitterly, as those who had lost their wise and loving
+counsellor and guide. The king and all his family also mourn sorely, for
+Joeli has ever been their true and faithful friend and minister; and
+many a time has he vainly pleaded with the old chief in the long years
+ere he could be brought to abandon the vile customs of heathenism. All
+through Joeli’s illness I have rarely entered the house without finding
+some member of Thakombau’s family sitting by him, watching his sleep, or
+fanning him.
+
+According to native custom, the costly Samoan mats and native cloth that
+lay beneath him and over his feet were buried with him; and had the
+funeral been simply _vaka Viti_, the body should only have been wrapped
+in many Fijian mats. But Thakombau, anxious to do all honour to his old
+friend, wished that he should be buried in a coffin. So as there chanced
+to be a half-caste carpenter on the island building a boat, he made a
+coffin with some planks of red cedar wood. He did not get the order till
+10 A.M., and the funeral was to start at 3 P.M. Just an hour beforehand
+it was brought to the mission to be lined and covered, in which work I
+assisted, and so gained my first experience of undertaker’s business.
+
+The place of burial was a beautiful site near an old church on the
+neighbouring isle of Viwa. The funeral procession was a very touching
+one. One large canoe carried the dead and the chief mourners. The old
+king and his three stalwart sons and two daughters, as also Andi Eleanor,
+Tui Thakow’s real wife, followed in others; and nearly all the people
+of Bau, and from many neighbouring villages, came in canoes and boats,
+making a very great procession. All the principal mourners, including
+the royal family, wore a piece of coarse old matting, all frayed out,
+in token of mourning. It is worn round the waist, over the ordinary
+dress. We made a beautiful great wreath of white jessamine and blue-grey
+flowers, with an outer wreath of scarlet leaves, and this we laid on the
+coffin. The grave was upwards of a mile from the shore; and about twenty
+young teachers—fine young fellows—took it by turns to carry the coffin up
+a steep hill, and through green forest-glades, to the place of rest. Part
+of our beautiful funeral service was repeated in the rich Fijian tongue
+(which to my ear always resembles Italian); and then Joeli was laid
+beside his old friend and teacher, the Rev. John Hunt, one of the early
+Wesleyan missionaries, with whom he had shared many an anxious day, and
+who died here in 1848, at the early age of thirty-six.
+
+I told you about Mr Hunt commencing the mission at Somo Somo. For the
+last six years of his busy life of earnest work he lived chiefly on this
+island, where he had established his printing-press; and in the intervals
+of travelling from isle to isle, in danger, storm, and privation—teaching
+the people and superintending the schools—he found time to train a large
+number of native agents, and also to produce and print an admirable
+translation of the New Testament. If you think of the amount of labour
+represented in acquiring so very elaborate a language by ear, reducing it
+to writing, and then translating and printing so large a book, with such
+rude appliances, and so little help, you will surely conclude that this
+of itself would have been no light work for one man to undertake. So it
+was no wonder that this over-willing spirit should have outworn the frail
+body.
+
+He had his reward in seeing a marvellous change pass over his cannibal
+neighbours at Viwa. Here (where, five years before, one of the most
+horribly treacherous massacres which ever disgraced Fiji had been
+perpetrated, and the bodies of upwards of a hundred poor fishermen
+deliberately murdered for the ovens of Bau, lay strewn all round the
+mission premises, where Mr Cross and his family, with the native
+teachers, had assembled, horror-stricken, but utterly powerless to stay
+the butchery), Mr Hunt records the story of a general awakening, before
+which all such revival meetings as we have heard of elsewhere seem pale
+and colourless. He had instituted special prayer-meetings (penitent
+meetings they were called) on Saturday evenings, and was struck by the
+exceeding earnestness which seemed to prevail amongst all present. This
+was the commencement of a series of meetings held night and morning in
+almost every house, when, like the men of Nineveh of old, these people,
+with one accord, humbled themselves in the dust, crying for mercy, with
+one heart and one voice. These fierce murderers and cannibals seemed
+suddenly to realise the awfulness of their guilt, and were overwhelmed
+by the sense of their own wickedness. In deepest contrition they knelt
+before the God of the Christians, weeping and wailing piteously, pleading
+for forgiveness, and continuing in such agony of prayer that many of
+these men—some of them the worst cannibals in Fiji—fainted from sheer
+exhaustion, and no sooner recovered consciousness than they again began
+to agonise in prayer till they again became insensible. They had to be
+literally forced to take necessary food. Those who heard their cry noted
+its strong earnest sense. They simply bewailed their past wickedness,
+and implored God’s mercy. This continued for several days, during which
+business, sleep, and food were almost entirely neglected. But the cry
+of the people was heard and answered, and soon a strange new peace—the
+peace that passeth understanding—seemed to pervade the isle. The people
+that had hitherto sat in darkness now saw a great light, and those who
+hitherto had been noted only for their evil deeds now became gentle and
+teachable, and began to lead simple, consistent, Christian lives. Truly,
+if such a change as this were the sole result wrought by the mission, the
+lives of Cross, Hunt, Hazlewood, Polglaze, and Baker were not laid down
+in vain, when one by one they died at their posts from sheer over-work.
+At least the first four did so. Mr Baker was murdered, as I mentioned in
+writing from Viti Levu.
+
+We lingered on the beautiful and now peaceful isle of Viwa for some
+hours, and then returned through the forest and over the star-lit sea,
+and so back to the landing-place, at which Joeli had so often met and
+welcomed us; and up the steep steps leading to the mission, past the site
+of the horrid ovens, where he had so often stood to rebuke the cruel
+rites that were there enacted. Altogether it has been a very sad day,
+and the funeral was one of the most pathetic and touching scenes you can
+imagine.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                    NASOVA, _May 9, 1877_.
+
+Yesterday morning I started very early with Mr Langham to visit Moturiki,
+a rich beautiful island with lovely foliage. Our destination was a
+village called Niu Mbasanga, meaning the “two-headed cocoa-nut,” which
+we there saw, and which is quite as great a deformity and wonder as a
+two-headed giant would be. I have only heard of one other palm-tree which
+has indulged in any freak of growth: that other is on the isle of Ngau,
+where five stems are said to spring from one root.
+
+We found the people of seven villages assembled for their annual
+“missionary meeting.” There was the usual conference with the teachers
+about church matters, and the usual festive manner of presenting the
+annual offerings for the mission, the people adorned with the accustomed
+gay wreaths of bright leaves, and dancing joyously as is their wont. They
+looked happy and picturesque. The dances were excellent, and very varied.
+Even now, I constantly see something new to me. Yesterday most of the
+dancers carried huge fans, and were dressed in floating folds of native
+cloth, with kilt fringe of many-coloured ribbons of _pandanus_-leaf,
+also floating lightly round them. You cannot think how strange it is
+to see all the action and grouping of most admirable ballets, with the
+surroundings of a Fijian village—thatched houses, fine old trees, palms,
+a few big pigs and a multitude of little pigs roaming at large, and
+crowds of gentlest savages looking on. We rested at the house of Ratu
+Ben, a good-looking chief, who urged us to remain; but we were obliged
+to push on, and sleep at a village further along the coast, as it was
+necessary to cross the only passage through the reef at high tide, which
+was at midnight. It was sunset ere we could leave the first village, and
+of course we were not expected at the next; but the people soon turned
+out to meet us, and made torches of dry cocoa-palm leaves to light us
+through the wood. This is always a pretty sight, as the red gleams fall
+on great plantain or palm leaves, and ferns of every size and shape. As
+usual, we took possession of one end of the teacher’s house, and the
+student-boatmen and their friends had mats at the other end. Early this
+morning we explored the village, which is pretty, and overshadowed by
+great _eevie_ trees. Then we walked a mile along the shore to the boat,
+and started to row and sail by turns, keeping inside the main reef all
+the way. It was a lovely day for a sail, but it was only occasionally
+that we could venture to hoist one, as the beautiful, but horribly
+dangerous, coral-patches are very numerous. How you would enjoy such an
+expedition, looking down at the endless wonders of the corals, and fishes
+of all hues; and all this as you glide along in perfectly smooth water,
+inside the great reef, where the white breakers form a wall of dazzling
+surf—and how they do boom and roar!
+
+We got here at noon, and found all well, except Sir Arthur, who is laid
+up with a very painful knee: this is particularly awkward just now, as
+the Samoan party have arrived, and have to be formally received. There
+is to be a great Fijian _méké_ in their honour; and the native soldiers
+are now hard at work practising their dances on the green, which greatly
+distracts my attention, as I cannot resist watching them.
+
+The house has just been rethatched, so it is full of caterpillars;
+but as there are no biting creatures in all Fiji (except mosquitoes
+and sand-flies, and a rare centipede), we do not mind the innocent
+caterpillars. But the thatchers have destroyed all the beautiful festoons
+of climbing plants which we had trained so carefully over the pillars and
+verandah before our windows.
+
+There goes the dressing _lali_—_i.e._, a fine deep-toned wooden
+drum—which is our Fijian substitute for dressing and dinner gong, so I
+must stop writing. You cannot think how handsome the dining-room now
+looks. You know it was built as a council-chamber for the old king. Now
+it is adorned with most artistically-arranged trophies of spears, clubs,
+bowls, and all Fijian art-work, with richly-designed native cloth as
+drapery. So everything is well in keeping. Good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                         NASOVA, _May 25_.
+
+There has been a wonderful outburst of gaiety, chiefly due to the
+presence of H.M.S. Sapphire, which has given an unwonted impetus to
+cricket-matches, lawn-tennis, canoe-races, yacht-races, and all such
+small amusements as the place affords. But the excitement culminated
+yesterday, when, in honour of the Queen’s birthday, Levuka had her first
+race-meeting!—real races! If only you could see the island, you would
+understand the wonder, especially if you recollect that, when we landed
+here eighteen months ago, Captain Olive and the butcher owned the only
+two horses on Ovalau; and Sir Arthur brought out two ponies. As the only
+place where these could be used was the rough path, about one mile long,
+between Nasova and Levuka, and the little break-neck paths leading to
+different private houses, there seemed small reason to import more. It
+has been done, however, and straightway the Anglo-Saxon colony demanded
+a race-course. The question was where it could be made; for it was
+difficult to find a bit of level ground, large enough even for cricket.
+At last, however, a place has been found, seven miles down the coast,
+where, by going several times round the course, a fair distance may
+be run. It has been necessary, however, to wage incessant war against
+the crabs, which perforate the ground in every direction, and make it
+extremely dangerous for horses. Notwithstanding all drawbacks, there were
+half a-dozen races, and three or four horses or ponies entered for each.
+The jockeys had colours; and Levuka’s first races were most amusing, and
+voted a great success. The race-course in itself was extremely pretty,
+being situated on the sea-shore, at the entrance to a fine wooded gorge
+between high hills. Nearly a hundred boats, cutters and canoes, had
+arrived from Levuka and along the coast; and Europeans and Fijians formed
+picturesque groups beneath the cocoa palms and other trees, while a
+grand stand had been erected for the _élite_. The day was faultless, as
+beseemed the Queen’s birthday,—and the scene was altogether very pretty,
+and quite a novel experience for Fiji.
+
+On our way back we went to tea on board the Sapphire, and then there was
+a large official dinner here, to about fifty people. To-morrow there is
+to be a regatta of all the boats and cutters belonging to the place, or
+to the ships in harbour, ending with a great native canoe race. It is
+sure to be a very pretty sight. We are to lunch on board H.M.S. Reynard,
+and then go to five o’clock tea on board H.M.S. Sapphire.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                                 _May 30._
+
+Last night Lady Gordon and I went to dine with Mr Mitchell and Mr Eyre,
+who are living in a purely Fijian house in the native village. They
+gave us excellent soup, made of young _taro_ leaves boiled in sea-water,
+with the cream of squeezed cocoa-nut, prawns boiled and curried with
+cocoa-nut, pigeons, Fiji puddings, and yams and _taro_ served on banana
+leaves.
+
+Afterwards we sat at the door, watching the full moon rise from the
+sea, framed by groups of palm-trees; then we walked up to the quiet
+little cemetery on the hill, where the reedy grasses, shivering in the
+night-wind, seemed like spirit voices, whispering of those who there rest
+in peace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                                 _June 1._
+
+Yesterday we dined on board H.M.S. Sapphire. It savoured of Fiji, that on
+going down to the pier we found it under repair, and we had to climb down
+to the boat as best we could. Lady Gordon was carried in her chair to
+another pier at some distance, to find that also under repair; so she had
+to climb down after all, and of course we were unpunctual in consequence.
+The dinner was most _récherché_ (larks stuffed with truffles, &c.), and
+perfect in every detail, as are also Captain Murray’s lovely cabins. As
+we rowed back by moonlight the ship burnt blue lights, displaying herself
+to great advantage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                          _June 22, 1877._
+
+This morning I went with Baron von Hügel to breakfast on board the
+mission brig, John Wesley, with the Rev. —— and Mrs Brown, who are
+just about to sail for New Britain, taking with them a party of Fijian
+teachers to reinforce those already settled there. This mission to New
+Britain and New Zealand is purely Fijian—Mr Brown being the only white
+man connected with it. At the present moment, when the colonisation of
+New Guinea is a subject under so much discussion, and the desperate
+character of its cannibal people acknowledged to be an obstacle which
+even the thirst for gold does not make men willing to face, it certainly
+is interesting to know that from Fiji (which has itself so recently
+received the light of Christianity) has gone forth the first effort which
+sooner or later will inevitably result in the civilising of these wild
+tribes; and, to look at it from a mercantile point of view, will open the
+door first to traders, and then to permanent settlers.
+
+It was, I think, in June 1875 that the idea of this mission was first
+suggested; and that Mr Brown, after fully explaining to all the native
+teachers the imminent dangers it involved, asked if there were any
+among them who would volunteer for the work. The response was most
+cordial; and nine brave determined men (seven of whom were married, and
+their wives true helpmeets in this great work) announced their wish to
+undertake it. On hearing of this, the English Consul considered it his
+duty to summon these teachers, and lay before them, in glowing colours,
+the dangers they were about to incur from climate and cannibals, and the
+almost inevitable fate that awaited them should they persist in their
+rash determination.
+
+They replied that they had counted the cost, and were ready to accept all
+risks. One acting as spokesman for all, said: “We are all of one mind.
+We know what those islands are. We have given ourselves to this work. If
+we get killed, well; if we live, well. We have had everything explained
+to us, and know the danger. We are willing to go.” They added that all
+dangers had been fully set before them by the missionaries, and that they
+had determined to go, because of their own wish to make known the Gospel
+of Christ to the people of other isles. Throughout the Fijian Isles the
+native teachers receive a salary of £10 a-year, and are supplied with
+food by their scholars. These men resigned all claim to any definite
+salary. They gave themselves as volunteers, without even the certainty of
+daily bread, resolved to face whatever hardships might lie before them.
+
+With something more than the zeal of the early saints (for we never
+hear that they went to live amongst cannibals), this band of brave men
+set sail in this same mission-brig, the John Wesley.[57] Mr Brown had
+left his wife and children in New Zealand; and I doubt if he was able
+to communicate once with them during the two years of his absence. He
+has now returned to announce that the mission is fairly established. He
+has been to New Zealand to see his family; and his wife, being a brave
+little woman, and of one mind with her husband, has resolved to return
+with him. So they have placed their elder children at school, and are
+taking only one baby with them; and now they have returned to Fiji to
+enlist fresh volunteers, and a few days hence they will quietly sail
+away on their errand of mercy. And though their departure from here will
+hardly excite a passing comment, there is small doubt that their work
+will leave an enduring mark on the future history of the Pacific Isles.
+Mr Brown gave us many most interesting details of all he had seen in New
+Britain, and of the country and people—none of which I have time to tell
+you, as the mail closes to-day. Good-bye.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                  NASOVA, _June 25, 1877_.
+
+DEAR JEAN,—I have just returned from a pleasant three days’ expedition
+to the island of Wakaya, which is so near here that the wonder is why we
+have not been there long ago. It is the property of the late American
+Consul, Dr Brewer, and is one of the best examples of a fairly prosperous
+estate. Dr Brewer having most kindly placed his comfortable house at our
+disposal for some days, Captain Stewart, R.E., made arrangements to take
+another lady and myself across in his little yacht. We had a favouring
+breeze, and a rough but rapid passage, and arrived in such good time
+that we were able to start at once to climb a rocky hill, on the summit
+of which formerly stood a fortified town, which is the chief point of
+historic interest on the isle. For there was a deadly feud between
+the people of Wakaya and those of Ovalau, which resulted in the total
+extermination of the former, who finally took refuge in this stronghold,
+until, driven to desperation, the chief and his wife together sprang over
+the cliffs to avoid falling into the hands of their foes.
+
+We wandered all about the beautiful hills, peering over crags and down
+richly wooded ravines, and from every fresh point obtained exquisite
+views of the wide calm Pacific Ocean, dotted with many isles. There were
+ten different inhabited isles in sight, including the two very large
+ones, and all were bathed in tones of ethereal blue and lilac. As we came
+back through the forest, we gathered huge pods of a monstrous vine. They
+were from three to four feet long, and resembled gigantic beans.[58]
+I have brought them back to convince all gainsayers of the accurate
+botanical research displayed in the good old story of Jack and the
+Beanstalk. I mentioned this fact to a midshipman, to whom I have just
+presented one of my beans, but I fear he thought I was making game of him!
+
+The evening was so lovely that after supper we strolled down to the
+beach, and sat beside a great bonfire of cocoa-nut shells, the refuse
+of _coppra_ making. The ruddy glare lighted up the tall palm-trees,
+mingling with the white light of the full moon; and the little wavelets
+rippled on the sand, making a pleasant picture. In case you do not know
+what _coppra_ is, I may as well explain that it is the kernel of the
+cocoa-nut, which is dried in the sun and thus prepared for exportation to
+the colonies, where it is subjected to such pressure as to extract the
+oil. It forms one of the largest exports from the isles. The shells and
+husks burn with so fierce a flame that they destroy any oven or machine
+in which they are used as fuel; and though the husk would be valuable for
+making fibre, it is not considered to pay sufficiently well to make it
+worth while to import a machine. A rough-and-ready contrivance on a small
+scale has, however, been started here, where a machine for combing out
+the fibre is turned by the action of two mules, whose lives are spent in
+continually walking on a tread-mill. I do not mean to imply that the same
+animals are incessantly at work!
+
+Next morning Mr Mackay, the overseer (who had already done much for our
+entertainment, having killed the fatted fowl for supper, and shot a
+beautiful half-tame peacock for our dinner), now put his Mexican saddle
+on the donkey, and by turning over a flap, so as to bring both the great
+stirrups on one side, improvised a very good side-saddle, on which we
+rode by turns. We passed over wide extents of deserted cotton-fields,
+formerly under careful cultivation, but abandoned owing to falling
+prices, and the ravages of hurricanes.
+
+One of the most promising experiments now is coffee-planting. We saw
+coffee shrubs planted under the shade of cocoa-palms and bread-fruit
+trees, at an altitude not exceeding seventy to a hundred feet. In both
+these respects the practice here is at variance with all that I have
+seen in Ceylon; yet this seems to be bearing an excellent crop, and the
+example is already being followed on several plantations, and seems
+likely to prove a success.[59]
+
+At daybreak this morning I got a sketch of the fine old _eevie_ grove,
+and at noon we started on our return, and arrived here in time for five
+o’clock tea. H.M.S. Wolverine in harbour.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                           _July 1, 1877._
+
+This morning H.M.S. Sapphire sailed for Sydney, taking Captain Olive, who
+returns to England. He purposes, however, to return here and settle as a
+planter, and hopes to buy part of Wakaya, the island from which we have
+just returned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                                 _July 9._
+
+I have had some pleasant expeditions to the reef the last few days,
+collecting strange beautiful creatures for the children’s aquarium,
+and also for a series of ruder aquariums—buckets and tubs. But it is
+unsatisfactory work, for our loveliest creatures will die; and especially
+we find that to introduce the smallest bit of beautiful coral is fatal—at
+least, before it is wholly bleached in the sun. And you cannot think how
+tempting it is to arrange miniature coral gardens of pink, blue, lemon
+colour, and greenish corals of many different forms, and, if only for one
+day, to watch the many coloured tiny fish playing among it in a great
+glass globe. But this inevitably results in our finding most of them dead
+next morning, whereas if we omit the coral the exquisite fish live for
+many days.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                          _July 14, 1877._
+
+We have for some days been very anxious about Dr Mayo (who, you will
+remember, came out with us). He has been living chiefly at Khandavu, to
+enforce the quarantine regulations on vessels calling there. A few days
+ago he was brought to Levuka suffering very seriously from dysentery, and
+was carried to the hospital. At first he seemed to improve; but clever
+doctors are apt to prove bad patients, and the present instance has been
+no exception. He became rapidly worse, and it has been decided that his
+only chance of recovery lies in immediate change to the colonies; so he
+was carried on board the Lyeemoon, which sailed for Sydney to-day.[60]
+Mr Mitchell also started. He goes to Calcutta to make arrangements about
+providing coolie labour for Fiji. He hopes to be able to look after Dr
+Mayo, but is himself suffering severely from fever. Dr Mayo’s English
+servant came to him from Savu Savu on hearing of his illness, but he made
+him return at once to take care of his little island, with the unfinished
+house and the shrubs, which he has imported with so much care.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                          _July 20, 1877._
+
+We have been revelling in the most heavenly weather. But as the
+thermometer has been down to 67° Fahr., a thing almost unprecedented in
+the tropics, of course every creature, white and brown, has got cold,
+cough, influenza, and we are all shivering in our English winter clothes.
+I have been suffering from my very first experience of Fijian sores,
+which are the curse of the land. I was on the reef catching the most
+exquisite tiny fish for the aquarium—pale-blue, dark-blue, bright-green,
+bands of black and white, but especially gold, with sky-blue collar—when,
+incautiously slipping my hand under a rock ledge, a horrid great sea-eel,
+called the _dabea_, which lives in the coral, darted out and tried to
+swallow my little finger. Happily it failed to bite it off, and I was
+able to drag back my hand, but it bled very much. I came home at once and
+soaked it in salt and brandy for fear of poison—a painful but efficacious
+remedy. I think the finger is going on all right.
+
+The wonder to me is that we do not hear of more frequent accidents,
+considering the manner in which the unshod natives are for ever walking
+on the reef, or swimming round ledges haunted by dangerous biting and
+stinging sea-beasts. The worst accidents I have heard of lately happened
+on the isles of Lakemba and Cicia.
+
+At the former a girl was diving for clam-shells, and seeing a very large
+one wide open, she extended her arms intending to encircle it, and so
+attempt to raise it. But missing her aim, she plunged her hand into it,
+instead of beneath it. In an instant it closed, and she was held prisoner
+(you know a clam is a strong dentated bivalve, sometimes of enormous
+weight). Her companions wondered at her staying below so long, and at
+last dived in search of her, and found her dead body.
+
+The other sad accident happened at Cicia, where a girl was on the
+coral-reef catching crabs and other treasures of the sea, and
+incautiously slipped her hand into a hole in the rock. By no possible
+means could she succeed in drawing it out again. Her companions were
+utterly unable to help her, and there the poor girl was kept, while
+gradually the tide rose and closed over her, and she too was drowned.
+Imagine the horror of feeling the tide slowly but steadily creeping up,
+and awaiting a certain death.
+
+I hope to see this isle of Cicia (pronounced Thithia) next week, as I
+have just made arrangements for a visit to the Windward Islands, which
+are the most easterly of the many groups into which the 223 Fijian isles
+naturally divide themselves. The two chief points of attraction are Loma
+Loma, which is the capital of the great Tongan chief, Maafu, and the isle
+of Mago, which is the pattern plantation of Fiji, and is the exclusive
+property of Mr Ryder and his six sons, who all live on the island, and
+themselves attend to every detail of their own business, with the happy
+result, that throughout the most troublous times they have never ceased
+to flourish. Every one tells me that my ideas of Fiji will be most
+incomplete till I have seen Mago, and also Nandi, on Viti Levu. So the
+first omission is now to be rectified, and the second as soon as occasion
+presents itself. Accordingly next week, when Mr Ryder returns home, I am
+to accompany him, and see various places of interest on the way.
+
+I am sitting under the shadow of a tall group of plantains. Now the sun
+has set, and I am writing by moonlight, sitting on the grass, which in
+such cold weather is scarcely prudent. So good night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+    VARIOUS PLANTATIONS—CROTONS—FOREIGN LABOUR—GREEN BEETLES—LOMA
+    LOMA—A TONGAN COLONY—HOT SPRINGS.
+
+
+                                 ON BOARD THE BLACK SWAN, _July 28, 1877_.
+
+You see our fortunes are once more looking up.
+
+We have a steamer again!—an old tub recently chartered by Government for
+this interinsular service. We left Levuka two days ago, and ran across
+to the island of Koro, which we did not reach till sunset, so dared not
+risk going inside the reef to collect produce, and merely lay to, while a
+boat rowed ashore with the letters. By this time there was rather a heavy
+sea on, and before we reached the green shores of Taviuni it was very
+rough indeed. Our party included several of the most successful planters
+of the group, Mr Ryder, Mr Richardson, and Mr M’Evoy. After breakfast
+we reached Selia Levu, a large sugar and maize plantation belonging to
+Messrs Richardson and Elphinston.
+
+Here we landed, and were most hospitably entertained. The invariable
+blessed hot tea-pot having dissipated a savage headache, born of
+steamboat, and generally restored life, I was able thoroughly to enjoy
+a long walk over the estate, through flourishing fields of sugar and
+maize, and was duly instructed in the mysteries of the sugar-mills. I had
+already been initiated into these, when on a visit to Mr Elphinston’s
+sister, Mrs Pillans, at Savu Savu. There was a great quantity of produce
+to be shipped, and for some reason the punt could not be floated, so it
+all had to come off in small boat-loads, which detained us till 10 P.M.
+After sunset it rained heavily, which cannot have improved the sugar.[61]
+Early this morning we passed Vatu Vara, a small lonely island, which is
+the chosen home of an American, Mr Thompson, and a Tahitian wife. They
+have adopted several Tongan children, and have only one labour-boy, who
+goes mad regularly every full moon. Formerly they had three foreign
+labour-boys, but two of them died of the measles, and have not been
+replaced. This Robinson Crusoe is said to have considerable capital, so I
+suppose he really chooses this existence for pleasure!
+
+We next reached Cicia (pronounced Thithia), where Mr M’Evoy has two
+flourishing properties, eight miles apart. He had a good deal of cargo to
+ship, but the weather was so rough that it was as much as he could do to
+unship what he had brought with him. So our time ashore was very much
+curtailed, which I greatly regret, this being by far the most attractive
+plantation I have seen. Everything is so beautifully kept—so clean and
+tidy in every respect, indoors and out. I have seen nothing like it in
+Fiji. It was pleasant to see how delighted all Mr M’Evoy’s men looked
+when they saw him return; and he had a pleasant word for each, by name.
+He had several on board with him, who, having been sent back to Levuka as
+time-expired labour, had re-engaged themselves to him; and his kindness
+to them during the voyage had already given me a pleasant impression of
+the relations of master and servant.
+
+The island is very pretty—high grassy hills and deep valleys, richly
+wooded; a palm-fringed shore, and five Fijian villages. At one end of the
+isle there are high wooded crags. Mr M’Evoy’s own house is at the further
+side of the isle. That where we landed is the home of Mr Borron, the
+Scotch overseer. The house, like everything about the place, is a rare
+model of cosiness, with its books and pictures, and a lovely nosegay on
+the table.
+
+Equally marked is the care bestowed on every detail out of doors,—the
+comfortable quarters provided for the foreign labourers—men and women
+having good quarters quite apart, instead of herding together like pigs,
+as they are often compelled to do. Moreover, a comfortable hospital—a
+large clean house—is provided for the sick—one for men and another
+for women—each divided into several wards, with tidy raised beds, and
+standing apart in a nice cheery garden. I thought of some of the slovenly
+discomfort I have seen elsewhere, and marvelled why similar care was not
+more common. The men and women here, really have a chance of improving
+by contact with the superior race. We went through the cotton-ginning
+establishment, where, as a matter of course, everything was in apple-pie
+order.
+
+This estate is chiefly laid out in cotton; but for once the beautiful has
+not been wholly forgotten in the lucrative. The same good taste, which
+is evident in all details, has planted most rare and valuable crotons
+along the broad paths which intersect the cotton-fields. These and other
+ornamental shrubs are also carefully cultivated in every available
+corner. Mr Borron himself brought some beautiful crotons from the New
+Hebrides, which seem to produce some of the most exquisite varieties of
+these strange lovely shrubs, which there and in Rotumah attain the size
+of small trees.
+
+I believe some members of this large and very varied family are to be
+found in each group of the Pacific,—indeed the large silvery-leaved tree
+with fragrant blossoms, which we know in Fiji as the candle-nut tree,
+forms a prominent feature in the foliage of all the tropical isles I
+know, including Ceylon. The variety, both of colour and pattern of leaf,
+exhibited by these plants is truly wonderful. In most cases the leaf is
+tough and glossy. In some species it is broad and large, in others a
+mere strip. Sometimes the strip is spiral, and in other cases is divided
+across the middle so as to form two leaves, connected by a short stem.
+As concerns colour, the crotons are of every hue that it is possible for
+foliage to assume. Some are vivid scarlet, some pure crimson, others
+richest claret colour. Then come all shades of golden-yellow and pale
+primrose, and every tint of green, from the most delicate to the darkest,
+as well as greens shaded with chocolate or maroon. In short, their beauty
+and variety seem to be without limit, and new specimens are constantly
+brought from the isles near the equator. Mr Thurston, the Colonial
+Secretary of Fiji, has devoted much care to collecting all the most
+beautiful kinds, many of which he himself discovered in Rotumah and other
+far-away isles. His garden at Levuka positively glows with the gorgeous
+colour of some of these; and from his own most valuable collection he
+generously sends ample cuttings to friends and botanists in all parts of
+the world.
+
+Now we are off the isle of Mago (which you must pronounce Mango), and are
+just going ashore. As seen from the sea, it certainly is very pretty,
+having a coast of steep cliffs and dense wood. I believe it differs from
+all other isles in the group, in that the whole centre is one great
+plain, admirably suited for cultivation, which accordingly is here
+carried to perfection. We have just passed a small isle devoted to grey
+rabbits,[62] and another haunted by flying-foxes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                 MAGO, _Saturday Evening_.
+
+We landed at Moruna,—a pretty bay, with a pleasant house and garden,
+which is the home of two of the brothers. Thence a two miles’ muddy walk
+towards the centre of the isle brought us here to the principal house,
+where we were welcomed by Mr and Mrs Ryder, their daughter Amy, and
+three more sons, all cordial and kind. The sixth son, Mr Thomas Ryder,
+has lately gone to Sydney with his wife and children, and I am most
+comfortably ensconced in their nice large room. At the present moment,
+the youngest son, a bright unaffected young fellow, is himself bringing
+up my luggage in his tiny punt, by some creek which I have as yet failed
+to discover. Tea has just been announced, and the letters must go back to
+the steamboat. So good-bye for the present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                _Sunday Evening, July 29._
+
+We have had a pleasant idle day, and have just come in from a long walk,
+which has given me a good general idea of the place. The house itself is
+bowered with honeysuckle and roses, and the air is scented with orange
+blossoms from the trees planted near. A hedge of bright scarlet hybiscus
+separates the garden from the cotton-fields, and its gay blossoms
+decorate many of the quaint shaggy heads of the foreign labour. Just
+round the house the land is all under cultivation, but there are many
+charming pieces of natural wood left untouched; and in every available
+corner, fruit-bearing trees are planted. Lime-trees in abundance,
+bread-fruit and shaddock, date-palm and cocoa-nut, patches of banana and
+_papaw_, and broad fields of maize, yams, _taro_, and sweet potato,—for
+the multitude which have to be daily fed is very great, and the island
+depends upon its own produce. Whether the date-palm will bear fruit in
+this latitude is a question as yet unsolved; but a considerable number
+of young trees have been raised, and promise well. Coffee also thrives;
+and even the cotton-fields of Mago flourish as of old. Indeed among all
+the vicissitudes that have so sorely depressed and temporarily ruined
+trade in Fiji, this plantation has been uniformly prosperous,—a condition
+ascribed chiefly to the exceeding care bestowed on it by its large family
+of owners.[63]
+
+In the course of our walk we passed over a good deal of grassy land,
+fragrant with lilac orchids, not unlike those of England. Then we
+wandered up a sheltered valley, planted entirely with fine bread-fruit
+trees. It is enclosed by high wooded cliffs, and is a delightfully shady
+retreat from the heat of the noonday sun. Here we explored a cave in
+which the natives used to conceal their dead, and near it was a favourite
+spot for cannibal feasts in olden days.
+
+This isle of Mago was formerly tributary to Somo Somo, the chiefs and
+people of which, as I have already told you, were noted throughout Fiji
+for their exceeding ferocity. When Christianity first began to make
+progress among the inhabitants of Mago, they were subjected to fierce
+persecution for their faith, as were also the people of the great isle
+of Vanua Mbalavu (the Long Land), which we see from here. As usual,
+however, the converts stood firm, and their numbers rapidly increased,
+notwithstanding the cruelty of the Somo Somo chiefs.
+
+Now Maafu, the Tongan chief, reigns supreme at Loma Loma, the capital
+of Vanua Mbalavu (though now, of course, subject to England); and Mago
+belongs exclusively to the Messrs Ryder, the chiefs having agreed to
+sell the whole island, and remove the population bodily. Consequently no
+Fijians now remain here, and the island is worked by about 300 foreign
+labour—wild-looking men, gathered from all the most uncivilised groups
+near the Equator—the Tokalau, Marshall, and Gilbert Isles, Solomon Isles,
+Tanna, New Hebrides, and many another far-away home—the most motley
+group you can conceive, but many of them intelligent and hard-working.
+In apportioning their quarters, the different nations seem to keep quite
+separate, and a certain number have wives and families.
+
+They stop work early on Saturday, and are allowed perfect liberty to
+spend the afternoon and the whole of Sunday as they please. They have
+free leave to roam all over the island in search of game, or to take out
+the canoes and fish on the reef. Of course they do not fail to avail
+themselves of so good an opportunity of adding to their rations, to say
+nothing of indulging their natural love of sport. There is an immense
+number of wild pigs on this isle, the descendants of imported pigs which
+have run wild in the bush. So a regular hunt is organised every Sunday
+morning, and to-day the sportsmen returned in triumph, having bagged
+thirty pigs, and they are now preparing a grand feast.
+
+I have been inquiring as to the truth of stories we have heard of the
+way in which the men of the New Hebrides catch sharks. I am told it is
+strictly true—that they actually dive below the shark, and, in so doing,
+slip a noose round its tail, then rising to the surface, haul it ashore
+by main force. Certainly these men are almost as much at home in the sea
+as on land.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                         MAGO, _August 3_.
+
+We have had several days of incessant rain, and all the lowlands are
+flooded. At last this morning it cleared just a little, and I determined
+to secure a sketch of the lovely little inner harbour, which is so
+curiously enclosed by two encircling arms of wooded cliff, that there
+is literally only just room for a boat to sail in. Once inside, there
+she lies safe in the wildest storms, with water four fathoms deep—the
+snuggest berth you can possibly conceive, and a quiet refuge for a
+multitude of wild duck, which find safe breeding-ground in the mangroves
+which fringe the shore, and the roots of which form an oyster-bed. One
+of the theories concerning this curious island (which is shaped somewhat
+like a flat dish, with a high rim of coralline rocks enclosing the level
+arable lands), is, that it was originally an _atoll_—that is, a coral
+ring enclosing a sea-lake—and that the whole having been upheaved by
+volcanic action, the waters of the lagoon burst this narrow passage
+through the encircling rock, and so drained the central plateau. Looking
+down on the scene from any high point, this theory very naturally
+suggests itself, and is further supported by the presence of crags of the
+hardest igneous rock, which appear to have been forced up through the
+original coral.
+
+As a desirable sketching-ground, I had noted a high point on the wooded
+crag above the bay, from which I was certain the view must be splendid.
+The difficulty was to reach it. However, two of my hosts agreed to escort
+me, and took with them two New Hebrides men, who helped to clear a track,
+and open up the view, which was most lovely, overlooking not only the
+blue harbour, with its setting of rich foliage and crag, but the coral
+reefs beyond it, and the far-away land of Loma Loma. I contrived to
+perch on a very uncomfortable rock, made up of hard spikes, and secured
+my drawing, while my companions went beating about the rocks till they
+started a wild sow with five young ones. The New Hebrides men gave chase;
+they caught two little pigs alive, and carried them home rejoicing. One
+of these men has his hair dressed in a series of hard round balls the
+size of a large orange, which look just as if he had plastered them with
+pitch; while on the crown of the head the hair stands up in a wild fuzz,
+in which he wears a long wooden comb.
+
+As we were coming down the hill, we came on a marvellous swarm of
+metallic blue-and-green beetles, with heads and underside golden,—just
+the same insect as our ladybirds. I have found these in all corners
+of the earth, and in every variety of colour, but nowhere have I seen
+anything in the slightest degree resembling this swarm. The beetles hung
+in dense clusters on palm-fronds and stems, on the vines hanging from
+tree to tree, and on both sides of every leaf, so that not one atom of
+green could be seen. The palm-trees seemed dressed in coats of mail of
+shining blue steel; and the vines were like solid ropes of emeralds and
+sapphires, with golden setting, the gold being the head of the ladybird.
+There must have been many millions of these living gems, for they covered
+a space of nearly half an acre in the forest, which truly suggested some
+wonderful tale of fairyland, with real fairy jewel-trees, where, instead
+of stupid dead minerals, the gems are all alive, ready to fly away from
+covetous human touch. They were in such dense masses that the shrubs were
+quite weighed down by them, and when we shook a bough to make them fly
+off, it sprang up quite light. They did not seem to be doing any harm.
+Certainly it was a very pretty glimpse of fairyland. I have brought down
+a number of the living sapphires, hoping to preserve them, alive or dead.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                              _August 12._
+
+It has gone on raining almost without intermission, and everything is
+damp and mildewed. The fresh supply of new drawing-paper I got just
+before starting is one mass of mildew. The clothes hanging up on pegs
+feel quite clammy: even the handle of my umbrella is covered with green
+mould. We cannot go one step out of the verandah without picking up
+pounds of mud on our feet. I am told that for the last three months there
+has been literally no rain, and loads of fruit of all sorts. Now there is
+no fruit, but any amount of rain; so I am unlucky. But we are very cosy
+and happy indoors, and my only regret is not being able to explore the
+many pretty spots on the isle.
+
+I managed to get back to the gem-mine in the enchanted forest. There
+I found the fairy jewels as thick as before, still clustered in dense
+swarms on every leaf and stem. On the same hill I found four kinds
+of land-snails, two of which are new to me. Two of my hosts are keen
+naturalists, and have shown me many things of interest—animate and
+inanimate. All the brethren are as busy as bees from morning till night,
+personally overseeing the work of their 300 men. No wonder their estate
+prospers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                              _August 18._
+
+At last the clouds have relented, and we have had several days of
+glorious weather. I have been taken to see and to sketch magnificent old
+Fiji banyan-trees, on cliffs and in the heart of the forest. And one
+evening there was a muster of the foreign labour for my benefit. We went
+to their quarters to see them all dance and make merry. Most of them
+are hideous, and their dances are strange and uncouth—utterly devoid of
+grace. Certainly, from an æsthetic point of view, these races are as
+inferior to those of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, as the Australian blacks are
+to the noble Maoris of New Zealand.
+
+Of course the poverty which induced these people to forsake their own
+homes, and accept a lot of exile and servitude, accounts for their
+possessing few or no articles of personal adornment; but I noticed one
+woman from Tanna who had her ears literally covered with tortoise-shell
+ear-rings—some passed through the others like links, so that she carried
+fully twenty on each ear. Others had large metal ear-rings, apparently of
+lead, and of such weight as to drag down the lobe of the ear to a length
+of several inches. Some women’s ears were actually torn in two by this
+weight, and the flesh hung in strips—a painful sacrifice to fashion.
+
+Many, both men and women, had devoted great care to their hair-dressing,
+which was grotesque in the extreme. My especial friend, whose hair was
+dressed like balls plastered with pitch, seemed nowise remarkable among
+his quaint neighbours—some of whom had elaborate twists and plaits and
+rolls, though others left their wild, unkempt shock-heads as rough as
+uncombed, unbrushed nature could make them.
+
+For many days past we have been waiting and watching for the chance of
+some means of getting to Vanua Mbalavu, the long blue island which lies
+on the horizon; but the weather has been so stormy that we have not seen
+a sail, and almost despair of doing so. It would be rather a _fiasco_ to
+return to Nasova without having seen Loma Loma; but at present it seems
+likely to be my fate, as the monthly steamer will call here in a few days
+on her way from Loma Loma to Levuka.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                   DALI DONI, VANUA, MBALAVU, _August 21_.
+
+This morning was very rainy and blowy. To our amazement, just after
+breakfast, a gentleman walked in, having come up from Moruna to say
+that Mr Hennings had come across from Loma Loma in his little schooner
+to fetch Miss Ryder and myself. There was no option of delay on account
+of wind or rain; so we packed at once, and a detachment of foreign
+labour came up to carry our luggage over the steep muddy hill which
+lay between us and the anchorage. We found it sufficiently hard work
+to carry ourselves, so slippery was the ground. The strong gale was in
+our favour, and the little vessel flew before the wind. Less than two
+hours carried us from reef to reef, over a distance which often takes
+many hours, sometimes days. So now we have reached the long island; the
+little schooner is safely anchored inside the reef, and we are spending a
+night at this very pretty place—the property of Mr Levick, whose married
+overseer has given us hospitable welcome.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                             LOMA LOMA, _August 24, 1877_.
+
+We left Dali Doni at daybreak, and sailed to Mbalavu, where Mr Hennings
+has an estate. Here we climbed a steep hill, passing through much
+luxuriant forest, and some patches of cultivation. From the summit we
+had a most lovely view of the harbour, which is quite unique, from the
+multitude of little rocky isles which dot its surface, all densely
+wooded. But so strongly has the ceaseless wash of the tide marked its
+level, that it is vain to land on any of these, as the overhanging ledge
+of rock makes it impossible to ascend at any point. We halted at this
+beautiful spot long enough to allow me to make a careful drawing of
+the scene, and then went on to the house of the overseer, where a fine
+roast turkey awaited us for luncheon. Then down another steep hill, to
+the beautiful blue sea, of which we caught glimpses, framed by great
+forest-trees and vines. Here lay the little vessel, with white sails
+flapping. She had sailed round from the other side of the island, but
+the wind had fallen, and ere we reached her she was becalmed. So we took
+the small boat and rowed through a most lovely bay, past richly wooded
+islands and steep rocky headlands, till we came to the plantation of Mr
+Vecsey, a Hungarian, married to a handsome Tongan woman, with two pretty,
+merry children. Here we were most hospitably entertained; but according
+to custom, the native wife would not sit at table with us, but waited
+near, and attended to our wants.
+
+In the bright early morning we started to explore the neighbourhood, and
+when the sun rose high we followed a clear streamlet overshadowed by dark
+_eevie_ trees, and inhabited by thousands of spiral black shells two
+inches long, with a very sharp point. I had seen these in collections,
+but always with the point broken off, and had heard it gravely asserted
+that this particular shell had always an obtuse end. So it was rather
+a triumph to find all these, and I carried off a number. On the sunny
+streamlet floated the fragrant white blossoms of the shaddock, whose
+boughs, fruit-laden, overhung the water. We gathered branches of the
+sweet blossoms, and feasted on the huge orange-like fruit—which, however,
+is of very uncertain excellence, some trees bearing juicy and delicious
+fruit, while others are very dry, with a flavour of turpentine.
+
+After breakfast (at which we had a capital broth of shellfish, something
+like cockles, boiled with rice) we once more embarked with a light
+breeze, and in the afternoon arrived here. This town, which is spoken of
+throughout the group as the pattern of order and neatness, is true to
+its reputation. It is a large, very clean, and tidy village of thatched
+houses. Slight peculiarities, such as the gable ends being round instead
+of flat, at once prove them to be the homes of Tongans—_i.e._, colonists
+from the Friendly Isles.
+
+We were most kindly welcomed by Mr and Mrs Levick to a home, not only
+comfortable, but with all the graces of ornamental civilisation. In the
+evening we wandered along the shore in the moonlight, and turned aside to
+see the Botanic Garden, which is under the especial care of our host, and
+where the collection of crotons is particularly good.
+
+At early dawn, tempted by the low rippling of the water on the white
+sea-beach, just beyond the lawn, we ventured on the rare luxury of
+a sea-bath, in defiance of the sharks; and, encouraged by their
+non-appearance, we now repeat this indulgence every morning, while
+troops of pretty brown children disport themselves around us, swimming
+and diving like fishes. Our hostess has one charming little girl, whose
+principal ambition is to walk into the sea up to her neck, whenever she
+has been dressed with the greatest care!
+
+We devoted our first morning here to rowing along the beautiful shores,
+and exploring many creeks and inlets, which form secure harbours,
+walled round by overhanging volcanic rock, and dotted with picturesque
+islands. All are densely wooded, and tempting to explore, but they are
+so water-worn that we rowed in and out and all round, one after another,
+for several hours, before finding one place where we could possibly land.
+At last we discovered a little sandy bay, where we spread our luncheon
+in the cool shade of glittering leaves, hoping afterwards to make our
+way to some high point whence we could look down on the scene. We also
+wished to discover some old native fortifications, which we knew to be
+perched somewhere far above us. But we failed to discover any track; and
+the dense growth of tropical vegetation was altogether impenetrable, so
+we rowed quietly back to a pretty island just facing the town, and there
+lingered till sunset.
+
+On my return I found that the Lady Eleanor, Maafu’s wife, had, at his
+bidding, prepared a _mangete_—that is, a feast—for me, which had been
+sent to the house during my absence; and my host, unheeding native
+custom, had, most unfortunately, refused to admit it. I was exceedingly
+annoyed, knowing how dire an insult this would be considered, but
+persuaded him to accompany me in the evening to Maafu’s house, to call
+and smooth matters. Properly speaking, notice of our coming should have
+been sent, and I fear that Lady Eleanor and her ladies were not much
+pleased at being taken unawares, and _en déshabille_. However, she is a
+very fine old lady, and we parted excellent friends. Maafu himself had
+just started for Levuka. He is a splendid man, stalwart and stately; and
+whenever I have seen him he has always been dressed in native _tappa_,
+thrown round his waist in handsome heavy folds. He has the proud bearing
+of his race, for among the Tongans even the common people walk as if they
+scorn the ground they tread on. Maafu (or the Roko Tui Lau, which is his
+official title) has ever been noted for the strength of character and
+vigour of action whereby he secured his position as the great chief of
+this district.
+
+We heard rather an amusing instance of his shrewdness in dealing with a
+fanatical sect which most strangely sprang into existence on one of his
+isles—Matuku. Several men and one woman declared themselves to be angels,
+and began to hold religious services, and to extract money from their
+converts, even administering corporal punishment to those who failed to
+obey their precepts. Their audacity won them many followers, till Maafu
+arrived in person, and summoned the angels to answer for themselves. The
+woman brought an angelic baby, whereupon Maafu asked her if it was hers,
+and if she was married, and if she really thought she was an angel, all
+which questions she answered in the affirmative. Whereupon he asked her
+if she couldn’t read her Bible, and referred her to St Matthew to prove
+that angels do not marry, whereas she had not only married, but had a
+baby! He dismissed her amid the derision of her late disciples, and,
+having equally turned the men to ridicule (of all things most dreaded
+by a Fijian), he sentenced them to work on the roads as rogues and
+vagabonds, and so the new sect collapsed.
+
+Both Maafu and his wife are stanch supporters of the Wesleyan Church,
+to which we found our way on Sunday morning at 8 A.M. There had already
+been a service at 6 A.M., which probably accounted for the attendance
+being somewhat meagre. The building is of the usual Fijian pattern,
+with thatched roof and matted floor, and many open doorways,—a style
+of architecture which is always airy and appropriate; but the ends of
+the church are circular, after the Tongan fashion. The meeting seemed
+lacking in the perfect simplicity of a Fijian service; and our tendency
+to laugh was only conquered by our disgust, on seeing a regular verger,
+armed with a long stick, who periodically rose from his knees and walked
+about administering a resounding blow to any young woman who was not
+doubled up, at what he chose to consider the orthodox angle of devotion;
+while right in front of the pulpit was placed a bench, on which sat a row
+of the principal men, all dressed in hideous black coats and trousers,
+and who (doubtless from the same fear of injuring the latter which
+so strongly affects white men) never pretended to kneel at all; but
+the verger took care not to see them, and confined his disciplinarian
+attentions to the women.
+
+We returned in the afternoon to a service for children, which was pretty,
+the young voices singing very sweetly.
+
+The spread of Christianity in the groups on this side of the Fijian
+archipelago has been marked by the same quiet and unobtrusive but most
+steady advance which has been so strangely characteristic of its work
+throughout these isles. I told you the story of Ono, where the people,
+having gathered some dim idea of the Unknown God, induced a heathen
+priest to offer on their behalf (though not on his own) the first words
+of Christian prayer uttered on the lonely little isle of Ono, which so
+quickly became a centre of strength to the mission. As in apostolic days,
+the converts straightway went forth to make known in other isles the new
+religion of peace and love. One of these Fijian apostles started, like
+the others, in his little canoe, and sailed a distance of wellnigh 300
+miles, till he reached Oneata, an isle lying about twenty miles to the
+south-east of Lakeinba, where the first white missionaries had landed,
+and where Mr Calvert was then living alone, having only arrived in Fiji
+about a year previously, as yet knowing little of the people or their
+language, and yet endeavouring, with the help of the Tongan teachers, to
+establish stations not only in the thirteen towns on the large isles of
+Lakemba, but also on the twenty-four isles (some 140 miles apart) which
+form that group. Few indeed were the labourers in so wide a field.
+
+Gladly was the new teacher from Ono welcomed. Soon one of the chiefs of
+Oneata was convinced of the truth, and himself undertook to persuade
+others; and so, one by one, new converts were added to the faith, and
+others would fain have declared themselves, but dreaded the wrath of
+the king of Lakemba, to whom Oneata was tributary, and who had strictly
+forbidden any of his people to adopt the new religion. Great was the
+amazement of all, when a heathen priest arrived, bearing a message from
+the king, to say that as so many had become Christians, he wished all the
+inhabitants of the isle would do so, as it was for the good of the people
+that all should be of one mind!
+
+These men of Oneata were an industrious and enterprising race, singularly
+independent in character, and much given to trading with other isles. Now
+each canoe, as it went forth on its ordinary business, became a little
+mission ship; and the sailors of Oneata seemed never weary of teaching
+others all that they had learnt, and urging them to adopt the new
+religion.
+
+Amongst other isles where they were wont to trade was this isle of Vanua
+Mbalavu, lying about ninety miles to the north of Oneata. Landing here
+at Loma Loma, their first convert was a chief of the name of Mbukarau, a
+rough and powerful man, and strong of purpose. Hearing that there were
+Tongan teachers at Lakemba, he at once got ready his canoe, and sailed
+thither, a distance of seventy miles, to ask for a teacher for himself
+and his people. One was sent; and soon they were joined by a little
+company of nine persons, and these gradually increased to quite a large
+congregation, and the new converts in their turn went and taught their
+neighbours at Yaro. Vanua Mbalavu has a population of about 3000 persons,
+and is divided into two distinct provinces—Loma Loma and Yaro. A cruel
+war having broken out between these, the Christians of both districts
+desired to keep themselves clear of it, and appealed to the king of Yaro
+for permission to settle on the little isle of Munia, where they might
+continue neutral. This request was granted, and to the astonishment
+of all, the king of Yaro sent a message to the inhabitants of Munia,
+recommending them to _lotu_, and to abandon their fortresses in the
+mountains, and come down to live peacefully with the Christians, on the
+sea board. So, strange to say, this purely Christian colony was founded
+by the advice of a heathen king, and soon a new town was built on the
+most favourable site; its people were permitted to sail wherever they
+wished, without hindrance, exempt from the dangers and claims of war;
+and Munia was accounted a sacred city of refuge, where any persons,
+fleeing from either of the fighting districts, were in safety. So they
+cultivated their lands in peace, but did not fail in their zealous
+endeavours to spread the good tidings further and further among the
+outlying isles. Amongst those whom they thus sought to influence were
+the people of Thikombia, a rocky island, distant about twelve miles, all
+the inhabitants of which lived in one town on the top of a high crag,
+the face of which was a sheer precipice, on the brink of which many
+generations of children had been reared in perfect safety—no one having
+ever fallen over. These people heard and believed, and thenceforth from
+that rocky home the voice of Christian worship arose continually. And so
+from isle to isle the faith continued to spread, notwithstanding waves
+of bitter persecution which from time to time were raised by those who
+continued heathen. We have seen those isles of Munia and Thikombia, but
+have not been very near them.
+
+Within a short distance of Loma Loma lies a group of hot springs, which,
+though on a very small scale, are of course interesting. Here, as at
+Savu Savu, some of them lie actually below high-water mark, but the two
+principal ones are in a deep gorge—a wilderness of almost inaccessible
+rocks, hidden by huge fallen boulders and interlacing vines. They must
+have been discovered by the merest accident, and we needed a good guide
+to show us where they lay. It was a difficult piece of rock-scrambling,
+but sufficiently interesting to repay the toil.
+
+I think I have already mentioned that we only know of four places now
+existing in the group where there is evidence of the internal action of
+fire—namely, the springs at Savu Savu in Viti Levu, a very hot stream on
+the western side of the same isle, the boiling springs at Ngau, and these
+at Loma Loma.
+
+We returned by Maafu’s excellent road, by far the best as yet constructed
+in the group. A bevy of nice Fijian girls escorted us, and pointed out,
+with much wonder, a small boat in which a party of Samoans, weary of the
+strife in their own land, have ventured to come all the way across the
+sea. It is a sort of whale-boat, stitched with sinnet—_i.e._, native
+string of cocoa-nut fibre. I do not know the exact distance between the
+two groups, but it cannot be under 1000 miles. So I think the girls might
+well wonder at the bold islesmen who ventured on such a journey in a
+little open boat.
+
+I spent part of the next day in a quiet valley, sketching a native
+cemetery, with the usual dracæna and other red-leaved plants, and tidy
+graves, many of which are thickly strewn with small green stones, brought
+from some distant isle: others are covered over with white wave-worn
+pebbles or white coral.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                     ON BOARD THE BLACK SWAN, _August 30_.
+
+Our departure was rather hurried by the unexpected arrival of the steamer
+a day before its time. We have retraced the route by which we came,
+calling at Mago, where Miss Ryder rejoined her family, and at various
+points in Taviuni, where I had glimpses of several friends, and a
+pleasant evening at the mission. I have been much edified by hearing the
+conversation of an Anglo-Fijian of the old type—a man who was not ashamed
+to entertain his audience with anecdotes of his own kidnapping exploits
+and those of others, of whom he spoke with much approbation. He referred
+to the wretched victims as if they had been so many rats. Every such
+anecdote I hear, makes me wonder less that the actions of such miscreants
+should have led to reprisals which have resulted in the loss of precious
+lives, like those of Bishop Patteson and Commodore Goodenough. The
+speaker went on to boast of other noble deeds by which some of his white
+friends had lent their elevating influence to the dark races, mentioning
+one planter especially, Mr L——x, who, finding himself utterly unable to
+make the rapid fortune he expected by his estate, abandoned it; but ere
+ridding the country of his presence, he set to work to cut down all the
+bread-fruit trees (none of _his_ planting!), determined that no one else
+should profit by what he could not enjoy. Could a more diabolical mind be
+conceived? Certainly if the establishment of a strong-handed government
+in the country has no other effect than to drive such men as these out of
+it, it will not have worked in vain. The speaker seemed ready to favour
+us with many more anecdotes of the past, but my expression of unmitigated
+disgust unfortunately stayed the stream, which I now regret, as it is as
+well to know facts, instead of only the vague rumours, which one is apt
+to suppose exaggerated, like objects seen looming large through a mist.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                              _August 31._
+
+Last night we anchored off Koro, to take in a cargo of arrowroot and
+other produce. I spent the night with Mrs Chalmers and her daughters, and
+at six o’clock this morning they brought me on board. Now we are nearing
+Ovalau, our island home, which, as usual, is looking lovely. The flag
+flying at Nasova tells me Sir Arthur is at home. There are a good many
+vessels in harbour, amongst others a large French man-of-war—the first we
+have seen since we came here. I see the gig coming from Nasova to fetch
+me, with the cheery bronze crew, in their white and crimson liveries.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                        NASOVA, _Sept. 1_.
+
+To-day being the anniversary of annexation, three years ago, is a
+red-letter day, and public holiday. The races last May were voted such
+a success, that another race-meeting was held to-day, and a very pretty
+scene it was, the lovely valley looking its very best. All the officers
+from the French man-of-war, Le Seignelay, were there, and were greatly
+amused. Several dined here last night—a pleasant, gentleman-like set.
+The vessel is at present taking the Roman Catholic Bishop of Samoa,
+Monseigneur Elloi, on a tour of inspection of all places under his
+jurisdiction. Both he and Commandant Aube, who is a very fine specimen
+of the old French school, have been here a good deal, and seem to be
+very much liked. Their visit is a pleasant episode, as they have seen so
+much of exceeding interest in the isles they have already visited. Their
+descriptions of scenery are tantalising.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                                            _September 4._
+
+To-day Lady Gordon has had a great luncheon-party of about forty people,
+and now they are all playing lawn-tennis on the green. As for me, I am
+preparing for a wonderful and delightful trip. For the last few days our
+French friends have been urging me to complete “_Le tour de la Mission_”
+in the Seignelay,—and so, see and sketch many lovely isles, which, under
+no other circumstances, could I possibly visit. Of course, at first I
+treated the suggestion as simply a polite form; but we found it was made
+thoroughly in earnest, _de bon cœur_, and by one and all,—especially by
+the occupant of the very best cabin, which had actually been prepared for
+me before I dreamt of accepting it. At last we were all so thoroughly
+convinced that the invitation was perfectly genuine, that Sir Arthur has
+consented to my going, and to-morrow we sail for Tonga, and then Samoa,
+where I am to visit a friend, who is wife of the Consul, and has sent me
+many invitations. Thence I am to return here.
+
+Such at least is my intention. But my kind new friends scout the idea of
+my turning back before we reach Tahiti, of which they speak as of a dream
+of indescribable loveliness. Whether I may be tempted to proceed there, I
+cannot possibly tell. Certainly I am made to feel as if I were conferring
+a favour, instead of what I feel to be accepting so great a one. We sail
+to-morrow, therefore it may be a good while before you next hear from me.
+So good-bye for the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+    NOTES ON FIJIAN FOLK-LORE—LEGEND OF THE RAT AND CUTTLE-FISH:
+    THE CRANE AND THE CRAB: ESSAY OF ROAST PIG: OF GIGANTIC
+    BIRDS—SERPENTS WORSHIPPED AS INCARNATE GODS—SACRED STONES
+    WORSHIPPED—MYTHOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT.
+
+
+It has been a matter of great regret to me that I found so very few
+opportunities of hearing the legends and fables which I believe abound
+throughout these isles. The few persons who have chanced to learn them
+from the natives were generally too busy to tell them,—still more, unable
+to spare time to write them down, as I invariably asked them to do. Those
+I did hear were fanciful, and often poetic.
+
+When I was staying on the island of Ngau, I succeeded in buying some
+curious specimens of the bait used for cuttle-fish. It is a very fair
+imitation of a rat, made of the backs of two brown cowries, with a heavy
+stone between them,—a small brown cowrie to represent the head, and a
+wooden tail. The shells are bored and tied together with sinnet. Wishing
+to learn the origin of so quaint a device, we inquired of our host,
+Zacheusa—a fine old Fijian teacher, who did good work among the Kai
+Tholos in the early days of the _lotu_, and who knows many legends. What
+he told us was as follows:—
+
+“A rat one day fell off a canoe into the sea, and landed on the head of
+a cuttle-fish, greatly to the alarm of both. The cuttle-fish was going
+to shake off the rat, when the latter prayed him to show mercy on him,
+and to carry him to a place where his grandfather and grandmother were
+waiting for him. So the kind cuttle-fish swam on and on, till he was very
+weary; but the rat enjoyed this new mode of travel, and urged him to go
+on further and further. At last they neared a grassy bank, which was just
+where the rat wished to land; but being an ungenerous animal himself,
+he feared the cuttle-fish would play him some trick, so he cried, ‘Oh,
+please, do not land me there: I shall surely die.’ But the cuttle-fish,
+being weary of him, swam straight to the bank, whereupon the rat jumped
+ashore, and instead of thanking his kind deliverer, he ran away jeering.
+So now the cuttle-fish hates the rat, and is always on the watch to seize
+him and punish him.” And this is why the fisher-folk of Ngau make rats of
+cowrie-shells to bait their nets.
+
+Here is a kindred fable, quoted from Sir Arthur Gordon’s private journal:—
+
+“_In Camp, Nasaucoko, July 18, 1876_....—After yangona in the evening,
+all the party began to tell fables. ‘The crane and the crab,’ say the
+Fijians, ‘quarrelled as to their powers of racing. The crab said he would
+go the fastest, and that the crane might fly across from point to point,
+while he went round by the shore. The crane flew off, and the crab stayed
+quietly in his hole, trusting to the multitude of his brethren to deceive
+the crane. The crane flew to the first point, and seeing a crab-hole, put
+down his ear, and heard a buzzing noise. “That slave is here before me,”
+said he, and flew on to the next point. Here the same thing happened,
+till at last, on reaching a point above Serua, the crane fell exhausted,
+and was drowned in the sea.’
+
+“Ratu Tabusakiu capped this by an almost exactly similar story,—only in
+this case the competition was between a crane and a butterfly. The latter
+challenged the crane to fly to Tonga, tempting him to do so by asking if
+he was fond of shrimps. The butterfly kept resting on the crane’s back,
+without the crane knowing it, and whenever the bird looked round and said
+to himself, ‘That _kaisi_ (lowborn) fellow is gone; I can rest and fly
+slowly now, without fear of his overtaking me,’ the butterfly would leave
+his back and fly a little way ahead, saying, ‘Here I am, cousin,’ till
+the poor bird died exhausted; and the butterfly, who had no longer his
+back to rest on, perished also.”
+
+Equally charming is a legend told to me in the mountains of Viti Levu,
+which suggests that Charles Lamb must have visited Fiji ere he wrote
+the ‘Essays of Elia,’ for here is a native version of the “Essay of
+Roast Pig”! The legend tells how, many many years ago, there had been
+a fight at Nandronga, and the dead bodies of the slain were laid under
+the overhanging eaves of a house till the living had time to bury them.
+The house accidentally took fire and was burnt down, and the bodies were
+of course roasted. The chief ordered that they should be removed, and
+the men who lifted them burnt their fingers: they instinctively put
+their hands to their mouths, licked, and liked the flavour. They called
+to their friends, who followed suit; and thus the people of the isles
+discovered how excellent a thing is roast flesh,—a fact which they had
+previously had no chance of testing, as, with the exception of a small
+rat, no animal of any sort existed on any of the isles, till the men
+of Tonga imported pigs. Thus it was that cannibalism originated in the
+isles. So says the legend of Nandronga.
+
+A few legends, forming the subject of popular _mékés_, have happily been
+preserved by the Rev. Thomas Williams. One of these tells of a crab so
+large that it grasped a man in its claw, but he fortunately slipped
+through between the forceps, and so escaped injury. Another man ventured
+to climb on to the monster’s back, and paid dear for his temerity, being
+dashed to pieces by a stroke from a claw. That must have been a curiously
+constructed crab! He quotes another which tells of a gigantic bird called
+“Duck of the Rock,” which carried off Tutu Wathi Wathi, the beautiful
+wife of the god Okova, and sister to Rokoua, while she was fishing on the
+reef at Nai Thombo Thombo. The gods started in a large canoe to search
+for the lady, and they came to an island inhabited only by goddesses, who
+spent their lives in pleasant sport. Rokoua suggested that they might as
+well remain here, and give up their vain quest for Okova’s lost love;
+but the faithful husband scouted the idea, and insisted on sailing to
+the Yasawas, the most westerly isles of the group. Here they found the
+cave in which lived the terrible bird. But the cave was empty, for the
+bird was fishing; and they found only one little finger of Tutu Wathi
+Wathi. Yet this Okova cherished as a special relic, and swore to avenge
+her death. Presently they saw the devourer approach, and his vast wings
+darkened the face of the sun. In his beak he carried five large turtles,
+and in his talons ten porpoises, which he at once proceeded to eat. Then
+Okova prayed to three other gods to aid him by causing the wind to blow;
+and immediately a gust blew back the feathers of the monster’s tail, and
+Rokoua instantly struck his spear through it vitals. So great was the
+bird that, though the spear was very long, it was entirely lost in its
+body. They took one of its smallest feathers to make a new canoe sail,
+not venturing to risk the use of a large feather. They then cast the dead
+bird into the sea, causing such a surge as to “flood the foundation of
+the sky.” So having accomplished their just vengeance, they sailed safely
+back to Nai Thombo Thombo.
+
+It seems strange, in writing of a country so recently pagan, to have no
+occasion to allude to the religion of the past. This is partly because
+the idols were few and insignificant. The different gods dwelt enshrined
+in all manner of animals—fish, birds, reptiles,—and even plants. The
+hawk, the shark, the land-crab, fowl, eel, and, above all, the serpent,
+were thus held in reverence.
+
+Of the latter, very few specimens are to be found in Fiji (so few, that
+during my two years of continual travel and observation in the isles,
+I have only seen two, both of which were gliding among rocks on the
+sea-shore). These reptiles were worshipped under different names in
+the various isles of the group. In some places, when one was found it
+was anointed with cocoa-nut oil, and left at liberty. In others it was
+reverently carried to the temple, and there laid on a bed of native cloth
+and solemnly anointed and fed.
+
+Under this form was worshipped Ndengei, the supreme god and creator of
+all things. He it was who sent a great deluge to punish the sin of his
+rebellious people; he also revealed fire by teaching two of his human
+sons to rub two pieces of wood together. His temple was at Raki Raki, a
+cave on the north-east of Viti Levu, whither the people carried great
+offerings. One sacrifice is recorded of two hundred pigs and one hundred
+turtles. But the most acceptable sacrifices were human; and men have
+been known to slay their own wives, rather than fail to propitiate the
+giver of yams. The offerings were laid before the mouth of the cave, and
+the priests crawled in on hands and knees. If the prayer were granted,
+they reappeared all wet to show that needful rain-showers would fall. Of
+course if the omen failed, subsequent sins were alleged as the cause of
+failure in the compact.
+
+Ndengei was supposed to love silence, therefore the noisy bats near his
+cave were banished; the potters were likewise dismissed to small islands,
+purposely created for them; and women going to fetch water from the
+sacred mount were enjoined to be silent, else their food would turn into
+serpents.
+
+There appears reason to suppose that the serpent was commonly worshipped
+throughout the Pacific—certainly in the Friendly or Tongan Isles. When
+(A.D. 1830) Mr Williams visited this group, he touched at a small isle
+near Tongatabu, and found a nest of sea-snakes. He bade his men kill the
+largest as a specimen. At the next island where they touched they carried
+it ashore, and prepared to dry it, but the fishermen (who were preparing
+their nets) raised a terrific yell, and seizing their clubs rushed upon
+the Christian natives, shouting, “You have killed our god!” Williams
+stepped between the two parties, and with difficulty restrained their
+violence, on condition that the reptile should at once be carried back
+to the boat.
+
+The Fijian gods seemed to have fully appreciated the blessings of
+quiet. Raitumaibulu, lord of life, god of the crops, was especially
+careful of his own comfort in this respect. During the month of December
+(midsummer), when he came to earth to cause all fruit-bearing trees to
+blossom, the people were forbidden to make any unnecessary noise: they
+might not blow the trumpet, nor beat drums, nor dance, nor sing (not even
+at sea); they might neither cultivate the soil nor make war, lest the
+god should be disturbed in his operations, and deliver over the land to
+famine. Here we mark the connection, common to all mythologies, between
+the old serpent and the fruits of the earth. This Ceres of Fiji had no
+serpent car to bring him to earth, but he himself took the form of a
+serpent, and dwelt in a small cave near Mbau, where the people flocked to
+do him homage.
+
+A legend attaches to this cave, which makes us wish that more attention
+could be given to the folk-lore of these isles ere it utterly fades away,
+like the grey mists of night before the beams of morning. Perhaps it is
+already too late, for the _lotu_ (Christianity) has brought in such a
+flood of newer stories, that doubtless the old fables have fallen into
+disrepute, and probably (just as in Scotland) the dread of a sneer or a
+rebuke from their teachers will cause those who know them best to shrink
+from uttering them. The legend I allude to was happily recorded by Mr
+Waterhouse, senior, one of the earliest and most able of the Wesleyan
+missionaries. Such men as these had little spare time, and probably less
+inclination, to take much trouble in collecting foolish stories. However,
+enough have been recorded to make us wish for more; and here is a sample
+of Fijian folk-lore.
+
+I have told you how the lord of the crops lay enshrined in the likeness
+of a great serpent. But there was a sceptical chief, named Keroika, who
+would not believe in this divinity, and rashly determined to test the
+matter. So, taking with him a cargo of small fish, he proceeded in his
+canoe to the sacred cave. There he was greeted by a serpent of average
+size, who told him he was son of the god: Keroika made him an offering
+of fish, and prayed for an interview with his father. Another serpent
+came out to see what was going on. He proved to be a grandson, and he
+likewise received a gift of fish, and a request to induce his grandfather
+to appear. And after a while an immense serpent came forth, and Keroika
+knew that it was the Raitumaibulu himself. So he made obeisance,
+and presented his offering of fish, which was graciously accepted
+by the serpent-god; but as he turned to retreat to his cave Keroika
+treacherously shot him with an arrow, and then, horror-stricken at what
+he had done, fled in terror from the spot, but he was pursued by a
+terrible voice, crying, “Nought but serpents! Nought but serpents!” These
+ominous words were still ringing in his ears when he reached his home,
+where, determined to conquer his foolish fear, he called for dinner. But
+when the servants uncovered the cooking-pot, and were about to lift out
+the food, they started back in horror—the pot was full of serpents. At
+least, thought the chief, I will drink; but as he raised a jar to his
+lips he poured out serpents instead of water. Hungry and thirsty, he
+threw himself wearily on his mat, hoping to find solace in sleep, but
+from every corner hissing snakes glided round him, and the wretched man
+fled from his house in terror. As he passed the temple he saw a crowd
+collected to hear the priest make a revelation, which was that the god
+had been wounded by a citizen, and that in consequence evil would surely
+befall the city. So, finding there was no use in further concealment, he
+confessed his crime, made large offerings to propitiate the angry god,
+and received pardon.
+
+When the Rev. John Hunt visited the island of Vatulele, he was invited
+by one of the chiefs to visit a cave about seven miles distant, in which
+dwelt the gods of the island. He found a cave about twenty feet in
+height and sixty in length, communicating with an inner cave, in both
+of which the receding tide leaves a clear pool, inhabited by a variety
+of crustacea somewhat larger than a shrimp: these are common enough at
+certain places, and are brown till cooked, when they become red. Those in
+this cave are all red, and probably are therefore deemed supernatural.
+Their mother is said to be of immense size, and dwells by herself in the
+inner cave; but the children, who are called Ura, answer to their name,
+and appear at the call of their worshippers—or rather did so in heathen
+days.
+
+Although an idol visibly representing a deity was almost unknown, the
+personal appearance of the gods was minutely recorded. Thus Thangawalu
+was a giant sixty feet in height, with a forehead eight span high.
+Another had but one tooth, which was in the lower jaw, but rose above his
+head. He had wings instead of arms, and on these were claws wherewith to
+hook his victims. One had eight arms, and was a skilful mechanic. Another
+had eight eyes, and was full of wisdom. One had eighty stomachs. Another
+had two bodies, male and female, united like the Siamese twins. There
+was a leper god, and a murderer; a god of war, and one whose sole delight
+was to steal women of high birth.
+
+The carpenters, the fishermen, and agriculturists, each worshipped
+special deities.
+
+In addition to the principal gods, there was a vast number of little
+gods, answering to our fairies, who were called “children of the waters.”
+There were also numerous objects of veneration which recall our own
+Scotch relics. Such was _wairua_, which was an oval stone, the size of
+a swan’s egg, which, with several smaller stones, children of the god,
+lay in the hollow of a small tree beside the stream at Namusi in Viti
+Levu. There was another stone at Mbau which gave birth to a little stone
+whenever a woman of rank was confined in the town. This sympathetic deity
+has been removed, but its children still mark the spot where it formerly
+lay. At Ovalau there was formerly a black stone, which was once a sacred
+pig killed and baked by sacrilegious hands, but which, on being taken out
+of the oven, was found to have assumed this form. There were also groves
+of sacred trees at Mbau, and in several other places—too many of which
+have been destroyed by iconoclastic zeal.
+
+Certain war-clubs were treated with reverence approaching to worship;
+and the men who had wielded them with the mightiest arm, and had been
+specially distinguished in battle, ranked as heroes and demi-gods,
+henceforth to be honoured with libations at every ceremonial-drinking of
+yangona. As the water was poured into the yangona-bowl, a herald cried
+aloud: “Prepare a libation to the Loa-loa—to the Veidoti,” &c., &c.,
+mentioning all the chief temples reverenced by the tribe. “Prepare a
+libation to the chieftains who have died on the water, or died on the
+land! Be gracious, ye lords, the gods, that the rain may cease” (or
+whatever prayer was to be offered). Then, as the cup was filled for the
+highest chief present, the herald once more cried: “Let the gods be
+gracious, and send us a wind from the west or from the east,” according
+to the requirements of the day. Then as the king or high chief took the
+cup, he poured the libation on the ground ere he drank. Of course this
+ceremony has passed away with the old faith in the gods.
+
+As to notions concerning a future life, I fancy that the traditions
+concerning the way of approach to the spirit-world varied in different
+parts of the group. In Vanua Levu we were told that the beautiful
+headland of Nai Thombo Thombo, the northernmost point of the isle, was
+the spot where the gods were wont to assemble, and whence the spirits
+of the dead departed to seek the abode of Ndengei. It is a very eerie
+spot, with precipitous cliffs towering above dense masses of foliage, and
+casting a deep gloomy shade—the awful stillness of which is unbroken by
+the cry of any living thing.
+
+The way to Mbula, as the Fijian Paradise is called, was long and
+difficult, and many enemies sought to waylay the spirits and take them
+captive. One of these, called Nangga Nangga, was so bitter a foe to all
+who had eschewed wedded bliss, that it is said not one of these hapless
+ones has ever reached his bourne. Seized by the vengeful demon, he was
+dashed to pieces on a large black stone.
+
+At Nai Thombo Thombo the fortunate man, whose wives had so loved him as
+to submit to be strangled on his death, was rejoined by their spirits,
+and together they embarked in the canoe which was appointed to carry
+them to the presence of the judge—notice of their approach being given
+by a parrot, which cried once for each spirit of the party, and so gave
+warning to a demon named Samuyalo, “the killer of souls,” who lay in wait
+and endeavoured to club them. If he succeeded in killing them, he feasted
+spiritually; but if he only wounded them, they were doomed to wander
+sadly among the mountains.
+
+Those who escaped the club of the soul destroyer passed on to one of the
+highest peaks of the Kauvandra mountains, where the path to Mbula ends
+abruptly at the brink of a precipice, the base of which is washed by
+a deep lake. Here an old man and his son induced the wayfarers to sit
+on an overhanging oar, whence they were thrown headlong into the deep
+waters below, through which they passed to Muri Muria, which was a minor
+paradise in Mbula.
+
+The true abode of bliss was Mburotu, a blessed region of scented groves
+and pleasant glades, where all things most highly prized by the Fijians
+were said to abound. Here they cultivated pleasant gardens, lived in
+families, ate and drank, and even fought. Moreover, like Mohammedan
+saints, they were supposed to attain exceeding great stature. But the
+primary idea connected with death seems to have been that of simple rest,
+as expressed in one of their songs—
+
+    “A mate na vawa rawa;
+    Me bula—na ka ni cava?
+    A mate na cegu.”
+
+    Death is easy;
+    Of what use is life?
+    To die is rest.
+
+Those spirits who had failed to please the gods were subjected to divers
+punishments. Some were laid in rows on their faces, and converted into
+_taro_ beds. Men who had failed to slay a foe were sentenced for evermore
+to beat a heap of filth with a club, this being the most degrading
+punishment. Others were roasted and eaten by hungry gods.
+
+Opinions were divided as to the souls of inanimate objects. Some people
+professed to have seen the souls of canoes, houses, plants, pots, and
+other things swimming on the stream of the Kauvandra well, which bore
+them to the regions of immortality; and others averred that they had seen
+footmarks of the ghosts of pigs and dogs round the same well.
+
+Mburotu (which the Tongans called Bulotu and the Samoans Pulotu) was the
+abode of the gods, into which favoured mortals were admitted. The legends
+concerning it tell of a speaking tree which was there, and a fountain of
+life. The Tongan legend tells how Maui, the chief of the gods, fished up
+Tonga from the bottom of the sea, and how some of the minor gods fled
+from Bulotu and took up their abode on Tonga. To punish this rebellion
+they were made subject to death, and forbidden ever to re-enter Bulotu;
+and great was their wonder and sorrow when they realised the change that
+had come over them. But they made the best of matters, and became the
+parents of the noble Tongan race.
+
+The Fijians believe that sometimes, as they sail from the Windward Isles
+towards Khandavu, they see Burotu, with the sun shining brightly on it.
+But when they steer towards it, it fades away, and grows fainter and
+fainter, till it vanishes utterly, and they sail in silent wonder over
+the spot where they distinctly saw it standing, green and beautiful, in
+the midst of the waters.
+
+In the course of our wanderings through the isles, we have heard some
+curious statistics concerning the practice of witchcraft, which in many
+details are almost identical with the superstitions which, as you well
+know, were once so common in the British Isles, and still linger there
+in many a corner little suspected.[64] Thus a person having a grudge
+against his neighbour will try to obtain something which he has touched—a
+bit of his dress, the refuse of his food, or, above all, a piece of his
+hair,—and having uttered certain charmed words, will conceal this about
+the house—generally in the thatch—with a conviction that, ere long, the
+victim will waste away. Should he bathe in running water before the
+fourth day, the charm is broken, as it also would be should the charm be
+discovered. Of course, persons professing Christianity are supposed to
+lose faith in such matters; but in truth such superstitions are slow to
+die out. There are also certain magical leaves which, being carefully
+rolled up in a bamboo and buried in a man’s garden, insure his being
+bewitched. In heathen days, the help of the priest was sought in laying
+on the charm; and a common method pursued was to bury a cocoa-nut beneath
+the temple hearth, where a fire was constantly burning: then, as the nut
+dried up and perished, so would the person represented sicken and die.
+Here, as in Scotland, there were professional witches, whose power for
+evil was always to be purchased. Persons believing themselves to be in
+danger from any such, invariably applied to some dealer in witchcraft,
+who wrought counter spells. Should the wizard be detected in his evil
+deed—burying or hiding the charm—he was summarily clubbed, and his house
+burnt.
+
+Strange ordeals were also common, as proofs of guilt or innocence. So
+were divers methods of divination.
+
+Very curious, too, are the various forms of _tambu_ or prohibition, made
+use of to protect the gardens from robbery—such as planting a cluster
+of reeds, the tops of which are all inserted in one cocoa-nut. The rash
+thief who defies this _tambu_ is certain to be afflicted with boils.
+
+Seers used formerly to be in high repute, and the class of visions that
+we know as “second sight” were common.
+
+Among the graceful forms of superstition, is that of courteously
+exclaiming _mbula_ (“life to you”) to a person who sneezes, who
+invariably replies _mole_—“thanks.”
+
+From these few meagre notes you may gather that there is abundant
+interesting material to be collected in these isles, should any one be
+found possessing unbounded leisure, perfect knowledge of the people and
+of their language, and a disposition to devote both to the search for
+these fast-fading traces of the past.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+    GOVERNMENT AND THE FIJIANS.
+
+
+Among the many difficult problems which awaited solution when Sir
+Arthur Gordon assumed the task of government, none seemed more hopeless
+than that of devising a system of native taxation which should be at
+once just and remunerative. The atrocious wrongs connected with the
+poll-tax, devised by Thakombau’s government, had led to its abolition in
+favour of a labour-tax, the working of which, however, was found to be
+impracticable. It was therefore necessary to devise some system which
+should be more acceptable to the people, and more satisfactory in its
+results. After mature consideration, Sir Arthur decided to adopt the
+course so strongly recommended by Mr Thurston—namely, to cause every
+district to make a garden or plantation, the produce of which should be
+sold to the highest bidder. From the money thus received the Government
+should claim the sum at which the district had been assessed, and the
+surplus should be restored to the cultivators. The promulgation of this
+scheme led to a storm of the most virulent abuse. It was said that
+Government was about to absorb the whole trade of the isles; that the
+measure was cruelly antagonistic to every interest of the white planters;
+that it was certain to prove a gigantic failure; and, in short, it was
+about as unpopular a measure as was ever devised.
+
+Sir Arthur is, however, one who has been well described as “doing his
+own thinking for himself.” Unheeding the storm of tongues, he caused the
+chiefs to establish gardens in every district, and though, at first, from
+many causes beyond control, they seemed in danger of utter failure,
+which should fulfil the prophecies of the unfriendly, after a while they
+prospered to such a degree as to astonish even the keenest advocates
+of the scheme, and became not only a large source of revenue, but also
+produced a surplus which has greatly enriched the several districts.
+
+The matter is one of such importance to the colony that a few further
+particulars may prove interesting.
+
+The following extracts from the ‘Fiji Times’ reveal something of the
+manner in which the poll-tax was collected, and the labour market
+supplied, immediately prior to annexation—_i.e._, in 1874.
+
+    “The native poll-tax, and the manner of enforcing it, is
+    creating considerable dissatisfaction on all sides. Only last
+    week, it appears, a whole town was summoned for arrears of
+    taxes. Nineteen men and twenty women were sentenced, in default
+    of payment, to hard labour—the former for 35 weeks, and the
+    latter to 19 weeks; subsequently they were hired to planters
+    at 1s. per week, until the amount of the tax, together with
+    5s. for summons, and 10s. for serving it in each case (although
+    only one summons was issued), be fully paid. This is collecting
+    taxes with a vengeance, and such proceedings are eminently
+    calculated to engender ill-feeling on the side of the natives,
+    and to create disturbances in retaliation for such extraordinary
+    treatment. It is no wonder that Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul
+    and the Commodore were everywhere met by natives, imploring to
+    be relieved from the severe rule of the _de facto_ Government,
+    and beseeching those high officers to annex the islands to Great
+    Britain.
+
+    “We know that but a few weeks back one minor chief proposed, and
+    was with difficulty prevented from, the commission of suicide,
+    simply because he and his people were deprived of liberty under
+    these most atrocious regulations.”
+
+    “_To the Editor of the ‘Fiji Times.’_
+
+                                      “LEVUKA, _September 19, 1874_.
+
+    “SIR,—At the risk of being troublesome, I have again to draw
+    attention to the manner in which this Government are oppressing
+    the unfortunate Ra Coast natives. From two labour boats which
+    arrived here this morning from that district, I gather the
+    following reliable information. My informant states labourers
+    are obtained as follows:—
+
+    “‘Any men and women whose taxes are in arrear are summoned to
+    appear before the warden, to answer to the same. The usual
+    method pursued is to send a general summons, embracing perhaps
+    all the adult population of a large town, and 1s. mileage is
+    charged individually for service of summons—a summons which in
+    many cases has never been served. These unfortunate natives
+    are compelled to attend the court, and, in the absence of any
+    advocate, are mulct in the sum of 5 or 1 dol., as the case
+    may be (male or female), together with the costs of court,
+    including the mileage, which amounts to about 4 dollars per
+    man: of course they cannot pay, and are then sentenced to
+    work out the amount, at the rate of 1s. per week, and are
+    compelled to engage with planters for one year. Then what
+    follows? Husbands and wives are dragged away from their homes,
+    their little surroundings become lost and destroyed. They have
+    to endure a bitter and compulsory bondage of twelve months,
+    with the prospect of returning to their cold and desolate
+    hearths—with fresh taxes in view, _ad infinitum_.’”
+
+Another correspondent writes—
+
+    “I am informed that the wretched natives who are unable to
+    pay their taxes are made to work on plantations at the rate
+    of forty days for 4s., sixty days for 6s. At this rate, the
+    unfortunate wretches would have to work for 280 days in the
+    year to pay the yearly tax imposed upon a man and his wife.”
+
+And yet another—
+
+    “The vile atrocious wrongs which have been perpetrated in
+    connection with the labour traffic and the collection of
+    taxes upon the helpless, frightened natives—of both sexes—by
+    a cowardly set of officials, assisted by a brutal, licentious
+    soldiery, and connived at by the executive, because the
+    money—blood money, with God’s curse surely stamped upon every
+    coin—flows into the treasury, are a foul blot, even upon the
+    worst Government with which this unhappy country has been
+    afflicted; and yet, sir, we are met on all sides with the
+    canting cry, ‘Oh! what a good thing for these poor natives to
+    be taken away to the cotton plantations. You must civilise them
+    first, and then Christianise them.’”
+
+In Sir Arthur Gordon’s report on this subject, he says:
+
+    “The tax imposed on natives by Cakobau’s government was a
+    uniform poll tax of £1 per man and 4s. per woman throughout the
+    group. I, however, find it difficult, and indeed impossible,
+    to suppose that revenue was the object contemplated in the
+    imposition of this tax, or that its payment was ever seriously
+    looked for. If any such expectations existed, they were doomed
+    to disappointment. The largest sum ever obtained in any one
+    year from a population of, at one time, certainly not less than
+    150,000, was £6000, and of this sum a large part, as I will
+    presently explain, was not, in fact, received from natives as
+    payment of their tax, or indeed from natives at all.
+
+    “I believe that the main design of the native poll-tax, when
+    first imposed, and as it existed on the arrival of the British
+    Commissioners in Fiji in 1874, was that of furnishing through
+    its instrumentality a large supply of labour to the plantations
+    of the white settlers. And in this respect it no doubt worked
+    successfully. The unknown consequences of disobedience to the
+    ‘Matanitu’ (the equivalent of the Indian ‘Sircar’) exercised a
+    mysterious terror over the minds of the natives, which induced
+    them in many cases, in consideration of the advance of their
+    taxes on the part of a planter, to contract with him for a year
+    or more of gratuitous service. These, however, were of course
+    the exceptions. In the majority of cases, the tax was simply
+    not paid, and could not be paid. When this happened the legal
+    penalty for default was six months’ imprisonment, which was
+    spent in labour on the plantation of any settler who would pay
+    to the Government the amount of the defaulter’s tax. But though
+    six months was the limit allowed by law for such assignment,
+    the magistrates of that day were not very scrupulous in their
+    reading of the Act, and sentences of a year, and even eighteen
+    months, seem to have been pronounced; while by the imposition
+    of heavy costs, and the assumption that the default of their
+    payment might be similarly punished by ‘imprisonment on a
+    plantation,’ even these periods were almost indefinitely
+    extended.
+
+    “Sir H. Robinson felt strongly the impossibility of maintaining
+    such a system, which he rightly described as one by which the
+    services of the entire male population of whole districts
+    had been in effect sold to European planters in other and
+    distant islands. He at once abolished it, and substituted an
+    arrangement by which all but adult males were excused from
+    taxation, and the tax of these men fixed at twenty days’ labour
+    in the year, redeemable by money payments of various amounts,
+    according to the supposed wealth, or poverty, of the district
+    in which they lived.
+
+    “This, therefore, was the problem which I had presented to me:
+    Should I continue the labour-tax of 1874; should I re-enact and
+    attempt to enforce the direct tax in money of the old Fijian
+    Government; or should I endeavour to provide some substitute
+    for the existing system which should bring larger returns to
+    the treasury, and yet be neither oppressive nor opposed to the
+    traditionary habits and feelings of the people?
+
+    “The labour-tax in its existing form was clearly unsustainable.
+    It is impossible to transport the whole population for twenty
+    days to those places where public works are being carried on.
+    Such places are few, and in most districts of the colony there
+    are really no public works on which the inhabitants can be
+    employed. In such cases either works have to be invented which
+    are not needed, and which lead to an employment—(or rather a
+    waste)—of labour in no way beneficial to the colony, as well as
+    an expense of supervision wholly thrown away, or the tax must
+    be quietly permitted to fall into disuse.
+
+    “The practical alternative, therefore, was the renewal of the
+    poll-tax of the old Fijian Government, or the substitution of
+    some as yet untried system.
+
+    “If the idea of re-enacting a poll-tax be abandoned, no other
+    direct money-tax could be imposed. In fact, there is a species
+    of absurdity in the imposition of pecuniary taxation on a
+    population, nine-tenths of which possess no money. I know
+    it has been said that if they do not possess money, they,
+    at least, might all become possessed of it by engaging to
+    work for planters. I confess I am unable to see the force of
+    this assumption. The ordinary wages given by a planter to an
+    able-bodied man were, in 1875, 1s. a week, or £2, 12s. per
+    annum. This is a small sum from which to pay a tax ranging from
+    £1 downwards, even if the wages be paid in money, and not, as
+    was invariably the case, in ‘trade,’ of often questionable
+    value. Whether it is to the native’s advantage to leave
+    his _taro_ patch and yam plantations, his own village, his
+    generally comfortable home, and his family, to work on some
+    distant estate for 52s. a-year, may be questioned; nor do I
+    think he can reasonably be expected to do so, except under
+    strong compulsion.”
+
+Sir Arthur proceeds to give some of the reasons which led to his deciding
+on the “district garden” scheme. With regard to its practical working, he
+adds—
+
+    “The receipts from the native taxes, which in 1875, under the
+    old system of collection, amounted to but £3499, 2s. 5d.,
+    reached in 1876 (during only a part of which year the new
+    scheme was in operation) the sum of £9342, 16s. 3d., in 1877
+    that of £15,149, 14s. 8d., and in 1878 amounted to nearly
+    £19,000. The exact figures for this last year have not yet
+    reached me.
+
+    “The expenses incurred in 1877 in collecting and shipping the
+    produce to Levuka, and in payment of the eighteen persons
+    engaged in these duties, amounted to £1341, 11s. 9d. A further
+    expenditure was also incurred for the purchase and gratuitous
+    distribution of seed, tools, bags, &c., amounting to £386, 5s.
+    10d. I have not yet received the accounts for 1878, but if the
+    expenses be assumed as equal to those of 1877, there will be a
+    clear profit to the Treasury on this tax of over £17,000, while
+    the expenses of collection will not have reached £2000.
+
+    “Let us turn, however, to the more important question of the
+    social influence of the new law.
+
+    “To answer this question, the nature and working of its
+    machinery must be first described.
+
+    “The amount of the tax to be paid by each province, estimated
+    in pounds sterling, is annually assessed by the Legislative
+    Council, the assessment being based, as regards each province,
+    on mixed considerations of the amount of the population, the
+    nature and productiveness of the soil, and the degree of
+    civilisation which the province has attained.
+
+    “There are twelve such provinces, not including the two
+    highland districts of Viti Levu.
+
+    “Tenders are called for, for the purchase of the articles of
+    produce in which the tax may be paid.
+
+    “These articles have hitherto been: _coppra_, cotton,
+    candle-nuts, tobacco, and maize; to these, coffee, which the
+    natives have now begun to grow largely, will soon be added.
+    _Bêche de mer_ has also been accepted from some places.
+
+    “The highest tender is accepted in the case of each article,
+    and to the successful tenderer all the produce delivered or
+    collected in discharge of the tax is transferred on its receipt
+    by Government.
+
+    “The amount of the assessment fixed, and the prices offered
+    for various articles of produce by the successful tenderer or
+    tenderers, are intimated to the Roko Tui or native governor of
+    each province.
+
+    “The apportionment of the shares to be borne by each district
+    in the province, and the selection of the article or articles
+    of produce to be contributed, are then made, nominally and
+    according to law, by a Board appointed under the Ordinance, but
+    practically by the _Bose vaka Yasana_, or Provincial Council,
+    which, as I have previously explained, consists of chiefs of
+    districts, styled ‘_Bulis_,’ under the presidency of the Roko
+    Tui, frequently, though not always, aided by the presence of
+    the Governor’s Commissioner.
+
+    “The next stage is the apportionment of the tax of each
+    district by the _Bose ni Tikina_, or District Council,
+    consisting of the town chief of the district, under the
+    presidency of the _Buli_. By this body the share of each
+    several township in the district is determined.
+
+    “Lastly, the individual share of produce to be contributed or
+    work done by each family in each village is settled by the town
+    chief, aided by the elders of the township.
+
+    “The mode in which the articles are raised is left to the
+    people themselves to determine, and the methods adopted have
+    been very various. In some places each village has grown its
+    own tax produce along with what it grew for sale or domestic
+    use; in others, several villages have combined to grow their
+    produce in one large plantation. These latter are what, by
+    those who wish to discredit the scheme, are called ‘Government
+    gardens,’ but, in fact, no such gardens exist. The soil and the
+    produce both belong to the people themselves.
+
+    “This machinery recognises the primitive community system,
+    on which all political and social institutions in Fiji are
+    based, and which, even in the matter of taxation, I found to
+    be still in use as regarded the rates for local purposes,
+    such as payment of school-masters and village police, which,
+    quite irrespectively of the Government (and, as some would
+    say, illegally), were imposed by the Provincial Councils in a
+    species of voluntary assessment.
+
+    “This species of taxation is, consequently, familiar to the
+    natives, and thoroughly understood by them,—a fact which
+    causes the pressure of the impost to be more lightly felt
+    than it would be if demanded directly from the individual by
+    the Government. It, moreover, renders the natives themselves,
+    to a very large extent, active and responsible agents in the
+    collection of revenue.
+
+    “Both of these are, I need hardly say, points of very
+    considerable importance.
+
+    “But these were not the only results which the system was
+    aimed to effect, nor are they the only objects which have been
+    attained by its adoption.
+
+    “As was anticipated by the framers of the Ordinance, the
+    cultivation of articles of export by the natives has been
+    largely promoted.
+
+    “Fijians are by no means habitually indolent, as by many
+    careless observers they are supposed to be; and they are
+    passionately fond of agriculture: but their cultivation,
+    though very neat and careful, is chiefly that of food
+    plantations and articles for domestic use.
+
+    “Sugar, tobacco, and the paper mulberry are, and have long
+    been, almost universally grown in addition to root crops and
+    plantains; but they are not, as a rule, grown with a view to
+    exportation; although cocoa-nuts have been manufactured into
+    _coppra_, and yams in large quantities have long been sold, or
+    rather bartered, by the natives, to the white traders.
+
+    “Under the new system, the area of native cultivation is
+    rapidly increasing, and the lesson which it was desired to
+    inculcate has been already more than partially learnt.
+
+    “Another consequence of the adoption of this law has been that
+    of giving to the people a juster idea of the value of the
+    produce which they raise.
+
+    “When a money-tax was insisted on, it was necessary that at
+    certain fixed periods every man should make a payment in cash
+    to the tax collector.
+
+    “Very few natives (except perhaps in the province of Lau) hoard
+    or possess coin. Their wealth consists in the accumulation of
+    masses of property, not in money; and as the day on which the
+    coin had to be produced came round, an unscrupulous itinerant
+    trader (and such traders are not always remarkable for a high
+    tone of commercial morality) could obtain almost anything,
+    and almost any amount of anything in the possession or under
+    the control of natives, in exchange for the coveted and
+    indispensable piece of coin necessary to pay the tax. That coin
+    the trader sold as an article of barter on his own terms, and
+    those terms were usually hard ones.
+
+    “Even at the best of times, when this pressure did not exist,
+    the native only received about half the price which the very
+    same traders, with the knowledge they still will obtain a
+    handsome profit by their purchase, are now ready to give to the
+    Government for a similar amount of produce.
+
+    “This has opened the eyes of the natives, and in their private
+    trading transactions they now in many cases ask and obtain
+    prices more nearly resembling the true market value of the
+    article; while for the surplus produce raised by them of those
+    articles in which the tax is paid, beyond what is required to
+    meet it, the Government practically obtains for them a price
+    equal to that which it receives itself from the contractor for
+    the tax produce; and that too paid in cash, and not (as had
+    previously been the case) in goods which the trader valued at
+    his own discretion. As I have before observed, the details of
+    last year’s operations have not yet reached me, but I know
+    that several hundred pounds were in this manner gained by one
+    locality alone in 1877.
+
+    “Since this paragraph was written—indeed this very morning—I
+    have received letters from Fiji which inform me that the
+    amount of tax produce sent in during 1878 in payment of taxes,
+    in excess of the amount required to meet the demands of the
+    assessment, and which has been sold for the benefit of those
+    contributing to it, has realised between £1500 and £2000.
+
+    “It may seem strange when thus speaking of apparently large
+    transactions between the natives and white traders, that there
+    should have been any difficulty on the part of the former in
+    finding money to pay a money-tax; but in point of fact hardly
+    any money was received by them. Objectionable as it seems to
+    be thought by some to receive produce instead of money _from_
+    the natives, these same parties see no objection to forcing
+    _on_ the natives as payment for their produce imported goods
+    estimated at a wholly fictitious value.
+
+    “A native, we will suppose, makes and wishes to dispose of
+    _coppra_, which he offers to the white trader who ‘works’ that
+    district. Say he has got half a ton. This, according to present
+    prices paid to the Government, would be worth £6, 10s.
+
+    “The trader probably offers about £3 (until, perhaps, very
+    lately, it certainly would not have been more, and probably
+    less), and this he pays in cloth, knives, &c., of which he
+    estimates the value at perhaps double the proper amount; so
+    that he obtains £6, 10s. worth of produce from the native for
+    goods worth £1, 10s.
+
+    “The native was often aware he was imposed on; but until the
+    new system of taxation was introduced he had no alternative but
+    to take what was offered, or leave his produce unsold.
+
+    “He can now sell at the prices which have been publicly
+    tendered.
+
+    “The system of making an unduly large profit is so regularly
+    recognised, that, in most of the shops in Levuka itself, there
+    was in 1875 a ‘native price’ on articles, which was usually
+    _double_ the amount which would be asked of a European. There
+    is still, I am informed, a ‘native price;’ but whether the
+    disproportion between it and that asked of white customers is
+    as great as formerly, I am not aware.
+
+    “The action of the Government affords a most valuable
+    protection to the native producer, by insuring him a market
+    where he will receive cash for his produce at a fair rate; and,
+    paradoxical as it may seem, it is, nevertheless, strictly true
+    that the reception by the Government of produce in payment of
+    taxes has been an important step towards the introduction of
+    cash transactions in the dealings between the traders and the
+    natives....
+
+    “It does not require half an eye to perceive that the people
+    have thriven under the new system. Everywhere the increased
+    areas of cultivation, the enlarged towns, the good new
+    houses, the well-kept roads, the cheerful and healthy-looking
+    population, present the strongest possible contrast to the
+    aspect of the country in 1875. This was fully admitted to
+    me, not long before I left Fiji, by a leading planter, who
+    said that nobody who had eyes in his head could deny that
+    the natives were very much better off than they were three
+    years ago; but he added (and there was much significance in
+    the admission), that this was by no means an advantage to the
+    planter, whose difficulties in obtaining labour were thereby
+    materially increased.
+
+    “Not three years have since passed by, and already we see that
+    it has secured an ample revenue, that it has stimulated the
+    industry, and has doubled the produce, of the colony; that
+    under it the population are more prosperous than they have
+    been for a long time, and are, notwithstanding the incessant
+    efforts of mischief-makers, content and trustful, as they will,
+    I firmly believe, continue to be.
+
+    “I am especially desirous that it should not be forgotten
+    that this is but one in a series of measures which should be
+    regarded together as a whole, and which have for their objects
+    the preservation and social development of the native race.
+
+                                                          “A. H. G.”
+
+
+THE END.
+
+[Illustration: FIJI ARCHIPELAGO
+
+A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. NEW YORK.]
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] The present population of Fiji, in 1880, is estimated at 110,000
+natives, 1902 Europeans, and 3200 Polynesians.
+
+[2] From a Paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute, 18th March
+1879.
+
+[3] The revenue for 1879 was estimated at £75,150.
+
+[4] In Morayshire.
+
+[5] Set all awry, in token of the death of her Commander.
+
+[6] _Méké_ describes either a song or a dance, or both combined.
+
+[7] Acanthaster solaris.
+
+[8] This little beginning promises to become an extensive movement, a
+visit from Bishop Selwyn having stirred up interest in the matter. I
+hear that the Chief Justice, and a considerable number of young men, now
+attend the afternoon meeting as teachers, with the happiest results, the
+immigrants fully appreciating the kindly feeling thus shown to them.
+
+[9] More probably derived from the same root as the Maori word _kuri_,
+dog.
+
+[10] _Ivi_—Inocarpus edulis.
+
+[11] _Ndelo_—Calophyllum-inophyllum.
+
+[12] _Vutu_—Barringtonia.
+
+[13] _Tavola_—Terminalia.
+
+[14] This statement was repeated so often, that at last Dr Macgregor,
+curious to discover a cause for so strange a fact, took the trouble to
+weigh six ounces of the root, which he gave to be chewed in the usual
+manner. When deposited in the bowl he weighed it again, and found
+it had increased to seventeen ounces! The inference is obvious, and
+needs no comment. After this discovery the drinking of yangona (_Piper
+methisticum_) fell greatly out of favour with the gentlemen of our party,
+and was principally reserved for ceremonial occasions.
+
+[15] That such fears would not be groundless, you may readily infer from
+the following horrible story reported last year in the ‘Levuka Times’:
+“News reaches us from windward of a sad accident which has resulted in
+the death of upwards of twenty people. It appears that a canoe left Loma
+Loma with twenty-five natives on board, bound for Totoya. They were going
+about when a sudden squall sent the sail against the mast, capsizing the
+canoe. The unfortunate passengers clung to the _cama_, and might have
+escaped with consequences no worse than those which would have attended
+discomfort and exposure, but for the horrible fact that the capsize
+occurred in a locality infested with sharks. These ravenous monsters
+seized their victims one by one, devouring twenty-three out of the
+twenty-five unfortunates whose lives were thus placed at their mercy. Of
+the two who escaped, one is a woman; but her situation is very critical,
+the whole of the flesh having been taken off one leg. The matter is
+altogether too dreadful to admit of comment.”
+
+[16] A Hunter’s Life in South Africa. By Roualeyn Gordon Cumming.
+
+[17] _Palolo viridis._
+
+[18] Viti Levu—pronounce Veetee Layvoo.
+
+[19] Before we left the isle, Captain Knollys succeeded in drilling a
+set of men to carry Lady Gordon in a wicker-chair; and on the occasion
+of certain special festivities in the town a second chair was rigged up
+for me. So probably future residents will have chairs and bearers, as a
+matter of course.
+
+[20] _I.e._, the root of the _drala_-tree.
+
+[21] It was at this town that Jackson (an Englishman, who, thirty
+years ago, was detained among these people for two years) witnessed an
+incident of peculiar interest, as an illustration of sacrifice to the
+Earth spirits,—a custom which British antiquarians tell us was formerly
+practised by our own pagan ancestors, and of which traces have till very
+recently lingered among us. A new house was about to be built for the
+chief, Tui Drekete, and the people assembled from all tributary villages
+to bring their offerings, and dance and make merry. A series of large
+holes were dug, to receive the main posts of the house; and as soon as
+these were reared, a number of wretched men were led to the spot, and
+one was compelled to descend into each hole, and therein stand upright,
+with his arms clasped round it. The earth was then filled in, and the
+miserable victims were thus buried alive, deriving what comfort they
+might from the belief that the task thus assigned to them was one of
+much honour, as insuring stability to the chiefs house. The same idea
+prevailed with respect to launching a chiefs canoe, when the bodies of
+living men were substituted for ordinary rollers—a scene which Jackson
+also witnessed, and quotes to prove how cruelly the tributary tribes
+were treated by these Rewa chiefs, one of whom he accompanied to a
+neighbouring isle. They came to a place called Na ara Bale (meaning “to
+drag over,” literally corresponding to our own Tarbert), a low, narrow
+isthmus, joining two islands together. By dragging the canoes across
+this half-mile of dry land, they were saved a long row round the island.
+On landing, they found the villagers entertaining the people of another
+village which had fallen under the displeasure of Rewa, and at the
+bidding of the chief these people allowed their guests to be surprised in
+the night, when forty were captured; and each being bound hand and foot
+to the stems of banana-trees, were then laid as rollers, face uppermost,
+along the path by which the canoes were to be dragged across the isthmus.
+The shrieks of the victims were drowned by the hauling songs of their
+captors, and, with one exception, all were crushed to death. One poor
+wretch lingered awhile in torture till the ovens were made ready, in
+which all were cooked, the guests of the previous day affording the feast
+for this.
+
+[22] The ridge-pole of a new house is frequently wreathed with long
+trails of the exquisite God-fern, the _Wa Kalo_.
+
+[23] I think the most incongruous instance that has come under our notice
+of this adoption of certain English goods, was when a large number of
+the wild heathen mountaineers assembled to meet the Governor—many of
+them atoning for lack of raiment by the care bestowed on their mass of
+hair dressed in upright spiral curls, which makes the head resemble a
+gigantic mop. Of course during the interview they remained bareheaded (as
+essential a mark of respect in Fiji as is a huge turban in India). But
+when they subsequently replaced the accustomed veil of thin gauze-like
+_tappa_, they proceeded to tie it up with red tape, little dreaming what
+visions of dull routine were therewith connected in the minds of the
+white strangers.
+
+[24] Mr Mandslay told us of some very quaint _mékés_ sung by the children
+at Nandi. They were reciting their lesson in natural history, and related
+many novel facts wholly unknown to science, concerning birds and insects,
+whose cries and songs they imitated. They specially described the
+mosquito, by humming and buzzing, all in measured time, and with uniform
+action, clapping their arms, and legs, and bodies, as if smarting from
+bites. Then, as if irritated beyond endurance, they threw their arms
+wildly about, till in despair they ceased, as if nerved for endurance,
+and resigned themselves to listen to the mosquito’s songs, whereupon the
+mosquitoes applauded their patience, and shouted _Vinaka! Vinaka!_ (good!
+good!) The mosquito, it seems, is the only creature that truly mourns for
+man, for he can no longer drink his blood and sing songs to him; whereas
+other beasts rejoice over his death as that of a foe, more especially
+the ants, to whom his teeth are as precious as those of a whale are to a
+Fijian!
+
+[25] In Northern China I find the same greeting, “_Ypaisui!_” “May you
+live a thousand years!”
+
+[26] These are tales of the past. We must now look nearer home to find
+such barbarity. In the long series of atrocities which, within the
+last few months, have distressed Ireland (the shooting of landlords
+and burning of property), one incident has forcibly reminded me of
+pre-Christian days in Fiji, when a poor fellow having been put in charge
+of a house from which the tenant had been evicted, five or six men in
+masks entered the house, seized him and nailed him to the door by his
+ears, which they then cut off. And among the trifling incidents of daily
+life, we hear of ladies and clergymen being pelted with large stones, and
+pursued for long distances, solely for having ventured to examine the
+Protestant schools. Whether do you consider Ireland or Fiji the safer
+place of residence in this year of grace 1880?
+
+[27] We happily escaped any severe hurricane during the two years I
+remained in the group; but the following extract from the ‘Times’ tells
+of a storm at the close of 1879 which proves that the oft-told stories of
+devastation and ruin which at last we heard almost incredulously, were
+only too true. The labours of years were all swept away in a few hours,
+and crops of every sort totally destroyed.
+
+“CYCLONE IN THE PACIFIC.—A storm in December did very great damage in
+Fiji. The banana plantations were laid level with the ground. At Naida
+a tidal wave went two miles into the bush, sweeping away and destroying
+everything before it. The cutter Alarm was washed up into the bush. The
+Byron, cutter, foundered at Nunda Point, and the owner, Mr M’Pherson,
+and one Fijian were drowned. Among the drowned was also J. B. Grundy,
+manager to Mr William Bailey. S. L. P. Winter and two Fijians were lost
+in a half-decked boat at Bau. Two natives were drowned and every house
+blown down at Radmarre and Madroch. The whole country is described as
+denuded of timber, and the native food crops destroyed. Her Majesty’s
+ship Emerald, which had on board Sir Arthur Gordon and suite, _en route_
+for Rototumah, encountered a cyclone off that island, but managed to
+weather it safely. The Stanley, of Queensland, 113 tons register, caught
+the full force of the late gale. She had 150 islanders on board for Fiji,
+who were kept under battened hatches for thirty hours at a time. Fifty
+subsequently died, and one committed suicide on being discharged from
+Levuka Hospital. Ten more deaths were expected.”
+
+[28] “We shall meet again.”
+
+[29] A few weeks after his arrival in Ceylon, Sir William Hackett died at
+the dreary rest-house in Newera Elya. Enfeebled by long residence in the
+tropics, he was unable to rally from an attack of illness which he deemed
+too trivial for care. So passed away a just judge, and a man who had made
+himself greatly respected in the little infant colony, whose code of laws
+he had been selected to draw up and administer.
+
+[30] In old heathen days the tattooing of a woman was as important and
+compulsory a religious ceremony as the circumcision of a lad. Special
+penalties in the future world awaited the woman who contrived to evade
+this rite. Retributive furies armed with sharp shells would fall on her
+and tear her flesh for ever and ever.
+
+[31] At a great meeting of chiefs at Bau in January 1880, on the return
+of Sir Arthur Gordon from England, the _menu_ included 104 pigs and a
+large shark, cooked whole; I suppose the latter is the modern substitute
+for the _bokola_ of old days, without which a feast would have been
+thought poor indeed. The speech made by the Vuni Valu on this occasion is
+worthy of note. At the conclusion he said, addressing the still powerful
+chiefs: “Now you have plenty of money, the native officials receive their
+salaries regularly, the people are flourishing and have plenty of goods.
+You chiefs are at rest mentally, not as of old. Need I ask you, Is it
+a good thing to be under Great Britain? Would any one like to change
+again, I ask? Let any one who will, speak, lest it should be said we have
+been deceived or robbed. It is not so. We still hold our positions. The
+chiefs still are chiefs, whilst the people are better off than they ever
+were before. If we had not given ourselves to Great Britain, we should
+probably have been at war among ourselves long ago. Let no man say we
+have given away our rights. No; we have secured them.”
+
+[32] I believe the annexation of Rotumah to England has now been decided
+on.
+
+[33] _Casurina._
+
+[34] I regret to have to add the name of Dr Cruikshank to the number of
+those who have passed away in their prime. He died at Levuka in 1880.
+
+[35] I sent home seed, or morsels of seed-bearing frond, of many rare and
+beautiful ferns, but notwithstanding all the care bestowed on them by
+experienced gardeners, I do not believe that one has survived the voyage.
+
+[36] Since writing the above, I have seen two springs of pure cold water
+on the summit of the dormant volcano of Fuji Yama, in Japan, at an
+altitude of about 13,000 feet; also those in Haleakala, the great extinct
+volcano in the Sandwich Isles—altitude 10,000 feet—whence it would appear
+to be the nature of extinct volcanoes to produce such springs.
+
+[37] The demon drink did its work, and this magnificent chief died not
+long after the above was written. He is succeeded in his rank and office
+by Ratu Lala, his son by Andi Eleanor—a fine young fellow, who has been
+brought up in the special care of Mr Thurston, and has received a sound
+English education at Sydney. A short account of his installation as Roko
+of the district will be found at the close of this letter.
+
+[38] In truth, such scenes as these often carried me back in fancy
+to our own Northern Isles as they must have appeared 1300 years ago,
+when St Columba came over from Ireland to Scotland in his open canoe,
+covered with hides, to preach Christianity to the wild heathen tribes
+of Caledonia; the “painted men” (whether tattooed or merely dyed,
+matters little), whom he found living in huts, probably more miserable
+than these, and clothed, not as here in paper-cloth, but in the skins
+of wolves and wild deer, and possibly wearing, as their most treasured
+ornament, a wild boar’s tusk, much as these people do. We know that the
+celebrated monastery on Iona was merely a collection of huts clustered
+round just such a humble wattled church as the one here described; and
+having seen these, I can readily accept the tradition which ascribes to
+St Columba the foundation of three hundred churches, half in Scotland,
+and the rest in Ireland. For wherever he or his disciples travelled, they
+established new monasteries on the model of Iona, and these in their turn
+sent forth teachers, who preached everywhere; and each tribe or clan
+that accepted the new faith, built for itself a church of wattle-work;
+and the building was kept up, and the priest was supported by voluntary
+contributions of the clansmen, paid either in kind or in labour, just as
+the teachers of a Fijian village are paid to-day. And as in the olden
+days a very few advanced villages would make a mighty effort to build a
+stone church, such as the famous _Candida Casa_ of St Ninian in Galloway,
+or the “White Kirk of Buchan,” so here, with far less reason or comfort,
+a zealous tribe will (happily in but few instances) exert itself to the
+utmost to distinguish itself by building a “White Church” of coral-lime—a
+landmark to be discerned from afar.
+
+[39] At the request of Professor Liversidge, of the Sydney University, I
+asked Dr Bromlow, of H.M.S. Sapphire, to take water from these springs
+for analysis. The following table gives the proportion of salts in a
+million parts of water, or milligrammes per litre:—
+
+    Silica, insoluble,               131.33
+       ”    soluble,                   5.78
+    Alumina and traces of iron,       74.92
+    Chlorine,                       4506.06
+    Calcium,                        1428.84
+    Magnesium,                         3.04
+    Potassium,                        72.03
+    Sodium,                         1298.28
+    Sulphuric acid,                  219.29
+    Undetermined or loss,             73.34
+
+From the foregoing it will be seen that the greater part of the salts in
+solution consists of the chlorides of calcium and sodium.
+
+[40] This ceremony is called _bole bole_, meaning to challenge.
+
+[41] This is by no means an exceptional instance. A favour conferred
+seems to be generally considered as giving a claim to further kindness.
+The experience of the missionaries has always been, that if their medical
+skill availed to restore the sick to health, their patients considered
+themselves entitled to receive food and raiment, and also to have a
+right to demand anything else they fancied. Mr Calvert quotes the case
+of a native whose hand was shattered by the bursting or a musket. The
+captain of a small fishing vessel took pity on the sufferer, had his hand
+amputated, and kept him on board for two months. At parting, the patient
+told the captain that he must give him a musket, in consideration of his
+having stayed on board so long; and on this being refused, the man went
+ashore and proved his sense of obligation by burning the drying-houses in
+which his benefactor stored his fish.
+
+[42] Last year this flock had increased to about two thousand five
+hundred head; and so excellent is the quality of fine long silky hair
+yielded, that at the great International Exhibition, held at Sydney in
+1880, the second award for Angora hair was made to R. B. Leefe of Nananu.
+
+[43] By recent accounts, I hear that much of this cotton has again been
+taken into cultivation, and that large areas of the flat land near the
+Raki Raki river have now been ploughed and turned into a sugar plantation.
+
+[44] Since the above was written, the home at Nananu has shared in this
+too common fate. A few months later, the family were awakened by sudden
+cry of fire, and, as usual with houses of such combustible material,
+a few moments sufficed to reduce the pleasant Robinson Crusoe home to
+ashes. The long-treasured piano, books, knick-knacks, all irreplaceable
+treasures, were gone, and the family left with only the night-dresses in
+which they stood. Of course it does not take long to rebuild a house in
+the Fijian style, and perhaps the new house is better than the ramshackle
+old place; but in so remote a home, new ornaments and books and keepsakes
+accumulate slowly; “and we cannot buy with gold the old associations.”
+
+[45] We flattered ourselves that our description and illustration were
+fully understood; but evidently the design had originated in some other
+district; for when, a few weeks later, the specimens I had ordered were
+sent to Nasova, I received a dozen hideous articles of ponderous weight,
+utterly worthless. These people can only carry out their own ideas.
+
+[46] _Solanum anthropophagorum._ It was also commonly used by the
+cannibal Maoris of New Zealand.
+
+[47] Tin can.
+
+[48] This fine chief died suddenly during the great meeting of chiefs at
+Ban in January 1880.
+
+[49] Wheels are no longer unknown in Levuka. A passable road having at
+length been constructed along the beach, a covered cab now plies to and
+fro between the furthest point of the settlement and the Government
+offices at Nasova, a distance of nearly two miles, carrying passengers
+at 6d. a-head. Among further symptoms of progress in 1880, I note the
+opening of a hotel on the upper Rewa River, and another in Taviuni; also
+the establishment of regular steam communication all over the group, as
+also with Tonga, New Zealand, and Sydney.
+
+[50] _Metrosideros tomentosa._
+
+[51] During ten years of travel among brown and yellow races of every
+hue, continually spending long days alone with my paint-box in most wild
+and remote places, I have always done so fearlessly, being convinced
+that among these people a white woman leads a charmed life. While
+revising these pages I have received awful proof to the contrary from the
+following paragraph in the ‘Times:’—
+
+“AN ENGLISH LADY MURDERED IN NEW ZEALAND.—New Zealand newspapers to hand
+by the last mail contain details of the murder of Miss Mary Beatrice
+Dobie, daughter of the late Major H. M. Dobie, of the Madras Army, by a
+Maori at Taranaki, New Zealand, on the 25th of November. Miss Dobie, who
+was twenty-six years of age, formerly resided at Irthington, Cumberland,
+with her mother and sisters. At the time of the murder she was staying
+with her brother-in-law, Major Goring, and her mother. On the afternoon
+of the 25th of November, Miss Dobie had gone out for a walk towards
+Te Ngamu, and as she did not return a search-party was organised, and
+bonfires were lighted along the coast-line. The body was found forty
+yards off the main road. The throat was cut from ear to ear and life was
+extinct. Near the body was a bunch of wild-flowers, evidently gathered by
+the deceased. The ground showed traces of a desperate struggle, and the
+flax-bushes were bespattered with blood. The spot is a very lonely one,
+about a hundred yards from an uninhabited house at Te Ngamu. An inquest
+was held, at which evidence was given implicating a Maori named Tuhi, who
+subsequently confessed to the crime. Miss Dobie, who was well known in
+Auckland, had gone to the place where she lost her life for the purpose
+of sketching Ngamu Bay. She was an ardent admirer of New Zealand scenery,
+and many of her sketches have appeared in the ‘Graphic.’”
+
+This sad story comes home to me the more vividly as this attractive and
+accomplished lady visited Fiji with an elder sister shortly after my
+departure. They were for some time guests of Sir Arthur Gordon at Nasova,
+whence they made expeditions to many parts of the group, and afterwards
+proceeded to New Zealand to join their relations.
+
+[52] He did, however, return with us to Fiji, and shortly afterwards was
+sent home in command of his men. He died in Edinburgh, not long after his
+return.
+
+[53] Here is the analysis of a famous sulphur-bath at Sulphur Point,
+about a mile from Ohinemutu. The cures it has effected are so wonderful
+and undoubted that it is generally known as The Painkiller.
+
+_Analysis._—Sulphate of potash, 2.96; of soda, 34.37; chloride of sodium,
+59.16; of calcium, 3.33; of magnesia, 1.27; of iron, 0.25; silica, 16.09;
+hydrochloric acid, 7.60; sulphuretted hydrogen, 2.01: traces of phosphate
+of alumina, lithium, and iodine;—total, 127.04.
+
+[54] Since the above was written I have spent two months in the Hawaiian
+Isles, and have lived a never-to-be-forgotten week on the very brink
+of the great active crater. I consider that it is wellnigh impossible
+to compare the two scenes, and that in order to obtain a just idea of
+volcanic forces it is highly desirable to visit both—that is to say,
+such an active volcano as that on Hawaii, and such groups of geysers and
+solfataras as those of New Zealand. In the former, nature admits you, as
+it were, to her mighty arsenal, and suffers you to stand and gaze while
+she is in the very act of forging the strong ribs of the earth. There
+she shows you sometimes a vast lake of molten fire—liquid lava—sometimes
+dancing fire-fountains—sometimes all beauty, at others all awe; blackness
+of darkness, sulphureous fumes, fearful detonations; sometimes a column
+of fire shooting heavenwards, and falling to earth to pour down the
+mountain-side in overwhelming streams of fluid fire. Her finished works,
+too, the varied lava-beds, whether smooth or contorted, are unlike any
+other scenes in creation.
+
+But nowhere on Hawaii have I seen or heard of anything in the slightest
+degree resembling the strange and beautiful objects to be seen in the
+volcanic region of New Zealand—which, like that of the Yellowstone in
+America, seems to be nature’s laboratory, where chemical experiments of
+all sorts are being tried on a gigantic scale, producing things of beauty
+in infinite variety.
+
+[55] Lygodium reticulatum.
+
+[56] Lady Rachel.
+
+[57] News has recently been received that four of these native teachers
+have been treacherously murdered and eaten by the cannibal people of the
+Duke of York Island, on which they, with their wives and little ones,
+had settled in the hope of forming a separate mission. The murderers
+threatened also to kill and eat the widows and orphans, and urged the
+natives of New Britain likewise to dispose of their teachers, and
+especially of the white missionary. The latter, being a Christian of the
+muscular type, deemed it wise, once for all, to teach these murderers
+that the shedding of blood involves punishment in kind; so mustering
+his little band of Fijian and Samoan catechists, he crossed over to the
+offending isle, rescued the widows and orphans, and routed the horde of
+savages, who received a somewhat severe lesson on this occasion. These
+distressing tidings reached Fiji just as a fresh detachment of teachers
+was about to start for New Britain. Their determination was in no degree
+shaken. One of them expressed the feeling of all when he said: “If the
+people of New Britain kill and eat my body, I shall go to a place where
+there is no more pain or death; it is all right.” One of the wives was
+asked whether she still intended to accompany her husband to a scene of
+so great danger; she replied: “I am like the outrigger of a canoe—where
+the canoe goes, there you will surely find the outrigger!” Brave
+helpmeets these!
+
+[58] The Walai. _Entada scandens._
+
+[59] Great was the dismay and alarm of all the men who have gone into
+coffee when a most promising estate was recently found to be infested
+with that most grievous plague, the leaf disease. The estate was taken
+possession of by Government. All the bushes were burnt, the land strewed
+with lime, and the place put into strictest quarantine, no man being
+permitted to set foot on it without a pass. It is hoped that these
+stringent measures may have proved effectual in stamping out the disease,
+which otherwise would blast all hope of success in this new undertaking.
+
+[60] Alas! a very few hours ended the struggle for life. Ere the vessel
+reached Sydney, one more of the little band, who in the spring of 1875
+left England so full of high hope, had passed away, and his body was
+committed to the deep.
+
+[61] It may be considered a sure symptom of a reviving faith in the
+commercial prospects of Fiji, that sundry capitalists in New South Wales
+are at this moment, 1880, engaged in the erection of large sugar-mills on
+the Rewa, Raki Raki, and Taviuni, while others are in prospect. That on
+the Rewa is the property of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. All its
+appliances are to be of the most perfect description, and it is estimated
+that its prime cost will be £100,000, that it will give employment to 100
+white men, and be capable of turning out 500 tons of sugar per month.
+So at least we may now hope that the broad acres of sugar-cane will no
+longer be left rotting in the ground for want of mills; and carriage will
+be made easy by the use of steam-punts capable of navigating the rivers,
+and so collecting produce.
+
+It will be strange indeed if the speaking results of collecting native
+taxes in kind, instead of, as heretofore, in coin, does not give an
+impetus to cultivators throughout the group. Mr J. B. Thurston, the
+Colonial Secretary, who from the time of annexation has been the
+strenuous advocate of this policy, says that when, about four years ago,
+he distributed his first thirty bushels of maize to be sown in native
+gardens, he was laughed at, and asked if he ever expected to see a bushel
+of that maize grown? Last year he answered the question by exporting
+30,000 bushels, and sees no reason why the amount should not ere long
+become 300,000. Already the people have been taught to raise coffee,
+cotton, and sugar on these district gardens, with the result that where
+five years ago the revenue derived from native taxes was almost nil, it
+last year amounted to £22,500.
+
+[62] The question whether it is desirable to introduce rabbits into the
+group is one that has caused much discussion. There are a multitude of
+small isles on which they might be reared with profit; but with the
+melancholy example of the devastation caused by their introduction into
+Australia, the danger is one not to be lightly incurred. We hear of
+large, once flourishing, stations in Victoria, which have been literally
+abandoned owing to the multitude of rabbits, where the attempt to raise
+crops has been given up as hopeless. One estate, not far from Melbourne,
+formerly supported thirty thousand sheep. Now it scarcely yields grass
+for five goats; and the man left in charge of the deserted house and
+farm-buildings has to buy meat for himself and fodder for his horse. No
+wonder that the planters of Fiji do not care to introduce the rabbit here.
+
+[63] The sea-island cotton from Mago has now earned a world-wide
+reputation. It has gained the gold medal both at the Paris and
+Philadelphia International Exhibitions. That Fijian cotton should receive
+such high honour in America is indeed a triumph.
+
+[64] Our police records have quite recently reported cases in which waxen
+images have been moulded to represent persons against whom some miscreant
+had a grudge. So late as 1870 a man at Beauly in Scotland was proved to
+have made an image of clay, which he buried near the house of a farmer to
+whom he owed a grudge, fully believing that, as the rain washed away the
+clay, so his enemy would pine and die. And in the same district a woman
+was found sticking lumps of mud on the trees with the same object. In
+1872, two onions, stuck full of pins, and ticketed with the name of the
+intended victim, were found hidden in a chimney corner in Somerset. And
+as regards other forms of witchcraft, I have just heard (Aug. 1880) from
+a large landowner in Skye, that he has had a letter from his tenants,
+signed by several influential members of the Free Church, complaining of
+a family—a mother and five daughters—who, by evil arts, take away the
+milk from their cows. Of this elaborate proofs are given. The case was
+mentioned to another man of the same district, who was asked what he
+thought of it. He answered—“He couldn’t say. His own cow had recently
+been thus charmed; but he knew another _skeely_ woman, and sent for her.
+She came and made a turn round the cow, and twined red worsted in its
+tail, and the milk came back. For this he paid her five shillings, but
+she told him that her charm would only work for three months, and if
+after that the cow ought still to be giving milk, she must be sent for
+again!”
+
+For many curious statistics on these subjects, see ‘From the Hebrides to
+the Himalayas,’ by C. F. Gordon Cumming.
+
+
+
+
+ARMSTRONG & SON’S LATEST PUBLICATIONS.
+
+
+I.
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+Life and Speeches of John Bright.
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+
+2 Steel Portraits, 1 vol., crown octavo, 708 pages, $2.50.
+
+    The _London Times_ says: “This work will be welcomed by a large
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+
+    _London News_: “It is, in one sense, a history of England
+    during the last half century.”
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+
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+
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+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76974 ***