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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76974-0.txt b/76974-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c707d8e --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16157 @@ + +*** 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. + +Life and Speeches of John Bright. + +By G. BARNETT SMITH. + +2 Steel Portraits, 1 vol., crown octavo, 708 pages, $2.50. + + The _London Times_ says: “This work will be welcomed by a large + number of readers. The author has taken great pains to make the + work at once accurate and full. _He has evidently had access to + private sources of information, for he gives accounts of Mr. + Bright’s personal life that it would otherwise not have been + possible to give...._ He has followed his subject through all + the steps of his career.” + + _London News_: “It is, in one sense, a history of England + during the last half century.” + + +II. + +THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF ART. + +By LEOPOLD EIDLITZ. + +1 vol., octavo, 510 pages, $4.00. + + “Mr. E. is a writer of remarkable strength and originality. His + book may be classed as one of the most valuable contributions + to Art Literature published during the last decade.... The work + deals with the subject so broadly that any reader of artistic + tendencies will find a fascination in its pages.”—_Boston + Evening Transcript._ + + +III. + +HISTORY OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND, + +From the Opening of the Long Parliament to the End of the 18th Century. + +By JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D. + +6 vols., crown 8vo, $15.00. Comprising: + + I. Church of the Civil Wars. + II. Church of the Commonwealth. + III. & IV. Church of the Restoration. + V. Church of the Revolution. + VI. Church in the Georgian Era. + + “There is no need to eulogize Dr. Stoughton’s learned research, + impartiality, thoughtfulness, picturesque style, and thorough + appreciation of the religious, political, and social life of + the 17th century. The monographs of individual lives are simply + charming. The characters, sketched with discrimination and + vigor, seem to live and move before us. The human actors and + their surroundings can be realized as distinctly in these pages + as in any of the brilliant climatic passages of the elegant + Macaulay.”—_Christian World._ + + +IV. + +IN PROSPECT OF SUNDAY. + +A Collection of Analyses, Arguments, Applications, Cautions, etc., for +the use of Preachers and Sunday School Teachers. + +By Rev. G. S. BOWES. + +1 vol., 12mo, 438 pages, $1.50. + + +V. + +Uniform with our Standard Edition of Hallam, Lamb, Disraeli and Michaud’s +Crusades, a New and Handsome Library Edition of + +MILMAN’S COMPLETE WORKS. + +With Table of Contents and full Indexes. Printed from large type, on +laid, tinted paper, in 8 vols., crown 8vo, strongly bound in extra cloth, +price, $12.00 per set (reduced from $24.50). Comprising: + + + _HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 2 Vols._ + _HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, 2 Vols._ + _HISTORY OF LATIN CHRISTIANITY, 4 Vols._ + + Dr. Milman has won lasting popularity as a historian by + his three great Works, “History of the Jews,” “History of + Christianity,” and “History of Latin Christianity.” These works + link on to each other, and bring the narrative down from the + beginning of all history to the middle period of the modern + era. They are the work of the scholar, a conscientious student, + and a Christian philosopher. + + +VI. + +Armstrong’s Primer of United States History + +FOR SCHOOL AND FAMILY USE. + +1 vol., square 16mo, with 6 beautifully-colored Maps, from original +drawings. Price, 50 cents. + + “A model historical primer, full in its statements, + discriminating in its selection of events, clear and direct + in its style, and comprehensive in its general outline of + American affairs. The value of such a book is apparent at a + glance. Of large histories of the United States there is no + lack, but of shorter histories there is great need. A work of + this character, thoroughly trustworthy in its statements, is + of almost equal importance to the young student and to the + general reader. It represents an amount of work of which its + brief pages give no adequate impression. To condense, and yet + to omit nothing essential to the complete statement of events, + requires the fullest command of the subject and the most + intelligent understanding of the mutual relations of all the + facts involved. The writer of this primer was well qualified + for his task.”—_N. Y. 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The illustrations all show superior + workmanship, the figures are lifelike, and the colors vivid and + pleasing.”—_Chicago Evening Journal._ + + +_Copies sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price._ + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76974 *** diff --git a/76974-h/76974-h.htm b/76974-h/76974-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db4106a --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/76974-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,18163 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + At home in Fiji | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +h2.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +hr { + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb { + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + width: 45%; + margin-left: 27.5%; + margin-right: 27.5%; +} + +hr.chap { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + width: 65%; 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+} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent6 {text-indent: 0.0em;} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp46 {width: 46%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp46 {width: 100%;} +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp90 {width: 90%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp90 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76974 ***</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[i]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="cover" style="max-width: 100.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>AT HOME IN FIJI</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[ii]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus1" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OUR HOME IN FIJI.</p> + <p class="r"><i>Frontispiece.</i></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[iii]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage larger">AT HOME IN FIJI</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +C. F. GORDON CUMMING<br> +<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF ‘A LADY’S CRUISE IN A FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR’<br> +‘FROM THE HEBRIDES TO THE HIMALAYAS,’ ETC.</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage">NEW EDITION, COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME</p> + +<p class="center"><i>WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS</i></p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="gothic">New York</span><br> +A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, <span class="smcap">714 Broadway</span><br> +<span class="smaller">MDCCCLXXXII</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<p class="dedication"><span class="smaller">TO</span><br> +DEAR LITTLE NEVIL<br> +<span class="smaller">AND</span><br> +GEORGE HAMILTON GORDON<br> +<span class="smaller">THESE NOTES OF ONE OF THE MANY SUNNY HOMES<br> +OF THEIR HAPPY CHILDHOOD<br> +ARE LOVINGLY DEDICATED</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +</div> + +<table class="contents"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Introduction</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The voyage out,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sydney—Camellia trees—Orange gardens,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">12</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Life in the Blue Mountains—Death of Commodore Goodenough—Life + in the bush,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">19</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Arrive in Fiji—Tropical luxury in Levuka—King Thakombau—Plague + of measles,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">26</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Levuka—The harbour—Coral-reef—Churches—Animal life—Plants—How + to brew yangona—Picnics—Spear-throwing,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">35</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Fijian spelling—The future capital—A planter’s life—Foreign labour—Quaint + postage-stamps,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>A canoe adventure—Sharks—Fever—The feast of worms—Results of + mission work—No means of locomotion—God’s acre,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">61</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Life on Viti Levu—Suva—A floral clock—The Rewa river—Obsolete + customs—First night in a native house,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">70</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bathing <i>al fresco</i>—The Upper Rewa—Barter—Native houses—A funeral—Weddings—Grace,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Upper Rewa—Sunday among the converts—School examinations—A + “missionary meeting”—Savage ornaments—Red tape—<i>Mékés</i>—Evening + prayer—Marriages,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">85</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Christmas in Great Fiji—Pig feasts—Weddings—Fijian names—Cannibal + dainties—Christmas chimes—Sneezing—“Our Father” in + Fijian,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">96</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">107</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">121</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Life at Nasova—Farmyard—Convict thatchers—Native festival at Bau—Return + to Nasova—Battles with crabs—Beginning of cannibal + disturbance—Fijian fairies—A storm,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">134</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Government House—Pets—Curios—Crabs—Native police—Death of + Mrs de Ricci,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">147</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Good Friday in Fiji—Isle Koro—Planters’ Houses—Labour—Making + native cloth—Great feasts—Weddings—Salaries of Wesleyan missionaries + and teachers,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">156</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">173</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">191</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Chief of Mbua—Feudal rights—A night in a miserable village—Church + <i>à la</i> St Columba—Night on a desert isle—Savu Savu—Boiling + springs—Their use—Past and future,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">211</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Nasova—The mountain war—A year’s progress—Fijian homage,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">219</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>A planter’s house—Angora goats—A lovely shore—Sericulture—The + mosquito plague,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">235</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The pottery districts of Viti Levu—A cannibal’s register—A night in a + corn-shed—Funeral of Ratu Taivita,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">243</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Start for New Zealand—Extinct volcanoes—Sir George Grey’s treasures—Tree-kangaroos,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">260</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXIV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Gold-mines—A new city—Native defences—Kauri forest—A hard ride—Kati + Kati—Tauranga Gate Pah, and cemetery—Ohinemutu—A + volcanic region,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">272</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">290</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXVI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Fijian rivers—Samoan envoys—Death of a true apostle—A revival—Making + a race-course—Mission to New Britain,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">307</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXVII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Various plantations—Crotons—Foreign labour—Green beetles—Loma + Loma—A Tongan colony—Hot springs,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">328</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXVIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>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,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">345</a></td> + </tr> + <tr class="pad-top"> + <td><span class="smcap">Appendix</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#APPENDIX">356</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +</div> + +<table class="contents"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Our Home in Fiji</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Isles of Ovalau, Moturiki, Bau, and Viwa. + From Viti Levu</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Hot Springs, Isle Ngau</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3">180</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">A Chief’s Kitchen</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4">208</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Map</span>,</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5"><i>At the end</i></a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOTE-CANNIBAL_FORK">NOTE.—CANNIBAL FORK.</h2> + +</div> + +<p>The <a href="#cover">Cannibal Fork</a> 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.</p> + +<p class="tb">With reference to the vegetables specially reserved for cannibal feasts, +Dr Seemann describes the Boro dina (<i>Solanum anthropophagorum</i>) 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, <i>Trophis +anthropophagorum</i>, and the Tudano, <i>Omalanthus pedicellatus</i>), were +wrapped round the <i>bokola</i> and baked with it on heated stones.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<h1>AT HOME IN FIJI.</h1> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" style="max-width: 13.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/line.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., Governor of New South +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>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—</p> + +<p>“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.’</p> + +<p>“Why should we have any anxiety about the future? What +is the future? Britain.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>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.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The signatures affixed are as follows:—</p> + +<ul> + <li>CAKOBAU, R.<br><i>Tui Viti and Vunivalu.</i></li> + <li>MAAFAU.</li> + <li>TUI CAKAU.</li> + <li>RATU EPELI.</li> + <li>VAKAWALETABUA.<br><i>Tui Bua.</i></li> + <li>SAVENAKA.</li> + <li>ISIKELI.</li> + <li>ROKO TUI DREKETI.</li> + <li>NACAGILEVU.</li> + <li>RATU KINI.</li> + <li>RITOVA.</li> + <li>KATUNIVERE.</li> + <li>MATANITOBUA.</li> + <li>HERCULES ROBINSON.</li> +</ul> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“The king gives her Majesty his old and favourite war-club, the +former, and, until lately the only known, law of Fiji.</p> + +<p>“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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>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.”</p> + +<p>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, <i>verbatim</i>, the trustful +and gratifying message by which the gift was accompanied.</p> + +<p>This magnificent club, together with Thakombau’s huge <i>yangona</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>To this the two chiefs, hitherto rivals for the supreme power, +thus replied. First spoke Thakombau.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>Maafu then said—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>Sir Hercules’s reply must have been truly gratifying to his +hearers. Its conclusion was—</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“With renewed thanks for the good wishes which you are +pleased to express for myself personally, I have, &c.,</p> + +<p class="right">“HERCULES ROBINSON.</p> + +<p class="noindent">“To the Rev. <span class="smcap">Joseph Waterhouse</span>,<br> +<span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="smcap">Samuel Brookes</span>,<br> +<span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="smcap">D. S. Wylie</span>.”</p> + +<p class="tb">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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> It was June 1875 ere Sir +Arthur reached the colony, and, to quote his own words⁠<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> 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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>After alluding to the purely native organisation of Bulis, Rokos, +and other functionaries whom Sir Arthur found it desirable to continue +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>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.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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....</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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....</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>Fiji lies 1760 miles N.-E. of Sydney, and 1175 miles N. of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>Auckland. The value of its principal exports may be gathered +from the following table:—</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Coppra.</th> + <th>Cotton.</th> + <th>Sugar.</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1875,</td> + <td class="tdr">£40,003</td> + <td class="tdr">£28,706</td> + <td class="tdr">£3,417</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1876,</td> + <td class="tdr">45,908</td> + <td class="tdr">21,122</td> + <td class="tdr">10,433</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1877,</td> + <td class="tdr">79,403</td> + <td class="tdr">15,690</td> + <td class="tdr">16,170</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1878,</td> + <td class="tdr">122,194</td> + <td class="tdr">20,700</td> + <td class="tdr">18,640</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>At the close of 1878 the area under cultivation was as +follows:—</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <td>Coppra—<i>i.e.</i>, cocoa-nut,</td> + <td class="tdr">9166</td> + <td>acres.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cotton,</td> + <td class="tdr">2390</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sugar,</td> + <td class="tdr">1772</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Maize,</td> + <td class="tdr">1000</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Coffee,</td> + <td class="tdr">1219</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>The cultivation of coffee is as yet in its infancy.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The form of Government is that of a Crown Colony, with +Executive and Legislative Councils.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p>THE VOYAGE OUT.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">On Board the Messageries Maritimes s.s. Anadyr, Nearing Point de Galle</span>, <i>April 17, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Fellow-Arab</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>wear and tear of mind and body, than any amount of travelling +in distant lands).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p>SYDNEY—CAMELLIA TREES—ORANGE GARDENS.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Sydney, New South Wales</span>, <i>June 2</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>and sneezing; and we are glad to cower over fires—for which, by +the way, the coal comes from Newcastle.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>June 10.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Pfahlert’s Hotel, Sydney</span>, <i>Sunday, June 20, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> + +<p>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.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>I find here that it does not do to use the word <i>native</i>, 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 <i>aborigines</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>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 <i>me</i>, 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!”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Pfahlert’s Hotel</span>, <i>July 15</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa</span>,—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 <i>their</i> leaves, but +grow beside great clumps of bamboo.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p>LIFE IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS—DEATH OF COMMODORE +GOODENOUGH—LIFE IN THE BUSH.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">From a tiny Cottage at the Weatherboard in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales</span>, Begun <i>Aug. 19, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>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 <i>all but</i> in working order. It has been the labour of years, +and is now just about to see daylight.</p> + +<p>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 <i>waratau</i>, which I cannot describe, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>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 <i>vine</i>), 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>August 29, 1875.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>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 <i>tetanus</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, +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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> 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 <i>knew</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>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....</p> + +<p>I don’t suppose you can fully realise how <i>home</i> 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.</p> + +<p>I will write again in a few days.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Duntroon, near the Murrumbidgee Hills, N.S. Wales</span>, <i>Sept. 2</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>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 <i>must</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p>ARRIVE IN FIJI—TROPICAL LUXURY IN LEVUKA—KING THAKOMBAU—PLAGUE +OF MEASLES.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">From Mrs Havelock’s House, Levuka, Isle of Ovalau, Fiji</span>, <i>Sunday, Sept. 26, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p>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,—<i>about +fourteen hundred schools and nine hundred churches</i>!” I think +the Engineers were not the only people who opened their eyes at +this statement, which is strictly true!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>travellers, and consequently the text for many a lengthened +description of the group.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, +the opening in the barrier reef, through which we passed into +the quiet harbour of Levuka.</p> + +<p>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 <i>viâ</i> New +Zealand!</p> + +<p>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.)</p> + +<p>In the evening we all returned on board the Egmont, as no other +quarters were ready for us. Early next morning Lady Gordon and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>very</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>malua</i>” (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 <i>sulus</i> +(<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Most people seem to prefer engaging servants from among the +“foreign labour”—<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>September 29, 1875.</i></p> + +<p>... 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>i.e.</i>, chief officer in charge); +after which there was a very pretty <i>méké</i>,⁠<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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?</p> + +<p>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 <i>tama</i>, a curious deep-toned acclamation of <i>ndua woh! ndua +woh!</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>intelligent of the chiefs, and who had done all in his power to +explain to the Kai Tholos (<i>i.e.</i>, people of the mountains) the +advantages of English rule.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>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.</p> + +<p>At the Missionary Institute all the students were down; but +thanks to unwearied nursing day and night, most of them recovered.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ninety</i>, and the district next to it <i>forty</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>It appears that the measles, which we consider such a simple and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>matai-ni-mate</i>, “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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p>LEVUKA—THE HARBOUR—CORAL-REEF—CHURCHES—ANIMAL LIFE—PLANTS—HOW +TO BREW YANGONA—PICNICS—SPEAR-THROWING.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">With Mrs Havelock, Levuka</span>, <i>Saturday, October 2, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>mékés</i> as they approach the town, with an odd +sort of accompaniment on their <i>lali</i>, 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 (<i>Cyprea oviformis</i>). +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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The existence of these barrier-reefs is an unspeakable benefit to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>atolls</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Monday, 4th October.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Jean</span>,— ... 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>just such a sun as that which makes men in India wear solah <i>topees</i> +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,</p> + +<p class="right">C. F. G. C.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>In one respect we are greatly disappointed in this place—<i>there +are scarcely any flowers</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>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 <i>fringed</i> 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 <i>Wa Kolo</i>, or God’s fern.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kaveeka</i>, 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Sunday, 31st October.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa</span>,—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 <i>malua</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>seepi</i> (mutton), <i>goti</i> (goat), <i>pussi</i> (cat), <i>ose</i> (horse), <i>collie</i>⁠<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> (dog), +and <i>bullama kow</i> (beef), sufficiently betray their foreign origin. +Really I do miss the troops of monkeys so familiar in India and +Ceylon.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kaukaro</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kittool</i> 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span></p> + +<p>There are several splendid trees which are quite new to me, +being peculiar to the South Seas. Such are the <i>ivi</i>⁠<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> (pronounced +<i>eevie</i>), or Tahitian chestnut, and the <i>ndelo</i>,⁠<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> with large glossy leaves +like the india-rubber tree. Both these are valuable as affording +cool, deep shade. There is also the <i>vutu</i>,⁠<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> with its blossoms like +tufts of silk fringe; the <i>tavola</i>,⁠<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> or native almond-tree; and the +<i>ndawa</i>, whose young leaves are bright crimson, and give a gleam +of colour to the general expanse of green. Then there is the +<i>mbaka</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulu</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>taros</i>, and <i>kumalas</i> (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.</p> + +<p>The <i>taro</i> 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, <i>Arum esculentum</i>). 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!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>There is one fruit-bearing plant here which is just like a natural +umbrella—namely, the <i>papaw</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>noko-noko</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>Here and there a small plantation of paper mulberry (<i>Broussonetia</i>), +the bark of which supplies material for native cloth, or a +patch of arrowroot, or perhaps a few tall sugar-canes or tufts of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>Indian corn, complete the common produce of the native gardens, +and combine to produce an effect of rich and varied foliage.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tambu kaisi</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kava</i>). 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 <i>quite</i> so nasty as might be supposed, as they repeatedly rinse +their mouths with fresh water during the process, which occupies +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>some time; while all the company sit round most solemnly, and +some sing quaint <i>mékés</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>connoisseurs</i> declare with one voice that grated yangona +is not comparable to that which has been chewed!⁠<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>méké</i>, 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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> (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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, the children pretty +well tired out.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>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.</p> + +<p>When we landed there on Tuesday there was a large gathering +of Fijians, playing at throwing spears, and a game called <i>tinqua</i>—which +consists in throwing reeds, with oval wooden heads, called +<i>toa</i>, 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 <i>sulus</i> 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 <i>tappa</i>, <i>en panier</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>hoping</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>Now little Rachel has come to carry me off to tea, so I must say +good-bye.—Ever lovingly yours.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p>FIJIAN SPELLING—THE FUTURE CAPITAL—A PLANTER’S LIFE—FOREIGN +LABOUR—QUAINT POSTAGE-STAMPS.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Levuka</span>, <i>November 1, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear George</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>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.</p> + +<p>Owing to the peculiarity of orthodox Fijian spelling, you must +pronounce an <i>m</i> before the <i>b</i>—so that town is called MBau. +Moreover, the sound of <i>th</i> is represented by the letter <i>c</i>, so that +I ought to spell Thakombau, Cacobau; and Tholo, which is mountain, +should be Colo. Moreover, you must always sound the letter +<i>n</i> before <i>d</i>, <i>g</i>, and <i>q</i>. 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, +<i>aco</i> being the equivalent of Arthur.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>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 <i>taro</i>-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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>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 <i>coppra</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>But the hideous stories of kidnapping and brutal ill-treatment on +board ship, or even on plantations, are now happily tales of the +past.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span><i>employés</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>my rocky perch and get home while I can see my way, so good-bye.—Ever +yours,</p> + +<p class="right">C. F. G. C.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sous entendu</i>, “Don’t he wish he may get it!” +The suggestion may prove useful nearer home!</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p>A CANOE ADVENTURE—SHARKS—FEVER—THE FEAST OF WORMS—RESULTS +OF MISSION WORK—NO MEANS OF LOCOMOTION—GODS ACRE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Levuka</span>, <i>November 16, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!⁠<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Monday, November 22, 1875.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Bessie</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>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<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>Well do the natives know how needless it would be to look for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Singha tambu</i>, 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 (<i>for +Christians</i>) that I have ever seen.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>hear about. Many such have been described to me by eyewitnesses.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotued</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, embraced +Christianity) in such good earnest as may well put to shame many +more civilised nations.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span><i>Can you realise that there are nine hundred Wesleyan churches in +Fiji</i>, 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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>way, the gentlemen bathe every morning, in utter defiance of the +sharks, which have been seen quite close to them. It certainly is +risky.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>November 30, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Nell</span>,—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<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> (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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>keveeka</i>-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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p>LIFE ON VITI LEVU—SUVA—A FLORAL CLOCK—THE REWA RIVER—OBSOLETE +CUSTOMS—FIRST NIGHT IN A NATIVE HOUSE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Suva, in Viti Levu (Great Fiji)</span>, <i>December 10th</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Such a view, and such a flight of stairs down to the sea—a +quarter of a mile, and almost perpendicular!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span></p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>lali</i>, 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Navounindrala,⁠<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> on the Rewa</span> <i>Monday, 13th Dec.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Eisa</span>,—In my last letters home I mentioned that we +were just starting for Rewa, where there is a great meeting of chiefs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> which is a large village of the invariable thatched +houses. Here we found a great gathering of the people to receive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>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.</p> + +<p>It was sunset ere we reached our destination, the village of +Delandamanu (<i>i.e.</i>, the hill on whose top the <i>damanu</i>-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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>noko noko</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lalis</i>, +which used to be called <i>lali mbokolo</i> (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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, having previously had prayers and breakfast.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>is</i> “only a day’s sail,” it may involve +a detention of many days.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulus</i>, their ordinary +working dress being merely a <i>sulu</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ai</i>, +<i>au</i>, <i>ei</i>, <i>eu</i>, <i>oi</i>, <i>ou</i>, and <i>iu</i>. 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. <i>Siandra?</i> (are you awake?) <i>Sa mothe?</i> (are +you asleep?) to which the people add <i>na maramma</i> (lady), or <i>na +turanga</i> (lord), or <i>saka</i> (sir). When they say <i>Eo saka</i> (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. <i>Maroroya</i> is a prayer to those +around me to be careful; <i>kusa kusa</i> begs them to make haste; <i>sara +sara</i> (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; <i>sa legge mothe</i>, 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>as <i>vesi vesi</i>, a little spear; <i>vale vale</i>, a little house; <i>kende kende</i>, a +mountain; <i>noko noko</i>, ironwood; <i>vula vula</i>, white; <i>dre dre</i>, difficult; +<i>mothe mothe</i>, bed (<i>mothe</i> means sleep); <i>yau yau</i>, mist; <i>kata +kata</i>, boiling; <i>lia lia</i>, silly; <i>wai wai</i>, oil; <i>levu</i> is big; <i>lei lei</i>, small; +<i>vulu vulu</i>, cramfull; <i>velo velo</i>, a canoe; <i>reki reki</i>, joy; <i>vuvu</i>, jealous; +<i>dronga dronga</i>, 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. <i>Dua</i>, <i>rua</i>, <i>tolu</i>, <i>va</i>, +<i>lima</i>, <i>ono</i>, <i>vitu</i>, <i>walu</i>, <i>ciwa</i> (<i>thiwa</i>), <i>tini</i>. Then come <i>tine ka dua</i>, +<i>tine ka rua</i>, and so on up to twenty. There are certain nouns +which in themselves express numbers, as: <i>sasa</i>, ten mats; <i>rara</i>, ten +pigs; <i>bure</i>, ten clubs; <i>bola</i>, a hundred canoes; <i>selavo</i>, a thousand +cocoa-nuts. These are used in combination with ordinary numerals, +thus: <i>Rua sasa</i>, twenty mats; <i>tini selavo</i>, ten thousand nuts.</p> + +<p>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 <i>my</i> food, <i>my</i> drink, or <i>my</i> canoe. Personal pronouns are equally +varied; there are no less than six words answering to our <i>we</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p>BATHING <i>AL FRESCO</i>—THE UPPER REWA—BARTER—NATIVE HOUSES—A +FUNERAL—WEDDINGS—GRACE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nakoro Vatu (the Stone Town)</span>, <i>December 19, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Jean</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In building a large house about a hundred of these pillars are +required. Those forming the doorway are frequently bound with +<i>sinnet</i> (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 <i>Cyprea ovula</i>), strings of which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>are also wreathed round the projecting ends of the ridge-pole, and +hang thence in long graceful festoons.⁠<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>yangona</i> +(elsewhere throughout the Pacific known as <i>kava</i>).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>All round the fires lie the family and their friends on their mats, +beneath which is spread a thick layer of soft dry grass.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>our mosquito-curtains, and with the help of a few mats and plaids +quickly rig up our simple tents.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>all matted with lovely vines, and had a grand view from the high +ground. This village is clean and orderly.</p> + +<p>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 <i>one-wived</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>taro</i>; and all are hungry, but waiting for +Mr L. to say grace,—so I must go. Good-night.—Your loving +sister.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p>UPPER REWA—SUNDAY AMONG THE CONVERTS—SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS—A +“MISSIONARY MEETING”—SAVAGE ORNAMENTS—RED TAPE—<i>MÉKÉS</i>—EVENING +PRAYER—MARRIAGES.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nirukuruku, on the Upper Rewa River</span>, <i>December 23d</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Alexa</span>,—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 <i>dandie</i> here, with a team +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>To say nothing of largely attended week-day evening services, +there are on Sundays three regular services, beginning with a prayer-meeting +at 6 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulus</i> (kilts).</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>in the congregations, and that the churches are just as crowded +when there is only the native teacher to lead the simple worship.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>At one place we found the scholars, old and young, of eight +villages assembled to receive us. They began, as usual, by coming +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>up in procession, and each depositing an offering at the feet of the +missionary. This generally consists of one root of yam or <i>taro</i>, 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 <i>méké</i>, which is a quaint national dance with +accompaniment of singing.</p> + +<p>Some of the old <i>mékés</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The first meeting of this sort at which I was present was held +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>wear huge wigs of heathen days, and crowns of scarlet parrots’ +feathers.</p> + +<p>Most have their faces painted with every variety of colour, in +stripes, circles, and spots. Some are all scarlet, with black spectacles, +or <i>vice versâ</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>In one very odd dance, a queer, fluttering creature, with a huge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>pandanus</i> 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 <i>méké</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>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 +<i>corps de ballet</i>, and then leads them with perfect accuracy through +every manœuvre of advance, retreat, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>Each district has certain dances peculiar to itself, and the people +of one neither can nor will join in the <i>méké</i> 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 <i>méké</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>masi</i> 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.</p> + +<p>Another <i>méké</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>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 +<i>liqus</i> to swing simultaneously; and these being made of dried leaves +of the <i>pandanus</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>méké</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>trousseau</i>. Anyhow, this is +rather a dingy lot of weddings. Now good night—Your loving +sister.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p>CHRISTMAS IN GREAT FIJI—PIG FEASTS—WEDDINGS—FIJIAN NAMES—CANNIBAL +DAINTIES—CHRISTMAS CHIMES—SNEEZING—“OUR FATHER” IN +FIJIAN.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="hanging">(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>i.e.</i>, Great Fiji.)</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“And strangely fell our Christmas Eve.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="right"><i>Christmas Day, 1875.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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....</p> + +<p>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 <i>taros</i>, and native puddings tied +up in leaves. Boiled vegetables (sometimes fish and crawfish) are +brought in and offered again in the evening.</p> + +<p>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, <i>taro</i>, and sweet potatoes, fowls +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>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 <i>cuisine</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>sulu</i> 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, very precious).</p> + +<p>Some were cruelly ill named from their birth. To any one who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p> + +<p>Where Christian names have been adopted at baptism they are +almost invariably Scriptural names Fijianised, I had almost said +Italianised. Such are <i>Taivita</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>and ivory, beautifully inlaid and polished; also of the large +curly boar’s tusks, which form so becoming a neck-ornament.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu</i>, +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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>liku</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>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 <i>slew and ate</i> 260 +persons! When they had finished eating them all they proceeded +to eat the pigs!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Is it not hard to realise that such deeds as these can so recently +have been committed by the gentle friendly people among whom +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>we now travel so safely, and whose child-like earnestness and +devotion to the new religion of peace and love is so striking?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>This morning—Christmas Day—the village was early astir, and +soon after six the beating of the <i>lalis</i> summoned us to morning +service. The <i>lalis</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Mbula!</i> “May you live!” or “Health to +you!” to which the sneezer replies, <i>Mole</i>, “Thanks;” in former +days custom required him to add, “May you club some one!” or +“May your wife have twins!”⁠<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In the course of the walk Mr Langham discovered that food was +very scarce with these people, and that our friends of yesterday +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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 (<i>ai mbulu mbulu</i>). 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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>You must not forget to sound an <i>n</i> before the letters <i>d</i>, <i>g</i>, and +<i>q</i>, and an <i>m</i> before <i>b</i>—thus: no<i>n</i>da—Tura<i>n</i>ga—Tama<i>n</i>da—Yalo +Ta<i>m</i>bu—ke<i>n</i>da—o<i>n</i>go—mu<i>n</i>du.</p> + +<p>Now once more good night, and peaceful be your slumbers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span></p> + +<p><i>P.S.</i>—In case you wish, to say the Lord’s Prayer in Fijian, here +it is:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Our Father.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>The foregoing version of the Lord’s Prayer is that in general +use. The version used by the Lotu Katolika—<i>i.e.</i>, the Roman +Catholic Church—is as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nakamerousi</span>, <i>Monday, Dec. 27</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Nell</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>cannibals, and who, moreover, have never before beheld +the face of a white woman!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Really these falling sparks are too dangerous. Good night +again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Navounindrala</span>, <i>Dec. 28</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>writing the mountains</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Bau</span>, <i>New Year’s Eve</i>.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus2" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ISLES OF OVALAU, MOTURIKI, BAU AND VIWA, FROM VITI LEVU.</p> + <p class="r"><a href="#Page_111"><i>p. 111.</i></a></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In the afternoon we continued our voyage down one of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>It must have been indeed a hateful home in those days, when +you could not look down from the windows to the town below +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>omnium gatherum</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span></p> + +<p>10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>—I must write a few words just to prove that I am +thinking of you all on this last night of the old year. <i>You</i> are +just about finishing breakfast. <i>We</i> 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.</p> + +<p><i>First Sunday in 1876.</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>After service we all stood for a while in the bright starlight, +exchanging New Year greetings, while the children indulged in +noisily beating the <i>lalis</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>his</i> 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>when at the tender age of six, the young Seru, as he was then +called, clubbed his first victim, a boy somewhat his senior.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Like King David of old, in his heaviness of heart he thought +upon God, and determined to join the <i>lotu</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>the isle, and fightings without—fears of treachery from hostile +tribes living even on the little isle itself.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>venture to stand upright before him. Naturally such a custom, +continuing from generation to generation, becomes second nature.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lasakau</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>unprotected) women to land on the isle and face that bloodthirsty +rabble. But with resolute courage and unfailing faith +they pressed on.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> So Ngavindi +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bokola</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>bokola</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>ever</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>January 14, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Nell</span>,—You see I have got safely home from my +travels in the wilds, and I am bound to confess that there is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>many became most devoted teachers, ready to go forth to any distant +point where there might be a chance of doing good.</p> + +<p>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</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“An infant crying for the light,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And with no language but a cry.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The following year a Tongan teacher was sent to assist him; by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>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 <i>lotu</i>, 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 <i>lotu</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>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—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“And of our scholars let us learn</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our own forgotten lore!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>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. <i>We +would all go, Thou knowest</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One of the objects of interest in Bau is a very large canoe which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>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 <i>tama</i> (obeisance) from time to time.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>came up and swarmed over the roof and bound it with planks and +long mangrove wands.</p> + +<p>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 <i>has</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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 <i>lotu</i> (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!</p> + +<p>We sailed before sunrise, and about 9 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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!</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Some officers from an American man-of-war have just come to +call, so I may as well close this letter.—Your loving sister.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p>LIFE AT NASOVA—FARMYARD—CONVICT THATCHERS—NATIVE FESTIVAL AT +BAU—RETURN TO NASOVA—BATTLES WITH CRABS—BEGINNING OF CANNIBAL +DISTURBANCE—FIJIAN FAIRIES—A STORM.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova, Fiji</span>, <i>March 1, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Aunt Emma</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>March 7.</i>—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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>You cannot imagine anything more so. The whole white community +are only just above starvation-point, and yet everything is +very expensive.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>March 10.</i>—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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Next day crowds of canoes kept arriving from every neighbouring +island, and dancing and feasting went on all day. The grand +<i>mékés</i> came off in the afternoon, but many of the occasional ones +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>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 <i>liku</i> (a sort of kilt or waist-drapery) of +fringes of coloured <i>pandanus</i> 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.</p> + +<p>One very pretty girl, Andi Karlotta, who is engaged to Ratu +Joe, wore a rose-coloured bodice and <i>sulu</i>, 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 <i>tambu</i> 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 <i>tappa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Just when the principal <i>mékés</i> 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.</p> + +<p>We sat up watching them from the mission garden till past +1 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>; for though we were all tired, there was a solemn conference +going on at the house, the neighbouring brethren having all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>It was nearly 9 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, we reached the pier, whereon lay sleeping a row of +labour-boys, who had chosen this <i>al fresco</i> 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 <i>méké</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>unbearable, he kindles a fire of banana-leaves, and, placing his wooden +neck-pillow close to it, gets his head thoroughly smoked.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>dakua</i> or +<i>kaurie</i> pine-forests are haunted by tiny men called <i>Vélé</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>I find that Mr Williams, one of the earlier missionaries, took +some notes on this subject. He says:—</p> + +<p>“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 +<i>luve-ni-wai</i>, 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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>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 <i>Linga Viu</i>, or +shade-holder, dances in a circle all round the others, waving a sunshade +which he alone is privileged to carry.”</p> + +<p>“There is a warlock, called <i>Ndrudru Sambo</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>forbidden by law to make or wear +native cloth</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>March 16.</i>—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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>March 17.</i>—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.</p> + +<p>Last night at sunset we were watching a poor little cutter trying +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>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.</p> + +<p><i>March 18.</i>—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 <i>reculer pour mieux sauter</i>; 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 <i>viâ</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p>GOVERNMENT HOUSE—PETS—CURIOS—CRABS—NATIVE POLICE—DEATH +OF MRS DE RICCI.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>March 23, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>rôle</i> of premier chief of Fiji.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>rara</i>, 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 <i>mékés</i>, whenever they brew their beloved +grog; and we also have full benefit of morning and evening +church parade and <i>lotu</i>. They have their own chaplain.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulu</i>, and begged her to accept it, which she did with +great satisfaction.</p> + +<p>I forgot to tell you of one very pretty expedition I had last +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>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 +<i>ndelo</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Fiji</span>, <i>March 29, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Nell</span>,—I have just received, and greatly enjoyed, my +budget of home-letters.... At present I am staying in Levuka, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>Sunday, April 2</i>.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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....</p> + +<p>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, <i>Ci rivedremo</i>.⁠<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>Sir William and Lady Hackett are also to leave almost immediately, +he having been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in +Ceylon.⁠<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>...</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>April 6</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p>GOOD FRIDAY IN FIJI—ISLE KORO—PLANTERS’ HOUSES—LABOUR—MAKING +NATIVE CLOTH—GREAT FEASTS—WEDDINGS—SALARIES OF WESLEYAN +MISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Namathu, Isle of Koro</span>, <i>Good Friday, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—It is raining heavily, and the wind is foul, and +the Jubilee has had to run to safer anchorage, otherwise we were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulus</i> has worn off.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>ndawa</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>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, <i>nil</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>theeka</i>, 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 <i>waanganga</i>, which causes the muscles of the +arm to contract in such a manner that for several days you cannot +bend it.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>en masse</i>, 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 <i>sulus</i>, off a bale of cloth +sent up by his employer to barter for <i>coppra</i> (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?</p> + +<p>Even with respect to the Fijians, I am sorry to say that the <i>niceness</i> +of the natives depends greatly on how <i>few</i> whites they see. +The inhabitants of the isles frequented by whites are immeasurably +inferior to those in more remote districts, and far less trustworthy.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>eevie</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, +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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>I have been much interested in watching various native manufactures. +In one village called Natheva—<i>i.e.</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>thought of sparing young saplings, that now the tree scarcely exists, +and the smallest fragment is dearly prized.</p> + +<p>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 <i>taro</i>, 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 <i>masi</i> at this stage is of a creamy +white colour, very becoming to the brown creatures who wear it.</p> + +<p>So far it simply answers to calico. If gorgeous apparel or handsome +furniture is required, it has next to be converted into painted +<i>tappa</i>, 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 <i>masi</i>. 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<p>Another process which I have watched with considerable interest +is that of the girls preparing <i>mandrai</i>, 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 <i>papalangi</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, +foreigners); but the Fijian inhales it with delight, therein scenting +the bread and puddings in which he most delights.</p> + +<p>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 <i>taro</i>, 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</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Great chieftain of the pudding race.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>yams and <i>taro</i>, and piles of yangona root, besides many trifling +dainties.⁠<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One thing which I do not think I have yet mentioned, is that +in every village there is invariably one large house called the <i>buré</i>, +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 +<i>infra dig.</i>; 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 <i>he</i> is succeeded by <i>his</i> 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 <i>vasu</i>, and in certain districts is allowed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>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 <i>vasu levu</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, 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 <i>vaka Viti</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>en panier</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>masi</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulu</i>! 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 <i>masi</i>, 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 <i>méké</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Easter Day.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I am quite sorry to leave Koro, and dear old Isaaki laments +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Natauloa, chief Town in the Isle Nairai</span>, <i>April 21st</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>is</i> the country for +makeshifts!”</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> It is a volcanic isle, with several long-extinct craters, now +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>His pay varies from ten to twenty shillings, paid quarterly <i>in +kind</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>here represented is the quarterly salary of both native minister and +schoolmaster.</p> + +<table class="border"> + <tr> + <th>Bottles of oil.</th> + <th>Pieces of native cloth.</th> + <th>Whales’ teeth.</th> + <th>Hanks of sinnet.</th> + <th colspan="2">Money.</th> + <th colspan="3">Total value.</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br"></td> + <td class="tdc br"></td> + <td class="tdc br"></td> + <td class="tdc br"></td> + <td class="tdr"><i>s.</i></td> + <td class="tdr br"><i>d.</i></td> + <td class="tdr">£</td> + <td class="tdr"><i>s.</i></td> + <td class="tdr"><i>d.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">2</td> + <td class="tdr br">12</td> + <td class="tdr br">9</td> + <td class="tdc br">8</td> + <td class="tdr">16</td> + <td class="tdr br">0</td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + <td class="tdr">10</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr br">7</td> + <td class="tdr br">—</td> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdc br" colspan="2">—</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">3</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">5 gallons.</td> + <td class="tdr br">5</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">6</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">8</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">7</td> + <td class="tdr br">2</td> + <td class="tdr br">2</td> + <td class="tdc br">1 basket.</td> + <td class="tdc br" colspan="2">—</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">13</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr br">2</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdc br">3</td> + <td class="tdr">2</td> + <td class="tdr br">0</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">8</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">5 gallons.</td> + <td class="tdr br">12</td> + <td class="tdr br">—</td> + <td class="tdc br">2</td> + <td class="tdc br" colspan="2">—</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">15</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">3</td> + <td class="tdc br">2</td> + <td class="tdr">12</td> + <td class="tdr br">6</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">18</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">7</td> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + <td class="tdr br">0</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">15</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr br">2</td> + <td class="tdr br">4</td> + <td class="tdc br">1</td> + <td class="tdr">8</td> + <td class="tdr br">0</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">15</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">3</td> + <td class="tdr br">4</td> + <td class="tdr br">6</td> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr">15</td> + <td class="tdr br">6</td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + <td class="tdr">3</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">3</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">2</td> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + <td class="tdr br">0</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">8</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc br">—</td> + <td class="tdr br">1</td> + <td class="tdr br">—</td> + <td class="tdc br">1</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + <td class="tdr br">6</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + <td class="tdr">7</td> + <td class="tdr">0</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, £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 <i>no</i> offerings from the people for his own use. Marriage +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>Such men as these had certainly not done much to smooth the +way for Christian teachers; yet in the forty years which have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">In a Teacher’s House at Vanuaso, Isle Ngau</span>, <i>April 26</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>, +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!”</p> + +<p>I greatly enjoyed strolling along the shore here. A lovely path +leads under great <i>eevie</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">The Teacher’s House at Lamiti, Isle Ngau, or Angau</span>, <i>April 27</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, 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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, to catch this morning’s tide; and having got here before +9 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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 <i>tappa</i> worn over Turkey-red, with tufts of +crimson or blue dyed fibre in the hair.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>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 <i>eevie</i> 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?</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Saturday Night, April 29.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>en masse</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>We are now at a village called Nougouloa—<i>i.e.</i>, Black Sand. It +is a very pretty tiny town, circular, with double ramparts and double +moats, which in these peaceful days are used as <i>taro</i> 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 <i>noko-noko</i>⁠<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>now in blossom, and bear a tuft of very fragrant flowers in a case +of white leaves.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Wednesday, May 3.</i></p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>May 20</i>.</p> + +<p>I wrote so far before leaving Ngau. We got on board early, +and a very unpleasant morning it was—raining steadily.</p> + +<p>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; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus3" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HOT SPRINGS, ISLE NGAU.</p> + <p class="r"><a href="#Page_180"><i>p. 180.</i></a></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>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 <i>méké</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Fiji</span>, <i>May 20, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa.</span>—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<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> 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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>June 3</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>June 9</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bole bole</i>, 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 <i>masi</i> 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 <i>méké</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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 <i>mékés</i> in the moonlight, with wild songs, which are always +attractive to me. We had a pretty <i>méké</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>July 22</i>.</p> + +<p>... 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>méké</i> 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.</p> + +<p><i>July 25.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span></p> + +<p><i>July 28.</i>—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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="hanging">(Becalmed in mid-ocean—<i>i.e.</i>, about twenty miles from Taviuni, and the same +from Vanua Levu.)</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Wednesday, August 2, 1876.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Lady Gordon</span>,—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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Vuna Point (Navaca Mission-House), 3 P.M.</span></p> + +<p>Just arrived, by dint of literally <i>rowing</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Somo Somo, Isle Taviuni</span>, <i>August 4</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Taviuni has one disadvantage—it lacks the perfect ring of coral +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu katolika</i>, however, +has comparatively few adherents, the people in general having a +strong preference for what they call the <i>lotu ndina</i>—“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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The old king, too, was seriously ill, and claimed medical aid; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tambu</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, sacred or forbidden to touch) to +all Fijians.</p> + +<p>We sat for long on a grassy hillock, rejoicing in the clear brilliant +moonlight and balmy air, and quite regretted the necessity of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center"><i>Extract from the ‘Fiji Times,’ Wednesday, August 11, 1880.</i></p> + +<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Installation of Ratu Lala.</span></p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>lalis</i> 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 <i>yaqona</i> commenced. According to the etiquette +on these occasions, this was made in silence, without any song or <i>méké</i>; 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 <i>yaqona</i> just taken from the <i>tanoa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>“When he had done so, the Mati ni Vanua again made proclamation, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>the same beating of <i>lalis</i> and tumultuous shouting which had preceded the +commencement of the proceedings, was repeated, and the injunction on the +people to remain within doors removed.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>masi</i>, and the young Roko, rising for the first time during the proceedings, +and having his long train of black and white <i>masi</i>, 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.’</p> + +<p>“The Roko having returned to his seat his Excellency made a few brief remarks +to those assembled, and the proceedings terminated.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nanduri, the Chief Town of Mathuata Vanua Levu</span>, <i>August 7</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kovana</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>pandanus</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>coppra</i>; 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<i>noko-noko</i> (casurina trees) taking the place of birch. But for some +stunted palms, and grotesque <i>pandanus</i>, 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 <i>tiri</i> (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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>taro</i>, and sweet potatoes. Another +had a black pot, in which was a fowl, which had been boiled with +<i>taro</i> 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.</p> + +<p>The worthy man deemed it necessary quickly to don a shirt, +with the tail worn outside, over his handsome chief-like drapery +of <i>tappa</i>. 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nanduri, Vanua Levu</span>, <i>Friday, August 11</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Jean</span>,—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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>gourmet</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bimbi sara</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, +very heavy—he carried me ever so far round in the sea!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Most mothers would have been somewhat perturbed at such a +<i>contretemps</i>; 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 <i>vale ni lotu</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>masi</i>. All other canoes must +lower their sail while at a considerable distance, and row to shore, +as a mark of deep respect.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Soon after breakfast we all went to the <i>rara</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, village green), +where we were invited to sit beside the Roko (the chief, Tui +Ndreketi).</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i> to the Roko, and then retreated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>much shorn. The cloth made two great heaps, which the chief +divided next morning among his followers. This giving took the +whole morning.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus4" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>A CHIEF’S KITCHEN.</p> + <p class="r"><a href="#Page_208"><i>p. 208.</i></a></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>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 <i>sulu</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>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!”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">On board the Jubilee, off Neivaka Point</span>, <i>August 13.</i></p> + +<p>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—<i>Sa loloma</i> 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, <i>Sa lakki mothe</i>, which +means “go to sleep,” they reply, <i>Roa roa</i>, “to-morrow morning,” +meaning we shall meet again soon. Very pretty is their word for +the twilight, <i>luma luma</i>, which just answers to our <i>gloaming</i>.</p> + +<p>I told you about our last evening at Nanduri.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>to perfection. For the tropics, it is very barren, <i>pandanus</i> and +<i>noko-noko</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p>THE CHIEF OF MBUA—FEUDAL RIGHTS—A NIGHT IN A MISERABLE VILLAGE—CHURCH +<i>A LA</i> ST COLUMBA—NIGHT ON A DESERT ISLE—SAVU SAVU—BOILING +SPRINGS—THEIR USE—PAST AND FUTURE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Ni Soni Soni, Vanua Levu</span>, <i>August 16</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tiri</i> (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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kai-see</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>There is a system in force called <i>lala</i>, 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 +<i>vaka saurara</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, “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 <i>solevu</i> 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 <i>solevu</i> well provided—their progress +along the coast being marked by every manner of evil; for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Suppose a great canoe has to be built. All the best carpenters +in the tribe are <i>lava’d</i>, and the fittings of the canoe are <i>lavaka’d</i> +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 <i>lavaka’d</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>means</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>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.</p> + +<p>Our quarters to-night seem strangely luxurious, and I must profit +by them and sleep now,—so good night.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>August 17.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Captain Barrack’s House, Savu Savu, Vanua Levu</span>, <i>August 22, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Once more we embarked at dawn, and the wind blew us straight +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>taro</i>, 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 <i>bodies</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Of course we have made expeditions to all parts of the lovely lake, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p>NASOVA—THE MOUNTAIN WAR—A YEAR’S PROGRESS—FIJIAN +HOMAGE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>August 24, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Eisa</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Wednesday, Sept. 13.</i></p> + +<p>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 <i>curios</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>September 16.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>September 22.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">War Letter.</span></p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>September 12, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear George</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>inclined to accept English rule, and still less friendly to the <i>lotu</i> +(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 <i>matanitu</i> or Government, and the <i>lotu</i>: they also allowed +their hair to grow to the fullest-sized mop; and having thus resumed +the part of heathen warriors or <i>tevoro</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, 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, <i>sotiers</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, soldiers) came to the rescue, and routed +the <i>tevoro</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>, and the <i>liku</i> (fringe kilt) of black glossy +water-weed, like horse-hair: they had streamers of <i>tappa</i> floating +from their arms and head. All were armed with old Tower muskets. +They marched on to the <i>rara</i>—the green lawn before the +house—and there performed the wildest devil <i>méké</i>, 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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> 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>I</i> carry it.” Said the next: +“We go to war, what hinders that we <i>fill all the ovens</i>?” (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? <i>We</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>taro</i>, +and bananas for food.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tevoro</i> (devils) were firing from many hidden +crevices, their presence only betrayed by an occasional puff of smoke. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>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.</p> + +<p>A nicely roasted human leg was lying on a mat, with cooked +<i>taro</i>, neatly laid out for breakfast for the devil priest, or rather +priest of the <i>vatu kalou</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, war-god. This old <i>bete</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, priest—was +hideous to look upon,—a noted cannibal and excessive drinker +of <i>yangona</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i> which floated in airy drapery, while he waved his +great war-fan and challenged the foe, <i>Vaka viti</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>wai ni mothe</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span>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!⁠<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Mbaka</i> (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 <i>yangona</i>; while in an inner cave, beside a stream of +water, were enormous stores of yams, whales’ teeth, <i>masi</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tevoro</i> amused themselves by a little of the +usual boasting; but it seems their hearts failed them, for ere long +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>a chief came out with a <i>soro</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>sotiers</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Happily the <i>tevoro</i> 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span>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 +<i>tevoro</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bokolo</i> 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.</p> + +<p>It is fortunate they did not find out how short of provisions the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>laying</i>. 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 <i>that</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>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!</p> + +<p><i>Note.</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tevoro</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>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, <i>mékés</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, 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:—</p> + +<p>“Nasaucoko fan <i>méké</i>. Nai kalukalu, the Stars. This was a +very curious <i>méké</i>. Two circular enclosures of bamboo, about five +feet high, were erected, within which two parties of dancers began +to whirl round, waving white <i>masi</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>On the following day he writes—</p> + +<p>“<i>Thursday.</i>—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. <i>Six hundred feet</i> and more +of black (or rather grey) <i>masi</i> 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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Friday.</i>—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 <i>rara</i>. 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 <i>magiti</i> (feast), by moonlight, as I sat on the marble steps of +the old <i>buré</i> (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!”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p>A PLANTER’S HOUSE—ANGORA GOATS—A LOVELY SHORE—SERICULTURE—THE +MOSQUITO PLAGUE.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nananu, a small Isle off Viti Levu</span>, <i>Sept. 30, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>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 <i>mdelo</i>, <i>mbaka</i>, <i>tavola</i>, and <i>eevie</i> trees, making +a belt of dense cool verdure.</p> + +<p>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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> with their pods of white soft +fluff, which it no longer pays to collect.</p> + +<p>The cotton-bush bears a lovely pale-yellow flower with a deep +claret-coloured centre, precisely similar to that of the <i>vau</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>papaw</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lali</i> (drum) is struck to summon them, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>keveeka</i>, which +bears a fruit resembling a large transparent pink pear and answers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Ficus religiosa</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Baron von Hügel returned from the mainland this morning just +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p>THE POTTERY DISTRICTS OF VITI LEVU—A CANNIBAL’S REGISTER—A +NIGHT IN A CORN-SHED—FUNERAL OF RATU TAIVITA.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Ratu Philimone’s House, Na Vatu (The Rock), Raki Raki</span>, <i>October 10</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>make us wish that some competent person would set about collecting +them ere the old lore dies away.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ndakua</i> pine, almost identical with the <i>kaurie</i> +pine of New Zealand, which yields the beautiful amber-like gum.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>but she preferred her own monstrous ideal, and chuckled with delight +every time the fins and feet of mine fell off.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tiri</i>—<i>i. e.</i>, +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 <i>ndakua</i> resin I mentioned previously.</p> + +<p>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, <i>taro</i>, 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. <i>Na Maramma mbalavu</i>—the +long lady—was the title by which I was invariably described.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>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 +<i>tappa</i>. 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 <i>masi</i>, dipped either in +vegetable charcoal and water, or in red earth, liquefied with the sap +of the candle-nut tree—<i>i.e.</i>, the silvery-leaved croton.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i> hung across a native house is such a striking and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tevoro</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, “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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Bali Bali Police Station</span>, <i>October 12</i>.</p> + +<p>You see I really am in charge of the police!</p> + +<p>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 <i>bokola</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, human bodies) actually eaten by +two chiefs, Wanga Levu and Undri Undri—one stone for each body!</p> + +<p>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 <i>ad infinitum</i>,—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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span></p> + +<p>These men were such noted cannibals that all <i>bokola</i> 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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> which was considered as essential an +adjunct to <i>bokola</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>October 13.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>of the Kauvandra, along the base of which we have been riding +all day.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>And now I may as well say good-night, as we start for Nananu +at daybreak.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nananu</span>, <i>October 21</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Nell</span>,—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.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>Knollys. They were on their way to the camp at Nasauthoko, +where Mr Le Hunte is now stationed; and they sailed the +following morning.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nvunindawa on Viti Levu</span>, <i>October 25</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Heavy rain came on at night, and our slumbers were much disturbed +by the restlessness of the boatmen, who were, by way of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">In the Church at Na Sau in Viti Levu</span>, <i>October 26</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ndelo</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>At sunrise I returned to the ridge and worked steadily till +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>2 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>—breakfast being brought to me. When I came down I +found Ratu Ezikeli⁠<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> 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 <i>taro</i> 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 <i>vinaka sara</i>—that +is to say, “very good,” as you may well understand.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One of the constables made a stew of salt goat and <i>taro</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Koro Tiko, in Viti Levu Bay</span>, <i>October 27</i>.</p> + +<p>This time we really are gipsying. I must just write a few lines +by combined lantern and moonlight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Having thus prepared our night quarters, we rowed across the +bay to Koro Viti Levu (<i>koro</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>mbaku</i> tree had fashioned themselves into a screen, +making an admirable dressing-room—so I had a delightful bathe +by moonlight.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nananu</span>, <i>Sunday 29</i>.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we started on our return cruise, and four hours +of alternate stiff rowing and sailing brought us back here last +night.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>November 1</i>, Sunrise.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>November 13</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span>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.</p> + +<p>There is a chance of sending letters to New Zealand, so I may +as well despatch this.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>December 22</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Eisa</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span>not heard the sound of wheels!⁠<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> 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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p>START FOR NEW ZEALAND—EXTINCT VOLCANOES—SIR GEORGE +GREY’S TREASURES—TREE-KANGAROOS.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Auckland, New Zealand</span>, <i>Sunday Night, December 31, 1876</i>.</p> + +<p>All best greetings to you, one and all. We arrived yesterday +in New Zealand, and it is now 10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>great mail-steamer, with her clear deck, allowing an unbroken walk +of about 300 feet.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>New Year’s Morning, 1877.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Devonshire House, Hobson Street</span>, <i>January 8</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Isle of Kawau, Twenty Miles from Auckland</span>, <i>January 9</i>.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, the brine-sprinkled—because +it loves to outstretch its wide boughs over the +salt sea; but the English settlers call it the Christmas-tree,⁠<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">“Busy crowd</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of larks in purest air.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span></p> + +<p class="noindent">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>January 12.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">In an Old Maori Pah, Kawau</span>, <i>Sunday, Jan. 28, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Eisa</span>,—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 <i>kawau</i>) 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 <i>pah</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>united to destroy them. It is peaceful enough now, but matters +are by no means over secure on the mainland.⁠<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kiwi</i> +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!</p> + +<p>The climate here is delicious: each day is like a very lovely +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kauri</i> pine (<i>Dammara australis</i>), which is peculiar to the +province of Auckland, and very similar to the <i>ndakua</i> pine of Fiji; +and neither of them would at the first glance be recognised by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>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 <i>nikau</i>, a species of +areka; and the green dracæna (<i>Cordyline australis</i>) 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 <i>ti</i> +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 <i>manakau</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>Just below the headland where I am now sitting, there are tufts +of handsome green flags. This is the precious New Zealand flax +(<i>Phormium tenax</i>). 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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” <i>pohutakawa</i> +trees, which literally dip into the sea. And so we sit beneath their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>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!</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>February 13.</i></p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, +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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>March 4.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p>GOLD MINES—A NEW CITY—NATIVE DEFENCES—KAURI FOREST—A HARD +RIDE—KATI KATI—TAURANGA GATE PAH, AND CEMETERY—OHINEMUTU—A +VOLCANIC REGION.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Grahamstown, Thames Gold-Fields</span>, <i>March 23, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Alexa</span>,—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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>All further stages of the road are planned with equal care, so I +have the prospect of a very delightful expedition.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Kati Kati</span>, <i>March 29</i>.</p> + +<p>... 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 (<i>kahikatia</i>), 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.</p> + +<p>We reached the steamboat’s destination at sunset, when the hills +were crimson and purple, and had the luck to see a real native <i>pah</i> +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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span>have taken to European ways in every respect—have English houses, +carriages, &c.; even dressing-tables with white muslin covers and +pink lining!</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>), and at +7 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>matai</i> and <i>rimu</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>On the hills just above us lay a magnificent forest of the giant +<i>kauri</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>primeval forest are now utterly denuded. It is from the scrub-land +where these forests once stood that the precious <i>kauri</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>As it was, I wistfully turned away from the exquisite fern +paradise and the dark <i>kauri</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Ohinemutu</span>, <i>Easter Day 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>startled when a dusky damsel swims up to them and offers a whiff +of her pipe!</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> before +we were able to start, and it was 12 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>par excellence</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>pah</i>, +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 <i>tapu</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Manga Manga</i>, a lovely climbing fern, similar to the <i>Wa kolou</i>, +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 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> +1818, when the <i>pah</i> was captured by the Ngapuhi tribe, and the +god of the conquered was ignominiously tomahawked.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kata kata na wai</i>—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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span>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 <i>wharries</i> +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 <i>wharry</i> would be quite as uninviting +as to be driven to accept the hospitality of a very poor +Highland bothy.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> +and from 3 to 4 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span></p> + +<p>10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>—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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>wharry</i> close by, where they offer +mineral specimens and petrifactions for sale.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">In a tiny Tent near the White Terraces, Rotomahana</span>, <i>Tuesday Night, April 3, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> But all that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>manukau</i>, and the paper on which I am writing is quite damp, as is +all my drawing-paper.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>manukau</i> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>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.</p> + +<p>I left Ohinemutu at 6 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Once more I have had the good fortune to find myself in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span>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 +<i>tapu</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ti</i> tree or <i>manukau</i> +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 +<i>manukau</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Still hurrying on through the dark <i>manukau</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>wallops</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>We rowed first to the little isle Puai, part of which is actually +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Old Mission Station, Wairoa</span>, <i>April 5</i>.</p> + +<p>We were aroused at 4 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>en masse</i> 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.</p> + +<p>After this little episode we fell into home talk, and one of them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Mrs Wilson’s Hotel, Ohinemutu, 10 P.M.</span></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span>back with the cordiality of an old friend, as have all the residents +and visitors in the house—kind, hearty people.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Auckland</span>, <i>Feb. 8</i>.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p>FIJIAN RIVERS—SAMOAN ENVOYS—DEATH OF A TRUE APOSTLE—A +REVIVAL—MAKING A RACE-COURSE—MISSION TO NEW BRITAIN.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji</span>, <i>March 26, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Nell</span>,—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 <i>the</i> Government ship, has no accommodation of any +sort for ladies.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span>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.)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>granadilla</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span>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 <i>Wa kolou</i>, or god fern,⁠<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span>canes, and administering small juicy pieces, which, though irresistible, +were decidedly sticky.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>eevie</i> trees (the Fijian chestnut tree). I pushed on, passing occasional +patches of cultivation, yam and <i>taro</i>, 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 <i>taro</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Bau</span>, <i>April 29, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span>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 <i>tappa</i>, 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 +<i>tappa</i> thrown over her, covering a space of many yards. This +with a thermometer at about 85°!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>swim</i> 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 <i>tappa</i>. They +were received by the Fijian chiefs, and conducted to Thakombau’s +house, where there was a great ceremonial drinking of yangona.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tamata +ndina</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>and loss of blood; but his wounds were speedily dressed, and the +arm recovered almost all its power.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Bau</span>, <i>May 6, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>méké</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i> over +his hair, and folds of creamy-brown <i>tappa</i> round the waist. He +stood in relief against a clear blue sky—a study for an artist.</p> + +<p>On the following day, the Vuni Valu had ordered the people of +four towns on the mainland to come over and perform a great <i>méké</i> +in honour of his guests, assembling as usual on the <i>rara</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, the +village green. They came, very elaborately dressed. First two +hundred marched up, one hundred bringing rolled-up mats, and +one hundred bearing <i>taro</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>count the amount given</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>red berries and green leaves). These two then performed an extraordinary +dance, which greatly astonished the Fijians. They capered +wildly round and round the <i>rara</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>woad</i> of our own ancestors was as artistically put on!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sulu</i> 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 <i>vaka Viti</i>, he said—that is, not according to Fijian custom. +A Samoan attendant, wearing only a <i>liku</i>, 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, <i>vaka Viti</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>mékés</i>. The songs were very pretty; some reminded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>me of wild Gaelic airs, and they were sung in perfect tune, +with good seconds.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Bau</span>, <i>May 7, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tappa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>vaka Viti</i>, 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 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, and the +funeral was to start at 3 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>May 9, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>pandanus</i>-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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span>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 <i>eevie</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>méké</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>There goes the dressing <i>lali</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>May 25</i>.</p> + +<p>There has been a wonderful outburst of gaiety, chiefly due to the +presence of H.M.S. Sapphire, which has given an unwonted impetus +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>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 <i>élite</i>. The day was faultless, as beseemed the Queen’s +birthday,—and the scene was altogether very pretty, and quite a +novel experience for Fiji.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>May 30.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span>village. They gave us excellent soup, made of young <i>taro</i> 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 <i>taro</i> served on banana leaves.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>June 1.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<i>récherché</i> (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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>June 22, 1877.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> +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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>June 25, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Jean</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> 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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>coppra</i> 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 <i>coppra</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span></p> + +<p>At daybreak this morning I got a sketch of the fine old <i>eevie</i> +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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>July 1, 1877.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>July 9.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>July 14, 1877.</i></p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> +Mr Mitchell also started. He goes to Calcutta to make arrangements +about providing coolie labour for Fiji. He hopes to be able +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>July 20, 1877.</i></p> + +<p>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 <i>dabea</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>and she too was drowned. Imagine the horror of feeling the tide +slowly but steadily creeping up, and awaiting a certain death.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p>VARIOUS PLANTATIONS—CROTONS—FOREIGN LABOUR—GREEN +BEETLES—LOMA LOMA—A TONGAN COLONY—HOT SPRINGS.</p> + +</div> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">On Board the Black Swan</span>, <i>July 28, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>You see our fortunes are once more looking up.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> After +sunset it rained heavily, which cannot have improved the sugar.⁠<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> +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!</p> + +<p>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. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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,⁠<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> and another haunted +by flying-foxes.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Mago</span>, <i>Saturday Evening</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>Sunday Evening, July 29.</i></p> + +<p>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 <i>papaw</i>, +and broad fields of maize, yams, <i>taro</i>, 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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Mago</span>, <i>August 3</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>atoll</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>August 12.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>August 18.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>fiasco</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Dali Doni, Vanua, Mbalavu</span>, <i>August 21</i>.</p> + +<p>This morning was very rainy and blowy. To our amazement, +just after breakfast, a gentleman walked in, having come up from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Loma Loma</span>, <i>August 24, 1877</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>eevie</i> trees, and inhabited by thousands of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, colonists from the Friendly Isles.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>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.</p> + +<p>On my return I found that the Lady Eleanor, Maafu’s wife, had, +at his bidding, prepared a <i>mangete</i>—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 <i>en déshabille</i>. 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 +<i>tappa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span></p> + +<p>Both Maafu and his wife are stanch supporters of the Wesleyan +Church, to which we found our way on Sunday morning at 8 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> +There had already been a service at 6 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, 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.</p> + +<p>We returned in the afternoon to a service for children, which was +pretty, the young voices singing very sweetly.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span></p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu</i>, 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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>I spent part of the next day in a quiet valley, sketching a +native cemetery, with the usual dracæna and other red-leaved +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">On Board the Black Swan</span>, <i>August 30</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>his</i> 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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>August 31.</i></p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nasova</span>, <i>Sept. 1</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p class="right"><i>September 4.</i></p> + +<p>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 “<i>Le tour de la Mission</i>” 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, <i>de bon cœur</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Such at least is my intention. But my kind new friends scout +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu</i>, and who knows many legends. What he told us +was as follows:—</p> + +<p>“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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>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.</p> + +<p>Here is a kindred fable, quoted from Sir Arthur Gordon’s private +journal:—</p> + +<p>“<i>In Camp, Nasaucoko, July 18, 1876</i>....—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.’</p> + +<p>“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 +<i>kaisi</i> (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.”</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span>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.</p> + +<p>A few legends, forming the subject of popular <i>mékés</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>It seems strange, in writing of a country so recently pagan, to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>There appears reason to suppose that the serpent was commonly +worshipped throughout the Pacific—certainly in the Friendly or +Tongan Isles. When (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 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, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span>on condition that the reptile should at once be carried back +to the boat.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>lotu</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span>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.</p> + +<p>The carpenters, the fishermen, and agriculturists, each worshipped +special deities.</p> + +<p>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 <i>wairua</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A mate na vawa rawa;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Me bula—na ka ni cava?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A mate na cegu.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Death is easy;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of what use is life?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To die is rest.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span></p> + +<p>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 <i>taro</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.⁠<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> Thus a person +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span>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.</p> + +<p>Strange ordeals were also common, as proofs of guilt or innocence. +So were divers methods of divination.</p> + +<p>Very curious, too, are the various forms of <i>tambu</i> 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 <i>tambu</i> is certain to be afflicted +with boils.</p> + +<p>Seers used formerly to be in high repute, and the class of visions +that we know as “second sight” were common.</p> + +<p>Among the graceful forms of superstition, is that of courteously +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span>exclaiming <i>mbula</i> (“life to you”) to a person who sneezes, who +invariably replies <i>mole</i>—“thanks.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</h2> + +<p>GOVERNMENT AND THE FIJIANS.</p> + +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span>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.</p> + +<p>The matter is one of such importance to the colony that a few +further particulars may prove interesting.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, in 1874.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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 <i>de +facto</i> Government, and beseeching those high officers to annex the +islands to Great Britain.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">“<i>To the Editor of the ‘Fiji Times.’</i></p> + +<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Levuka</span>, <i>September 19, 1874</i>.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—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:—</p> + +<p>“‘Any men and women whose taxes are in arrear are summoned +to appear before the warden, to answer to the same. The usual +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span>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, <i>ad infinitum</i>.’”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">Another correspondent writes—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">And yet another—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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.’”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>In Sir Arthur Gordon’s report on this subject, he says:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>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?</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>taro</i> 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.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>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—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span>£15,149, 14s. 8d., and in 1878 amounted to nearly £19,000. +The exact figures for this last year have not yet reached me.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“Let us turn, however, to the more important question of the +social influence of the new law.</p> + +<p>“To answer this question, the nature and working of its +machinery must be first described.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“There are twelve such provinces, not including the two highland +districts of Viti Levu.</p> + +<p>“Tenders are called for, for the purchase of the articles of produce +in which the tax may be paid.</p> + +<p>“These articles have hitherto been: <i>coppra</i>, cotton, candle-nuts, +tobacco, and maize; to these, coffee, which the natives have now +begun to grow largely, will soon be added. <i>Bêche de mer</i> has also +been accepted from some places.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>Bose vaka Yasana</i>, or Provincial Council, which, as I have +previously explained, consists of chiefs of districts, styled ‘<i>Bulis</i>,’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span>under the presidency of the Roko Tui, frequently, though not +always, aided by the presence of the Governor’s Commissioner.</p> + +<p>“The next stage is the apportionment of the tax of each district +by the <i>Bose ni Tikina</i>, or District Council, consisting of the +town chief of the district, under the presidency of the <i>Buli</i>. By +this body the share of each several township in the district is +determined.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“Both of these are, I need hardly say, points of very considerable +importance.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“As was anticipated by the framers of the Ordinance, the +cultivation of articles of export by the natives has been largely +promoted.</p> + +<p>“Fijians are by no means habitually indolent, as by many careless +observers they are supposed to be; and they are passionately +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span>fond of agriculture: but their cultivation, though very neat and careful, +is chiefly that of food plantations and articles for domestic use.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>coppra</i>, and yams +in large quantities have long been sold, or rather bartered, by the +natives, to the white traders.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span>me, but I know that several hundred pounds were in this manner +gained by one locality alone in 1877.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>from</i> the natives, these +same parties see no objection to forcing <i>on</i> the natives as payment +for their produce imported goods estimated at a wholly fictitious +value.</p> + +<p>“A native, we will suppose, makes and wishes to dispose of +<i>coppra</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“He can now sell at the prices which have been publicly tendered.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>double</i> 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.</p> + +<p>“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 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span>step towards the introduction of cash transactions in the +dealings between the traders and the natives....</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p class="right">“A. H. G.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p class="titlepage">THE END.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[366]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[367]</span></p> + +<div class="transnote" id="illus5"> +<p class="center"><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b> Map is clickable for a +larger version.</p> +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp90" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <a href="images/illus5-full.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""></a> + <figcaption> + <p>FIJI ARCHIPELAGO</p> + <p>A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. NEW YORK.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The present population of Fiji, in 1880, is estimated at 110,000 natives, 1902 +Europeans, and 3200 Polynesians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> From a Paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute, 18th March 1879.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The revenue for 1879 was estimated at £75,150.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> In Morayshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Set all awry, in token of the death of her Commander.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> <i>Méké</i> describes either a song or a dance, or both combined.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Acanthaster solaris.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> More probably derived from the same root as the Maori word <i>kuri</i>, dog.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> <i>Ivi</i>—Inocarpus edulis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> <i>Ndelo</i>—Calophyllum-inophyllum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> <i>Vutu</i>—Barringtonia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> <i>Tavola</i>—Terminalia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> 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 (<i>Piper methisticum</i>) fell greatly out of favour with the gentlemen of our +party, and was principally reserved for ceremonial occasions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> 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 <i>cama</i>, 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.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> A Hunter’s Life in South Africa. By Roualeyn Gordon Cumming.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> <i>Palolo viridis.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> Viti Levu—pronounce Veetee Layvoo.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> <i>I.e.</i>, the root of the <i>drala</i>-tree.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> The ridge-pole of a new house is frequently wreathed with long trails of the +exquisite God-fern, the <i>Wa Kalo</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> 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 <i>tappa</i>, 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Mr Mandslay told us of some very quaint <i>mékés</i> 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 <i>Vinaka! Vinaka!</i> (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!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> In Northern China I find the same greeting, “<i>Ypaisui!</i>” “May you live a +thousand years!”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> 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?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Cyclone in the Pacific.</span>—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, <i>en route</i> 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.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> “We shall meet again.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> At a great meeting of chiefs at Bau in January 1880, on the return of Sir +Arthur Gordon from England, the <i>menu</i> included 104 pigs and a large shark, cooked +whole; I suppose the latter is the modern substitute for the <i>bokola</i> 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.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> I believe the annexation of Rotumah to England has now been decided on.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> <i>Casurina.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> 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 <i>Candida Casa</i> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> 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:—</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <td>Silica, insoluble,</td> + <td class="tdr">131.33</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="ditto2">”</span> soluble,</td> + <td class="tdr">5.78</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Alumina and traces of iron,</td> + <td class="tdr">74.92</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Chlorine,</td> + <td class="tdr">4506.06</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Calcium,</td> + <td class="tdr">1428.84</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Magnesium,</td> + <td class="tdr">3.04</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Potassium,</td> + <td class="tdr">72.03</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sodium,</td> + <td class="tdr">1298.28</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sulphuric acid,</td> + <td class="tdr">219.29</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Undetermined or loss,</td> + <td class="tdr">73.34</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">From the foregoing it will be seen that the greater part of the salts in solution consists +of the chlorides of calcium and sodium.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> This ceremony is called <i>bole bole</i>, meaning to challenge.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> 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.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> <i>Solanum anthropophagorum.</i> It was also commonly used by the cannibal Maoris +of New Zealand.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> Tin can.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> This fine chief died suddenly during the great meeting of chiefs at Ban in +January 1880.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> <i>Metrosideros tomentosa.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> 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:’—</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">An English Lady Murdered in New Zealand.</span>—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.’”</p> + +<p>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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><i>Analysis.</i>—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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> Lygodium reticulatum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Lady Rachel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> 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!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> The Walai. <i>Entada scandens.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> 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 <i>skeely</i> 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!”</p> + +<p>For many curious statistics on these subjects, see ‘From the Hebrides to the +Himalayas,’ by C. F. Gordon Cumming.</p></div> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ARMSTRONG_SONS_LATEST_PUBLICATIONS">ARMSTRONG & SON’S LATEST PUBLICATIONS.</h2> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb">I.</p> + +<p class="center larger">Life and Speeches of John Bright.</p> + +<p class="center">By G. BARNETT SMITH.</p> + +<p class="center">2 Steel Portraits, 1 vol., crown octavo, 708 pages, $2.50.</p> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>The <i>London Times</i> says: “This work will be welcomed by a large number of readers. +The author has taken great pains to make the work at once accurate and full. <i>He has +evidently had access to private sources of information, for he gives accounts of Mr. Bright’s +personal life that it would otherwise not have been possible to give....</i> He has followed +his subject through all the steps of his career.”</p> + +<p><i>London News</i>: “It is, in one sense, a history of England during the last half century.”</p> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb">II.</p> + +<p class="center larger">THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF ART.</p> + +<p class="center">By LEOPOLD EIDLITZ.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol., octavo, 510 pages, $4.00.</p> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>“Mr. E. is a writer of remarkable strength and originality. His book may be classed +as one of the most valuable contributions to Art Literature published during the last +decade.... The work deals with the subject so broadly that any reader of artistic tendencies +will find a fascination in its pages.”—<i>Boston Evening Transcript.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb">III.</p> + +<p class="center larger">HISTORY OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND,<br> +<span class="smaller">From the Opening of the Long Parliament to the End of the 18th Century.</span></p> + +<p class="center">By JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D.</p> + +<p class="center">6 vols., crown 8vo, $15.00. Comprising:</p> + +<ul> + <li>I. Church of the Civil Wars.</li> + <li>II. Church of the Commonwealth.</li> + <li>III. & IV. Church of the Restoration.</li> + <li>V. Church of the Revolution.</li> + <li>VI. Church in the Georgian Era.</li> +</ul> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>“There is no need to eulogize Dr. Stoughton’s learned research, impartiality, thoughtfulness, +picturesque style, and thorough appreciation of the religious, political, and +social life of the 17th century. The monographs of individual lives are simply charming. +The characters, sketched with discrimination and vigor, seem to live and move before us. +The human actors and their surroundings can be realized as distinctly in these pages as in +any of the brilliant climatic passages of the elegant Macaulay.”—<i>Christian World.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb">IV.</p> + +<p class="center larger">IN PROSPECT OF SUNDAY.</p> + +<p class="center">A Collection of Analyses, Arguments, Applications, Cautions, etc., +for the use of Preachers and Sunday School Teachers.</p> + +<p class="center">By Rev. G. S. BOWES.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol., 12mo, 438 pages, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="center tb">V.</p> + +<p class="center smaller">Uniform with our Standard Edition of Hallam, Lamb, Disraeli and Michaud’s Crusades, +a New and Handsome Library Edition of</p> + +<p class="center larger">MILMAN’S COMPLETE WORKS.</p> + +<p>With Table of Contents and full Indexes. Printed from large type, on laid, +tinted paper, in 8 vols., crown 8vo, strongly bound in extra cloth, price, $12.00 +per set (reduced from $24.50). Comprising:</p> + +<ul> + <li><i>HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 2 Vols.</i></li> + <li><i>HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, 2 Vols.</i></li> + <li><i>HISTORY OF LATIN CHRISTIANITY, 4 Vols.</i></li> +</ul> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>Dr. Milman has won lasting popularity as a historian by his three great Works, “History +of the Jews,” “History of Christianity,” and “History of Latin Christianity.” +These works link on to each other, and bring the narrative down from the beginning of +all history to the middle period of the modern era. They are the work of the scholar, a +conscientious student, and a Christian philosopher.</p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[370]</span></p> + +<p class="center tb">VI.</p> + +<p class="center larger">Armstrong’s Primer of United States History</p> + +<p class="center">FOR SCHOOL AND FAMILY USE.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol., square 16mo, with 6 beautifully-colored Maps, from original drawings. +Price, 50 cents.</p> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>“A model historical primer, full in its statements, discriminating in its selection of +events, clear and direct in its style, and comprehensive in its general outline of American +affairs. The value of such a book is apparent at a glance. Of large histories of the +United States there is no lack, but of shorter histories there is great need. A work of this +character, thoroughly trustworthy in its statements, is of almost equal importance to the +young student and to the general reader. It represents an amount of work of which its +brief pages give no adequate impression. To condense, and yet to omit nothing essential +to the complete statement of events, requires the fullest command of the subject and +the most intelligent understanding of the mutual relations of all the facts involved. The +writer of this primer was well qualified for his task.”—<i>N. Y. Christian Union.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb"><i>ILLUSTRATED WORKS OF PERMANENT VALUE.</i></p> + +<p class="center larger"><span class="smcap">RAPHAEL; His Life, Works, and His Times.</span></p> + +<p class="center">From the French of <span class="smcap">Eugene Muntz</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">Edited by WALTER ARMSTRONG.</p> + +<p>With 200 engravings (50 full-page plates) reproduced from paintings or facsimiles +of drawings of Raphael by the first artists in Europe. Imperial octavo, +620 pages, half morocco, gilt top and full gilt edges, price, $15; turkey morocco, +$20; tree calf or crushed levant, $22.50.</p> + +<p class="center larger">A Picturesque Tour in Picturesque Lands.</p> + +<p class="center">FRANCE, SPAIN, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, HOLLAND, +BELGIUM, TYROL, ITALY, SCANDINAVIA.</p> + +<p>A magnificent imperial folio volume, printed on superfine paper. Illustrated +with 170 engravings, many of them full-page plates, from designs by the most +celebrated painters of the various countries described. Bound in richly ornamented +cloth, full gilt (in a neat box), price, $10.00; turkey morocco, $20.00.</p> + +<p class="center larger">THE MAY BLOSSOM;</p> + +<p class="center">Or, THE PRINCESS AND HER PEOPLE.</p> + +<p>64 pages colored plates in a quarto volume, handsomely bound. Price, $2.50. +Quite in advance of its predecessors in engraving and color-printing, from original +paintings by the principal illustrator of “<span class="smcap">Afternoon Tea</span>.”</p> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>“A fascinating book for children. Illustrations in the quaint fashions of the day. The +pictures are exceedingly pretty, and the art of printing in colors has been applied to them +with particularly brilliant and finished effect.”—<i>N. Y. Tribune.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p class="center larger">SHAKESPEARIAN TALES IN VERSE.</p> + +<p class="center">A Rhyming Version of some of the Popular Plays of SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>100 full-pages of colored illustrations, from original designs. Quarto volume, +elegantly bound in extra cloth, full gilt. Price, $3.00.</p> + +<div class="smaller"> + +<p>“One of the handsomest, brightest, and most charming of Juvenile Publications. +The illustrations all show superior workmanship, the figures are lifelike, and the colors +vivid and pleasing.”—<i>Chicago Evening Journal.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p class="center tb"><i>Copies sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price.</i></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76974 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/76974-h/images/cover.jpg b/76974-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14e9ef5 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus1.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9d101d --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus1.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus2.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d75efde --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus2.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus3.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6bd462 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus3.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus4.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1bc3b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus4.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus5-full.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus5-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf31e81 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus5-full.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/illus5.jpg b/76974-h/images/illus5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ada4269 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/illus5.jpg diff --git a/76974-h/images/line.jpg b/76974-h/images/line.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce5e893 --- /dev/null +++ b/76974-h/images/line.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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