The five of their own party

morning. No rice or biscuit, no meat or fish of any kind. On Sundays they did no work of any kind, but had better food. A dinner was given them at noon, of rice and salt fish one Sunday, and rice and salt beef the next, and so on alternately. They spent most of the day in sleep. No attempt made to teach them to read. No worship of any kind held. The pay consists of clothes at about the rate of 25. worth a month. who survived these twenty months' hard labour concluded that it would be better to die at sea than to continue any longer there. They therefore watched their opportunity and escaped in a boat which had been in search of food and was left at anchor. There were only ten cocoa-nuts in the boat, i.e., two for each man. They were two months between Tahiti and Samoa. One of their number died off the south end of Manua. They were lying low most of the time, and did not feel hungry. The one meal a day system seems to have prepared them for this; they remained two months at Manua, then came to Tutuila, where they remained three months with the natives before they applied to me. They came to me on the 7th of October, 1872, to request to be taken into my family till a chance occurred of getting to their homes. One of them knew Bishop Patteson, and had seen Bishop Selwyn. Such is the account given by Johnny, and confirmed by the others. They have behaved very well, and seem quite docile. I hope the missionaries of their group may find them prepared to accept Christian instruction in all its power."

So far Mr. Powell.

November 16th.-I resolved to run for the Nanuku passage (Fiji) last night, and got well into it, fine and clear, before seeing the island of Yangalatala. A cross current must have struck us; we then picked up Quamea (Fiji) and Taviuni (Fiji). The sun rose with a splendid red light on Taviuni through the mist which hung over it; and about five or six miles from the south end, at Vuna Point was a plantation, ran on and rounded the reef, and was in front of a planter's house, on a good-looking property, plenty of land cleared, the house and all looking very comfortable

and habitable. The sweep of land is magnificent. Went on about 6.5 knots, and at dusk sighted the island of Ovalau, and soon saw the lights of Levuka. As soon as we got in range of the first light, we looked out hard for the second, but could not see it, and at about three miles hauled off. Immediately afterwards saw a red light under the white, and hauled in again, and at 10.30 or so passed inside (under sail), and anchored at

II P.M.

CHAPTER III.

FIJI-SYDNEY.

LEVUKA, FIJI.-November 17th.-Busy all day, with visits and letters. At 4 P.M. got away to Waitovu, and bathed deliciously in a pool, led up there by a girl whom they declared-the native children to be Piccaninny Tui† Levuka. She had some feathery things in her head.

November 19th.-When on shore passed some good-looking soldiers, and a very handsome Tongan, so grave and dignifiedlooking; then to the eastward, and found a teacher, with a class of thirty children, sitting under the trees reciting a verse of St. John's Gospel, five or six of them half-caste, and going on in a sing-song way with hand clapping; sitting in two concentric ovals, little girls in the inner, bigger in the outer; fantastically dressed, the half-caste with more taste, lank hair, and flower wreaths and clothes. One little thing with quite fair hair.

November 20th.-After bathing in P.M., stopped and listened to at least eighty children reciting about twenty lines in unison to a teacher. Such little demons! Forty boys four deep, facing forty girls four deep, dressed out in tags of dracona leaf, strips of papers, bunches of leaves, and strings of white flowers, most fantastic. All their lines were recited with excited action, clapping hands and sides. The teacher, a good looking, middle sized and middle aged man, pointed to the lines, which were written out, as they

* A series of cascades and pools on the side of the hill, a mile and a half from Levuka.

+ Tui means "chief."

went on. After all were finished he made them get up and walk, singing a refrain, eight or ten steps forward, right about turn and back; wriggling sides, legs, and head, like mad creatures, the four or five half-castes as much as the others, and in perfect time. At a distance it was not inharmonious, but rough and raw when near. Some men sat near and smoked and laughed.

November 26th.-Called on Père Bréheret, a dear old man, full of charm. He said Cakobau's first visit to him was a knock at the door, and then a shout, "Give me a knife- a hatchet." His last, a year and a half ago, was to ask for a bit of wood. "They are not stupid, these Fijians, they are quite clever."

November 28th.-Got away at 6 A.M.. Prize firing. Stood down for Kandavu.

29th.-Anchored in Ngaloa Bay, coming in through the east narrow passage, through surging reefs, Hosken on one side and I on the other, half way up to the mizen top, looking out for pale milky water, and finally getting into a large basin, through a channel a little wider than the ship's length. Landed at the island, and walked through the village. At 4 P.M. landed in the creek and got a guide. With him we pulled to a village called Nuku, or Nugu, then walked up a hill side with patches of yam. The hill sides are here covered with coarse grass and wild arrowroot, and the land looks poor, but it would carry a lot of sheep, or, better still, cattle.

Stanley and Hamilton soon stopped behind, but Perry and I went on alone, behind our guide, up the other hill, and down two dips. At the top of the third was a bare ridge of steatitic decomposed conglomerate, reminding one of Hong Kong, but with less quartz in it: and with boulders of either trap or some volcanic rock imbedded in it. We looked on to Tavukie Bay, on the north side of the island, and saw Mr. Simpson's house in the distance. Our hearts nearly failed us, but I determined to go on; so down we went a horribly steep hill-side, which it would have been very hard to climb up again, and soon found ourselves in the village of Tavukie. Our guide here tried to get a canoe, but

none was forthcoming. The people were at evening prayers, and the teacher, who had a good canoe, did not care to bring it out. A man brought us a cocoa-nut, and on we went quite a mile and a half on the flat, and found ourselves in a mangrove swamp, through which a new road was being made to Mr. Simpson's house. We came round to the front, and presently Mr. and Mrs. Simpson appeared. He rents land from the Wesleyan mission, and gins his neighbours' cotton as well as his own. Kidney cotton will grow here; not Sea Island. He employs some Fiji labour and some foreign. There are 9000 natives on Kandavu and group, and twenty-one Englishmen, some half-caste children, and some children of a missionary and others. We saw by the way some Albino children at Tavukie, one fat and well-liking, one thin. Mrs. Simpson soon asked us to have tea, and gave us excellent cakes, &c., and her husband volunteered to take us back in his boat, which we closed with-(what quantities of gigantic moss lined each side of the latter part of the path)—and after ten minutes down we went, and had a long pull in the moonlight, after wading off to the boat, over our calves; we landed on the neck, and waded to where we had first landed in P.M.; then got a canoe, and went across to Nuku or Nugu, and found the others, who had sat in a hut and bargained for a kava bowl and other things. Came off, and got on board as it struck 10.30. The walk through the swamp, with a boy leading us, torch in hand, was very picturesque.

November 30th.-Went with Mr. Barry to see the site of the light to clear the entrance and the jetty. All well placed, provided Ngaloa were a good place, which it is not. I would sooner come up to Levuka, and go through the Nanuku Passage than go into Ngaloa.

Sailed at 4 P.M., and stood to the east of the island; then made sail, and came along easily all night, the wind hanging to northward. True east most part of time.

December 1st.-Ran up to Levuka, and in under sail, with quite a light breeze.