FIJI ISLANDS, ;319 



being a second time pounded to pieces here, in honour of the 

 slayer, who drank kaava from some grooves which are to he seen 

 in the slab in front. The grooves are however very irregular, 

 and look much rather as if they had been made in sharpening 

 stone axes. I think this second stone must have been used by 

 a separate tribe, occupying this quarter of Mbau, for even on 

 this small island the people were often much divided. 



On going up the hill we came suddenly upon two old women 

 bathing in a fresh water pool. They made for deep water in a 

 hurry, but I saw that they were tattooed of a uniform indigo blue 

 colour, from the hips to near the knees, just like the Samoan men. 



King Thackombau was visited in the morning by two of our 

 party, who took him by surprise ; he was found lying on his 

 stomach, reading his Bible. I went with a party and we were 

 regularly announced. The king, who was dressed in a flannel 

 shirt, and a waist cloth reaching to his knees, rose to receive us, 

 and came forward and shook hands. He is a very fine looking 

 man, six feet high, with his dark face set off with abundance of 

 grey hair. His eyes are bright and intelligent, and his face full 

 of expression, and in this respect very different from that of the 

 ordinary Fijian of lower rank. 



Three chairs were produced, but this was the whole stock 

 in the house, and those of our party without chairs sat on the 

 matted floor. The king reclined on his stomach as before, on 

 his own peculiar mat, at the head of our circle, with his Bible 

 and Prayer Book neatly piled on the right hand front corner of 

 the mat. We said, through our interpreter, that we were glad 

 to see His Majesty looking so well, and explained the nature of 

 the voyage we were making in the " Challenger." I was then 

 deputed to give an account of the wonders of the deep sea. In 

 this subject Thackombau took the liveliest interest, inquiring 

 about what kinds of animals existed in the deep water, evidently 

 knowing the shallow-water ones well. He was very much 

 interested in the fact that they are so often blind. He said he 

 could not understand the depth in miles, but comprehended it 

 perfectly in fathoms. 



He then inquired the strength of the various navies, asking 

 after that of England, Germany, France, Russia and America, 



