FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 171 
seasick. The wind increased rapidly, the sea grew heavier during 
the day until the gale amounted to a storm, and huge waves larger 
than I have seen for many years rolled in from the Antarctic. 
The Makura shipped masses of foam but no green seas until near- 
ly noon, then they smashed against the vessel with solid blows like 
a sledge-hammer, making her shiver and reel like a drunken man. 
Seated in a big wicker chair in the smoking room I was trying to 
write when I was suddenly tipped over and rolled on the floor, 
after which safety was secured by seeking a corner on a divan 
which could not capsize. It was hard to keep on writing with 
one’s attention being continually distracted by the angry seas 
outside. The ocean when enraged has always had a real fascina- 
tion for me, and at such times there is a sort of exultation that 
repeated experiences do not lessen as the years go by. 
I had a long talk with a gentleman who had lived forty years 
in Fiji and owns a large shop there. He expressed a sincere ad- 
miration, indeed affection, for the Fijians; but does not want too 
many white men to locate there as he says they will ‘‘spoil the 
natives.’’ Possibly he enjoys a business monopoly. 
After lunch the storm increased in severity, and two men were 
hurt, one a passenger and the other a smoking-room steward. Both 
had nasty falls. The steward suffered from a badly cut head 
when he was thrown violently against the table. It was really 
dangerous to try to move about anywhere. At lunch there was a 
tremendous crash of tableware as a sudden, dizzy lurch of the ship 
emptied all of the tables and broke hundreds of dishes. Then 
an extra heavy sea struck the ship a solid blow on the bows, 
broke through the heavy bulwarks on the port side, smash- 
ing the iron plates, surging over the smoking room and lounge 
on the upper deck, breaking some of the strong storm shut- 
ters and flooding the room with its upholserted furniture. The 
Captain declared that this was the heaviest storm the Makura 
had encountered for eight years or more, but she was sea-worthy 
and there was no real danger although the vessel was delayed six 
or eight hours by having to slow down. There was a massiveness, 
a sheer bulk and thrust of these huge waves of the South Pacific 
that I have never seen surpassed, although it seems to me that I 
have seen higher seas in the Atlantic. We regretted that no 
photographs could be taken as the lens was immediately covered 
with a fine mist of spume that drifted continuously across even 
the highest deck. 
