22 



ou the reefs off this coast, and the natives are largely 

 employed in getting- and curing it for the market. 

 Si dalwood used to grow in the forests of the pro- 

 vince, but owing to reckless felling, it has almost 

 disappeared from them. 



The interpreter being unable to walk far on account 

 of a sore foot, the Roko of Macuata sent us up the coast 

 in a takia, or dug out canoe, to Labasine, opposite Mali 

 i^hind. Thickets of mangroves fringed the shore and 

 were occasionally backed by small grooves of cocoa- 

 nuts, for extending which there seemed to be ample 

 space. The hills descend in places to the water's 

 edge, and here and there form precipitous cliffs of 

 . i g ulonierate. The surface is covered with rank grass and 

 dotted with the balawa (Pandanus, or screw pine) trees 

 and spots of forest. Near Mali three or four navigable 

 streams enter the sea, and the mangrove swamps are 

 extensive. There are a few settlers near these streams, 

 on the banks of which I should think a large area 

 of cane land existed. 



A change of men at Labasine to manage the canoe 

 was not one for the better. The canoe had not been 

 long out when the men, from the noise of the surf 

 breaking on the barrier reefs and other appearances, 

 predicted a storm and advised landing at the village 

 of Wavu wavu. A severe storm of lightning, thunder, 

 wind .Did rain came on as predicted and lasted the 



U hole Qight. 



The next morning 1 travelled to the village of Vuni 

 vutiu from whence thcTuragani Korotookmeto Tutu 

 in his Large Bea canoe. Tutu is nearly opposite the island 

 of Draudrau. The coast from Labasine is a series of 

 bold, projecting bluffs of agglomerate, interspersed with 

 ma of coralline sandstone, enclosing a succession of 

 bays varying in depth from 2 to 3 miles; and in 



