26 



At Vatn Kura tlic signal agreed upon, — smoke if in 

 the daytime and fire at night, — was made to my friends 

 at Rabi, who at once sent a boat for me, and I arrived 

 at that island after a somewhat stormy passage of 

 eight hours. In a few days, the steamer, which trades 

 in the group and carries the mails between the several 

 islands, called at llabi, and I returned to Levuka, 

 via Laucala, Loma loma, Mango, Kanacea, Vuna 

 Point in Taviuni, and Koro. 



The first place the steamer stopped at was Wai ni 

 Buli. Tasman's straits, on the northern part of Tavi- 

 uni, where we remained all night. As steaming 

 among the islands at night is dangerous, and at places 

 even by day without a pilot at the mast-head to point 

 out the sunken rocks, the vessel has to anchor in a 

 safe harbour, or lie to at a fair distance from the 

 shore, every night. We steamed across the straits at 

 daylight, and soon anchored at Luacala (pr. Lauthala). 

 This part of Fiji is exquisitely beautiful. The water 

 is deep, smooth, and blue ; and sunken rocks and de- 

 tached pieces of coral are readily distinguished by their 

 colour. Numerous islands rise suddenly from the sea, 

 and huge masses of rock arc seen towering up to a 

 heighl of 800 feet, clothed with dense forest, and sur- 

 mounted by the tall trunks and waving leaves of the 

 cocoa-nut palm and tree fern. Quamc (pr. Kaima), is 

 i small, well timbered, high lying, picturesque island, 

 on which many cocoa-nut trees may be seen nestling 

 ;it the head of little coves, and growing far up on the 

 rockj heights wherever the soil is rich enough for them 

 to grow. Laucala is a fine, fertile island, nearly the 

 whole of which is capable of being made into a grove 

 of cocoa-nul trees. That tree is well represented here; 

 in died, those tint 1 .saw were among the healthiest in 



