FEJEE ISLANDS. 135 



CHAPTER XIIL 



FEJEE ISLANDS. 



ON the 6th of May, the second day out from Nookualofa, 

 we made several of the southern islands of the Fejee Group, 

 and sent the brig " Porpoise " to survey them. All these 

 islands appeared high, woody, and picturesque. The weather 

 during the night was very misty and disagreeable. 



On the morning of the 8th, we reached the harbor of 

 Levuka, the principal port of the Island of Ovolau. Great 

 numbers of the natives had collected on the beach to witness 

 our coming to anchor, and the sensation which the manoeuvre 

 created among them can be better imagined than described ; 

 it is no exaggeration to say, that for the next fifteen minutes it 

 was impossible to hear our own voices, so loud and deafening 

 were their shouts of admiration. 



Levuka is a fine harbor, being capacious, easy of access, 

 and perfectly safe. Soon after we came-to, a small cutter, 

 belonging to the ship " Leonidas," of Salem, Mass., arrived 

 and anchored. She had come to purchase provisions for the 

 use of the ship, which was at anchor at one of the neighboring 

 islands. 



In the afternoon, the principal chief of Ovolau, accompanied 

 by an American, named David Whippy, came on board to 

 welcome us. Our countryman told us the chief had a great 

 number of names, but he was best known by that of Levuka. 

 He is a middle-aged man, of a good height, strong and well- 



