IV 



SajHoa 8 3 



Lighthouse disguised in the glory of king Solomon. 

 I won't tell you what he said I looked like. We 

 witnessed a never-to-be-forgotten fantasia at the 

 King's, where I saw more unfeigned kindliness and 

 warmth of heart than I ever saw in any land before. 

 The Queen and troops of her subjects came on board, 

 and there were tremendous larks ! They sang, they 

 would sing, they were so glad to see the ship, and, 

 moreover, not having the fear of the missionary 

 before their eyes, they danced. 



' Then we went to Samoa in the Navigator Islands, 

 where the off-shore wind was positively laden with 

 sweet odours, whether of the orange or of some kind 

 of Cape jessamine I know not, but it was most rarely 

 sweet. We were not quite so well received here, 

 owing to the people being at war, but we drank real 

 kava chewed by a beautiful princess, a figure of brown 

 loveliness, who shimmered in the rays of the setting 

 sun like a yellow bronze statue. She was dressed 

 solely in a most lovely mat, wound with exquisite 

 grace round her hips, the fringe below hardly hiding 

 her dainty little feet. She wore a glorious wreath of 

 crimson hibiscus flowers, and round her neck a 

 double row of great crimson berries. A daintier 

 darling I have seldom seen, or a more graceful. 

 Her maid of honour had a necklace of whales' teeth 

 scraped so fine that they looked like the claws of a 

 gigantic tiger ; she also had a wreath of hibiscus 

 and a light kilt of tappa. There were some wonder- 

 ful pigeons here, but none equal to my gems of the 



