26 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



and the lack of aid which is ever to be found in a large native 

 population. 



' By most remarkable fatuity persons sick of measles were 

 allowed to disembark from the Dido and land the dire disease 

 upon the shore of their country, and perfectly free intercourse 

 took place between the King's family and their compatriots 

 from different parts of Fiji. Ere long the people lay down in 

 masses, and a most extraordinary scene was presented of whole 

 towns with the houses closed, the lanes and squares silent as 

 death, and the inhabitants all down. Old men and infants, 

 young men, and mothers of families, one heap of illness. On 

 Ban it seemed as though the curse that alighted on Senna- 

 cherib's army was repeated, and there was a weird quiet about 

 the place that struck very peculiarly upon one's feelings. 

 Daily the canoes were to be seen carrying the dead to their 

 breezy resting-places on the opposite shore, and day and night 

 was the death-drum beating, and the wails of the mourners 

 rose on the air. Strong winds and heavy rains added to the 

 horrors of the situation ; and the Bauans almost starved for 

 food, the people being unable to get to the mainland where 

 their gardens were. All our servants were laid up, and we 

 had to nurse them for weeks with food and medicine. My 

 wife was weak, and nursing and other work fell on me, there 

 not being another soul to do it. Hard worked in the day, and 

 with broken rest at night, I passed through some weeks the like 

 of which I hope never to see again. In our own land there is 

 always a large proportion of healthy persons who act as a 

 relief to the many stricken by disease ; but here you have a 

 whole country down, men, women, and children all round you, 

 dying every day. Your best friends among the people dying, 

 and those you have taken the greatest pains with. Two, both 

 fine young preachers, have died on my own premises; and so fetid 



