THE CANNIBAL OUTBREAK OF 1876. 37 



had reposed in them, rallied the men of their respective dis- 

 tricts, and drove back the mountaineers upon the central police 

 camp in the vicinity of the mountains ; thence the force issued 

 forth, and on one or two different occasions grappled with and 

 punished the mountaineers. This was in April, but a more 

 serious affair occurred in May. The Governor determined on 

 again personally conferring with some of the mountain chiefs, 

 and accordingly, after a two days' journey on foot, he reached 

 the mountain town of Xasaucoko. The country through which 

 his Excellency passed on his arduous duties, consisted, he says, 

 'for the first 12 or 14 miles, of open rolling plains, covered with 

 grass, thinly dotted over with pandanus. Here and there, in 

 the neighbourhood of villages or watercourses, trees are to be 

 found. The hills then rise somewhat suddenly, and at the 

 height of about 2000 feet from the sea is an extensive plateau, 

 from which higher mountains spring. Clumps of wood become 

 more frequent at a distance of 20 miles from the sea. 



' The highest pass crossed was about 2500 feet by the baro- 

 meter, and the highest of the surrounding mountains were 

 probably about 1500 or 2000 feet higher. Nasaucoko itself is 

 situated in a fine broad and fertile valley, into which the waters 

 of the plateau leap in two magnificent cascades. The fort is 

 strong for a native place. It is surrounded by an earthen 

 wall about 7 feet high, plentifully loopholed, and surrounded by 

 a palisade ; outside the wall is a deep ditch, beyond which is 

 another palisade. A third palisade surrounds the place at a 

 distance of about 60 or 70 yards.' 



At this fort of Nasaucoko, his Excellency had a conference 

 with the leading mountaineer chiefs. Some of them, notably 

 Kolikoli, the chief of the mountain tribes on the river Siga- 

 toka, announced that they believed the Government to be good, 

 and intended to remain quiet. All was going well, and Sir 



