1 82 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



in crossing these very primitive bridges I very much prefer 

 bare feet to the most perfect-fitting boots ; there is a grip of 

 the naked foot which leather does not possess. A good many 

 cocoa-nut trees fiinge the beach of this part of Savu Savu Bay 

 coast, and you pass through many native plantations of maize 

 and other products. Two considerable native villages or 

 towns, as they are called exist between the mouth of the 

 Drek-ni-wai and Wai- Wai. Some of the interiors of the native 

 huts are adorned with clubs and spears, but these were con- 

 spicuous by their absence in Savu Savu Bay, where ' curios ' 

 seem very scarce. 



On this march I had the pleasure of being introduced to the 

 district roko, named Tovi-Tovi, who presented me with a club 

 or two, and a very fine walking-stick (for which kindness, of 

 course, he immediately went into debt at my brother's little 

 store, as I afterwards found out). Like Mr. Bath, his rokoship 

 appreciated whisky, and said it was mnaka, sara (very good). 

 This gentleman had recently been in trouble with the authori- 

 ties, as his insular eccentricity had so far led him astray as to 

 cause one of his wife's feet to be nearly burnt of, for which he 

 deservedly suffered severe punishment. 



Late in the evening, I arrived at the house of Mr. Edward 

 Chippindall, a retired lieutenant of the Royal Navy, and 

 owning unquestionably one of the finest sites in Savu Savu 

 Bay. His house is situated on a commanding plateau, backed 

 by a steep hill, down which flows a cool mountain stream, 

 making an excellent bathing-place in the rear. It contains 

 four good-sized bedrooms and a large well-ventilated parlour. 

 Round the house is the inevitable veranda, with a shelving 

 lawn in front leading to the edge of the plateau, from which u 

 steep path descends to the low-lying land reaching to the 

 shores of the bay, which are fringed by plantations of cocoa- 



