TO vm. 



that after its termination he should still be able to ob- 

 tain a Government vessel for Fiji, resolved to proceed 

 by the mail steamer to New Zealand. He came on 

 board the ' Benares ' to communicate this resolution to 

 me, but I, having made an attempt to find him on 

 shore, was absent, and as his steamer left soon after the 

 English mail had been transferred, 1 did not meet with 

 him until three months afterwards. 



Sir William Denison, to whom I had letters from the 

 home Government, advised me either to go to New 

 Zealand and wait there for an opportunity, or else di- 

 rect to Fiji, in the missionary vessel ' John Wesley,' 

 about to sail that day. Wishing to economize my time 

 as much as possible, I preferred the latter. In com- 

 municating with the Rev. John Eggleston, General Se- 

 cretary of the Wesleyan Mission, that gentleman kindly 

 postponed the departure of their vessel a few days, in 

 order to afford me time for making the necessary pre- 

 parations for future explorations. He supplied me be- 

 sides with letters of introduction to residents in the 

 Fijian islands, books, and a list of articles used as barter, 

 all of which proved highly acceptable. In reply to Sir 

 William Denison's asking for a passage for me and my 

 assistant, Mr. Jacob Storck, Mr. Eggleston cheerfully 

 granted a free passage to both of us, at the same time 

 reminding the Governor-General that the Wesleyan 

 a body felt under obligations to the Government for 

 frequently allowing their vessels to assist their mis- 

 sionaries in the Pacific Ocean, rendering them timely 

 aid, and supplying them with medicines, and bringing 

 them home when ill. With the assistance of Mr. Chains 



