26 A MISSION TO VITI. 



me. Eleanor, notwithstanding her high rank, did not 

 seem to exempt herself from any of the duties devolving 

 upon Fijian women. I often saw her go fishing on the 

 reef, and being up to her waist in water. One night, 

 when all was silent, and we were sitting in the house 

 reading and writing, we heard her call loudly for help, 

 and on rushing down to the beach, we found that she 

 and two other women had caught a large turtle in their 

 net, and were holding on to the splashing animal with 

 all their might, until assistance could be obtained. 



On the 30th of May, we ascended for the first time 

 the summit of Somosomo ; Captain Wilson, Mr. Coxon, 

 and several men kindly sent from the mission at Wairiki, 

 accompanied us, carrying baskets, for making collec- 

 tions. The Queen of Somosomo, hearing of our inten- 

 tion, joined the expedition with her whole court. At 

 daybreak we found her train waiting for us, on the 

 banks of a river, all fully equipped for the occasion. 

 A few strokes of the pen will describe their dress. The 

 Queen wore two yards of white calico around her loins, 

 fern-leaves around her head, the purple blossom of the 

 Chinese rose in a hole pierced through one of her ears, 

 and a bracelet made of a shell. No other garment 

 graced her stately person, and yet she looked truly ma- 

 jestic. Her attendants dispensed with the calico alto- 

 gether, and were simply attired in portions of banana 

 and cocoa-nut leaves fresh from the bush, which was so 

 far convenient to them as they were ordered to push 

 ahead, make a road, and shake the dew and rain from 

 the branches obstructing the way. In our European 

 clothes, we stood no chance in keeping up with them. 



