KOROVONO AND ITS FORESTS. 39 



or so, it requires a well-trained ear to detect the diffe- 

 rence, and, though trying very hard, I never could mas- 

 ter it. No sooner were the nuts down than Koytoo stood 

 again on terra firma, cutting a stick about three feet 

 long and one inch thick, which he placed obliquely in 

 the ground, and used for shelling the nuts. Thus di- 

 vested of their thick outer fibrous covering, the hard 

 shell of one nut was used as a hammer for knocking a 

 hole in the other, and so nicely was this done, that the 

 hole was hardly larger than a shilling, and scarcely a 

 drop of the milk was spilt. We used to empty a great 

 number of nuts in this state without ever experiencing 

 any bad effects. We who wear clothes ought to have 

 a steady hand, for should any of the milk be spilt, it 

 will, on running over the few remaining fibres of the 

 husk, become astringent, and produce an indelible stain 

 in linen and cotton, having exactly the appearance of 

 iron-mould. 



On the 4th of June, I paid a visit to Korovono, on 

 Vanua Levu, Mrs. Waterhouse obligingly lending me 

 the mission boat and crew to take me across the Straits 

 of Somosomo. My object was to examine the Kowrie 

 pines and wild nutmegs of that place. We left Somo- 

 somo early in the morning, and reached our destination 

 at three o'clock in the afternoon. Jetro, an old Manila 

 man, who had come to Fiji years ago, and spoke Spanish 

 with some difficulty, met us on the beach, and conducted 

 us to a fine grove of Kowrie pines (Dammara Vitiensis, 

 Seem.) shortly to fall a prey to the axe. European 

 sawyers had already cut down a number of the best 

 trees, yet some good specimens were still standing, and 



