72 A MISSION TO VITI. 



or the other the sudden disappearance of this Con- 

 sular establishment would be felt as a serious incon- 

 venience. The British Consul is now the sole authority 

 that keeps order in Fiji the natives having voluntarily 

 made over to him the entire jurisdiction of the group, 

 and found it preferable in their quarrels with the whites 

 to abide by his judgment, rather than break their own 

 heads and those of the white settlers by an appeal to 

 the club. It was easy for them to arrive at this conclu- 

 sion ; meanwhile, the person who thus found himself 

 called upon to adjust the differences of a native popu- 

 lation about twice that of New Zealand, and a thick 

 sprinkling of white immigrants, some of whom hold 

 queer ideas of poetical justice, had no idle time of it ; 

 and if Mr. Pritchard had not acquired a thorough mas- 

 tery over the Polynesian mind by means of his intimate 

 acquaintance with all their customs, usages, and tradi- 

 tions, of which he skilfully avails himself, there would 

 be endless fights and dissensions, to the great detriment 

 of the native population and the interests of commerce. 

 I have repeatedly listened to the proceedings in court, 

 and been struck with the logical acuteness of the natives. 

 Their mind seems indeed of a much superior cast to 

 that of most savages ; and their discussions are as much 

 above those of the Maoris reported in the New Zealand 

 newspapers, as the talk of men is to the prattle of chil- 

 dren. 



On the 28th of June, Cakobau (or Thakombau, as his 

 name may be written according to English orthography), 

 King of Fiji, and supreme Chief of Bau, paid a visit to 

 Lado, and I was formally introduced to him. His Ma- 



