158 A MISSION TO VITI. 



said Kuruduadua, when this loss was communicated to 

 him, " I allow no thieving here ; I club all thieves : they 

 don't do that at Rewa or Bau. A man shall go back 

 for it at once, and in a short time the purse will be 

 brought." A messenger was sent accordingly, and, sure 

 enough, when it was brought not a coin was missing. 



Covered with mud and very tired, we reached towards 

 sunset the town of Namosi, where Danford many years 

 ago took up his residence. The beauty of its situa- 

 tion had not been exaggerated, and the accompanying 

 sketch, for which I am indebted to Dr. Macdonald, will 

 give some conception of it. It is built in a lovely valley, 

 very much reminding me of Ischl. High mountains are 

 rising on every side of an extremely fruitful valley, 

 through which the Wai dina is winding its serpentine 

 course, and passing many miles of fertile country, ulti- 

 mately discharges its waters into the sea at Rewa. The 

 temperature being considerably lower than that of the 

 coast, a European is filled with a thrill of delight as he 

 begins to breathe the air so much resembling that to 

 which his constitution is best accustomed ; and it requires 

 no prophetic soul to predict that if ever the Fijis be- 

 come a European colony, Namosi will be a favourite 

 resort during the hot season, and the surrounding hills 

 a mass of coffee and tea plantations. 



We went straight to Danford' s house, one of the 

 largest in the town, built close to the rocky banks 

 of the river, and surrounded by a neat bamboo fence, 

 enclosing fine cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, orange, and Tahi- 

 tian chestnut-trees, which diffused an agreeable shade 

 over the extensive courtyard, whilst gay-coloured dra- 



