ASCENT OF VOMA PEAK. 163 



having stopped half-way, and Mr. Waterhouse remained 

 behind at Namosi to scatter a little seed of truth amongst 

 the numerous heathens pouring into the town for to- 

 morrow's grand meeting.* 



Immediately trees were cut down, and compass bear- 

 ings taken of all prominent parts, by which means an 

 important step was made to reform the geography of 

 Viti Levu.f A great part of Fiji lay like a map at our 

 feet ; there were the islands of Moturiki, Batiki, Gau, 

 Bega, Ovalau, and a host of smaller ones ; even Kadavu 

 was looming at the distance. We had hoped to have a 



* " Before a large company of chiefs and people." says Mr. Water- 

 house, in his published journal of this tour, " I gave an account of the 

 Great Creator, and of the original state and subsequent fall of man. 

 They loudly applauded Adam's cleverness in blaming the woman, and 

 Eve's in accusing the serpent. I was afterwards requested to tell them 

 about Noah and the Flood, with which demand I complied. Before I 

 left the house, the chief said to those present, ' These missionaries are oul 

 true friends : they want us to live in peace and quietness, and to cultivate 

 the soil ; but you slaves can't understand these matters.' Many referred 

 in glowing terms to the visit of my brother Samuel, and Kuruduadua gave 

 a vivid description of his visit to the house of the Rev. William Moore." 

 t Dr. Macdonald and Mr. Samuel Waterhouse were, it is well known, 

 the first who penetrated up the Wai dina, or great river of Viti Levu, to 

 Namosi, and from data which they furnished was constructed the map 

 published in the Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society, vol. xxvii. 

 Having nothing to go upon but the compass and dead reckoning, the posi- 

 tion of Namosi, as well as the source of the Wai dina, has been placed too 

 far west, as our route to Namosi lay almost due north. The compass 

 bearings taken on the top of Voma Peak would have corrected errors 

 found in recent maps ; but the southern coast seems to be so far out that 

 they cannot be made available at present. I subjoin them : East end of 

 Moturiki, N.E. by E. ; centre of Batiki, N.E. by E. f E. ; west end of 

 Gau, E. by N. i N. ; centre of Nukulau Island (Eewa), E. f S. ; east end 

 of Bega, S. ; centre of Yanuca, S. by W. i W. ; Gamo Peak, S. by W. 

 W. ; extreme sea horizon to the west, S.W. by W. ; town of Namosi, 

 N. N.W. ; extreme sea horizon on the north was the west end of 

 Ovalau. 



M 2* 



