166 A MISSION TO VITI. 



displayed in the shape and colour of the wigs, and doing- 

 up of the head ; a European peruquier might have taken 

 a lesson with advantage. Chief Kuruduadua had taken 

 his seat on the steps leading to the principal entrance of 

 the great Bure. He wore a turban of snow-white tapa, 

 and a purple girdle of the same material, from which 

 were suspended two trains of native cloth, several yards 

 long. On his left were his brothers and councillors, 

 amongst whom was seen his friend Danford. When w r e 

 had taken our seats, the people welcomed us by clap- 

 ping of hands, whereupon mutual explanations were at 

 once entered into. 



Through Mr. Waterhouse, Colonel Smythe addressed 

 to the chief a speech similar to that delivered at Bau 

 and other places, the purport of which has already been 

 given. Mr. Waterhouse spoke in the Bauan (court) 

 dialect, and Kuruduadua replied in the same, that he 

 and his people had made up their minds to " lean upon 

 England," as he expressed it, in the manner agreed upon 

 with Mr. Consul Pritchard. Colonel Smythe approved of 

 their determination as judicious, there being no country 

 more able to protect them than mighty England. He 

 also recommended the cultivation of cotton. On being 

 questioned about the ownership of land, Kuruduadua 

 replied that he considered himself the sole proprietor 

 of all the land, the boundaries and principal tribes of 

 which were specified; that his late brother had sold 

 some land to Mr. Williams, deceased, and he himself 

 some to several Englishmen, all these transactions being 

 acknowledged as valid. 



An expression of mutual goodwill concluded the 



