BATINISAVU'S STORY. 195 



very fond of them, and a good story-teller can never 

 starve. Danford informed me that the " Arabian Nights" 

 have been a source of income to him. " Aladdin, or the 

 Wonderful Lamp," is paid for at the rate of two fat pigs, 

 equivalent to about eight dollars ; and the " Forty 

 Thieves " meets with a similar success whenever that 

 charming tale is told, several friends clubbing together 

 in order to make up a purse for the story-tellers. What 

 a source of pleasure one would open to these islanders, 

 by translating for them the "Arabian Nights" or 

 Grimm's " Household Stories." 



Chief Batinisavu was always careful to inform me that 

 he did not tell stories for pay, and in printing one of 

 those he told me I must do him also the justice to add 

 that it was a very long one. Taking up several hours 

 in telling, I can merely give the pith of the whole, and 

 have to leave out those details which, without ample 

 explanation and local knowledge, would be quite unin- 

 telligible and uninteresting to the generality of readers. 



THE STOEY OF ROKOUA, AS TOLD BY BATINISAVU, GOVEENOE 

 or NAMOSI. 



" Once upon a time there dwelt at Eewa a powerful 

 god, whose name w r as Ravovonicakaugawa,* and along 

 with him his friend the God of the Winds, from Wairua.t 

 Ravovonicakaugawa was leading a solitary life, and had 



* Ravovonicakaugawa, i. e. a long way off. 



f This god was and is supposed to reside at a little brook in the lovely 

 valley of Namosi, on Viti Levu, pointed out to us when we visited the in- 

 terior of the island in September, 1860. When the Eewa people come to 

 the Namosi valley, they never fail to make sacrificial offerings at Wairua 

 (which is both the name of the locality and its god). Even some of those 

 that have become Christians continue this practice. 



O 2 



