208 A MISSION TO VITI. 



As the houses were crowded, I was very glad to learn 

 that the ' Paul Jones,' with Mr. Pritchard on board, 

 had arrived from Nadroga, and was then anchored at 

 the mouth of the river. Two of the crew soon after 

 made their appearance in the dingy belonging to the 

 schooner, and I availed myself of the chance to get on 

 board. On paddling down the river we encountered 

 several heavy showers ; the clerk of the weather at 

 Namosi had only guaranteed sunshine until I should 

 have fairly reached the coast, and now I was again in 

 the region of salt water, mangrove-trees, and sago 

 swamps. We took shelter under a thick tree, and with 

 my umbrella-parasol I kept myself tolerably dry. The 

 people living on the high banks under which we had 

 halted, soon espied us, and invited us to come into 

 their houses. When we refused on account of its get- 

 ting too late to reach the schooner, they brought some 

 hot yams and taro, and one of the boys was sent up a 

 cocoa-nut palm, slippery though the trunk was, to knock 

 down some nuts for drinking. We gave them some 

 sticks of tobacco, of which they were very glad, and all 

 parted with mutual expressions of goodwill. 



I took leave of Batinisavu, the Namosi Governor, at 

 Navua, and shall always remember his kindness. Ku- 

 ruduadua came on board that night, and Danford ac- 

 companied him. Though he had publicly declared in 

 favour of the cession of Fiji to England, he had not as 

 yet formally signed the deed of cession. As he is one 

 of the most powerful chiefs, it was important to have 

 his signature, and in the evening he affixed his mark to 

 that document; Mr. Charles Wise having once more 



