BECHE-DE-MER TRADE. 227 



We found Bete sitting in his house surrounded by 

 councillors. Mr. Pritchard informed him that his pre- 

 sence was required at Waikava at the meeting of chiefs, 

 and his absence might prove disadvantageous to him- 

 self; but his mind seemed to be made up, and he gave 

 us to understand that he did not mean to go, as the time 

 was too short. His Tonguese advisers had probably in- 

 duced him to act in this way. 



I went some distance up a rivulet to bathe, and on my 

 return met a number of Naduri people, who complained 

 bitterly of the way in which they were ground down by 

 the Tonguese, and how wretchedly poor they were in 

 in comparison with formerly, when Mche-de-mer traders 

 visited the. coast, and they were kept well supplied with 

 foreign articles of barter in exchange for the sea-slugs they 

 collected. They said there could be no revival of this 

 lucrative trade until their old chief Eitova was restored 

 to power, as Bete was so weak, and so little respected, 

 that he could not get the requisite number of hands to- 

 gether to make up a cargo. They were most anxious to 

 know when Bitova was likely to come back, and asked 

 repeatedly, but I turned off the conversation. There 

 were a great number of sail-mats in Bete's house, and 

 the people assured me that they were some of the tri- 

 bute which the Tonguese extorted from them. 



The sea-slugs, or beche-de-mer (several species of the 

 genus Holothuria), collectively termed " Dri " by the na- 

 tives,* are found in great abundance on the reefs, espe- 



* The different species bear the following native names : 1. Dri voto- 

 voto ; 2. Dri alewa ; 3. Dri batibuli ; 4. Dri tarasea ; 5. Dri damu ; 

 6. Dri valadakawa ; 7. Dri daidairo ; 8. Dri lokoloko ni qio, etc. 



To show the profits of the beche-de-mer trade, I extract from Wilkes, of 



Q 2 



