AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL. 245 



were the subject of comment in the remotest parts of 

 the group. Bau acquitted itself handsomely of the 

 debt it owed, by presenting King George with the ' Ca- 

 kobau,' a schooner of eighty tons built in the United 

 States. The example set by Bau, of putting down re- 

 bellion at home by foreign assistance, was speedily fol- 

 lowed by another Fijian state. Kabe (= Rambeh), an 

 island of considerable size, had disputed the authority 

 of the ruling chief of Cakaudrove, Tui Cakau; and King 

 George having proffered assistance, it was readily ac- 

 cepted by Tui Cakau. Rabe fell, and the Tonguese 

 were in the habit of calling it their own, until, in 1860, 

 Maafu, in the name of King George, received payment 

 for the assistance rendered. 



The conquest of Kaba and Babe had conferred upon 

 Maafu and his followers such a high prestige that the 

 Fijian chiefs began to tremble for their own safety, and 

 the impolicy of calling in foreigners to suppress rebel- 

 lion at home seemed to dawn upon the more far-seeing 

 among them. Maafu was not slow in perceiving the advan- 

 tage he had gained, and his favourite plan of subduing 

 the whole of Fiji appeared now to have arrived at ma- 

 turity. By cunning intriguing and a bold system of 

 warfare, he hoped to carry it into execution. Returning 

 to Lomolomo, he set about building a schooner of thirty- 

 five tons, which should at once place him at an advan- 

 tage with enemies who had to rely solely upon canoes. 

 Nor did he fail to make other preparations for conquest, 

 and he would have commenced hostile operations with- 

 out delay, if it had not been for the unexpected arrival 

 of H. B. M. Consul, Mr. W. Pritchard, who landed in 



