264 A MISSION TO VITI. 



tended with evil consequences to either party ; to refer 

 all matters of dispute between them to H.B.M. Consul, 

 to disavow all allegiance or dependence on Maafu, and 

 to suffer punishment, even to the loss of their chieftain- 

 ship, in case of non-compliance with any article of the 

 convention. A document of this nature was accordingly 

 drawn up, ably translated by the consular interpreter, 

 Mr. Charles Wise, signed by the two chiefs, and wit- 

 nessed by Mr. Pritchard, the Tonguese teacher, the in- 

 terpreter, and myself. 



Early the next morning we made for Nukubati. This 

 island, scarcely a mile in circumference, still bore ample 

 traces of the mode of warfare carried on by the Ton- 

 guese. All the houses had been destroyed by fire, with 

 the exception of one, the temporary residence of Maafu 

 during the fight. The trunks of most of the cocoa-nut 

 palms were charred by the conflagration that had con- 

 sumed the town; nearly all the other fruit-trees had 

 been cut down, and hundreds of cocoa-nut trunks felled, 

 to make a high stockade, dividing the island into two sec- 

 tions, and serving as a breastwork, impenetrable to bul- 

 lets. The wells had been filled up with rocks, logs, and 

 rubbish ; in fine, every damage that could possibly be 

 conceived to change a flourishing town and a fruitful 

 island into a wilderness, had been done. Quite recently 

 a few settlers had collected on Nukubati, busily engaged 

 in re-establishing the plantations and erecting houses. 



Hardly had we dropped anchor when a deputation 

 from the island, headed by the local chief, waited upon 

 Ritova. They brought with them presents of wild 

 yams, ready cooked, and carried on a tray of cocoa-nut 



