222 



Captain Hudson endeavours to 

 capture Vendovi. 



ri>r>TTO Visit of the king and queen. The king, 

 L.KU U f . queell( alld chiefs J1)ade prisoners. 



bery; and near this many streamlets enter the 

 river. Just after passing this place, the guides 

 pointed out a creek that led to Ambau. The 

 country appeared here more thickly peopled than 

 that below ; many more natives were seen, and the 

 whole surface was well cultivated. There was 

 great astonishment evinced at the appearance of 

 our boats, and it is believed our people were the 

 first whites who had been thus far in the interior. 



The mountain district was reached at thirty-six 

 miles from the mouth of the river, and the ridges 

 were from twelve to fifteen hundred feet high. 

 The Wailevu, which I have named Peale's River, 

 here makes a turn to the westward of four miles, 

 to a point where it divides into two branches. 

 That on which they were comes from the moun- 

 tains direct, while the other, taking a course to the 

 south, is said to disembogue at the town of Indimbi, 

 on the south shore, about ten miles to the westward 

 of the harbour of Rewa, and opposite to the island 

 of Mbenga. Having reached the mountains, they 

 could proceed no further in the boats, and began 

 to retrace their route. Near the place where they 

 turned back, there was a remarkable waterfall of 

 several hundred feet leap. 



The natives state that this river flows from a 

 large lake in the centre of Vitilevu, and that, by 

 ascending the heights above Ragi-ragi, the water 

 may be seen *. 



On their return they were again presented by 

 Savou with a load of cooked provisions, and a fine 

 red-striped variety of sugar-cane. Savou seemed 

 to be very desirous of mollifying Phillips's anger. 

 They were well drenched with rain all the after- 

 noon, and reached their old quarters at Coron- 

 ganga just at dark. They had a disagreeable 

 night. The next morning they set out early, and 

 reached Rewa in the afternoon, without accident. 

 Their royal guide presented every one of the party 

 with something as a token of remembrance, even 

 to each of the boat's crew. 



Phillips returned on board ship with them, 

 where a handsome present awaited him, for his 

 good and hospitable conduct. 



The number 'of inhabitants comprised in the 

 towns and villages on this river is, from the com- 

 putation given by Phillips, about six or seven 

 thousand. 



The party having now returned, all the officers 

 were ordered on board. 



Captain Hudson's next step was to endeavour to 

 capture Vendovi. From information he obtained, 

 it was believed that this chief intended to visit the 

 ship the next day, to receive the presents which, as 

 was given out, awaited his coming. Captain Hud- 

 son would then have had an opportunity to detain 

 him without any difficulty or disturbance whatever. 

 They all, therefore, left Rewa for the ship, and on 

 the way down the rivei*, stopped at the small vil- 

 lage of Vatia to purchase some earthenware; this 

 is a village of potters. They were at once sur- 

 rounded by several hundreds of the inhabitants, 

 all pressing their wares on them, of which they 

 bought several specimens, but not enough to satisfy 

 the venders, who, when they found that the officers 

 did not intend to purchase more, hooted and 

 shouted many offensive epithets, that only became 

 known through the interpreter's report. 



* This I very much doubt, as from the topography of the 

 island it does not seem probable. 



At an early hour on the 21st, the king and 

 queen, one of their children, and Ngaraningiou, 

 together with the son of Vunivalu, came on board. 

 As Mr. Phillips was already there, all the royal 

 family, excepting Vendovi, were, by their own act, 

 within our power, and it was said he was also to 

 come in the afternoon. There was an evident 

 constraint in the manner of the visiters, which 

 was apparent from their not expressing the usual 

 astonishment at every thing they saw. Their 

 little daughter, of five or six years of age, had 

 a sprightly countenance, and, as is usual, her 

 head was enveloped in twisted locks. One of the 

 officers presented her with a sash, which he tied 

 on, and the bystanders were much amused to 

 see the queen rearranging it after the Feejee 

 fashion. 



The queen was observed to have paid more 

 attention than is usual to the decency of her 

 dress, being enveloped in the pareu, after the 

 Tonga fashion. She is a fine-looking woman, with 

 an intelligent countenance. The king wore his 

 maro, accompanied with the seavo, which is the 

 name they give to the long trains of tapa attached 

 to it, that are worn by chiefs to denote their 

 rank. The seavo of the king trailed several feet 

 on the ground. 



The person who attracted the most attention was 

 Ngaraningiou, with his attendant chiefs. In truth, 

 he came in fine style, moving towards the ship in 

 his beautiful canoe, with its long streamers (de- 

 noting the rank of the owner) floating in the 

 breeze. When he came on board, it was at once 

 seen that he had decked himself specially for the 

 occasion. His face was painted red and black, 

 which, if possible, improved his appearance as a 

 savage chief. He was, by far, the finest-looking 

 person among the whole assembled group. His 

 hair was frizzled out with great care ; around his 

 neck he wore a necklace of shells, with armlets of 

 the trochus ; and his thighs were encircled with a 

 black cord. The usual seavo was worn by him, 

 and over it a flounce of black fringe, which added 

 much to the effect of the whole, and gave him the 

 look of being partly dressed. Every exertion 

 being made to entertain them, the constraint they 

 were under was soon dissipated, and never did 

 people seem to enjoy themselves more. 



It was hoped by Captain Hudson, until after- 

 noon, that Vendovi would make his appearance ; 

 but four o'clock came, and no chief. Captain 

 Hudson then concluded that he was not coining, 

 and that it would be impossible to take him, unless 

 by force. He therefore determined to try the ex- 

 pedient of retaining those he had on board until 

 Vendovi should be forthcoming. He ordered the 

 drums to beat to quarters, and placed a sentinel at 

 the cabin- door, ordering at the same time that all 

 their canoes should be retained alongside. The 

 king and chiefs were immediately informed, 

 through the interpreter, that they were prisoners, 

 and that the object was to obtain Vendovi, the 

 murderer of the crew of the Charles Doggett, 

 some eight years before. 1 1 may readily be ima- 

 gined that this announcement threw them all into 

 great consternation, while it was, at the same time, 

 a matter of surprise to all the officers of the ship. 

 The poor queen was apparently the most alarmed, 

 and anxiously inquired of Phillips if they were all 

 to be put to death. Phillips was equally frightened 



