Ambush of the natives. 

 Hot springs. 



Island of Goro and Horseshoe Reef. 

 The Vincennes sails for Saudalwood Bay. 



We were becalmed during the whole night; and 

 the next morning, finding the calm still continued, 

 I took to my boat, directing Lieutenant Carr to 

 steer in for the bay when he got a breeze, suppos- 

 ing it would set in at the ordinary time, eleven 

 o'clock. I landed on a small islet, about six miles 

 from the place where I left the ship, and near the 

 mouth of the bay. To reach the islet we pulled in 

 over the reef, which had on it about four feet of 

 water. The islet was composed of scoriaeeous lava, 

 much worn, and about twelve feet above the coral 

 shelf. Here I established myself, and was busy 

 securing my observations, when I discovered that 

 my boat was aground, and that the tide was still 

 falling. The islet as well as the reef became dry. 

 It was not long before we observed the shadow of 

 natives projecting from a rock about fifty yards 

 from us, who it now appeared were watching us 

 closely; and not long after not less than fifty shadows 

 were seen in different directions. I at once ordered 

 all the arms and ammunition to be brought up on 

 the top, and made our situation as defensible as 

 possible, for I had little doubt if they saw that we 

 were unprepared they would attack us. The firing 

 of one or two guns, and the show that we were all 

 on our guard, at once caused a change in their 

 intentions towards us, which they manifested by 

 bringing articles of trade. 



In the afternoon we again got under way, and 

 proceeded farther up the bay, anchoring off Wai- 

 cama, or the hot springs, in twenty-eight fathoms 

 water. The bay of Savu-savu is a fine sheet of 

 deep water, ten miles in length, east and west, by 

 five miles in breadth, from north to south; it is 

 surrounded by very high and broken land, rising 

 in many places into lofty needle-shaped peaks; it 

 is protected by the extensive reef reaching from 

 Savu-savu Point on the east, to Kombelau on the 

 west, excepting a large opening of about a mile in 

 width, two miles distant from Savu-savu Point. 

 On anchoring I despatched two boats, under Lieu- 

 tenants Case and Underwood, to join the surveys 

 we had made in the tender, as far as Rativa 

 Island; they departed the same evening on this 

 duty. The projection of land forming Savu-savu 

 Point is much lower than that on the other sides of 

 the bay. 



I visited the hot springs, which are situated 

 opposite a small island, round which a narrow arm 

 of the bay passes, forming a small harbour; a con- 

 siderable stream of fresh water enters the bay, 

 about a mile above the situation of the springs. 

 On landing, we found the beach absolutely steam- 

 ing, and warm water oozing through the sand and 

 gravel ; in some places it was too hot to be borne 

 by the feet. 



The hot springs are five in number; they are 

 situated at some distance from the beach, and are 

 nine feet above the level of high water; they 

 occupy a basin forty feet in diameter, about half- 

 way between the base of the hill and the beach. 

 A small brook of fresh water, three feet wide by 

 two deep, passes BO close to the basin, that one 

 hand may be put into a scalding spring, and the 

 other in water of the temperature of T5. That of 

 the spring stands at 200 to 210. The waters 

 join below, and the united streams stand at 145, 

 which diminish in temperature until they enter the 

 sea. In the lower part of the bed of the united 

 stream, excavations have been made, where the 



natives bathe. The rock in the neighbourhood is 

 compact coral and volcanic breccia, although it is 

 no where to be seen exposed within a third of a 

 mile of the spring. The ground about the spring 

 is a deep brown and black mould, covered with 

 coarse native grass, (a species of scirpus,) which is 

 thickly matted. There is no smell of sulphur, 

 except when the head is brought as close as possi- 

 ble to the water; but it has a strong saline taste. 

 No gas appeared to be disengaged. The basin is 

 in a mixture of blue and brown clay, and little 

 grass grows in it. 



These springs are used by the natives to boil 

 their food, which is done by putting the taro or 

 yams into the spring, and covering them up with 

 leaves and grass. Although the water scarcely 

 had any appearance of boiling before, rapid ebul- 

 lition ensues. It gurgles up to a height of eight 

 or ten inches, with the same noise as is made by a 

 cauldron when over the fire. Taro, yams, &c., 

 that were put in, were well done in about fifteen 

 minutes. The mouths of the springs are from 

 eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, and have 

 apparently been excavated by the natives for their 

 own purposes. The account they give of them is, 

 that they have always been in the same state since 

 the spirit first took up his abode there. They are 

 convinced that he still resides there, and the 

 natives say that one spring is kept pure for him, 

 which they do not use. 



On the 3rd of July the tender came in and 

 anchored, having succeeded in accomplishing the 

 survey of both the island of Goro and the Horse- 

 shoe Reef. The former is considered by the natives 

 one of the most fruitful islands of the group ; it is a 

 high island, though not so much broken as Hie others, 

 and, from appearance, would be susceptible of cul- 

 tivation to its very top. It is surrounded by a 

 reef, which is, for the most part, a shore-reef, and 

 affords no harbour ; there is, however, anchorage 

 on the north-west side. The island is nine and a 

 half miles long, by four miles wide. The produce 

 of Goro is oil and tortoise-shell, and exceeds in 

 quantity that of any other island of the group ; its 

 population is two thousand. 



The Horseshoe Reef lies between Goro, Nairai, 

 and Wakaia ; it is an extremely dangerous one. 

 The name is derived from its shape, and its 

 opening is on the north side ; it is even with the 

 water, which after stormy weather may be seen 

 breaking on it, from the heights of Ovolau ; it is 

 one mile in diameter ; there are no other dangers 

 nearer to it than the north reef of Nairai. 



The bay of Savu-savu may be known by a re- 

 markable saddle-shaped peak, lying just behind it; 

 there are several other high peaks, that show the 

 interior to be very rugged and high. Some of 

 these peaks reach the altitude of four thousand 

 feet. 



At daylight on the 5th, the Vincennes got under 

 way to proceed to Mbua or Sandalwood Bay, with a 

 moderate and favourable breeze. I determined to 

 take the outside passage off Kombelau Point, al- 

 though that usually pursued, which is close to the 

 land, is considered the safest. There is a reef off 

 Kombelau Island, five miles in length by two in 

 width ; and beyond, and between it and the great 

 Passage Island Reef, there is a passage supposed 

 to be full of shoals. I had reason to believe, how- 

 ever, from the examination of Lieutenant Perry 



