THE CHIEF OF SINASORO. 25 



chat Mule offered, if he would remain, to make him a chief with the 

 usual perquisite as to the number of his wives. For my own part, 

 I reaped the full benefit of our amicable relations with the natives ; 

 and for the proof of this statement I must refer the reader to the 

 .remarks on my intercourse with them, and to my observations on 

 the geology, botany, and other characteristics of the island. 



Coming now to the chiefs of Faro or Fauro Island, I must 

 mention more particularly Kurra-kurra the chief of Toma, and 

 Tomimas the chief of Sinasoro, Toma and Sinasoro being the twx) 

 principal villages of the island. Kurra-kurra is, I believe, a half- 

 , brother of Gorai. He has not, however, the same dignity of 

 K?anner, and has resigned most of his power into the hands of his 

 son Gorishwa, a fine strapping young man. Both father and son 

 are friends of the white man. Tomimas, the Sinasoro chief, also 

 related to Gorai, is somewhat taciturn even with his own people, 

 but a chief to be thoroughly trusted. On one occasion whilst as- 

 sisting Lieutenant Heming and myself in demolishing our dinners 

 in a tambu-house at his village, Tomimas broke a long silence by 

 informing us through a native interi3reter that the men of Sinasoro 

 were ver^' good people, that they did not kill white men, and that 

 their chief was like Gorai. It is needless to write that we appreci- 

 ated the good intention, though hardly the elegance of the chief's 

 solitary remark. In the following year, when I was returning from 

 a botanical excursion to the peak of Faro, I receivetl an invitation 

 from Tomimas to visit him on the side of the harbour opposite to 

 the village. The chief, who awaited me on the beach, received me 

 cordially, telling me through one of the natives, who could speak a 

 little English, that he had collected for me the fruits and leaves of 

 the " anumi " — a tree of the genus Cerbera — which he had heard I 

 bad been anxious to find. The kindly manner of the old chief 

 attracted me towards him, and I sat down, as he wished me, by his 

 side on the log of a tree, having first presented him with a large 

 knife which greatly pleased him. Close by, stood his four wives, to 

 whom he introduced me, pointing out to me the mother of his 

 eldest son Kopana, an intelligent young man of about twenty-two. 

 A bunch of ripe bananas was laid beside me, of which I was bidden 

 to partake. This was followed in a short time by a savoury vegetable 

 broth, which the chief brought with his own hands in a cooking-pot. 

 It was especially prepared for me on their learning that I had found 

 the plant (an aroid, Schizmatoglottis) in my excursions. There was 



