108 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“The house to which we were going was near the public 
square, just over our fence. The girls went first, and Saula 
Sore came and helped my wife along the path, now blocked 
by fallen trees. One of her shoes stuck in the mud, but 
she did not wait to pull it out. As she entered the hut, 
Basina removed two pigs from it. 
“T stood outside for a few minutes, watching the storm. 
Trees bent and crashed above; the ground was strewn with 
broken branches. The wind, louder than the loudest thun- 
der, roared like hundreds of angry lions. The sea boomed 
and thundered against the rocks. The trunks of coconut 
trees bowed almost double, like sentient beings in pain; 
their leaves lashed each other, as if in anger, scattering the 
nuts to the ground. It was awe-inspiring, terrifying. 
“That night, twenty-three people found refuge in our 
little hut. Our children were quite happy in their strange 
surroundings, and examined the spears and muskets leaning 
against the thatch, while natives looked interestedly on. A 
fire in the hut was put out, as the smoke hurt our eyes. 
I sent Tatavaka for my aneroid, left hanging in the study. 
When I read it last, it was about 28.00, so that it had fallen 
about two inches—a remarkable fall. He returned with his 
head cut, and bringing a mirror! ‘My love to you all,’ he 
said to us; ‘your house is not.’ Nailo looked in, and said, 
‘The houses in Ifanua (a few yards away) are finished.’ 
We thought they were swept away, and pitied the people; 
but it was a native exaggeration for saying that the houses 
were leaking badly. ‘This house will stand,’ said Basina; 
‘there is danger from the coconut trees only.. How much 
danger there was from these we saw next day. A tree had 
crashed right through the roof of a house within a few feet 
of the occupant. 
“We had worship in Fotunese, and asked that God would 
take care of us during the night. Wearied and drowsy after 
the bustle and excitement of the day, I lay down, wet as I 
was, on the mat spread on the ground, with the bag of bis- 
