298 THE GB.VISE OF TEE ' CURAgOA.' 



anchor, belonging to Mr. Henry, and used for bringing up 

 sandal-wood. Large bonitos wei'e seen swimming about 

 the ' Curacoa,' some ten or tAvelve feet below the surface. 

 The Commodore received a letter fi-om Mr. Gordon the 

 missionary, informing him of what was doing on land. A 

 Mr. White, a clerk of Mr. Henry's, the sandal-wood trader, 

 came on board, and from what he said things were not 

 going on satisfactorily. The natives, he told us, were 

 divided into two parties at war Avith each other, and 

 threatened to fall upon the Whites as soon as they had 

 settled their own differences. Mr. White seemed to have 

 great fear that he would be roasted, and so was anxious to 

 get back to Sydney, which he had left eighteen months 

 before. We also learnt that Mr. Henry intended leaving 

 with all he had in the course of the following January. 

 Also that he had shipped between 700 and 800 tons of 

 sandal- wood since he had been here, which was sold at 40/. 

 a ton, and some lately had been sold which brought him 

 45/. a ton clear of freight, commission, &c. The wood I saw 

 looked yellow outside, and was a light coloured wood. 

 There are young sandal-Avood trees in the bush, plenty of 

 them, but it will take many a year before they are fit to 

 cut. The native name for sandal-wood is Waullo, and for 

 Kauri pine Nifju. There is a great deal of fine timber of 

 this kind on the island, where they do not exceed fifty or 

 sixty feet in height, with a straight stem. I was told you 

 could not find straight trees higher than that, but some are 

 to be found of five and six feet diameter. At Eramanga 



