FONDNESS OF NATIVES FOR BOOKS. 25 
guard against the centrifugal tendency of Fiji and pre- 
serve its political superiority; and giving Bauan women 
of rank to petty chiefs has been one of the means em- 
ployed. A queen thus married would still hold the 
same position she did before marriage, and her sons 
would, as “ vasus,” have great privileges at Bau, and be 
identified with her prosperity. Eleanor was a tall, fine- 
looking woman, of much lighter colour than the gene- 
rality of her countrywomen, a cheerful countenance, 
and possessed of dignity and self-possession. Consider- 
ing the scantiness of her dress, this is saying very 
much in her praise. Though her husband and most of 
his other wives were still heathens, she was a Christian, 
and I believe a sincere one, judging from the almost 
frantic manner in which she endeavoured to obtain a 
Fijian Bible seen in my possession. She exhausted 
every argument to get it, and her joy was indescribable 
when her wishes were acceded to. It was much in- 
creased by the volume being the Viwa edition, which 
is preferred to the London, not only because it is a 
larger book and printed in the islands, but also be- 
cause in the recent London edition some changes have 
been introduced of which the natives do not approve. 
The Fijians are fond of books, especially large ones, 
even if written in languages not understood by them. 
Some of the whites maintain that this is simply be- 
cause they use them as cartridge paper, but I do not 
believe this to be generally the case. I had several 
good offers for Endlicher’s ‘Genera Plantarum,’ and 
other large well-bound volumes, though never any for 
the bales of botanical drying-paper I carried about with 
