DIFFICULTIES OF ASCERTAINING THE TRUTH. 41 
tains for our protection, sleep would have been out 
of the question. A council of war being held, it was 
thought preferable, notwithstanding the wind being 
dead against us, to beat out of the bay and pull the 
rest of the way. Leaving without further delay, we 
passed, about midnight, Kioa, or Owen Island, as it is 
sometimes called, from having become the property of 
Mr. Owen, an enterprising Australian gentleman, who 
endeavoured to form a settlement on it. Mr. Owen 
was for some time a member of the Victorian Legisla- 
ture, at Melbourne, where he was often alluded to as 
“Member for Fiji.” Though taking advantage of every 
slight breeze, we had to be at sea all night and did not 
reach Somosomo until six o'clock the next morning,- 
and were heartily glad when Koytoo, the Rotuma cook, 
brought the breakfast, as usual consisting of yams, pork, 
and coffee. 
On the 5th of June, a small island schooner came in 
belonging to a half-caste, and manned by a crew of the 
same mixed origin. They brought all the news of the 
group, and complained bitterly of the missionaries in- 
juring their trade by inducing the natives to contribute 
cocoa-nut oil towards the support of the Wesleyan So- 
ciety, an article which formerly passed direct into the 
hands of the small traders. When a native became 
Christian, he was made to give every three months eight 
gallons of oil, or thirty-two a year, equal to £4 sterling. 
Notice was given a few days before the oil was due; 
and when a trader visited a place he found none but 
empty casks,—the church had swallowed it all up. 
This statement, like many others heard in the islands, 
