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CHAPTER V. 
THE WAI LEVU, OR GREAT RIVER.—CANAL DUG BY NATIVES.—MATAISUVA. 
— INSTITUTION FOR TRAINING NATIVE TEACHERS.—SACRED GROVES, 
TREES, AND STONES.—MOSQUITOES.—ISLAND OF NAIGANI.—MR. EGGER- 
STROM’S KINDNESS.—FEUDS AT NADROGA.—NUKUBALAWU.—TAGURU.— 
NAVUA RIVER. 
Tue Rewa, Wai Levu, or great river of Viti Levu, has four 
large mouths, and its deltas are extremely fertile, and 
cultivated to some extent by the natives. About eighteen 
miles from its mouth it receives the Wai Manu, which 
comes from the west, whilst the main branch takes its 
rise in the Namosi Valley. It was explored in 1856 by 
Dr. Macdonald, of H.M.S. Herald, Captain Denham, ac- 
companied by Mr. Samuel Waterhouse, of the Wesleyan 
Mission, and a full account of their proceedings has been 
published.* Mataisuva, our next stopping-place, is built 
on one of the large deltas, a little below the town of 
Rewa. From Bau it may be reached either by sea or 
by going up the Wai ni ki, or Kaba mouth. The 
natives have shortened the latter passage more than 
* “Proceedings of the Expedition for the Exploration of the Rewa river 
and its Tributaries, in Na Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. By John Denis Mac- 
donald, Esq., Assistant Surgeon of H.M.S. Herald, Captain N. M. Den- 
ham,” in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxvii., pp. 
232-268, with a Map by Arrowsmith. 
