SACRED GROVES AND TREES. 87 
at her, without however wounding or killing any one. 
Formerly these inter-tribal feuds were of much more fre- 
quent occurrence, and often protracted over a consider- 
able period of time; but since firearms have become 
accessible to all parties, the same result followed in Fiji 
as in Europe upon the invention of gunpowder. 
Sacred groves and trees form as prominent a feature 
in the paganism of the Fijians as they did in that of 
the Indo-Germanic nations. A fine grove still exists in 
the Rewa district near the mission-station of Mataisuva, 
and at a point of the coast termed Na Vadra Tolu (the 
three screw-pines), probably from three specimens of 
the Pandanus odoratissimus, still a common plant in 
that locality, having stood there. Leaving the mission- 
premises, and keeping along the sandy beach, an enor- 
mous Yevuyevu tree (Hernandia Sonora, Linn.) presents 
itself, forming a complete bower, which leads to a curi- 
ous group of vegetable giants. A venerable Vutu raka- 
raka (Barringtonia speciosa, Linn.), more than sixty feet 
high, has thrown out several huge branches, two of 
which form, in connection with the stem, bold arches. 
The large aerial roots of epiphytical fig-trees are hold- 
ing the monster in close embrace ; several kinds of ferns 
and climbing drotdeew and wax-flowers (Hoyas) interlace 
the struggling masses, and tend to increase the wildness 
of this fantastic scene. The dense foliage of surround- 
ing Vesi, Ivi, and other fine trees ensures a constant 
gloom and sombreness to the place; and only through 
the bower, serving as an entrance, does the eye obtain 
a glance at the open sea, and perchance the sight of a 
passing canoe with its large triangular sail. It was at 
