154 A MISSION TO VITI. 
up supplications to heaven for the conversion of the be- 
nighted beings crowding around us. ‘They were all at- 
tention, and in their minds evidently compared the con- 
vulsive ravings of their own priests with the dignified 
bearing of the Christian missionary. 
The next morning I paid a visit to the heathen temple 
at Nagadi. Unlike other temples on the coast, which 
are generally erected on terraced mounds, and quite free 
from any enclosure, this was on level ground, and sur- 
rounded by a high bamboo fence; some of the sticks 
used being the young shoots entire, with unexpanded 
leaves, and looking like so many fishing-rods. The 
temple itself was a mere hut, scarcely twenty-five feet 
long and fifteen wide. In one corner there was an enclo- 
sure of reeds, where the spirit was supposed to dwell or 
descend. Kava-rootsand leaves, clubs, spears, and little 
twigs of Waltheria Americana, suspended from various 
parts of the roof, had been presented as offerings. In 
some old temples the various offerings have been taste- 
fully arranged, making the interior of the building look 
like a great armoury. There were no images of any 
kind,—indeed, I never saw idols of any sort throughout 
Fiji. The priest and his family also lived in this place, 
and readily exhibited all the curiosities accumulated. 
Amongst the things attracting my attention was a lot of 
bamboo-canes tied in a bundle, which, on being struck on 
the ground with the opening downwards, produced a loud 
and hollow sound. Two single bamboos of unequal length 
are beaten contemporaneously with this large bundle 
in religious ceremonies. I gave the young priest a jew’s- 
harp, with which he expressed himself highly pleased. 
