MALACHITE AND ANTIMONY. 161 
ten miles from Namosi, and at a place called Umbi, 
where it is said to occur in large veins in the side of a 
hill. Macdonald and S. Waterhouse also heard of and 
saw quantities brought down by the natives in bamboos, 
and concluded that it must be plentiful. The black 
sand so frequently found on the banks of the Rewa 
river, and attracted by a magnet, has also been washed 
down from these mountains. Danford at one time fancied 
he had discovered gold in the neighbourhood, and in 
1856 he took the ‘ Herald’s’ officers to the Wai ni Ura. 
The rocks were spangled with iron pyrites, which made 
their appearance wherever the surface was broken: gold 
was nowhere to be seen. 
Directly on our arrival we made preparations for as- 
cending Voma, the highest peak in Viti Levu, perhaps 
in the whole Fijis, and never trodden by the foot of 
white man. The natives represented to us the impos- 
sibility of getting to the summit, but we told them that 
we must at least make the attempt. To this proposal 
they agreed, and on the morning of the 24th of August 
we commenced our task, guided by Natove, a famous 
warrior and petty chief, who proved an excellent hand 
in cutting openings through the forest when we got 
higher up. 
On leaving Namosi our path led through numerous 
. taro, banana, and yam plantations, and close to an altar 
made of sticks and native cloth, on which food for the 
spirits of the dead was placed: some of the yams were 
actually sprouting again. The mass of Fijians will have 
it that these offerings are consumed by the spirits of 
their departed friends and relations, supposed to have 
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