MUA I UDU. 229 
Resuming our voyage, we found ourselves, October 
15th, off Namuka, where we sent on shore for water. 
The crew, on returning, brought an armful of gardenias, 
a species quite new to science (Gardenia Vitiensis, Seem.), 
with beautiful white flowers, emitting a delicious scent ; 
and the young leaves of the shrub being enveloped in a 
thick coating of greenish gum, which, as they expand, 
gradually dissolves. There is a strange connection be- 
tween Namuka and Bau: both having, or rather having 
had, the same local gods, the people possess mutual rights 
similar to those of the Vasus, visitors being allowed to 
take whatever articles they choose. The advocates of 
the rights of women will also be glad to learn that the 
softer sex of Namuka can take their seats among the 
men ! 
On the 16th we rounded Mua i Udu, as the eastern 
extremity of Vanua Levu is termed, where, until lately, 
an old screw-pine stood, to which a strange supersti- 
tion attached: a man who could hit any part of this 
tree between the root and the crown with a whale’s 
tooth, made sure that at his death all his wives would 
be strangled. On their way to Naicobocobo the spirits 
of the dead are supposed to do the same thing for the 
same purpose, there being a screw-pine at Takiveleyava. 
Ratu Mara, a chief well known in the annals of Fiji as 
a frequent disturber of the public peace, vainly tried to 
hit the tree at Udu; enraged at his continued failures, 
he cut it down. But what use is it to wrangle at fate ? 
Ratu Mara ended his restless career at Bau, where, for 
repeated treacheries, the king thought fit to hang him, 
and all his wives escaped the fearful doom of strangu- 
lation. 
