264 A MISSION TO VITI. 
tended with evil consequences to either party; to refer 
all matters of dispute between them to H.B.M. Consul, 
to disavow all allegiance or dependence on Maafu, and 
to suffer punishment, even to the loss of their chieftain- 
ship, in case of non-compliance with any article of the 
convention. A document of this nature was accordingly 
drawn up, ably translated by the consular interpreter, 
Mr. Charles Wise, signed by the two chiefs, and wit- 
nessed by Mr. Pritchard, the Tonguese teacher, the in- 
terpreter, and myself. 
Early the next morning we made for Nukubati. This 
island, scarcely a mile in circumference, still bore ample 
traces of the mode of warfare carried on by the Ton- 
guese. All the houses had been destroyed by fire, with 
the exception of one, the temporary residence of Maafu 
during the fight. The trunks of most of the cocoa-nut 
palms were charred by the conflagration that had con- 
sumed the town; nearly all the other fruit-trees had 
been cut down, and hundreds of cocoa-nut trunks felled, 
to make a high stockade, dividing the island into two sec- 
tions, and serving as a breastwork, impenetrable to bul- 
lets. The wells had been filled up with rocks, logs, and 
rubbish; in fine, every damage that could possibly be 
conceived to change a flourishing town and a fruitful 
island into a wilderness, had been done. Quite recently 
a few settlers had collected on Nukubati, busily engaged 
in re-establishing the plantations and erecting houses. 
Hardly had we dropped anchor when a deputation 
from the island, headed by the local chief, waited upon 
Ritova. They brought with them presents of wild 
yams, ready cooked, and carried on a tray of cocoa-nut 
