FIJI ISLANDS. 309 



mountainous, picturesque, well watered, fertile, and pleasant to 

 the eye. I found several plants on this occasion, amongst which 

 was a very remarkable fern, Polypodium Horsefieldii, but I met 

 with it only on one hill. Its leaves resemble those of cow 

 parsnip more than of a fern. 



King- George of Tonga arrived the same evening that we did, 

 with a fleet of thirty-five large canoes, carrying 2000 men besides 

 the women and children. It was a very pretty sight to see so 

 many double canoes sail together into the harbour ; for though 

 our vessel had to lie out at sea, boats and canoes enter through 

 a narrow opening in the reef, into a small basin of still water, 

 The double canoe at a little distance looks like a raft, on which 

 a house is built, and it is driven by a huge top-heavy sail of 

 matting. The crew and passengers cling all round and at top, 

 as in a Neapolitan caleche, and a war canoe sometimes thus 

 carries as many as 500 men. King George was on his way home, 

 after having acquired much glory in helping the Fijian king to 

 put down a formidable rebellion that had nearly upset his 

 authority. 



I landed at Vewa on the 17th, and had a botanising walk in 

 the bush. The island is covered with timber, and the trees are 

 well stored with Epiphyte orchids and ferns, many of which 

 I gathered. At the Mission-house I asked for a guide, and was 

 furnished with a man called Koroe, who climbed trees for para- 

 sites, gathered flowers, carried my bundle, and was very agree- 

 able, and quite pleased when, at parting, I gave him a fourpenny 

 knife. I asked whether the name Koroe had any meaning, and 

 was told that it was a very honourable title, something equiva- 

 lent to a C.B. in England, and only given to a person who had 

 committed at least five murders. 



On the 18th I visited Bau, the capital of Fiji, and perhaps 

 the largest and best-built native town in the Southern Pacific. 

 It is situated on a small island close to the mainland of Fiji, 

 the insular situation having been chosen for purposes of defence. 

 This town was the chief seat of cannibalism and devilry of all 

 kinds, and perhaps has witnessed more savage crimes than any 

 other spot of its size on the face of the earth. About two years 

 ago, after a continual refusal for eighteen years, a Christian 

 missionary was allowed footing here, and the change since that 

 time has been extraordinary. The few temples that still stand 



