52 OVOLAU. 



who left the ship for any purpose, to be armed ; being well satisfied 

 that every precaution ought to be taken, in order to prevent surprise 

 in any shape ; I also impressed upon all the necessity of circumspec- 

 tion, and of keeping themselves on their guard, which, as I learned 

 from the few incidents related to me by Whippy and others, was 

 highly necessary ; orders were also given to prepare the boats of both 

 ships for surveying duties. 



I understood that about forty whites had taken up their residence 

 here; but we only found twelve, who were all married to native 

 women, and generally had large families. 



We found lying at anchor here a small sloop, about the size of a 

 long-bcat, called "Who'd have thought it!" a tender to the ship 

 Leonidas, Captain Egleston, who was at another island curing the 

 biche de mar ; she was in charge of his first officer, Mr. Winn, who 

 had been about trading for tortoise-shell at the different islands. He 

 reported to me that one of his men had been enticed from the boat, 

 and had been murdered, and probably eaten: this was said to have 

 occurred near Muthuata, on the north side of Vanua-levu. It 

 appeared that Mr. Winn, with only four or five men, had been 

 trading in this small boat, for vessel she could not be called, around 

 the group. They had with them a small skiff or punt, capable of 

 holding only one man. In this one of the crew had been sent on 

 shore, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the natives had any 

 thing to dispose of. On his landing, he was led up from the beach, and 

 never returned. This incident claimed our attention afterwards, and 

 our proceedings in relation to it will be spoken of in their proper place. 



On the morning of the 9th, the weather proved fine, and at half- 

 past seven we all went on shore with our instruments. Orders were 

 left with the ship to fire guns, on a signal being given from the top 

 of Andulong. I put up both of the barometers, and made several 

 comparisons, and then left one under charge of an officer to make 

 half-hourly observations. We set off for the peak of Andulong, 

 apparently but a short hour's walk. Our party consisted of about 

 twenty-five officers and the naturalists, all intent upon their different 

 branches of duty. Being entirely unused to so fatiguing a climb, 

 some gave out, and were obliged to return ; the strongest of us found 

 no little exertion necessary to overcome the difficulties which beset 

 our path : every now and then a perpendicular rise of fifteen or twenty 

 feet was to be ascended, then a narrow ridge to be crossed, and again 

 a descent into a deep ravine ; the whole was clothed with vines at 

 intervals, and the walking was very precarious, from the numbers of 



