228 MBUA BAY AND M U T H U A T A. 



bought for a paper of vermilion. Neither of them, however, could 

 be tempted to touch a single article himself, although they had no 

 objection to our gentlemen doing so. On the next day, Mr. Peale 

 returning from his jaunt, took his purchase and carried it on board. 



Tui Mora attended to the disposal of the different articles that 

 were brought for sale, consisting principally of taro, yams, fruit 

 (shaddocks, bananas, lemons, and cocoa-nuts), but not a pig was to 

 be seen of any size ; in fact, these people had but little food to spare. 



The houses are by no means as substantial as those at the principal 

 towns of Ambau and Rewa ; their framework is much smaller, and 

 the eaves extend to the ground. Both the walls and roof are of reeds, 

 thatched. 



The chiefs of the Mbua district are not considered as belonging to 

 the nobility of the islands, but to the class kai-si ; it is only since the 

 whites have frequented the islands, that this place has become of 

 any note. Formerly Rawaike, Tui Mora's father, the Tui Mbua, 

 or lord of Mbua, governed the whole district, which comprises the 

 coast from Buia Point to beyond Naloa on the north shore, or about 

 one-sixth of the island of Vanua-levu, and is next to that of Nandi on 

 the west, although there are two or three independent towns between 

 them near Buia Point. 



In 1809, when Mr. Vanderford, who was master's mate on board 

 the Vincennes, was there, Rawaike was very powerful, and exer- 

 cised rule over nearly the whole island. The bay of Sandalwood 

 was then thickly populated, and appeared to enjoy much political 

 consideration in the group. Since the accession of the present Tui 

 Mbua, Makatu, its authority is very much decreased, and it now 

 is of scarcely any consideration at all. Makatu was born in the 

 district of Nandi, but was a vasu of Mbua, and managed, when 

 Rawaike died, to be chosen king. Since that time they have had 

 continual civil wars, in which many of the people have been killed, 

 while others have sought a different abode. This last war, to which 

 Captain Hudson put a momentary cessation, had lasted more than 

 five months, during which time they had killed upwards of fifty of 

 the enemy, and lost about thirty of their own men. Among the 

 reasons assigned for not coming to terms long before was " the fear 

 of being clubbed by the opposite party through treachery." 



One of the surveying boats, with Passed Midshipman Blunt, re- 

 turned from the island of Yendua, with James Strahan, seaman, 

 belonging to the Vincennes, who had fallen from a tree while cutting 



