28 BOW DITCH ISLAND. 



communication with the natives, by renewing in their minds the 

 fear of our power. 



Notwithstanding the weather was so very unpropitious, the natu- 

 ralists made excursions to the different parts of the island. They all 

 describe the luxuriance of the vegetation as exceeding any thing they 

 had before witnessed : the rich soil, combined with the heat and 

 copious rains, rendered every spot fertile, and seemed to give new life 

 to the vast variety of parasitic plants with which all the trees were 

 covered, and which, in the groves, were so thick as to form masses 

 impenetrable to the rays of the sun. A remarkable ficus was passed 

 on this trip, of which Mr. Agate made a characteristic drawing, and 

 which will give a good idea of their size and manner of growth : the 

 road or path passes through its trunk. A number of other trees were 

 remarkable : among them the "ife," a gigantic chestnut, with its pro- 

 jecting buttresses around the trunk. The woods were enlivened by 

 many birds, and the air filled with their songs and chirpings. 



At Siusinga, a devil's town, Messrs. Rich, Peale, and Agate, saw 

 Seeovedi, better known as Joe Gimblet, the great priest of his creed. 

 He lay on a mat by himself, no one speaking or going near him, and 

 was pretending to read his sacred book, which our gentlemen disco- 

 vered was a volume of the Rambler ! This was obtained from him, 

 by Mr. Agate, in exchange for a treatise on rail-roads, which had a 

 flashy red cover, and therefore calculated to inspire his flock with 

 additional reverence for their priest. He also made use of a kind 

 of gibberish in talking to them, wishing, as was supposed, to give his 

 followers the idea that he could speak the Papalangis' language. How 

 he had contrived to propitiate the anger of the old chief Lelomiava, 

 was not ascertained ; but a story was told of him, that about a year 

 before he had lost his two wives, and disappeared, informing his 

 followers he was going to heaven to procure a third. He absented 

 himself about a week, no one being informed where he had gone. 

 On his return without a wife, he was asked where she was. His 

 reply was, that the Great Spirit had told him that he was too old to 

 marry a young wife, and must return to his people, who would take 

 care of him, provide him with food, and do for him all that a wife 

 could do. He accordingly returned, in obedience to the Spirit's 

 directions, and appears to live contented, all his wants being supplied 

 without any care or trouble to himself. One of the most ridiculous 

 parts of this fellow's proceedings, was a native bringing to him an old 

 tea-kettle, which was tabooed and held sacred, on which he began 



