OVOLAU. 49 
might be beneficial in case of any difficulty occurring during our stay ; 
I believed, moreover, that it would add greatly to the respect which 
the natives would hold us in. 
The town of Levuka contains about forty houses ; it is situated on 
the east side of the island of Ovolau, in a quiet and peaceful valley, 
surrounded by a dense grove of cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, with 
a fine stream of fresh and pure water running through it to the 
beach; high, broken volcanic peaks rise to the west, forming the 
background. 
The frames of the houses are built of the bread-fruit tree, and are 
filled in with reeds, whilst the roof is covered with a thatch of the wild 
sugar-cane. They are usually oblong in shape, and from twenty to 
twenty-five feet in length by fifteen in breadth. 
The most conspicuous and remarkable structure is the mbure, or 
spirit-house, which is built on a raised and walled mound: its propor- 
tions are exceedingly uncouth, being nearly twice as high as it is broad 
at its base, and forming a singular, sharp-peaked roof; the piece of 
timber serving for the ridge-pole, projects three or four feet at each 
end, is covered with numbers of white shells (Ovula cyprea), and has 
two long poles or spears crossing it at right angles. A drawing of 
one of these mbure will be seen in the succeeding chapter. At the 
termination of the thatching, the roofs of all the houses are about a 
foot thick, and project eighteen inches or two feet, forming eaves, 
which secure them from the wet. For the most part they have two 
doors, and a fire-place in the centre, composed of a few stones. The 
furniture consists of a few boxes, mats, several large clay jars, and 
many drinking vessels, the manufacture of pottery being extensively 
carried on by them. The sleeping-place is generally screened off, and 
raised about a foot above the other part of the floor. 
Having settled definitively the mode of operation I intended to pursue 
in surveying the group, I was desirous of fixing some of the main points 
in my own mind, as well as in that of the officers, and therefore ordered 
a large party from each ship to be prepared to accompany me on the 
following morning, to one of the high peaks of the island, called Andu- 
long, taking with us the barometers, &c., for measuring its altitude. I 
likewise issued an order, directing officers 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 circumspection, 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. 
VOL. III. E 7 
