302 MALOLO. 
sionary cause, and determined to bring all the natives into acquies- 
cence. ‘The town of Bea being one of the strongest of those belonging. 
to the principal chief of the devil’s party, he undertook to capture it, 
but underrated the strength of its fortification and its means of defence. 
For this purpose he landed a large party from his:ship (the Favourite 
sloop-of-war), and proceeded to the town of Bea, on reaching which 
he sent a message to the purport that its inhabitants must come to 
_ terms within an hour, and gave them no time to consult or arrange 
matters, after their own fashion. As soon as the hour was up, he 
called upon them to surrender, which they refused to do, upon which 
he at once proceeded to attack the gate. The native warriors resisted 
and fired upon him. The affair resulted in the loss of his own life, 
with those of several of his officers and men, and a consequent 
abandonment of the object. The retreat was succeeded by the expul- 
sion from the island of the missionaries and Christian party. It is sup- 
posed that if a longer time had been allowed the chief of Bea, all its 
inhabitants would have come over quietly to the Christian party, under 
the fear of the storming and taking of the place, for they had but little 
idea that they could withstand the attack of a white, or Papalangi force. 
On the morning of the 8th, we left Somu-somu and stood to the 
northward for the Ringgold Isles. These are seven in number, and 
are surrounded by extensive reefs. ‘The highest of the group, called 
Budd Island was ascended: it is composed of volcanic scoria and 
large blocks of lava, rising to the height of eight hundred feet, and 
has an almost perfect crater in its centre. The outside, or rim, of this 
crater forms the island, and is very narrow at the top; its inner side is 
quite perpendicular, while its outside is generally inclined at an angle 
of fifty or sixty degrees, although in places it is almost perpendicular ; 
the climbing is, however, made comparatively easy by the assistance 
of the roots of the trees that grow upon it, of which some of large 
size are near its base. The other islands in its neighbourhood we did 
not land on: they are uninhabited, except at the turtle season; they 
are barren rocks, and too dangerous to be approached by a vessel, the 
reefs extending as far as the eye can reach. | 
Having succeeded in making all the requisite observations, we 
returned to the tender, and left Ringgold Isles, with the intention of 
anchoring under Rambe; but we were benighted before we reached, 
the reef; and as our pilots did not know where the entrance was, yi 
determined to proceed to Unda Point, off which we arrived near mid- 
night, and lay-to until daylight. 
On the morning of the 9th of August, at daylight, we found ourselves 
