~ getieall 
MBUA BAY AND MUTHUATA. 217 
In the afternoon Captain Hudson got under way, although nearly all 
the officers and men were still at work on the survey, and anchored 
the ship off the northern point of Mbua Bay. ‘This point is called 
Dimba-dimba, and is considered by the natives as sacred ground; it 
is kept strictly from any kind of disturbance, for it is supposed to be 
inhabited by the spirits of the departed, and to be the place where they 
embark for the regions of Ndengei. It is a most beautiful spot, and in 
strong contrast with the surrounding country, which is in many places 
devoid of trees, while here they flourish as nature has planted them. 
The ground gradually rises from the shore for a short distance, then 
succeed abrupt precipices, of forty or fifty feet in height; and the 
land, as it recedes from the water, forms a kind of hanging garden, on 
which is seen a beautiful growth of large forest-trees, with here and 
there clumps of shrubbery of the tropical climates, which give it a 
peculiar aspect. The quiet and hallowed appearance was well cal- 
culated to keep up the impression that their priests have made upon 
them. 
On the 11th, the Peacock again got under way, and passed along 
between the shore and reefs. Here large schools of fish were passed 
through, apparently of two kinds, a small and larger one, of which the 
former leaped entirely out of the water, 
By the persuasion of the pilot, Captain Hudson was induced to 
attempt an outer passage, that the pilot thought existed round the island 
of Anganga; but after getting on coral knolls twice, Captain Hudson 
returned to the inshore channel, leading towards Ruke-ruke Bay, which 
is the next beyond Mbua. 
There is a high and insulated peak north of Dimba-dimba Point, 
which has a town perched on its very top. 
The bay of Ruke-ruke has a reef across its mouth, leaving only a 
narrow ship-channel into it. They anchored under Ivaca Peak, a high 
and bold bluff, whose height, by triangulation, is one thousand five 
hundred and sixty-three feet. On its top is also a town. The island 
of Anganga is immediately opposite to this peak. To the passage 
between them Captain Hudson proposed to give the name of Monkey- 
Face Passage, in consequence of one of the rocks having a remarkable 
resemblance to the face of that animal. 
They visited the village of Wailea, now containing only fifty persons. 
A few years since most of the former inhabitants were exterminated 
by the warriors of Ambau, who frequently make excursions thus far. 
On the 12th, they were under way at an early hour, and soon after 
passed the rock where Captain Dillon’s adventure occurred. Captain 
Eagleston, of the Leonidas, came on board, and piloted them to Naloa 
VOL. IIT. 28 
