154 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



growing old, were not altogether free from suspicion. Mbau not being 

 included among the three mission stations at the Feejee Islands, 

 Tanoa, it was said, would not now receive a missionary unless arri- 

 ving from abroad. 



Rewa appears to advantage when seen from the river on which it 

 is situated ; and we were astonished to find, in a country like this, so 

 considerable a town. After the house of the queen dowager, the most 

 conspicuous building was a high and much-ornamented monument, 

 erected on the spot where the late king was assassinated. The dwell- 

 ing-houses usually rested on a basement, three or four feet in height, 

 constructed of angular stones laid without cement. These had been 

 brought down the river ; and timber-rafts also, were seen lying in front 

 of the town. 



I visited Ngaraningiou's house, the finest in the place, and which 

 was regarded " as on a par with any other at the Feejee Islands." It 

 was built on the usual plan, and the increased labour had been chiefly 

 expended on the interior arrangements ; the timbers being all covered 

 with a layer of rods (stems of the small sugar-cane), and each rod 

 coated with sinnet. The mode of access, was that in common use, 

 by means of a plank, with cross-bars ; each of which is made to retain 

 a small quantity of water for cleansing the feet. 



On the 20th, we took leave of Rewa ; and proceeding down the 

 river, our boat stopped at a village where earthen-ware is extensively 

 manufactured. In a few moments after it became known that we 

 were desirous of purchasing some, a crowd gathered around us, with 

 such a superfluity of articles, that we were glad to conclude our 

 traffic, and escape from the noise and confusion. In the evening, the 

 boats all rejoined the Peacock. 



We had become acquainted with the noted chief, Thokanauto (or 

 Phillips), who was very sportive and agreeable as a companion, and 

 who spoke English fluently. It was said, that he had also "some 

 knowledge of French and Italian, and that he manifested a desire to 

 learn every new language that he heard." He had made a voyage to 

 Taheiti and back, in an American vessel ; and unlike the other Fee- 

 jeeans, he had manifested in his house, some predilection for the 

 furniture and fashions of Europeans. He besides owned a small 

 schooner, which had been built by the resident Whites. 



Thokanauto was '■vasu^ of Mbau; his mother having been the 

 woman of highest rank in that district; and in consequence, he had 

 the privilege of appropriating therefrom whatever he fancied. Thus 



