Niue. 
283 
reached our destination—the village of Avatele, 
which was to be my home. We were anchored 
so close to the shore that I could hear from 
my cabin the shouts and cries of the natives 
as they gathered together on the rocks awaiting 
the boats to land, and I hurried to dress myself 
and my little daughter so as to get ashore 
in the first boat. 
The scene from the deck of the ship was 
a pretty one. Between rocky headlands there 
lay a tiny little beach—the only one on Niue— 
from which a rough path led to the village, 
an irregular cluster of brown thatched houses 
standing among lofty coconut-palms ; and 
further back on a level greensward, white 
buildings of coral lime contrasted prettily with' 
the wealth of the dark green foliage of orange 
and breadfruit trees that grew around them. 
Beyond, nothing was to be seen but an endless 
array of the greyish-red trunks of the graceful 
coco-palms that encompassed the village on all 
sides but the sea front. 
By the time we had taken our seats in the 
boat, the whole of the village had gathered 
together on the rocks—men, women, and 
children. I had only just time to notice that 
