Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
294 
tokula, and Makefu. Sometimes parties of two 
hundred or three hundred natives would arrive 
at Avatele from, say, Hakupu, each man and 
woman carrying two baskets of copra slung on 
a pole and weighing, say, 80 lb. or 100 lb. They 
would generally start on their journey long 
before daylight and reach Avatele before the 
sun’s rays grew too powerful. Likely enough, 
they would find that another large party of 
people had come in from Tamakautoga on a 
similar mission, and had taken possession of all 
the available ground surrounding the traders’ 
stores. 
Now, the rankest jealousy between the various 
towns obtains on Niue, and, consequently, in a 
few minutes, wrangling and fighting would 
begin, the women taking an active part in the 
proceedings. For half an hour or so the noise 
would be deafening ; then the bell for morning 
service rang and quiet reigned till its close. 
By this time the white men had finished break¬ 
fast and were ready to open their stores and 
commence the day’s trading. And a day’s 
trading on Savage Island during the copra 
season is enough to try the temper of a saint. 
Let me try and describe it. 
