A cruise in the islands : Tonga - Samoa

THE idea of a cruise among the South Sea Islands appeals strongly to the imagination of most people. Visions pass before us of palm trees, coco-nut groves, tropical fruits, coral reefs, primitive modes of life, picturesque natives, and as we contemplate the possibility of seeing all these in reality, the prospect grows strangely fascinating. The islands of the Pacific are so numerous that they have been called the “ Milky Way of the Ocean,” and until late years the only means of visiting them were those afforded by schooners and other small vessels trading there, sometimes for good, and sometimes for evil purposes. Now the numerous services of the Union Steam Ship Company afford opportunities of visiting the most interesting of the groups all the year round, and with as much comfort and at almost as little expense as an ordinary intercolonial trip. The cruise described in the following pages is one of the Company’s regular services, and it can be varied or extended by making use of other of the Company’s steamers that touch at different points of the route described. In Fiji one of the Company’s steamers is exclusively employed travelling between various islands of the group.

There are two seasons in the South Sea Islands— the hot and rainy season lasting from October to May, and the dry season from May to October. The climate of the Islands is healthy and pleasant, and the heat much less than in many other tropical countries. The dry season is the best time to visit the Islands, and the months of June, July, and August are the best of the six. In nearly all the ports visited by the steamers there are good wharves, so that passengers are saved the discomfort of landing in boats or canoes. There is also fair hotel accommodation for a limited number of visitors, and in the principal ports horses can be hired for inland journeys, while comfortable arrangements can be made for visiting by boat places on the coast.

In regard to the kind of dress most suitable for wear in the Islands, it is important that all garments should be of light and cool material, and that those worn next the skin should be to some extent absorbent. The changes of temperature in the Islands are not so frequent and trying as those experienced in colder latitudes, but nevertheless it is w'ise to wear next the skin a thin silk or woollen singlet. The regulation wear for men is white drill. A cummerbund of silk or woollen material is substituted for the waistcoat of temperate climates, and is thought to be a necessary protection to the loins against changes of temperature. Those, however, who move about much from place to place, and who have to get through much walking or riding, will find the flannel shirt and flannel suit the most healthful, comfortable, and con-

venient form of dress. It is important that the headgear should be light and cool, and that it should serve effectually to protect the head against the danger of sunstroke. The best form of hat is perhaps the light unlined cork helmet; the straw hat is also much used. The most comfortable shoes are those of white canvas with leather soles. Reefing shoes ought to have gutta percha soles to secure the wearer against slipping.

Collectors who desire to collect plants in the Islands will find some difficulty in drying their specimens and in protecting them from the mould and mildew that are so readily generated in a warm and moist climate. Dipping the specimens in a solution of corrosive sublimate and alcohol will be found an effective protection.

There are certain peculiarities of Samoan and Fijian spelling which, in this little book, it has been thought "well to avoid, for the comfort of those unfamiliar with the orthography of the Islands. The Samoan and Fijian “ g ” has the phonetic value of our“ng”; the Fijian “b” is “mb ” ; “c”is“th”; and “ d ” is “ nd.” Thus, Pago-Pago is pronounced “ Pango-Pango,” and is here so written ; Mago is “ Mango ” ; Bauis “ Mbau ” ; Cakobau is “ Thakom-bau ” ; Kadavu is “ Kandavu,” and so on.

Tonga is a kingdom, of w^Thich the present king is George II. Great Britain, Germany, and the United States are represented by Consuls. Gold

Samoa is also a kingdom, the present ruler being Malietoa Luapepa. Great Britain, Germany, and the United States are represented by Consuls. American coinage is the standard of exchange. United States, English, and German coins are exclusively in use.

Fiji is a British Crown Colony, the affairs of which are administered by a Governor and Executive Council. The present Governor is Sip«, John Bates Thurston, Iv.C.M.G. The coinage is that of the United Kingdom.

Visitors to the Islands will do w^Tell to remember that the sale or gift of alcoholic liquors to natives is strictly prohibited, and the offence punishable by a heavy fine or by imprisonment. A present of cigars or cigarettes is a sure road to a native’s favour, and there is no law against making such a gift.

The illustrations are taken from photographs. Where possible the obligation to the artist is acknowledged.

A Cruise in the Islands.

PART I.—TONGA.

Since then the Natives have been withdrawn from the island and placed out of harm’s way on the island of Eua, which is the most southerly of the larger islands, and to the left of which the steamer passes as she approaches Tongatabu. Eua was at one time leased as a sheep run, but the tenant found it unsuitable, and now rears his flocks in the more congenial climate of New Zealand. Some eight hours or so from Pylstaart the low-lying outline of Tongatabu is sighted.

There are two entrances to the harbour of Nukualofa, the capital of Tonga—one from the north, the other from the east. By whatever approach the steamer enters, the

run from Auckland to Tonga, in ordinary circumstances, takes four and a half days. The course is north-east, and the distance between the two places is 1100 miles. About half-way of this distance the vessel crosses longitude 180deg., passing from the Eastern to the Western Hemisphere. The Tonga or Friendly Islands extend from 173°52' to 176°10' west longitude, and from 18deg. to 22deg. south latitude. They consist of three groups : Tongatabu, Haapai, and Vavau, the most southerly being Tongatabu, and the others stretching north-east in the order named. In the Tongan Archipelago there are, great and small, about a hundred islands, many of these, however, being mere coral banks, giving roothold to a few palms. The first land sighted after leaving New Zealand is an outlier of the group, called Pylstaart—an island lying some distance south of Tongatabu, and rising 700 feet above sea-level. It is said that in 1871 a vessel touched at this island-rock and carried off some Natives who were living there to South ximerica.

. points of interest are much the same—the intricate sinuosities of the coral reef, marked by the foam of the surf, and by the brilliant variegation of colour in the shoal water ; the unusual contour of the low-lying coral islands, with their beaches of yellow sand, or fringe of dashing breakers; and the novel character of the vegetation, indicated in the distance by the feathery heads of the coco-nut palms silhouetted against the sky. No doubt those who have never before left Australia or New Zealand may easily have met with scenery equal in beauty to anything they are likely to find in these islands, and infinitely grander ; but, except in pictures, they will not have seen anything quite like Tonga, which has all the charm of novelty. Nukualofa, seen from the approaching steamer, is a strikingly pretty little town, white, bright, and cheerful, with ample open spaces, green and restful to the eye. The visitor who sees it for the first time, cannot fail to be impressed with the unusual character of its streets and roads— grassy lawns, bordered or dotted with such trees as we coax into flower in our hothouses—dracienas, crotons, and other plants of brilliant foliage, and shrubs bearing odd fruits or loaded with blossoms rich in colour and in fragrance. The most pestilent weed in Tonga is one of the marvels of the vegetable world. In some places, near the tomb of the late king for instance, it covers and chokes the sward ; but in wilder and more shady places it forms a low undergrowth. It has delicately cut foliage like a fern, and is starred over with little fluffy balls of pink blossom. Brush its leaves ever so lightly, and they shrivel up as with a blight; and if you walk where it forms a turf, your footsteps are marked by the shrinking of its foliage. Its apparent blight, however, lasts only for a few minutes, and then it slowly expands and rises again to its erect position. As the chill of evening falls, it folds its little leaves and goes to sleep, opening them again to the first warmth of the morning sun. This is the sensitive plant (Mimosa sensitiva).

The visitor’s programme in Tonga must, of course, depend on the length of time at his disposal. On the round trip his stay at each port will vary from one to three days.

Should the steamer reach Nukualofa in the afternoon, the few remaining hours of daylight may be profitably spent in strolling about the town and seeing something of Native life. The Tongans are an exceedingly handsome race— tall, upright, and graceful in carriage; and they are courteous and hospitable to strangers, glad to receive them into their houses, and ready with a kava-bowl of welcome.

Ivava-drinking in the various islands is a universal institution of the highest antiquity. At a small social gathering of two or three persons, or at a grand palaver of tribes, the kava-bowl is equally indispensable. In its raw form kava (the root of the. Piper looks like

the dried i’oot of any ordinary tree. After the guests are assembled, the first step in the preparation of the drink is to pound this root on a hard, flat stone; and the tap-tap of the kava stone, a sound so characteristic of a Tongan village, is an invitation to those who hear it to join the drinking circle. Until comparatively recent times the root was ground by mastication ; but this practice has become obsolete, though some affirm that the quality of the beverage suffers in consequence. When the root has been sufficiently pounded it is thrown into the kava-bowl, a large basin formed from a single piece of wood, and resting on wooden feet, generally four in number, but sometimes as many as six or eight. Whilst the kava-maker, usually a young and pretty daughter of the house, works the pounded root with her hands, another girl brings water in a coconut vessel, and pours it over the mass, which is thoroughly kneaded till the whole virtue of the kava has been expressed into the water. The next thing is to strain from the bowl the larger floating particles of the root; which graceful operation—admirably fitted to display the pretty hands of the operator—is performed with a bundle of fibre prepared from the bark of the yellow hibiscus. When the liquid is sufficiently strained, it is taken up, a little at a time, in the strainer, as in a sponge, pressed into a coconut drinking-cup, and passed round to the men present, who squat in a semicircle, smoking or talking. It is a grave solecism to sip the kava; the cup must be drained

at a draught, and then it is proper to spin it back, teetotum fashion, across the floor towards the girl who presides at the bowl. At the more ceremonious kavadrinkings the cup is presented to the guests in a strict order of precedence, a special master of ceremonies calling out the order to be observed. Kava, taken in moderation, is a wholesome and refreshing drink, and of singular virtue in allaying thirst. Though not perhaps agreeable to the unaccustomed palate, it is not nauseous; resembling, as much as anything, in appearance and taste, a decoction of ground ginger. Frequently during the ceremony of kava-drinking, the best singers discourse music—monotonous ditties, sung with the sad solemnity of Gregorian chants, and accompanied by pretty rhythmical motions of the hands and arms.

A really good kava-bowl is a curio difficult to obtain. In course of time, the frequent brewings coat the inside of the bowl with a beautiful opalescent enamel; and a bowl with a good natural varnish of this kind is a much-valued family possession, not readily sold for money.

No one should leave Tonga without seeing something of the Native churches. To a stranger tbe cliurch-pelitics of Tonga are a little perplexing. Besides the Roman Catholic Church, zealously administered by the Marist Brothers, there are two Wesleyan Churches, the old and the new, differing from each other in government, but little or not at all in creed and ritual. Tbe old Wesleyan Church occupies the finest site in Tonga, the beautiful green knoll, so conspicuous as one approaches the town by sea. This Church retains its connection with the Wesleyan body in Australia, and its affairs are regulated by the Australian Conference. Beside the church on the hill is the grave of Captain Croker, of H.M.S. Favourite, who was killed in an attack made some years ago on a village inland from Nukualofa. Then there is the new Wesleyan Church, which some years ago seceded from the mother church, and is now known as the Tongan Free Church. Besides the royal chapel, within the palace grounds, there is a large oval building in which

A GROUP OF TONGAN GIRLS.

THE KING’S PALACE, NUKUALOFA

From Photon, by Burton Bros-, Dunedin.

the services of the Tongan Free Church are held. The architecture of a Tongan church has a distinct character of its own. The building has the oval shape of the Native house, and, if it is thatched, as it generally is, presents a picturesque appearance. The interior, even more than the exterior, possesses a distinctive local character. The roof, a lattice-work of crossed batons bent to follow the necessary curves, is supported on a scaffolding of beams, "which in its turn is supported on two rows of solid tree-stems, running the full length of the building. No nails are used in the construction of the frame-work, the parts being bound firmly together with variously coloured sinnet, which on the larger surfaces is wrought into tasteful geometrical patterns. Sometimes the Tongan Church is fitted up with pews, but quite as often there are no seats, the congregation squatting crosslegged on the floor—the men on the one side, the women on the other. The young Tongans are well trained in church psalmody ; and if the opportunity offers itself, visitors will find it w^Torth their while to attend one of the Native services.

Of the public buildings in Nukualofa those which most challenge attention are the King’s Palace, and the King’s Church, standing side by side within the same inclosure at the end of the wharf. The Palace is an ostentatious balconied building, suggestive not so much of royalty as of successful trade. The church is a handsome wooden structure, and is beautifully fitted up inside with various New Zealand woods, the carvings on the pulpit and royal dais being exceedingly pretty. The tomb of the late Prince Wellington stands near the church •; and the “langi,” erected to the memory of the late King George, will be found further up, at the back of the town, near the Wesleyan college for girls.

Tongatabu is an island of coral formation, and therefore presents no heights from which extensive views can be obtained. But there are numerous long and pretty drives 'which are more or less possible, according to the time the vessel stays at Nukualofa. What will most interest the greater number of visitors is the novel character of the vegetation, and the glimpses of Native life and manners. Of these, a drive of a few hours will suffice to give the visitor a fair idea. A favourite drive is that to Houma, a Native town about eight miles from Nukualofa, the way lying through coco-nut plantations and Native villages. The town of Houma is itself of interest, being still surrounded by the earthworks of the old fighting days. And then there are the “ blow-holes through which, as the great combers roll in from the Pacific and break upon the reef, vast columns of water rise in fountains, to fall in magnificent showers of spray. A somewhat longer ride is that to Mua, some twelve miles distant from Nukualofa, where may be seen the wonderful and mysterious tombs of the old Tongan kings. These tombs, or “langis,” as they are called, are evidence of a power of mechanical contrivance quite beyond the present generation of Tongans. A langi is a four-square inclosure, some 50 by 30 feet in extent, inclosed by two tiers of large coral-blocks, laid end to end, accurately squared, and fitting closely together. A corner block in one of these langis, which lies a little way in the bush to the left of the road as one drives from Nukualofa, measures, roughly, 21 feet by 5 feet by 4 feet; and probably there are other blocks as large, or larger. The interior space of a langi is a broad platform covered thick with fragments of coral brought from the beach, and now, from the neglect of years, overgrown with trees and ferns. Local authorities agree in considering these wonderful erections to be the*tombs of ancient Tongan kings, though to the ignorant eye they look like places of defence.

On a fine day, with a cool sea-breeze blowing, the twelve miles’ ride to Mua, through the village of Bea, will be found most interesting and delightful. The grassy road winds through avenues of lovely trees. Lofty palms incline their graceful trunks at various angles and with various curves, whilst the young cocos, not yet at the fruit-bearing age, wave their enormous fronds in the wind —most graceful of all the trees that grow. Next to the palm, and its rival in grace it not in grandeur, is the

banana, plantations of which are interspersed among the groves of coco-nut trees. Hedges of citron trees line the lanes through which you drive; and orange trees dangle their fruits overhead as you pass beneath their branches : whilst many strange nuts and fruits attract and perplex the attention. Nor is colour wanting, though it is not perhaps so plentiful as one expects in a tropic wilderness. The yellow hibiscus, with the rich claret stain in the depth of its golden chalice, is a miracle of beauty—a more queenly flower, perhaps, even than the magnificent crimson variety. Stretching from tree to tree, and binding stem to stem with its luxuriant vines, the convolvulus grows rampant, expanding to the sunshine a lovely bell the colour of the sky : whilst every spot not appropriated by some other plant is filled with the handsome foliage and crimson flower of the Indian shot. The scarlet pods of the chilli are thick by the way side, and occasionally one sees a patch of sugar cane, of dalo, or of yams, or the bursting pods of a group of cotton^- trees. Occasionally the road opens upon a native village ; and amongst human haunts nothing more picturesque, more peaceable, or more beautiful can be seen than a Tongan village as it presents itself for the first time to the attention of a passer-by : a park-like space, with a short, soft sward, dotted with forest trees, which are knotted and gnarled by age into the shapes beloved of artists ; and here and there a pretty reed-built oval hut, half revealed, half concealed amongst its citron and orange trees — lighted up with the scarlet glow of a pomegranate, and perfumed with the heavy fragrance of white gardenias. And the Native life is in harmony with the beauty of the village. In one door-way you see a child standing open-eyed and unabashed—in At

another two women beating out the tappa, making music by the rhythm of their strokes—like blacksmiths at a forge—whilst a little boy with his mallet skilfully introduces his little tap-tap and changes the beat into triple time. On the open space in front of another hut is spread a roll of tappa, which Tongan artists are painting with

varied geometrical patterns ; whilst the other members of the family, old and young, are sprawling round in various attitudes, absorbing the sunshine and enjoying life.

Near to Mua, and within a mile of tlie langis are limestone caves, with a subterranean river, and a lake of fresh water of some extent and depth.

Another object of interest well worth a visit is the Haamunga, or Trilithon, like the langis a mysterious relic of an older civilisation in Tonga. The Trilithon consists of two enormous upright blocks of stone, set like the jambs of a doorway, with another huge block laid across the top and curiously morticed into the two uprights. How these blocks were brought to the spot they now occupy, and what purpose they originally served, cannot now be even conjectured. The Trilithon lies near the town of Kologa, on the eastern passage, and about sixteen miles from Nukualofa, from which it may be visited either on horseback or by boat. The trip to the Trilithon will, however, be a full day’s work, and visitors ought to start early in the morning, with a reliable guide, if they wish to accomplish the journey without undue pressure.

If the steamer enters or leaves by the eastern passage it must pass close to the town of Kologa, and, as there is deep water close to the shore, a delay of half-an-hour would enable passengers to visit the Trilithon.

It is always possible, with a little management, at Nukualofa to arrange for the hire of riding horses or traps, but it will require arrangement, and visitors must not expect to find fully equipped livery stables where they can procure horses at a minute’s notice.

On leaving Tongatabu the steamer makes for the middle group of the Tongan Islands, and anchors off Haapai in about twelve hours from Nukualofa. On its course northeast to Haapai the steamer passes the Namuka group, considerably to the west of which lies Falcon Island (158 feet), which was thrown up by volcanic eruption in 1885. On nearing the Haapai group the two volcanic islands— Tofoa (1800 feet) and Kao (3030 feet)—maybe seen to the left. From Tofoa the Tongans get their best kava stones,

and the black water-worn pebbles with which they cover the graves of their dead. The three chief islands of the Haapai group are Lefuka, Fua, and Haano. It is in the offing of Pangai, a township on the west shore of Lefuka, that the steamer comes to anchor. Like Tons:atabu, Lefuka is low lying and of coral formation, the reef shelving out for a considerable distance round the island, which is long, and so narrow that a walk of ten minutes takes one from the west shore to the east. There are a few good houses in'the village. Here, as in Nukualofa, the king has a palace, and, being of Haapai birth, is said to prefer Pangai to his capital.

Lefuka, as regards formation, vegetation, and Native life, is a repetition of Tongatabu on a smaller scale. The view of the beach-combers, its they break over the reef on the eastern side of the island, is very impressive ; and by passing over the shoal water of the reef in a boat, interesting glimpses may be obtained of the coral gardens below, with their teeming population of brilliantly coloured fishes. A visit may be paid to the old Wesleyan Mission-house, where a courteous welcome is given to visitors by the venerable missionary and his wife.

It was at the north-west point of Lefuka, on the 29th of November, 1806, that the Port au Prince came to anchor, for the last time, in seven fathoms of water. Three days after, the ship was seized by the Natives and most of the crew massacred. Amongst the few saved was William Mariner, who, becoming a favourite with the king, Finau, lived for some years amongst the Natives like one of themselves, learned their language, familiarised himself with their customs, and on Pis return to England supplied material for a history of Tonga, which is, in its way, a classic. After being looted by the Natives the Port au Prince was hauled in close to the shore and burned; and relics of the unfortunate vessel possibly remain still to be discovered at the north end of the island.

A run of eight hours brings the steamer to Vavau, the most northerly of the Tongan group. These islands are of volcanic origin, and consequently entirely

different in appearance from Haapai and Tongatabu. The entrance to Yavau is surpassingly beautiful, resembling more the passage of an inland sound than the approach to an island of the South Seas. After passing the outlying islands, the shore, for some miles, is a succession of bold cliffs, wooded headlands, receding bays, and glistening beaches, with here and there open grassy plots, dotted with trees like an English shrubbery. Occasionally a Native but or village may be seen nestling comfortably among the bananas and palm trees on low lying spits of land, or on green lawms sloping to the water’s edge. Wherever the eye wanders the foreground is feathered with waving coco-nut trees,- whilst the background to this fairy scene is a bold ridge of hills, whose curiously terraced forms are only in part concealed by their dense vegetation.

The port of Yavau is completely landlocked, and as the water is deep the harbourage for vessels of all sizes is one of the finest in the world. The town of Neiafu, ideally perfect in situation—lying, as it does, on a green slope and plateau above the harbour—is really an orange grove, over which are scattered the Native houses and churches. The bouses of the white population are placed mostly on the slope that overhangs the harbour, and the whole is backed by the wooded hill of Olopeka, from which, by an easy ascent of not more than twenty minutes, a fine view may be obtained of the harbour and its shores.

If the steamer stays long enough at Vavau, visitors ought to make the ascent of Talau—a volcanic hill about an hour’s walk from the port. The road lies by an easy and shady track through the bush, and cannot be mistaken. It is only the last hundred feet of the climb that offers the slightest difficulty ; and, when the top is reached, a view is disclosed which, for extent and beauty, cannot easily be equalled—a limitless landscape of palmy islands and peninsulas, blue winding bays and sounds, white beaches, and foaming reefs : there are no bounds to the view except distance. The descent from Talau may be made by an interesting fissure in the mountain. This

track is, however, a little difficult to negotiate, and those unused to scrambling had better not attempt it.

To those who make a prolonged stay in Vavau, many other interesting excursions are possible, on foot or on horseback. The ride to Tafoa and the Liku may be done in six hours, and horses are easily procurable. Tafoa is the highest summit in the Vavau group, and commands an extensive view. From Tafoa, a short ride brings one to the Liku, on the weather side of the island, where it is possible to ride for fifteen miles on a good road, along the edge of precipices varying in height from two to six hundred feet.

No one ought to leave Vavau without visiting a cave that lies three or four miles down the harbour. This may be done by boat from Vavau, but usually steamers, in going out, if the weather is suitable, delay long enough to allow passengers to row into the cave. On entering by the comparatively narrow cleft that forms the doorway, you find yourself in the soft cathedral light of a natural hall of noble dimensions. Buttressed columns rise from floor to vault, and divide the cave into shadowy alcoves. Through its floor of liquid sapphire flash strange iridescent reflections of the sunshine without, and the chequered gleams from the water cover the green walls with a quivering network of light. Look down into the shadow of the boat, and you may see—as distinctly as if it lay embedded in crystal—a merman’s garden of grotesque and curious coral growths ; whilst aloft, in the dusk of the groined roof, swallows are flitting in and out among their “ procreant cradles.” There are, no doubt, many caves in the world vaster and more curious than this, but there can he few more beautiful; and in mere gratitude for so much beauty visitors should do what they can to prevent its disfiguration by vandals, who paint on its walls names and dates in letters a foot long.

Visitors to Tonga are likely to feel some curiosity as to the existence and whereabouts of what is known as “ Mariner’s Cave.” There can be no doubt that there exists in one of the islands south of Vavau such a cave as

Mariner describes. “ The nature of this cavern,” says Mariner, “ will be better understood if we imagine a hollow rock rising sixty feet or more above the surface of the water; into the cavity of which there is no known entrance but one, and that is on the side of the rock, as low down as six feet under the water, into which it flows ; and consequently the base of the cavern may be said to be the sea itself.” Mariner himself seems to have visited the cave by the submarine archway, but few, if any, of the present generation appear to have entered it. The captain of one of Her Majesty’s ships is said to have entered the cave some years ago, but in doing so to have received injuries from which he died, having risen too soon and grazed his back with the coral. An interesting account of the cave and the legend connected w^rith it will be found in the ninth chapter of Mariner’s history. In his poem of “ The Island,” B vron also describes it:—

PART II.—SAMOA.

'ROM Vavau the course of the steamer is still N.E. for Jp a distance of 345 miles to the Samoa, or Navigator, ^ Group, this last being the name given to the islands by their discoverer, Bougainville, from the fact that he found natives of the group expertly sailing their canoes far out at sea. The Samoa Group, whose larger axis runs east and west, lies between 169deg. 24min. and 172deg. 50min. west longitude, and between 13deg. 30min. and 14degf.30min. south latitude. It consists of ten inhabited islands, of which the chief are: —Savaii, 700 square miles; Upolu, 560 square miles ; Tutuila, 240 square miles ; Manu’a, 100 square miles ; Olosenga, 24 square miles; Of’u, 10 square miles ; Manono, 9 square miles ; and Apolima, 7 square miles. The three largest of the group, Savaii, Upolu, and Tutuila lie in a line west and east, Upolu being the centre island, separated from Savaii to the west by five miles of sea, and from Tutuila to the east by a stretch of forty miles. Savaii, the most westerly and the largest of the group, is a rhomboid-shaped island, measuring some forty miles from east to west, and fifteen across from north to south. The interior, consisting of three parallel ranges of wooded mountains, is comparatively unknown. The highest peak, in the middle of the island, is some 4000 feet high, and is generally capped with clouds. Savaii, like the other islands of the group, is fringed along a considerable part of the shore with coral reef; which, however, breaks off towards the south and west, where the coast presents a frowning, iron-bound front of black lava cliffs. There are few good landing places in Savaii; the best harbour being that of Matautu, on the north coast. The Natives, said to number one-third of the population of the whole group, live mostly on the

flat land near the coast, where they cultivate the usual fruits and vegetables—coco-nuts, bananas, oranges, yams, dalo, and so on. Only one town exists in the interior, Palapala, some six miles from the sea. Those who can stay long enough in Samoa to visit by boat the various Native villages in Savaii, will be able to see Samoan life of a more primitive type than can be seen in Apia.

Upolu, though not the largest, is the most important island of the Samoan group. It is about forty miles from east to west, with an average breadth from north to south of ten miles. The Union Company’s steamers, in making Apia from Tonga, pass round the eastern end of Upolu, and in leaving Upolu for Fiji, they.round the western end, thus affording passengers an excellent opportunity of seeing the bold shores of the island, which present to the lover of bold scenery one prolonged shifting scene of exquisite beauty. In rounding the eastern end of Upolu, the steamer passes close to tw^ro lovely island-rocks, covered with 'vegetation of the most varied green. They are evidently the half-craters of small volcanoes, and in one of them the semicircular shape of the volcanic cup is still very perfect. The one island (200ft.) is named Nuutele, and the other (120ft.) Nuulua.

From the deck of the vessel, if the weather is clear and the steamer keeps pretty close to the land, one catches charming glimpses of the bold coast scenery as far west as Falifa, where the reefs commence and where the steamer has to stand out for a few miles before entering Apia harbour. On this part of the coast, in Fangaloa harbour, is the Native town of Lona, at the foot of a precipice 300 to 500 feet high, down the sides of which fall five of the finest waterfalls in the island. A further run of five miles brings the steamer to another beautiful harbour containing one of the most picturesque water-falls in the world, where the water descends sheer over the cliff into an arm of the sea. In clear weather it is possible for a steamer to go within 200 yards of the fall, which may be viewed from the deck of the vessel.

bour of Apia, some finding it more beautiful than the Bay of Naples, others being less impressed by its beauty than by the power of the swell that heaves into it from the Pacific, by the restless snarling of its cruel reefs, and by the general insecurity of its anchorage.

The bay of Apia is shaped like a half-moon, having Mulinuu point for the western, and Matautu point for the eastern horn of the crescent. The distance of the chord from horn to horn is about two miles. Right and left from the respective horns of the crescent the reef stretches towards the middle point of the chord, stopping short however on each side in a sheer submarine wall of coral, and leaving in the middle, opposite the point where the Mulivai river enters the bay, a wedge-shaped space of water deep enough to harbour the largest vessels. In ordinary weather the bay gives as secure a harbourage as a mere roadstead can give: but in anything like hurricane weather the danger to all kinds of shipping is considerable.

Whatever may be thought or said about the beauty of Apia harbour, there can be only one opinion of the magnificent view of Upolu as seen from the deck of a steamer entering the bay. Round the crescent of the foreshore, from Matautu Point to Mulinuu, runs the one street of the town of Apia—a long line of nondescript buildings, mostly occupied by the business part of the white population. The most conspicuous building is perhaps the Tivoli Hotel; but the Roman Catholic Church, the old mission house, and the German Consulate are also noticeable. Behind the single street of European houses are the picturesque oval huts of the Natives, scattered amongst their plantations of coco-nut, banana, and breadfruit trees. These are built and shaped much like the Tongan houses, except that they are generally open at the sides, though in cold or wet weather they can be closed with mats. The floor also of a Samoan house is cleaner than that of a Tongan house, being formed of a thick layer of waterworn pebbles, on which the mats are spread. Immediately behind the flat space on which Apia is built the island begins to rise into the central range—not a lofty range compared with the

mountain chains of other countries, but magnificently buttressed and ridged with spurs, and clothed to the crest with a dense vegetation. The gleam of a distant waterfall, the play of sun and shadow on the wooded slopes, and the procession of vapoury clouds that rise out of the valleys and curl about the crests of the range, give that sense of life and motion necessary to relieve the sombre grandeur of the wooded hills. -

Upolu might fitly be called “ The Island of Waterfalls,” so numerous are the cascades and cataracts to be seen in various directions. Even in the immediate neighbourhood of Apia there are several waterfalls worth a visit. Within ten minutes’ walk of the Tivoli Hotel is the pretty fall and pool of Malifa, which serves as a natural swimming-bath for the whole population. Three-quarters of a mile further up is the larger waterfall of Gangalupe ; and a mile higher still, the beautiful cataract of Papaloloa, or the “Long Rock.” There is also a waterfall worth visiting on the property of the London Missionary Society, near to the Papauta school. Just beyond it the visitor comes upon Vailima, the home of the late Robert Louis Stevenson. To visit these various waterfalls would provide ample amusement for one day.

Perhaps the lion of Samoa excellence is Papaseea, or the “ Sliding Rock,” which lies some six miles up in the bush behind the town. The proper way to visit Papaseea is to form a picnic party, including a few Natives to “ shoot the fall.” The example of the Natives is sure, however, to be followed by the more venturesome visitors, who, having once tasted the fearful joy of shooting like lightning down the inclined plane of the rock into the pool below, will find it difficult to tear themselves away from the fascinating sport. Apart,, however, from the pleasure of this novel “ toboggan,” the ride to Papaseea is well repaid by the natural beauty of the scenery round the falls.

Besides these sights, possible for those who take the round trip, there are many other places of interest that might be visited by anyone making a prolonged stay at

Apia. An interesting walk might be taken to the Lake of Lanutoo, on the top of the mountain, at an elevation of 2500 feet. The giant waterfall, visible from the harbour, is also accessible, but would take at least two days ; and not far from the waterfall is the mysterious ruined temple called Fale-o-le-fe’e, or “ House of the Octopus !” which might be visited at the same time. At Lufi-lufi, the principal town of the Atua or Eastern district of Upolu, is gt beautiful freshwater swimming-bath, about fifty feet by thirty feet, in a grotto on the sea-shore ; and on the road from Lufi-lufi across the island to Falealili, there is another waterfall, perhaps the largest in the whole Samoan Group. On the mountain lakes there is good duck-shooting ; and in the season there is excellent pigeon-shooting all over the Upolu hush, whilst for those who desire rougher and more exciting sport, there are numbers of wild pigs throughout the island.

No visitor should leave Apia without seeing something of the German plantations ; for nowhere probably in the world can the coco-nut palm he seen to such advantage as here. A forenoon may, for instance, be delightfully spent in a visit to the extensive Yailele Estate. On a fresh, breezy morning a drive through its shady and grassy palm-avenues .is an experience not readily forgotten. In addition to the vast coco-nut groves, planted and carefully tended by the Germans, there are promising young plantations of cacao, and further up the hills extensive plantations of coffee. But besides these trees of economic value, there are other beautiful and remarkable trees to be seen in various positions along the road—the mango, with its dense head of foliage, the bread-fruit tree laden with its heavy, cone-like fruit, the native chestnut, the grotesque screw pine, the vi tree, and the papaw, or, as it is more frequently called, the mummy apple.

Apart from the beauty of its shady dells, green glades, and park-like expanses, Yailele is of interest as the scene of a memorable engagement, in December, 1888, between the Native troops of Mataafa and 140 blue-jackets from the German man-of-war Olga. The Germans, having deported

Malietoa Laupepa, High Chief and quondam King of Samoa, had set upon the throne their puppet, Tamasese, who was, however, regarded as a usurper by the chief, Mataafa, and other Samoans loyal to the cause of the exiled king. These were therefore in arms against Tamasese and his protectors, and had entrenched themselves on the slopes in the neighbourhood of Vailele. Considering, it would seem, the presence of the rebels in their vicinity as a standing threat to the safety of the plantations, the Germans determined to dislodge Mataafa and his Samoans from their position in the bush. Their plan was to effect a landing in the early morning, before daylight, at several points on the foreshore of Vailele, surprise Mataafa’s strong position on the slopes of Letongo, and so disarm and disperse the rebels. Mataafa and his men, however, duly informed of the intended surprise, were on the alert, and detachments of Samoan warriors lined the coast in readiness to receive their expected visitors. In the rifle-pits, by the mouth of the Fuisa, lay a contingent under the command of the Chief Seuraanu-tafa; but as the boats manned with blue-jackets moved up the lagoon, Seumanutafa and his Samoans rose excitedly from their ambush and raced them along the shore. The German boats landed their men at different points on the coast. Upon one of these landing-parties the Samoans opened fire; and then took place the battle of Fangalii, which resulted so disastrously for the Germans, surrounded as they were and far outnumbered by their enemies. Eventually the blue-jackets, breaking through the scattered ranks of their opponents, succeeded in joining their comrades of the other boats, who had meanwhile occupied and garrisoned the plantation-house. Here the Germans were closely beleaguered by their Samoan enemies, who riddled the building and the surrounding trees with their aimless bullets. For several hours the Germans bravely held their enemies at bay, making several spirited but ineffectual attempts to break through the Samoan lines. At length, about eight o’clock, the Samoans withdrew, alarmed by shells from the Eber, a

German man-of-war which had just arrived in the bay ; and the survivors of the landing parties were then brought on board the vessel, leaving behind them 56 dead, out of a total of 140.

In driving over the Vailele plantation, now the embodiment of prosperous peace, you have some difficulty in believing that so deadly a struggle took place here only a few years ago. Yet you pass over the battlefield of Fangalii. The entrenchments of Mataafa in the neighbourhood are still well in evidence. The carriage-way runs within a few yards of the house where the sailor-lads of the Olga made their last stand. By rising in your trap and reaching out your hand, you may even thrust your finger into the holes made by Samoan bullets in the trunks of the coco-nut trees. The brave German lads who thus miserably perished because “someone had blundered ” lie buried on the headland of Mulinuu, in a carefully kept enclosure, placed, by the irony of circumstances, under the eaves of the house where resides their old enemy, the now restored Malietoa.

More memorable even than the battle of Fangalii, and more costly in human life, was the scene that took place in the harbour of Apia on the sixteenth and seventeenth days of March, 1889, when of seven men-of-war then riding at anchor in the biy, six were destroyed by a hurricane. Of these warships, three were American—the Nipsic, the Vandalia, and the Trenton, this last carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Kimberley; three were German—the Adler, the Eber, and the Olga ; one was British—the Calliope : commander, Captain Kane. About midnight on the fifteenth, the storm broke forth in its full fury. By the morning the Eber had dashed herself against the reef, and sunk in deep water; only four escaping alive out of her complement of eighty men. About eight o’clock in the morning, the Adler was lifted bodily on a wave, and flung keel up, on the Mulinuu reef. The Calliope still steamed to her moorings in the bay, in imminent danger of collision—on the one side with the Olga, on the other with the Vandalia. It was then that

Captain Kane took his fate in his hands, and, clearing the German vessels, achieved the memorable feat of steaming his ship out of the bay in the teeth of the hurricane. The flagship Trenton, with fires extinguished, lay in the entrance—a helpless hulk, doomed to certain destruction, and presenting a dangerous obstacle to the safe exit of the English man-of-war. But this danger also Kane successfully negotiated ; and, as the Calliope picked her passage between the Trenton and the reef, a ringing cheer, led by the American admiral himself, rose from the deck of the sinking ship. The Nipsic had run ashore early in the day, and had succeeded in beaching herself on the sand. Thinking to follow the example of the Nipsic, the Yandalia steered for the beach, but struck tbe reef and began to settle, her crew taking refuge in the rigging. Upon the Yandalia, thus helpless, drifted the equally helpless Trenton, and both vessels settled down together ; whilst the Olga, disabled by collision with the Trenton, ran upon the beach at Matautu.

The Samoans behaved on this occasion with a noble courage. Led by their Chief, Seumanutafa, they were indefatigable in their efforts to save life, and this though many of those whose lives were in danger were their declared enemies. But though they succeeded in saving many lives, many lives were nevertheless lost; and the disastrous hurricane of 1889 is an incident of Samoan history not likely ever to be forgotten. The United States, in gratitude for the assistance lent by the Samoans, on this occasion, to American sailors, sent to Seumanutafa the gift of a handsome boat, besides watches, rings, and other presents for the Samoans who had assisted. -

The visitor to Samoa may still see melancholy evidence of the hurricane of March, 1889, in the wreck of the Adler, which lies high upon the reef where the waves left her. Everything of value has been stripped from the old war-ship ; but there her gaunt skeleton lies, and will lie as long as the rivets hold ; and now the harbour lights of Apia shine through her ribs.

Upolu it is Tutuila, lying some forty miles to the east. Tutuila is about seventeen miles long by five ■wide—a mountainous and densely wooded island, rising, in Mt. Matafoa, to a height of 2827 feet. The coast line presents many strikingly bold bluffs and precipices. On the rugged and broken interior there is little or no settlement, but many Native villages nestle on the fertile flats along the coast. Of these the largest is Leone, situated in a bay of the same name on the south-west of the island. On the north side there are many ports and inlets where small vessels may obtain wood and water. But the chief port is that of Pango-Pango on the south side of the island— visited occasionally by the Ovalau and Upolu to take in a cargo of copra, or to coal a man-of-war. The swell of Apia bay is such, even in calm weather, as to render the operation of coaling a large vessel difficult or impossible ; but in the land-locked harbour of Pango-Pango a man-of-war lies as still as on a lake. On either hand rise the steep sides of the hills, covered to the topmost points with dense vegetation. Were it not for the clusters of “ straw-built citadels ” by the edge of the water, and the bold outlines of the palms in the foreground, one might easily fancy one’s-self in a fiord of West Otago. But most unlike anything to be seen in a West Coast Sound is the sight round the ship half an hour after she has dropped her anchor. Canoe after canoe sets out from various places on the shore: all converging to one point—the ship. Most of them are manned by w^romen, and some by children little better than babies. Queer, crazy looking things these outriggers are, hardly broad enough to seat a rower; and dangerously apt, one would think, to fill with water, and they frequently do fill ; but the danger is small, for when this occurs, the amphibious rower jumps into the water, gives the canoe one or two rapid shoves backward and forward with the hand, and, having thus effectually baled it, resumes her place. The occupants of the various canoes are on barter bent; each carries with her some piece of merchandise to be disposed of on board—a piece of tappa, a basket of limes, bread fruit, or bananas, a

piece of wood-carving, a war-club, a model canoe, a kavabowl, or some such trifle. Such a babel of tongues, such pushing and jostling, such a scrambling on deck by rope-ends, such a compound of curious smells, dominated, however, by the omnipresent coco-nut-oil—in short, such a bewildering concourse of strangely-dressed, gabbling, handsome, strong-smelling savages one is not likely to find elsewhere than in Pango. The belles of the villages come dressed in holiday suits of coconut oil and flowers, with, as it were, a narrow trimming of tappa. With their well - shaped, glistening limbs of bronze, their hair gaily wreathed with gardenia blossoms or hibiscus, their loins girt with fresh and fragrant cissies, on their faces an expression of frank and unabashed innocence—here, at last, you think, are the simple, unspoiled children of Nature : so that when they come on board, it is with a shock vou discover their accurate knowledge of the value of a dollar.

A pleasant walk may be taken along the shores of the bay to the village of Pango at its head, where various interesting features of Native life may be observed. At Pango, as elsewhere in the islands, various missions have been established ; and, amongst others, two Mormon apostles have settled here, and gained a following of a few disciples.

The chief religious bodies in Samoa are the Roman Catholics and the London Missionary Society, each body having, besides its churches, excellent schools and colleges. The Marist Brothers have established a common school, and a college for boys ; and there is a convent school, efficiently taught by nuns. The London Missionary Society has also its schools and colleges : a school for hoys in Apia, a college for students at Malua, to the west of Mulinuu, and a Normal school situated some miles further west still, at Le Ulumoega. The Wesleyans are also represented by establishments at Apia, and at Matautu in Savaii. Besides these there is a high-school for girls at Papauta, close to Apia.

course to the east of Upolu, but steers clue west, and then turns south through the passage between Upolu and Savaii. In this way a good opportunity is given of seeing the full stretch of the north coast of Upolu. One of the most interesting sights in this part of the trip is the small island of Apolima, an almost perfect volcanic cone, with unapproachable precipitous sides. The crater, seemingly sheltered from every wind that blows, is an amphitheatre of palms, and in the hollow at the bottom of the cup, are clustered the comfortable Native huts. Only at one point, just in front of the village, is there any practicable approach for a boat; and even here it must require some dexterity either to land or to put off—such is the ceaseless play of the surf upon the reef. Seen from the deck of the passing steamer, Apolima looks a self-contained little paradise, where, amongst a primitive people, the jaded seeker after rest might easily be content to pass the rest of his days—“ the world forgetting, by the world forgot.” '

If the weather has been anything like kind, it is with regret that the visitor to Samoa will see the last green outline of its shores vanish from his sight. Some twenty-four hours after he has seen the last of Samoa his eyes will be refreshed with the sight of the island of Niou-foou—an outlier of the kingdom of Tonga. This island is the only habitat of the Malau (.Mec/apodius Pritchardi), a bird remarkable for laying an egg large out of all proportion to its body. Niou-foou has also a reputation for the enormous size of its coco-nuts.'

Eighteen hours’ more sailing and the steamer comes in sight of the Lau islands, the most easterly of the Fiji group, and during the next sixteen hours she is steaming .past islands of all shapes and sizes until she enters the harbour of Suva, the capital of Fiji.

PART III.—FIJI.

fIJI is the general name given to a group of islands lying between 15deg. and 20deg. south latitude, and between 177deg. west longitude and 178deg. east longitude. The number of islands, great and small, is variously estimated at from two hundred to two hundred and fifty; but this number includes many that are mere rocks, with little vegetation and no inhabitants. The largest island of the group, on the south shore of which the capital, Suva, is situated, is Yiti Levu, that is, Big Fiji, with a surface of 4112 square miles. Next in point of size, and lying to the north of Yiti Levu, comes Vanua Levu (Big Land), with an area of 2432 miles. These two in point of size far outdistance any other island of the group. The third in size is Taviuni, 217 square miles, lying close to Vanua Levu, on the east; and the fourth is Ivandavu, 124 square miles, lying south of Yiti Levu, from which it is separated by the Ivandavu Channel. Roughly, the Fijis, like the Antilles, are divided into two groups, a Greater and a Lesser. The Greater includes Vanua Levu, Taviuni, Ivoro, Yiti Levu, Ovalau, Mbau, andKandavu ; the Lesser, known as the Lau or Lakemba Group, lies much further to the east, and consists of a chain of very small islands and rocks, running north and south over some three degrees of latitude. Between the two groups is a great inland sea, called the Ivoro Sea. The chief island of the Lesser Fijis is Mango. Through the archipelago of small islands there are two passages into the Ivoro Sea; the Nanuka passage, towards the north, skirting Taviuni; and the Lakemba passage, dividing the group half way north and south.

man (1643), and re-discovered by Cook (1769); and they were sighted by Bligh on his voyage in the launch of the Bounty in 1789. The earliest European

settlers were escaped convicts from Botany Bay, who preferred taking their chance amongst cannibal savages to facing again the miseries of convict life in New South Wales. By-and-bye occasional traders began to touch at the islands ; and in 1835 two Wesleyan missionaries from Tonga took their lives in their hands, and ventured amongst the horrors of Fiji to bring Christianity to the natives. Probably no other country chat has been the theatre of missionary enterprise, can show such splendid results as Fiji. Up to the time when the first missionaries landed, the Natives of Fiji had the reputation, justly earned, of being the most atrociously blood-thirsty cannibals on earth. Every sort of horrible crime—cannibalism, infanticide, human sacrifice, suttee—was practised, partly out of pure ferocity, partly as a religious cult. In reading the early history of Fiji one sickens at the prominence given to the atrocious facts of cannibalism—the fattening, the clubbing, and the roasting of hecatombs of human beings. The pillars of a chief’s house were erected each on a living human victim; his new canoes were launched over living human rollers; he was himself hurried to his grave before the breath had left his body, and might be heard coughing through the mould; his wives, of whom he had many, were strangled to line his grave, so that he might lie soft. The small, peaceful, and beautiful island of Mbau, lying near to Yiti Levu, to the east, was the scene, as recently as the fifties, of murders and orgies beyond belief atrocious. Tanoa, father of the late King Thakombau, was then the ruling prince, and he was a most redoubtable man-eater. After a successful war expedition, he would return to Mbau, his canoes loaded with the carcasses of his enemies, and his yard-arms dangling the bodies of infants he bad exacted as tribute from their parents. If, however, the royal larder could not be replenished with the spoils of war, then the king’s purveyors had to go forth, lie in ambush by the mangrove swamps, and seize fishermen as they put out to fish, or companies of women as they came down to bathe. The braining-stone, on which the heads of victims were dashed, may be seen in Ovalau to this day, and trees recording by their notches the numbers sent to the ovens. Sometimes a chief kept count of his achievements in cannibalism by setting up a memorial stone for every body consumed : like the great Ea Undreundre, of Raki-Eaki, whose tale of stones, in 1849, was 872, and that after many of the stones had been removed.

Thakombau himself, devotional and eloquent in prayer as he became in his later years, had distinguished himself as a cannibal, though he never reached the bad eminence of his father Tanoa. His initiation took place at the tender age of six, when he clubbed his first head, that of a lad somewhat his senior. When his miscreant of a father died, Thakombau began his reign with the ceremony of strangling his mother with his own hands. It was to such a hell on earth as Fiji was in those' days that the first missionaries trusted their lives; and the change that was effected in a short time, mainly through their instrumentality, was wonderful. Cannibalism is now practically a thing of the past; though no doubt occasionally the imperfectly civi-..ized hill-tribes may “ return to their wallowing in the mire.” The Fijians are now a quiet, kindly people, to some extent educated, attentive to the ordinances of religion, and strict Sabbatarians.

Intestine troubles led Thakombau, the Chief whose influence then preponderated, to offer in 1859 the islands to Great Britain; but it was not until the 10th October,

1874, that Fiji became a British possession. Sir Arthur Gordon, the first Governor, arrived at Levuka in June

1875, and formally assumed the Government on the first of the following September. The island of Eotumah, lying about 150 miles north-west of the group, was annexed to the colony in 1881.

The climate of Fiji is tropical, though there is no great extreme of heat, the thermometer rarely rising in

the hottest months above 94 deg. Fahrenheit, and rarely in cold weather falling below 60 deg. in the shade. A cool trade wind, E.N.E. to S.E., blows from April to November ; but from November to March the colony is subject to occasional gales and hurricanes, sometimes of disastrous violence. The rainfall is very heavy, averaging about 100 inches on the coast.

The census of 1891 gave a return of 121,180 inhabitants : including 105,800 Native Fijians, 7468 Indian immigrants, 2219 Eotumans, 2267 Polynesian immigrants, 1076 half-castes, and 2036 Europeans. Of the Natives about 90 per cent, are Wesleyans, the rest being Catholics. A disastrous epidemic of measles broke out in 1875, and is estimated to have destroyed between 30,000 and 40,000 Natives.

British capital was first attracted to Fiji by the facilities it offered for the growth of Sea Island cotton. But with the rapid decline in the price of raw cotton this industry disappeared, giving place to the cultivation of sugar. In 1881 the Colonial Sugar-Refining Company determined to erect a sugar mill in the Rewa District ; and at the present time there are eleven mills at work in the colony. Next in importance to sugar come the fruit and copra industries. Green fruits, chiefly bananas and pineapples, are exported in large quantities to New Zealand and Australia. Bêche-de-mer, tea, pea-nuts, cotton, and tobacco are exported in smaller quantities.

The various kinds of agricultural labour are done by Fijians, Polynesians, and Indian coolies—but chiefly by these last. Polynesians are indentured for three years at a yearly wage of £3 to £6, exclusive of food and clothing. In addition to this the employer has to bear tbe cost of introducing the Polynesian, and of returning him to his home—about £20. The coolies are chiefly employed in

the sugar industry, and are introduced under agreement to stay for ten years, being indentured for five years to their first employer, who also bears the cost of introduction. At the end of their time they are returned to India at the expense of Government. They are usually paid by the

Fiji is a crown colony, the executive power being • vested in a Governor and three official members—the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, and the ReceiverGeneral. The Legislature consists of six official and six non-official members, the latter appointed by the Crown. The colony is divided into sixteen provinces ; four of these are administered by English commissioners, and the remaining twelve by Native chiefs, each of whom bears the title of Roko Tui of his province. The Governor of Fiji is also Her Majesty’s High Commissioner and Consul-General for the Western Pacific. The present very capable Governor is Sir John Thurston, whose long residence in Fiji has given him exceptional opportunities of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the character of the people— their language, customs, and modes of thought.

In 1882 the seat of Government was removed from Levuka, in the island of Ovalau, to Suva, on the southeast shore of Yiti Levu.

What the visitor can see of interest in Fiji will depend entirely on the length of time he has to spend there. If he has a month or two, his best plan is to make the trip with the inter-island steamer Maori, wdien that vessel goes on one of her periodic rounds to various points on the coasts of different islands. As the Maori sails for the most part inside the reef in still water, there is little exposure to the unpleasant vicissitudes of open-sea sailing. Various walking or riding trips also may be arranged into the interior of Yiti Levu, where, in the inland villages, Native life of a more primitive type may be seen than it is possible now to see in the coast settlements where Europeans abound.

But for the visitor who makes the round trip and has only a few days to spend in Fiji, there are a few “ lions ” which he is bound to see. First of all, there is the capital (Suva), not an imposing city considered as a metropolis, but pretty in its own scattered way, and delightfully situated on a hill that slopes down to one of the most

beautiful of bays. In the distant background rises an amphitheatre of bold mountains, less soft in their outline, and in a way less beautiful, than the Samoan ranges, but grander and more impressive. To the west a curious conical mountain crag stands fantastically out from the general range, and has been not unfitly named “ The Devil’s Thumb.” The public buildings of Suva are not of an imposing kind. The Governor’s residence, the Government buildings, and an esplanade of shops fronting the water are the chief buildings that catch the eye ; but there are many attractive and comfortable villas dotted over the hill, each nestling in its own grove of tropical vegetation. The pleasant walks in and around Suva are numerous. By walking up and along the hill for a mile or two you may command beautiful and extensive views : of the lovely bay on the one side, as you look towards the island of M’benga, whose inhabitants are said to possess the singular and useless power of walking, with impunity, barefoot over redhot stones ; on the other, of the back country behind Suva, towards the Rewa River. A walk of four hours brings one to the junction of the Waimanu and Rewa Rivers, within easy distance of the Colonial Sugar Company’s large mill. If bushing be preferred, it is perhaps best to explore one of the rivers or creeks that fall into the harbour. An excursion in any direction soon brings one into the midst of the rich and wonderful vegetation for which these islands are remarkable.

Reefing is another infinite source of amusement in all the Fiji islands. Reefing may be of two kinds, according as you pursue it in a boat or on foot. In either case the reefer must be careful to wear shoes, a wound from the jagged coral being painful, and difficult to heal. The best shoes for the purpose are those made of light canvas, with gutta-percha soles, which take a firm grip of the coral surface. Stockings must also be worn, otherwise the coral grit gets into the shoes and is very painful to the feet.

In passing over a reef in a flat-bottomed boat, the chief enjoyment consists in looking down through the clear water into the coral gardens below, alive with fishes of a

beauty inconceivable to those who have not seen them. Some of these have the gaudy colouring of parrots— greens, blues, yellows, and reds : some are striped like zebras: some are brilliant flashes of sapphire and emerald.

The best amusement, however, is to wade the reef. A Fiji reef is a rich pasture-ground for the naturalist, the quaint monstrosity of the various crabs being in itself an endless source of interest to those who find pleasure in watching the animal life of the sea-shore. Every little pool is an aquarium full of pretty or curious marine creatures—fishes, crabs, shells, or sea-anemones. Most interesting of all it is to get out to the weather side of the reef where the waves break in upon its outer wall, and the clear green water swirls into the cracks and fissures that here and there break the surface like crevasses on a glacier. Here may be seen many species of living coral, as well as their beautifully bleached or tinted skeletons— the branched stag-horn, the curiously chased and convoluted brain-coral, the fluted crimson organ-coral, and others. The desire to appropriate these submarine treasures will be strong ; but no one who has once seen coral where it ought to be—blooming on its native reef in a fathom of Pacific water—can ever afterwards value it as a cabinet curio.

Either at Suva, or at some other centre of Native life, the visitor to Fiji must contrive to see the national dance of the Fijians, or meke-meke, as it is called. The exact ethnological place of the Fijians is a disputed point, but their physical characteristics would seem to connect them with the Papuans. They are tall, muscular, handsome, and full of dignity ; the face, however, lacking the softness of complexion and expression so noticeable in that of the Tongan and Samoan. The most singular feature about the Fijian is his hair, which is stiff and crisp, and stands up on his head in an enormous mop, adding considerably to his height and to the formidable character of his appearance. It may be supposed that the national dances of such a people are interesting and impressive. The meke-meke is really the Fijian’s one fine art: it stands to him for opera and drama, and the best artists are in considerable repute. When an important meke is coming off—to celebrate, for instance, the visit of a great chief—the preparations and rehearsals go on for a considerable time. Most of the mekes danced by the Fijians on special occasions are dramatic in character—representing incidents in war, or some striking fact in nature, such as the dashing of the surf on the reef, the flight of the flying-fox, and so on. In the ordinary meke, however, which the casual visitor is likely to see, the dance is a series of unmeaning rhythmical motions, to the accompaniments of chants and the beating of a wooden drum. “ The Fijian meke is a terpsichorean performance, not exactly identical with a Maori haka, but conceived, so to speak, on the same lines. Imagine a line of copper-tinted savages two deep, their abundant frizzy hair dressed in mop or besom pattern, and decked with leaves and flowers, black and red stripes across their faces, a waistband round their loins, their supple limbs glossy with coco-nut oil. Some display necklaces of shells or whales’ teeth ; others have bangles, bracelets, mittens or anklets of beads and minute shells broidered upon a net-work of plaited fibre and black water-weed. These are the dancers ; behind them is grouped an orchestra of old men and boys, with a drummer in the middle. The drum is a hollow cylinder of wood, which is struck smartly by a pair of sticks. It is fairly resonant, producing a sound not unlike that of a tambourine or shallow kettle-drum. The drummer begins marking what musicians call common time, four crotchets in a bar, or perhaps two-four time, the second crotchet being divided into two quavers. After a bar or two the singers come in with a sort of harmonised recitative ; the dancers swing their arms, bringing the palms together with heavysounding claps, their bodies sway to and fro, and then all at once they are off. A violent swoop to the left, another to the right, bringing the hands nearly to the ground ; a spring backwards, then forwards; more swooping; mowing motions, kicking motions; a swift gyration ; a drop on to

the haunches ; a leap into the air; the head lolling on the left shoulder, then on the right; the head between the legs; repeated lunges with the fists; more springing, swooping, spinning, till the figure ends with a resounding clap all along the line. Dead pause of a minute ; then the tomtom starts again, the singers follow, and so da capo."

Closely associated with the dancing of the Fijians is their drinking of yangona, as kava is called amongst them. The manner of preparing the beverage is much the same as that in Samoa and Tonga ; it is said that only in certain parts of Fiji survives the primitive custom of grinding the root by mastication.

The regulation trip from Suva is- that up the Eewa Eiver as far as the Sugar Company’s mill at Nausori, which wonderful scene of life and industry is usually the terminus of the trip. The Eewa, the largest river in Fiji, is formed by the junction of the Wai ni Buka and the Wai ni Mala, and drains the eastern half of Yiti Levu. For twenty-five miles from its mouth it is in many places about two hundred yards wide, and it is navigable by vessels of light draught for a distance of fifty miles. A steamer runs daily trips from Suva up the Eewa river as far as Nausori, and here, on the side of the river opposite the Sugar Mills, a comfortable hotel has been built for the accommodation of visitors.

The Eewa enters the sea by four different mouths, enclosing a large delta. Opposite the northern mouth is the small but important island of Mbau, the native seat of the highest Fijian aristocracy ; and opposite another mouth, nearer to Suva, is the little island of Nukulau, now used as a quarantine station. The approach to the river proper lies up an estuary some two miles broad, known as Laucala Bay, a beautiful sheet of water fringed with low banks of mangrove thicket. The mouth once passed, the river narrows considerably, but is still a broad and noble stream, ite width at the native town of Eewa being about that of the Thames at London Bridge. The land on either side of the river consists of rich alluvial soil, well suited for the cultivation of sugar-

cane and of tlie various tropical fruits. The passage up the river as far as the sugar mill is one shifting scene of interest and beauty, presenting as it does, in constant succession, glimpses of tropical forest, of sugar and fruit plantations, and of Native village life. Those interested in machinery will find a walk over the sugar mills an interesting and instructive sight. “ All the stages of the manufacture are concentrated here. The cane fresh from the fields goes in at one end of the mill, the sugar dried and bagged for export comes out at the other.” The various operations are carried on by means of coloured labour—chiefly that of Indian coolies. There are eleven sugar mills in the Colony, with an aggregate daily output of 136 tons—the output of the largest mill being 40 tons.

Those of the Company’s steamers that touch at Suva usually make one or more trips to Levuka, the former capital of Fiji, which lies on the east shore of the neighbouring island of Ovalau. The distance from Suva to Levuka is fifty-four miles, and the passage occupies about six hours. In point of natural position Levuka is a more beautiful town even than Suva. It occupies the shore of a semi-circular bay something like that of Apia. Behind the town, which consists for the most part of a line of houses, extending for a mile or more along the beach, rises a range of hills, cropping out on the top in bold crags, and seamed with deep and densely wooded gorges. The picturesque ruggedness of its mountains and the beauty of its harbour and reef make Levuka a singularly attractive spot. “ The rich blue of the harbour,” says Miss Gordon Cumming,“is separated from the purplish indigo of the great ocean by a submarine rainbow of indescribable loveliness. This is caused by the coral reef, which produces a gleaming ray as if from a hidden prism. The patches of coral, seaweed, and sometimes white sand, lying at irregular depths, beneath a shallow covering of the most crystalline emerald-green water, produce every shade of aqua-marine, mauve, sienna, and orange, all marvellously blended. The shades are continually varying with the ebb and flow of the tide, which at high water covers the reef to the depth of several

feet, while, at low tide, patches here and there stand high and dry, or are covered with only a few inches of water; treacherous ground, however, on which to land, as the sharp coral spikes break under the feet, cutting the thickest leather, and perhaps landing you in a hole several feet in depth, with still sharper coral down below. The highest edge of the reef lies towards the ocean, ard a line of dazzling white surf marks where the great green breakers wage their ceaseless warfare on the barrier; but the passage through the reef is plainly marked by a break in the white line, and a broad roadway of deep blue connecting the inner waters with the great deep; and this again passes in gradual gradations of colour, from the intense blue of the harbour to the glittering green of the shallow water on the inner side of the reef. Altogether it is most fascinating. The scene is loveliest at noon, when the sun is overhead, and lights up the colours beneath the water in the coral caves.”

There are several interesting walks in the neighbourhood of Levuka. The Turret Rock behind the town will afford excellent climbing to those fond of the exercise, and will reward the climber with an extensive view when he gets to the top. Perhaps the favourite walk is that to “Commodore Goodenough’s Bath ”—a waterfall and pool on the hillside, about tw^ro miles from Levuka. The road lies along the beach past Vagadace, and by a Native settlement, where the ovens and killing-stones of the bad old times may still be seen. The road, on leaving the beach, passes up a valley, and crosses a stream by stepping stones, thence following the right bank to the bathing place. A steep ascent of steps cut in the slippery rock leads to the pool, of which Commodore Goodenough remarked that it was “ the most picturesque spot in which he had ever * bathed.” The most frequented bath in the town of Levuka is a large artificial hole in the creek that enters the harbour ^ by Totonga, the Native town of Levuka. It is about ten minutes walk from the principal hotel, and is much used by residents for a plunge before breakfast. Other points of interest in or near Ovalau are the cemetery at Diaiba,

two miles south of Levuka, the romantic Valley of Levoni at the west side of the island, and the island of Moturiki, between Ovalau and Viti Levu.

Visitors who spend any considerable time in Fiji should not omit to visit Mbau, the small island that lies near the north mouth of the Rewa, close to the mainland of Viti Levu. Mbau is a small island, but it is the very hub of all that is high-bred and aristocratic in Native Fijian life. Its chiefs are the crème de la ,and even a commoner of Mbau has elsewhere a kind of nobility by virtue of his place of birth. The language of Mbau is the classical language and lingua franca of the group, for whatever be his native dialect, every Fijian, who is anybody, is bound to understand Mbau. This island was the birthplace and residence of Thakombau, and of his father Tanoa, of atrocious memory ; and it is probable that no other island of equal size on the face of the globe can show a record of human fiendishness to surpass that of this now smiling plot of ground. In other parts of Fiji victims were brained before they were cooked, but Tanoa's victims had first to build ovens for themselves, and then arrange themselves therein in a convenient posture for roasting.

There are many points along the shores of Vanua Levu that are worth visiting, but the most interesting is the beautiful bay of Savu-Savu, on the south coast, distant from Levuka about ninety miles. This harbour is completely locked in with hills, and is an archipelago of wooded islands. The hills that form the background to the bay vary in height from 700 to 3000 feet. Between the semicircle of hills and the water, is a belt of level land, varying in breadth from one to five miles, and covered with vegetation of the most luxuriant kind. Savu-Savu has a special interest on account of the hot springs in its neighbourhood. These springs, which lie on the east side of the harbour, near Savu-Savu headland, reach boiling point, and the Natives regularly make use of them for cooking their food. The water is strongly impregnated with mineral salts, chiefly chlorides of calcium and sodium.

east of Vanua Levu, from which it is separated by the Somo-Somo Strait. This island is so beautiful, and so varied and rich in its vegetation, that it has been styled “ The Garden of Fiji.” Like the other islands of the group, Taviuni is mountainous. On the summit of the ridge, at a height of some 2500 feet, there is a lake, occupying what is probably the crater of an extinct volcano. The waters of the lake, which is about three miles long by one and a half wide, break over a lip on the western side, and find their way into the sea at Somo-Somo, the capital of the island. Taviuni has many thriving plantations, some of which possess valuable herds of cattle. The staple product of the Taviuni plantations is sugar, but a considerable amount of coffee is also grown. Near the landing place at Vuna, off which the Union Company’s steamers lie when they visit Taviuni, are the sugar mill and extensive plantations of Holmhurst, the property of the Bank of New Zealand Estates Company.

Some thirty-five miles south-west of Taviuni, and in the direct route from Levuka to Vuna Point is the island of Ivoro, of which Mr Cooper says :—“ To my mind some of the coast walks in the island of Koro are the most beautiful in the wide Pacific. In no other island did I observe such a continuation of exquisite creepers, forming a latticework of floral beauty through which could be seen the blue sea, and in no other island did I see such perfect flower gardens cultivated by man.”

Of theLau or Lakemba group—the Lesser Fijis, to the east of the Koro sea—the most interesting and important is Mango, lying about ten hours’ sail to the south-east of Taviuni. Mango is a volcanic island, almost circular in shape, surrounded by a coral reef, and possessing a good road-stead, well protected from the prevailing south-east trade-winds. Round the curve of the island to the eastward, there is a land-locked lagoon. In rowing from the ship to the lagoon the boat proceeds “ over coral ledges all the way, with two or three feet of pellucid water under the keel. Precipitous cliffs,

draped with dense foliage, line the shore. After two or three miles of stiffish pulling against a tide running strong over the coral, a perpendicular slit opens in the cliff, the boat shoots through, oars grazing the rocks on each side, and you are in the most wonderful fairy harbour, with deep blue water, gleaming in the morning sun like a mirror, or reflecting the shadows of

cutting through the rock, down which a tramline runs to a little wharf, conducts to the interior of the island. You follow the rails, and presently are amongst the Mango orange groves.” In the days when cotton paid for the growing, Mango cotton was famous. The island is now famous for its sugar crops, and grows besides, in greater or less quantity, coffee, tobacco, ginger, cinnamon, breadfruit, bananas, coco-nuts, maize, and so on. Cattle and sheep thrive m Mango, and the Angora goat has been introduced. Just to the right of the steamer’s anchorage is to be seen a cave where the Fijians took refuge when Mango Island was attacked and taken by the Tongans under Maafu some years ago.

Kandavu, the fourth in size of the Fijis, lies south of Yiti Levu. It is a mountainous island some twenty-five miles in length, and is densely timbered. Kandavu was at one time the place of call for the San Francisco mail steamers, but it is not now much visited by visitors to Fiji. Its western extremity, however—Buke Levu, or Mount Washington—rising sheer out of the sea to a height of nearly three thousand feet, is the first outpost of Fiji visible to those who approach the islands from the south. The Fijians get a large proportion of their best canoes from Kandavu.

Fiji is singularly rich and varied in its vegetation. Besides the magnificent palm and the banana, commercially so valuable to Fiji, there is a large flora, rich in forest trees and in ferns. Fine flowering plants do not occur in abundance, but there is a large variety

of fruit trees, either native or imported. Oranges and pine-apples are very plentiful and very fine. The papaw (Carica papaya)—or, as it is more generally called, the mummy apple—is a striking plant, reminding one of a gigantic mallow. Its apples are very palatable as fruit, and, when cooked, make an excellent substitute for vegetable marrow. The granadilla

laris) is a gigantic and improved passion fruit. The wi (Sponias dulcis) is a juicy yellow fruit of a pleasantly acid flavour. Guavas, melons, pomegranates, mulberries, custard-apples, mangos, and alligator pears are among the fruits common in these fertile islands.

The chief timber-tree is a Native kauri (Dammara Vitiensisj, a near relative of the New Zealand kauri. The tavola ( Terminaliacatappa) is a spreading deciduous tree,

which provides the most resonant timber for the lali, or Native drum.' Another large tree, the dilo (Calophyllum inophyilumj furnishes the “ Tacamahaca ” oil of commerce. The noko-noko, or ironwood (Casuarina equiseti-folia) is a graceful tree very abundant in Fiji and Tonga. It is a sheoak, very similar to species found in Australia. Perhaps the most interesting of all the trees native to Fiji is the ivi or “ Polynesian chestnut ” [lnocarpus etlulis). In size and general appearance it resembles an English elm, but its trunk is very regularly and curiously buttressed, so that a section resembles the hub and spokes of a cartwheel. It produces a valuable nut, largely used for food. The kava or yangona tree ( Piper is grown for its root, which, when dried and pounded, gives the favourite beverage of these islands. Masi (Broussonetia papyrifera) or paper mulberry, as it is called, is an important tree in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, its bark being beaten out into the native cloth or tappa so much used in the islands. The vau, or lemon hibiscus ( Hibiscus tiliáceas) is also a serviceable plant, the fibre being used for kava strainers. Of all the flowering plants that grow in these islands this is one of the most abundant, and is, perhaps, the most beautiful: its lovely large lemon cup is seen everywhere. The bread-

fruit tree (Artocarpus incisa) is one of the noblest trees in the world—from its handsome outline, large lobed leaves, and striking cone-like fruits. This tree is the true staff of life of the Pacific. Most grotesque of trees is the screw-pine (Pandanus to be found growing over all these islands. It is easily know by its candelabra shape, by the spiral growth of its shoots, and most unmistakably by the curious slanting props which it sends down from its stem into the ground. It bears a large fruit, which on examination proves to be an agglomeration of conical drupes of a brilliant orange-scarlet colour; these are much used by the Natives in making necklaces and cissies. The long leaves of this tree make the best thatch in the world. The pandanus is the first fruit-bearing tree that springs up on newly-formed atolls. '

Fiji, like New Zealand, is particularly rich in ferns. Most of the genera are represented, and some of the most delicate and beautiful species in the world are found here. The davallias are perhaps the most numerously represented family, numbering over thirty species. The trichomanes number over a dozen, and polypodies, aspleniums, and nephrodiums are found in great variety. Taviuni is said to be the richest ferning ground in the Fijis.

Of the fauna of Fiji, next to the teeming and curious population of the reef, the most singular creature is perhaps the fiying-fox. This great bac, whose head is an exact miniature of that of a fox, measures, on the average, two feet and a half from tip to tip of the wings. It is common to the three groups, but is particularly plentiful in Fiji, where it commits great havoc on the fruit. In their moments of ease these bats may be seen in numbers hanging by their hooked claws to the branches of trees. On the wing the flying-fox sails somewhat lazily through the air, and might then be mistaken for a large crow. There are several varieties of pigeon in Fiji that afford good shooting; and graceful crested herons, white or grey, may be seen wading in the shallows of the reef.

containing interesting information regarding the History, Ethnology, and Natural History of Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji:—

Camping Among Cannibals Coral Islands of the Pacific Samoa a PIundred Years Ago My Consulate in Samoa A Footnote to History South Sea Bubbles Fiji and the Fijians At Home in Fiji

Account of a Government Mission in Fiji

• B. Seeman

Flora Vitiensis .. .. .. B. Seeman

A Year in Fiji .. .. .. John Horne

Australasia .. .. .. A. R. Wallace

New Zealand and South Pacific Pilot H. Brett

Alfred St. Johnston H. Stonehewer Cooper George Turner W. B. Churchward R. L. Stevenson The Earl and the Doctor Calvert and Williams Miss Gordon-Cumming

Itraon Steam Sira? Cermpann of ft.

THE Steamers of the UNION LINE have almost a world-wide reputation for Splendour, Comfort, Luxury, Cuisine, Speed, and everything that makes a sea voyage enjoyable. Of a Fleet comprising 50 steamers, aggregating 54,848 tons, the following are well aud favourably known in the Intercolonial Service:—

Manapouri

Tarawera

Wakatipu

Oonah

The most important of these is the Intercolonial passenger and cargo trade between New Zealand and Australia. This is maintained by a fleet of ten steamers, which provides a weekly service between East Coast ports of New Zealand and Melbourne, a weekly service between East Coast ports and Sydney, and an additional weekly service between East Coast ports of the South Island and Sydney. In carrying out these, a steamer leaves Melbourne every week for New Zealand, calling at Hobart (Tasmania) en route. Her first port of call in New Zealand is Bluff, whence she proceeds to Dunedin, Lyttleton, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, x\uckland, and thence across to Sydney, occupying nineteen days on the trip, and travelling 3765 miles. Similarly a steamer leaves Sydney every week carrying out the same service in the opposite direction. Additional communication with Sydney is secured by the weekly sailing of a steamer from Dunedin, which calls at Lyttelton and Wellington, proceeding thence direct to Sydney, occupying seven days on the trip, and travelling 1612 miles. Weekly departures are similarly made from Sydney for Dunedin over the same route reversed. Occasionally the complete circuit is made by the Company’s steamers crossing between Melbourne and Sydney, but the journey between these two ports is usually made by rail, or by one of the several lines of steamers that run regularly between Melbourne and Sydney, and with which the Company has arranged special transhipment rates of fare. In the round trip, the passenger has ample opportunity of making himself acquainted with the several ports of call, as the steamer remains in each port during the day, while at Dunedin and Auckland she remains over night.

In the Intercolonial trade between Tasmania and Australia there are four steamers employed. A steamer runs twice a week between Launceston and Melbourne, a distance of 277 miles, the trip occupying a day and a night ; another runs between Hobart and Sydney every ten days, a distance of 623 miles, making the trip in two days and nights, while a third runs at regular intervals between Launceston and Sydney, via West Coast ports, and a fourth between North-west ports and Melbourne. In addition to these, there is weekly connection between Hobart and Melbourne by the steamers which call there en route to and from Melbourne and New Zealand.

The South Sea Island services of the Company are growing in importance each year, and travellers by means of these enjoy opportunities of visiting the beautiful and interesting groups of the South Pacific that were undreamed of a few years ago. There are four passenger steamers engaged regularly in this trade, and these are supplemented by occasional cargo steamers during the sugar season.

A steamer leaves Auckland every four weeks for the Fiji Islands, the round trip occupying fifteen days, five of which are spent in the group, the distance run being 2400 miles. During the winter season, the best time of the year to visit the Islands, the steamer remains a few days longer at Fiji. One of the Company’s steamers is stationed in the Fiji group, and runs regular services between the more important islands. Once a month a steamer leaves Auckland for the Tongan and Samoan groups, the trip occupying about 21 flays, and the distance run being 3300 miles. During the winter excursion season the steamer proceeds from Samoa to Fiji and returns to Auckland via Tonga. This trip occupies about 26 days, during which the more important islands of the different groups are visited, the distance run being 3800. A steamer leaves Sydney every four weeks for Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, the round trip occupying twenty-four to twenty-six days, and the distance run being 4880 miles.

The services of the Company on the New Zealand coast are too numerous and frequent to particularise. A large number of steamers are engaged in them exclusively, and, these being supplemented by the services of the Intercolonial steamers, there is almost daily com-

munieation between the principal ports. A considerable number of the Company’s steamers are employed in the coal and cargo trade between the Colonies, and on the coast of New Zealand, and in 1887 the Directors embarked in the trade between New Zealand and Calcutta, shipping horses from the Colony, and bringing back jute goods and other Eastern lines for the New Zealand market.

The Company are joint contractors with the Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco for the San Francisco mail service. A steamer leaves Sydney every fourth Monday for Auckland, Apia, Honolulu, and San Francisco. The steamers engaged in this service are the Monowai (8433 tons), Alameda (3000 tons), and Mariposa (3000 tons), and the voyage is usually made in 24 days, including stoppages. The through route from the Colonies to Europe by this line is now popularly known as the “ A. and A. Route ” (American and Australian route), and not the least valuable of its attractions is the privilege which those who travel by it enjoy of using the Union Company’s Intercolonial and South Sea Island Services in conjunction with the mail steamers. They are permitted to proceed in advance by any of the Company’s steamers, joining the mail boat at any port en route, or they can leave the mail steamer and complete their voyage at pleasure by the Company’s ordinary services.

In the regular trades of the Company, there may be included the Annual Excursions to the West Coast Sounds of New Zealand. These have been run without interruption since 1877, and from small beginnings have developed into trips that attract excursionists from all parts of the world. During January and February of each year, the steamer Tarawera makes two (and occasionally three) trips, each occupying nine days from Dunedin, during which the most attractive of the Sounds are visited. She remains two days in Milford Sound, to give excursionists an opportunity of visiting the • Sutherland Falls, to which a comparatively easy track has been made by the Government of New Zealand. The social enjoyment of passengers is made a special feature of these excursions, the whole trip taking the form of an extended picnic.

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Sketch Map

Principal Islands

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Table of Auckland to Tongatabu	Distances.	1097 miles
Tongatabu to Haapai		130	55
Haapai to Yavau .•		82	55
Yayau to Apia ..		345	5’
Apia to Suya ..		633	55
Apia to Pango Pango		82	»»
Suva to Tongatabu ..		430	55
Suya to Sydney ..		1753	55
Tongatabu to Sydney		1940	55
Auckland to Suva ..		1140	55
Suva to LeYuka ..		54	55

INTRODUCTORY.