On the production of the rules and regulations, Tanoa seemed rather confused, and at first appeared dull and stupid; this I imputed to his ava drinking, in which they had all indulged to excess the night before. He did not seem to comprehend the object of them, or as the interpreter expressed it, "could not take the idea." This is not to be wondered at, when it is considered that this was the first act of the kind he had been called upon to do. Tubou Totai being a traveller of some note, readily understood their meaning, and through his explanations Tanoa soon comprehended the object, and listened with attention (his whole suite sitting around), to the reading of them, sentence by sentence; after which he made signs of understanding them, and gave his approval and consent to having them established, and the next day signed them, by making his mark. (See Appendix V.) That which he was to keep I had rolled up and put into a bright round tin case, which he seemed to regard with great pride.

Although I did not anticipate much immediate good from these regulations, yet I was well satisfied they would be of use in restraining the natives as well as masters of ships, and in securing a better understanding between them; at any rate it was a beginning, and would make them feel we were desirous of doing them justice. I talked to him much, through the interpreter, of the necessity of protecting the whites, and of punishing those who molest and take from them their goods in case of shipwreck. He listened to me very patiently, and said. "he had always done so; that my advice was very good, but he did not need it; that I must give plenty of it to his son Seru, and talk hard to him; that he would in a short time be king, and needed it." We now proceeded to show them the ship. Tanoa expressed great astonishment at the wheel, and the manner of steering our large canoe or man-of-war. I told him I was going to order some guns to be fired with balls, when he immediately expressed his joy at it, saying that he thought I was offended with him, from my not firing when he came on board. On my telling him it was not so, but that he must consider it more honourable to him to fire balls, he was well satisfied. It was amusing to see the curiosity excited among them all, when they understood the large guns were to be fired. On the firing taking place, they all made an exclamation of surprise and astonishment

followed with a cluck of the tongue in a high key, putting their fingers

to the mouth, and patting it after the fashion of children, or one of our own Indians in giving the war-whoop. Tanoa would not at first look at the ball flying along and throwing up the water. When the second was fired, he uttered the same marks of surprise as the rest; and after the third, he begged that no more should be fired, as he was amply satisfied with the honour, and the noise almost distracted him. As they went about the ship, when they saw any thing that pleased them, they would say

In expressing their satisfaction for many things, they repeat the words vi naka several times very quickly.

Suitable presents were now distributed to Tanoa and suite, consist-ing of shawls, axes, accordions, plane-irons, whales' teeth, and a variety of other articles, among which was a box of Windsor soap, tobacco, a musket, watch, &c. These were received with clapping of hands, their mode of returning thanks. It was my intention to have had the feast of rice-bread and molasses on board, but I found their numbers so great that I determined on sending it on shore, and only treated them to some weak whiskey and water in lieu of ava, with which they were much pleased. The marines were put through their exercises, marched and countermarched to the music of the drum and fife, which delighted them extremely. After being three hours on board, hearing that the provisions for the feast had been sent on shore, they desired to depart, and were again landed. The Tongese sang their boat-song as they sculled his canoe; but this custom, according to Whippy, is not practised by the Feejees.

I have scarcely seen a finer-looking set of men than composed the suite of Tanoa. There was a great contrast between the Tongese and Feejees; the former being light mulattoes, while the latter were quite black their whole make seemed to point out a different origin. The Tongese have small joints, and well-developed and rounded muscles, while the Feejees' limbs are large and muscular; the latter are slender in body, and apparently inured to hard fare and living. The difference in manner was equally great: in the Tongese there was a native grace, combined with fine forms, and an expression and carriage as if educated; whilst there was an air of power and independence in the Feejees, that made them claim attention. They at once strike one as peculiar, and unlike the Polynesian natives, having a great deal of

activity both of mind and body; this may be owing, in a great measure, to their constant wars, and the necessity of their being continually on the alert, to prevent surprise. It was pleasant to look upon the Tongese, but I felt more interest in the Feejees; the contrast was somewhat like that observable between a well-bred gentleman and a boor.

After the king got on shore, they had much talk at the mbure-house, upon all they had seen, and among other things, he remarked, "that my men might be good warriors, but they walked very much like Muscovy ducks," a bird of which they have numbers.

Tanoa sent me word he would like to come and see things without ceremony, to which I readily consented. The next day he came on board, as he said, to look and see for himself; he stayed some hours. When he entered the cabin, I was pouring out some mercury for my artificial horizon, of which I gave him several globules in his hand. He complained of their being hot, and amused himself for a long time in trying to pinch them up, which of course he found it impossible to do, and showed some vexation on being foiled, nipping his fingers together with great vehemence to catch the metal. His actions resembled those of a monkey; he kept looking at his fingers, and seemed astonished that they were not wet, and could not be made to understand how it could wet a button, (which I silvered for him,) and not his fingers. He talked a great deal of the regulations he had signed. I was desirous of knowing whether he fully understood them, which I found he did. I then asked him if it would not be better for his son Seru to sign them also, as he is understood to be the acting chief; he said "no," that his signing was quite sufficient, and made them binding on all the dependencies of Ambau. He desired me, when his son Seru paid me a visit, to talk hard to him, and give him plenty of good advice, for he was a young man, and frisky; but he himself was old, and saw things that were good and bad. He said Seru would visit me in a few days, when he returned, as they could not both leave Ambau at the same time.

The observatory duties were now commenced, and Lieutenant Perry and Mr. Eld were ordered to assist me. I had, while thus employed, ample time to get information from David Whippy, who seemed not only to have acquired the language perfectly, but also a good knowledge of the customs, manners, and habits of the natives.

Ovolau is divided into four districts, viz., Levuka on the east, Fokambou on the southwest, Barita on the southeast, and Vaki Levuka on the northwest; besides these, there is the interior or mountainous region, called by the natives Livoni. Levuka is mbati to the chiefs of Ambau; Fokambou and Barita are ygali to the same power,

but Vaki Levuka is ygali to Levuka, whilst the mountainous regions are independent and predatory. The term mbati signifies allies, or being under protection, though not actually subject to it. Ygali expresses that they are subjects, and compelled to pay tribute yearly, or obliged to satisfy the demands of the chiefs, whenever made upon them.

Tui Levuka is the principal chief of Ovolau; his authority extends over eight towns on the east side. He is very friendly to the whites, and is represented by them to be a kind-hearted and honest chief: he is between forty and fifty years of age, and has a pleasing countenance; he rules his village with great popularity. It was amusing to see his bewilderment in attending to the various duties and offices he had to perform, in providing the large supplies of food, consisting of yams, taro, &c., that were required for our use; he was, however, very industrious, and by the aid of Whippy, got through very well, though with much fear and trembling, lest he should be held accountable for any theft or depredations committed on our property, or accident to our men, in the various occupations that were all going forward at the same time, consisting of watering, wooding, digging gardens, making enclosures, building, as he said, towns, holding markets, and trading all day long for spears, clubs, shells, &c.; he had great fears, too, of exciting the jealousy of the Ambau chiefs, who he judged would not like to see the advantages he was reaping from our lengthened stay, which would naturally enough bring their displeasure upon him. I found him of great use, and was in the habit of receiving from him almost daily, visits at the observatory, so that when Whippy was at a loss for any information relative to the islands, Tui Levuka was always at hand to supply it.

The rest of the island is under the Ambau chiefs, or as they express it, ygali to Ambau, excepting the mountaineers, who are easily brought over to fight on any side, and are, from all accounts, true savages. Tui Levuka has never been properly installed into office, although from his courage and talent as a leader, he is highly respected. The circumstance which has prevented this ceremony from taking place was, that the Ambau chiefs succeeded by stratagem in getting possession of Ovolau about fifteen years ago, or in 1825, before which time it had belonged to Verata, with which Ambau was at war. The Verata chiefs had been always in the habit of installing the chiefs, but since they have lost Ovolau, they refuse to perform the rite, and the Ambau chiefs will not exercise it, on account of religious dread, and the fear of offending their gods.

The islands of Wakaia and Mokungai, near that of Ovolau, are

under Tui Levuka; they have but few inhabitants. Tui Levuka's eldest son is the chief of Wakaia.

The town of Levuka is much larger than one would imagine on seeing it from the water. Many of the houses are situated on the side of the hill. Its natural position is pretty: it has a fine brook running through it, coming from the gorge in the mountain, the water of which is made great use of for irrigating the taro-patches, which, with their yam-grounds, claim the principal attention of the inhabitants: the natives constantly bathe in it, and are remarkably cleanly in their persons; the evident pleasure they take in the bath is even shared by those who see them sporting in the water.

The Feejee Group is composed of seven districts, and is under as many principal chiefs, viz.:

All the minor chiefs on the different islands are more or less connected or subject to one of these, and as the one party or the other prevails in their wars, they change masters. War is the constant occupation of the natives, and engrosses all their time and thoughts.

Ambau is now the most powerful of these districts, although it is in itself but a small island on the coast, and connected with Vitilevu; but it is the residence of most of the great chiefs, and, as I have before observed, Tanoa, the most powerful chief of all the islands, lives there. The original inhabitants of Ambau were called Kai Levuka, and are of Tonga descent. During the absence of most of the natives on a trading voyage to Lakemba, the natives of Moturiki, a neighbouring island, made a descent upon Ambau, and took possession of it, ever since which the Kai Levuka have remained a broken people: they still retain their original name, but are now only wandering traders; they have no fixed place of residence, and are somewhat of the character of the Jews. They reside principally at Lakemba, Somu-somu, Vuna, and occasionally at other islands. Most of the exchange trade is in their hands; their hereditary chief resides at Lakemba; they are much respected, and when they visit Ambau, they are treated with the best of every thing, in acknowledgment of their original right to the soil. At Ambau there are now two classes, one known by the name of Kai Ambau, or original people of Ambau, and the other as Kai Lasikau who were introduced from a small island near Kantavu, some sixty years since, to fish for the chiefs; these are considered as inferior to

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