In

with rafters of bamboo, and cocoa-nut leaf thatch. The principal house is forty feet long, and I take it that the women's houses are around. A pleasant-looking young man seemed, in Samoan fashion, to exchange names with me, and took me off to show me his house and his wives, putting his arm affectionately over my shoulder and patting me; but he wouldn't give me a basket for a handkerchief. Only one man in the village seemed to know how to smoke, or to care for it. These people seem to have no end of knives, axes, and beads; and stone or shell adzes are almost forgotten. I could not get one, they seem to care for no more. everything they give one a distinct idea of a immigration. Canoes are very small and poor. way, the ribs and trucks of a vessel all through the village; she must have been wrecked here two or three years ago. Came off with nothing new. They have no arms but some very rough, shapeless clubs and bows; the arrows are like those of Mallicollo. Spears seem to be fish spears, and I saw but one. There seems to be no temple, no public-house or buré, no gods or images; nothing but an old lalli, much worn, lying in the public dancingground, and a few panpipes, on one of which a good-looking bright boy played us a sort of tune.

recent Polynesian There are, by the

The change from Mallicollo to this is curious. It is remarkable that just in proportion to the amount of people who have been taken away as labourers, so are the natives inclined to assault Europeans. Where white men are least known, the people are most friendly.

August 1st.-Sailed across to another island opposite this. The whole place is a labyrinth of low coral islands. There are creeks which divide, and lagoons and endless inlets apparently, and all is coral on the rise. I only got to a miserable village of freshlybuilt huts: they had been lately attacked by a bush tribe, who stole their pigs, and burnt their houses; they all seemed sick and miserable, poor people, and I came back as wise as I went ; but the progress of the formation of the coral is curious, and the way in which it goes on growing continually and adding to the land.

A man who speaks English on this side calls the place at which we are at anchor Malo. By the way, the ribs and trucks of the vessel were those of the "Robert Towns," whaler.

August 2nd.-Despatched mails by H.M.S. Sappho at 10.30 A.M., and weighed at 11.15; ran down to Cape Lisburn (Espiritu Santo). The land is all raised coral along here, every bit, and I have strongly the notion that the outlying islands of coral, which are all on the weather side, must have been formed then. First the original mountains were degraded, and a talus formed in the sea to windward and at the mouths of streams. The coral built on this detritus, where it was at a suitable depth, and in due time by elevation was carried to the surface. If fourteen to twenty fathoms is a proper depth, then we have coral forming thus-

Original Slope

Present Sea level

This is

but forming chiefly at the place where a great talus was. to be seen very clearly at a great wide low promontory off a deep valley at the south-west angle looking south. It is remarkable that Cape Lisburn is all coral, but its beach to the eastward is made up of large boulders of half a ton or so, and smaller pebbles, all of volcanic rock, which is close at hand to the north.

I anchored at Eralado (Cape Lisburn) at 4 P.M., in ten fathoms,

CHAP. IX.] CAPE LISBURN, ESPIRITU SANTO.

335

good bottom of fine black sand. A French schooner, the Tanna," came from the northward and anchored to the E.N.E., off a place called, I believe, Bula. Boarded her. The wreck of the "Hallie Jackson" is here, above high water, and very little touched. I got ashore to the west of the wreck; a good deal of swell sets in to the bay, and makes a bad landing. We were met by a few natives, who wanted to sell yams for tobacco, and had an exaggerated idea of their value, and of themselves. I got some words, but am doubtful of them. A noble swift stream falls into the sea here with great velocity. These people were dressed in the smallest maro of a dried leaf, and a string girdle. Their armlets, or wrist guard for the string of the bow, were of the lower whorl of a shell, instead of the usual pig's tusk, and the arrows had long barbed heads of black wood; some of bone, but most of black wood. They, like the people of yesterday, constantly said, "Wuliwul! wuliwul !" to buy or exchange.

August 3rd.-Landed at the foot of a village called Malo, at the extremity of the beach. Two men who had been with Mr. Hebblewhite speak English well and intelligently, and speak of his good treatment of them. I got a few words from these.* They were quite aware that differences existed along the coast; for instance, stone is here, and was among yesterday's people, suli, but they knew that at a place further north it was Navatu. They repeated that woman here was Pita, but said that our last night's people called her Vavina.* Went up to the village, about 500 feet above the sea, and steep. The rocks all trachyte and other volcanic stones, also lumps of conglomerate uniting pieces of volcanic stones. The rocks jutting into the bay are coral, but upon their surface, and apparently bedded in them, are pieces of volcanic pebbles, very distinctly showing; all of which is a regular puzzle to any one at all. Came off and weighed at 10.30. The houses are very wretched, the posts of fern stem; the front

See Appendix.

has a screen (lawto) against the sun; few mats, every one dirty. Steamed to the rocks marked on the chart as off Tasmatta, and established that they do not exist; then in towards Warsi, which I did not find. All the coast is very steep and bold, as the north coast of Viti Levu (Fiji), about Viti Levu Bay, but more wooded; rills of water and streams run down with force through narrow ravines. The mountains, two miles back, are certainly 4000 feet the near ones 1500 feet. Saw no natives along the beach till after dark, and then several fires on the beach and hill. Made sail at 8.30 P.M. to an easterly air. I got this morning two very poor little adzes, pebbles from the beach ground down, no

more.

August 4th.-Drifted to the north in the night; the breeze came on at 8 from the north-east, so I tacked at 8.30, and stood in to the land, beating about all day.

August 5th.-Made so little way that I got steam in the morning and steamed along the land to the anchorage off the river Jordan (St. Philip and St. James' Bay, Espiritu Santo), the said river of Quiros. The extremity of Cape Cumberland, and of other capes on the east side, are coral raised, but the bays have generally volcanic stone beaches. A great landslip, about four miles from Cape Cumberland, shows a white stone (? limestone) 1500 feet to 1800 feet above the sea, and a stream at the foot is strewn with white stones. The plantations look carefully made, having good reed fences, and being square and very clean. Numbers of taro plantations, very well kept, show along, and the ground shows signs of repeated clearing. Tried along the beach and about three cables off for an anchorage, but got no less than thirty-five fathoms till exactly on Mr. Tilly's bearing, when I got nine fathoms, and shot over it into twenty-seven. Let go the stream anchor in about twenty-four fathoms, and veered out seventy-five fathoms. No end of duck got up; some natives are down on the beach for fishing, and are very friendly. Some came to meet the boats, and are fine-looking men compared with the men of Mallicollo, and reminded me of Fijians. There seem to be many streams running

CHAP. IX.] RIVER JORDAN, ESPIRITU SANTO.

337

into the sea, and watering all this delta, which must be a mass of lagoons inside, I should think. Some went shooting at once, and got some ducks. I got some words from an intelligent fellow who came on board afterwards. Exactly as I had anticipated, the Cape Quiros horn of the bay is a mass of coral, and the Cape Cumberland horn is volcanic, or at least old. I saw two nose ornaments of quartz, about an inch and a-half or two inches long through the septum. The men's dress is almost elegant. Round the waist is a strong piece of bark half an inch wide, and concentrically wound, and with a string over all to keep it together. Below this come a number of fine strings looped one over another in front, and gathered behind into a sort of wolding. A maro of fine mat comes up in front and covers all. Tortoise-shell earrings in the ears, and often a piece of wood or quartz in the septum. The man who came on board gave me the name of ten or twelve chiefs, and declared that the people here did not fight. It has been said that the people on either side of the river (Jordan) fight constantly, but the first thing I saw was three men from the east side glistening with wet. They had swum across to the west side. Some Fijian words seem to have got in here somehow, but how easy it is to be mistaken in any or all of these points. I am very sure of some of my words, but doubtful of a few. These people have heaps of the elegant spears made of bone, with four prongs, also with single bones and single pieces of fern.

August 6th.-Went at 6.30 with Messer to look after ducks ; we were too late, the others had completely cleared the river, so we went on to the high trees and shot pigeons-great handsome fellows which came down plump. About 10.30 we found our way to the beach, among a lot of natives, very friendly and quiet. We passed some newly-cleared ground for plantations, so well cleared and fenced. Several canoes with natives came on board, and sold spears, &c. The only things in demand are knives and hatchets. I went at 3 P.M. to the east side of the bay, where is another opening of the river, making four in all, spreading over this wide plain. Quiros might have called it Mesopotamia as