Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/210

 had gone to seed, and it needed weeding. A white man by the name of George said he would attend to it.

The chief of this district, Tui Levuka, was overjoyed to see us back again. One afternoon when our observatory was established here, Tui Levuka and King Tanoa were shown the instruments. Looking at the great pendulum swinging to the right and left, they both tried to keep time with it by swaying their bodies the same way  at the same time, and singing out, "Tui i tuku, tui i tuku,  tui i tuku," meaning "Here she goes and there she goes,  here she goes and there she goes." After repeated efforts to keep pace with the pendulum their patience  became exhausted, and they gave it up.

They were also shown the transit, the dipping-needle, and horizontal horizon. A small quantity of quicksilver was poured into the hand of one of them. They tried to pick it up with their fingers; but, finding they could  not do so, and that it did not even wet their fingers, they  would look at each other, grinning and laughing most  heartily. But when they were permitted to look through our large telescope and take a view of the planet Saturn,  with her two rings and seven moons, they were completely nonplussed.

After this a large globe was shown them, and our own and other countries pointed out, and finally their own  little, insignificant islands; but we could not make them  understand. They had not the slightest conception of the magnitude of the earth, having no knowledge of any  lands excepting their own islands, the Tongas, and a few  others.

It was a common belief among the natives upon the