Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/24

 4: FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. vast ocean-field stretching thence to the Sandwich Islands ; while the ever-changing beauties of scenery enable the voyager, as he threads the intricate navigation among reefs and islands, to share the feelings thus expressed by Commodore Wilkes : " So beautiful was their aspect, that I could scarcely bring my mind to the realizing sense of the well known fact, that they were the abode of a savage, ferocious, and treach- erous race of cannibals."* When each island of so large a group has a claim to be noticed, selection is difficult, and the temptation to detail strong. It must not, however, be yielded to, a few examples sufficing to give a general idea of the whole. Yathata and Vatuvara are placed by geologists in a class that has long been in high favour as the fairy-lands of the South Seas. They are composed of sand and coral debris, covered with a deep soil of vegetable mould. Yathata is hilly and fertile. Of this class there are few in Fiji. They axe from tw^o to six miles in circumference, having the usual belt of white sand, and the circlet of cocoa-nuts with their foli- age of " pristine vigour and perennial green." Such islands have gen- erally one village, inhabited by fifty or one hundred oppressed natives. The other islands to windward are of volcanic formation, their shore only having a coral base. Vulanga is one of this class, and appears as though its centre had been blown out by violent explosions, leaving only a circumferent rim, which to the west and south is broad, and covered Avith rocks of black scoria rising to a height of nearly two hun- dred feet ; but to the northeast is narrow and broken. This rim encir- cles an extensive sheet of water of a dark blue color, studded with scori- aceous islets, enamelled with green, and worn away between the ex- tremes of high and low water until they resemble huge trees of a mush- room form ; thus giving a most picturesque effect to this sheltered haven of unbroken calm. My first entrance to this lagoon was made at the risk of life ; and the attempt would bo vain to tell how welcome were its quiet waters after the stormy peril outside. A mountainous surf opposed the strong current which forced its way through the intricate passage, causing a most terrific whirl and commotion, in the midst of which the large canoe was tossed about like a splinter. The excitement of the time was intense, and the impressions then made w^ere indelible. The manly voice of Tubou Toutai, issuing his commands amid the thunder of the breakers, and the shrieks of affrighted women ; the labouring of the
 * " United States Exploring Expedition," voL iii., p. 46.