The herald., 1895-07-28

itiveness and not impeitirence, but I
| found Penis kindly smile OF recognition
| a most welcome change. Psni had been
| to Sura once and had seen plenty of white
men. SO to him IT afforded no particular
| interest.
The heat was becoming more and more
excessive. and / was Just on the point of
doing, when q loud shrek of laughter
from beh nd aroused me from my dreams.
| number of pretty girls on shore were
pointing at me and grinning from ear to
ear. My white skin was such a complete
contrast to the dark color that they had
always been accustomed to that greatly
amused them. | could not become Often
ded, for presume in their eyes | did
| look ridiculous in the native. costume.
On the other hand, l was not in the least
mortlfled on account OF my practical
nakedness. for did not my scanty attire
excel theirs? Their dre,s consisted only
| OF SUN extending from the waist to an
inch or two above the knees. while !
wore hat and canvas shoes in addition
to the snlu. AS we passed pointed my
camera at them, and in wild fright they
scampered off in all directions. Peni
roared at the success of the ruse, but 10
| did not know what TO make OF the pro-
ceeding until an explanation had been
| gwen.
For the entire distance the Rewa had
| preserved the same great width so notice.
able further down stream. 1t is remark.
| ably grand river when tho small size OF
| the island is taken into consideration.
| The heavy rainfall and the vast quantity
| of feeders in the way of mountain brooks
| and rivulets are responsible Tor the lagre
| flow of water. Unless some human. hab-
| itation was near, or some native canoe or
miniature bamboo raft, filed with pro-
| duce and crew OF noisy men hoated by
an almost deathlike silence prevailed.
| Thee are no wild animals indigenous To
| -..I :.l al ,,lx
| Now and then chaLtering paroquet. with
! brilliant plumaye OF light green and dark
| red. fitted in the trees above, and noise
less SAND snipe and Large slate gray her
on hoped or flew away at our closer APP
proach. With these rare exceptions
naught save the rustling of the leaves or
changing OF enormous parasitical creepers
rs gently swayed by the light breeze could
| be heard.
At the junction of the Waina-bulku
| and Waina-malo rivers high cliff rose
from the waters and directly faced us.
Under its shelter we ascended the latter,
and soon found ourselves in a current OF
much swiftness, ahounding in swirls.
| whirlpools and small raoids. Although
very wide, the stream was also of consid-
| erable depth in all its parts. and the long
| bamboo poles were OF little service for
| punting. The shore lines had to be close
| hugged to enable the boys to push from
land. This could not always bs done. as
| fallen trees and great bowlders presented
| themselves as obstacles. round which the
water boiled and frothed in most threat
| ening manner. Then the paddles were
made seemed to be backward instead OF
forward. However. by series of rapid
changes from paddle to pole or pole to
paddle, we managed to make some slight
headway until safer vantage ground was
reached. These occurrences were so fire.
pno nd mob m yxo
even 10 forgot me fo- the time being. and
for the first time diligently applied him
self TO work. The grOanS ami snOrt5 which
accom- panied each squirt he made were
both touching and amusing. Bailing was
everlastingIy resorted to by means of
hollow bits of bamboo cut and prepared
for the purpose.
Once and once only, matters looked
risky. Peni lost his pole and nearly fell
overheard. The canoe began swaying and
turned completely around with lightning
rapidity, aid much ground was lost as
we we're swiftly carried down stream.
Buckets full of water overfowed. and we
were on the point of caIsizing when Peni
reso.ted to q remarkable method to avert
the calamity. Balancing hismelf on one
leg, with his hands resting on the sides
of the little craft, and his body bent near
ly double, he used the broad s,sidess OF his
free joct as a SCOOP, and sent perfect
deluge of spray out with each scrape. and
soon e,nptied tho hollow. Having righted
the shaky. tren bling bark. we attemptcd
to proceed but it was useless endeavor.
We all landed on shore. and while Peni
went in search of long piece OF BAN boo.
10 dragged the canoe through the worst
and most dicffult parts. Fortunately. as
dark settled down the stream became
freer and easier. AMI we did advance,
though at a snails pace.
Fijian hamlets became much thicker,
and the beating Of the lali was contuinu-
ously heard. The sound of this instru-
msnt is soothing and musical, but had
starnse effect on me-. 1t seemed most
weird and savage when heard in the still
ness of the night. when all else is still
and quiet. and tho Pickering light of a
bar, boo torch could be occasionally dis
cerned. One by one the stars peeped
forth. twinkling ana sparkling like dia-
monds. The outlines of the southern
cross could be distinguished, ana Jupiter
began to gradually ascend. The heavens
in the southern hemisphere are thick
with strange consultations ana clusters
uf stars that shine with much brIIliancy.
Thus began my first evening in the
heart of Viti-Levu. the homo not long
ago of ferocious and almost untamable
tribes. Ii man adapts himself to his sur
roundngs it is sinuglar that the inhabi
tants should ever have been fierce and
blondthirsty. With such softness and
beauty of natural scenery one would ex-
pect to lind people OF gentle character
and mild disposition. But not so here.
Throughout all the south seas no race eX
lists SO savage as the Fijians. The early
missionaries did gvod work in this archi-
pelego-even though the Christianity pro-
fessed may be but skin deep. The most
of the old customs have been eliminate led
and through education civilization will
follow.
Quite late we moored 40 a high bank
up which we climbed and found ourselves
in the small native town of Vunidawa.
This was the home of the native mags-
tra.e t. whom had letter OF introdnc-
tion. Here we expected to spend the
night continuing thence on foot to the
mountains of the interior.-Willam Pres
ton Harrison in Chicago Inter Ocean.
1--WE had all epidemic of dysentery IN
this vicinity last'summer." says Samuel
S. Pollock Of Briceland. Cal. II was taxi
en- with it and suffered severely until
some ono called my attention to Cham
berlain's Colo. Cholera and Diarrhoea
remedy. procured bottle and felt bet
ter after the first dose. Before one-haIf
of the bottle had been used I was WELL
/ recommended it 10 my friends and their
experience was the same. We all unite
in saying it is the best.'' For sale by
Of & Vaughn. Fourth and Sprirg and
G. +. Heinzeman, 222 North Main st.