The record-union., 1899-01-10
AMONG THE FITS.
Timid at Sea, Brave on Land and
Ever Hospitable.

Timid at Sea, Brave on Land and
Ever Hospitable.
Sinking a bore, for scientific pur-
poses, in a coral rock is generally re-
uninteresting task, save by those
directing the operations, but those en-
gagged in the expedition organized by
Professor Agassiz to investigate the
structure Of the coral formation on the
Fijian coast seem to have had rather
lively time of it. The expedition is
in charge of Mr.. Andrews, of Sidney
University, who was assisted for sew
eral weeks by Basil Sawyer, another
Sidney University man, principally in
connection with rock blasting.
A cutter, 81 feet in length, rugged
with a mainsail, gaff topsail. jib and
staysail, and manned by five Fijians,
under Fijian captain, was hired from
Fijian chief, but the accommodation on
board was none of the best. There
was only one cabin, and this was OF
such liliputian proportions that night
sleeping ON deck was often preferred.
despite the risk of becoming saturated
with salt water or night dew. But
the cooking galley was a source of
even greater discomfort. 1t consisted
of wooden packing case, with the
lid removed, and the interior filed with
earth, on which was packed layer of
stones
In the middle of the stones a fire was
kindled, ON which the cooking utensils
were placed. In rough weather, how
ever, cooking pots, fire, stones and
earth would get mixed up in inextric-
able confusion, while the smoke would
roll into the cabin, compelling the occu-
pants to- beat a hasty retreat Messrs.
Andrews and Sawyer had plenty OF
biscuit and timed provisions; but the
crew subsisted on yams bananas, fish
cocoanut milk. On visiting tribe
they never asked for food; they simply
looked hungry, and supplies were
readily forthcoming.
Mr. Andrews had letter of intro
duction, written. in the native language,
to theFijian chiefs. requesting permits
sion to tear up rocks and stones with
the assistance of gunpowder, but ITS
presentation necessitated SO many
formalities that he occasionally read 1t
aloud himself This deviation from
native custom was not always a sue
cess, for his pronunciation Of many
iJlau WOTOS GENERALLY leu ~ AAAoNAA
half suppressed mirth among the
natives, who, however, never forgot the
rites Of hospitality for moment.
Mr.. Andrews speedily became known
as the "stone gentleman"and Mr.. Saw
yer as the iron gentleman" and EN-
gineer" The natives were as curious
and reckless of danger as crowd of
London street boys, and the news that
a blast was to be fired was invariably
followed by a general roll-up of the
tribe. 1.-THE natives" says Mr.. Sawyer,
men, women and children, swarmad
like ants around the spot where the
fuse was being lighted, and neither
threats nor arguments would induce
them to quit. They had never pre-
viously seen blasting operations, though
many had seen guns fired from war
ships They stood their ground,
although warned in graphic and arts
tic terms by some of the native crew
of the coming phenomena. The Fijians
are, indeed, a brave peopl, except IN
the matter of navigating the high seas,
and have strong sporting instincts,
and when there is fun afoot like to be
at the focus of it, AS each shot was
fired there was a roar of applause, the
children capering about like so many
imps of darkness.
Island after island was visited, but
no matter how secret the intentions OF
the leaders of the expedition were kept,
the natives at each place were found
fully apprised-by some mysterious
system of telegraphy-of their approach
and intentions. The most adventures
portion of the voyage is thus described
by Mr.. Andrews: Next morning. at
the Island of Totoya I called my Fijian
captain and announced my intention of
making Vatu Leile that day, via the
Solo Light. He went into ecstasies
of TERROR. He showed me the broken
twain of the sails, the yielding ropes
and the broken backstay. All right
I said, I gave you a rest yesterday to
get water and mend the sails. Use
my rope for a stay He obstinately
refused. Then I told him that I was
not afraid. and suggested that he
should stay on shore while the first
mate took US across the dreary ocean.
The effect was magical. Up went the
rotten sail in a moment. Then I
ordered him to take in a reef, because
the southerly wind was bearing the
trees to the ground. Ten miles took
US out of the passage, and then, under
reefed mainsail we raced along. I set
the compass, and sat for fifteen hours
to keep the steersman at his duty,
because out of sight of land these fell
lows are at sac in more senses than
one, and are frightened
Ultimately the voyage Of two hun
dred miles was accomplished in some
10 fvx,o h,,+ NJ
without several mishaps and serious
risks. After a geological examination
of vuta Leile the return voyage was
made to Sigatoke where considerable
amount of work had been effected at
the vast cliffs of dolomitic coral lime
stone, 1000 to 1900 feet in hight, on
the banks of the Sigatoke River From
here Messrs. Andrews and Sawyer pro-
ceeded to Suva. the latter leaving the
F'ijian capital for Sidney. Mr.. Sawyer
states that the denseness Of the vegeta-
ton in the Fijian group makes the
work Of running geological sections
extremely difficult Many Of the hills.
at a distance. appear to be covered
with grass. but this proves to be native
reeds, growing closely packed to
hight of about ten feet. To penetrate
this reed forest a path must either be
cleared with the axe or the reeds press
eddown with a small wooden log or
board held up in the hands and forced
against the reeds until they are bent
down, when the feet are placed upon
them, and the porcess is repeated. not
a pleasant task in a tropical climate.
Despite all the difficulties encountered
by the EXPEDITION, large amount Of