"The lake, which some have described as a fresh water lake here, is much too salt for any useful purpose. I drank of it, and found it more than brackish. The fish from the sea are said to flourish in the lagoon, and there is every sign of its rise and fall with the tide. The lagoon is about two miles long by one and a half wide, and the broadest part of the land can easily be walked across in six minutes from the sea-side to the border of the lake within. They obtain their drinking water from a deep hole about midway between the two waters. Two skeletons were found here on the arrival of the former proprietor. Each was lying on its back, with the remains of the decayed posts of their huts stuck in the ground around where they lay. Nothing of importance was found on the island by which their history might be traced. The dusty The dusty remains of what was supposed to be a pillow, some pearl shell fish-hooks, some rotten line, and a piece of turtle shell which had been used for a hatchet, were found near the bones, and within the place where the ends of the posts indicated the huts.

"From what took place here last year one can fancy these skeletons to be the relics of a party who at some time had been drifted away from their home on some island near or far away, and had reached this island, where, after surviving through years of lonely toil, they lay them down to sleep, and slept to wake no more.

"FAKAOFU is encircled by a reef upon which a number of islets are scattered at various distances from each other. The little island upon which the people, numbering some 200, reside is not more than fifty feet above the level of the sea, and on one side it has all the appearance of a place washed away by the sea-waves. The rocks are, however, very hard, and seem to consist of a conglomerated mass of coral sand, broken shells, and limestone, so baked that it is as hard as a sparstone, and when a piece of it is let fall on the solid rock it rings like a piece of marble. There is scarcely any soil on the land, and it is very wonderful how any vegetable can find subsistence sufficient to maintain itself upon. Pigs and fowls are plentiful but the natives live chiefly on fish, of which there is abundance of a superior kind. Taro, a very small kind of taro, and cocoa-nuts and the fara, are the principal vegetables. The women make a very fine plait, and with it they manufacture a good strong hat almost equal to the Panama. The men are clever at making a kind of bucket out of the To, or rosewood tree, which grows here. Some pretty shells are to be obtained, and the natives are very skilful in cleaning and preserving them. The chapel is an open kind of shed, and all the people are fond of attending service. Before leaving this island, both the teacher and the chief made us useful presents."

"On my way inland," writes Mr. Whitmee, "I got a sight of their food, which was growing in pits, which were sunk through the coral to a depth varying from fifteen to twenty feet. They plant the taro-root and sugar-cane in these places, and the rain-water remains at the bottom sufficiently long to allow of their growth to a considerable size. By this means they get a supply of food, which otherwise they would not have, and it amply repays them for their industry and the labour of excavation.

"On my return from my ramble inland, having heard the sound of the longa, or bell, I turned my steps towards the path which led to the church. In doing so, I came upon a place where a native girl was seated on the ground, behind a log of wood. In front of her she had a large piece of a hollow tree. In each hand she held a stick about fourteen inches long and an inch and a half thick. With these two sticks she struck out manfully at the hollow log, and sent out such a sound, and kept such good time, that was anything but offensive to the ear.

"This simple music brought the people to church-a neat little building of lime and plaster, and beautifully whitened, within and without,

with new lime. Its dimensions are 48 feet by 30. The walls are twelve feet high and thirteen inches thick. The windows are Venetian, with circular heads, and the doors are made to match them. The floor within is covered with broken coral, which is neatly levelled, and mats laid upon it. At one end there is a platform raised about twelve inches above the floor. Running parallel with the outer edge of the platform is a hand-rail, and in the enclosure stand the reading-desk and Communion table. To the right the grey old chief, with lobes to his ears that were long enough to reach his shoulders, sat in a pew. The congregation sat on the mats, which were spread on the ground, and numbered twenty men, thirty women, and twenty children. It was the opening of their new place of worship, so it may be reckoned a grand occasion to them.

"It was nearly sunset when we reached the ship that evening; the light gilded the foliage of the tall trees and bush which covered the small islets away across the lagoon; and its pale, blue waters, separated by the narrow white beach, and the silvery line of surf, formed a pleasing contrast to the deep colour of the ocean outside.

"The canoes of the people of ARORAE are different to any we had before seen. They resemble a boat rather than a canoe, but they are built so narrow as to require an outrigger to keep them from turning over in the water. These little canoes are very light, and of beautiful shape. The wood with which they are put together is not more than threeeighths of an inch thick, and the largest piece in a canoe is not more than fourteen inches long by two inches and a half wide. These are all stitched together with cinit, which they make from the fibre of the cocoanut husk, and the canoe complete is easily carried up from the water to the bush by one man.

"Many of the natives had lost the first and second joints of their fingers, and, upon inquiry, we were informed that it was their practice, when a chief or anyone beloved by them died, to chop off their fingers and toes in this way, to show their grief.

"When a chief dies they bury him; when a wife or a mother dies they throw her to the sharks in the sea; but when a child dies they place it in a basket, and hang the little body to the limb of a tree near the house, where it remains until the bones are perfectly dry, when it is taken down and brought again into the house.

"NUKUNAU. We reached this island in the afternoon, and, from what we could see of it from one position, we thought it was much larger than any we had visited. Three large buildings, where the idols are kept, were the first objects which gave signs of its being inhabited. As we drew near the land, a long, crescent-shaped bay opened up to view, and, from point to point, it must have been over ten miles. Three settlements are in this bay-one at each end, and one in

the centre. From each of these places some canoes came off to the ship, and, it being the first visit of the missionary vessel, the poor people were rather at a loss to understand our object.

"During the past year the news had reached the people of this island of the natives having taken teachers on Peru, and that it was to protect them from the slavers. In this way, they were somewhat prepared to accept the teachers we had brought for them; and, although some showed a disposition to oppose their landing, their consent was obtained, and TINO, LILO, and LEMUELA, with their three wives and a number of children, were taken on shore, and left with the chief, who gave up his house to them. They consented also to protect, feed, and take care of them.

"While the boats were on shore, I was engaged. on board the ship. Coming on deck, with a book in my hand, I observed a number of natives, new arrivals, eyeing me, and apparently conversing about the book which I held. Soon after I had noticed this, a man came up from the main deck, whose attention they called to it also. As I looked up, I heard him telling them in undertones that it was a Buka, and, looking inquiringly at me, he pointed to it, and said, 'Buka, Buka.' I replied that it was a Buka, and, opening the volume, I showed to them what was inside of it, and tried to make them understand the letters and words, and their use on the pages. They seemed very pleased indeed at this, and drew a little nearer to my chair. They then very cautiously began feeling the leaves and the paper, and to notice the shape of the letters. I then read a few lines aloud, to which they listened with awful attention, and, when I stopped, they commenced talking away so vigorously that I saw