There was one white man living on the island, a Scotchman named Adam Mayne, who collects cocoa-nut oil on behalf of the firm of Henderson and Macfarlane, of Auckland. He receives supplies every three months or thereabouts from a trading vessel; but as the latter was now three months overdue, he was very glad to receive from us a present of biscuit and medical stores.
The Christianizing of the island has been undertaken by the London Missionary Society, who send at long intervals a missionary clergyman to inspect the settlement, and confer with their delegate, the native missionary.
The natural products are very limited, consisting solely of cocoa-nuts and fish. The latter commodity abounds. Pearl shell is obtained, but not in sufficient quantities to be an article of commerce.
Adam Mayne told us that sharks were very numerous, and were caught with the hook and line; but no case had ever occurred of a native being injured by them, although they were accustomed to swim in the open sea outside the reef, a fact of which we ourselves had ocular proof. At the same time, curiously enough, many instances had occurred at the Windward Islands, Nukunono and Fakaata, of natives being taken down by sharks. Turtle are occasionally caught, and of these the shell of the carapace is used for making hooks for fishing, which native-made hooks are, by-the-bye, preferred to our English ones. Indeed, they say that the fish will not take our metal hooks at all.
On the afternoon of the same day (September 4th) we again got under way, and continued on our course to the westward, fixing the positions of islands and taking negative soundings frequently. On the 13th of September we obtained soundings on the Lalla Rookh bank in latitude 13° 5' S., longitude 175° 26' W., the depth ranging from twelve to seventeen fathoms. With the snap-lead a sample of the bottom was brought up, consisting of a lump of dead coral incrusted with red nullipores, and riddled in all directions by the borings of annelids.
The harbour of Levuka, in which we anchored on the 18th of September, is situated on the north-east side of the island of Ovalau, and from its central position in the Fiji Group has for several years been the principal seat of commercial activity and the favourite anchorage for men-of-war. Since the annexation in 1875, Levuka has been the seat of government for the colony, and the official residence of the High Commissioner for the Pacific. During our stay in harbour the ship was refitted and reprovisioned, and our boats were occupied in making some additions to the survey of the port.