glee the few shillings I pressed into his hand, and with Masirewa and
two fresh bearers continued my journey in the pouring rain. Once we
had to swim across a swift and swollen river, then we went over steep
hills, down deep gullies, wading through streams and passing all the
time through thick forests. We stopped once to feed on wild pineapples,
the pink "kavika." and the golden "wi," but Masirewa was a bad bushman
and slipped, and stumbled, swore and grumbled, and many times I had
to wait till he came up with me. We followed a deep and beautiful
gulch for some distance, wading all the way through a shallow stream
which flowed over a natural slanting pavement with a smooth surface,
and I found it hard to keep my footing. We got a magnificent view
from the top of a high hill of the country to the eastward, with
large rivers winding among beautiful undulating wooded country as
far as the eye could reach. We passed through but one village, named
Naqeldreteki, and from here I saw two very fine waterfalls falling
side by side over a steep cliff several hundred feet straight drop
into the forest below. It was about here that I came across a most
beautiful sort of fungus of a bright scarlet and orange, and in the
shape of a perfect star.

I heard what I took to be the gruff bark of a dog, when it suddenly
dawned upon me that there could not be any dogs here, as we were
far from any village. Upon investigation I discovered that it was a
bird that was the author of the noise, and I soon brought it down
with a load of dust-shot, and to my great delight it proved to be
the golden dove, a bird which I had hunted for in vain in the other
islands. It was of a very fine metallic golden-yellow colour, and
the feathers being long and narrow, gave it a very odd appearance. 1
could only mutter "venaka, venaka" (good), and in spite of the heavy
rain reverently and slowly rolled it up in cotton wool and paper, to