At half-past six next morning the landing of officers and men of the squadron for the purpose of publicly proclaiming the establishment of the Protectorate, and hoisting the British flag, commenced. The general order issued by the Commodore directed that the dress for officers should be cocked hat, undress coat, and epaulettes; the dress for seamen white frocks and hats, and that for marines white tunics and helmets. There was, consequently, a very attractive display of uniforms, and altogether it was an exceedingly interesting spectacle. The early hour appointed for the landing permitted of the ceremony being performed at a time when the heat, which was intense while the _Nelson_ was on the coast, was not likely to be very trying to the men. The water of the harbour lay placid as a lake, with the ships of war far out from the shore, and here and there native canoes moving slowly along or resting idly on the surface; and the hills and valleys were green and shaded from the sun, and wore that refreshing appearance which is notable when the trees and the grass have been bathed in dew, and when the sun's rays are strong enough only to make the dewdrops sparkle, and to deepen the shadows in the recesses where the sunlight has not yet penetrated. The boats conveying the officers and men to the shore, each flying the white ensign, imparted life and colour to the scene upon the water, and nothing could be more picturesque and beautiful than the view on shore, where the houses of the native villages bordering the beach, with their brown occupants gazing in amazement on what was taking place before them, were shaded by a grove of cocoanut palms, the refreshing dark green fronds being rivalled only by the lighter green of the plantations of the banana trees on the sides of the hills, which, rising high above the village, were, notwithstanding the evidence of cultivation by the natives, and the existence of the little mission settlement, dressed in almost all their native loveliness, and robed in delicately-tinted morning mists. Inside the enclosed ground stood the mission house, and on a spot commanding a view of almost the entire harbour was the flagstaff which was now to display the flag hoisted with the authority of the Queen by Commodore Erskine; and it was around this flagstaff that the troops were drawn up in a hollow square, the men facing inwards, with the officers to the front, and the Commodore and his suite standing with the missionaries and Mr. Chester on the verandah of the mission house. The native chiefs who had been on board the _Nelson_ were seated in a picturesque group on the ground immediately in front of the Commodore; and other natives and a few white spectators stood in a crowd at the rear of the blue-jackets. The only representative of English women present was Mrs. Lawes, wife of the Rev. W.G. Lawes, who was accommodated with a chair, and sat near the Commodore and the officers on either side of him.