We lunched under a group of lovely trees, veiled with long trails of creepers, falling some thirty feet in wreaths of tender green, through which we looked down on the clear beautiful river, and to the mountains beyond. Afterwards we adjourned to the house of the young chief, and made friends with his pretty wife, whose bright intelligent smile almost made us forget the hideous fact that lines and curves of dark blue tattooing did their utmost to destroy the beauty of her mouth. In some districts this disfiguring honour is the portion of every married woman; in others it is reserved for mothers. There is also some tattooing of the body; but this, even in heathen undress, is invariably covered by the short _liku_, the four-inch deep fringe—and of course Christian usage discourages such painful adornment, which in the Fijian group has been always considered exclusively feminine. In the Tongan group, on the contrary, only the men indulge in it. As soon as our arrival became known, the villagers crowded in to inspect us, and to exchange sundry necklaces of whales’ teeth and carved wooden bowls for fathoms of cloth and much-coveted big knives. I bought from the villanous-looking old priest a couple of large wooden spoons, or scoops, made purposely for human broth; and we also got sundry cannibal forks, of carved wood, with four long prongs, which were used exclusively for human flesh, this being the only meat which might not be touched with the fingers, because it was supposed to produce a skin disease. Wishing to ascertain the truth of an assertion sometimes made, to the effect that women were not allowed to share in these cannibal feasts, we asked the young chief whether it was so. He denied it emphatically, adding, “I’d like to see the woman who would not eat her full share!” We then asked whether the manner of preparing human flesh was not different from that in which pork, for instance, was cooked. He misunderstood the question, and answered, “Oh! there’s no comparison between them—human flesh is so much the best!” Doubtless he has had good experience, having from his childhood been engaged in tribal wars, which afforded a rarely failing supply of dead foes. On every side of us fierce battles have been fought; and on a hill at the head of the valley stands Balavu, “the long town,” which, in 1871, was surprised by neighbouring tribes, who therein _slew and ate_ 260 persons! When they had finished eating them all they proceeded to eat the pigs!