So the funeral procession started for Weilangi, where the chiefs of Somo Somo are buried, and the grave having been lined with mats, the two women were laid in it, as grass for the king’s grave; and then he too was laid therein (having first been stripped of his necklace and shell ornaments). Cloth and mats were heaped over him: and the poor old man was distinctly heard coughing while the earth was being heaped on him. So died the fierce chief Tui Thakow. A period of ceremonial mourning followed, when men shaved their heads, and women burnt their bodies and cut off their fingers, sixty of which were inserted in hollow reeds, and stuck along the eaves of the king’s house, as pleasant and fragrant tokens of sympathy. Tuikilakila being now the great and all-powerful chief, his determined opposition to the preaching of Christianity made the work of the mission almost hopeless. He publicly repeated his determination to kill and eat any of the people who should venture to interest themselves in the matter. So after toiling for two years more, in the face of this most disheartening opposition, Mr Williams determined to abandon this unfruitful field for a season. He had, however, to escape, almost by stratagem, as the mission stores and articles of barter were precious in the eyes of the people, who would have kept him prisoner had his intention been known. So evil continued to run riot unchecked; and Tuikilakila, who had assumed the royal title of Tui Thakow, continued his evil ways till 1854, when he was murdered, while asleep, by his own son. That son was murdered by his brother, to avenge the death of the father, and this brother was himself murdered in his turn. Then civil war broke out; the tribe became divided against itself; every man’s hand was against his neighbour; and soon the land was made desolate, and the town of Somo Somo, once the strongest power in Fiji, was left utterly deserted. Now that peace is established in the land, and that the successor of the old Tui Thakows is responsible to England for the wise government of his people, all might be well were it not for the fatal influence of drink,—that curse which the chiefs have so wisely made it a criminal offence to supply to their people, but which some of themselves, and this noble-looking fellow above all others, find it impossible to resist.[37] I send you all this long story just to give you a faint idea of the horrible scenes that formerly made up the simple incidents of daily life in this now quiet lovely place; but of course I cannot possibly expect you to realise them, as we do, who are actually on the spot—the more so, as my companions have been eyewitnesses of very similar scenes in different parts of the group, and have heard all details of these events from people who actually took part in them,—many of the worst cannibals of those days being now useful and devoted Christians; some are even teachers and class-leaders.