I only wish it were possible to convey to you all the impressions of delight of such a day as this—all the thousand details of beauty, which give such light and gladness to the life I find so fascinating, though it sounds so dry and dead when I try to put it into words. Just try if you can, ever so faintly, realise the picture. A calm glittering blue sea, white coral sands sparkling in the sunlight, ourselves in deep cool shade of dense glossy foliage, whence bunches of rosy silky tassels float down with every breath of air, as playthings for tiny brown children in lightest raiment. And then the multitude of wandering shells, each tenanted by a shy hermit crab, assembling cautiously round us to gather up stray crumbs. Close by are the graves of successive generations of these hardy fishers, who have lived and died on this tiny isle, without an aspiration beyond it. Now the graves are overgrown with tangles of the marine convolvulus with lilac blossom, while the starry white convolvulus hangs in light drapery from the rocks beyond. And beyond the sea rise the blue mountain-ranges of Vanua Levu, in ever-changing light and shadow. Mrs Fraser had brought her two little ones with her; so she decided to spend the day at this quiet spot, while her husband accompanied me on a walk round the island. Her perfect knowledge of the language makes her thoroughly at home with all these kindly people. So we started on our walk, which we found practicable, except at one point, where, the cliffs being precipitous, and the tide having risen, I had to accept the offer of a strong native to carry me round a headland to the next bay. He took me up in his arms like a big baby, and though forced to confess that I was _bimbi sara_—_i.e._, very heavy—he carried me ever so far round in the sea! We visited each of the four quaint little villages, and entered innumerable houses, searching for baskets of a particular kind only made here. In this quest we were tolerably successful, and stayed some time to watch the women weaving them with dexterous fingers: they are of very fine fibre and most intricate pattern. Of course we were objects of mutual interest, and the astonishment of the people at our sudden appearance knew no bounds. I doubt whether any of these people had ever seen a white woman before—Mrs Fraser’s presence, even at Nanduri, being purely accidental (her husband having just been appointed to superintend the formation of the new district gardens, by the produce of which every district is henceforth to pay its taxes).