There are seven words to express different conditions of weariness, six to express seeing, a dozen for dirty, fourteen for to cut, sixteen for to strike. There are separate expressions for washing clothes, house, dishes, feet, hands, body, face, or head; also for such varied movement as that of a caterpillar, a lizard, or a serpent, or for the different manners in which it is possible to clap hands ceremonially. So you can understand that it is not only a very rich tongue, but also an exceedingly troublesome one to learn accurately; and as very slight mistakes are apt to convey to native ears very different ideas to those we wish to convey, you can understand that I prefer being very troublesome to my most patient companions, rather than plunge headlong into such difficulties. Of course both Mr and Mrs Langham talk it to perfection, for they have lived entirely with the people for seventeen years, and know every detail about all the native tribes and their chiefs, and their quarrels, and their domestic troubles. Mr Langham was for years going to and fro among the cannibal tribes, when they were all at war, as mediator and teacher, urging them to make peace and to abstain from the horrible customs of heathenism, and accept the loving law of Christ. His way is smooth enough now, but there was stiff work to do till very recent days; for he has seen Fiji in all its phases,—all successive varieties of governments or anarchies. And he and his gentle little wife have lived in the midst of fightings and wars, in the days when the name of Fiji was synonymous with cannibalism and cruelties of the most horrible description. Now I am going out to explore some of the trails which lead to higher ridges, that I may see the mountains in the interior, some of which rise to a height of 5000 or 6000 feet, but are hidden from us by nearer ranges. It makes me laugh now to remember how, the first day I was walking alone on the hills of Ovalau, I hid myself among the bushes from a solitary Fijian, the savage of my imagination. Now, in far wilder country, I walk alone in perfect security wherever fancy leads me. CHAPTER IX. BATHING _AL FRESCO_—THE UPPER REWA—BARTER—NATIVE HOUSES—A FUNERAL—WEDDINGS—GRACE. NAKORO VATU (THE STONE TOWN), _December 19, 1875_. DEAREST JEAN,—You will have heard from Eisa of our start from Rewa. Now we are a long way up the river, and indulging in a sort of continuous picnic, which is full of interest to me, though very difficult to describe so as to convey to you any idea of its fascination to one actually living in it.