surprise, as he had always been so quiet and well-conducted. Fortunately his helpers were able to continue the school work by themselves without any intermittence. At the other place, Vathuqe, the school was closed for a time, as there was no one to take the erring teacher’s place. He had been left there with some misgivings, as he was not of equal standing with the teachers generally, but it was thought that his zeal and expressed desire for the post would be equal to the demand made upon his steadfastness. Some of the others that embarked were his relatives, and so he had the unusual temptation before him, and gave way to it. My first fortnight on shore was spent at Qatvenua. The landing was done in very unfavourable weather. It rained very heavily, and the very steep path leading up to the school village, bad enough in fine weather, was extremely troublesome for carrying up my goods and chattels, and they got very wet. My own little house was not in good condition, and until we repaired it I slept in the large boys’ house. Within a day or two we pulled some little distance down the coast to a small bay, where I heard some white man had been recently buried. We saw his grave, with an inscription, and in time I heard the story of his death. No outrage on labour vessels has been made or attempted in Araga for several years, but in January, as it appeared, when a vessel from Samoa was visiting some place about thirty miles down the coast, one man was shot by a native as he was on shore with several others from the vessel bathing. It must be said that this man, a German, showed a great lack of wisdom in his behaviour. The native had come down some distance from the hills under the impression that his two wives, who had disappeared, were on board the vessel then to be seen lying at anchor, and in his rage the man was shot, while all the time the women were elsewhere. The body was brought up along the coast, and buried near our station. The whole affair had caused much excitement, even at the Northern end of the island. Some time after the place was visited by a German man-of-war, with results that will be spoken of further on. The great man to the South, Viradoro, expressed his continued desire for us to do something in his part, and we visited him several times, and were well received and listened to always. There is a lad at Norfolk Island who has connections with this place, and when they make a beginning at a school-house we may begin work with him as teacher, but I decline to put him there, as they desire, before this is done. Within a fortnight of my going ashore two labour vessels anchored near us, one from New Caledonia, and the other from Fiji. In the latter there departed a young son, quite a small boy, of Viradoro’s, whom I had hoped to take to Norfolk Island some time or other. His father was greatly put out by his being taken away.