‘It is a good thing your wife cannot hear you,’ said Edgar, laughing. ‘I fancy I heard you say we should return as quickly as possible.’
‘So we shall,’ said Wal; ‘but we made no stipulation as to the course we should take.’
They made sail for Levuka, the former capital of Fiji, Suva being the present capital. Levuka is situated on a narrow strip of beach, from which the backbone of Ovalau rises precipitately to a height of 2,500 feet, and falls in a similar manner on the other side.
Levuka, Edgar found, consisted of one main street about a mile in length, which runs along the beach from old Government House to the native village at the other end. The ground ascends rapidly on leaving the beach, and the hills around are dotted with pretty villas. The stores and hotels face the water, and here Edgar and Wal took in a fresh stock of provisions for the schooner.
After leaving Levuka, they sailed along the coast and saw a number of small native towns dotted about at varying intervals, usually among a little grove of cocoa-nuts or bananas.
They landed near one of these native villages and obtained a supply of yams and sweet potatoes, also bananas in any quantity. The village was surrounded by filth and garbage of all sorts, and among this highly-scented mess a number of scraggy pigs, thin hens, and young children were rummaging. The stagnant water lying about attracted swarms of mosquitoes and flies.
Edgar entered one of the houses and was almost choked with the smoke, and was glad to get a breath of fresh air. The earthen floor of the house he could just discern was covered with dry grass over which were spread a few mats. The men seemed a lazy lot of fellows, passing the bulk of their time in smoking. They went inland for several miles, but found the country hilly and uninteresting.
They saw numerous inland villages nestling in the valley or perched on the top of a hill. After leaving Fiji they sailed for the New Hebrides, rather an inhospitable country, so Edgar understood. Wal Jessop had, however, been to Tana before, and meant to steer for that place.
‘What sort of a place is Tana?’ asked Edgar as they sat idly in the schooner with the blue sky shining brilliantly overhead, and the blue water of the ocean all around them.
‘It is a volcanic island,’ said Wal. ‘There are several of them in the group, and on many of them the natives speak different languages. It is a circular island, with a high mountain in the centre which we ought to see before long. The mountain is constantly in eruption, and answers the purpose of a lighthouse. It is covered with vegetation almost to the top.’