private room,
which, however, greatly resembled an old curiosity shop. Everything
was in great disorder, and piles of London Graphics and other papers
littered the ground, and on the tables were piled indiscriminately
clocks, flasks, silver cups, fishing rods, guns, musical boxes, and
numerous other articles which I discovered later on were presents
from high officials and other Europeans, and which he did not know
what to do with. Nearly every window in the house had a pane of glass
[3] broken, the floors were devoid of mats or carpets, and in places
were rotten and full of holes. This will give some idea of the state
of chaos that reigned in the Prince's "palace."

Ratu Lala himself was a tall, broad-shouldered man of about forty, his
hair slightly grey, with a bristly moustache and a very long sloping
forehead. Though dignified, he wore an extremely fierce expression,
so much so that I instinctively felt his subjects had good cause to
treat him with the respect and fear that I had heard they gave him. He
belongs to the Fijian royal family, and though he does not rank as
high as his cousin, Ratu Kandavu Levu, whom I also visited at Bau,
he is infinitely more powerful, and owns more territory. His father
was evidently a "much married man" since Ratu Lala himself told me
that he had had "exactly three hundred wives." But in spite of this
he had been a man of prowess, as the Fijians count it, and I received
as a present from Ratu Lala a very heavy hardwood war-club that had
once belonged to his father, and which, he assured me, had killed a
great many people. Ratu Lala also told me that he himself had offered
to furnish one hundred warriors to help the British during the last
Egyptian war, but that the government had declined his offer. One of
the late Governors of Fiji, Sir John Thurston, was once his guardian
and, godfather. He was educated for two years in Sydney, Australia,
and spoke English well, though in a very thick voice. Not only does
he hold sway over the island of Taviuni, but also over some smaller
islands and part of the large island of Vanua Levu. He also holds
the rank of "Roko" from the government, for which he is well paid.

After reading my letter of introduction he asked me to stay as long
as I liked, and he called his head servant and told him to find me
a room. This servant's name was Tolu, and as he spoke English fairly
well, I soon learned a great deal about Ratu Lala and his people.

Ratu Lala