of shallow wells which the natives, who rely upon
coconuts for drinking water, only use for cooking. Provisions also are
very scarce there at all times. The same objections apply to Ongea and
Fulanga which lie fifty miles north of Vatoa, in the same longitude,
though they certainly possess harbours in which a vessel could lie for
five weeks, which Vatoa does not. If, however, the schooner ran at the
rate of six knots, as may safely be assumed, all difficulties, except
that of latitude, vanish together, for at the distance of 290 nautical
miles from Tofoa lies Matuku, which with much justification has been
described by Wilkes as the most beautiful of all the islands in the
Pacific. There the natives live in perpetual plenty among perennial
streams, and could victual the largest ship without feeling any
diminution of their stock. In the harbour three frigates could lie in
perfect safety, and the people have earned a reputation for honesty and
hospitality to passing ships which belongs to the inhabitants of none of
the large islands. There is another alternative--Kandavu--but to reach
that island, the schooner must have run at an average of eleven knots,
and the number and cupidity of the natives would have made a stay of five
weeks impossible to a vessel so poorly manned and armed.

All these considerations point to the fact that Oliver lay for five weeks
at Matuku, which lies but fifty miles north of the latitude of Tofoa. He
was, therefore, the first European who had intercourse with the Fijians.
Their traditions have never been collected, and if one be found recording
the insignificant details so dear to the native poet, such as the
boarding netting, or the sickness of Midshipman Renouard, or better
still, the outbreak of the Great Lila Sickness, the inference may be
taken as proved.

Any other navigator than Edwards would have given us details of Oliver's
wonderful voyage, or, at least, would have preserved his log, but the
voyage from Fiji to the Great Barrier reef is a blank. Hamilton, indeed,
alludes vaguely to the crew having had to be on their guard "at other
islands that were inhabited," and since their course from Fiji to
Endeavour Straits would have carried them through the heart of the New
Hebrides, and close to Malicolo, we may assume that they called at Api,
at Ambrym or at Malicolo to replenish their stock of water. They reached
the Great Barrier reef in the greatest distress, and having run "from
shore t