Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . armj^ to see mywork. The enthusiasm was wonderful—all was appreciation was a true pleasure to me, all the more sothat there was a certain amount of understanding in the waythey noted things, showing that I must have caught charac-teristics which I had been strivingafter, but was doubtful of havingattained. Then Semis portrait wasasked for again, and once more it wasproduced for admiration. One day at lunch a very dark mancame in and sat down at one of thetables. He wore European dress,trousers and all, which is so strangelyunb
Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . armj^ to see mywork. The enthusiasm was wonderful—all was appreciation was a true pleasure to me, all the more sothat there was a certain amount of understanding in the waythey noted things, showing that I must have caught charac-teristics which I had been strivingafter, but was doubtful of havingattained. Then Semis portrait wasasked for again, and once more it wasproduced for admiration. One day at lunch a very dark mancame in and sat down at one of thetables. He wore European dress,trousers and all, which is so strangelyunbecoming to natives, and his hairwas cut short. My companion told methis was Ratu Kandavu Levu, the eld-est surviving descendant of Thakom-bau, the great War Lord, or King ofFiji, as the Europeans styled him. Kandavu Levu would haveoccupied this high position now if Thakombau had not in1875 joined with the other Fijian chiefs in ceding theseislands to the Great White Chief, Queen Victoria. Evenas it is, he is held in much awe by many of the natives,. RATU KANDAVU LEVU. Ratu Kandavu Levu. 109 especially those of Mbau, the old heathen capital, and I noticedthat all the boys in the Club Hotel crouched on approach-ing or passing him, which is their way of showing greatrespect. After lunch he came across and shook hands warmly withmy companion, who introduced him to me. He speaksEnglish fluently, so I was happy in being able to join in theconversation, which on his part was curiously naive. He toldus that he had been deposed by the English Government frombeing Roko (Governing Chief) of Tailevu, and he in\Tted usto come and stay with him at Mbau, and see the great ceremony,when his cousin Ratu Joni Mandraiwiwi was to be installedin his stead. I was struck by the generosity of the invitation,and wondered if in any other country could be found a manwho would frankly invite friends to come and see anotherinstalled in the place of which he himself had been de-prived. It was a grand oppo
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