There were in
all about fifty of the chiefs, most of them being representatives of the
Motu tribe; and after having been permitted to look round the ship, they
were directed by the missionaries, Messrs. Lawes and Chalmers, to seat
themselves upon the deck. Then a great tub of boiled rice, sweetened
with brown sugar, was brought on deck, and basins of this mixture were
handed round to the chiefs who received them, and devoured the rice with
evident satisfaction. Ships' biscuits were also served out, and the
scene presented by the feasting savages, and by the grouping of the
_Nelson's_ officers and the parading of the bluejackets on the opposite
side of the deck--so that a photograph might be taken of the whole
assembly--was exceedingly interesting and picturesque.
When the feasting was over, Commodore Erskine came upon deck, and the
chief, Boe Vagi, having been invited by Mr. Lawes to come forward, the
Commodore addressed him, and his fellow chiefs, and said:
"I have asked you to come on board to-day in order that I may explain to
you about the ceremony which will take place to-morrow on shore.
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