Reg Eastgate, the President of the Ovalau Men's Club, and members, received and entertained us, and then we moved to the Ceremonial Mbure after having first changed into our full ceremonial habit. At the gateway to the Mbure, the man skilled in the use of the Taiaha, Tamahina Tinirau, of Hiruharama, Whanganui River, after his display, led our party to the Mbure threshold. Our kuia Hera Paranetana, signalled to the host people, with the chanting maioha, that we were about to enter their House of Sacred Ceremony. Our people, now inside, seated themselves on the beautiful wharikis. Guided by Aotea ‘kawa’, our elder Ngene Takarangi addressed the tangata-whenua, and Mrs Paeroa Hawea led our party in a kinaki for the address delivered. Two further addresses were given from our side each followed by a ‘wai’. Mrs Paeroa Hawea, flanked on either side by Mr Wiremu Taiaroa, President of the Putiki Maori Club, and Canon Taepa, each carrying a Koha, set them at the feet of the Honourable Ratu Edward Cakobau. The Ratu replied in a moving, deliberate and eloquent measure accepting the tauira takapau provided by Mrs Hawea and the gifts placed upon it. The formal programme concluded, the visitors partook of the Magiti (hakari) set in generous and buffet style. Later, the men and women of the tangata-whenua further entertained us on their Rara (marae), performing standing mekes. During the week we were shown over the three-year-old freezing factory founded by the Japanese firm called the Pacific Fishing Company. Wednesday morning our Rangitira, Ratu Edward Cakobau bade leave of us, this Ratu who had cancelled all his official commitments, that we be his personal responsibility. As Molly Widdowson, daughter of Dr H. L. and Mrs Widdowson, said, ‘I was amazed that a man of his dignified rank should do all this for us and his people.’ Standing astride the prow of his twentieth century Waka, he waved to us for nearly forty minutes, until he disappeared behind the island on his way back to Viti Levu. Next day found us at Nathelendamu boarding two outboard punts to take us to another island called Moturiki (small island). There on the beautiful marae of Nasesara we were received formally, again with the ceremonies of the Yanggona and Tabua, the Magiti, the mekes standing and sitting. The standing meke was performed by 36 of their younger men, of magnificent physique, all six feet tall plus, performing their club (weapon) haka with precision, dignity and vigour, ‘tau ana te wehi’ (inspiring). They were all ceremonially attired down to the anklets and wrist bands of Fijian handcraft, their waist-bands of eighteen-inch wide tapa cloth, and bodies covered all over with coconut oil, this being part of their uniform. Their faces too were peculiarly painted in an ash-black colour. It was there where we saw the authority of the chief and elders. It was there also, in their church, when their Pastor, a Fijian, made his sad, parting appeal of us, ‘When you return to your homes, please do not talk bad of us.’ We wondered, and we are still asking, what had those visitors before us said about these people. We could find no reason at all for any adverse reports about the people of Fiji, a people loyal to God, Queen and Country. We met in Suva twenty Maori women, all I suppose in their late sixties, of Tuhourangi, Te Rorooterangi, Uenukukopako, Whakaue, Pikiao and Tapuika tribes, who had visited the several islands of the Pacific in a three-week tour. All remarked that their visit to Fiji was the climax of their trip, that the people were absolutely wonderful. What was there for us to complain about? We had learnt so much from these people; that they had the answer to delinquency in the authority of their chiefs and elders; that they are a deeply religious people; and as we say. ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’, so we found the people to be—their villages, their homes and manners, their preparation of food, and The Putiki party crossing a stream on their return from Lovoni village