In the afternoon, our old
friend of the preceding day came off, with his wife and two sons. He
called out that he did not wish to come on board, but that he had brought
some cooked food. We accepted his present, and he remained with his
family in his canoe alongside the vessel for some time, and then went
quietly ashore. We had three services on board, one in the forenoon in
Lifuan, in the afternoon in Rarotongan, and in the evening in English.
As Teste Island is about twenty miles from the mainland, with a dead beat
to it, I decided to seek for a position more accessible to New Guinea,
and as I had not a teacher to spare for this little island, Mr. McFarlane
decided to leave two of the Loyalty Island teachers here. It is fertile,
and appears healthy, is two and a half miles long, and half a mile broad.
A ridge of hills runs right through its centre from east-north-east to
west-south-west. The natives have some fine plantations on the north
side, and on the south and east sides they have yam plantations to the
very tops of the hills.
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