After service we drove through the shady avenues of the town into the
open country, past trim little villas and sugar-cane plantations,
until we turned off the main road, and entered an avenue of mangoes,
whence a rough road, cut through a guava thicket, leads to the main
gate of Faataua[9]--a regular square Indian bungalow, with thatched
roofs, verandahs covered with creepers, windows opening to the ground,
and steps leading to the gardens on every side, ample accommodation
for stables, kitchens, servants, being provided in numerous
outbuildings.
[Footnote 9: 'Fuatawah' or 'Faataua,' _to make friends_.]
Soon after breakfast, Mrs. Brander dressed me in one of her own native
costumes, and we drove to the outskirts of a dense forest, through
which a footpath leads to the waterfall and fort of Faataua. Here we
found horses waiting for us, on which we rode, accompanied by the
gentlemen on foot, through a thick growth of palms, orange-trees,
guavas, and other tropical trees, some of which were overhung and
almost choked by luxuriant creepers. Specially noticeable among the
latter was a gorgeous purple passion-flower, with orange-coloured
fruit as big as pumpkins, that covered everything with its vigorous
growth. The path was always narrow and sometimes steep, and we had
frequently almost to creep under the overhanging boughs, or to turn
aside to avoid a more than usually dense mass of creepers.
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