FLORA VITIENSIS, ` 21 
when I came away, in order to devote his attention to cotton-growing. He commenced a plantation at 
Nukumoto, on the island of Viti Levu; and as the experiment proved remunerative, he brought more 
land under cultivation. 
The fact that cotton will grow, and grow well, being established, the success of this and similar 
attempts will chiefly depend upon the supply of manual labour. Those best acquainted with the condition 
of the group, and the character of its people, confidently look forward to a steady supply of it. In Rewa, 
Ovalau, and other districts longest frequented by whites, the natives go round asking for employment. 
This is quite an innovation, and shows that the Fijian is becoming gradually accustomed to labour for fixed 
wages; when the chiefs shall have either voluntarily relinquished or been compelled to give up their claim 
to all the property accumulated by the lower classes, a favourable result will be the immediate consequence, 
and a fresh impulse be imparted to all branches of industry. Let the common people once be assured 
that nobody can legally take their fair earnings away from them, and that the little comforts with which 
they have managed to surround themselves may be openly displayed without the danger of being coveted 
by the chiefs and their favourites, and they will doubtless be eager to engage in any work that does not 
require great mechanical skill or violent exertion, and at the same time will yield them reasonable returns. 
It is well known, both from public journals and the ‘ Correspondence relating to the Fiji Islands,’ pre- 
sented by command of her Majesty to both Houses of Parliament, May, 1862, that from samples submitted 
by Mr. Pritchard, the Executive Committee of the Manchester Cotton Supply Association resolved, “ That 
these samples are of qualities most desirable for British manufacture; that such a range of excellent cotton 
is scarcely now received from any cotton-growing country; and that the supply obtained from the United 
States does not realize nearly so high an average value as this Fijian cotton." It must be borne in mind, 
that these and similar opinions were arrived at in 1859, before my visit to the islands and the publication 
of the favourable report I made, and before the outbreak of the American rebellion. Doubtless the same 
Committee would now be prepared to pronounce a still higher opinion, if that were possible. The Fijian 
samples sent to the Great Exhibition of 1862 would furnish capital material for renewed examination, and 
amongst them would be found some of Sea Island cotton, the sort which, having the largest staple and 
fetching the highest price, has been hitherto exclusively grown in perfection on the coast of South Carolina, 
Georgia, and a small part of Florida. Fiji has now supplied every sort of cotton, from the cheapest to 
the very best, and capitalists would do well in directing their attention to it, 
From these considerations I turn to those of a more strictly botanical nature. The genus Gossypium 
is in great want of a thorough revision. At present, great doubt prevails as to the number of species com- 
posing it. Bentham and Hooker (Gen. Plant. p. 209) express their belief that only three species exist, 
including even the Australian Stwrtia, whilst Todaro, of Palermo, (* Osservazioni su alcune specie di Cotone’) 
enumerates thirty-four. I believe that if all the characters are carefully noted, a monographer will have no 
difficulty in defining a considerable number of well-marked species. The native country of many species 
remains also to be traced. Cotton was undoubtedly indigenous both to the Eastern and Western hemi- 
spheres. It was met with by Columbus and the Spanish conquistadores. Captain Cook, as proved by the 
species now made known, found it wild in the Sandwich and Society Islands. The Vitian species are 
probably all introduced,-and they are easily distinguished from each other by the following absolute 
characters :— 
- Seeds closely adhering to each other . ; : : : . G. Peruvianum (Kidney Cotton). 
Seeds entirely disconnected. : 
After the removal of the wool naked : : : ; . G. Barbadense. 1 . 
After the removal of the wool “ mossy.” 
* Moss” greenish . . : > : : ; v . G. arboreum. 
“Moss” tawny . : S ; , ; : : . G. tomentosum, 
l. G. Peruvianum, Cav. Diss. vol. vi. p. 313. t. 168; foliis 3-5-lobis inferioribus indivisis 
subtus 3-glandulosis; bracteis laciniatis basi glandula nigra depressa notatis; floribus flavis ad 
ungues purpureis; seminibus adhærentibus glabris, lana longa candida.—G. Brasiliense, Macf. Fl. 
Jam. vol. i. p. 72. “Kidney, Peruvian or Brazilian Cotton,” of the English colonies and markets. 
Nomen vernac. Vitiense, * Vauvau ni papalagi."—Introduced into the Viti Islands (Seemann! 
n. 29). ; 
2. G. Barbadense, Linn. Spec. 975; foliis superioribus 3-lobis, inferioribus 5-lobis, subtus 
triglandulosis; bracteis laciniatis; seminibus liberis glabris, lana longa candida. Nomen vernac. 
Vitiense, ** Vauvau ni Viti.”—Introduced into Viti (Seemann! n. 30). 
3. G. arboreum, Linn. Spec. 975; foliis 5-lobo-palmatis, lobis lanceolatis obtusis setula brevi 
mucronatis subtus l-glandulosis; bracteis subintegris; petalis flavis unguibus purpureo-maculatis v. 
