326 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. [1840 



Tasman first discovered this group of islands, in 1643 

 When Cook was at Tongataboo, in 1773, he heard of their 

 existence, but did not visit them. Captain Bligh fell in with 

 the eastern group, in 1791, when on his westward passage in 

 the launch of the Bounty, after being set adrift and aban- 

 doned by his crew. Captain Wilson touched at the islands, 

 in the ship Duff, to land some missionaries, in 1797 ; but on 

 account of the difficulty of the navigation, and the hostile 

 and threatening appearance of the natives, he felt constrained 

 to abandon his original intention. D'Urville visited the group 

 on his first expedition, and gave them the name of the Viti 

 Islands : he was there again in 1839, and to him and Captain 

 Wilkes is the merit due, of having made the first critical and 

 scientific examinations and accurate surveys of the islands. 



There are three divisions of the Feejee Islands, which are 

 disposed in the form of a semi-circle, whose base is in about 

 19° 30' southern latitude. On the east, or weather side, is 

 the Eastern Group ; on the north are Vanua-levui, and 

 Vuna ; and on the west are Viti-levui, Ovolau, and Kan- 

 tavu. Other islands of less importance serve to complete what 

 is almost a continuous chain. That portion of the ocean 

 included within the periphery is called the Sea of Goro. The 

 group is quite numerous ; it is said to comprise over one 

 hundred and fifty different islands, sixty-five of which are in- 

 habited—all lying between 15° 30' and 19° 30' southern lat- 

 itude, and longitude 177° E. and 178° W. The uninhabited 

 isles are often resorted to by the natives to obtain cocoa-nuts, 

 and to take fish and biche de mer. Most of the islands belong- 

 ing to the eastern division, consist of chaplets or rings of coral 

 inclosing high and broken volcanic peaks or bluffs. The north- 

 ern and western islands are bold and mountainous in the inte- 

 rior ; but the peaks and ridges are flanked by broad slopes, and 

 separated by wide valleys, covered all over with the profuse 

 vegetation of a tropical clime. 



All the islands are surrounded in great part by coralline 

 reefs, whose beautiful tints, and varied and delicate structure, 

 always excite admiration ; some of these are covered with a 



