FIJI ISLANDS. 3^1 



thigh.* Not more than five-and-twenty years ago, White resi- 

 dents are said to have joined the natives in their cannibal feasts 

 at Ovalau, Fiji.t 



Whilst we were at Fiji, the burning question with the 

 settlers was whether the group was to be annexed by Great 

 Britain or not. The planters and all the store-keepers were 

 eagerly hoping for the annexation, and many had staked their 

 fortunes on the event. The missionaries, on the other hand, 

 were praying in the best interests of the natives, as they viewed 

 them, that the place might remain as it was. The result is well- 

 known ; the Fijis are now British. Thackombau and his suite 

 were taken to Sydney for a trip in a man-of-war, and they 

 returned bringing the measles with them, by which about one- 

 third of the native population was at once swept off. 



* C. Wilkes, " Narrative of U.S. Exploring Expedition," Vol. V, 

 p. 101. New York, 1856. 



t J. D'Ewes, "China, Australia, and the Pacific Islands," p. 151. 

 London, 1857. 



