BOTANICAL STUDIES IN FIJI — SMITH 309 



perhaps not even recognized and potentially "new species." Of course 

 the final identifications await herbarium study in future years, but the 

 pleasure and excitement of plant hunting are adequate recompense for 

 the discomforts involved. Eeturn to the village in late afternoon, a 

 dip in the stream, dry clothes, a hot and often excellent meal of varied 

 native food, and a congenial evening of conversation around a bowl of 

 yanggona (the drink prepared from Piper methysticum) round out 

 the collector's day in very satisfactory fashion. 



By the beginning of May I was back in Suva and ready to leave, 

 with my family this time, for Ovalau, the principal island of Lomaiviti 

 (Central Fiji) . Levuka, on the east coast of Ovalau, was for long the 

 principal Fijian center of European settlement, but since the capital 

 was moved to Suva in 1882 it has lost much of its importance as an 

 administrative center and a port. Ovalau, with an area of about 40 

 square miles, is the ruin of a large and complex volcano, comprising 

 a central basin surrounded by peaks and steep ridges, the highest eleva- 

 tion being 2,053 feet. Aside from a road along the east coast, only 

 trails connect the villages. The whole island, except for the north 

 coast and many rocky pinnacles and clifi's, is covered with a luxuriant 

 rain forest. Furthermore, although it is the type locality of a few 

 species obtained by early collectors, it has not been intensively 

 botanized. 



On Ovalau our headquarters for 5 weeks was the village of Lovoni, 

 lying in the beautiful valley in the center of the island. This superbly 

 situated town is approached by a rough trail of about 4 miles, but the 

 Koko (Fijian administrative official) arranged to have our consider- 

 able baggage carried in by men from Lovoni, each man taking a load 

 of about 30 pounds. While most Fijian villagers are good woodsmen 

 and are at home in their natural environment, I must particularly com- 

 mend the people of Lovoni for their knowledge of plants, their forest 

 skills, and their generous hospitality. The Lovoni, once considered a 

 wild and predatory tribe who made life for the early residents of 

 Leviika very uncomfortable indeed, are now outstanding among 

 Fijians for their vigor, independence, and their satisfactory communal 

 village life. 



From the village of Lovoni we were able quite thoroughly to collect 

 on the slopes and spectacular summits that ring the valley. The pro- 

 longed rainy season did not seriously dampen my enthusiasm for this 

 beautiful Ovalau forest, its varied trees forming a dense canopy aver- 

 aging a hundred feet in height, its undergrowth rich in shrubs of 

 such plant families as Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Gesneriaceae, 

 its steep rocky slopes supporting masses of terrestrial orchids and 

 ferns, and its exposed summits smothered in a diversity of moss- 

 covered shrubbery. Usually I would spend about 3 days a week in 



