100 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
from its invasion. Mr. Fell told me that a white woman could go 
alone anywhere on the islands without fear of molestation from 
the Fijians. 
Having decided to ship our Fijian collections home direct from 
Suva, instead of taking them with us to New Zealand, we spent 
the day of June 30 in arranging for their transportation on the 
Niagara due to call on July 1. As there was no American con- 
sular agent in Fiji we found it impossible to secure a bill of lad- 
ing in proper form, a matter that caused us considerable trouble 
later on. 
In talking with the various officials at the Club and at the hotel 
where we took our meals I gained considerable information about 
the Fijians who are sincerely admired by most of the Colonials. 
Although they have very evident negroid characteristics, they 
differ from Africans in length of hair, well formed noses, legs 
with fully developed calves and thighs, comparatively small feet 
(our reef man Alfred could wear Thomas’ shoes which are of no 
more than average size for a white man) and in less protuberant 
lips. The Indians, having for many centuries been subjected to 
a severe struggle for existence in a densely populated country, 
are more ambitious and willing to work to accumulate property 
than the Fijians. The Fijians are looked down upon by the 
thrifty Indians but regard, themselves as superior men at least 
physicially. 
Hookworm and elephantiasis are prevalent in certain districts, 
the latter, according to my informant, being conveyed by the bite 
of a large mosquito. In speaking of the disease called elephan- 
tiasis, Mr. Fell said that the male glands were so enormously en- 
larged as to sometimes weigh as much as eighty pounds! Malaria 
is unknown or at least rare. The most prevalent disease is known 
as ‘‘yaws’’ and attacks the women in particular. It is allied to 
syphilis, but is not contracted venereally and hence is not regarded 
as a proof of immorality, although it manifests itself by much the 
same symptoms. 
The Niagara came in on the first of July, according to schedule, 
and was full to the brim. Suva is very lively on ‘‘steamer day’’ 
and there is quite a market for souvenirs on the dock and street 
leading to it, where women display their wares in the shape of 
mats, tapa cloth, many kinds of beads and trinkets made of shells 
and coconut shells. I was interested in the corals displayed for 
sale and in the fact that many of them were dyed in fancy colors 
