CHAPTER VIII 
SOME EXPERIENCES OF A BOTANIST 
IN FUJI 
By Rosert B. WYLIE 
A kind invitation to join the Fiji-New Zealand Expedition or- 
ganized by Professor C. C. Nutting in 1922 afforded favorable 
opportunity to see those distant lands. The party of six left Iowa 
City shortly before Commencement and returned to America early 
in September. I had desired for many years to collect class and 
research material from the tropics and to see the various economic 
plants of the great middle zone. Others have described the organ- 
ization of this group from the University of Iowa, thus permitting 
me to limit my account to certain aspects of the work in Fiji. 
We awoke on board the Niagara on the morning of June fifth 
to find the tropical island of Vitilevu, largest of the Fiji group, 
spread out in the morning sunlight. Before us stood the terraced 
slopes of Suva, its red roofs gleaming from under canopies of 
mango foliage. To the right, past the harbor’s mouth, rolled the 
surf bordering the coral reefs,—a windrow of white foam stretch- 
ing into the distance as though painted on the sea. On the left 
there rose from the palm fringed shore the verdant hills which 
merged into the softer green of the nearer mountains while purple 
against the sky lay the more distant ranges of the interior. To 
one who had lived most of his life on our corn-covered Iowa plains 
it was a dream come true to feel at last the atmosphere of a tropic 
shore. The landing amidst the bare-headed Fijians, turbaned 
Hindus, and helmeted Europeans; the peculiar faces, odd gar- 
ments, and soft. voices; the strange sights, unusual odors, and 
tropic breezes,—all gave reality to a scene that otherwise seemed 
to belong between the pages of a book. 
The courtesies of government officials began with our landing, 
and their helpfulness was greatly appreciated by all of our party. 
Colonial Secretary Fell and his associates not only arranged quar- 
ters for us in government buildings, but gave us exclusive use of 
Makuluva Island as a base for our work. They aided us in secur- 
ing launch, porters, ete., besides taking several members of the 
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