* 
126 A BOTANICAL TOUR AMONG THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 
with the heavy dews at night and frequent showers, becomes extraordinarily 
fertile. Indeed, throughout my rambles in the Fijis I did not meet with an 
acre of land that might not be cultivated. we soil everywhere is covered 
with a dense mass of vegetation. During my ascent up the river I called upon 
several of the settlers, whom I found to be. exceedingly kind, and through 
is benefited by the rich soil and constant moisture. Perhaps it will be con- 
sidered an exaggeration by some, but I was informed that it is by no means 
uncommon to see Sugar-cane growing to twenty-five feet in height. I myself 
measured a cane in Ovalau which was exactly twenty-two feet in length. In 
the windward islands, or close to the coast on the big lands, I have no doubt 
that cotton will pay the planter much better than sugar would at present. 
Thr the rich green mantle spread over hill and valley, on either side of 
this most delightful river, the Palms and Tree-ferns first catch the eye. The 
graceful Cocoa-palm is not to be seen, but its loss is compensated for by Ken- 
oa-nut will seldom grow well far away from a, although in the island 
of Vate, one of the * New Hebrides," I ure several fino e specimens in a village 
about nine miles from the coast. Next in importance, the eye must rest upon 
the bouquet-like display of colour of gie. oed and foliage. The bright 
scarlet flowers of Erythrina Indica are often rendered still more brilliant by 
a mass of golden-yellow—the dying foliage of Evea dulcis, or the flowers of 
Paritium tiliaceum—the latter perhaps backed up by the dark beautiful green 
of a Calophyllum, a Barringtonia, or an PE: And by the side of 
Sapindus pinnata, with its fiery red shoots spikes of flowers in the 
distance,—that finest of all tropical foliage when unbroken by the wind,—the 
when laden with its dense gums of orange-coloured fruit. This gorgeous 
display of colour is rendere d still more magnificent by the sombre green an 
In moist places, a short distance in from the banks of the river, such plants 
as Coir Lachrima, a Canna, an Arundinaria, a Tradescantia, T lutea, 
Smilaz, several species of "tire Clerodendron inerme, Dracænas, Crotons, 
Crinums, Allocasia, Bletia, Angiopteris, Alsophila, pears etc. etc., 
are to be found in such exuberance, aided by the constant moisture, as to be 
patches. I must say that even the wild Fijian teaches a lesson as regards the 
dde, 
T 
