8 



in good order. When on the Rewamy attention was 

 called to the unhealthy condition of some cocoa-nut 

 trees, and here I noticed the injury was caused by an 

 insect eating the under side of the leaves, which then 

 become covered with brown spots and wither and decay 

 (if the ravage shave been extensive) frequently before 

 being fully expanded. From the leaves being thus 

 injured or destroyed, the trees are unable to bear fruit, 

 and some! imes are entirely killed. In addition to about 

 30 square miles of good cane land, there is also in this 

 locality a large area well adapted for the growth of 

 the cacoa (chocolate) and Liberian coffee trees, both 

 of which delight in a moist warm climate and thrive 

 at a low elevation above the sea. 



I next went to Rabi (Rainbi), an island which lies off 

 the north-east point of Vanua Levu and between it and 

 the northern end of Taviuna. It contains an area of 

 about 28 square miles. The soil is rich and fertile. The 

 island is well wooded and well watered, and the prevail- 

 ing rock is agglomerate ; but both aqueous and basaltic 

 rocks were frequently seen. It is also mountainous, 

 and some of the valleys are of great picturesque beauty. 

 Cocoa-nuts are extensively grown for copra, which is 

 here dried by artificial means, viz., by heated air. 

 Coir fibre is extracted from the husk of the cocoa-nuts 

 by steam machinery. The cocoa-nut plantations have 

 been carried up to a considerable elevation on the hill 

 Bides, on which they are healthy and thriving. An 

 idea is entertained by many of the settlers that the 

 ( ocoa-nul tree will not thrive on the sides and tops of 

 the hills near the sea and within the full influence of its 

 breezes. This notion is wrong, and disproved by what 

 any visitor cannot help seeing, — thousands of cocoa- 

 nut trees growing not only on the sides of the steep 



