10 



plantations. Here a deep stream enters the sea, up 

 which boats drawing 6 feet of water may proceed at 

 h tide. From this I decided to travel to Savu-savu 

 by Natawa bay. The path, a well-kept one for a 

 short distance, led up the coast for about 4 miles 

 through proves of cocoa-nut. bread fruit, and other 

 t r< 'os ; it then, as a mere track, broke off to the left 

 through the forests, ascended the mountains along the 

 beds of streams, over rocks, down the sides of preci- 

 pices to the district of Togaloa, on the south-east 

 shore of Xatawa bay. In passing through the forests 

 which densely cover the mountains lying between 

 Koro-i-vono and Xatawa bay, many fine specimens of 

 the dakua, the Fijian kauri pine, dakua — salu — salu, 

 and other kinds of good timber trees were seen for 

 the first time, and several kinds of ferns were added to 

 my collection. The dakua formerly abounded at Koro- 

 i-vono. — Seemann mentioning that some large ones 

 existed there in 1860-61 ; — but European sawyers 

 have played sad havoc among them, and large trees 

 were only found in the more inaccessible parts of 

 the mountains. 



At Togaloa I learnt that all the Bulis or district 

 el lief s in the province of Cakaudrove had gone to 

 Somo-somo, in the island of Taviuni, to attend the 

 provincial council, which the Hoko Tui, or supreme 

 chief of the province holds twice in the year. The 

 Fijians have (and Ik 'fore the islands were ceded to 

 Great Britain had) an elaborate system of polity by 

 which all tribal ami provincial matters are discussed 

 and regulated. As I could not get carriers from one 

 district to another without coming, in some degree, 

 in contacl with this system, an outline of it may be 

 interesting. 



