28 



Tonguese arc a fairer race of men than the Fijians, 

 and both men and women are of larger build. They 

 readily combine to carry out any enterprise. This was 

 shown in the wars between the two races. Indi- 

 vidually they are acknowledged to be less industrious 

 and not such good handicraftsmen as the Fijians ; 

 they are also more haughty in their bearing towards 

 strangers. The houses here have circular ends, a 

 feature I did not observe in any other part of the group. 



Copra is the great article of produce of this pro- 

 vince, and there is vacant space for the cocoa-nut 

 tree being extended a hundred fold. The island is 

 long and narrow, thinly wooded near the village, and 

 its rocks are agglomerate, basaltic, and aqueous. The 

 village is built in a grove of cocoa-nut and bread-fruit 

 trees. It is cleanly kept, well laid out, and divided 

 by broad paths, which serve for streets, and which are 

 covered with short lawn-like grass. 



The next port of call was the island of Mango, ren- 

 dered famous from the cotton grown there having 

 gained the highest awards at the International Exhi- 

 bitions held at Philadelphia and Paris. It is a fertile 

 well-cultivated island, about 9 square miles in extent. 

 The attention of its owners has been attracted to rais- 

 ing coffee instead of cotton, which latter does not now 

 pay so well as formerly. 



From Mango the steamer went to Kanacea, where 

 it shipped a quantity of cotton. This had to be con- 

 veyed nearly 2 miles in small boats through a narrow 

 passage in the reef, which is here 2 miles broad and 

 the same distance from the shore. The island belongs 

 t'. si-t tiers, and contains extensive groves of both old 

 and young eoeoa-nul trees. The other places touched 

 at were Vxma Point and Koro. 



