to all parts of the group, even in places where extensive 

 areas of cane land exist. We left this settlement in 

 the morning, and in the afternoon reached our destina- 

 tion, proceeding up a deep but narrow creek shaded 

 by tiri (mangrove) trees, whose overhanging 

 branches had been cut to allow the tall mast of the 

 boat to pass. At this part, and on the banks of the 

 Wai Delici (pron. Wai Ndelithi) the land is amazingly 

 fertile, and formerly produced good crops of cotton. 

 Near the river there are extensive alluvial flats, but 

 the general character of this part of the country is 

 steeply sloping and gently undulating low hills and 

 valleys. This land had been cultivated by the Pijians, 

 but now, being either not required by them to grow 

 " food " upon, or more likely, owing to their method 

 of cultivation, it has become densely covered with wild 

 sugar canes, reeds, grass, and such hardy kinds of 

 trees and shrubs as can best resist the fires which 

 periodically burn up the dry herbage. An opinion 

 prevails among the settlers, that sugar canes will not 

 grow on the low hills so common in this and other 

 parts of Fiji. "What I saw here, on the Hewa and at 

 many other places in the group shows that opinion to 

 be an erroneous one. Here the canes were growing 

 and in good healthy condition on the sides and tops of 

 the low hills where cotton wsuld not thrive. How- 

 ever, in these places their growth is less rapid 

 and the canes a little smaller than on the fat alluvium 

 on the banks of the rivers. Still they do grow well 

 and prove remunerative. Of course such land will 

 not be much in demand for cane cultivation until all 

 the rich bottom lands are fully occupied. 



In this locality I visited another cotton plantation 

 owned by natives. Like those already mentioned it was 



