50 



Viti Leva bay, anchored for the night, and arrived at 

 Levuka the next morning. 



The northern parts of Viti Levu are very moun- 

 tainous. These mountains are covered with grass, 

 and here and there with screw pine trees, standing 

 singly or in small clumps. Patches of forest were 

 seen on the tops of a few hills, and in the valleys 

 between them. Fringes of mangroves were noticed 

 on the shore, and the large mud flats at the mouth of 

 the Ba river were covered with them. Occasional 

 groves of cocoa-nut trees were seen growing behind 

 the mangroves, and settlers' houses and native villages 

 were frequently noticed. At Nananu an energetic and 

 enterprising gentleman is breeding Angora goats, 

 rearing silkworms, and has a promising plantation of 

 young cocoa-nut trees. At Viti Levu bay there is a 

 colony of settlers who are mostly growing maize. The 

 ^learner leaving at daylight, I had no opportunity of 

 landing at this place, but I believe there is a large 

 area of flat land both here and on the Ba river, as well as 

 in other parts of the northern coast of Viti Levu, 

 extending from Nadi to Tova j>eak. From reliable 

 information on this subject, I estimate the area at 

 about GO square miles. It is good cane land, and I 

 have no doubt that coil'ee would grow in many parts 

 in the mountains at a short distance from the coast. 

 Good pasturage abounds all along this coast, on which 

 sheep, horses, and cattle could be reared in numbers 

 mor« ■ than sumc Lent to meet the requirements of the 

 group. 



From Levuka I went in the steamer on its next 

 trip to Bua. This is a large province or district in 

 tb.' south-west ofVanua Levu. The sandalwood, for 

 which this districl was once famous, has almost dis- 



