192 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Stock. — Pigs, Fowls — Remarks on the Fauma of 



Fiji. 



Stock, such as sheep, cattle, &c, thrive exceedingly 

 well in Fiji, and every planter has a herd of thriving 

 cattle. These are generally of the best colonial breeds, 

 and frequently expensive cows and bulls are imported 

 from the colonies to improve the stock. To judge 

 from the fine appearaece of the animals, the climate 

 of the country favours their growth and increase, and 

 shows that its grasses are sweet and nourishing. In the 

 meantime cattle are almost a drug in the colony and the 

 settlers are looking for a market for them beyond it. 

 When the country is opened up, the oxen will be most 

 useful for draught animals. In general, the land in 

 Fiji is too good for grazing stock upon, or growing 

 maize ; that is, crops of sugar cane, coffee, &c, would 

 be far more remunerative, both to the proprietor 

 of the land and to the country. But to the small, 

 not very enterprising capitalist, it is exhilarating 

 to see herds, and, therefore, money annually and surely 

 increasing, at little outlay, and without much trouble. 

 Several of the settlers are rearing herds of Angora 

 goats, and a lew ol" them possess flocks of good sheep. 



Pigs, most probably introduced from Tonga, where 

 several were left by Captain Cook, are wild in the 

 forests. In the woods of some localities the domestic 

 fowl runs wild, and is as plentiful as pheasants in a 



