203 



APPENDIX II. 



Sandalwood. 



To the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, Fiji. 



Sir, Levuka, 31st October 1878. 



I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information 

 of his Excellency the Governor, that, when I visited Bua, I 

 made a point of seeing as many sandalwood trees as possible. 

 I therefore requested the Roko Tui Bua to send a man to 

 guide me to where they were growing. This he did, and I 

 was shown 12 trees, and told by the guide that these were all 

 that were known to exist in the district. I was informed in 

 Levuka, that a quantity of sandalwood had been planted by 

 the Roko. I did not see any that had been planted, but if any 

 had been planted, and especially if the plantations had been 

 successful, they would have been shown to me. Besides, it 

 could not have been done without the residents at Bua know- 

 ing something about it. The trees seemed to be well cared 

 for ; the Roko has a tabu on them. Climbers, scrub, &c, 

 are cleared from around them, and they look healthy and 

 promising. 



Sandalwood, as everyone knows, was once abundant at 

 Bua. Not only so, but from thence it extended through 

 Macuata to Udu Point. The country from Bua through 

 Macuata to Udu Point, is remarkably well adapted for its 

 growth, but I am thoroughly convinced that no dependence 

 can be placed upon what the natives of these districts say 

 regarding it. 



The subject is one which deserves to be strictly and 

 thoroughly gone into. The native tax collector, if nothing- 

 better can be done, might be instructed to inquire, and see and 

 examine all the forests in the above named district for himself, 

 in order to ascertain correctly how much there may yet 

 remain of it. 



A thorough examination of these is the most essential 

 preliminary step to be taken for the conservancy of the 

 sandalwood. This remark applies also to where the sandal- 

 wood is growing in Navosa. To assist in the matter, a drawn 

 up tabular statement is annexed. 



The officer who examines the parts where sandalwood 

 may be growing, should fill ujd the statement, and give 

 answers to the questions in it. The return is filled in for an 



