THE FI/I GROUP. n 



Majesty's consul for Samoa ; Mr. Hedemann, the senior of one 

 of the leading mercantile firms in Levuka ; and many others. 

 We talked of Fiji, and of Fiji only, till it was quite late, and 

 then turned in. 



By half-past six on the following morning the Star of tJie 

 South had accomplished her ninety miles. We had passed 

 through one of the entrances of the coral reef, and were at 

 anchor in the harbour of Levuka, situated on the island of 

 Ovalau (eight miles long by seven wide), one of the most 

 central of the Fiji Group. It was pouring with rain. Hastily 

 collecting my baggage I was soon ashore, and proceeded to 

 read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all that was to be read, 

 learned, marked, and digested about fair Coral Lands. 



The Fiji Group comprises more than eighty inhabited islands 

 in the South Pacific, between longitude 176 east and 178 

 west, and latitude 16 and 21 south, and is situated 1760 

 miles X.E. of Sydney, and 1175 N. of Auckland. Viti Levu 

 (or Big Fiji), the largest island of the group, is half as large as 

 Jamaica, and larger than Cyprus ; the second island of impor- 

 tance, Vanua Levu, is three times the size of Mauritius, and 

 ten times that of Barbadoes ; and the aggregate area of the 

 whole is greater than all the British West Indies. 



There are about 7,000,000 acres in Fiji, of which less than 

 one-seventh is claimed by Europeans. The soil is mostly 

 volcanic, of the richest possible description. 



The country is well watered by numerous rivers, several of 

 them being of respectable size. The Rewa in Viti Levu is 

 navigable by vessels of light draught for 50 miles, and on the 

 banks of this river there are thousands of acres of the richest 

 alluvial flats, with soil 14 or 15 feet deep. 



The climate is healthy. Ague, malarious fever, and other 

 diseases common to tropical countries are almost unknown in 



