44 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



the Governor and the chief officers of state, together with 

 their official places of business. This viceregal quarter is 

 guarded by a few sentries of the native armed constabulary- 

 clad in blue tunics and carrying rifle and bayonet. The Cus- 

 tom House, Post Office, and bureau of the Department of Law 

 are at the northern end of the town, beyond which is the 

 original Levuka of the natives. 



Two creeks formerly mountain torrents run into Levuka 

 Bay, known respectively as Totoga and Levuka, the former 

 nearly subdividing the entire length of the capital of Poly- 

 nesia. Of good stores, hotels, and boarding-houses there is 

 no lack ; notably, the hostelries called the ' Levuka,' the 

 'Royal,' 'Polynesian,' and 'Steam-packet,' all of which 

 have first-class billiard-tables. The shops and stores are so 

 numerous, that it would be difficult to mention even the 

 leading ones by name. 



There is a plentiful supply, at very moderate prices, of all 

 articles in ordinary use. Groceries and drapery are exception- 

 ally cheap. Levuka boasts of one or two milliners and dress- 

 makers, a first-class photographer (who also attends to the 

 repairs of watches and clocks), a ' practical ' tailor, and a really 

 admirable barber's shop kept by a gentleman of African blood, 

 whose boast it is that he was the first ' white man ' that ever 

 crossed some Fijian mountains in what island I forget. 



Saddle-horses for ladies and gentlemen can be had at the 

 moderate charge of 10s. a day, while an omnibus runs from 

 one end of Beach Street to the other. 



There are two well-known auctioneers, while Mr. F. Spence 

 devotes his entire attention to the collection of the splendid 

 ferns in which the group abounds. Beach Street is, of course, 

 the principal promenade, and gossip during and after business 

 hours is a great source of amusement. 



