i2o THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



geneous people. In dealing with such a race, only half 

 escaped from barbarism, arid clinging with savage conserva- 

 tism to the traditions of their ancestry, great judgment was 

 required to accomplish the ends sought by Her Majesty's 

 Government : i.e., the provision of necessary funds to defray 

 the expenses of the colony ; and the inculcation of habits of 

 industry, in a manner which the natives would understand 

 and appreciate. There can be no doubt that the Fijian 

 Government have solved this problem very successfully, not- 

 withstanding an opposition on the part of some of the whites 

 which has been virulent in the extreme. 



The same ' lying spirit ' which was abroad when disap- 

 pointed place-hunters had the wickedness to tell suffering 

 natives that the measles epidemic was introduced by the 

 British Government to extirpate their race, has prompted the 

 hostility with which the policy of Sir Arthur Gordon and his 

 able coadjutor, the Hon. John Thurston, on the subject of 

 native taxation, has been attacked by a small section of the 

 white settlers. Some of these gentlemen are perhaps now- 

 regretting the course they have adopted. It is amusing to 

 find that the cry is now, not that the British Government 

 want to exterminate the blacks, but that Sir Arthur Gordon 

 and Mr. Thurston want to turn out the white settlers. The 

 best answer to the grumblers is the financial success of the 

 policy. From every point of view the matter is one of im- 

 portance, and I think a r6sum6 of the question as put by his 

 Excellency and his minister will demonstrate the wisdom of 

 their course. 



In a colony like Fiji, where the natives form ninety-nine 

 per cent, of the population, it is self-evident that as they cause 

 a large portion of administrative expenditure, they must con- 

 tribute to defray its expenses. The question was, how should 



