1 42 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



Hennings, of Loma ; and Messrs. M'Evoy, of Chichia. Large 

 sums of money were made in Fiji by cotton-planting in 1870. 

 and 1871, owing to the abnormal prices obtained in London ; 

 but the money was spent as fast as made, and when the re- 

 action came, it found Fiji planters with mortgaged lands and 

 a ruined industry. The early planters of the group seem to 

 have believed only in cotton, and never thought of anything 

 else ; the men who will make fortunes in the future out of 

 Fiji will be wiser if they carefully avoid this cardinal error. 

 The kidney variety of cotton grows well, and is being culti- 

 vated extensively by the natives. Over 5000 acres are now 

 under cotton cultivation. 



There can be no doubt that it would be more profitable to 

 cultivate the sugar-cane in many places than to continue to 

 grow cotton ; as nearly all the cotton land is well adapted for 

 the growth of the cane, yielding sugar to at least the value of 

 60 and upwards per acre for a yearly crop. However, cotton 

 will certainly grow well on the hill-sides in the driest parts of 

 Viti Levu, where coffee is not sure of success. When cotton 

 lost all its attractiveness, the manufacture of copra, or the 

 dried kernel of the cocoa-nut, took its place, and copra is at 

 present the leading article of export in the group. 



The process of the manufacture of copra is of the simplest 

 kind. The best is that which is dried whole in the nut. For 

 this purpose nothing is necessary but a large house, or shed, 

 in which to stack the nuts. They must be placed upon a 

 floor, or stage, to prevent them from touching the ground, 

 or else they will not dry, but grow. The husk must not be 

 removed, otherwise the eye in the end would be attacked by 

 the kalulu, a sort of cockroach, for the sake of the water they 

 contain ; and the air being admitted to the interior, the kernel 

 would at once begin to decay. If unpeeled and kept off the 



