1 68 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



Levuka is a very small place, and, like all small places, is 

 given to gossip shall I say scandal ? Therefore the new-comer 

 .should not believe all he hears ; he must judge for himself. 

 He will be made (unless things have very happily altered 

 since 1877) the recipient of stories which he had better listen 

 to and forget as soon as he has heard. He will, unless I am 

 very much mistaken, be invited to take sides in some political 

 dispute about the Governor, the Legislative Council, or the 

 like ; but if, as I suppose, his main object is to make an honest 

 living, he will first cast about him for the modus vivcndi, and, 

 if he deems it right to speak, he can after some little experi- 

 ence do so with effect. If the intending settler has first-class 

 letters of introduction, he will be in no lack of friends in that 

 most hospitable of capitals, Levuka ; but I cannot help fancy- 

 ing that a policy of reasonable reserve at any rate for the 

 first few weeks is best fitted for a man about to venture 

 much, perhaps his all, in a comparatively unknown colony. I 

 should decidedly recommend him to put up at either the 

 Levuka Hotel or a first-class boarding-house, and look around, 

 carefully keeping his own counsel. He will, if he keeps his 

 <:ars as well as eyes open, hear much, and should learn a little. 

 If he concludes to venture on real estate, with a view to 

 planting, he will doubtless hear of many sites that will suit 

 him ; but if at all in doubt, he cannot do better than consul' 

 Mr. Charles W. Drury, whose knowledge of this subject may 

 be relied on. In mentioning Mr. Drury's name, I only allude 

 to one out of a very numerous body whose advice, based on 

 years of Fiji experience, is equally valuable ; but Mr. Drury 

 has made real estate his special business. 



The progress of Fiji has been somewhat retarded by the 

 unavoidable delay in adjudicating upon and adjusting the 

 claims of European settlers to their lands obtained prior to its 



