THE RE WA.LET FIJI FLOURISH, 207 



A road is in progress from Suva to Xaitasiri, but when I left 

 the group but little was constructed. The country in the 

 interior after leaving the Rewa is generally a succession of 

 bush-covered hills. Between Na Ato and Viti Levu Bay on 

 the northern shore of ' big Fiji' is a beautiful grassy basin of 

 large extent, with some clumps of fine trees. In fact, this is a 

 magnificent pasturage country. A well-wooded fringe of fine 

 land borders the bay at its extremity, while steep cliffs and 

 ridges hem in its sides. The district of Raki-Raki is remark- 

 ably fertile, and there are several flourishing plantations of 

 pea-nuts, much appreciated by the youth of America, and which 

 are now regularly exported from Fiji to Australia and New 

 Zealand. 



It is said that the finest salad-oil can be made from these 

 pea-nuts, which grow most prolifically in the island. Tobacco 

 does remarkably well in this part of Viti Levu. The finest 

 tobacco plantation in Fiji that I know is that of Mr. Leveney ; 

 but I learn that on the north-west of the island at Ba, a Mr. 

 Roberts, who has had some experience in the cultivation and 

 curing of the weed in Missouri, is distancing all competitors. 

 As in the case of every other product of this wondrous group, 

 tobacco-growing is in its merest infancy. The Ba valley is 

 superbly rich, and only Avaits for the tiller and the reaper. 

 The great feature of Viti Levu is, however, the noble Rewa, or 

 Wai Levu, l great- water,' the largest river in the islands, and 

 navigable for 91 miles. It empties itself into the sea 

 by four mouths, and the deltas are fertile and cultivated. One 

 of these deltas is traversed by a canal which saves a dis- 

 tance of 21 miles between Rewa and Bau, and also a con- 

 siderable distance between the latter place and the main 

 channel of the river. The canal is 2 miles long and 60 

 feet wide, and admits of the passage of the largest canoes. It 



