Suva, Viti Levu. 167 



On the morning of the 1 1 th of October we got under way 

 from Levuka, and spent the day in steaming over to Suva, a com- 

 modious harbour, situated on the south-east side of Viti Levu, 

 where it was our intention to coal ship from a stationary hulk 

 which supplies the steamers plying between Sydney and the Fijian 

 ports. It is said that Suva, from the accommodation which its 

 harbour affords, and from its position on an easily accessible part 

 of the largest island of the group, is destined to become the seat 

 of government and the future capital of Fiji ; but at the time of 

 our visit the settlement was very insignificant, and looked a mere 

 speck in the great extent of wooded land which seemed from our 

 anchorage to spread before us in a vast semicircle. 



Leaving the ship on the morning of the following day, I started 

 for a walk on shore, taking my gun, insect bottle, and collecting 

 boxes. I at first directed my steps inland along the main road, 

 and for about three miles proceeded over an upland plain of 

 undulating land, thickly covered with tall reeds, and showing here 

 and there patches of brush in the wet hollows. In the last- 

 mentioned localities a good many birds, chiefly parrots, were to 

 be heard screaming shrilly, but owing to the denseness of the 

 foliage, few were visible. 



In the afternoon I returned to the settlement, and from thence 

 proceeded along the beach towards the low point which shelters 

 the harbour from the north-east winds. Here, as the tide fell 

 and laid bare broad flats of mud and coral, several flocks of sand- 

 pipers, whose general plumage resembled that of the snipe, came 

 in from seaward, settled, and commenced to feed. A brace of 

 duck and a large grey tern were the only other birds seen. 



We learned that the country in the immediate vicinity of Suva 

 was exceedingly unproductive. The soil was very thin, and the 

 sub-soil was a stiff pasty clay of a grey colour — in places -resembling 

 soapstone — and so impervious to drainage as to render all attempts 

 at agriculture hitherto abortive. 



We left Suva on October 13 th, and sailed for Tongatabu, 



