PREFACE. ix 



become a flourishing colony, an opinion shared by 

 almost all who have visited the group, as was again 

 proved at a crowded meeting at the Geographical So- 

 ciety when the subject was discussed. 



Desirous of collecting as many productions of the 

 country as possible, I neglected to investigate several 

 subjects which fell not within my assigned province. It 

 was only after the publication of Colonel Smythe's ' Re- 

 port,' that I became aware of the full importance of my 

 neglect. For instance, it would have been very important 

 to know how many thousand acres of land had passed 

 out of the hands of the natives. As a great many islands 

 and vast tracts of country have already been purchased 

 by British subjects, statistics on these points would pro- 

 bably have materially influenced the decision of Her 

 Majesty's Government with respect to the acceptance of 

 the cession. 



Amongst other things I brought home a comprehen- 

 sive collection of plants, which, together with those 

 already in this country, chiefly accumulated by Govern- 

 ment expeditions, furnish ample materials for a Flora 

 of Fiji, a Flora Vitiensis. I expended a good deal of 

 my own money in order to make these collections as 

 complete as possible, and was in hopes that the Govern- 

 ment would see fit to assist me in publishing such a 

 work, especially as my report on the resources and ve- 

 getable productions of the islands had been presented 

 to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her 

 Majesty, and the nature, and possible value of the pro- 

 jected publication must have become evident. His 



