68 A MISSION TO VITI. 



penniless, and are disappointed on not becoming trans- 

 formed into capitalists on landing. I endeavoured to 

 urge them to begin planting their land with such tro- 

 pical products as the climate favours, and told them of 

 my little cotton plantation at Somosomo. All hoped 

 to make their fortune when Port Kinnaird should be- 

 come the capital of Fiji, and their land rise in value. 



The question of where the capital of Fiji is going 

 to be on the country becoming a European colony, 

 is a much debated one in the islands. The unfitness 

 of Bau, the native capital, for all commercial purposes, 

 being generally acknowledged, four places have laid 

 claim to that distinction, Levuka, Ga Loa, Port Kin- 

 naird, and Suva. Levuka has always been a favour- 

 ite resort of the white population, and has a central 

 position, and a tolerably good though not large harbour, 

 but there is no room for a town. Rocks rise from almost 

 the water's edge, allowing space for only one or two rows 

 of houses, the heat in which is suffocating ; and unless a 

 series of works is commenced similar to those which 

 render Valetta a city of terraces, there is no hope of 

 making Levuka more than a trading village. When I 

 finally left it, in November, 1860, there were only few 

 weather-boarded houses, belonging to the consuls and 

 missionaries, all the rest of the dwellings were large 

 huts built by the natives. The finest house was that 

 of Mr. Binner, beautifully situated on the top of a hill, 

 and commanding a grand view of the reef and its curl- 

 ing surf. Closely adjoining Levuka as London does 

 Westminster, New York Brooklyn, or Hamburg Altona 

 is Totoga, a fortified place with thick walls and 



