APPENDIX. 427 



native chiefs have been induced to encourage tlie growth of cot- 

 ton, and a few young plants are now to be seen in the native 

 gardens in various places. Very little, however, can be expected 

 for some time from the natives. They will only be induced to 

 raise cotton by meeting with a ready sale for the small quan- 

 tities which they will bring in at first. The cultivation of cotton 

 by white settlers is principally a question of land and labour. In 

 a general way it may be said that there is not an acre of land in 

 Fiji which is not private property, the ownership resting either in 

 families or in individuals. A small portion of the land only at 

 any one time is under cultivation, as a narrow patch of ground 

 supplies the wants of a Fijian household, and the custom is to 

 break up frequently new ground and abandon the old. On the 

 subject of the purchase of land by whites, I made particular in- 

 quiry of the chiefs at each of the public meetings ; the general 

 reply was, that an agreement made with the owners, if approved 

 by the chief, would hold good. In the older purchases of land 

 by whites, when the quantity exceeded what was required for a 

 house, the native residents were not interfered with, as no culti- 

 vation of land was attempted. In a few recent cases, where pur- 

 chases have been effected by the whites who came last year to 

 the islands, and who, with the view of forming plantations, 

 wished to remove the natives from the land, opposition from the 

 latter has been met with. By a clearer understanding with the 

 owners before the purchase was concluded, these difficulties would 

 probably have been avoided. The only mode hitherto of ob- 

 taining labour has been through the instrumentality of the chiefs, 

 who send a party of their people to perform the work agreed 

 upon and receive the payment, which they distribute at their 

 pleasure. This system would not meet the daily demand of la- 

 bour required in a cotton plantation. The general habits and 

 sentiments of the Fijians are opposed to the acquisition of pro- 

 perty by individuals. The chief seizes anything belonging to his 

 people that takes his fancy, and as readily gives it away, and the 

 people are equally ready to beg and to give. As the influence 

 of Christianity increases, the rule of the chiefs will become more 

 mild, and private rights will be more respected. It is very doubt- 

 ful, however, whether the people will become more industrious, 



