34 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. 11, 1881. 



THE FIJI ISLANDS.* 



THE ideas generally entertained respecting the Fiji 

 Islands and tlu'ir inlial)itants are not such as to 

 encourage the idea tliat life to white men would lie very 

 pleasant there. ProliaMy most persons, who have not 

 followed the clianges which liaVc recently taken place in 

 this important group of islands, suppose that the Fijians 

 are still, as they used to he considered, the most barbarous 

 of all the Polynesians, addicted frightfully to cannibalism, 

 and little changed from those who, as Herbert Spencer 

 puts it, possessed such " extreme loyalty," that if the 

 king willed it, a Fijian cheerfully stood unbound to be 

 knocked on the head. The days are passed, liowevcr, 

 when a Fijian king could register by a row of many 

 hundred stones the number of human \ictims he had eaten. 

 The Conservative Fijian sighs in vain for the good old 

 times when the king's will reigned supreme. A visitor has 

 now only to take with him, as Mr. Home did, a circular 

 letter of introduction written in Fijian to all the chiefs, to 

 find himself a welcome guest at (instead of upon) their 

 hospital>le tables. " In each village some one, generally 

 the schoolmaster, ' teacher,' or native clergyman was found, 

 who could read and explain the letter to the people, who 

 were at all times attentive listeners." The Sunday schools 

 are well attended, and most of the rising generation of 

 Fijians can do something in the way of reading, wTiting, 

 and ciphering. In fact, with a few g\iides and an inter- 

 preter, a little sugar, tea, coffee, and biscuits, mats for 

 sleeping upon, a rug or so, and a mosquito net, the visitor 

 can enjoy himself immensely in the Fiji Islands, as Mr. 

 Home's work shows in almost every page. 



While the cool weather lasts, Europeans in Fiji can wear 

 with comfort clothing adapted to an English summer ; 

 " indeed, at this season, the weather is delightful, finer than 

 the best summer weather in England." In the hot weather, 

 it is true, the heat is oppressive, wliile storms of thunder 

 and heavy rain are more frequent than pleasant. With 

 reference to the rainfall, by the way, which even for a 

 tropical country is very hea\'y, Mr. Home notes a circum- 

 stance of considerable interest. " Previous to and during 

 1861-2 the low hills around Levuka were thiekly wooded. 

 Since that time the woods have been cut down, and the 

 number of days on which rain falls has been reduced 

 from 2.56, the average for 1861-2, to 149, the average for 

 186.5-6 and 1876-7. It would seem that the number of 

 showers diminished sinmltaneously with the cutting of 

 the trees. The average rainfall has not been much dimi- 

 nished, however, and with an annual rainfall of 118 inches 

 the Fijians may be well satisfied, especially as the rain falls 

 most abundantly during the warm or summer season, when 

 vegetation most requires it. It was absolutely necessary, 

 moreover, to clear the forest region, for the thick woods 

 afforded shelter to the mountaineers, who, on several occa- 

 sions, appeared in large numbei-s, and threatened to sack 

 the town and murder the white settlcr.s. "These marau- 

 ders came from Lasoni, in the centre of Ovalan, just across 

 the mountains from Levuka ; stole down upon the town, 

 plundered the goods of the settlers, and then made off into 

 the woods, where it was useless and dangerous to follow 

 them." Unfortunately, since the woods were cleared the 

 rain falls more torrentially than before, and carrying away 

 the loose soil on the surface, where the ground is steep, 

 does great damage to both soil and vegetation. 



The Fiji Islands number in all 2.55, having an entire 



• " A Year in Fiji : an inquiry into tlio Botanical, Agricultural, 

 and Economical reeonrcos of tlio Colony." By J. Home, K.L.S., &c., 

 Director of Woods and Forests, and Botanical Gardens, Mauritius. 



area of about 7,403 .square miles, or about 738,.350 acres. 

 The largest island of the group, Vili L(;vu, has an area of 

 4,112 s<iuare miles, while the next in size, Vau na Lcvu, 

 has an area of 2,432i square miles. The others are all 

 much smaller. Al^out eighty of the islands are inhabited, 

 the white population being about 2,000 (in 1874), the 

 natives nundjering about 140,.500. As regards communi- 

 cation with the outside world, Fiji is not badly off. 

 Twenty-four hours after the arrival of the mail from San 

 Francisco at Sydney, a fine steamer of 1,000 to 1,500 tons 

 leaves for Levuka, the voyage occupying seven or eight 

 days. The steamer remains at Levuka nearly a week, and 

 leaves with the mails for England in time for them to be 

 transhipped to one of the Peninsular and Oriental steamers 

 at Sydney. From Melbourne there is direct steam com- 

 munication with Suva and Levuka once every five weeks. 

 There is also regular steam communication between 

 Levuka and Auckland (New Zealand), and between 

 Levuka and the Friendly Islands. A visit to the Fiji 

 Islands during the cool season would be pleasant for any 

 one who enjoys change of scene ; but it is clear from Mr. 

 Home's book that the naturalist (especially the botanist) 

 would find such a visit at once interesting and profitable. 



The natives are hospitable, as also (which is of more 

 importance, perhaps) are the white settlers. The Fijians 

 are daring sailors, and good customers to the boat-builders, 

 who have taken the place of the native canoe-builders. 

 The natives play a number of athletic games, among which 

 may be mentioned throwing the tinika, or reed, wrestling, 

 and a game which is something like tennis, a little like 

 cricket, and a great deal like skittles. Thej' throw the 

 tinika (an oval-shaped piece of wood about four inches long 

 and two in diameter at the thickest part) a distance of 

 about 300 yards, or thrice as far as our best cricketers can 

 throw a cricket^ball. The natives are subject to elephan- 

 tiasis, ajid consider their children neither strong nor healthy 

 till they have experienced an ulcei-ous disease, which they 

 call coko. A kind of ophthalmia is not tincommon, but it 

 lasts only a few days, both natives and settlei-s being 

 subject to it. The natives have succumbed in great 

 numbers to epidemics of measles, and many consider that 

 the population has, in consequence, become greatly 

 decreased. But Mr. Home considers that the many aban- 

 doned " patches " may indicate rather a change in the 

 habits of the people than a diminished population. 



The animals indigenous to Fiji are Viats, flying foxes, and 

 a small rat. The ten species of snakes found there are all 

 harmless. Pigs, introduced from Tonga (where Cook left 

 them), run wild in the forests. There are wild ducks, 

 snipe, sand-pipers, wild pigeons, and beautiful golden 

 orange doves, as well as parrots or parroquets. Whales 

 and porpoises abound in the seas round the group, which 

 swarm with many kinds of fish, edible and otherwise. 

 Sharks aliound in the seas, and travel long distances from 

 the sea to the deep pools in the rivers, which must render 

 them less pleasant to bathers than they otherwise would be, 



Mr. Home's book is full of interesting facts, and though 

 it has been specially written in response to an official in- 

 vitation, it will be fomid very pleasant reading. There is 

 a copious index — indeed, the index is a little too copious, a 

 passing word in the text being, in many cases, all that is 

 found to bear on a cai-efully-pagcd index heading. The 

 facts gathered together here are the fruits of a year of 

 faithful and laborious research. 



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Sold by aU Chemists. Qet the genuine. 



[Abtt. 



