1258 



A USTRALASIA ILL USTRA TED. 



qualifying him to take upon himself the control of the Colonial Secretary's office as well 

 as to hold the reins of the Government. Fiji owes much to the present Governor of 

 British New Guinea, Dr. Sir William MacGregor, who came out with Sir Arthur 

 Gordon as chief medical officer of the new colony. Although an enthusiast in his 



profession, his remark- 

 able power of organiza- 

 tion, and of infusing 

 his own indomitable 

 energy into the public 

 servants under him, 

 was too valuable to be 

 .confined to the medical 

 department. He held 



a number of offices under 

 the Government, had the 

 work of each done in the 

 best manner possible, and 

 in the midst of his multi- 

 farious occupations he 

 found time for scientific 

 research, hygienic 

 measures for the benefit 

 of the natives, and even 

 for teaching a number of 

 young Fijians how to 

 treat the forms of disease 

 which are most prevalent 

 in the Group, and to 

 deal efficiently with many 

 surgical cases. He did 

 so much useful work in 

 Fiji that even the 

 briefest historical record 

 should find place for his 

 name. Nothing beyond 

 a very slight reference 

 to the work of Christian 

 Missions in Fiji is pos- 

 sible here. The Wes- 

 leyan Mission was begun 

 in 1835, and before the 

 Group was annexed, all 

 the natives, with excep- 

 tion of the hill tribes 

 of Navitilevu, had aban- 

 don e d h e a t h e n i s m ; 

 schools were established 

 under native teachers in 

 every village, and almost 

 all the young people had 

 learned to read and write. A Catholic Mission also had been established for many years 

 under the care of a few French priests who were devoted to their work, and no name is 

 more respected in Fiji than that of good Pere Breheret, the veteran missionary at Levuka. 



A NATIVE VILLAGE OK THE FIJI GROUP. 



