PREFACE. 
In 1859 Mr. W. T. Pritchard, H.B.M. Consul in Fiji, 
son of the Rev. George Pritchard, formerly of Tahiti, 
arrived in England with a document purporting to be 
the cession of Fiji—or rather Viti—to the Queen of 
Great Britain. The cession had been made by Cakobau 
(= Thakombau), the principal chief of Bau and king 
of the whole group, and with the consent of the lead- 
ing chiefs. The importance of accepting the proffered 
sovereignty was insisted upon by parties capable of 
taking a comprehensive view of the question. The Le- 
gislative Assembly of New South Wales, on the motion 
of Mr. M‘Arthur, voted an address to the Queen in sup- 
port of this proposal. Captain Towns, a patriotic citizen 
of Sydney, fully impressed, like many of his country- 
men, with the importance of acquiring the islands, ge- 
nerously offered a cheque for the whole Fijian debt, in 
order to remove at least one of the possible obstacles 
in the way of the cession. Nor is it any secret that the 
occupation of the islands has been recommended by 
Captains Fremantle, Denham, Erskine, and Loring, and 
Admirals Washington* and Sir Edward Belcher; in 
* See Appendix. 
