PREFACE. ix 
become a flourishing colony,—an opinion shared by 
almost all who have visited the group, as was again 
proved at a crowded meeting at the Geographical So- 
ciety when the subject was discussed. 
Desirous of collecting’ as many productions of the 
country as possible, I neglected to investigate several 
subjects which fell not within my assigned province. It 
was only after the publication of Colonel Smythe’s ‘ Re- 
port,’ that I became aware of the full importance of my 
neglect. For instance, it would have been very important 
to know how many thousand acres of land had passed 
out of the hands of the natives. As a great many islands 
and vast tracts of country have already been purchased 
by British subjects, statistics on these points would pro- 
bably have materially influenced the decision of Her 
Majesty’s Government with respect to the acceptance of 
the cession. 
Amongst other things I brouglit home a comprehen- 
sive collection of plants, which, together with those 
already in this country, chiefly accumulated by Govern- 
ment expeditions, furnish ample materials for a Flora 
of Fiji, a Flora Vitiensis. I expended a good deal of 
my own money in order to make these collections as 
complete as possible, and was in hopes that the Govern- 
ment would see fit to assist me in publishing such a 
work, especially as my report on the resources and ve- 
getable productions of the islands had been presented 
to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her 
Majesty, and the nature and possible value of the pro- 
‘jected publication must have become evident. His 
