x PREFACE. 
Grace the Duke of Newcastle, ever ready to advance 
science, fully sharing these hopes, made an application 
to the Treasury to that effect, but was ‘“‘very sorry to 
inform me that his application had been unsuccessful.” 
Thinking what had been collected with so much ex- 
pense, under great difficulties, and in a country only 
partially reclaimed from cannibalism, was also worth 
making known, I resolved to incur the risk of publish- 
ing the work at my own cost. It will consist of 400 
pages of letter-press (quarto), and 100 coloured plates, 
all representing objects hitherto unknown to science, 
and drawn by the skilful pencil of Mr. Fitch. The 
work will take about three years to bring out, and its 
publication will commence immediately. 
All the native names are spelt according to the sys- 
tem of orthography laid down in Hazelwood’s ‘ Fijian 
Dictionary’ (London: Triibner and Co.), and wherever 
any deviation should be discovered, it may be regarded 
as a mistake of mine, unless particularly noticed. No- 
thing but endless confusion will be the result if every 
nation is allowed to write Fijian names according to its 
own orthography. For the illustrations of my present 
work I am indebted to Mrs. Smythe, Dr. Macdonald, 
and Captain Denham, to whom I beg to tender my best 
thanks, as well as to those friends who, since my de- 
parture from Fiji, have kept me supplied with the- 
latest intelligence from that group. 
BERTHOLD SEEMANN. 
London, September 30, 1862. 
