68 A MISSION TO VITI. 
penniless, and are disappointed on not becoming trans- 
formed into capitalists on landing. I endeavoured to 
urge them to begin planting their land with such tro- 
pical products as the climate favours, and told them of 
my little cotton plantation at Somosomo. All hoped 
to make their fortune when Port Kinnaird should be- 
come the capital of Fiji, and their land rise in value. 
The question of where the capital of Fiji is going 
to be on the country becoming a European colony, 
is a much debated one in the islands. The unfitness 
of Bau, the native capital, for all commercial purposes, 
being generally acknowledged, four places have laid 
claim to that distinction —Levuka, Ga Loa, Port Kin- 
naird, and Suva. Levuka has always been a favour- 
ite resort of the white population, and has a central 
position, and a tolerably good though not large harbour, 
but there is no room fora town. Rocks rise from almost 
the water's edge, allowing space for only one or two rows 
of houses, the heat in which is suffocating; and unless a 
series of works is commenced similar to those which 
render Valetta a city of terraces, there is no hope of 
making Levuka more than a trading village. When I 
finally left it, in November, 1860, there were only few 
weather-boarded houses, belonging to the consuls and 
missionaries,—all the rest of the dwellings were large 
huts built by the natives. The finest house was that 
of Mr. Binner, beautifully situated on the top of a hill, 
and commanding a grand view of the reef and its curl- 
ing surf. Closely adjoining Levuka—as London does 
Westminster, New York Brooklyn, or Hamburg Altona 
—is Totoga, a fortified place with thick walls and 
