412 A MISSION TO VITI. 
principally taken up their residence in Levuka and the 
Rewa districts. They are traders, agriculturists, and sheep 
farmers. Several have turned their attention to cotton 
growing. Most of them live in native-built houses, and 
only a few, including the consuls and missionaries, 
have weather-boarded houses. They belong to all na- 
tions; I have seen English, Americans, Germans, 
French, Poles, and Russians, but the greater number 
are British subjects. Nearly all have acquired more or 
less land from the natives, and several have bought ex- 
tensive tracts. Small islands are in great request, and 
generally paid for at a much higher rate than pieces on 
the larger islands, which require fencing in, and are apt 
to give rise to disputes about boundaries. All the land 
sold is registered at the British Consulate, and Mr. Prit- 
chard, before he did so, was always very careful to have 
the sellers acknowledge before him, and in the pre- 
sence of a number of their townsmen, that they were sa- 
tisfied with the bargain and had obtained the price stipu- 
lated. The land originally belongs either to individuals or 
to whole families, and the title confirmed by the ruling 
chiefs is supposed to be good. From what I saw, I be- 
lieve that in most instances a fair price is given, remem- 
bering that the very best land in America may be had 
for a dollar and a quarter an acre; and that those who 
are willing to build a house, may have so-called bit-land 
for about sixpence per acre. Since the Fijis have be- 
come a field for immigration the land has considerably 
risen, and I have seen, as already stated, £10 per acre 
refused. The greatest landed proprietor was perhaps the 
late Mr. Williams, United States Consul. Mr. Binner, 
