APPENDIX, 427 
native chiefs have bcen induced to encourage the growth of cot- 
ton, and a few young plants are now to be seen in the native 
gardens in various places. Very little, however, can be expected 
for some time from the natives. They will only be induced to 
raise cotton by meeting with a ready sale for the small quan- 
tities which they will bring in at first. The cultivation of cotton 
by white settlers is principally a question of land and labour. In 
a general way it may be said that there is not an acre of land in 
Fiji which is not private property, the ownership resting either in 
families or in individuals. A small portion of the land only at 
any one time is under cultivation, as a narrow patch of ground 
supplies the wants of a Fijian household, and the custom is to 
break up frequently new ground and abandon the old. On the 
subject of the purchase of land by whites, I made particular in- 
quiry of the chiefs at each of the public meetings; the general 
reply was, that an agreement made with the owners, if approved 
by the chief, would hold good. In the older purchases of land 
by whites, when the quantity exceeded what was required for a 
house, the native residents were not interfered with, as no culti- 
vation of land was attempted. In a few recent cases, where pur- 
chases have been effected by the whites who came last year to 
the islands, and who, with the view of forming plantations, 
wished to remove the natives from the land, opposition from the 
latter has been met with. By a clearer understanding with the 
owners before the purchase was concluded, these difficulties would 
probably have been avoided. The only mode hitherto of ob- 
taining labour has been through the instrumentality of the chiefs, 
who send a party of their people to perform the work agreed 
upon and receive the payment, which they distribute at their 
pleasure. This system would not meet the daily demand of la- 
bour required in a cotton plantation. The general habits and 
sentiments of the Fijians are opposed to the acquisition of pro- 
perty by individuals. The chief seizes anything belonging to his 
people that takes his fancy, and as readily gives it away, and the 
people are equally ready to beg and to give. As the influence 
of Christianity increases, the rule of the chiefs will become more 
mild, and private rights will be more respected. It is very doubt- 
ful, however, whether the people will become more industrious, 
