88 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July i, 1881. 
FROM CEYLON TO FIJI. 
(By cm ex-Travancore Planter.) 
THE VOYAGE FROM MELBOURNE TO LEVUKA ; LIFE IN FIJI. 
The " Suva " left Melbourne on January 12th, 
passed Lord Havre's Lland January 17tl>, and on 
Jan. 23rd sighted Kandava, the first of the Fiji 
group. On the same clay, we anchored in the harbour 
of Suva. The entry to it is by a break in the 
coral reef by which the island of Viti Levu, like 
nearly all the rest, is surrounded. Those reefs to a 
certain extent form a natural breakwater. The Bay 
of Suva was very beautiful, the water calm as an 
inland lake, the forest-clad hills rising up from its 
southern margin, wonderfully fresh and green. They 
rose to a height of about a thousand feet, when they 
bordered on a "glorious cloudland " that would 
form a fine subject for Mr. Skeen's camera. The 
other side of the bay is low-lying and covered with 
an orange-green grass intermixed with light scrub of 
a deep green. The forest does not appear to be so 
heavy as in India : it gives the impression of being 
soft and luxuriant. The forest scenery on the whole 
has a good deal of resemblance to the low- country 
hills nearest Colombo on the Kandy railway, if they 
were brought down to the sea. The grass of Fiji 
has the appearance of being very rich ; when it 
is well cropper! down by cattle it forms a beautiful sward. 
Sewa at present does not consist of more than a store 
or two, a hotel, and about a dozen houses, but 
there is a lot of building going on. Some unmistak- 
ably English cattle that I saw grazing gave a homely 
look to the place. I made the acquaintance of the South 
Sea Islanders for the first time at Suva. They are 
2, fine muscular race, copper coloured, with broad 
noses, protruding lips, and hair like merino wool. The 
Fijian trims his hair to stand on end in a curious 
fashion, but the imported labourers take no trouble 
■with theirs. The Fijians are not good workers, I 
am told. They were Fijians, however, who landed 
the cargo from the steamer. Generally, they are 
employed on such jobs, as, though incapable of 
sustained effort, they can work very heartily for a 
short time, and, being strongmen can carry big weights. 
The South Sea Islanders are not at all so servile as 
Hindus, but the shrewd look of many a Tamil cooly 
and kangaui is wanting. Unlike the Hindus, they 
are always laughing aud joking. The fibre of a 
tree generally forms the dress of the Fijian : 
he wears a piece of it round his waist, and many 
folds in a turban on his head. This natural cloth 
has often a sheen not unlike that of satin. A 
ball dress made entirely from it is exhibited in the Fiji 
Court at the Melbourne Exhibition. The imported 
labourer, I think, nearly always wears cotton clothing. 
About '1 o'clock on the 24th January, we left 
Suva for Levuka. and arrived there about 9 o'clock 
at night. TIip ci-devant capital of Fiji looks very 
beautiful when viewed from the sea at night. Its 
lights are rendered wonderfully brilliant by being set 
in the dark shade of the hill. The impression I formed 
of the place then was not displaced nexb morning by 
the test of daylight It is really at any time a 
picturesque place. A town entirely of wood and iron 
was novel to me, unci I was reminded of descriptions 
I had read of American townships "Out West." 
On the hillside above the business part of the place, 
there are a good many houses tastefully built and 
idtuated. The principal street naturally faces the 
beuch. Tin most prominent building is the Mechanics 
Institute. The Bank of New Zealand is very tastefully 
finished The Fiji 'rimes issues from a fine new build- 
ing. The liouses iu Levuka, as all over Fiji, are of 
wood, generally with iron roofs, but sometimes with 
Bhibgle The preference given to the former roofing 
would lead strangers to suppose that the people of Fiji, 
not content with the climate, endeavour to bring it 
up to the highest standards of tropical heat by at- 
tracting with the agency of iron as much as possible 
of the sunshine to their dwellings and places of 
business. Shingles are quite as easily obtainable as iron. 
Timber is imported from San Francisco and New 
Zealand. Native wood is not much used, sawing in 
pits under European supervision being very expensive, 
and only one saw-mill being yet erected. The in- 
habitants of Levnka aB a rule, go about in shirt sleeves, 
and with hats that in Ceylon would be regarded as 
most inadequate protection from the sun. Children 
attending school go considerable distances to their 
homes at midday for their meals, and return to school 
again ; apparently without any evil effect. Here, 
a European, however high his rank, does not think it 
necessary to move about in a bandy as in Ceylon 
and India. Elding is more in vogue. Horses are im- 
ported here at reasonable rates. They receive very 
little attention from their owners, and many are 
allowed to graze about at will. Sheep and cattle are 
reasonable in price. Sheep do not do so well, as they grow 
too fat for breeding purposes. Angora goat-farming has 
been instituted, but I have not ascertained if it has 
reached beyond the experimental stage. Pigs do 
very well in some places. They are found in a wild 
state, and they with a few kinds of fowl constitute 
all the sport. Fish is very plentiful — in the sea. 
The finny inhabitants of the Fijian waters are sin- 
gularly sagacious, and, as a rule, give a clear berth to 
the baited hook. Some, of a small description, are 
caught in nets by women. It is a very curious sight 
to watch them on those expeditions. Some hold 
the ret in a suitable spot, while others frighten the 
fish towards it, by approaching in a line, and making 
a peculiar sound by clapping the hands under water. 
Plantations are near enough to the sea, but Ceylon 
planters who may think of coming to Fiji need not 
entertain any fairy visions of fish. Fresh and very 
good meat is always to be got in Levuka, but such is not 
always the case in the outlying islands, where people 
are often obliged to be content with salt beef, which 
has the merit of being of good quality, however ques- 
tionable its suitability in a salted state for the tropics. 
The two principal districts in Fiji are the 
Rewa and Taviuni. The latter island I have seen, 
and it well deserves the appellation of the garden 
of Fiji. It rises in a very fine slope to a height 
of several thousand feet, and there is very little 
indeed of it upon which coffee would not grow. The 
coffee I saw was at an elevation of about 1,500 feet. It 
was free from leaf disease and in fine vigorous growth. 
The soil is a dark vegetable mould, almost peaty in 
appearance. It s°ems to suit the coffee plant ad- 
mirably. It is of great depth, but, though this will 
give greater freedom to the tap-root, I do not see 
that soil for ages buried at this level can suppty more 
vitality to the plant than any other kind of sub-soil. 
Owing to the volcanic origin of the soil, it absorbs 
the rain very rapidly, but there is certainly some 
wash. I think draining would be an advantage, but 
that is not the opinion entertained here. Coffee is 
found not to do at all well under shade. Belts for 
the wind are supposed to be a mistake too, and have 
been felled in some cases. I think, however, they should 
be as valuable here as i hey undoubtedly are in Tra- 
vail- ore. I saw the effect on coffee of the very heavy- 
gale that swept over these islands a few weeks ago. 
The coffee was two years old and unstaked. There 
werrf no leaves blown off, but a good many trees were 
shaken, which would have been prevented had they 
been staked. Land suitable for coffee costs about £3 
per acre, but I think it can be bought cheaper inland. 
Eight and ten cwts the acre is not a fiction that dis- 
tance fabricates, but sober fact. On well-kept coffee 
there is s ldom any picking below the figures, and not 
