June r, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
1029 
object is a laudable one, and we doubt not any meas- 
ures to ensure it would meet with hearty co-oper- 
ation from the inhabitants, provided always that the 
measures proposed were framed with a due regard to 
the rights of property and vested interests. 
Under the existing laws it is provided that, in "river 
reserves" — i.e., within 50 feet on each side of a river, 
25 feet in the case of a rivulet, and 10 feet for a 
stream or feeder — proprietors or occupiers of land are 
forbidden to erect any building or to cultivate the 
land otherwise than by planting shrubs or trees. 
On September 10 last a draft ordinance was pub 
lished, in which it was proposed that the "reserves" 
should bo increased to about 150 feet in the case of 
rivers, rivulets, or feeders, but no mention whatever 
was made of any proposal to indemnify landowners for 
the Iobs which such au extension of the Government 
reserves would cause. This omission caused great dis- 
satisfaction, and when, on September 13*, the newly- 
appointed Procurour-G<5u6ral moved in Council the first 
reading of his proposed ordinance, the definition of the 
reserves was left blank, to bo determined by the Coun- 
cil. At the same time the Procureur-Geucral affirmed 
that he did not propose to introduce any compensation 
clause, but, on the contrary, undertook to point out 
that owners of laud to be converted into reserves had 
no right to any indemnity. Some concession on this 
latter point appears to have been later made by the 
Government, for in reply to an application for the 
requisite Government authority to hold a public meet- 
ing on the subject, the Colonial Secretary replied that 
"should the ordinance in its ultimate shape inflict any 
real injury upon the owners of private property, the 
proper compensation clauses will, as a matter of course, 
be added." 
These assurances, however, did not satisfy the Colon- 
ists, who, at the public meeting, passed the resolution 
already reported in these columns, condemning the 
prsposal of the Government. 
It is, to say the least, unfortunate that a draft ord- 
inance should have been published, involving so large 
an interference with the rights of property, without 
any provision being made for compensation to owners 
affected by its operation. Looking to the fact that 
Mauritius is a Crown Colony, and that the official 
majority in Council can at all times ensure the adop- 
tion, nominally, by the Council of any Governmental 
measures, we arc not surprised that the landed pro- 
prietors in the Colony should have taken fright at the 
original scheme of the Government. Their concened 
aotiou and subsequent protests have already brought 
about considerable 
i le- iii, 
;ial 
correspondent points out, it is not the proposal to 
take measures for preserving the water sources that 
is objected to, per xe, but the omission of compensation 
clauses, whereby the value of laud, instead of being 
increased by such measures, is seriously diminished. 
Meantime, until the ordinance shall have beeu iu some 
form or another adopted by Council, it remains only 
for us to say that adequaie compensation is clue to 
those whose property is required for the public good. 
This point, once admitted, will sullico to keep tlio 
" rosorved lands" within proper limits; otherwise it 
is difficult to estimate the outlay which would be 
necossiry to indemnify the landowners were the original 
limits of the reserve — 150 feet on each side of a stream — 
adheied to. Within that distance from streams, aud 
even rivers, many valuable sugar houses, and even 
private residences, now exist ; aud from a list no* 
before us it appears that laud varying in extenl From 
230 to 550 acres each, and amounting us n total to 
3,503 acres, would, under the Original proposal, bo 
wrested from the proprietors of ouly ten estates. This 
aloue will Suffice to show what the extent of laud 
rendered unproductive throughout the Colony won d 
amount to. One estate, it is reported, would dis- 
appear altogether, whilst of another referred to only 
one-third would remain to its owner. 
The object which it is sought to attain— viz., 
" protection of mountain aud river reserves," is an 
admirable one, and it is much to be regretted that, 
by hasty and ill-considered attempts at legislation, 
the Government should have excited a prejudice against 
their proposal which would not otherwise have existed. 
— Colonies and India. 
SUGAR GROWING IN FIJI. 
Our sugar prospects are very cheering. The new 
mill on the " Peuang " estate at Rakirakl (north coast 
of Navitilevu) belonging to Dr. Chalmers, has sent 
to Levuka its first consignment of sugar, which is of 
excellent quality. Mr. Stan lake Lee's mill ou the 
Lower Rewa is now ready lor work, and will begin 
crushing on the 1st proximo. This mill was erected 
specially for the cane grown by the natives of the 
Rewa deltu on their town plantations, from which 
the produce is raised for the payment of their taxes. 
This is their first year of sugar planting, and if no 
disaster occur, there can be little doubt that the ex- 
periment will be very successful. The cane is looking 
well, aud, on a rough computation, there is enough 
of it to bring in some £4,000, which is £1,800 over 
and above the assessment for the whole district. This 
large surplus, if realized, will be returned to the 
natives, and cannot fail to encourage them to future 
efforts. 
Other mills are going up elsewhere ; but our great 
event in sugar is the erection of the Colonial Sugar- 
refining Company's mill at Nausori, on the banks of 
the Rewa River. The works are being carried on 
energetically under able management, and some notion 
of their magnitude may be gathered from the follow- 
ing particulars. In addition to a crowd of " imported 
labour," the company has in constant work about 60 
white men, chiefly mechanics, livetters, &c. Three ships, 
of 800 tons and upwards, have brought the machinery 
and other ironwork from London and Glasgow. 
Another vessel has been employed to bring timber 
from New Zealand, the company's own steamer ' b'iona ' 
has delivered two cargoes, aud large quantities of 
freight have been brought down by the A.S.N. Co.'s 
About 3,000 tons of concrete — river 
cpended m 
i are to be 
beiug put 
i aud other 
heel state, 
sand, gravel and Portland 
laying the foundations 
erected. The following 
together in the compan 
materials having been 
ready for construction : — Thirty punts, each capable 
of loading GO tons, for conveying the cane from the 
plantations to the mill, and a flat bottomed steamer 
for towing them, 100 feet iu length, aud drawing 
when fully loaded no more than 20 inches of water. 
For conveying carijo to aud from Lauthala Point, 
at the mouth of the Rewa Kiver, where the company 
will do all its shipment and discharging, there are 
beiug constructed eight barges of lbO tons each, with 
a draught of 5J feet when laden. For towing them 
two powerful steain|lunches have been built, and are now 
iu uso as tugs and message boats. They have n high 
rato of speed, aud it is astonishing to see the euse 
with which they walk away with the big barges loom- 
ing huge buhind them. Tne vessels which take away 
the sugar will come down Laden, to some cxtout at 
least, with coal, of which the company will be a 
largo consumer, not ouly for its furnaces but also for 
tho manufacture of gas. Kvtry part of tho establish- 
ment will be lighted with gas during the crushing 
season, when work will be carried on uueea>ii>gly day 
and uight. The gas-holder is already erected. When 
complete the mill will crush about i,0l»0 tons of cane 
per week during tho season, from vhiih, in round 
