FLORA OF THE VITIAN ISLANDS, 
In 1862, Viti was visited by Dr. Greeffe, a native of Switzerland, for the purpose of 
making collections in Natural History, principally zoology ; but during his short stay in the 
group he did not neglect to gather botanical specimens, and a set af them was forwarded 
to the Melbourne Museum, and kindly lent to me whilst the preparation of this Flora was 
going on. A preliminary list of them was published by me in the ‘Journal of Botany,’ 
1864, p. 70, and in that place it is pointed out that Dr. Greeffe made several highly 
important additions to the Viti flora. Some of the Orchids of that collector seemed to 
have come into Dr. G. Reichenbach’s possession, and are enumerated by him in this work. 
Dr. Greeffe’s expenses were defrayed by the great commercial firm of Godeffroy and Sons, of 
Hamburg, and a short popular account of his visit was published in one of the German 
periodicals.* 
In August, 1865, Viti was visited by Mr. John Gould Veitch, of Chelsea, for the purpose 
of collecting there such ornamental plants as were suitable for cultivation in English gardens, 
Mr. Veitch touched at Ovalau, Bau, and Kadavu; and not only succeeded in this object, 
but also discovered several plants new to science. An account of the visit was published 
in the ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle’ for 1566, p. 243, seg. 
The last visitor to the group, of whom I have any knowledge, was Mr. William B. 
Guilfoyle, of Sydney, who went thither in H.M.S. Challenger, Commodore Lambert, in May, 
1868, and who also published a sketch of his trip.t Mr. Guilfoyle was principall¥* on 
the look-out for ornamental and useful plants; whether he also collected specimens for 
herbaria is unknown to me. 
Notwithstanding these numerous efforts to explore Viti, botanically a great part, 
perhaps the most interesting of the group, remains yet unknown. Little more than 
the coast of the larger islands has been skimmed, and the interior of Viti Levu and its 
numerous peaks and mountain-ridges still offer a rich field for botanical discovery. 
Many of these parts are at present inaccessible, owing to the savage nature of the inha- 
‘itants; and we can only hope, by slow degrees, to lift the veil which hangs over these 
botanical haunts. But civilization is making fresh strides every day, and ere many years 
will have passed, we may expect to traverse the whole group with comparative safety, 
though not without great pliysical exertion and considerable expense. Even if a good 
collector went merely over the ground already explored, he might expect to make many 
valuable additions to the flora; not only would he find plants which, from their geo- 
graphical range over other Polynesian islands, may safely be expected to oecur in Viti, 
but also genera and species entirely new to science. It has been one of my day-dreams to 
revisit the islands, and complete, as much as lies in my power, the work here begun. 
* If 1 remember rightly, in ‘Das Ausland,’ 
f Seemann’s ‘Journal of Botany, 1869, p. 117. (Much of the information in this sketch is taken 
verbatim, and without acknowledgment, from the various publications that issued from my pen.—B. 8.) 
