FIJI ISLANDS.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 87, 30 November 1865, Page 6

FIJI ISLANDS.

The fbirowiijg. personal narrative*, which contains some- interesting information, regardiqg the Fiji; islands,. is compiled; from the lettersof. a settler^ wiho.has beenjocateduporisone of these- islands. during, the. past eighteen, months,, andi will be read' with iftteresfc by the- inhabitants* pf? this dis^ trict. '.'..'■■ i I landed? on the islands on the l^th- of May* "lß64:l Since- then, I have,- wandered pyer ai considerable- portion, of the- JPijj "V Archipelago,, which- embraces- about tw,b liundred islands and: islets, with a popu.rajjonof 200,0Q9>souls.. Only. two of;these islands, are' of a.ny importance as regards ; siz^.yiz,, Yanua, Lpvui and Viti Lev.v; "■'My Resent location is about thecentre of v; the lf^t-named' island; which is the largest " ' olf tlie%roup, and; measures QOjmlltes long W'ai)Wit 50; broad i JV%. first impression. of thi i ! i|lands was very unfavourable, but a more. niinute> acqjiaintance lias, somewhat changed, that opinion. In sailing- amongst these islands: before- I: took up my present abode, -n. lonely landscape openedi out- to, the eye. PictuEesque- gronpsof rocks, ridges, and- mountain* peal^, rugged: and sublime, with, valleys filled? vwithi the lofty co,coa nut <■ and: palm tree* giving^ tho- place - alii the appearance of being the. abode' of angelic beings', rather than the habitatipnof arace of savages^ -r- ferocious^ treacherous, and ; cruel, whoseu hanid* is- ever, ready to, strike - the murderous, blow,, andv whose- heart is as relentless as the arch-fiend' himself. But It must not stop to paint the. blackness, of sbul, else li would; swallow vi» fIJV the- writing material! I have got at hand. t^ij^Qjr injtroductocy- wnb^rks,; I w.i]l

now. pr,ocee4 to.;gtvfty,ou< a> more detailiedi account oo r the- islands Jindi people.. • , At the outset of'my wanderings. iii; these* parts, I visited! almost every island) of the group* V can. safely say -that l' never saw &r piece of! level ground! large ■ enough for a cricket j)ark till. Xi reached the place from: whence; I' now write, . On the other hand, I feel; firmly convinced that in- no other. ; par.t of the. known, world has najjure beeni so. very, .^proiuse- with, her, gifts. * These taro, sweet'potatoes, yams,, bannas, and. a hnndredi o.th«r descriptions, of fruits, and; roots^^ which* grow .all over these in. rich! abundance. A whole town, of E*jians^ can raipe-a stock of provisions capable- ofe supt>lyirigr their wants throug-hout the- whole- year* upon^ a piece of, ground* not larger tban<aniordinary: 'kitchen garden t plot. Ihe-bread< fruit grows about eight inches Jong: and* four thick. It is.a. delicious description, ot? food; the color of ani orange,andv whe a, cooked it tastes like as very rich: bread, pudding. Thevam may. bedescribedt as, a. description of fruit iwhich.falls to-be classed; as- something between the potatpe andi parsnip,. T!i3 taro is a, very glutenous- herb) and; affords a .great deali of .nourishment; Of the other fruits and plants, ll shall only say- thafc they are far too numerous, to mention. Very few parts o* these islands but havebeen planted upon at one time or other, and'the nature of the soil seems to be that, having been once planted, it is impossible to des-; troy its fructifying powers, so that a Fijian cannot starve. • Where lam now located I manage with the greatest of ease to feeH myself and 25 .men for the modest sum of 3s a week, and •what is more, we, live upon nothing but .the fat of the land. The cocoa nut tree Jis a very useful one, arid can l>e turned to good account ia forty different ways. The nut, when, green, makes a. dttlijiktful simji*-. ; roer beverage, infinitely better tban ginger beer> although somewhat resembling that evanescent compound. Within a mile of my house I can procure oranges and lemons by the. cart load, the latter being ■three times the size of any I ever saw before. There is one root of which I must 'make special mention— the yagona, or intoxicating plant. It is prepared into a liquid by the followino: process ;-^-First, itis reduced to a pulp, watef is then adußd, and after being soaked ; for so me time, -the liquor is strained off, arid ready for drinksing.. It prodnces a very pleasing sensation, aiid> is considered to possess superior medicinal qualities. This liquor is drank at all times, and} on. all occasi.bns by the Fijians,. The soil and* climat^ appear to be admirably adapted for the cultivation of spice. What has been, alrearty tried in that line has actually run-wild. 1 have myself seen a.de.«cript;io.n. of nutmeg so very near the true kind that- I could' hardly tell the difference..* Up totlie-pre-sent time cotton has^ done exceedißg;ly well, and is now commenced to be expensively cultivated. ' With these few remarks upon the Fiji Islands, I will now proceed to speak oi' the Fiji himself. In height, he stands a little, higher than the ordinary run of Europeans.. They are a very well formed class 1 ;of people, and have none tf the negro features about them - whatever. In their wild" state their hair is allowed to grow to r b great length, and-as-it is very frizzly, it stands upon an end, and gives them a frightful appearance. At times they p.iint their hair different cblorsj which adds considerably to. the ludicrousjiess of. their ap-. ipeararice. They live in towns, but are continually roaming about, and are at ihome. wherever, they happen to stop, .. Taught by. experience the treachery of ■eachV others, character, they always go '' armed; ready for combat. They seem to haverio. gratitude whatever in their nature. Sosoonia,s they gei what they want from 'you, they forget everything like obligation, ' down, even to themaihtainijig a good feel- ' »ing towards- you. If you, give them no-. " things or make them, pay smartly for what they, get> they, wilt think much, more of you : in., the- end; They wear- little, or no clothing., The onjy covering-. used: by- the . male; isV of snch. a nature, that it scarcely iadmits;of description* The covering usect by. thefemaies varies, according to the class. . to. whijih. they belong* Tlie tqarried wonian wears a.liki, or fringe, fastened* round the , waist,. and reachiug as- lbw. as themjddle of the thigh.;, the single Wdmen.haye.a narrow . fringe, which goes about twortlijrds round their persons* Those professing, the Christian, religion, dress, of differently. Their houses are very well got up.j : built ! - of feeds aid i th.a|whe& over' so as to^rotect, !

the interior, against all kinds o£ weather I They are- generally, erected, ahout fifty. feet ; long* and fbrm> a. g-ood; shade from the nays of the sum The sleeping apartments are screened offby beautiful ta paidoth, wrought from the- bark of a. native- tree. In. most ; instances these houses present quite-a comfortable appearance. ■ As regards the Fijian generally,. I shall only, say that I s was always a. sceptic about " the- whole of- the human race spring-in g from- one original parentage,, and* I would be- more loath> to believe in- this theory nowthan- ever. The F?j}an. seems to possess every, bad' quality known in the annals of human, depravity without' one redeeming' 'feature in his- whole character: After working out some ingenious metaphysical arguments bearing upon the origin: of the human- race* the writer proceeds to say :— After wandering round here for sometime like Noah's dove, or, as I expestj his raven, I at last came upon a beautiful river, about? the centre of Vivi Levu, and got a piece of land, built a house, and here I live, and here I mean to die. I have «rot a frontage to the river of about one mile in length by a mile back, and if I was fenced in upon any one acre of the lot I should not starve. The occupation I intend following 1 is the ■cultivation of cotton. Already 1 have made good progress, and before next sea^ son £ expect to. have over 30 acres under crop, lit is dreadful? work to mjanage the the natives. Everyone- told me I could not possibly get 'along- \vifhput an interpreter, so I got one for a matter ot two or three days, but he quarrelfed with 27 of my men, and they all left, so I packed him off too. Since then 1 have got along all right. I have h?d one row, which nearly cost me my life. Gne fellow would not work, so I turned him off. lie took possession of my house, and when* I went to turn him out, he pitched 1 into, me with his club. I took hold ot an old? axe- handle and gave him a good: sound thrashing 1 , and cut his arm sadly. He let off a war whoop, and immediately the house was surrounded by natives with clubs and sticks. I' showed a bold, determined front, and to that fact T believe I am indebted for my escape from death. Since then I have aot-lfcent troubled in the same wwa r .

When the New Bepresentation Act was first intspdujced into the Assembly we protested against the adjustment and \distribution of the representation of this Province. We pointed out the unfair manner in which the then County of Bruce was dealt with, and \he undue preponderance given to Hampden. The scheme was however the production of the Provincial Government and the Assembly refused to di&turb-, it in any manner, and so the act passed. En passant Xr vre may, remark that Mr. Dillon Bell,, Mi P.O. for the-Matau district is popularly supposed to be the real, author, of the schedule dividing the districts, and; apportioning the number-, of." members.,. Tfce_, following figures (for which we are indebted to the. : courtesy of, Mr. Dewe., Registration Officer,) show the number of ,electors-,in each.; of- the new country Electoral: Districts, whichrre--turn one member each. to, the Assembly^ and; will, we think, prove that our remarks ,a». to the injustice done to . the... agricultural dis--tricts of the southern portion of ;- Otagp;. were not without foundation. The : nevsyrformed< Electoral Rolls for the newiDistrictSigive the following totals : — Cluthaj one . member, 303 . electors ; Taieri^ one member^ 320, electors ; Bruce, one member, 503 electors ; Hampden, one membsr, so electors ; Manuherikia, one. member, 38 electors ; Waikouaiti, one men -- ber, 163 electors ; Oamaru, one member, 2.67. electors ; Goldfields towns, one member, 362 electors. It would be difficult to discover on. what basis the representation has ; been, allocated. It cannot be either population, or number of electors when the purely pastoral districts of Hampden and litanuherikia, with. a total of 58 electors between them, send, two representatives to the Assembly, while the thickly-populated, agricultural district of Bruce, with 500 electors, has only one member. , The usual quarterly meeting of the Tokomairiro Property Investment Society is tp.be heldii^ the, Schoolhouse on Monday, . 4th in§l; , when a number of shares will be submitted; to. competition. As the meeting.; on Monday is ; the4as^ of the financial year, the Secretary, by advertisement, requests that all arrears, nwy. be. paidvup.that evening, in or-_ der ihe bopkaimfty be,audited v