FIJI.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3057, 13 April 1881, Page 2

FIJI.

Mr E. Lyndon, in an advertisement in another column, invites the attention of capitalists and speculators to a sale of land in the Ldand of Viti Levu, Fiji. The latest English colony is growing m importance, and the more that is known concerning its soil, climate, and products the more interesting it becomes, The change of the capital frora Levuka to Suva was the first indication of the in» creasing trade of the island with the outer world; the old chief town being situated between a beach and a precipitous bush-covered hill, was altogether unsuited for the growth of snch a sized city as we mußt believe will arise in Fiji in the course of a few years. Suva, on tbe other hand, is situated at tbe mouth of the Rewa river, which is navigable for about sixty miles up its course. The site chosen for the capital is a large area of gently undulating country, having a good drainage Blope towards the harbor. The harbor itself is well sheltered frora every quarter, with a depth of water capable of floating the largest vessels. Tbe > present European population of the Islands is rather under 3000 souls, but the prospects of the colony are so bright that every steamer from either Melbourne or Sydney brings a large addition to the permanent residents. The Island of Viti Levu is the largest of the group, and is about 300 miles in circumference. Its principal features are its really wonderful rivers, which are all deep and navigable for many miles into the interior, opening up lands specially suitable to the growth of sugar, tapioca, cocoa, coffee, spices, and all other tropical productions. Since steam communication has been established between Fiji and Australia and New Zealand, the attention of Australian capitalists has been largely drawn to this young colony as a profitable field for investment. Very recently the New South Wales Sugar Refining Company has established sugar mills on the Rewa river, and which, in the course of a few months, will be in full operation. The establishment of these mills will at once offer a most profitable market for the best paying > crop planters can grow, and in view of this land has rapidly risen in value from £5 per acre to from £12 to £20. The company is enormously wealthy, and intend operating on all the chief islands of the group, so that it may be confidently expected that the value of land will continue to rise till it reaches the value of the sugar-growing lands in other countries, which is rarely under £45 per acre, at which price planters can derive a good profit on their investment. It must not be forgotten that the total area of the Inlands iB comparatively limited, hence the anxiety of Australian capita- t lists to be the first to secure the most %. * favored sites for townships and plantations. The township Mr Lyndon is offering for sale is situated on the Rewa \ river, twelve miles above Suva, and is in the centre of a district containing several sugar mills, some of which have been in full work for many years. The situation for a town could not have been better selected, as the great trunk route from Levuka to Suva passing through the native capital of Ban runs through the heart of the township, which has been v named Thurston, after the popular Colonial Secretary.