VIA SAN FRANCISCO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1194, 17 October 1874, Page 4

VIA SAN FRANCISCO.

Kandavu. — (Continued )

As we passed the Challenger, the men were already aloft making preparations for the Btart for the Solomon Islands in the evening, and the Dido had her hammocks stowed in true man-of-war fashion along the side, while the saucy little Renard, with her one gun, and diminutive crew, looked the picture of a smart cruiser. We took our way along the shoie of the island, now keeping close in, now shoving off to get round the coral shoals on which the boat's bottom would grate threateningly. The shores of this Island are, to an eye accustomed to the growth and vegetation of temperate regions, indescribably beautiful. The bushes and shrubs, the leaves of which are of the most most brilliant verdant green, and creep in rank luxuriance down to the very water's edge ; and where, here aud there the water runs in and forms a c.jve, the whole is like a scene from Fairyland, with the princely cocoanut palms overtopping the undergrowth, and dwarfing it in comparison. At one of these inlets, which burst like snatches of Eden suddenly upon the eye, several canoes were steeriDg a course apparently right into the shore, but which we were told ran in some length and led to a village in the island. After coasting along for half an hour, amid scenery which dazzled the eye by its beauty and the harmony of its grouping, we reached Mr Forbes's house, in front o? which a clearing is formed. Landing here we went to see the house, which is one of the largest and best in the island. Ib is shaded by a broad verandah running completely round it ; but the roof being formed of corrugated iron, would generate a terrific heat in the hot weather. Inside the rooms were cool and comfortable, and we gladly took advantage of any opportunity to rest and cool ourselves, for it was now 10 o'clock iv the morning, and the fierce sun was getting too high in the heavens to be at all comfortable. Much neater and more comfortable were the huts of the native labourers, which were formed of reeds and leaves firmly plaited together, somewhat like the snow-grass roofs of station homesteads in Ocago. Two entrances secure a thorough draft and ventilation, while the floor inside is the origiual soil trodden hard. In one corner the occupant lias a sheet of linen slretchcd in the air, which forms the hammock where he will snooze aud snore whenover he can get away from the eye of his master, until he is kicked or turned out of it. He has no toilet to complete, for his day and night apparel is exactly similar, consisting of one small piece of cloth. The food of these labourers is the universal cocoanut, without which the Polynesian Islands ■would be as a horse without a rider. The pigs are fed on cocoanut ; the goats doat on it ; the cattle chew the cud of it; the dog growls over cocoanut, the cat purrs over cocoanut, the fowls swear by cocoanut.

Everything eats and drinks of the cocoanut ; and despite all this, ib grows everywhere in such wild fecundity and such prodigal luxuriance—the clusters of nuts overshadowing the very houses themselves— that the enormous consumption is not only unfelt, but vast quantities go to waste every year from want of gathering and the absence of the means to Bhip them and turn them into the valuable article of trade they can be made to be. Thus clothed in Nature's garb and fed on Nature's fruits, the native labourer is not, as may be easily imagined, an occasion of much expense to his owner. Such few cravings as the cocoanut, the yam, the banana, and the bread fruit will not appease, the planter easily satisfies witn more civilised food. Clothing being merely so in name, the simple labourer's wants tor all eternity are provided at his hand. The sum of £3 a-year sends the labourer away as happy as if he were a millionaire, while the addition of some caat-off article of clothing, or, above all, an old musket or knife, raise him to the seventh heaven of delight. By a recent order, however, this £3 wages has to be paid in caish only, and not in materials, as was formerly the custom, by which, through cajolery and misrepresentation, the uufortunate natives were often imposed upon and defrauded of their rightful dues by the overbearance of the planters, who would foist a few worthless articles upon them as equivalent to their wages, and refuse altogether to listen to the objections of their poor hired servants. This new, and far more just and equitable, arrangement has been made by Consul Layard, who has also inaugurated a system by which the wages are paid through the Consulate, at which all engagements have to be made. The only serious cost involved in securing a batch of native labourers is the passage money charged by the fortunate owner of the vessel in whioh they are conveyed, amounting on an average to about £12 10s a head. Most of the labourers employed are from the New Hebrides islands, and they form very good workmen, being persevering, industrious, and patient ; as a rule they are well and kindly treated by their employers, and are often willing to work for a term longer than that for which they are actually hired, if they receive fair treatment and wages.

The reason for employing men of these outside Islands is that the Fijian is the most veritably lazy villain in his own country that can possibly be imagined. No inducement will get him to work. He has his own land, whereonNatuvc raises him an abundant crop of every necessary of life, and from which be gathers food and raiment in abundance. He has no incentive to labour to get his living with his own hands. He regards tilling and cultivating land with a philosophical contempt. A Kandavan will not work in Kandavau, but transport him to Rewa, and you can get a good day's labour out of him without any trouble : i-n the same way a New Hebridean will not work in his own islands, but will prove a fair labourer in Fiji. The labour traffic is therefore a constant system of exchange— the only way in which it can be made i o answer. There are many more details, which might prove interesting, connected with the labour question ; but that question has attracted so much attention lately, and so much has been written on it, that it may well be left outside in these letters. Those ■who are curious upon the subject will find information in several directions, and I am told that a work published in Melbourne, entitled "Fiji in 1870, being the letters of the Argus special correspondent," contains a deal of valuable joUings on this and kindred subjects, especially in connection with the Fiji group. Leaving Mr Forbes's house we went over the plantation, and plunged into the dense bush, where the beautiful palms gave a pleasant shade, and gorgeous flowers a fragrance to the air, which one could have sat and enjoyed for hours. Some of the more adventurous of the party wished to climb the polished stem of the palm trees, but they might as well have essa} 7 e.i the greasy pole at the Caledonian gathering, for no one can climb the cocoanut palm but with long practice. The nativeß, however, having this, will clamber up the smooth stem with seeming ease, and once up in the boughs, the getting of the nuts is a simple matter. It is a glorious sensation to be able to quench one's thirst, which, terrible and burning on these hot days, with the pleasantly acid juice of the newlyplucked green cocoanut, which is as different from the watery liquid which exudes from the cocoanuts one purchases in New Zealand as gooseberry wine from champagne ; or with the delicate flavour of the pine apple, which is indigenous here, and attains a high degree of perfection. No one who has not tasted a pine apple of Fiji knows what a real pine apple is. Unfortunately the few moments of ecstacy employed in greedily consuming it are speedily past, and though there is a settled feeling of content, yet there is also a sensation that the palatecanneverin another country enjoy the shrunken fruit which there represents the true Fijian pineapple. Oranges, and lemons, and bananas are also at your command as you take your raniblings, so that for food and drink there is no need to take any thought. Our wander through the bush, however, was of short duration, for the Mikado was already whistling threateningly, so our party hurried down to the landing place, starting on our way a most georgeously coloured butterfly, which we all puisued with childish eagerness and outstretched hats, laying ourselves dangerously open to sunstroke. We could not catch him, however, and were stopped in our pursuit by seeing a pair of gaudy parrots, with crimson necks and blue plumage start screeching out of the trees. We found our boat waiting for us, but the tide had meanwhile gone out, and we were obliged to be carried pick-a-back for some half dozen yards by the brown fellows, whose hard feet seemed to be insensible to the sharp points of the coral. Tied to the boat behind was a long string of some thousands of cocoanuts, fastened together by long rattans or tree ropes, which we were going to take to the steamers for sale. The rate is about one pound a thousand, which, low as it may seem, is amply remunerative to the gatherer, to whom it is but little trouble, with the aid of his hired labour, to collect several thousands in a week or less, so marvellously plentiful are they. The New Hebrideans responded lazily, in the burning sun, to the

sharp harsh "Bothi, bothi" (pull, pull) of their employer, and with the aid of a favouring breeze we were soon speeding towards the two steamers as they lay beside each other, passing on our way many of the native canoes returning empty after having disposed of their fruit and curiosities, to the narrow entrance of the creek which leads to their village. 3 round this arm of the bay the stjene 'was surpassingly lovely, especially at the further end, where the hills run down to meet each "other. Here there is a narrow isthmus only three miles across, dividing the eastern from the western part of the island, and on the other side of this isthmus is a splendid sandy beach, on which are to be found, in large numbers, the quaint and beautiful shells which the natives brought on board for sale. We reached the Mikado about ten o'clock, shortly before she left, sorely disappointed at not having had more time to spend on the land, where everything wi» so inviting for a few hours' ramble. As the steamer got under weigh it was most amusing to see the frantic terror with which the Natives jumped from her, while a whole ship load of fruit could have been purchased for a, penny, when they saw their last chance leaving them. In my next letter I will look upon Kandavau in a more serious light than a mere pleasure excursion, for the island has its own history, and the feelings of the planters there upon the question of the withdrawal of the steamers as given to me by several of them, and notably by Lieutenant Woods, is not a little interesting ; an account of a visit to the Governor of the Island, as given me by one of the Mikado's passengers, your readers will also find attractive.