Pioneers of the Fijis

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18313, 3 February 1934, Page 9

Pioneers of the Fijis

DIiOFESSOK G. C. Henderson has written an interesting book, “The Discoverers of the Fiji Islands.” The most familiar name among those who discovered the islands is Captain Cook, that “extraordinarily alert and resourceful man.” as the author calls him. Cook described the natives and their customs, but ids services to this corner ol geography : consisted in adding one small island to the map. j The great names in the history of Fiji are Tasman (1(342) and "William Bligh (1759). Prof. Henderson lias devoted infinite pains to the problems associated with the pioneer. Tasman seems to have discovered at least a , dqzcn of the islands in' the sense of setting eyes' on them, if not of discriminating between them. Owing to the perils of those coral seas, with hidden reefs, and no anchorage and ; liability to hlirricane, his voyage must, have been one of extraordinary peril, aiid liis seamanship must have been at , least equal to his courage. ■ There was peril of yet another kind ' in the case of Bligh. He was the cqjptaiu of H.M.S. Bounty, and was cqst adrift with IS of the crew in mid- * Pacific. It was one of the most amazing voyages on record, for the open boat, with its. crew unarmed and ’ mi famine rations, succeeded in reaching the edast of Asia after a voyage , 0 133600 miles. On this occasion Bligh pissed through the."middle of the Fiji group from south-east to north-west, ’. luit -was. in his helpless condition, ' ml able to land. It was on his second vqvago (1702), as Governor of New Sputh Wales,, that ho was able to supplement arid verify his previous observations. Prof. Henderson estimates , that of the total area of the archipelago Bligh discovered more than six- * .sevenths', including the largest island. . Viti. Leya. ; I iOtbcr ntfmc* in the. story of tho diS* ■ cqvp.ry of Fiji are James Wilson. - missionary, who v-ns not only a capI abld and conscientious navigator and I a (Sound hyilrograplicr, but was the j fquiidcr of the Protestant Missions in j Hie South'Pacific: and Fabian von ■ Bcllirighauscn (ISIO);.'who supplied a l good deal of, information about the : natives and even ninde out an elementl ary vocabulary.