THE FIJI ISLANDS.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 178, 25 February 1868, Page 3

THE FIJI ISLANDS.

(FROII THE AUSTRALASIAS".)

The crown of the Fiji Islands is again in the market, and this time eyidently for positive and unreserved disposal. The latest intelligence is to the effect "that the United States Government have demanded payment of a longstanding account, amounting, with interest and charges, to the sum of eighty thousand dollars, and have given formal notice, through the commander of the Tuscr tora, that if the money be not forthcoming by the Ist May proximo, the American flag will be hoisted in ■the archipelago. The energetic spirits of the mighty republic are yearning for extended dominion, and we must give them credit for very excellent judgment when, among the numerous islands which dot the south central portion of the Pacific Ocean, they have 'chosen the Fijian group as the nucleus *of a Polynesian colony. Eighty thousand dollars for Fiji is certainly a much better bargain than seven millions for Russian America; in fact, the lot is so cheap that we feel actually taken by surprise that it should be knocked down for so so insignificant a figure. Fiji is also too near to our shores, and too important by reason of its wonderful capabilities, to justify us in viewing with indifference a transaction which will unquestionably have a decided and 'permanent influence on the future 'destiny of the whole of Polynesia. The origin of the debt owing by King Thakombau to the American Government is enveloped in considerable obscurity, on account of the 'different versions given by different parties of an event which took place in Fiji about a dozen years ago or more. Some houses belonging to American settlers were destroyed by fire, and a quantity of goods were lost, and of what value they were, are questions which have been hotly debated in Fiji. The natives aver that the fire arose through the carelessness of the Americans themselves, whe were celebrating the date of their national independence with all the enthusiasm on such occasions; but that all goods of any value were saved and recovered by rightful owners, and that •nothing was burnt except a lot of rubbish and empty cases, which were purposely suffered to be destroyed. The version of the Americans, on the other hand, is, that it was no accident at all, but a diabolical and premeditated attempt upon their lifes and property, and that the direct loss suffered by them amounted in value to forty-five thousand dollars. The missionaries, again, seem extremely reluctant to accept the story of either party in its fullest extent, and under any circumstances put a very low estimate on the property which is now put in the balance against the sovereignty (which is almost equivalent to the ownership) of the two or three hundred islands, large and small, which comprise the Fijian group. In 1852, when these islands were offered to Great Britain, the American consul, Mr. Brower, formally preferred the claim, and caused it to be made a condition of the arrangement that the British Grovernment should pay the American claimants the sum of 45,000 dol., the chiefs of Fiji undertaking to make over to the British Government in consideration of such payment, an area of 200,000 acres of laud in fee simple; and in the meantime Mr. Brower held, a d continues to hold, in trust, the island of

Mbenga, and two other islands of smaller size, a* security. This debt, however, is net the only trouble which besots King Thakombau; and although money is a scarce article in his country, it is not improbable that he could find the means of paying off his creditors if ho were satisfied that by doing so he would strengthen his position, which, iroin the very commencement of his reign, has been one of extraordinary difficulty. His neighbor, the celebrated King G-eorge, has long been trying to annex the rich and fertile islands of Fiji to his own comparatively small and barren kingdom of Tonga; and with the great influence this chief possesses in Fiji, through the number of Tongese who have settled there, and through the superiority of his subjects over the Fijians in physique as well as in culture, he would most likely have been possessed of the group long ago had not the policy of the English and American consuls, backed now and then by the presence of a man-of-war, hitherto opposed his designs; but his ■ influence is spreading surely and. steadily, and the Fijian monarchy is doomed. If the whites will not take

tne sovereignty the JLongese are sure to do it; and thus the poor old King, after having gained his father's throne through sanguinary fights and extraordinary perils, and having kept it with consummate craft and courage against the inauguration of a perfectly new order of things, and delighted romantic novel-readers in all parts of the world with his mimic royalty and his wonderful adventures, finds himself in his old age on the horns of a dilemma. If he allows the Americans to step into his shoes' quietly and peaceably, he may be permitted to live in respectable retirement on his plantations; but if King George comes in, he is certain to lose his cocoanuts entirely, and perhaps have to plant yams for his powerful enemy during the remainder of his eventful life.

As far as the rivalry between a couple of Polynesian chiefs is concerned we in Australia are not interested in the matter; but of late years a few hundred Australians, principally Victorians, have gone over to Fiji, and by their industry and enterprise laid a good foundation for an important commerce. Unlike the whalers and convicts who found their way to the islands in the olden times, and taught the natives nothing but yice and wickedness, these new-comers have taken to farming and planting, and, so far as accounts go, their success, in the face of all the difficulties of the beginning, is really astonishing. Sheep will not thrive well in Fiji; but cotton planting pays, and last year the British consul estimated the exports of that article alone at £60,000 sterling. In another it will have quadrupled itself, and will continue to increase year by year until the plants have arrived at fuil growth and all available land has been brought under cultivation. Sugar and coffee will follow in due time, but for the present the settlers, being all persons of small means, prefer a crop which yields a quicker return. All this produce we naturally expect to see exchanged in the Australian markets, and we may, perhaps, have to blame ourselves for not pushing with greater vigor a trade which in a few years will be of considerable importance. Travellers who have visited Fiji all speak of the great resources of the islands, and all that the application of a little capital would give an immense impetus to the planting and trading interests. A settler when he arrives there generally buys more land than he ought to do, and has litle or no means left to cultivate it; and when he has raised a crop he has difficulty in shipping or disposing of it to advantage. What is wanted is an establishment strong enough to assist the settlers in these various particulars, and to arrange for the settlement of the national debt; and, with good management. A Fiji Company, with a limited capital, might have obtained the same position in Polynesia as the H.E.I. Company did in India. It is true that Great Britain declined to add the Fiji Islands to her colonial empire, for reasons which appeared perfectly sound and satisfactory at the time, but the subject bears a different aspect when looked at from an Australian point of view to that it presents when viewed from a British one: and we certainly cannot suppose that the Americans would take the trouble of founding a colony a few thousand miles distant from their own shores were they guides by no weightier consideration than theenforcement of a paltry deb* of SBO,OOO dne by King Thakombau to ceatain citizens of the United States.