7

A.—3b,

which coarse cloth is made, would prove more profitable for this purpose, to which, however, the bleached leaves of the screw palm (Pandanus) seem better adapted than any material with which I am acquainted. In these islands are several valuable kinds of indigenous fibres. To say nothing of Kaa, or cocoa-nut sinnet, there is that of the Yaka, which is very strong, so much so that the best fishing nets are made of it; also Mati, or Roaa as it is called in some places, as likewise that of a species of Hibiscus, which grows wild in great quantity. It is called Kalakalau, and is used for the making of fringes for kilts and petticoats. The fibre is white, of a silvery lustre, and very strong. But one of the most beautiful of raw materials to be met with in the Pacific, and of which it is surprising that no advantageous use has as yet been made, is the long fibre obtained from the stalks of the Puraka plant, a gigantic species of Arum, of which the leaves are as much as 6 feet long by 4 feet in width, and the root sometimes as large as a five-gallon keg. From this fibre some beautiful fabrics are made: a sample of it was many years ago sent to London by a missionary of the Hervey group, and there it was made into a bonnet and presented to the Queen. An endeavour was made at one time to introduce it into the market, but it seems now to be neglected or forgotten. In the Friendly Islands, as well as in the neighbouring groups, are found great quantities of the Ti, called by Europeans the Dragon tree. The root, when cooked, contains a most extraordinary quantity of saccharine matter —indeed, it seems as though it had been boiled in syrup. Bum is distilled from it in the Friendly Islands, as well as from sugar-cane, of which there is great abundance. As to vegetable products, whatever can be said concerning the Friendly Isles applies to Fiji— with this difference, that those of Fiji are more varied, from the more extended area and greater altitude of the latter group creating a diversity of temperature. There are to be found, in great profusion, all those trees and plants of which I have made mention, as likewise many others equally valuable and marketable, wild and indigenous, such as many valuable dye-woods, with ginger, turmeric, and cinnamon. There is also a nutmeg, but not that of commerce, though the true nutmeg exists on Samoa. Likewise upon the Fijis are extensive forests of valuable timber trees, such as are not found in Tonga. Copper and other minerals are also spoken of as existing there, in the interior of "Viti Levu, but of this I have no personal knowledge. Among the industries of Tonga, one very notable is the breeding of sheep, which for some years past has been pursued with success, chiefly on the largo and fertile island of Eooa, leased for that purpose from the Tongese King by certain gentlemen from New Zealand. Nieue, or Savage Island (so named by Captain Cook, from the extreme ferocity with which its natives attacked his company on their landing there), if it can be said to belong to any group whatever, ought to be tributary to the kingdom of Tonga, but it has never been so, although the piratical Tongese invaded it on more than one occasion, as they did all the lands in their neighbourhood, even to the Navigators, where the remains, of immense trenches, and of causeways paved with stone, still bear witness to their bravery and perseverance. Savage Island is about 36 miles in circumference and about 200 feet high at the highest point. It consists entirely of upheaved coral, and has no lagoon (as has been said). There is anchorage in several places (though it has been reported otherwise), and great pools of fresh water in caverns of the coast. There are about 3,000 inhabitants, who profess Christianity, but are of a very low type of intellect; nevertheless they are industrious, kindly disposed, and on the whole a good people, though exhibiting occasional outbreaks of barbarism. They are of a different race to the Tongese or Samoans, being allied to the Tokerau and Kingsmill natives. The land has a barren aspect from the sea. It consists entirely of broken coral, pierced with great crevasses, being only an uplifted reef; but there is good soil upon it, and the place is productive, yielding a great quantity of arrowroot, and good cotton. Fungus is plentiful. Cocoa-nuts have been introduced from Samoa. They raise great quantities of yams, and have very many hogs. They trade with Godeffroy, who maintains an agent among them. Two English missionaries with their families live on Savage Island in very comfortable style. They endeavour to prevent the people from visiting other lands, on the ground that they learn bad habits. Nevertheless, the Savage Islanders, or Nieues as they are called, are very fond of hiring themselves out to work away from their home, and they are some of the most valuable labourers in the Pacific, being very strong, very tractable, very good-natured, and very quick to learn any simple labour or handicraft. The wages for which they engage are usually $5 per month and their food, and a great many of them are to be found on the plantations of Tahiti, Samoa, and Fiji. Eastward of Nieue some 500 miles, is Palmerston Island. This was the first discovered in the South Sea, being the San Pablo of Magalhaens. It has no harbour, but there is good anchorage in a bight on the lee side. The land is low, in the form of a coral ring, upon which are nine or ten islets, from one to three miles long, enclosing a lagoon about eight miles in diameter. There is a large pond of fresh water. Arrowroot, turmeric, and other plants grow wild. The cocoa-nut groves are very dense. The trees are uncultivated, as there are no permanent inhabitants. In their present state they are capable of yielding 100 tons of kobra in the year. AVith proper attention, this return would be enormously increased. Here is a great deal of Tomano timber of large size; it is valuable for shipbuilding, being like Spanish mahogany. There is also a great quantity of a wood which is called Nangha, which is not generally known to Europeans, and has never been utilized by them. It is never found except on desert shores, on the brink of lagoons, where its roots are bathed by the tide. Its peculiarities are great weight, intense hardness, and close grain. It is used by savages as a substitute for iron, but is altogether different from the Toa (ironwood so called). They make fish-hooks of it, and various implements. For all the uses to which lignum vital is applied, it is still better adapted. I possess some samples of it which have been experimented upon by wood engravers, who pronounce it excellently well suited to the requirements of their art. For this purpose alone, it would, if extensively known, become valuable as an article of commerce ; boxwood, w rhich is at present the only material generally employed in wood engraving, being exceedingly expensive, fluctuating in price between 2d. and Is. 6d. the square inch. Logs of Nangiia wood are obtainable on Palmerston's and other similar isles in great quantity, of a diameter of 18 inches.