see at Fiji. You leave no incentive to enterprise. and the large operations of the able man. From what you say, I confess that if I were a young man, and were conscious of ability to make a career, I would not start in New Zealand, when your full programme is carried out.

He.-Well, perhaps neither would I. But institutions must provide for the average man, who has so far been neglected.

With this oblique compliment to ourselves that conversation closed.

No country in the world has a greater future before it than New Zealand, with its water supply, fertile soil, and grand climate. It is, as has been said, the Britain of the South. It is making experiments, and it can afford to do so. It can also afford to make mistakes.

FIJI.

After a week's sail we arrived at the Fiji Islands, which are some 1,900 miles distant from Sydney, and consist of over 200 islands, islets, and rocks, the superficial area of which is about equal to that of Wales. The two considerable islands are Viti Levu, which is about 30 miles in length by 55 in breadth, and Vanna Levu, literally "Great Land," which is 96 miles long by about 25 broad." Levu" means great," so Viti Levu means "Great Figi," "Viti" being properly Figi. This little community is one of the smallest of the Crown colonies of England, but it is worthy of the attention of the political observer as an instance of the colonizing power of our country and its aptitude for governing dependencies in circumstances however new or difficult. These island savages, for such they were, with the " "blazing air of freedom and defiance" which old novels ascribe to the "Fegee chief," are now ruled in peace and content, and their ferocious habits suppressed, by an Englishman who has given his life to understanding them, assisted by a few intelligent officials. He has

no armed force at his command. The districts have small native police corps of their own. His influence is mainly a moral one, assisted by diplomatic control of the antagonistic feelings of rival tribes. The administration of the public revenue and public works, of justice, trade, and charity is carried on in as exact a manner as it would be at Westminster; while the supervision over the labour engagements of the natives is vigilant, and, as far as a stranger could judge, while just to both master and servant, was particularly careful of the interests of the latter. I will refer to this again later on. "The Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1894, Published by Authority, and Printed by Edward John March, Government Printer, Suva," adopts in its statements of public accounts and the returns of its supplies, all the fulness and precision that we expect from such State compilations in England. It is drawn up from the records of the Colonial Secretary's Office, and I am indebted to it for many useful statistics.

As long ago as 1858, Thakombau, then king, offered to cede the sovereignty of the whole group of islands to England; but Colonel Smythe, R.A., who was sent out the next year to report, declared that it was not worth having. Possibly in itself it was not, but looking at the valuable possessions that England had on both sides of the Pacific, with the Dominion of Canada at one end and Australia at the other, and between them only a few islets for the Empire, whereon to rest the foot, an Imperial policy would certainly dictate the securing of more than one point of influence on the route across the ocean. This policy at last prevailed, and Fiji was, under the advice of the then Mr. Thurston, now Sir John, the Governor, ceded to the Queen. The islands were not conquered or forcibly annexed by England, but were ceded by the native King Thakombau, for a consideration, which was, that the Imperial Government would secure to the islanders their rights, public and private, and protect them against the undue

aggressiveness of the white man, of which they already had some experience. Thakombau sent to Her Majesty his favourite war-club, in token that thenceforth he renounced club-law. This is now, I believe, in the British Museum. The result has been beneficial to the natives so far as the action of the Queen's Government has been concerned; though they have not escaped all those ill results that appear ever to follow the advent of the white man among half-savage tribes. Sir John Thurston has been thirty years among them, and joins a profound knowledge of their character and customs to a deep sympathy with them, while at the same time his rule is marked by firmness.

He had difficult material at first to work upon. It is a slow and delicate process engrafting upon the savage nature so much of the higher civilisation as is fit for it. When he began, cannibalism was rife among them, and the premature destruction of life in the case. of sickness, old age, or for the sake of the most absurd caprices or customs, was a common practice. When a chief demanded "long pig," his wish was at once gratified by slaying one of his people and presenting the body. "May you club some one," was a common form of friendly salutation, founded upon general usage. Thakombau, their king, however, who long had been a confirmed cannibal, became converted; Christianity was spread among them, partly by the missionaries, but mainly by the sword of the invading Tongan Tribes, who had been Christianized, and who, as did Mohammed with the Koran, presented themselves with the Bible in one hand and the spear in the other. The Wesleyan Mission stands first among those of all the religious bodies, having 941 churches, and 379 other preaching places, 31,000 church members, 36,000 day school scholars, all of whom are enrolled upon the Sunday school lists, and 98,000 adherents. Though the Christianity of the natives is not the noblest type of our faith, it yet lifts them above their old barbarous and debasing habits. Mr. Allardyce, in a lecture that

throws much light upon Fijian life, gives an amusing example of the simple form that their theological ideas take. At a service of native Christians that he attended the preacher was praying for a spirit of thankfulness to the Creator, and suddenly exclaimed, Oh, that we were dogs, and could show our thankfulness by wagging our tails!" One is apt to be shocked at the recital of the savage practices that used to prevail among the islanders. Yet it chastens our indignation and contempt for these dark men and brethren, to bear in mind that in the last century cannibalism was not unknown in some Russian corps when they were hard pressed for food, and that certainly in the middle of this, the nineteenth century, the mob of Messina roasted and ate sixty Neapolitans. Nay, some men who figured in the French Revolution justified cannibalism; and akin to it was the savage industry carried on at the Tannery at Meudon, where the skins of the victims of the guillotine were tanned into good material for breeches; and it was recorded that the skin of the male was tougher and more serviceable in the manufacture than that of the female !

With all the savagery buried within them, the Fijians are not an unpleasant looking people. They have an air of independence about them. They have a regular gradation in their own social state-chiefs, warriors, common people, slaves. The native proper names appear to consist of sounds that to the European are hard to spell and impossible to pronounce. In the list of Government officers we find names such as these: Saleri Kinikinilau, Jovesa Korovulavula (who holds the office of the Governor's assistant Matanivanua), Opetaia Kuruvakadua, Timoce Roqereqeretabua, Wawabalavu Naivariga, Nemani Vakacakaudrove; with many others equally inexplicable to the stranger, but which have a meaning no doubt for those who know the language. One notices a number of Christian names that appear to be taken or adapted from the Bible, such as Osea

Tuinairai, Samuela Naulu, Elaija Radovu, Mosese Volavola, Jeremaia Kalokalo, Solomoni Mariwawa. The natives are affectionate in their family relations, and love their children; but the regard of children for parents is weak, and what we term "filial reverence" is unknown. They love to celebrate the important events of life with feastings and shows. They work better when away from their own district or their native island. We saw in Suva some Solomon Islanders, who were working steadily, and we were told that they would not work that way in their own islands.

The chiefs are a real power among them, and are in fact true captains, leaders, able men, and have been so from time immemorial, because they are bred from selected parents. The chief always marries from a special tribe. This is the simple secret of their success. The Governor told me that he knew a chief the moment he saw him, though he was without any special garb, or at least knew him when he spoke. His policy is to govern the people as far as possible through their chiefs and native councils, carefully respecting all their old customs as far as it is possible to do so. Thus the Native Tax is assessed in a lump sum for each district, and the local native authority arranges the details as to how it is to be raised. It is paid in produce, which the Government take at a good market price. There is a native Parliament, or gathering of the chiefs, which is formally opened by the Governor. They regard Sir John Thurston as something more than a mere human ruler, for Thakombau Tammared" to him, and thus devolved his authority upon him. This consists in bowing the head to the person to be honoured, and making a sort of grunt or exclamation. It is what the common man always does to his chief. The Queen's peace is well maintained throughout the whole island. You can travel everywhere in perfect safety. White children. are sometimes sent up to the hills to escape the heat.

The Governor is assisted by an Executive Council, consisting of the Attorney-General, the Receiver

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