Free railroad travel is a luxury seldom enjoyed anywhere, but this is to be found in Fiji. The distance from Lautoka to Ba is 28 miles, and a railway connects the two points. There are sugar mills at both places. A concession was granted to the sugar companies to build a railway from Lautoka to Ba, with the stipulation that all passengers traveling to and from these points be carried free of charge. The track is two feet wide, and the locomotive is as broad as it is high. A small car, with seats placed across, heads the train, and to this is coupled several freight trucks. The schedule for the 28 miles is four hours, but five and six hours is more often the time consumed in making the journey.
Europeans carrying horse-hair fastened to a stick is the first odd thing one notices at Lautoka. Flies are very numerous and stick to one like mosquitoes. The fly-swish is used to keep "tormentors" from worrying one to death. Australia has the same breed of insect, but because of the absence of black servants and black help their hands are occupied with tools of industry instead of a hair swish with which to insure personal comfort.
Only 150 Europeans live in Lautoka, and these were engaged at clerical or managerial employment. Few fat men were seen, and every one had a bleached appearance.
Suva, capital of the Fiji Islands, is, with Lautoka, located on the island of Viti Levu, the largest of the group. Abel J. Tasman, the daring navigator who first set foot on Tasmania and first saw New Zealand, was also the first white man to come in touch with these islands, in 1643. They became British territory in 1874. A governor, appointed by the King of England, directs the affairs of the group, aided by a legislative council composed of eighteen members, twelve of whom are appointed and six elected. Two native representatives are included in the legislative council. Great Britain recently ceded the government of these islands to Australia. The Fiji group are composed of 200 islands, 80 of which are inhabited. The other islands are small, but cocoanut palms grow on most of them.
One thousand Europeans live in Suva, and all of them dress in immaculate white. Business houses are located along the water-front, and the homes are built on rising hills. These dwellings rest on posts driven in the ground, are of wood and one story in height. Large verandas are built to the homes, and these are enclosed with reeds—this screen keeping out the hot sun and allowing the breeze to blow through at the same time.
Flowers grow everywhere, nature being liberal to Fiji both in quantity and variety. Leaves on vegetation range from the size of an ironing-board down to the finest fern-leaf. The sleeping tree, seen in Suva, is of interest. When the sun has hid behind the tropical hills the leaves begin to curl, and by dark they all close. At daylight, the leaves begin to wake, as it were, and a short time after sunrise they have unfolded to their full size. One weed or small bush that grows here is a marvel of the vegetable world. It is called the sensitive plant. If one looks at it, it seems to shrink away, and the slightest touch will cause its leaves to shrivel up, as if dead. On leaving the plant, the leaves slowly expand again. This plant goes to sleep, too, when the chill of evening falls, but opens at the first flush of the morning sun.
"The king of plants," the hibiscus, a flower from three to six inches across, of a bright red and sometimes red and white color, grows in profusion. Hedges are often made of the hibiscus, and when in bloom it offers a superior floral scene. There is no end to flowers in Fiji.
"Oh, mamma! Look at the black bobbies!" (policemen) roared a young Britisher when he first saw the Fiji police. The guardians of peace in Fiji are termed constabulary, and natives compose the force. They wear a bushy head of hair, as does the civilian native, have bare feet and polished legs. Their uniform is a blue jacket, or tunic, and white sulu (a kilt), the latter scalloped or vandyked round the edges. Natives prefer police duty or soldiering to all other work. Unlike the Zulu, he scorns domestic service, and field labor does not appeal to him. A bright red hibiscus, or another flower of flaring hue, may be seen sticking in his hair at the side. Thus the Suva policeman looks neat, and is certainly noticeable.
The best building in Suva is a library, donated by a Scotch philanthropist. It is built of cement. Little can be said of the government buildings; yet in this small place is a botanical garden large cities would be proud of.
Copra (dried cocoanut) is shipped in considerable quantities from Suva. Brought from adjacent islands in small sailing boats, it is loaded on vessels at the capital port. A cocoanut tree produces a dollar's worth of copra yearly. Forty trees is the number generally planted to the acre. Eight years' time is required from planting until bearing. The trees require very little care, and, if not blown down by storms, will yield for a hundred years.