"Though living in an island where nature is kindly and the wants of man are few, the Rotumah men are not unwilling to work; they are consequently sought as laborers in the Samoan, Tahitian, and other groups, and especially in Feejee. So many men have been taken from the island that the supply has been practically exhausted, and the planters are compelled to look elsewhere. Some of the laborers were kidnapped in the manner described in our discussion of the labor-trade, but the most of those who emigrated were fairly and honestly obtained."
The outlying islets of the Feejee group were first sighted by our friends on the yacht, and in due time the peaks of the larger islands came into view. The Feejeean Archipelago is situated between the fifteenth and twenty-second parallels of south latitude, and the meridians of 177° west and 175° east longitude, and scattered over an area of ocean some two hundred miles from north to south, and three hundred from east to west. Its exact extent is not known, as there has been no complete survey of the islands; one is now in progress under the direction of the colonial government, but it will take some time for its completion. Surveying in Feejee is slow and difficult work, owing to the dense tropical vegetation that is found everywhere.
A COAST SCENE IN KANDAVU.
The first island of importance which was sighted by our friends was Kandavu, the fourth largest of the group and containing something like 10,000 inhabitants. As they expected to see it later, they did not stop there, and the youths contented themselves by studying its well-wooded slopes and fertile valleys, and the towering head of Mount Washington 3000 feet high on its western side. The captain told them that Kandavu was the stopping-place of the mail-steamers on their way between San Francisco and Australia, as it was more convenient and less dangerous for them than either Suva or Levuka. He added that it abounded in fine timber, and was a favorite resort for whalers in search of supplies and water.
Steam was made as soon as Kandavu was sighted, and in a few hours the Pera was at anchor in the harbor of Suva, the capital of the British colony of Feejee. It was selected in 1880 by a commission appointed to secure a site for a future capital, the former one, Levuka, having been found disadvantageous in some respects. Levuka is more centrally situated in the archipelago than Suva, but its harbor is not so easy of access, and a ship approaching or leaving it has more dangerous navigation. Levuka is on the small island of Ovolau, while Suva is on the south side of Viti Levu, which is, as before stated, the largest and most populous of the group.
A PLANTER'S RESIDENCE.