Fite in Fiji.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 211, 11 August 1883, Page 3

Fite m Fiji.

A Dunedinite who recently set out on a touMround the world w.ites from Jftji ■__.*« I get a billet- the first week I land-d, on a sugar plantat-oii forty miles up the R'ewa River, as storekeeper and hospital attendant. We have about 200 coolies—Fijians and Islanders — and three white men to keep them m order. There is no ireshmeat obtainable herej but .we get tinned meat, and make up on bread, buscuites, and f ruit. Yams, bananas* orangf s, pineapples, etc., are to be had for the pluekihg. I can t say Hike the life. My hut is alive with mosquitoes, lizards a foot lonjr, and rats, and their company is not pleasant. We have had rain all the while I have been here. The natives are very lively ta night with war dances, m which they keep wonderful. The women and girls apend the day m bathing m the river. The less clthes you put on hf re the more you are m the fashion. We drink a a lot of Fijian grog, made thus : Two niMSff ait down and chew th- root into a pulp, then put it m a basin of water and work it about witb their hand till the mixture becomes the cnlom of pea. soup ; then the pulp is taken out, and the drink is ready for use. It's not bad «t-ff if a fellow didn't see the making of ».".-•■ ■■ •______