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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 189, 12 August 1870, Page 2

! The Fijis. — A correspondent of the I Auckland Herald writing from Levuka I says : — Although ray stay here has only jbeea nine days, yet I have seen sufficient jof the place to enable me to give you a j general notion of affairs. The appearance !of Levuka strongly reminds me of Russell, : Bay of Islands. There is no room to build la large town. High, bare rocks encircle ja narrow strip of ground only fit for one I street along the beach. The harbour is jgood and safe, being protected by a series of coral reefs about two miles from the shore, and which have two large openings |to allow vessels to enter with ease. A I pilot is hardly required, especially in the 'daytime. I estimate the white populai tion of Levuka at about 600. Theneighj bourhood is swarming with natives, Beautiful walks of miles iv extent can be enjoyed along the seashore, and the novelty of a luxuriant tropical vegetation strikes a new-comer with delight. The milk of the cocoanut is a favourite drink with bofch white people and natives, and you may pick up as many as you like in walking through the groves. Theinfluxof population has recently beea so considerable that the seven hotels of the place are all crowded, and many a one has to submit to a shakedown in the billiard or dining room. The charges of these places are not high, from 253. to 355. a week. Mutton is very dear, from lOd. to Is. per lb. ; of beef there is none at present. Lavuka has about a dozen stores, where everything is very dear, in spite of the absence of customs' duties. Two firms are doing a large business. It is also apparent, from the rapidity with which new buildings (mostly of galvanized iron) are springing up, that a large increase iv business is expected. To one who has experienced -the many vexatious and annoying l'egulations attached to a custom-house and its duties, the feeling on arriving here is a delicious one j no custom-house official interferes ■with you ; you do what you like with your goods without being called upon to pay a cent, of duties, and even the ship's boat deposits your goods free of charge on one of the wharves. It is remarkable also, in. a place where there is literally no law, and where so much miscellaneous company is supposed to congregate, how very few instauces there are of crime or rowdyism. Any outrageous act against property or person would be settled Lynch law fashion, and it is more than probable that the dread of this kind of law, and especially public opinion, has so far kept this community in a comparative state of order. Nominally, accounts are kept in dollars at 4s. each, but almost any other gold or silver coin is current. Notes of the Bank of New Zealand are readily taken without discount. Two missionary chapels exist here, a Roman Catholic, and a Wesleyan, in the latter, every alternate Sunday, the service of the Church of England is performed. Two medical men reside here ; a chemist and druggist has also established himself lately. The Fiji Times is published every Saturday. There are at present two large cotton ginning establishments in Levuka worked by steam, aud more will soon be wanted, as the increase of the production of cotton, which is all shipped from here, is advancing with rapid strides.