FIJI ISLANDS.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 279, 22 June 1860, Page 4

FIJI ISLANDS.

The Rev. John S. Fordham, of the Wesleyan Mission writes from Hunstville, Bau^ Febraary 25th, 1859;—

I have great pleasure in informing you that our new chapel at Baty was opened for divine worship on-Wednesday, the 12th of January last, under the moat favorable circumstances.: The Rev. Mr. William Moore preached on the occasion from Psalm xxvii. 4. The chapel was crowded. Some of the chiefs and principal men from- most of the surrounding towns and tribes were present. It wa? a glorious scene; and especially-so, as contrasted with scenes which ■ have been enacted in Bau in former years. Sermons were preached on the Sunday following by the Rev. John -Polglase and Rev. William Moore. The chapel is really a beautiful building; but it must be seen to; be r appreciated. It is one hundred feet long by forty feet wide, and the ridge pole is forty-six feet from the ground. The shoulders of the posts,; the wall plates^ the cross-beams, and the doorways, are ornamented with sinnetrwork. Three splendid mats cover the entire floor. The chapel is .built onja raised foundation, surrounded by immense flat stones set upright in the ground. The design and execution of the whole evidences the good taste, : skilland industry of those engaged in its construction. I calculate that the entire building is worth about £2000; that is, if such a" building were.' required and paid for, it;.would cost,at, lea.sj; that sum. I send you a pen-and-ink sketclrof it. , •' ■•- Maafu, the Tonga chief, is here, with about' one thousand people, including the .women and children. -He came at the request of thfeTunivalu,to assist in subduing the rebellion ill the Bau dominions-. Nbthiiig definite, however, has been done yet.; " -Some of the natives haVe recently had the opportunity of purchasing'ardent spmt&-from: vessels trading in the group, and many have been'intoxi'cated.- The Vunivalu has ordered that no more is to be sold; but I fear he has not the power effectually to suppress this eviL Many of the foreigners and the half-pastes set the natives a most pernicious example in this respect, and' in others equally bad. •• — 'y-'" i '-l -Still"our blessed work progresses. We want more-missionaries to superintend the native helpers, and;instruct them more fully in their' work, and to counteract the baneful influence which the conduct of the white men is exerting over our people. -^■News of the Churches..-- ■'■ ' ; ■ ;

.' ;A!n; Easterii-editar announces the arrival of a twelfth responsibility at his house, and makes the following jj'pp/^l,.thereafter, " More subscribers wanted iniiae■diately'ftt this office." ■ " „' ? . • .<. . ;;,.

-Burns.—-The best remedies hitherto knotonfor burns are laudanum freely applied externally and alum water; the injured limb being repeatedly bathed in this latter, or else wrapped in a rag saturated with it. If applied very soon after the accident, the relief (we speak from experience) is instantaneous. The Abeitte Medicale, in its last number, mentions another remedy, just discovered by Dr. Valpeau: it is..the sub-nitrate of bismuth, a white powder, also known under the common name of pearl-white, and which some people use under the form of pomatum, to dye their hair black with, though it is apt to cause nervous twinges in the face, M. Valpe.au discovered its property of healing burns while experimenting on it as a disinfecting powder applicable to sores in general. After various successful trials he had occasion to apply it in the case of a woman who was brought to the Hospital of La Charite with a large burn, covering the whole upper part of her arm, arid already six days old. It presented all the characteristics of inflamation, such as pain, swelling, redness, &c. .Dr. Valpeau caused the epidermis to be stripped off. the whole surface of the wound, and the sub-nitrate of bismuth to be copiously sprinkled over it; the pa t was kept exposed to the open air, and the sub-nitrate changed when soaked and coagulated ' indlots. On the morning of the following day all pain had ceased; the redness and swelling had considerably diminished, and the cure effected in the course of a few days more. —GaMgnani. Labour.—Excess of labour is the social vice of the industrial classes. Tempted by a few extra shillings they will work day and night, selfishly keeping their unemployed brethren further out of work; dividing their order into slaves and tramps, and then convulsing society to correct their own weaknesses.

Proeits op Farming.—ln a lecture on sewerage, delivered at the Farmers' Club on Monday evening, February 5, Mr. Alderman Mechi, referring to his Tiptree-hall estate, said:—"For the last 6 years my gain as landlord and tenant on my little farm of 170 acres has been nearly £700 per annum. Even this year, with wheat at 425. per quarter, I have gained £600 after paying every expense. Of course, much of this benefit has arisen from steam power, drainage, deep cultivation, and other improvements; but the liquified manure system has greatly contributed to this result."

H'^w long-is the Colony to be treated as a child, in reference to native affairs ? Does Governor Browne suppose that he and one or two irresponsible advisers either know more of the native race, or are more capable of devising a policy for adjusting their relations with the Colonists than the numerous members of the Assembly who have spsnt so many years in the Colony? Mr; McLean may be an adept at investigating a native title, or bartering for native land; we utterly repudiate his qualifications to be the sole adviser of the Governor in a delicate political crisis Jike this, and in the place of those on whom the constitution has conferred all legislative power.-— 'Wellington Independerit: In a letter from Hamburg we read:—The new Prussian ordnance has, from its superiority, found great favor with the English military authorities, and it is well known that large orders, especially for the rifled cast steel cannon, have'been received by the manufacturers of them, of which, as the government have granted permission for their being executed, some good specimens may soon be expected to be exhibited at "Woolwich."

Importance of Ventilation.—ln regard to the transmission of fever," a physician says that;.when the infection is not destroyed ,or dispersed; in the, sick-room, it attaches itself, and adheres with great tenacity to all articles of furniture—chairs, tables, drawers, &c.-—nestling in their innumerable pores ;, and unless these articles be scrubbed with a solution of chloride of lime or exposed to a > strong heat, or a free current of air for several hours,, it may again become evolved, more virulently than at first, after the lapse of weeks. But it chiefly adheres to cotton and woollen materials. The patient's body-cbthes and blankets become saturated, like-a sponge with water; and, in airing these materials, a mere passing breeze is not always sufficient to carry it away.

.Cleanliness.—The Registrar-General's re port tells us that" twenty in a hundred o the deaths in England in 1857 were from '"constitutional disease," by. far the largest proportion being from some form of .scrofulous affection, especially consumption. No lessthan 58,320 persons died of consumption .in England in 1857. But double the number died of diseases for. which want of cleanliness and good diet are mainly answerable. As to personal cleanliness, wewill only say one thing; that few persous seem to be aware, even after all that the Combes have written,- what the precisa consec[uencesare of the skin not being thoroughly r-übbed jand washed every day. It is ienough to say or suppose that people feel refreshed and.in■vigorated by bathing ; for mere bathing—-a mere plunge into the Serpentine, or the sea or tiny other bath—does not answer the purpose of thorough ablution. We ought to know the process by which diseases follows a loaded skin. It is simply that the skip ought to carry off several, pounds a.day of the waste of the body ; and if it ;is so 'chocked, as to ;be Unable to. do this, the work is thrown upon the interior organs, which have -quite enough work of their, own to do. Etence come internaV inflammations, disorders, apli decay.'— orice a Week.],. .'.

Beavo Ipswich!—lt gave Mr. Punch a fresh relish for his rasher, to-read at breakfasttime the following, in the Times of Friday last: —" Volunteer Corps.—lpswich.—The Members of the Club have agreed, to receive volunteers unable to pay for their own-outfit, on their being nominated by 'gentlemen, who have already contributed to the funds of the corps." The good sense and.the. common, sense, of this speaks for itself, and needs not many words from Mr. Punih to speak for it. To make our Rifle Clubs.effective, wefpf courae^must make them national, and to do this we' must throw them opeu to the nation, Tkra must be no

exclusiveness or" snobbisnr about" them. A" Rifleman, when serving, is;nothing but a Rifle* man. Bo be gentleman or'gent he sinks it in the Volunteer, and his social rank in no way raises or degrades him. So if our poorer neighbors wish to join a corps, there should be neither bar of money nor of modesty to hinder them. Those of us who cannot ;seryg should nay for-those who can. Their contributions then may be considered pret|y equal, and neither of them will need to': feel indebted to the other.— Punch.

: The famous Dunkirk sailor, John Barth, was elevated, on account of his courage and ability, to the rank of commodore in the French navy. When his promotion, took place, Louis XIV' said to him, " Oh, Bartli, I have made you a 'commodore. 3' •• Sire," replied the bluff seaman 'you have done right." -