THE FIJIS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 48, 9 January 1869, Page 3

THE FIJIS.

(From our own Correspondent.) Levuka, Dec. 6, 1868. I received files of the Tuapeka Times by the Lovet Peacock, Captain Dusbury, which arrived yesterday, having made the passage from Dunedin in eleven days, the quickest on record. You can easily imagine that we were delighted to welcome Messrs. Moss and Taylor, and were ready to do our best for the friends they have brought to our adopted home. I fear the first impressions of the new comers were far from favourable, as for the last four weeks we have had unusually bad weather, although the November or Balloli gales generally last only from three to six days ; but to-day the sun has come out gloriously, and. we hopefor a long spell of pleasant weather. I can give you very little news 01 importance in this letter, for although gldbuiy apprehensions of a native war were entertained lately, it has, after a lengthy discussion among. the chiefs, been indefinitely postponed. This re- * suit has given us all great satisfaction, as a contest would greatly militate against the interests of the settlers. °The cotton crop has been a remarkably good one, both as regards quantity and quality, and all the settlers are at present busy picking. In proof of the aptitude of this climate for the growth of cotton, I may mention that samples of Sea Island staple grown 1 here obtained the first price in ManChester; indeed, a parcel of some ■ twenty bales 01 more brought the ■ handsoms price of 3s. lid. per pound. ' Owing to the great influx of st^^__ * coast land is becoming scarce; jteT/ r will be long before the inland psKcn^Pt '< the islands are all occupied, fix) 1 1 ' value of land, buying it Jpcre, tl whites, ranges from 4s. to £k a *i be Itl 1 according to situation. && yey *^ c Ire ? Mjurchasetl more eheai" I tt _&_£%&« but ti__faei— fcAl tlme vc ■■Boating, andKjieA^Bra

large and well-ordered crowd. r . re was a great number of stran s ; Lawrence must have been nearl eserted. I have heard that the )d things dispensed at Grieves' and Iwin's were first-clasc. That se gentlemen spared no trouble' oipense to make ,the Blue Spur s ts second to none we all well know id that portion of our little world 10 were not fortunate enough to- be 'c this year have, made up their mil do be present the next, more especia is the Blue Spur is a treat- to been d at any time. The children attending the sleyan Sunday School had also ir annual treat. They were tak( y their superintendent- (Mr. Ma ) and teachers to a quiet place ,r Craig's Township, and there re d with buns and milk ; had races i other sports to their hearts' cont< Whether all these sports and . times had anything to do " i raising the wind " I cannot say t certain it is that we have been v 1 by one of the most terrific c squalls which has ever been k 1 here. It came on to blow on Sati j at noon, and continued without - mission until Sunday evening. 3 Eev. Mr. M'Nicol attempted to I service in the Wesleyan Chap 1 Sunday morning, but had to di j the congregation, as his voice 1 not be heard above the storm. 3 Rev. Dr. Copland was a little ; fortunate in the afternoon in b School, the wind having by that 3 a little moderated ; but even thei c School rocked from side to side, g j us a little of the senSatipn of sea - ness. Much damage is done t< > vegetable and fruit gardens, and 1 r mishaps to cottages, which wer< b all moored, and everybody hi > stand by their halyards. The s . berries and currants are very i damaged, and they were excellent . can bear testimony to the excel ) of the strawberries grown in Mr. . rice's, Mr. Parrel's, and Mr. Ta 1 gardens.

(To the Editor of the Tuapeka Tin* ( $ IBj — Please allow me space ir usual column for a few remarks k the past year ; and if I should w my pen a little way into the in* of the new year, I hope you wilt ; cuse me. Most people now-al ' find something of things past, pra ■ and to come ; and Old Peter pcs [ may be pardoned in seeking the I : privilege, which is generally accd ' to better men. In the first place,! ; question is commonly asked — Arj better religiously, commercially,! cially, and politically than we 1 : this time twelvemonths ? I thins i answer will be that, politically, afl events, .we are worse. Thanka ti : improved moral tone in our men business, our commerce is sound ; I ; so long as our goldficlds continua yield as they liavo done in the fl we are a long way off being " done i| Eeligion, too, that \yhich " exalteta nation," is sound, healthy, and incrj ing. Churches of various uenomi tions are springing up, and the des is made to rejoice. Individually, a by concerted action, much has bq done, and much more ought to done ; and were we to put our she der where the force would best incre the motive power, the moral wild ness would sing. It is not enou planted as we are in Grod's gard that we are not guilty of any act evil : we should accomplish so positive good by our words, our p bj by our actions. All should// /somjsthiug.' These remarks leadU prtTi/otio© a -new^fcnthly pew&i irM^!** ky our e&'me«^^«fehißl'ra >J Messrs. Matthews a^^Hj ■'awrence. It says a j3^^H he taldtt aud plu^Jc of %**' <^H mred a f" Cl^ he^?^\3^H >c iirst^M^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l ?lesi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

with some degree of pleasure. Our arithmetic, too, is defective ; the Scottish book is a series of puzzles, very good for exercise, but without a commercial point. I will take the exercise on interest as an example, where the pupil is taught to compute interest by the month and by the week, whereas, in any commercial house, here or elsewhere, it is calculated by the number of days, — not even by a year's interest, but by 365 days. I therefore maintain that our school arithmetic can be made more practical. I have seen boys who had come direct from Bchool, having obtained high honours, who, when they came to a merchant's office, knew nothing; and the boy who had obtained the highest honours had to be shown how to make out an invoice, A knowledge of book-keeping " a thorough knowledge of debit and credit, a knowledge of imports and exports, of parsing entries, of clearing out a ship or entering one inwards should all be acquired at school; nay, we should demand that this knowledge j»e imparted to the youth in our first--lass schools. Such education would be more profitable than working puzzles. We might also improve upon our writing copies ; and this is the last thought which I wil! trouble you with for the present. The manufacturers of paper spare no additional expense in producing first-class letter paper of various colours, — quite a delight for billet-doux writers, — but the school copy is eternally the same :*"it is either the old blue or the dingy white. Can we not have coloured paper for our young ladies finishing their education — something to relieve the dull monotony of school life ? Having now trespassed so long on your valuable space, I will not trouble you with any further remarks. I hope the powers that be, and those interested in the cause of education, will take the matter up, and not let it rest until we have obtained a colonial literature for our schools. — I am, &c, Old Peter Piper. Wetherstones Braes, Jan. 5, 1869.