NOTES FROM FIJI.

West Coast Times, Issue 391, 24 December 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

NOTES FROM FIJI.

(feoii a correspondent of -ran syduex XORMXO- MUALy.)

A few vessels have lately arrived in Fiji from Sydney aud Now Zealand, and have brought several immigrants. From them we learn that there are a great many in the colonies who are likewise desirous of emigrating to these islands. As some of the late arrivals have been greatly inconvenienced through having Jiad wrong- notions about the state of Fiji before they left the colonies, will you allow me to give such information as may be useful to those who are preparing to come to this group with the intention of settling? It is necessary to remind intdSttg&g emigrants (although one would scarcely think so) that there aro but lew^Bfljfioi. niences for them upon their arrival. Fiji is, in fact, a new country, and it is necessary that all coiners should obtain suih an outfit as will make them totally independent of lodgings, 6cc, immediate!}' they come on shore. Supposing that they l.md at Livuka, Ovalau, it is ju&t possible that room might be found for all passengers by one vessel, but were two vessels with pissengers to arrive almost together, then the inconvenience would be very great. So that it is well, if possible, to be prepared for the worst. Very comfortable accommoduion may bj obtained at Mrs Cock's, if her house be not already full ; and some sort of accommodation (but what I really cannot say) at any one of the three so -called '• Hotels !" the le.ist of which — the "• Hotel aud Restaurant"' — with a few yui ds run and a jirnpii-g-pole any smart young- man could le ip over. The second, ''Robinson's Hotel." is a wooden cottage, perhaps thirty feet square, without any '• upstairs :" 'whilst the " Lvvuka Hotel" is about three times thesize of Robinson's, of which I sli ill say nothing further. A few might lodge at those places for a short time* ; yet, were a score or so of immigrants to land together, some would be sorely '* put about," whil*t others perhaps would be disgusted with the place and repent their coming. A great deal of trouble would bo avoided were these things known, as settlers coming out would provide themselves with, tents, Ivmmocks, and a i'ew other things similar to those which are required by settlers in your own Australian bush. Care should be taken that such things are so stowedin the ship that they may b? readily obtained immediately upon landing. They would be of service likewise on the land upon which they finally settled, for housss are at times exceedingly difficult to get built, and no a expectable individual would like to ie<;'de for a few weeks with the natives.

I sh«>nld be very sorry to discourage any one from coining to Fiji, what I am anxious about is, that the people should not allow the glowing accounts which they may read or hear about these islands, as to their productiveness, the climate, and its salubrity, &c, &c, all of which are quite true, should not allow the&e things to cause them to forget the several little inconveniences which <3re attendant upon the occupation of a new country, which ought to, aud can easily be provided against, if not overlooked. If more tnought were bestowed upon the certainties of life and less upon the speculative xmdertakings of the future, much anxiety, trouble, and pecuniary loss would be avoided. I know of some who came expecting to land upon a quay, get into a cab. and drive off to some hotel where they would find every accommodation and comfort, and of course were grievously disappointed when they ascertained that such things were not to be fouid i.i the group. Instead of such conveniences of advanced civilised life, the '• new chums " have to be thankful to " Jack " to carry them through the surf, where they are then' set down upon a shingly beach. Many have come, and because their expectations have not been fulfilled in all such little matters, as really ought not to have been expected, hive at once taken their passage back again to the colonies.

I would, however, remark that there are several very respectable stores in Ovalan, from which most necessaries may be generally obtained at about 75 per cent, on Sydney prices. As the sea is our only highway, a boat is absolutely necessv.ry to all those who are determined to push th< j ir way ; and as boats are to be obtained Loth of a better s>ort and cheaper in Sydney than they can be either built or bought here, ail who can afford it ought to secure a good whale or surf boat before leaving the colonies. Boats which can bath sail and pull, not drawing more than eighteen inches of water, are most useful, and these can "be obtained for about LSO, including sails and oars. One such boa,t will always pay in Fijii, as it will save time and health- — both of which are as valuable as money.

The great question with nearly all in Fiji, jusc now, is that of labor. It is evident that if this cannot be obtained, then the cotton, coffee, and sugar plantations will have to be given up. Numbers of Tanna and Sandwich Islands men. hive been brought, and work very well upon all those plantations where the experiment has been tried. The cost per man, including fo.od, is only about L 8 a year. These foreign natives generally are now willing to come ; but difficulties may be shortly expected to arise. The power of the planter over his men is almost absolute, lor they (the laborers), being foreigners, and feeling it continually,

they cannot mix with the Fijians, so that they dare not run away were they so inclined, and as the agreement entered into with them when they were engaged can readily be avoided by the planter, if so inclined, aud the meu retained, the scheme may become absolute slavery. This at present is avoided by each native being registei^ed in the Consulate, and the planter is made responsible to the Consul for them. But as the number of imported laborers is now increasing rapidly, the » registration will be a mere farce unless some one is specially appointed to see that the contract with the laborers is carried out by the planters in the important matters of pay, and returning them to their- homes when their contract expires. As these laborers are now seattared over Fiji, it is impossible for the Consul to know this. It is here where we may- expect difficulties will arise. If the laborers find that the contract is broken, either in the payment for their services, or the returning them to their homes, we may expect not only discontent, but revenge upon the whites for deceiving them ; and they arc not the men to consider first whether the subject of their vengeance is innocent or guilty of the particular breach of contract, but, as a class, would revenge the injury done to one of their number upon the whites as a class, and that would be done upon the first whife man who was so unfortunate as to fall into their power. lam no alarmist in. thuswriting, but simply give the opinion formed from several years' experience of the character of Polynesian natives.

Now thut the men are treated well, and as they have not yet fulfilled their contracts, the scheme answers; but if tlve planters do not combine to protect themselves and their liborers, the benefits aceru ; ng from the scheme may at any time be frustrated by any one of their number so ill-using one of his men, or otherwise grossly abusing his contract, that nu.nbi'rs in Tanua, or the adjoining islands, ou the Sandwich Island, aud perhaps the colonies too, would arrive and endeavor to put an end to fiat which would be culled slavery — for the abuse of this scheme is slavery ; and if that could not be at once done, they could, and would, effectually stop the supplies.

But it will be askacl by intending emigrants — Will not the Fijians work ? Yes : and as hard as any natives of tropical climates. But there is this difficulty : they are geuerally averse to leaving home for any length of time, and it would be almost imjjossible tp employ them when near at home. Ag.iin, they are like the Tongans — they want a greater price for their labor than the planters are willing to pay. The Fijian — like most folks — works best if humoured, in fact he won't work without. They have a strong fancy to do their work in their own way, aud that fancy is not local, but universal. I have always found it the best plan to appoint one of themselves as overseer, and say in the morning, " I want so and so done to-day," aud leave them at it. It perhaps was not done so well as it might have been, but I take it, the main object is to get the work done. If a Fijian prefers his digging-stick to s good spade, well, let him work with it ; for if you take his stick away and say he must work with the spade, he won't work at all, and no one can make him. Old residents who best understand the native character can generally get any work they like out of the Fijian.

I have, noticed that many of the late -arrivals — say those who have come during the last two or three years — seem to hrve a' dislike to, and some a dread of, the Fijian. This, as every one nvay suppose, is unwise and foolish The natives see it at once, ana act accordingly ; in fact, they purposely annoy such in every possible way. I fancy the same trait is to be fouud among mere civilised societies. Again, others treat them as a lot of thieves, whilst, as a rule, they are honest and trustworthy. During my residence in Fiji, I have seldom kept my goods locked up ; and it has always been a matter of indifference whether the door was locked at night or not. With the exception of a few lbs of sugar taken by my steward, for which I blame myself, as sugar certainly ought to liavj been better cared for, I have not, that I remember, lost anything.

The natives have much self-respect, and what is a strange thing to some folks — they expect to be tresited as they wculd tr.eat you. When, however, they see a man get out of temper at the sight of them, who bundles them out of his yards or grounds, and occasionally shows his pistol to expedite their exit, it irritates them beyond measure, so that that rain's life is hardly safe. There have been a great manycases in which this dread ot the Fijian'has caused gross injustice to the natives; and in two I cases which I now call to mind was almost the cause of the death of the setj lers concerned, one of which, without mentioning names — which if it were necessary I readily could — I will men- [ tion before concluding this my letter. Some land was sold to a very respectable merchant, with the understanding that the people should not be disturbed. It, however, soon passed into other hands, and they (the purchasers) in a short time ordered the peop.e away. " I believe their reason was, because they could not get the people to work. The amount of work and the plan of the same was reasonable and sensible enough, but they could not — or would not — humor them. The work, I believe,

! had to he done in their OAvn way : but about that I am not altogether sure. This, however, I know, that the difficulties between themselves and the people arose, which they (the owners) thought it best to end by sending the people away — the men, women, and children of five towns. Against this no one can say a word, as they were sole owners of the land. But, sir, was a mouth's notice sufficient for the people of so many towns to remove away to other islands ? If, however, that had been all, it had not been worth mentioning ; but, sir, their year's crop of yams, taro, bananas and tobacco was in the ground, and the yams were nearly ripe, but they were not allowed to take anything of that kind away with them. A few bushels of yams were put ou board a canoe, but were forcibly taken away from them by one of the settlers putting a pistol to the native's head ; and, mind you, sir, these yams were from the native's own garden. That's sticking up, and no mistake ! ''Your yams, sir, or your life ! " The poor poor people in a few weeks were starving ; they sent — they begged and prayed — for some of the food which was rotting in the ground, and it was refused. On one one of these visits for food, one of the crew was ekised* by one of the settlers with a pistol in his hand. This was almost more than his friends could bear ; they therefore agreed amoug themselves " that if the pistol were fired the three settlers were to be instantly clubbed." Fortunately for all the parties, ifc was not. Very shortly-after this the peoj)le resolved to return, and risk consequences, as they could no longer starved They started, and one overloaded canoe sunk, and the occupants were eaten by the s narks — three only of the whole number escaped, by swimming several miles.

Now, all this arose, I firmly believe, through an uuaecountuble dread and dislike of those natives, who, if they had been fairly treated, would have been by time a source of wealth to the settlers. And now it is asked, by those who are unacquainted with the above facts, '• Why won't the so-and-so people sell land ? " Sir, the present generation of Fijians in that quarter won't forget it. Thus it is that the unaccountable foolery and injustice of one individual, or party, brings discredit and contumely upon a whole community.