The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1872-01-03
a DescrIp1ion Of. An..i,.. in Fiil.
I wiII frst .peak Of Lerpkn. NM originnl i

pressons of it are fully confirmed. Never wa:
there greater mistake than to describe it as
place incapable of extension. 1t is true that
there is at present but one principal street. which
faces the beach, and few irregulary shaped and
but partly occupied streets here and there in the
rear; but there is plenty of unoccupied space. ]
do not think that there is anywhere less than q
furiong of available building ground between the
present high-water mark and the foot of the hills
Then again there are valleys of considerable ex-
tent at either end of the present town, and two
native towns which, by-the-bye, will be absorb
ed Lastly, there would be very little difficulty
in retaining considerable area from the sea-
There is space enough at and around the present
Levuka for city Of more than 10000 inhabi-
tants, the busy part of which will be the present
fiat and the wharf frontages added thereto by
reclamation from the sea, while the adjacent hills
and valleys will be thickly studded with suburban
residences. have never seen finer villa sites
than on some of the spots near Levuka. AL
ready there are good many handsome aud COM
modous houses on the hills, but the natural facil-
tiles of the place in this respect have been as yet
made very little use Of. Nature has done much
for it, but has had scarcely any assistance from
art.
This latter feature of the FJian capital par
ticuary as regards the town itself, is what
strikes one at the outset, and is the cause of
nearly all that has been said against it. As there
has hitherto been no law, there are absolutely no
sanitary arrangements Popular opinion may
serve to keep rowdies in check, but it is power
less as regards the jamming together of houses
without reference to space or ORDER or as against
accumulations of filth, and the absence of all
those arrangements for cleanliness and decency
which are elsewhere considered of the first i'm
portance, and which are absolutely necessary to
the preservation of the public health. 1t is only
necessary to traverse Levuka, and its vicinity,
with ones senses in a toerabIy active state, TO
be convinced that it must be very unhealthy.
Let me briefly enumerate its principal defects in
this respect. In the first place, houses have been
built with very little regard to regularity or the
allowance Of due space for the free circulation of
air and the preservation of decency. Secondly,
there are swamps used as taro grounds in the
very heart of the town, which must send forth,
in hot weather, very unwholesome exhalatiOns
Thirdly, there are no arrangements whatever for
the removal of fth-and the state of
some Of the Levukan back premises may be
better imagined than described. Fourthly, the
streams which traverse the town, and from which
much-perhaps most-of the water used for do
nestle purposes therein is drawn, are not only
the bathing places of both races, and the general
substitute for washing tubs, but have still less
healthfnl uses large amount of slaughtering,
for example, is done at some distance up Totogu
creek, and the blood and filth passes from thence
through part of the town ere it reaches tho sea-
II is true that there is q constant and rapid flow
Of water, but some of the solid matter must be
deposited on its passage. Closets are also built
over the edge OF the creek, and its banks are firing
ed by an exuberant tropical vegetation, which
s probably in itself a creator of miasma. In
short the water courses are the general recepta-
,les for all kinds of filth and rubbish, and were it
not for the thorough cleansing which they occa-
3ionally receive from the heavy rainfall, their
state would be abominable Filthy, much of
he rubbish, &C., which is discharged by these
or cast overheard from the vessels
n harbOr, is washed up into the shallow waters
which skirt the beach. A great grievance to
pedestrians, too although it can scarcely be said
o involve any sanitary question: is the state of
he ways-in some places nothing but stubborn
hingle made up of stones of all sizes; in others
Iothing but loan, which, although pleasant
nough in dry weather, becomes after a shower
and showers are pretty frequent here) peculiarly
ticky.
All these evils, however, may be remeded
lore or less completely. A stiff job it will be
or those who have to do the work. But it is
ne that must be done nevertheless
! have good deal more to say about Levuka
nd the Levukans, but it is necessary, think,
re going further, that should touch upon the
political aspect of FIJI. l will only add Just
ow, as to this young island capital, that it is a
lace of anomalies. Without law, yet comparing
lyorably ION the whole), as to honesty and good
rider, with many towns which are well provided
9th with magistrates and policemen place
here much liquor is consumed, yet which has in
Their respects peculiarly moral character, the
reat " social evil of other lands being abso-
Itely unknown place where there is at times
I'D among certain classes, a good deal Of rowdy-
m, yet having within and around it the elements
heightened society.
There have been many attempts to form a
overnment for FIJI, each of which has, in its
i'm, come to grief" That which is now in
'ogress is the most promising of the whole,
though there must be good deal of trouble
ID agitation, and, may be, some important mod
cations, ere the things which have been all
cely cut and dried, and look very fine upon
per, can be folly and practically carried out.
ut it is absolutely necessary that Fiji should be
divided with some sort of Government which
n and will be internationally recognized. In
me way or other, and by some people or other. I
is is an end which must be achieved This has (
ng been felt by everybody, except, perhaps, t
lew people IN Levuka to whom government
any kind would be distasteful. But, while
oh was the universal feeling, no one seemed 1
lie or willing to undertake the task, or to know Q
" to go about it. Some put their faith in d
II;o p,aot;,rs ,bort 4, l. q 49, r..,-,t c-l-.: