The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-08-24
s. S. Aorangi, July 10, 1907


Since leaving Suva yesterday morn
ing, and as we sail southwest toward
Sydney. it is growing much cooler every
day. More like our cold winter weather
in Hawaii. 1t is still midsummer with
you, dry and hot, and you have to take
a ride on the Kalihi or Waikiki electric
cars to get fresh air and be cooled of,
while we are having it cold and chilly
and many stay IN the cabin to keep
/ warm. 1t is a beautiful, bright day
| outside. Some of the passengers are
walking on deck in the strong breeze
while they keep time with the rolling
and pitching of the ship.
Now few hnes about the FIJI
Islands. 1 have often wondered how
the tourists arriving in Honolulu at
night and sailing away at or before day
light, could ever find any enjoyment or
pleasure in their visit while there. But
cannot tell you how much we Homo
lulu people and other tourists enjoyed
the few hours of the evening on shore
while the snip lay at the wharf in Suva,
from Z p. m. Monday until 2 a. m.
Tuesday. The wharf in Suva is right
in front of the city.
From the lights of the streets and
from the many houses in town, as well
as from the resident portion on the
rising hillside, it reminds me much of
Hilo and its surroundings. Only the
81
town street. The wharf runs straight
out to deep water where the largest
steamer can lie. Suva has fine streets
and sidewalks in the city proper. Vic
toria Parade, or Front street, is beau
tiful avenue, wide and well macadam
lied like Kalakaua or Waikiki avenue.
On the mauka side of the road are
the stores, hotels, boarding houses, etc.
On the makai side and between the wa
ter s edge or shore line under the large
mOnkeypods and banyan trees, seated
on benches and on the green grass, the
people sit and talk or walk, plying their
goods or making fun for the strangers. |
The skin of the real Fijian native is |
black and from their appearance and
actions they are noble, kind and gen
they are lively and cheerful. |
Their language sounds like Porto Rican |
but they talk some English and it is
easy to communicate with them. No |
hats cover the heavy woolly pompadour |
heads of hair which is as often other |
colors than black. They use lime to |
clean their heads and so their hair is
changing to a brown or a reddish hue.
They walk military fashion with heads |
upright and face to the front.
The native policemen, especially, are
a fine, large and handsome set of men. |
While l saw many drunken white men |
| did not see a single drunken or noisy |
native. / wish this were so in Hawaii, |
and that the whites too would quit that |
bad habit.
The natives offered many things for |
sale, such as cocoanut baskets of shells |
and corals, hand made cocoanut wood |
canes, seed leis, mats, kapas, ETC., also |
oranges, pomelos, cOcoanuts, bananas,
ETC., the prices being about half the
Honolulu prices. The natives do not
wear trousers or shoes. They generally
have on coat and skirt of some kind
of white cotton or calico around their
waist. They sing at times and seem
to be a jolly set of people.
The country had just had nine days.
rain, so everything was clean and fresh.
A railroad track Is used to carry freight
from the city to and from vessels dis
charging or loading cargo, although
most of it is brought from the other
islands in small boats, steamers, lighters,
etc, and transferred direct on board
as in Honolulu, sometimes.
There are 254 islands in the Fiiian
group, eighty of which are inhabited, |
This group was annexed to Great Brit
ain in 1874 and has a population of |
100000. Suva, on the island of Viii
Leva, and Levuka, on Ovalau, are the
largest cities of the group and the
centers of all trade with the outside |