Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-02-12

lVrAnt town on the group of
islands, is reached in a few hour,
rom Levuka. It is situated on
tle great island of Vita LEW,
which smOrethan one hundred
Eles, and which boasts of two
rivers large enough for steamers
10 penetrate good way up theil
courses. 1t is not my intention
70 write about town life in any
OF the ports Of these islands,
where white men frequent. The
. way to see these people is to go
to the interior, and there is
nothing more delightful to one
who is seeking the strange than
. trip through the highlands of
FIJI. The scenery is incompar-
ably lovely, and the natives, un-
applied by contact with the
whites, are kind and polite, and
the soul of hospitality.
Away from the white man and
all his works, in the heart of
the mountainous country, and in
the midst Of new, strange and in
teresting scenes, the traveller
enjoys a surfeit of new sensa-
lions. Much of the scenery is 50
Z strange and interesting that it
Is almost , a crime to hurry
through. Solitary crags, thous.
and feet high, looking like mon
} uments raised to some dead gi-
ant rolling uplands of Guinea
grass; plains all dotted with very
quaint screw palm, looking like
trees on stills; beds of scented
pink orchids; dim pathways shad
ed by tall tree ferns; wildly fam
tastic purple crags torn into
strange shapes, and lastly a gap
in the wall of rock, and we are
looking down upon a cluster of
toy-Eke hay stacks-but they are
not hay stacks. They are Fijian
houses. It is a Fijian mountains
village and here we make or
first stop for the night.
The village is surrounded by a
pib fence of bamboo, and within
the fence is a neatly cut lawn.
Each house is on an individual
mound, and is built of bamboo
poles with a thatched roof. At
the end Of each house is a raised
dais on which are a number Of
mats. This is the sleeping place.
We are met by the chief of the
village and escorted to one of
the houses from which the fami-
* is ousted. We unpack our
stores and make tea, and soon ma
tives. come, bringing vans, bana-
mas and other fruits. After eat
ing we go to the river and take
a cool bath, and then natives
come and entertain us with sing
ing and dancing.
The news of our jOurn'y aero S
the country had preceded us and
found the people of every vii
lage ready to receive us with
offers of food and lodging. 1t
was with difficulty that we re-
ing at every house. Leaving the
strained our carriers from eat
village in the early morning orr
horses cantered along the top of
a ridge, surrounddeby a world
= of towering peaks, strangely col
cred in black and turquoise blue
This curious coloring is charac-
teristic of the FIJI highlands,
and it is wonderfully lovely.
Brilliant as they are, they are
rendered more vivid by contrast
with the lines of black forest
. that lie on the shoulders of
these sharp hills. Wild, lonely
and almost terrible, yet mex
pressibly beautiful are these I'M
. trodden mountains of FIJI.
Later on we pass through ban
boo forests, the strong light
sitting down through the deli
cate foliage, producing a very
strange effect of black and
white, very closely resembling
snowy wood in midwinter. Or
anges, lemons and guavas line Il
way, and these are very accept
Die during a hot ride. Kind
,gentle-mannered old men wei
come us and it is hard to believ'
that these white. haired men WEI
once cannibals in their youngel
days, yet it. is true, and the!