Excerpt from A Year in Fiji: Or an Inquiry Into the Botanical, Agricultural, and Economical Resources of the Colony IN 1877, I accepted an invitation from Sir Arthur Gordon to visit the Islands of Fiji, of which he was then Governor; and availing myself of the privilege of leave of absence granted to Civil Servants, I left, en route for England, via New South Wales, Fiji, and San Francisco, after a resident service in Mauritius of 16 years. Sugar being the staple product of that Island, the introduction of new varieties of sugar-cane and their culture had received my special attention for a number of years; and, on leaving, the Chamber of Agriculture, with the sanction of Government, commissioned me to select and forward whatever new and suitable specimens of canes I could find in the different islands lying on my route. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.