I. the discoverers of fiji

For the opening chapter on the discoverers of Fiji I have been able to make use of two important original manuscripts in the Mitchell Library. The Huydecoper manuscript of Tasman's voyage is there, and it has been translated by a Dutch scholar, Dr P. K. Roest. Another journal of the same voyage has been edited by J. E. Heeres of the Dutch State Archives and Mr C. H. Coote of the British Museum. A copy is in the Mitchell Library. The fourth volume of the Monumenta Cartographica is now due, and it will contain a reproduction of a map in Vienna of Tasman's voyage which should be carefully compared with the one reproduced by Heeres and Coote. The Mitchell Library also possesses an original "Log of the Proceedings of His Majesty's ship Bounty in a Voyage to the South Seas … under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh." For the other discoverers of Fiji I have used a photostat copy of Cook's Journal of his second voyage; Ida Lee's (Mrs Charles Bruce Marriott) book on Bligh's second voyage in 1792 which, in my voyages among the islands of the archipelago, I have found to be minutely correct; A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean performed in the years 1796, 1797, 1798 in the ship "Duff" commanded by Captain James Wilson compiled from Journals of the Officers and Missionaries, and illustrated with Maps, Charts and Views drawn by William Wilson (with a preliminary Discourse and Appendix) published in London in 1799. The Journal of Captain page 318Fabian von Bellinsgauzen's Voyage round the world in the sloops "Vostok" and "Marnye" 1819-21 was published at Petersburg in 1831. No English translation of it has yet been printed, and I do not know of any Russian copy having found its way to Australia. But there is one copy in the British Museum and another in the Royal Geographical Society in London. The Admiralty Library possesses the atlas containing maps, plans and coloured illustrations, but not the text. Dumont D'Urville has published accounts of his two voyages, the first under the title Voyage de Découvertes de la Corvette "l'Astrolabe" exécuté pendant les années 1826, 1827, 1828, et 1829; the second Voyage au Pole Sud, et dans l'Océanie sur les Corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et Ha Zélée," 1837-40. D'Urville's map of the Fijian group is published in a separate volume under the title Dumont D'Urville's Atlas du Voyage de "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée," 1847.

II. missionary manuscripts

The information given in the body of my book is based upon a study of a large number of important original documents in the archives of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, Bishopsgate, London; the Mitchell Library in Sydney; the Admiralty Annexe at Cornwall House; the Record Office; and the Roman Catholic mission station at Sumi in the island of Rotumah.

The most complete and valuable collection is the one in the possession of the Methodist Missionary Society in London. It ranges over the years from 1835 to 1856—the great missionary period in Fiji—with a few letters and reports in 1857. It includes general reports from the District Meetings in Fiji, some of which are missing; special reports from each of the mission centres—Lakemba, Rewa, Vewa, Somosomo, Nandy (Vanua Levu), Mbua Bay and Mbau; letters page 319(with extracts from their journals) and reports from William Cross, David Cargill, John Hunt, James Calvert, Thomas Jaggar, Dr R. B. Lyth, Thomas Williams, John Watsford, David Hazlewood, John Malvern, William Moore, John Polglase, Joseph Waterhouse, Samuel Waterhouse, John Smith Fordham, William Wilson, and W. Collis, teacher at Lakemba. The most important of the letters and reports are those written by David Cargill, John Hunt, Dr Lyth, Thomas Williams. These men were in Fiji in the very early years; they remained long enough to correct first impressions, and they had a seeing eye that looked into detail. James Calvert is the most voluminous writer and his letters and reports are valuable, but more as a running commentary on events than an analysis of the customs, institutions, beliefs and character of the Fijians. There is one serious defect in this collection of documents at Bishopsgate: the number of outgoing letters to Fiji and Tonga is disappointingly small. But it is a very valuable collection, and I cannot see how any authoritative work on the history of Fiji in the transition period can be compiled without making use of it. I have not actually counted the number of original documents in the Bishopsgate collection; but I have an impression that it is not less than a thousand; and every one of them was written under a sense of responsibility.

The collection in the Mitchell Library in Sydney comes next in importance. It is different in character from the collection in Bishopsgate. There is more material for a study of the life and work of Dr R. B. Lyth and Thomas Williams than is to be found in the Methodist Missionary Society collection, and it includes a large number of private letters of both Lyth and Williams which are very valuable. The letters written by Thomas Williams to his father in Horncastle are more numerous, lengthy and even more valu-page 320able than the letters and reports he addressed to the Committee in London. The journals of Lyth, Williams and Hazlewood are in this collection too. A list of the Mitchellian manuscripts relating to the history of Fiji in this period includes: R. b. lyth: Journal 1836-54, 9 vols; Day-books, 3 vols; notes on Fijian Customs; Tongan and Fijian reminiscences, 4 vols; notes on Fiji in Fijian; sketches of John Hunt and Fijian chiefs; district returns for 1854; circuit returns from 1850; personal account book; translation of the Bible in Fijian, 3 vols; short record of events, 1837-59; index to Lyth manuscripts; miscellaneous papers chiefly in Fijian, notes on grammar, etc. There is also a short diary by Mrs Lyth 1836-8. thomas williams: Journal, 2 vols; letters to and by Thomas Williams, 1832-59, 4 vols; letters by Thomas Williams to his father, 1839-43; account book 1839-57, 2 vols; short account of the translation of the Bible into the Fijian language; miscellaneous notes, chiefly concerning Fiji and the Fijians, 1843-52, 3 vols; sketch book; Somosomo Quarterly Letter; major portion of the manuscript of the first volume of Fiji and the Fijians; copy of Fiji and the Fijians interleaved with manuscript corrections and additions; index rerum; account of the Wesleyan mission in Fiji; note books; trade account book, 1843-51; translations, mostly printed. david cargill: Grammar of the Fijian language. david hazlewood: Journal, 1843-4 and 1846-50, 3 vols, john hunt: Journal, 1839-41. james watkin: Journals, 1830—, 2 vols. williams and barrff: Journal of a voyage undertaken by, for the purpose of introducing Christianity among the Feejees and Samoas, 1830 (2 copies).

A number of original documents relating to the progress of the Roman Catholic mission in Rotumah have been preserved, and were in the possession of Father Griffon when I visited the island in 1928. I was informed before leaving page 321Fiji that they would probably be transferred to the church at Thawathi in Ovalau where the Roman Catholic archives of the archipelago are stored. I had expected to find at Thawathi some manuscripts of the priests stationed at Lakemba from 1844 to 1855, but was informed that there were none, and that it was possible a few might be preserved at the headquarters of the mission in Rome.

III. admiralty records

In the Admiralty Annexe, Cornwall House, London, there are large collections of charts, maps, plans, tracings and views of the South Pacific islands. There is no difficulty in finding those relating to Fiji because of the admirable system of indexing adopted there. Most of these documents are of great historical value. The information given in them is always very explicit, and nearly always accurate. Photostat copies of a number of these charts and views are now in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and it is probable that, with the permission of the hydrographer, many more will be added in the future. For the study of the history of regions where there are so many small islands they are indispensable.

My search among the Admiralty manuscripts in the Record Office for dispatches written by the commanders of British warships who visited Fiji from 1836 to 1856 yielded very poor results. I found very few, and those of little importance, though I was assisted by Miss Deane who had been working there for years in the interests of the Mitchell Library. Some of the Admiralty manuscripts were removed to Deptford Victualling Yards in 1900. I searched there too, but found little of importance referring to Fiji. There is, I fear, good reason for believing that a large number of Admiralty documents belonging to this period 1835-56 have been destroyed because shelf-room could not be found for them in the Record Office. Mr Perrin of the Admiralty page 322Library thinks that some of the dispatches from Fiji may have been among them. Fortunately some of the letters and dispatches written by commanders of British warships in Fiji have been published, and copies of a few are in the archives of the Methodist Missionary Society at Bishopsgate.

IV. original publications

A number of books written by commanders of warships, resident missionaries and other people who went to Fiji in this period have been published. They are of unequal merit. The best account by any of the naval commanders was written by Charles Wilkes, commander of the United States Exploring Expedition. It must not be forgotten that there is a great difference in respect of reliability between the accounts published by visitors, and those written up by men who resided for many years in the archipelago. The descriptions of the islands, and of the outward appearance of the people and especially the chiefs, may be and generally are trustworthy; but when the visitors go deeper and discuss the habits, customs and mind of the people their observations must be read critically. I have generally found that for the more hidden characteristics they rely on information imparted to them by the missionaries. It almost invariably happens, too, that visitors dwell disproportionately on the atrocities and inhumanities practised by the Fijians in the thirties and forties of last century. That is natural: their attention was bound to be arrested by spectacular differences between Fijian civilization and their own; but it is also misleading, and the casual reader of such books needs to be very carefully on his guard lest he carries away an impression that is quite unfair to the Fijians who had many admirable qualities, and were in some respects a superior people.

Of these original publications written by visitors I have page 323made a discriminating use of the following: Life in Feejee by a Lady (Mrs Wallis) (Boston, 1851); Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition by Captain Charles Wilkes (Philadelphia, 1845); Narrative of a Voyage round the World performed in H.M.S. Sulphur by Captain Sir Edward Belcher, R.N. (London, 1843); Journal of a Cruise among the islands of the Western Pacific by Captain John Elphinstone Erskine, R.N. (Murray, 1853): Sketches in the Pacific by Conway Shipley, R.N., containing beautiful illustrations taken in the cruise of H.M.S. Calypso, Captain H. Worth (London, 1851). More important are the original publications of some of the resident missionaries: Memoirs of Mrs Margaret Cargill by her husband (J. Mason, London, 1841); Fiji and the Fijians by Thomas Williams and James Calvert (London, 1858); The King and People of Fiji containing a life of Thakombau by Joseph Waterhouse (London, 1866). In 1925 Sir Everard im Thurn and Mr Leonard C. Wharton edited the Journal of William Lockerby and included in the book the narratives of Samuel Patterson, the Tahitian missionaries on the Hibernia and the Journal of Captain Richard Siddons. It is a valuable publication.

I may say in conclusion that I believe the value of the evidence supplied by the missionaries in their correspondence throughout this period has been very much underrated, and too often overlooked. The early missionaries in Fiji were men of strong prepossessions, and the impartial student will soon discover that he must make due allowance for that; but they were also men of intelligence, with an acute sense of responsibility, and they knew a lot about the Fijians and their language before they were influenced to any great extent by the civilization of the white man. There is a wealth of carefully considered detail in their correspondence, journals and day-books which beggars the information page 324given by any other original authorities that I have read or studied. The material available for study in the vaults of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in London, and in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, opens up a mine of information which historians and anthropologists would do well to work for all it is worth. The early missionaries in the Pacific must not be judged only by their religious work; they were pioneers in other branches of thought and industry.