Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/21

MAR ofs ii^Ol FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. CHAPTEE I. FIJI. The Fiji group includes the islands lying between the latitudes of 15° 30' and 20° 30' S., and the longitudes of 177° E. and 178° W., comprising, among others, what were named by Tasman, " Prince "William's Islands," and " Heeniskirk's Shoals," extending over about 40,000 square miles of the South Pacific, and forming a connecting link between the abodes of the Malayan and Papuan races which inhabit the widely -spread Polynesia. The way of writing the name of this group is so remarkably varied as to deserve notice. Beetee, Eegee, Eejee, Eeegee, Feejee, Eeeje, Eidjee, Eidje, Eidgee, Eidschi, Eiji, Eeigee, Vihi, Viji, and Viti, are forms that have come under my o^vn obser^ation. Mji and Viti are correct ; Mji being the name in the windward^ and Viti in the leeward, parts of the group. More than two hundred years have elapsed since the discovery of these islands by Abel Jansen Tasman, the Dutch navigator, since whose voyage in 1643 they remained un visited until Captain Cook lay-to off an island in the windward group, naming it " Turtle Island." In 1789 Captain Bligh, in the " Bounty's " launch, saw a portion of the group, and passed through other parts of it when commanding the " Provi- dence " in 1792. In 1796 the " Duff," under the command of Captain Wilson, seems to have followed the same course as Tasman, and was nearly lost, just touching the reef of Ta^iuni. About the year 1806 E5ji began to be visited by traders for the purpose of procuring sandal wood to burn before Chinese idols, or biche-de-mar to gratify the palate of Chinese epicures. It was only from the men engaged in this traffic that anything was heard about the islands or their inhabitants ; and. 1