Fijian Chief

Character of Late Ratu Veli

A STRIKING tribute to a Fijian chief was paid recently by Mr. H. B. Gib son, in an article in the “Fiji Times”. It is notable as indicating the type of men found frequently among the chiefly class of Fijians. The following are extracts;— In the sudden passing of Ratu Veli, late Roko Tui Macuata, Fiji has lost a character the strength of which we will probably never see again in our time. In addition to the possession of a fine pre sence Ratu Veli was a leader of no mean order.

I can never forget the debt of grati tude which we residents of Nasea owe to his organising ability on the occasion of

the Labasa hurricane of December 10. A handful of Europeans, many Chinese and hundreds of Indians who live in Nasea owe, if not our lives, then our present state of health and well-being, to the leadership of Ratu Veli.

He always captained his own vessel. I have sailed with him on many an oc casion, and it was characteristic of his seamanship, as it was characteristic of his whole life, that in an emergency one always found Ratu Veli with the rudder in his own hand.

He was never loath to criticise an officer of State or Church, whom he thought to be weak, misguided or prejudiced. He was extremely diplomatic and always polite, but he was no mere flagwagger.

He had friends amongst peoples of all nationalities, amongst followers of many creeds and in many stations of life.

Native culivation on the Central New Guinea plateau, in the Ramu-Purari region. This great, fertile, cool plateau has been receiving a good deal of attention lately, as a possible field of enterprise for Europeans. When the above photographs were taken, these natives and

their gardens had never previously been seen by Europeans. The trenches are not for irriga tion, but are lines of division. The natives are of superior type, and live in scattered farm houses, instead of clustering together in villages.