Note 656 — LECTURE XVIII
Reading edition
Footnote 656:
(return)
Th. Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, i. 5 sq., 11; Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. iii. 46 sq. However, there is a remarkable difference not only in climate but in appearance between the windward and the leeward sides of these islands. The windward side, watered by abundant showers, is covered with luxuriant tropical vegetation; the leeward side, receiving little rain, presents a comparatively barren and burnt appearance, the vegetation dying down to the grey hues of the boulders among which it struggles for life. Hence the dry leeward side is better adapted for European settlement. See Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. iii. 320 sq.; Th. Williams, op. cit. i. 10; B. Seeman, Viti, an Account of a Government Mission to the Vitian or Fijian Islands in the years 1860-1861 (Cambridge, 1862), pp. 277 sq.