GREAT BRITAIN.                            
 507

ain, I have now the honor to send herewith a copy of a newspaper tele-
gram of the 15th instant front Melbourne on the subject, and also two
copies of a paper just presented to both houses of Parliament, by com-
mand of-the queen, containing a letter addressed by Lord Kimberley to
Commodore Goodenough, royal navy, and E. L. Layard, esq., Her Maj-
esty's consul in Fiji, instructing them, as commissioners, to report upon
various questions connected with those islands, and especially with a
view to the assumption of sovereignty over them by Great Britain.
   Although it has not yet been announced that Great Britain will accept
the rule of these islands, there is, unquestionably, a strong public feel-
ing here in favor of her doing so, and that at an early day.
     Sam, &c.,
                                                  BENJAMIN MORAN.


                              [Inclosure 1 in No. 498.]
                     [From the Morning Post, Saturday, May 16, 1874.]
                          The cession of the Fiji Islands.
                                                          MELBOURNE, May
15.
  The following are the terms on which the cession of the Fiji Islands is
offered to
England: The King to retain the royal title and receive a pension of £3,000
per annum,
with reversion to his eldest son; other chiefs to receive allowances varying
from £20
to £500. The British government to assume the financial liabilities
of the Fijian gov-
ernment, and to confirm all existing contracts and charters. The ruling chief
is to be
recognized as the owner of the lands and as guardian for the tribes.
  The above offer to remain open for the space of one year.



                         [Extracts from inclosure 2 in No. 498.]
Copy of a letter addressed to Commodore Goodenough, royal navy, and E. L.
Layard, esq., Her
  -Majesty's consul in Fiji, instructing them to report upon various questions
connected with
  the Fiji Islands, with inclosures.
                                             DOWNING STREET, August 15,1873.
  SIn: Her Majesty's government desire to take advantage of the opportunity
af-
forded by your proceeding to assume the appointment of consul for the Fiji
and Ton-
ga Islands, to request youý in conjunction with Commodore Goodenough,
who has been
appointed to the chief naval command on the Australian station, to inquire
and to
report to them on certain matters connected with the Fiji Islands; and I
now proceed
to explain to you the general course which this inquiry should take, and
to direct
your attention to those points which principally require investigation.
  A similar instruction has been addressed to Commodore Goodenough, and I
have to
request that you will in this matter act in full concert and combination
with him,
  I transmit to you herewith copies of various papers which have been laid
before
Parliament on the subject of the Fiji Islands, together with two memoranda
recently
furnished by Mr. March, Her Majesty's late consul for those islands. As you
will find
in these papers full details of the relations of Her Majesty's government
with the
Fiji Islands up to the present time, it is unnecessary that I should do more
than briefly
notice what has occurred since Colonel Smythe made his report.
  After considering that report, Her Majesty's government communicated (in
1862)Jto
the king and chiefs the determination of Her Majesty to decline the sovereignty
of
Fiji, and for some years after that date they were not called upon to consider
any
questions connected with the government of the islands. In 1868, the number
of
persons of European origin settled in Fiji having by that time considerably
increased,
Mr. Thurston, through the Earl of Belmore, then governor of New South Wales,
called attention to the proceedings of a company formed in Melbourne, who
had ob-
tained from the Chief of Bau (Thakobau) a charter by which it was proposed
to se-
cure to the company 200,000 acres of land belonging to a tribe stated to
be independ-
ent of him. Mr. Thurston pointed to this and to other proceedings as showing
the
desirability of establishing British or other civilized authority in the
islands. By the
terms of the charter the company undertook to make provision for the settlement
of
a claim of about £ 10,000 preferred by the United States against King
Thakoban.
  In a letter dated the 31st. of December, 1869, the foreign office called
the attention


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