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Rh whom the prisons yawned for offences of the most serious character. Down to that time San Francisco had been the haven to which these fellows emigrated, but it was easier to go to Feejee than to America, and therefore Feejee got the benefit."

"I think I heard something about it at the time," the Doctor remarked.

"Quite likely," responded his informant. "About 1870-71 Feejee was a word of contempt in Australia. 'Gone to Feejee' had the same meaning in Sydney and Melbourne that 'Gone to Texas' had in the United States forty or fifty years ago; but now, under colonial rule, it is an orderly land, and life and property are as safe as in Australia or California."

In the conversation that followed Frank and Fred learned that the late King Thakombau, who died in 1883, offered the sovereignty of the islands, to the Queen of England under certain conditions, but the offer was declined. Another offer was made in March, 1874, which was also declined; but in October of the same year a deed of cession gave the sovereignty of the islands to Great Britain. A charter was shortly after issued, making Feejee a colony of Great Britain, and the first governor. Sir Arthur Gordon, arrived in June, 1875, and assumed authority.

The colony has been, on the whole, a prosperous one, though there have been periods of depression. Year by year the capabilities of the islands are becoming better known, and it would seem that there is every known kind of productive soil in Feejee. Its swamps will produce rice in abundance, and the other lands are adapted to sugar, cotton, coffee, sweet-potatoes, yams, and all other tropical productions, while in many localities pease, beans, cabbages, apples, and other fruits and vegetables of the temperate zones are successfully grown.

Frank asked about the cocoanut and bread-fruit trees, and was told