Item 01: Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 29 August-19 October 1914 - Page 141
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[Page 141]
the white men - Things then get fast & furious - Missionaries are never asked to these Bacchanalian orgies - I also notice that the authorities don't approve of them - We saw the native gardens - They grow Taro – a species of Aroid – they eat the bulbous root - Papaws – Bananas – Breadfruit but I saw none of our indigenous vegetables - The limestone rock is in these parts only covered by 4 - 6 inches of soil - They carefully pare this off & place layer on layer & so get a plot 18 to 24 inches thick & then plant it - The natives are neither clean, tidy nor thrifty though vy fine specimens of humanity - We returned to Suva & had aft tea at the Pacific Hotel & then watched some tennis & did the Botanic Garden where I saw the fine Pritchardia pacifica : a palm peculiar to Fiji - We then walked down Victoria parade to the pier head - Liberty men were vy much in evidence – many of them vy drunk - Some fighting – some pouring beer over other