Item 01: Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 29 August-19 October 1914 - Page 201
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[Page 201]
Native Gods – fishing spears – King Cakobau's Kava bowl & most things linked to Fijian life of the 19th century & also of to-day - The curator kindly gave me a copy of the transactions of the Fijian Society - I then left him & went to the library & looked up Berthold Seeman on various points I wanted knowledge of - The local palm belongs to the chiefs & may be used by them only - The screw pine order had 5 new species added to it by old Seeman - He discussed the handsome tree fern (Alsophila) its suitability for ridge pole – its indestructibility either by ants or fire - I've not seen white ants here - Alsophila runs to 20 -30 feet - By the way Tasman who discovered Tasmania discovered Fiji or Viti - Feb 6 -1643 - I read the record with great interest - He was in the Heemskirk & had as consort the Zeehan - From 1643 thence on to 1800 is practically a blank in our knowledge of this land -