Fijian Sketches-Suva Habor. sic

Rare, large c.19th hand coloured engraving of Suva Harbour, Fiji in 1878.

In 1862 Chief Cakobau attempted to cede Fiji to Britain in exchange for payment of debts that he had accrued. These were paid in 1868 by the Australian Polynesia Company who agreed to clear Cakobau’s debts to the Americans in return for the right to trade in Fiji and land which covered the Suva Peninsula. New Australian settlers then came to the area in 1870. These settlers cleared the land and attempted to grow cotton and sugar cane. Two Australian merchants, Thomson and Renwick, encouraged the government to relocate the capital from Levuka to Suva providing incentives in the form of land grants.  

From the original edition of the Illustrated Australian News. 

Collections:
University Queensland: Identifier 991000982479703131
State Library Victoria: PCINF IAN 04-09-76 P.133
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2495305
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBERS F079/55, TN380
Royal Geographic Society SA: RGS Special Coll. 079.94 I29d

References:
Syme, E. & D, Illustrated Australian News. ISSN 2208-5386.