The serene atmosphere of the massive gardens with its diverse range of flora and large shady trees was completed by the peaceful chirping of birds that have made this botanical escape home.
The ambiance of the park belies the horrors that were visited at this exact location 171 years ago in what has been described by historians as the fiercest and bloodiest battle in the history of Fiji.
For those unfamiliar with prehistoric Fiji, achieving this distinction is indeed memorable if one considers that cannibalism and intertribal warfare were a norm in the days of old.
Thurston Gardens now sits on the prehistoric location where the original Suva Village was once located and according to historians, founded about 1820.
To date, though, one event stands out in the history of site – when the fortified town of Suva was burned down and most of its inhabitants killed and eaten by the people of Rewa.
The destruction of the Suva town occurred on April 7, 1843 by a marauding band of Rewa warriors led by their great chief Qaraniqio, nemesis of Bauan warlord and Vunivalu Ratu Tanoa Visawaqa Cakobau and his son, future Tui Viti – Seru.
Yet the tension between Rewa and Suva, which was allied to Bau, had been building for some time and of all things, a pig was largely to do with enmity between the chiefs from these traditional power bases in Viti Levu.
Two years earlier, Qaraniqio and a group of Rewa warriors were insulted by the Suva people after stopping over to rest on their way back from visiting Nadroga.
During their stay in 1841, the Rewan chief was prevented by the Roko Tui Suva from “vasu-ing” a large pig and as a result of the ensuing fracas one Rewan warrior lay dead.
Another two years would pass before Qaraniqio and other big chiefs from Rewa including Camainasala decided to avenge their insults by the Suva people once and for all.
Matters were made worse when the principal wife of Tanoa had an affair and fled in disgrace to Rewa with other ladies of rank from Bau, an incident which led to Bau declaring war on Rewa in 1843.
Things came to a head on the morning of April 7, 1843.
The Rewans disembarked from their canoes at where Suva Point is now located and swiftly made their way to Suva Village via the beachfront along Nasese, according to historian and the Fiji Museum’s first curator Colman Wall in a comprehensive account of the history of Suva published in 1919.
The ferocious band of Rewans had within their ranks, an Englishman named Charles Pickering who manned a brass cannon taken from the French beche-de-mer brig L’Aimable.
The Suva people were taken totally unaware by the attack as Wall recorded they had been busy hosting visitors from Lomaivuna in Naitasiri.
It was a strategic attack that basically involved shutting off points of escape for the Suva people which the Rewans relied on their allies in Naitasiri to accomplish.
The Suva warriors although taken by surprise, managed to hold their own with some of the fiecest fighting taking place where the Clock Tower now stands which was previously a burial ground of the chiefs of the village.
“The Suva men at length forced their way across Cakobau Rd, and on what is now the level sward of the tennis courts they stood in a ring, fighting and dying grimly, that their women and children might have the better chance of escape,” Wall wrote.
“In the end only a few broke through the cordon that surrounded them. But if they left most of their best and bravest dead beneath the trees they had at least the consolation of knowing that for every man of theirs who lay there dead, two at least of their enemies had been sent to the nether world.”
According to the story, Suva chief Tabakaucoro broke through the ranks of the Rewans and held them back allowing women and children to escape through where Williamson Rd is now situated and found refuge among the vuniivi, (giant Tahitian chestnut trees)
“Twenty five years ago the moat and rampart were practically intact, but there are no traces of them left, nothing now remains to tell the visitor that this was once a busy fortified town, note that in 1843 when it was burned I was at the scene of one of the fiercest and bloodiest fights in Fijian history,” Wall continued.
What followed the bloodletting was two days of unbridled feasting.
“The subsequent feasting broke all records,” Wall wrote.
“For two days the greater part of the victors feasted or slept off their orgies, in Suva, for the plantations there were large and fruitful, and the turtle ponds had been well stocked for their Lomaivuna guests, whilst roast bokola was so plentiful that even the meanest camp follower might hope at least to pick the bones after his betters had finished with them.”
The sacking of Suva shocked Reverend John Hunt who was passing through Suva harbour a day after the massacre.
“7th April 1843 – We had full view of poor Suva this morning, where we once had a few Christians. Yesterday the town was reduced to ashes, and many of its inhabitants killed and eaten by the Rewa people,” the Wesleyan Reverend John Hunt wrote in his diary published in History of Fiji by R A Derrick.
“We saw several canoes which had gone in search of the miserable remnant. The Christian chief is still alive.”
Just who this Christian chief was, is largely debatable as Wall states that “it is hardly correct to call them Christians, in fact they did not join the lotu till 1856.”
While the Rewa people feasted, the survivors of the massacre managed to make their way to Uluvatu along Reservoir Rd, (now known as Nauluvatu), where they sought refuge at the old village fort site that had long been abandoned.
However the Rewans managed to track them down and after a two-day siege, the leaders of the Suva people trapped at Uluvatu decided that it was best to offer a tabua and soro in the form of a young maiden of high birth.
A song of chiefs of Suva in the olden days was as follows.
A Rewan chief named Kovelevu reportedly grabbed a Beqan woman who was carrying her child but she struggled to get free.
In his anger the Rewan clubbed the woman and he got a quick repost from the dead lady’s husband who had been following behind closely.
This ensued a running fight with the Rewan in quick pursuit of the fleeing Suva people who converged at a place called Naca, at Nauluvatu.
“But by far the greatest number of women and children who has escaped death from a club or spear in the running fight were hemmed at Naca, with behind them the precipitous cliff which falls sheer down for a hundred feet to the low bank of the Tamavua River, and then followed one of the darkest tragedies in Fiji’s history.
“The women stood crowded together on the top of the bluff, and died with the stoic fatalism of their race, for a brief time nothing was heard but the thuds of the club, or the hiss of the spear as it entered the quivering flesh, and the yells of the paint – bedaubed warriors – and then silence.”
The town would be rebuilt in time but the memories of that fateful day on April 7, 1843 haunted survivors of the massacre for the rest of their lives.
Suva village historian Kali Katubadrau said the old village was “a very beautiful place to live in” and this was one of the reasons that embittered their enemies.
“The total village area according to our records basically covered 295.5 acres of Class A land. We had two beautiful beaches at Weleti and Nasese and we had an amazing view. It was definitely a lovely village,” said Katubadrau.
“This was one of the reasons I guess why the white settlers wanted our ancestors to move away because it was well situated.”
The Suvavou villager said a few still knew about the burning of their town in 1843 and it was often discussed in jest with acquaintances from Rewa.
“It happened a very long time ago and I guess this is a new time now and all these things have been forgotten.
“But sometimes they joke about it but I also tell them that was the reason Rewa was burned down too. That’s where the surname Kamakorewa comes from,” explained Katubadrau.
Suva Village was moved in 1882 to its location at Suvavou in Lami as Fiji’s Capital moved from Levuka.
Decades later in 1913, the original site of the village was transformed into Thurston Garden with its Clock Tower and Bandstand listed as heritage buildings Grade A (being of national significance) under the Suva City Scheme Statement in 1991, providing additional recognition to the gardens as a heritage site.
“Thurston Gardens is unique in its historical significance as a mixed site of both cultural and natural significance,” said National Trust of Fiji director Elizabeth Erasito.
“As the fortified town of Suva, founded around 1820, the area is a key representative of significant events in Suva’s and Fiji’s pre-history,” she said.
“The Suva Thurston Gardens was first established as a botanical garden in 1913 and is representative of elements of Fiji’s colonial history.
“The gardens initially were planted with exotic plant species from all over the world along with some of Fiji’s endemic trees, ornamentals and flowers.”
In 1976, the botanical gardens was renamed as Suva Thurston Gardens to honour the Colonial Secretary, who first mooted the idea of a botanical garden for Suva in 1879 and who acknowledged the importance and diverse nature of plants and trees in Fiji as a form of aesthetic relaxation and education for all.
Erasito said awareness on both the historical and botanical significance of the gardens can be improved.
“Over the years, there has been an increase in loss of important species of flora and fauna and the degradation of key forest ecosystems of the natural landscape,” she said.
“The increasing trend in urbanisation has also meant that generations of the migrating population have lost touch with nature and the knowledge and appreciation of its importance to their daily lives,” Erasito added.
“In this regard, the Suva Thurston Gardens will play a pivotal role in reconnecting people, particularly the city and suburban dwellers, with nature and to provide a medium for awareness and education for the children. At the same time the gardens will create a venue for looking back at the pre-history of the city and of Fiji.”
Erasito said Thurston Gardens required a major facelift from its present condition if it is to fulfil its role as an attraction, particularly for the cosmopolitan city of Suva.
In this respect the National Trust is collaborating with the Suva City Council, a group of concerned stakeholders, led by the President of Fiji (the immediate neighbour of the Gardens), who launched the initiative of improving Suva Thurston Gardens in February this year.
“The proposed improvements will elevate the gardens to meet international standards with added attraction for the general public and visitors, in recognition of frequent visitations to the iconic Government House in the neighbouring lot, the new developments to the Grand Pacific Five Star Hotel across from the gardens, and the city and harbour, which is in walking distance,” Erasito revealed.
The Thurston Gardens working group is developing a master plan for the Gardens that reflects the historical significance of the site as the original Fijian town of Suva which was shifted in about 1882.
With these plans in place Thurston Gardens looks set to become an even greater feature of Suva City, which is only fitting given the historical significance of the site.
Yet time and a facelift will not erase the memories of that fateful day in 1884 when the village of Suva ran red with blood.
An ancient chant or vucu of Suva chiefs
Na Koli Damu, na Koli Damu
Na Koli Loa, na Koli Loa,
A sese a mekeiwau
A bo vata amekeiwau
A tale a ivalu colo
A tale ki lomanikoro
Qa butu arua atu-u
Talasia i-i-i
The red chief, the red chief,
The black chief, the black chief,
Stamp round to the chant of the song of the club
Stamp together to the song of the club
Come back from the fight with the mountaineers.
Come back to the middle of the town,
Stamp twice, then stand,
Shout together, i-i-i