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/' <:?- ^-^ ^ ^'t>-^ ^::^^ 
 
 
 
 FIJI AND THE FIJIANS 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 THE ISLANDS AND THEIR INHABITANTS. 
 
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piJi AND THE mum. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 THE ISLANDS AND THEIR INHABITANTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS "WILLIAMS, 
 
 LATE MISSIONARY IN PIJI. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 GEOEGE STEINGEE EOWE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 ALEXANDEE HEYLIN, 28, PATEENOSTEE EOW. 
 
 1858. 
 
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A. 1^^177 
 
 LONDON : 
 FEINTED BY WIllIAM NICHOLS, 
 32, LONDON -SVALL. 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 The information contained in this volume is the 
 result of the patient and intelligent research of the 
 Kev. Thomas Williams, of Adelaide, during his thirteen 
 years' residence as a Wesley an Missionary in Fiji. 
 Some additions have been made of facts which have 
 transpired since Mr. Williams gathered and arranged 
 the fruit of his own personal observations and inquiries. 
 
 As to the spelling and pronunciation of Fijian words, 
 some few remarks are necessary. The general practice 
 has hitherto been to represent — often very imperfectly 
 — the sounds of the Fijian by English vowels. Captain 
 Cook used this method with all Polynesian words ; but, 
 in his time, the Oceanic languages had not been reduced 
 to a \vi"itten form. Now that this has been effected in 
 many instances, the practice just named must neces- 
 sarily lead to misconception and confusion. 
 
 The Missionaries who have given to these languages 
 a fixed orthography, have wisely adopted the Roman 
 alphabet, and a system of vowels having the Italian 
 power, which met the requirements of the case far better 
 than the almost exceptional sounds of the English 
 vowels. 
 
 As regards the consonants, the Missionaries found 
 that the Fijian did not require all the characters used 
 by ourselves : some of these were therefore rejected, 
 while some were employed where we have recourse to a 
 clumsy combination. Thus, for instance, they have 
 taken the unnecessary C to express the soft dental Th. 
 
 There are no sounds in the Fijian peculiar to itself; 
 but it has characteristic compound consonants. These 
 
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VI PREFACE. 
 
 are Mb, Nd, Ng and Ng-g. That is to say, the b is 
 never pronounced without m preceding j the d never 
 without n, and so on. 
 
 In this work, therefore, — 
 
 1. The vowels in Fijian words have the Italian pro- 
 nunciation : a, as in father.; e, like a in mate ; i, as in 
 machine; o, as in pole ; u, as oo m pool. All the vowels 
 are sounded. 
 
 2. The consonants have the same power as in Eng- 
 lish ; except the following : c represents th, as in that ; 
 B — mb ; D — nd; G — ng ; Q — ng-g. Thus Cama is 
 pronounced thama; Bole — mbole; Dalo — ndalo; Gaga 
 — nganga; Qia — nggia. 
 
 3. In proper names only these peculiar combination.' 
 have, throughout the book, been represented by their 
 English equivalents. Thus, Ban is spelt Mbau ; and the 
 name of its King, Cakobau, is written Thakombau. 
 
 For further information on these points, the reader is 
 referred to the Chapter on Language, for which he is 
 indebted to the Rev. John Dury Geden, of Didsbury. 
 
 This work also owes much to Miss Elizabeth Parmer, 
 whose clever pencil has prepared most of the engravings 
 which embellish its pages. 
 
 G. S. R. 
 London, 
 November, 1858. 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Fiji. Discoveiy— Early Hisloiy— ^Vhite Settlers- 
 Faddy Connor — General Description — Yathata and Vatuvara — Vulanga — 
 Mothe — Lakemba — Totoya, Moala, Nairai, Koro, Ngau, Mbcngga — JIatuku 
 — Mbau — Taviuni — Kandavu — Vanua Levu — Na Vitl Levu — Comparative 
 Extent — Volcanic Formation— Soil — Eeefs — Coral Formation — Natiu-al 
 Havens — Bays — Winds — CUmate — Temperature — Kain — Divisions of tlie 
 Group Pages 1-16 
 
 CHAPTER II. — Oeigin and Polity. Eastern Origin — Government — 
 Supremacy — Na Ulivou — Tanoa — Mbau — Qali and Bati — Legend of Somo- 
 sorao — Homage by the Somosomaus — Power despotic — Council of State — ■ 
 Oppression — Kings — Succession — Induction to Royalty — Sacredness of the 
 King's Person — His domestic Life — Marks of Royalty — Instances of Des- 
 potism — Officers — Mata ni Vanua — na Mata — Retirement and Election of 
 a Mata — Adherence to Forms — Justice — Punishment — Execution of the 
 Vasu of Vuna — Cases of Cruel Punishment — Vicarious Suffering — Soro — 
 Its five Kinds — Its Abuse — Social Grades — Rank — Polygamy of the Kings 
 — Native Vanity — Distinctive Titles — Tui Viti — Inferior Chiefs — Vasu — 
 Reception of a Vasu — Jealousy between Persons of Rank — Homage to the 
 Chiefs— The Tama — Etiquette — Bale Muri — Tax-paying— yriiifte — Pre- 
 sentation of a Canoe Pages 17-42 
 
 CHAPTER III. — Wak. Incorrect Notions on the warlike Disposition 
 of the Fijiaus — Causes of Wai- — ^Preparation — Ofi'cring to the Gods — Gather- 
 ing an Army — Diplomacy — The Military — Singular Custom — Taga — Bole- 
 bole — Incentives to Braveiy — Fastnesses — Fortresses— ^A Siege — Assault — 
 Sally — Fhght — Ngoneseuseu — Taunts exchanged — Drewai Sasa — Native 
 Agility — Stratagem — AVangkawai — Naingani and Namosimalua — Numbers 
 
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VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 kffled— Bloodshed at Eewa— "The Chieftain's Leap"— Sacking a Town— , 
 Concealment of Property — A pitched Battle— Diminution of War in con-,,,;^ 
 sequence of Pire-arms — Cruelty to Captives — Return of the Conquerors — \>4 
 — Horrible Scenes — Treating for Peace — Ejrpensive Friends — Honorary 
 Names — Ceremony of Anointing — Arms — Cliibsr:=Speais=-i!.ows — Slings — f ' 
 Ulas — Titles of Clubs — True Bravery rare — Tni Wainuuu — Pride a Cause of 
 War— Empty Boasting Pages 43-59 
 
 CHAPTEB IV. — Industbial Produce, etc. Agriculture — ^Yams — 
 Knmera — Kawai — Dalo — Ti-tree — Banana and Plantain — Sugar-cane — 
 Yaqona — Malo — Implements — Manufactures — Native Cloth — Printing — 
 Likus — Mats — Baskets — Nets — Sinnet — Pottery — Salt — Canoe-bnilding 
 — Carpenters — Respect for their Chiefs — Canoes — Velovelo — Thamakau — 
 Tambilai — Ndrua — Methods of Building— Binding — ^Deek — ^Dimensions — 
 Copied by the Tongans — Arms — Pillows, etc. — Bowls, Dishes, etc. — Wigs 
 / — Tools — Houses — Quickly built — Thatch — Thatching Scene — Sailors — Not 
 adventurous — Rigging — Navigation — Inconveniences audTleasures of Canoe- 
 sailing — Superstition of Sailors — Pishermen — Nets, etc. — Turtle-fishing — 
 Heathen Custom — Dangers — Sharks — Shell — Tui-kilaldla and the Priestess 
 — Commerce — Ba rter— Trade with the Fi-iendly Islands — Its Evils — Traie 
 wlflrt"he"civilized World — Biche-de-mar — Dyes — Native Bread — Arrowroot 
 — Uncultivated Produce — Pandanus— Cocoa-nut — Timber — Undeveloped 
 Resources — Pijian Year Pages 60-101 
 
 CHAPTER V. — The People. Population — Mountaineers — Decrease 
 --' — Physical Character — Thakombau — Albinoes — Mental Character — Tact — 
 Self-command — Tui Wainunu — Proverbs — Conversation — Mechanical Skill 
 — Art — Insensible of Beauty — Cruelty — Language — Poetry — Poets — Meke 
 • — Rhyme and Metre — Legendary Songs — ^Wonderful Crab — ^Tutuwathiwathi 
 — Dialogue — Dulena — Missionaries' Motives for discountenancing the Native 
 Dance — Sacred Poetry — Chanting — Poetic Phraseology — Epigrams — Pro- 
 mise of better Poetiy — Moral Aspect — Pride — Somosomo Priest — Amusing 
 Cure — Pride of Country — Crying — The injured Mata — Another Instance — '. 
 Self-control — Rage — Suicide — Boasting — Lying — Theft — Envy — Ingrati- 
 tude — Tui-thakau — Malignity— Vows of Revenge — Leletaka — Assassination 
 — Attempt&ustrated — Treachery — Tumbai-valu and Koroi-tamana — Coward- 
 ice — Prevalence of Murder — Affection — Maternal Love Pages 102-135 
 
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CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER VI. — Mannees and Customs. Unsocial Restraints— Dirt 
 — House-furniture — Cool<ing Apparatus — Superior Comforts — Bill of Fare — 
 Driuiing — Etiquette — Yaqoua — Preparing the Grog — JIariner's Description 
 — Invocation — Saying Grace — The Place of Honom- — Pemale Drinking Par- 
 ties—Various Yaqona Ceremonies — Toasts — Rare Intemperance — Prepara- 
 tions for a Feast — Cooking — Ovens — Serving up — Profusion — ^'ast Pudding 
 — Serving out — Strict Etiquette — Questionable Hospitality — Politeness — 
 Salutation — Fijian Kiss — Visiting Ceremonies — Respectful Titles— Flatteiy 
 — Forms in Giving and Receiving — Parting Ceremonies — Dress — Masi — 
 Liku — Turban — Hair-dressing — Painting — Various Ornaments — Tattooing 
 — Sleep and Tobacco — Sports — Swinging — G ames — Water-sports — Music 
 — Dancing — Puns — Story-telling — Family Discipline — Circumcision — Be- 
 trothal — Low Estimate of Women — Their Degradation — Courting Obser- 
 vances — Marriage — Wedding Feasts — Family Observances — Fidelity — Going 
 to be MaiTied — Presentation of a Girl — Marriage by Force — Proposing — ■ 
 Birth of a Child — Tongan and Fijian Contrast — Naming — Nursing — Early 
 Lessons — Women's Work — Fishing — Polygamy — Its Results — on the Wives 
 — on the Children — ilurder — Adoptloii^^^^Severe Discipline — A runaway 
 Wife — Swearing — Treatment of the Aged and Inlirm — Anecdote — Parricide 
 — Treatment of the Sick — The Jlalamula — Bm-ying alive — Dying Words — ■ 
 Mom'ning — Laying out — Loloku — Wake — Funeral Ceremonies — Graves — 
 Unburied Children — Mausoleum of tiie Queen of Somosomo — Death of Tui- 
 thakau — Horrid Scene — Burial — Mourning Observances — Lakemban Custom 
 — Remarks on Strangling — Reasons why the Victims seek their Fate — ^Escape 
 — Sa Ndrungu — Decline of the Custom — Statistics of Mortality — Super- 
 stitions about Death — Traditions concerning Death — Cannibalism — Occasions 
 when it is practised — Dreadful Triumph — Further Pai-ticulars — Valcatotoga — 
 Famous Cannibals — Strange Register Pages 136-214 
 
 CHAPTER VII. — Religion. Difficulty of obtaining clear Informatiou 
 — No actual Idolatry — Kalou — Two Classes of Gods — Ndengei — Divine Dia- 
 logue — Ndandavanua — Rokomoutu — Thangawalu — Roko Mbati-ndua — Va- 
 rious other Gods — Inferior Deities — Tutelary Gods — Shiines — Sacred Crab — 
 Sacred Stones — Bures — Priestesses — Offerings — Sigana — Consulting a God 
 — Inspiration — Godlike Boasts — The mortified Bete — Decisive Threat — 
 Priesthood — Shakings — Divination — Various Kinds — Seers — Dreamers — 
 
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X CONTENTS. 
 
 Consulting Ndengei — Sacred Observances — Thank-offering — Divine Diet — 
 Cannibalism as connected with Religion — Asceticism — Painful Pilgrimage — 
 Superstitious Observances — The Tabu — Imposing a Tabu — Removing a Tabu 
 — ^Punishment for violating a Tabu — Capricious Imposition — Other Obser- 
 vances— Kalou rere — Pilgrimages — Nai Thombothombo — ^Lewa Levu — Ob- 
 jects of Superstition — Fairies — Ndrudru Sambo — Apparitions — Immortality 
 — Duality of the Soul — Pate of the Spirits of Animals, etc. — Future State — 
 Hades— Passage to Mbulu — Tbimbathimba — TaMveleyawa — Hard Fate of 
 Bachelors — Nangganangga — Nambanggatai — Samuyalo — ^Pltmge into Miuri- 
 muria — Mburotu — Occupations of Mbulu — Few reach Immortality — ^^'itch- 
 craft — Various Spells^Preventions — Punishment — Ordeal — Simple Conceit 
 — Various Superstitions — Traditions — Creation of Man — Other Accounts- 
 Great Flood — Fijian Babel — Translation of Kerukeru Pages 215-354 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. — Language and Litekatuke. Malayo-Polynesian 
 Tongues — Their principal Features — Fijian — Ita Dialects — ^Vowels — ^Diph- 
 thongs — Consonants — Articles — Nouns — Diminutives — Gender — Number- 
 Cases — Adjectives — Pronouns — Remarkable Peculiarities — Numerals — 
 Verbs — Tense and Mood — Other Parts of Speech — Syntax — Distinction 
 iu the Genitive — Verbal Resources — Literature — Grammar and Dic- 
 tionary — Rev. David Hazlewood — Rev. John W. Appleyard — Hopes for the 
 Riture Pages 255-266 
 
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LIST OE ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Tlmkombau, Vimivalu . . Frontispiece. 
 
 Chart of the Kji Islanils . . . iuface Page 1 
 
 Spear-heads , . . „ 57 
 
 Priests' Bowls . . „ 60 
 
 Likus . . „ 67 
 
 Fans and Sun-screens . . „ 68 
 
 Fijian Pottery . . . „ 70 
 
 Transverse Section of Camakaii „ 72 
 
 Sections of Joints . „ 74 
 
 Clnhs . . „ 77 
 
 Priests' Bowl . . . „ 77 
 
 Section of House . . „ 80 
 
 Sinnet-work of Fences „ SO 
 
 Sections of House . „ 81 
 
 Ditto . . „ 82 
 
 Sleeping Bures ... „ 83 
 
 Canoe-rigging . . „ 86 
 
 Mast-heads and Pilasters, etc. . . „ 88 
 
 Pandanus ... . . . ,,98 
 
 Veindovi . . „ 102 
 
 Heads of Chiefs in full Dress „ 156 
 
 Hair-dressing ... . „ 158 
 
 Modes of Painting the Face . . „ 160 
 
 Girl playing on the Nose-flute . . ,, 163 
 
 Drums and Musical Instruments . . ,,164 
 
 Caimihal Forks .... . „ 212 
 
 Bure of Na Ututu . . . „ 215 
 
 Sacred Stones . ,,220 
 
 Bure of Na Tavasara, Taviuni ... . • „ 222 
 
 Priest's Comb . . . ■ „ 227 
 
 Nut Tabus. ... . . „ 235 
 
 Takiveleyawa ... ,,244 
 
 Savu FaUs . . . • . „ 253 
 
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FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FIJI. 
 
 The Fiji group includes the islands lying between the 
 latitudes of 15° 30' and 20° 30' S., and the longitudes 
 of 177° E. and 178° W., comprising, among others, what 
 were named by Tasman, " Prince William's Islands," and 
 " Heeniskirk's Shoals," extending over about 40,000 
 square miles of the South Pacific, and forming a connect- 
 ing link between the abodes of the Malayan and Papuan 
 races which inhabit the widely- spread Polynesia. 
 
 The way of writing the name of this group is so remark- 
 ably varied as to deserve notice. Beetee, Pegee, Pejee, 
 Feegee, Feejee, Feeje, Fidjee, Fidje, Fidgee, Fidschi, Fiji, 
 Feigee, ^ihi, Viji, and Viti, are forms that have come under 
 my own observation. Fiji and Viti are correct ; Fiji being 
 the name in the windward, and Viti in the leeward, parts of 
 the group. 
 
 More than two hundred years have elapsed since the dis- 
 covery of these islands by Abel Jansen Tasman, the Dutch 
 navigator, since whose voyage in 16.43 they remained un- 
 visited until Captain Cook lay-to ott an island in the wind- 
 ward group, naming it " Turtle Island." In 1789 Captain 
 Bligh, in the "Bounty's" launch, saw a portion of the 
 group, and passed through other parts of it when com- 
 manding the " Providence" in 1792. In 1796 the " Duff," 
 under the command of Captain Wilson, seems to have fol- 
 lowed the same course as Tasman, and was nearly lost, just 
 
 B 
 
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2 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 touching the reef off Taviuni. About the year 1806 Kji 
 began to be visited by traders for the purpose of procuring 
 sandal-wood to burn before Chinese idols, or biche-de-mar 
 to gratify the palate of Chinese epicures. It was only from 
 the men engaged in this traffic that anything was heard 
 about the islands or their inhabitants ; and, beyond the 
 scanty information supplied by Captain Cook, neither 
 standard geographies nor Admiralty charts deserve confi- 
 dence. Eecent visits by British ships of war, added to the ela- 
 borate survey of the group by the United States Exploring 
 Expedition, have resulted in more correct information.* 
 
 The early history of Fiji is necessarily obscure. Whether 
 the first stranger who gazed upon its extent and beauty was 
 a Tongan or European, is doubtful. If it can be admitted 
 that up to the time of Captain Cook's visit to the Eriendly 
 Islanders, in 1772, they were unused to war, and were then 
 only beginning to practise its horrors as learned by them in 
 Eiji, the probability is in favour of the latter. But whethef 
 these islanders, age after age, enjoyed the peace implied in 
 the above supposition, is more than questionable. The evil 
 passions " whence come wars and fightings" are, in Tongan 
 nature, of ruling power ; and to suppose these at rest in a 
 thousand heathen bosoms for a single year, is extremely 
 difiicult, — a dif&culty which grows as we increase either the 
 number of persons or the length of time. Tongan inter- 
 
 * The following works contain reliable information concerning the islands 
 and inhabitants of Fiji : — 
 
 Wilkes's Narrative of the V. S. Sxploring Expedition, 1838-1842. New 
 Yorlc. (Two abridged editions have been published in England.) 
 
 Captain Erskine's Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western 
 Pacific. London. 1853. 
 
 Life in Feejee : or. Five Years among the Cannibals. By a Lady. Boston. 
 185i. 
 
 First and Second Missionary Visits to the Friendly and Feejee Islands, 
 By the Eev. Walter Lawry. London. 
 
 Journal of a Deputation to the Southern World. By the Rev. Robert 
 Young. London. 1855. 
 
 H. M. S. " Herald," under the command of Captain H. M. Denham, R.N., 
 F.R.S., has now been engaged for some time in exploring and more accu- 
 rately surveying the islands, from which expedition the most valuable results 
 may be expected. 
 
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FIJI. a 
 
 course with Kji dates far back, and originatedj undoubtedly, 
 in their canoes being driven among the windward islands 
 by strong easterly winds. More than a hundred years ago 
 the recollection of the first of such voyages was lost, which 
 seems to put back its occurrence even beyond Tasman^s 
 visit in 1643. 
 
 About the year 1804 a number of convicts escaped from 
 New South Wales and settled among the islands. Most of 
 these desperadoes lived either on Mbau or Rewa, the chiefs 
 of which allowed them whatever they chose to demand, 
 receiving, in return, their aid in carrying on war. The 
 new settlers made themselves dreaded by the natives, who 
 were awed by the murderous effect of their fire-arms. The 
 hostile chiefs, seeing their bravest warriors fall in battle 
 without an apparent cause, believed their enemies to be 
 more than human, against whom no force of theirs availed, 
 whose victory was always sure, while their progress invariably 
 spread terror and death. No thought of improving and 
 consohdating the power thus won seems to have been 
 entertained by the whites. Had such a desire possessed 
 them, the absolute government of the entire group lay 
 within their reach ; but their ambition never rose beyond a 
 life of indolence, and an unrestrained gratification of the 
 vilest passions. Some of them were men of the most des- 
 perate wickedness, being regarded &s monsters even by the 
 ferocious cannibals with whom they associated. These law- 
 less men were twenty-seven in number on their arrival, but 
 ia a few years the greater part had ended their career, 
 having fallen in the native wars, or in deadly quarrels 
 among themselves. A Swede, named Savage, who had 
 some redeeming traits in his character, and was acknow- 
 ledged as head man by the whites, was drowned and eaten 
 by the natives at Weilea, in 1813. In 1824 only two, and 
 in 1840 but one, of his companions survived. This last 
 was an Irishman named Connor, who stood in the same 
 relation to the King of Eewa as Savage had done to the 
 King of Mbau. His influence among the natives was so 
 great, that all his desires, some of which Were of the most 
 B 2 
 
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4 CHAPTER I. 
 
 inhuman kind, were gratified. The King of Eewa would 
 always avenge, and often in the most cruel manner, the 
 real or fancied wrongs of this man. If he desired the 
 death of any native, the chief would send for the doomed 
 man, and direct him to make and heat an oven, into which, 
 when red-hot, the victim was cast, having been murdered 
 by another man sent for the purpose. 
 
 Soon after the death of his patron, Paddy Connor left 
 Eewa. He was thoroughly Pijianized, and of such depraved 
 character that the white residents who had since settled in 
 the islands drove him from among them, being afraid of so 
 dangerous a neighbour. At the close of life his thoughts 
 seemed only occupied about rearing pigs and fowls, and 
 increasing the number of his children from forty-eight to 
 fifty. 
 
 These men are thus mentioned because of their close 
 connexion with the rise of Mbau and Eewa, which two 
 places owe their present superiority to their influence, the 
 former having long been the most powerful state in Fiji. 
 
 The entire group comprises not fewer than two hundred 
 and twenty-five islands and islets, about eighty of which are 
 tahabited. Among these, every variety of outline can be 
 found, from the simple form of the coral isle to the rugged 
 and often majestic grandeur of volcanic structure. 
 
 The islands in the eastern part of the Archipelago are 
 small, and have a general resemblance to each other: 
 towards the west they are large and diversified. The two 
 largest are superior to any found in the vast ocean-field 
 stretching thence to the Sandwich Islands ; while the ever- 
 changing beauties of scenery enable the voyager, as he 
 threads the intricate navigation among reefs and islands, to 
 share the feelings thus expressed by Commodore Wilkes : 
 " So beautiful was their aspect, that I could scarcely bring 
 my mind to the reahzing sense of the well known fact,'that 
 they were the abode of a savage, ferocious, and treacherous 
 race of cannibals." * 
 
 When each island of so large a group has a claim to be 
 
 * " XS, S. Exploring Expedition," vol. iii., p. 46. 
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FIJI. 5 
 
 noticed, selection is difficult, and the temptation to detail 
 strong. It must not, however, be yielded to, a few 
 examples sufficing to give a general idea of the whole. 
 
 Yathata and Vatuvaua are placed by geologists in a 
 class that has long been in high favour as the fairy-lands of 
 the South Seas. They are composed of sand and coral 
 debris, covered with a deep soil of vegetable mould. 
 Yathata is hilly and fertile. Of this class there are few in 
 Piji. They are from two to six miles in circumference, 
 having the usual belt of white sand, and the circlet of 
 cocoa-nuts with tlieir foliage of "pristine vigour and 
 perennial green." Such islands have generally one village, 
 inhabited by fifty or one hundred oppressed natives. 
 
 The other islands to windward are of volcanic formation, 
 their shore only having a coral base. Vulanga is one of 
 this class, and appears as though its centre had been blown 
 out by violent explosions, leaving only a circumferent rim, 
 which to the west and south is broad, and covered with 
 rocks of black scoria rising to a height of nearly two 
 Jiundred feet ; but to the north-east is narrow and broken. 
 This rim encircles an extensive sheet of water of a dark 
 blue colour, studded with scoriaceous islets, enamelled with 
 green, and worn away between the extremes of high and 
 low water until they resemble huge trees of a mushroom 
 form ; thus giving a most picturesque effect to this sheltered 
 haven of unbroken calm. 
 
 My first entrance to this lagoon was made at the risk of 
 life ; and the attempt would be vain to tell how welcome 
 were its quiet waters after the stormy perd outside. A 
 mountainous surf opposed the strong current which forced 
 its way through the intricate passage, causing a most 
 terrific wliirl and commotion, in the midst of which the 
 large canoe was tossed about like a splinter. The excite- 
 ment of the time was intense, and the impressions then made 
 were indelible. The manly voice of Tubou Toutai, issuing 
 his commands amid the thunder of the breakers, and the 
 shrieks of affrighted women ; the labouring of the canoe in 
 its heaving bed of foam ; the strained exertions of the men 
 
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b , CHAJTEE I. 
 
 at the steer-oar ; the anxiety which showed itself on every 
 face ; were all in broad contrast with the felt security, the 
 easy progress, and undisturbed repose which were attained 
 the moment the interior of the basin was reached. Vu- 
 langa, although having its own beauty, is so barren that 
 little except hardy timber is found growing upon it. Its 
 gullies are bare of earth, so that neither the yam nor the 
 banana repays culture. Smaller roots, with fish, which 
 abound here, uniyavaio, — a large wood maggot, — give food 
 to the inhabitants of four villages. 
 
 MoTHB, lying to the N.E. of Vulanga, is very fruitful, 
 having an undulating surface much more free from wood 
 than the islands to the south. A fortress occupies its 
 highest elevation, in walking to which the traveller finds 
 himself surrounded by scenery of the richest loveliness. A 
 sandy beach of seven miles nearly surrounds it. There are 
 many islands of this size in the group, each containing 
 from 200 to 400 inhabitants. 
 
 Lakbmba, the largest of the eastern islands, is nearly 
 round, having a diameter of five or six miles, and a 
 population of about 2,000 souls. 
 
 ToTOYA, MoALA, Naieai, Koro, Ngati, Mbengga, 
 exhibit on a larger scale the beauties of those islands already 
 named, having, in addition, the imposing charms of volcanic 
 irregularities. Among their attractions are high moun- 
 tains, abrupt precipices, conical hiUs, fantastic turrets and 
 crags of rock frowning down like olden battlements, vast 
 domes, peaks shattered into strange forms ; native towns on 
 eyrie cliffs, apparently inaccessible ; and deep ravines, down 
 which some mountain stream, after long murmuring in its 
 stony bed, falls headlong, ghttering as a silver line on a 
 block of jet, or spreading, like a sheet of glass, over bare 
 rocks which refuse it a channel. Here also are found the 
 softer features of rich vales, cocoa-nut groves, clumps of 
 dark chestnuts, stately palms and bread-fruit, patches 
 of graceful bananas, or well tilled taro-beds, mingling 
 in unchecked luxuriance, and forming, with the wild 
 reef-scenery of the girdling shore, its beating surf, and 
 
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PiJi. 7 
 
 far-stretcliing ocean beyond, pictures of surpassing 
 beauty. 
 
 Matuku is eminent for loveliness where all are lovely. 
 These islands are from fifteen to thirty miles in circum- 
 ference, having populations of from 1,000 to 7,000 each. 
 
 Mbau is a small island, scarcely a mile long, joined to 
 the main — Viti Levu — by a long flat of coral, which at low 
 water is nearly dry, and at high water fordable. The 
 town, bearing the same name as the island, is one of the 
 most striking in appearance of any in Eiji, covering, as it 
 does, a great part of the island with irregularly placed 
 houses of all sizes, and tall temples with projecting ridge- 
 poles, interspersed with unsightly canoe-sheds. Here is 
 concentrated the chief political power of Fiji. Its 
 inhabitants comprise natives of Mbau and the Lasakau 
 and Soso tribes. 
 
 Taviuni — commonly called Somosomo,""from its town of 
 that name being the residence of the ruling chiefs — is too 
 fine an island to be overlooked. It is about twenty-five 
 miles long, with a coast of sixty miles, and consists of one 
 vast mountain, gradually rising to a central ridge of 2,100 
 feet elevation. Pleecy clouds generally hide its summit, 
 where stretches a considerable lake, pouring through an 
 outlet to the west a stream which, after tumbling and 
 dashing along its narrow bed, glides quietly through the 
 chief town, furnishing it with a good supply of fresh water. 
 A, smaller outlet to the east discharges enough water to 
 form a small but beautiful cascade. This lake is supposed 
 to have as its bed the crater of an extinct volcano, an idea 
 supported by the quantity of volcanic matter found on the 
 island. However wild and terrible the appearance of the 
 island once, it is now covered with luxuriance and beauty 
 beyond the conception of the most glowing imagination. 
 Perhaps every characteristic of Kjian scenery is found on 
 Somosomo, while all the tropical vegetables are produced 
 here in perfection. It has only a land-reef, which is often 
 very narrow, and in many places entirely wanting, break- 
 ing, towards Tasman's Straits, into detached patches. 
 
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» CHAPTER I. 
 
 Kandavu is another large and mountainous island, 
 twenty-five miles long, by six or eight wide. It has a 
 very irregular shore, abounds in valuable timber, and has 
 a population of from 10,000 to 13,000. 
 
 A good idea of the general appearance of these islands 
 is obtained by regarding them as the elevated portions of 
 submerged continents. The interior is, in many instances, 
 a single hill or mountain, and, in many others, a range, 
 the slopes of which, with the plains mostly found at their 
 feet, constitute the island. 
 
 There yet remain to be noticed the two large islands, 
 which, when compared with those stretching away to the 
 east, assume the importance of continents. 
 
 Vantja Lbvtj (Great Land) is more than one hundred 
 miles long, having an average breadth of twenty-five miles. 
 Its western extremity is notable as being the only part of 
 Fiji in which sandal-wood can be produced. The opposite 
 point of the island is deeply indented by the Natawa Bay, 
 which is forty miles long, and named by the natives, "the 
 Dead Sea." The population of Vanua Levu is estimated 
 at 31,000. Its scenery much resembles that of 
 
 Na Viti Levu (the Great Fiji) which measures ninety 
 miles from east to west, and fifty from north to south. A 
 great variety of landscape is found in navigating the shores 
 of Great Fiji. To the S.E. there is tolerably level ground 
 for thirty-six miles inland, edged, in places, by chffs of 
 sandstone five hundred feet high. The luxuriant and cheer- 
 ful beauty of the lowland then gives place to the gloomy 
 grandeur and unbroken solitude of the mountains. To the 
 S.W. are low shores with patches of brown, barren land ; 
 then succeed narrow vales, beyond which rise hills, whose 
 wooded tops are in fine contrast with the bold bare front 
 at their base. Behind these are the highest mountains in 
 the group, bleak and sterile, with an altitude of 4,000 or 
 5,000 feet. Westward and to the east, high land is close 
 to the shore, with only narrow strips of level ground 
 separating it from the sea. Proceeding northward, some 
 of the finest scenery in Fiji is opened out. The lower 
 
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FIJI. 9 
 
 level, skirted by a velvety border of mangrove bushes, and 
 enriched with tropical shrubs, is backed, to the depth of 
 four or five miles, by hilly ground, gradually reaching an 
 elevation of from 400 to 700 feet, with the lofty blue 
 mountains seen, through deep ravines, in the distance. 
 Great Kji has a continuous land or shore-reef, with a 
 broken sea-reef extending from the west to the ndrth. 
 The Great Land also has in most parts a shore-reef, with a 
 barrier-reef stretching from its N.E. point the whole length 
 of the island, and beyond it in a westerly direction. Great 
 Fiji is supposed to contain at least 50,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Scanty and imperfect as is this notice of some of its 
 chief islands, enough has been said to show the superiority 
 of Fiji over most other groups in the Pacific, both in 
 extent of surface, and amount of population. This 
 superiority will be made clearer by the following statement 
 of their relative importance : — 
 
 The islands composing Viti-i-loma (Middle Fiji) are 
 equal to the fine and populous island of Tongatabu 
 together with the Hervey Islands. 
 
 The Yasawas are equal to Vavau. 
 
 The eastern group is equal to the Hapai Islands. 
 
 The Somosomo group equals the Dangerous Archipelago 
 and the Austral Islands. 
 
 The Great Land is equal to the Marquesas, Tahiti, and 
 Society Islands. 
 
 Great Fiji alone surpasses the Samoan group; while 
 there still remains over, the Kandavu group, with a popula- 
 tion of about 12,000. 
 
 Without pretending to write the natural geography of 
 Fiji, occasional notices of its geology, botany, and zoology 
 win be introduced, where such notices are likely to prove 
 peculiarly interesting or instructive. 
 
 The volcanic formation of these islands has already been 
 intimated, and the indications of craters alluded to ; but as 
 no lava in a stream has been found, the very remote con- 
 struction of the group seems almost certain. Yolcanic 
 action has not, however, entirely ceased; violent shocks of 
 
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10 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 earthquakes are at times felt, and at Wainunu and Na 
 Savusavu, on Yanua Levu, and also on the island of Ngau, 
 there is enough volcanic heat to produce warm and boiling 
 springs. The high peaks and needles on the large islands 
 are mostly basaltic. Tolcanic conglomerate, tufaceous 
 stones, porous and compact basalts, are found of every 
 texture, of many colours, and in various stages of decom- 
 position. In several places I have seen very perfect and 
 distinct columns of basalt some feet in length. 
 
 The soil is in some places gravelly and barren ; occasion- 
 ally a stratum of reddish clay and sandstone is found ; but 
 a dark red or yellowish loam is most common : this is often 
 deep and very rich, containing, as it does, much decayed 
 vegetable matter. Decomposed volcanic matter forms a 
 very productive soil, especially in those vales where such 
 debris mingles with deposits of vegetable mould. Portions 
 of the large flats, covered with rank grass, treacherously 
 hiding the soft, adhesive mud beneath, would baffle the 
 skiH of the British husbandman, although much prized by 
 the natives, who find in them just the soil and moisture 
 needed for the cultivation of their most valued esculent, 
 the taro {Arum esculentum) . These swamps would perhaps 
 answer well, under efficient management, for the cultivation 
 of rice. 
 
 The lee side of a mountain generally presents a barren 
 contrast to that which is to windward, receiving as this 
 does on summit and slopes the intercepted clouds, thus 
 securing regular showers and abundant fertility, while to 
 leeward the unwatered vegetation is dying down to the 
 grey hues of the boulders among which it struggles for 
 life. To this, however, there are some marked exceptions. 
 
 In some places a surface of loose rubble is found. I 
 have heard on good authority that, about thirty years 
 since, a town within a few miles of Mbua was buried by 
 a land-slip, when so much of the mountain face slid down 
 as to overwhelm • the whole town and several of its 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Prom the shore we step to the reefs. These are grey 
 
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PIJI. 11 
 
 barriers of iock, either continuous or broken, and of all 
 varieties of outline, their upper surface ranging from a few 
 yards to miles in width. The seaward edge, over which 
 the breakers curve, while worn smoother, stands higher 
 than the surface a few feet within, where the waves pitch 
 with a ceaseless and heavy fall. Enclosed by the reef is 
 the lagoon, like a calm lake, underneath the waters of 
 which spread those beautiful subaqueous gardens which fill 
 the beholder with delighted wonder. 
 
 Shore or attached reefs, sea or barrier reefs, beds, 
 patches, or knolls of reef, with sunken rocks and sand- 
 banks, so abound in Kji and its neighbourhood as to make 
 it an ocean labyrinth of unusual intricacy, and difficult of 
 navigation. 
 
 The coral formation found here to so vast an extent has 
 long furnished an interesting subject for scientific research, 
 and proved a plentiful source of ingenious conjecture ; 
 while the notion has found general favour, that these vast 
 reefs and islands owe their structure chiefly to a micro- 
 scopic zoophyte, — ^the coral insect. Whether by the accu- 
 mulated deposit of their exuviae, or by the lime-secretion of 
 their gelatinous bodies, or the decomposition of those 
 bodies when dead, these minute polypes, we are told, are 
 the actual builders of islands and reefs ; the lapse of ages 
 being required to raise the edifice to the level of the 
 highest tide ; after which, the formation of a soil by drifting 
 substances, the planting of the island with seeds borne by 
 birds or washed up by the waves, and, lastly, the arrival of 
 inhabitants, are all set forth in dae order with the exact- 
 ness of a formula based upon the simplest observation. A 
 theory so pretty as this could not fail to become popular, 
 while men of note have strengthened it by the authority of 
 their names. Close and constant inspection, however, on 
 the part of those who have had the fullest opportunity for 
 research, is altogether opposed to this pleasingly interesting 
 and plausible scheme. Wasting and not growth, ruin and 
 not building up, characterize the lands and rock-beds of 
 the southern seas. Neither does the ingenious hypothesis 
 
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12 CHAITEE I. 
 
 of Darwin, tliat equal gain and loss — ^rising in one part, 
 and depression in another — are taking place, seem to be 
 supported by the best ascertained facts; for the annular 
 configuration of reef which this theory pre-supposes, is by 
 no means the most general. " In all the reefs and islands 
 of coral that I have examined," writes Commodore Wilkes, 
 "there are unequivocal signs that they are undergoing 
 dissolution ;"* a. conclusion in which my own observation 
 leads me entirely to concur. 
 
 The operation of the polyps is undoubtedly seen in the 
 beautiful madrepores, brain-corals, and other similar struc- 
 tures which, stUl living, cover and adorn the surface; 
 " but a few inches beneath, the reef is invariably a col- 
 lection of loose materials, and shows no regular coralline 
 structure, as would have been the case if it had been the 
 ■work of the lithophyte." t These corals rarely reach the 
 height of three feet, while many never exceed so many 
 inches. The theory stated above assumes that the polyps 
 work up to the height of a full tide. Such is not the case. 
 I am myself acquainted with reefs to the extent of several 
 thousands of miles, aU of which are regularly overflowed by 
 the tide twice in twenty-four hours, and, at high water, 
 are from four to six feet below the surface ; all being a few 
 inches above low-water mark, but none reaching to the 
 high-tide level. 
 
 But whatever may be the origin of the reefs, their great 
 utility is certain. The danger caused by their existence 
 will diminish in proportion as their position and outhne 
 become better known by more accurate and minute survey 
 than has yet been made. To the navigator possessing such 
 exact information, these far-stretching ridges of rock become 
 vast breakwaters, within the shelter of which he is sure to 
 find a safe harbour, the cahn of which is in strange, because 
 so sudden, contrast with the stormy sea outside. In many 
 cases a perfect dock is thus found ; in some large enough 
 to accommodate several vessels, with a depth of from three 
 to twelve fathoms of water. Besides these, a number of 
 * " U. S. Exploring Expedition,'' vol. iv., chap. viii. f Hul, 
 
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FIJI. 13 
 
 bays, indenting tlie coast of the large islands, afford good 
 anchorage, and vary in depth from two to thirty miles. 
 Into these the mountain streams disembogue, depositing 
 the mud flats found in some of them, and rendering the 
 entrance to the river shallow. Still the rivers, furnishing a 
 ready supply of fresh water, increase the value of the bays 
 as harbours for shipping. By these Piji invites commerce 
 to her shores ; and in these a beneficent Creator is seen 
 providing for the prospective wants of the group, ready 
 bmJt ports for the shelter of those " who go down to the 
 sea in ships, that do business in great waters." To such 
 persons the winds are a subject of prime interest. During 
 eight months — ^from April to November — the prevailing 
 winds blow from the E.N.E. to the S.E., when there is 
 often a fresh trade-wind for many successive days, miti- 
 gating to some extent the tropical heat. These winds, 
 however, are not so uniform as elsewhere. During the 
 rest of the year there is much variation, the wind often 
 blowing from the north, from which quarter it is most unwel- 
 come. This — the tohalau — is a hot wind, by which the 
 air becomes so rarified as to render respiration difficult. 
 The months most to be feared by seamen are February and 
 March. Heavy gales sometimes blow in January ; hence 
 these three are often called " the hurricane months." The 
 morning land breezes serve to modify the strong winds in 
 the neighbourhood of the large islands. 
 
 Considering the nearness of these islands to the equator, 
 their climate is neither so hot nor so sickly as might be 
 expected, the fierceness of the sun's heat being tempered 
 by the cool breezes from the wide surface of the ocean 
 around. The swamps are too limited to produce much 
 miasma ; and fever, in its several forms, is scarcely known. 
 Other diseases are not so numerous or malignant as in 
 other climes, especially such as lie between the tropics. 
 The air is generally clear, and in the spring and autumn 
 months the climate is delightful. In December, January, 
 and February, the heat is oppressive : the least exertion is 
 followed by profuse perspiration, and no ordinary physical 
 
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14! CHAPTEE I. 
 
 energy can resist the enervating influence of tlie season, 
 begetting a fear lest Hamlet's wish should be realized, 
 that — 
 
 " SoKd flesl would melt — 
 Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew." 
 
 The temperature is nearly uniform ; the greatest extremes 
 of heat and cold being experienced inland. My meteor- 
 ological journal kept at Lakemba iu 1841, aud ten years 
 later at Vanua Levu, shows 62° as the lowest, and 121° as 
 the highest, temperature noted. The low temperature here 
 recorded I ascribe, in part, to a river running close by my 
 house. The mean temperature of the group throughout 
 may be stated at 80°. Yery hot days are sometimies 
 preceded by very cold nights. 
 
 No resident in Fiji having ever possessed a rain-gauge, 
 it is impossible to speak with accuracy about the quantity 
 of water which falls. I find the following entry in my 
 journal: " 1850, March 14th. We have had forty-five days 
 in succession rainy, more or less. These were preceded by 
 four or five dry days : before these again we had twenty-four 
 rainy ones. On many of these days only a single shower 
 fell, and that but shght ; so that the real depth of rain 
 might not be unusual." 
 
 Against the number of rainy days here given, must be 
 placed the long duration of uninterrupted dry weather, 
 often extending over two or three months. At times the 
 burdened clouds discharge themselves in torrents. The 
 approach of a heavy shower, while yet far away, is 
 announced by its loud beating on the broad-leaved vege- 
 tation ; and when arrived, it resembles the bursting of some 
 atmospheric lake. 
 
 This glance at the discovery and general aspect of the 
 Fiji Islands may be fitly closed by a few remarks on their 
 division and classification, as described on some maps and 
 globes of modem date. 
 
 The division of the group, as laid down in the account 
 of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, viz., into seven districts. 
 
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piJi. 15 
 
 under as many principal chiefs^ is objectionable, as dis- 
 regarding the divisions made by nature, and those recog- 
 nised by the natives, while it excludes Lakemba and its 
 dependencies, which form a district very much more 
 important than either Mathaata or Mbua. 
 
 The peculiar character and relative rank of the several 
 authorities in Kji, render an accurate political division 
 impossible. 
 
 The natives use terms equivalent to Upper, Lower, 
 and Central Fiji, excluding the two large islands ; thus 
 making five sections, which, though well enough for 
 general use, are far from having fixed boundaries. More 
 minute distinctions are therefore made by the people, to 
 enable them to refer with precision to the several parts of 
 the group. I would submit six divisions ; or eight, if the 
 eastward islands are viewed as composing three sections, 
 which certainly ought to be the case. They are virtually 
 thus divided by the United States surveyors, who give a 
 distinct name to those forming the north end, (Binggold's 
 Isles,) but exclude Ono — the extreme south — from their 
 chart of Eiji.* 
 
 A division of the group into eight compartments would 
 — following the course of the sun — be as under : — 
 
 The Ono Group ; comprising Ono, Ndoi, Mana, Undui, 
 Yanuya, Tuvana-i-tholo, and Tuvana-i-ra. 
 
 The Lakemba Group ; beginning with "Vatoa, and 
 ending with Tuvutha and Thithia : thirty-three islands 
 and islets. 
 
 The Exploring Isles, with Mango, Kanathea, Nai- 
 taumba, Vatuvara, Tathata, and a number of islets, form 
 the third group. 
 
 Middle Fiji; containing Matuku, Totoya, Moala, 
 Ngau, Nairai, Koro, Ovalau, and a few smaller islands. 
 
 Vanua Levu aud Taviuni, with their contiguous 
 
 • Native tradition speaks of Ono as being formerly near to Ongea, anil 
 ascribes its present position to a lady of Lakemba, wbo expatriated herself, 
 selected Ono for her adopted land, and then pushed it with her foot thus far 
 from Lakemba, in order to escape the pursuit of her friends. 
 
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16 CHAPTER I. 
 
 islands — about fifty — form the fifth group in order, and 
 the second in importance. 
 
 Geeat 'Em, with the fifty islands on its coasts, is the 
 sixth and most important division. 
 
 The Kandavu Gkoup numbers thirteen islands, several 
 of them small. 
 
 The Yasawas form the eighth group, and include 
 more than thirty small islands. 
 
 This mode of division embraces every island properly 
 belonging to Mji, while it facilitates a reference to each 
 individually. 
 
 Modern geographers class Piji with' the Tonga group, 
 entitling them all, " The Priendly Islands." There is no 
 good reason for such a classification ; but there are several 
 which show it to be erroneous, and demand its dis- 
 .continuance. Geologically considered, the groups are 
 different. The inhabitants also belong to two distinct 
 types, having between them as much difference as between 
 a Eed Indian and an Englishman. Their mythologies and 
 languages are also widely diverse. These facts protest 
 against the confounding of the two groups in one. 
 
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CIIAPTEE II. 
 
 ORIGIN AND POLITY. 
 
 In considering the origin of the present inhabitants of 
 Fiji, we seek in vain for a single ray of tradition or his- 
 torical record to guide us through the darkness of a remote 
 antiquity. The native songs are silent in the matter, and 
 no hint of a former immigration is to be heard : the people 
 have had no intercourse with other nations, except as visited 
 by them ; and the popular belief is, that they never occupied 
 any country but that on which they now dwell. Hence 
 can only be inferred that the period of the Kjians' resi- 
 dence in their islands is to be placed far back at a very 
 early date, probably as remote as the peopKng of the 
 American continent. Uniformity of customs and habits, 
 resemblance of religious belief and practice, and, still more, 
 philological affinities, together with physical analogies, sup- 
 ply the data whence may be argued with some degree of 
 precision the branch of the human race to which the Eijian 
 belongs, and perhaps conjecture may be supplied with a 
 surer footing in endeavouring to track the path by which 
 he came to his present home. 
 
 Differences of colour, physical conformation, and lan- 
 guage, combine to form a separating line between the East 
 and West Polynesians sufficiently clear, until we reach Fiji, 
 where the distinguishing pecuharities seem to meet, and 
 many of them to blend, thus betokening a confluence of 
 the two races. At the east end. of the group the Asiatic 
 peculiarities are found marked, but die away as we go 
 westward, giving place to such as are decidedly African, 
 but not Negro. Excepting the Tongans, the Fijian is 
 equal in physical development to the islanders eastward, 
 yet distinct from them in colour, in which particular he 
 
 c 
 
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18 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 approaches the pure Papuan Negro ; to whom, in form and 
 feature, he is, however, vastly superior. Many of his cus- 
 toms distinguish him from his neighbours, although he is 
 by language united to them all. 
 
 Directed by such facts, there can be little doubt of the 
 Fijian^s connexion with the darker races of Asia. His 
 ancestors may be regarded as the original proprietors of his 
 native soil ; while the race has been preserved pure from the 
 direct admixture of Malayan blood, by the hitherto strict 
 observance of their custom to slaughter all shipwrecked or 
 distressed foreigners, who may have been cast on their 
 inhospitable coasts. The light mulatto skin and well- 
 developed muscles seen to windward, are chieiiy the result 
 of long intercourse with the Tongan race. These evidences 
 of mixture are, however, feeble, compared with those marks 
 which indicate a long isolation from other varieties of 
 mankind. 
 
 Murray, in his "Encyclopaedia of Geography," speaks 
 incorrectly of the invasion and subjugation of this people 
 by the Priendly Islanders, and seems to have copied the 
 mistake from the account of the voyage of the " Duff." * 
 The Kjians have never acknowledged any power but such 
 as exists among themselves. 
 
 The government of Fiji, before the last hundred years, 
 was probably patriarchal, or consisted of many independent 
 states, having little intercourse, and many of them no 
 political connexion, with each other ; mutual dread tending 
 to detach the various tribes, and keep them asunder. The 
 great variety of dialects spoken, the comparative ignorance 
 of some of the present kingdoms about each other, and the 
 existence until now of a kind of independence in some of 
 the smaller divisions of the same state, countenance the 
 above supposition. At this day there is a close resemblance 
 between the pohtical state of Eiji and the old feudal system 
 of the north. There are many independent Kings who have 
 been constantly at war with each other ; and intestine broils 
 make up, for the most part, the past history of Fiji. Still, 
 * 4to., p. 274. 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 19 
 
 though to a much less extent, civil dissensions abound, and 
 it is not uncommon for several garrisons on the same island 
 to be fighting against each other. The chiefs have ever been 
 warring among themselves, though the advantage of the vic- 
 tor is but precarious, often involving his own destruction. 
 
 The chiefs of Mbengga were formerly of high rank, and 
 still style themselves Gali-cuva-ki-lagi, which means, "Sub- 
 ject only to Heaven." They do not now stand high, being 
 subject to Rewa. On the matter of supremacy nothing is 
 known further back than 1800, at which time, it is cer- 
 tain, Verata took the lead. A part of Great Fiji and 
 several islands of importance owned its sway. At this 
 date Na-Ulivou ruled in Mbau. He succeeded Mbanuvi, 
 his father, and the father also of Tanoa. Na-Ulivou was 
 an energetic Chief, and distinguished himself in a war with 
 the sons of Savou, numbering, it is said, thirty, who con- 
 tended with him the right of succession. He overcame 
 his enemies, and was honoured with the name of Na 
 Yu-ni-valu, that is, " The Eoot of War," a title which his 
 successors have since borne. Aided by the white men 
 named in the preceding chapter, and employing the new 
 power suppHed by fire-arms, this Chief made war on 
 Verata, took possession of its dependencies, and left its 
 sovereign Uttle more to rule over than his own town. 
 Na-Uhvou died in 1829, and was succeeded by his brother 
 Tanoa. He died at an advanced age, a heathen and can- 
 nibal, December 8th, 1852. His reign of twenty-three 
 years was not happy or peaceful. Rebellious subjects and 
 rebellious sons filled it with anxiety. Once he had to 
 fly his chief city ; and for a number of years his fear of 
 Raivalita — one of his sons — kept him a close prisoner. 
 Several years before his death, old age disqualified Tanoa 
 for the discharge of the active duties of his position, which 
 were attended to by one of his sons acting in the capacity 
 of Regent. Tanoa was a proud man : when grey and 
 wrinkled, he tried to hide these marks of old age by a 
 plentiful application of black powder. He was also cruel 
 and implacable. Mothdotu, one of his cousins, was so 
 
 c 2 
 
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20 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 unhappy as to offend him, and sought with tears and 
 entreaties for forgiveness; but the purpose of the cruel 
 Chief was fixed, that Mothelotu should die. After having 
 kissed his relative, Tanoa cut off his arm at the elbow, and 
 drank the blood as it flowed warm from the severed veins. 
 The arm, still quivering with life, he threw upon a fire, 
 and, when sufficiently cooked, ate it in presence of its pro- 
 per ovmer, who was then dismembered, limb by hmb, 
 while the savage murderer looked with pitiless brutality 
 on the dying agonies of his victim. 
 
 At a later period, Tanoa sentenced his youngest son to 
 die by the club. The blow given by the brother who was 
 appointed as his executioner, was not fatal. The father, 
 knowing of his entreaty for mercy, shouted angrily, " Kill 
 him ! Kill him \" and the horrible act was completed. 
 Nearly the last words spoken by this man of blood were 
 formed into the question, "How many wOl follow me?" 
 meaning, " How many women do you intend to strangle at 
 my death?" Being assured that five of his wives would 
 then be sacrificed, he died with satisfaction. The name of 
 the tribe from which the Kings of Mbau are taken is Tm 
 Kamba. The four chief personages or families in this 
 state are the Eokotuimbau, the Tunitonga, the Vusaran- 
 davi, and the Tui Kamba. 
 
 Mbau, as has been abeady intimated, is the present 
 centre of political power in Kji. Its supremacy is acknow- 
 ledged in nearly all parts of the group. The kingdoms 
 named as subject to it are so but nominally, rendering 
 it homage rather than servitude. The other leading 
 powers are, Eewa, Somosomo, Verata, Lakemba, Naitasiri, 
 Mathuata, and Mbua. 
 
 Two kinds of subjection are recognised and distin- 
 guished in Eji, called Qali and £aii. Qali represents a 
 province or town that is subject and tributary to a chief 
 town. Bati denotes those which are not so directly sub- 
 ject: they are less oppressed, but less respected, than the 
 Qali. Hence arises an awkwardly delicate point among 
 the Pijian powers, who have often to acknowledge infe- 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. ii 
 
 riority when they feel none. The Chiefs sometimes lay the 
 blame of the annoyance on some one of their gods. The 
 Somosomo Chiefs supply a ludicrous instance of this. 
 
 Of all who visit Mbau, the people of Somosomo have 
 most to abase themselves, and all, say they, " through a 
 fooUsh god." Ng-gurai — one of their gods — T\ished to 
 visit Mbau ; Vatu Mundre supplied him with a bamboo, 
 as a conveyance, and, as he was ignorant of the course, 
 engaged to direct him. Having entered into a rat, 
 Ng-gurai took his club and started. Vatu Mundre had to 
 direct his friend past several islands at which the latter 
 felt disposed to call, and, although many miles from him, 
 told him when he had reached his destination. Most 
 pitiable was poor Ng-gurai's condition ; for he had fallen off 
 his bamboo through weakness, and was floating about at 
 the mercy of the waves, when a woman of Mbau found 
 him, took him into the chiefs house, and placed him on 
 the hearth with the cooks, where he sat shivering four 
 days. In the meantime the Vuna god sailed up to Mbau 
 in style, and was received and entertained in godlike sort 
 by the Mbau god, who urged that his visitor should 
 become tributary to Mbau, but without success. 
 
 The day having come for the visiting gods to return 
 home, he in the rat went back cold and hungry to Tha- 
 kaundrovi,* chagrined at the miserable figure he cut, and 
 the corresponding reception he had met with. He of Vuna 
 returned well fed and gaily dressed. After a short time 
 the Mbau god, Omaisoroniaka, returned the visit from the 
 god of Vuna, who then retaliated and demanded tribute 
 from his guest. But first he had made the path slippery, 
 so that when Omaisoroniaka grew animated, his heels flew 
 up; at which moment the crafty Vuna god seized the 
 opportunity to press his demand, to which the humbled 
 deity yielded consent, agreeing to be called Qali to Vuna, 
 but refusing to make food or do more than give up his 
 club ; whereupon the matter ended. In consequence of this, 
 the Mbau people pay the Vuna people, who are subject to 
 * The island on whicl. the Somosomo Chiefs formerly resided. 
 
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22 CHAPTEE n. 
 
 Somosomo, great respect, but exact from the latter a servile 
 homage. 
 
 When a Somosomo canoe visits Mbau, the sail must 
 be lowered while yet at a great distance, and the canoe 
 sculled by the men in a sitting posture ; for to stand might 
 cost them their life. At short distances they have to shout 
 the iama.* Arrived at Mbau, they are kept in the open 
 air for foar nights, before being allowed to go to their inn ; 
 aU which time they have to move in a creeping posture, 
 and at intervals to say the tama, with a trembhng voice, in 
 imitation of the shivering rat. After four days, they may 
 go about and wear better dresses, but must stiU walk half 
 doubled, with their hands on their breasts. "When a Mbau 
 man meets one of them, he says, " Yehaveha, m sa [sere) 
 ho Qurai ?" " Ho ! ho ! is Ng-gurai set at liberty?'" to 
 which the other replies, " lo, vaaca, sa sa o Qurai," " Yes, 
 respectfully, Ng-gurai is allowed liberty." 
 
 Parties from other places are spared these degrading 
 formalities, which the Somosomans are also partially 
 evading by the aid of the Tongans and the boats of the 
 white men. 
 
 The character of the rule exercised by the chief powers 
 mentioned above is purely despotic. The ■wiE of the King 
 is, in most cases, law, and hence the nature of the govern- 
 ment varies according to his personal character. The 
 people have no voice in the state ; nevertheless, the utmost 
 respect is paid to ancient divisions of landed property, of 
 family rank, and official rights. "There exists," says 
 Captain Erskine, "a carefully defined and (by the K- 
 jians themselves) well understood system of polity, which 
 dictates the position the different districts hold with respect 
 to each other, as well as the degree of submission wluch 
 each dependent owes to his principal." t Men of rank 
 and official importance are generally about the person of 
 the Sovereign, forming his council, and serving to check 
 the exercise of his power. When these persons meet to 
 
 * The tama is described towards tie close of tliis chapter, 
 t " Islands of the "Western Pacific," p. 214. 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 2'6 
 
 consult on any grave subject, few speak ; for few are quali- 
 fied. In the councils, birth and rank by themselves are 
 unable to command influence, but a man is commended 
 according to his wisdom. A crude suggestion or unsound 
 argument from a Chief of importance would at once be ridi- 
 culed, to his confusion. Assemblies of this kind are often 
 marked by a respectable amount of diplomatic skill. In 
 deliberations of great consequence, secrecy is aimed at, 
 but not easily secured, the houses of the people being too 
 open to insure privacy.* 
 
 No actual provision is made for the security of the life 
 and possessions of the subject, who is regarded merely as 
 property, and his welfare but seldom considered. Acts of 
 oppression are common. The views of the Chiefs do not 
 accord with those of the wise Son of Sirach ; for they are 
 not " ashamed to take away a portion or a gift ; " but wiU 
 seize not only the presents made to an inferior, but, in 
 some cases, appropriate what a plebeian has received in 
 payment for work done. So far from this being condemned 
 as mean and shameful, it is considered chief-like ! 
 
 The head of each government is the Tui or Turaga levu, 
 a King of absolute power, who is, however, not unfre- 
 quently surrounded by those who exert an actual influence 
 higher than his own, and whom, consequently, he is most 
 careful not to offend. I have seen some Kings who only 
 retained their position by laying aside the independent 
 action of their own will. 
 
 * "When the stone Mission-house at Viwa was finished, it became the 
 wonder of the day, and was visited by most of the Mbau Chiefs. It com- 
 prised a ground-fioor of three rooms, a first floor, and an attic. This was 
 the fii'st house in Fiji that had been carried so high, and elicited great admi- 
 ration from the delighted Chiefs. They gazed round at the even walls, and 
 above at the flat ceiling, and ^exclaimed, " A'ekaveka ! Vekaveka ! " increasing 
 the emphasis as they ascended the stairs, until they trod the attic floor, 
 when their delight was expressed by a long repeated " Wo, wo, wo," very 
 strongly accented, and having a tremolo effect caused by striking the finger 
 across the lips in Arab fashion. The uppermost thought in their minds was 
 evident : this chamber was so high and so private that they all envied its 
 possessor, " because it was such an excellent place for secret meetings, and 
 for concocting plots." 
 
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24 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Wlien rule is strictly foUowedj the successor of a 
 deceased King is his next brother ; failing whom, his own 
 eldest son, or the eldest son of his eldest brother, fiUs his 
 place. But the rank of mothers and other circumstances 
 often cause a deviation from the rule. I am acquainted 
 with several cases in which the elder brother has yielded 
 his right to the younger, with a reservation as to power 
 and tribute becoming a man second only to the King. 
 
 In the induction to royalty there are two stages. Krst 
 is the nomination, when the leading men drink yaqona 
 with the King elect, presenting the first cup to him, and 
 with it the royal title : this is generally done a few days 
 after the death of the late King. The second stage, which 
 is equivalent to coronation, is the anointing or bandaging, 
 and may not take place for several months or even years. 
 An unfolded sola or turban is bound, at one end, round 
 the upper arm of the King, leaving the rest pendent. This 
 ceremony is performed by a chief priest, while another 
 gives various advice to the new Monarch, who is presently 
 anointed by a coat of red paint on his shoulder. Large 
 quantities of food are presented to the King, with some 
 good advice from the aged men on his public entrance 
 upon the regal office. 
 
 The person of a high-rank King (for the title is often 
 given to the head of a village) is sacred. In some 
 instances these Pijian Monarchs claim a divine origin, and, 
 with a pride worthy of more classical examples, assert the 
 rights of deity, and demand from their subjects respect for 
 those claims. This is readily yielded; for the pride of 
 descent which runs so high among the Chiefs is equalled by 
 the admiration in which their lofty lineage is held by 
 the people, who are its sincere and servile worshippers. 
 Eepublicanism is held in contempt by the Pijians, and 
 even the United States have a King when American 
 citizens speak of their President to a native of the Islands. 
 The King is supposed to impart a degree of sacredness to 
 whatever he may wear or touch. Hence arise some 
 amusing scenes. A poor man was ordered to carry a chair 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 25 
 
 on whicli Tuithakau was accustomed to sit : he first 
 encased the palms of his hands with green leavesj then, 
 taking the chair by two of its legs, lifted it above his head 
 to avoid further contact, and ran off at full speed, as 
 though in so doing lay his only chance of completing the 
 journey alive. One day, on leaving the house of the same 
 Chief, I held in my hand a ripe plantain which I gave to a 
 child , outside ; but an old man snatched it away with a 
 countenance expressive of as much anxiety as if I had 
 given the child a viper. His fear was, that the fruit had 
 been touched by the King, and would therefore cause the 
 child's death. This King took advantage of his hallowing 
 prerogative in an odd way. He used to dress an English 
 seaman in his masi (dress), and send the man to throw the 
 train over any article of food, whether dead or alive, which 
 he might happen to come near. The result was that such 
 things were at once conveyed to the King without a word 
 of explanation being required. 
 
 The duties of a King allow him abundant leisure, 
 except when he is much engaged in feasting or fighting. 
 Like potentates of ancient times, he knows how to reconcile 
 manual labour with an elevated position and the aft'airs of 
 state. With a simplicity quite patriarchal, he wields by 
 turns the sceptre, the spear, and the spade ; and, if 
 unusually industrious, amuses himself indoors by plaiting 
 sinnet. Should he be one of the rare exceptions who see 
 old age, he exists, during his last days, near a comfortable 
 fire, lying or sitting, as his humour may prompt, in drowsy 
 silence. 
 
 Royalty has other distinctions beside the name. In 
 Somosomo, as in eastern countries, the King only is 
 allowed to use the sun-shade : the two high priests, how- 
 ever, share the privilege by favour. In Lakemba none 
 but the King may wear the gauze-lilce turban of the 
 Fijian gentleman during the day-time. In Mbua, he only 
 may wear his masi with a train. A particular kind of 
 staff — Matana-ki-lagi (point-to-the-sky) — used to be a 
 mark of royalty. Certain ornaments for the neck and 
 
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26 CHAPTEE IT. 
 
 breast are said to become Kings alone. Invariably His 
 Majesty lias two or three attendants about bis person, who 
 feed him, and perform more than servile offices on his 
 behalf. A thumb-nail an inch longer than is allowed to 
 grow on plebeian digits, is a mark of dignity. An 
 attendant priest or two, and a number of wives, complete 
 the accompaniments of Eijian royalty. Instances of stout- 
 ness of person in these dignitaries are very rare. The use 
 of a throne is unknown : the King and his humblest sub- 
 jects sit on the same level — on the ground. There was 
 one exception in the case of Tuithakau, who used a chair. 
 
 The Chiefs profess to derive their arbitrary power from 
 the gods; especially at Terata, Eewa, and Somosomo. 
 Their influence is also greatly increased by that peculiar 
 institution found so generally among the Polynesian tribes, 
 — the tabu, which will be further noticed hereafter. The 
 following examples, to which many more might be added, 
 wiU serve to show how really despotic is Eijian government. 
 
 A Eewa Chief desired and asked for a hoe belonging to a 
 man, and, on being refused, took the man's wife. 
 
 The King of Somosomo wished to collect the people 
 belonging to the town in which he lived, that they might 
 be directly under his eye. The officer to whom the order to 
 that effect was intrusted, was commissioned to hahe any 
 who refused compliance. 
 
 Towards the close of 1849, I called on the young Chief 
 of Mbau, and found him evidently out of temper. Some 
 villagers had cut him fewer reeds than he expected, where- 
 upon he dispatched a party to burn their village ; which 
 was accordingly done, a child perishing in the fire. 
 
 Those who surround the person of the King are 
 generally of various grades, some of whom, however, are 
 merely privileged idlers, the flatterers of their Chief, and 
 makers of mischief and cigarettes. 
 
 The Mata-ni-vanuas are exceedingly useful men, whose 
 office is described by their title, which signifies either " the- 
 eyes," or " the face, of the land," and may intimate the 
 supervision which these men maintain; or that, through 
 
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OETGIN AND POLITY. 27 
 
 them, the chiefs see the state of affairs — the face of the 
 land. They are the legitimate medium of communication 
 between the Chiefs and their dependencies, and form a 
 complete and effective agency. Taking the kingdom of 
 Lakemba as an instance, the system is worked thus. In 
 each island and town under the rule of Lakemba there is an 
 authorized Mata hi Lakemla, "Ambassador to Lakemba," 
 through whom all the business between that place and the 
 seat of government is transacted. Then again, at Lakemba 
 there is a diplomatic corps, the official title of each indi- 
 vidual of which contains the name of the place to which he 
 is messenger, and to which all the King's commands are 
 by him communicated. When on duty, these officials 
 represent their Chief, after the manner of more civilized 
 courts, and are treated with great respect. When they- 
 have to take several messages, or when one communica- 
 tion consists of several important parts, they help memory 
 by mnemonic sticks or reeds, which are of various lengths. 
 The Mata, having reached his destination, lays down one of 
 these before him, and repeats the message of which it is 
 the memorial. He then lays down another, proceeding in 
 the same way, until the sticks are transferred from his hand, 
 and lie in a row before him, each message having been 
 accurately delivered. I have seen men of this class prac- 
 tise their lesson before setting out, and have heard them 
 give the answers on their return. 
 
 In some parts there is one of the Matas who is more 
 immediately attached to the person of the King, and is 
 styled, na Mata. It is his business to Be in attendance 
 when tribute or food is brought to the Sovereign, and to 
 go through the customary form of acknowledgment, to 
 receive and answer reports of all kinds, doing so in the 
 King's presence and under his direction, and to officiate at 
 the yaqona ring, with other similar duties. 
 
 Beside the Mata, there are other officials, of various 
 duties and degrees of importance. All these, except in 
 extreme cases, go about their duties most dehherately, as 
 every appearance of haste in such matters is supposed to 
 
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28 CHAPTER II. 
 
 detract from true dignity. A careful observance of estab- 
 lished forms is deemed very essential. 
 
 In some parts of Piji the Mata holds his post for hfe, 
 in others for only a few years. In the latter case, when 
 tired of public life, he presents a large quantity of pro- 
 visions to his Chief, asking for permission to retire. On 
 Vanua Levu the election of a successor has the appearance 
 of being done by surprise. The leading men having assem- 
 bled and consulted awhile, one of their number advances 
 to the person chosen, and makes him their Mata by binding 
 a blade of the red Ti-tree leaf round his arm between the 
 shoulder and elbow. It is the fashion for the man thus 
 bandaged to weep and protest against his election, asserting 
 his incompetency, and pleading low birth, poverty, indolence, 
 ignorance of official phraseology, etc. ; all which objections 
 are, of course, met by the others declaring their choice to 
 be good. The feast on such an occasion is prepared with 
 extra care. 
 
 Public business is conducted with tedious formality. 
 Old forms are strictly observed, and innovations opposed. 
 An abundance of measured clapping of hands, and subdued » 
 exclamations, characterize these occasions. Whales^ teeth 
 and other property are never exchanged or presented with- 
 out the following or a similar form : "A! woi ! woi ! 
 woi ! ! A ! woi ! woi ! woi ! ! A tabua levu ! woi ! woi ! 
 A mudua, mudua, mudua ! " (Clapping.) 
 
 Whoever asks a favour of a Chief, or seeks civil inter- 
 course with him, is expected to bring a present. 
 
 Justice is known by name to the Fijian powers, and its 
 form sometimes adopted ; yet in very many criminal cases 
 the evidence is partial and imperfect, the sentence pre- 
 cipitate and regardless of proportion, and its execution 
 sudden and brutal. The injured parties, headed by the 
 nearest Chief, form the "bench" to decide the case. If 
 the defendant's rank is higher than their own, an appeal is 
 made to the King as chief magistrate, and this is final. 
 
 Offences, in Fijian estimation, are light or grave according 
 to the rank of the offender. Murder by a Chief is less 
 
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OEIGIN AND POLITY. 29 
 
 heinous than a petty larceny committed by a man of low 
 rank. Only a few crimes are regarded as serious ; e. g., 
 theft, adultery, abduction, witchcraft, infringement of a 
 tahu, disrespect to a Chief, iucendiarism, and treason. 
 
 Punishment is inflicted variously. Theft is punished by 
 fine, repayment in kind, loss of a finger, or clubbing. 
 Either fine, or loss of the finger, ear, or nose, is inflicted on 
 the disrespectful. The other crimes are punished with 
 death, the instrument being the club, the noose, or the 
 musket. Adultery taxes vindictive ingenuity the most. 
 For this offence, the criminals may be shot, clubbed, or 
 strangled; the man may lose his wife, who is seized on 
 behalf of the aggrieved party by his friends ; he may be 
 deprived of his land, have his house burnt, his canoe taken 
 away, or his plantations destroyed. 
 
 Young men are deputed to inflict the appointed punish- 
 ment, and are often messengers of death. Their movements 
 are sudden ^nd destructive, hke a tropical squall. The 
 protracted solemnity of pubHc executions in civilized 
 countries is here unknown. A man is often judged in his 
 absence, and executed before he is aware that sentence has 
 been passed against him. Sometimes a little form is 
 observed, as in the case of the Vasu to Vuna. This man 
 conspired against the life of Tuikilakila ; but the plot was 
 discovered, and the Vasu brought to meet death at Somo- 
 somo. His friends prepared him according to the custom 
 of Mji, by folding a large new masi about his loins, and 
 oiling and blacking his body as if for war. A necklace 
 and a profusion of ornaments at his elbows and knees com- 
 pleted the attire. He was then placed standing, to be shot 
 by a man suitably equipped. The shot failed, when the 
 musket was exchanged for a club, which the executioner 
 broke on the Vasu's head ; but neither this blow, nor a 
 second from a more ponderous weapon, succeeded in bring- 
 ing the young man to the ground. The victim now ran 
 towards the spot where the Kng sat, perhaps with the hope 
 of reprieve ; but was felled by a death-blow from the club 
 of a powerful man standing by. The slain body was cooked 
 
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30 CHAPTEE n. 
 
 and eaten. One of the baked thighs the King sent to his 
 brother, who was principal in the plot, that he might 
 " taste how sweet his accomplice was, and eat of the fruit of 
 his doings." This is a fair sample of a Kjian public 
 execution. Those who are doomed to die are never, so far 
 as I know, bound in any way. A Eijian is implicitly sub- 
 missive to the wiU of his Chief. The executioner states his 
 errand ; to which the victim replies, " Whatever the King 
 says, must be done." 
 
 Ifljured persons often take the law into their own hands; 
 an arrangement in which the authorized powers gladly 
 concur. In such cases justice yields to passion, and the 
 most unlicensed cruelty follows. For a trifling offence a 
 man has been tied to a log, so that he could not move a 
 limb, and then placed in the sun, with his face fuUy exposed 
 to its fierce heat for several hours. 
 
 One who had removed an article which he believed to be 
 his own, was cruelly pelted with large stones. In another 
 case, a man threw at a duck, supposing it to be wild : it 
 proved, however, to be tame, and the property of a petty 
 Chief, who regarded the act as done to himself. A messenger 
 was accordingly sent to the Chief of the offender to demand 
 an explanation, which was forthwith given, together with 
 the fingers of four persons, to appease the angry Chieftain. 
 He, however, not being yet satisfied, caused the delinquent 
 to be shut up in a house with the lame duck, informing 
 him that his life depended upon that of the injured bird. 
 If he restored the use of the limb, he was to live ; but to 
 die if the duck died. 
 
 Some offences are punished by stripping the house of 
 the culprit : in slight cases, much humour is displayed by 
 the spoilers. The sang froid of the sufferer is an enigma 
 to the Englishman. 
 
 The virtue of vicarious suffering is recognised, and by its 
 means the ends of justice are often frustrated. On the 
 island of Nayau the following tragedy took place. A 
 warrior left his charged masket so carelessly that it went 
 off, killing two persons, and wounding two more ; where- 
 
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OEIOIN AND POLITY. 31 
 
 upon the man fled, and hid himself in the bush. His case 
 Was adjudged worthy of death by the Chiefs of his tribe ; 
 but he was absent, and, moreover, a very serviceable 
 individual. Hence it was thought best, in point of expedi- 
 tion as well as economy, to exact the penalty from the 
 offender's aged father, who was accordingly seized and 
 strangled. Still later, a white man was killed on the 
 island of Nukulau. The commander of the U. S. ship 
 " Falmouth " inquired into the case, and sentence of death 
 was passed by him on an accused native, who, when he 
 understood his position, proposed that the Americans 
 should hang his father in his stead. 
 
 Persons liable to punishment often escape by the aid of 
 a soro, or " atonement,''' or something offered to obtain for- 
 giveness. This is a provision acknowledged throughout Eiji, 
 and in constant use. There are five kinds of soro. 1. The 
 soro with a whale's tooth, a mat, club, musket, or other 
 property, is in request for every kind of offence, from steal- 
 ing a yam to running away with a woman, or the com- 
 mission of adultery. 3. The soro with a reed, called rrmta 
 ni gasau. This is not commonly resorted to in private 
 affairs, but by civU functionaries and small Chiefs, when 
 accused or convicted of unfaithfulness to the duties of their 
 position. It is more humiliating than the first. 3. The 
 soro with a spear, mata ni moto, is used to secure forgive- 
 ness in cases of civil delinquency of a graver sort. It is 
 still more humiliating than the second kind. He who 
 presents the spear, generally some one of importance, wUl 
 stoop or nearly prostrate himself : the whole act is supposed 
 to imply that he, and those whom he represents, have 
 deserved to be transfixed by a spear to the earth. 4. The 
 soro with a basket of earth, a hau vanua, is generally con- 
 nected with war, and is presented by the weaker party, 
 indicating the yielding up of their land to the conquerors. 
 Sometimes, however, the ceremony may be an expression of 
 loyalty by parties whose fealty is suspected. 5. The soro 
 with ashes, bisi dravu, belongs to an extreme case, involving 
 a life or lives. A Chief or Mata-ni-vanua disfigures himself 
 
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32 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 by covering his bosom and arms with ashes, and, with deep 
 humiliation, entreats that the aggrieved person will com- 
 passionately grant the life of the offender or offenders. 
 
 On the part of the offerer, the presentation of the soro is 
 a serious thing, and his faltering voice and trembhug body 
 testify the emotion within. 
 
 When a soro is refused, it is repeated, it may be five or 
 even ten times ; until the property given, or the importumty 
 shown, gains the desired point. 
 
 "Whatever may have been the origin of this custom, and 
 however beneficial its right use might prove to the innocent, 
 or the unintentional offender, its operation in Piji seems too 
 generally to avert deserved punishment from the criminal, 
 and in many cases is but legaHzed corruption. No small 
 proportion of the misdemeanours brought under the notice 
 of Chiefs are deliberate acts, in which a balance has been 
 previously struck between the fruit of the crime and the 
 soro which must followj and the commission of the act has 
 been accordingly determined on. 
 
 In sonde cases those who are in danger of punishment 
 place themselves under the protection of an influential Chief 
 of another tribe, who receives servitude in return for the 
 shelter thus afforded. 
 
 Fijian society is divided into six recognised classes, in 
 the distinctions of which there is much that resembles the 
 system of caste. 
 
 1. Kings and Queens. 
 
 2. Chiefs of large islands or districts. 
 
 8. Chiefs of towns, priests, and Mata-ni-vanuas. 
 
 4. Distinguished warriors of low birth. Chiefs of the 
 carpenters, and Chiefs of the fishers for turtle. 
 
 5. Common people. 
 
 6. Slaves by war. 
 
 Eank is hereditary, descending through the female ; an 
 arrangement which arises from the great number of wives 
 allowed to a leading Chief, among whom is found the widest 
 difference of grade. The dignity of a Chief is estimated by 
 the number of liis wives, which is frequently considerable,; 
 
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OEIGIN AND POLITY. 33 
 
 varying from ten to fifty or a hundred. It is not to be 
 supposed that all these are found in his domestic estab- 
 lishment at the same time; for rarely more than a half 
 or fourth are there together. Some have been dismissed 
 on account of old age^ others have returned to their 
 parents to become mothers, others again are but infants 
 themselves. 
 
 No people can be more tenacious of distinction than are 
 these Fijians, and few fonder of exaggerating it. When 
 on their guard, and acting with the duplicity so strongly 
 marked in the native character, they will depreciate them- 
 selves, as well as when surprised into a feeling of inferiority 
 by unexpected contrast with some refined nation ; but only 
 let something occur to throw them off their guard, and they 
 instantly become swollen with an imaginary importance 
 which is not a little amusing. Lofty aspirings and great 
 meanness are often found united in the same Chief, who will 
 be haughtily demanding, one moment, why the Monarch of 
 some great nation does not send a ship of war or large 
 steamer to gratify his curiosity, and the next be begging 
 tobacco of a shoeless seaman. 
 
 Tribes, chief families, the houses of Chiefs, and the wives 
 of Kings, have distinctive appellations, to which great 
 importance is attached, and by means of which the pride of 
 the owner is gratified and the jealousy of neighbours 
 aroused. Before the death of the King Tanoa, the whites 
 residing in Fiji wrote to General Miller, H. B. M. Consul- 
 General at the Sandwich Islands, complaining of their ill- 
 treatment by Thakombau, the young Chief of Mbau and 
 heir of Tanoa, but already exercising virtually the kingly 
 power. General Miller sent a letter about the matter to 
 the Chief, addressing it, " To the King of Fiji." When 
 this letter arrived, a Tonga Chief, who had visited Sydney 
 and could read English, was staying with Thakombau, to 
 whom he interpreted the Consul's dispatch, translating the 
 address, " Tui Yiti." This title, till then unknown, thus 
 became fixed, and proved of great use to the young Chief 
 during his regency, though a cause of bitter jealousy to 
 
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34 CHAPTER II. 
 
 other Chiefs, some of whom I heard comforting themselves 
 by saying, " It is without authority : foreigners gave it to 
 him." At the death of the aged King, however, this proud 
 appellation was laid aside, and Thakombau received the high 
 hereditary title of Vu-ni-valu, though frequently addressed 
 still as Tui Viti — a name to which his widely spread 
 ascendancy gives him a real claim. An old Chief on Na 
 Viti Levu, known to few, boasts that the Chiefs of Mbau 
 and Eewa are his children ; thus putting them far below 
 himself. Common men, though esteemed for superior 
 prowess, and rewarded with an honourable name, do not 
 rise in rank, their original grade being always remembered. 
 There are many inferior Chiefs, but they have httle 
 authority. Observing that the land-breeze blows most 
 strongly in the bays, the natives have thence made a 
 proverb, alluding to the fact just stated : Sa dui cagi ni 
 toha, " Every one is a wind in his own bay." 
 
 Most prominent among the public notorieties of Fiji is the 
 Vasu. The word means a nephew or niece, but becomes a 
 title of office in the case of the male, who, in some locahties, 
 has the extraordinary privilege of appropriating whatever he 
 chooses belonging to his uncle, or those under his uncle's 
 power. Vasus are of three kinds : the Vasu tauhei, the 
 Vasu levu, and the Vasu: the last is a common name, 
 belonging to any nephew whatever. VaM(, tauhei is a term 
 appHed to any Vasu whose mother is a lady of the land iji 
 which he is born. The fact of Mbau being at the head of 
 Fijian rank gives the Queen of Mbau a pre-eminence over 
 all Fijian ladies, and her son a place nominally above all 
 Vasus. No material difference exists between the power of 
 a Vasu taukei and that of a Vasu levu, which latter title is 
 given to every Vasu born of a woman of rank, and having 
 a first-class Chief for his father. A Vasu taukei can claim 
 anything belonging to a native of his mother's land, 
 excepting the wives, home, and land of a Chief. Vasus 
 cannot be considered apart from the civil pohty of the 
 group, forming as they do one of its integral parts, and 
 supplying the high-pressure power of Fijian despotism. 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 35 
 
 In grasping at dominant influence the Chiefs have created a 
 power which, ever and anon, turns round and gripes them 
 with no gentle hand. However high a Chief may rank, how- 
 ever powerful a King may be, if he has a nephew, he has a 
 master, one who will not be content with the name, but who 
 will exercise his prerogative to the full, seizing whatever may 
 take his fancy, regardless of its value or the owner's incon- 
 venience in its loss. Eesistance is not thought of, and 
 objection only offered in extreme cases. A striking instance 
 of the power of the Vasu occurred in the case of Thokonauto, 
 a Eewa Chief, who, during a quarrel with an uncle, used the 
 right of Yasu, and actually supplied himself with ammuni- 
 tion from his enemy's stores. But it is not in his private 
 capacity, but as acting under the direction of the King, that 
 the Vasu's agency tends greatly to modify the political 
 machinery of i'iji, inasmuch as the Sovereign employs the 
 Vasu's influence, and shares much of the property thereby 
 acquired. Great Vasus are also Vasus to great places, and, 
 when they visit these at their superior's command, have a 
 numerous retinue and increased authority. A public 
 reception and great feasts are given them by the inhabi- 
 tants of the place which they visit; and they return home 
 laden with property, most of which, as tribute, is handed 
 over to the King. When thus " on commission," a Vasu is 
 amenable for his conduct, and, should his personal exac- 
 tions affect the revenue, incurs the displeasure of his King, 
 which can only be removed by a soro of the most costly 
 kind, such as a first-class canoe ; and this he may have to 
 load with riches before it is deemed a sufficient atonement. 
 
 The reception of one of these important personages, as 
 witnessed by myself at Somosomo, may be worth detaihng. 
 The Vasu, who was from Mbau, had arrived with a suite of 
 ten canoes, six days before. On the seventh day, several 
 hundreds of people were assembled in the open air to give 
 the important visitor a greeting worthy of his dignity. 
 After waiting a short time, the Vasu and his suite 
 approached them, and performed a dance, which they 
 finished by presenting their clubs and upper dresses to the 
 
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36 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Somosomo Kingj after which they retired, seating them- 
 selves at a distance, opposite to him. Two Matas were 
 then sent by the King, holding by either end a coarse mat, 
 and passing over the ground with a motion compounded of 
 squatting and crawling, until they reached the Yasu and 
 spread the mat before him, upon which he and another 
 Chief forthwith seated themselves. An Ambassador, near 
 the King, now shouted, in a high key, the proper greeting, 
 " Sa tio ! (He sits.) Sa iio ! Sa tio ! Sa tio ! " repeat- 
 ing the cry with increasing rapidity and in descending tones 
 for about a dozen times. Having rested long enough to 
 recover breath, the man shouted again, " Sa tawa!" 
 ("Inhabited:" a compliment to the Vasu, intimating that 
 before his arrival it was empty.) "Sa-ta-wa ! Sa-ta-wa ! He 
 comes, nobly descended from his ancestors! Satawa!" 
 (Eepeated many times quickly.) After a short pause, an 
 aged Mata left the King, advancing towards the Vasu in a 
 sitting posture : when he had gone about two yards from the 
 King, a second Mata followed in the same style, and so on, 
 until there were six of them in a line, at equal distances 
 from each other. They now faced to the S.W., but, 
 turning as they sat, simultaneously swung themselves 
 half round, thus facing the N.E., having managed at the 
 same time, by help of their hands, to advance a yard; 
 repeating the painful evolution, until the front man was 
 within six feet of the Yasu. "Whereupon the sitting Matas 
 bowed themselves sideways, so as to make their beards 
 touch the earth : again they rose, and gently inclined theii 
 heads from the Vasu, clasping their beards with both 
 hands, and crying out several times, "Furled are youi 
 sails ! [Sa uru.) Purled are your sails ! " {"A ! woi ! wml 
 woi ! ") This done, they returned to their places. The Yasu 
 then walked up to the King, having two whales' teeth in his 
 hand, which — after a short speech, referring to his coming 
 and its object — he presented, receiving in return aa 
 expression of the King's wishes for prosperity and peace. 
 All the people then clapped their hands several times, and 
 the ceremony was concluded. Such then is the Van 
 
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OEIGIN AND POLITY. 37 
 
 leva; such is the power he exercises, and such the 
 honours paid him. Where else shall we find his parallel ? 
 
 Descending in the social scale, the Yasu is a hindrance 
 to industry, few being willing to labour unrewarded for 
 another's benefit. One illustration will suf&ce. An indus- 
 trious uncle builds a canoe, in which he has not made half-a- 
 dozen trips, when an idle nephew mounts the deck, sounds 
 his trumpet-shell, and the blast announces to all within 
 hearing that the canoe has, that instant, changed masters. 
 
 There are Tasus to the gods ; or rather to the basket in 
 which the god's share of food is kept. But these have no 
 power. 
 
 Persons of rank generally manifest a strong feeling of 
 jealousy towards each other, and studiously avoid meeting 
 unnecessarily. On more than one occasion I have had a 
 Chief of rank in my house, when another has been seen 
 approaching the door ; whereupon the first would at once 
 retire into a private room. After the last arrival had sat a 
 few minutes, I intimated to him the position of affairs, at 
 which he smiled and made his visit very short. Their 
 conduct is often a strange mixture of vanity, cupidity, and 
 liberality. When, however, they do meet, and are not too 
 reserved, they display a courteous demeanour, which 
 betokens a recognition of rank in others, as well as a 
 consciousness of it in themselves. 
 
 The Chiefs demand a large amount of homage from the 
 people, expressed both by language and action. As in the 
 Malayan, so in the Fijian, there exists an aristocratic 
 dialect, which is particularly observable in the. windward 
 districts, where not a member of a Chief's body, or the 
 commonest acts of his hfe, are mentioned in ordinary phrase- 
 ology, but are all hyperbolized. Eespect is further indi- 
 cated by the tama, which is a shout of reverence uttered by 
 inferiors when approaching a Chief or chief town. The 
 tama varies in different places, and the women have a 
 formula distinct from that of the men. Sometimes, in 
 uttering this shout, the people place their hands behhid 
 them, and stoop forward. Chiefs look for the iama from 
 
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CHAPTER II. 
 
 those they meet, whether on land or sea, and expect it 
 when inferiors pass their houses. At the close of the day, 
 or when a Chief is superintending the making or repairing 
 of a sail, and in some other cases, the tama is improper, 
 and would be answered by a laugh, or regarded as an insult. 
 In some districts the tama is " long drawn out," and in others 
 half sung, so as to produce a somewhat pleasing eifect, 
 when raised by fifty or a hundred voices at once. Gene- 
 rally the Chiefs acknowledge courteously the salutation of 
 one of the lower orders of the people.* 
 
 Equally expressive of respect are many of the actions 
 prescribed by Fijian etiquette. An armed man lowers his 
 arms, takes the outside of the path, and crouches down 
 until the Chief has passed by. When a person has given 
 anything, say a cigar, to a Chief, he claps his hands respect- 
 fally. The same form is observed after touching a Chiefs 
 head, or when taking anything from a place over his head; 
 on receiving auy trifle from him ; always at the close of his 
 meals, and sometimes to applaud what he has said. In 
 some parts the men do not crouch, but rub the upper part 
 of the left arm with the right hand. Some take hold of their 
 beards and look to the earth : this is very common when 
 conversing with a Chief, or begging ; hence great beggars 
 are called " beard-scratchers." The speaker also inter- 
 sperses his address with respectful expletives, of which they 
 have many. If any one would cross the path of a Chief, 
 or the place where he is sitting or standing, he must pass 
 before, and never behind, his superior. Standing in the 
 presence of a Chief is not allowed : all who move about the 
 house in which he is creep, or, if on their feet, advance 
 bent, as in an act of obeisance. As in some other countries 
 where the government is despotic, no one is permitted to 
 address the Chief otherwise than in a sitting posture. 
 
 * The following are specimens of the tama : — 
 
 PLACE. MEN. WOMEN. 
 
 Mbau. Muduo! wo! M-a-i-n-a-v-a-k-a-d-u-a I 
 
 Lakemba. O-o ! Oa ! N-i-q-o ! 
 
 Somosomo. Dno! wo! M-a-i-n-a-v-a-a-d-u-a ! 
 
 Vanua Levn. Dua ! dua I dna ! M-a-i-n-a-v-a-a-d-u-a ! 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 89 
 
 Seamen are cautious not to sail by a Chiefs canoe on the 
 outrigger side, which would be considered worse than a 
 person on land passing behind the back of his Sovereign. 
 
 Most singular among these customs is the hale nmri, 
 "follow in falling," the attendant falling because his master 
 has fallen. This is to prevent shame from resting on the 
 Chief, who, as he ought, has to pay for the respect. One 
 day, I came to a long bridge formed of a single cocoa-nut 
 tree, which was thrown across a rapid stream, the opposite 
 bank of which was two or three feet lower, so that the 
 declivity was too steep to be comfortable. The pole was 
 also wet and slippery, and thus my crossing safely was 
 very doubtful. Just as I commenced the experiment, a 
 heathen said, with much animation, "To-day I shall have a 
 musket!" I had, however, just then to heed my steps 
 more than his words, and so succeeded in reaching the 
 other side safely. When I asked him why he spoke of a 
 musket, the man replied, " I felt certain you would fall in 
 attempting to go over, and I should have fallen after you;" 
 (that is, appeared to be equally clumsy ;) "and, as the bridge 
 is high, the water rapid, and you a gentleman, you would 
 not have thought of giving me less than a musket." 
 
 The best produce of the gardens, the seines, and the 
 sties in Fiji, goes to the Chiefs, together with compliments 
 the most extravagant and oriental in their form. Warrior 
 Chiefs often owe their escape in battle to their inferiors — 
 even when enemies — dreading to strike them. This fear 
 partly arises from Chiefs being confounded with deities, 
 and partly from the certainty of their death being avenged 
 on the man who slew them. Women of rank often escape 
 strangling, at the death of their lord, because there are 
 not at hand men of equal rank to act as executioners. 
 Such an excess of homage must of course be maintained by 
 a most vigorous inflictioii of punishment for any breach of 
 its observance ; and a vast number of fingers, missing from 
 the hands of men and women, have gone as the fine for 
 disrespectful or awkward conduct. 
 
 In Fiji, subjects do not pay rent for their land, but a 
 
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40 CHAPTER II. 
 
 kind of tax on all tteir produce^ beside giving their labour 
 occasionally in peace, and their service, when needed, in 
 war, for the benefit of the King or their own Chief. Tax- 
 paying in Piji, unlike that in Britain, is associated with all 
 that the people love. The time of its taking place is a high 
 day ; a day for the best attire, the pleasantest looks, and the 
 kindest words ; a day for display : whales' teeth and cowrie 
 necklaces, orange-cowrie and pearl-shell breast ornaments, 
 the scarlet frontlet, the newest style of neck-band, white 
 armlets, bossed knee and ancle bands, tortoise-shell hair 
 pins, (eighteen inches long,) cocks' tail feathers, the 
 whitest masi, the most graceful turban, powder of jet 
 black, and rouge of the deepest red, are all in requi- 
 sition on that festive day. The coiffure that has been in 
 process for months is now shown in perfection ; the beard, 
 long nursed, receives extra attention and the finishing 
 touch ; the body is anointed with the most fragrant oil, 
 and decorated with the gayest flowers and most elegant 
 vines. The weapons also — clubs, spears, and muskets — 
 are all highly polished and unusually gay. The Eijian 
 carries his tribute with every demonstration of joyfal 
 excitement, of which all the tribe concerned fully partake. 
 Crowds of spectators are assembled, and the King and his 
 suite are there to receive the impost, which is paid in with 
 a song and a dance, and received with smiles and applause. 
 From this scene the tax-payers retire to partake of a feast pro- 
 vided by their Eng. Surely the policy that can thus make 
 the paying of taxes "a thing of joy" is not contemptible. 
 
 Whales' teeth always form a part of the property paid 
 in. Those smooth and red with age and turmeric are most 
 valued; and the greater the quantity of these, the more 
 respectable is the solevu (tribute). Canoes, bales of plain 
 and printed cloth, {tapa,) each bale fifteen or twenty feet 
 long, with as many men to carry it, musquito curtains, 
 balls and rolls of sinnet,* floor-mats, sail-mats, fishing 
 
 * Braid or flat string made witt the cocoa-nut fibre, and in general use 
 for every kind of fastening. An average roll of sinnet, wound with beau- 
 tiful neatness, is three feet six inches high, aud five feet in circumference. 
 
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ORIGIN AND POLITY. 41 
 
 netSj baskets, spears, clubs, guns, scarfs or turbans, likus,* 
 pearl-shell breast-plates, turtles, and women, may be classed 
 under the head of tribute. In some of the smaller states, 
 pigs, yams, taro, arrow-root, turmeric, yaqona, sandal- wood, 
 salt, tobacco, and black powder, are principal articles. 
 
 The presentation of a canoe, if new and large, is a 
 distinct affair. Tui Nayau, King of Lakemba, gave one 
 to Thakombau in the following manner. Preliminaries 
 being finished, Tui Nayau approached the Mbau Chief, and 
 knelt before him. From the folds of his huge dress he 
 took a whale's tooth, and then began his speech. The 
 introduction was an expression of the pleasure which Tha- 
 kombau's visit gave to Tui Nayau and his people. As he 
 warmed, the speaker proceeded : " Before we were subject 
 to Mbau, our land was empty, and no cocoa-nuts grew on 
 its shore ; but since you have been our Chiefs, the land is 
 full of people, and nuts and food abound. Our fathers 
 were subject to Mbau, and desired so to be ; and my desire, 
 and that of my friends and my subjects, is towards Mbau, 
 and it is very intense." The sentences here strung 
 together were picked out from among a great number of 
 petitions, praying that " Tui Nayau and his people might 
 live." Neither was this omitted in the peroration : " There- 
 fore let us live, that we may chop out canoes for you ; and 
 that we may live, I present this earnest " (the whale's tooth) 
 " of the Ta ivei " (the name of the canoe) " as our sow, and 
 the aoro of our friends." On receiving the tooth Thakombau 
 expressed a wish, almost like an imperial permission, that 
 all might live ; whereupon all present clapped their hands. 
 Custom required of the receiver a form like this : " Woi ! 
 Woi ! Woi ! The sacred canoe ! Yi ! Yi ! Yi !" and a long 
 shrill shout in conclusion. 
 
 All love to make as much display as possible on these 
 occasions; food is provided in abundance, and on all 
 hands is seen a liberality approaching to a community of 
 goods: but where there exists anything like equality 
 between those who give and those who receive, the return 
 
 * "Women's dresses or girdles. 
 
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42 CHAPTER II. 
 
 of similar gifts and entertainment is anxiously expected, 
 and calculated carefully beforehand. 
 
 Sometimes the property or tribute is taken to the King; 
 sometimes he chooses to fetch it. In the latter case, he 
 makes those he visits a small present, the time of so doing 
 being made the opportunity for his public reception, after 
 which he and his attendants dance. Such visits are very 
 burdensome to the people thus honoured ; for the King's 
 fleet may comprise twenty or thirty canoes, the crews of 
 which, as well as the King's attendants, have to be fed by 
 the visited, however long they remain. 
 
 When the tribute is carried to the King, those who take 
 it — varying in number from fifty to three hundred — are 
 detained several weeks, well fed the first few days, and, in 
 some parts, left to live as they can the remainder. By 
 means of them and their canoes the King verifies the 
 native proverb, "Work is easily done when strangers 
 help." The strangers voyage and garden for the Chiefs of 
 the place, receive a present, and are then sent home. 
 
 Chiefs of power exact largely and give liberally, only a 
 small portion of what they receive remaining in their own 
 hands; which fact will help to explain the following 
 speech of a Mata on the occasion of one of these presenta- 
 tions of property : " We have a wish for eternal friend- 
 ship : see this in our labours to procure cloth for you : we 
 are wearied : we have left ourselves without clothing, that 
 you may have it aU. We have a Chief who loves peaces 
 we also love it. War is an evil : let us not fight, but 
 labour. Do not let diiEculties or jealousies arise out of 
 sharing this property. Our minds regard you equally; 
 You are all our friends. Any difference in the quantity^ 
 shared to each tribe is to be referred to the proportion 
 of service rendered by the tribe. There has been no 
 partiality." 
 
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CHAPTER lil. 
 
 WAR. 
 
 Anotheu and most strongly marked feature in the poli- 
 tical aspect of Fiji has yet to be noticed: it is war. 
 Mach has been set forth on this subject, with which my 
 own long and close observation forbids me to agree. 
 
 It is said of the Fijians, as of most savage nations, that 
 they are warlike ; and they have been pictured as fierce, 
 ferocious, and eager for bloodshed and battle. But this is a 
 caricature, resulting from too hasty and superficial an esti- 
 mate of the native character. When on his feet, the Pijian 
 is always armed ; when working in his garden, or lying on 
 his mat, his arms are always at hand. This, however, is 
 not to be attributed to his bold or choleric temper, but to 
 suspicion and dread. Fear arms the Fijian. His own 
 heart tells him that no one could trust him and be safe, 
 whence he infers that his own security consists in universal 
 mistrust of others. The club or spear is the companion of 
 all his walks ; but it is only for defence. This is proved 
 by every man you meet : in the distance you see him with 
 his weapon shouldered; getting nearer, he lowers it to his 
 knee, gives you the path, and passes on. This is invari- 
 able, except when the people meet purposely to fight, or 
 when two enemies come unexpectedly together. Such con- 
 duct surely is the opposite to offensive, being rather a show 
 of inferiority, a mere point of etiquette. 
 
 Nevertheless Fiji is rarely free from war and its attend- 
 ant evUs. Several causes exist for this, such as the pride 
 and jealousy of the Chiefs, and the fact of there being so 
 many independent governments, each of which seeks 
 aggrandizement at the expense of the rest. Any misgiving 
 
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44 CHAPTEU III. 
 
 as to the probability of success proves the most powerful 
 motive for peace ; and superstition asserts the cackhng of 
 hens at night to be a sure prognostic of fighting. The 
 appearance of restless haste for war is often assumed^ when 
 no corresponding anxiety is felt. When war is decided upon 
 between two powers, a formal message to that effect is inter- 
 changed, and informal messages ia abundance, warning each 
 other to strengthen their fences and carry them up to the 
 sky. Councils are held, in which future action is planned. 
 Before going to war with men, they study to be right with 
 the gods. Ruined temples are rebuilt, some half-buried iu 
 weeds are brought to hght, and new ones erected. Costly 
 offerings are brought to the gods, and prayers presented 
 for the utter destruction of the enemy, and every bowl of 
 yaqona is quaffed with an expression of the same wish. 
 Kanahinai yarua, to eat with both contending parties, is very 
 tahu, and punished, when discovered, with death. On one 
 occasion I saw offered to the god of war, forty whales' 
 teeth, (fifty pounds of ivory,) ten thousand yams, thirty 
 turtles, forty roots of yaqona, some very large, many 
 hundreds of native puddings, (two tons,) one hundred and 
 fifty giant oysters, [chama gig as,) fifteen water melons, 
 cocoa-nuts, a large number of violet land-crabs, taro, and 
 ripe bananas. Much confidence is placed in the gods' 
 help thus purchased. On remarking to a small party on 
 their way to war, " You are few ;" they promptly replied, 
 " Our allies are the gods." 
 
 ^Frequently the men separate themselves from their wives 
 at such times, but sometimes the wives accompany them to 
 the war. Orders are sent by the Chief to all under his 
 rule to be in readiness, and application is made to friendly 
 powers for help. A flat refusal to comply with the 
 summons of the Chief, by any place on which he had a 
 claim, would, sooner or later, be visited by the destruction 
 of the offenders. Efforts are made to neutralize each 
 other's influence. A sends a whale's tooth to B, entreating 
 his aid against C, who, hearing of this, sends a larger 
 tooth to B, to Uka — "press down" — the present fromi; 
 
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WAK. 45 
 
 and thus B joins neither party. Sometimes two hostile 
 Chiefs will each make a superior Chief the stay of their 
 hopes: he, for his own interest, trims between the two, 
 and often aids the weaker party, that he may damage the 
 stronger, yet professing, all the time, a deep interest in 
 his welfare. 
 
 When many warriors are expected to help in an expedi- 
 tion, slight houses are built for their accommodation. 
 Tongans who may be visiting the Chief at the time are 
 expected to assist him; to which they rarely object, their 
 services being repaid in canoes, arms, mats, &c. In some 
 rare cases Tongan Chiefs have had small islands ceded to 
 them. 
 
 When an appeal for help to a superior Chief is favour- 
 ably received, a club or spear is sent to the applicant with 
 words such as these : " I have sent my club : by and bye I 
 wiU follow." This form of earnest, I understand, is 
 modern : the old fashion was to return a spear with a 
 floating streamer, which the successful petitioner planted 
 conspicuously, to indicate his fair prospects. 
 
 The military in Fiji do not form a distinct class, but are 
 selected from every rank, irrespective of age or size ; any 
 who can raise a club or hurl a spear are eligible. At the 
 close of the war, all who survive return to their ordinary 
 pursuits. During active service, a faithful follower owns 
 no tie but that which binds him to his tribe, and the 
 command of the Vu-ni-valu — General — is his only law. 
 
 Instances of persons devoting themselves specially to 
 deeds of arms are not uncommon. The manner in which 
 they do this is singular, and wears the appearance of a 
 marriage contract ; and the two men entering into it are 
 spoken of as man and wife, to indicate the closeness of 
 their military union. By this mutual bond the two men 
 pledge themselves to oneness of purpose and effort, to 
 stand by each other in every danger, defending each other 
 to the death, and, if needful, to die together. In the case 
 of one of the parties wishing to become married, in the 
 ordinary style, to one of the other sex, the former contract 
 
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46 CHAPTER III. 
 
 is duly declared void. Between Mbetelambandai and 
 Mbombo of Yatakarakara sucli a union existed. The 
 former was slain in war. Mbombo, on hearing that his 
 friend was in danger, ran to the rescue ; but, arriving too 
 late, died avenging liis comrade's death. 
 
 Forces are gathered by the taqa, a kind of review. Of 
 these there is a series, — one at every place where the army 
 stops on its way to the scene of action. If any part of 
 Fijian warfare has interest, it is this; and to the parties 
 engaged, it is doubtless glorious. They defy an enemy 
 that is far away, and boast of what they will do on a day 
 which has not yet come ; and all this in the midst of their 
 friends. The boasting is distinct from, though associated 
 with, the taqa, which means, "ready, or on the move," 
 namely, for challenging. The chaUenging is called loleloh; 
 and the ceremony, when complete, is as follows. If the head 
 of the party of allies just arrived is a great Chief, his 
 approach is hailed with a general shout. Taking the lead, 
 he conducts his followers to a large open space, where the 
 Chief, to whose help he comes, waits with his men. Forth- 
 with shouts of respect are exchanged by the two companies. 
 Presently a man, who is supposed to represent the enemy, 
 stands forth and cries out, " Cut up ! cut up ! The temple 
 receives ; " * intimating, probably, that the enemy will cer- 
 tainly be cut up, cooked, and offered to the gods. Then 
 follow those who hole, or chaUeiige. First comes the 
 leader, and then others, singly at the beginning, but after- 
 wards in companies of six, or ten, or twenty. It is 
 impossible to tell all that is said when many are speaking 
 at once ; but there is no lack of bragging, if single 
 challengers may be taken as specimens. One man runs up 
 to the Chief, brandishes his club, and exclaims, " Sir, do 
 yon know me ? Tour enemies soon will ! " Another, 
 darting forward, says, " See this hatchet, how clean ! 
 
 * " Sai tava ! Sai tava ! Ka yau mai ha yavia a bure*' Several 
 Chiefs of whom I asked the precise meaning of this sentence, acknowledged 
 that they could not tell, saying, " It has come down to ns from past ages." 
 Nor is this the only instance I have noticed of language having outlived 
 thought, — the form being preserved when the primitive idea is lost. 
 
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WAR. 47 
 
 To-morrow it will be bathed in blood ! " One cries out, 
 " This is my club, the club that never yet was false ! " 
 The next, " This army moves to-morrow ; then you shall eat 
 dead men till you are surfeited!" A man, striking the 
 ground violently with his club, boasts, " I cause the earth 
 to tremble : it is I who meet the enemy to-morrow ! " 
 " See," exclaims another, " I hold a musket and a battle- 
 axe ! If the musket miss fire, the hatchet will not ! " A 
 fine young man stepped quietly towards a King, holding a 
 pole used as an anchor for a canoe, and said, " See, Sire, 
 the anchor of Natewa ! * I will do thus with it ! " And 
 he broke the pole across his knee. A man, swinging a 
 ponderous club, said, "This club is a defence, a shade 
 from the heat of the sun, and the cold of the rain." 
 Glancing at the Chief, he added, "You may come under 
 it." A fiery youth ran up, as though breathless, crying 
 out, " I long to be gone ! I am impatient ! " One of the 
 same kind said, " Ah, ah ! these boasters are deceivers ! 
 1 only am a true man : in the battle you shall find me so." 
 These " great swelling words " are listened to with mingled 
 laughter and applause. Although the speeches of the 
 warriors are marked with great earnestness, there is nothing 
 of the horrifying grimace in which the New Zealander 
 indulges on similar occasions. The fighting men have 
 their bodies covered with black powder ; some, how- 
 ever, confine this to the upper part only. An athletic 
 warrior thus powdered, so as to make his skin wear 
 a velvet-like blackness, has a truly formidable appear- 
 ance, his eyes and teeth gleaming with very effective 
 whiteness. 
 
 Fijians make a show of war at the taqa, but do no 
 mischief, and incur no danger : and this is just what they 
 like. The challenging is their deliglit; beyond it their 
 ambition does not reach, and glory is without charms. 
 
 Notwithstanding the boasts of the braves, the Chief will 
 sometimes playfully taunt them; intimating that, from 
 their appearance, he should judge them to be better 
 
 * The place against whicli they were going to fight. 
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48 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 acquainted with spades than clubs, and fitter to use the 
 digging- stick than the musket. 
 
 Incentives to bravery are not withheld. Young women, 
 and women of rank, are promised to such as shall, by their 
 prowess, render themselves deserving. A woman given 
 as a reward for valour is called, "The cable of the land;" 
 and the Chief who gives her is esteemed a benefactor, his 
 people testifying their gratitude by giving him a feast and 
 presents. Promises of such rewards are made in a short 
 speech, the substance of which is the same in all cases : 
 " Be faithful to my cause ; do not listen to those who call 
 you to desert me. Your reward vnll be princely," 
 
 The forces collected for war rarely exceed in number a 
 thousand men. An army of four or five thousand is only 
 assembled by an immense effort. Sometimes flags are 
 used, but they are only paltry affairs. 
 
 "When all is ready, the army is led probably against 
 some mountain fastness, or a town fortified with an earth 
 rampart, about six feet thick, faced with large stones, sur- 
 mounted by a reed-fence or cocoa-nut trunks, and sur- 
 rounded by a muddy moat. Some of their fastnesses well 
 deserve the name. One was visited by myself, where ten 
 men might defy a host. After wearily chrabing up a 
 rugged path, hidden and encumbered with rank vegetation, 
 I reached the verge of a precipice. This was the end of 
 the path, and beyond it, at the distance of several yards, in 
 the face of the cHff, was the entrance to the fortress. To 
 get to this opening it was necessary to insert my toes in 
 the natural crevices of the perpendicular rock, laying hold 
 with my hands on any irregularity within reach, and thus 
 move sideways until a small landing at the doorway was 
 reached. Some of these strongholds have, in addition to 
 their natural difficulty of access, strong palisades and stone 
 breastworks pierced with loopholes. Sometimes a fortress 
 has only one gateway, with a traverse leading to it ; but 
 from four to eight entrances are generally found. At the 
 top of the gateway, on the inside, there is sometimes a 
 raised and covered platform for a look-out. The gates are 
 
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-WAS,. 49 
 
 formed by strong sliding bars inside : without, on either 
 side, are substantial bastions. Visitors capable of judging 
 give the Fijians credit for skill in arranging these several 
 parts, so as to afford an excellent defence even against 
 musketry. The garrisons are often well provisioned, but 
 iU watered. 
 
 Since the introduction of orange and lemon trees, some 
 fortifications have a row of these in lieu of the wicker-like 
 fence, and the naked natives fear these prickly living walls 
 greatly. It is in garrisons that drums are used, and, by 
 various beats, warning is given to friends outside of the 
 approach of danger or an attack. By the same means they 
 defy the foe, as also by banners, and gaudy kite-like things 
 which, when the wind favours, are flown in the direction of 
 the enemy. 
 
 If a place, when attacked, is likely to hold out, an 
 encampment is formed and a vigilant guard kept by the 
 besiegers, and by each party the steps of the other seem to 
 be counted. Such a position is not liked; but great 
 advantages and easy conquest best suit the aggressors. 
 An attack being decided upon, a command to that effect is 
 issued by the Vu-ni-valu, who names the order in which 
 the several companies are to advance, and specifies which is 
 to have the honour of the first assault. The assailants 
 then join in a sort of slogan and set off. If the country 
 be favourable, they prefer a stealthy approach, and, when a 
 little beyond gun-shot from the fort, each man acts as 
 though his chief duty were to take care of himself. Not a 
 stone, bush, or tree, but has a man behind it, glad of any- 
 thing to come between him and the fort ; whence a strict 
 watch is kept, until some straggler — perhaps a child — is 
 exposed, and falls a victim. If the defenders of the place 
 remain obstinate, the besiegers repeat the war-cry, to 
 encourage each other and alarm the enemy. Numerous 
 shots are now exchanged j and if those within are many and 
 valorous, they make a saUy, each man singling out his 
 antagonist, and so the battle resolves itself into a number 
 of single eombats. Should the first detachment shoot and 
 
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50 CHAPTER in. 
 
 shout themselves tired, without drawing the enemy out, 
 they are relieved by a second, who, if they succeed no 
 better, are followed by a third, and so on. A rush from 
 withiQ generally makes the assaulting party run. This 
 conduct is excused by a native proverb, which, in some 
 shape or other, is to be found in almost every language, 
 and which in Fiji, in the form of a couplet, waits ready oa 
 every warrior's lip.* 
 
 " 'T is certain death to brave it out ; 
 And but a jest to join the rout." 
 
 Nevertheless, obstinate resistance is sometimes made. 
 Death or victory was declared in a striking way by the 
 Chief of Mbua, Ngpneseuseu, at the beginning of the pre- 
 sent century. He and his second in command — ^Ndunga- 
 wangka — ordered the heads of two stately nut-trees to he 
 cut off, and sent a messenger to the enemy, the Chief of 
 Eaviravi, to tell what was done, and defy him to do his worst. 
 Both sides exerted themselves to the utmost, and a bloody 
 battle ensued. The symbolic act of the Mbua Chiefs proved 
 ominous of their own fate; for their own heads and 
 hundreds more of their followers (an eye-witness says, a 
 thousand) were cut off and placed in a row, and desolation 
 was spread by the victors over all the western coast of 
 Vanua Levu. 
 
 Sharp and irritating remarks are exchanged by hostile 
 parties previous to an engagement. Thus a commander 
 win cjy out loudly, so that both sides may hear, "The 
 men of that fort have been dead a long while ; those who 
 occupy it now are a set of old women." Another, address- 
 ing his followers, says derisively, "Are they gods who 
 hold yonder guns ? Are they not mere men ? They are 
 only men. We have nothing then to fear ; for we are truly 
 men." Such speeches elicit others of like kind from the 
 enemy. " You are men ! But are you so strong that, 
 if speared to-day, you vnH^ not fall until to-morrow?" 
 " Are you stones, that a buUet ' will not enter you ? 
 
 * "J. vosota, na mate : 
 
 A dro na, ka ni veiwale" 
 
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WAK. 51 
 
 Are your skulls iron, that a hatchet will not cleave 
 them?" 
 
 Under the excitement of the time, indiscreet men have 
 been known to utter special threats against the leader of 
 the enemy. Shouting his name, they declare their inten- 
 tion to cut out his tongue, eat his brains, and make a cup 
 of his skull. Such boasters become at once marked men : 
 orders are given to take them alive, and woful is their lot, 
 if captured. On Vanua Levu, the punishment awaiting 
 such is called drewai sasa, after the manner in which 
 women carry fuel. A large bundle of dry cocoa-nut leaves 
 is bound across the shoulders of the offender, so as to 
 pinion him effectually. The ends of the bundle, which 
 project several feet on either side, are then ignited, and the 
 Dearer of the burning mass is turned loose to run wherever 
 his torment may drive him. The exultation of the spec- 
 tators rises in proportion as the agony of the sufferer 
 becomes more intense. 
 
 "Wars in Eiji are sometimes bloodless, and result only in 
 the destruction of property ; but in cases where the contest 
 is of a purely civil kind, fruit-trees are often spared until 
 the obstinacy of the enemy exhausts the patience of the 
 rest, and a general destruction takes place. An opinion 
 has frequently been expressed that the natives are sharp 
 enough to dodge the bullets ; which means that they watch 
 the flash of the gun, and instantly fall flat on the ground. 
 Of their ability to dodge stones, thrown thickly and with 
 good aim, I am a witness. 
 
 Open attack is less esteemed in Fiji than stratagem or 
 surprise, and to these their best men trust for success and 
 fame. Their plots are often most treacherous, and exhibit 
 heartless cruelty, without ingenuity. 
 
 A Eakiraki Chief named Wangkawai agreed to help the 
 Chief of Na Korovatu, who was engaged in war. Of course 
 Wangkawai and his party must bole; and the ceremony 
 was finished joyously. As the earnest for payment was 
 being presented by the Na Korovatu Chief, Wangkawai 
 struck him dead with his club ; at which preconcerted 
 
 E 2 
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52 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 signal his armed attendants attacked and murdered the 
 friends of tte fallen Chief, — a catastrophe which the 
 treacherous ally had been meditating for years. 
 
 Mbau wished to take the town on Naingani, but could 
 not. The Yiwa Chief, Namosemalua, being apphed to, 
 readily undertook the task. He went to the people of 
 Naingani as their friend, offering to place them out of the 
 reach of Mbau, by removing them to a place under his own 
 power. They assented, and foUowed him to the seaside, 
 where he helped the Mbau people to murder them. Other 
 similar instances might be related. Eelatives within a 
 garrison are often bribed to befriend the besiegers by burn- 
 ing the town or opening the gates. By the use of such 
 means, far more than open fighting, wars are sometimes 
 very destructive. Old natives speak of as many as a thon- 
 sand being killed in some of the battles when they were 
 young men ; but I doubt whether the slain ever amounted 
 to more than half that number. Prom twenty to a hundred 
 more commonly cover the Ust of killed. The largest number, 
 within my own knowledge of Rji, was at Eewa, in 1846, 
 when about four hundred — chiefly women and children — 
 were slain. Horrifying beyond description is' the scene 
 when a town is taken, and instances are narrated of the 
 inhabitants seeking dehverance from such horrors by self- 
 destruction. A remarkable shelf of rocks is pointed out on 
 the island of Wakaya, whence a Chief, unable to resist his 
 enemies, precipitated himself. Many of his people foUowed 
 his example. The shelf is called, "The Chieftain's Leap." 
 In sacking a plac^ every man regards what he can pick up 
 as his own. The spoil is generally small ; for nearly every 
 town and village has a natural magazine, where they store 
 everything valuable on the sbghtest alarm. I have several 
 times been myself the cause of towns being thus emptied. 
 The sight of my canoe in the distance suggested the 
 thought of oppressive Chiefs or cruel foes, and the wisdom 
 of secreting property. On one occasion, I met a string 
 of laden women thus employed, whose undisguised terror 
 was soon followed by every mark of joy, when assured that 
 
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WAR. 53 
 
 we were only friends. Once I saw a Chief with seven balls 
 of sinnet, several dogs, and five female slaves, as his share of 
 spoil; but I believe that part of this was pay, and part 
 plunder. 
 
 In a pitched battle comparatively little mischief is done. 
 Flesh wounds are inflicted by spears or bullets, until one of 
 the combatants falls, when his friends run away with him, 
 the enemy following for a short distance ; when, if the 
 wounded or dead man is not cast away, they return to 
 exaggerate their own prowess, and the numbers of killed 
 and wounded on the other side. Tet, altogether the total 
 loss of life in consequence of war, amounting probably to 
 1,500 or 2,000 per annum, has hitherto told heavily on the 
 population of Fiji ; and perhaps the number here stated does 
 not include the widows who are strangled on the death of 
 their lords. The introduction of fire-arms has tended to 
 diminish war. The fact that bullets are so promiscuous in 
 their work, striking a Chief as well as commoner men, makes 
 the people less disposed than ever to come to fighting, while 
 their faith in the diviner quahties of their commanders is 
 much shaken. 
 
 Captives are sometimes taken, and are treated with 
 incredible barbarity. Some have been given up to boys of 
 rank, to practise their ingenuity in torture. Some, when 
 stunned, were cast into hot ovens ; and when the fierce heat 
 brought them back to consciousness and urged them to 
 fearful struggles to escape, the loud laughter of the 
 spectators bore witness to their joy at the scene. Children 
 have been hung by their feet from the mast-head of a canoe, 
 to be dashed to death, as the rollings of the vessel swung 
 them heavily against the mast. 
 
 The return of a victorious party is celebrated with the 
 wildest joy ; and if they bring the bodies of the slain foes, 
 the excitement of the women, who go out to welcome the 
 returning warriors, is intense. This custom of the women 
 greeting the conquerors at once suggests a comparison with 
 eastern, and especially Hebrew, usage. But among the 
 Fijians, all that could be admired in the other case is 
 
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54 CHAPTEU III. 
 
 brutalized and abominable. The words of the women's 
 song may not be translated ; nor are the obscene gestures 
 of their dance, in which the young virgins are compelled to 
 take part, or the foul insults offered to the corpses of the 
 slain, fit to be described. And who that has witnessed the 
 scene on the canoes at such a time, can forget it, or help 
 shrinking with horror from the thought of its repetition? 
 Dead men or women are tied on the fore-part of the canoe, 
 while on the main deck their murderers, like triumphant 
 fiends, dance madly among the flourishing of clubs and sun 
 shades, and confused din. At intervals they bound upon 
 the deck with a shrill and terrible yell, expressive of 
 unchecked rage and deadly hatred. The corpses, when 
 loosed, are dragged with frantic running and shouts to the 
 temple, where they are offered to the god, before being 
 cooked. On these occasions, the ordinary social restrictions 
 are destroyed, and the unbridled and indiscriminate indul- 
 gence of every evil lust and passion completes the scene of 
 abomination. 
 
 Modes of treating for peace vary. In some instances 
 a woman of rank is dressed in highest Pijian style, and pre- 
 sented, with whales' teeth in her hand, to the hostile Chief, 
 to procure peace. More generally an ordinary Ambassador 
 is deputed, who offers a whale's tooth, or some other soro, 
 in the name of the people. The terms dictated to the 
 conquered are severe, including, generally, the destruction 
 of their town and its defences, and the abject servitude of 
 its inhabitants. In the Mbua district, hostihties are closed 
 very appropriately. On a set day, the two parties meet, 
 and throw down their arms at each other's feet. At the 
 time, dread of treachery often makes them fear, as they give 
 up their weapons ; but afterwards a security is felt which 
 nothing else could produce. 
 
 Kjian warfare is very expensive, especially when foreign 
 aid is called in ; for the allies have not only to be fed, but 
 enjoy full licence to overrun the territory of their friends, 
 and appropriate whatever they choose, beside committing^! 
 everywhere acts of the most wanton mischief and destruction. ' 
 
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WAH. 55 
 
 "0\" said an old man to me after the departure of a host 
 of such subsidiaries, " our young men have been to the 
 gardens, but the sight dispirited them, and they have 
 returned home to weep." 
 
 It is customary throughout Fiji to give honorary names 
 to such as have clubbed a human being, of any age or either 
 sex, during a war. The new epithet is given with the com- 
 plimentary prefix, Koroi. I once asked a man why he was 
 called Koroi. "Because," he replied, "I, with several 
 other men, found some women and children in a cave, drew 
 them out and clubbed them, and then was consecrated." 
 If the man killed has been of distinguished rank, the slayer 
 is allowed to take his name ; or he is honoured by being 
 styled the comi, the dog, the canoe, or the_/or^ of some great 
 living Chief. Warriors of rank receive proud titles ; such 
 as, "the divider of " a district, " the waster of " a coast, " the 
 depopulator of " an island ; the name of the place in ques- 
 tion being affixed. A practice analogous to this is recorded 
 frequently in both sacred and classical history. I had an 
 opportunity of witnessing the ceremony of consecration, as 
 carried out in the case of a young man of the highest rank 
 in Somosomo. The King and leading men having taken 
 their seats in the public square, fourteen mats were brought 
 and spread out, and upon these were placed a bale of cloth 
 and two whales' teeth. Near by was laid a sail mat, and 
 on it several men's dresses. The young Chief now made 
 his appearance, bearing in one hand a large pine-apple club, 
 and in the other a common reed, while his long train of 
 masi dragged on the ground behind him. On his reaching 
 the mats, an old man took the reed out of the hero's 
 hand, and dispatched a youth to deposit it carefully in the 
 temple of the war-god. The King then ordered the young 
 Chief to stand upon the bale of cloth ; and while he obeyed, 
 a number of women came into the square, bringing small 
 dishes of turmeric mixed with oil, which they placed before 
 the youth, and retired with a song. The masi was now 
 removed by the Chief himself, an attendant substituting one 
 much larger in its stead. The Bang's Mata next selected 
 
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56 CHAPTER in. 
 
 several dishes of the coloured oil, and anointed the warrior 
 from the roots of the hair to his heels. At this stage of 
 the proceedings one of the spectators stepped forward and 
 exchanged clubs with the anointed, and soon another did the 
 same ; then one left him a gun in place of the club ; and 
 many similar changes were effected, under a belief that the 
 weapons thus passing through his hands derived some 
 virtue. The mats were now removed, and a portion of 
 them sent to the temple, some of the turmeric being sent 
 after them. The King and old men, followed by the young 
 men, and two men sounding conchs, now proceeded to the 
 sea-side, where the anointed one passed through the ancients 
 to the water's edge, and, having wet the soles of his feet, 
 returned, while the King and those with him counted one, 
 two, three, four, five, and then each threw a stone into the 
 sea. The whole company now went back to the town with 
 blasts of the trumpet-shells, and a peculiar hooting of the 
 men. Custom requires that a hut should be built, in which 
 the anointed man and his companions may pass the next 
 three nights, during which time the new-named hero must 
 not Ue down, but sleep as he sits : he must not change his 
 masi, or remove the turmeric, or enter a house iu which 
 there is a woman, until that period has elapsed. In the case 
 now described, the hut had not been built, and the young 
 Chief was permitted to use the temple of the god of war 
 instead. During the three days, he was on an incessant 
 march, followed by half a score lads reddened like himseK. 
 After three weeks he paid me a visit, on the irrst day of his 
 being permitted to enter a house in which there was a 
 female. He informed me that his new name was Kuik, 
 "Flag." 
 
 In some parts of Piji, after each conflict, the parties tell 
 each other of their losses ; but more generally they conceal 
 them. If a valiant man has fallen, his Mends place his 
 masi on a pole in sight of the enemy, thereby declaring 
 their intention to be revenged. If an enemy come by sea, 
 he is defied by men running into the water and striking it 
 with their clubs. 
 
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SPEAK HEADS. 
 
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WAE. 57 
 
 The arms chiefly used by the Fijians are the club, the 
 spear, the battle-axe, the bow, the sling, and the musket. 
 The club is the favourite weapon, and has many varieties, 
 some of which, however, answer more to the mace, and 
 others, of very hard, heavy wood, wrought with a broad 
 blade-like end and sharp edge, are more fitly classed with 
 the battle-axe. A variety of the dromo resembles the spiked 
 mace of the Scythians ; the dui approaches the double axe 
 of the Phrygians, and the totokea is like a spiked hammer, 
 while very many are like the club described by Spenser, as 
 
 " All armed with ragged snabbes and knottie graine." 
 
 Of Fijian spears or javelins there is a great variety, having 
 from one to four points, and showing a round, square, or 
 semicircular section. Some are armed with the thorns of the 
 sting-ray, some are barbed, and some formed of a wood which 
 bursts when moist, so that it can scarcely be extracted from 
 a wound. They are deadly weapons, generally of heavy 
 wood, and from ten to fifteen feet long. One variety is 
 significantly called, "The priest is too late." In hard 
 sieges the bow is sometimes used with effect by women. 
 Fiery arrows are occasionally employed to burn a place into 
 submission. The sling is wielded by powerful hands. I 
 saw a musket which had been struck by a slung stone. 
 The barrel was considerably indented and bent nearly half 
 an inch in its length. Another weapon much used is the 
 missile club, which is worn stuck in the girdle, sometimes 
 in pairs, like pistols. It resembles the induku of the 
 Kaffirs, a short stick with a large knob at one end, either 
 plain or ornamented. This is hurled with great precision, 
 and used formerly to be the favourite implement of 
 assassination. 
 
 Clubs — the most primitive weapon — are, as already 
 stated, greatly prized by the Fijian. Those which belong 
 to distinguished warriors have emphatic names, e. g. : A 
 sautu, lamolamora, "For war, though aU be at peace." 
 Na tagi, ha here hole, "The weeping" (*. e., for the dead 
 I slew) "urges me again to action." Teitalakote, "The 
 disperser." Kadiga ni damuni, " Damaging beyond hope." 
 
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58 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Defensive armour . is not used. Security is sought by 
 many in disguise. This is especially the case with men of 
 rank. Bamboo spikes are set in the approaches to a fort, 
 and burnt cross-wise so as to break off into the foot. 
 Sometimes these are planted in a shallow trench, and 
 lightly covered over with earth. 
 
 Eegarding it from any point of view whatever, there is 
 scarcely anything to excite admiration in Fijian warfare; 
 and the deeds of which they boast most proudly, are such 
 as the truly brave would scorn. Nevertheless I own to 
 having felt keenly when taking leave of Chiefs who were 
 going direct to war. Although nearly naked, their step 
 was proud, and their carriage truly martial. More than 
 one I have known, who paced haughtily forth like a war- 
 horse to the battle, to be soon after dragged ignobly to the 
 oven. Here and there an instance occurs of manly daring, 
 intelligent activity, and bold enterprise ; but sUch are very 
 few. Of these memorable few was a Chief of Wainunu. 
 A short time before I settled in Vanua Levu, this man 
 drove from him all his influential friends, by a resolution 
 to destroy a place which they desired to save. An enemy 
 of Tui Wainunu, hearing that he was deserted, deemed this 
 a good opportunity to make a descent upon him, and pre- 
 pared accordingly. His purpose, however, reached the 
 watchful Chief, who determined at once to meet the 
 emergency by acting himself on the offensive. Depending 
 on his own prowess and that of a youthful nephew, he 
 gathered a few old men, whom age, rather than inclination, 
 had kept near him, and proceeded by night to storm his 
 enemy's position. He and his young comrade entered the 
 village about day-break, and, while the old men shouted 
 amain outside, plied their clubs on the panic-struck 
 inhabitants within. Twenty -seven dead bodies were 
 quickly scattered over the place. The club of Tui 
 Wainunu was raised to slay another, when the nephew 
 recognised, in the intended victim, a playfellow, and 
 saved his life. This deed was soon blazed abroad, and the 
 Chiefs friends hastened back to him through very fear. 
 
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WAE. 59 
 
 In tlie greater proportion, however, of the most dis- 
 tinguished cases, perseverance in effecting his purpose, by 
 some means, is all to which the Kjian attains. If it be 
 pleaded on his behalf that his valour has no artificial sup- 
 ports, — no helmet or steel breast-plate to shield him from 
 danger, and no fleet horse to carry him from it, — that 
 he opposes a naked body to the dangers of the battle, 
 all this is admitted; yet, after all, the low estimate at 
 ■which he rates life negatives his valour, and robs the mass 
 of the people of all claim to be regarded as acting under 
 the impulse of nobler emotions. In addition to mutual 
 suspicion and distrust, that pride which rules in every 
 savage nature, keeps the Kjian at war. He likes to take 
 another's property without asking for it, and to trample 
 the owner under foot with impunity ; and hence goes to 
 war. Few of this kind care for glory, and fewer still are 
 susceptible of a noble or really patriotic impulse. They 
 make pretensions to bravery, and speak of strife and battle 
 with the tongues of heroes ; yet, with rare exceptions, meet 
 the hardships and dangers of war with effeminate timidity. 
 
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CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, etc. 
 
 
 PKIESTS BOWLS. 
 
 It is pleasing to turn from the horrible scenes of bar- 
 barous war, to the gentler and more profitable occupations 
 of peace, of which the tillage of the soil seems always the 
 attractive type. 
 
 At this point there is observable one of the strange 
 and almost anomalous blendings of opposite traits in the 
 Pijian character. Side by side with the wildest savageism, 
 we find among the natives of this group an attention to 
 agriculture, and a variety of cultivated produce, not to be 
 found among any other of the numerous islands of the 
 western Paci&c. It is observed that the increase of culti- 
 vated plants is regular on receding from the Hawaiian 
 group up to Eiji, where roots and fruits are found that are 
 
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INDUSTKLAL PRODUCE, ETC. 61 
 
 unknown on the more eastern islands.* The natives raise 
 large quantities of taro, yams, kawai, banana, kumera, and 
 sugar-cane. Kows of maize and ti-tree, and patches of 
 tobacco, are often seen, and the papua-apple is cultivated. 
 Some of these things are too familiar to need any minute 
 description. 
 
 Of yams there are in Fiji the usual varieties, and, in 
 some parts of the group, two crops are raised in the year. 
 Ordinary tubers of this valuable plant weigh from six to 
 twelve pounds ; extraordinary, from thirty to one hundred 
 pounds. I have raised yams in my own garden nearly six 
 feet in length, and weighing eighty pounds. A teacher on 
 the island of Ono gave a yam nearly nine feet long to a 
 Missionary's child, as a birth-day present. The soil is well 
 cleared for the reception of the plants, which are placed in 
 mounds, and the vines prevented from touching the ground, 
 or playing too freely with the wind, by reeds planted cross- 
 wise beneath, or piled like sticks for peas. Some of the 
 yams grown in Fiji are for barter, and keep well for several 
 months. 
 
 The tubers of the kumera, or sweet potato, vary in 
 weight from half a pound to iive pounds. The kawai, or 
 sweet yam, resembles a kidney potato about eight or ten 
 inches long. The vine is more woody than either of the 
 two preceding, and armed with spines. It is prolific, and 
 yields tubers of an average weight of one pound and a half. 
 
 Balo {Arum esculenium) is the taro of sea-faring men, 
 and the Fijian's " staff of life," surpassing all his other escu- 
 lents in nutritious value. One kind is grown on dry soil. 
 Irrigated taro beds are generally oblong, and prepared 
 with much labour. The most approved soil is a stiftj rich 
 clay, which is worked into the consistency of mortar, and 
 watered carefully, and often with skiU. Valleys are pre- 
 ferred for these beds ; but sometimes they have to be cut 
 on the mountain slopes, which, when thus terraced with 
 mature taro patches, present as beautiful a spectacle as any 
 kind of agriculture can furnish. The deep, rich green of 
 
 * Pickering's " Races of Man," p. 153. 
 
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62 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 the broad leaves, which rise three feet or more from their 
 watery beds in rank and file, contrasts beautifully with the 
 profuse but irregular vegetation of the uncultivated ground. 
 The root is oval in outline, and of a dark or light slate- 
 colour, showing in section an appearance like finely veined 
 marble. It is propagated by setting the tops of the ripe 
 roots in deep holes prepared in the clay, and bringing to 
 mind the celery-beds at home in England. In ten or 
 twelve months the taro is fit to be drawn up, and yields 
 well. Prom one to four pounds is a common weight j not 
 unusually eight, ten, or twelve pounds. I weighed one 
 head without the skin, and it reached twenty-one pounds 
 and a half. The acrid taste of the raw root is removed by 
 cooking, which renders the taro a useful and delicious food, 
 the substitute for bread to the natives, and greatly esteemed 
 by foreigners. As a vegetable, it is served up entire, and, 
 made into paste, forms the chief ingredient in many native 
 puddings. The leaves, when boiled, eat like those of the 
 mercury, and the petiole is little inferior to asparagus. 
 
 Qai or masawe {Dracana termmalis) — ^the ti-tree — 
 costs little care. Its sUght stem, crowned with a tuft of 
 lanceolate leaves, is sometimes seen in rows on the edge 
 of a yam bed. The root weighs from ten to forty pounds, 
 and is used, after being baked, as liquorice, or for sweeten- 
 ing made dishes. 
 
 The banana and plantain are well known, and have been 
 frequently described. The beautiful leaf of the former, 
 when young, becomes the " mackintosh " of Fiji, by being 
 warmed over the fire, and made into water-proof covers for 
 the head. It is also used as a sort of cloth in which to tie 
 up certain kinds of food, in the preparation of which oil 
 has been used. On a remarkably fine specimen of this tree, 
 I counted as many as one hundred and eighty in one bunch of 
 the fruit. The natives cultivate at least thirty varieties, the 
 fruits of which vary in form and size. It is propagated by 
 suckers, four or six of which rise from the roots of the old 
 tree. Beside its use as a simple vegetable and a fruit, it 
 forms a stew with the expressed juice of the cocoa-nut, and 
 
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INDUSTEIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 63 
 
 stuifed with the grated nut makes a pudding. The white 
 residents use it in pies, and procure from it by fermentation 
 a superior vinegar. Dried in balls, it is little inferior to 
 cured figs. This, with the bread-fruit tree, is among the 
 most useful productions of the islands. The fibrous stem 
 has never been used by the natives for cordage. 
 
 Sugar-cane is grown in large quantities, and thrives weU, 
 ripening in twelve or fourteen months. The canes girt 
 from three to seven inches, and their juice appeases both 
 hunger and thirst ; it is also used in cookery. The leaves 
 are largely employed for thatch. 
 
 Considerable care is bestowed in some parts of the islands 
 on the cultivation of the yaqona, {Piper methisticum,) 
 the cava of voyagers. The root, prized for its narcotic 
 properties, and yielding the native grog, is the part most 
 valued, and that which consequently receives the most 
 care. So successfully is this root cultivated, as to be 
 brought sometimes to a great weight. I had one at 
 Somosomo weighing one hundred and forty pounds. 
 
 Another and very important object of agricultural 
 attention in Fiji is the paper mulberry, {Broussonetia,) 
 known to the natives as masi or malo. A malo plantation 
 is like a nursery of young trees, having an average height 
 of ten feet, and a girth of three and a half inches. It sup- 
 phes the people with their principal clothing. 
 
 Other vegetables, of immense value to the native, but 
 yielding their benefit spontaneously, and without adding to 
 his toil, will be noticed in connexion with the parts where 
 they severally most abound. 
 
 The agricultural implements of the Fijians are few and 
 simple ; yet a notice of them may please the curious. 
 
 A tool, lancet-shaped, and about a yard long, made of 
 hard wood, is used in breaking down and clearing away' 
 the brushwood and coarse grass, which, when dry, is burnt. 
 The ground thus cleared is ready for the digging-stick — the 
 plough of Kji. This tool is generally made of a young 
 mangrove tree, not larger or longer than the handle of an 
 ordinary hay-fork. The bark is kept on, except at the end 
 
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64 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 which is used for digging, and which is tapered ofif on one 
 side after the shape of a quill tooth-pick. In digging, this 
 flattened side is kept downwards. When preparing a 
 piece of ground for yams, a number of men are employed, 
 divided into groups of three or four. Each man being 
 furnished with a digging-stick, they drive them into the 
 ground so as to enclose a circle of about two feet in 
 diameter. When, by repeated strokes, the sticks reach the 
 depth of eighteen inches, they are used as levers, and the 
 mass of soil between them is thus loosened and raised. 
 
 Two or three lads follow with short sticks, and break the 
 clods, which are afterwards pulverized by hand, and formed 
 into mounds, in the summits of which the yam-set is placed. 
 Thus the best use is made of the light soil, and the training 
 of the vines faciHtated, which run from mound to mound, until 
 nothing is seen but an expanse of matted verdure. Before this 
 is the case, the land has to be weeded several times; an 
 operation which is accomplished by means of a tool used 
 like a Dutch hoe, the workman squatting so as to bring the 
 handle nearly level with the ground. The blade used 
 formerly to be made of a bone from the back of a turtle, or 
 a plate of tortoise-shell, or the valve of a large oyster, or 
 large kind of pinna. An oval iron blade or toy spades are 
 fast superseding these. 
 
 Among the taro beds of the windward group I saw a 
 large dibble in use, eight feet long, and the lowei? part 
 eighteen inches in circumference at about two feet from 
 the point, to which it tapered. 
 
 A pruning knife was made of a plate of tortoise-shell 
 lashed to the end of a rod ten feet long. This implement 
 was also a mark of rank. But Sheffield blades have long 
 since taken its place, and hatchets, plane-irons, spades, and 
 butchers' knives have produced a great change, and given 
 the present generation a vast superiority over those pre- 
 ceding it, in the facilities thus gained for producing food. 
 
 An annual or triennial change of their planting grounds, 
 with occasional drainage or irrigation, constitute the entire 
 system of tilth throughout the islands. 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 65 
 
 While the men are busy gardening, the women have 
 important work to perform in-doors, a great part of the 
 manufactured produce of Fiji coming from their hands, 
 though receiving some addition from the mechanical skill 
 of the men. In respect of its manufactures, also, Kji has i 
 always had a pre-eminence over other groups ; a fact which | 
 did not escape the observant eye of Captain Cook, who! 
 thus writes about some Kjians whom he saw at Tonga : '< 
 "It appeared to me that the Feejee men whom we now 
 saw were much respected here : they seem to excel the 
 inhabitants of Tongataboo in ingenuity, if we might judge 
 from several specimens of their skiU in workmanship which 
 we saw ; such as clubs and spears, which were carved in a 
 masterly manner, cloth beautifully chequered, variegated 
 mats, earthen pots, and some other articles; all of which 
 had a cast of superiority in their execution." The 
 Captain certainly formed a correct idea of the points 
 wherein the Fijian is superior to his neighbours. In 
 printing cloth he particularly excels ; but very large quan- 
 tities of this article are used in its white state. The 
 process of manufacturing the native cloth, or masi, has 
 peculiar interest, inasmuch as in some parts — New Zealand, 
 for instance — where it was once made, the art is now lost ; 
 and among the Fijians, also, the manufacture must inevi- 
 tably cease, as the demand for the masi declines before* the 
 more durable textures of English looms. 
 
 The bark of the malo tree is taken off in strips as long 
 as possible, and then steeped in water, to facihtate the 
 separation of the epidermis, which is effected by a large 
 volute shell. In this state the masi is kept for some time, 
 although fit for immediate use. A log flattened on the 
 top side is so fixed as to spring a little ; and on this the 
 strips of masi are beaten with an iM, or mallet, about two 
 inches square, and grooved longitudinally on three of its 
 sides. Two lengths of the wet masi are generally beaten 
 together, in order to secure greater strength ; the gluten 
 which they contain being sufficient to keep their fibres 
 united. A two-inch strip can thus be beaten out to the 
 
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66 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 width of a foot and a half j but the length is at the same 
 time reduced. The pieces are neatly lapped together with 
 the starch of the taro, or arrow-root boiled whole, and thus 
 reach a length of many yards. I measured a dresa 
 intended for a King on a festive day, and found its length 
 to be one hundred and eighty yards. The " widths " are also 
 joined by the same means laterally, so as to form pieces of 
 fifteen or thirty feet square; and upon these the ladies exhaust 
 their ornamenting skiU. The middle of the square is printed 
 with a red brown, by the following process. Upon a 
 convex board, several feet long, are arranged parallel, at 
 about a finger-width apart, thin straight strips of bamboo, 
 a quarter of an inch wide : by the side of these, curved 
 pieces, formed of the mid-rib of cocoa-nut leaflets, are 
 arranged. Over the board thus prepared the cloth is laid, 
 and rubbed over with a dye obtained from the laud 
 [Aleurites triloba). The cloth, of course, takes the dye 
 upon those parts which receive pressure, being supported 
 by the sHps beneath, and thus shows the same pattern in 
 the colour employed. A stronger preparation of the same 
 dye, laid on with a sort of brush, is used to divide the 
 square into oblong compartments, with large round or 
 radiated dots in the centre. The kesa, or dye, when good, 
 dries bright. Blank borders, two or three feet wide, are 
 still left on two sides of the square ; and to elaborate the 
 ornamentation of these, so as to excite applause, is the 
 pride of every Fijian lady. There is now an entire change 
 of apparatus. The operator works on a plain board ; the 
 red dye gives place to a jet black; her pattern is now 
 formed by a strip of banana leaf placed on the upper 
 surface of the cloth. Out of the leaf is cut the pattern — 
 not more than an inch long — which she wishes to print 
 upon the border, and holds by her first and middle finger, 
 pressing it down with the thumb. Then taking a soft pad 
 of cloth steeped in the dye in her right hand, she rubs it 
 firmly over the stencil, and a fair, sharp figure is made. 
 The practised fingers of the women move quickly, but it is, 
 after all, a tedious process. When finished, these large 
 
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rNDUSTMAL PRODUCE, ETC. 67 
 
 squares are used as mosquito-curtains, a comfort whicli 
 the Fijian enjoys, but of which his neighbours are ignorant. 
 In the work above described the Lakemba women excel. 
 On the island of Matuku very pretty curtains are made ; 
 but the pattern is large, and covers the entire square, while 
 the spaces between the black lines are filled in with red 
 and yellow. 
 
 On Kandavu a strong kind of masi is made, called liti, 
 which is the work of men, who leave the women to do the 
 garden labour. 
 
 The becoming turban worn by Fijian men is a finely 
 prepared masi of only one thickness, and of a gauze-like 
 appearance. 
 
 Women's dresses — liku — are braided by the women. 
 The bark of the vau, (a kind of hibiscus,) the fibre of a 
 wild root, and some kinds of grass, are used in making the 
 liku, which, while in progress, the women hold by the 
 great toe of the right foot. This dress is a cincture, or 
 broad band of beautiful variegated braid-work, with a 
 fringe from three to ten inches deep. 
 
 A variety of this dress is made from the stem of a 
 parasite, called waloa, which, when in use, is a bright 
 jet black, and very pliable. 
 
 Second in importance to the beating of cloth, is the 
 making of mats. Of these there are many varieties, and the 
 number used is considerable. An inteUigent native, on 
 seeing a mat, can generally tell whence it was brought, 
 each island showing a peculiarity, either in the material 
 used, or the manner in which it is plaited. Beside the 
 rough mat made of the cocoa-nut leaf, the women make 
 floor, sail, sleeping, and nursing mats. Large floor mats 
 are twenty-six by sixteen feet, the square of the plait vary- 
 ing from one to two inches. Ornamental borders are from 
 one braid to six inches wide, and display considerable taste. 
 Shreds of coloured English print or worsted, and white 
 feathers, are often worked in the edges. Sail-mats vary in 
 width from eighteen inches to four feet, and in length from 
 nine to three hundred feet : the usual length is fifteen or 
 F 2 
 
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68 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 twenty feet. The worst plait comes from Eewa, the best 
 from Moala. Bed-mats may be divided into mats for lying 
 on, and soft ones for lying in : these are often eight feet 
 long, by five wide. The mats thus far named are some- 
 times chequered with black. A valuable kind is made at 
 Ono, with a plait from one-eighth to a quarter of an inch 
 in width. The native name of this kind intimates that its 
 use is prohibited to common people. Sometimes a neat 
 angular ornament is wrought into the matting, and one 
 rare kind has a ridge running down the middle of each 
 braid. 
 
 The materials used in the construction of these useful 
 articles, are the leaf of the dwaxi ^andanus, of the j)anda'>iiis 
 odoratissima, and a rush gathered from swamps. 
 
 Closely connected with the above is the art of basket- 
 making. The baskets made of the same materials as the 
 matting, are flat and oblong, presenting an unending 
 variety of pattern. Sometimes double baskets are seen, 
 some covered, and some neatly edged with sinuet. " The 
 wicker-work baskets of Fiji," writes the Eev. W. Lawry, 
 
 FANS AND SUN-SCEEENS. 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODTJCE, ETC, 69 
 
 "are strong, handsome^ and useful, beyond any I have 
 seen at home or abroad." Baskets of this kind are made 
 small, and also exceedingly large. Another branch of the 
 art of braid-work is fan-making. These things, in Rji, are 
 marked by variety, neatness, and utihty. 
 
 The making of nets next demands notice. The women 
 make theirs of the vine of a creeper known as the yaka, 
 which, after sundry steepings and scrapings, is twisted 
 into a strong twine, and then netted. Nets are from three 
 feet to more than three fathoms long, and from eighteen 
 inches to six feet deep. The turtle-fishers make their nets 
 of sinnet j or, when this is not to be had, of the bark of 
 the Jiibiscus. All have the same plan of netting in every 
 respect as that used in England : the needle is the same, 
 and the mesh flat. Shrimping-nets, seines, and turtle-nets, 
 are used all over the group, and are weighted, when 
 necessary, with shells closely strung along the bottom. 
 
 Sinnet is a very valuable production, and many tons of 
 it are made annually. It is composed of the fibre of the 
 cocoa-nut husk, dried by baking, combed out and braided, 
 and has hitherto furnished the Fijian with a universally 
 applied means of fastening, lashing, and wrapping : large 
 quantities of it are used about canoes, the houses of Chiefs, 
 and the temples. The kind used for turtle-nets is pecu- 
 liarly strong. In winding this article, the native love for 
 variety shows itself. There is the plain hank, the varie- 
 gated roll, the double cone, the oval and round balls, and 
 the honey-comb ball. The usual size of sinnet-baUs has 
 been stated ; but this is, at times, exceeded. I measured 
 a roll which was nine feet high and thirteen feet in circum- 
 ference. One double cone of fine sinnet was twelve feet 
 from point to point, and twenty feet in circumference. 
 Sinnet is used in making the best ropes : inferior ones are 
 made of the vau. In size, the cordage ranges from one 
 strand to a cable, and its strength surprises persons familiar 
 with such articles. 
 
 The Fijian is also distinguished from all the South Sea 
 islanders eastward in his potteries, where are produced 
 
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70 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 various utensils of red and brown ware. The drinking 
 vessels are often prettily designed, some being globular, 
 some urn-shaped, others like three or four oranges joined 
 together, the handle springing from each and meeting at 
 the top; others, again, are made in the form of canoes* 
 Earthen arrow-root pans, dye-bowls, and fish-pots, are in 
 great demand. A very neat bowl is made in imitation of 
 the section of a ribbed flower. The greatest call, however, 
 is for cooking-pots. Several of these are found in every 
 house; and as they are not very durable, the demand is 
 brisk. I saw one large pot capable of holding a hogshead, 
 
 PIJIAN POTTEEY. 
 
 and having four apertures, to facilitate its being filled or 
 emptied. Ordinary cooking-vessels contain from five to 
 ten gallons, and their shape seems to have been suggested 
 by the nest of a sort of black bee common in the islands. 
 In the manufacture of their pottery, the Fijians employ red 
 and blue clays tempered with sand : their apparatus con- 
 sists merely of a ring-like cushion, four flat mallets, {tata^ 
 and a round flat stone ; and yet the pots are often made 
 with as true an outline as if they had been turned with a 
 wheel. Lines and figures are traced on the vessels while 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODUCE, ETC. 71 
 
 yet moist ; and after drying a few days, a number of them 
 are placed together, and covered over with very light fuel, 
 such as reeds, nut leaves, grass, etc. : this is set on fire, 
 and by the time it is burnt out, the pots are baked. While 
 yet hot, such as are to be glazed are rubbed over with the 
 resin of a species of pine. They are now fit for the market. 
 Women have the making of pottery entirely in their own 
 hands, and the art, moreover, seems to be confined to the 
 women of sailors and fishermen. 
 
 On Vanua Levu, good salt, but of a sandy colour, is 
 procured by evaporation, and preserved near the fire in 
 baskets made for the purpose. In the same locality small 
 quantities of sugar are boiled. 
 
 Eish is cured by smoking, after which, in some parts, it 
 becomes an article of exchange. 
 
 Many natives find employment in canoe-building. It 
 seems that formerly none but persons of a certain tribe 
 were permitted to do this work ; but now many others are 
 attempting it successfully, and the importance of these 
 artificers in such an archipelago as Fiji may be readily con- 
 ceived. The carpenters of the present day, however, are 
 somewhat inferior to those who preceded them : neither is 
 it difficult to account for this fact ; for they are ill paid, and 
 a vigorous competitor has entered the field, with whom the 
 present race are too dispirited to cope. The Tongans 
 crowd the path of the carpenter, and, as the Chiefs of Piji 
 like to employ them, seem likely to thrust the native 
 mechanic out of place and work. 
 
 Carpenters {matai, literally, "mechanics") constitute a 
 caste, which bears in Fiji the sounding name of " King's 
 carpenters," having Chiefs of their own, for whom and their 
 work they show respect. A poor man whom I once saw on 
 the beach, weeping bitterly as he caressed the prow of a 
 large canoe, proved to be one of this class. The canoe was 
 the master-piece of his Chief, who, soon after its com- 
 pletion, was lost at sea. The sight of the vessel awoke 
 recollections of his master's skiU and untimely end, and he 
 thus publicly honoured the one and lamented the other. 
 
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72 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Near by was another man, who for the same cause silently 
 wept. 
 
 Four classes of canoes are found in Piji : the velovelo, 
 the camakaii, the tabilai, and the drua. AH these have 
 various modifications of the outrigger, {cama,) and are dis- 
 tinguished by pecuKarities in the hulk. The velovelo, or, 
 more properly, the takia, is open throughout its length 
 like a boat, and the spars to which the cama is secured 
 rest on the gunwale. The camakau, as its name imports, 
 has a solid spar for its cama : the hulk has a deck over 
 the middle third of its length, twice its own width, and 
 raised on a deep plank built edgeways on each gunwale. 
 
 Between the edge of this deck 
 and the outrigger aU is open. 
 The projecting ends of the 
 canoe, which are lower than 
 the main-deck or platform, as 
 much as the depth of the 
 plank on which it is raised, 
 are each covered with one sohd 
 triangular piece of wood, hol- 
 lowed underneath, and thick- 
 est at the broad end next the 
 centre deck, to which it thus 
 forms a gradual ascent. The 
 two ridges, formed by the 
 hollowing underneath on the 
 sides of the triangle, are 
 united to the edge of the hulk, so as completely to box 
 it up. The rig of the camakau is the same as that of the 
 double canoe described presently; and from the small 
 resistance this build offers to the water, it is the " clipper" 
 of Fiji, and the vessel described under the name of jtirogue 
 in the Imperial Dictionary. 
 
 The tabilai is a link between the camakau and drua, 
 and is made with the outrigger of either. It is often of 
 great length, several feet at each end being solid wood, cut 
 away something like the hull of a ship sternward, the stern- 
 
 TEANSTERSE SECTION OE 
 CAMAKAU. 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODUCE, ETC. 73 
 
 post of the ship representing the cut-water of the canoe, 
 which, instead of being sharp, presents a square perpen- 
 dicular edge to the water. This is the same at both ends, 
 and is the distinctive of the class. 
 
 The &rua, or double canoe, differs from the rest in 
 having another smaller canoe for its outrigger, and the 
 deck is laid across both. 
 
 When not more than thirty or forty feet long, canoes are 
 often cut out of a single tree, and require comparatively 
 little skill in their construction. When, however, a first- 
 class canoe is to be built, the case is far otherwise, and its 
 creditable completion is a cause of great triumph. 
 
 A keel is laid in two or three pieces carefally scarfed 
 together. Prom this the sides are built up, without ribs, 
 in a number of pieces varying in length from three to 
 twenty feet. The edge of each piece has on the inside a 
 flange ; as the large pieces are worked in, openings of very 
 irregular form are left to be filled in, as suitable pieces may 
 be found. When it is recollected that the edges of the 
 planks are by no means straight, it wiU be seen that 
 considerable skill is required in securing neat joints ; yet 
 the native carpenters effect this with surprising success. 
 After the edges are fitted together, holes of about three- 
 eighths of an inch in diameter are bored a hand-breadth 
 apart in them, having an oblique direction inwards, so as to 
 have their outlet in the flange : the holes in the edge of 
 the opposite board are made to answer these exactly. A 
 white pitch from the bread-fruit tree, prepared with an 
 extract from the cocoa-nut kernel, is spread uniformly on 
 both edges, and over this a strip of fine masi is laid, which 
 is burnt through with a small fire-stick where it covers the 
 holes. The piece or vono is now ready for iixing, which 
 is done by what is commonly but wrongly called 
 "sewing:" the native word better describes the process, 
 and means, " to hind." The vono being lifted to its place, 
 well plaited but not large sinnet is passed through the 
 hole in the top flange, so as to come out through the lower 
 one: the end is then inserted in the sinnet further on, 
 and the sinnet run rapidly through the hole, until eight or 
 
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74 CHAPTEB, IT. 
 
 twelve loose turns are taken: the inserted end is then 
 sought and laid on the round projection formed by the 
 united flanges, and fastened there by drawing one turn of 
 the sinnet tightly over it ; the other turns are then tight- 
 ened, the last but one being made a tie to the last. The 
 spare sinnet is now cut off close, and the operation 
 repeated at the next hole. The bindings, already very 
 strong, have their power increased by fine wedges 
 of hard wood, to the number of six or seven, 
 being driven in opposite directions under the 
 sinnet, whereby the greatest possible pressure is 
 obtained. The ribs seen in canoes are not used 
 , to bring the planks into shape, but are the last 
 'things inserted, and are for securing the deep 
 side-boards described below, and uniting the 
 deck more firmly with the body of the canoe. 
 The outside of the vono is now carefully adzed 
 into form, and the carpenter has often to 
 look closely to find the joint. When the body of the 
 canoe is cleaned off and rubbed down with pumice-stone, 
 the surface is beautifully smooth. Of course no signs of 
 the fastenings are seen outside. This process is not used 
 in fixing the deep planks which support the main deck, or 
 the triangular coverings of the two ends already described. 
 These, as shown in the section, being on the top of the 
 gunwale, and above the water-mark, the sinnet is seen, at 
 regular intervals passing, like a band, over a flat bead 
 which runs the whole length of the canoe, covering the 
 joint and making a neat finish. Into the upper edge of 
 planks, two or three feet deep, fixed along the 
 top of the sides perpendicularly, the cross beams 
 which join on the outrigger are let and lashed 
 down, and over these a deck of light wood is 
 laid. The scuttle holes for baling are left at 
 each comer. The deck also has six holes for- 
 ward, and six aft, through which to work the 
 sculling-oars, used in light winds to help the 
 sail, or when dead calm or foul wind makes 
 the sai^/pf k^gy M/^^Pill liouse or cuddy is 
 
INDUSTRIAL PEOBDCE, ETC. 75 
 
 built amid-shipSj in which boxes or bales are stowed, and 
 on a platform over it persons can lie or sit ; a rack behind 
 it receives guns and spears, and clubs or baskets are hung 
 upon it. The projecting ends of the canoe are beautifully 
 fiiiished at the expense of immense labour, and are some- 
 times thickly covered with white shells {Ovula oviformu). 
 Any aperture inside not filled with the sinnet is tightly 
 cauLfced with cocoa-nut husk, and such as are next the 
 water are flushed up with the white pitch or resin. 
 
 The lines of the two canoes forming the drwa differ 
 considerably. A long bow, slackly strung, would repre- 
 sent the longitudinal section of the outrigger, both ends 
 of which finish in a circle less than the palm of the hand. 
 The keel of the main canoe has not so much curve, and 
 the ends differ. The small end is heart-shaped or circular, 
 and several inches over; the large end is like a great 
 wedge, presenting its sharp perpendicular edge to cut 
 the water. 
 
 Such canoes seldom exceed one hundred feet in length. 
 The following are the dimensions of the largest canoe I 
 know. Its name was Rusa i vanua, "Perished inland," 
 signifying that it wonld be impossible to launch it. 
 
 FEET. 
 
 Extreme length 118 
 
 Length of deck 50 
 
 Width of deck 24 
 
 Length of mast 68 
 
 Length of yards 90 
 
 The measurement of another drua, the Lobi Id Tonga, is 
 as follows : — 
 
 lEET. INCHES. 
 
 Length 99 3 
 
 Length of deck 46 4 
 
 Width of deck 20 3 
 
 Height from keel to housetop 14 
 
 Draught of water 2 6 
 
 Length of mast 62 3 
 
 Length of yards 83 
 
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76 CHAPTEE IT. 
 
 A good canoe in good condition makes very little water, 
 and suck as have been just described would safely convey a 
 hundred persons, and several tons .of goods, over a thousand 
 nules of ocean. 
 
 A queer thing, called idatoka — a raised platform on two 
 logs — and a catamaran made of bamboos, are used in the 
 bays and rivers. 
 
 The well built and excellently designed canoes of the 
 Mjians were for a long time superior to those of any other 
 islanders in the Pacific. Their neighbours, the Friendly 
 Islanders, are more finished carpenters and bolder sailors, 
 and used to build large canoes, but not equal to those of 
 Kji. Though considering the Kjians as their inferiors, 
 yet the Tongans have adopted their canoes, and imitate 
 them even in the make of their sails. This change was in 
 process when Captain Cook first visited Tonga in 1772. 
 The Kjians whom he saw there were probably the com- 
 panions of Tui Hala Fatai, who had returned, a short 
 time before, from Eiji in a canoe built by the people there, 
 leaving in its place his own clumsy and hardly manageable 
 togiahi. A glance at the new canoe convinced the shrewd 
 Chiefs of Tonga that their own naval architecture was sadly 
 at fault. Their togiahi, with its square, upright mast, the 
 spars for stays, projecting like monster horns, the bevelled 
 deck, the loose house, and its broad, flat ends, con- 
 trasted with the smart Kjian craft much as a coal barge 
 with a clipper yacht. The togiahi was forthwith doomed 
 to disuse, and is now seen no more among the fair isles of 
 Tonga. Not the slightest change has been made in the 
 model thus adopted, and which has now been used for 
 more than a century by the best seamen in these regions ; 
 but the Tongans have the praise of executing the several 
 parts with superior care and finish. 
 
 Another branch of Pijian manufacture is seen in their 
 various weapons, to which reference has already been made. 
 Most of the clubs are made in the house, but not aU. The 
 hau loa is preserved just as it comes from the woods, and 
 one side of the waka is formed while the tree is growing, and 
 
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INDUSTEIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 77 
 
 requires attention for several montts. The maia and the 
 dromu are young trees, torn up by the roots, which are cut 
 off nearly close, so as to form a knotty mace. Others are 
 the result of days and weeks of patient toil. The handles 
 of some, and the entire surface of others, are covered with 
 fine and elaborate carving ; a few are inlaid with ivory and 
 shell. A very fine and beautifully plaited braid of white 
 and black is made for wrapping some of the clubs, scarlet 
 feathers being worked in with it. Some few of the handles 
 are cased with a kind of wicker-work. The knob of the small 
 ula is often cut with exact symmetry, and the projections 
 sometimes inlaid with ivory or human teeth. Some clubs 
 are made merely for scenes of amusement, and not for war. 
 
 The variety of spears is very great, and shows the best 
 specimens of native carving, many of the fine open patterns 
 being beautifully executed. 
 
 The bows, which are about seven feet long, are made from 
 the pendent shoots of the mangrove. When the arrows 
 are for killing fish, they have several points, with the barbs 
 cut inwards. A spear is also made on the same principle 
 for the same purpose. 
 
 With the artisans employed in the above manufactures 
 mav be classed those who make pillows — fillets of iron- 
 wood supported on two claw-feet— the makers of breast- 
 plates, rings, combs, necklaces, and other ornaments. 
 
 Fancy oil dishes and yaqona ' bowls, chiefly for the 
 priests, are cut, as well as the cannibal forks, out of very 
 hard wood, and the former in a great variety of forms. I 
 have seen one carved like a duck, another like a turtle. 
 
 PRIEST S BOWL. 
 
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78 CHAPTEE, IV. 
 
 many circular and very flat, with a curiously wrought foot. 
 The large bowl for preparing yaqona is very heavy, 
 and is giving place to that of Tonga, which is lighter and 
 prettier. 
 
 The art of wig-making, in which the Kjian excels and 
 glories, seems to be unknown to the other islanders. The 
 native perruquier imitates to perfection the hair as worn by 
 Chiefs and dandies. The style, however, which he has 
 to copy, is considered admirable in proportion as it becomes 
 more successfully unnatural ; and hence his task is made 
 easier. Some wigs, except as to colour, closely resemble 
 the barristers' wigs of our own civilized courts, and some 
 have a complete set of whiskers and moustaches attached. 
 
 Most of their different employments are followed by the 
 Ejians only occasionally, and as want may make them neces- 
 sary. All — even children — can do something at building, 
 and most at canoe-cutting ; but there are parts of these trades 
 which are only undertaken by skilled workmen. When 
 free from the claims of necessary employment, a man will 
 rub down a large trochus for an armlet, file out a ring for 
 his finger, or scrape into form the teeth of a comb ; and it 
 is thus that such articles are generally made. "While each 
 individual, therefore, seems averse to doing more than 
 is absolutely necessary, yet the people generally show a fair 
 advance in useful arts, and do a considerable amount of 
 work. The entire product, however, yields but httle 
 beyond the daily consumption ; and the people must 
 remain poor until they learn the utility of dividing labour 
 and varying its results, so as to insure an increase of that 
 surplus ia which alone their wealth can consist. 
 
 Until recently the Kjian mechanic had no iron where- 
 with to form his tools, which were, of course, few and 
 simple. The axe or adze was a hard stone ground into 
 precise resemblance to the celt of oui own forefathers, and 
 tied with surprising firmness to a handle formed of a brandi 
 of a tree, having at one end an angle or knee formed by a 
 shoot growing out at that point, the shoot being cut off 
 nearly close. Various modifications of this tool were all 
 
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INDTJSTUIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 79 
 
 the Pijian had with which to hew out his posts and planks, 
 to cut down trees, or make the nicest joints, or, together 
 with shells, to execute most marvellous carving. Pire- 
 sticks and the long spines of echini supplied his horing 
 apparatus. With rats' teeth set in hard wood, he executed 
 his more minute carving or engraving ; and for a rasp or file 
 he still uses the mushroom coral, or the shagreen-like skin 
 of the ray-fish, and pumice-stone for general finishing pur- 
 poses. With no other aids than these, the workman of 
 Kji was able to accomplish feats of joinery and carving — 
 the boast of mechanics provided with all the steel tools and 
 other appliances which art can furnish. Now, however, as 
 it has already been intimated, the good blades and chisels 
 of Shef&eld, and axes from America, and plane-irons, which 
 the natives still prefer to any other tool, since they can fix 
 and use them after the fashion of the old stone-adze, are, 
 with similar articles, fast superseding the primitive imple- 
 ments of Piji. 
 
 The form of the houses in Fiji is so varied, that a 
 description of a building in one of the windward islands 
 would give a very imperfect idea of those to leeward, those 
 of the former being much the better. In one district, a 
 village looks like an assemblage of square wicker baskets ; 
 in another, like so many rustic arbours ; a third seems a 
 collection of oblong hayricks with holes in the sides, while 
 in a fourth these ricks are conical. By one tribe, just 
 enough frame-work is built to receive the covering for the 
 walls and roofs, the inside of the house being an open 
 space. Another tribe introduces long centre posts, posts 
 half as long to receive the wall-plates, and others stiU 
 shorter, as quarterings to strengthen the walls : to these 
 are added tie-beams, to resist the outward pressure of the 
 high-pitched rafters, and along the side is a substantial 
 gallery, on which property is stored. The walls or fences 
 of a house are from four to ten feet high ; and, in some 
 cases, are hidden on the outside by the thatch being 
 extended to the ground, so as to make the transverse sec- 
 tion of the building an equilateral triangle. [3.] The walls 
 
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 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 range in thickness from a single reed to three feet. Those 
 at Lau (windward) have the advantage in. appearance ; 
 those at Ka (leeward) are the warmest. At Lan the walls 
 of Chiefs' houses are three reeds thickj the outer and inner 
 rows of reeds being arranged perpendicularly, and the 
 middle horizontally, so as to regulate the neat sinnet-work 
 
 
 iaifi 
 
 SINNET WOKK OF PEJJCES. 
 
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INDTJSTEIAL PKODUCE, ETC. 
 
 81 
 
 with wHch they are ornamented. At Ea, a covering of 
 grass or leaves is usedj and the fastenings are vines cut 
 from the woods ; but at Lau siimet is used for this pur- 
 pose, and patterns wrought with it upon the reeds in 
 several different colours. A man, master of difficult 
 patterns, is highly valued, and his work certainly produces 
 a beautiful and often artistic effect. Sometimes the reeds 
 within the grass walls are reticulated skilfully with black 
 lines. The door-posts are so finished as to become hteraUy 
 reeded pillars ; but some use the naturally carved stem of 
 the palm-fern instead. Kre-places are sunk a foot below 
 the floor, nearly in the centre of the building, and are 
 surrounded by a curb of hard wood. In a large house, 
 the hearth is twelve feet square, and over it is a frame 
 supporting one or two floors, whereon pots and fuel are 
 placed. [1.] Sometimes an elevation at one end of the 
 dwelling serves as a divan and sleeping place. 
 
 SMght houses are run up in a short time. When at 
 Lakemba, I passed a number of men who had just planted 
 the posts of a house twenty feet long. I was away, engaged 
 with a Tongan Cliief, for about an hour and a half, and on 
 
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 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 my return was amazed to see the house finished, except the 
 completing of the ridge. An ordinary house can be built 
 in a fortnight ; the largest require two or three months, A 
 visitor, speaking of Tanoa's house, says, " It surpasses in 
 magnitude and grandeur anything I have seen in these seas. 
 It is 130 feet long, 42 feet wide, with massive columns in 
 the centre, and strong, curious workmanship in every part." 
 Excellent timber being easily procured, houses from 60 to 
 90 feet long, by 30 feet wide, are bmlt, with a framework 
 which, unless burnt, will last for twenty years. The wood 
 of the bread-fruit tree is seldom used ; vesi, the green-heart 
 of India, iuadua, very hke box-wood, and cevua, bastard 
 sandal-wood, being more durable. 
 
 A peculiarity of the Kjian pillar spoils its appearance. 
 Where the capital is looked for, there is a long neck just wide 
 enough to receive the beam it supports. A pillar two feet 
 in diameter is thus cut away at the top to about six inches. 
 
 Ordinary grass houses have no eaves ; [Z] but there is 
 over the doorway a thick semicircular projection of fern and 
 grass, forming a pent, [a.] Some houses have openings for 
 
 endows. The doorways are generally so low as to compel 
 those who enter to stoop. The answer to my inquiry why 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODUCE, ETC. 83 
 
 they were so, often reminded me of Proverbs xvii. 19. 
 Although the Kjian has no mounted Arab to fear, he has 
 often foes equally subtle, to whom a high doorway would 
 give facility for many a murderous visit. 
 
 Temples, dwelling-houses, sleeping-houses, kitchens, 
 (Lau,) inns, or receiving houses for strangers, {}>ure ni 
 vulagi,) and yam stores, are the buildings of Eiji. 
 
 SLEEPING BUKES. 
 
 Por thatching, long grass, or leaves of the sugar-cane and 
 stone-palm, are used. The latter are folded in rows over a 
 reed, and sewn together, so as to be iised in lengths of four 
 or six feet, and make a very durable covering. The leaves 
 of the sugar-cane are also folded over a reed ; but this is 
 done on the roof, and cannot be removed, as the other may, 
 without injury. The grass or reed thatch is laid on in 
 rather thin tiers, and fastened down by long rods, found 
 ready for use in the mangrove forests, and from ten to 
 twenty feet long, and secured to the rafters by split rattans. 
 Some very good houses are covered first with the cane 
 leaves, and then with the grass, forming a double thatch. 
 Sometimes the eaves are made two feet thick with ferns, 
 
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84 CHAPTEB, IV. 
 
 and have a good effect ; but, when thicker, they look 
 heavy, and, by retaining the wet, soon rot. 
 
 The ridge of superior buildings receives much attention. 
 The ends of the ridge-pole project for a yard or more beyond 
 the thatch, having the extremities blackened, and increasing 
 with a funnel-shape, and decorated with large white shells 
 [Ch/prea ovula). The rest of the ridge is finished as a large 
 roll bound with vines, and on this is fixed a thick, well- 
 twisted grass cable : another similar cable is passed along 
 the under side of the roU, having hung from it a row of large 
 tassels. All foreigners are struck with the tasteful cha- 
 racter of this work, and lament that its materials are not 
 more durable. I have seen several houses in which the 
 upper edge of the eaves was finished with a neat braid. 
 The thatchers, contrary to the statement in the "U. S. 
 Exploring Narrative," always begin at the eaves and work 
 upwards. 
 
 A more animated scene than the thatching of a house in 
 Fiji cannot be conceived. When a suf&cient quantity of 
 material has been collected round the house, the roof of 
 which has been previously covered with a net- work of reeds, 
 from forty to three hundred men and boys assemble, each 
 being satisfied that he is expected to do some work, and 
 each determined to be very noisy in doing it. The workers 
 within pair with those outside, each tying what another lays 
 on. When all have taken their places, and are getting 
 warm, the calls for grass, rods, and lashings, and the 
 answers, all coming from two or three hundred excited 
 voices of aU keys, intermixed with stamping down the 
 thatch, and shrill cries of exultation from every quarter, 
 make a miniature Babel, in which the Kjian — a notorious 
 proficient in nearly every variety of halloo, whoop, and yell 
 — fairly outdoes himself. All that is excellent in material 
 or workmanship in the Chiefs' houses, is seen to perfection 
 and in unsparing profusion in the hure, or temple. ' 
 
 An intelligent voyager observes, "In architecture the 
 Eijians have made no mean progress ; and they are the only 
 people I have seen, among those classed by Europeans as 
 
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INDTJSTEIAL PEODTJCE, ETC. 85 
 
 ' savages/ who manifested a taste for the fine arts ; while, 
 as with the ancient Greeks, this taste was universal."* 
 
 Sailors — an important part of the Pijian community — 
 are found throughout the group ; and not among the men 
 only, for many women are able to discharge the duties of 
 " ordinary seamen." The Levuka and Mbutoni tribes are 
 especially nautical, and, their roving habits inducing irre- 
 giilar practices, their character is not very fair : they are 
 insolent or oflcious, as self-interest may dictate. As much 
 may be said of the fishermen's caste, to which the others 
 are closely allied. Eijians do not make bold sailors, and 
 none have yet taken their canoes beyond the boundaries of 
 their own group. One old man I knew, who freighted his 
 canoe with pots and rrum, sought the help of his god, and 
 sailed away for a land which his fancy, or some equally 
 foolish informant, told him lay to the west of the Exploring 
 Isles, and with which he rejoiced to think he should open a 
 trade. But after an absence of two or three days, Toa-levu 
 (the Great Fowl) returned crest-fallen and disappointed, and 
 his failure was pointed out as a warning to all ambitious 
 navigators. I never heard of but one Fijian Chief who had 
 attempted to steer his canoe to Tonga, though the people 
 of that group, having the wind in their favour, pay yearly 
 visits to Fiji. 
 
 Though deficient in boldness, the native sailors display 
 great sHtl in managing their vessels. When ready for sea, 
 the mast, which is " stepped on deck in a chock," stands 
 erect, except that it is hauled to bend towards the outrigger. 
 It is secured by fore and back stays, the latter taking the 
 place of shrouds : when the sail is hoisted, the halyards also 
 become back-stays : these ropes, as long as the canoe is 
 under sail, may be called her standing rigging, not being 
 loosed in tacking. The halyards are bent on the yard at 
 less than a third of its length from the upper end, and 
 passed over the top of the mast, which has generally a cres- 
 cent form. The great sail is allowed to swing a few feet 
 from the deck, or to lie upon it, until orders are given to get 
 
 * Pickering's " Eaces of Man,'' p. 153. 
 
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86 
 
 CHAPTEE IT. 
 
 under way. The yard is now hoisted hard up to the mast- 
 head ; but, as the length of the yard fi-om the halyards to 
 
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INDtrSTEIAL PEODTJCE, ETC. 87 
 
 the tack is longer than the mast, the latter is slacked off so 
 as to incline to that end of the canoe to which the tack 
 is fixed, thus forming with the lower length of the yard a 
 triangle, of which the line of deck is the base. The ends of 
 the deck-beams on the cama side serve for belaying pins on 
 which a turn of the halyards is taken, the loose ends being 
 passed round the "dog," or belaying pole. The steers- 
 man, holding a long oar, stands nearly on a line with the 
 tack on the far edge of the main-deck, while in the opposite 
 corner is the man who tends the sheet. The sheet is bent 
 on the boom about two-thirds up, and, by giving it a couple 
 of turns on a beam, one man can hold it even in a breeze. 
 Like the felucca of the Mediterranean, the helm is used at 
 either end, and, on tacking, is put up instead of down, that 
 the outrigger may be kept to windward : the wind being 
 brought aft, the tack is carried to the other end, which is 
 thus changed from stern to bow, the mast being slacked 
 back again to suit the change; the helmsman and sheet- 
 holder change places, and the canoe starts on her new tack. 
 Unless the outrigger be kept to the weather side, the canoe 
 must be swamped ; for, so soon as it gets to leeward, the 
 wind drives the sail against the mast, and the cama is 
 forced under water. If the man at the sheet does not slack 
 away promptly, when a gust of wind strikes the sail, the 
 cama is raised into the air, and the canoe capsizes. These 
 craft are easily overturned by carelessness; but, when 
 properly managed, will carry sail in a brisk breeze. The 
 weight of the sail with the force of the wind being imposed 
 on one end, strains the canoe. 
 
 A steer-oar for a large canoe is twenty feet long, with an 
 eight-feet blade sixteen inches wide. Being made of heavy 
 wood, the great difficulty of handling it is eased by a rope 
 which is passed through the top of the blade, and the other 
 end of which is made fast to the middle beam of the deck. 
 " Rudder-bands," too, are attached to the handle of the 
 oar, and carried towards the cama; yet two, and some- 
 times three, men are needed to keep the canoe on her 
 course. Violent blows on the side are often received 
 
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88 CHAyTEE IV. 
 
 from the helnij and I have known them cause a man's 
 death. 
 
 In a cahn, the canoe is propelled by vertical scuUing. 
 Four, six, or eight sculls, according to the size of the canoe, 
 are used. The men who work them throw their weight on 
 the upright oar from side to side, moving together, and 
 raising their feet alternately, so as to give, at a distance, 
 the appearance of walking over the water. 
 
 In smooth weather, canoe-saihng is pleasant enough; 
 but in a sea and heavy wind, the deck incHnes at a most 
 uncomfortable angle to the water. When running with 
 the small end foremost, a beautiful jet of water, ever 
 changing its form, is thrown up in front to the height of a 
 yard ; or, sometimes, the body of the canoe is driven along 
 beneath the surface, and only seen occasionally, — a dark 
 outline in a bed of foam. When this is the case, a 
 landsman is safest sitting stiU, but the native sailors move 
 about with surprising security. 
 
 Canoe-sailing is not silent work. The sail is hoisted and 
 the canoe put about with merry shouts; a brisk inter- 
 change of jest and raillery is kept up while poling over 
 shoal reefs, and the heavier task of sculling is lightened by 
 mutual encouragement to exertion, and loud thanks to the 
 scullers, as each set is relieved at intervals of five or ten 
 minutes. A dead calm is enlivened by playful invitations 
 addressed to the wind most wanted, the slightest breath 
 being greeted with cries of, " Welcome ! welcome on 
 board ! " and when, with full sail, the canoe bounds 
 along, — 
 
 " The merry seameu laugh to see 
 Their fragile bark so lustily 
 !Purrow the green sea-foam." 
 
 If there should be drums on board, their clatter is added to 
 the general noise. The announcement to the helmsman of 
 each approaching wave, with the order to lavi, — ^keep her 
 away, — and the accompanying "one, two, and another to 
 come," by which the measured advance of the waves is 
 counted, with passing comments on their good or ill 
 
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MAST-HEADS AND PILASTEES OF HOUSE ON-DECK OF CANOES. 
 
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INBUSTEIAL PEODTJCE, ETC. 89 
 
 demeanour, keep all alive and all in good humour. If the 
 canoe is sound, nothing but bad weather can spoil the 
 enjoyment of such voyaging. The duties of the ship are 
 not attended to in the perfunctory style of a hired crew, 
 but in just the same spirit as actuates friends on a pleasure- 
 trip, where each feels his own happiness involved in the 
 happiness of all. 
 
 Generally my crews were careful to avoid the dangers of 
 the deep : but sailors are allowed occasional freaks, and 
 mine had theirs. On more trips than one they broke off 
 their course, and, forgetful of the primary object of the 
 voyage, engaged in an absorbing chase after a shark, or 
 sting-ray, or turtle, apparently willing to wreck the canoe, 
 rather than lose the fish. 
 
 The heathen sailors are very superstitious. Certain parts 
 of the ocean, through fear of the spirits of the deep, they 
 pass over in silence, with uncovered heads, and careful that 
 no fragment of food or part of their dress shall fall into the 
 water. The common tropic-bird is the shrine of one of 
 their gods, and the shark of another ; and should the one 
 fly over their heads, or the other swim past, those who 
 wore turbans would doff them, and all utter the word of 
 respect. A shark lying athwart their course is an omen 
 which fills them with fear. A basket of bitter oranges put 
 on a veai canoe is believed to diminish its speed. On one 
 of their canoes it is tahu to eat food in the hold ; on 
 another, in the house-on-deck ; on another, on the plat- 
 form over the house. Canoes have been lost because 
 the crew, instead of exerting themselves in a storm, 
 have quitted their posts to soro to their god, and throw 
 yaqona and whales' teeth at the waves to propitiate 
 them. 
 
 The fishermen, though associated with the sailors, move 
 about still nearer home. They take great quantities of 
 fish ; and the chief work of some is the catching of turtle. 
 The principal fishing- tribes are those of Lasakau and 
 Malaki ; but nearly every influential Chief has a company 
 of fishermen at command. Various means are employed 
 
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90 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 for taking fish, including nets and a sort of weir formed 
 like the creels and crab-pots used along the British coasts, 
 and baited and secured in the same way. Another kind 
 )ias two apertures ; a third contrivance is an intricate fence, 
 either fixed or portable. Stone pens, hooks, and fish- 
 spears, are in use throughout Kji. Some drowsy fish of 
 the shark family are taken by passing a noose over their 
 heads, and a vegetable poison from a climbing glycine is 
 employed to stupify smaller kinds. In some parts the 
 rau is used, which is a fringe formed by winding spKt 
 cocoa-nut leaves round a number of vines, to the length 
 of hundreds or even thousands of feet. This being 
 stretched in a straight line, the canoes to which the ends 
 are attached approach until they meet, thus making a vast 
 enclosure within which the fish are then speared or netted. 
 One kind of net is used in the 'same way. The native 
 seines are like our own, and are well made. 
 
 Turtle-fishers generally act under orders from the Chief 
 of whose establishment they form a part, and often receive 
 presents of food and property on their return from a suc- 
 cessful trip. At times they engage themselves to other 
 people, when it is understood that they are to fish ten 
 times. When they take nothing, they receive no pay- 
 ment ; but each time they bring in one or more turtles, 
 food and property are given them, and the employer must 
 make them a handsome present on the completion of the 
 engagement. For this work nets are used, made of sinnet, 
 and very inferior ones of vau. They should not be less 
 t;han sixty yards long ; the best are two hundred. Sixteen 
 meshes, each seven or eight inches square, give a depth of 
 about ten feet. The floats are of light wood, about two 
 feet long, and five feet apart: pebbles or large trochus 
 sheEs are used to weight the lower edge. This net is 
 carried out on a canoe into deep water, and let down just 
 outside the reef : both ends are next brought close to the 
 reef, or, should there be water enough, a little way upon 
 it : thus there is formed a semi-circular fence, which inter- 
 cepts the turtle on its way back from feeding. If the 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODUCE, ETC. 91 
 
 animal turns from the net, it is frightened back by the 
 fishermen, who shout, strike the water with poles, and 
 stamp furiously on the deck of the canoe, until their prey 
 becomes entangled by its attempts to pass through the net. 
 A plan, not generally known, is practised at night by some 
 of the Malakis. The net is then said to be nursed: that 
 is, several persons, stationed at intervals along the net, 
 which is fully stretched out, hold it gathered up in their 
 arms. The approach of the turtle is then listened for, and 
 the man towards whom it comes drops the net, and the 
 animal is secured. But the most difficult part of the busi- 
 ness — that of getting actual possession — yet remains. 
 The men have to dive and seize their captive in an element 
 where he is more at home than they. The struggle is 
 sometimes violent, and the turtle, if large, requires the 
 exertions of four or five men. The first diver aims to 
 secure the extremity of the fore-fin, it being thought that 
 by depressing the fore-part of its body the turtle is made 
 more eager to ascend : to lay hold of the body-joint of the 
 fin would endanger a man's hand. If their captive is very 
 troublesome, the men try to insert a finger and thumb in 
 the sockets of the eyes, so as to insure a firmer hold. 
 Finding resistance vain, the creature moves upward, and 
 his enemies rise too, glad enough to leave the unnatural 
 element which has been the scene of conflict. On their 
 appearance above water, the men on the canoe help to drag 
 the prize on board, where it is turned on its back, its flat 
 buckler preventing its regaining its natural position. 
 Loud blasts on the conch-shell announce the triumph of 
 the fishermen. 
 
 The heathen fishers of Mbua take with them a con- 
 secrated club, which, when a turtle is caught, is dipped 
 by a priest into the sea, and so held by him that the 
 water may drip off it into the animal's mouth : during 
 this ceremony he ofl'ers prayers, beseeching the god to 
 be mindful of his votaries, and give them a successful 
 season. 
 
 Turtle-fishing is not without danger, and lives are some- 
 
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92 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 times lost in it by deep openings in the reef, or the savage" 
 attacks of the shark. Sometimes the sail of the canoe is 
 made to cast its shadow behind the swimming turtle, which 
 is thus frightened and pursued until exhausted, when it is 
 easily captured. The people on land sometimes take the 
 female when she comes ashore to deposit her eggs. But 
 man is not the turtle's only enemy. Sharks, as well as 
 Aldermen, have a penchant for green fat, and, selecting the 
 finest specimen, surround the harmless creature and tear it 
 in pieces. I have often seen turtles which have been 
 mangled in these attacks. I once weighed a pound and a 
 half of turtle-shell, which was found in a shark's stomach, 
 in fragments so large as to enable me to decide to what 
 part of the buckler they belonged, and to justify the con- 
 clusion that the whole " head " must have weighed between 
 three and four pounds. The entire weight of the turtle 
 could not have been less than two hundred-weight. The 
 head, fins, and most of the body were found in an undi- 
 gested state in this one shark, which paid for its gluttony 
 dearly; for it was found dead. An old fisherman of my 
 acquaintance, whose word I have no reason to doubt, 
 assured me that only four moons previously he took a 
 turtle whole, and weighing about one hundred-weight, 
 from the stomach of a shark, in which receptacle he also 
 found a common parrot. Yet sharks, in these waters, are 
 rarely more than twelve feet in length, and very seldom 
 as large. 
 
 The fishermen of Piji might supply the naturalist with 
 many interesting facts, did not their superstition urge them 
 to avoid, as quickly as possible, the presence of anything 
 extraordinary, believing it to be supernatural, and fearing 
 lest they should be guilty of unpardonable temerity in 
 remaining in its presence. 
 
 After successful fishing, the canoes return in nearly the 
 same order, and with as much noise, as when they come 
 home from war laden with their slain foes. The women 
 meet them with dancing and songs, which, I remember, 
 in one instance they finished by a smart volley of bitter 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 93 
 
 oranges, which the men returned by driving the women 
 from the beach. 
 
 The turtle caught are kept in stone or paled pens. Three 
 or four may be taken in a day; but many days are quite 
 without success. Fifty or a hundred turtle caught in a 
 season, constitute very good fishing. According to Fijian 
 fishermen, the female only yields the tortoise-shell of com- 
 merce. Traders name the thirteen plates which cover the 
 back, " a head." A head of sheU. weighs from one to four 
 pounds; the latter is not common. One or two heads 
 have been taken weighing five pounds ; and one, seven 
 pounds. Fishermen make offerings to their gods, and 
 obtain promise of success before leaving home. Tiuldla- 
 kUa once thought fit to accompany his men. The priestess 
 promised five turtles, and the party set out in high spirits. 
 Some days after, we saw them returning, but in profound si- 
 lence : an unwelcome omen for the poor priestess, who forth- 
 with fied and hid herself in the forest, and thus prevented 
 the enraged King from cooking her instead of a turtle. 
 
 The commercial transactions of the Fijians, though 
 dating far back, have been on a small scale, consisting of a 
 barter trade, which is chiefly in the hands of the Levuka, 
 Mbutoni, and Malaki people, who regard the sea as their 
 home, and are known as " the inhabitants of the water." 
 Although wanderers, they have settlements on Lakemba, 
 Somosomo, Great Fiji, and other places. They exchange 
 pottery for masi, mats, and yams. On one island, the men 
 fish, and the women make pots, for barter with the people 
 on the main. Their mode of exchange is very irregular. 
 The islanders send to inform those on the mainland that 
 they will meet them, on such a day, at the trading-place, — 
 a square near the coast paved for the purpose. The people 
 of the continent bring yams, tare, bread, &c., to exchange 
 for fish. The trade is often left to the women, among 
 whom a few transactions take place quietly, when some 
 misunderstanding arises, causing excited language, and 
 ending in a scuffle. This is the signal for a general 
 
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94 CHAPTBE IV, 
 
 scramble, wken all parties seize on all they can, and run off 
 with their booty amidst the shouts and execrations of the 
 less successful. 
 
 The inland tribes of the Great Eiji take yaqona to the 
 coast, receiving in exchange mats, masi, and fine salt. 
 
 For nearly one hundred years past the Friendly 
 Islanders have traded with Kji. The scarlet feathers of 
 a beautiful paroquet were a leading attraction. These 
 birds abounded in one part of Taviuni, where they were 
 caught by nets, and purchased by the Tongans, who 
 traded with them in exchange for the fine mats of the 
 Samoans. They paid the Kjians for the paroquets with 
 small articles of European manufacture, bowls, and the 
 loan of their women. Iron goods were thus introduced 
 among the Somosomans. The first article of steel owned 
 by them seems to have been the half of a ship-carpenter's 
 draw-knife, ground to an edge at the broken end. This 
 was fixed as an adze, and greatly prized, receiving the 
 name of Fulifuli, after the Chief who brought it to Fiji. 
 One of their first hatchets came through the Tongans, and 
 was named Sitia. This intercourse between the Friendly 
 Islanders and Mbua came to an end in" consequence of 
 the quarrels and bloodshed to which it gave rise. A 
 Tongan canoe — the Ndulu-ko-Kji — ^was appropriated by 
 the natives of Mbua, who had murdered the crew. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Friendly Islands stiU depend on 
 Fiji for their canoes, spars, sail-mats, pottery, and mos- 
 quito curtains. They also consume large quantities of 
 Fijian sinnet and food, bringing in exchange whales' teeth, 
 the same made into necklaces, inlaid clubs, small white 
 cowries, Tonga cloth, axes, and muskets, together with the 
 loan of their canoes and crews, and, too often, their 
 services in war. This kind of intercourse has greatly 
 increased of late years, and its injurious effects on the 
 morals of the Tongans, and the advance of Christianity in 
 Fiji, are incalculable. A plan for so regulating this com- 
 merce, as to secure to the Tongans its advantages, and to 
 the Fijians a protection from its evUs, is yet needed. 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 95 
 
 Commercial intercourse between Europeans and the peo- 
 ple of Fiji was commenced about the year 1806, probably 
 by vessels of the East India Company visiting the north- 
 east part of Vanua Levu to. procure sandal-wood for the 
 Chinese market. The payments in exchange were made 
 with iron hoop, spikes, beads, red paint, and similar trifles. 
 On the failure of sandal-wood, biche-de-mar — the trepang 
 of old books — began to be collected, and the natives were 
 encouraged to preserve the turtle-shell. Traiiic in these 
 articles has been, and is stiU, chiefly in the hands of 
 Americans from the port of Salem. Biche-de-mar, to the 
 value of about 30,000 dollars, is picked annually from the 
 reefs, principally on the north coast of Vanua Levu, and 
 the north-west of Viti Levu. 
 
 Quite recently small lots of arrow-root, cocoa-nut oil, 
 and sawn timber have been taken from the islands. The 
 supply of oil is not likely to be so far in advance of the 
 home demand as to yield any great quantity for exporta- 
 tion, although proper attention and an improved process of 
 manufacture may effect a considerable alteration in this 
 particular. At present the biche-de-mar is the great 
 inducement to speculation. It is yet found in great 
 quantities on the reefs just named, especially on such as 
 have a mixture of sand and coral. There are several kinds, 
 all of the holothuria family. The native name is dri, all 
 kinds of which are occasionally eaten in Fiji. There are 
 six valuable species, of which the black sort is the most 
 esteemed. These molluscs, especially one prickly kind, are 
 unsightly objects, being great slugs from nine inches to a 
 foot in length. They are somewhat hard to the touch, and 
 in drying are reduced two-thirds in size. When cured, 
 they are like pieces of half-baked clay, from two inches to 
 a foot long, of a dull black or dirty grey colour, occa- 
 sionally mixed with sandy red. The section of the solid 
 part looks like light india-rubber. After long soaking in 
 water, the Chinese cooks cut them up, and use them in 
 making rich soups. 
 
 Those who visit these parts for a cargo of biche-de-mar. 
 
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96 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 complain of the tricks played upon them by the natives, 
 forgetting that they themselves have set the example, and 
 that the hard dealings of the islanders may be regarded as 
 retributive. 
 
 Driving a hard bargain is one of the first arts of civiUzed 
 life which the savage acquires, and the records of voyagers 
 show it to be the first taught. Many have noticed that 
 these people, and others in like position, have shown an 
 utter ignorance of the relative value of articles ; and the 
 most amusing instances have come under my own notice of 
 their offering goods in exchange for some desired object, 
 with an utter disregard of any proportion whatever. 
 
 There are some other resources of the inhabitants of Piji 
 which yet demand notice. In addition to the black and 
 brown dyes already mentioned, the natives are acquainted 
 with others of various colours, chiefly of vegetable 
 origin, and the knowledge of which is almost confined to 
 the women. To them, also, is intrusted the management 
 of the pits in which the native bread — madrai — is fer- 
 mented. These pits are round holes three feet deep, 
 thickly lined at the bottom and sides with layers of banana 
 leaves ; and into them are put about two bushels of either 
 taro, kawai, arrow-root, bread-fruit, or bananas stripped of 
 their skins. Inferior kinds of bread are made from the 
 fruit of the mangrove, a large arum, and the stones of the 
 dawa and JcaveJca. The two last, with boro or pulaka 
 bread, are used only in certain districts.- The root of the 
 carrion-flower and some wild nuts are employed to bring the 
 mass into a proper state of fermentation. Banana bread 
 is the best, and, when fit for use, is very like hard milk 
 curds ; but the sour, fetid smell of the pits is most offensive 
 to a European. After the fruit is put in, the pit is 
 covered by turning down over each other the projecting 
 leaves used for lining the sides, and thus keeping out the 
 rain. Large stones are then placed on the top to press all 
 down. When ready for use, a quantity is taken out, 
 mashed, and mixed with either scraped cocoa-nut, papuan 
 apple, or ripe banana, and then folded in leaves in small 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 97 
 
 balls or rolls, when it is either boiled or baked. The 
 unpleasant odour is greatly dissipated by cooking ; but the 
 taste remains slightly, though not unpleasantly, sour. 
 Opinions differ as to the amount of nutriment contained in 
 this food. It is certainly very useftd to the natives, 
 though many of them suffer from its too constant use. 
 The inhabitants of rocky and unproductive islands receive 
 effectual aid, in the form of baskets of native bread, from 
 such as have an over abundant vegetable supply. Destruc- 
 tive gales sometimes sweep over the cultivated grounds, 
 cutting off the ripening fruits, which, however, in their 
 green state are fit for bread-making ; and thus in another 
 way the madrai, which disgusts strangers, serves to keep 
 off famine, otherwise inevitable. 
 
 Beside tlie supplies which are reared under the care of 
 the native agriculture, the Pijian has an exhaustless store 
 of food in the uncultivated districts of the larger islands, 
 where, among the wildest and most prolific luxuriance, he 
 may gather refreshing fruits, or dig valuable esculents. 
 Here he finds a large spontaneous supply of arrow-root, 
 which, with cultivation and improvement in its manufac- 
 ture, he will soon be able to send in large quantities to the 
 home market, so as to compete successfully with the best 
 "West Indian samples. The bulou is a wild root, very like 
 an old potato, and weighing from one to eight pounds. 
 The yaka is a creeper, with a root very like liquorice, and 
 used in the same way. The ti-root and turmeric grow wild, 
 together with two sorts of yams, in abundance. The fruit 
 and bulbous roots of the kaili — a sort of cbmber — are used 
 in times of scarcity. Two kinds of tomato (solanum) are 
 found, and eaten by the natives, boiled with yams, etc. 
 The leaves of the bele are used as greens. The nutmeg 
 grows here unnoticed and unprized. Among other 
 resources open to tlie Fijian, without any trouble but that 
 of gathering, may be mentioned the lagolago and the vutu, 
 • — two kinds of nuts. Concerning the latter, which tastes 
 like our English earth-nut, the natives believe that if the 
 young leaves are split, the husk of the nut will be tender. 
 
 H 
 
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98 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 There are also gathered in plenty the wi, or Brazilian 
 plum, {Spondias duleis,) the wild fig, the kaviJca, or Malay 
 apple, {Eugenia Malaccensis,) and the shaddock. The 
 tomitomi, tarawau, and dawa are different kinds of wild 
 plums. The fruit of the pandamis is also used by the 
 natives. This remarkable tree, with its curious self-grown 
 props or shores, is too familiar to need description. I 
 have met with several instances in which the original root 
 had no longer any connexion with the ground, while the 
 tree was supported on a cluster of its supplementary props. 
 
 PANDANUS. 
 
 The trunk is sometimes used in small buildings, but is chiefly 
 valued for handles of garden-tools. The leaf makes good 
 thatch and rough mats ; the ilower gives scent to oil ; and the 
 fruit is sucked, or strung into orange-coloured necklaces. 
 
 The importance and value of the cocoa-nut is well 
 known, and the uses to which it is put in Fiji are too 
 numerous to detail. A remarkable fact, however, concern- 
 ing this tree, may here be recorded. I am acquainted with 
 
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INDTJSTEIAL PEODTJCE, ETC. 99 
 
 two well authenticated cases of the nut-tree sending out 
 branches. One at Mothe, after reaching a good height, 
 branched off in two directions, and was consequently 
 regarded with great veneration. The second and more 
 remarkable case was found on the island of Ngau. Having 
 grown about twenty-four feet high, a cocoa-nut tree struck 
 out into five branches. A man told me that when he saw 
 it, one of the branches had been blown off in a gale, and 
 lay on the ground. He climbed up the trunk to the point 
 of separation, but feared to ascend the branches lest they 
 should break beneath his weight. He guessed them to be 
 eighteen feet long, and some struck off obhquely for a few 
 feet, and then resumed a perpendicialar direction. The 
 nuts were never gathered. 
 
 A few words are due to the native forest-trees, which 
 yield valuable timber, both hard and soft, in considerable 
 plenty. Among the hard timbers, the vesi — supposed to 
 be the green-heart of India — is important, as giving to 
 the canoes of Eiji their superiority over those of other 
 groups. The wood is very compact and resinous, often 
 resembling good mahogany in colour and curl. My own 
 experience proves it to be little less durable than English 
 oak. . The tree is often four feet in diameter, with a white 
 bark, and small scaly leaves. 
 
 The hau is about the same size as the former, but more 
 valuable for cabinet-work. It is of deep red colour, close 
 and straight grain, sometimes as compact as ebony, and 
 susceptible of a high polish. The Ailo [Calophyllum) — the 
 tanicmu of Tahiti — abounds in Fiji, and often reaches a 
 great size, being a durable wood of pretty grain. The 
 damanu is a fine tree, and its timber fit for every department 
 of carpentry. The natives prize it, on account of its tough- 
 ness, for masts. The nohonoho, or iron wood, [Casuarina,) 
 is used chiefly for clubs. The caukiiru is equally hard, 
 but has a grain more like wainscot. It is used for the 
 upper parts of houses, but soon perishes in the ground. 
 The gayali, I think, is lance-wood. CewM, or bastard 
 sand^-wood, is hard, yellow, of rich silky grain like satin- 
 H 2 
 
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100 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 wood, and full of aromatic oil. The most durable wood I 
 have met with in the islands, is the huah-ua, which is very 
 heavy, and resembles boxwood. "When being wrought, it 
 gives out a peach-like smell, and works quite fresh after 
 having been cut for years. Yasidra/vu and mali are two 
 useful woods, the former like cedar in colour, and the latter 
 a little browner. Bahua and dakua sal/u,mlm are varieties of 
 the Bamaria AmtraUs, or Pinus kauri : a very useful pine, 
 when kept from the wet. The vaivaiis something like the 
 tamarind : its wood is yellowish, and works very smooth ; 
 it is as light as pine, but much more lasting, and is the 
 best of all woods for decks, since it will bear exposure to 
 the sun better than any. The white residents greatly 
 value it. There is also the viriviri, which is very light ; 
 and the rara, little heavier than cork. All the timbers 
 here mentioned I have either used myself, or had them 
 worked under my direction. Twice the number of useful 
 woods growing in Fiji might be added to this short hst. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the natives of this group are 
 furnished with a most abundant and diversified supply of 
 all their wants, a supply which, with the addition of 
 proper care, would yield a considerable and remunerative 
 overplus for commerce. Many valuable products of other 
 countries, greatly in demand at home, are already found 
 ■Bild and uncared for in Kji, or might be introduced with 
 certain success. Arrow-root has already been mentioned. 
 Cotton, of superior quahty, grows without attention, and 
 might be cultivated to a very large extent. Many parts of 
 the group are peculiarly adapted for coffee ; and, through- 
 out, tobacco of the finest kind could be produced. Sugar- 
 canes, with but imperfect attention, already flourish ; and 
 rice might, perhaps, be grown in the broad swampy flats of 
 the larger islands. There is good reason to hope that the 
 enlightened enterprise of a better class of white settlers 
 will, ere long, serve to develope the indigenous resources of 
 Fiji, as well as to introduce, on an important scale, other 
 valuable produce. The perils which have hitherto attended 
 a residence among this people, have, in many of the islands, 
 
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INDUSTRIAL PEODXICE, ETC. 101 
 
 already gone ; and, in the rest, are giving way to the better 
 influences of Christianity. 
 
 This chapter may be fitly closed by an attempt to give a 
 compendious view of the Fijian year, which has no dis- 
 tinctly marked seasons analogous to those of more temperate 
 climes. 
 
 " For here great spring greens all the year. 
 And fruits and blossoms blush in social sweetness 
 On the self-same bough." 
 
 January. — A few early yams dug. Bananas planted. 
 Old bananas plentiful. Ivi-nuts and a few wis come in. 
 
 February. — ^Wis and ivis plentiful. Dawa ripe. 
 "First-fruit" of yams offered. Men fishing for turtle. 
 Women making ivi-bread. Sugar-cane planted. 
 
 March. — Yams ripe, and yam-stores built. Oranges 
 ripe. New leaf of the ivi puts out. Turtle-fishing. Tor- 
 rents of rain, with thunder and lightning. Native name, 
 vulai hotahota, i. e., " the month when leaves are dry." 
 
 April. — ^Turtle-fishing. Yams dug. Oranges, shad- 
 docks, and kavikas ripe. House-building. March and 
 April are the native vulai kelikeU, " digging moons," and, 
 with February, vulai uca, " rainy moons." 
 
 May. — Bmlding. Men out with vau seine for fish. 
 Arrow-root dug and prepared. Tarawaus ripe. Yam- 
 digging ends. New plots cleared, and a few early yams set. 
 
 June. — Oranges, kavikas, wis, and dawas ripe. The 
 kawai and bolous dug. Vau seine in use. 
 
 July. — Patches of ground broken up for yam-beds. 
 June and July are vulai liliwa, " cold moons." 
 
 August. — All hands busily employed planting yams. 
 Now, and in the following month, flowers most plentiful. 
 
 September. — ^Planting yams, kawais, and kumeras. 
 From May tiU now are vulai teitei, " planting moons." 
 
 October. — Kawai planting continued. Bulous set; 
 wild ones dug. Kavikas and bread-fruit plentiful. Ivi in 
 bloom, filling the air with scent of violets. 
 
 November. — ^Large kavikas. Bread-fruit. Wild yams dug. 
 
 December. — Bananas planted. Some bread-fruit. 
 
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CHAPTER T. 
 
 THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The population of the Kji Islands has been stated by some 
 authorities at 300,000 ; and by Commodore Wilkes, of the 
 United States Exploring Expedition, at 133,500, which is 
 nearer the truth, though somewhat too low; 150,000, 1 am 
 convinced, being a truer estimate. My opinion of Wilkes's 
 computation is based upon the following considerations. 
 Several islands, which he states to be uninhabited, have a 
 small population ; and he is wrong in giving sixty-five as 
 the number of inhabited islands, eighty being the real 
 number. Speaking of the larger islands, he correctly 
 remarks that the climate of the mountains is unsnited to 
 the taste and habits of the natives ; but he is not so correct 
 in confining the production of their food to the low grouni 
 The cocoa-nut only is restricted to the coast ; yams, taro, | 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 103 
 
 and other esculents, flourish several hundred feet above 
 sea-level, and the dwellers on the heights purchase fish of 
 those on the coast, or supply its lack with fowls and pork. 
 His deduction therefore does not hold good, that the 
 interior of the large islands is thinly populated ; that there 
 are not, for instance, more than 5,000 inhabitants in the 
 inland districts of Great Eiji. Adding therefore to the 
 above considerations my own personal observation and 
 inquiry, I must regard Wilkes's number as too low, and 
 am persuaded that, whatever necessity had to do originally 
 with the selection of the inland districts, the tribes dwelling 
 there remain now from choice. 
 
 Native tales about the great size and ferocity of the 
 mountaineers, and of their going naked, deserve no credit ; 
 the chief difference between them and the rest of the people 
 being that they bestow less care on their persons, and are 
 more rustic in their manners. On visiting these high- 
 landers, I always found them friendly, nor do I remember 
 that they ever used me unkindly, though their opportunities 
 of doing so were many. 
 
 Both on the coast and inland, the population has dimi- 
 nished, within the last fifty years, probably one third, and 
 in some districts as much as one half. The Chiefs do not 
 migrate, as it is said was formerly the custom with the 
 Hawaiians ; so that every town ruined in war is a proof of a 
 minished population. Another strong evidence is the large 
 quantity of waste ground which was once under cultivation, 
 — more than can be accounted for on the principle of native 
 agriculture. Except where the smaller islands have been 
 entirely depopulated, the larger ones show the clearest signs 
 of decrease in tie number of inhabitants — a decrease which 
 has been very great within the memory of men now living, 
 and the causes of which, beyond doubt, have been war and 
 the murderous customs of heathenism. Those who have 
 thus passed away, if we may judge from their posterity, 
 were, physically, a fine race of men. Some familiarity is 
 needed to picture a Fijian justly ; for strangers cannot look 
 on him without prejudice. They know that the history of 
 
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104 CHAPTER V. 
 
 his race is a scandal to humanity, and their first contact 
 with him is certainly startling. IVesh from highly civilized 
 society, and accustomed to the weU-clad companions of his 
 voyage, the visitor experiences a strange and not easily 
 described feeling, when first he sees a dark, stout, athletic, 
 and almost naked cannibal, the weird influence of whose 
 penetrating glance many have acknowledged. To sensitive 
 minds the Eijian is an object of disgust; but as this feehng 
 arises from his abominable practices only, personal inter- 
 course with him seldom fails to produce at last a more 
 favourable impression. 
 
 The natives of the group are generally above the middle 
 height, well made, and of great variety of figure. They 
 exceed the white race in average stature, but are below the 
 Tongans. Men above six feet are often seen, but rarely so 
 tall as six feet six inches. I know only one reliable case of 
 a Fijian giant. Corpulent persons are not common, but 
 large, powerful, muscular men abound. Their mould is 
 decidedly European, and their lower extremities of the 
 proportion generally found among white people, though 
 sometimes narrower across the loins. Most have broad 
 chests and strong, sinewy arms, and the prevailing stout- 
 ness of Umb and shortness of neck is at once conspicuous. 
 The head is often covered by a mass of black hair, long, 
 frizzled, and bushy, sometimes encroaching on the forehead, 
 and joined by whiskers to a thick, round or pointed beard, 
 to which moustaches are often added. The outline of the 
 face is a good ovalj the mouth large, with white and 
 regular teeth ; the nose well-shaped, with full nostrils, yet 
 distinct from the Negro type ; the eyes are black, quick, 
 and restlessly observant. Dr. Pickering, of the United 
 States Exploring Expedition, observes concerning the Eijian 
 countenance, that it was "often grave and peculiarly im- 
 pressive." * He further remarks, " The profile in general 
 appeared to be as vertical, if not more so, than in the white 
 race ; but this, I find, is not confirmed by the facial angle 
 of the skull, and it may possibly be accounted for by some 
 
 * " Races of Man," p. 147. 
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THE PEOPLE. 105 
 
 difference in the carriage of the head. The Fijian skulls 
 brought home by the Expedition, will not readily be mis- 
 taken for Malayan ; they bear rather the Negro outhne ; 
 but they are much compressed, and differ materially from 
 all other skulls that I have seen." * The peculiar harsh- 
 ness of skin, said to be characteristic of the Papuan race, is 
 more observable among the wilder inland tribes of Fiji, 
 where less attention is paid to the constant bathing and 
 oiling of the body. The complexion of the people varies, 
 but the pure Fijian seems to stand between the black and 
 the copper-coloured races. Dr. Pickering thought that he 
 noticed " a purphsh tinge in the Fijian complexion, par- 
 ticularly when contrasted in the sunlight with green 
 foHage;" and adds, "The epithet of 'purple men' might be 
 given to this race, if that of ' red men ' be retained for the 
 Malayan." t The nearest approach to the Negro is found 
 on the island of Kandavu. An intermixture of the Tongan 
 and Fijian blood has produced a variety called "Tonga- 
 Fiji," some members of which are good-looking ; but the 
 class has not always been distinguished by its admirers 
 from the true Friendly Islanders. 
 
 Thakombau, the Chief known as " King of Fiji," is thus 
 described by an American gentleman : " He is extremely 
 good-looking, being tall, well made, and athletic. He 
 exhibits much intelligence both in his expression of coun- 
 tenance and manners. His features and figure resemble 
 those of a European, and he is graceful and easy in his 
 carriage." This opinion agrees with Captain Erskine's 
 description of the same Chief. He says, " It was impos- 
 sible not to admire the appearance of the Chief : of large, 
 almost gigantic, size, his limbs were beautifully formed and 
 proportioned ; his countenance, with far less of the Negro 
 cast than among the lower orders, agreeable and intelligent ; 
 while his immense head of hair, covered and concealed with 
 
 * " Races of Man," p. 147. 
 
 t Ihid., p. 149. Captain Brskine, of H.M.S. " Havannah," attributes 
 what lie calls " a bluish black tinge," in the colour of the Kjians, to " the 
 quantity of hair on their bodies." 
 
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106 CHAPTEK T. 
 
 gauze, smoke-dried and slightly tinged with, brown, gave 
 him altogether the appearance of an eastern Sultan. No 
 garments confined his magnificent chest and neck, or con- 
 cealed the natural colour of the skin, a clear but decided 
 black ; and in spite of this paucity of attire — the evident 
 wealth which surrounded him showing that it was a matter 
 of choice and not of necessity — he looked ' every inch a 
 King.'" These descriptions will apply to many of the 
 Pijian dignitaries ; and the difference between Chiefs and 
 people is not so marked as in some groups : the lower 
 ranks have neither the sleek skin nor portly mien of their 
 superiors^ yet supply a fair ratio of fine men, supple in 
 joint, strong in limb, and full of activity. 
 
 There is a prevailing opinion, that Albinoes occur more 
 frequently among the Papuan race than elsewhere. My 
 own observation tends somewhat to confirm this, as, during 
 my residence in Eiji, I met with five specimens of this 
 exceptional variety. In three of these, who were adults, 
 the skin had an unnatural appearance ; it was whiter than 
 that of an Englishman who had been exposed to the sun, 
 and smooth and horny to the touch. Through the heat of 
 the sun it was deeply cracked and spotted with large brown 
 freckle-like marks, left by old sun-sores. All these persons 
 suffered much from exposure to the sun, and never, as far as 
 I could learn, became accustomed to the heat. The skin 
 had a slight tinge of red, and hair, together with that of the 
 head, of a flaxen colour. In two cases the iris was blue, 
 and in the third there was a sandy tinge. The eyes were 
 kept half closed, as though unable to bear much light. 
 One man of this class I knew well. He Kved for four years 
 near me, and was industrious and good-tempered, and 
 eventually became a Christian. Natives are sometimes seen 
 with white hands or feet, the effect of disease ; but this 
 blanched appearance never spreads over the body, neither 
 are the parts affected painfully sensitive to the sun's heat. 
 The last Albino that I saw, was a child of two or three 
 weeks old, born of Christian parents who were young and 
 healthy. It was a remarkable object, the skin being much 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 107 
 
 whiter than the generality of English infants, and very 
 clear. A twia case occurred in the village of Na Vavi — a 
 boy and girl, both of whom reached maturity. 
 
 The aspect of the Fijian, considered with reference to his 
 mental character, so far from supporting the decision which 
 would thrust him almost outside of mankind, presents many 
 points of great interest, showing that, if an ordinary amount 
 of attention were bestowed on him, he would take no mean 
 rank in the great human family, to which, hitherto, he has 
 been a disgrace. Dull, barren stupidity forms no part of 
 his character. His feelings are acute, but not lasting ; his 
 emotions easily roused, but transient ; he can love truly, 
 and hate deeply ; he can sympathize with thorough sincerity, 
 and feign with consummate skiU ; his fidelity and loyalty 
 are strong and enduring, while his revenge never dies, but 
 waits to avail itself of circumstances, or of the blackest 
 treachery, to accomplish its purpose. His senses are keen, 
 and so well employed, that he often excels the white man 
 in ordinary things. Tact has been called " ready cash," 
 and of this the native of Piji has a fuU share, enabling him 
 to surmount at once many difficulties, and accomplish many 
 tasks, that would have "fixed" an Englishman. Tools, 
 cord, or packing materials, he finds directly, where the 
 white man would be at a loss for either ; and nature seems 
 to him but a general store for his use, where the article he 
 wants is always within reach. 
 
 In social diplomacy the Fijian is very cautious and clever. 
 That he ever paid a visit merely en passant, is hard to be 
 believed. If no request leaves his lips, he has brought the 
 desire, and only waits for a good chance to present it now, 
 or prepare the way for its favourable reception at some 
 other time. His face and voice are all pleasantness, and he 
 has the rare skill of finding out just the subject on which 
 you most like to talk, or sees at once whether you desire 
 silence. Earely will he fail to read your countenance ; and 
 the case must be urgent indeed, which obhges him to ask a 
 favour when he sees a frown. The more important he feels 
 his business, the more earnestly he protests that he has none 
 
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108 CHAITEE V. 
 
 at all; and the subject uppermost in his thoughts comes 
 last to his Hps, or is not even named ; for he will make a 
 second or even a third visit, rather than risk a failure 
 through precipitancy. He seems to read other men by 
 intuition, especially where selfishness or lust are prominent 
 traits. If it serves his purpose, he vrill study dflBcult and 
 peculiar characters, reserving the results for future use : if, 
 afterwards, he wish to please them, he will know how ; and 
 if to annoy them, it will be done most exactly. 
 
 His sense of hearing is acute, and by a stroke of his nail 
 he judges of the ripeness of fruits, or soundness of various 
 substances. 
 
 Great command of temper, and power to conceal his 
 emotions, are often displayed by the Kjian. Let some one, 
 for instance, bring a valuable present to a Chief from whom 
 he seeks a favour, it will be regarded with chilling indiffer- 
 ence, although it is, of all things, what the dehghted 
 superior most wished to possess. I well recoUect how an 
 old Chief on Lakemba received from my lips an important 
 piece of information, just arrived from Mbau. I com- 
 municated it, under the impression that no one else in his 
 village knew of it. His manner strengthened this behef ; 
 for, by simply naming the source of my report, I secured 
 his ear, and, as I proceeded, his jaw fell, his eyes dilated, 
 the muscles of his face worked strongly, and long before I 
 finished, the old man was a very impersonation of admiring 
 attention. The effect was complete, and I paused at the 
 end of my story, expecting the usual outburst of exclama- 
 tion; but, to my mortification, the old Chief's features 
 relapsed into their wonted placidity, as he coolly repUed, 
 " The messenger of the King had just finished telling us 
 this news as you approached the house." 
 
 The conduct of Absalom towards his brother Amnon is 
 exactly descriptive of what often happens in Fiji : " And Ab- 
 salom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad ; 
 for Absalom hated Amnon." I have often witnessed such 
 outward calmness and apparent indifference, when within— 
 " Slumber'd a whirlwind of the heart's emotions." 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 109 
 
 I was personally acquainted with the chief parties in the fol- 
 lowing tragedy, which serves to illustrate the characteristic 
 just noted. Tui Wainunu, the principal actor, was himself 
 my informant. In the year 1851, his cousin Mbatinamu 
 of Mbua was slain. Shortly after Mbatinamu's death, part 
 of a tribe from the district where he fell visited Tiu 
 "Wainunu with a present of pottery, and were entertained by 
 him for several days. One day, when the party from Na 
 Mbuna were conversing with Tui Wainunu, their Chief, 
 ignorant of their entertainer's connexion with Mbua, 
 mentioned Mbatinamu, saying that he was a fine young 
 Chief. Tui Wainunu's suspicions were at once excited, and 
 he, pretending entire ignorance of the deceased Chief, made 
 several inquiries about him. This had the desired effect. 
 The Mbuna Chief gave Mbatinamu's history, concluding 
 thus : " I struck him to the earth, and was deaf to his 
 entreaties for life." After describing how the corpse lay, 
 he added, " I turned it upon its back, cut out the tongue 
 by the roots, and ate it myself ! And see this cord, by 
 which my chest key is suspended from my neck ; it was 
 braided of the ornamental tufts of hair cut from his head." 
 " And did you eat his tongue ? " calmly asked the listener. 
 " Yes," was the reply, " I killed him, and ate his tongue." 
 The guest was already a dead man in Tui Wainunu's estima- 
 tion ; but the execution of his vengeance was deferred until 
 the eve of the visitor's departure. Then, after midnight, 
 Tui Wainunu called round him a few trusty men, and 
 walked with them to the house where the victims slept. A 
 blow on the wall from the Chiefs heavy club woke the 
 inmates, who, before they could recover from their surprise, 
 were ordered out to die, while the wrathful avenger cried, 
 " And can you fly, that you will escape from me ? " The 
 first who came out was placed in the custody of an attendant. 
 The next fell with his skull smashed, and the next, and the 
 next, until eleven dead or dying men lay at the feet of the 
 executioners. Two women of the party were kept as slaves, 
 and the man who came out first managed to escape in the 
 confusion. All the rest, without the slightest warning. 
 
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110 CHAPTER V. 
 
 were suddenly butchered, and their bodies shared and 
 devoured by the friends of Tui Wainunu, who "spake" to 
 his ill-fated guests " neither good nor bad." 
 
 It is a trite observation, that the character of a people 
 is shown in their proverbs. The proverbs of Kji are 
 plentiful, and in agreement with this rule. Of those which 
 grow out of local or other peculiarities there are many, and 
 some have been already quoted. A great number might be 
 added, did they not entirely lose their force by translation, 
 while some cannot be rendered into another tongue at all. 
 The following proverbial saying is often heard, when the 
 setting sun casts long shadows : — 
 
 " Sa coka na dabea, ; " 
 
 literaEy, " The dabea darts forth." The dabea is a large 
 sea-eel which thrusts out its head from beneath the beds of 
 coral, as the afternoon advances. 
 
 Greediness is reproved in this couplet : — 
 
 " Votavota ho lewa, mata ca : 
 Digitaka ka levu, ka visa ; " 
 
 which may be thus paraphrased : — 
 
 " Toot evil eye esteems your share too small, 
 And prompts you greedily to adm at aU." 
 
 The spirit of another, used to shame a cruel husband> 
 may be represented thus : — 
 
 " what a TaUant man you are, 
 "Who heat your wife, hut dare not go to war ! " 
 
 An ill-regulated tribe, or family badly provided for, is 
 sneered at as, "A mataqali yauta," " A family on whom 
 the dew falls ; " i. e., unprotected. The result of wealth 
 in adding care is thus set forth : — 
 
 " E dua nomu waqa levu, 
 M dua nomu vnsi levu : " 
 
 " If you have a great canoe. 
 Great wUl he your labour too." 
 
 The arithmetical skill of goddesses is an article of Fijian 
 faith, and very high numbers are thus spoken of : — 
 
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THE PEOPLE. Ill 
 
 "Sa wili seva na alewa-Jcalou :" 
 
 " Goddesses, in counting them, would err." Gay attire, 
 and trifling employment, are reproved as follows : — 
 
 "Sa sega na lovo e iuta Una ; " 
 
 " No food is cooked thereby." I once heard a man say 
 jeeringly to another of small means, who was looking 
 wishfully at a costly box, — 
 
 "Sa sarasara na iha viaravu : " 
 
 " Becalmed, and looking at fishes." The proverb supposes 
 a person becalmed, and longing for the fish which sport 
 securely round his canoe. 
 
 "Sa taumada na vana Icai Nalcodo : " 
 
 " The Nakondo people cut the mast first." Improvidence 
 and want of forethought are thus censured, which would 
 prepare the mast before securing the canoe. 
 
 "A medra wai na vosa a tamaia cidroi : " 
 
 "The saucy take reproof hke water," i. e., swallow it 
 without thought. 
 
 "Sa tuba leea na siga o qo:" 
 
 " An unimproved day is not to be counted : " and, — 
 
 "A kena laya sa vakaoqo, sa drau na kena votu : " 
 
 "This is like its bud;" (or calyx;) "its results will appear 
 a hundred-fold." These need no comment, and show that 
 the Kjian can be serious, though he is very rarely so, 
 except about trifles. 
 
 The people have more than average conversational 
 powers, and chattering groups while away the early night 
 by retailing local news or olden legends. In sarcasm, 
 mimicry, jest, and " chaff," they greatly excel, and will 
 keep each other on the broad grin for hours together. A 
 Mr. Hadley, of Wenham, cited by Dr. Pickering, says, 
 " In the course of much experience, the Kjians were the 
 only 'savage people' he had ever met with who could 
 give reasons, and with whom it was possible to hold a 
 connected conversation."* 
 
 * " Races of Man," p. 173. 
 
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112 CHAPTER V. 
 
 That considerable mechanical skill exists among the 
 Fijians will have been already evident, and their cleverness 
 in design is manifest in the carved and stained patterns 
 which they produce. Imitative art' is rarely found, except 
 in rude attempts to represent, on clubs or cloth, men, 
 turtles, fishes, guns, etc. Almost all their lines are straight 
 or zigzag; the curve being scarcely ever found in orna- 
 mental work, except in outlines. 
 
 Of admiring emotion, produced by the contemplation of 
 beauty, these people seem incapable; while they remain 
 unmoved by the wondrous loveliness with which they are 
 everywhere surrounded. 
 
 But the savageism of the Kjian has a more terrible badge, 
 and one whereby he is principally distinguished by all the 
 world, — ^his cruelty is relentless and bloody. That innate 
 depravity which he shares in common with other men, has, 
 in his case, been fostered into peculiar brutality by the 
 character of his religion, and all his early training and 
 associations. Shedding of blood to him is no crime, but 
 a glory. Whoever may be the victim, — whether noble or 
 vulgar, old or young, man, woman, or child, — whether slain 
 in war, or butchered by treachery, — to be somehow an 
 acknowledged murderer is the object of the Fijian's restless 
 ambition. This, however, has more to do with the moral 
 character of the people. 
 
 It wiU. already be manifest, that the Chiefs who have to 
 rule subjects like these, must be shrewd and sagacious 
 men ; and it will be seen more clearly presently, that only 
 such men can insure respect and obedience. 
 
 As the character of a people's mind wiU, of course, reveal 
 itself in their language, a few words are due to that subject 
 here, although its fuller consideration is reserved to a 
 future chapter. All, therefore, that need be mentioned 
 now concerning the Fijian language is, that it is full, 
 vigorous, of considerable internal resources, flexible, and 
 bold. 
 
 Poetry, too, for the reason just named, deserves notice; 
 but of Fijian poetry, strictly so called, there is but little to 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 113 
 
 be said. What has been remarked about the insensibility 
 of the natives to all that is beautiful, will show that a true 
 poet among them is indeed a rara avis. Living amidst 
 an " unimaginable luxuriance of herbage, in a greenhouse- 
 like atmosphere," surrounded with "the fresh flush of 
 vegetable fragrance, calculated to regale the senses, exhi- 
 larate the spirits, and diffuse through the whole soul a 
 strange delirium of buoyant hope and joy," the mind of the 
 Fijian has hitherto seemed utterly unconscious of any 
 inspiration of beauty, and his imagination has grovelled in 
 the most vulgar earthliness. 
 
 The islands named as the most favoured abodes of the 
 muses are Nairai and Thikombia-i-ra : on the former a 
 man, and on the latter a woman, is blessed with the spirit 
 of poesy — a poesy most difficult to define or describe, and 
 which refuses to come within even the widest signification 
 to which that much abused term is often stretched. The 
 account which the poets give of themselves and their 
 productions is amusing. They say that, while asleep, they 
 visit the world of spirits, where a poetic divinity teaches 
 them a poem, while, at the same time, they learn a dance 
 corresponding to the song. The heaven-taught minstrels 
 then return to their mundane home, and communicate the 
 new acquisition to their friends, by whom, on their trading 
 or festive visits, it is spread far and wide through every 
 town and island. No alteration is ever made in the mehe 
 — a word applied indifferently to both song and dance — 
 however the language may differ from the dialect of the 
 people among whom it is introduced : hence the natives are 
 often ignorant of the meaning of many of their most 
 popular songs, and express surprise if any one should 
 expect them to understand them. The privilege of visiting 
 the spirit-world is said by some to be hereditary. But 
 there are many composers in Fiji who lay no claim to this 
 distinction, but whose productions are nevertheless quite 
 equal to those of the more honoured bards. These are 
 generally a detailing of common events, varied with an 
 occasional episode of fiction. Metre and rhyme are both 
 
 I 
 
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114 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 aimed at, but neither secured with invariable success. As 
 far as I have been able to ascertain, the natives judge of 
 the merit of a composition by the uniformity of metre 
 throughout, and the regularity with which each line in a 
 stanza ends with the two same vowels. The great difficulty 
 of such style is partly removed by the plentiful use of 
 expletives, abbreviated or prolonged words, the omission of 
 articles, or other most free poetic licence ; but a stanza of 
 any length is rarely completed without some change of 
 rhyme. Frequently the first of the two vowels is dropped, 
 and the rhyme sustained with the last only. The best 
 specimen I have seen, was the production of a youth under 
 my own care at Tihva : it contained eighteen Hues, each of 
 which, without the use of expletives, ended in the diphthong 
 au. One example from the Fijian Hades is rhymed by a 
 consonant followed with the vowel a; this fails in four 
 lines. Some mehes are in triplets. Fijian poems may be 
 divided into dirges, serenades, wake-songs, war-songs, and 
 hymns for the dance. The last class is most numerous, 
 and includes many that might be termed historic. In 
 legendary songs, the native love for exaggeration is freely 
 indulged. One, for instance, tells of a crab so large that 
 it grasped in its claw a man, who, though between 
 the forceps, received no injury. A bold fellow who 
 climbed the monster's shell was not so fortunate, being 
 dashed to pieces by a back-stroke from one of its 
 limbs. 
 
 The following story, which is the basis of a very popular 
 meke, wiU give some idea of the general character of such 
 compositions, and also illustrate Fijian customs. Nai 
 Thombothombo, it is said, is a land of gods, among whom 
 a few human beings are allowed, by privilege, to reside. 
 One of the gods, Eokoua, gave his sister in marriage to 
 another divinity, named Okova. The match was one of 
 unusual happiness ; but, in confirmation of the adage, " The 
 course of true love never did run smooth," Okova had 
 shortly to mourn the loss of his wife, and that under cir- 
 cumstances of peculiar distress. The lady had accompanied 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 115 
 
 her lord to the reef on a fishing excursion, when she was 
 seized by a vast bird, surpassing the Eok of the Arabian 
 tale, and carried away under its wing. The bird which 
 thus took Tutuwathiwathi, is known to some as Nga-ni- 
 vatu, "Duck of the rock," and to others as Ngutulei. 
 Okova hastened, in an agony of distress, to his brother- 
 in-law Eokoua, and, presenting a root of yaqona, 
 besought his assistance. They set off in a large canoe in 
 pursuit of the lady, and, on their way, came to an island 
 inhabited by goddesses, where, says the song, "there 
 existed no man, but they while away their time in sports." 
 Eokoua thought to make this their journey's end, saying 
 to Okova, " Let us not sail further in search of Tutawathi- 
 wathi : here is a land of superior ladies, and abounding in 
 precious cowries." But these had no charms for the faith- 
 ful and disconsolate husband, who replied, " Nay, Eokoua, 
 not so; let us seek Tutuwathiwathi only." Arriving at 
 the Yasawas, the brothers inquired where the Duck-of-the- 
 rock could be found, and were directed to Sawailau, but 
 did not find the bird in its cave. On looking round, they 
 perceived one of Tutuwathiwathi's little fingers, which 
 Okova took as a precious relic, rightly concluding that his 
 wife had been devoured. Having rested awhile, the two 
 gods saw the devourer approaching ; " for his fog-like shade 
 shut out the face of the sun." In his beak he carried five 
 large turtles, and in his talons ten porpoises, wliich, on 
 reaching the cave, he began to eat, without regarding the 
 intruders. Eokoua proposed to spear the monster, but 
 Okova entreated him to pause while he prayed to three 
 other gods to aid them by causing the wind to blow. The 
 prayer was heard, and a wind blowing into the cave spread 
 out the bird's tail : Eokoua seized the opportunity, and 
 struck his spear through its vitals. The spear, though 
 very long, was entirely hidden in the body of the bird. It 
 was now proposed to make a new sail of one of the wing- 
 feathers ; but as its weight would endanger the canoe, a 
 smaller feather was selected, by means of which they sailed 
 safely home. Before starting, however, they cast the dead 
 
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116 CHAPTBE T. 
 
 bird into the sea, thereby causing such a surge as to 
 "flood the foundation of the sky." 
 
 This is given as a fair specimen of a Fijian mehe of the 
 common kind. Many more might be cited, were it 
 necessary; but only such will be brought forward as are 
 strikingly illustrative of style, or of the rise of a better 
 state of things among the people. 
 
 A sort of dialogue or antiphony is common in the 
 melees; but one in regular triplets is not usual. The 
 foUowiug is a good example : — 
 
 MATA. — "Ai tuhutuku ka muri wailala, 
 Muria mai na tubu levu lala, 
 Vakavuravura. e mata ni darava" 
 
 DOMO MAI lOMA. — " Yurd ca oqori, se vura \ 
 Lalaqila sa yadra cala 
 Caho dali, Keitou vakatama." 
 
 MATA. — "Na Fiii-levUj ka sa samu Idla, 
 Sa dravutaki na kena tamata. 
 Me toil, se ki tubu levu lata." 
 Dulena. 
 " Ka vuki na hosulu, ka yau 
 Na Dilolevu ka vakatautau. 
 Me qorica toka ko Tuicakau, 
 Ka hara ouru loloma koi au ; 
 Mo curu mai ko Adi kea Bau, 
 Na rerega ko solia vei au, 
 Qoqoli sili a lewa ni Lasakwu, 
 Bogi mai ko ligoligod au" 
 
 In the above, a Maia or herald is supposed to proclaim an 
 of&cial message, when "a voice from within" inquires as 
 to its purport, to which he replies by announcing some 
 disastrous occurrences on Viti Levu. The dulena, which 
 is found in many mekes, is a sort of epode, rarely having 
 any reference whatever to the preceding subject, but 
 being generally, as in the present instance, the vehicle of 
 indelicate allusions, in which the point and beauty of the 
 song are thought to consist. Hence when a native yields 
 to the purer influence of Christianity, he bids farewell to 
 the nocturnal dance j and a knowledge of the above fact 
 will enable those to form a better judgment, who have 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 117 
 
 condemned the practice of tte Missionaries in discomir 
 tenancing the native dances. 
 
 Some few of the mekes rhyme fairly throughout, and 
 preserve a uniform measure. This, however, is rare. The 
 lines are sometimes, though not often, iambic; in other 
 instances, trochaic, frequently with a remaining syllable. 
 The anapaest and dactyl are sometimes introduced. 
 
 The subjoined is a literal translation of a native poem 
 on the Sepulture and Eesurrection of our Lord, and will 
 serve as an example of a more elevated style of Kjian 
 poetry : — 
 
 " The Saviour of mankind has expired ; 
 And the gloom of an eclipse covers the world. 
 The Sun is ashamed, and ashamed is the Moon ! 
 Joseph carried away the body. 
 And buried it in a new tomb. 
 The world's atonement buried lies : 
 Three nights it lay in the grave, 
 And the inhabitants of Judaea rejoiced I 
 Then of the angels there came two : 
 The faces of these two flamed like fire. 
 And the children of war fell down as dead. 
 They two opened the sepulclire of stone. 
 And the Redeemer rose again from the dead. 
 The linen lay folded in its place. 
 I stamp underfoot the tooth of the grave ! 
 And where now, Death, is thy might ? 
 Take to thyself thy envenomed sting : 
 I pledge a wide-spread exemption. 
 Shout triumphantly, sons of the earth ; 
 For feeble now is the tooth of the law 1 " 
 
 CHOEtJS. — " Suvaia suva" 
 
 In chanting, the chorus is repeated at the end of each 
 line. The love of the natives for their poetry amounts to 
 a passion. They assemble nightly for recitation exercises, 
 and enliven their daily tasks by frequent snatches of songs, 
 sung to a sort of plaintive chant, limited to a few notes, 
 and always in a major key. Some have thought it to 
 resemble the singing in a Jewish synagogue. 
 
 In detached fragments, frequently and often appropriately 
 introduced, the poetry of Fiji is certainly shown to the 
 greatest advantage. Indeed, there is no lack of poetic 
 
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118 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 phraseology in the language, and all but the professed poets 
 make use of it. Death is often spoken of as a sleep, and 
 the same figure is used with reference to fluids in a 
 congealed state. Dying is described by the same terms 
 as the sunset. A swearer is said to be " armed with 
 teeth," and ignorance is "the night of the mind." The 
 native describes the furling of a sail in the same language 
 as the bird folding its wings for rest ; and the word which 
 expresses "modesty" {lumaluma) suggests the softened, 
 retiring light of evening. 
 
 Epigrammatic couplets are abundant in Kji, and some 
 have already been given. One or two more may be added. 
 The first is made for confederates in sin : — 
 
 " iko ko tagi ; " Tou must cry ; 
 
 Oi au lean oaki." And I '11 deny." 
 
 The next speaks for itself : — 
 
 " Turaga o qo e dauvuvu, 
 Mai baria na vatu ka tu^ 
 
 " This Chief is jealous : let him nibble a stone." Another 
 sets forth the fame of the Yiwa people for propagating 
 a report : — 
 
 " Fukutuku e rogo malna ; 
 Bogo ki Yiwa eacavakaluka." 
 
 " Reports go slowly ; but, on reaching Yiwa, spread like 
 fire." A man's claim, on his friend is thus put : — 
 
 " Noqui tau, " My friend, 
 
 Solia noqu yau." Give me some property." 
 
 With reference to children, the jingling question is asked 
 and answered, — 
 
 "Vcicei? "Lite whom? 
 
 Tfd lei." Like Ms father." 
 
 The people often force their words into a sort of 
 rhyming correspondence. For example : — 
 
 " Manini sautanini." " A miser will tremble." 
 " Malaa marusa" " Delay is ruin." 
 
 The material for a higher class of poetry evidently exists 
 both in the Kjian mind and language; and there can be no 
 doubt that as the former becomes refined, so will the latter 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 119 
 
 be exalted by means of Christianity. As the spirit of the 
 Fijian escapes from the fetters of a most tyrannous super- 
 stition, and his imagination is no longer defiled by un- 
 checked appetite, or dwarfed by selfishness, or darkened by 
 cruelty ; as his heart yields to the softening and hallowing 
 power of the Gospel, a purer passion and loftier sentiment 
 will find utterance in higher and holier strains; God's 
 works of beauty shall no longer appeal in vain for a tribute 
 of loving wonder ; a great and widening feeling of brother- 
 hood shall kindle a strange glow in the heart, which, like 
 some harp that has long been cast aside, shall, strung with 
 new and grander chords, give forth music most excellent. 
 The Christian mehe already quoted may be referred to as, 
 at least, a promise and earnest of that better poetry which 
 the Fijian will have to number among the abundant bless- 
 ings brought to him by the religion of Jesus. 
 
 The transition is easy from this point to the moral aspect 
 of the people of Fiji. In these islands, the theory of those 
 who teach the innate perfectibility of man — an improve- 
 ment ever developing itself with all the certainty of a fixed 
 law — has had a thorough test, resulting in most signal 
 failure. The morality of the heathen has been a pet sub- 
 ject with a certain class ; but experience teaches that the 
 morality of which he often makes an imposing show, is 
 negatived by the principle of evil within him. Every law 
 of the Second Table is, more or less, acknowledged ; and 
 every one is habitually and flagrantly broken. The move- 
 ment apparent in the moral history of Fiji has been steadily 
 and uniformly from bad to worse. Old men speak of the 
 atrocities of recent times as altogether new, and far 
 surpassing the deeds of cruelty which they witnessed fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 Pride and covetousness exercise a joint tyranny over the 
 native mind. The Fijian is proud of his person. If he 
 can add a clean masi to a weU-oiled body and a bushy 
 head of hair, his eye, his step, his every attitude is proud. 
 Conversing one day with an old Somosomo priest, I men- 
 tioned the destitute condition of some of the natives of the 
 
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120 CHAPTER V. 
 
 New Hebrides, adding that they thought themselves veiy 
 wise, and had many gods. The priest could not conceal 
 his displeasure at the latter part of my remark. "Not 
 possessed of mad, and pretend to have gods \" he muttered 
 repeatedly with great contempt, evidently thinking that 
 the few yards of masi round his own loins gave him an 
 immense superiority over those poor creatures, whose 
 presumption seemed so great in pretending to have any 
 gods ! 
 
 An amusing case occurred near my house. A heathen 
 woman complained of being subject to the solicitations of 
 some god, who was always standing near to entice her to 
 him. Her husband appealed to me, either to drive away 
 the god or his wife'^s delusion. The Rev. John Hunt was 
 staying with me at the time, and we went together to the 
 dwelling of the woman, he armed with a large dose of 
 Epsom salts, and I with a bottle of spirits of hartshorn. 
 On our arrival, we found the house filled with people, and 
 the woman on her back in the midst, shouting lustily, 
 " Let me alone, that I may return \" The excitement was 
 very great ; but the shouting was considerably checked by 
 the sudden application of the hartshorn to her nose. 
 When a light was brought, we discovered that our patient 
 was by no means a Venus, which led Mr. Hunt to observe, 
 with dry gravity, " Truly she is a beauty : what a fancy 
 the god must have who can desire her!" A burst of 
 laughter from the spectators, in which the husband out- 
 laughed the whole, followed this remark. The treatment 
 was most successful. The woman's pride was so stung, 
 that she at once sat up, assuring us that the god had gone 
 away, and that she needed no more medicine. 
 
 The Fijian is very proud of his country. Geographical 
 truths are unwelcome alike to his ears and his eyes. He 
 looks with pleasure on a globe, as a representation of the 
 world, untU directed to contrast Fiji with Asia or America, 
 when his joy ceases, and he acknowledges, with a forced smile, 
 " Our land is not larger than the dung of a fly j" but, on 
 rejoining his comrades, he pronounces the globe a " lying 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 121 
 
 ball." The process by wbicb a savage has his lofty views 
 of his own country humbled gives him pain, which a feeling 
 mind cannot witness without sharing. There is a danger, 
 too, of the assurance and energy springing from his falsely 
 conceived dignity giving way to listlessness and dis- 
 couragement, as the pleasing error departs. Many, how- 
 ever, struggle against this feeling. They listen to the 
 reports of foreigners about their own countries, and, know- 
 ing that on such a subject they could not speak the truth, 
 comfort themselves by believing that the white man is, of 
 course, telling lies. They repeat a common saying, — " The 
 lie of a far away path," — and hope the best for Eiji. 
 
 It will not, therefore, excite surprise that a travelled 
 Fijian commands little respect from his countrymen. His 
 superior knowledge makes him offensive to his Chiefs, and 
 irksome to his equals. A Eewa man who had been to the 
 United States, was ordered by his Chiefs to say whether 
 the country of the white man was better than Piji, and in 
 what respects. He begged them to excuse him from 
 speaking on that subject, but without avail. He had not 
 gone far in telling the truth, when one cried out, " He is 
 a prating fellow;" another, "He is impudent;" some 
 said, " Kill him ! It is natural that a foreigner should thus 
 speak, but unpardonable in a Fijian." The luckless tra- 
 veller, finding his opinions so little relished, made a hasty 
 retreat, leaving his enraged betters to cool down at leisure, 
 — a process considerably hastened by his absence. 
 
 Anything like a slight deeply offends a native, and is 
 not soon forgotten. Crying is a favourite method of giving 
 utterance to wounded pride. If the suffering individud 
 is a woman, she will sit down, — the more public the place 
 the better, — she will sigh, sob, whine, until she gets a 
 good start, when she will trust to the strength of her lungs 
 to let every one within hearing know that one of their 
 species is injured. A reflection on a woman^'s character, 
 her rank, her child, her domestic qualifications, or any one 
 of a hundred other things, gives sufficient occasion for a 
 wearisome cry. Nor is this demonstration restricted to 
 
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122 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 the sex: men adopt it also. I once saw four villages 
 roused, and many of the inhabitants under arms, in con- 
 sequence of a man crying in this style : " War ! war ! 
 Will no onQ kiU me, that I may join the shade of my 
 father ? War ! war !" This was the cry which, one clear 
 day, sounded with singular distinctness through the air, 
 and drew many beside myself to the top of a hill, where we 
 found a little Mata goaded to desperation, because his 
 friend, without consulting him, had cut several yards 
 from some native cloth which was their joint property. 
 To be treated so rudely made the little man loathe life ; 
 and hence the alarm. A native of Mbua put together the 
 frame of a house, and then applied to his friends, in due 
 form, for help to thatch it. They readily assented; but 
 in the course of the conversation which ensued, a remark 
 was made that touched the pride of the applicant, who 
 angrily resolved to make the unfinished house a monument 
 of his high stomach, by leaving it to rot; as it actually 
 did, in front of my own dwelling. 
 
 Few things go more against a native's nature than to be 
 betrayed into a manifestation of anger. On the restraint 
 and concealment of passion he greatly prides himself, and 
 forms his judgment of strangers by their self-control in this 
 particular. When the hidden flame bursts forth, the trans- 
 ition is sudden from mirth to demon-like anger. Some- 
 times they are surprised into wrath, or vexed beyond 
 endurance; when they throw off all restraint, and give 
 themselves up to passion. The rage of a civilized man, 
 in comparison with what then follows, is like the tossings 
 of a restless babe. A savage fuUy developed — ^physically 
 and morally — is exhibited. The forehead is suddenly 
 filled with wrinkles; the large nostrils distend and smoke; 
 the staring eye-balls grow red, and gleam with terrible 
 flashings; the mouth is stretched into a murderous and 
 disdainful grin ; the whole body quivers with excitement ; 
 every muscle is strained, and the clenched fist seems eager 
 to bathe itself in the blood of him who has roused this 
 demon of fury. When anger is kept continually under 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 123 
 
 curb, it frequently results in suUenness. Pride and anger 
 combined often lead to self-destruction. A Chief on Thithia 
 was addressed disrespectfully by a younger brother : rather 
 than live to have the insult made the topic of common 
 talk, he loaded his musket, placed the muzzle at his breast, 
 and, pushing the trigger with his toe, shot himself through 
 the heart. I knew a very similar case on Vanua Levu. 
 But the most common method of suicide in Fiji is by 
 jumping over a precipice. This is, among the women, the 
 fashionable way of destroying themselves ; but they some- 
 times resort to the rope. Of deadly poisons they are 
 ignorant, and drowning would be a difiicult thing; for, 
 from infancy, they learn to be almost as much at home 
 in the water as on dry land. 
 
 Boasting generally attends upon pride, and in Fiji 
 reaches to a very high growth. As among more civUized 
 people, pride of pedigree is largely indulged ; and should a 
 native imagine that you are ignorant of his real origin, he 
 win take care to fix it high enough, and support his pre- 
 tensions by affecting to treat you as his inferior. Toki, a 
 Chief of Kaviravi, used to speak of himself as the offspring 
 of a turtle, regarding all other Chiefs as the progeny of 
 inferior fishes. The ruler of a few little islands finds no 
 difficulty in exalting himself above European Monarchs, 
 and designates any of their subjects who may live within 
 his domain, as " his animals." It is a very rare and 
 difficult thing for a Fijian to give an impartial account of 
 any transaction in which he took part, the most trifling 
 incident being always greatly magnified. Had not this 
 been natural, yet would the natives have learned to brag 
 from the example of their gods, who take advantage of 
 their visits to earth to boast of their mighty deeds. The 
 Fijian language supplies a smart jest against these self- 
 trumpeters, in the onomato-poetic name of their parrot, — 
 haka ; hence they accost the boasting egotist : " Ah ! you 
 are like the kaka; you only speak to shout your own 
 name." 
 
 Where there is habitual boasting, there must be occa- 
 
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124 CHAPTER V. 
 
 sional lying. Among the Fijians the propensity to lie is so 
 strong, that they seem to have no wish to deny its exist- 
 ence, or very little shame when convicted of a falsehood. 
 Ordinary lies are told undisguised, but, should it be neces- 
 sary, a lie is presented with every appearance of truth. 
 Adroitness in lying is attained by the constant use made of 
 it to conceal the schemes and plots of the Chiefs, to whom 
 a ready and clever liar is a valuable acquisition. The uni- 
 versal existence of this habit is so thoroughly taken for 
 granted, that it is common to hear, after the most ordinary 
 statement, the rejoinder, "That's a lie," or something to 
 the same effect, at which the accused person does not think 
 of taking offence. Anything marvellous, on the other hand, 
 meets with ready credence. Walking with a shrewd old 
 native for my guide, on Vanua Levu, he directed my atten- 
 tion to some stones at the side of the path : " These," said 
 he, " mark the place where a giant was slain while I was a 
 little boy. This stone marks where his head lay, that 
 where his knees, and these where his feet reached." 
 Measuring the distance with my walking-staff, I found it 
 twenty-five feet six inches ! "Well done, Kji !" I shouted. 
 The old man was startled at myincreduhty; for he evidently 
 beheved the tale. Natives have often told me lies, evi- 
 dently without any iU-will, and when it would have been 
 far more to their advantage to have spoken the truth. 
 The Kjians had as agreeable companions those who are 
 skilful in making tales, but, under some circumstances, 
 strongly condemn the practice of falsehood. As " shocking- 
 accident-makers," these people would greatly excel; they 
 could supply every variety without limitation, and the most 
 tragic and mournful without compunction. " AKjian truth" 
 has been regarded as a synonym for a he, and foreigners, 
 wishing to be rightly informed, caution the native not to 
 speak "after the fashion of Rji," a reflection which he 
 turns to his own advantage when brought before the 
 stranger for some misdemeanour, by assuring him that his 
 accusers speak " after the fashion of Kjians." On matters 
 most Hed about by civilized people, the native is the readiest 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 125 
 
 to speak tlie tmtli. Thus, when convicted of some offence, 
 he rarely attempts to deny it, but will generally confess all 
 to any one he esteems. Upon the whole, I am disposed to 
 attribute the remarkable prevalence of falsehood to frivolous 
 mdifierence, and the universal tendency of the people to 
 pry into each other's affairs. This habitual concealment or 
 disguise of the truth presents a great difficulty to the 
 reforming labours of the Missionary, causing him some- 
 times the bitterest disappointment. After the actual un- 
 truth of the lips is laid aside, the principle of misrepre- 
 sentation survives in the heart, and often leads to prevari- 
 cation, or such a modif3dng of the truth as to make it seem 
 other than it is. The following incident shows that lying, 
 per se, is condemned and considered disreputable. A white 
 man, notorious for falsehood, had displeased a powerful 
 Chief, and wrote asking me to intercede for him. I did 
 so ; when the Chief dismissed the case briefly, saying, 
 
 " Tell that no one hates a foreigner ; but tell liim 
 
 that every one hates a liar ! " 
 
 The Fijian is a great adept in acting as well as telling an 
 untruth. The expectation of an order to set about some 
 difficult job, often makes a man wear his arm in a sling : 
 another, while seeming to work with fearful exertion, is all 
 the time careful not to strain a single muscle ; and the 
 appearance of seeking their neighbour's benefit, while intent 
 only on their own, is shown continually. It has already 
 been seen that the Fijian can be cruelly deceitful. Here 
 is an instance in which foreigners were concerned. Four 
 seamen left Fotuna for Fiji in a canoe less than thirty feet 
 in length. They sighted land after being one night at sea, 
 and, in a few hours, were in communication with the natives 
 of Thikombia-i-ra. One of the sailors, having formerly 
 lived in the group, knew a little of the language, and went 
 ashore to ask where they were. A native, who had adjusted 
 his masi in the style of a lotu dress, said, " This is Somo- 
 somo ; we are Christians, and I am Teacher in this place." 
 This was pleasant news to the inquirer ; but, on looking 
 round, he saw the wreck of a boat on the beach, and on 
 
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126 CHAPTER T. 
 
 one of the natives a pea-jacket whicli had belonged to a 
 white man who had miserably perished by the hands of 
 the savages. Though his suspicions were thus aroused, the 
 sailor preserved his self-command, and very composedly 
 replied, "This is good; this is the land I seek: I will 
 return and bring my companions on shore." Directly on 
 reaching the canoe, he announced their danger to his com- 
 rades, and the sail was immediately hoisted. A native who 
 had laid hold on the end of the canoe was frightened off, 
 by having a rusty musket presented at him. Those on 
 shore, seeing their prey likely to escape, gave a loud shout, 
 when many more rushed out from their ambush, and a 
 shower of bullets followed the canoe. Several passed 
 through the sail ; but as the savages fired high, the httle 
 party escaped uninjured, and one of them afterwards related 
 the circumstances to me. 
 
 Here is another true tale of Fijian vengeance and deceit. 
 NaKla, a late Chief of Lasakau, evaded the sentence of 
 death for three years by keeping himself a close prisoner on 
 the island of Viwa. At the close of this term, a recon- 
 ciliation having been effected, and his enemies professing a 
 sincere affection for him, the exile ventured to return to 
 Mbau, where his restored friends lived, and passed a com- 
 fortable day with them. Ngavindi, his chief foe, was said 
 to be sick, yet spent a little time in Nalila's company. On 
 the second night, as they and several of their friends sat 
 socially round the yaqona bowl, the report of a musket 
 was heard, and Nalila fell. Ngavindi sprang on his feet 
 to finish the deed with his club, when Nahla^s father, hoary 
 with age, begged him to show mercy, but only drew to 
 himself the fury of the Chief, who, with one fierce blow of 
 his club, struck the old man to the earth a corpse. The 
 heart, liver, and tongue of NaUla were quickly cub away 
 and devoured, and the mutilated body given up to the 
 tears of the widow. 
 
 Covetousness, begetting envy, theft, and ingratitude, and 
 leading to the blackest crimes, is strong in the Kjian. 
 Prompted thereby, the natives have murdered white traders, 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 127 
 
 to gain property of small value. The known prevalence of 
 the same vice has caused the enactment of stringent regu- 
 lations among the people themselves, such, for instance, as 
 the tabu kalawatha. This means, to stride over, and, by 
 accommodation, to pass by, as a canoe in sailing by a town. 
 If the town is one to which those on the canoe are subject, 
 it is expected that they will stop and report their errand : 
 should they neglect this, they are regarded as smugglers, 
 trading for their own independent advantage; an offence 
 sometimes punished with death. 
 
 Covetousness will not even let the dead rest. On my 
 last visit to Nai Vuki, I found the lotu people in trouble 
 about a disturbed grave, wherein they had buried a Christian 
 female, wrapping the body in a few yards of calico. The 
 shroud of the dead woman excited the cupidity of the 
 heathen, who resolved to strip the corpse, in which attempt 
 they were surprised and defeated. 
 
 Theft is regarded in Kji as a very small offence, and 
 even as none at all when practised on a foreigner. When 
 I was preparing once to visit the Taro district on Yanua- 
 mbalavu, a Chief who had some influence there kindly 
 gave me a letter of introduction to the Yaro Chiefs, in 
 which he requested them to " treat me kindly, to prevent 
 their people being impudent, and stealing the poles, sculls, 
 and ropes belonging to my canoe." 
 
 Meaner men steal under the direct sanction of the Chiefs, 
 who are quite ready to punish them if detected, as, by so 
 doing, they effect a threefold object : they appear to dis- 
 countenance the practice, satisfy the plaintiff, and chastise 
 the thief for his unskilfulness. Success, without discovery, 
 is deemed quite enough to make thieving virtuous, and a 
 participation in the ill-gotten gain honourable. 
 
 The Eewa Chief who told a gentleman of the United 
 States Navy that he wished to send his daughters to the 
 Mission school, but could not, because the attendants there 
 were such thieves, used to supply the Missionaries with 
 servants, who had special charge from him to rob those 
 with whom they Hved. Boats are often robbed by parties 
 
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128 CHAITEE T. 
 
 visiting them for that express purpose, but ostensibly for 
 barter. Although these cannot be out of sight, and are 
 closely watched, yet, under such circumstances, they are 
 adroit enough to steal a musket or a pig of lead, and drop 
 it overboard. When the boat is gone, a diver brings up 
 the booty. 
 
 A master of a vessel lately complained of some natives 
 stowing away an iron pot in their sleeping mats ; and the 
 truth of this unlikely trick is countenanced by one played 
 upon us at Lakemba, where a native managed to secrete a 
 dinner-plate under his narrow masi. A list of things stolen 
 from the Missionaries would not be a short one ; and the 
 surprise of Europeans at some of the articles named, would 
 not exceed the perplexity of the pilferers in endeavouring 
 to discover their use. 
 
 Early visitors to savage lands teU of the willingness 
 with which the people gave up their goods for the gratifi- 
 cation of the strangers ; but they expected a similar gene- 
 rosity in return, and simply supposed that they would be 
 allowed to claim whatever they might fancy. On finding, 
 however, that this was not the case, they helped them- 
 selves. Whatever excuse is in this, ought to be granted to 
 the islanders, whose practical lessons from the whites on 
 the distinction of meum and tuum have been cruelly and 
 bloodily enforced. 
 
 As to the power of envy in the Eijian nature — an 
 emotion so fruitful of trouble to its subject, and injustice 
 and ill-will towards his neighbours — I would merely give 
 an illustrative and striking confession of Ratu Lewe-ni-lovo, 
 with whom I was conversing on this topic near the sea- 
 shore. I inquired, " When will you Chiefs cease from your 
 envious plottings ?" "I cannot tell," he replied ; " envy 
 win not let us heathen rest. We see our likeness in the 
 ocean before us ; it ebbs and then it flows again, and rests 
 not : we are Hke to it ; we know no peace." 
 
 Ingratitude deeply and disgracefully stains the character 
 of the Eijian heathen. A book might be filled with instances. 
 Eour years'" experience among the natives of Somosomo 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 129 
 
 taught me that, if one of them, when sick, obtained medicine 
 from me, he thought me bound to give him food; the 
 reception of food he considered as giving him a claim on 
 me for covering ; and, that being secured, he deemed him- 
 self at liberty to beg anything he wanted, and abuse me if 
 I refused his unreasonable request. I treated the old King 
 of Somosomo, Tuithakau II. for a severe attack of sickness, 
 which his native doctors failed to relieve. During the two 
 or three days on which he was under my care, he had at his 
 own request tea and arrow-root from our house ; and, when 
 recovered, his daughter waited on me to say that he could 
 now eat well, and had sent her to beg an iron pot in which 
 to cook his food ! One more example. The master of a 
 biche-de-mar vessel took a native under his care, whose 
 hand was shattered by the bursting of a musket. The 
 armourer amputated the injured part, and the man was pro- 
 vided for on board the vessel for nearly two months. On his 
 recovery, he told the master that he was going on shore, 
 but that a musket must be given him, in consideration of 
 his having been on board so long. Such a request was, of 
 course, refused ; and, after having been reminded of the 
 kindness shown him, to which he probably owed his life, 
 the unreasonable fellow was sent ashore, where he showed 
 his sense of obligation by burning down one of the Captain's 
 drying-houses, containing fish to the value of three hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 Intense and vengeful malignity strongly marks the Kjian 
 character. When a person is offended, he seldom says any- 
 thing, but places a stick or stone in such a position as to 
 remind him continually of his grudge, until he has had 
 revenge. Sometimes a man has hanging over his bed the 
 dress of a murdered friend ; or another will deprive himself 
 of some favourite or even necessary food; while another 
 win forego the pleasures of the dance ; all being common 
 ways of indicating sworn revenge. Sometimes a man is 
 seen with the exact half of his head closely cropped, to 
 which disfigurement another will add a long twist of hair 
 hangLog down the back ; and thus they will appear until 
 
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130 CHAITEE V. 
 
 they have wreaked vengeance on those who slew their wives 
 while fishing on the reef. Prom the ridge-pole of some 
 Chiefs house, or a temple, a roll of tobacco is suspended ; 
 and there it must hang, untU taken down to be smoked over 
 the dead body of some one of a hated tribe. A powerful 
 savage, of sober aspect, is seen keeping profound silence 
 in the village council. To ordinary inquiries he replies 
 with a whistle. His son, the hero of the village, fell by a 
 treacherous hand, and the father has vowed to abstain from 
 the pleasures of conversation, until he opens his lips to 
 revile the corpse of his son's murderer, or to bless the man 
 who deprived it of life. Irritating songs are employed to 
 excite the hatred of those who are Hkely to let their 
 vengeance sleep. The youths of the place assemble before 
 the house, and leletaka, or lament, that none revenge the 
 death of their friend. The effect of such a song, framed so 
 as to appeal to the most sensitive points of the Pijian's 
 nature, is to awaken the malice and fury of those to whom 
 it is addressed with all their original force, and vows of 
 bloody retribution are made afresh. 
 
 Impatient to accomplish their purpose of revenge, the 
 natives sometimes have recourse to witchcraft. Eeeds or 
 sticks, imbued with evil power by the necromancer's art, are 
 placed in the path of the victim, that he may be wounded 
 thereby, and stricken with disease or death, according to the 
 .potency of the charm. Instead of the reeds, leaves are 
 sometimes used. Chiefs countenance a kind of Thuggism, 
 availing themselves of the assassin's help to get rid of a 
 rival, or punish an enemy. The Fijian Thug is named 
 Bati-KaM (" Tooth of the black ant") . One of this class was 
 employed by Thokonauto, the Rewa Chief, to kiU his rival 
 Nanggaraninggio. In the stillness of the night, the 
 assassin stole into a lone house belonging to his intended 
 victim ; but which happened to be occupied only by a 
 powerful Tahitian, named Aboro, a faithful friend of Nang- 
 garaninggio, who was sleeping nearer to the town. Groping 
 round in the dark, the assassin found the berth, or raised 
 shelf, on which Aboro was sleeping, and struck at him with 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 131 
 
 a hatchet. The blow, falling on a bamboo tie-beam, woke 
 the Tahitian, who sprang up and grappled with the 
 miscreant, not, however, without receiving deep wounds on 
 his arm. In the dark the two men struggled, until Aboro 
 put an end to the conflict, by stabbing the other in the 
 breast with a long knife. 
 
 Fijians express their malice in strong terms. " My 
 hatred of thee begins at the heels of my feet, and extends 
 to the hairs of my head." An angry Chief sent the follow- 
 ing message to the object of his displeasure. "Let the 
 shell of the vasua " (the giant oyster) " perish by reason of 
 years, and to these add a thousand more ; still my hatred 
 of thee shall be hot \" This relentless animosity will pursue 
 its object to the grave, and gratify itself by abusing a putrid 
 carcass. I have seen a large stake hammered through a 
 poor fellow's head, to please his enemy's malice ; to which 
 motive must also be attributed the practice of the Chiefs 
 eating the tongue, heart, and Kver of a foe. 
 
 Many instances have already been given of the treachery 
 of the Fijians, and many more might be adduced ; but one 
 only is here added, as displaying, to their utmost extent, 
 some of the darkest qualities of the native character, and 
 presenting scenes full of savage romance. 
 
 Tambai-valu, a former King of Eewa, was excited by 
 Eandi Ndreketi, his Queen, to hate Koroi Tamana, his son 
 by another wife of high rank. The animosity of the Queen, 
 who was a wicked and artful woman, was roused by a con- 
 sciousness that Koroi Tamana was exceedingly popular, and 
 a fear lest he should prevent her own children from succeed- 
 ing to the government. The father, yielding at last to her 
 influence, resolved to kill his son, who fled again and again 
 from his unjust anger. After being hunted about for some 
 time, and becoming tired of being the object of groundless 
 suspicion, he listened to the suggestion of certain mal- 
 content Chiefs, and determined to accomplish his father's 
 destruction, and assume the supreme power, his treacherous 
 advisers pledging themselves to stand by him. One night, 
 Koroi Tamana set the King's canoe-house on fire, and then 
 K % 
 
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132 CHAPTEK T. 
 
 went to arouse the King, telling him that Eewa was in 
 flames. On hearing the alarm, Tambai-valu ran out, and 
 was suddenly struck dead by the club of his own son. Thus 
 the Queen^s evil schemes seemed frustrated; but her cunning, 
 stimulated with fresh maHce, showed itself equal to the 
 emergency. Seeing that the death-wound of her husband 
 was scarcely apparent, she cried out, " He lives ! He hves \" 
 Then, assisted by a Tongan woman, she carried the body 
 into the loqi, or private part of the house, and announced 
 that the King was recovering, but that, being very weak, he 
 desired that no one should approach him. She then went 
 to the Chiefs, professing to bring Tambai-valu's command 
 that his son should be put to death. Per some time, none 
 seemed disposed to attend to the message ; and the Queen, 
 fearing lest her plan should, after all, faU through, went to 
 the Chiefs again, carrying with her a present of large whales' 
 teeth, stating that they were sent by the King's hand to 
 purchase the death of Koroi Tamana. Adding aU her own 
 eloquence and female peirsuasion, this determined woman 
 prevailed, and the Chiefs went to the doomed man, informed 
 him of the King's order, and killed him. They immediately 
 went into the presence of the King to report his son's 
 execution, when the putrid smeU of the corpse told them 
 the truth. But it was now too late. Tambai-valu and 
 Koroi Tamana- were both dead; and, after burying the former, 
 nothing was left to the Chiefs but to elect, as successor, 
 Mathanawai, the Queen's son, and thus complete the 
 triumph of his designing and unscrupulous mother, who, 
 contrary to custom, did not die with her husband. These 
 particulars, in the form of a me&e, I heard at Lakemba. 
 
 Another deformity which disfigures the Kjian, is his 
 cowardice. This, too, has been mentioned before. Many 
 examples might be given of most dastardly cruelty, where 
 women and even unoffending children were abominably 
 slain ; but such detads would prove to be neither pleasing 
 nor interesting. The boasting of which so much has been 
 said, cannot exist with true bravery. A qaqa ni cm 
 solevahi — "A brave man, when not surrounded by enemies" 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 133 
 
 — is descriptive of nine out of ten instances of Fijian 
 valour. Few are found who will walk alone at night or in 
 the dusk ; and, on their visits to strange places, suspicious 
 fear prevents enjoyment. The approach of a canoe makes 
 every one uneasy, until they ascertain the character and 
 disposition of those on board. Should a house take fire, 
 the fear of the flames is overcome by a dread of imaginary 
 enemies lurking about to kill those who may escape. 
 Nearly every feast is a season of misgiving, because of 
 reports that some particular person is selected to be slain 
 during its celebration. I have seen women disperse, like 
 frightened doves, at the appearance of a solitary man, and 
 youngsters of various ages scamper pell-mell at the 
 uplifting of a spy-glass. A Fijian cannot be comfortable 
 with a stranger at his heels. It has so happened, several 
 times, that when I have had a room fuU of visitors, the 
 door has suddenly slammed with the wind, and, in an 
 instant, the affrighted natives would rush out at the 
 windows, like bees from a disturbed hive. In dragging 
 a canoe that was only roughed out, from the forest, it 
 received a jar, so as to cause a split near a hole cut to 
 receive one of the ropes. The man who first perceived 
 this, whispered his discovery to the one next him, he to 
 the third ; and so the news went round, until, in a few 
 minutes, all were flying in every direction, each fearing 
 lest he should be clubbed, as a caution to survivors to be 
 more careful. 
 
 Such a feeling of suspicious fear must necessarily 
 accompany the lawless cruelty, treachery, and utter 
 disregard of the value of human life, which are so 
 prominently characteristic of the inhabitants of Fiji. To 
 multiply most terrible . proofs of these would be easy. 
 But such details are unnecessary, and only serve to awaken 
 feelings of horror and disgust. Atrocities of the most 
 fearful kind have come to my knowledge, which I dare not 
 record here. And it must not be forgotten that, in the 
 case of murder, the act is not a simple one, ending in the 
 first bloodshed. The blow which falls fatally on one man. 
 
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134 CHAPTER V. 
 
 may be said to kill several more ; for, if the victim is 
 married, his wife or wives will be strangled as soon as the 
 husband's death becomes known, and often the man's 
 mother will die at the same time. Then again, if the 
 deed is such as to justify the perpetrator's claim to receiv- 
 ing "a new name," other murders vnH be necessary to 
 complete the ceremony. He and his friends must silima — 
 "wash" — his club, if possible, within a few weeks of the first 
 crime ; that is, the club must spiU more blood. Murder 
 is not an occasional thing in Kji; but habitual, systematic, 
 and classed among ordinary transactions. 
 
 All the evils of the most Keentious sensuality are found' 
 among this people. In the case of the Chiefs, these are 
 fuUy carried out, and the vulgar follow as far as their 
 means wiH allow. But here, even at the risk of making the 
 picture incomplete, there may not be given a faithful 
 representation. 
 
 After so dark a portraiture as the above, the reader will 
 scarcely expect to find affection much developed in the 
 Fijian heart, at any rate beyond the mere animal attachments, 
 such as are manifested by the lower orders of creatures, 
 for instance, towards their young. But something higher 
 than this is really to be found, although not reaching the 
 loftier standard of more enlightened nations. In the case 
 of this people, however, allowance must be made for the 
 manner in which custom and training have directed the 
 expression of their affections, or we shall be in danger of 
 denying the existence of the principle, because developed 
 in a manner different from that to which we are accus- 
 tomed. To murder a wife, that she may be the companion 
 of her deceased husband in Hades, or a mother, that her 
 son may not be buried alone, would be repugnant to every 
 Christian heart ; but not so to the Fijian. I do not doubt 
 that misdirected affection influences some sons to destroy 
 her who bore them, and some daughters to weep when 
 Christian charity has rescued their mothers from the fatal 
 noose. But the exhibition of parental love is sometimes 
 such as to be worthy of admiration. The most remarkable 
 
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THE PEOPLE. 135 
 
 case of this kind with which I am acquainted, was that 
 of a Lakemba woman, whose child a friend was taking 
 away to Tonga, to rear as his own. The mother had given 
 a reluctant assent to the plan, and went on hoard the 
 canoe, which was just starting, with her boy. Her 
 affection kept her there until the canoe had passed the 
 sea-reef, and yet she could not tear herself from her child. 
 Being partly compelled to do so, she plunged into the sea, 
 and faintly swam towards land. But her strokes grew 
 feebler and feebler as she was further parted fr-om her idol, 
 untU, in her great sorrow, she began to sink. The 
 Mission canoe had followed the other, and the crew, seeing 
 something dark afloat, steered for it, and rescued the 
 drowning woman. When the mother was restored to 
 consciousness, she upbraided her deliverers with unkind- 
 ness in not permitting her to end her grief in the deep sea. 
 
 I have been astonished to see the broad breast of a most 
 ferocious savage heave and swell with strong emotion on 
 bidding his aged father a temporary farewell. I have 
 listened with interest to a man of milder mould, as he told 
 me about his "eldest son — his head, his face, his mien 
 — the admiration of all who saw him." Yet this father 
 assisted to strangle his son; and the son first named 
 buried his old father alive ! 
 
 Generally speaking, and with but few exceptions, suspi- 
 cion, reserve, and distrust pervade the domestic relation- 
 ships, and a happy and united household is most rare. 
 
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CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 MAJSTNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 The habitSj mannersj and customs of a savage people 
 must always prove interesting, and, to a certain extent, 
 instructive. In tlie present instance, the people described 
 are but little known, and there are very few who have had 
 the opportunity of long and intimate acquaintance with 
 them, and who, at the same time, have been either able or 
 disposed to give a fair and unprejudiced statement of what 
 they have witnessed. Hence, to the other attractions 
 belonging to a description of Fijian life, private and pubhe, 
 will be added much of the charm of novelty. Any por- 
 traiture, too, of a people living, for many generations, under 
 the uninterrupted power of influences different from any 
 which we daily feel, and strangers to those motives and 
 forces which have, more than anything else, modified the 
 development of our own individual and social character, 
 must convey instruction, imparting, as it does, revelations 
 which shed new light on the difficult study — man. 
 
 Although domestic habits are found to a great extent 
 among the Pijians, yet, as was intimated at the close of the 
 last chapter, there is too much reserve to allow the social 
 element full influence. A general kindness of manner is 
 prevalent, but the high attachments which constitute friend- 
 ship are known to very few. A free flow of the affections 
 between members of the same family is further prevented 
 by the strict observance of national or religious customs, 
 imposing a most unnatural restraint. Brothers and sisters, 
 first cousins, fathers and sons-in-law, mothers and daughters- 
 in-law, and brothers and sisters-in-law, are thus severally 
 forbidden to speak to each other, or to eat from the same 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 137 
 
 dish. The latter embargo extends to husbands and wives 
 — an arrangement not likely to foster domestic joy. Hus- 
 bands are as frequently away from their wives as with 
 them, since it is thought not well for a man to sleep regu- 
 larly at home. Among other similar practices may be men- 
 tioned the forbidding of wives, when pregnant, to wait on 
 their husbands. In native opinion, it is common for a 
 woman to hate her husband, but rare for a man to hate his 
 wife, and very rare for a woman to hate a man by whom 
 she had children before her marriage with her present lord. 
 Tull-grown men, it is true, will walk about together, 
 hand in hand, with boyish kindliness, or meet with hugs 
 and embraces ; but their love, though specious, is hardly 
 real. Violent quarrels are not frequent; nor need they be, 
 if those I have seen were specimens, ending, as they did, 
 with the axe and club, wounded heads, or broken arms. 
 Too much has been said about the cleanliness of the 
 natives. The lower classes are often very dirty; a fact 
 which becomes more evident when they wear calico, to 
 which no soap is applied, and which presents a larger 
 surface to the eye than the ordinary masi. They sit and 
 often sleep on the ground, and seldom hesitate to sink 
 both cleanliness and dignity in what they call comfort. 
 
 To the description which has been given of the interior 
 of a Pijian house, there may be added here a notice of its 
 furniture and contents, which are few and simple. Where 
 part of the floor is raised, forming a dais which, by day, is 
 the divan, and, by night, the bed of a Chief, it is covered 
 with mats, varying in number from two to ten, and spread 
 over a thick layer of dried grass and elastic ferns, whUe 
 on them are placed two or three neat wooden or bamboo 
 pillows. Over this hangs the mosquito curtain, which is 
 generally large enough to hang across the house, thus giving 
 to one end of it an air of comfort. Chequered baskets, 
 gourds, and bottles for scented oil are hung about the 
 walls; and, in a conspicuous place, stands or hangs the 
 yaqona bowl, with a strainer and cup. In various parts 
 are suspended fans, a sunshade made of the leaf of the 
 
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138 CHAITEE VI. 
 
 cabbage palnij an oil dish of dark wood, and several food 
 dishes of wood or wicker-work. On a slight frame 
 behind the curtain stand a chest or two, with a musket 
 hanging above, and,, perhaps, an axe and spade beneath. 
 Along the foot of the wall rest oblong wooden bowls with 
 four feet, or round earthen pans with none. If there is 
 any arrow-root, it is preserved in coarse wide-mouthed jars ; 
 and one or more glazed water-vessels have a place near the 
 hearth or bed, set in a nest of dry grass. The other 
 domestic apparatus is found near the hearth, and comprises 
 nets, a bone knife for cutting bread from the pit, and 
 another of foreign make for cutting up yams, etc. ; a con- 
 cave board, four or six feet long, on which to work up the 
 bread, and round stones for mashing the same; coarse 
 baskets for vegetables, cocoa-nut and bamboo vessels for 
 salt and fresh water, and soup dishes and a ladle made of the 
 nut shell. On the hearth, each set on three stones, are 
 several pots, capable of holding from a quart to five 
 gallons. Near these are a cord for binding fuel, a skewer 
 for trying cooked food, and, in the better houses, a wooden 
 fork — a luxury which, probably, the Fijian enjoyed when 
 our worthy ancestors were wont to take hot food in their 
 practised fingers. 
 
 The large oval cooking-pots stand slanting, the angle 
 being altered to suit the quantity of food contained in 
 them. Should there be very little, the pot lies on its side. 
 The small pots, which answer to our saucepans, stand 
 upright. These facilities for boiling food and makiug hot 
 drinks form one of the advantages almost peculiar to the 
 Fijian, as contrasted with the other islanders. His domestic 
 comforts have been stated to be inferior to those of the 
 Tongans ; but the comparison has been unfairly instituted 
 between Christian Tongans and heathen Fijians. If the 
 state of the former before their reformation were taken as 
 the standard, the above erroneous judgment would be 
 reversed; and even now the Tongan owes many of his 
 greatest comforts to Fijian ingenuity. Yoyagers notice 
 the superior fare of the Fijians in their daily use of hot 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 139 
 
 boiled food, and various soups — luxuries whicli have 
 recently been introduced from them among those with 
 whom they have been contrasted. They also have the pecu- 
 liar distinction of using mosquito curtains, of separate sleep- 
 ing rooms for the young men, and a better style of houses. 
 The use of oil for anointing the body has been stated 
 as a point in which the Tongans are superior. But almost 
 aU the Christians of Eji have now adopted the practice. 
 
 The natives usually take two meals in the day; the 
 principal one being in the afternoon or evening. Where 
 ovens are chiefly used, they cook but once a day, but twice 
 where boihng is most in vogue. Their general food is 
 light and plain, fish being highly esteemed. Contrary 
 to the taste of civilized gourmands, these people will have 
 all their meat quite fresh, and some small kinds of fish are 
 eaten alive as a relish. The Fijian bill of fare for usual 
 consumption is somewhat lengthy, and contains many 
 different vegetables, and shell and other fish in perhaps 
 unequalled variety. Almost everything found living on the 
 sea-reef, whether molluscous, articulate, or radiate, is eaten 
 and enjoyed. To these are added a dozen varieties of bread, 
 nearly thirty kinds of puddings, and twelve sorts of broths 
 or soups, including — though the distinctions calipash and 
 cahpee are unknown — turtle-soup. Several kinds of warm 
 infusions are made from aromatic grasses and leaves. 
 These, however, they sometimes macerate, and eat with the 
 liquid in which they are prepared. Some of the native 
 dishes recommend themselves at once to European taste, 
 and some strongly remind the English visitor of what he 
 has been accustomed to see at home. A rich sort of gruel 
 is made from the milk and pulp of the young cocoa-nut. 
 Shrimps are used to make an elegant and delicious sand- 
 wich, being arranged between two thicknesses of taro 
 leaves. Eish is sometimes served up with a relishing 
 sauce ; and sweet sauces are made for the richer sorts of 
 pudding by expressing the juices of the nut, the ti-root, 
 and the sugar-cane. Boasting and frying are added to the 
 other methods of cookery. 
 
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140 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 The refreshing milk of the nut is much used by the 
 Fijian ; but his general beverage is water. In drinking 
 without a cup, the head is thrown back with the mouth 
 opened, the water-vessel held several inches above the hps, 
 and a stream allowed to run down the throat — a process 
 whereby a novice is more likely to be choked than refreshed. 
 This method of drinking is adopted to avoid touching the 
 vessel with their lips — a practice to which they strongly 
 object. To drink from the long bamboos sometimes used 
 is no easy task. These vessels are from two to ten feet 
 long. One of the longest wiU hold two gallons ; and to 
 slake one's thirst from its open end, while a native gradually 
 elevates the other, requires care, or a cold bath will be the 
 unsought result. 
 
 On opening the oven of the Somosomo King, the fui 
 rara, or master of the feast, names aloud the parties who 
 are fed from it, that their several portions may be fetched 
 away. The priests and the principal Mata-ni-vanua have 
 the precedence. The King's Mata is served first; then 
 the priests, whose portions are given in the name of their 
 gods, accompanied by a short prayer ; it being a rule in 
 heathenism, never to do a god a small favour without 
 asking a larger in return. If a chief lady receives a 
 portion from the oven, it is distinguished by the cry 
 A magiti-i-i-i .'* followed by clapping of hands. 
 
 The meal of a Chief only differs from that of a common 
 man in that the food is of better quality, more frequently 
 served, and received with greater form. Clean mats answer 
 for both chair and table. The food is brought on an 
 oblong dish lined with fresh leaves, while other leaves 
 serve for a cover. If the Chief is not liga tabu — tain as to 
 the hands — he may feed himself or not, as he chooses ; but 
 if liga tabu, he must be fed by another, generally his chief 
 wife, or a Mata. While he is eating, everybody present 
 retains a sitting position — the attitude of respect; when 
 he has done, he pushes the dish a little way from him, and 
 each person claps his hands several times. Water is next 
 * "Cooked food." 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 141 
 
 brought to the Chief, who washes his hands and rinses his 
 mouth, after which, in some parts, hands are again clapped 
 by every one in the house. While eating, the Chief con- 
 verses famiharly with those round him, and aU are perfectly 
 at their ease, but very orderly. In many parts of the 
 group the day is commenced by taking a cup of yaqona, 
 the preparation of which is attended with much ceremony. 
 
 Like the inhabitants of the groups eastward, the Fijians 
 drink an infusion of the piper methysticum, generally called 
 ava or hava — its name in the Tongan and other languages. 
 In Piji, however, it is termed yaqona. This beverage is 
 not so cdmmoidy in use on Vanua Levu and some parts of 
 Viti Levu, as it is on other islands, where it is frequently 
 the case that the Chiefs drink it as regularly as we do 
 coffee. Some old men assert that the true Pijian mode of 
 preparing the root is by grating, as is still the practice in 
 two or tliree places ; but, in this degenerate age, the 
 Tongan custom of chewing is almost universal, the opera- 
 tion nearly always being performed by young men. 
 
 More form attends the use of this narcotic on Somosomo 
 than elsewhere. Early in the morning the King's herald 
 stands in front of the royal abode, and shouts at the top 
 of his voice, "Yaqona!" Hereupon, all within hearing 
 respond, in a sort of scream, " Mama ! " — " Chew it ! " At 
 this signal the Chiefs, priests, and leading men gather 
 round the well known bowl, and talk over public affairs, or 
 state the work assigned for the day, while their favourite 
 draught is being prepared. When the young men have 
 finished the chewing, each deposits his portion, in the form 
 of a round dry baU, in the bowl, the inside of which thus 
 becomes studded over with a large number of these sepa- 
 rate little masses. The man who has to make the grog, 
 takes the bowl by the edge and tilts it towards the King, 
 or, in his absence, to the Chief appointed to preside. A 
 herald calls the King's attention to the slanting bowl, say- 
 ing, "Sir, with respects, the yaqona is collected." If 
 the King thinks it enough, he rephes, in a low tone," Loha," 
 " Wring it ; " an order which the herald communicates to 
 
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14a CHAPTEE TI. 
 
 the man at the bowl in a louder voice. The water is then 
 called for, and gradually poured in, a little at first, and 
 then more, until the bowl is full, or the master of the 
 ceremonies says, " Stop ! " the operator, in the meantime, 
 gathering up and compressing the chewed root. Now fol- 
 lows the science of the process, which Mariner describes so 
 accurately, that I cannot do better than transcribe his 
 account. The strainer is composed of a quantity of the 
 fine fibrous van, (hibiscus,) which is spread over the surface 
 of the infusion, on which it floats, and "the man who 
 manages the bowl now begins his difiicult operation. In 
 the fijst place, he extends his left hand to the farther side 
 of the bowl, with his fingers pointing downwards, and the 
 palm towards himself; he sinks that hand carefully down 
 the side of the bowl, carrying with it the edge of the van ; 
 at the same time, his right hand is performing a similar 
 operation at the side next to him, the finger pointing 
 downwards, and the palm presenting outwards. He does 
 this slowly, from side to side, gradually descending deeper 
 and deeper, tiU his fingers meet each other at the bottom, 
 so that nearly the whole of the fibres of the root are by 
 these means enclosed in the vau, forming as it were a roll 
 of above two feet in length, lying along the bottom from 
 side to side, the edges of the vau meeting each other 
 underneath. He now carefully rolls it over, so that the 
 edges overlapping each other, or rather intermingling, 
 come uppermost. He next doubles in the two ends, and 
 rolls it carefully over again, endeavouring to reduce it to a 
 narrower and firmer compass. He now brings it cautiously 
 out of the fluid, taking firm hold of it by the two ends, one 
 in each hand, (the back of the hands being upwards,) and, 
 raising it breast high, with his arms considerably extended, 
 he brings his right hand towards his breast, moving it 
 gradually onwards; and, whilst his left hand is coming 
 round towards his right shoulder, his right hand partially 
 twisting the vau, lays the end which it holds upon the 
 left elbow, so that the vau lies thus extended upon that 
 arm, one end being still grasped by the left hand. The 
 
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MANNERS AND CTJSTOMS. 143 
 
 right hand, being now at hberty, is brought under the left 
 fore-arm, (which still remains in the same situation,) and 
 carried outwardly towards the left elbow, that it may again 
 seize, in that situation, the end of the vau. The right 
 hand then describes a bold curve outwardly from the chest, 
 whilst the left comes across the chest, describing a curve 
 nearer to him, and in the opposite direction, till, at .length, 
 the left hand is extended from him, and the right 
 approaches to the left shoulder, gradually twisting the 
 vau by the turn and flexures principally of that wrist : this 
 double motion is then retraced, but in such a way (the left 
 wrist now principally acting) that the vau, instead of 
 being untwisted, is still more twisted, and is at length 
 again placed on the left arm, while he takes a new and 
 less constrained hold. Thus the hands and arms perform 
 a variety of curves of the most graceful description : the 
 muscles, both of the arms and chest, are seen rising as 
 they are called into action, displaying what would be a fine 
 and uncommon subject of study for the painter ; for no 
 combinations of animal action can develope the swell and 
 play of the muscles with more grace or with better effect. 
 The degree of strength which he exerts, when there is a 
 large quantity, is very great, and the dexterity with which 
 he accomplishes the whole never fails to excite the atten- 
 tion and admiration of all present Sometimes the fibres 
 
 of the vau are heard to crack with the increasing tension, 
 yet the mass is seen whole and entire, becoming more thin 
 as it becomes more twisted, while the infusion drains from 
 it in a regularly decreasing quantity, tiU at length it denies 
 a single drop." The man now tosses the (fiegs behind 
 him, or, with a new lot of vau, repeats the operation, until 
 the liquid is clear and fit for use. 
 
 When an adept has been manipulating, I have seen the 
 various curves described by him watched, with mute atten- 
 tion, by interested hundreds, whose countenances indi- 
 cated a pleasure which I could not but share. Eegular 
 attenders provide their own cups, formed of the half of a 
 cocoa-nut, which, after long use, takes a fine polish and a 
 
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144 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 purplish, hue. When cups are few, an elegant substitnte.is 
 made of the banana leaf. As the water is poured in, the 
 chief herald repeats the following prayer : " The water ; 
 ay. Prepare the libation! Prepare the libation to the 
 Tavasara ; a libation to Oroi rupe ; to the Yeidoti ; to the 
 Loaloa ;* to the Chieftains of the Sokula,t who have died 
 on the water, or died on the land ! Be gracious, ye lords, the 
 gods ! that the rain may cease, and the sun shine forth ! A liba- 
 tion to my Lady of WeUangi, etc. Be gracious, ye lords, the 
 gods ! that the rain may cease ! ■'■' Here aU in. the ring join 
 with him to chant, "M Ma-nai di-na : se-di-na-li ! " finishing 
 with tliree or four sharp claps of the hands from all present. 
 The yaqona being ready for use, a person approaches, 
 in a sitting posture, with a cup, or frequently with two, 
 one holding water to be drunk after the infusion ; the van 
 is laid over the cup, and the liquor poured through until it 
 is full, when the herald, addressing the cup-bearer, says, 
 "A woi — ceri caki ! " " Stand up ! " While the man 
 obeys, the herald offers prayer thus : — 
 
 "Me lama viuaka na kalou 
 A liitu mada na tokalau." \ 
 
 The cup-bearer, in a stooping attitude, presents the cup 
 to the King, who pours out a few drops — the libation — and 
 then drinks, while the whole company chant, "Ma-nai di-na. 
 La-ha-si-ye : a-ta-mai-ye : ai-na-ce-a-toha : Wo-ya ! yi I 
 yi ! yi ! " All now clap their hands together, producing a 
 quick and merry measure, finishing abruptly. The triple 
 yi ! is uttered in a high key, and followed by a shout, in 
 which the people round the house join ; those who are more 
 distant catch and repeat the sound, until it is carried far 
 beyond the boundaries of the town. Not to shout would 
 be considered disloyal. 
 
 After the King, the herald names the next in rank, who 
 notifies his position by slowly clapping his hands twice or 
 thrice ; and the cup-bearer carries him his draught, which, 
 whether it measure one half-pint or three, is drained with- 
 
 * Names of temples. f The Somosomo people. 
 
 Let tlie gods be of a gracious mind, and send a wind from the east." 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 145 
 
 out pausing. Other individuals are named in the same 
 way, until all have had their morning cup. 
 
 To be served next to the King is a high honour. A 
 Tongan once piloted the King of Lakemba and his suite 
 through a very dangerous opening in the reef during a 
 storm. The King, after eulogizing the man's services, 
 nobly bade him name his own reward. After a short 
 pause, the Tongan said, " Let my name be announced in 
 the yaqona-circle after the King's, as long as I live." 
 This great honour was granted, and enjoyed to the end of 
 the man's life. 
 
 In more social parties, the straining process is accom- 
 panied by vocal music. Those present join in singing 
 short songs, while they sometimes imitate the varied pos- 
 tures of the chief operator. Each snatch of song is finished 
 by clapping. 
 
 In addition to the water taken after yaqona, most 
 Fijians eat a small piece of old cocoa-nut, or other food ; 
 some say, to add more potency to the stupifying dose. Few 
 of the women partake of this drink. I have heard it said, 
 however, that the females of Waya, on the west coast of 
 Viti Levu, like the Tongan woinen, have drinking-parties 
 among themselves. 
 
 A few variations of custom may be noted. At Mbau, 
 when the herald shouts, " Yaqona !" the people, instead of 
 answering, " Mama ! " strike upon any sonorous substance 
 that may be near, thus calling silence for the uninterrupted 
 performance of the following ceremonies. At Lauthala, 
 the prayer is uttered by the herald in the open air, the 
 populace joining in the final shout. At Mbouma, the 
 libation is poured into a dish devoted to that purpose, 
 which, when I saw it, was filthy from long service. Here 
 also the gods had a share of water apportioned to them, 
 taken in a leaf by the priest, and transferred to the bowl 
 with some ceremonious rubbings. At Vuna, directly the 
 Chief takes the cup to his lips, the company begin a 
 measured clapping, which they continue aU the while he 
 is drinking the yaqona and the water which follows. 
 
 L 
 
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146 CHAPTEE TI. 
 
 A very remarkable feature associated with Fijian 
 drinking customSj is the Vakacivo, a kind of toast or wish 
 announced after the draught is swallowed. A man blows 
 away the moisture that may remain about his mouth, with 
 a hissing noise, and then shouts aloud his toast, which is 
 sometimes common-place, sometimes humourous, and 
 sometimes sentimental. Some of these wishes allude to 
 the cannibal practices of the people ; e. g., a skull ! a 
 man's heart ! or a human ham ! Others indicate the pro- 
 fession of the drinker: thus the fisherman asks for a 
 report from the reef, a husbandman for propitious seasons, 
 and the sailor for a brisk wind. The ruling passion is 
 thus frequently manifested : the covetous man calls for 
 wealth, plenty of tortoise-shell, or a whale's tooth; the 
 epicure, for broiled fish, rich puddings, or turtle soup. A 
 kind neighbour of mine used to ask for pleasant conver- 
 sation. A treacherous Chief was accustomed to say, 
 " There yet is, that is kept back." An iU-looking doctor 
 was ever crying out for a " good god," and a Httle priest 
 always said of the gods, " They puU, and I puU." Many 
 drinking- wishes are expressed enigmatically : " a red 
 string," means sinnet; " a path that resounds," a canoe; 
 " a bamboo basket," food from Somosomo ; " a long pig," 
 a human body (to be eaten) : sugar-cane is asked for 
 as "water in dams," and the milk of the nut as "water 
 that trembles in the breeze." The origin of this custom 
 may perhaps be traceable to the common practice of 
 ending a report and many business transactions by a short 
 wish or prayer. 
 
 Very few Fijians drink to excess ; the intemperate are 
 easily distinguished by their inflamed eyes and a scaly 
 appearance of the skin. By one or two ordinary draughts 
 a stupor is produced, from which the drinker manifests an 
 unwillingness to be aroused. 
 
 The yaqona-ring is often the prelude to a feast, for which, 
 when on a large scale, preparations commence months 
 beforehand. Yams and taro are planted with special 
 reference to it, a talu is put upon pigs and nuts, and the 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 147 
 
 turtle-fisters are sent to set their nets. As the time 
 approaches, messenfjers are sent far and near to announce 
 the day appointed. This announcement, which is a 
 respectful way of inviting the guests, is made to the 
 several Chiefs, and through them to their people. The 
 invitations are liberal, including all the male population of 
 the town or district to which the Mata is sent. 
 
 On the part of the entertainers, there is a vigorous efifort 
 at display. Every member of the community has an 
 interest in the affair, and anticipates, as his own, a large 
 portion of the praise elicited by a liberal feast. A day or 
 two beforehand, every one is full of activity; the King 
 issuing orders, the Matas communicating them to the 
 people, and the people carrying them out. The ovens are 
 prepared during the previous night, when the chopping of 
 fuel and squealing of pigs is heard in every direction, while 
 the flames from the ovens yield a light greatly helping the 
 labours of the cooks. The name of eooh, among the 
 natives, is an eminently derisive epithet, and considerable 
 amusement arises from the fact that, at these times of 
 preparation, all persons, from Princes downwards, feed the 
 oven, or stir the pot. The baking of all kinds of food, and 
 the making of all kinds of puddings, are intrusted to the 
 men. The ovens, which are holes or pits sunk in the 
 ground, are sometimes eight or ten feet deep, and fifty feet 
 in circumference; and in one of these several pigs and 
 turtles and a large quantity of vegetables can be cooked. 
 English roasters of an entire ox or sheep might learn 
 some useful philosophy from the Fijian cook, whose 
 method insures the thorough and equal baking of the 
 whole carcass. The oven is filled with firewood, on which 
 large stones are placed, and the fire introduced. As soon 
 as the fuel is burnt out, the food is placed on the hot 
 stones, some of which are put inside the animals to be 
 cooked whole. A thick coat of leaves is now rapidly 
 spread over all, and on these a layer of earth about four 
 inches thick. When the steam penetrates this covering, it 
 is time to remove the food ; whereupon the lull that followed 
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148 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 the closing of the oven gives place to renewed activity, as 
 the men, besides having rested, have also regaled them- 
 selves on the hearts, livers, kidneys, etc., of the pigs they 
 have kUled, and which tit-bits they ate ex officio. Thus 
 refreshed, they proceed to plait green baskets, beat np the 
 taro paste with ponderous pestles, prepare the large beau- 
 tiful leaves to receive the paste and sauce, tie them up, 
 count, report, and carry them away with as much alacrity 
 as though they had lost sight of the characteristic counsel 
 of their forefathers, to "go gently, that they may hve 
 long." 
 
 The food prepared by each tribe and family is presented 
 for inspection, and in some cases collected and piled before 
 the house of the King, to whom a specimen of each kind 
 is always sent. The usual custom is, after all has been 
 thus seen, counted, and reported by the Tui-rara — " Master 
 of the feast ;" literally, " Master of the area," viz., where 
 the feast is held — and the Matas, to remove it to the 
 public area in front of the chief temple, where are heaped 
 together the contributions of several tribes. A floor of 
 clean leaves is laid, eight or twelve feet in diameter; on 
 this, where they abound, is placed a layer of cocoa nuts, 
 on which are heaped up the baked taro and yams, to the 
 amount of several tons. The next tier is formed of vaha- 
 lolo, the generic name of native puddings, the fresh green 
 envelopes of which glisten with the sweet nut-oil. 
 Surmounting this pedestal of food are two or three 
 hogs, baked whole, and lying on their bellies. As the 
 natives, in killing these, generally break the snout across, 
 they do not present the quiet appearance of dead pigs, but 
 look as though they snarled defiance on those assembled 
 to eat them. When every thing is ready, aU is publicly 
 offered to the gods, to whom a share is voted, the rest 
 being reserved for the visitors. 
 
 On these occasions profusion is always aimed at : waste 
 
 is the consequence, and want follows. At one public feast, 
 
 I saw two hundred men employed for nearly sis hours in 
 
 collecting and piling cooked food. There were six 
 
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MANNEKS AND CUSTOMS. 149 
 
 mounds of yams, taro, vakalolo, pigs, and turtles: these 
 contained about fifty tons of cooked yams and taro, fifteen 
 tons of sweet pudding, seventy turtles, five cart-loads of 
 yaqona, and about two hundred tons of uncooked yams. 
 One pudding, at a Lakemba feast, measured twenty-one 
 feet in circumference. 
 
 The head-men of the visitors sit to receive the food, as it 
 is brought and piled before them, expressing their approval 
 by saying aloud, " Vinaha ! Vmaka ! " " Good ! Good \" 
 Having finished, the carriers sit down near the heap, and 
 clap their hands several times, and then retire. An officer 
 from among the strangers now walks up to the food, 
 extends his hands over it, and, inclining his head towards 
 his Chief, says, "The food, Sir." "Thanks! thanks!" 
 He then stoops down and gently claps his hands, to which 
 the Chief and his followers answer by a similar clapping, 
 while they repeat, " It is good ! it is good ! Thanks ! 
 thanks [" Certain officials then proceed to share out the 
 food ; a duty which, on account of the extreme punctili- 
 ousness of the people about rank, is attended with consider- 
 able difficulty. A Chief is honoured or slighted, according 
 to the quantity or quality of the food set before him : and 
 nothing of this kind can escape notice, as every eye eagerly 
 watches the proceedings. When there are several Chiefs 
 in the party, an accurate knowledge of the grade of each 
 is necessary to avoid error. The food having been divided 
 into as many portions as there are tribes, the Tui-rara, 
 beginning with the first in rank, shouts out, "The share 
 of Lakemba \" or whichever may take precedence. This 
 is met by a reply from that party : " Good ! good I" or 
 " Thanks ! thanks \" and a number of young men are 
 sent to fetch the allotted portion. The Tui-rara goes on, 
 calling the names in succession, until his list is exhausted. 
 If a foreigner should be observed among the spectators, he 
 is sure not to be passed by, but a portion — very likely 
 enough for twenty men — will be given to him. When 
 each tribe has received its share, a re-division takes place, 
 answering to the number of its towns ; these, again, sub- 
 
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150 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 divide it among the head families, who, in their turn, share 
 what they get with their dependents, and these with the 
 individual members of their household, until no one is 
 left without a portion, the food disappearing forthwith, 
 with a rapidity which baffles calculation. The males eat 
 in the open air, sending the women's share to their houses. 
 Should some wayfarer pass by, he is pressingly invited to 
 partake of the entertainment, and allowed to dip in the 
 same dish with those who bid him. 
 
 Indeed, while witnessing such a scene, it is only by an 
 effort of the mind that one can believe that a people so 
 blithe and benevolent are capable of the atrocities with 
 which they are charged. But beneath all that apparent 
 pleasantness and repose, there lurk strong elements of 
 disquiet. A misarrangement or impropriety would cause 
 a hundred bright eyes to flash with anger, which, though 
 suppressed then, would burst forth with a deadlier effect 
 on a future day. 
 
 It would be regarded as extremely wrong for even a high 
 Chief to ask to taste food from the common stock before it 
 had been formally presented to him. The memory of a 
 Vanua Levu Chief is execrated to this day, for having been 
 guilty of this breach of etiquette. 
 
 The most admirable order is observed at these feasts. 
 Gentlemen of the United States navy who witnessed the 
 ceremonies of a Fijian entertainment record their opinion 
 thus : " Their feasts are attended with much ceremony 
 and form, and evince a degree of politeness and good 
 breeding that was unexpected, and cannot but surprise all 
 who witness it." 
 
 That there is sufficient reason for caution in the 
 observance of established routine, the following facts, given 
 by an unquestionable authority, will show. 
 
 A Naitasiri Chief was on a visit at Makongai, attended 
 by some of his Mbatis. Before one of these he ate part of 
 an old cocoa-nut, which, in the estimation of the Mbati, 
 was a luxury, and, as a piece was not given to him, he 
 deemed himself insulted. Intent on revenge, he shortly 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 151 
 
 joined the enemies of his master ; and a victory which they 
 subsequently achieved, gave the offended Mbati the oppor- 
 tunity he desired. He intercepted his former Chief, who 
 was fleeing for life, and who, on seeing him, reckoned on 
 his help, asking to be spared ; but the unforgiving vassal 
 replied, " It is in my mind to spare you ; but. Sir, the 
 nut ! Do you not remember the nut ? For that you must 
 die." The word was followed by a death-blow. 
 
 Another case concerned a Chief of Tai Vungalei. He 
 sat down to eat with his father-in-law, and a cooked guana 
 was provided for each. In passing the one intended for 
 his father, the young man broke off part of its tail. A 
 dark scowl covered his relation's face at this, and, at an 
 early opportunity, he slew his son, having first told him 
 that he could not brook the insult put upon him by the 
 breaking of the guana's tail ! 
 
 I have often been struck by the promptness with which 
 a party of natives, while eating, have transferred their meal 
 to others passing by ; and, so long as I was a tyro in 
 native matters, I hked to regard this as a sign of the 
 people's hospitality. But the assurance of many among 
 themselves compelled me to believe that this act of seeming 
 liberality was the result of fear ; lest by withholding any 
 part, or by something in their manner of eating, they 
 should give offence. 
 
 Besides the forms observed on public occasions and 
 towards persons of rank, there are others which affect 
 ordinary life. Poreign visitors, who have only a ship-deck 
 intercourse with them, cannot estimate them fairly. Some 
 such have supposed them Hi-behaved ; and it is true that 
 many natives, from what they have seen and heard on 
 board ordinary vessels, have come to the conclusion that 
 the observance of good manners would not be appreciated 
 thme. Among themselves the rules of politeness are 
 minute, and receive scrupulous attention. They affect the 
 language, and are seen in forms of salutation, in atten- 
 tion to strangers, at meals, in dress, and, indeed, influence 
 their manners in-doors and out. None but the very lowest 
 
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152 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 are iU-behaved, and their confusion on committing them- 
 selves shows that they are not impudently so. The forms 
 of salutation used towards Chiefs have been noticed. Equals, 
 on meeting each other early ia the day, say, " Sa yadra," 
 " Awake," or, '-You are awake;" in the evening, "Samoce," 
 or, " Ldki moce," " Sleep," or, " Go to sleep." On Vanua 
 Levu the person addressed raphes, "Boaroa," " The morning 
 of to-morrow," meaning, " We will meet again to-morrow." 
 From some who have been told to sleep while the sun was 
 yet high, I have heard the smart rejoinder, " Let that be 
 for the owls!" A husband ought not to address the 
 morning salutation to his wife. I knew one who did so, 
 and the wife took it as a dismissal. Persons meeting 
 about mid-day, generally ask each other whence they have 
 come, and whither they are going. Bandied remarks on the 
 weather, or inquiries about health, — so common in Eng- 
 land, — are here unheard. Certainly the Kjian methods of 
 salutation are confirmatory of the observation, that such 
 forms indicate the character of the people using them: 
 they are civil, inquisitive, and heartless. 
 
 On a visit of a person from a distance, as soon as he is 
 seated, the master of the house gently claps his hands three 
 or four times, and says, very much in eastern style, " Come 
 with peace !" The name of the place whence the visitor 
 has come is generally added, or the name of the house, 
 should he reside in the same town. Thus a wife of the 
 King of Somosomo would be welcomed with, " Come with 
 peace, the lady from Nasima," — the name of the King's 
 house. If the visitor should be a person of rank, the 
 formula is either the former, or, " Good is the coming in 
 peace of the Chief." On a person leaving the house, those 
 within SAj/'Sa laho" or, "Sa lako tale," "Tou go," or, "You 
 return J " to which the. answer is, "I go; you remain" 
 (HteraUy, sit). Any one going on a voyage parts from Ms 
 friends by saying, " You stay and watch ;" to which they 
 reply, "Yes, and you voyage." The parting kiss of the 
 Eijians is pecuKar, one sinelling the other with a strong 
 sniff. Equals do this on each other's faces. A Chief of 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 153 
 
 lower grade will thus salute a superior's hand, and inferiors 
 will embrace the knees and smell the feet of a Chief. 
 Shaking hands has been introduced by the Missionaries, 
 and is in high repute. " Sa loloma," " My love to you/' 
 owes its origin to the same source, and is used by all the 
 Christians. 
 
 When a canoe or canoes arrive at a place, — Somosomo, 
 for example, — those on board shout, " 0, aa I" and put a 
 messenger on shore, who goes direct to the King's house, 
 to report their arrival. Having arrived, the messenger 
 again shouts, " aa !" and ascends the steps with his hands 
 clasped, entering at a bidding from within. As soon as 
 he is seated, the King's Mata welcomes him with the usual 
 clapping, and says, " Good is your coming from Tuna," 
 or another place, as the case may be. The messenger 
 replies by clapping, and saying, " Good, with respect, is 
 your sitting in a lordly style at Somosomo." Several 
 voices wiU then exclaim, " Eeport ! What is the report ?" 
 The orator is not allowed to stand, and the disadvantages 
 of sitting are increased by his having to bow his head and 
 body towards the Chief, and either clasp his hands or hold 
 his beard. When fairly fixed, he begins by stating that his 
 party were in their own land, and the thought of their 
 Chiefs turned towards the Chiefs of this land ; and they 
 said, " Here are these pigs or yams ; why are they not 
 taken, that the King may eat them? Let a canoe be 
 launched at once, that they may be taken." The mes- 
 senger then proceeds, "We therefore were sent off, and we 
 set sail, and the wind was northerly, and, not long after, 
 the clouds gathered and we had a squall, and then we had 
 fine weather, and at last we got here, and found you Chiefs 
 sitting together, and the gods ; and this is the end of my 
 report, and that it may be accepted only." This kind of 
 detail is generally wearisomely minute, and delivered in a 
 tedious, slovenly, and irregular style. At one time, the 
 speaker talks very rapidly ; then suddenly changes into a 
 protracted drawl, sucking the air through his teeth, at 
 intervals, with a hissing noise. As he warms, he gets his 
 
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154 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 hands at liberty, but it is only to play with a straw, or, if 
 out of doors, to puU up the grass near him. The final 
 sentence of this wonderful speech is accompanied by 
 clapping his hands. The Mata, whose business it is to 
 answer, often does so by saying, "Seven!" to which the 
 reporter responds, "Eight!" The Mata proceeds, "Let 
 your report be favourably received, and peace prevail in 
 the land." He then claps, being joined by those sitting 
 round, who also accompany him in repeating, " Mana dma 
 U," " So let it be, truly." Unless the report is one of 
 unusual interest, it receives little attention from the hearers. 
 "Good, good!" is repeated now and then j but the King 
 often talks most of the time to some one else. At Yata- 
 vulu, it is said, the messenger has to sit with his back 
 towards the Chief to whom he speaks. 
 
 Pitiable as are their attempts at speechifying, the Fijians 
 talk about eloquence, and point out one man as " a master 
 of words," and another as " the salt of language." Per- 
 haps the dignity of a court daunts the orator, forbidding his 
 eloquence and wit to shine forth ; at any rate, he never 
 rises above dry detail, and a little trite adulation. 
 
 Should a canoe carry a great Chief, or belong to 
 strangers, a proper person is sent on board to inquire 
 who the visitors are, and why they have come. 
 Whenever one Chief purposes to pay a visit to another, 
 a messenger is always sent beforehand, to give at least a 
 few days' notice of his intention, to prevent surprise, 
 and allow time for preparation. The herald on such occa- 
 sions is generally of a superior sort. If the visitor is of 
 higher rank than those to whom he comes, a company of 
 the leading men of the place, headed by a Mata, are sent 
 ten miles or more on the way to meet and welcome him, 
 when sometimes they present a nut or a whale's tooth, to 
 indicate good will. When equals meet, they are free from 
 servility. 
 
 The Fijian, on such occasions, is careful to avoid remarks 
 which might give offence, or the claiming of a station that 
 does not belong to him. He wiU pass no one until he has 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 155 
 
 intimated his purpose by a well-known word, or by asking 
 permission, — a form observed also if he should wish to 
 remove any thing from above or near to any person. 
 
 The existence of expressions equivalent to our "Mr.," 
 " Sir," and " Madam," does much towards polishing the inter- 
 course of this people ; and it is remarkable that they only in 
 the South Seas have these terms in regular use. The flattery 
 of the natives is often gross, and sometimes thoroughly 
 oriental. Soon after my location in Lakemba, the Mission 
 family visited the house of the King's brother ; and as we 
 were about to retire, the lady of the house requested a 
 servant to bring food, that " the Chiefs from the eye of the 
 sun might eat." 
 
 Some of their forms connected with giving and receiving 
 deserve notice. I have several times received valuable pre- 
 sents of food ; but the donor declared the gift worthless, 
 saying, " I have nothing fit to offer you ; but these fowls 
 are an expression of my love for your children." Another, 
 on presenting some fish, named my servants ; and a valuable 
 lot of yams was, if the giver spoke truly, "a matter of 
 little importance, but given to help in fattening my hogs." 
 All this, however, is quite insincere. Presents, which 
 generally consist of " changes of raiment," or mats, or oil, 
 are almost always offered, whether to men or gods, in a set 
 form. Thanks are always expressed aloud, and generally 
 with a kind wish for the giver, as, " I take this, and may 
 
 have good health," or "live long." Sometimes 
 
 the wish is more general, as, "Let Christianity spread 
 throughout the land ! " But such forms are plastic and 
 fitted to circumstances. It is not uncommon for a man, 
 on receiving a gift which he values, to lift it up to his head, 
 or, sometimes, kiss it. One man to whom I gave a plane- 
 iron, laid it on the floor, and then stooped down to kiss it. 
 
 Guests who are about to leave by water, are always 
 accompanied by their entertainers to the canoe ; and often a 
 few friends will go a short distance with them, although 
 they have to regain the shore by swimming. Such as go 
 by land are attended beyond the skirts of the town, and for 
 
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156 CHAPTEU TI. 
 
 some little distance. This is a fitting close to a visit which, 
 if the road was dirty and no water at hand, began by the 
 offering of water for the feet, and oil to anoint the face 
 and body. 
 
 In their dress, scanty as it is, the Hjians display great 
 care and pride. In judging of this matter, it is very diffi- 
 cult for a civilized stranger to form a right opinion, 
 influenced, as he must be, by the conventionalities of cos- 
 tume to which he is accustomed. Hence the natives are 
 frequently spoken of as naked j but (hey only seem so 
 when compared with other nations. It must be borne in 
 mind that the character of the cKmate and the quality of 
 their skin both render dress, as far as mere utility is con- 
 cemed, unnecessary : the people, therefore, ought to receive 
 fuU credit for modesty in the partial covering which they 
 adopt, and about the use of which they are scrupulously 
 particular. Yanity adds ornament to the simple dress, 
 and decorates or defaces, according to prevailing custom, 
 different parts of the body. 
 
 The dress of the men is a kind of sash of white, brown, 
 or figured mast, varying ia length from three to a hundred 
 yards. Six or ten yards, however, is the usual measure. 
 This sash is passed between the legs, and wound two or 
 three times round the loius, securing one end in front, so as 
 to fall over to the knees like a curtain ; the end behind is 
 fastened in a bunch, or left to trail on the ground. When 
 a Chief is dressed in style, a few folds are taken higher up 
 round his body, Hke a sword belt, and both ends of the 
 sash form long trains. 
 
 The women are not allowed to use man, but wear the 
 li&u, or fringed band, which has been already described. 
 It is tied on the right side with bass, which, on high days, 
 is long enough to form a train. 
 
 The turban, consisting of a gauze-like scarf of very fine 
 white masi, from four to sis feet long, is worn by all 
 Fijians who can lay claim to respectability, except such as 
 are forbidden its use. The apparent size is entirely regu- 
 lated by the quantity of hair underneath, which is generally 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 157 
 
 considerable. This head-dress may be fastened by a neat 
 bow in front, or tied in a tassel-knot on the top of the 
 head, or arranged so as to hang in lappets on one side. 
 By some it is worn as a band or cord at the root of the 
 hair, the greater part being allowed to fall down the back. 
 In most cases it is ornamental and graceful. 
 
 It is the heads, however, rather than their covering, 
 which excite wonder, and on no other part of his person 
 does the Fijian expend so much time, pains, and skdL 
 Most of the Chiefs have a hairdresser, to whose care his 
 master's head is intrusted, often demanding daily attention, 
 and, at certain stages of progress, requiring several hours' 
 labtur each day. During all this time the operator's 
 hands are tahu from touching his food, but not from work- 
 ing in his garden. The hair is strong and often quite 
 wiry, and so dressed that it will retain the position in 
 which it is placed, even when projecting from the head to 
 a distance of six or eight inches. One stranger, on seeing 
 their performances in this department, exclaims, " ^Vhat 
 astonishing wigs ! " another, " Surely the beau-ideal of 
 hairdressing must reside in Fiji : " a third, " Their heads 
 surpass imagination." No wonder, then, that they defy 
 description. A few modes of adorning or disfiguring the 
 head are given in the engraving; but they might be 
 greatly multiplied without including all the vagaries of 
 Fijian fancy in this particular ; for if in anything the 
 natives have a claim to originality and versatility of genius, 
 it is in hairdressing. "W^hatever may be said about the 
 appearance being unnatural, the best coijj'urcs have a sur- 
 prising and almost geometrical accuracy of outbne, com- 
 bined with a round softness of surface, and uniformity of 
 dye, wliich display extraordinary care, and merit some 
 praise. They seem to be carved out of some solid sub- 
 stance, and are variously coloured. Jet black, blue black, 
 ashy white, and several shades of red prevail. Among 
 young people bright red and flaxen are in favour. Some- 
 times two or more colours meet on the same head. Some 
 heads are finished, both as to shape and colour, nearly like 
 
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158 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 an English connsellor's wig. In some the head is a 
 spherical mass of jet hlack hair with a white roll in front, 
 as broad as the hand ; or, ia lieu of this, a white oblong 
 occupies the length of the forehead, the black passing down 
 on either side. In each case the black projects farther 
 than the white hair. Some heads have all the ornamenta- 
 tion behind, consisting of a crowd of twisted cords end- 
 ing in tassels. In others the cords give place to a large 
 red roll, or a sandy projection falling on the neck. On 
 one head, all the hair is of a uniform height ; but one-third 
 in front is ashy or sandy, and the rest black, a sharply 
 defined separation dividing the two colours. Not a few 
 are so ingeniously grotesque, as to appear as if done purposely 
 to excite laughter. One has a large knot of fiery hair on 
 his crown, all the rest of the head being bald. Another 
 has the most of his hak cut away, leaving three or four 
 rows of small clusters, as if his head were planted with 
 small paint-brushes. A third has his head bare, except 
 where a large patch projects over each temple. One, two, 
 or three cords of twisted hair often fall from the right 
 temple, a foot or eighteen inches long. Some men wear a 
 number of these braids so as to form a curtain at the back 
 of the neck, reaching from one ear to the other. A mode 
 that requires great care, has the hair wrought into distinct 
 locks, radiating from the head. Each lock is a perfect 
 cone, about seven inches long, having the base outwards ; 
 so that the surface of the hair is marked out into a great 
 number of small circles, the ends being turned in, in each 
 lock, towards the centre of the cone. In another kindred 
 style, the locks are pyramidal, the sides and angles of each 
 being as regular as though formed of wood. All round 
 the head, they look like square black blocks, the upper 
 tier projecting horizontally from the crown, and a flat 
 space being left at the top of the head. When the hair, how- 
 ever, is not more than four inches long, this flat does not 
 exist, but the surface consists of a regular succession of 
 squares or circles. The violent motions of the dance do 
 not disturb these elaborate preparations, but great care 
 
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MANNEES AJJD CUSTOMS. 159 
 
 is taken to preserve them from the effects of the dew or 
 rain. 
 
 Married women often wear their hair in the same style 
 as the men, but not projecting to quite the same extent. 
 A large woollen mop, of a reddish hue, falling over the 
 eyes, will represent the hair as worn by the younger 
 women. 
 
 I have often girted men's heads which were three feet 
 ten inches, and one nearly five feet, in circumference. A 
 coating of jet-black powder is considered superlatively 
 ornamental ; but its use is forbidden to the women, who, 
 however, in common with the men, paint themselves with 
 vermilion, applied in spots, stripes, and patches. White 
 and pink armlets, and others made of a black wiry root or 
 white cowries, ivory and shell finger-rings, knee and ankle 
 bands with a rose-shaped knot, are much worn. Ivory, 
 tortoiseshell, dogs' teeth, bats' jaws, snake vertebrae, native 
 beads ground out of shells, and foreign beads of glass, are 
 formed into necklaces, the latter being generally braided 
 into neat bands. Breast ornaments are, pearl-shells as 
 large as a dessert-plate, plain or edged with ivory, orange 
 and white cowries, and crescents or circles formed by a 
 boar's tusk. Chiefs and priests sometimes wear across the 
 forehead a frontlet of small scarlet feathers fixed on palm- 
 leaf, while a long black comb or tortoisesheU hair-pin — 
 alias, " scratcher " — projects several inches beyond the right 
 temple. Ear ornaments are used by both sexes, not pen- 
 dent, but passing through the lobe of the ear, and varying 
 in size from the thickness of the finger to that of the 
 wrist. Some insert a white cowry, and a few have the 
 opening so distended as to admit a ring ten inches in 
 circumference. 
 
 The Fijian procures many ornamental articles of his 
 toilette from the forest, the vines and fiowers of which are 
 wrought into chaplets, necklaces, and wreaths : the latter 
 are thrown over one shoulder, so as to cross the body and 
 fall gracefully on the opposite hip. Fillets of dried leaves 
 are worn on the hmbs, and enduring but unsightly scars 
 
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160 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 are cut in the skin, sometimes in concentric circles ; rows 
 of wart-like spots are burned along the arms and backs of 
 the women, which they and their admirers call ornamental. 
 Genuine tattooing is only found on the women; but not 
 much of it is seen, as it is covered by the Uhu. Young 
 women have barbed lines on their hands and fingers; 
 and the middle-aged, patches of blue at the comers of the 
 mouth. The custom of tattooing is said to be in con- 
 formity with the appointment of Ndengei, and its neglect 
 punished after death. The native name is gia, and, as it 
 is confined to women, so the operators are always of the 
 same sex. An instrument called a "tooth," consisting of 
 four or five fine bone teeth fixed to a Ught handle six 
 inches long, is dipped in a pigment made of charcoal and 
 candle-nut oil ; the pattern having been previously marked 
 on the body, the lines are rendered permanent by the 
 blackened comb, which is driven through the skin in the 
 same manner as a fleam, though with less violence. 
 Months are often occupied in the process, which is painful, 
 and only submitted to from motives of pride and fear. 
 leasts are held also in coimexion with this. The com- 
 mand of the god affects but one part of the body, and the 
 fingers are only marked to excite the admiration of the 
 Chief, who sees them in the act of presenting his food. 
 The spots at the corners of the mouth notify, on some 
 islands, that the woman has borne children, but oftener are 
 for the concealment of the wrinkles of age. 
 
 Eijiaus account humorously for the Tongan practice of 
 tattooing being confined to the men instead of the women. 
 They say that the Tongan who first reported the custom 
 to his countrymen, being anxious to state it correctly, 
 repeated, in a sing-song tone, as he went along, "Tattoo 
 the women, but not the men ; tattoo the women, but not 
 the men." By ill luck, he struck his foot violently against 
 a stump in the path, and, in the confusion which followed, 
 reversed the order of his message, singing, for the rest of 
 his journey, " Tattoo the men, but not the women." And 
 thus the Tongan Chiefs heard the report ; and thus it came 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 161 
 
 to pass that the smart of the qia tooth was inflicted on the 
 Tonga men, instead of their wives. 
 
 Sleep and tobacco are among the leading comforts of the 
 Kjian. He follows activity with slumber, from which he 
 hates to be aroused. Tobacco, though known only for 
 about thirty years, is in such high favour, that its use is 
 all but universal, children as well as adults indulging in it 
 freely. The native method of smoking is decidedly social. 
 A small cigarette, formed by folding leaf tobacco in a strip 
 of dead banana leaf, is lit, and passed to four or six per- 
 sons in succession. Having to swim across a river does 
 not interrupt this transfer; for the same cigar may be 
 conveyed from one bank to the other in several different 
 mouths. The habit of smoking is strengthened by much 
 leisure, to which may be attributed the filthy practice of 
 eating the vermin with which their heads are often largely 
 stocked. Even this custom is put by the natives to the 
 score of revenge, and many .spare moments are devoted to 
 it, the produce being shared between the capturer of the 
 game and the owner of the preserve. 
 
 Many of their vacant hours are filled up by the Fijians 
 in sports, some of which closely resemble the innocent 
 games of English children ; such as " hide and seek," 
 " blind-mane's buff," making " ducks and drakes," etc. 
 Others are more boisterous ; as the veiyama, a sham fight 
 among children ; the veimoli, pelting each other with bitter 
 oranges ; wrestling, and the cere, or race, the runners 
 being persons who have been employed in digging a gar- 
 den, the owner of which offers the prize — generally masi — 
 for their competition. Mock battles are also fought, 
 which sometimes become too real, and loss of life is the 
 result. 
 
 The swing supplies a favourite amusement to children 
 and young people. It consists of a single cord, either a 
 rope or a strong vine, suspended from a tree, and having 
 at its lower end a loop in which to insert one foot, as in a 
 stirrup, or a knot, on which both feet rest. Grasping at a 
 convenient height the cord, which varies in length from 
 
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162 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 thirty bo fifty feet, the swinger is set in motion, and rejoices 
 to dash tlirough the air, describing an arc that would ter- 
 rify a European. 
 
 A very great favourite is the game of veiteqi vutu, which 
 consists ia throwing the fruit of the vntu [Barringtonia 
 speciosa). This fruit is also used as floats for their nets. 
 
 Veikalawanasari is a species of " hop, skip, and jump." 
 
 Lavo, a game at pitching the fruit of the walai {Mimosa 
 scandens). The fruit is flat and circular, and, from its 
 resemblance in form to money, money is also called ai lavo, 
 
 A more athletic sport is the tiqa or ulutoa. This game 
 is played by throwing from the forefinger a reed of three or 
 four feet long, armed with a six-inch oval point of heavy 
 wood. This weapon is made to skim along the ground to 
 a distance of a hundred yards or more. Nearly every 
 village has near it a long level space kept clear of grass for 
 the practice of this favourite exercise. 
 
 A kind of skittles, played with stones, is not uncom- 
 mon; and skilful players wiU throw the stone with their 
 back towards the skittles. Canoe racing is somewhat 
 frequent. 
 
 The veisaga is practised on a large scale in some parts 
 of the group. Upon the top of a hill men and women 
 assemble to sport and wrestle. If a man closes with a 
 woman, he attempts to throw her, and, on succeeding, they 
 both roll together down the lull. Sometimes a sprain is 
 the consequence; but the sufferer takes care to conceal 
 the accident, lest the taunts and ridicule of the crowded 
 spectators should be added to his misfortune. 
 
 The veisolo is another rough sport. In the cases which 
 I saw, the attack was made by .women on a number of male 
 visitors. They waited until food was brought to the men, 
 and then rushed on their guests, endeavouring to disperse 
 them, and take away the food. The men, either from cus- 
 tom or gallantry, merely retaliate by taking the women 
 captives, or throwing them gently on the ground. The 
 women, however, were not so mild ; and I was acquainted 
 with instances of men dyiag from the violence of their 
 
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MAUNEKS AND CUSTOMS. 163 
 
 blows. One Amazon engaged in this sport shot a, man 
 dead with an arrow. ' 
 
 The kalow rere, described in the following chapter, is 
 also considered a pastime. 
 
 Veivasa ni moli is a game which consists in suspending a 
 moli (orange, lemon, &c.) by a string, and trying to pierce it 
 with the vasa, (a pointed stick,) while it is swinging about. 
 
 Several amusements belong to the water, such as chasing 
 each other, wrestling, and diving. Shoals of men or of 
 women are seen, on a calm day, striking away from the 
 shore, with gleeful notes, or that hearty abandonment of 
 broad-mouthed mirth for which they are so famous. In 
 the game of ririka, an upright post is fixed at the edge of 
 a reef, and the upper end of a long cocoa-nut tree rested 
 on it, so as to form an easy ascent, with the point project- 
 ing beyond the post, and raised about fifteen or twenty feet 
 above the surface of the water. The natives run up this 
 incline in a continuous single file, and their rapidly suc- 
 ceeding plunges keep the water all round white with foam. 
 Youngsters use the suif-boards which are so often found in 
 Polynesia. 
 
 Nocturnal serenading is practised by companies of men 
 or women. 
 
 Although most of the Ejians are fond of music, yet 
 their own attempts in that direction are very rude. Their 
 musical instruments are the conch-shell, the nose-flute, the 
 
 GIEL PLAYING ON THE NOSE-PLUTE. . 
 
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164 
 
 CHATTEE VI. 
 
 Pandean pipes, a Jew's harp made of a strip of bamboo, a 
 long stick, large and small drums, made of a log hoUowed 
 like a trough, and having cross pieces left near the ends, 
 and bamboos used for the same purpose. The shell is 
 the favourite instrument of the fishermen. The long stick 
 belongs to the dance. Clapping of hands always accom- 
 panies singing, which is invariably in a major key. 
 
 DEUMS AND MUSICAL LNSTEUMENTS. 
 
 The dance is undoubtedly the most popular pastime of 
 Fiji. The song by which it is regulated is often very dull, 
 and the movemente slow and heavy, consisting of stepping 
 and jumping, mingled with many inflections of the body 
 and gesticulations with the hands. There is always a 
 conductor, and, in one or two of their dances, a buf- 
 foon is introduced, whose grotesque movements elicit 
 immense applause. In a regular dress or feast dance, two 
 compafties are always engaged, — the musicians and the 
 dancers. Twenty or thirty persons constitute the " orches- 
 tral force," while the dancers often number one or two 
 hundred. The performance of the musicians "is on one 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 165 
 
 note, the bass alternating with the air: they then sound 
 one of the common chords in the bass clef, without the 
 alternation." Several of them elicit clear notes from the 
 long stick by hitting it with a shorter one ; others produce 
 a sort of tambourine sound by striking their bamboos on 
 the ground ; the rest clap their hands, and all give vocal 
 help. They keep excellent time, and the words sung refer 
 either to the occasion, or to some event in their past 
 history. 
 
 The dancers are gaily dressed ; and as all bear clubs or 
 spears, and perform a series of marchings, steppings, halts, 
 and varied evolutions, a stranger would rather suppose 
 them to be engaged in a military review than in a dance. As 
 the performance approaches the close, the speed quickens, 
 and the actions steadily increase in violence, accompanied 
 by a heavy tramping on the ground, until the excited 
 dancers, almost out of breath, shout, at the top of their 
 voices, " Wa-oo ! " and the dance is ended. 
 
 Persons who know a new dance are paid for teaching it, 
 the fee being called votua. The following short song con- 
 tains the complaint of an iU-rewarded teacher : — 
 
 " The motlier of Thangi-limba is vexed. 
 How can we teacli, unrewarded, the dance ? 
 Here is the basket for the fees — and empty ! 
 Truly this is an illiberal world." 
 
 Some few of the islanders are acquainted with sleight-of- 
 hand tricks, which they exhibit among their friends. The 
 Chiefs occasionally amuse themselves by vaharibamalamala, 
 punning, and playing upon words. Thus, as the word 
 ulaula means either to thatch a house, or to throw ulas — 
 short clubs — at one another, the Mbau people sometimes 
 order the Tailevu people to come to Mbau to ulaula. They 
 come, expecting to thatch a house, and find themselves 
 pelted with clubs. On fine nights, or rainy days, story- 
 teUing, including all kinds of traditions, histories, and fic- 
 tions, often of the most extravagant kind, is a favourite 
 amusement. 
 
 Such children as are allowed to live are treated with a 
 
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166 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 foolish fondness; but, in some parts, the father may not 
 speak to his son after his fifteenth year. Family discipline 
 is unreal, and its apparent restraints easily set aside. Chil- 
 dren stray away at pleasure, and very soon become inde- 
 pendent of their parents, by whom they are taught to 
 dance, to plant, and to fight. Insults or injuries endured 
 by their fnends ar& impressed on their susceptible minds ; 
 and the parties who inflicted them are pointed out as the 
 objects of present hatred, and the victims of future revenge. 
 
 The hair of the boys is kept short, but that of the girls 
 is allowed to grow long, and fall in all directions from the 
 crown of the head, in twisted locks of a brown, red, or 
 flaxen colour, so as often entirely to hide the eyes. The 
 countenances of the children show signs of that restless 
 observance which is so fully developed in the faces of their 
 parents. They ascend the hill of life with rapid strides, 
 and, having reached the summit, run into their graves. 
 "You English," said a fine young man to me, "grow 
 slowly, like the nut, and abide : we Fijians grow with the 
 rapidity of the plantain, and, like it, decay and are not in 
 a few days." Both sexes go unclad until the tenth year, 
 and some beyond that. Chiefs' children are kept longest 
 without dress. 
 
 Males are circumcised when from seven to twelve years old. 
 The cutting instrument is a piece of split bamboo, and the 
 recovery is rapid. The operation is generally performed 
 on a company of ten or twenty at a time, who, for several 
 days afterwards, live together in some public building, 
 their food being taken to them by women, who in some 
 places, as they carry the meal, generally a dish of cooked 
 greens, sing, — 
 
 " Memu wed o qori ha Kula ; 
 Ati solia mat loaloa ; 
 Au solia na drau ni cevuga : 
 Memu wai o qori ha Kula" 
 
 " This is your broth. Sirs the Circnmcised ; 
 I give it from the wilderness ; 
 I give the leaf of the cevuga : 
 This is your broth. Sirs the Circumcised." 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 167 
 
 Kula is one of the names by which those who are newly 
 circumcised may be spoken of by or before women, teve, 
 the proper word, being tabu if a woman is present. Kula 
 is also the name of a strip of cloth which receives the 
 blood, and, on Vanua Levu, is afterwards hung from the 
 roof of the temple or Chiefs house. The proper time for 
 performing this rite is after the death of a Chief, and many 
 rude games attend it. Blindfolded youths strike at thin 
 vessels of water hung from the branch of a tree. At 
 Lakemba, the men arm themselves with branches of the 
 cocoa-nut, and carry on a sham fight. At Ono, they 
 wrestle. At Mbau, they fillip small stones from the end 
 of a bamboo with sufficient force to make the person they 
 hit wince again. On Vanua Levu, there is a mock siege. 
 
 On the fifth day after a Chief's death, a hole is dug in 
 the floor of a bure, and one of the circumcised youths is 
 secreted in it, whereupon his companions fasten the doors 
 of the house securely, and run away. When the one 
 within blows a shell, the friends of the deceased surround 
 the house, and thrust their spears at him through the fence. 
 
 The ceremony may be followed by the assumption of the 
 man's dress ; but this is not invariable, as some wear it 
 long before, and others not till some time after. When a 
 Chiefs son first puts on the masi, a feast is made, followed 
 by dancing. Youths, while uncircumcised, are regarded 
 as unclean, and are not permitted to carry food to the 
 Chiefs. Young men, as was intimated before, have sepa- 
 rate sleeping apartments, and are forbidden to eat of food 
 left by women, and to unroU and lie on their mats. 
 
 Girls are betrothed at a very early age, and often to 
 men past the prime of life. Although, when old enough 
 to think for themselves, women express their dislike of 
 this system, yet it certainly gives them one advantage, — 
 that of a more careful guardianship. Not that the future 
 husband takes the girl under his immediate care; but 
 the fear of him or his friends causes her parents to keep 
 a strict watch over her, and his influence would be exerted 
 to punish any one who might insult her. An imprudent 
 
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168 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 step on her part sometimes costs her life. In the case 
 of a young girl near Mbua, her friends, on perceiving 
 the result of her infidelity, assembled, and strangled her, 
 and then sent word to her intended husband, asking for 
 forgiveness. About the middle of 1852, Eitova, the 
 Mathuata Chief, on finding that his sister, or cousin, had 
 been guilty of a similar offence, sent a messenger to the 
 tribe to which her secret lover belonged, demanding that 
 he should be given up to punishment. This, however, his 
 friends refused. But Eitova, fixed in purpose, commanded 
 his relation to be strangled and buried. Stem justice 
 appears in both cases ; but it is in appearance only. 
 Eear, in the first instance, and mortified pride, in the 
 other, was the real motive. 
 
 TThen betrothed ia infancy, as the daughters of Chiefs 
 usually are, the mother of the girl, in some cases, takes 
 a small Uhu to the future husband, as a pledge that her 
 child shall hereafter be his wife. If he is grown up, he 
 observes a form of asking the parents to give him their 
 daughter, presenting, at the same time, one or more 
 whales' teeth. Most improper matches are made. I have 
 seen an old man of sixty living with two wives both under 
 fifteen years of age. Women, indeed, are regarded as a 
 sort of property, in which a regular exchange is carried 
 on ; but there is no truth in the assertion that the natives 
 sell their women among themselves. Whatever there Jias 
 been Uke this, has been taught them by white men. The 
 low estimate in which, on some islands, women are held, 
 may be judged from the following fact. A Chief of 
 Nandy, Yiti Levu, was very desirous to have a musket 
 which an American Captaia had shown him. The price 
 of the coveted piece was two hogs. The Chief had only one ; 
 but he sent on board with it a young woman as an equi- 
 valent. I afterwards saw the girl, and was acquainted with 
 her purchaser, by whose wife she was kept as a servant. 
 
 The natives have gravely asked the IWfissionaries whether 
 they bought their wives, and what they cost, supposing 
 that such was the custom in the white man's land. 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 169 
 
 Nevertheless, although not an article of trade among 
 themselves, woman is fearfully degraded in Kji. In 
 many parts of the group she is as a beast of burden, 
 not exempt from any kind of labour, and forbidden to 
 enter any temple : certain kinds of food she may eat only 
 by sufferance, and that after her husband has finished. 
 In youth, she is the victim of lust, and in old age, of 
 brutality. Such of the young women as are acquainted 
 with the way in which a wife is secured in England, 
 regard it with strong admiration, and envy the favoured 
 women who wed " the man to whom their spirit flies." 
 
 It sometimes happens, however, that persons are thus 
 privileged in Fiji, and permitted to choose for themselves. 
 When such is the case, afi'ection progresses to possession 
 by certain steps, which vary slightly in different parts of 
 the group. When the female is betrothed, the obser- 
 vances are nearly the same. 
 
 The veidomoni, or " mutual attachment," is the first step. 
 In this the young man asks the girl of her parents, taking 
 a present or not, as he judges best. When anything is 
 given, it is not considered in the light of a price paid, 
 but merely as a matter of form. Should the request meet 
 with a favourable reply, the girl's friends veimei, " nurse," 
 or take her to the house of her intended husband's parents, 
 presenting, at the same time, property — teeth, cloth, or 
 mats. A custom, which is certainly pretty, is then observed. 
 Not even a heathen can leave the scenes of childhood and 
 careless joy without tears, and the "nursed" girl often 
 weeps freely. The friends of the bridegroom endeavour to 
 solace her, by presenting trinkets as expressions of their 
 regard. This is called the vahamamaca, or " drying-up-of- 
 the-tears." Then follows the valcatahata, or " warming." 
 This is food made by the man, and taken to the friends of 
 the bride, who still remains where her friends left her. In 
 some parts, she enjoys a holiday for four days, sitting in her 
 new home, oiled, and covered with turmeric powder. At 
 the end of four days she bathes, accompanied by a number 
 of women — generally married women — who help her to fish. 
 
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170 CHA5TEE TI. 
 
 On returning tome, the fish is cooked, and, when ready, an 
 intimation to that effect is sent to the young man, who 
 dresses himself in style, and, accompanied by a number of 
 his companions, oiled and dressed, directs his steps to the 
 house in. which his betrothed waits his arrival. The bride- 
 groom and his companions take off their new dresses, which 
 are given to the relatives of the bride. The fish-soup is 
 then served up with good yam, the prospective wife com- 
 mencing her duties by pouring out and handing to her 
 future lord a dish of soup, which he drinks, eating yam with 
 it. A part of the yam he gives to the bride, who eats with 
 him. Probably they never were so near or spoke to each 
 other before, and very likely this their first meal passes in 
 sUence. This ceremony is named na sill, " the bathmg." In 
 the leeward islands, this generally concludes the form of 
 marriage. To windward such is not the case ; but the girl 
 goes back to her parents, and the friends on both sides 
 make cloth and mats to present with the young people on 
 the wedding-day. Meantime the young man is expected to 
 build a house to which' to take his wife, who undergoes now 
 the painful process of tattooing, if it has not already been 
 done. Some chief ladies, however, defer the performance 
 of this operation until they have become mothers. During 
 this period the bride is tahu siga, kept from the sun, to 
 improve her complexion. These preliminaries over, the 
 grand feast takes place, when the friends of each party try 
 to outdo the others in the food and property presented. As 
 in other native feasts, so here it is easier to specify the good 
 cheer by yards and hundred-weights, than by dishes. When 
 Tanoa gave his daughter to Ngavindi, the Lasakau Chief, 
 there was provided for the entertainment of the friends 
 assembled, a wall of fish five feet high, and twenty yards in 
 length, beside turtles and pigs, and vegetables in proportion. 
 One disk at the same feast was ten feet long, four feet wide, 
 and three deep, spread over with green leaves, on which 
 were placed roast pigs and turtles. Whatever is prepared 
 by the friends of the woman is given to those of the man, 
 and vice versa. The conclusion of this day is the vaqaseaj 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 171 
 
 when the marriage is completej the announcement of which, 
 in some tribes, is by tremendous shoutings ; and arrange- 
 ments are made for the veiiasi,ov "clipping," which, to wind- 
 ward, consists in cutting off a bunch of long hair worn over 
 the temples by the woman while a spinster. To leeward, 
 however, the woman is deprived of all her hair, and thus 
 made sufficiently ugly to startle the most ardent admirer. 
 This act has its feast, food being prepared, and often taken 
 as the breakfast of the newly married couple. In some 
 places the great feast follows the clipping. Priests are 
 never in requisition officially on marriage occasions. 
 Matrimony, in Fiji, is a social or civil contract only. 
 Every presentation of property or food is associated with 
 good wishes or prayers for the long life and happiness of 
 the young couple ; but no priest is needed in this, as it is 
 only the observance of a custom used on every occasion 
 that will admit of such forms. Commodore Wilkes's 
 account of Fijian marriages seems to be compounded of 
 oriental notions and Ovalau yarns. A change in the form 
 of lAhu always takes place. Young unmarried women wear 
 a lihu little more than a handsbreadth in depth, which 
 does not meet on the hip by several inches. On marrying, 
 they put on a broader dress, which entirely surrounds the 
 body, and the depth of which is increased as the wearer 
 grows older. An owl flying about a house is considered by 
 the natives as a sign that things are in a fair way for the 
 master becoming a father. When such a hope is proved to 
 be well established, certain matrons and the newly-made 
 wife get up a sort of pic-nic, which they call vakata kakana. 
 Por this they choose some sylvan retreat, where embowering 
 trees, with their thick foliage interwoven with various 
 creepers, afford a cool and secluded shade. Here the 
 women feast together, and indulge in the " wide-mouthed 
 mirth " of which they are so fond, unmindful of future care. 
 After this comes the vakavotu, the " becoming visible," 
 and with it another feast; when friends eat and rejoice 
 together, and a bartering of property takes place between 
 them. The next step is the tatavu, the " broiling." This 
 
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172 CHAPTEE TI. 
 
 is jnucli quieter, and not so commonly observed, and 
 consists in feeding the expectant mother with fish just 
 before her confinement. 
 
 Voluntary breach of the marriage contract is rare in 
 comparison with that which is enforced, as, for instance, 
 when a Chief gives up the women of a town to a company 
 of visitors or warriors. Comphance with this mandate is 
 compulsory ; but should the woman conceal it from her 
 husband, she would be severely punished. Eear prevents 
 unfaithfulness more than affection, though I beheve that 
 instances of the latter are numerous. 
 
 Too commonly there is no express feeling of connubial 
 bliss. Men speak of " our women," and women of " our 
 men," without any distinctive preference being apparent. 
 If a man does not approve of his betrothed, he quietly 
 neglects the usual advance. If a woman rejects the suit of 
 a man, after being promised to him, property must be taken 
 to him or his friends, by whom the vaJcalutu, the " letting 
 drop," is generally accepted. 
 
 This, however, does not apply to persons of high rank, 
 marriages among whom are so interwoven with the civil 
 and political interests of the country, that no deviation 
 from form is allowed, out of regard to the wishes of the 
 female concerned, who, in these matters, may have no wiU 
 of her own. I saw a daughter of the King of Lakemba 
 leave for Mbau. She was a fine girl, of very amiable 
 manners, and a general favourite. Her intended husband 
 was Tanoa, a man quite old enough to be her great- 
 grandfather. There was something really affecting about 
 the separation from the companions of her girlhood ; and 
 how she managed to bear such a weight of grief, aggravated 
 by the hugs and embraces of a dozen persons at once, for so 
 long a time, and in such hot weather, I could not under- 
 stand. Such ladies are under the care of a duenna, who 
 accompanies them, together with the servants given by the 
 bride's father. A Princess of fiirst rank had ten female 
 servants from her father, and five from her husband. One, 
 two, or three, is more commonly the number. These 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 173 
 
 attendants are sometimes called the tauvaJd, a word which 
 combines the meaning of " menial " and " pet." 
 
 I saw a young girl of good family, who was given to the 
 daughter of Tuikilakila, brought in form to that Chief. 
 As she was presented in the way usually observed in giving 
 a bride, I will describe the ceremony. She was brought in 
 at the principal entrance by the King's aunt and a few 
 matrons, and then, led only by the old lady, approached 
 the King. She was an interesting girl of fifteen, glistening 
 with oil, wearing a new lihi, and a necklace of carved 
 ivory points, radiating from her neck, and turning upwards. 
 The King then received from his aunt the girl, with two 
 whales' teeth, which she carried in her hand. When she 
 was seated at his feet, his Majesty repeated a list of their 
 gods, and finished by praying that " the girl might live, 
 and bring forth male children." To her friends — two men 
 who had come in at the back door — ^he gave a musket, 
 begging them not to think hardly of his having taken their 
 child, as the step was connected with the good of the land, 
 in which their interests, as well as his own, were involved. 
 The musket, which was about equivalent to the necklace, 
 the men received with bent heads, muttering a short prayer, 
 the close of which was exactly the same as they had offered 
 for years, " Death to Natawa \" Tuikilakila then took off 
 the girl's necklace, and kissed her. The gayest moment of 
 her life, as far as dress was concerned, was past ; and I felt 
 that the untying of that polished ornament from her neck 
 was tlie first downward step to a dreary future. Perhaps 
 her forebodings were like mine, for she wept; and the 
 tears which glanced off her bosom and rested in distinct 
 drops on her oily legs, were seen by the King, who said, 
 " Do not weep. Are you going to leave your own land ? 
 You are but going a voyage, soon to return. Do not think 
 it a hardship to go to Mbau. Here you have to work 
 hard ; there you will rest. Here you fare indifferently ; 
 tl>ere you will eat the best of food. Only do not weep to 
 spoil yourself." As he thus spoke, he played with her 
 curly locks, complimenting her on her face and figure. 
 
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174 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 She reminded him of a sister of hers who had been taken to 
 Mbau in years past, and the mention of whose name seemed 
 to have a talismanic effect on the aged aunt. "Ay \" she 
 exclaimed, " that was a woman ! Her face ! " (placing a 
 band edgeways on either side of her own shrunk phiz,) " 
 what a face I" Then followed several other exclamations 
 of admiring remembrance, more pointed than dehcate, 
 when, happily, the King interrupted the old lady before 
 her admiration led her still farther 'beyond the bounds of 
 propriety. Just- then the King's women appeared with 
 their nets, and he ordered the poor girl to go and " try 
 her hand at fishing." 
 
 On the large islands is often found the custom, prevalent 
 among many savage tribes, of seizing upon a woman by 
 apparent or actual force, in order to make her a wife. On 
 reaching the home of her abductor, should she not approve 
 of the match, she runs to some one who can protect her : 
 if, however, she is satisfied, the matter is settled forthwith, 
 a feast is given to her friends the next morning, and the 
 couple are thenceforward considered as man and wife. 
 
 " Writing to a woman " is of recent date, and generally 
 done without pen, ink, or paper. It is the " popping the 
 question" of English life, and though for the most part 
 done by the men, yet the women do not hesitate to adopt 
 the same course when so inclined. The man, however, 
 takes a present to help his suit ; the woman trusts only to 
 her charms. Wonderfully artless are some of the appeals 
 made by the men. Thivalala, whose legs were disfigured 
 with elephantiasis, addressed a smart young widow thus : 
 " You know my circumstances ; I am poor ; I am afflicted ; 
 I am far away from my friends : I need some one to care 
 for me, love me, and become my. wife." She, sym- 
 pathizing, consented. Plain speaking in these affairs is 
 not uncommon. Simioni Wangkavou, wishing to bring the 
 object of his affection to decision, addressed these homely 
 remarks to her, in the hearing of several other persons : " I 
 do not wish to have you because you are a good-looking 
 woman ; that you are not. But a woman is like a necklace 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 175 
 
 of flowers, — pleasant to tte eye and grateful to the smell : 
 but such a necklace does not long continue attractive; 
 beautiful as it is one day, the next it fades and loses its 
 scent. Yet a pretty necklace tempts one to ask for it, but, 
 if refused, no one will often repeat his request. If you 
 love me, I love you ; but if not, neither do I love you : 
 only let it be a settled thing." 
 
 But to return to the wife whom we left being fed with 
 fish. Generally the women suffer little in parturition, and 
 the aid of a native midwife is rarely needed, and, when 
 given, is rather injurious than otherwise. A wide difference 
 exists between the observances of Tongan and Ejian women 
 at this time. The Tongan mother, on the birth of a child, 
 gets up directly, and bathes in some pond or river, and, on 
 her return, eats freely of food : if fish, poultry, or pork is 
 provided, so much the better. Kjians profess to keep the 
 house a few days, and some lie at their ease a fuU montL 
 They are forbidden the free use of animal food and fish for 
 a long time, being well supphed with vegetables ; unripe 
 bananas and greens being esteemed excellent for women at 
 this time. A Tongan babe is anointed with oil and tur- 
 meric, and fed with old cocoa-nut chewed, the juice being 
 passed from the mouth of the nurse into that of the child. 
 This continues until the mother is fit to nurse. The Kjian 
 infant is kept from the mother three days, and is suckled 
 by another woman, or fed with sugar-cane juice, admi- 
 nistered in the way just described. It also receives a 
 coating of oil and turmeric. It is an ill omen if a child 
 does not cry soon after it is born ; and the male child bom 
 in the day-time is expected to prove a great warrior. 
 
 The Fijian father must celebrate the birth of a child by 
 making a feast ; and, if it is the first-born, sports foUow, 
 in one of which the men imitate on each other's bodies the 
 tattooing of the women. The name of this feast is a 
 twnud^a, and seems to regard the woman rather than the 
 chUd. Friends seek the place where the babe hes, and 
 present love-tokens, receiving some presents in return. 
 On Yanua Levu, the woman's friends plait small mats. 
 
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176 CHA5TEE VI. 
 
 measuring about two feet by onej for tbe mother to nurse 
 her babe upon. The name of the visit imports that the 
 women will take the child in their arms ; and those who do 
 so always kiss it. Next in order is the feast given at the 
 falling off of the umbihcal cord, which is sometimes buried, 
 together with a cocoa-nut, to grow for the future use of 
 the little stranger. A tribe on Viti Leva take the food 
 prepared on this occasion to the priest, who notifies the 
 event to their god thus : " This is the food of the httle 
 child ; take knowledge of it, ye gods ! Be kind to him. 
 Do not pelt him, or spit upon him, or seize him, but let 
 him live to plant sugar-cane." Pood is again made ready 
 on the first bathing of the child, and there is another httle 
 feast on the event of its first turning over without help. 
 The women seem fond of their offspring ; but an English 
 mother finds it difi&cult to reconcile the thought of much 
 affection, with so much dirt as is often allowed to coUect 
 on the child. 
 
 The naming of the infant takes place very early, some- 
 times before birth, but generally within two or three days 
 after. Longer delay might endanger the child's life, by 
 leading the mother to suspect that her offspring was 
 uncared for. It is a common practice to name the first 
 child after the man's father, and the second after the mother's 
 father. In the first case, the friends of the man make the 
 wife a present ; and in the other, her friends offer the gift to 
 tie husband. The above practice, however, is very variable; • 
 and the naming of children is often left to accident, caprice, 
 or malice. Some peculiarity in the infant, or in the time or 
 circumstances of its birth, often decides the name. Or, in 
 the absence of more durable monuments, the epithet is maide 
 a record of the family triumphs, or the weakness, folly, and 
 disgrace of their enemies. Such instances abound, and names 
 worse than these, of the lowest and filthiest kind, such as 
 ought to be rejected from the language. 
 
 Natives nurse in eastern style, the child sitting, quite 
 naked, astride the mother's hip, where it is kept from 
 falling by her arm passed round its body. Children who 
 
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liiii 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 177 
 
 have the coho — an ulcerous disease, like the yaws of the 
 West Indies— stand at the back of their mother, whose 
 hands are clasped behind, forming a soft standing-place for 
 the feet of the little sufferer, who holds on by the parent's 
 shoulders. Most native children have this disease, and 
 those who escape are said to grow up sickly and feeble, 
 and incapable of much exertion, — an opinion which, I 
 believe, is well founded. 
 
 Women who regard the health of their child generally 
 abstain from the pleasures of fishing during the time of 
 nursing. One of the first lessons taught the infant is to 
 strike its mother, a neglect of which would beget a fear 
 lest the child should grow up to be a coward. Thus these 
 people are nurtured "without natural affection," and 
 trained to be " implacable, unmerciful." Several proofs of 
 this I witnessed at Somosomo ; mothers leading their 
 children to kick and tread upon the dead bodies of enemies. 
 The violent passions of revenge and anger are fostered in 
 the native children, so that, when offended, they give full 
 vent to their fury ; and it is not surprising that their riper 
 years exhibit such fearful developements of rage. Tisiting, 
 on the same island, a family who were mourning the recent 
 slaughter of six of their friends, one of the first objects I 
 saw was a good malo — a man's dress — much torn, by 
 which sat a child of about four years old, cutting and 
 chopping it with a large butcher's knife, while liis own 
 hand was covered with blood, which flowed from the stump 
 where, shortly before, his little finger had been cut off, as 
 a token of affection for his deceased father. The malo had 
 been stripped from one of the party who had attacked the 
 friends of that child, and was placed before him to excite 
 and gratify a revengeful disposition. 
 
 Grim, immodest representations of the human figure, 
 about eighteen inches long, are used on the larger islands 
 to terrify the children into quietness. 
 
 When at Lakemba, I. was told by Mosese Yakaloloma 
 that, in their heathen state, they did not address their httle 
 ones as children, but would say, "Come here, you raU I" 
 
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178 CHAPTER VI, 
 
 Beside attending to the children, it is the duty of the 
 women to fetch salt and fresh water, collect fuel, and attend 
 to the boiled food. If a woman, when putting bananas into 
 a pot, let one faU on the outside, or if the bread-fruit burst 
 in roasting, she wOl wring her hands ia dismay, or cry 
 aloud, fearing the ill luck betokened by the accident. On 
 Vanua Levu, the women are treated with a little considera- 
 tion, and more as equals, by the men ; a kindness which 
 they repay by dealing largely in scandal, which thus grows 
 with tropical rapidity. Kshing with hand-nets is their 
 duty and delight. Women of all ranks engage in this 
 employment with a kind of passion, and use the time for 
 the unbridled indulgence of slander and gossip. 
 
 Polygamy is looked upon as a principal source of a 
 Chiefs power and wealth. It certainly is the source of 
 female degradation, domestic misery, and personal suffer- 
 ing. One day, the Missionary's wife asked a woman who 
 was minus her nose, " How is it that so many of you 
 women are without a nose ?" A native wife replied, 
 "It grows out of a plurality of wives. Jealousy causes 
 hatred, and then the stronger tries to cut or bite off the 
 nose of the one she hates." 
 
 The lady wife of the Mbua Chief had a rival more power- 
 ful than was agreeable to her, in an interesting young 
 woman, who engrossed most of her lord's attention. Not 
 having a club at hand with which to take vengeance on 
 the object of her angry jealousy, the enraged wife pounced 
 on her, and tore her sadly with nails and teeth, and injured 
 her mouth by attempting to slit it open. The young 
 woman was placed under my care, her shoulders being 
 severely lacerated. A few months after, a young girl — 
 the second wife of a man whose former spouse was getting 
 old — ^was brought to me, in a very emaciated condition, 
 through the cruel treatment of her rival. The man was 
 fond of his young wife, but could not shield her from the 
 fury of the elder, who added to much rough treatment the 
 employment of witchcraft. A severe illness was the result 
 of this double attack j the body sinking under cruelty, and 
 
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MAHNEES AUTD CUSTOMS. 179 
 
 the mind under superstitious fears. Thus we find that 
 bites, scratches, and rent ears are among the smaller evils 
 of polygamy. The following dialogue between Mrs. 
 Williams and a native woman will further illustrate these 
 evils. 
 
 " Where is Ratu Lingalingani ? " 
 
 "He is at Vuna, Madam. He is angry with Audi 
 Lasangka," (a favourite wife,) " who is iU at that place." 
 
 " Is she not likely to become a mother ? " 
 
 " Yes : and it is on that account that she has gone to 
 Vuna. The other wives of the Chief are displeased at it ; 
 and, rather than endure their anger, she has gone to 
 destroy the child, that it may be still-born." 
 
 The treatment of a fine girl, the daughter of the mate of 
 an American vessel, and inferior wife of a Mbau Chief, is 
 too horrid to narrate. 
 
 The herd of women brought together by polygamy 
 under the will of one man, are robbed of the domestic 
 pleasures springing from reciprocated affection, and are 
 thus led literally " to bite and devour one another." The 
 testimony of a woman who lived two years in my family, 
 after having been one among several of a Chiefs wives, is, 
 that they know nothing of comfort. Contentions among 
 them are endless, the bitterest hatred common, and mutual 
 cursing and recrimination of daily occurrence. When 
 their quarters become untenable, they generally run. In- 
 deed, I was told by a chief lady that it was a settled 
 point, that an offensive under-wife must be made to fly by 
 abundant scolding and abuse. When a woman happens to 
 be under the displeasure of her master as well as that of 
 his lady wives, they irritate the Chief by detailing her mis- 
 demeanours, until permission is gained to punish the dehn- 
 quent, when the women of the house — high and low — fall 
 upon her, cuf&ng, kicking, scratching, and even trampling 
 on the poor creature, so unmercifully as to leave her half 
 dead. 
 
 Another and most heavy curse of polygamv falls on the 
 children, since it is an institution which virtually dissolves 
 
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180 CHAPTEE n, 
 
 the ties of relationship, and makes optional the discharge 
 of duties which nature, reason, and religion render impe- 
 rative. Hence there are multitudes of children in Fiji 
 who are wholly uncared for by their parents ; and I have 
 noticed cases beyond number, where natural affection was 
 wanting on both sides. The Fijian child is utterly deprived 
 of that wholesome and necessary discipline which consists 
 of regular and ever repeated acts of correction and teach- 
 ing. Fitful attempts to gain the mastery are made by the 
 parent, coming in the form of a furious outburst of passion, 
 to which the child opposes a due proportion of obstinacy, 
 and, in the end, is triumphant. Thus the children grow 
 up without knowledge, without good morals or habits, 
 without amiability or worth, fitted, by the way in which 
 they are reared, to develope the worst features of heathen 
 life. And this hapless condition they owe to polygamy, 
 which robs the parent of the comforts and endearments of 
 married life, and gives the child but a slight advantage 
 over the whelp of the brute. 
 
 Murder, in various forms, is the result of this vicious 
 system. Great numbers produce* sterility by drinking 
 medicated waters prepared for that purpose, and many 
 more kiU their unborn children by mechanical means; 
 while, in the case of others, death follows immediately on 
 birth. Scarcity and war, when they prevail, are often 
 urged in excuse for these crimes. Perhaps the parents 
 belong to two tribes which are at enmity, in which case the ' 
 mother, rather than multiply the foes of her tribe, will 
 destroy her progeny. In 1850, the Mbua Chief took a 
 principal wife to his home, whereupon another of his wives, 
 in a fit of jealousy, disappointed him by destrojing the 
 child which he expected shortly to be born. Nandi, one 
 of whose wives was pregnant, left her to dwell with a 
 second. The forsaken one awaited his return some months, 
 and at last the child disappeared. This practice seemed to 
 be universal on Yanua Levu, — quite a matter of course, — 
 so that few women could be found who had not, in some 
 way, been murderers. The extent of infanticide in some 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 181 
 
 parts of this island reaches nearer to two-thirds than half. 
 Abominable as it is, it is reduced to a system, the pro- 
 fessors of which are to be found in every village. I know 
 of no case after the child is one or two days old ; and all 
 destroyed after birth are females, because they are useless 
 in war, or, as some say, because they give so much trouble. 
 But that the former is the prevailing opinion appears from 
 such questions as these, put to persons who may plead for 
 the little one's life : " Why live ? Will she wield a 
 dub? Will she poise a spear?" When a professed 
 murderess is not near, the mother does not hesitate to kiQ 
 her own babe. With two fingers she compresses its 
 nostrils, while, with the thumb, she keeps the jaw up close ; 
 a few convulsive struggles foUow, and the cruel hand of the 
 mother is unloosed, to dig a grave close by where she lies, 
 in which the dead child is placed. Unlike the infanticide 
 of the Hindus, that of Fiji is done from motives in which 
 there is no admixture of anything like religious feeling or 
 fear, but merely whim, expediency, anger, or indolence. 
 
 In connexion with this subject, another proof may be 
 given of the assertion already made, that the Eijians are 
 made up of contradictions. They often adopt orphans, for 
 whom they display far more love than for their own 
 offspring. I should hesitate to give the following illus- 
 tration, were I not well acquainted with most of the parties 
 concerned. Tokanaua was slain in the last Mbua war, in 
 1844, leaving a son and infant daughter, who were thrown 
 on the care of their friends, the mother having been 
 strangled, and buried with her husband. The orphans were 
 taken to the house of Tokanaua's elder brother, who pro- 
 vided wet-nurses for the babe. He became, however, dis- 
 satisfied with this arrangement ; and as his wife was just 
 then confined, he arranged with her to murder their own 
 child, that the adopted one might take its place and receive 
 her care. 
 
 The wives sometimes become unruly. Near to the King 
 of Lakemba, and, afterwards, to the King of Mbua, I saw 
 lying a stick of heavy wood, about the size of a broom- 
 
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182 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 handle. On inquiry, I found that the free use of this 
 truncheon was very effective in subduing the wayward wills 
 of the women when they became disorderly. Tanoa's staff, 
 used for this purpose, was inlaid with ivory, but did not, on 
 that account, cause less pain. This is employed in cases 
 not grave enough to demand the club, as, for instance, the 
 dreSre kaei — ^the call by laughing — the way in which 
 women are supposed to call their gallants. These swains, 
 to make themselves increasingly agreeable, sweeten their 
 breath by eating a greyish clay, until nausea is produced. 
 But unhappy is the woman whose amours come to light ! 
 The sweet words and pleasant breath of the lover are suc- 
 ceeded by the rough abuse of her lord, and by such a beat- 
 ing as leaves the difference between it and being clubbed 
 very small indeed. 
 
 The aged King, Tuithakau II., visited me one day in 
 evident trouble. After sitting silent awhile, he said, 
 " Have you a spy-glass ? " Finding that I had one, he 
 proceeded, " Do look, and see if my woman has gone to 
 Weilangi only, or right away to Wainikeli." WeOangi 
 was a village about six miles off, and Wainikeli about six 
 miles further, with high hiUs interposed. It appeared that 
 the old gentleman had fonnd it necessary to use severe dis- 
 cipline with one of his wives, who, after being beaten, ran 
 away; and he now felt anxious about her, and came to 
 sohcit the help of my glass to ascertain her whereabouts^ 
 I assured him that, in this case, the spy-glass was of no > 
 use, as the woman had been gone several hours, and was 
 now, no doubt, in some honse with her friends. " Look," 
 he rejoined, " if you can see her footsteps on the road from 
 Weilangi to Wainikeli." It was with difficulty that I 
 persuaded him that it was impossible to see, at such a 
 distance, a path which was narrow and irregular, and, 
 moreover, hidden with forest and brushwood. 
 
 That which bears the name of swearing among the South 
 Sea Islanders, though bad enough, is different in its kind 
 from English swearing, and not so great an evil. The 
 natives never blindly invoke the wrath of a god, or con- 
 
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MANOTiES AITD CUSTOMS. 183 
 
 demn themselves or each other to endless destnictioE ; but 
 .they use filthy, irritating, and malevolent language, not 
 -uncommonly having reference to their cannibal practices. 
 Like the Easterns, they speak abusively of the parents of 
 the persons with whom they are angry. I have heard 
 individuals, when protesting strongly, swear by the King. 
 It is iabu for those to swear at each other who are pro- 
 hibited from conversing together; but those who are 
 worshippers of the same god may swear at one another to 
 their heart's content. 
 
 To the aged and infirm, the kindnesses of the Kjians are 
 cruel. Bald heads and grey hairs excite contempt instead 
 of honour j and, on this account, the aged, when they find 
 themselves hkely to become troublesome, beg of their 
 children to strangle them. If the parents should be slow 
 to make the proposal, they are anticipated by the children. 
 The heathen notion is, that, as they die, such wiU their 
 condition be in another world; hence their desire to 
 escape extreme infirmity. I have never known a case of 
 self-destruction which had personal defect or deformity for 
 its motive ; but a repugnance on the part of the sound, 
 the healthy, and the young, to associate with the maimed, 
 the sick, and the aged, is the main cause of the 
 sacrifice. 
 
 It could answer no good purpose to record many of the 
 frequent instances of abominable cruelty towards the aged 
 and infirm, which are precisely similar to those practised 
 by some other heathen nations. Exposure, burying alive, 
 and the rope, are the means generally used for (fispatching 
 these unfortunates. One case, peculiarly Eijian, may be 
 narrated. Wangka i Vuki told me that his brother was 
 drowned at sea with Eambithi, a Somosomo Prince. 
 "Then," said I, "he went from you well, and you saw 
 him no more." Wangka i replied, " Well, not exactly so ; 
 we saw him again; for, when the canoe on which he 
 sailed went down, he swam about until one of the fleet 
 came near him, and he got on board, resting some time, it 
 being night." As day broke, he was discovered by his 
 
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184 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 companions in trouble, and, since he had fared worse than 
 they, it was at once decided that he ought to be clubbed. 
 Just then, some one recognised him as a skilful sailor: 
 this turned the scale in his favour, as it was agreed that he 
 should Hve, and at once take the helm. Weak and unfit 
 as he necessarily was for a post which wearies the most 
 energetic, he took the great steer-oar ; nor was he allowed 
 to leave it until, after a tedious voyage, they reached Vuna. 
 One heart there was among the crew that pitied that death- 
 like being who grasped the helm, and, seeing that he was 
 unable to move from the canoe, carried him ashore, and 
 shared a piece of water-melon with him. His friends at 
 Somosomo, on hearing of his two-fold escape, rejoiced 
 greatly, brought him home, attended him for nearly two 
 months, and had the satisfaction of witnessing his recovery. 
 Soon after, through eating a piece of fowl, he suffered a 
 relapse, so that his body became swollen, and his friends 
 said that his breath smelt bad. They had received 
 orders to go on a voyage the next day, and, as no one 
 could be spared to look after the invalid, and to take him 
 on the canoe might give him pain, and inconvenience his 
 friends, they concluded that it would be best to strangle 
 him; which purpose, with his own consent, they carried 
 out. His relatives kissed and wept over him ; strangled, 
 buried, and mourned for him ; and the next day set out on 
 their voyage. 
 
 In the destruction of their decrepit parents, the Kjians 
 sometimes plead affection, urging that it is a kindness to 
 shorten the miserable period of second childhood. In 
 their estimation, the use of a rope instead of the club is a 
 mark of love so strong, that they wonder when a stronger 
 is demanded. In many cases, however, no attempt is 
 made to disguise the cruelty of the deed. It is a startUng) 
 but incontestable fact, that in Fiji there exists a general 
 system of parricide, which ranks too, in all respects, as a 
 social institution. 
 
 The ill-concealed cruelty of the people is further shown 
 in their treatment of the sick. Unless the afflicted one is 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 185 
 
 of high rank, or valued for Ms services, the patience of his 
 friends will be exhausted in a few days. 
 
 Great effort was made on behalf of a Lakemba Princess 
 who was sick, during my second year's residence on that 
 island. The aid of the best native doctors was called in, 
 and large offerings made to the gods, and a new temple 
 begun, to secure their divine favour, but all in vain. Eich 
 puddings, from sixteen to twenty-one feet in circumference, 
 proved insufficient to attract the benignant notice of the 
 gods ; and, when all hope from that quarter was gone, the 
 " lotti " was tried. The sick woman made a profession of 
 Christianity, and, being placed under the kind care of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Calvert, by God's blessing recovered. But very 
 far different is the treatment of common people. Mr. Lyth 
 found a woman in Somosomo who was in a very abject 
 state through the protracted absence of her husband. For 
 five weeks, although two women Hved in the same house, 
 she lay uncared for, becoming reduced to a mere skeleton. 
 After this, she had food and medicine from the Mission 
 Station, and improved. One morning, a servant of mine 
 was taking her breakfast, but was met by her friends as they 
 returned from her interment, who told him to take the food 
 back. On reaching home he said that, on the previous 
 day, he had found an old woman in the house, who made 
 no secret of her errand. " I came," said she, " to see my 
 friend, and inquire whether she was ready to be strangled ; 
 but, as she is strong, we shall not strangle her yet." Soon 
 after, her friends changed their minds, and deprived her of 
 life to hasten her funeral. 
 
 If sick persons have no friends, they are simply left to 
 perish. Should they be among friends, they are cared for 
 until they become troublesome, or, through weakness, 
 offensive; whereupon they are generally put out of the 
 way. The people near to Vatukali decide -the question of 
 a sick person's recovery by a visit to a famous mulamula 
 tree, which is the index of death. If they find a branch 
 of the tree newly broken off, they suppose that the person 
 on whose account they pay the visit must die. If no 
 
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186 CHAPTEE TI. 
 
 branch is broken, recovery is expected. When a warrior 
 meditates a daring deed, he says, " I shall come near to 
 breaking a branch of the mulamula to-day." The death 
 of the patient being once determined, any appeal on his 
 part is useless. Eatu Yarani spoke of one among many 
 whom he had caused to be buried alive. She had been 
 weakly for a long time, and the Chief, thinking her likely 
 to remain so, had a grave dug. The curiosity of the poor 
 girl was excited by loud exclamations, as though something 
 extraordinary had appeared, and, on stepping out of the 
 house, she was seized, and thrown into her grave. In vain 
 she shrieked with horror, and cried out, "Do not buiy 
 me ! I am quite well now ! " Two men kept her down by 
 standing on her, while others threw the soil in upon her, 
 until she was heard no more. 
 
 On Kandavu, sick persons are often thrown into a cave, 
 where the dead are also deposited. 
 
 It makes one sad to think that there is truth in what 
 the people allege, as one reason for their anxiety to get rid 
 of their sick. The malignity of the afi&icted ones does not 
 seem to be diminished by their bodily weakness ; for, when 
 left alone, they will lie on the mate of their friends, and 
 leave saliva on their drinking vessels, or even in their food, 
 that they may thus communicate the disease to the healthy 
 members of the household. 
 
 When the hour of death is allowed to approach natu- 
 rally, and the dying one is respectable, or the head of a 
 family, the scene is certainly affecting. The patriarch calls 
 his children round him, that he may say farewell, and give 
 his parti"ng advice. This is generally commenced in the 
 same way : " I am going. You wiU remain." He then 
 states any alteration he may wish in family affairs, or 
 expresses his satisfaction with them as they are. At that 
 hour of death, he never forgets an enemy, and at that time 
 he never forgives one. The dying man mentions his foe, 
 that his children may perpetuate his hatred, — it may be 
 against his own son, — and kiU him at the first opportunity. 
 The name of the hated one is uttered aloud, if not as the 
 
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MAJfNllES AKD CUSTOMS. 187 
 
 object of immediate vengeance, yet of gloomy and dis- 
 astrous predictions, which never fail to reach the ears 
 where they are least welcome. Deep concern is often 
 excited by these dying words, and the impression made on 
 the minds of those to whom the carrying out of their dark 
 purport is intrusted, is indelible. Thus, with the deep 
 marks of a murderous, unforgiving spirit upon him, does 
 the heathen pass away to his account. 
 
 When a Chief is either dead or dying, the fact is 
 announced to his various connexions ; and should he be of 
 supreme power, the principal persons in his dominions 
 come to pay their respects, and offer a present to him. If 
 he is merely the head of a tribe, the chief members of that 
 tribe assemble for the same purpose. The death of a male 
 is announced by the firing of muskets, or by dolorous blasts 
 on the trumpet-shell. On Vanua Levu, this is the signal 
 for plunder, the nearest relatives rushing to the house to 
 appropriate all they can seize belonging to those who lived 
 there with the deceased. Valuables are therefore removed, 
 and hidden in time. The general custom, however, takes 
 the form of an eastern mourning. The people nearest at 
 hand bewail the dead in a sudden outburst of grief — 
 uncurbed, excessive, and outrageous. Their cries are heard 
 far away, and render needless the solemn tones of the 
 passing beU. Numbers, from all parts, run together to 
 the place where the deceased lies, and from each is required 
 an extravagant demonstration of sorrow, but of short con- 
 tinuance. Some of the women accompany their cry with 
 gesticulations indicative of great anguish. " War ! War ! 
 Precious ! Valiant ! " and similar exclamations, rehd the air 
 on all sides. I have heard the dead questioned in the 
 style which has prevailed among every people where 
 similar modes of lamentation have been observed. " Why 
 did you die ? Were you weary of us ? We are around 
 you now. ' Why do you close your eyes upon us?" 
 Sometimes these wailings continue through the night, and 
 their dreary, dismal effect cannot be imagined by any one 
 who has not heard them. The tones are those of hoper 
 
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188 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 less despair, and tlirill through, "nerve, and vein, and 
 bone." 
 
 The process of laying out is often commenced several 
 hours before the person is actually dead. I have known 
 one take food afterwards ; and another who lived eighteen 
 Louis after. All this time, in the opinion of a Fijian, the 
 man was dead. Eating, drinking, and talking, he says, 
 are the involuntary actions of the body, — of the " empty 
 shell," as he calls it, — ^the soul having taken its departure. 
 Laying out consists in removing any old clothes which may 
 be about the sick man, washing him, if needful, oiling his 
 body, and covering the upper part with black paint, so as 
 to give him the appearance of a warrior. A large new masi 
 is thrown loosely round his loins, a clean head-dress put 
 on, and his lower extremities are covered with a kind of 
 sheet. Ornaments on the arms and forehead are often 
 added. When these decorations are complete, the sur- 
 rounding friends think of nothing but the man's death, 
 acting as though his recovery would disconcert their plans, 
 and therefore be by no means desirable. When really 
 dead, a ponderous club, newly oiled, is laid by his right 
 side, and the lifeless hand holds one or more whales' teeth. 
 This custom is analogous to that of the ancient Greeks, in 
 placing an obolus on the Kps of the corpse ; but, instead of 
 the sweet cake taken to propitiate Cerberus, the Fijians 
 dispatch a strong man to secure the infernal guard until 
 the chiefly ghost has passed by. 
 
 The next step is the preparation of the loloku. This 
 word expresses anything done out of respect for the dead, 
 but espediaUy the strangling of friends. This custom may 
 have had a religious origin, but at present the victims are 
 not sacrificed as offerings to the gods, but merely to pro- 
 pitiate and honour the manes of the departed. It is 
 strengthened by misdirected affection, joined with wrong 
 notions of a future life. The idea of a Chieftain going 
 into the world of spirits unattended, is most repugnant to 
 the native mind. So strong is the feeling in favour of the 
 loloku, that Christianity is disliked because it rigorously 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 189 
 
 discountenances the cherished custom. When the Christian 
 Chief of Dama fell by the concealed musketry of the Nawa- 
 thans, a stray shot entered the forehead of a young man at 
 some distance from him, and kiUed him. The event was 
 regarded by many of the nominal Christians as most 
 fortunate, since it provided a companion for the spirit of 
 the slain Chief. 
 
 Ordinarily, the first victim for the lolohu is the man's 
 wife, and more than one, if he has several. I have known 
 the mother to be strangled too. In the case of a Chief 
 who has a confidential companion, this his right-hand man, 
 in order to prevent a disruption of their intimacy, ought to 
 die with his superior ; and a neglect of this duty would 
 lower him in public opinion. I knew one who escaped ; 
 but the associate of Ea Mbombo, the Chief of Weilea, was, 
 together with the head wife of the deceased, murdered, to 
 accompany him into the regions of the dead. The bodies 
 of these victims are called " grass " for bedding the Chiefs 
 grave. When Mbithi, who was a Chief of high rank and 
 greatly esteemed in Mathuata, died, (1840,) in addition to 
 his own wife, five men and their wives were strangled, to 
 form the floor of his grave. They were laid on a layer of 
 mats, and the Chief was placed on them. Mbule-i-Navave, 
 a Chief of limited influence, was buried on four poor 
 women, one quite a gii'l. Six were to have been killed; 
 but one was bold enough to object, and was spared ; the 
 other owed her life to missionary interposition. The usual 
 victims on these occasions are two women, or a man and a 
 woman. After the women are strangled, they are well 
 oUed, their heads dressed and ornamented, new "likus put 
 on them, and vermilion or turmeric powder spread on their 
 faces and bosoms. I have seen this done on some women 
 before death. When prepared, they are placed by the side 
 of the warhke dead, and together form one of the strangest 
 and saddest of groups. The young Chief of Lasakau, 
 J^gavindi, was laid out with a wife at his side, his mother 
 at his feet, and a servant a short way off. After this, visits 
 are received from companies of ten or twenty — ^men and 
 
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190 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 women — ^who weep ia the way already described ; and if 
 tears may be taken as evidence, their sorrow is sincere. 
 These visits are styled ai reguregu, a name which is also 
 applied to presents given at the same time. The word 
 comes from regu, to " kiss/' since the visitors kiss as well 
 as bewail the dead. After this, I have seen the heads of 
 tribes who had maintained a friendly intercourse with him 
 whom they mourn, present a whale's tooth or a mat to the 
 man who has succeeded him as the head of the house, and, 
 pointing to the deceased, mention the friendship which 
 existed between him and them, saying, that the object of 
 their visit was not only to show their regard for the dead, 
 but also to put the living in mind of their friendly relation- 
 ship, lest, forgetting it, they should break up a long 
 cherished union. The person addressed receives what is 
 offered, and expresses a wish that the friendship of the 
 two tribes may remain unbroken. On Yanua Levu, the 
 visitors turn from this form to kiss and weep over the 
 corpse. 
 
 If a person dies towards evening, the body is kept in the 
 house, and a sort of wake follows ; persons sit and watch 
 with the corpse, the tedium of their duty being relieved by 
 companies of young men who, either indoors or outside, 
 sing a succession of dirges. The climate makes speedy 
 burial necessary, and the grave is dug the next morning. 
 Certain persons do this work, while another party prepares 
 the oven for the feast. At some funerals priests attend, and 
 superintend the ceremonies. The two diggers, seated 
 opposite each other, make three feints with their digging 
 sticks, which are then struck into the earth, and a grave, 
 rarely more than three feet deep, is prepared. Either the 
 grave-diggers, or some one near, repeats twice the words, 
 " Fiji, Tonga." The earth first thrown up is laid aside 
 apart from the rest. When the grave is finished, mats are 
 laid at the bottom, and the body or bodies, wrapped in 
 other mats and native cloth, are placed thereon, the edges 
 of the under mats folding over aU : the earth is then 
 thrown in. Many yards of the man's man are often left 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 191 
 
 out of the grave, and carried in festoons over the branches 
 of a neighbouring tree. The sextons go away forthwith 
 and wash themselves, using, during their ablutions, the 
 leaves of the ciuciu or the uci for purification ; after which 
 they return, and share the food which has been prepared for 
 them. 
 
 In the native funeral ceremonies there is an effort to 
 exhibit sympathy and kindness. Articles prized by the dead 
 are either buried with them, or laid on the grave. Friends 
 withhold nothing needed for the obsequies. Poor people 
 who, when alive, could scarcely procure a mat to lie upon, 
 I have seen buried in four or even six. A decent burial is 
 much coveted. The King of Lakemba used to ask of the 
 Missionaries, as the greatest favour, a wooden cofBn, that 
 his body might not be trampled upon. The Chief of Mbau 
 sent for Tongans to cut him a stone tomb. In Lakemba I 
 recollect seeing the graves of children at the best end of 
 the houses of several Chiefs ; " That the wind," they said, 
 "might not disturb, nor the rain fall upon them." On 
 certain parts of Viti Levu, the same reason is assigned for 
 burying their dead in the temples; also that the living 
 may have the satisfaction of lying near their departed 
 friends, and thus prevent their graves from being deiiled ; 
 for a Kjian burial-ground is generally a very filthy place. 
 
 A faithful old servant of mine was constantly alluding to 
 his death, and giving me directions about his interment. 
 Lotu, a recent convert, asked me with concern whether she 
 might be anointed with oil and turmeric after death ; and, 
 although dying, her eyes brightened as she told me the size 
 of the cake of turmeric which she had in reserve for the 
 occasion. A woman at Na Volivoli would not allow her 
 babe to be buried at all, but kept it on a shelf in the house. 
 Some have carried this out further. A child of rank died 
 under the care of Marama, the Queen of Somosomo. The 
 body was placed iu a box, and hung from the tie-beam of 
 the -chief temple, and, for some months, the best of food 
 was taken to it daily, the bearers approaching with the 
 greatest respect, and, after having waited as long as a 
 
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192 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 person would be in taking a meal, clapping their hands 
 as when a Chief has done eating, and then retiring. If 
 tortoise-shell or mats were divided, Tui Vanuavou — the 
 child — always had his share. 
 
 Over some of the graves a small roof is built, three or 
 six feet high, the gables of which are filled in with sinnet, 
 wrought into different-sized squares, arranged diagonally. 
 Common graves are only edged round with stones, or have 
 nothing more than one set at the head and another at the 
 foot. The lady named above was greatly beloved by Tui- 
 thakau, and he buried her in costly style. A good double 
 canoe, forty feet long, was placed on a large mound cast up 
 for that purpose, and faced with stones. It was then 
 imbedded in earth, and the decks covered over with fine 
 shingle, on which mats were spread to receive the body, 
 which was covered with sand, and upon it were placed the 
 remains of the boy of whom the Queen had been so fond. 
 The body was further protected with a large roof, made of 
 a kind of mahogany, and ornamented with pure white 
 cowries. On some graves I have seen large cairns of 
 stones, which are sometimes set up also to mark the spot 
 where a man has died. On some few graves I have 
 observed a basket of sundry ornaments which used once to 
 please the deceased who lay below. Only the burial-places 
 of Chiefs are tabu, and those only to natives. A general 
 unwillingness is shown to disturb the dead. 
 
 On my first going to Somosomo, I entertained a hope 
 that the aged King would be allowed to die a natural 
 death, although such an event would be without precedent. 
 The usage of the land had been to intimate that the King's 
 end was near by cleaning round about the house, after 
 which his eldest son, when bathing with his father, took a 
 favourable opportunity and dispatched him with a club. 
 On inquiry made on the spot, I found that this, according 
 to the account of the Chiefs of Somosomo, was the practice 
 of their neighbours at Vuna. This statement relieved my 
 mind ; for the kind old Chief was a general favourite, and it 
 was painful to think that so cruel an end awaited him. 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 193 
 
 Commodore Wilkes justly describes him as " a fine specimen 
 of a Eiji Islander ; and he bore no slight resemblance to our 
 ideas of an old Roman. His figure was particularly taU 
 and manly, and he had a head fit for a Monarch." Speak- 
 ing of him afterwards, the American Commodore says, 
 " He looks as if he were totally distinct from the scenes of 
 horror that are daily taking place around him, and his whole 
 countenance has the air and expression of benevolence'.'' 
 This is all true; yet there was never a more besotted 
 heathen, or a more inveterate cannibal, than the man thus 
 portrayed, and whose last hours may fitly be described 
 here. 
 
 The venerable Chieftain grew feeble towards the middle 
 of 1845, but not so as to prevent his taking an occasional 
 walk. About August, however, he was obliged to keep 
 his mat, and I often called, and endeavoured to instruct 
 without irritating him. I visited him on the 21st, and 
 was surprised to find him much better than he had been 
 two days before. We talked a little, and he was perfectly 
 collected. On being told, therefore, on the morning of the 
 24th, that the King was dead, and that preparations were 
 being made for his interment, T could scarcely credit the 
 report. The ominous word preparing urged me to hasten 
 without delay to the scene of action ; but my utmost speed 
 failed to bring me to Nasima — the King's house — in time. 
 The moment I entered, it was evident that, as far as con- 
 cerned two of the women, I was too late to save their lives. 
 The effect of that scene was overwhelming. Scores of 
 deliberate murderers, in the very act, surrounded me : yet 
 there was no confusion, and, except a word from him who 
 presided, no noise, but only an unearthly, horrid stillness. 
 Nature seemed to lend her aid to deepen the dread effect : 
 there was not a breath stirring in the air, and the haK 
 subdued Kght in that hall of death showed every object 
 with unusual distinctness. AH was motionless as sculpture, 
 and a strange feeling came upon me, as though I was 
 myself becoming a statue. To speak was impossible; I 
 was unconscious that I breathed; and involuntarily, or, 
 
 
 
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194 CHAFTEE VI. 
 
 rather, against my will, I sank to the floor, assuming the 
 cowering posture of those who were not actually engaged 
 in murder. My arrival was during a hush, just at the 
 crisis of death, and to that strange silence must be attri- 
 buted my emotion ; for I was but too familiar with mur- 
 ders of this kind, neither was there anything novel in the 
 apparatus employed. Occupying the centre of that large 
 room were two groups, the business of which could not be 
 mistaken. All sat on the floor ; the middle figure of each 
 group being held in a sitting posture by several females, 
 and hidden by a large veil. On either side of each veiled 
 figure was a company of eight or ten strong men, one 
 company hauling against the other on a white cord, which 
 was passed twice round the neck of the doomed one, who 
 thus, in a few minutes, ceased to live. As my self-command 
 was returning, the group furthest from me began to move ; 
 the men slackened their hold, and the attendant women 
 removed the large covering, making it iuto a couch for the 
 victim. As that veil was lifted, some of the men beheld 
 the distorted features of a mother, whom they had helped 
 to murder, and smiled with satisfaction as the corpse was 
 laid out for decoration. Convulsive struggles on the part 
 of the poor creature near me showed that she still Hved. 
 She was a stout woman, and some of the executioners 
 jocosely invited those who sat near to have pit}', and help 
 them. At length the women said, "She is cold." The 
 fatal cord feU ; and, as the covering was raised, I saw dead ' 
 the obedient wife and unwearied attendant of the old King. 
 Leaving the women to adjust her hair, oil her body, cover 
 the face with vermilion, and adorn her with flowers, I 
 passed on to see the remains of the deceased Tuithakau. 
 To my astonishmen'^ I found him alive 1 He was weak, 
 but quite conscious, and, whenever he coughed, placed his 
 hand on his side, as though in pain. Yet his chief wife 
 and a male attendant were covering him with a thick coat 
 of black powder, and tying round his arms and legs a 
 number of white scarfs, fastened in rosettes, with the long 
 ends hanging down his sides. His head was turbaned 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS, 195 
 
 in a scarlet handkerchief, secured by a chaplet of small 
 white cowries, and he wore armlets of the same shells. 
 On his neck was the ivory necklace, formed in long curved 
 points. To complete his royal attire, according to Pijian 
 idea, he had on a very large new mad, the train being 
 wrapped in a number of loose folds at his feet. No one 
 seemed to display real grief, which gave way to show and 
 ceremony. The whole tragedy had an air of cruel mockery. 
 It was a masquerading of grim death, a decking, as for the 
 dance, of bodies which were meant for the grave. 
 
 The conflicting emotions which passed through my mind 
 at that moment cannot be described. I had gone there to 
 beg that the old man might be buried alone ; but he was 
 not dead. I had hoped to have prevented murder; but 
 two victims lay dead at my feet. I came to the young 
 King to ask for the life of women ; but now it seemed my 
 duty to demand that of his father. Yet, should my plea 
 be successful, it would cause other murders on a future 
 day. Perplexed in thought, with a deep gloom on my 
 mind, feeling my blood curdle, and "the hair of my flesh 
 stand up," I approached the young King, whom I could 
 only regard with abhorrence. He seemed greatly moved, 
 put his arm round and embraced me, saying, before I 
 could speak, " See ! the father of us two is dead." " Dead \" 
 I exclaimed, in a tone of surprise : " Dead ! No." " Yes," 
 he answered; "his spirit is gone. You see his body move; 
 but that it does unconsciously." Knowing that it would 
 be useless to dispute the point, I ceased to care for the 
 father, and went on to say, that the chief object of myself 
 and my colleague was to beg him to " love us, and prevent 
 any more women from being strangled, as he could not, by 
 multiplying the dead, render any benefit to his father." 
 He replied, " There are only two ; but they shall suffice. 
 Were not you Missionaries here, we would make an end of 
 all the women sitting around." The Queen, with pretended 
 grief, cried, "Why is it that 1 am not to be strangled?" 
 The King gave as a reason, that there was no one present 
 of sufiiciendy high rank to suffocate her. Two other 
 o 2 
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196 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 women sat near the executioners, one of whom I had heaid 
 mentioned previously as part of " the grass " for the King's 
 grave ; and their gloomy aspect made me doubt the King's 
 sincerity, so that we resolved to stay. While waiting ia 
 the midst of these murderers and their victims, and lost in 
 sad thoughts of the tyranny exercised by the devQ over 
 those who were so entirely under his control, our reverie 
 was disturbed by the long, dull blast of two conch shells 
 blown by priests standing outside. It was as the passing 
 bell, announcing the demise of the old King. After several 
 blasts, EatuLewe-ni-lovo turned towaids the King elect, and 
 greeted him : " Peace, Sir," — a congratulation to which 
 his false heart gave the Ke. The chief priest, as the voice 
 of the people, then repeated the salutation : " Peace, Sir. 
 Sit in peace. Sir. True, the sun of one King has set, but 
 our King yet lives. Peace, Sir ; there are none here evil- 
 minded.'" Tuikilakila made no reply, but sat with his 
 head bent down to his breast. After a few moments of 
 silence he spoke. Gazing on the corpse of his father's 
 faithful attendant, he exclaimed, "Alas! Moalevu!" Seve- 
 ral others having repeated the exclamation, he added, 
 " There lies a woman truly wearied : not only in the day, 
 but in the night also, the fire consumed the fuel gathered 
 by her hands. If we awoke in the stiU night, the sound 
 of her feet reached our ears ; and, if spoken to harshly, she 
 continued to labour only. Moalevu! Alas! Moalevu!" 
 A priest continued the lament : " We used not to hear ' 
 Moalevu called twice." Similar remarks, with others on 
 the recent struggles of the dead women, the skiU of the 
 stranglers, the quantity of cloth on which the corpses lay, 
 and the premonitory symptoms of the old King's decease, 
 occupied the remainder of the time. 
 
 Preparations being made for removing the bodies, we, 
 having no further cause for staying, retired from "the 
 large house." In doing so, I noticed an interesting female, 
 oiled and dressed in a new liku, carrying a long bamboo, 
 the top of which contained about a pint of water, which, as 
 the bodies were carried out at one door, she poured on the 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 197 
 
 threshold of another, and then retired by the way she 
 came. The words of the widow of Tekoah were thus 
 brought, with peculiar force, to my mind : " For we must 
 needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which 
 cannot be gathered up again." My inquiry into the origin 
 and meaning of this act resulted in nothing satisfactory. 
 Neither could I learn why the side of the house was broken 
 down, to make a passage for the aged King to be carried 
 through, when there were sufficient doorways close at hand. 
 The bodies of the strangled women, having been secured in 
 mats, were carried on biers to the sea-side. They were 
 placed one on either end of a canoe, with the old King on 
 the front deck, attended by the Queen and the Mata, who 
 with a fan kept the insects off him. Thus was Tuithakau 
 carried to Weilangi, to the sepulchre of the Kings. 
 
 Tongans were appointed to bury the King. The grave 
 had been dug by the people of the place, and lined with 
 mats, on which the Tongans laid the bodies of the women, 
 and on them the once powerful Chief. The shell orna- 
 ments were taken off his person, which was then covered 
 with cloth and mats, and the earth heaped upon him. 
 He was heard to cough after a considerable quantity of 
 soil had been thrown in the grave. These latter particulars 
 I received from those who buried him, as I could not, by 
 my presence, seem to sanction the unnatural deed. 
 
 On the death of the Tuithakau, it is customary to 
 strangle his herald: the present one, however, escaped, 
 since he only officiated as deputy for the proper one. A 
 family on the opposite coast — Vanua Levu — enjoys the 
 privilege of supplying a hale man to be buried with the 
 King, that he may go before, and hold the Fijian Cerberus. 
 On the present occasion, no such man could be found, and 
 the old Chief was even sent to meet the dangers of the 
 gloomy path without a club. 
 
 Next day, the kana-bogi, or fasting till evening, com- 
 menced. This is observed during ten or twenty days. 
 Many made themselves "bald for the dead;" some by 
 shearing the head only, others by cutting off whiskers and 
 
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198 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 beard as well. Females burnt tbeir bodies, and orders 
 were issued that one hundred fingers should be cut off; 
 but only sixty were amputated, one woman losing her life 
 in consequence. The fingers, being each inserted in a 
 sUt reed, were stuck along the eaves of the King's house. 
 Toes are never taken off for this purpose. Some, to express 
 their grief, merely make bare the crown of the head. 
 
 The following ceremonies were confused and boisterous. 
 Companies of young men danced, shouted, and made per- 
 fect uproar for several successive nights. The blindfolded 
 lads tried to hit the hanging water-vessel, and, if successful, 
 were to become great warriors. The common women, at 
 this time, are not allowed to eat flesh or fish ; and the chief 
 wife, for three months following, may not touch her own food 
 with her hands. The coast for four miles was made tabu, 
 so that no one might fish there ; and the nuts, for at least 
 six miles, were made sacred. 
 
 Real sorrow, among these people, is sometimes indicated 
 by abstinence from fruit, fish, or other pleasant food, for 
 several months together, or by the use of leaves for dress, 
 instead of any manufactured clothing. Denying themselves 
 the luxury of oil on their bodies, or a mat to lie on, and 
 lying whole nights on the grave of their friend, are other 
 modes of expressing grief. The native word for "widow" 
 refers to the practice of women neglecting to dress their 
 heads for some time after the husband's death. The mani- 
 festations of mourning just described are optional : the 
 following are exacted by custom. Vakavidiulo, "jumping- 
 of-maggots," is a bitter lamentation for the dead, to which 
 friends assemble on the foiirth day after the funeral, and 
 which consists in picturing to themselves the corruption 
 which has taken place in the dead body of the departed. 
 In strongest contrast with this custom is one observed on 
 the fifth night, called the vakadredre, " causing-to- 
 laugh.'' On this occasion companies gather together, and 
 entertain the friends of the dead with comic games, in 
 which decency is not always regarded, for the purpose of 
 helping them to forget their grief. About the tenth day, 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 199 
 
 or earlier, the women arm themselves with cords, switches, 
 and whips, and fall upon any men below the highest Chiefs, 
 plying their weapons unsparingly. I have seen grave per- 
 sonages, not accustomed to move quickly, flying with all 
 possible speed before a company of such women. Some- 
 times the men retaliate by bespattering their assailants 
 with mud ; but they use no violence, as it seems to be a 
 day on which they are bound to succumb. 
 
 Funeral banquets are made out of respect to the dead, 
 and to comfort the surviving friends. This is not only 
 done by those near at hand, but by those at a distance. 
 If these should not hear of the death for a year, a feast of 
 the dead is prepared directly the news reaches them. Bogi 
 d/rau, "hundred nights," whatever it meant originally, is 
 now the name of a feast at which the mourners return to 
 their usual mode of life, after having abstained for ten or 
 more days. 
 
 Every canoe arriving at a place for the first time after 
 the death of a great Chief, must show the loloku of the 
 sail. A long masi, fixed to the mast-head or yard, is 
 sometimes the loloku, or a whale's tooth is thrown from the 
 mast-head so as to fall into the water, when it is scrambled 
 for by people from the shore. When the canoe gets nearer 
 in, the sail and masi are both thrown into the water. 
 
 The lawa ni mate is, perhaps, the final ceremony, and 
 signifies the accomplishing of some unusually large or 
 good work, as the building of a canoe, or the making of 
 an immense ball of sinnet, bale of cloth, or roll of matting, 
 in memory of the dead, whose name the production thus 
 completed bears. Thus the Tia Marama was built in 
 memory of the Queen of Thakauudrovi. When the lawa 
 ni mate is a canoe, it is, while in progress, regularly 
 " awoke " every morning before the carpenters begin their 
 day's work, and "put to sleep" again when they have 
 finished. This is done at each time by a merry beat of 
 drums. 
 
 One custom I observed only on Lakemba. A long line 
 of women, each bearing on her shoulder or hip a green 
 
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200 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 basket of white sand, to cover over the grave, went singing 
 in a clear tone, "E-ui-e," while another party answered 
 "Myara;" thus producing a solemn and agreeable effect on 
 the mind of a stranger. While stiU ignorant of Ejian 
 manners, I approached such a company as I should a 
 funeral procession at home; but a loud burst of laughter 
 told me that it was mere ceremony without feeling. 
 
 In the case of a Chief drowned at sea, or slain and eaten 
 in war, the lolohu is carefully observed, as well as if the 
 deceased has died naturally, and been buried in a strange 
 land. But in these instances the grief of the survivors is 
 more impassioned, and their desire to manifest it by dying, 
 more enthusiastic. 
 
 When Ea Mbithi, the pride of Somosomo, was lost at 
 sea, seventeen of his wives were destroyed. After the news 
 of the massacre of the Namena people at Viwa in 1839, 
 eighty women were strangled to accompany the spirits of 
 their murdered husbands. 
 
 Before leaving this dark subject, it demands more full 
 and explicit examination. It has been said that most of 
 the women thus destroyed are sacrificed at their own 
 instance. There is truth in this statement ; but, unless 
 other facts are taken into account, it produces an untnith- 
 ful impression. Many are importunate to be kQled, because 
 they know that life would thenceforth be to them pro- 
 longed insult, neglect, and want. Very often, too, their 
 resolution is grounded upon knowing that their friends or 
 children have determined that they shall die. Some 
 women have been known to carry to the grave the mats in 
 which they and their dead husbands were to be shrouded, 
 and, on their arrival, have helped to dig their own tomb. 
 They then took farewell of their friends. Some have sub- 
 mitted their neck to the cord, or seated themselves in the 
 grave, in silence. Others have spent their last breath in 
 wishing for their friends success in war, plentiful crops, 
 and whatever might make them happy. Generally such 
 courage is forced, or the result of despair. Death offers 
 an escape from the suffering and wrong which await the 
 
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MANNEES AND CTJSTOMS, 201 
 
 •woman who survives her husband ; and the dark grave is 
 an asylum into which she hastens from "the bitterness 
 and sting of taunting tongues." 
 
 If the friends of the woman are not the most clamorous 
 for her death, their indifference is construed into dis- 
 respect either for her late husband or his friends, and 
 would be accordingly resented. Thus the friends and 
 children of the woman are prompted to urge her death, 
 more by self-interest than affection for her, and by fear of 
 the survivors rather than respect for the dead. Another 
 motive is to secure landed property belonging to the hus- 
 band, to obtain which they are ready to sacrifice a 
 daughter, a sister, or a mother. Many a poor widow has 
 been urged by the force of such motives as these, more 
 than by her own apparent ambition to become the favourite 
 wife in the abode of spirits. 
 
 The husbands of two Na Sau women were shot in war, 
 and they were doomed to be strangled. They had a slight 
 acquaintance with the truths of Christianity, and feared the 
 future ; beside this, one of them was with child. A Native 
 Teacher begged their lives on these considerations. The 
 women wished to live, and said, " Our case is one to cause 
 pity ; but we dare not live; our friends dare not save us." 
 Very few escape through a failure on the part of the execu- 
 tioners. It is said that one such case occurred on Ovalau. 
 While the people sung their mournful dirges over a man 
 and his wife, they were surprised by the latter showing 
 signs of life. A messenger was at once sent to the Chief 
 of the place, to inquire what was to be done. As he had 
 already experienced some trouble in the case through 
 foreign intervention on behalf of the woman's life, he 
 returned the following answer : " If any of you so love 
 the woman as to die with her, strangle her again ; for I 
 have made up my mind that those who kill her shall be 
 buried with her." No one was found to insist upon her 
 death, either for affection or interest. 
 
 Some women, it is said, submit to be strangled, that 
 they may prove thereby the legitimacy of their chil- 
 
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202 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 dren. This particularly refers to such, children as are 
 Vasus. 
 
 Cases in which women would not be saved have some- 
 times come under my notice. When Mbati Namu was 
 killed, the relatives of Sa Ndrungu, his chief wife, brought 
 and offered her to his friends. I presented my sow for her 
 life, but it was neutralized by her friends presenting one to 
 " press it down." I made another offering, gained my 
 point, and sent the disappointed murderers about their 
 business, — one holding a bottle of oil, another turmeric 
 powder, and a third the instrument of death, — aU sad at 
 heart that these were not to be used. A short time after, 
 in consequence of the dissatisfaction of her friends, the 
 woman left the Christian village, crossed the river, and 
 entered the house of the man who was most anxious to 
 destroy her, taking her stand in the midst, so as to intimate 
 that she gave herself up to his will. I followed, and got 
 permission from the dead Chiefs brother to take her back 
 with me, and, by taking my proffered hand, she might have 
 lived. She intimated her sense of my kind intention, but 
 declined to accompany me. Next morning she was 
 strangled. 
 
 Many, however, were saved through our efforts, and some 
 were thankful for the deliverance. A Somosomo woman 
 received a reprieve which we had obtained from the King, 
 just as she was being oiled and dressed for death. It was 
 evidently not unwelcome; but it would have been at the 
 risk of her reputation to have said or done anything indi- 
 cative of gratitude. A vexatious circumstance took place 
 on Taviuni. A Chief of that island was slain on Vanua 
 Levu, in war. On receiving information of this, the prin- 
 cipal women soon assembled in his house to prepare for the 
 murder of his wives ; but an ^interdict from the King 
 prevented them, and the prey was rescued. But they 
 were not to be defeated. The prohibition did not in- 
 clude the Chiefs mother, whom they at once surrounded, 
 and, before we could get authority to check them, dis- 
 patched with their own hands. Often, on that island, 
 
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 'o 
 
MAKNEES AND CUSTOMS. 203 
 
 have I been compelled to acknowledge the truth of the 
 couplet, — 
 
 " woman 1 woman ! when to ill thy mind 
 Is hent, all hell contains no fouler fiend." 
 
 The advancing light of a merciful religion is daily ex- 
 posing the horrors of this practice, and preparing the way 
 for its abandonment. Na Thilathila, a heathen whose 
 children were Christians, was visited by them on the death 
 of her husband. They admonished her that she was dying 
 without preparation for so solemn a change. She replied, 
 " I know it. I know it. As certainly as I die, I shall go 
 to the flaming fire ; but there is no remedy, there is no one 
 to procure my reprieve." One case I knew, in which a 
 Christian man tore the cord from the neck of his heathen 
 cousin, and rescued her, amidst the cuffs and execrations of 
 those who had commenced the work of death. One heathen 
 woman saved herself by stratagem. Having directed a 
 man how he might obtain her deliverance, she gave herself 
 up, and was outrageously determined to die. The friend 
 pursued the plan she had advised, and they retired together 
 to laugh over its success. 
 
 As it affects the children, this dreadful custom is fear- 
 fully cruel, depriving them of the mother when, by ordinary 
 or violent means, they have become fatherless. Natural 
 deaths are reduced to a small number among the heathen 
 Eijians, by the prevalence of war and the various systems of 
 murder which custom demands. A proper examination of 
 this subject would, I am persuaded, educe appalling facts. 
 Minute inquiries of this kind have never yet been insti- 
 tuted ; but one or two made by myself on Vanua Levu 
 will show what results might be expected. Of nine boys 
 presented for baptism, three were brothers, and the parents 
 of the whole would therefore number fourteen. Of these 
 only four were living ; and, of the rest, one half had come 
 to a violent death. In a class of seventeen children under 
 twelve years of age, I found nine orphans. None of these 
 were related; so that the parents were eighteen. Of these, 
 two mothers were rescued by Christian interposition; the 
 
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204- CHAPTER VI. 
 
 remaining sixteen persons were all eitter killed in war or 
 strangled ! 
 
 Among the dark mysteries of deatt and the grave, super- 
 stition traces her wildest and most terrible imaginings ; for 
 herein ignorance, credulity, and fear work and develope un- 
 hindered. In Kji, as well as England, the howKng of a 
 dog at night is believed to betoken death, and the grim 
 dread is near indeed to the man round whose feet a cat 
 purrs and rubs itself, though frequently reptdsed. If rats 
 scratch the mound of a woman's grave, it decides that she 
 was unchaste. Popular superstition dooms that warrior to 
 certain death whose face looks but indifferently after great 
 pains have been taken to make it a jet black. Large 
 " shooting-stars " are said to be gods ; smaller ones, the 
 departing souls of men. Being on the sea one night, off 
 the east coast of Vanua Levu, we heard, at midnight, a 
 single loud report like a clap of thunder ; the sky, however, 
 was so clear, that aU on board agreed it must be something 
 else. Heathen natives, with whom we conversed next 
 morning, assured me that it was "the noise of a spirit, we 
 being near the place in which spirits plunge to enter the 
 other world, and a Chief in the neighbourhood having just 
 died." 
 
 The following tradition professes to account for the uni- 
 versal spread of death. When the first man, the father of 
 the human race, was being buried, a god passed by this 
 first grave, and asked what it meant. On being informed 
 by those standing by, that they had just buried their father, 
 he said, "Do not inter him. Dig the body up again." 
 " No," was the reply, " we cannot do that ; he has been 
 dead four days, and stinks." "Not so," said the god; 
 "disinter him, and I promise you he shall live again." 
 Heedless, however, of the promise of the god, these original 
 sextons persisted in leaving their father's remains in the 
 earth. Perceiving their perverseness, the god said, "By 
 refusing compliance with my commands, you have sealed 
 your own destinies. Had you dug up your ancestor, you 
 would have found him alive, and yourselves also, as you passed 
 
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MANNEES AND CUSTOMS. 205 
 
 from this world, should have been buried, as bananas are, for 
 the space of four days, after which you should have been dug 
 up, not rotten, but ripe. But now, as a punishment for 
 your disobedience, you shall die and rot." " 0," say 
 the Fijians after hearing this recounted, "0 that those 
 children had dug up that body !" 
 
 Another tradition relates a contest between two gods as 
 to how man should die. fia Vula (the moon) contended 
 that man should be like himself, — disappear awhile, and 
 then live again. Ea Kalavo (the rat) would not listen to 
 this kind proposal, but said, " Let man die as a rat dies." 
 And he prevailed. 
 
 The following contains the native reason why " death 
 takes us before we are ready or old." Between Kasavu 
 and Nanutha, off the south-east coast of Yanua Levu, is a 
 small island, which, in the people's imagination, bears re- 
 semblance to a canoe, and on this the souls in those parts 
 pass over the river of death. The island lies parallel with 
 the main, the reason assigned for which is as follows. 
 When first brought there, the commander ordered it to be 
 run with its bows on the shore, that the passengers might 
 board it in good order, — the aged first, and so on down to 
 the children. This arrangement was set aside by others, 
 who said that it should rather lie " broadside on," that all 
 ages might come on board indiscriminately. And so it 
 was. 
 
 Leaving the notions of Kjians about the soul and a 
 future state to be stated in connexion with their religion, 
 the subject which next demands notice is one of painful and 
 revolting interest, viz., their cannibalism. 
 
 Until recently, there were many who refused to believe in 
 the existence of this horrible practice in modem times; 
 but such incredulity has been forced to yield to indisputable 
 and repeated evidence, of which Fiji alone can supply 
 enough to convince a universe, that man can fall so low as 
 habitually to feed upon his fellow-men. Cannibalism 
 among this people is one of their institutions; it is 
 interwoven in the elements of society ; it forms one 
 
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206 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 of their pursuits, and is regarded by the mass as a re- 
 finement. 
 
 Human bodies are sometimes eaten in connexion with 
 the building of a temple or canoe ; or on launching a large 
 canoe; or on taking down the mast of one which has 
 brought some Chief on a visit ; or for the feasting of such 
 as take tribute to a principal place. A Chief has been 
 known to kill several men for rollers, to facilitate the 
 launching of his canoes, the "rollers" being afterwards 
 cooked and eaten. Formerly a Chief would kill a man or 
 men on laying down a keel for a new canoe, and try to add 
 one for each fresh plank. These were always eaten as 
 " food for the carpenters." I believe that this is never 
 done now; neither is it now common to murder men ia 
 order to wash the deck of a new canoe with blood. This 
 is sometimes the case, and would, without doubt, have been 
 done on a large scale when a first-rate canoe was completed 
 at Somosomo, had it not been for the exertion of the Mis- 
 sionaries then stationed there. Vexed that the noble vessel 
 had reached Mbau unstained with blood, the Mbau Chiefs 
 attacked a town, and killed fourteen or fifteen men to eat 
 on taking down the mast for the first time. It was owing 
 to Christian influence that men were not killed at every 
 place where the canoe called for the first time. If a Chief 
 should not lower his mast within a day or two of his arrival 
 at a place, some poor creature is killed and taken to him as 
 the " lowering of the mast." In every case an enemy is 
 preferred ; but -when this is impracticable, the first common 
 man at hand is taken. It is not im^usual to find " black- 
 list " men on every island, and these are taken first. Names 
 of villages or islands are sometimes placed on the black 
 list. Vakambua, Chief of Mba, thus doomed Tavua, and 
 gave a whale's tooth to the Nggara Chief, that he might, at 
 a fitting time, punish that place. Years passed away, and 
 a reconciliation took place between Mba and Tavua. Un- 
 happily the Mba Chief failed to neutralize the engagement 
 made with Nggara. A day came when human bodies were 
 wanted, and the thoughts of those who held the tooth were 
 
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MAKNERS AKD CUSTOMS. 207 
 
 turned towards Tavua. They invited the people of that 
 place to a friendly exchange of food, and slew twenty-three 
 of their unsuspecting victims. When the treacherous 
 Nggarans had gratified their own appetites by pieces of the 
 flesh cut off and roasted on the spot, the bodies were taken 
 to Vakambua, who was greatly astonished, expressed much 
 regret that such a slaughter should have grown out of his 
 carelessness, and then shared the bodies to be eaten. 
 
 Captives are sometimes reserved for special occasions. I 
 have never been able, either by inquiry or observation, to 
 find any truth in the assertion that in some parts of the 
 group no bodies are buried, but all eaten. Those who die 
 a natural death are always interred. Those slain in war are 
 not invariably eaten; for persons of high rank are some- 
 times spared this ignominy. Occasionally, however, as 
 once at Mbouma, the supply is too great to be aU con- 
 sumed. The bodies of the slain were piled up between 
 two cocoa-nut trees, and the cutting up and cooking occu- 
 pied two days. The valekarusa, or trunk of the bodies, 
 was thrown away. This native word is a creation of canni- 
 balism, and alludes to the practice of eating the trunk first, 
 as it will not keep. 
 
 When the slain are few, and fall into the hands of the 
 victors, it is the rule to eat them. Late in 18.51, fifty 
 bodies were cooked at one time on Namena. In such, 
 cases of plenty, the head, hands, and intestines are thrown 
 away; but when a large party can get but one or two 
 bodies, as at Natewa in 1845, every part is consumed. 
 Native warriors carry their revenge beyond death, so that 
 bodies slain in battle are often mutilated in a frightful 
 manner, a treatment which is considered neither mean nor 
 brutal. 
 
 When the bodies of enemies are procured for the oven, 
 the event is published by a peculiar beating of the drum, 
 which alarmed me even before I was informed of its import. 
 Soon after hearing it, I saw two canoes steering for the 
 island, while some one on board struck the water, at 
 intervals, with a long pole, to denote that they had killed 
 
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208 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 some one. When sufficiently near, they began their 
 fiendish war-dance, which was answered by the indecent 
 dance of the women. On the boxed end of one of the 
 canoes was a human corpse, which was cut adrift and 
 tumbled into the water soon after the canoe touched land, 
 when it was tossed to and fro by the rising and falling 
 waves until the men had reported their exploit, when it was 
 dragged ashore by a vine tied to the left hand. A crowd, 
 chiefly females, surrounded the dead man, who was above 
 the ordinary size, and expressed most unfeelingly their 
 surprise and delight. " A man truly ! a ship ! a land I" 
 The warriors, having rested, put a vine round the other 
 wrist of the laholo — dead body designed for eating — and 
 two of them dragged it, face downwards, to the town, the 
 rest going before and performing the war-dance, which 
 consists in jumping, brandishing of weapons, and two or 
 three, in advance of the main body, running towards the 
 town, throwing their clubs aloft, or firing muskets, whQe 
 they assure those within of their capability to defend them. 
 The following song was uttered in a wild monotonCj finished 
 with shrill yells : — 
 
 " Tari au malua. Tari au malua. 
 Oi au na saro ni nomu vanua. 
 
 Yi mudokia ! Yi mudokia ! Yi mudoJcia ! 
 Ki Dama le ! 
 Yi ! u-woa-ai-e / " * 
 
 On reaching the middle of the town, the body wqs thrown 
 down before the Chief, who directed the priest to offer it 
 in due form to the war- god. Fire had been placed in the 
 great oven, and the smoke rose above the old temple, as the 
 body was again .drawn to the shore to be cut up. The 
 carver was a young man ; but he seemed skilful. He used 
 a piece of sht bamboo, with which, after having washed the 
 body in the sea, he cut off the several members, joint by 
 joint. He first made a long, deep gash down the abdomen, 
 
 * " Drag me gently. Drag me gently. 
 For I am the champion of thy land. 
 
 Give thanks ! Give thanks ! Give thanks ! " etc. 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 209 
 
 and then cut all round the neck down to the bone, and rapidly 
 twisted off the head from the axis. The several parts were 
 then folded in leaves and placed in the oven. According to 
 a popular rhyme, it is only the courageous who are thus 
 treated, while life is the reward of cowardice : — 
 
 " Sa vei Ico Qaqa ? 
 Sa yara M rara. 
 Sa vei leo Badatuim ? 
 Sa la'ki tukutuku" * 
 
 These details wiU answer to the most of such, scenes ; 
 except that, on the larger islands, the bodies have often to 
 be carried to a distance inland, when a strong stick is 
 lashed down the back at the arms, knees, and sometimes 
 the trunk, and the burden borne on the shoulders of two 
 men. When the cooking is done on the field of battle, the 
 dancing is dispensed with. I never saw a body' baked 
 whole, but have most satisfactory testimony that, on the 
 island of Ngau, and one or two others, this is really done. 
 The body is first placed in a sitting posture, and, when 
 taken from the oven, is covered with black powder, 
 surmounted with a wig, and paraded about as if possessed 
 of Hfe. When hakolo is to be boiled, the flesh is first cut 
 from the bones. 
 
 Eevenge is undoubtedly the main cause of cannibalism in 
 Fiji, but by no means invariably so. I have known many 
 cases in which such a motive could not have been present, 
 Sometimes, however, this principle is horribly manifested. 
 
 A woman taken from a town besieged by Ea Undreundre, 
 and where one of his friends had been killed, was placed in 
 a large wooden dish and cut up ahve, that none of the 
 blood might be lost. In 1850, Tuikilakila inflicted a severe 
 blow on his old enemies the Natewans, when nearly one 
 hundred of them were slain, among whom was found the 
 body of Ratu Rakesa, the Kuig's own cousin. The Chiefs 
 of the victorious side endeavoured to obtain permission to 
 
 * " "Where is the courageona ? 
 
 Gone to be dragged (into the town to be cooked). 
 Where is the coward? 
 Gone to report." 
 
 P 
 
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210 CHAPTBE TI. 
 
 bury him, since lie held the high rank of Eakesa, and 
 because there was such a great abundance of hakoh. 
 "Bring him here," said Tuikilakila, "that I may see 
 him." He looked on the corpse with unfeigned delight. 
 " This," said he, " is a most fitting offering to Na Tava- 
 sara (the war-god). Present it to him: let it then be 
 cooked, and reserved for my own consumption. None shall 
 share with me. Had I fallen into his hands, he would 
 have eaten me : now that he has fallen into my hands, I 
 will eat him." And it is said that he fulfilled his word in 
 a few days, the body being lightly baked at first, and then 
 preserved by repeated cooking. 
 
 When I first knew Loti, he was living at Na Euwai. 
 A few years before, he killed his only wife and ate her. 
 She accompanied him to plant taro, and when the work 
 was done, he sent her to fetch wood, with which he made a 
 fire, while she, at his bidding, collected leaves and grass to 
 line the ovenj and procured a bamboo to cut up what was 
 to be cooked. When she had cheerfully obeyed his com- 
 mands, the monster seized his wife, deliberately dis- 
 membered her, and cooked and ate her, caUing some to 
 help him in consuming the unnatural feast. The woman 
 was his equal, one with whom he lived comfortably; he 
 ha4 no quarrel with her or cause of complaint. Twice 
 he might have defended his conduct to me, had he been so 
 disposed, but he only assented to the truth of what I here 
 record. The only motives could have been a fondness for 
 haman flesh, and a hope that he should be spoken of and 
 pointed out as a terrific fellow. 
 
 Those who escape from shipwreck are supposed to be ' 
 saved that they may be eaten, and very rarely are they 
 allowed to live. Eecently, at Wakaya, fourteen or sixteen i 
 persons, who lost their canoe at sea, were cooked and eaten. 
 
 So far as I can learn, this abominable food is never eaten 
 raw, although the victim is often presented in full life and 
 vigour. Thus young women have been placed alive beside 
 a pile of food given by the Kandavuans to the Chiefs of 
 Eewa. I knew also of a man being taken aJive to a Chief 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 211 
 
 on Vanua Levu, and given him to eat. In such cases they 
 would be killed first. 
 
 Some of the heathen Chiefs hate cannibalism, and I know 
 several who could never be induced to taste human flesh. 
 These, however, are rare exceptions to the rule. No one 
 who is thoroughly acquainted with the Fijians, can say that 
 this vitiated taste is not widely spread, or that there is not 
 a large number who esteem such food a delicacy, giving it 
 a decided preference above all other. The practice of 
 kidnapping persons, on purpose to be eaten, proves that 
 this ilesh is in high repute. I have conversed with those 
 who had escaped, severely wounded, from an attempt to steal 
 them, as a supply for a forthcoming feast ; and one of the 
 last bodies which I saw offered to a Chief was thus obtained 
 for the special entertainment of the distinguished visitor. 
 
 Cannibalism does not confine its selection to one sex, or 
 a particular age. I have seen the grey-headed and children 
 of both sexes devoted to the oven. I have laboured to 
 make the murderers of females ashamed of themselves; 
 and have heard their cowardly cruelty defended by the 
 assertion that such victims were doubly good — because 
 they ate well, and because of the distress it caused their 
 husbands and friends. The heart, the thigh, and the arm 
 above the elbow are considered the greatest dainties. The 
 head is the least esteemed, so that the favourite wife of 
 Tuikilakila used to say it was " the portion for the priests 
 of religion." 
 
 Women seldom eat of lakolo, and it is forbidden to some 
 of the priests. On the island of Moala, graves were not 
 unfrequently opened for the purpose of obtaining the 
 occupant for food. Chiefs say that this has also been 
 done on Vanua Levu. Part of an unburied body was stolen 
 and eaten in 1852. When there are several bodies, the 
 Chief sends one or more to his friends ; when only one, it 
 is shared among those nearest to him ; and if this one has 
 been a man of distinctioii, and much hated, parts of him 
 are sent to other Chiefs fifty or a hundred miles off. It is 
 most certainly true that, while the Fijian turns with disgust 
 
 p 2 
 
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212 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I know 
 
 from pork, or his favourite fish, if at all tainted, he will eat 
 baJcolo when fast approaching putrescence. 
 Human bodies are generally cooked alone, 
 of but one exception, when a 
 man and a boar were baked in 
 the same oven. Generally, how- 
 ever, ovens and pots in which 
 human flesh is cooked, and dishes 
 or forks used in eating it, are 
 strictly talu for any other pur- 
 pose. The cannibal fork seems 
 to be used for taking up morsels 
 of the flesh when cooked as a 
 hash, in which form the old 
 people prefer it. It seems strange 
 that men-eaters should be afraid 
 to eat the porpoise, because it 
 had ribs like a man ; yet many 
 old heathens have assured me 
 that they used to have such fears. 
 Eare cases are known in wMch a Chief has wished to 
 have part of the skuU of an enemy for a soup^dish or 
 drinking-cup, when orders are accordingly given to his 
 followers not to strike that man in the head. The shin- 
 bones of all hakolos are valued, as sail-needles are made 
 from them. If these bones are short, and not claimed 
 by a Chief, there is a scramble for them among the 
 inferiors, who sometimes almost quarrel about them. 
 
 Would that this horrible record could be finished here ! 
 but the vakatotoga, the " torture," must be noticed. ' 
 Nothing short of the most fiendish cruelty could 
 dictate some of these forms of torment, the worst of' 
 which consists in cutting off parts and even limbs of the 
 victim while still living, and cooking and eating them 
 before his eyes, sometimes finishing the brutality by 
 offering him his own cooked flesh to eat. 
 
 I could cite well authenticated instances of such horrors, but 
 their narration would be far more revolting than profitable. 
 
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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 213 
 
 The names of Tampakauthoro, Tanoa, Tuiveikoso, 
 Tuikilakila, and others, are famous in Fiji for the quantity 
 of human flesh which they have individually eaten. But 
 these are but insignificant cannibals in comparison with 
 Ea Undreundre of Kakiraki. Even Kjians name him with 
 wonder. Bodies procured for his consumption were 
 designated lewe m hi. The bi is a circular fence or 
 pond made to receive turtles when caught, which then 
 becomes its lewena, "contents." Ea Undreundre was 
 compared to such a receptacle, standing ever ready to 
 receive human flesh. The fork used by this monster was 
 honoured with a distinctive epithet. It was named Undro- 
 utidro ; a word used to denote a small person or thing 
 carrying a great burden. This fork was given by his son, 
 Ea Vatu, to my respected friend, the Eev. E. B. Lyth, in 
 1849. Ea Vatu then spoke freely of his father's propen- 
 sity, and took Mr. I;yth nearly a mile beyond the precincts 
 of the town, and showed him the stones by which his 
 father registered the number of bodies he had eaten " after 
 his family had begun to grow up." Mr. Lyth found the 
 line of stones to measure two hundred and thirty-two 
 paces. A teacher who accompanied him counted the 
 stones, — eight hundred and seventy-two. If those which 
 had been removed were replaced, the whole would certainly 
 have amounted to nine hundred. Ea Yatu asserted that 
 his father ate all these persons himself, permitting no one to 
 share them with him. A similar row of stones placed to 
 mark the bodies eaten by Naungavuli contained forty-eight, 
 when his becoming a Christian prevented any further 
 addition. The whole family were cannibals extraordinary ; 
 but Ea Yatu wished to exempt himself. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that the only instance of 
 cannibahsm in Eiji witnessed by any gentleman of the 
 United States Exploring Expedition, was the eating of a 
 human eye, — a thing which those who have seen many 
 bodies eaten never witnessed, the head, as has been stated 
 already, being always thrown away. 
 
 One who had been but a very short time in Eiji wrote 
 
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214 CHAPTEE TI. 
 
 thus to me : "I have been to Mbau thrice, and have 
 witnessed something of Fijian horrors each time. 
 First visit, I saw them opening an oven, and taking a 
 cooked human body out of it : second -visit, limbs of a 
 body preparing for being baked : third visit, a woman of rank 
 who had just had her nose cut off." Visitors, however, 
 generally manifest considerable incredulity on this subject ; 
 though it would not require a long stay actually among 
 the people, to place the matter beyond doubt. An 
 English Lieutenant manifested a good deal of unbelief, 
 until he found his head in pretty close contact with parts 
 of several men which hung from a tree near the oven, 
 where, a few days before, their bodies had been cooked. 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of man-eating in 
 Fiji — whether famine or superstition — there is not the 
 slightest excuse for its continuance. Food of every kind 
 abounds, and, with a little effort, might be vastly increased. 
 The land gives large supply spontaneously, and, 
 undoubtedly, is capable of supporting a hundred times 
 the number of its present inhabitants. 
 
 In the foregoing details, all colouring has been avoided, 
 and many facts, which might have been advanced, have 
 been withheld. AU the truth may not be told. But 
 surely enough has been said to prove that the heathenism 
 of Fiji has, by its own uninfluenced developement, reached 
 the most appalling depth of abomination. The picture, 
 vrithout exaggerating, might have been far darker j but it 
 is dark enough to awaken sympathy for a people so 
 deplorably fallen, and to quicken an earnest longing that 
 their fuU deliverance may be at hand.* 
 
 * It is bnt jost to state, that mach detail and illnstratiTe incident 
 furnished by the author on this subject, have been withheld, and some of 
 the more horrible features of the rest repressed or softened. — Editob. 
 
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CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 DUKE or NA UTUTU. 
 
 An examination of the religious system of the Fijians is 
 attended with considerable difBculty. Their traditional 
 mythology is dark, vague, and perplexing. Each island 
 has its own gods, each locality its own superstitions, and 
 almost each individual his own modification of both. Yet, 
 amidst all this confusion, there may be traced certain main 
 tracks of belief, appearing again and again from among 
 the undefined legends — wild, or puerile, or filthy — in 
 which they are often lost. In these, without being over 
 fanciful, there may be found some points of interest in the 
 study of comparative mythology. 
 
 The idea of Deity is familiar to the Fijian; and the 
 existence of an invisible superhuman power, controlling 
 
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216 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 or influencing all earthly things, is fully recognised by 
 him. Idolatry — ^in the strict sense of the term — he seems 
 to have never known ; for he makes no attempt to fashion 
 material representations of his gods, or to pay actual 
 worship to the heavenly bodies, the elements, or any 
 natural objects. It is extremely doubtful whether the 
 reverence with which some things, such as certain clubs 
 and stones, have been regarded, had in it anything of 
 religious homage. 
 
 The native word expressive of divinity is kalou, which, 
 while used to denote the people's highest notion of a god, 
 is also constantly heard as a qualificative of any thing 
 great or marvellous, or, according to Hazlewood's 
 Dictionary, " anything superlative, whether good or 
 bad." Unless — as seems probable — the root-meaning of 
 the term is that of wonder and astonishment, this latter 
 use of it presents an interesting analogy to the similar form 
 of speech in Hebrew. Often the word sinks into a mere 
 exclamation, or becomes an expression of flattery. "You 
 are a kalow I " or, " Tour countrvmen are gods !" is often 
 uttered by the natives, when hearing of the triumphs of art 
 among civilized nations. In this case, however, it is a 
 courteous way of declaring unbelief, or their own dis- 
 inclination to attempt an imitation of what they admire. 
 
 It is remarkable that the gods of Eastern Polynesia 
 seem to be unknown to the Kjians, in whose polytheistic 
 mythology the objects of worship are divided into two 
 classes ; kalou vu, gods strictly so called, and ialou yalo, 
 deified mortals, like the daemons of classic Greece. 
 The exalted individuals of the first grade are supposed 
 to be absolutely eternal; but those of the second order, 
 though raised far above humanity, are subject to its 
 passions, wants, accidents, and even death. These are 
 the spirits of Chiefs, heroes, and friends. But monsters 
 and abortions are often ranked here ; and the list, already 
 countless, is capable of constant increase, every object that 
 is specially fearful, or vicious, or injurious, or novel, being 
 eligible for admission. This seems further to support the 
 
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EELI6I0N. 217 
 
 hypothesis advanced above as to the origin of the title 
 
 The god most generally known in Piji is Ndengei, who 
 seems to be an impersonation of the abstract idea of 
 eternal existence. He is the subject of no emotion or 
 sensation, nor of any appetite, except hunger. The serpent — 
 the world-wide symbol of eternity — is his adopted shrine. 
 Some traditions represent him with the head and part of 
 the body of that reptile, the rest of his form being stone, 
 emblematic of everlasting and unchangeable duration. He 
 passes a monotonous existence in a gloomy cavern — the 
 hollow of an inland rock near the N. E. end of Viti Levu 
 — evincing no interest in any one but his attendant, Uto, 
 and giving no signs of life beyond eating, answering his 
 priest, and changing his position from one side to the 
 other. There are points in this description which remind 
 one of the Cronos of Grecian mythology. Although 
 Ndengei ranks as supreme among the gods, yet he is 
 less worshipped than most of his inferiors. Except about 
 Rakiraki, he has scarcely a temple, and even there his 
 worshippers do not always use him well. The natives 
 suppose that Uto comes to attend every feast at Eakiraki, 
 and, on his return, Ndengei inquires what portion of food 
 has been allotted to him. The consequent mortification 
 is made the subject of a humourous song, supposed to 
 contain a dialogue between the god and his attendant. 
 
 Ndbngei. — " Have you been to the sharing of food to- 
 day?" 
 
 Uto. — " Yes : and turtles formed a part ; but only the 
 under-shell was shared to us two." 
 
 Nd. — " Indeed, Uto ! This is very bad. How is it ? 
 We made them men, placed them on the earth, gave them 
 food, and yet they share to us only the under-shell. Uto, 
 how is this ? " 
 
 The other gods are proud, envious, covetous, revengeful, 
 and the subject of every basest passion. They are demon- 
 ized heathen, — monster expressions of moral corruption. 
 Some of them had a monster origin, and wear a monster 
 
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218 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 shape. Ndandavanua was produced from the centre of a 
 large stone. Eokomoutu was a son of Ndengei's sister, 
 and insisted upon being born from her elbow. Soon after 
 his birth, he assumed " a chief-like appearance," and 
 showed the amiableness of his disposition by threatening 
 to devour his mother and friends, unless they acknowledged 
 him as a god. 
 
 Thangawalu, his mother's first-bom, came into the 
 world a giant, two months after conception, and rapidly 
 grew to the height of sixty feet. His remarkable forehead 
 — eight spans high — gives him his name. 
 
 EoKO Mbati-ndua, " the one-toothed lord," has th6 
 appearance of a man with wings instead of arms, and emiti 
 sparks of fire in his flight through the air. On his wings 
 are claws with which to catch his victims, and his one 
 tooth, fixed in the lower jaw, rises above his head. LiN- 
 GAKATJ is the wooden-handed. Kokola has eight arm^, 
 indicative of mechanical skill. Matawalu has eight eyeS, 
 denoting wisdom. Ea Nambasanoa has two bodies — 
 one male and the other female — united after the fashion 
 of the Siamese twins. Waluvakatini, " ten times eight," 
 has that number of stomachs. 
 
 Then there is Kanusimana, who " spits miracles," *. e., 
 does them easily. Naitono is the leper. Mbakaudroti 
 is the name of a war-god worshipped at Na Vunindoaloa, 
 and implies that, if he were to use nothing stronger than 
 the pandanus leaf for fortification, it would be impregnable 
 to human power. 
 
 The names of some gods indicate their habits. Thus, 
 TuNAMBANGA is the adulterer. Ndatjthina steals women 
 of rank and beauty by night or torch-light. Kttmbtjna- 
 VANUA is the rioter j Mbatimona, the brain-eater ; Eavu- 
 EAVU, the murderer ; Mainatavasara, fresh from the 
 cutting up or slaughter ; and a host besides of the same 
 sort. 
 
 Among the lower order of gods, imagination finds less 
 scope. These are generally described as men of superior 
 mould and carriage, and bear a close analogy to the lares, 
 
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EELIGION. 219 
 
 lemures, and genii of the Romans. Their influence is of 
 the same limited kind ; but they are never represented by 
 imageSj and have not always shrines. Admission into their 
 number is easy, and any one may secure his own apotheosis 
 who can insure the services of some one as his representa- 
 tive and priest after his decease. 
 
 The rank of the gods below Ndengei is not easily 
 ascertained, each district contending for the superiority of 
 its own divinity. Tokairambe and Tui Lakemba Ran- 
 DINANDINA Seem to stand next to Ndengei, being his sons, 
 and acting as mediators by transmitting the prayers of 
 suppliants to their father. Ndengei's grand-children rank 
 next, and, after them, more distant relations, and then 
 "legion." 
 
 Some of the gods confine their attention to this earth, 
 the higher presiding over districts and islands, and the 
 rest over tribes and families, their influence never reaching 
 beyond their own special jurisdiction. Others, as Ravu- 
 yalo, Lothia, and some few more, find employment in 
 Hades. 
 
 Nearly every Chief has a god in whom he puts special 
 trust ; and a few are of opinion that their god follows them 
 wherever they go. Different classes have their own tute- 
 lary deities. Rokova and Rokola are trusted in by the 
 carpenters, and Roko Youa and Vosavakandua by the 
 fishermen. The same deity is worshipped in different 
 places by different names. Ratu Maimbtjltj of Mbau is 
 known at Somosomo as Ratu Letu, and on Vanna- 
 mbalavu and other places as Mai Wakolottj. 
 
 It has already been asserted that the Fijians are unac- 
 quainted with idols properly so called ; but they reverence 
 certain stones as shrines of the gods, and regard some 
 clubs with superstitious respect, like the Scythians, who 
 treated a scymitar as the symbol of their war-god. In 
 addition to these, certain birds, fish, plants, and some men, 
 are supposed to have deities closely connected with or 
 residing in them. At Lakemba, Tui Lakemba, and on 
 Vanua Levu, Ravuravu, claim the hawk as their abode j 
 
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220 
 
 CHAPTEK Til. 
 
 Viavia, and other gods, the shark. One is supposed to 
 inhabit the eel, and another the common fowl, and so on 
 untU nearly every animal becomes the shrine of some deity. 
 He who worships the god dweUing in the eel, must never 
 eat of that fish, and thus of the rest ; so that some are tabu 
 from eating human flesh, because the shrine of their god is 
 a man. The people clearly maintain the Popish distinction 
 between the material sign and the spiritual essence sym- 
 bolized; but, in one case as in the other, the distinction 
 seems sometimes to be practically lost. Thus the land- 
 crab is the representative of Eoko Suka, one of the gods 
 formerly worshipped in Tiliva, where land-crabs are rarely 
 seen, so that a visit from one became an important matter. 
 Any person who saw one of these creatures, hastened to 
 report to an old man, who acted as priest, that their god 
 had favoured them with a call. Orders were forthwith 
 given that new nuts should be gathered, and a string of 
 them was formally presented to the crab, to prevent the 
 deity from leaving with an impression that he was neg- 
 lected, and visiting his remiss worshippers with drought, 
 dearth, or death. 
 
 Rude consecrated stones are to be seen near Vana, 
 where offerings of food are sometimes made. Another 
 
 SACKED STONES. 
 
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RELIGION. 221 
 
 stands on a reef near Naloa, to whicli the natives tama ; 
 and one near Thokova, Na Viti LevUj named Lovekaveka, 
 is regarded as the abode of a goddess, for whom food is 
 prepared. This, as seen in the engraving, is like a round, 
 black milestone, slightly inclined, and having a liku tied 
 round the middle. The shrine of Eewau is a large 
 stone, which, like the one near Naloa, hates mosquitoes, 
 and keeps them from collecting where he rules : he has 
 also two large stones for his wives, one of whom came from 
 Yandua, and the other from Yasawa. Although no one 
 pretends to know the origin of Ndengei, it is said that his 
 mother, in the form of two great stones, lies at the bottom 
 of a moat. Stones are also used to denote the locality of 
 some gods, and the occasional resting-places of others. 
 On the southern beach of Vanua Levu, a large stone is seen 
 which has fallen upon a smaller one. These, it is said, 
 represent the gods of two towns on that coast fighting, 
 and their quarrel has for years been adopted by those 
 towns. 
 
 Nearly every town or village has one or more hn/res, or 
 " temples ;" some have many, which are well built, no pains 
 being spared in their erection and finish. The quantity of 
 siunet used in the decoration of some of these is immense ; 
 for every timber is covered with it, in various patterns of 
 black and red. Eeeds wrapped with the same material are 
 used for lining door and window openings, and between the 
 rafters and other spars. Sinnet-work is seen in every part, 
 and hangs in large cords from the eaves. Spears are often 
 used for laths in thatching temples, as well as for fastening 
 the thatch of the ridge-pole, on the projecting ends of 
 which white cowries are fixed, or hang in long strings to 
 the ground. 
 
 The spot on which a Chief has been killed is sometimes 
 selected as the site of the hure, which is generally placed upon 
 a raised foundation, thrown up to the height of from three 
 to twenty feet, and faced with dry rubble-work of stone. 
 The ascent is by a thick plank, having its upper face cut 
 into notched steps. 
 
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222 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 BURE OF NA TAVASAEA, TAVIUNI. 
 
 On setting up the pillars of a temple, and again when the 
 baiLding is complete, men are killed and eaten. On Vanua 
 Levu, trumpet shells are blown, at intervals of one or two 
 hours, during the whole progress of the erection. 
 
 The bure is a very useful place. It is the councH- 
 chamber, and town-haU ; smdl parties of strangers are 
 often entertained in it, and the head persons in the village 
 even use it as a sleeping-place. Though built expressly 
 for the purposes of religion, it is less devoted to them than 
 any others. Around it, plantains and bread-fruit trees are 
 often found, and yaqona is grown at the foot of the terrace, 
 the produce of each being reserved for the priests and old 
 men. Several spears set in the ground, or one transfixing 
 an earthen pot, as well as one or more blanched human 
 skulls, are not uncommonly arranged in the sacred 
 precincts. 
 
 Votive offerings, comprising a streamer or two, with a 
 few clubs and spears, decorate the interior, while a long 
 piece of white masi, fixed to the top, and carried down the 
 angle of the roof so as to hang before the corner-post and 
 lie on the floor, forms the path down which the god passes 
 
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RELIGION. 223 
 
 to enter the priest, and marks the holy place which few 
 but he dare approach. If the priest is also a doctor in 
 good practice, a number of hand-clubs, turbans, necklaces 
 of flowers, and other trifles paid as fees, are accumulated in 
 the temple. A few pieces of withered sugar-cane are often 
 seen resting over the wall-plate. In one hure, I saw a 
 huge roll of sinnet ; and in another, a model of a temple, 
 made of the same material. In one at Mbau, parts of 
 victims slain in war are often seen hung up in clusters. 
 Prom some temples, the ashes may not be thrown out, 
 however they may accumulate, until the end of the year. 
 The clearing out takes place in November, and a feast is 
 made on the occasion. 
 
 There are priestesses in Piji ; but few of sufiicient im- 
 portance to have a temple ; and in the case of these, it 
 merely serves as a place for sleeping, and the storing of 
 offerings. 
 
 Bures are often unoccupied for months, and allowed to 
 fall into ruin, until the Chief wants to make some request 
 to the god, when the necessary repairs are first carried out. 
 Nothing like regular worship or habitual reverence is 
 found, and a principle of fear seems the only motive to 
 religious observances ; and this is fully practised upon by 
 the priests, through whom alone the people have access to 
 the gods, when they wish to present petitions afificting 
 their social or individual interest. When matters of im- 
 portance are involved, the soro or offering consists of large 
 quantities of food, together with whales' teeth. In smaller 
 affairs, a tooth, club, mat, or spear, is enough. Young 
 nuts, covered with turmeric powder, formed the meanest 
 offering I have known. On one occasion, when Tuikilakila 
 asked the help of the Somosomo gods in war, he built the 
 war-god a large new temple, and presented a great quantity 
 of cooked food, with sixty turtles, besides whales' teeth. 
 
 Part of the offering — the sigana — is set apart for the 
 deity, the rest forming a feast of which aU may partake. 
 The portion devoted to the god is eaten by his priest, and 
 by old men ; but to youths and women it is tabu. 
 
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224 CHAPTEE Til, 
 
 Strangers wiskmg to consult a god, cut a quantity of 
 ,fire-wood for the temple. Sometimes only a dish of yam 
 or a whale's tooth is presented. It is not absolutely neces- 
 sary for the transaction to take place at a temple. I have 
 known priests to become inspired in a private house, or in 
 the open air; indeed, in some parts of Eiji, the latter is 
 usually the case. 
 
 One who intends to consult the oracle, dresses and oils 
 himself, and, accompanied by a few others, goes to the 
 priest, who, we will suppose, has been previously informed 
 of the intended visit, and is lying near the sacred comer, 
 getting ready his response. When the party enters, he 
 rises, and sits so that his back is near to the white cloth by 
 which the god visits him, while the others occupy the 
 opposite side of the lure. The principal person presents a 
 whale's tooth, states the purport of the visit, and expresses 
 a hope that the god will regard him with favour. Some- 
 times there is placed before the priest a dish of scented oil, 
 with which he anoints himself, and then receives the tooth, 
 regarding it with deep and serious attention. Unbroken 
 silence follows. The priest becomes absorbed in thought, 
 and all eyes watch him with unbhnking steadiness. In a 
 few minutes he trembles ; slight distortions are seen in his 
 face, and twitching movements in his limbs. These in- 
 crease to a violent muscular action, which spreads until the 
 whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the man shivers as 
 with a strong ague fit. In some instances this is accom- 
 panied with murmurs and sobs, the veins are greatly 
 enlarged, and the circulation of the blood quickened. The 
 priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and 
 actions are considered as no longer his own, but those of 
 the deity who has entered into him. Shrill cries of " Koi 
 au ! Koi au ! " " It is I ! It is I !" fill the air, and the 
 god is supposed thus to notify his approach. While giving 
 the answer, the priesf s eyes stand out and roll as in a 
 frenzy ; his voice is unnatural, his face pale, his lips Hvid, 
 his breathing depressed, and his entire appearance Kke that 
 of a furious madman. The sweat runs from every pore. 
 
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EELIGION. 225 
 
 and tears start from his strained eyes; after which the 
 symptoms gradually disappear. The priest looks round 
 with a vacant stare, and, as the god says, " I depart," 
 announces his actual departure by violently flinging him- 
 self down on the mat, or by suddenly striking the ground 
 with a club, when those at a distance are informed by 
 blasts on the conch, or the firing of a musket, that the 
 deity has returned into the world of spirits. The con- 
 vulsive movements do not entirely disappear for some time ; 
 they are not, however, so violent as to prevent the priest 
 from enjoying a hearty meal, or a draught of yaqona, or a 
 whiff of tobacco, &s either may happen to be at hand. 
 Several words are used by the natives to express these 
 priestly shakings. The most common are sika and Imndru. 
 Si&a means " to appear," and is used chiefly of supernatural 
 beings. Kundru means " to grunt or grumble." One word 
 refers to the appearance, and the other to the sound, 
 attendant upon these inspired shakings. 
 
 As whatever the beie or priest says during the paroxysm 
 is supposed to be direct from the god, a specimen or two 
 of these responses will be interesting. The occasion pre- 
 sents a favourable opportunity for boasting, and the response 
 is often prefaced by lauding the god. A priest of Ndengei, 
 speaking for that divinity, once said, "Great I'iji is my 
 small club. Muaim^bila is the head ; Kamba is the handle. 
 If I step on Muaimbila, I shall sink it into the sea, whilst 
 Kamba shall rise to the sky. If I step on Kamba, it will 
 be lost in the sea, whilst Muaimbila would rise into the 
 skies. Yes, Viti Levu is my small war-club. I can turn it 
 as I please. I can turn it upside down." 
 
 Complaints are also made at these times. A man who 
 was inspired by Tanggirianima said, " I and Kumbunavanua 
 only are gods. I preside over wars, and do as I please 
 with sickness. But it is difBcult for me to come here, as 
 the foreign god fills the place. If I attempt to descend by 
 that pillar, I find it pre-occupied by the foreign god. If I 
 try another pillar, I find it the same. However, we two 
 are fighting the foreign god ; and if we are victorious, we 
 
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226 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 will save the woman. I loill save the woman. She will 
 eat food to-day. Had I been sent for yesterday, she would 
 have eaten then," etc. The woman, about whose case the 
 god was consulted, died a few hours after these assurances 
 of hfe. 
 
 A party who had been defeated iu war, made a second 
 application to their god, who replied, " My name is Liu lea 
 ca, ha muri lea vinaha," — "EvU &st, and good afterwards." 
 
 Occasionally, the priest is the medium of communicating 
 to a Chief the general opinion about some unpopular act. 
 " The present famine eats us because you gave the large 
 canoe to Tonga instead of Mbau." " This hurricane is in 
 consequence of your refusing the Princess to the Eewa 
 Chief. For that the gods are angry, and are punishing 
 us." Generally, however, a good understanding exists 
 between the Chief and the priest, and the latter takes care 
 to make the god's utterances agree with the wishes of the 
 former. 
 
 Once I saw a large offering made, and the priests were 
 consulted as to whether the tribe ought then to go to 
 battle, and whether they should have success. The inter- 
 view was propitious, and the fleet was to sail without delay. 
 In the long list of deities enumerated by the chief priest, 
 Kanusimana had a place, and, among the rest, his favour 
 was solicited. His priest, who was a neighbour of mine, 
 sat by dehghted, and looking with great satisfaction at the 
 large fat turtles and ripe plantains which, with other food, 
 were piled in the midst. When the division of the offerii^ 
 came, one poor pudding was all that fell to Kanusimana's 
 share. Chagrined and mortified by losing the green fat 
 and rich fruit which, in imagination, he had already tasted, 
 the > Kttle priest started up and ran homewards, swinging 
 his small club hke a shng, and the baU-beU at his neck 
 tinkling in the most excited manner as he hurried along. 
 Creeping to his corner, his plan of revenge was soon 
 marked out. In the night the divinity paid him a visit, 
 and declared, on the authority of a god, that if Tmldlakila 
 led his warriors to fight then, he should feel the effects of 
 his godship's anger, punishing him for the recent slight. 
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EELIGION. 
 
 327 
 
 At the morning yaqona party the priest made known the 
 visit and the message from the god. A young man was 
 directed to bear the important communication to the King 
 forthwith. Tuikilakila listened^ pondered, and, in a few 
 minutes, the thoughts of fighting were given up for the 
 present. The King knew that to pursue his own will in 
 this case would lead to failure, as the threat of the 
 neglected god had dispirited his warriors. 
 
 In another similar instance, matters took a very different 
 turn. " Who are you ? ■" angrily asked the Chief of the 
 priest who sought to turn his purpose : " Who is your god ? 
 If you make a stir, I will eat you ! " And Oroi Eupe knew 
 that this was no idle threat. 
 
 The priests exercise a powerful influence over the people, 
 an influence which the Chiefs employ for the strengthening 
 of their own, by securing the divine sanction for their 
 plans. The sacerdotal caste has for some time been 
 rapidly declining; but it still retains, in some 
 parts, much of its old power. 
 
 The priesthood is generally, but not invariably, 
 hereditary. A man who can shake well, and specu- 
 late shrewdly, may turn his abilities to account 
 by becoming a priest. He must weigh proba- 
 bilities with judgment, and take care that his 
 maiden efi^ort at divination is not too glaring a 
 blunder. The rank of a priest is regulated by 
 that of the god to whom he is a minister. When 
 the chieftaincy and priesthood meet in the same 
 person, both are of low order. Each god has a 
 distinct order of priests, but not confined to one 
 family. A bete can only officiate in the temple 
 of the god whom he serves ; and a worshipper of 
 a particular god can have no access to him where 
 he has neither temple nor priest. The sacred in- 
 signia are a long-toothed comb, and a long oval 
 frontlet of scarlet feathers. 
 
 Wishing to hear from one of the fraternity an 
 account of their inspiration by the god, and sus- 
 pecting that any inquiries of my own would be 
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228 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 evaded, I got the well-known Tonga Chief, Tubou Tontai, 
 to call into my house a famous Lakemba priest who was 
 passing by, and question him in my hearing. The follow- 
 ing dialogue took place : — 
 
 "Langgu, did you shake yesterday?" 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you think beforehand what to say?" 
 " No." 
 
 " Then you just say what you happen to think at the 
 time, do you?" 
 
 " No. I do not know what I say. My own mind 
 departs from me, and then, when it is truly gone, my god 
 speaks by me." 
 
 This man had the most stubborn confidence in his deity, 
 although his mistakes were such as to shake any ordinary 
 trust. His inspired tremblings were of the most violent 
 kind, bordering on fury. Gods are supposed to enter into 
 some men while asleep, and their visit is made known by a 
 peculiar snore. 
 
 There are various methods of divination used in Piji. 
 One is by a bunch of cocoa-nuts, pretty well dried. Having 
 given the message of the god, the priest continues, "I 
 shall shake these nuts : if all fall off, the child will recover ; 
 but if any remain on, it wiU die." He then shakes and 
 jerks the nuts, generally with all his might. An easier 
 mode is by spinning a nut on its side, and watching in 
 which direction the eye points when again at rest. This 
 method is not confined to priests. Some priests, when 
 consulted, sit on the ground, with their legs stretched out, 
 and a short club placed between them. They then watch 
 to see which leg trembles first : if the right, the omen is 
 good ; if the left, it is evQ. A Chief, wishing to ascertain 
 how many of a certain number of towns would espouse his 
 cause, consulted the bete, who took as many short reeds as 
 there were places named, and gave each a name. When 
 they were set in the ground, he held his right foot over 
 each, and every one above which his foot trembled was de- 
 clared disloyal, and aU the rest true. Some chew a certain 
 
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EELIGION. 229 
 
 leaf, and let the fact of its tasting bitter or sweet determine 
 the question at issue. Some pour a few drops of water on 
 the front of the right arm, near the shoulder, and, the arm 
 being gently inclined, the course of the water is watched ; 
 and if it find its way down to the wrist, the answer is 
 favourable ; but otherwise, if it run off, and fall on the floor. 
 Some begin at the wrist, and let the water run towards the 
 shoulder. Others decide by simply biting a leaf in two. 
 The leaf is placed between the front teeth, and if cut clean 
 through at once, all is well ; but the reverse, if it still hang 
 together. Some take an omen from the fact of a man's 
 sneezing out of the right or left nostril while he holds a 
 certain stick in his hand. 
 
 The seer also is known in Fiji. He sits listening to the 
 apphcant's wishes, and then, closing his eyes on earthly 
 things, describes to the inquirer the scenes of the future 
 which pass before his vision. These generally consist of 
 burning houses, fleeing warriors, bloody plains, or death- 
 stricken sick ones, as the case may require. A similar 
 personage is the taro, "ask," who sits with his knee up 
 and his foot resting on the heel, with a stick placed in a 
 line with the middle of it. Without being told the object 
 of the visit, he states whether his presentiment is good or 
 evil, and then is informed of the matter inquired after, and 
 proceeds to apply his impressions about it in detail. There 
 is also the dautadra, or professional dreamer, who receives 
 a present on communicating his revelations to the parties 
 concerned, whether they tell of good or evil, and who 
 seldom happens to dream about any one who cannot pay 
 well. Some believe that a good present often averts the 
 evil of a bad dream. 
 
 Besides these 1 have seen a man much prized by the 
 Chief whom he attended, and whose valuable service con- 
 sisted in placing a certain leaf of wondrous efficacy on 
 either side of his master. If the leaf on the right side 
 should sting the skin, the omen indicates the greatest safety 
 and success to his friends ; and no plot is so deep or scheme 
 so suddenly planned as to escape the knowledge of the leaf 
 
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330 CHAPTEE Til. 
 
 on the left, which instantly communicates the lurking 
 danger to its fortunate wearer by a sting on that side. 
 
 There used to be more mummery in invoking Ndengei 
 than any other god. A credulous people willingly paid a 
 high price to be deceived, to the extent— if report be true 
 — of one or two hundred hogs and a hundred turtles at 
 one time. On the day of offering a priest entered the 
 sacred cave where Ndengei dwelt, taking with him what 
 the occasion required. The offering being placed in order, 
 several priests approached on their knees and elbows, and 
 one, leaving the others behind, entered the cave's mouth 
 and presented their request, perhaps for good yam crops. 
 After a pause, he turned to the multitude, holding a piece 
 of yam given him by the god as a pledge of plenty. If 
 rain was wanted, the hete would return dripping with rain 
 from Ndengei, and with a promise that he would thus 
 bestow showers on all the district after two or four days. 
 If they asked success in war, a fire-brand was darted from 
 the cave ; a token that they should burn up their enemies. 
 The splinter of burning wood must have been a mere trifle 
 to his godship, if, as some assert, he has two vast logs 
 always on fire on his hearth, the larger of which is thirty 
 miles in circumference. In the event of the promised 
 boon not being duly given, it was easy for the priests to 
 discover some new offence or defect of offering on the part 
 of the worshippers as the cause. 
 
 The Worship of the gods of Hji is not a regular and 
 constant service, but merely suggested by circumstances, or 
 dictated by emergency or fear. There are, however, certain 
 superstitious ceremonies which are duly observed ; such as 
 the *eOT,« — ^presenting the first-fruits of yams; tad/ravu — 
 an offering made at the close of the year ; the keeping of 
 silence when crossing sacred places; the observance of 
 tabus, and reverencing of shrines. 
 
 The people formed no idea of any voluntary kindness on 
 the part of their gods, except the planting of wild yams, 
 and the wrecking of strange canoes and foreign vessels on 
 their coast. After successful fishing for turtle, or remark- 
 
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EELIGION. 231 
 
 aible deliverance from danger in war or at sea, or recovery 
 from sickness, a madrali — a kind of thank-offering — was 
 sometimes presented. Clubs, spears, and other valuable 
 articles are thus consecrated to the gods. I am told that 
 many men, after killing an enemy, offer a spear to the priest, 
 in order to insure protection from the spears of the enemy 
 on future occasions. 
 
 Of the great offerings of food, native belief apportions 
 merely the soul thereof to the gods, who are described as 
 being enormous eaters ; the substance is consumed by the 
 worshippers. 
 
 Cannibalism is a part of the Fijian religion, and the gods 
 are described as delighting in human flesh. Tuithakau 
 once asked, in a fit of anger, " Is Jehovah the god of bodies 
 killed to be eaten ?" intimating that as Na Tavsisara was 
 so, he must be the superior deity. To maintain the ex- 
 altation of these false gods, the abominable practice referred 
 to is continued, and pity for any age or sex has no ini- 
 fluence with those who may have to prepare the offering. 
 
 At one time Ndengei would constantly have human 
 bodies for his sacrifices ; with each basket of roots a man's 
 or woman's body was to be brought, and Chiefs sometimes 
 kiUed their inferior wives in order, to supply the horrible 
 demand. This practice was checked in an unlocked for 
 manner. The Chief, seeing the head and legs of a man, 
 who had been cooked without being cut or tied up, 
 hanging over the ends of a basket of food, was so disgusted 
 at the spectacle, as to order that, in future, pigs and not 
 haholo should be offered. But human flesh is still the 
 most valued offering, and " their drink-offerings of blood " 
 are still the most acceptable in some parts of Fiji. I know 
 that they consume the blood of turtles and pigs, and have 
 heard that human blood is not excepted. 
 
 Some priests are tabu from eating human flesh. The 
 priest of Ndau Thina has assured me that neither he nor 
 those who worshipped his god might eat it, nor might the 
 abomination be taken into his temple. Probably the shrine 
 of Ndau Thina is a man, and hence the prohibition. To 
 
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232 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 the priest of second rank in Somosomo, I know that no 
 greater delicacy could be presented than hashed human flesh. 
 
 I had been in Piji some years before I had good evidence 
 of the existence of the practice of severe mortification 
 among the people. Mbasonga, the "Wailevu priest, after 
 supplicating his god for rain in the usual way without 
 success, slept for several successive nights exposed on the 
 top of a rock, without mat or pillow, hoping thus to move 
 the obdurate deity to send a shower. 
 
 When the Tiliva people found their land parched with 
 drought, notwithstanding the presentation of the ordinary 
 offerings, they repaired in companies to the bush, to dig up 
 the yaha, which is a creeper with edible roots from two to 
 three feet long, taking care not to detach the long vines 
 springing from them. On returning, each man wound 
 these round his neck, leaving the roots to hang beneath his 
 chin, while the rest of the vines dragged after him on the 
 ground. To this was added a large stone carried on the 
 back of the neck. Thus equipped, the whole company 
 performed a pilgrimage to the lure on their hands and 
 knees, making a noise as though they were crying. At the 
 end of this painful journey they found the priest waiting to 
 receive them, and to him one of their number stated theii 
 distress, and begged him to accept their prayer and offering. 
 " The yaka is for you to eat ; the stones are for strengthen- 
 ing the base of your temple. Let our soro be accepted, 
 and procure us rain." Some who took part in this 
 humiliating scene gave me the above particulars. 
 
 The superstitious observances of Piji are, however, 
 mainly of a trivial kind. In one temple, it is tahu to eat 
 food ; in another, nothing may be broken ; some may not 
 be entered by strangers, and arms may not be carried over 
 the threshold of others. Dogs are excluded from some, and 
 women from all. 
 
 The gods allow only old men to eat certain kinds of 
 plantains. In some houses, the turban may not be worn ; 
 in others, certain common words may not be spoken. The 
 first fish caught in any creel may not be boiled, but must be 
 
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EELIGION. 233 
 
 broiled. To sit on the thieshold of a temple is tahu to any 
 but a Chief of the highest rank. All are careful not to 
 tread on the threshold of a place set apart for the gods : 
 persons of rank stride over ; others pass over on their hands 
 and knees.* The same form is observed in crossing the 
 threshold of a Chiefs house. Indeed, there is very little 
 difference between a Chief of high rank and one of the 
 second order of deities. The former regards himself very 
 much as a god, and is often spoken of as such by his 
 people, and, on some occasions, claims for himself pubhcly 
 the right of divinity. 
 
 It is believed that gods sometimes assume the human 
 form, and are thus seen by men, generally in the likeness 
 of some one particular person. Anybody who thus meets 
 a god, must afterwards, on passing the same place, throw 
 thereon a few leaves or blades of grass, to show that he 
 keeps the event in mind. 
 
 In the eastern part of Fiji, if there is a god named after 
 an island, it is tabu for its Chief to attach the name of the 
 island to his official title. Tor this reason, the King of 
 Lakemba is styled Tui Nayau, although Nayau is a very 
 small island within his dominion. To the westward, this 
 observance is disregarded. 
 
 Eestivals, apparently of a religious character, are observed 
 after the seed yams are in the earth, and again on the offer- 
 ing of the first-fruits. On both occasions plenty of noise 
 is made. I have heard the natives of Mbua shout, blow 
 the conch-shell, and fire muskets for an hour together at 
 these feasts. Former times required one or more dead men 
 to be placed on the top of the first-fruits ; but the influence 
 of Christianity has already abolished this. 
 
 Frequent reference has already been made to that peculiar 
 Polynesian institution known as the tapu, or tabu, or 
 tambu, with which the civilized world is so familiar, and 
 the name of which has, to some extent, become an adopted 
 word in our own language, and is found as such in our 
 modern dictionaries. 
 
 * See an interesting parallel in 1 Sam. v. 5. 
 
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234 CHAPTER vn. 
 
 The principle of the taJm seems to be exactly the same in 
 every part of the South Seas, the only variety being in its 
 application, and in the degree of severity with which its 
 infringement is punished. 
 
 The institution, as it exists in Fiji, is the secret of power, 
 and the strength of despotic rule. It affects things both 
 great and small. Here it is seen tending a brood of 
 chickens ; and there it directs the energies of a kingdom. 
 Its influence is wondrously diffused. Coasts, lands, rivers, 
 and seas ; animals, fish, fruit, and vegetables ; houses, beds, 
 pots, cups, and dishes ; canoes, with all belonging to them 
 and their management ; dress, ornaments, and arms ; things 
 to eat, and thmgs to drink ; the members of the body j 
 manners and customs ; language, names, temples, and even 
 the gods also, aU come under the influence of the tahv,. 
 It is put into operation by religious, political, or selfish 
 motives, and idleness lounges for months beneath its 
 sanction. Many are thus forbidden to raise or extend 
 their hands in any useful employment for a long time. In 
 this district it is tahu to build canoes ; on that island it is 
 tabu to erect good houses. The custom is much in favour 
 with Chiefs, who adjust it so as to sit easily on themselves, 
 while they use it to gain influence over those who are 
 nearly their equals : by it they supply many of their wants, 
 and command at will all who are beneath them. In 
 imposing a tabu, a Chief need only be checked by a care 
 that he is countenanced by ancient precedents. Persons of 
 small importance borrow the shadow of the system, and 
 endeavour by its aid to place their yam-beds and plantain- 
 plots within a sacred prohibition. The tabu secures to the 
 priests of Mbakandroti all the one-eared pigs bom in their 
 neighbourhood. But as little profit would arise from a 
 strict adherence to the letter of the charter, it is made to 
 mean all swine which may have one ear shorter or narrower 
 than the other. 
 
 When cocoa-nuts are to be talued in any particular dis- 
 trict, a mound of earth is thrown up by the side of the path 
 leading thereto, and on this a stone or nut, covered with 
 
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EELIGION. 
 
 235 
 
 turmeric powder, is placed, and a reed fence built aU round. 
 Or a number of reeds are stuck in the mound in a circle, 
 with their leafy tops tied together ; or a piece of nut-leaf is 
 plaited round several of the nuts at a few feet from the 
 ground; or reeds are set a few rods apart through the 
 district. In all cases, loud shouts of " a tabu !" are part 
 
 NUT TABUS. 
 
 of the ceremony. The length of time during which the 
 embargo may be continued, is determined by the period at 
 which the nuts ripen, or the arrival of a festival, or, simply, 
 the win of a Chief, without whom the prohibition cannot be 
 removed. This is generally done without form ; but on 
 removing the talu from the Somosomo Straits, the King, 
 priests, and a number of aged and influential men, assembled 
 on board a first-rate canoe, which was moored at some 
 distance from the shore. Yaqona was prepared, and part 
 of the first cup poured into the sea as a libation, accompanied 
 by a prayer to the gods for life, prosperity, and plenty of 
 fish. The Straits were then open for the fishing parties. 
 
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236 CHAPTEE vn. 
 
 Yiolations of the tahv, are punished by robbing the 
 transgressor, despoiling Ms gardens, and, in a few cases, by 
 death. 
 
 Instances have come nnder my own observation, in 
 which a King's son — quite a boy — was allowed to place a 
 tabu on all kinds of food then in the gardens. About 
 twenty lads, from eight to seventeen years of age, formed 
 his suite, who passed the night under the same roof Avith 
 him, and in the day-time were sent abroad as spies. When 
 the party retired to rest, or rose from sleep, the fact was 
 published by the noise of conch-shells. Persons who had 
 to make any of the feasts belonging to the confinement of 
 a wife, or other events, had first to lay their case before 
 this juvenile court. Any who failed to do so, soon saw the 
 Chief lad and his retinue running towards their house with 
 little flags and native trumpets. A heavy blow on the 
 house fence announced their arrival, and, in the space of 
 another minute, they were on their way back to the 
 rendezvous, each bearing a club, or spear, or mat, or any 
 other article that came to hand, and all shouting amain over 
 the mischief. 
 
 Pear of the gods is often alleged as a reason for observing 
 the tabu ; but it has already been shown that this fear is 
 somewhat questionable. Sometimes the natives get angry 
 with their deities, and abuse and even challenge them to 
 fight. 
 
 The Malaki fishermen make offerings to their sea-gods 
 to obtain success in catching turtles, which, when taken, 
 they offer to the Eakiraki gods, who are more powerful 
 than their own, and likely to be angry if these got the 
 turtles. 
 
 One evening I walked with Tuikilakila to see a canoe 
 which had been repaired, and was then to be launched. 
 T\'hen she was fairly afloat, a shout was raised, and, each 
 person present having picked up a good-sized stone, the 
 house of the canoe was saluted with a smart shower of 
 pebbles, to drive away the god of the carpenters, who had 
 got possession of it while under repair. 
 
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EELIGION. 237 
 
 Certain minerals and vegetables are dedicated to cer- 
 tain demons, but apparently in joke. A simple flower 
 is called the hand-club of B^ula. Eed clay is given as a 
 delicacy to another, and the blossom of the boiboida, 
 which smells horribly, is named as the favourite nosegay of 
 Eamba. 
 
 One remarkable religious observance remains to be 
 noticed. Its practice is chiefly confined to youths of the 
 male sex, and in it alone is observable a continuous atten- 
 tion to set forms. In some parts of the group it is 
 known as Kalou rere, and in others as Ndomindomi. Ee- 
 tired places near the sea are preferred for the perform- 
 ance of the ceremonies of this peculiar observance. A 
 small house is built, and enclosed with a rustic trellis 
 fence, tied at the crossings with a small-leafed vine. 
 Longer poles are set up, with streamers attached. Within 
 the enclosure, a miniature temple of slight fabric is con- 
 structed, and in it a consecrated nut or other trifle is 
 placed. The roof of the main building is hung with masi 
 and scarfs of light texture. The wall is studded with the 
 claws of crabs ; and, after the gods have come together, 
 span-long yams, ready cooked, with painted cocoa-nuts, are 
 disposed at its base, that they may eat and drink. The 
 party occupying this house number twenty or thirty, and, 
 while kept together by the ceremonies, this is their home. 
 To allure the expected gods, they drum with short bamboos, 
 morning and evening, for several successive weeks. The 
 " little gods " are called luve-ni-wai, " children of the 
 waters." My list contains more than fifty of their names, 
 and I believe it is incomplete. They are represented as 
 wild or fearful, and as coming up from the sea. I knew 
 one party who, to facilitate their ascent, built, for some 
 distance into the sea, a jetty of loose stones. When it is 
 believed that the hive-ni-wai have left their watery dwelling, 
 little flags are placed at certain inland passes, to stop any who 
 might wish to change for the woods their abode in the sea. 
 On the high day, an enclosure is formed by twelve-feet 
 poles laid on the ground, and piled up to the height of a 
 
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238 CHAPTEE VU. 
 
 foot. These are wrapped with evergreens, and spears with 
 streamers at the top are fixed in the four angles. A com- 
 pany of lads, painted and attired in green leaves and scarfs, 
 bring from their house iato this square the votive offerings, 
 consisting chiefly of smaU clubs and trumpet-shells. They 
 then seat themselves withiu the enclosure, and thump their 
 little drums right lustily. 
 
 WMle the h,ve-ni-wai have been thus occupied, the prin- 
 cipal personages have not been idle. Each has been 
 decorating himself in character, and providing himself with 
 the apparatus needed for the performance of his part. 
 Presently their uncouth forms are seen ia the distance, ia 
 every variety of fantastic motion. Some run ia one direc- 
 tion, and some in another ; they nod their heads, gaze 
 upwards, dance ridiculously, and fill the air with groans, 
 grunts, and shrieks. One youth — the Linga Viu, or " shade- 
 holder " — ^runs round a circle which includes all the per- 
 formers, the drummers and the shakers ; himself shakiug 
 the while, and starting from his course as though unable 
 to command his limbs, and waving a sunshade which he 
 carries. Vuninduvu, " the chief man," was, on the parti- 
 cular occasion to which I have referred, armed with a 
 battle-axe, and exciting himself for his performances. 
 Mbcmoro capered about with a cocoa-nut, which, when he 
 had summoned sufficient courage, was to be broken by a 
 violent blow on his bent knee. Lingavatu took the easier 
 method of pounding or pelting his nut with a stone. 
 These feats accomplished show that the gods are helping 
 them, and all are encouraged to caU and whistle to the 
 deities to enter their votaries, each of whom becomes 
 excited into a frenzy. Ai Takathambe calls amain for 
 his god, and Matavuiha shoots at him, or at a nut he 
 holds under his right arm, while aU shake like creatures 
 possessed. In some cases Kau-ni-niu holds the nut. The 
 others, as they persuade themselves that the god has 
 entered them, present themselves to the Vuninduvu to be 
 struck on the top of the abdomen, believing that if the god 
 is in them, they cannot be wounded by the axe, or spear, or 
 
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EELIGION. 239 
 
 musket, whichever may happen to be used. These orgies 
 are free from any pollution or licentiousness, but are, 
 nevertheless, accompanied by their own evils. They 
 encourage idleness, and injure the parties concerned by 
 depriving them of proper food ; while, if the Vuninduvu is 
 over-simple or over-zealous, he is sure to kill some of the 
 actors engaged. 
 
 Pilgrimages are sometimes made to Nai Thombothombo, 
 the northern point of Mbua Bay, and the spot whence the 
 spirits of the departed embark for the abode of Ndengei. 
 I have known persons from a distance, who expected that 
 they should see there both ghosts and gods. When con- 
 trasted with the bays between which it stands, this is a 
 most beautiful spot. The shore gradually rises from high- 
 water mark for a short distance, and then succeed abrupt, 
 precipitous cliffs, about fifty feet high, having their rocky 
 face richly draped with creeping plants. Further in, the 
 land is wooded with large forest trees, the shade of whose 
 foliage, with the softened gloom cast by the neighbouring 
 rocks, gives to this scene an air of hallowed repose, well 
 calculated to foster the native superstitions which crowd it 
 with awful beings from the spirit-world, and to produce 
 impressions of deep solemnity on the most enlightened 
 minds. 
 
 The Kjian peoples with invisible beings every remark- 
 able spot, especially the lonely dell, the gloomy cave, the 
 desolate rock, and the deep forest. Many of these unseen 
 spirits, he beheves, are on the alert to do him harm, and 
 hence he is kept in fear. When passing the territories of 
 any of these, he piously casts a few leaves where many 
 others have done so before him, and steps lightly along, 
 hoping that he has propitiated the demon of the place. A 
 path, part of the way to Nai Thombothombo, was one on 
 which I had often to go. In one place it penetrated a 
 shady defile, at the entrance of which, it is said, Lewa-levu 
 — " the Great Woman " — watches to carry off such men 
 as please her fancy ; and, from the heap of leaves, I judge 
 that few men pass that way without propitiating the Great 
 
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240 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Woman, and leaving a proof that they consider themselves 
 attractive enough to excite her affection. 
 
 Among the principal objects of Pijian superstition may 
 be enumerated demons, ghosts, witches, wizards, wise- 
 men, fairies, evil eyes, god-eyes, seers, and priests, all of 
 whom he beKeves to be more or less possessed of super- 
 natural power, and reverences accordingly. A very old 
 Fijian used to talk to me of "those little gpds" with as 
 strong a faith as that of a Highlander in his fairies. And 
 these " little gods " are the fairies of Fiji. " When living 
 near the Kauvandra, I often used to hear them sing," said 
 the old man ; and the recollection brightened his eye, as he 
 went on to tell how they would assemble in troops on the 
 top of the mountains, and sing unweariedly. " They were 
 all little, Hke your sons : " (then six and five years old :) 
 " I have often seen them, and this is the song I have heard 
 them sing : — 
 
 " ' Keady for the digging are the nihiruhi and the raurau ; 
 And abundantly ready is my favonrite toarau ; 
 And ready at the same time is the yam of Nggalan. 
 The unwearied ones, ye ! 
 
 " ' Bound, at one spring, to the top of the mountain ; 
 Bound, at two springs, to the top of the mountain ; 
 Let ns gaze on the ocean returned to its fouutaio. 
 The low tides, ye ! ' " * 
 
 The Ndrundru sambo of Yanua Levu is a warlock in 
 mischief, but not in invulnerability. He is thus described 
 by the natives : In appearance, a man of high stature, of 
 a grey colour, with a head like an English dish; he 
 breathes hard, and the noise of his going is Hke striking a 
 hard shell with the back of a knife. He stands charged 
 with steahng from fishermen the fish which they bring 
 
 * " Boia rukuruhi, boto raurau ; 
 Sa iini iota qou toarau ; 
 Bota kaya na uvi ni Qalau ; 
 Sa covi wai, ye ! 
 " Teki vdkadua lei ulu-ni-koro ; 
 Teki tcakarua &i ulu-ni-koro ; 
 Ta qoroya na tad ni meda boro. 
 Na taci, ye I" 
 
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[ [ [ [ 
 
 RELIGION. 241 
 
 ashore at night, helping himself to reserved scraps of food, 
 — and many such misdemeanours. I know a woman and 
 her child whom he nearly frightened out of their wits, and 
 whose screams brought me running to their assistance. 
 Although he is a difficult mark, yet some skilful men have 
 transfixed him ; but, on being touched with a spear, he is 
 instantly transformed into a rat. 
 
 Of apparitions the natives are very much afraid. They 
 believe that the spirits of the dead appear frequently, and 
 afflict mankind, especially when they are asleep. The 
 spirits of slain men, unchaste women, and women who have 
 died in childbed, they hold most in dread. I have known 
 natives hide themselves for a few days, until they supposed 
 the spirit of the dead was at rest. Spirits are supposed to 
 assume the human form at will. Some tell us that they 
 plant the tarawau, a tree bearing an acrid fruit. The 
 notions of the people about the soul and its future state 
 are very remarkable. While the Tongan restricted immor- 
 tality to Chiefs, Matabules, and Muas, the Fijian has attri- 
 buted spirits to animals, vegetables, stones, tools, and many 
 other things, allowing that aU may become immortal. 
 Some speak of man as having two spirits. His shadow is 
 called " iAe dark spirit" which, they say, goes to Hades. 
 The other is his likeness reflected in water or a looking- 
 glass, and is supposed to stay near the place in which a 
 man dies. Probably this doctrine of shadows has to do 
 with the notion of inanimate objects having spirits. I once 
 placed a good-looking native suddenly before a mirror. 
 He stood delighted. " Now," said he, softly, " I can see 
 into the world of spirits." The light spirit of a murdered 
 man is supposed to remain where the body fell. Hence 
 such places are avoided, especially when it rains, because 
 then the moans of the spirit are heard, as it sits up, endea- 
 vouring to relieve its pain by resting the head on the 
 palms of its hands. Some say that these moans are caused 
 by the soul of the murderer knocking down the soul of the 
 slain, whenever it attempts to rise. 
 
 My informant on some of these points remarked rather 
 
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342 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 drily, " Tlie old people were more apt to hear these moans 
 tlian we of this day are." In one instance, at any rate, 
 these dreaded sounds could be explained by natural causes. 
 Na Saunimbua was slain in April, 1850. A few nights 
 after his death, his wife visited the place where he fell, in 
 order to stroke his spirit, as it was raining fast. Oh reach- 
 ing the spot, she sat down and gave vent to her feelings in 
 piercing cries. The slayers of her husband lived in a 
 village close by, and, on hearing the noise of her lamenta- 
 tion, closed their houses securely, lest the spirit should 
 come and injure them, saying, as they did so, "What a 
 strong man Na Saunimbua must be ! Listen to his 
 moans ! " 
 
 It is believed, further, that the spirit of a man who still 
 lives will leave the body to trouble other people when 
 asleep. When any one faints or dies, their spirit, it is 
 said, may sometimes be brought back, by calhng after it; 
 and occasionally the ludicrous scene is witnessed of a stout 
 man lying at full length, and bawling out lustily for the 
 return of his own soul ! The visits of certain classic heroes 
 to the lower world would at once be credited in Kji ; for 
 some of its earlier inhabitants are said to have achieved a 
 similar exploit while yet in the body. 
 
 The escape of the spirits of brutes and lifeless substances 
 to Mbulu does not receive universal credit. Those who 
 profess to have seen the souls of canoes, houses, plants, 
 pots, or any artificial bodies, swimming, with other relics of 
 this frail world, on the stream of the Kauvandra well, 
 which bears them into the regions of immortality, beheve 
 this doctrine as a matter of course ; and so do those who 
 have seen the footmarks left about the same well by the 
 ghosts of dogs, pigs, etc. On Yanua Levu it is admitted 
 that such things evince a desire for immortality, and, when 
 set free from their grosser parts, fly away for Mbulu by 
 Nai Thombothombo, where a god named Mbolembole 
 intercepts their flight, and appropriates them to his own 
 use. 
 
 The native superstitions with regard to a future state go 
 
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EELIGION. 243 
 
 far to explain the apparent indifference of the people about 
 death ; for, while believing in an eternal existence, they shut 
 out from it the idea of any moral retribution in the shape 
 either of reward or punishment. The first notion concern- 
 ing death is that of simple rest, and is thus contained in 
 one of their rhymes : — 
 
 " Death is easy : 
 Of what use is life ? 
 To die is rest." * 
 
 According to general opinion, the future world is to be 
 much the same as the present. The Fijian Mbulu is the 
 abode of departed spirits, where the good and the bad 
 meet, and the road to which is long and difiB.cult; for 
 although we often hear the natives talk of going to Mbulu, 
 as a plunge 4b±o the sea ; and though every island, and 
 nearly every town, has its Ndrakulu or Thimbathimba, yet 
 these are but the portals where the spirit enters that mys- 
 terious path, the arrival at the termination of which is a 
 precarious contingency. 
 
 Native traditions on this subject, which are variously 
 modified in different locahties, may be thus stated. 
 
 On the road to Nai Thombothombo, and about five 
 miles from it, is a solitary hill of hard reddish clay, spotted 
 with black boulders, having on its right a pretty grove, 
 and on the left cheerless hills. Its name is Takiveleyawa. 
 When near this spot, the disembodied spirit throws the 
 spirit of the whale's tooth which was placed in the hand of 
 the corpse at burial, at a spiritual pandanus ; having suc- 
 ceeded in hitting this, he ascends the hiU, and there waits 
 until joined by the spirits of his strangled wife or wives. 
 Should he miss the mark, he is still supposed to remain in 
 this solitary resting-place, bemoaning the want of affection 
 on the part of his wife and friends, who are depriving him 
 of his expected companions. And this is the lone spirit's 
 lament : " How is this ? For a long time I planted food 
 
 * "A mate na rawarawa : 
 Me bulu'-^na ka ni cava ? 
 A mate na cegu." 
 E 2 
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244. 
 
 CHAPTER Til. 
 
 lAKITELEYA'VfA. 
 
 for my wife, and it was also of great use to her friends : 
 why, then, is she not allowed to follow me? Do my 
 friends love me no better than this, after so many years of 
 toil ? Will no one, in love to me, strangle my wife ? " 
 
 If the ghost be that of a bachelor, he has to avoid the 
 grasp of the Great Woman, who lurks near, and pass on to 
 meet a more dreaded foe. Of all Pijian spirits, that of a 
 bachelor is most hardly used. Nangganangga — the bitter 
 hater of bachelors — undertakes to see after their souls ; and 
 so untiring is his watch that, it is said, no unwedded spirit 
 has ever yet reached the Elysium of Piji. These hapless 
 ones know that it would be in vain to try to escape the 
 avenging god at high tide, and therefore avail themselves 
 of low water, to steal round to the edge of the reef opposite 
 Nai Thombothombo, trusting to the Charon of that district 
 to see, pity, and ferry them over. Nangganangga sits by 
 the fatal stone, and, as he laughs at their vain efforts to 
 escape, tauntingly asks them whether they suppose that the 
 tide will never flow again, and how they will elude him if 
 
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RELIGION. 245 
 
 it does. And with these gloomy monitions in its ears, the 
 poor ghost wanders, until the returning tide lessens his 
 range, and at last drives him shivering to the beach, where 
 he is pursued and seized by Nangganangga, and, for the 
 unpardonable offence of bachelorhood, is dashed in pieces 
 on the large black stone, just as one shatters rotten 
 fire-wood. 
 
 We now return to the soliloquizing husband, who, 
 blessed at last with the company of his wife or wives, 
 who bear his train, or sad because of their absence, 
 advances towards Nai Thombothombo, and, club in 
 hand, boards the canoe which carries spirits to meet 
 their examiner. Notice of his approach is given by a 
 paroquet, which cries once, twice, and so on, according to 
 the number of spirits in the canoe, announcing a great 
 number by chattering. The highway to Mbulu lies 
 through Nambanggatai, which, it seems, is at once a real 
 and unreal town, the visible part being occupied by ordi- 
 nary mortals, while in the unseen portion dwells the family 
 who hold inquest on departed spirits. Thus the cry of the 
 bird answers a two-fold purpose, warning the people to set 
 open their doors that the spirit may have a free course, and 
 preventing the ghostly inquisitors from being taken by 
 surprise. The houses in this town are built with reference 
 to a peculiarity in the locomotion of spirits, who are sup- 
 posed at this stage to pass straight forward ; hence all the 
 doorways are opposite to each other, so that tlie shade may 
 pass through without interruption. The inhabitants speak 
 in low tones, and, if separated by a Kttle distance, commu- 
 nicate their thoughts by signs. 
 
 Bygone generations had to meet Samu or Eavuyalo ; 
 but as he died in ] 847 by a curious misfortune, his duties 
 now devolve on his sons, who, having been long in part- 
 nership with their illustrious father, are quite competent to 
 carry on his office. As it is probable that the elder son 
 will shortly receive the paternal title or an equivalent, we will 
 speak of him as Samuyalo, the "Killer of souls." On 
 hearing the paroquet, Samu and his brothers hide them- 
 
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246 CHAPTEE, VII. 
 
 selves in some spiritual mangrove bushes, just beyond the 
 town, and alongside of the path, in which they stick a reed 
 as a prohibition to the spirit to pass that way. Should the 
 comer be courageous, he raises his club in defiance of the 
 tabu and those who placed it there; whereupon Samu 
 appears, to give him battle, first asking, " Who are you, 
 and whence do you come ?" As many carry their invete- 
 rate habit of lying into another world, they make them- 
 selves out to be of vast importance, and to such Samu 
 gives the he, and fells them to the ground. Should the 
 ghost conquer in the combat, he passes on to the judgment- 
 seat of Ndengei; but if wounded, he is disquahfied for 
 appearing there, and is doomed to wander among the 
 mountains. If he be killed in the encounter, he is cooked 
 and eaten by Samu and his brethren. 
 
 Some traditions put the examination questions into the 
 mouth of Samu, and judge the spirit at this stage ; but the 
 greater number refer the inquisition to Ndengei. 
 
 Those who escape the club of the Soul-destroyer, walk on 
 to Naindehnde, one of the highest peaks of the Kauvandra 
 mountains. Here the path to Mbulu ends abruptly at the 
 brink of a precipice, the base of which is said to be washed 
 by a deep lake. Beyond this precipice projects a large 
 steer-oar, which one tradition puts in the charge of 
 Ndengei himself, but another, more consistently, in the keep- 
 ing of an old man and his son, who act under the direction 
 of the god. These accost the coming spirit thus : " Under 
 what circumstances do you come to us ? How did you 
 conduct yourself in the other world ? " If the ghost should 
 be one of rank, he answers, " I am a great Chief. I lived 
 as a Chief, and my conduct was that of a Chief. I had 
 great wealth, many wives, and ruled over a powerful 
 people. I have destroyed many towns, and slain many in 
 war." To this the reply is, " Good, good. Take a seat 
 on the broad part of this oar, and refresh yourself in the 
 cool breeze." No sooner is he seated, than they lift the 
 handle of the oar, which lies inland, and he is thus thrown 
 down headlong into the deep waters below, through which 
 
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EELIGION. 247 
 
 he passes to Murimuria. Such as have gained the special 
 favour of Ndengei are warned not to go out on the oar, but 
 to sit near those who hold it, and, after a short repose, are 
 sent back to the place whence they came, to be deified. 
 
 Murimuria seems to be a district of inferior happiness in 
 Mbulu, which is divided into distinct parts, and punishment 
 and enjoyment awarded to its inmates, but not for offence 
 or merit of a moral kind. Mburotu is the Kjian 
 Elysium, and in its description the most glowing language 
 is used. Scented groves and pleasant glades, smiled upon 
 by an unclouded sky, form the retreat of those who dwell 
 in this blest region, where there is an abundance of all 
 that a native deems most to be desired. Such are the 
 dehghts of Mburotu, that the word is used proverbially to 
 describe any uncommon joy. 
 
 In most parts of Mbulu the inhabitants plant, live in 
 families, fight, and, in short, do much as people in this 
 world. They are said, however, to be larger than when on 
 earth. Mention is made in native traditions of first, second, 
 and third heavens ; but the terms do not appear to convey 
 any definite idea. Various punishments are inflicted upon 
 those who have not lived so as to please the gods. Some 
 are laid in rows on their faces, and converted into taro 
 beds. Those who have not had their ears bored are 
 doomed to carry for ever on their shoulders the log of 
 wood on which cloth is beaten, jeered at by all who see 
 them. Women that are not tattooed are chased by their 
 own sex, who tear and cut them with sharp shells, giving 
 them no respite ; or they are scraped up, and made into 
 bread for the gods. Men who have not slain an enemy 
 are sentenced to beat a heap of filth with a club, because 
 they used that weapon so badly while in the body. 
 A native regards this as the most degrading of all 
 punishments. 
 
 It thus appears that, although the Kjians allow a spirit 
 to almost everything, they dispose of them in such a way 
 that few attain to immortality. The spirits of meats and 
 drinks are consumed by the gods, who also eat the souls of 
 
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248 CHAtTEB VII. 
 
 all whose bodies are devoured by the people. The souls of 
 animals, etc., are appropriated by Mbolembole. Lewa Levu 
 gets a share of the best-lookiug ghosts, and those of the 
 bachelors all fall to Nangganangga. Samu and his 
 brothers consume a great number. Mbati-ndua roasts 
 all that belong to, but do not obey, him ; and a further 
 deduction must be made for the soids which are killed by 
 men. Thus few, comparatively, are left to inhabit the 
 regions of Mbulu, and the immortaHty even of these is 
 sometimes disputed. The belief in a future state is imi- 
 versal in Fiji ; but their superstitious notions often border 
 upon transmigration, and sometimes teach an eventual 
 annihilation. 
 
 The existence of witchcraft has already been noticed; 
 and of all their superstitions, this exerts the strongest 
 influence on the minds of the people. Men who laugh at 
 the pretensions of the priest tremble at the power of the 
 wizard ; and those who become Christians lose this fear last 
 of aU the relics of their heathenism. Professed practisers 
 of witchcraft are dreaded by all classes, and, by destroying 
 mutual confidence, shake the security and comfort of 
 society. Some of these persons, but not all, are priests. 
 Any suggestion of maKce or envy may become a cause for 
 bewitclung a person. Theft is detected and punished by 
 the same agency. The design of the charms used is to 
 destroy Ufe, and most persons who have a long illness 
 ascribe it to witchcraft. 
 
 One mode of operating is to bury a cocoa-nut, with the 
 eye upwards, beneath the temple-hearth, on which a fire is 
 kept constantly burning ; and as the life of the nut is 
 destroyed, so the health of the person it represents will 
 fail, tiU death ensues. At Matuku there is a grove sacred 
 to the god Tokalau — ^the wind. The priest promises the 
 destruction of any hated person in four days, if those who 
 wish his death bring a portion of his hair, dress, or food 
 which he has left. This priest keeps a fire burning, and 
 approaches the place on his hands and knees. If the 
 victim bathe before the fourth day, the spell is broken. 
 
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EELIGION. 249 
 
 The most common method^ however, is the Tahadranihau, 
 or compounding of certain leaves supposed to possess a 
 magical power, and which are wrapped in other leaves, or 
 put into a small bamboo case, and buried in the garden of 
 the person to be bewitched, or hidden in the thatch of his 
 house. Processes of this kind are the most dreaded, and 
 the people about Mbua are reputed to prepare the most 
 potent compounds. The native imagination is so abso- 
 lutely under the control of fear of these charms, that 
 persons, hearing that they were the objects of such spells, 
 have lain down on their mats, and died through fear. 
 
 Those who have reason to suspect others of plotting 
 against them avoid eating in their presence, or are careful 
 to leave no fragment of food behind; they also dispose 
 their garment so that no part can be removed. Most 
 natives, on cutting their hair, hide what is cut off in the 
 thatch of their own homes. Some build themselves a 
 small house and surround it with a moat, believing that a 
 little water will neutralize the charms which are directed 
 against them. Those who suppose themselves to be under 
 the power of a wizard, make offerings to the gods, or use 
 counter spells, or bring presents to the Chief in whose 
 domain the magician is thought to reside. 
 
 The evil-working power of these men may be purchased, 
 and generally the pay is high. Nearly all sudden deaths 
 are ascribed to this cause. Persons detected in the act of 
 burying these deadly charms are summarily dealt with ; or 
 if found out afterwards, their houses are burnt, and they 
 themselves killed. 
 
 Sticks or reeds are sometimes placed in gardens so as to 
 wound trespassers. Superstitious forms attend their pre- 
 paration, and they may be had warranted to infect the 
 wounded intruder with ulcers, or dropsy, or leprosy. A 
 milder agency, called tabu gasau, is often used in gardens. 
 Several reeds are thrust into the earth, and their tops 
 brought together and inserted in a banana or nut. This is 
 done to produce boils on any person who may rob the 
 garden. 
 
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250 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 The yalovahi is an ordeal much dreaded in the wiadward 
 islands. When the evidence is strong against persons 
 suspected of some offence, and yet they refuse to confess, 
 the Chief, who is judge, calls for a scarf, with which " to 
 catch away the soul of the rogue." A threat of the rack 
 could not be more effectual. The culprit generally con- 
 fesses on the sight and even the mention of the light instru- 
 ment : if not, it would be waved over his head untR his 
 soul was secured, and then carefully folded up and nailed to 
 ^he small end of a Chief's canoe ; and, for want of his soul, 
 the suspected person would pine and die. 
 
 An iDuocent conceit is entertained by the Lakembans. 
 Some distance from the chief town is a small hiU, having a 
 plot of short reeds on the top. Whenever I passed, many 
 of these reeds were tied together at the top, which, I found, 
 was done by travellers in order to prevent the sun from 
 setting before they reached their journey's end. On the 
 same island baskets of earth were hung on a branch or pole 
 in the yam-gardens, to attract the notice of the birds and 
 make them chirp, as the yam-sets are supposed to hasten to 
 sprout at their call. 
 
 Belief in second-sighted persons, dread of a thing falling 
 on them which they are about to carry, faith in dreams, 
 praying for those who sneeze, and planting the giant arum 
 close by the doorway, to keep out death and the devU, are 
 several forms of superstition in its Fijian development. 
 
 Although the traditions of Fiji constitute, for the most 
 part, a series of wild and contradictory absurdities, yet 
 some demand attention, shadowing forth, as they do, some 
 of the great facts in the history of mankind, of which the 
 Bible contains the exact and standard records. 
 
 A few specimens of the absurdities of native belief may 
 be given first. The god Eoko Mouta formerly took a walk 
 along the coast of Viti Levu; and wherever his train 
 touched, there aU. irregularities were swept away, and sandy 
 beach left. But where he cast his train over his shoulder, 
 the coast remained rocky. 
 
 Ndelai Loa, the highest hiU on One, is said to be the top 
 
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KELIGION. 251 
 
 of Korothau, a mountain in Viti Levu, a tnndred and 
 eighty miles distant. Two goddesses, wishing to add to 
 the importance of Ono, stole away the top of this moimtain 
 in the night, but, being surprised by day-break, cast down 
 their load about two miles short of the place they intended. 
 In a very similar way the position of two rocks, Landotan- 
 gane and Landoyalewa, between Ovalau and Moturiki, is 
 accounted for, they having been intended to block up the 
 Moturiki passage. 
 
 The substance of their traditionary account of the 
 creation of man was thus stated by a Chief from the 
 Kauvandra district, A small kind of hawk built its nest 
 near the dwelling of Ndengei j and when it had laid two 
 eggs, the god was so pleased with their appearance that he 
 resolved to hatch them himself, and in due time, as the 
 result of his incubation, there were produced two human 
 infants, a boy and a girl. He removed them carefully to 
 the foot of a large vesi tree, and placed one on either side 
 of it, where they remained until they had attained to the 
 size of children six years old. The boy then looked round 
 the tree and discovered his companion, to whom he said, 
 "Ndengei has made us two that we may people the earth." 
 As they became hungry, Ndengei caused bananas, yams, 
 and taro to grow round them. The bananas they tasted 
 and approved ; but the yams and taro they could not eat 
 until the god had taught them the use of fire for cooking. 
 In this manner they dwelt, and, becoming man and wife, 
 had a numerous offspring, which, in process of time, 
 peopled the world. 
 
 Another tradition describes Ndengei as giving life to the 
 inferior animals, but not to man. Another represents him 
 as more directly engaged in man's creation, but as having, 
 Hke Brahma, made several clumsy failures in his first 
 attempts. He was particularly unfortunate in framing the 
 woman; so much so as to provoke the censure of a god 
 named Eoko Matu, who happened to meet the first speci- 
 men of womanhood, and at whose suggestion she was altered 
 to her present form. 
 
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252 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ore is known in some parts of Fiji as a kind of con- 
 tinuous creator, on whom is laid the blame of aU monsters 
 and malformations. But the natives in other parts ascribe 
 the origin of these to different deities. 
 
 They speak of a deluge which, according to some of their 
 accounts, was partial, but in others is stated to have been 
 universal. The cause of this great flood was the killing of 
 Turukawa — a favourite bird belonging to Ndengei — by two 
 mischievous lads, the grandsons of the god. These, instead 
 of apologizing for their offence, added insolent language to 
 the outrage, and, fortifying, with the assistance of their 
 friends, the town in which they lived, defied Ndengei to do 
 his worst. It is said that, although the angry god took 
 three months to collect his forces, he was unable to subdue 
 the rebels, and, disbanding his army, resolved on more ef&- 
 cient revenge. At his command the dark clouds gathered 
 and burst, pouring streams on the devoted earth. Towns, 
 hiUs, mountains were successively submerged; but the rebels, 
 secure in the superior height of their own dwelling-place, 
 looked on without concern. But when, at last, the terrible 
 surges invaded their fortress, they cried for direction to a 
 god, who, according to one account, instructed them to 
 form a float of the fruit of the shaddock; according to 
 another, sent two canoes for their use ; or, says a third, 
 taught them how to build a canoe, and thus secure their 
 own safety. All agree that the highest places were covered, 
 and the remnant of the human race saved in some kind of 
 vessel, which was at last left by the subsiding waters on 
 Mbengga : hence the Mbenggans draw their claim to stand 
 first in Fijian rank. The number saved — eight — exactly 
 accords with the " few " of the Scripture record. By this 
 flood, it is said, two tribes of the human family became 
 extinct. One consisted entirely of women, and the other 
 were distinguished by the appendage of a tail like that of 
 a dog. 
 
 The highest point of the island of Koro is associated with 
 the history of the flood. Its name is Ngginggi-tangithi-Koro, 
 which conveys the idea of a little bird sitting there and 
 
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EELIGION. 
 
 253 
 
 lamentiug the drowned island. In this bird the Christians 
 recognise Noah's dove on its second flight from the ark. 
 I have heard a native^ after listening to the incident as 
 given by Moses, chant, " Na qiqi sa tagici Koro ni yali:" 
 " The Qiqi laments over Koro, because it is lost." 
 
 SAVU FALLS. 
 
 Near Na Savu, Vanua Levu, the natives point out the 
 site where, in former ages, men built a vast tower, being 
 eager for astronomic information, and especially anxious to 
 decide the difficult question as to whether the moon was in- 
 habited. To effect their purpose, they cast up a high 
 mound, and erected thereon a great building of timber. 
 Tlie tower had already risen far skyward, and the ambitious 
 hopes of its industrious builders seemed near fulfilment, 
 when the lower fastenings suddenly broke asunder, and 
 scattered the workmen over every part of Kji. It is re- 
 markable that the people of Ono, the most distant island, 
 say that they originally belonged to this locahty ; and it is 
 still more remarkable that there exists a dialectic similarity 
 
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254 CHAITEE VU. 
 
 between these extremes; and the inhabitants of each aie 
 tauvu, worshippers of the same god ; and, in virtue of this, 
 may take from each other what they like, and swear at each 
 other without risk of giving offence. 
 
 Namosimalua, on hearing of the translation of Enoch and 
 Elijah, at once named Kerukeru, a woman of Yaro, who 
 was very good, but unkindly treated by her husband; so 
 the gods, in consideration of her high character, removed 
 her from this world without permitting her to die. 
 
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CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I LANGUAGE AND LITERATUEE. 
 
 i 
 
 : The Pijian is not an isolated tongue like tlie old 
 
 Etruscan, or the modern Chinese or Basque. It is a 
 member of that wide-spread family of languages known as 
 the Oceanic or Malayo-Poljnesian type of human speech. 
 Erom Formosa and Hawaii in the North Pacific as far 
 south as to New Zealand, and from Easter Island below 
 
 I I the tropic of Capricorn in longitude 109° west, across the 
 South Pacific and Indian Oceans to Madagascar in 45° east 
 longitude, languages are found to obtain, which less or more 
 nearly resemble one another in their elementary sounds, 
 their laws of syllabication, their vocabularies, and all their 
 leading grammatical principles and processes. The language 
 of the Malays and the Sumatrans is structurally that of the 
 i Malagasses ; and the Maori of the New Zealander is, to some 
 extent, intelligible between three and four thousand miles 
 
 ! ! away among the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands. The 
 
 t [ principal features of the Malayo-Polynesian tongues may 
 be exhibited in few words. Their alphabets exclude, for 
 the most part, guttural and hissing sounds, and show a 
 strong partiality for vowels, nasals, and liquids. Their 
 syllables commonly consist either of a vowel alone, or of a 
 
 } I single consonant followed by a vowel. The last syllable 
 but one in a word is that upon which the accent is usually 
 made to fall. The roots of these languages are generally 
 dissyllabic, and the practice of reduplicating words has 
 great favour with them. A dual as well as a plural num- 
 ber is recognised. Nouns rarely undergo any change to 
 express the ideas of gender, number, or case ; and verbs 
 have no infiexions properly so called. As in the Hotten- 
 
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256 CHAPTEtt Tin. 
 
 tot tongue, the first personal and possessive pronoun, when 
 not in the singular, assumes different forms, according as 
 the " we," " us," or " our " is to be taken in what is called 
 an inclusive or an exclusive sense. The English expres- 
 sion, " Let us go," addressed by one individual to another 
 in the presence of a third, is equivocal. It may either 
 mean, " Let you and me go," shutting out the third party, 
 or, " Let us all three go together." No such ambiguity 
 can attach to the words in the mouth of a Polynesian. 
 In the former case, a Tongau, for example, would say 
 ke ta 0, in the latter Jee tau o; and other languages of 
 the Oceanic class make a similar distinction. In regard 
 to their syntax, the Malayo-Polynesian tongues have 
 little of the width, the elaborateness, or the symmetry of 
 the group of languages to which the English belongs. At 
 the same time they are equally removed from the chaotic, 
 cramped, and Hi-proportioned style of the Tartar, the 
 Chinese, and other leading tongues of Central and Eastern 
 Asia. The expression of thought in Malayo-Polynesian is 
 simple, inartificial, flowing, and vigorous ; and, as a vehicle 
 of Christian truth, whether by word of mouth or by writing, 
 the languages of this family will admit of comparison 
 with the capabilities of much more polished tongues. 
 
 The characters, which have now been enumerated as 
 belonging to Malayo-Polynesian speech at large, are all 
 shared by the Fijian, of which a more minute account will 
 be acceptable to the students of language, and may not be 
 without its interest for the general reader. It will he 
 necessary to premise, that Eijian is not a single language, 
 like that of the Eriendly Islands, but is spoken in as many 
 as fifteen, probably in more than fifteen, dialects. The dis- 
 tinction between some of these dialects is slight. Others 
 of them are as unlike one another as the European 
 Spanish and Portuguese, or as the Bengali and Mahiatta 
 of Northern India. Not seldom their vocabularies are 
 quite dissimilar, the same ideas being represented by terms 
 differing in root as well as in form ; and, in certain cases, 
 one or more of the elementary sounds of the language are 
 
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LANGUAGE AND LITEKATUEE. 357 
 
 wanting ; or, on the other hand, sounds obtain, which the 
 bulk of the dialects do not acknowledge. The sound of 
 the English /, for instance, is heard at Lakemba and in 
 some of the neighbouring islands; while the Somosomo 
 dialect has no h, and that of Eakiraki and other parts 
 excludes t. The Missionaries are acquainted, more or less, 
 with about seven dialects, and books have been printed in 
 four of them, namely, in those of Mbau, Eewa, Somosomo, 
 and Lakemba. Mbau, however, is at once the Athens and 
 the Eome of Fiji ; and it is the language as spoken there, 
 into which the Scriptures have been translated, and of 
 which the following statements are mostly designed to be 
 illustrative. 
 
 The simple vowel sounds, both long and short, which 
 are found in the Italian and other European tongues, are 
 those which obtain in Eijian, though with a less open 
 expression in the case of one or two of them. The compound 
 vowels are ai, au, ei, eu, oi, ou, and iu, the separate ele- 
 ments in each being distinctly uttered. The consonantal 
 part of the language excludes the sounds of the English 
 aspirate, the ck of " chink," " churl," and the like, the 
 soft g or j,* the th as heard in " thistle," " thought," and 
 "truth," and the composites x and z. The letter c is 
 used to represent the sound of th in " though," " that," 
 which is of constant occurrence in Eijian ; g answers to the 
 ng in "ring," "swing," etc. ; Jc is occasionally read as g in 
 " guest ; " thus Eakiraki, mentioned above, is pronounced 
 Magiragi ; and q answers either to the English nJc in 
 "banker," or, which is much more commonly the case, to 
 the ng in such words as "linger" and "mangle." The 
 sounds of d and b, even though standing, where they con- 
 tinually stand, at the beginning of a word, are never enun- 
 ciated without a nasal before them, n being heard before d, 
 
 * The last two, however, are both found in the Lakemba dialect, as, for 
 instance, the J in the name Fiji, which is the designation of the group to wind- 
 woi'd. The presence of these sounds in this dialect may perhaps be traced 
 to the fact, that Lakemba is the chief island of the group nearest to Tonga, 
 and the one which has always had the most intercourse with the Tongans, 
 The F sound in the name Fiji is to be accounted for in the same way. 
 
 S 
 
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258 CHAPTER yni. 
 
 m before h. Thus Doi, one of the islands, is pronounced 
 Ndoi, and Bau, Mbau. P is only used in the Mbau 
 dialect in foreign words, or in such as have been intro- 
 duced from other dialects. V too is an exotic. Fijian 
 stands almost alone among its fellows in possessing the 
 sound of s. It is doubtful whether any Polynesian people 
 employ this sound, with the exception of the Samoans and 
 the Pijians ; and it is much more frequent in the tongue of 
 the latter than in that of the former. The general law of 
 the Polynesian syllable, as already laid down, is strictly 
 observed in the Pijian language, subject only to the quali- 
 fications, which the invariable use of the nasal before d and 
 h, and the occurrence of the sounds represented by q^, may 
 be thought to require ; together with the further fact, that 
 r is not uncommonly employed after d, as in dra, " blood," 
 drodvo, " a current.^' 
 
 Fijian, like the Maori and others of the Polynesian lan- 
 guages, is rich in articles ; ko or o, and koi or oi, answering 
 under fixed rules to the English " the ; " and a or ai, na or 
 nai, being used, both before singular and non-singular 
 nouns, when the meaning is indefinite. 
 
 The noun is either primitive or derived. Very many 
 words are employed, at the wiU of the speaker, either as 
 nouns or verbs. Many nouns expressing habit, character, 
 mode of Hfe, and the bke, are formed by prefixing a fre- 
 quentative particle dau to a verbal term. For example, 
 from vosa, "to talk," comes daitvosa, "one who talks 
 incessantly," " a chatter-box." Diminutives are made by 
 reduplication ; thus vale is a " house," valevale, a " little 
 house," a " canoe house ; " and so vesivesi is a " httle 
 spear," from vesi, a " spear." 
 
 Artificial gender is unknown to the language. When it 
 is necessary to distinguish the sexes, tagane, " male," and 
 alewa, "female," are put after nouns. Thus, while gone is 
 "child," a gone tagane is "a boy," a gone alewa, "a 
 girl." Number is not indicated by any change in the 
 tfermination of a noun. Sometimes the personal pronouns 
 corresponding to the English " he " and " they " are used 
 
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LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE. 259 
 
 to express the singular and the dual or plural respectively. 
 In other cases the singular is denoted by the numeral dma, 
 " one/' and the particle vei, either with or without redupli- 
 cation of the noun, is put before it for the purpose of 
 giving it a plural meaning. 
 
 It is a remarkable feature of the language, though not 
 hmited to Fijian, that it has certain nouns which convey 
 the idea of a specific number of things, such number 
 being chiefly ten. Thus sole means "ten bread-fruits," 
 sasa, "ten mats," rara, "ten pigs," bure, "ten clubs," 
 while bola is " a hundred canoes," and selavo, " a thousand 
 cocoa-nuts." AH these words take numerals with them, 
 Hke other nouns. Sasa, for example, with toki, " three," 
 before it, denotes three times ten, or thirty mats, and so 
 of the rest. 
 
 The cases of nouns, so far as the language acknowledges 
 them, are made by prefix particles. The nominative and 
 objective are often alike. The possessive is indicated, with 
 several nice distinctions, by the signs ni and i, or by the 
 use of possessive pronouns. In such compound terms as 
 " a basket of fish," " a bottle of water," where " of " is 
 employed in the sense of " containing," the Fijian never 
 uses a sign of possession, but always puts them as if they 
 were written, " a basket fish," " a bottle water." 
 
 Many adjectives are primitive words. Derivatives are 
 formed partly by the reduplication of nouns and verbs, 
 partly by prefixing to substantives and other words the dis- 
 syllable vaJca, which has the force of the English ly in 
 " lovely," or else conveys the idea of possession. Fakawere, 
 for instance, is " garden-having," and vakatamata is " man- 
 Kke," from were, " garden," and tamata, " man ;" and such 
 forms as vulavula, "white," dredre, "difficult," lialia, 
 " siUy," are of perpetual occurrence. Besides the deriva- 
 tive adjectives there are likewise compounds, which may 
 be compared with such expressions as the English " sin- 
 stained," " wind-swept," and others. The language has no 
 special signs for representing the higher or lower degrees 
 of the quality expressed by an adjective. In the absence of 
 
 s 2 
 
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260 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 such signs it either employs intensifying or depreciating 
 particles for the purpose of comparison, or it uses the posi- 
 tive in such a way as to answer the same object, or, yet 
 again, it gives the qualification it desires by adopting a par- 
 ticular arrangement of words in a sentence. 
 
 The pronominal system of the language is fuU of interest. 
 The circumstance that its demonstratives and interrogatives 
 are few and simple, is one which has its parallel in many 
 tongues. Nor is it very surprising that it dispenses with 
 the use of a specific form for the relative. The personal and 
 possessive pronouns, in Fijian, however, are a linguistic 
 raree-show. Most languages are content to use their pro- 
 nouns of these classes in two numbers. The Pijian is not 
 satisfied with fewer than four; for it adds a dual and a triad 
 to the ordinary singular and plural forms. Thus the " our " 
 of the English may be represented now by a nodaru, now 
 by a nodatow, now by a noda, according as it refers to two 
 persons, or to three, or to many. The triad number is also 
 employed when a few are intended. The use of inclusive 
 and exclusive forms of the first personal and possessive 
 pronoun has been already named as a feature of Malayo- 
 Polynesian language in general. This distinction in Fijian 
 is carried through the dual, triad, and plural numbers ahke, 
 so that, for example, there are as many as six separate 
 words in the language answering to the one English " we." 
 In addition to these characters, which the language shares 
 with the Tongan and some other Oceanic tongues, Fijian 
 has the further peculiarity — and in this perhaps it is 
 unique — that it varies the form of the possessives accord- 
 ing as the nouns with which they are connected are names 
 of eatables, drinkables, or things of neither of these classes. 
 Let the Englishman who wishes to say, "My house, my 
 cheese, and my cider," be required by the laws of his 
 language to use a separate form of the " my " in each of 
 these three combinations, because cider is something to be 
 drunk, cheese something to be eaten, and house neither the 
 one nor the other ; he wiU express himself with the nicety 
 on which the Fijian insists in this respect. 
 
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LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUUE. 261 
 
 The correspondence between the numerals of the language 
 and those of even the most distant members of the Malayo- 
 Polynesian family of tongues is truly surprising. Bvm, rua, 
 tolii, va, lima, ono, vitu, walu, cima, and tini, the Kjian 
 cardinals from one to ten, are forms to which the Malayan, 
 the Hawaiian, the Maori, the Malagasse, and aU their 
 iellows present striking resemblances ; nor are they wanting 
 in a family likeness, which connects them with languages 
 belonging to others of the great groups into which the 
 universal speech of mankind may be distributed. Ordinals 
 are made in Fijian by prefixing ka to the cardinals. Like 
 the Latin bini, trini, etc., it has also distributives, which it 
 iorms from the cardinals by putting before them ya or 
 tau;^a ; thus yalima or tauyalima is " five a-piece," " five 
 each," and so on. Beside these the language contains a 
 distinct series of numerals which have a collective or defi- 
 nite sense, " the one " or " one only," " the two " or 
 " two only," etc. ; something like the Greek monas, duos, 
 and their compeers. The definites or collectives are the 
 cardinals wholly or partially reduplicated. Finally, by the 
 use of the prefix vaka with the cardinals, Fijian furnishes 
 itself with numeral adverbs equivalent to the English 
 "■once," twice," "thrice," and that with a complek^ness 
 and a consistency, which neither the Latin, nor the Greek, 
 nor the Sanscrit itself can rival. 
 
 The doctrine of the verb in Fijian is large and complex. 
 Its root form is always either monosyllabic or dissyllabic. 
 The sources fro^ which the derived verbs spring, as in 
 other languages, are various. Substantives and adjectives, 
 however, are the classes of words, which yield the bulk of 
 them. Some are formed by adding na to a noun; thus, 
 from luka, " fuel," comes bukana, " to add fuel." Others, 
 hke cata, " to hate," are made from adjectives, by append- 
 ing the syllable ta, or, which is more common, by at once 
 prefixing vaka and adding taka. What is most observable, 
 however, in the Fijian verb is the peculiar manner in which 
 it sets forth to the eye and ear the different ideas ex- 
 pressed by words of this class, whethci' considered in them- 
 
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262 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 selvesj or in their syntactical relations to other words. The 
 notions which the English expresses by such terms as 
 "He/' " sleep," "rest," on the one hand, and by such as 
 " consider," " strive," " walk," on the other, are essentially 
 unlike; yet the language makes no external distinction 
 between the two classes. It is otherwise in Fijian; for 
 verbs of the latter order, which imply voluntary action, 
 though to the exclusion of an object, are usually redupHcate 
 in form, while those of the former are for the most part 
 simple roots. Again, it is sometimes the case in English 
 that neuter verbs are used with a substantive after them; 
 thus, we say, " He sits his horse well," making " sit " to 
 govern " horse," though naturally incapable of exercising 
 such a power. With few exceptions, however, when we 
 wish to indicate any relation between a verb of this sort 
 aud an object noun, we employ a preposition. The Fijian 
 does not commonly adopt the latter method. On the other 
 hand, it can give aU its unreduplicated neuters a transitive 
 force by appending to them certain formative particles. On 
 this principle mocera is " to sleep upon," from moce, " to 
 sleep;" qalova is "to swim to," from qalo, "to swim;" 
 and drotaki is " to flee from," from dro, " to flee." Further, 
 a distinction in the use of verbs transitive prevails in Fijian, 
 which is perhaps without a parallel in any other tongue. 
 In their simple form they require that the nouns they 
 govern shall stand immediately after them without the in- 
 tervention of an article or other word, and they represent 
 actions in an indeterminate and general qjanner ; thus, rm 
 vav, waqa is " to fasten canoe," me voli ka is " to purchase 
 things." But if the object of such a verb in the mind of 
 the speaker be definite, if, for example, he wishes to speak 
 of fastening " a canoe," or " the canoe," the governed 
 noun, whether it precedes the verb or follows it, must have 
 an article, and the verb receives one of a series of affixes 
 used for the purpose, the chief of these being a, ha, ta, ca, 
 na, va, and ya, with the dissyllables taka, raha, and vaha. 
 The affix which any particular verb receives is determined 
 by laws that have not as yet been very accurately traced. 
 The Mbau dialect not unfrequently accents the last syllable 
 
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LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE. 2^3 
 
 of verbs ending in a, instead of appending to them a par- 
 ticle of definition. The Fijian passive is made in various 
 ways. Sometimes the simple form of the verb is employed, 
 the meaning being fixed by the context. Sometimes the 
 definite affixes just named are used for this purpose, their 
 final a being changed to i. In other cases certain particles, 
 ha, ta, ra, etc., prefixed to the verb, convey the passive 
 sense. The last method is resorted to when a thing has 
 come of itself, or when either the person who did it is 
 unknown, or it is not thought well to mention him. Ban, 
 put before a verb either intensifies the idea of it, or denotes 
 the frequent repetition of the state or action expressed by 
 the verb. In like manner vaJca before verbs has a causative 
 power, and vei carries with it the notion of what is reci- 
 procal or customary. 
 
 Tense and mood are represented in Kjian by certain in- 
 dependent words, which the language puts before the verbal 
 form. Thus, sa, Jca or a, and na, with certain equivalents, 
 answer in general to the present, past, and future 
 respectively; and me or mo makes a verb imperative, 
 conditional, or infinitive. 
 
 In regard to the subordinate parts of the language, which 
 have not as yet passed under review, the adverb, preposi- 
 tion, and conjunction, little needs to be said. The language 
 is poor in the last two classes of words, and, for the first, 
 it either makes use of separate terms like eke, " here," and 
 sega, " not," or it creates forms from adjectives by prefixing 
 vaka, the equivalent of the German adverbial ending lich, 
 and the English li/. The expletives of the language, or, as 
 they are called by the natives, " the ornaments of speech," 
 are singularly numerous, and it is a piece of Fijian affecta- 
 tion to crowd as many of them as possible into sentences. 
 Greek itseK is often out-Greeked by these dainty word- 
 worshippers of the Southern Sea. 
 
 The general character of the Malayo-Polynesian syntax 
 was explained in the outset, and it is not necessary that 
 many details should be given with respect to this feature of 
 the Fijian. Adjectives are put after their nouns when 
 they are used attributively, before them when they stand as 
 
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2m! CHAPTER VIH. 
 
 the predicates of propositions. The English expression, 
 " the good man," appears in Hjian, " the man good ; " the 
 sentence, " The man is good," would be written, " Good is 
 the man." The possessive pronoun precedes the noun with 
 which it is joined, unless such noun imply relationship, or 
 be the name of a member of the body, or of a part of any- 
 thing, in which case the pronoun is put after it. Demon- 
 strative pronouns follow their nouns. Verbs usually have 
 their nominatives after them. When the nominative takes 
 the lead, it is used absolutely. Personal pronouns, how- 
 ever, do not come under this law ; for they always go before 
 their verbs. Adverbs follow the words they qualify. 
 
 Once more, it is interesting to find the language distin- 
 guishing between the so called genitive of subject and 
 genitive of object in the use of its noun. The term, " the 
 Gospel of God," is equivocal in English. I may mean 
 either " the Gospel of which God is the author," that is to 
 say, the " of God " may be the genitive of subject ; or it 
 may mean, " the Gospel which has reference to God," where 
 the " of God " is the genitive of object. In the latter case 
 the Eijian uses the particle ni before the governed word, to 
 express the objective meaning. 
 
 What the number of radical words in Fijian may be, it 
 is difficult to conjecture. Its vocabulary is probably richer 
 than that of many other Oceanic tongues. Eor relation- 
 ships, for the smaller divisions of time, for metals, colours, 
 etc., the language has few terms ; but this is not the case 
 with most other classes of ideas and objects. Whatever 
 belongs to their religion, their political constitution, their 
 wars, their social and domestic habits, their occupations 
 and handicrafts, their amusements, and a multitude of par- 
 ticulars besides relating either to themselves or to the 
 sphere of their personal and national life, they not only 
 express with propriety and ease, but in many instances with 
 a minuteness of representation and a nicety of colouring, 
 which it is hard to reproduce in a foreign language. 
 Thus the Eijian can express by different words the 
 motion of a snake and that of a caterpillar, with 
 the clapping of the hands lengthwise, crosswise, or in 
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LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 2^5 
 
 almost any other way ; it has three words for " a bunch/' 
 five for " a pair," six for " cocoa-nut oil/' and seven for " a 
 handle ; " for " the being close together " and for " the end " 
 it has five terms each, for " fatigue " and " thin " seven each, 
 with no fewer than eleven for " dirty ; " for the verb 
 " to thank " it has two words, for " to pluck " four ; for " to 
 carry, command, entice, lie, raise," it has five each ; for " to 
 creep, return, pierce, see, squeeze," six each ; for " to care, 
 draw, roll," seven each ; for " to make, place, push, turn," 
 eight each ; for " to seize and split," nine each ; with four- 
 teen for " to cut," and sixteen for " to strike/' One other 
 illustration of the copiousness of the language is worth 
 mention. The Greek and other cultivated tongues have 
 different words for " to wash," according as the operation 
 has reference to the body, or to clothes and the like ; and, 
 where the body is spoken of, their synonyms will some- 
 times define the limb or part which is the subject of the 
 action. The Fijian leaves these languages far behind ; for 
 it can avail itself of separate terms to express the washing 
 process, according as it may happen to afi'ect the head, face, 
 hands, feet, and body of an individual, or his apparel, his 
 dishes, or his floor. 
 
 Fijian literature is in its cradle, but its infancy gives 
 promise of a vigorous and energetic manhood. The New 
 Testament and other parts of Scripture are printed in the 
 language, and the Missiouaries have published some useful 
 books besides. These last, as the case of the people has 
 affectingly required, have been, as yet, taken up for the 
 most part with religious and moral subjects. As soon as 
 possible, elementary works on various branches of general 
 knowledge will be supplied for the use of the Mission 
 schools. 
 
 In the year 1850, two literary productions of great merit 
 issued from the Wesleyan Mission press at Viwa : the one 
 a Grammar of the language, the other a Fijian-English and 
 English-Fijian Dictionary, both by the late laborious and 
 excellent Missionary — ^who did so much towards preparing 
 the way for the forthcoming Fijian translation of the Old Tes- 
 tament, — the Eev. David Hazlewood. This is a name which 
 
 s 5 
 
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266 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ought not to die. Mr. Hazlewood's predecessors and con- 
 temporaries had studied the language; they had repre- 
 sented it by an alphabet, which all philologists will confess 
 to be at once appropriate, simple, and scientific ; they had 
 collected vocabularies, and lists of phrases and idioms; 
 they had printed numerous translations and original com- 
 positions in Ejian; they had provided themselves with 
 manuscript illustrations of its system of sounds, of its 
 general structure, and of its leading pecuharities : it was 
 reserved for him to draw up and publish the first Grammar 
 and Dictionary of the language properly so called. Mr. 
 Hazlewood's Grammar is a book upon which the Bopps 
 and Grimms of Germany will look with respect, for its 
 philosophical accuracy and completeness, at the same time 
 that they eagerly drink up its precious philology. In point 
 of simplicity, comprehensiveness, and scholarly handling of 
 its subject, it is a worthy associate of a Grammar of the 
 Kafir tongue, which a Wesleyan Missionary in South 
 Africa, the Rev. John W. Appleyard, published in the 
 same year, and which is one of the most valuable contri- 
 butions to linguistic science, that the world has received 
 for many years past. Mr. Hazlewood's Dictionary is a 
 work of great pains, and both the selection and the ar- 
 rangement of his materials are such as might be looked for 
 from the author of the Pijian Grammar. Appended to the 
 Dictio7iary are two important tracts ; the one being a hst of 
 the Fiji Islands, with their bearings and distances from 
 either Mbau or Lakemba, so fax as they are known ; the 
 other containing the names of the leading objects belong- 
 ing to the natural history of the country, as plants, fishes, 
 insects, and the like. 
 
 ^Yith a language such as has now been described, and 
 with the blessing of God upon the continued labours of 
 Christian Missionaries among a people so strong-minded, 
 so enterprising, and so versatile as are the subjects of this 
 volume, there is no reason why Pijian literature should 
 not by and by take rank with the noblest cultures, to 
 which the Gospel is at . present shaping the genius and 
 heart of so many heathen populations of our globe. 
 
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I.ONDOtf : 
 
 PRINTED HI WILLIAM MOIIOIS, 
 
 U2 LONDON WALL. 
 
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