Notes of Travel in Fiji and New Caledonia with Some Remarks on South Sea ...

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NOTES OF TRAVEL

FIJI AND NEW CALEDONIA.

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NOTES OP TRAVEL

FIJI AND NEW CALEDONIA

WITH SOHE BEHARKS OK

SOUTH SEA ISUPESS AND THEIR UNGQieES.

d. W. /tNDERSON, JVI.A.

%otith a Utair, and JlUptiims (iiiim |$tii|li;bes
lij tkt 3.uthor.

(. APR-ifSI -j

EliLISSEN & CO., 10, TYPE STREET, PINSBURY, E.G.
1880.

QOS. L . 52. ^

FJJJSeEK ASD CO., PMKTERS, TTPE BTBEET, FIHBBOBT, E.O.

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PREFACE.

1 N the following chapters I have attempted to present
to my readers an unvarnished account of what
appeared to me to be of interest in my travels in some
of the South Sea Islands. For the benefit of such as
have read glowing and gushing descriptions of travellers
who have passed through these out-of-the-way spots in a
hurried manner, I hope that my humble work may assist
in bringing down exaggerated accounts to their proper
level. I cannot narrate in detail my various wanderings ;
and accordingly I have dotted down only such' facta as
seem sufficient to convey a general idea of the subject.

As a rule, colonies recently populated by the enter-
prising races ofWestem Europe, especially by the English
and other Teutonic peoples, undergo wonderfully marked
changes in a very short time. Such is the case of Australia,
of New Zealand, and districts of America. To-day the
traveller may visit a town of say 30,000 well-dressed inhabi-
tants, dwelling in substantially constructed houses, which
only ten years ago may have been peopled by a few poorly-

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clad pioneers Uviiig in caDvas tents. But this does not
apply to countries such as Fiji and New Caledonia, where
progress creeps along at a slow pace, sometimes approach-
ing to a standstill.

The notes forming the fmmework of these pages were
penned two or tliree years ago ; and perhaps a few of the
statements in this work might now require slight modifi-
cation to bring them into exact accordance with the facts
of to-day. At the same time, for all practical purposes,
the vital points may safely be regarded as remaining
unchanged.

Since I returned home, I have had the opportunity of
studying most of the well-known works on Polynesia, and
I have collected some information relating to Comparative
Philology, I have had mucb pleasure in being able to add
the concluding remarks on the subject of South Sea
Islanders and the similaiity which exists between their
and other languages, as a r^sum^ of my investigations.

J. W. ANDERSON.

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CONTENTS.

FIJI.
CHAPTEE I.— Tbe Camt«..

PAOE.

The " Stai* of the South" — Fijian beacons in eight — Levnka-
"Mata ni einga" — Bird's-eye view — The Capital &wake —
Piret impresaiona — A tour of inspection — The situation of
the Capital — The pleasant places of Ovalau — What to do
with oneself in Levuka — A motley population — Canoes
and their Cargoes 1 — 16

CHAPTER II.— Among the Islands.

Launch out — Boats and botherations — Cruising and Coral
Reefs — Breakers ahead — Trip in a whale-boat — The
" Boys " for a boat's crew — Pleasures of travelling —
Beauties of nature — Travel overland — Roads, and tbe
Philosophy of Roads ------- 19— SI

CHAPTER HI.— Debcbiption of the Fiji Geoup.

"Where is it?— What is it hie?— Viti Levu— The "Root of
War" — Luva harbour — Choice coffee — Vanua Levn —
Taviuni — The garden of Fiji — The home of the planters —
Through the bush — Products — On the plantations —
Foreign labour " boys " and kidnapping — How to deal
with flie" Beys" — QueenEleanora — Plump as partridges —
Vanua Mbalavu — The Tui Lau — Masfu the conqueror —
Mango^Cicia (Thithia) — ^Lakemba — Koro — The smaller
Islands 82 — 47

CHAPTER rV.— LffE ra the Ibwjtos.

Ab Island Home— Housebuilding — " Yakaviti " — Furnishings —
Out-houses and garden — Fencing off the natives — Water
supply — Town and country life— .-Dehghtful cUmate— ^
" Pohd bits of rain " — Where to pitch your tent — Condi-
tions of Health — Diet and Drugs — The Daily Round —

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viii CoNTEirrB.

Midnight -viaitora — Alone in Matnku — "Bed Money" —
A Lovely Landscape — A plagne-atricken settlement-^
"Where is the man?" — ^Hospitality under difficulties —
Mad— Dead : - 49—68

CHAPTEE v.— DoBBSTic GaiETANCBa.

The bother of servants — To hire, or not to hire ? — ^A " kanaka "
at cookery lessons — Ckefde Cuisine — Largo scale of opera-
tions — Euhvening melodies — Enquiring turn of mind —
Cofi'ee and salt water — Though vanquished, he can argue
still — "Eternally in the right" — ^Eatables and Drinli-
ftbles 6t)— 78

CHAPTER VI.— Eesoukces.

Cotton — Ups and downs — Cocoa-mit oQ — Mode of manufacture —
Coprah — Taxes in kind — Coprah oil — Planting the nuts —
Bgehe-de-mer — Curing process — The China market — ,
Pearl shell — Turtle shell, candle nuts, ndilo nuts — sandal
wood, fungus — Sugar — Sugar mills — Maize — Coffee —
Tobacco — Tapioca — Indigo — Success and failure in plan-
tations - - 74— S6

CHAPTEB VII.— Tbe Native Race.

The Fijians are Papuans — Characteristics — Half-casteB —

"Tainbu" (Taboo) — "Lialiapapalangi" (^foolish foreigners)
— Race affinities — Dialectal] peculiarities — Houses and
Villages — Furnishings — "Papalaugi" goods — Native in-
dustries — Cloth making — Domestic life — The "poor
savages" are much better off for bodily comforts than
the English poor — A word te philanthropists — Tbe cocoa-
nut palm; its manifold uses — Vegetable foods, tbe staple
diet — Great is the Yam — Next comes the ndalo (or taro) —
Mandrai (biscuit) — Potato — ^Bread-fruit tree, bananas, &c.,
various fruits — Fish: methods of fishmg and fishing tackle —
Sharks and turtles — Bam yard fowls and pigs — Havoc of
hurricanes — Alleviation of famine — " No bought for the
morrow" — A Mangiti, or Fijian feast — Preparations — The
" LoTO " — Roast pig— Judicious carving —

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^atOftevQ^ .... Sofwv Kara ZatwfiAvoiatv.

87—118
CHAPTER VIII.— Yangona ob Kava.

Fijian grog — Mode of preparation — "Your very good health" —
" No heel-taps " — Another round — Pecuhar taste — ^Effects
of drioking — Improvements in preparation • - 114 — 118

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CHAPTEB IX.— Natitb CBAKACiaa.

Difficulty of nnderstanding Dative ways — Visit to a native
school — The schoolmaster is generally a misaionary —
Educated native— Free and easy behaviour — Joys of school
life — Rideniem dicere reriim quid velat? — After-sohool life
of ease — Evident faculty of learning — Clear advantage in
intelligent workmanship — Put not your trust in a native —
Former cannibalism — Grinning familiarity and inquisitive-
ness — No gratitude — Childish Curiosity — " Timone I
Timonel" (Spirit 1 Spirit 1) — " Kerikeri," the Fijian
" backsheesh " — Theory of presents — Unconquerable pro-
crastination—" Malua 1" (By-and-bye) — " Malua marusa"
— Morahty— Conduct during an epidemic — Next thing to
buried aHys — Want of fellow-feeling — ^Eseeptional tender-
ness — Tolerance for the deformed and the demented — Lack
of courage — Lords and Commons — Broad Grin — Light-
hearted maidens — The "Mekemeke" (dance) — The foolish
foreigner again 119 — 188

CHAPTEK X.— MlBSIONAEIBB.

Home philanthropists — White missionaries in the Pacific —
Good school work — Ohnoxious to traders — Pioneers of
civihsatioa — Is the native ready for dogma? — Wealeyan
and Boman Catholic persuasions — Freethinking traders
and planters — Bad results of missionarising at Opotiki

gfew Zealand) — A new fad acts as a stimulant — Eant —
ieplay of clean " sulu " (linen) and otheiTfine raiment —
The virtues of loud singing — Gradual process of conversion
snggcBted — Begin with ordinary elemental? instruction,
and advance from this — Teach sanitary laws and moral
laws — Then dogma may have a chance — Meantime follow
the example of Christ's preaching — ^Extinction of savage
races — Pernicious imports— Grog and tobacco— Broilimg
in a great coat -....-. igg — uq

NEW CALEDONIA.
CHAPTER I.— Fkom Eui to New Caledonia.

Adieu to Levuka — " Mbuke Levu " in the distance — Siecomforta
on shipboard — Packed like herrings in a barrel — Charac-
teristic living cargo — The rolling deep — Anateum (New
Hebrides) — Natives — A small, dirty, stupid lot — Miserable
shanties — Hornet's nests more interesting — Missionary
efforts — Scndding along — Off Mar^ (Loyalty Islands) —

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Mar^ lingo — Mai^ civilisation — Mar4 flailor-wivee — Isle of
Fines sighted — Nouvella Cal^donie — Anchored at

CHAPTER II. — ^Dbbcription of New Calbdonu..

Situation — Form and size — Oharacter of coast — Coral reefs —
Metalliferous hills — ^Noumea, the capital — The convictB—
The chances of runaways — A New Zealand constabulary
episode — The genial climate tends to contentment — Public
performance of music by convicts — " Our Bpoilers called for
mirth" — Arrival of labour-vessel with "Kanakas" —
Strange acquaintances — Amusements scarce — The daily
round — Social life — Hotels and cafSs — Nipping and
sipping — The semaphore— A hurricane — Dodging the
cyclone 101 — 175

CHAPTEB ni.— A Tmp up Country.

Preparations — Engaging a guide— Con&bulation extraordinary
— The start — A dozen followers — All return but two, the
one intelligent, the other lively— On the tramp-r-The
ubiquitous Englishman — A German store-keeper —
Strangers from the bush — Tampering with the guides —
Firmness prevails — Purfiing on — Totumba Eiver — A
dangerous ford — ^A useful hint — Mosquito tormentors — No
sleep — Trudging forward — Cattle-rearing districts near
Bonlupari — Eaie ifi St. Vincent— Up hill and down dale —
A native settlement — " The ' man of hush ' lacks the savey
of the 'man belong saltwater.'" — Waimini Eiver — How
to make a £re — How to hoil the pot — Another native settle-
ment — ^Extortionate charges — How to bargain with natives
— Consideration for future travellers — The Blessed Shade —
Delightful country — Quandi — A deserted village — Mount
Eanala— A convict settlement — Nearing Eanala - 176—197

CHAPTEE IV.— The Nickel Country.

Eanala, the second town in New Caledonia — ^Anchorage in the
bay — Neighbouring native setUement — The Boa Eaine
mine— Quah ties of ore — Theaniners — Inspecting the lodes
— The principal mines — Nature of the lodes — " A game of
speculation" — Various drawbacks — ^Extracting the nickel —
Uses of the nickel — Miners chiefly from Cornwall and
Austr^ia — Formalities as to claims — Stringent laws —
Native propCTty must be respected — Appearance of the
nickel country — A tropical downpour — Scientist and
Tourist — Splendid proepeot— Further mineral wealth - 198—213

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GONTBNTe, Xi

CHAPTER v.— FuBTmtx Baaotnoia.

Diawbaoka to mineral dQTelopment— Farms and pUntationB^
Wa!>t&— B^he-de-Mer fiaberieB — The persevering CMna-
man — Slow deTelopmenli of natural resources — Ganeea—
BepreasioD of freedom — ^Latin races as ooloniste - 814 — 21T

CHAPTER VI.— The Native Race.

New Caledonian nativea are Papuans — Characteriatica — Ap-
pearance and dreaa — The art of ornamentation — Neglected
toilet — Native works of art — ^Wood carving, fashioning of
weapons and tools — Grotesque masks — Native villages —
The casual shed — Lodging with the chief — The conical
houses — Ordinary dwellmge — Wood- carving ornamentation
of principal houses — Aimless daily life — Dinner — The New
Caledonian oven — Edibles — No ambition — Few wants —
The etiquette of presents — Slow to work — Drudgery of
women — Little association of the sexes — Moral quahties —
Bare domestic or tribal broils — Precocious independence
of bearing — Natural honesty — Missionaries — The bulk of
the population neither prays, reads, nor writes — Immoral
surroimdinga — The English or French-talking native,
agreeable, but a rogue — The " poor savage " has an easy
life, and is contented — Numerous dialects — Remarkable
similarity of appearance, dresB, and customs throughout
the island — A "Pilo-pilo" (national dance) — A burial
ground — Skulls and skeletons — Outbreak and Massacre —
PoBseseion of fire-arms ...... 218 — 249

SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS.
Two i-aces, light coloured (Malay-Polynesian, or Mahorl), and
dark coloured (Papuan) — Leading characteristics — Difficul-
ties as to hair — Mode of dispersion — Generally accepted
rente of Malay -Polynesiane — Their original point of de-
parture — Did they travel by sea? — Comparison of the
Maori tradition — Conclusions — Subsidence in the South
Pacific — Evidence of coral reefe — Nature of the reefs —
How the polypes build — Darwin's theory accepted — Dana's
conclusions — Evidence of wonderful ruins — Ibrevious races
— Results — Mode of emigration of Papuans — Marked
difference &om Malay- Polynesians — Dissimilarities among
themselves — ^Diversity of languages — Speculation as to the
cause — The home of the Melanesians — Migration pro-
bably by land — Dark races in the East of the South Pacific

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CONTENTa.

— Tongans at Moala in Fiji — Botumab — Presiimptioiis
arising from language — Comparieon of words for " Moon"
— WordB for " Blood" — Conclusions — The Western racea
— Possible connection with the mainlands — ^Difficulty
arising from differences of hair — Tasmanians — Comparison
of weapons and Implements — General conclusions - 250 — 277

The origin of man and the origin of language — The com-
parative method and its results — Connection of ancestral
Malays with ancient races of India — Comparison of words
for "eye," for "fire," "water," "stone," and the first four
numerals — Conciusiona - 277 — 284

Legends.

Similar likeness between South Sea Islands' legends and legends
of India — The legend of Maui, as an example — The Paro-
pamisan legend — The Polynesian legend — Likeness amid
unliieness 284—287

Eeferencb to Wobeb Cohsdlted ----- 288

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MAP ANB ILLUSTRATIONS.

PASS
MAP OP FIJI AND NEW CALEDONIA - - Fata IHIkpagt.

TIEW IK MOALA, FIJI 46

DfTEKIOE OF A PUIAN HOUSE 48

A NEW CALEDONIAN NATIVE 218

A NEW OAIiEDONUN CHIEF'S RESIDENCE - - 224

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ERRATA.

Page 46, top line. Read: "A few miles south of Mango is Cicia
(Thithia), another most frnitful islaad."
Page 108, line 6. Read : " There is liU/e [not lilenU] doubt."

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FIJI.

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CHAPTER I.

THE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

fVS a oharmmg afternoon in October, one of the spring
^ months in the antipodes, we embarked on board the
steamer " Star of the South,^^ and aiter sundry cries of " All
aboard" were raised, and the third hell had ceased to
sound its wandng, we found ourselves gliding along the
smooth water of the "Waitemata harbour, Auckland, New
Zealand.

Our passengers numbered about a dozen, and the days
passed away pleasantly ; but, alas 1 within twelve months
from the time of our trip, three of these were, by acci-
dent and disease, numbered with the " no more," The
others who were spared have, for the most part, experi-
enced a varied career, and I have had the pleasure of
meeting two of them in parts of the world where one
could hardly have anticipated — one in Comhill, London.

After a week's passage we arrived, in half a gale of
wind, within sight of the Fijian group of islands, and
before many hours elapsed were watching with con-
siderable interest until the two beacons, situated at
different elevations on the high land behind Levuka,
the capital town of Fiji, were in one and the same
straight line. As soon as this happened, our course was
clear to a proper anchorage ; for the two lights, when
once they appear in a line, serve as a guide to vessels
entering the passage through the coral reef. Due to
the absence of a convenient jetty, landing at Levuka

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4 TBE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

is never very pleasant work. However, the "water inside
the reef is generally as calm as a small lake. On
the present occasion it was far from being so, on account
of heavy weather outside ; so, well moistened with both
rain and salt water, we stepped on shore to find the beach
street washed by the breakers, and at the same time
rough with shingle and badly illuminated. This state of
things could not fail to strike a stranger unfavourably,
more especially on learning that the beach was the prin-
cipal street, and indeed the only street of any extent or
pretensions in the town.

The evening being well advanced when we arrived,
while the weather was unseasonable, scarcely half a dozen
people were moving about, and the extreme darkness and
rough walking made it a most unpleasant and difficult
business to search for a hotel. At last we found a
resting place ; but as ill luck seemed to be having its own
way for a 8eason,we had alighted on a very second-rate
"Accommodation House'' — this is the name given to
such an hotel, — which we certainly should not have done
in broad daylight.

Thus we found our landing rather gloomy, and after a
glass of most deplorably bad spirits, rested our limbs on
hard, uncomfortable beds, the first of a series.

When the curtain of night was drawn aside everyliiing
presented a very different appearance : such a complete
change from the temperate zone was pleasantly novel.
To myself— not so much to my companion, who had
spent a good portion of his existence in the tropics — the
scene was truly agreeable ; the variety of nature's wonders
truly impressive. We commeneed the day by ascending
the heights at the back of the township, until we arrived

"MATA m SIXOA." 5

at one of the beacons which were so intently gazed at on
the previous evening.

Por an early conBtitutional before breakfest this is
quite sufficient, though the height reached is not great
compared with the top of the range, which rises up 2,000
feet from the sea level.

The " mata ni singa" (eye of day), as the Fijians call
the sun, had juat commenced to shoot out its heralding
rays above the horizon, in a most gorgeous manner.
Our early forefathers, who possessed that natural but self-
conceited notion that the glorious sun was always travel-
ling and their small domicile always stationary, would no
doubt be surprised to hear that as lat. 18° S. long. 178° E.
revolves past the face of the light giver, our friends in lat.
51° 30' N. long. 5 ' W. are in darkness.

The interval between sunrise and breakfast time, about
8 o'clock, is the most agreeable part of the day in the
islands, at least for climbing hills, if not for general com-
fort; a few hours afterwards one is very apt to blame
nature for being a trifle too profuse in her caloric bounty.
We were perfectly right, therefore, in enjoying the
prospect before the mercury in the shade-thermometer
reached the 80 degrees.

Scanning the well-defined horizon we saw the islands
of Mokongai and Wakaya, 12 miles to the eastward of
Levuka. But our gaze soon concentrated itself on nearer
objects.

There, at a distance of half a mile or so from the beach,
and parallel to it, lay the eoral reef, white with the spray
from the waves dashing against it, the continuity of the
line being broken only by the narrow passages of deep
water through the limestone structure.

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6 THE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

Inside this natural breakwater, the work of millions of
diminutive creaturea during thousands of years, reposed
the calm glassy -water tinted with many beautiful colours
and dotted over with crafts of all sizes and shapes, from
the man-of-war te the small ootrigger canoe. The beach
street was already alive with eopper-coloxiied natives
wending their way in markedly happy contentment to
their respective duties at the white men's establishments.

A few white residents, mostly dressed in white clothes
and straw hats, and with towels thrown over tJieir
shoulders, were evidently steering for the bathing creek
on the south side of the town, which is a regular rendez-
vous for numbers of the inhabitants. To miss one's
" tub" in the tropics is as much a punishment as to go
without a meal.

The soxind of anchors being weighed, of sails hoisted,
of the " lalli " (drum) beaten in the native settlement
adjoining the north end of Levuka proper, ushered in the
day. But what struck me, and would strike the stranger
to a tropical island most, was the richness and diversity of
the vegetation. No stately elms nor oaks, but, for all
that, exogens and endogens of many sorts, the foliage
of which is remarkably glossy. The stately oocoanut-
bearing palms, some 60 feet high, waved their feathered
plumes, under which hung clusters of the green and
yellow nuts j the broad digitated leaves of the bread-fruit
trees and the papaw tree rustled, and the large graceful
wings of the plantain were bending gracefully before the
light zephyr.

Then the white weatherboard houses peeping out from
their rich green surroimdiDgs, looked delightfully cool and

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FIRST IMPEESSIOJVS. 7

picturesque. Perhaps the newness of the scene — ^for
N^ature seemed to be dressed in garbs quite different to
those Trbioh she dons in the old country — made the
landscape so especially interesting to mo.

Still the beautiful situation of the township, although,
according to many people's idea, not desirable for the
leading township in the group, cannot do otherwise than
lilicit a certain amoimt of admiration from any new arriral.
Tho massive volcanic hills which fence in the township
are very grand in their solidity, and the blue water in
front as much so for its calmness and the beautiful tints of
colour on its surface.

One's first impressions of a place often remain more
vividly fastened on the mind than others, and the details
of my first day at Lcvuka, what with this walk and another
along the beach in the afternoon to a pretty little Fijian
village a mile or two off, where I first had an opportunity
of seeing kava drinking, are not easily to be forgotten, and
might, perhaps, be narrated here. I propose, however, to
reserve further particulars for future occasions of description.

Beach Street may fairly be said to represent Levuka, so
far as the business of the town is concerned ; yet there are
no elaborate pretensions about it, and there is no properly
made road for foot travelling, merely a rough shingly
one. The houses are built a few paces distant from the
margin of the water at high tide, and the sti-eet, which
extends for nearly a mile, runs in a northerly and southerly
direction, the fronts of the houses facing the east. There
are a few other houses scattered about the flat stretching
between the beach street and the foot of the hills, as well
as several cosy whito wooden verandahod dwellings on

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8 TSE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

the undnlatiDg land ; still, all the principal houses of
business are by the sea-ahore. In fact, Beach Street
contains a succession uf stores, mth public-houses, or,
more properiy speaking, accommodation houses, placed .at
moderate distances apart. There are very few shops, in
the English sense of the word — that is to s&y, houses
where only one particular kind of article is sold.
True, there is a baker's shop, a druggist's, and a butcher's ;
bnt the majority of the principal buildings are the
stores, and in these every sort of merchandise can be
bought. Ton do not speak of a man being a shop-
keeper ; he is a store-keeper. One hears it said that in
some outlying islands a person who owns a few bars of
soap, and a few boxes of sardines, claims for himself the
right to use this title.

Levuka boasts of some stores of considerable size,
where you can buy anjrthing, from a cask of beef to a
ship's anchor, from a fish-hook to a silk dress — indeed,
most of the desirables and nearly all the necessaries of
colonial life, except fresh prorisions. For the latter you
must move elsewhere. Vegetables can easily be purchased
from natives, who sell yams, taro, kumalas or sweet
potatoes, &c., as well as fowls, eggs, fish, and so forth.
The leading store-keepers do not confine themselves to
selling imported goods, but launch out in every direction,
buying cargoes of island produce, such as coprah, pearl-
shell, bSche-de-mer, &c., from tradei-s, and also plantation
produce from planters.

In order to see Levuka properly — and half-an-hour
will be sufficient time to do ao completely — it will bo
advisable to start from the extreme south end, that is to

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A TOUR OF IJfSPECTJO^. 9

say, from Government House, Nasora, where the present
Governor resides. It is a wooden verandahed biiilding,
with thatched roof. The main part of the building looks
seaward, and two wings, one at each end, jut out at
right angles towards the sea. There are no other
houses — with the exception of "vales," in which
the native soldiers live, — in proximity to it. It thus
stands isolated as regards Levuka, and, tiiongh a few
hundred miles from the nearest railway station, has a
species of wharf, alongside of which a man-of-war's boat
can moor, not many yards off. It is an eligible residence,
different though it be to most Government Houses in
appearance and dimensions.

By steering in a northerly direction along the path
which skirts the beach, you arrive, after a few minutes'
walk, at a bluff, which juts out and obscures much of the
view. Turning the corner sharply, you come in view
of the greater part of the town. Smith's cotton ginning
establishment, used as a temporary barracks for the
Royal Engineers, when they first landed in Fiji, will
attract your attention, by its show of galvanized iron.
Proceeding straight along and passing small and
lai^er wooden houses — for stone fabrics are not the
order of the day in new townships, especially in hot new
ones, — you will notice the Roman Catholic Church, the
pastor of which is Father Breheret, a man whose name ia
respected by all, on account of his zeal in his mission
work. At the back of this church stands the gaol,
which, fortunately, ia not a large structure and contains
few inmates. Crossing the wooden bridge over the
Totonga creek, you will come upon a number of stores,

nigtircaavGOOglC

10 T3E CAPITAL OF FIJI.

then the Wesleyan Chapel, and the Times office. A few
more paces will bring you to the Supreme Court, buUt on
a rock, which forms a peninsula to the eastward of the
footpath and gives rather a picturesque look to the tomi,
especially as seen from a hundred yards oflf the land.

Here the heach street is divided into two separate parts,
so that, having passed this partitioning promontory, you
cannot survey the ground which you have just travelled
over. More stores, two of large dimensions, are on the
north side of the dividing rock, and at very nearly the end of
the street is the principal hotel, a large and spacious wooden
building, which boasts of a good broad verandah. It will
be agreeable to seat yourself here on an American easy-
chair, and admire the beautiful calmness of the sea in
front, and the elegant design of the fountain on the
verandah, as well as to watch the gambols of ihe monkey,
if it still exists to amuse the hotel frequenters. At the
same time one may keep one's ears open for gossip, for
very much of the news of the islands is circulated on this
verandah before travelling along Beach Street, and to the
various islands scattered over the South Sea. Tales of
adventure amongst the Pacific Islands, of shipwreck, of
fracas with Solomon and other islanders, &e,, grievances of
planters, and numerous opinions about the proper method
of setting Fiji properly on her feet — such are some of the
topics that will alternately claim attention. Of course,
"cotton" and' "the labour question" yams are spun
over and over again, and in the language of energetic
dissatisfaction.

Let us proceed on our tour of inspection. Not many
yards onwards, you observe the Post Office, a small,

nigti/cdavGoOglc

ITS SITUATWJf-DlVIDED OPIJVIOJfS. 11

uupretentious buildiDg, on the left liand, and then the
late Consul's residence and offices on the right hand side
of tlie footpath. Now you have seen most of civilized
Lcvuka, and are standing on the banks of a pleasant
creek, which the Fijian maidens frequent to perform their
ablutions.

If you think fit to cross this stream, you will have t**
balance yourself on the two cocoanut trees which serve the
purpose of a bridge. When on the other side, you will
find yourself in a native settlement where the houses are
built in the usual Fijian style, rather close to one another,
and, though so near to civilization, without any intro-
duced improvements.

Passing by tbis collection of thatched houses, you will,
after a minute or two's walk, come in sight of Vagandavi,
where the Royal Engineers' barracks — built in a style to
suit the climate — stand conspicuously in a healthy position
on the high ground, at a convenient distance from the
town. After this the chances are that you will retrace
your steps, for there is no choice of roads to vary the
walk back.

The town oF Lovuka lies at the base of hills which
rise not many score of yards from the beach. It is thus
most limited in extent, and, though some people assert
that its position is quite good enough for tho present state
of trade in the islands, still there is little doubt that its
situation ia very far from perfect.

Suva, the newly-chosen capital, on the south of Viti
Levu, the largest island in the group, possesses very
many advantages, and has a first-rate harbour ; yet,
while the sluggish stato of afifairs in Fiji continues, it

nigti/cdavGoOglc

12 THE CAPITAL Of FIJI.

would be very sui-prising to find the LeTuka shopkeepers
Bhifting their quarters.

Without question, Levuka is decidedly limited as to its
flat land. At the same time there seems to be so small a
chance of any township in the .group going ahead in
commercial prosperity and extending its borders with
such gigantic strides as some in New Zealand and
Australia, that it is, perhaps, rather premature to con-
demn the place. It is central and seems quite adequate
for all present wants.

In 1875 there were no busies, carts, or any vehicles
of the kind in Levuka; indeed, nothing larger than a
perambulator was drawn along the streets, and, though
Hie Government quarters boasted of a few horses, and
the butcher's boy was to he seen riding furiously on
"fresh meat" days, still the equine race was conspicuous
by its absence, on account of the rough and limited roads
and the difficult and hilly tracks.

To a stranger who has not become islandized Levuka
seems rather deficient in aflbrding amusement of a sensa-
tional character. Should he, however, wish to have an
insight into native customs and manners, a walk round the
island of Ovalau will not be amiss ; he can manage it easily
in a couple of days without any particular hurry, and will
pass through several settlements.

There is a track right round the island, and although a
short cut across the hills may be sometimes tried, the best
plan is to hug the beach.

In the neighbourhood of the capital, unless hill climbing
has a charm, the visitor will see but little varied scenery.
From the high ground in Ovalau a most delightful view

nigti/cdavGoOglc

TSE PLEASAJfT PLACES OF OVALAU. 13

spreads itself around; but the comparatively rough walk-
ing and the tropical hejit mate one hesitate before toiling
up hills 2,000 feet high. There is in the island a lovely
spot called Livoni Yalley, well worth taking a trip to,
for it is fertile and picturesque ; and indeed there are many
really fascinating bits of scenery to be met with on the
island — the islet of Moturiki inside the same reef as Ovalau,
the strange peaks on the hills behind the village Korotoko,
the patches of clear grass land contrasting with the clamps
of dense bush — will elicit admiration. Unfortimately, the
visitor to Levuka usually remains in the township, and so
finds himself very limited in space ; and, as there is no
proper reading-room nor any entertainment, limited also
in resources. When tired of lolling on the verandah of
his boarding-house, he repairs to Beach Street, where
nobblers of gin are imbibed freely and where scandal flies
from one end to the other at a great velocity, increments
of exaggeration being added at each step. When satiated
with the ctirrent topics of conversation on the beach, he
retraces his steps to the verandah, from which he watches
human nature as it displays itself around in its many
varied forms.

The business affairs of the ordinary inhabitant occupies
but a small fraction of the twenty-four hours.

Occasionally, if a boat from New Zealand or Australia
arrives, a little more bustle than usual is noticeable ; and,
when the cry of " SaU ho ! Sail ho ! " is raised with more
than ordinary vehemence, no little ]jleasurable emotion is
depicted on every <;ountenance, for the little curl of smoke
to be seen to the south-east might perchance be issuing
from the mail steamer which brings trade and news from

nigti/cdavGoOglc

14 TEE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

the outside world. An hour or two of speculative excite-
ment decides all about the new arriTal, and, if she has on
board a full mail, then very great satisfaction — unknown
to people who are accustomed to expect letters daily — is
experienced. The length of time which elapses between
each mail has the effect of making news received from afar
off all the more relishable. When the mail steamer departs
you cannot help thinking that the island of Ovalau stands
in rather an isolated position with regard to the civilised
portions of the globe.

Two local newspapers, the one once the other twice a
week, furnish the inhabitants with, all the news of the
islands, and publish a list of vessels (even 10-ton cutters)
which arrive at and depart from the port.

Business hours are from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. Considering
the excessive heat at midday, one would think that the
plan adopted in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia,
woiJd be preferable. At Noumea all work is transacted
between 6 and 10 a.m. and then between 4 and 6 p.m.
thus allowing the hottest portion of the day to be passed
in a siesta or light employment.

The population of Levuka is under 1,000 ; still, at times,
a motley and interesting crowd of human beings of different
breeds moves along the beach. A few Chinamen, store-
keepers or carpenters, in their 'national dress ; Britishers,
Germans, and Americans, all wearing light clothing and
large mushroom-shape helmets or straw hats, and, for all
that, looking loncommonly hot as they saunter along ; well-
built, gracefully- walking, smooth and yellow-skinned speci-
mens of humanity from the Friendly Islands and Samoa,
the less beautiful yellow-skinned Line Islanders, dark-

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A MOTLEr JPOPULATIOJf. 15

coloTired and curly-haired and nose-bored natives of the
Solomon Islands, natives of.MalUcoUo, Tanna, Ambrym
and other islands of the New Hebrides group, each
invested with the usual fathom of print doth ; all these
mingle with the native Fijians. There also may he observed
half castes^ and all sorts of mixed breeds, even the cross
between the African negro {via West Indies) and the
Fijian, as well as the African negro himself.

There are, unfortunately for the morale of the place,
but fortunately, perhaps, for the female sex itself, with
which Fijian climate does not agree well, few white
women in Levuka, to lend their refining influence. There
are, however, poor substitute though it be, plenty of
Fijian damsels who earn a few shillings per week by im-
perfectly washing the clothes of the white population, and
also some rather tastefully dressed Samoan women, o&e or
two of whom are pleasant looking.

Christmas day, which is observed as a holiday in Levuka,
and is usually a very warm one, brings a great concourse
of black and white strangers to the town ; and probably, if
each person spoke in his own native tongue, as many
dialects could be spoken at one and the same time, as are
uttered on the well-known bridge dividing Stamboul from
the Frank quartoi-s at Constantinople. With regard to the
white population, one cannot fail to take note of the fact,
that, wtereas few of the inhabitants seem to be rolling in
prosperity, still what we in other countries call the poorer
classes have hardly any representatives. The fact is that
there is no occupation for white labourers ; the South Sea
islanders, who work at lower wages, drive them off the
field.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

16 TSE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

The hewers of wood and drawers of water, as well as the
cookera of food, are all darkifes, and the boats' crews are
composed of South Sea islanders.

The visitor to Leruka is rather interested in the collec-
tion of native canoes which anchor, or rather are moored,
on the southern side of the Supreme Court. These canoes
arrive daily and amongst them are generally some of the
large double sort, the ndrua-ndma boats.

They bring a full complement of wild-looking natives ;
the wares form the smallest part of the cargo, the
human beings the heaviest freight. Some of the
natives have pigs and fowls to dispose of; but a few
shillings will buy a whole ship's load of goods, which con-
sist of yams, drinking coeoanuts, ndalos, bananas, yangona
(kava roots), whales' teeth (used as neck ornaments),
spears, clubs, a variety of curiosities in the way of shells,
fans, coral, and suchlike objects. Happily the Fijians
do not hawk their wares in such an unpleasantly tiresome
manner as the Singalese or Maltese, in fact they are very
quiet in their bargainings. These native boats are for
once in a way worth examining. They are not
ornamented by elaborate carving, like those of the New
Zealand or Solomon Islands, but their construction is
peculiar. The small outrigger canoe — for navigation
inside the reef, and capable of being easily paddled or
poled — is cut out of one solid piece of timber, " vesi wood,"
in the real Eobinson Crusoe fashion ; while a floating log
of wood, rigidly attached to the canoe by means of a plat-
form of horizontal sticks lashed on to the boat at one end,
and to vertical bits of wood fixed to the float parallel to
the canoe at the other, adds to the stability of the skiff.

n,gti7™3yG00glc

CAJVOES AJfD CARGOES. 17

The large double canoe, made up of two canoes, one
smaller than the other, joined together hy a platform of
wood on which the crew manage the nayigation, is a cre-
ditable piece of rough work. The canoe portion is made
up of a system of planks which are festened together with
cocoamit fibre rope, and calked down with the gum
obtained from the bread-fruit tree.

When one considers that in the construction of these
boats, most of which are tolerably old, no tools better than
stone implements were used, and that in all there is an
absence of nails or screws, it seems surprising that the
boats are so seaworthy as they are. Of course nobody ctm
assert that they are fine specimens of naval architecture,
for they certainly are not. At the same time, with a good
steady breeze, the leg of mutton shaped mat sails carry
them along splendidly; when the wind fluctuates or in
puffy, then the canvas, and hence the craft, becomes rather
unmanageable.

The number of casualties which attend the Fijian
canoes, especially the small ones, is great, notwith-
standing that the natives are careful, and the mode of
sailing is as cautiously carried out as with the Greeks
■of yore.

When a canoe sets off for a long trip, say 150 miles
distant, it starts with a thoroughly favoiirable wind,
and saUs for some island, where tie crew feasts and
spends the night ; it then waits for hours, and it may
be for days, till another very favourable breeze enables
it to continue its journey ; and so on, until it arrives
at its destination.

inyGoogIc

18 THE CAPITAL OF FIJI.

Some of the Fijian sailors profess to know all about the
stars and the position and bearings of the various islands;
but, for all that, they are very partial to running for
shelter before nightfall.

In regard to the native boats, one notices a great simi-
larity to the Singalese boats, which are built much on the
same principle as those in the South Sea Islands.

Probably the science of boat building travelled in a
southerly or south-easterly direction.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER It.

AMOJfa THE FIJI ISLAIfDS.

In order to carry away in our minds anything like a
correct notion of the Fiji Islands, we must not be content
with a visit to the capital ; to understand the life of the
settlers and the manners and customs of the native popu-
lation, it is necessary to launch out.

Before doing so, it will be prudent to provide ourselves
with an extra stock of patience and equanimity ; for, to
see the islands satisfactorily or, at least, to wander away
from the beaten down track, we must be reconciled " to
rough it," to encounter many inconveniences, without, if
possible, being disconcerted.

Interinsular comiii,unication is, in great measure,
effected by small crafts, schooners, cutters, and open
boats. Lately, a steamer has made periodical trips to
many of the principal places.

Should you possess a boat of your own, annoyances
win still have to be put up with ; if dependent on other
people you will be subject to all manner of unpleasant-
ness, from the very time of chartering a boat.

The false alarms about the time of departure will
initiate you to this.

When fairly on the broad ocean, you will stand a very
good chance of being confined, in the way of taking in
bodily ftiel, to yams, salt junk, ship biscuits, and water,
dirty and deficient in quantity ; nor is it at all improbable,

B 2

n,gt,7cc-.yG00glc

20 AMOJ^G THE FIJI ISLAJVDS.

should the trip be a few days longer in time than was
expected, that, towards the end of the journey, you may
find yourself subsisting on "taro" tops (something
like inferior spinach), or weevily biscuit, hard and

If a white man is in charge of the craft this, perhaps,
will not or, at any rate, ought not to be the case.

After a few trips, you will get into the way of looking
after yourself in the article of provisions, prior to em-
barking; but not before you have experienced two or
three trials of short commons.

You must not object to sleep on the deck, and the
chances are that the cockroaches together with the mus-
tiness of the cabin, especially if only a few planks separate
the sleeping compartment from a cargo of dried cocoa-nut
or beche-de-mer fish, will necessitate this move.

You may have to encounter dead calms, when the sun's
rays will nearly roast you and the flapping of the sails
irritate ; your boat will, very possibly, nearly strike a
reef or do so quite ; while the end of the day may find
you anchored oflr some most uninteresting settlement.

If you cannot submit to this style of travelling, it is
not a bit of use to start for a cruise.

It does a man who is over-particular about the quantity
of starch in hia collars, a wonderful amount of good to
take a few trips in the South Sen.

Many settlers knock about in undecked whale boats,
twenty-five feet in length. For short distances, so long as
the weather is passably fine, this mode is very pleasant.

Should you, however, have recourse to open boats,
discomforts, of course, increase. One of the nuisances is

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CRUISIJfQ ^JVD CORAL BMEFS. 21

being dependent on natives to form a crew ; in most
instances, it is a case of Hobson's choice.

Your Fijian who professes to know the exact position of
a certain reef to be avoided, generally retains his poaitive-
ness imtil eyes and ears are being anxiously strained to
ascertain how far this said barrier is distant. He then
blusters oat his incessant malua! malua! (by-and-bye)!
lave! lave! (keep her off!) until you find yourself just
at the edge of a reef and your cockle-shell boat in
dai^r of biunping against it. Your pilot then commenoes
to discuss at the critical moment, and the arguing infection
^reads with exasperating rapidity.

All that can be done at such a tune is to 'bout ship ;
when, in the confiiaon,— for the Fijians quite lose their
presence of mind, — the sails get adrift while the current is
opposing all efforts to move away from those now percep-
tible rocks on which the breakers dash with boisterous
fury. Then the oars have to be put out, and a succession
of long and strong pulls may tide you over the danger.

Unfortunately, anxiety does not usually end here, for
no visible passage can he descried; and so, la&er than
be baffled, you will, likely enough, jump the reef, — that
is, be carried over some portion of the reef less visible
than others on the top of a wave. This is a nasty
operation at any time, your boat running a fair chemoe
of a broken back and yourself of a watery grave. As for
the natives on board, should the worst come to the worst,
they are much more at home in the water than a white
man, being able to swim for hours as well as to avoid the
attention of that most inquisltiTe and repulsive animal,
the Shark, which abounds bo plentifully in the South Sea.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

22 AJilOJfO TSS FIJI ISLAm>8.

Such is what may happen to anyone who travels about
in an open boat and is not himself acquainted with all the
shoals, reefs, &c., on his course.

An outsider, untU he finds himself amongst them, has
no idea what and how great a source of bother these coral
reefs are to crafting in the South Pacific.

In Fiji, nearly every island has a reef surrounding it, at
a distance of three, four, or more hundred yards from the
mainland. Through these encircling structures, which, at
low tide, form a sort of breakwater for the siu^ce waves
to break against, are certain narrow passages, generally
opposite the mouths of oreeks ; and these serve as the only
channels by which boats can pass from the troubled ocean
to the calm water inside the reef.

At high water, it is not always an easy matter to dis-
trDpuish the position of a reef, either by eye or ear ; in
rough weather, it needs skilful management to steer
through the narrow passage, especially when a contrary
wind necessitates much tacking.

Even on a dead calm, vessels have been drifted by a
powerful current against the solid structures ; and, through
a continuous bumping, the owners of the CTaft have even-
tually had to acknowledge the limestone rock, the work of
zoophytes, to be more than a match for the ship's timbers,
fashioned and fastened together by the work of man.

In addition to these encircling reefs, there Mre fringe
-reefs which extend from the beach on some island, and
also isolated reefs in mid ocean. These latter are a great
source of annoyance, especially in rough weather or
dark nights. As an instance, there is Thakau-momo,
or Horse-shoe reef, about thirty miles east of Levuka; its

, v, Google

OURTRIPIJfA WBALS-BOAT. 23

shape, 9S the name implies, is nearly oironlar, with one or
tro passages throngh it "Woe betide the onfortunate
craft whose keel passes in^de such an enclosure !

Again, between the outside reef and the mainland of an
island are innumerable coral patches. While sailing inside
the reef a constant look-ont ahead has to be kept, as the
patches, often a few feet below the surface of the water,
can only be noticed by the colour of the water above it,
which varies in tint according to depth. It behoves one
to beware of false pUota, black, white, and yellow.

I remember forcibly how, on one occasion, another man
and myself (without a crew) were setting out for a trip in
a whale-boat. Ab tbe coast was a most treacherous one,
on account of the immense number of coral patches, we
were only too glad when another white man, who knew
every inch of the coast and, according to his story, could
sail a boat along it as well in the dark as in broad daylight,
volunteered to accompany us. We had not proceeded for
more than three or four hours, when sunset left ns in
darkne^, and about the same time a heavy squall arose.
Knowing that patches of ooral, invisible in such a rou^
and dark night, were not far off, we were compelled to
lower sail and to put out the "sweeps." Pulling away
cautiously and slowly — for, with two men rowing and
one steering, a thirty feet long whale-boat does not
make much progress — we at last came up to a place
which we knew could not be far off the passage between
two sets of reefs, and, as the night did not improve
in look, we determined to get through this passage. We
held high council. Our pilot declared he knew all about
the position of the two reefs, using the rather gloomy

nigti/cdavGoOglc

git AMOXO THE FIJI ISLAJWS.

argumeat that two or three years before he had lost a
Bchooner on one of them. I^ot a soimd of water breaking
could we hear, though the three of us were listening with
breathless excitement, when all of a sudden a black mass —
the sight of which I shall never forget— oame along from
the eastward, lifted us high up, and brought us down
tJiump. Our oars touched the identical reef, and the boat
grazed it, and one of us fell head-over-heels, KJiowing
that the next large wave would, without doubt, dash our
small craft against the rock and smash her, and at the
same time carry us to Kingdom-come, equilibrium was
recovered a hundred per cent, quicker than on any other
occasion, imd (thanks to him at the tiller, who cried out
" back ! for heaven's sake !'' &c., most vehemently,) we
" backed water " witii speechless anxiety, being certain
that we could only save our lives by a second or two ;
nor did we stop hacking for more than ten minutes, being
determined to err on the safe side. At last we paused and
broke the silence, had a glass of gin apiece, and with reefed
sails, steered for the open and tempestuous sea away from
all shoals, a feat which — thank goodness !-~needed no
pilot

The most useful men, or "boys" as they are usually
called, ' to form part of a boat's crew are Hatf-castes,
Tongans (from the Friendly Islands), of whom there are
a few hundreds in the group, or Kotumah natives.

The Tongans have many good qualities, being sensible in
underatanding anything they are told, and quieter in
manner tiian Fijians ; but they have a very high opinion
of their merits and sometimes do not take it kindly when
ordered to row or do manual labour along with their

nigti/cdavGoOglc

THE "BOYS" FOR A BOAT'S CREW. 25

ioferiors, such as Fijwns, or people of any race darker
than themselves.

Then the half-oastes, who have any amomit of " savey,"
and are really handy men on board ship, so far as seaman-
ship is oonoemed, are very often remarkably troublesome,
and frequently insolent.

The men from Botumah (an island north of Fiji), who
can hardly be reckoned as Papuans, having yellow skins
and dark, glossy, straight hair, make good all-round
sailors. There are not many of them in the group. On
Moala there is a setUement occupied by a small number of
them, but I know of no other island where they form an
appreciable portion of the community.

Whatever one does, it is desirable not to hire more
South Sea Islanders, for a orew, than are positively
necessary for the navigation of the oraft. The saying
about "too many cooks" applies on board a South Sea
Island boat as forcibly as on terra firma.

An inexperienced Fijian crew is apt to irritate the most
lenient of white skippers. What with loUing about and
deeping, whistling, placing firestioks, with which they
dry the leaves of tobacco for their salukas or cigarettes,
on the deck ; bawling out to ttie winds such remarks as
" Lako mai, lake mai, thangi vinaka ; na thangi vinaka na
thangi tokalau'' (come along, come along, good wind; a
good wind is the east wind) at the top of their voices ;
continually humming their " mekea " or songs ; and then,
when looking out for reefs, giving all sorts of misguiding
alarms, and ejaculating " Malua ! malua !" (by-and-bye)
incessantly, they often and generally prove a nuisance;
and for this reason a dtipper always prefers to take with

nigtircaavGOOglC

26 AMOJm TSS FIJI ISLANDS.

him one or two sensible and trained natives rather ihan
half a dozen men yrho imagine that they can handle a
papalangi craft in their " yanga vakaviti " (Fijian fashion).

Thus, if you can have imlimited patience, do not mind
running short of provisions, being occasionally -wet
through, swamped as to your boat, roasted as to your
face, and can bear to see your oraft strike reefs, or be
tossed about in a hurricane, then you wiU enjoy many a
pleasant cruise about these most beautiful and interesting
isles of the sea. Mark this — on board ship you are free
from the taunts of mosquitoes.

Except in the hurricane months, January, February and
Maroh, there is comparatively little heavy weather to be
encountered ; calms and light winds are often, and too
often, the drawbacks. It is quite a common occurence t»
be a whole day in making twenty or thirty miles.

"When the trade wind from the south-east fills the
canvas, sailing becomes delightful, and when once in the
" trades," you may expect to keep in them for several days
right off, if you feel inclined.

To lovers of nature travelling is infinitely more
pleasurable than to those people who only look out for
what is lurtificial ; and in the South Sea Islands this is
decidedly the case.

The lover of nature may dislike being dways exposed
to dangers amongst the reefs, but he can never efiace
from his memory the beauties which the reefs have given
bim an opportunity of admiring. Looking over the side
of an open boat which glides gently over the shallow,
smooth, and clear water inside the encircling reef, he can
feast himself full in admiring the gorgeoua appear-

, V, Google

TBS BEAUTIES OF JVATUBE. 27

ance of the submarme gardens. Corals of all shapes and
tints, about which dart the most brilliantly coloured fish
of the blue, yellow, and banded kinds ; the curious weeds
which wave their branches about in the current as trees
wave theirs in the wind, and to the shelter of which the
many-coloured fish repair ; the busy world of molluscs
can be studied with admiration through the beautifully
transparent water of the Pacific.

But while enjoying these natural beauties, there is
something which enhances the charm to any one who takes
an interest in antiquity ; it is the thoughts which these
reefs suggest. They themselves, it is true, are not old,
probably only about ten or twelve thousand years, but
they turn your mind to the immense age of the islands.

The theory of these reefs has been fully expounded by
Professor Huxley and others.

In drawing conclusions, the principal axioms to bear in
mind are that the coral building insects cannot live more
than twenty-five fathoms below the surface of the water,
and that the coral formation is a more or less solid
structure rising up from the bottom of the sea.

As the mainland has been gradually sinking and is
sinking still, so the innumerable polypes have had and
stiU have to build upwards and upwards in their struggle
for life.

While the water inside these reefs is quite shallow, out-
side it is sometimes 200 fathoms deep. Think of the
ages that have elapsed and the changes that have taken
place in this beautiful, but out-of-the-way portion of the
globe, since the builders first found it necessary to put an
extra storey to the reel To find the minimum age we

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28 AMO^Q TEE FIJI ISLAJfDS.

have the rule of three sum : — given the depth of water
outside the reef and also the quickest rate of building,
find the time taken to build the Btructure ?

Land travelling is far from being all comfort.

In the first place, barring one or two roads so-called by
the settlers, there are no proper roads in the whole group
of 200 islands — that is to say, no roads fit for even a
bullock dray to be driven over for any considerable
distance ; then there are no bullock drays, or not many,
at any rate.

With few exceptions, the islands present much the same
peculiarities and obstacles to good road making.

The land rises abruptly from the beach, or at a distance
of one or two hundred yards, or less, from it ; and the
hills, of hard volcanic rock, 1000, 2000, or more feet high,
are esfremely rough and rugged and, in places, covered
with thick bush.

Through the bush are to be found native tracks, always
narrow and oftentimes not readily discernible. With
vegetation growing rank on either side and parasitical
plants hanging down from the tops of trees and twining
across the paths, they are hardly worthy of the name of
bridle fracks.

Sometimes, at high tide, these paths beaten down by
the tramp of Fijians through ages past, are convenient ;
as a general rule, especially at half tide or low water, the
ordinary way to travel by land is to keep to the beach.
Considering the undulations of the hills which fravelling
inland necessitates, the ascending up and descending
down, the beach offers the most tiring perhaps, but always
the quickest way.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

TRAVEL OVEBLAJTD. 29

Now walking through soft disintegrated coral sand,
which gives no spring to your steps, now over rocks,
now wading ankle deep through mangrove swamp, now
knee deep across the mouth of a creek, now halancing
yourself on a single cocoa nut log bridge, or up to your
middle in a stream ; such is what you may expect, and
will meet with, if you go in for traveling by land.

In tiiie tropics, a good stiff walk is a first rate thing for
health, and people who never exert themselves are more
prone to tropical ailments than those who are judiciously
active.

However bad the so-called roads may be, there is
constfmt change of scenery in every bay you skirt, and
every half hour brings you to a native settlement where,
if so inclined, you can rest, have refreshment, and study
human nature. With groves of cocoanut palms, and
varied bush at the base of the hills on one hand, and
the calm clear water inside the reef on the other, you
trudge along, disturbing the dolce far niente of the hermit
crabs, which rush about in all directions at the sound of
your footsteps. Sea shells of beautiful shapes and colours,
and broken lumps of coral attract your eye as it passes
over the surrounding ground ; but you get into the way
of only admiring, not stopping to look at, these lovely
products of the ocean.

If you take a short cut through the bush, then the
usual grandeur of tropical foliage, in its richness of green
colour, set off with the contrast of the red flowers of the
hibiscus, the red capsicums of the Chili plants, the rich
orange tints of the Iruit of the papaw tree, possesses a
temporary fascination.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

30 AMOJVa THE FIJI ISLAJfDS.

Moreover, though there are snakes, they seem to
be hanoless ones ; and though no douht there are
plail^ of insects irhich could be troublesome, they do
not bother. Again, there are not any of those dan-
gerous aAimals which inhabit most tropical jungles to
be found in Fiji.

Lizards, land crabs, hermit crabs, run about the bush,
the crabs wandering a considerable distance iiom the sea;
and goi^eously painted butterflies flit about the sunshiny
openings in the thick mass of vegetation.

As nearly all the planters and traders have fixed
their establishments near the beach, open boats are
very convenient means for travelling as well as for
carrying oargo ; and, on accoxmt of the smoothness
of the water inside the reef, the labour of rowing is
comparatively light to the muscular Fijians or foreign
labour boys.

Of course, roads can be made in any part of the world,
and, in lat^ tracts of good couotry, are absolutely
necessary for opening it up. Good roads induce people
to settle down in a new colony. However, in a place
like Fiji, where most of the islands are very small and
hiUy, and where most of the plantation land is near
the seashore, the matter of road constructing resolves
itself into the question — Will it pay to make roads or
will it not ? Even if the soil in the islands is so fertile
as people imagine it to be, there is no doubt that,
excepting in the case of the three lai^t islands,
there are not suf&cient patches of really first-rate
land ever to cause a great infinx of colonists; and,
unless there is good reason or inducement for people

nigti/cdavGoOglc

ROADS. 31

to settle on an island, it would be hut little use to make
roads there on chance.

Outsidere, who, when hearing of the not over prosperous
state of the islands, often ask such questions as, " Whj
don't the settlers make good roads ?" &c., &o., should hear
in mind that the country out in the South Sea Islands
beara no similarity to their own.

nigtircaavGOOglC

CHAPTER m.

DESCRIPTION OF TEE FIJI GROUP.

One is astonished to hear the misapprehensions regarding
Fiji, and the very imperfect notion even as to where the
group is situated. A short account of it will, perhaps,
in some measure, enlighten those who are at all dubious
about the subject, or in a haze about this possession of
Great Britain.

Fiji, by natives pronounced usually Viti,* or to wind-
ward Vitzi, is a group of islands situated between 16° and
20" South latitude, and between longitudes 176° E. and
178° W., the meridian of Greenwich running through
Somosomo or Wairiki — I forget whioh — in the island of
Taviuni.

The group is about twenty-five degrees of longitude
distant from New South Wales, To the casual student
of geography, it is of too small dimensions to claim much
interest. Still, there are upwards of 200 islands scattered
about the Fijian Archipelago, and the total acreage
embraces nearly 5,000 square miles.

Of tiiese islands, about 60 have, from time far remote,
been inhabited by a race of darkies, and are interesting

* The d in all Fijian words is Bounded as a in &tlier.
e „ „ II d in make.

I ,, „ „ « in reed,

,3yGooglc

for the study of a primitive race ■which they afford. More-
over, tiie whole group forms a cluster of lovely spots in
the wide ocean.

The largest island, and the one which to white settles
has been the source of more trouhle than the others is
Viti Levu (Great Viti, whatever Viti originally meant).

The east coast of Viti Levu is only a little more than
half-a-dozen miles from Ovalau, the small island, eight
miles long, on which Levuka, the principal town in Fiji,
is situated.

Viti Levu is mountainous, has a length of eighty miles,
and a greatest breadth of about sixty miles.

It contains a few good plantations on the coast, and has
a fair show of good quaUty sugar-cane produce iMid on
the banks of the Rewa, a river which flows through the
South Eastern portion of the island.

At the little islet of Mbau, a few miles to the north of
the mouth of the Rewa, the well-known Thakombau
(ex -king of Fiji, at least, the so-called one), the Vunivalu
(Root of War), lives and thrives on a liberal pension
granted him by the British Government.

Viti Levu possesses, for these parts, some good
harbours, such aa that at Suva, where the newly-chosen
capital will extend its Trings.

So &r, native disturbances and a misunderstanding
between white settlers and natives hare retarded the
colonization of the island. The coast tribes are said to be
quiet and Christians; those living about the moimtains in
the interior were until very lately, if they are not now, wild
in the extreme, and aa fond of man's flesh as any savages
on the face of the earth. Indeed, before the annexation of

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, vC.ooglc

34 DESCRTPTIOJV OF TEE FIJI GROUP.

the islands to Peritania, as the natives term Great Britain,
there were not half a dozen white men who could tell you
anything about the interior ; at the same time, a good
deal of the land on the coast baa been taken up by settlers.

Coffee planters from Ceylon have, I believe, said that
the high land, higher up than 1500 feet above the sea
level, ought to be suitable for the cultivation of the coffee
plant ; so Viti Levu may yet be noted as a choice coffee
producing island.

Vanua Levu (Big land, vanua being the same as the
Malay banua, land) to the N.W. of Viti Levu, is a
narrower though longer island than the preceding. It ie
less in area and not so well watered. Some of its moun-
tain peaks are said to be 4000 feet high.

The natives on the island give little trouble to the white
settlers ; considering that there is a large population this
is most satisfactory. The principal harbour is in the
south, at Savu Savu, on the border of which are to be
seen some hot springs. Probably, the most important
island excepting Ovalau, which contains Levuka, is
Taviuni. This is, indeed, quite the garden of Fiji, and
the home of the planters.

Separated from Vanua Levu by the Some Somo strait,
through which a powerful current runs, it lies very
picturesquely in the oceanl

On account of the absence of good roads, though 1
believe there is a passable road from Vuna to Salia Leon
at the south end, the best way to see the island is to do so
from an open boat, and to call in at any particular spot
that takes your fancy.

Gliding along, a mile or two from the shore, you pass

nigti/cdavGoOglc

VAJrUA LEVV.-TAVWm. 35

many bits of captivating scenery; a luxuriant foliage
clothes the bold and rugged hills in a wild primitive dress,
while, every now and again, the eye alights on patches of
cleared land which white man has utilized.

From the summit of the range, 2,000 feet high, the hill
side covered, more or less, with small and, in places,
dense bush, slopes down until it reaches the margin of the
sea, or sometimes a strip of flat land bristling with cocoa
nut palms, which lies between the base of the hills and
the beach.

Here and there on the undulating land, not far up the
hill side, stands a planter's establishment. The clean
white wooden verandahed dwelling and store-houses
glistening in the sunshine form a pleasix^ contrast to the
dark rocks, the dark soil, the dark foliage ; while the
well-cleared plantation, in places white with cotton pods
and laid out with a regularity so diflferent to nature's
fashion, adds much to the effect of the scene.

The island of Taviuni runs in a south-westerly and
north-easterly direction, that is to say lengthways, for it
is a long and narrow island.

At the south end, Vuna, the principal town, if it is
worthy of the name, boasts of a fair sprinkling of white
people, of a dozen or two at least. Indeed here there is
even an Accommodation House for travellers or visitors,
though it is not of large dimensions.

There is a good patch of flat land at Vuna ; horses
and cattle are to be seen graKing in well fenced-in
paddocks; which, to say the least, gives the place a
homely look.

c 2

nigtircaavGOOglC

36 DESCBIPTIOJ^ OF THE FIJI GBOTJP.

At Satia Levu, on the other side of the island, between
which place and Vuna one can have a pleasant ride, there
is a sugar plantation which deserves to prosper well.

While on a visit to Tavinni, I had the curiosity to walk
from Vima to the north end of the island, to Wairiki and
Somosomo. Though, as the crow flies, the distance is
only twenty miles or thereabouts, still, I would not advise
visitors to adopt my plan, as the bush tracks afforded
dreadfully rough walking. So much up hill and down
hill work, and having to trudge through much thick
forest on the high land, which hid both sea and sky from
view, helped to make the journey appear extraordinarily
long. As it was, I foimd myself nearly benighted, and
not relidiing a night out in a damp dreary bush, especi-
ally without having some kaikaia to eat or companion to
grumble to, had to scramble down the precipitous rocky
crags in a most spring -heeled -Jack fashion, tripping up
and being lashed by the rope-like parasitical plants which
hang down from the foliage above. The sun was evi-
dently disappearing imder the horizon, but luckily, when
just about deadbeat, I caught a glimpse of the sea, and
thus, though there were no visible paths, knew the proper
course to take. After struggling through bush, slashing
right and left with a sheath knife at obstacles,
it was with great pleasure that, not a minute too soon,
for darkness follows sunset very quickly in the islands,
I found myself out of the dreary bush. When once
on the beach, which in this instance (perhaps it was high
tide) seemed to consist of nothing but huge boulders,
one can always plod along with the certain knowledge
that, sooner or later, a white man's plantatiott, or trading

, ,y Go ogle

PRODUCTS OF TAnum. 37

station, or native village will come into view. So after
having for a considerable time waded knee-deep round
about the boulders, for there was no flat land between the
sea and the bushed lulls, I was pleased to see the flicker of
a lamp in the distance. Neither was it an ymi* fatuus
ahead. Less than an hour found me sitting in front of it
and enjoying a hearty welcome from the planter and his
family, who hastened to place before me a hearty meal.
On the high land there ai-e no tiresome cataracts to
cross ; and until approaching the journey's end there was
no occasion to divest myself of clothing, and then only at
tiie mouths of two small streams. However, the walking
is too rough to be recommended to anyone who wishes to
see the island without unpleasant exertion.

The Taviuni planters, as a rule, have not had so much
luck as they would like, or as they merit.

They have plenty of land and live a happy existence,
surrounded as they are by natural beauties and plenty ot
food ; but they grumble at the slow pace at which fortune
has roiled her wheel.

The fact is, cotton, once considered a dead certainty
for coining money, proved quite a traitor, and left many
of the pioneer planters in Fiji in the lurch. In otiier
words, cotton paid very few who grew it.

Wben a planter who has perhaps lOO foreign labour
boys engaged to work for him for so many years, and to
be fed and paid, encounters a season or two .of reverses, he
has indeed an up hill prospect ahead of him.

On Taviuni, cotton is rather at a discount ; but maize and
sugar cane are having considerable attention paid to thera ;
and tobacco and coffee are to be noticed under cultivation.

nigtircaavGOOglC

38 VESCBIPTIOJf OF TEE FIJI OBOUP.

One can only wish tbat the enterprising pioneers, who
expend their capital in finding out what will pay to plant,
and who erect sugar mills and other expensive machi-
nery, may be repaid a hundredfold for their pains.

Maize seems to be grown in very great quantity in tiie
island, and the cobs are up to the mark, yet many
planters have a notion that the profit per bushel is not
very satisfactory. One thing certain is, that many crops
of maize would impoverish the primitive soil of a
plantation. Coprah and co&oanut fibre are being attended
to by the planters more than they were in former
years.

The visitor to Taviuni will observe how remarkably few
Fijians there are upon the island. On the plantations,
foreign labour " boys" brought from the Solomon Islands,
a group of islands in lat. 5" to 10" S., long. 160°, firom the
New Hebrides and from the Line Islands, near tiie equator,
perform all the manual labour, under the supervision of
the planters themselves or their overseers. All sorts of
homines sapientea may be seen toiling away as happily as
possible at the various plantations.

To anyone who takes an interest in anthropology, and
who cannot spare the time, or does not care to trip about
the various groups of islands in the South Sea, Taviuni
is really a splraidid place for opportunity to examine the
various features, languages, and characteristics of many of
the difierent branches of the Papuan race in Melanesia.

Contrary to what many outsiders who have read about
slavery and kidnapping in the South Sea would imagine,
the plantation " boys," as a rule, look beaming with
pleasure, work well, and, after the day's task is over are as

nigti/cdavGoOglC.

OJf THE PLAJfTATIOJrS. 39

merry as crickets, singing and daacing their national
" mekemekes " with great mirth.

Of oourae, no one can deny that in hygone days a good
deal of kidnapping was carried on, and that a few of the
plantera were martinets ; still, it is possible that there has
been much unnecessary fuss and talk about kidnapping in
general. Really, at this present time, one would think
that the diSerent islanders would hare become too wary to
be abducted away ; for iustanoe, at an island like Santa
Omz, where Commodore Gtradenough was killed, and
where, no doubt, there has been some blackbirding to raise
the natives' suspicion and indignation against white pei^le,
one would think that kidnapping would be nearly out of
the question now.

One is led to believe that the South Sea Islanders who
are brought to Fiji by their own wish, enjoy their planta-
tion existence, and that they return to their homes afW
their contract time is ended, with their cedar boxes,
tomahawks, sheath knives, clothes, fishing apparatus, &c.,
received as payment, better men than those broken-
English speaking " boys " who have worked in Queens-
land, and who have associated more with Colonials.

EngUsh planters in Fiji are not hard task masters. If
any of them were, they would not be so long, for they
would find that to get a South Sea Islander to work, day
after day, in a properly systematic and conscientious
manner, the bullying style is as impolitic as bad in
principle. The great thing is to train your " boys" so that
they will respect you j then they will do a good day's
work. They must be treated with great firmness, they
do not respect much lenieney and would take advantage

nigti/cdavGoOglc

40 D£SCRIPTWX OF THE FIJI GROUP,

of it. Above all things they must not be treated too well,
according to our notions, nor as if they were white labour,
for their minds are so constituted that they could not
appreciate such treatment. The present system as
adopted by most of the planters, seems as satisfactory as
possible. The "boys" live on yams, breadfruit, cocoanuts,
&c., precisely the same food as they would subsist on in
their own homes ; have Sunday for a holiday — ^jan fiah
when time allows ; are well looked after if any illness
attacks them ; are punished slightly, as a rule ; have to
work overtime when disobedient or refiractory ; are
treated kindly, though firmly ; humoured, though with-
out familiarity ; and, under the supervision of a just
planter, are probably improved in mind, both in regard to
morality and knowledge, during their sojurn in Fiji.

No one is more adverse to treating savages despotically
than I myself am. To treat them as if they were the
same as white men, converts them into very bad specir
mens of humanity. The sudden rise in their status is too
much for them, it upsets the balance of their minds. Feed
them on beef and potatoes, give them the same price for
their labour as if they were white men, dress them in
trousers and coats, let them associate with all sorts of
white men, learn the English language and English
manners, and then see what you have done. The majority
of them become detestable, more treacherous than they
naturally are, hypocritical, self-conceited wretches. It is
most unwise to pat the South Sea Islander on the back,
and to fill his mind with the idea that he is a most useful
member of society. This question I offer to men who
have cruised about in the Pacific— Why is it that the

rj,g-,-^cT:GoOglc

HOW TO DEAL WITS TEE "BOYS." 41

broken-English speaking Tanna and other men in the
South Sea are such a proyerbially bad lot ? " Familiarity
breeds contempt," is a very good maxim to carry about
with you while travelling amongst uncivilized races.

But let us reaiain the path from which we have
wandered.

There are not many Fijian settlements in Taviuni, nor
do the planters feel the absence of them. At the north
end .of the island, however, there are two settlements of
importance, Wairiki and Somosomo, separated from each
other by a few miles. At the latter dwells Tui Thakau,
the chief of a large tribe called Thafcaundrovi, the greater
portion of which inhabits Vanua Levu, the large island
on the other side of the Somosomo strait. The Tui
(king) is married to a relation of ex-king Thakombau ;
but like many chiefs in various parts of the world is very
much married, as Mark Twain might put it, unless he
has lately dispensed with his wives. Most of his so-called
wives, some young and pleasant-looking, live at Wairiki.
The principal one here, for his recognised spouse lives
with him at Somosomo, is Eleanora, who is as well-
mannered a specimen of womanhood as you will find
amongst the dusky-coloured inhabitanta of the island.
She is most attentive to the wants of a stranger. The
village of Somosomo, which was the scene of much
devilry in the age of cannibalism, is prettily situated
on a strip of flat land tastefully arranged as to houses
and vegetation, and, on one side, is over-shadowed by
wild-looking hills. Between the settlement and the
white man's store and accommodation house, a stream
in which you can enjoy a most pleasant dip before

nigtircaavGOOglC

42 DESCBIFTIOJ^ OF THE FIJI GROUP.

breakfast, runs, or rather bounds, along over boulders. .
It is fordable in ordinary weather, but during a flood not
at all comfortably.

A visit to Tui Thakii's house wiU give you a very good
idea as to how much a Fijian chief appreciates European
commodities. All sorts of furniture decorate the interior,
such as lamps, mirrors, sofa, &c. From the way in which
they are huddled together you can see at a glance that
they are only baubles in the eyes of the chief, who likes
to possess them, though he really prefers the more primi-
tive articles for comfort and utility. He certainly values
his firearms, but his yangona bowl, his &n, his mosquito
screens, lus mats, still take decided precedence over
the imported goods.

In Somosomo, I noticed two women, relations of the
Tui, as &t specimens of hiunanity as one could wish to
see. It is considered an honoui* to be so embonpoint)
probably showing that no manual labour or exertion is or
has been required of them. StiU this is a curious way of
showing a person's rank. At Wairiki, some decent-looking
damsels, and a splendid double canoe, which is usually
high and dry in a thatched boathouse, will claim attention.
The canoe is one of the finest in the group, and measures
if not more, at any rate not much less, than 100 feet in
length. It is used only on special occasions, and, no
doubt, necessitates all the people in the settlement to bear
a hand in laimohing. It is said to have taken several
years to build ; of course, the work was carried out in
"yanga vakaviti," Fijian fashion, that is, by fits and starts ;
fpr the natives do not know what it is work at anything
systematically for days at a stretch.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

VA^UA MBALAVU. 43

At Wairiki, just outside the settlement, lives a Roman
Catholic missiouary, and on the other side of the creek
there is a white planter and storekeeper. The Taviuni
natives generally do not seem sanguine about the mis-
sionary movement, and though the native drum calling
them to prayers is to be heard, they are neither strict
Romanists nor Wesleyans. Unless the chiefs are thorough
converts, it cannot be expected that their inferiors will be.

On the top of the high range of hills at the north end of
Taviuni is a lake whose waters lie in what is supposed to
be the bed of an extinct crater. Judging irom the remarks
of those who have tried to explore it, one comes to the
conclusion that to reach it is no easy matter, and involve
the use of tomahawks to clear the way through the bush.
So much for this of all the islands the most flourishing,
but not more so than everybody would wish it to be.

About 60 miles to the south-east of Tavimii lies the
island of Vanua Mbalavu (long island), on which Maafu,
a son of the celebrated King George of Tonga, resides.
His father is indeed celebrated for great wisdom in adopt-
ing many of the good laws which civilisation has suggested,
and in trying to instil into the minds of his subjects that
morality is the keystone of a nation's prosperity. His son
Maafu, some 30 or more years ago, lauded in Fiji. With
a goodly show of canoes, men, and firearms, he commenced
to subdue many islands in the group, and extended his
conquests to Moala, Totoya, and Matukn (the latter giving
him more trouble than he perhaps bargained for). He
became Tui Lau (King of Lau) — the Lau district embracing
the most easterly islands — and left Tongaa officers at the
conquered islands to windward, where most of his followers

nigti/cdavGoOglc

46 DESCRIPTIOJ^ OF THE FIJI GROUP.

A few miles south of Cicia (Thithia) is another most
fruitful island. Thirty miles south east of this is
Lakemba, where the reef passage is rather an awkward
one to pass at times. On Lakemba there is a good
number of white settlers. The darker population con-
sists of a mixture of Tongans and Fijlans (Tonga- Viti),
and of pure Tongans and pure Fijians.

In addition to the islands above mentioned one of the
most picturesque is Koro, which lies half-way between
Levuka and Taviuni. It is a beautiiully picturesque
island, fertile in places. The natives here are said to be
religious to an absurd degree ; and I believe, from
hearsay, that they do not consider plucking a bunch of
bananas or climbing up a cocoanut tree to get nuts to
be seemly behaviour on Singa Tambu (holy day, i.e.,
Sunday).

The islands of Ngau with its hot springs and lovely
mountain scenery, "Wakaya with its high precipices and
tragical associations, Mokangai with its plantations, are
in sight of Ovalau, the kland on which Levuka is situated,
and worthy of a trip to. Then, in the south portion of the
group, are Moala, Totoya, and Matuku, possessing fine
bold scenery; also Kambara, which contains a bad anchor-
age, but claims some interest on account of its being one of
the principal islands where canoes and yangona bowls
are, and have in ages past been, hewn out of the splendid
timber grown in the island bush. Probably the first and
last island you wiU see on your passage from and to
Australia or New Zealand, and which is better known to
the world at large than the others, as being the place
where the San Francisco mail steamers touched, is Eaa-

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nigtircaavGOOglC

TEE SMALLER ISLAJVDS. 47

davu. Mount "Washington, 2,600 feet high, is as well
known a landmark aa any in Fiji. Kandavu is the third -
largest island in the Archipelago; it is a trifle larger
than Taviuni, but not snch a snitahle place for the
cottage.

inyGoogIc

CHAPTER IV, .

LIFE /JV THE FIJI ISLAJfDS. I

So fer as white men's establiahments are concerned, I
wooden houses are universal in Levuka. They are to be (
seen at Taviuni and elsewhere, but are not general in the
smaller islands.

The usual plan is to have *your house or houses
built in Fiji^i fashion, plus European doors and windows
(which can be bought ready to be let into the walla at
Levuka), and with the roof slightly higher than in the
ordinary native domicile.

The walls are constructed of stiff reeds, the "ngasau;"
the roof, of grass or of eocoanut palm leaves plaited together.
For comfort these houses are just as good as the wooden
ones, being remarkably cool and pleasant.

The interstices between the reeds allow a free passage
for air to waft through ; if too wide, however, for lizards,
which run about the floor, over the table, up and down the
walls in great glee, to make their entrance and exit.

The dwelling-house of one story is usually divided into
two parts by a reed screen, which thus separates the bed-
room from the other portion.

A table, a few chairs, forms, stools, a roughly con-
structed sofa, boxes full of trade goods, a shelf of books, a
kerosine lamp, a bundle of newspapers (of old date), and
tobacco utensils, are the moveables of an ordinary sitting
room. There is no fireplace, no drapery, in the house.

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^JV* ISL^JVD SOME. 49

Smooth Fijian mats laid on the planked floor or above
a few layers of cocoa-nut palm leaves, serve as carpets ; if
not very ornamental, they have the advantage over others
in being easily swept In the bedroom the principal
furniture is a platform of parallel reeds laid on and lashed
to a wooden framework erected a few feet &om the floor.
It is a very good substitute for a more elegant bedstead.
Above this hangs the mosquito curtain, a most necessary
article in Fiji. If the house is situated on the lee side of
an island, or near bush, the curtain needs constant over-
hauling, for if any little mesh of the netting be broken,
the mosquitoes march through directly.

In addition to the dwelling-house, a cook-house, store,
and fowl-house, stand at a respectable distance from the
main building, and are, or ought to be, at least thirty yards
to leeward of it. A fence round about the establiahaient
restrains natives from loitering too near the house, and
also pigs, which, being allowed to run loose, sometimes
burrow their way through the walls of the cookhouse or
storehouse when a chance occurs and an inducement offers
itself. If you possess a storehouse full of coprah — one
built " vakaviti" (Fijian fashion) with reed walla, then, if
the pigs have commenced to burrow through, it is no easy
matter to keep the obstinate animals away, for they will
return day after day, night after night, and break down
all ordinary barriers until they attain their object, whichis
to have a thoroughly good feed of the dried cocoanut. The
only way to stop their inquisitiveness is by erecting a sub-
stantial fence of cocoanut tree logs round about the store-
house. There is something very cosy about a white man's
bungalow in the islands. It is generally built a hundred

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50 LIFE IJT THE FIJI ISLJJVDS.

yards, or thereabouts, from the high water mark, the front
of the house facing the beautifully calm water inside the reef ;
and it is surroimded hy cocoanut palms, plantains, papaw
and breadfruit trees. What with a small garden containing
melons and pumpkins, and making an attempt at growing
some of the flora of the temperate zones, such as peas, beans,
&c., what with fowls and pigs wandering about in the know-
ledge that they really form part of the establishment, the ,
small estate wears an agreeable appearance of homeliness.

In fixing an establishment, one very important matter
is to be near fresh water. If this is not feasible, a well
can be sunk ; still, to have a clear stream within a few
minutes* walk is a most handy arrangement. It is also
advisable that your head-quarters be not far from a
passage through the reef, not close to a mangrove swamp
and, if possible, pitched on high ground.

To clear the land of superfluous vegetation, to erect
a four fathom reed-walled dwelling-house and outhouses
to put up fences, &c., aU this costs only a few pounds.
So, when one wishes to shift one's quarters, the under-
taking is not a very serious business, even if the old
establishment must be left to rot away. "With "labour"
at a shilling a day, a house in the Fijian style costs
neither much money nor much time ; but the method of
building causes one much annoyance.

To an individual who is satiated with the bustle and
excitement of a town life, settling down on one of the
Pacific Islands, though naturally accompanied with a
host of drawbacks, possesses many enticements. Still
men's natures differ extremely in the matter of likes and
dislikes : while, to some, life in or near a town is a me

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TOWJf ^JVD COVJfTEr. 51

^ua non, to others it is a bore. Levuka, notwithstanding
its insigoificance so far as size is concerned, may fairly be
said to be the only place in Fiji where any appearance of
the bustle which ciTili2ation entails can be observed ; yet,
to a Tisitor newly arrived from Sydney or Melbonnie, it
would appear perfectly free from stir. For all that, white
men who, unmolested by formalities, carry on their
avocations in the neighbouring islands, are, as a rule,
mightily pleased when their periodical trip to the capital
draws to a close. Away from Levuka, life in the islands
is quite sui generis. People who cling to the ways of
a city, would find it unbearable; to anyone who can
dispense with much that is artificial — and there are many
who do detest the countless shams of city life, and has
an indination to steer clear of those cut and dry
formalities which, to so many people in the world, form
pai-t of the supposed natural and necessary routine of
everyday Ufe,— to such an one the open life of the islands
may bring no inconsiderable pleasure. Once on board a
craft and makiz^ for outside Levuka reef, you can t^en
throw aside many ideas of conventionality. You may cast
your paper collar into the ocean (owing to the very
imperfect notion of starching possessed by the dusky
maidens in Levuka, who profess to be laundresses, linen
collars are at a discount). So, wafted along by the breeze,
you steer straight for your island home ; and, when the
anchor is dropped inside, the reef, you step into the small
boat, order your natives to pull you arfiore, and in two or
three minutes you are on the beach, prepared to look at
the world from quite a new standing-point, and to settle'
down to an existence free from core.

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52 LIFE IJ^ THE FIJI ISLAJ^DS.

Even allowing that distance lends enchantment to the
view, there are many benefits which an island life offers
you while you are there, although it never fully impreaseB
you with their magnitude until you are right away from
the tropics. Without doubt, climate has a wonderful
effect in regulating the enjoyment of living. The fine
clear atmosphere, through which land thirty miles off can
at times be distinctly seen, and the genial warmth, tempered
by soothing breezes, help to render existence in the South
Soa pleasant to the senses. Then, nature, reiplendent in
her diversity of form and matter, lends to the eye a
perpetual feast. Away from all, or mostly all, of the
so-called luxuries of civilized life, content to live very
nearly on whatever your small island provides, compelled
to wait, week after week, before news of the busy outside
world and letters from your friends arrive, surrounded by
a race of people whose natures are unrefined and whose
intellects are inferior to your own, what can it be that
makes the life even passable? A fine climate, the beauty
of nature's dispensations, and the fact of your not having
to be a slave to etiquette, weigh in the balance more
than the supposed inconveniences.

The climate of Fiji is delightful. Of course, as happens
in all tropical countries, there are certain days so sultry
and hot as to elicit from everyone im extra amount of
downright grumbling; and sometimes, at midday in
midsummer, to move about at all is positively an exertion.
On such occasions, all one can reasonably do is to sit
quietly and bear it, as if in a vapour bath. In Levuka,
such days are most oppressive; for the reflected heat
makes matters much worse, and a certain amount of

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DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE. 53

superftnouB olothing, which civilization expects everyhody
to don, sach as a coat and collar, does not improve the
situation. But these trying times are exceptional; the
usiial weather is most pleasant, principally because the
powerful rays of the sun are modified by a gentle

The position of Fiji is a very favourable one, for it
lies just a few degrees within the tropical boundary, and
oonsista of small islands, and there are no large tracts of
miasmatic low lying land. The spring months — our
autumn ones — are very similar to the summer months, the
summer is very similar to the autumn, and the autumn to
the winter. Snow is a thing unknown to the natives, and
they know ioe only by name, **wai kaukauwa" (hard
water). A Matuku man once told me about a shower of
" solid bits of rain," which he alleged to have fallen several
years ago. The astonished natives, imagining that it was
a downfall of " thokothoko," or the small white beads which
they used to be so fond of buying from the traders, rushed
about and collected in baskets as much of tiiis, to them
golden, rain as they possibly could ; and they were very
much surprised indeed when they found that the beads
dissolved. No doubt hail — for such this rain of beads
must have been — is a most rare thing in these latitudes.

In Fiji, the temperature in the shade varies from 60° to
between 95° and 100". When the thermometer registers
60", people — especially those long-residenters whose blood
gets into the condition commonly called "thin," — complain .
much of the cold. Foggy or misty weather, so trying to
the bronchial tubes of many dwellers in the British Isles,
is almost unknown, and pure wt can always be inhaled.

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64 LIFE IJV TEE FIJI ISLAJfDS.

There being no occaBion to close the doors or tbe
windows of the hoiwe in order to keep out cold or fog,
they are left open all the year round. The cool south-
east trade winds blow with refreshing regularity, sometimes
lasting for a fortnight without shifting. Thus, for comfort
and health, the windward side of an island — ^that is, the
side facing the south-east — is preferable to the lee side,
which, if sheltered by a high range of hills, is naturally
more oppressive to live on, more unhealthy, and a more
popular resort for the mosquitoes than the windward side.
The windward side, indeed, presents this drawbach, that,
when the passage through the coral reef in front is narrow,
the "beatiog out" from inside to outside the reef is
oftentimes awkward, tedious, and dangerous in bad
weather, that is to say, when the prevalent winds are
blowing dead ahead.

As a tropical country, Fiji cannot be reckoned more
than averagely unhealthy. To Europeans, any country
between lat. 23° 30' N. and lat. 23** 30' 8. is more or less
treacherous; robust constitutions often succumb to the
climate, while, on the other hand, people considered
delicate in the temperate zones, very frequently thrive
wonderfully wdl. Of course the continual heat, for the
seasons are much alike, naturally debilitates the ' ' papalangi "
(white man), after a time, and would probably unfit him,
in a few years, for travelling about or settling down in a
cold latitude. Fiji is remarkably free from low fever, a
disease very prevalent in the New Hebrides group, Solomon
Islands, and New Guinea. Since annexation took place,
the introduction of measles, which mowed down about
50,000 natives, nearly a third of the whole population,

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COJfmTIOJTS OF HEALTH. 55

makes one dread that the usual infectious dkeases of
civilized nations will find tiieir way to theae isolated
islands. It is a sad thing that civilization always drags
along with it a load of vice and ' disease, to add to the
already large stock which belongs to savagedom.

There is no means of stopping the spread of disease save
by, rigid laws. To avoid illness, a suitable choice of
locality where to erect your residence, is about the bwit
preventive. Tolerably high ground is the correct spot ;
for generally, low ground where noxious gases are evolved
superabundantly, and where the carbonic acid gas, heavier
than air, hangs about, is not to be trusted so well as a
more elevated position. Still, in some places on the flat
land where soil is composed of sand and disintegrated
coral, and where the vegetation does not grow too rankly,
a bealthy situation can be selected. To take oare that
good drinking water can be eauly obtained, is imperative,
as the seeds of many maladies may perchance lie amongst
the atoms of water impure with oi^anic matter. Amongst
white people, diarrhoea, often turning to dysentery, a most
olwtinate and dangerous complaint, is common. By
steering clear of the contents of the square gin bottle and
other spirituous liquor, by paying careful attention to
diet, and avoiding chills, and with the assistance of a few
doses of medicine, one can usually master it. Castor oil,
followed by laudanum, or Dover's powder, ought to be
taKen to shake off dysentery. If the patient finds liimself
in an out-of-the way plaue and without physic, lime water
(there is any amount of corai to be obtained from which to
make lime) is perhaps beneficial. A little burnt brandy
is said to be good. The settler nearly always keeps on

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50 LIFE IX THE FIJI ISLAJfPS.

hand a stock of chloroiiyzie and painkiller — medicines tiiat
have the name of being regular cure-alls; but though
I have dispensed the contents of a few dozen bottles
during the plague, I am unable to give an acourate
account of the results.

In regard to diet, the great secret is to avoid meat,
fruits, cocoanut-water, &c., and, if possible, to live on
arrowroot or some farinaceous food. Many consider that
the roasted " tare " is a safe article of food ; but arrow-
root is the most desirable. It is not superlatively palatable,
especially as it has to be eaten without the addition of
milk, a commodity rare in the islands. However, anyone
who has had opportunity to observe that one meal of salt
beef or pork is enough to bring back the dysentery, will
adhere to the arrowroot diet with rigid determination.
The question comes to be, how to procure it ? An
invalid has not the strength probably to make an
excursion into the bush to seek for the bulbs which in
some parts abound. If he can make some native under-
stand what he wants, well and good ; but the scraping
down the bulbs by means of sharp-edged cockle-shells, the
rinsing in water, the throwing away the gross part — for
should a lew particles of the solid bulb remain with the
sediment from the water, the arrowroot wiU be bitter, the
drying the powder in the sun — ^have all to be explained
and will be the source of much worry.

In case arrowroot should not be forthcoming, some
substitute may be tried. Having dispensed several bucket-
fuls to natives, 1 am inclined to think that ordinary flour
and water, prepared to a consistency not quite so thick
as paste, is a beneficial beverage.

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DIET AJ^D DRUGS. 57

Fifty or a hundred miles by sea from the nearest chemist
or store often makes a man dependent on what resources
his island contains. tTofortunately the Fijian medicines
— there are all sorts of drugs known by certain families,
who keep the recipes dark — are not to be relied on;
indeed, they are to be carefully avoided, some of them
being poisonous.

The unsightly disease Elephantiasis often attacks the
natives in a most horrible manner. Passing through a
settlement, one frequently notices an unfortunate indi-
vidual with legs like massive pillars. The disease oc-
casionally troubles white settlers in a milder maimer,
though not to such an extent as in Samoa (Navigator's
Islands). The worst part of the complaint is the difficulty
in effecting a cure, a change of climate being usually
advised, thoi^h not always a convenient remedy.
It is a great blessing that the " papalangi " seems proof
against the imsightly parasitica] skin diseases which are
to be seen in nearly every Fijian settlement. If not very
careful, a white man is apt to have a breaking out of sore
places, especially on the feet, which are troublesome to
heal, and are aggravated by coming in contact with salt
water. A slight scratch or cut generally developes iuto a
large sore most difficult to get rid of.

The people who stand the best chance of escape in
running the gauntlet of tropical Ulneases, are those who
take plenty of rational exercise, and put plenty of water
in their grog, or rather little grog in plenty of water. To
walk about muc^ in the tropics is rather an exertion;
consequently, many settlers fight shy of active exercise.
To keep in good trim every white person ought to tear

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68 LIFE IJi THE FIJI ISLAJVDS.

himself away from a too sedentary life, and take a brisk
walk now and again, if only for health's sake. Away from
Levuka, you can, move about very lightly clad, in a shirt,
white duck trousers, shoes, and straw hat, without infring-
ing either society's or nature's laws, and, by avoiding the
rays of the sun at ita zenith, and confining heavy work
to the cooler parts of the day, the early morning and
evening, you soon enjoy the climate and ordinarily good
health, as day after day of glorious sunshine comes and
goes.

The order of the twenty-four hours is something after
this fashion. At sunrise your cook arrives on the scene,
and the chopping of firewood, the jingling of saucepans
and plates, or the sound of the native drum (a large
hollowed-out piece of wood beaten by heavy wooden
mallets) arouses you from slumber. There is little in-
clination to have another forty winks when the sun throws
his rays through the interstices of the reed walls. Accord-
ingly you turn out from underneath the mosquito screen,
give a verbal bill of fare to the cook, order a fowl to be
caught, killed, plucked and dressed, yams to be boiled, &o.,
and then sally forth for a constitutional stroll. It is more
likely than not that you will wend your way along a track
trough the dense bush until a cascade is reached ; then
with a waterfall for a shower-bath, a " linn " for a tub, and
with the work of ages, the waterwom rocks, for con-
templation, you commence the day under most pleasurable
circumstances. The numerous mountain streams, rushing
down the wooded heights, anil leaping over boulders until
the level ground is attained, are a great boon for comfort,
and they are very picturesque ; they are, moreover, well

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TSJS DAILY BOUJTD. 59

distributed, and there is nearly always one in the neigh-
bourhood of a settlement.

By the time you have returned home from a dip, have
set your *' boys " to work, and have seen that the pigs and
fowls'are in a fair way of being properly fed with the flesh
of the mature coooanut, the cook makes an appearance
with the pleasing news "sa mbuta" (it is cooked). So
in a trice, you sit down to breakfast, which usually
consists of tea or coffee (" au lait", if you keep a goat, or
" au lait concentre," if you fancy such), bread baked in a
camp oven, ship biscuit, yams, fish, fowl, eggs, and simile
light food. The morning slips away quickly enough,
while you look after your native labourers, or make a trip
in the whale boat, or busy yourself in the multiplicity of
occupations open to an active man. There is no reason
why one should be at a loss what to do. There are,
invariably, fences to be repaired, boats tn be calked,
painted, or tarred, sails to be mended, land to be cleared
of superfluous vegetation, and such like work, which needs
a certain amount of superintendence.

At *' singa levu " (big sun ; that is, when the sun reaches
its zenith), a light luncheon suggests itself. This is
followed by a siesta, which carries you over part of the
warmest hours of the day. After 3 or 4 o'clock more
work presents itself, until just before sunset; then the
jingling of plates and crackling of embers commences, and
when " sa ndro na singa " (the sun or day, for singa means
both, vanishes), you are just concluding your supper, which
is pretty much a repetition of breakfast. One meal is very
similar to another, on account of the limited assortment of
proviflioM from which to choose.

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60 LIFE Zr THE FIJI ISLAJfDS.

Twilight is remarkably short in these latitudes. The
sun does not, indeed, depart suddenly without any warning
whatever, but not many minutes after sunset the kerosine
lamp has to be resorted to. The evenings are quiet
enough ; they are spent as best they can be, what with
reading old newspapers, taking a BtroU through the
ne^hbooring settlement, examining the native school and
awarding prizes of beads, tobacco, wool, fish-hooks, &o.,
to the most erudite, or listening to the strains of a native
" meke meke ", or " song and dance ".

Between 9 and 10 o'clock, you are underneath the
mosquito net ; and so long as there is no little rent in the
screen, through which to allow the indefetigable insects to
enter and to commence their musical attacks, Morpheus,
assisted perhaps by "yangona papalangi" (white man's
grog), or a bowl of " yangona Viti ", soon closes your
eye-lids and keeps them closed until the sun has done his
daily duty to the "old country " and pops up to the east-
ward. Truly, 80 long as the mosquito net is insect-proof,
the nights are agreeable, neither oppressively hot nor yet
too cold in the early mormng.

Notwithstanding the queer temperaments of one's
nearest neighbours, the doors of the house need not be
closed, excepting when some broken-English-speaking
half-castes or travelled Fijians are on a visit to the
nearest settlement. The visitors most likely to disturb
your rest are the hermit crabs of all sizes and sorts^ and
also the land crabs, which even take the trouble to
burrow underneath the walls to effect an entrance and
to reconnoitre the interior of the house. They make a
most irritating, scraping noise on the stiff mats which

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MlDmOHT VISITORS. 61

cover the floor. Should the outside fences happen to be
out of repair, it is quite possible that a pig or two may pay
a passing call. It is true that, in my short experience, other
peculiar visitors have presented themselves in the hours of
darkness. About the worst one to disturb my equanimity
arrived under peculiar circumstances, and caused much
annoyance. To give an idea of what unpleasantness a
person who thinks fit to live in an imcivilized country may
have to put up with, an account of what happened will
not be amiss.

Early one morning in the month of May, 1875, the
writer quitted his residence at one island, and sailed in a
10-t-on cutter to Matuku, an island forty miles off. Here
he took up his abode, having had a dwelling-house erected
for him beforehand, and the cutter sailed out of the
harbour and left him the sole representative of the white
race on the island. The house, separated from the
principal settlement, Taroi, by about tiiree or four hun-
dred yards, as the crow flies, but considerably more by
the small track which runs along at the foot of the hill
on which' the native burying ground is situated, was of
the ordinary Fijian construction — reed walls and cocoanut
palm leaf roof — and stood on the top of a small hill which
formed, so to speak, a dot on the side of an extensive bay.
This bay is interesting on various grounds. It has been
the scene of many a cannibal feast, even so recently as 25
or 30 years ago ; for, on the summit of one lofty hill, the
ovens seem seldom to have been allowed time to cool
down. It has also afforded anchorage to two English
men-of-war, the Duke of Genoa's yacht, and the
United States exploring vessel, commanded by Wilkes,

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62 LIFE IJV THE FIJI ISLAJTDS.

who, landing here in 1840, found the natiTes on the heach
armed with clubs, spears, and muskets, and not looking at
all pleasant, heing, at the time, at war with the people on
the high land. To these events the natives refer time
after time, recount scores of anecdotes about them, and
describe with disgust how the Jack Tars of a certain
vessel introduced penny pieces, which the natives thought
were "lavo ndamu "(" red money," — gold), and thereby
got considerably swindled, bringing in exchange pigs, fowls,
and everything of value that tliey possible could. But
however much interest may attach to the bay on account
of these and such lite transactions, a yet greater interest
lies in its own natural grandeur, and in the grandeur of its
surroundings.

On the day of my arrival the view certainly was lovely.
The expansive sheet of water was as smooth as glass,
and a stillness pervaded the air. To the westward the
white spray from the rollers which struck on the reef a
mile off, glittered in the sunshine. Inside the reef, all
shades of colour were displayed on the surface of the
rippleless water i emerald, blue, pink, and, indeed, many
soft and delicate tints due to the different depths of water
above the coloured coral rocks and sand beneath. A
fringe reef, curious on account of the variety of fantastic
shapes in its architecture, its ledges and preoipioes, and in
its assortment of colours, greatly enhanced the beauty of
the picture. This fringe, composed of patches of all sorts
of differently coloured and gracefully shaped cellular coral
patches, the world of myriads of zoophytes, runs out from
the shore to the distance of about 100 yards, and suddenly
terminates in a precipice. The reef is high and dry at

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A LOVELY LAJfDSCAPE. 63

low water, and forms a moat striking contrast to the dark
deep water in the middle of the hay. The diversified
verdure of the vegetation which adorned the surrounding
hills and low land ; the groves of cocoanut palms, with
their tall white stems, standing out against the darker
portions of the massive background ; the clumps of man-
groves, with their strange banyan-like roots growing right
down to the water's edge ; and the bold hills of dark
volcanic rock fencing in the whole scene, with the esquisite
azure canopy of the vast space above ; all these combined
to form a landscape of surpassing loveliness.

Across the bay lay the peaceful looking, though at
this time plague-stricken, settlement of Lomatzi. Its
cluster of reed houses peeped out from the cocoanut palms,
and from here a volume of white smoke arose intimating
that a feast for the dead was in process of celebration.
This village, situated on the flat land, looked very
diminutive beneath the lofty peaks 1,000 and 2,000 feet
high, which towered above it. There was nothing to
disturb the extreme quietness of the scene, save, perhaps,
the sound of the native drum beaten in solemn notes,
which, in a rather boisterous manner, told the tale that one
more atom of humanity had been cut off from his or her
terrestrial course of life, and was to be deposited in the
village cemetery ; or die semi-toned chant or song from
the copper-coloured savage, as he poled his outrigger
canoe from or to his distant yam patch, or the occasional
sportive splash of a fish in the water below. Such was
the pi-oapect on the first day of my residence at Matuku.
The following day wote a very different aspect.

Towards evening, the elements began to be disturbed;

nigti/cdavGoOglc

64 LIFE m TBE FIJI ISLAJVDS.

when the sun retired to illuminate another olime and left
Matuku in darkness, a strong breeze set in and dashed
with fury against my exposed dwelling. The wind
whistled through the reed walls, the roof seemed doubtful
whether to retain its place, or to be lifted up and wafted
away ; the supporting posts quivered, and a dense tropical
rain beat in with overpowering force. Altogether the
situation waa most depressing, and the thought of my
getting a chill immediately after recovery firom a severe
illness did not tend to make it less dismal. The light of
the lamp flickered, and every moment seemed on the point
of going out. Accordingly, the only thing to be done
was to arrange the mats and mosquito net and retire to
sleep, if such were possible. While preparing to carry
out this intention, I was startled by a prolonged scream
which arose all of a sudden, and seemed rapidly to draw
nearer and nearer. The scream became a shout ; there
was a rush at the walls of my dwelling, the temporary
door was burst open and fell with a crash, and before me
stood a young woman of about 20 summers, dressed as our
first parent was before her calamity, shivering with cold,
her eyes restless and flashing with rage or terror, her
wrists tightly lashed together behind her back, and her
ankles bleeding.

That some savage barbarity was about to be perpretrated
rushed through my brain directly ; but the stranger, in a
tone of high-strung excitement, monopolized the conversa-
tion so loudly and quickly that for several minutes it was
impossible for me to get a question addressed to her. She
cried out at the pitch of her voice, "Cusa mai! Cusa
mai I sereka ! papalangi ! '' (Quickly, quickly, let me

nigti/cdavGoOglc

"WHERE IS THE MAJV?" 65

loose, white raaa.) So, after not a little trouble, for the
bandages of cloth were tightly bound round her wrists, I
set her free, gave her a fathom of calioo to wrap round
her, and demanded " Where ia the man ? " In a
rambling manner she entreated me to fasten the doors,
and said that her husband bad tied her up, hands and feet,
had carried her to the bush, had left her there for a short
time, and intended to bury her alive in the cemetery, which
was situated between my house and the native settlement,
Yaroi ; that while he had been away, she had managed to
break the ankle fetters and had rushed to me for protec-
tion. She took care to inform me that he would be sure
to follow her up, and consequently would be at my house
in a short time, to drag her away. I was fully aware that
Fijians, when excited, are capable of doing any deed,
however horrible ; and only a week or two before I had
seen a woman who had been conveyed, roUed up in a
mat, to a village burying ground, and who, when on the
point of being interred, had commenced to kick and other-
wise to object strenuously to being sent to her long home
prematurely, and had at last succeeded in her desperate
efforts for life. I was thus in a position to believe that
the story of this strange visitor had strong elements of
truth in it. At any rate, this was far from a pleasant
introduction to one of the first females who had visited my
new quarters.

However, in case her better half should arrive more
suddenly and more desperately inclined than the woman
herself did, no time was to be lost. So, having loaded a
couple of barrels of a revolver, blown out the light, and
thrown open the doors, I awaited with some excitement

B

nigti/cdavGoOglc

66 LIFE IJr THE FIJI ISLANDS.

the arrival oi this desperate fiend in hamau form. Mean-
time, my unfortunate visitor made use of all my trade
blankets, Maori rug, and Scotoh plaid, and yet she
shivered with cold. Content with a college boating coat
for warmth, I lay down on the mats, placing the revolver
between the stranger and myself, and anxiously listening
for the sound of footsteps up the hill and a second rush
at the walls. A very slight noise attracts attention on
such an occasion. First the lizards rustled about the
roof, then the pigs brushed against the walls, next the
shelf of books came down by the rim, and each minute
the wind struck the house in wrathful gusts. At last,
after a host of groundless alarms, drowsiness overtook me.
Just as I had fallen asleep, my new acquaintance com-
menced a rambling story about her ohild having recently
died. Then she wanted medicine ; so the medicine chest
was opened and a drug prepared, — but for no use, as
those words, which helped the plague of measles to sweep
off the inhabitants, burst forth, ('' Vutha na wai ni mate
papalangi,"} — " white man's water for the sick no good."
She was determined that neither of us should sleep.
Again she wanted medicine, because she felt as if she
were going te die during the night ; and truly her pulse
was very feeble. Then she wanted an antidote for the
poisonous drug whioh her Imsband had placed in her
nostrils. Away she rattled Fijian, sometimes too quickly
for me to follow the drift of her conversation. It was an
awfully unpleiwant night. It seemed as if daylight
never would appear again.

At last, the newly appointed cook arrived, who, seeing
the woman, ejaculated " au sa rere " (" I'm a&aid "), and

n,gti7™3yG00glc

XAB. 67

sceonpered down the hill as fast as Ms legs could carry
him. Leaving the visitor under the bed-clothes with
various weapons for her protection, I started off to the
chief of the native village. After due investigation, I
learned that she was mad, that she had tried to eat her
child, and had indulged in' other insane freaks. On con-
dition that her relations would take care of her and not
use force, at any rate would not tie her ankles together,
it was agreed that some of her friends were to fetch her
from my house and take charge of her. After learning
her state of mind, it was a relief to think that she had
not carried her eccentricities any further than she did,
considering that a loaded revolver lay quite within her
reach all night. So, after considerable bother, she was
escorted to her own house.

On the following night, she again paid me a visit, but,
on being presented with a biscuit, she ran off to the bush.
In two days, however, she reappeared at midday, scratched
and bruised from head to foot, and without a vestige of
clothes on. I felt inclined to let her stop on the premises
to effect a recovery, but she gave me no chance ; she tore
several articles of clothing, rushed at me, upset the table,
and then made straight for the bush. It was, indeed, a
dreadfully sad sight to see her rush off, stumbling over
stones until she vanished ; yet what could one do ? At
midnight she returned. What a night ! She rushed at
me with a fish spear which had been left in the cook-
house, tried to seize me by the hair, smashed part of the
house, shrieked out in a tone that could have been heard
miles off, yelled at the pigs, tried to kill the fowls, ran
about with a fire stick, would all of a sudden become quite

n 2

68 LIFE IJf THE FIJI ISLAJfDS.

calm and oommenoe to praise me, and then msh at me
with the long barbed spear; and so on the whole dark
night, without ceasing. Once more did I repair to her
relations and to the chief of the settlement, who in response
to my more urgent representations, agreed to follow out
my instructions and to see that she was watched. She
paid me no more visits, poor woman! for a few days
afterwards the "laUi" or "drum "was beaten, and the
poor creature was borne up the hUl between my house
and Yaroi, and her limbs, so restless not many days before,
were deposited beneath the surface, but a short distuice
from the house where she was so fond of visiting.

Though I could not help feeling sorry for the poor
girl's suffering, the relations, after tiie funeral, announced
to me with an air of beaming satisfaction, which marks the
unsympathizing nature of the savage, that she was " sa
thimba " (" dead"). Such is the sort of visitor that may,
perchance, pay one a nocturnal visit. One would prefer
to entertain a combined army of pigs, land crabs, lizards,
mice, cockroaches, and mosquitoes, all of wHch do pay
their visits only too frequently.

inyGoogIc

CHAPTER V.

DOMESTIC GBIEVAJ^CES.

In Fiji, as in more civilized lands, servants are a source
of considerable bother.

If fortunate enough to meet in with a "kanaka" (the
common name for a South Sea Islander) possessed of a
slight degreer of intelligence, it is possible to instil into his
naturally stabbom mind a few of the metiiods employed
in the culinary art as practised by the civilized portion of
humanity. But it is often a long -enduring and irritating
process to thump into the brain of a cook out to service
for the first time such ideas as are intended to be fixtures.
If you employ foreign labour on the premises, such as
" boys" from MallicoUo, Api, Tanna, or other islands of
the New Hebrides group, or from the Solomon islands,
who are engaged to remain with you for some length of
time, then, by selecting out of the crowd one. who shows
plenty of " savey," there is some pleasure in instructing
him gradually and systematically ; that is if he displays a
modicnm of common sense. If dependent on Fijian
labour, the case is totally different. When possible, it is
best to hire a native from a neighbouring island. Should
necessity compel the employment of a local Fijian, who in
all probability and likelihood will get tired of the occu-
pation in a week or two, your work is certainly cut out,
and any amount of humouring imd of patience is positively

nigti/cdavGoOglc

70 DOMESTIC GBIEVAJVCES.

necessary. The novelty of cooking " a la Papahmgi,^'
which induces a native to try his hand at the art, lasts
only for a short time ; it soon Trears off, and the dollar, or
piece of cloth, or other interesting article of trade, loses
its once attractive charm.

Well, suppose an agreement has been entered into with
a native from a neighbouring settlement. The new acqui-
sition arrives on the scene with a fathom of cloth round
his loins (mark the word his, for a female cook will be
sure to give you fer more trouble than she is worth), and
a broad grin across his countenance, and looks as if he
hardly realized his situation. No more he does. His
knowledge is most limited. He can fetch firewood from
the bush, and water from the creek ; give him a spark and
he wUl soon raise a fire, as quickly indeed aa any mortal ;
he can boil yams and roast taro or breadfruit to a nicety ;
hut he knows not the respective uses of fingers, forks,
spoons, knives, or sticks, according to our established
notions, any more than his ancestors did. At the first
start, he has to listen to a long introductory lecture, meet
for a 'varsity freshman, and his various movements about
the cook-house, his methods of cooking and preparing
viands have to be openly criticised. His eccentricities are
dreadfully worrying ; but it is of no use to get into a rage
too soon, or else he will give warning : and his method of
giving warning is short and decisive — " au sa lako " (" I
go''), and he goes there and then.

If your chef de cuisine has been ordered to despatch a
pig, you suddenly come upon him clubbing the poor brute
by means of a stout cudgel, or loUiug the carcase on the
fire to loosen the bristles. He butchers the fowls in a

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHEF DE CUISIJVE. 71

most diabolical manner, and will likely enougli, if unrepri-
manded, pluck the feathers preparatory to wringing their
necks, chopping off their heads with a tomahawk, or
piercing the brain. He never thinks of performing ablu-
tion between processes. So far as the crockery is con-
cerned, he is most sparing of the water. Remarkably
fond of cleaning the knives — which he does by working
them up and down in the gritty earth, as if they were
protected by an imperishable cuticle, — ^he tries the game
on with silver-plated spoons and forks; not for long,
however, you may depend upon that. He dishes up the
viands in a half-cooked and pell-mell, certainly not Pall
Mall, fashion. One of the habits, not easily eradicated
from his stubborn brain, is that of setting down before yon
an immense dish of yams, enough to feed a boat's crew.
Unfortunately, this trick is one which he does not conscien-
tiously like to part with ; for, about, meal time, you will
notice more dusky -coloured human beings than are desir-
able lurking about the fence ; natives who are interested
in the Cook, and in whom the cook is equally interested.
During the first few days, he moves about very sluggishly,
and perpetually whistles or bellows out his limited variety
of Fijian melodies, jerkily and boisterously. Occasionally
the music ceases, and its absence betrays him, because
you may pretty well conjecture that he has played truant.
This involves a search to bring him up to the mark. He
persiatcntly tries to get to the length of his tether, feeling
his way most methodically. Most composedly does he
enter the sanctum sanctorum of the dwelling-house, carry-
ing a fire stick, and produces sundry leaves of tobacco
and strips of dried banana leaf, wherewith he commences

n„j-,-.-T-.yG00glc

72 DOMESTIC QBIEVAJVCES.

to make "salukas'* (or "cigarettes"). He will actually
Bquat down on a mat, hum horrid times, and repeat, time
after time "a thava ongo?" ("What is that?") as his
eye alights on each article in the room. In addition to
such behaviour, he fetches water from too near the mouth
of tih,e creek and decocts the co£Eee with it. Just fancy
with what horror you become aware that you are imbibing
coffee and salt water I He entices people to the cook-
house ; sometimes on coming home from a trip, the first
thing that catches your eye is the small kitchen packed
full of ugly brown males and females. Of course, all these
and equally monstrous proceedings on his part have to be
banished from his mind before the sun and he arrive and
depart many times ; otherwise, his services are not
required any longer. Worst of all is that he has a predi-
lection for arguing, and invariably endeavours to impress
you with his infallibility, and that " yanga vakaviti "
(" Fijian fashion ") must necessarily and incontrovertibly
be right.

Time and admonition, administered carefully and
logically, sometimes bring about a different state of affairs.
If fortunately successful in humouring a Fijian and
restraining your wrath, which is often not at all an easy
achievement, you will be able after a while to have a
properly organized establishment, and to sit down to enjoy
a curry, a devilled leg of fowl, and so forth, without
having had to superintend the preparation of the dishes ;
and you will have the satisfaction of having instilled into
the man's mind a large assortment of new ideas which
ought to improve him and his. However, one m sorry to
have to confess that native, who have served in the house

nigti/cdavGoOglc

EATABLES A^-D DBIJVKABLES. 73

of a papalangi (white man), very often become, in many
respects, far worse than the untutored savage.

It is extremely annoying when, aiter having put your-
self to two or three week's bother in instructing a new
cook, — much more bother than he himself has had, — you
find yourself compelled to go on a hunt for another, who
has to be drilled in the same irritating way. Still, this
is the consequence of employing local Fijians, who are not
bound to serve for any fixed length of time.

White people in the islands are necessarily limited in
the matter of eatables and drinkables ; therefore it becomes
essential that the most should be made of the limit. In
the first place, the climate is such that fresh meat pro-
visions do not remain in a sound condition for many
hours ; so that, if an animal is slaughtered, most of the
fiesh has to be salted on the same day. Foultry and fish
are plentiful ; though, notwithstanding that the shallow
water inside the reef teems with the finny tribe, the
latter are not so easily obtained as one would imagine.
Thus, the problem is how to obtain as many varied dishes
as possible from a limited supply of provisions. It is a
fact that the white settler, probably owing partly -to the
frequent " roughing it " on board ship, and partly to the
bother attached to the cooks, as well as to his not having
quite so good an appetite as in a colder climate, becomes
rather indifferent as regards matters of diet. Possessing
a ton or two of yams in the store house, and a herd of
swine and several dozen fowls roaming about the premises,
he can stand a siege uncommonly well. He is, moreover,
perfectly independent of boats arriving with luxuries from
ihe outer world, though no doubt' this is an independence
that he would often be glad enough to sacrifice.

, ,y Go ogle

CHAPTER VI.

RESOVBCES OF FIJI.

Until recently, the exports of South Sea produce from
the riji Islands were chiefly confined to cotton, cocoanut
oil, and bSche-de-mer.

On the cotton depended, directly or indirectly, the fate
of the majority of white people. Unluckily, the value of
Fijian cotton fell, and the hopes of the planters fell
proportionately, and their exchequera became diminished.
In consequence of this, cotton is not nearly so much
spoken of as the whipper-in of fortune as it was formerly ;
indeed, many of the planters have been so deeply bitten
that very few grow sea cotton at the present time.
Nevertheless, cotton of very fine quality is grown on a few
plantations, as we know from the fact, already mentioned,
that at the Philadelphia Exhibition honourable mention
was bestowed on Messrs. Hennings and Messrs. Kyder
Brothers, for their sea island cotton exhibits. It is a
grievous but common sight to see acres of land covered
with the cotton bushes, imd the pods allowed to fall off,
because it will not pay to pick them. The prevalent
opinion is, that, if the cotton realises Is. per lb., it will
pay the planters' excuses ; and that, if less, it is best not
to touch it.

The cocoanut oil trade seems to have been a steady one
and its career was most suocessful; both traders and

n,gti7™3yG00glc

COTT03s'.-COCOA3^^VT OIL. 75

missionaries, as well as the natives, reaped much, benefit
from it. The manufacture of the oil was carried on by
the natives of every island, who, without money to buy the
new-fangled luxuries of apparel (for they had nothing in
the way of dress except their own beaten-out bark cloth),
but with plenty of cocoanut trees in their possession, found
it a most lucrative and convenient article for barter. When
Ihe season of the "missionary cause" subscription came
roimd, the "lotu" (church) Fijians would have cocoanut
oil on the brain, and manufactured it very extensively. It
was the grand means whereby to obtain "silini" or
"lavo ndamu," ("red money," gold), in order to add their
names to the subscription Hst, which was printed and
circulated, and, at the same time, to buy "sulu" ("cloth"),
to adorn themselves for the "solevu" ("meeting"). A
large trade was done at the time of these collections. It
must not for a moment be thought that the natives were
by any means brimming over with religion. It was
merely a spirit of competition and temporary excitement
that impelled them to amass money; even now, at the
coUeetion, the same anxiety to display their wealth for the
" lotu " cause exists, and money is obtained by all sorts of
means, sometimes in a manner not at all religious, rather
than that there should not be " silini " forthcoming for the
collection, or "sulu" for the meeting.

The manufacture of the cocoanut oil was simple. The
kernel of the nut, broken up in small pieces, was deposited
in a trough or canoe, and allowed to decompose ; whereupon
■ the oil, of course very impure, was collected. Very little
oil is extracted by the natives in these days, so long as
they obtain sufficient to anoint their bodies with, and to

nigtiTtdavGoOglc

76 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

supply their lamps, for a still more profitable way of
disposing of their cpcoanuts is open to them. It is fomid
that a purer oil cioi be extracted from the kernel by white
men's processes, and thus the " coprah " trade has quite
effaced the old " oil " trade. The native collects the
fallen mature nuts — that is to say, the nuts which are in the
"mundua" state, — not those in the "mbu" (drinking nut)
state, when the kernel is quite soft and thin — nor, properly,
the " vara " (nut in the sprouting) condition, when the
kernel diminishes in size and a spongy mass takes the
place of the cocoanut water. He sits in front of his heap
and husks the nuts by striking each one against a sharp-
pointed stick fixed in the ground. This is a very easy
matter to a Fijian bred up amongst palm groves, though
extremely difficult to such as are not experts, as any one
can find out by trying to husk a single cocoanut in this
fashion. After he has husked the whole lot, he takes each
husked nut in his hand, gives the shell a smart rap with
the back of a large knife, on the most convex portion of
the nut, and thus divides it into two symmetrical halves.
He then cuts out the kernels in strips of two or three
inches long and half an inch broad. These pieces, laid
upon reed platforms raised some few feet above the groundi
and thus out of the reach of pigs and other animals, are
exposed to the heat of the sun, which dries the surface
rapidly. The drying process needs about three days of
ordinarily hot weather, care being taken not to allow the
rain to spoil the operation. When dried sufficiently, the
coprah is placed in baskets made of palm leaves plaited
together, and sold to the trader. The price paid to the
native used to be about a dollar per hxmdredweight ; but

nigti/cdavGoOglc

COPBAE. 77

owing to competition amongst traders, aa well as to other
causes, it has risen within the last few years.

The present system of taxation, hy which the govern-
ment collects taxes in kind, according to goTemment
yaluation of ooprah, &o., &c., is certainly a bad thing for
looal traders. In former days, when the native taxes used
to be collected, the traders would buy the native produce
for cash and hand over the money, most of which the
native would pay away for tax money. Now the trader
stands aside, while the government plays the part of a
trading company. Let whoever may say that the traders
were a lawless set of men, he says wrongly. Some of
them may have been, but not all. People ought to be
very accurate when they make sweeping denunciations.
As for the remark which has lately been made public
that the native has no currency, this is only partially
correct. In places where there are no local traders, there
is naturjUly no metallic money, for the Fijians do not
possess a mint of their own ; but in nearly every settle-
ment in the smaller islands anyone who likes to know will
find that the natives have money with the Queen's head
upon it, which they have obtained from traders. It is
true that the Fijians do not hoard up their coin, but prefer
to spend it on cloth and other articles directly they obtain
it ; at the same time, they would store it up for taxes if
required to do so. In the most prosperous days of coprah
trading, very few white traders were making money at all
satisfactorily or commensurately with the bother, vexation,
and roughing involved in dealing with the native race. It
is all very well for the government oiHcials, who do not
expect to make any profit off their baitmug, to say what

nigti/cdavGoOglc

78 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

they like about buying produce lor less than it was really
worth, but they ought to consider thoroughly whether the
local traders, who are not all lawless men, should not
have their interests more fairly regarded.

The high price now paid, along with the shrinkage of
coprah at the rate of 20 per cent, every three months while
in storage, the boating expenses, and occasional losses
through salt and fresh water, and also the by-fits-and-
starts method in which a Fijian works, make the trade, as
a rule, not at all a profitable one to small traders. The
merchanta at liOTuka, who buy from the smaller traders,
and send large cargoes to the Australian colonies or direct
to Europe, have, however, nothing much to complain of.
In the last-mentioned case, the oil {70 per cent, of kernel)
is extracted from the coprah in Europe ; after the process,
the residue is made use of for food for cattle, pigs, and
other animals. Some planters, who employ their foreign
labour to make coprab, also turn to account the husks of
the nut, and prepare the fibre for exportation-. Whether
the fibre is of sufficient length or not, I am not aware ; at
any rate, it does not seem to fetch a high figure, and is a
very expensive cargo to ship away.

'HLB.ny ex-cotton planters and others are planting nuts
with the hope of raising cocoanut palm estates. The trees
take four or five years to produce properly ; so that patience
is required. After they are in bearing order, there is no
reason, should the demand for cocoanut oil be so great as
at present, why the speculation should do otherwise than
pay. The nuts ought to be planted at least 14 feet apart.
Eoughly speaking, 100 trees per acre can be relied on.
Reckoning upon 60 nuts for each tree, per anniun, this

n,gti7cd3yG00glc

skoHE-DE-MEB. 79

gives 6,000 nuts per acre ; that is, about one ton of ooprah.
Many people might say this is below the imu"k ; on the
average it is not much so. The price given for ooprah by
the principal merchants in Levuka varies &om £9 to £12
per ton.

The bSche-de-mer trade was, many years ago, carried on '
in the South Seas, and it is carried on still at the present
time, though to a limited extent, in many, perhaps in moat
of the islands. B@che-de-mer paid most lucratively at
times, but it was always, and is still, an uncertain article
to have much to do witb. In the time of Wilkes (of the
United States Exploring Expedition, 1840), a hogdiead of
this fish, as taken on the reefs, could be purchased for a
sperm whale's tooth, these teeth being very popular as
neck ornaments. Times have changed since then.

Many people outside the Pacific have not the slightest
notion as to what the b§che-de-mer is, and, if told that it
sometimes goes by the name of " trepang," will not be any
more enlightened on the subject. The b^he-de-mer
belongs to the Holothuria family, and is a kind of slug
which dwells at the bottom of the ocean, in the disintegrated
coral sand about the reefs in the Fijian group. It is
sometimes brown or black in colour, according to variety,
has a rough leathery skin, is about one foot in length and
two or three inches in breadth and depth, and, compared
to most of the beauties of nature which live amongst the
reefe, is anything but prepossessing in appearance.

On a calm day, in the vicinity of the coral reefe, the fish
can be seen lying at tlie bottom of the fantastic marine
shrubbery. If the water be shallow, they can be picked
up by the natives as they wade about, and thrown into the

n,gti7™3yG00glc

80 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

cauoe or boat ; if deep, a quick eye to see, and diving to
procure them, are necessary. The animal, as taken from
the water, is a good handful, containing as it does a
quantity of fluid matter, with gelatinous threads, while
its intestines are filled with disintegrated coral; the
squeezing out of all the superfluous matter dimioishes the
bulk.

The fish, in order to be ready for exportation, have to
undergo a curing process. They are thrown into an iron
pot of large dimensions, under which is placed a blazing
fire. No water is needed to assist the boiling, as suflicient
liquid oozes out from the fish. After about twenty minutes
in the pot, by which time each fish has become of the
consistency of indiarubber, the b§che-de-mer are trans-
ferred to a platform raised a few feet aboye the floor,
and consisting of reeds or branches laid parallel to one
another, and sufficiently close to prevent the fish from
falling through the interstices. Under the platform, a
fire is lighted, and fed with a constant supply of green
wood, such as young branches, green leaves, and the root
of the eocoanut tree — in fact with anything that will give
out plenty of smoke without bursting into flame. The
smoking house must be constructed in such a manner that
its walls may be as nearly wind-proof as possible, and it
ought to be to the leeward of any dwelling-house. When
sufficiently smoked, the fish are the better for being dried
in the sun for a ahort time ; then they are ready to be
packed in bags for shipment.

The bScbe-de-mer trade is dependent on the China
market, and the persevering celestial has, to a great extent,
been the promoter of the fishery in the South Seas. In

nigti/cdavGoOglc

PEARL-SHELL. 81

Fiji, thougli occasionally a stroke of luok may be heard of,
biche-de-mer has not done much to enrich the white
trader ; for, in the first place, the fish do not abound in
sufficiently large numbers about the reefs (the north side
of an island is usually the best place to find them), and,
again, the natives do not take much interest in the fishing,
that is, do not fish systematically, always waitiog for a
calm day, and then, when the calm day arrives, probably
feeling too indolent to searcli for the fish. Further, the
China market, it is said, becomes glutted from other
fisheries ; consequently, the prices fluctuate, and in a most
extraordinary manner. Unless cured very carefully, the
fish are apt to decompose, and, if stored up for a few
weeks — as the uncertainty of the arrival and departure of
the crafts often compels them to be — they are likely enough
to become rotten. Besides being most disagreeable to the
nasal organs, they consequently lose greatly in value, and
not unfrequently they are quite unfit for exporting.

The most valuable variety of b@ohe-de-mer in Fiji is
the " suthu walu " (eight teats), which in Sydney fetches
£80 to £100, more or less. There are some half a dozen
other varieties bought and sold, some of which realize
only a few pounds per ton, and will hardly pay to fish for.

The cured article is used by the Chinese to form a
gelatine. To see and smell the fish, while undergoing the
operation of being cured, is enough to prejudice the
Britisher against partaking of it as an article of diet.

Pearl-shell, were it found in great quantity, as in Torres
Strait, would no doubt be one of the most popular objects
of business enterprise. It retains its marketable value
well, and does not fluctuate in price ; besides, it has the

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82 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

advantage over most island produce, inasmuch as it is not
easily damaged during storage and transit. The pearl-
shells are scattered about amongst tiie reefs in an isolated
manner ; though they are collected by natives, there is
little scope for pearl-fishing on a large scale, at any rate
inside the reef. How the shells found about the ledges of
the reef in the neighbourhood of the " passages " became
isolated, is a question for consideration ; probably there
are beds of them in the deep water. But, while the
water between the reef and the mainland is at the most
only a few fathoms deep, the water directly outside the
reef is sometimes more than 200 fathoms, the coral
structure forming quite a precipice. In moderately
shallow water, say 15 fathoms, diving dresses might be ot
use, and there may still be discoveries to be made. In
very deep water the pearl-shells, if they exist, will have
to remain there, until a more enlightened age than the
present suggests a new and cheap method of obtaining
access to the depths of the sea.

There is a great demand for pearl-shell, not for the
pearls which the shells sometimes contain, but for the
whole shell itself, which is so rich in nacre. From this
beautiful iridescent substance, shirt buttons are stamped
out, and material for mother-of-pearl inlaid work is ob-
tained. If the popular fancy for mother-of-pearl ornament
lasts, the shell is not likely to decrease in value. In the
London market shell fetches from £60 to £230 per ton,
according to thickness and quality ; that from Torres
Straits, between Australia and New Guinea, realizes the
highest price, while the Fijian is worth about £100 and
sometimes £140 per ton. Turtleshell, candlenuts (which

nigti/cdavGoOglc

SUGAR. 83

do not seem to pay unlesa prior to exportation), ndilo nuts
(which yield an oil said to be most efficacious in curing or
relieving rheumatic pains), sandal wood (formerly much
traded for, especially in Vanua Levu, — tins island having
been visited by the East India Company in 1806), fimgus
{ndalinga m kalou, " god's ears" — for the China market), —
are sent away iu small quantities. Good sandal wood is
now scarce ; and ndilo nuts, turtleshell, fungus, and
candlenuts are not, and probably will never be, found in
sufficiently large quantities to create a trade.

But if Fiji is to be prosperous, she must not depend on
these articles of export. The coprah trade, it is true, is
one which will last, and be a source of revenue ; but, if
the islands are to go ahead as we hope a British colony
may, it is necessary that the soil be turned to more
account. Cotton has been already mentioned as at one
time the anticipated means of bringing prosperity to Fiji,
and as at present a " noli me tangere.''

Sugar is in its early dayB ; still it is being exported
largely, as we learn from statistics. The great obstacles
that have to be met face to face are hurricanes, and tiie
chances that the machinery of the sugar mill may break
down at the critical moment, that is when the cane is
ready to be passed between the rollers, and when
probably there is nobody nearer than Australia or New
Zealand to put the gear iu working order again.

To start a sugar mill in an out-of-the-way island, in
such an out-of-the-way place as Fiji, demands a very con-
siderable amount of money. To have a mUl capable of
producing five tons of sugar per day of ten hom-s, sent
out from England and erected on a plantation, represents

F 2

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84 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

an outlay of three, four or five thousand pounds. If sugar
planting should realize all the hopes that have been enter-
tained by people interested in Fiji, and the group should
thus become a second Mauritius, the pioneers who have
been, and are still, battling to make it do so, will deserve
the greatest credit for their perseverance. Unfortunately,
the pioneers, not having other people's experience to
guide them, are often the sufferers in a new country.

Maize is exported from the islands principally to
Sydney and New Zealand. Not only ia it not so lucra-
tive to the planters themselves as one would wish, but,
without doubt, it must tend markedly to the impoverish-
ment of llie soil of a limited plantation.

Coffee has been grown on sundry islands, and seems,
from all accounts, to have thriven at an altitude of 200
feet in a certain locality. It is supposed that on the high
ground, 1,000 or 2,000 feet above the sea level, it ought
to succeed well. After the doleful history of cotton, it
would be a pleasure to hear of Fiji becoming a good coffee
producing country. To start on a new speculation, in a
new colony like Fiji, needs the pushing determination of
men who can meet disappointment or success with a certain
amount of equanimity. Before the coffee bushes produce,
they are exposed to the vicissitudes of two or three years'
weather, and they are liable to be considerably damaged
by a heavy blast of wind. At the same time, " nothing
venture nothing gain" has to be the motto of those
planters who are endeavouring to discover what the country
will grow to their best advantage. In New Caledonia
there are several cofEee plantations on the low lying land,
which, to all appearances, look thriving ; but looking well

, v, Google

MAIZE, COFFEE, TOBACCO, IJVDIGO. 85

and paying well are not necessarily inseparable conditions.
On some of these estates, manioc (cassava) trees are
planted between the bushes, and help to break the force of
a high wind.

Jn Fiji, the tobacco plant flourishes. The natives
cultivate their own weed, and some of the white planters
have produced very fair leaf tobacco. When made up
into cake tobacco or cigars, for some reason or other, one
hesitates to bestow an eulogium upon it. It is quite likely
that sufficient care has not been bestowed on the preparation
during the drying process ; perhaps the climate has some
deleterious effect.

Tapioca and many other plants have been cultivated on
plantations. The principal ones are those already enume-
rated. "Wild in the bush, arrowroot, ginger, and the nutmeg
thrive ; but are not the source of revenue. In New
Caledonia, rice plantations are not uncommon : they might
perhaps succeed in Fiji, in a few places, such as on
neglected taro land. Indigo has been much talked about,
but nothing practical has been done for it ; a planter must
po^ess more than a smattering of experience before he
attempts to raise indigo.

Visitors to the islands, who notice tropical foliage
growing in all its luxurious magnificence, often wonder
how it happens, that, in a coimtry swarming with a black
population, certain plantations do not prove successful;
and they are ready to assign the cause to bad management.
It is quite true that many men start a plantation without
knowing how to work it ; but at the same time failure has
attended the attempts of experienced as well as of in-
experienced managers. The planters have had a host of

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86 RESOURCES OF FIJI.

difficulties to contend with, in former years. We may at
length hope that now the Group, under the protection of
Piritania, is better known to the world, the barriers to
success will be fewer and more easily overcome. Commis-
sions, hurricanes, high freights for carriage on interinsular
and other crafts, are some of the causes which help to pre-
vent the planters from coining money too rapidly. "Were
the future governments of the islands to consider that
the planters are the mainstay of prosperity — for if not
they, who ? — and if, throwing aside all private hobbies
and biassed opinions, they were to regard the interest
of the planters as the interest of the country, time would
not be long in deciding whether or not the isles of Fiji
are to be considered as pearls of goodly value.

Difficulties about recruiting labour do not assist to make
matters look well. It does seem an extraordinary thing
that in the South Pacific, where the Papuans and Poly-
nesians are so numerous, there should be any difficulty in
procuring a constant supply of cheap and satisfactory
labour ; and that there should be a cry for importing coolies.
Still, as in the West Indies, the native labour does rfot
give satisfaction. It is asserted by some that imported
Indian laboxir would cost less than South Sea Island
labour by £2 or £3 per head per annum, while others
implicitly believe in the economy of labour from the
South Pacific Islands. One thing to be considered is,
that, should coolies be introduced, they must needs have
plenty of rice to satisfy them ; and, what with machinery
for cleaning the grain, &c., this would add to t^e unavoid-
able expenditure of the planters.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER YII.

THE NATIVE RACE.

Let us now turn our attention to the natives of the
islands ; for, though civilization will, unless some new sort
of guiding rein be brought into use, in process of time
sweep them off the face of the earth, they claim a certain
degree of curiosity from all persons who, by comparing
primitive with civilized man, endeavour to fasten together
the puzzling lints which, when connected together, make
up tlie lengthened chain of the human family.

The Fijians belong to the so-called family of Papuans.
They are dark brown in colour, and have frizzly hair.
They are well developed, and, by rendering their skins
smooth by the application of cocoanut oil, and by be-
stowing much pains on hairdressing, they sometimes
present a goodly, though not indeed a godly, appearance.
As they probably do not consider white men with mince
features hjindsome, so white men could hardly apply the
term to Fijians, with their broad flattened out noses,
broad cheek bones, and large lips.

One sees a few Albinos in the Pacific islands, and
regarduig them with a critical eye is unfavourably im-
pressed with their look. These unfortunates find them-
selves strutting about the world with white skins instead
of the 'dark skins of their race, while they still possess

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88 THE .YATIVE RACE.

the same features and characteristios. To our eyes,
though the large features probably suit black, they are
certainly not meant for white bodies, and generally they
give the Albinos a repulsive look.

Some of the male Fijians, especially the chiefs, are fine
looking and well formed. As for the women, they are
pleasant looking, and, though nature has not chiselled
their features to suit Papalangi notions of beauty, they
possess an unlimited amount of genuine mirth. Besides,
and this is a great matter, they are cleanly ; indeed they
cannot very easily be otherwise, for they spend many
hours of the day in the water. Perhaps it is a wise plan
of nature not to make the women fascinating in appear-
ance before the eyes of the white man, for the progeny of
a imion between the white civilized and the black savage
is, as a rule, not one which will help to advance civiliza-
tion to its ultimate state of perfection. The offspring of
people of such totally different natures do not take up
either the best nature of their sire, nor, generally, even
the mean average of the two natures of the parents ; on
the contrary, they rather retain the worst traits, and
throw aside the good qualities of both. There are excep-
tions to every rule, and there are many half-castes who
turn out decent and trustworthy members of society ;
taking the average, however, it will probably be found
that the case is very different.

The native population is reckoned about 100,000, and
is distributed over 60 of the islands. Where the native
sprang from is a question much discussed. Conjectures
may be made by drawing comparison between the scores
of Papuan dialects, and thereby tracing the course along

nigtircaavGOOglC

TABOO. 89

which the race travelled ; but want of Trritten, or indeed
oral tradition, will leave the problem unsolved.

The " tambu " (taboo) is the religious or moral system
in use. While some white people imagine, and perhaps cor-
rectly, that the word is connected with a similarly sounding
word in the ancient Hebrew, all are bound to consider
that the tambu is one of those few institutions which have
retained their character through the dark ages. All tie
Polynesians recognise taboo, and Dr. Lang, to his mind,
recognized the name in the " tomba," or temples, in
America. The taboo is a religion in jtseU ; and, without
doubt, bas helped to prevent savages from allowing their
naturally depraved natures to have full scope to carry out
their intentions. It is " tambu " for people to fight in tbe
burial ground ; it is " tambu " for certain relations to
speak or to eat together. Near an approaching famine, a
" tambu" mark is placed on certain cocoanut trees, &c.
Many words in the language are " tambu " to be spoken
in female society. Great is the number of " tambus,"
and it would be useless to attempt to enumerate them.
Suflice it to say that the first lawgiver or lawgivers who
introduced the " tambu" must have done so with the idea
of promoting the happiness of the community, and of
enooui-aging morality among the people. "We naturally
wonder why the " Thou shalt not" was omitted in the
matter of the eating of himian flesh. StiU civilization
has now fixed its taboo on that custom, " Tambus "
introduced by white men are, however, not regarded in
the same religious light as those framed by the early
possessors of the soil. Whatever may be said of so-called
heathens, tb^ere can be no doubt that, in communities

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90 THE JfATIVE RACE.

where " taboo " is recognised and adhered to, though it
may be wrongly so to our minds, there is as much
eyideDce of the formation of a religion, as in other more
civilized communities.

Through not recognising or adhering to the " tambu,"
there have arisen numerous quarrels between people of
white skins and people of dark skins, in New Zealand,
Fiji, and, indeed, in every group of islands iu the Soutii
Seas. These have often terminated seriously, just because
white men, knowing native customs, have deliberately
broken a " tambu," or, not knowing them, have ignorantly
overlooked the native religious form. Jolly Jack Tars,
for instance, will occasionally climb up "tambu" cocoa-
nut trees, when they land on an island, and thus create
discontent in a settlement, perhaps, without ever knowing
why. It is not easy to forget two days of annoyance
caused by a] boat's crew roaming about a certain settle-
ment. The chief of the place had to sit up two nights to
see that the " lialia papalangi " (foolish foreigners) did
not overstep the mark, that is, break tambus wholesale,
and so excite the indignation of the natives. It was cer-
tainly a relief to see the boat steering away for Sydney,
but it was most unpleasant to have the dignity of supposed
rational white men lowered in the eyes of the natives, who
were very sulky and insolent for many days thereafter ;
all because men broke through the ramifications of
" tambu" in partial ignorance.

While endeavouring to trace the history of the race,
one thii^ clear is that it possesses very much more simi-
larity to tiie inhabitants of the western than to those of
the eastern islands. The races of people in Fiji, New

nigti/cdavGoOglc

EAST AJiD WEST. 91

Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, New. Caledonia, Solomon Islands,
and New Guinea, are related together by certain pecu-
liarities, and form closely connected links in the great
chain, though in what order it is not possible to say
definitely. They are, to use the common appellation,
Papuans. The numb^ of languages spoken by the
various branches of the Papuan race is extraordiaarily
great ; still, throughout, there is to be observed a close
similarity in the mode of articulation, and here and there
words from the same root may be noticed. Several words
seem closely connected with the Polynesian. As the
latter can be traced to the Malay Archipelago, via Celebes
or the Moluccas, it is quite within the limits of possibility
that these words may have travelled in a slightly different
direction from those of the Polynesian. Natives of the
Friendly Islands, Navigator's Group, Society Islands,
Marquesas, and Sandwich Islands, are in appearance
totally distinct from the more w^terly races, their skin
being of a yellowish hue, their hair long and not curly ;
while those of the supposed Papuan stock have dark skins
and curly hair. The easterly and westerly races differ
also in manner. The darker ones certainly have some-
thing in common with the negro, being impetuous, loud-
laughing, and very demonstrative ; the Polynesians, on
the other hand, certainly show greater refinement, being
more sedate in every respect. The Maori of New Zealand,
without any doubt whatever, belongs to the same stock as
the natives of the Friendly Islands, Navigator's Island,
Cook's Islands, Society Islands, Austral Islands, Marquesas
Gtroup, and Sandwich Islands. Indeed, his language and ■
the languages of those people now mentioned are most

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92 THE J^ATIVE RACE.

closely allied ; and his tradition. — that his anceetors set out
on a journey in several large canoes firom a place called
Hawaika or Hawai, probably in the Navigator's Group
(though many people think in the Sandwich Islands), —
adds a certain measure of confirmation to the other evi-
dence. Did we know something about the primitive
inhabitants of New Zealand, if liiere were any, we might,
perhaps, find them Melanesians. It is not likely,
however, that there were any.

The diversity of dialect throughout Melanesia impresses
one deeply with the immensity of time that must have
elapsed since the first tribe commenced its work of popu-
lating this interesting portion of the globe's surfece.
Unlike the case of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia,
where each tribe has a distinct mode of speech, the
language of the people in Fiji is nearly the same all over
the group. In certain districts alterations of a few
sounds are noticeable. For instance, in the Thataimdrove
dialect, the " k " sound, which is of such frequent occur-
rence, is softened in town : " vinaa " takes the place of
"vinaka," "lao" is used for "lako." In the Eakiraki
dialect, in like manner, "t'' is eliminated. Also, to
windward, a few changes of sound are heard : " tz," for
example, is commonly used for the ordinary "t" of the
other dialects ; "viti" becomes "vitri." Yet the roots of
the worefe in the different dialects seem to be precisely
the same. The language is, like most primitive ones,
very limited in root words ; but, notwithstanding this, it
is thoroughly and systematically arranged. A striking
peculiarity is, that, excepting in the sounds mb,. nd, ng,
nq, two consonants seldom come together, and every

n,gti7™3yG00glc

DIALECTAL PECULIARITIES. 93

word ends in a vowel. This frequency of voTels imparts
a flowing sound to the speech, and the use of mb, nd, ng,
nq, ia the absence of b, d, g, q, has not at all an unplea-
sant effect. Reduplicated words are very common ;
most likely they are intensified forms of unreduplicated
syllables.

One of the most frequent sounds, which occurs in nearly
every sentence, is vaka. As it is one of the most useful
for simplifying the language, I will mention a few of its
employments. Standing by itself it signifies "thus."
Prefixed to a noun, it answers the same purpose as the
syllable " like " siifBxed to an English word. Prefixed to
an adjective, it converts the adjective into an adverb :
^, bad ; vakatha, badly. Prefixed to a verb, it answers
to " cause to " preceding an English verb ; it has a causa-
tive force : mhula, to live ; vakambuia, to save (i.e. cause
to live). Prefixed to a numeral, it converts the numeral
into an ordinal or a corresponding adverb : ndua, one ;
vakandaa, once. The terminations of the pronouns in
their dual, trinal and plural numbers, are rather puzzling
to master, and so also are the forms of the verb, active
and passive, transitive and intransitive. However, the
language is by no means difficult to learn, — ^a very conve-
nient circumstance to the European settled on one of the
islands, and to traders especially, as well as to planters,
whose " boys," wherever they come from — the New
Hebrides or elsewhere — require to understand Fijian
rather than English. It is carious, but it is true, that the
introduction of the English language has rather a ten-
dency to aid iu demoralising the semi-civilized natives,
who invariably pick up as many slimg expressions as

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94 THE JTATIVE BACE.

they can, and do not in any way make a good uae of their
learning. Hence the present system of making Fijian
the common language on a plantation is decidedly the
best method.

Now that the light-coloured Friendly Islanders (Ton-
gans) have multiplied to windward, more Polynesian
words than at present exist in the Fijian lai^;uage will be
circulated. The number of new words introduced by
white men is of course very considerable ; words relating to
articles of clothing, hardware, &c., &c., already form part
of the native vocabulary. These words have generally to
be altered to suit the native mode of articulating :
" Britain" becomes " Piritania"; " Hercules Robinson '' is
transformed to " Irekelisi Eorisoni." Many accounts of
native customs and pecidiarities have been committed to
paper by men who lived in the rougher days of the
colony ; so that we shall content ourselves with a short
account without going into details. Numerous are the
stories of the barbarous deeds that were of daily occur-
rence here, even down to 40 years ago ; and most of these,
as still related in the islands, are horrible in the extreme
—we will, however, not rake them up.

In these quiet times there is no occasion, as there used to
be in former days, for the natives to bmld their settlements
on the hill tops. The high position was absolutely necessary
when the people of one settlement always regarded those
of the neighbooring settlements with sleepless suspicion.
Tempora mutantur, &c., and now the villages are bmlt
on the flat land which fringes the base of the undulating
and mountainous country, the settlements being a mile or
two apart from each other. The houses are well built.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

HOUSES AJTD VILLAGES. 95

They are not raised several feet from the ground by being
constructed on posts, like those of many of the Papuan
settlements nearer the equator ; the shape is oblong. The
framework consists of strong wooden pillars, one or two
feet in diameter, for vertical posts ; cocoamit trees for
horizontal beams, and thimier timber for rafters. The two
principal walls, three or four fathoms in length, and one or
two fathoms in height, as well as the end walls, are
usually made of stiff canes called "ngasau" which are
placed vertically and tied close together by mangi-mangi
(cocoanut fibre rope). Sometimes the canes are arranged
so as to form a symmetrical zigzag pattern. Walls for the
poorer houses are often formed of cocoaout palm leaves
plaited ; and walls also of lime plaster and of leaves are
to be met with ; but the " ngasau'' is generally used. No
nails are employed in the construction. In some of the
chiefs' houses mauy thousand fathoms of cocoanut fibre,
the three-cord plait, serve the purpose of fastenings. This
" mangi-mangi " making usually falls to the lot of the
elderly people in a settlement ; formerly, to fiirnish a few
hundred fathoms of the rope was a common punishment
for an offender, and a very sensible one it was. The roof
of a house is of triangular section, and it is thatched with
grass, or more commonly with cocoanut palm leaves.

The' villages are embedded in lovely cocoanut palm
groves, and beautified m appearance by plantain, papaw,
breadfruit, and other tropical trees. Some of the houses
are surrounded by nicely trimmed fences of the castor oil
or other plant. Built on the disintegrated coral soil close
to the beach, with a backgroxmd of hills covered with
dense foliage, the settlements look very picturesque. The

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96 THE J^'ATIVE RACE.

" church house," the big drum shed, and the canoes lying
high and dry, add variety to the scenery of each settlement ;
and the natives lounging about, the pigs and the fowls, the
hennit crabs scrambling along the paths, give a quiet
animation to the picture. Many of the villages, however,
are striking for their very dirtiness alone.

Though the coast land nearly always possesses a sandy
beach, and an expanse of disintegrated coral sand, thra%
are places where, instead of the clean white shingle, a
fringe of mud stretches from the undulating land, and at
low water presents a most slimy and disagreeable appear-
ance. Clumps of mangroves grow thickly near the high
water mark, and there is generally a *reek running a
short way inland. Such unwholesome spots, for they are
invariably unhealthy, oflFer many advantages to the
natives for boating purposes, and they are popular also,
inasmuch as the mud flats afford a very abundant supply
of certain kinds of shell fish. The settlements built on
these flats are not only infected with disease, but are
usually imtidy ; the air is filled with unpleasant odours,
and at night the mosquitoes buzz about in every nook and
corner.

House building, though remarkably good for the Fijian,
— when we consider hia status in the human race — seems
to undergo no change whatever ; shingles and nails, doors
and windows, and other adjuncts of civilized habitations,
are at a discount. For all that, the houses are comfort-
able and clean, the sweeping of the mat carpets being a
daily operation.

While civilization has not affected the construction of
the houses, it has exerted some influence upon many of

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" PAPALAJ^QI" OOODS. 97

the requisites of the household. The Fijian pottery is
gradually being pushed out by iron pota. English and
American tomahawks, 12-inch and 6-inch blade knives,
scissors, and needles, have quite taken the place of stone,
bone, or wooden tools. The fringe for the mats is no
longer made from the red feathers of the " kula" parrot,
but from the "kula" (Berlin wool) bought from
traders. When the operation of shaving has to be gone
through, the Fijian does not use cockle-shells, or any
other very primitive instrument, but prefers a piece of
broken gin bottle, or even a bona fide Sheffield razor.
That tedious method of rubbing the point of a piece of
hard wood in the groove of a piece of softer wood to pro-
duce fire is nearly obsolete, for it takes very few yams or
oocoanuts to purchase some boxes of Bryant and May's
, matches. Whether or not the Fijian is happier now than
formerly, his struggle for existence has been decidedly
less severe since the white face made its appearance in
the islands.

No doubt, in time, by the continued operation of the
present gradual process, European cloth will drive the
Fijian cloth, if cloth it may be denominated, off the field.
Indeed, as articles of clothii^, the fathom of double-width
calico, of Turkish red, of navy blue, of ordinary print
cloth, have nearly done so already. Many of the chiefs —
unwilling to see their conservative notions of man-flesh
eating, and so forth, vanishing slowly but decidedly — like
to retain some relic of the past ; and so one often notices
that a chief, who, perhaps, is the proud possessor of a
cedar box filled with coats, trousers, &c., prefers to don
his old style of dress — painted Fijian cloth. The native

nigtircaavGOOglC

98 TEE JTATIVE RACE

oloth is still made, chiefly for screens, which divide the
sleeping portion of the house from the other apartment,
and at the same time answer the purpose of mosquito
curtains. It is also used for " sulus " for the waist cloth,
and " Balas " for the head wrapper.

Wien walking through a settlement, one is often
attracted by the soimd of hammering, which can be heard
some way off. It has not the regularity of the drum
beating, but it is very loud ; and, out of curiosity, the
stranger will naturally steer to where the noise emanates
from. Under the shelter of the roof of a wall-less shed,
upon the smooth Fijian mats, lies a well polished piece of
wood, about 10 feet in length, and with convex upper
surface. On each side of this there sit women, who,
placing the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree on the
curved surface, beat it out by means of heavy iron-wood
mallets, which have longitudinal parallel grooves cut on
one or more of their sides. Hammering away, hour after
hour, the women gossip and laugh; and after several days,
it may be weeks, by beating out the strips of bark, origi-
nally only about two or three inches wide, and by joining
strip to strip, produce screens many fathoms long and
broad. Some of these screens when finished are creditable
in appearance, and represent many weeks' labour. The
patterns — tinselled on them by cutting out of a banana leaf
the shape of the portion intended to be painted, and then
by placing the leaf above the cloth, and brushing over it
so that the colour will affect only the part of the cloth un-
covered — are very curious, and conspicuous for the absence
of any curved lines in the design. The colours employed
are black and brown. On some cloths a pattern is stamped

ft,gti7™3yG00glc

CLOTH-MAKIJ^O. 99

by means of an embossed surfece smeared with paint. The
embossment consists of the small ribs of the eocoanut
pajm leaves fixed on a framework of dried leaves. In
fact, the idea of illustrating by printing is embodied in
this method. Whether or not this is an introduced plan
I am ignorant. The cloth making will die out gradually,
for articles from abroad, more elaborate, more durable, and
purchased for less exertion than the home-made cloth is,
will captivate the eyes of the natives.

The Fijians are disposing of their clubs, spears, and
primitive ornaments more quickly than they are fur-
nishing themselves with new ones. They prefer a musket
to a heap of their ancient weapons.

With regard to domestic life. People at a distance
form a notion that the savage has rather an uphiU exist-
ence, devoid of comfort. No doubt in some parts of the
world he may ; and, in Australia, for instance, the lines of
the natives who represent the lowest type of man, have,
according to our settled ideas, really fallen in unpleasant
places. Yet so many stories concerning these people float
about, that it is really difficult to come to any conclusion
on the matter. The Australian blacks lead a nomadic
existence, and live chiefly an animal life. The men treat
their women more like dogs than like human beings, and
from all accounts, life is made up of quarreling, and a
variety of other discomforts. Yet, one so often hears
about a white family training up Australian natives in the
ways of civilization — clothing them, feeding them, and
endeavouring to teach them some of the accomplishments
of refined life — when all of a sudden the tutored natives
bolt off to their tribe, discard clothing, and really prefer

Q 2

n,gti7cc-.yG00glc

100 TSE JfATIVE RACE.

their rough barbarisms to civilized life — ^that it cannot
positively be asserted that the life even of the most abject
savage is without its charms. As for the Fijiane, who
can conscientiously say that their lot is a particularly hard
one? Compared to the poor of a populous overstocked
country like England, are they not infinitely better off, so
far as bodily comforts are concerned? The buoyant spirits
of the natives show this in a marked degree. But what a
tremendous deal we do hear about the " poor savages,''
who are in fact perfectly comfortable ; neither will flannel
waistcoats nor higher wages make them more so. If philan-
thropist s would only let well alone, it would be a great matter.
In scarcely any part of the world does nature bestow
her bounties on a more liberal scale than in the Pacific
islands, and the lovely isl^ of Viti have a good share of
her gifts. Each island, generally moimtainous, has a
fringe of flat land nearly right round, between the sea and
the base of the hills. Upon this land vegetation grows
most profusely. The luxuriant groves of cocoanut trees
not only lend a beauty to the scene, but also form in
themselves quite a store of provisions, and are a source of
revenue and usefulness to the native as well as to the
white population. The cocoanut palm is truly a Godsend
to the South Sea Islanders. The stems of the trees are
used for the horizontal timbers in the framework of a
Fijian house, for bridges across creeks, and, when cut up
into blocks, for extra-strong fences. The leaves of the
tree are plaited together to make coverings for the roofs of
the houses, and baskets of all sizes and shapes. Given a
branch of palm leaves, and a Fijian can form it into
a basket in a very few minutes.' Bather tastefiUly

nigti/cdavGoOglc

THE COCOA-XVT TREE. 101

constmcted fans also are made from the leaves. The main
rib of the branch, when dry, forms a good torch. The
chief Talue of the cocoanut tree lies in the fruit. The
water from the young nuts is a refreshing drink, and
the soft flesh, of jelly-like consistence, is very palatable.
The flesh of the more mature nut, such as finds its way
to England, is not to be despised, and, though the Fijian
does not eat it in great quantity, this is simply because he
has such a variety of food to choose from. However, he
feeds his pigs and fowls with it, and uses the scraped flesh
in making "vakalolo" (or puddings). The top of the
tree, that is the young shoot, contains an admirable
substitute for jm ordinary salad, but it is a shame to touch
■it unless the tree has abnolutely to be cut down for a
good purpose. The husks of the nut furnish the cocoanut
fibre, which plays its part of utility in a wonderful manner.
Nearly all the house fastenings are of the fibre plaited
together to form a rope ; the canoe jEasteninga and ropes
are of the coir. Whisks to brush away the flies or
mosquitoes from the improtected skin, consist of a bunch
of long fibre attached to a handle. For a makeshift, a
portion of the husks is a good scrubbing brush. Lastly,
when any difficulty about lighting a fire arises, a few dried
husks come in most useful to start a blaze. The shell of
the nut, divested of the eatable kernel, serves the purpose
of a water vessel in a Fijian household. The half shell is
used for a drinking cup, and, when well polished, such as
that used for "yangpna" drinking, is not at all amiss.
Again, the ordinary Fijian lamp is a half shell containing
cocoanut oil and wick. As an article of trade, the cocoa-
nut flesh, in the dried or coprah state, is a most lucrative

nigti/cdavGoOglc

102 THE J{ATirE RACE.

one to the Fijians. By what means the natives would pay
their poll taxes, were it not for tte cocoanut tree, is
difficult to conjecture.

In a country such as Viti, vegetables naturally form the
staple diet.

First in importance comes the yam, to the cultivation
of which great attention is paid. The ordinary yam, for
boUing purposes, weighs about 5 lbs. ; occasionally one
weighing 30 or even 50 lbs. is met with. In Taviuni
especially, and in the bush of many of the other islands,
the wild yam grows abundantly.

Next in importance to this vegetable is the " ndalo "
(the " taro " of most Polynesian languages, and the arum
esculentum of science). It is planted systematically in
beds and irrigated by means of water courses. The tops
of the " ndalo " plant are sometimes boiled and eaten, but
it is only for the root that the plant is cultivated. The
root, mauve in colour, is about six inches long and two or
three inches in thickness. Unlike the yam, which can be
kept in the storehouse for twelve months without spoiling,
it must be cooked within a few days after it leaves the soil.
A boiled ndalo is not at all a bad substitute for many
"papalangi" vegetables which the white settler yearns
for and can never obtain ; but a properly roasted ndalo, —
roasted three or four times, Hhe surface being scraped
before each application of the fire, — is preferable.

From the "ndalo" the natives make one sort of
"mandrai,'' a word usually translated "biscuit," probably
for the reason that Fijians call white men's biscuits
"mandrai papalangi." The Fijian "mandrai," if it can
be called a biscuit, is surely a most objectionable one.

nigtircaavGOOglC

VEGETABLE FOODS. 103

The prepared ndalo is wrapped up in leaves, buried under-
ground, and dug up after many weeks of decomposition,
generally at a time when fresh yegetables are scarce. It
is much relished, — too much so during the measles plague ;
but the very smell is most offensive to white people. It
is strange how the Fijians can appreciate it so much as
tley do, for, as a rule, they have a dislike to taiated food.
I io not know which is the most unpleasant to visit, a
Nevv Zealander's " whare,'' where a dead shark has been
kept for a length of time, or a Fijian "vale'' whose
inmates are making a meal ofE mandrai.

The "kumala,'' sweet potato ("batata"), is cultivated in
Piji, as elsewhere in the Pacific. It has too much of the
psrsnip flavour to be a universal favourite amongst the
wHte people.

Nearly every settlement is graced with the presence of
the bread fruit tree, with its splendid digitated foliage and
mcssive green fruit. The leaves and timber are made use
of for various purposes ; and, by making incisions in the
bark, the natives obtain a milky white liquid which is
exuded as from the caoutchouc tree. The liquid is boiled,
and the bread fruit gum is used for calking the canoes.
The fruit from which the tree is named, at least that of
the Fijian species, is not eaten raw, as some people
imagine it to be ; nor is it particularly like bread ; nor,
taking the average of opinion (including my own) into
account, is it particularly nice. It is not the sort of food
one would like to eat daily. It is usually roasted on the
embers. With the exception of a pithy substance about
the centre, it is all solid, though mealy food. Each fruit
is about six indies or more in diameter, and one will be

nigti/cdavGoOglc

104 THE JTATIVE RACE.

Btiffioient to satisfy an ordinary Britisher. Hurricanes,
unfortunately, often spoil the bread fruit season.

In addition to the variety of foods just enumerated,
bananas of various kinds, before attaining the ripe condition,
are boiled or roasted. Then there is the large nut of liie
ivi tree, a species of chestnut ; the wa yaka, a parasitical
plant, which, when prepared and cooked for eating, tastes
like liquorice root ; the nqai (drcecenum), the root of whicl,
after considerable roasting, seems full of saccharine matter.
There are also several other wild roots, and tree fungis,
&c., all of which assist the native in his comparatively
easy struggle for existence. Many of the settlements can.
boast of onions, cabbages and pumpkms, introduced br
enterprising natives; still these "papalangi" vegetables
are at a discount compared with those upon which tie
ancestors of the Fijians lived and thrived. As to fruils,
the cocoanut, of course, though not eaten to a great extent,
is superabundant. The milk, or water rather (among the
white settlers the expressed juice from the scraped kernel
is called the milk), is sweet and refreshing, the proper
state of the drinking nut being ascertained by rapping the^
outside of the husk and forming a conclusion from the
sound. The flesh, too, is soft in consistency and delicate
in flavour. As to the milk from the ripe nuts, such as
liose seen on the Derby race course, it is not drunk, for
not only is it less pleasant than that of the younger nuts,
but it is a most unwholesome beverage. Lemon, lime,
and orange trees grow in every island, and _are often
literally laden with finiit, which, however, presents little
charm for the Fijian. Pineapples and melons are
abundant in certain localities, and in out'Of-the-way plaoes

I.,., ,-, v.CoogIc

VEGETABLE FOODS. 105

can be bought for about a shilling a dozen. The papaw
tree, with ite tall stem branchless, except near the top,
adorns every village; its large yellowish-red fig-shaped
fruit peeping from under the overhanging broad leaves,
looks very tempting. In taste, the papaw apple approaches
the sweet melon, and is extremely luscious ; yet it ia
not a favourite with the natives, and is given to the pigs,
which seem to be unable to refuse anything in the eating
way, good, bad, or indifferent. The " kavika," a juicy cold
fruit, and indeed several others, the scientific names of
which I do not know, are eaten. Sugar cane is cultivated
in rather a slaok fashion ; to see a Fijian walking home
from the bush, stripping the outside of the cane with ^i
earnestness and eagerness which would nearly bring about
a return of face-ache to anyone predisposed to the com-
plaint, makes one arrive at the conclusion that it is highly
appreciated. On white men's estates, a nxunber of fruit
trees, introduced in recent years, from tropical coimtries,
thrive well; in course of time they will be dispersed
tliroughout the group to add to the present supply, which
is already remarkably bountiful.

Nature, however, does not confine her gifts to the
vegetable kingdom. She has indeed been most lavish in
her dispeiwation to the natives of the coimtry. Why she
should be so attentive to these South Sea Islanders is
curious, at least, to some people who have a sort of notion
that the world was made for white men. Still, she haa
been benignant to them. So much the better for the
savages I The settlements are usually built near the fresh
water creeks. Excepting in the islands of Vanua Levu,
and Viti Levu, the streams are not navigable, owing to the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

106 THE XATIVE RACE.

limited extent of the flat land ; but they are numerona,
and a person has not to travel far along the coast before
freah water is reached. For bathing purposes, and for
supplying fresh water to the various households, a creek
running through a settlement is a great convenience.
Then, again, it supplies the natives with eels, and also with
small fish and prawns, which frequent its mouth. But it
is the expanse of salt water between the beach and the
encircling coral reef for which the islanders ought to be
truly thankful. It is an inexhaustible fish pood. The
water, except in the vicinity of the reef passages, is
generally very shallow ; so that, at low water, the natives
can walk ^bout on the numerous rooks, of coral formation,
and fill their baskets with some of the good things of this
world in the way of food. This conveniently shallow
water teems with fish of all kinds, and of all colours, — not
of all sizes, for the big fish do not trust themselves .much
in it, rather preferring to flit about the deeper water in
the passages connecting it with the vast ocean outside the
reef. Most of the fish are eatable. Many, however,
especially the gaudily painted ones, are not ; it is a very
common thing to hear of a native being fish poisoned,
painfully, but not mortally.

As to the methods of fishing, they are numerous. The
men do their part of the work with spears, three or four
pronged ; while the women, who are the principal workers,
-wade about in gangs, and fish with large nets, and, at the
same time, when not netting, collect molluscs, crabs,
cutUe-fi&h, and suchlike, about and in the crevices of the
reefs. It is wonderful to consider that, for ages past, the
store of shell-fish has held out, and that, notwithstanding

n,gti7™3yG00glc

FISH AJiTD FTSRIA'G- 307

tlie daily supply obtained from it is great, it still suffices
to yield plentifully. Besides the spearing and netting
methods, others, which involve more trouble, are resorted
to. The Fijiana possess fishing hooks, perhaps introduced
from the Friendly Islands, made of pearlshell, sperm-whale's
tooth, and toi-toiseshell ; but, when they have recourse to
line fishing, usually prefer "papalangi" fishing hooks,
which are a handy medium for trading. Again, there is
a method of intoxicating the fish by means of a plant called
"nduva," which is dragged through the water. Though
not a general plan, capturing the fish in trap baskets is a
method which is very successfiil. At one Matuku settle-
ment, I have seen a number of these set, and in an afternoon
enough fish procured to afford the whole population of the
settlement a fish dinner, two or three times over. The
framing of the baskets, and collecting the correct bait for
them, necessitate considerable bother ; so that the method
is not a popular one.

Large fish — now and again a shark — are caught about
the reef passages, and turtles both inside and outside the
reef. A successful shark or turtle hunter gains much
reputation on an island. Turtles are not over plentiful
about most of the islands, and they are by no means easy
to secure. You can pull your boat quite close to one
floatmg on the surface of the water, but, somehow or other,
tiie crafty animal knows how to keep a safe distance, and
dives away at the niok of time. When captured, the
turtles are placed in a kind of cage in the very shallow
water near the beach, bo as to be easUy come-at-able when
their services are required to tickle the palate of a chief.
It is doubtful whether the irequenters of civic dinners

n,gti7™3yG00glc

108 TEE JfATIVE RACE.

■would discover any similarity between the dish of turtle
soup to which they are accustomed and turtle h la Viti.

Add to such a list of easily procured luxuries from the
land and sea the flesh of fowls and pigs for feast days, and
when times are very bad, that of dogs and cats, and of
snakes from the bush, and there is literal doubt that the
Fijian, so far as ordinary living is concerned, might go
farther and fare worse. In ordinary times, the native has
no care about how he is to obtain hia evening me^ ; but,
owing to a want of foresight, and a too literal adherence to
. the maxim *' take no thought for the morrow," bad times
do sometimes break his continuous run of good fortune.

Hurricanes play havoc in the native plantations, and
amongst the fruit trees ; and a succession of feasts tell
upon the yearly crops so severely, that what is called a
famine, "ndausinga" strikes the islands, I had the
opportunity of seeing a local famine. The ribs of the
natives were, indeed, more prominent than in time of
plenty, but, for all that, in spite of the outcry made about
it, the dearth was a harmless affair. It was surprising,
when yams and tare were not forthcoming, how very con-
siderably the wa yaka, the wild yam, and other products
of the bush, and cocoanuts, seemed to reduce the misery.
The sea still yielded abundantly, and the bad times passed
over very smoothly.

Barring the "mandrai," which is dug up when food is
scarce, there is literally no provision made for a bad
season. Kumulas and yams might, at least, be stored up
in houses at the commencement of the season ; still, any
such provision never enters the heads of the natives.

To diversify a certain sameness in the every day ' ' square

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A FIJIAJT FEAST. 109

meal " of yams and taro, an entertainment in the form of
a "mangiti," or feast, takes place. Suppose a canoe to
arrive from another island, with the intention of remaining
for a few days. If a chief of high standing is among the
strangers, the various settlements aroimd the island have
to contribute their share of poaka, yangona (kava), &c.,
to the mangiti — granted that the chief of the island so
wills it. When a person dies, there is a "mangiti"
amongst the friends and relations of the deceased, who is
wonderfully soon forgotten. This custom seems general
amongst savages, and, though the Fijian feast for the dead
is neither accompanied with so much wailing and moaning,
nor with such quantities of rum, as the Maori "tangis"
are, it is, nevertheless, attended with much excitement,
not by any means of a mournful character. The people
of a settlement are only too glad to find an excuse for a
feast, so long as they are to partake of it. In some villages,
during the measles plague, this perpetual mangiti for the
dead accelerated in a most noticeable manner the death of
those who had strength enough to prepare the feasts. It
was a miserable sight to see an assembly of half-dead
natives waiting greedily for the ovens to be uncovered.
They never calculated that semi-cooked pork was about
the safest thing they could take to help them on their
journey to kingdom come. In one rather large settlement
at Matuku, where a greater proportion of the people than
■ elsewhere on the island died in the measles and dysentery
plague, it was perfectly clear that the feasts carried off
most of the natives — that is, prevented them from having
a fair chance of recovery. Feast followed feast, until not
a fowl or pig was forthcoming.

nigtircaavGOOglC

110 TEE JVATirS RACE.

A mangiti, or feast, is a matter of great moment in a
Fijian settlement. It constitutes a happy breat in the
monotony of everyday life. As you promenade through a
village on the afternoon prior to a feast day, you will
probably come upon a group of youths of both sexes, who,
with beaming coimtenances, are busily engaged in preparing
the "vakalolos," or Fijian puddings. Some will be
scraping the flesh of the cocoanut by means of a serrated-
edged plane iron ; others wlU be stirring a brown oily
gravy in a pot over a huge fire, while the pot is constantly
replenished. This oily gravy is obtained from the scraped
cocoanut. " Ndalo '' roots, scraped and worked into a lump,
are boiled, the mass divided into portions, which, together
with a quantity of ihe most unctuous gravy or sauce, are
tied up in pieces of freshly gathered banana leaves, ready
for the banquet. From the nature of cocoanut oil, you
can imagine that this dish is by no means an agreeable one
to partake of too freely. Other vakalolos, made from the
b^iana or arrowroot, may be in course of preparation.
Perhaps you may observe some natives scraping the hard
ivi nuts against the flat rough surface of a large hemis-
pherical lump of eoi-al rock, with the intention of making
a few biscuits out of the flour so obtained. Next day,
ominous volumes of smoke wending their way upwards
from the heart of the village and from the dense bush, and
brown savages darting about excitedly with bimdles of
firewood, stones, and leaves, will acquaint you with the
fact that the ovens are being prepared. The pigs are
dragged along to their doom, and are clubbed or "stuck''
until the final kick, often a horribly prolonged process, —
for the Fijians have little, if any, sympathy for the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

TEE "LOVO" DESCRIBED. Ill

sufferings of animaJs, — shows that life is extinct. The
carcasses are rolled about on the fire and singed instead of
being scalded with hot water to loosen the bristles, and,
when entrailled, are ready for the " loTO " or oven.

A lovo is prepared as follows : — In the first place, a
hemispherical pit, three, four, or more feet in diameter,
is dug in the ground. Into this is thrown small wood,
twigs, and the like, which is set alight. As soon as a good
blaze is raised, larger wood is added from time to time,
and above this still larger, such as logs, is placed. Upon
. this heap of firewood are laid stones, capable of retaining
heat without flying in pieces. As the logs bum, so the
stones become heated, and, after a long time, when the
wood is being reduced to ash, fall to the bottom of the
oven. The prepared pig, wrapped up in breadfruit and
other large leaves, is deposited on the stones ; yams, taro,
breadfruit, &c., being placed on the top. The pit is then
filled up with leaves and covered over with earth, so as to
prevent any stored up heat from escaping. By this plan
the viands are not only baked, but also half boiled, by
virtue of the steam.

8BCTI0K OF FIJIAN LOVO.

inyGoogIc

112 TSE JfATIVE RACE.

What an ancient aystem of cooking this seems to be ! And
it is nearly universal in the South Sea Islands.

In the oldest fortifications on the hill tops of New
Zealand, such as ia the Bay of Islands, you find the dug
out ovens ; and anyone who has ridden over much fern
land in the Waikato district, knows how constantly and
dangerously these obsolete ovens are met with. The
Maori oven is slightly difierent from the Fijian in con-
struction, though in principle it is the same. The New
Caledonian oven I will mention further on.

With greedy impatience, the natives sit about in the
neighbourhood of the " lovo." After some time has
elapsed, hints are thrown out that the contents are cooked.
A yam in the oven is then probed, to ascertain the state
of affairs ; if all is well, the lovo is divested of leaves and
stones, and the viands are placed in baskets and carried to
the place where the feasting is to be enjoyed. One may
safely remark that the chances are greatly in favour of
the " pi^e de resistance," which is the pork, being over*
cooked on one side and decidedly undercooked on the other.
Someone appointed to portion out the meal so that
everyone present may participate, commences his work,
which, to say the least, needs a considerable amount of knack
and judgment, so as not to offend anyone present. The
portioning out is conducted with precision, and there is
no unseemliness in the distribution, nor any scrambling for
food. To divide, for instance, three_ roast pigs and two
or three himdred yams of different sizes, breadfruit, &c.,
amongst a mixed assembly of big chiefs, lesser chiefs,
&c., &c., so that each receives to his satisfaction a share
proportional to his rank, demands no little skill ; to

nigti/cdavGoOglc

ROAST PIG. H3

distribute tlie food in an order so as not to offend tlie
dignity of any member of the community, requires good
sense. Doubtless these conditions are obtained by
conatant practice.

Though three-pronged wooden forks were made use of
in cannibal feasts, and wooden dishes and plates are to be
seen in some chiefs' houses in various islands, fingers for
forks, and banana leaves for dishes are customary.
Cocoanut water and yangona (kava) are drunk at feasts.
At some banquets there are several courses, such aa fish
soup,- fi^h, fowl, crabs, &c., &c., and, on special occasions,
turtle. As a rule, pork is the principal item on the bill
of fare.

For once in a way it is interesting to watch the
scene in the Lovos. It gives you a fair notion of the
excitement which took place at former feasts, when some
of the natives, who are busily engaged now, had prepared
the like, but larger ovens, in which to cook their own
kind — the long piggy.

If you want to get any work out of a native who is
engaged at a feast, you will find it no easy matter, for the
Fijian dearly enjoys his " mangiti."

,3y Google

CHAPTER VIII.
rAJVGOJVA. or KAVA.

A page or two back mention was made of a certain
drink called " yangona." "Wlio has heard about Fiji and
does not associate it with cannibalism of former days, or
with "yangona," or, as it is usually called, "kava"
drinking?

Fortunately, the man-eating game has disappeared — let
it be hoped, for good. The kava drinking is still indulged
in, and we can only express a wish that it may continue ;
for the chances are, that by and bye, its substitute wiU be
"yangona papalangi," that is, white man's grog, and we
are too well aware what havoc the "firewater" plays
amongst savages who once take a liking to it. Known in
Polynesia generally by the name of kava or ava, and to
the scientific world as micropiper methysticum, unknown in
New Zealand and New Caledonia so far as its potent
qualities are concerned, the yangona plant has been the
principal, indeed nearly the only one, from which an
intoxicating drink has been systematically extracted by
the Melanesians and Polynesians. It is said that, in some
of the more north-westerly islands of the South Pacific,
the leaves are used to chew with the betel nut. In Fiji,
as in most of the South Sea Islands, the root is the only
part of the plant turned to accoimt. This, unless dried

n,,r,-.T-.yG00glc

FIJIAJf GROG. 115

in the Bun for some time, must be used before the lapse of
many days after it has been dug up ; otherwise, it
becomes unfit for use. In obtaining the intoxicating
beverage, the modus operandi is hardly a nice prooess,
certainly not a civilized one.

Let us, however, throw prejudice aside for a season, and
proceed to a native chief's house and, after words of
explanation have passed, cry out " mapia yaugona ! "
"chew yangona!" We may as well dispense with the
mekemeke or song, accompanied with clapping of hands,
small drum beating, and low toned chants, which some-
times is siuig throughout the ceremony, when chiefs
drink, and lengthen it out. Should the ditties have
commenced, it would not be good breeding to put a veto
on them, unless you knew the people of the house
intimately. Those who are to partake of the loving cup,
seat themselves in Turkish fashion on the smooth mats
which cover the floor of the house ; and the preparers of
the grog squat down in such a manner that everyone is
able to watch the operation. According to Fijian
etiquette, men are usually employed to chew ; to wind-
ward, however, women occasionally though not usually, .
perform this operation. Certainly the girls, if young and
moderately good looking, with fine rows of ivory for the
implements which nature has provided, are preferable to
the more uncouth sex. Each damsel, with sleek skin —
clothed with a girdle of banana leaves or other liku, but
more probably wifli a fathom of European print cloth —
and, perhaps, bedecked with sweet smelling flowers for
necklets — takes her place. A knife is borrowed, and the
yangona root is divided into small pieces. Popping these

H 2

n,,r,-.T-.yG00glc

116 rAJ^OOJVA, or KA YA.

into their moutha, the pleasant looking girls commence to
chew gracefully and in no way offensively. Before them
ia a kumete, or yangona howl. This bowl, or haaia,
which is cut ont of solid wood, and stands on three or four
legs, is about two or three feet in diameter. As each
portion of the root is chewed into a porridgy pulp, it is
deposited in the kumete. While this somewhat long
process of chewing is proceeding, the company conTerse ;
or, perhaps, listen to an old toady of the chief who
monopolizes the conversation. By and bye we perceive
that there are various pulpy lumps, each of about one or
two inches thick, and at the rate of about one to each
person who intends to drink, lying at the bottom of the
bowl. Hereupon a maiden fetches some of the many
cocoanut shells which serve aa vessels for water, and
pulling out the green leaf stopper, pours fresh water into
the kumete. This is continued until a connoisseur in
the art of concocting grog cries out " ea kua ! " (It is
enough.) Some loose stringy fibre (the "vau" ) is now
brought, and one of the girls mixes up the pulp and
water, then carefully strains the mixture, and collects the
solid particles of the root by means of the fibre and throws
them away, so that there remains in the kumete only a
greenish-grey muddy-looking liquid. This is yangona,
or Fijian grog.

A half cocoanut shell, well polished by age, and yangona
stained, is held in front of the liquid by one maiden.
Another maiden collects in the " vau " fibre some of the
yangona, and squeezes it into the cup. Then one of the
men shouts out in a loud voice, " ko thei? " (who?), and
some other person, who knows the correct order in which

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EFFECTS OF DEUVKIJ^G. 117

the people present should drink — there is considerable
etiquette about procedure, the chief not usually drinking
first — cries out the name of the man who is to imbibe.
The person designated claps his hands together, and the
cup ia brought to him. He drinks the contents right
off — to do so partially or hesitatingly is injra dig. — and
throws the cup back again near the kumete, as gracefully ■
as he possibly can. At the same time the people exclaim
loudly "matha!" (it is dry!) and clap their hands many
times and loudly. So each one's name is cried out in the
same way, and each one drinks his half or whole pint, till
the yangona ia finished. If the chief thinks he, or the
company, would relish another round, he gives orders to
"mamatale!" (chew again!).

Yangona haa been described, and not inappropriately
perhaps, as being in taste like what we might imagine
a mixture of rhubarb and magnesia and soapsuds to be.
The effects of the drinking are more allied to those of
opium than of alcohol ; and they are more satisfactory
than the taste, which, to say the least, ia peculiar ; and,
to a beginner in the art of drinking, unpleasant. Some
people have a feeling of nausea after finishing a few
cupfuls ; most people have a tendency to lose their
stable equilibrium, yet display neither unseemly behaviour
nor incoherency of speech — rather show an inclination to
remain mute in a mood of happy dreaminess. Taken
moderately, yangona is admitted by authorities to act as a
purifier of the blood. An immoderate drinker ia, in the
long run, affected by its debilitating property ; and, if
his brain does not become weakened in action, his skin at
any rate becomes scaly.

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118 YAJfQOKA. OT KAVA.

In the Friendly Islands, to the eastward of Fiji, the
root is grated in preference to being chewed. This is
decidedly a more cleanly process than the Fijian one ;
and, now that infectious diseases from the " papalangi "
countries arriye, it would be well if the grating method
could be introduced and encouraged in Fiji.

inyGoogIc

CHAPTER IX.

jrjTIVB! CHARACTER.

Let u8 now consider some of the peculiarities observ-
able in the native character.

To understand native ways is no easy matter to
strangers. Anybody -who has had dealings with other
primitive people, has a great pull over those who step
direct over from civilized life to the Isles of the Pacific.
Travelling through Maori land had initiated me in the
fact that the mmds of savages and of white people are
of a different stamp ; but, settling down on an island in
Fiji, away from the haunts of white men, and positively
obliged to acquire the language and manners of the race,
I found myself, after a twelve months' sojourn, conversant
with the weak and strong points of the natives, and also
with their language. To imagine tliat the Fijians are an
ignorant, brainless race, as many, who know them by
name only, or from a few yams of cannibal feasts, do, is
quite a mistake. Their minds are not well balanced,
perhaps, but they are capable of learning.

A visit to one of their schools will satisfy anyone of
this. The schoolmaster is generally a native who has
been educated tiirough missionary agency. He is for the
most part rather proud of his lociis standi, and needs to be
kept in his place. I was rather astonished at being asked

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120 J^ATIYE CHARACTER.

one day by one of these gentlemen if I had in my posses-
sion an Assyrian History, as he wanted to enquire into
certain matters. The schooling is a very imconventional
affair, and the scholars, varying from eight to twenty,
really enjoy it ; they seem to be on free and easy terms
with their instructor, without allowing familiarity to
diminish their respect for him. The girls and boys sit
together, and occasionally smoke "salukas"(or cigarettes),
when an " easy all " is allowed. They sing their leaeous in
a species of native " mekemeke " or song, and sometimes
get uproarious with clapping of hands. For all that, they
master the three E's with comparative ease ; so much so
that they really seem to accomplish in a given time just
as much as white children. At the present moment,
nearly all the Fijian children, except in Viti Levu,
perhaps, can read, write, and work sums in arithmetic ;
they also have a good smattering of Geography, and can
tell you how many shipwrecks there are on the British
Coast per annum ; something about our royal family, and
much about missionary lore. It is truly a pretty and
surprising sight to see about fifty girls and boys, youths
and maidens, decked out with their girdles of clean cloth,
and with sweet smelling necklaces of flowers, assembled
amongst the cocoanut trees, dancing and singing their
multiplication table lesson with the utmost enthusiasm
— rushing round, clapping their hands, throwing their legs
about, and, after part song fashion, singing through the
whole table from twice two makes four, or as they say
"rua vaka ma eva," up to twelve times twelve, and
ending o& in a half frantic condition. They enter into
the spirit of the lessons, where singing is concerned,

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THE JOTS OF SCHOOL LIFE. 121

in a manner which contrasts pleasingly with tiie dnll
uninteresting way in some of our schools. Birt then we
are trained as a duty ; they look to the pleasure which
the excitement affords.

Alas! after the jolly eurricxilum of school Ufe is orer,
and the ties of matrimony are formed, book work or
instruction has little charm to them. The adult Fijian
goes in for an easy existence; he thinks no more of
improving his mind, and shows little inclination to pick
up new ideas ; indeed, he seems to be obstinate in
adhering closely to the notions handed down to him from
his forefathers. That the Fijians have the feculty of
learning, however, is perfectly evident, and that the
present generation possesses as much literary knowledge
as thousands of our own people in England did not long
since, says much for missionary enterprise.

"When we consider that up to a recent date the Fijians
were not acquainted with metal tools, and that with stone
implements they hewed out large canoes, adzed down
house timbers, clubs, &c., we must give them credit for
their workmanship. The very fact of their having
produced such passably well-built houses and canoes,
such pottery, such cloth, such clubs and spears, is
sufficient to prove that they possess some measure of
intelligence. And while giving them credit for this
slight intelligence, it is only just to bear in mind that
they are not the senseless savages that many people in
Great Britain imagine them to be.

It is certainly not my intention to designate the Fijian
a highly intellectual animal, nor to consider him a noble
savage, for the more one knows of the uncivilized races,

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122 JfATlVE CSABACTER.

the more one is led to believe that the noble savage is a
myth. Amongst the Pacific Islanders, it is possible to
select, here and there, exceptionally and strikingly good
specimens ; but even the best of them are not to be
trusted too much. In New Zealand scores of stories bear
this out — that a native may be your best friend to-day and
your worst enemy to-morrow. The same rule applies
more or less, to other islands in the South Seas, where
instances of natives murdering their benefactors are far
from imcommon. The wisest policy is not to put too
much confidence in any native, however markedly he
professes friendship, but to treat him as an inferior in
every respect, and, at the same time, as a rational being.

As is generally known, the Fijians, in days gone by,
were cannibals of the worst kind. In these days, except
perhaps in Viti Levu — where most probably, now that
British Government holds the reins, it has ceased to exist
— Ilie "bokolo" or feast of human flesh, never takes place,
and the natives seem (goodness knows if they feel)
ashamed of their former barbarous habits. The remains
of the hemispherical ovens alone tell the tale of the
horrible feasts. Still, it must be remembered that less
than half a century ago, the man-eating propensity was
deeply rooted in the heart of each Fijian throughout the
group. Ex-king Thakombau, and nearly all the elderly
chiefs can testify to this, having been most partial to man
flesh themselves. The barbarous scenes which must have
taken place when an oven was to be prepared must have
been horrible in the extreme ; and we have to thank the
missionaries and the Tongans from the Friendly Islands,
who assisted the missionary movement by that most

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CAJrmB^LlSM. 123

powerful argmnent, force of arms, for haTing put an
end to cannibalism, which — for how maiiy ages ? — was a
recognised habit in Fiji. There is one excuse for Fijians,
so far as the past is concerned ; and it is that they never,
until lately, met anyone who could really explain to them
that eating their own kind was an unseemly exhibition ;
for they had no intercourse with civilization. A couple
of thousand years ago, I suspect we were far from
perfect ; even yet we kill our enemies, though we do not
drink their blood out of skulls. It is really a wonder
that Fijian communities are so orderly as we find them,
and that their standard of morality — thanks, in some
measure to "tambu" (taboo) — is so high. Curious to
state, in my short experience in settlements, where I have
had time to fathom the natives' individual character, the
retired cannibals have often proved to be more trust-
worthy memhers of society than many of the rising
generation. This is not always the case, however ; for
some of the wrinkled old chiefe are most disagreeable and
obstinate.

Landing on an island to start business, stepping on
shore sans dwelling house, sans a word of the language,
satis everything, you find your intellect sharpened by
necessity, and commence to acquire the native tongue
and leading traits ^ar»joo5sw. At first trusting to signs,
you find that each day adds a few words of the language
to your vocabulary. The natives take stock of you, and
everyone tries to get to windward of you in every
bargain. It is rather unpleasant at times to find yourself
in a crowd of grinning Fijians who are discussing your
good and weak points. Although unable to make out a

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124 J^ATIVE CHARACTER.

Bi'ngle word of the lingo, you often know exactly wLat
they are talking about by the tone of voice and expression
of countenance. By degrees you become better able to
parry off the constant trickery and trifling insults to
which you are exposed. Hailing from a naturally Kbel-al
race of people, you are at the start inclined to be too good
natured and good tempered, but you soon find it necessary
to pull up ; simply because you discover that the idea of
gratitude is hai'dly present in the native mind. Indeed,
there is no word in the Fijian language really expressive
of what we term gratitude. Give a present to a native and
he will reply "sa vinaka!'' (It is good). When your
goods and chattels arrive, the Fijians commence to throng
on the scene of action and to " sarasara." Ask one what
he wants, and if nothing else definite occurs to him, he is
sure to answer *' sarasara ! " (looking at). If inclined to
be too lenient, you will have the same irritating crowd
loitering about , the premises the whole day long, and,
if imchecked, critically examining by touch as well
as by eye everything belonging to you ; and the
same crowd will return next day at sunrise to continue
the same nonsense. It is perfectly necessary to show
yourself master and to put a limit on this curiosity ; for
if you allow them great liberty for many days, and then
turn round suddenly and withdraw that liberly, they
cannot make out what such a sudden change signifies,
and will grumble and growl. They like to be treated at
first in the same way as you intend to treat them all
through the chapter, and this they have in common with
most primitive savages, who hate a fiuctuating poUcy.
The interest that these uncivilised people attach to

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J^O GRATITUDE-CHILIUSH CURIOSITY 125

small matters is intense. OrDaments, such as a fine
sperm whale's tooth, or boar's tusk, or Manchester print
cloth, &o., &c., elicit great attention. They would travel
farther to "sarasara" some pieces of print of a new
pattern than a new species of telephone. I reoolleot how
one day at Ndaku, Matultu, one of the most southerly
islands in the group, shouts of Sail Ho ! Sail Ho ! — a cry
learnt from whaling lingo — issued from the highland,' and
exclamations of " latha mbuka levn ! " (sail fire great)
were raised most vociferously in the bush not far off.
Presently H, M. S- Barracouta came in sight, and steamed
along just outside the reef, evidently hound for the Yaroi
anchorage. As there had been only three large ships
anchored in this bay ia days gone by, while most of the
elder people of Matuku had seen a " papalangi " steamer,
many of the younger folk had not, and there were shouts
of "Timone! Timone!" (Spirit! Spirit!) Some of the
children actually cried with fear, and kept at a respectable
distance from the water's edge, notwithstanding that the
large vessel was gliding along at a distance of more than a
couple of miles from the shore. The whole of the people
in the settlement turned out of their "vales" and stood
on the beach ejaculating exclamations of surprise ; but
before many minutes were over, and H. M. S. Barracouta
had steered round the comer, aU bad returned to their
houses, having completely satiated their curiosity. An
innate pride in restraining prolonged or excessive astonish-
ment is observable, especially among the chiefs, though in
a less marked degree among the " kaisig," or common
people, which perhaps explains this ; yet one is inclined
to think that it is due to natural, not to assumed, indiffer-

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126 NATIVE CHARACTER.

enoe. If, inetead of tlie war ship passing, a cargo of
trade had arrived on hoard a small cutter, the case would,
have been very different. The natives take a delight in
examining the minutise of the goods, even criticize the
strength of the print-cloth, and utter exclamations ot
approbation, disapproval, or wonderment, the whole
day long.

Now for the abominable habit of "kerikeri." We are
already acquainted with the " buchseesh " of Eastern
climes. Well, the " kerikeri " is of the same order ; but
while the natives, one and all, " kerikeri " (beg for), they
do not adopt a whining tone expressive of great greed ;
they rather put it as if they were at a loss for something
better to occupy their time. " Kerikeri tobako " is a
stock phrase, which flows naturally from the gaping
mouth of a Fijian, When you enter a settlement and
bear the damsels addressing you as "monqui tau," which
simply means " my friend," you may be quite sure that
some "kerikeri" will follow. There is a saying "Nonqm
tau, solia nomui yau" (my friend, give me some of your
goods). Endearing addresses are merely acts of policy
with the Fijian ; and, as in most parts of the world, the
female sex in an out of the way place like Fiji, knows
exactly bow to use the persuasive art. The more you
give to a native the more he wants. In savage minds a
bargain is a bargain. Give a present, and the Fijian does
not comprehend that it is a gift for which no return is
expected, and he generally thinks that the donor requires
an exchange in some way or other. It is for this reason
that the white man, in treating with natives, finds it coU'
Tenient to adopt the native style to a certain degree*

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THS TEEORY OF PBSSSJVTS. 127

Supposing that a Fijian brings you a present of a
two dollar pig ; you accept it with a " sa vinaka " (it is
good), and probably add " malua " (by and bye), just to
imply that the circumstance will be remembered ; so
after a time you give him a return present of about the
value of two dollars, perhaps a trifle less, certainly not
more ; for, were you to commence giving return gifts of
higher value, presents would roll in too frequently. A
regular " kerikeri-ing " Fijian is nearly as bad as a iMiiori
one. He begs for a match — if succesafid, for tobacco ; and
then, if he gains his request, for a pipe. He cautiously
feels his way to see to what extent you will be weak
enough to give to him.

It is an odd truth, that very often the more kindly,
according to our notions, you treat the native in the
matter of granting favours and giving presents, tbe less
he respects you ; it is a losing policy to be too liberally
disposed towards a race who possess no word in their
language expressive of gratitude. Should you commence
and continue for some time to bestow pre'sents, and then
all of a sudden drop doing so, yon may bring upon your-
self more harm than good. To win the good graces of a
chief, a present given to him in a way which he under-
stands, that is, with a little explanation, is advisable ; other
means must be resorted to iu order to keep in bis favour.
Whatever you do, don't offer him inferior cloth, as some
big " Fapalangi *' chief did not long ago !

South Sea Islanders are pretty good judges of
English and other trade goods. That is, they know
from the experience of the last ten or twenty years the
wearing qualities of " sulu '' or fathom of cloth, of axes,

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128 J^ATIVE CHARACTER.

knives, and so forti. They do not appreciate too much
size mixed with the cotton, nor twelve inch knives which
snap easily, nor razors which refuse to cut better than a
broken bit of gin bottle. Already they have had the
sense to choose the American axe in preference to any
other.

Procrastination is a quality which the Kai Viti
cherishes above all others, much to the annoyance of
white settlers who have any ideas of promptness. That
horrid word"malua" (by and bye) and its sentiment,
tend to spoil the temper of those who have to manage
natives. Whenever a native is told to run an errand, the
response is nearly always " malua," or " malua vakalailai "
(by and bye a little). Tell the man at the tiller to keep
the boat's head off a reef, and " malua " comes in when
probably too late. The more annoyed you show yourself
at this dilatoriness, the more emphatically is the ejacula-
tion repeated.

On some occasions, though rarely, it is advisable to
yield to " malua j" for instance, when your house is being
built in Fijian style. The builders know how to proceed
through the various stages, by rote. They have to
select hard timber for the upright comer posts, and
straight cocoanut trees for the horizontal beams ; have to
drag the timber from the bush to the scene of action in
Fijian manner, that is, by the combined force of a crowd
of men who pull together, the time being kept by a series
of grunts and groans, grunted and groaned in concert ;
they have to adze the wood down to the proper shape
slowly and surely ; have to select straight reeds for the
walls ; have to bind the reeds together with plaited cocoa-

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"MALUA! MALUAl" 129

nut fibre ; and, above all, have to feast at the different
stages of completion. Hurry the builders and endeavour
to put a stop to the incessant "malua" which steps in
when anything is suggested, and then the " matai ni vale '!
(the master of housebuilding) will lose interest in his
work, while the natives will become hewildered; and,
unless you have had real experience in the Fijian house-
building, the chances are that the sinnet fastenings would
pursue an in-egular and uuomamental course along the
walls ; that the vertical posts would be of light, useless
wood, and that the roof would be decidedly leaky ; in
short, the fabric would not be warranted to stand through
many hurricane seasons.

Here is an instance of procrastination. When the
measles plague had commenced to mow down the inhabi-
tants of Ovalau, one of the principal chiefs of an island
forty miles distant from Levuka happened to be in the
capital. Before returning to his own island, a member
of the government handed to him certain printed papers
containing such simple instructions in the Fijian language
as these : — " It is taboo to bathe ; it is right to put on
plenty of clothes, &e., &c." To these were added many verbal
instructions, so that, on his return home, he should be able
thoroughly to explain to the people in the various settle-
ments how they might get the better of the plague. On en-
quiring of this stupid— -though indeed he was one of the
most trustworthy chiefs — whether he had impressed on the
natives how they could act on the defensive, I only met with
the reply " malua ! malua !" in a tone which suggested that
be would do so when the plague had finished its deadly work,
for the epidemic was already playing havoc on the island.

' ogle

130 MATIYE CHARACTER.

A faTOttiite saying is "malua maruBa'' (procrastinatioii
ifl destruction); for all that "malua" is on the tip of
every one's tongue. It is even said that white settlers,
after a few years' residence in the islands, become tainted
with the habit of " malua-ing."

One would naturally suppose that the Fijians, consider-
ing their status among the races of the world, would rank
very low in moraliiy. I think not. So far as murder is
concerned, it is generally brought about through jealousy ;
woman is generaUy the cause of it. Murdering for greed
is rare. As for tiie habit of lying or of stealing, the
ordinary Fijian is not addicted to these so much as one
would expect. However, he occasionally tells a few bare-
faced lies, and does not feel abashed when these happen
to be discovered. Stealing is usually confined to petty
thefts. To commit a theft on a large scale is a very
dangerous game. The reason of this is that in a settle-
ment, as in any small community, each individual pries
into and manages to know all about the worldly belong-
ings of his neighbours ; so, when a person is discovered
suddenly to become the possessor of any article of value,
there is evinced a certain amount of curiosity as to the
means by which he acquired it. "Woe to the party if he
cannot account for himself, for he will find most of his
neighbours only too glad to get him into trouble. There
is very little fellow-feeling in a Fijian community. One
must say this much, however, that a white man can leave
the door of his dwelling open, night and day, more safely
than in many civilized places ; indeed, at n^ht he rarely has
occasion to "sporthis oak." If there areany travelled Fijians
or half-castes in the settlement, you are not always so seoure.

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MORALS. 131

Perhaps the worst feature in the Fijian is his want of
sympathy. Any white man who happened to be in the
midst of the epidemic of 1873 could hardly fail to observe
this. A native would with indifference see his or her
relations die off, one after the other. It was quite a
common occurrence for a whole household, bar one or two
members, to be swept off by the plague. The survivors,
instead of mourning, only swaggered about, proud of
having dodged the fatal scythe. A few old women would
cry out "yelo, yelo," and other plaintive "tangis" (or
cayings) for a few hours ; but this demonstration arose
from custom more than from genuine feeling. Generally,
after the corpse, wrapped up in a mat, was deposited in
the *' mbulumbulu " (or burial ground), there was little
appearance of grief on the part of the relatives, and the
bags of ooprah belonging to the deceased were soon taken
to market, and a feast for the dead entered upon in quite
a businesslike way. But we must not take too much
notice of this, when such a ceremony as an Irish wake
still exists in our own islands.

A civilised person could not help disliking and feeling
a contempt for the Fijiiius for some time after the plague
had ceased. Not a particle of thanks was exchanged for
medicine, food, or "sulu" given, or attention, bestowed;
in many cases, downright ingratitude was shown. People
whom the white settler had cured, would sometimes take
a delight in abusing the " wai ni mate papalangi " (white
man's medicine), and also the papalangi himself for having
bothered his head about curing the natives. During most
of the time when the plague was raging, I was in a settle-
ment where, on one side of the creek live the Fijians, and

I 2

n,gti7cc-.yG00glc

182 KATIYE CSABACTEB.

on the other Tongans from the Fiiendly Islands ; and I
certainly must give the Tongans far more credit for sense
displayed throughout the trying period as Tell as for
sympathy, and also for a certain amount of gratitude.

There are some incidents connected with the epidemic
which one can never forget. How the convalescent
natives woiJd demolish the prepared food which yon had
sent up to their sick folk, who, starving to death, had to
manage somehow for themselves. How some native
whom you had considered rather a good sort of fellow,
would come with a broad grin right across his ugly fiice,
to borrow a spade with which to dig his father's grave.
How that unfortunate old woman was carried off in the
winding sheet, and, while the grave was being prepared,
how she managed to show her restlessness until the mat
had to be loosened, and the poor old creature once more
allowed to walk abroad. She, however, showed her
revenge in rather a curious way. For, when once again in
the bosom of her family, she explained that she had really
been in the land of the spirits, and enumerated the names
of certain people whom she had seen in " lomalai'gi ''
(heaven), and those of certain others, evidently no par-
ticular friends, whom she knew were in the "mhuka" (or
fire). The obstinacy of the Fijians in taking their own
family medicines, their persistency in eating and drinking
articles of food tabooed by the " papalangi," their deter-
mination in bathing when they ought to be wrapped up in
blankets, their utter want of sympathy, their ingratitude,
the filthy condition of the houses, the habit of trying, in a
bullying manner, to make once supposed friends confess
on their deathbed some of the sins ot- their lifetime, which

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COKBVCT DUniKQ EPIDEMIC. 133

had been kept secret up to that time, the evident absence
of religion, and a further ho8t of most impleasaut incidents,
make a white man look back to the measles plague with
a feeling of thorough disgust. And yet, as we mentioned
before, what can one expect from people who were steeped
in devilry up to thirty years ago ?

Mixed with the unsatisfactory incidents of the retro-
spect, there are just one or two pleasing recollections.
For instance, old Tito, a renowned warrior of former days,
celebrated for his behaviom- at cannibal feasts and such like
great occasions, had been one of the anthropophagi of the
worst type, and in his youth was capable of perpetrating
the worst acta of cruelty ; but in connection with the
pl^;ue, he has left a decidedly good impression. The care
which he took of a little grandchild, nursing her by day
and night, was extraordinary for a Fijian. Not only did
he, unlike most of the old school, give ner up to white
man's treatment, but also insisted on her taking medicine
and keeping the papalangi " taboos." He denied himself
rather an important trip in the large canoe to another
island, in order to attend to his patient, and in short
really rescued her from the jaws of deaUi in a most
exemplary way. No sooner had he fulfilled this task
than he himself fell ill, and with that queer superstitious
nature of savages, took it into his head that it was high
time that he should repair to another world, or at any
rate depart from this one ; so, refusii^ all medicines or
food, he drifted into eternity with composure. That old
Tito, whose cruelties in early days seem incredible,
should have exhibited such constant tenderness to a help-
less child, shows one that, though sympathy does not

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134 • ^'ATIVE CHARACTER.

aboimd in the nature of an average Fijian, yet in some
cases an atom or two of it may be found. Like all South
Sea Islanders, the Fijians have natures made up of
extreme inconsistencies.

Here is anollier specimen of Fijian sympathy. Two
men clinging to the bottom of a capsized boat are
encountered by a Fijian canoe. Instead of at once
rescuing the helpless victims, the crew begin the usual
interrogation which accompanies a bargain, " a thava na
kenai voli?" (what is the payment to be?)

Curiously enough, one observes that in Fiji deformed
people, of whom there are a good number, and also
demented objects, do not seem to be molested. Whether
it is that they are looked upon as "lusus naturae," or
whether it be for some other reason, I know not ; but
this tolerance of afflicted beings roaming about at large
compares well with what we have seen in civilized
communities. It is only when the demented people
become really troublesome that they are maltreated.

The Fijian lacks the bravery of the Maori or Tongan ;
and in many ways and under certain circumstances he
exhibits cowardice. He excels the Tongan in not being
so decidedly arrogant. The Tongans, who without doubt
are finer people, physically and mentally, than the
darker natives of Melanesia, really fancy themselves
equal in social status to white men, and are not easily
persuaded to relinquish this mistaken notion. The
Fijian tries to make himself appear an important person-
age, and signally fails in the attempt.

While visiting a settlement, you cannot help observing
a sort of good breeding in the bearing of a chief, as well

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LORDS A}fD COMMOJfS. 135

as a certain degree of what some people might designate
hospitality. It is true that a return in " laro " (money),
or " sulu " (cloth), or " tobako," or something in trade,
is expected for any act of liberality ; at the same time,
food, such a& a fowl, yams, fruit, &c., is set before you
with a good grace ; and a chiers behaviour towards a
white man is, as a rule, marked by an outward polite-
ness, whatever may be his inward feeling.

The " kaiais " (lower order of the people), having
from time immemorial been accxistomed to subjection,
and no doubt always kept within bomids by fear of the
club, are wonderfidly well behaved before their own
chiefs, though decidedly more reckless in their demeanour
to a "papalangi." They are neither so polite as the
chiefs, nor so striking in personal appearance ; indeed, it
is not a difficult matter for a white man to distinguish
the chiefs from the other inhabitants of any settlement
Dress will be no guide, aa the fathom of print doth or
white " sulu," turkey red or navy blue, is the ordinary
article of clothing adopted by both chiefe and commoners ;
it is the outward appearance and general demeanour of a
chief that marks his superiority. .

One most redeeming point about the native of Fiji —
and this applies to the Papuans generally — is his happy
expression of countenance and contented disposition.
Whether in house, on plantation, or on board ship, a
good humoured smile is depicted on his large-featured
fiuie, across which a broad grin will stretch itself ; unfortu>
nately, often at an ill chosen moment. The women, to
judge from their exuberant spirits, seem perfectly &ee
from care. It is quite a treat to see the village maidens

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136 JfATIVE CHARACTER.

at work with the nets. THey fish away, hours at a stretch,
in the water, singing lustily their small collection oi
Fijian ditties whenever a chance occurs, and yet do not
frighten off the finny trihe. After sunset, merriment
pervades the settlements. Yangona is drunk in some of
the houses, the ceremony being accompanied with music,
when a chief is partaking of the soothing beverage. The
genuine Papuan laugh bursts out from various " vales," as
the houses are called, and in the course of the evening there
is generally a " mekemeke " (dance) to enliven the inhabi-
ants. This is a very different affair from a formal quadrille,
I assure you, and the dancers and songsters eater into the
spirit of it with unrestrained excitement and pleasure.
The clapping of hands, the beating (rf the small Fijian
drum (a scooped out portion of wood in the shape of a
canoe), the jerky part songs, qxiite imlike our own in
time and tune, fill the air with merriment, and the wavy
motions of the performers, who wriggle about and bend
their bodies most graceftdly, give life to the dance.

The girls bestow great pains on their personal appear-
ance. They deck themselves out with necklets formed of
leaves fi-agrant with sweet-scented flowers or beans.
They anoint their bodies with oil, to give the skin a
■ smooth shiny look. With their hair nicely trimmed and
ornamented with red flowers of " hibiscus," with a girdle
of leaves, or of thin Fijian cloth, or of ordinary clean print
cloth, or " liku " of large grass dyed yellow and red,
their appearance forms a very fair compromise between
nature and ornament. The men, too, who like to
attract the attention of the opposite sex, don their best
plumage ; they are remarkably fond of daubing their

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"MEKEMEKE." 137

faces with vermilion, blue and blaok, in some sort of

Arms and legs are twisted and twirled with remarkable
ease and elegance, and the dance would not disgrace a
ballet in one of our theatres, unless perhaps for the scanti-
ness of clothing. The songs which accompany the moye-
ments are executed with a harmony and perfection of
time very pleasing to hear. The sameness of the
performance, however, causes the frequent repetition of it
to pall upon the taste of the foreigner. The words of the
Fijian songs are arranged in a very peculiar style of
language. Much poetical licence is made use of, and the
metre is strange. One peculiarity is that, in a song, the
last syllable of one word is frequently blended with the
first of the next in the same note, bo that the meaning of
the poetry is most difficult to catch on account of this
peculiarity, as well as on accoimt of the poetical language.
Many of the ditties are ancient. To hear them translated,
you would conclude that, in one respect, they are akin to
several of the Welsh songs— in being interesting for a
certain quaint style, though, for sense, rather stupid.

While listening to a " meke" you may, perchance, have
the pleasure of hearing your own name thrown into the
song in an improvised fashion. On an island, I heard a
rather amusing poem about the "papalangi;" very
amusing indeed to the FijiMis, who do not quite compre-
hend how totally different white man's laud is from their
own sunny shores. The poem, founded on fact, describes
in a comical way simple yet decided mistakes which
some white man, landing from a large ship, had committed,
much to the entertainment of the natives. On landing,

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138 JV^TIVE CHARACTER.

he asked for cocoanut milk to drink. A native imme-
diately procured some proper drinking nuts, that is to say,
the yonng nuts in the " mhu " state ; whereupon he
refused them and insisted on imbibing the unwholesome
milk of a mature nut, sueh as one sees in England. He
then tried to eat a raw breadfruit, which seemed as absurd
to a Fijian as a Fijian eating a raw potato would seem to
an Englishmim. He distinguished himself by a series of
such like blunders, and finished off by purchasing all the
boar pigs he could obtain — a transaction that must
certainly have appeared strange to the native, who prefers
any sort of pork to the flesh of the boar. In every action
he made himself a laughing stock, and the islanders have
commemorated his visit in verse. The expression " na
lialia papalangi" (the foolish foreigner) occurs very
frequently.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER X.

MISSIOJ^ARIES.

Having thus endeavoured to convey some notion of the
peculiarities of the Fijian, I cannot refrain from touching
on a subject which is of the highest importance. I refer
to the system of conversion by the agency of missionaries.

There are well-meaning persons in a country like
England, where civilization has been working wonders
during many centuries, who are anxious to do all they
possibly can to improve the condition and further the well-
being of less civilised races in foreign climes ; thus it is
that they start by sending out missionaries. They might
modify their philanthropic notions were they located
amongst savages for a short time; perhaps they might not.
In the islands of the Pacific there are, and have been for
many years past, white missionaries, chiefly Wesleyan,
Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian — though, of course,
the Church of England has representatives — tryiog to
instil their dogmas into the minds of untutored savages.
As for the missionaries themselves, they have done a
wonderful deal of good in one way ; for instance, thanks
to their labour in educating native teachera, the Fijians
are well up in the three R's, besides possessing some
geographical and other knowledge. It is not my intentirai
to denounce these indefatigable workers for the propaga*

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140 MISSIOJ^ARIES.

tion of the Gospel, though some of them hare occasionally
shown great narrowness of mind in looking upon traders
as being all tarred with the same brush, and in expressing
their opinions about them too freely to the natives.
Many an honest trader, living in an out of the way island,
who has not seen a white face except his own in the
looking-glase, or at any rate only one or two others for
weeks, has watched the white sails of a schooner draw
nearer and nearer to his island, has heard the anchor drop,
has anxiously seen the dingy lowered and ptdled ashore,
has wondered who the white man at the tiller will turn
out to be, and then has been galled to find that the same
white man, instead of paying his respects to the only
inhabitant of the island who hails from the same country,
has walked direct into some native house and there
renoained during the morning. An act like this teaches
the native to consider the trader as of not much account.
Of course, to civiliBed people, it shows to a certain extent
a want of good breeding on the part of the preacher of
the Gospel.

However, one must not conclude that all missionaries
commit such impolitic and impolite acts, though many
do, nor can one blame some of them for following the
dictates of humui nature in feathering their neets uncom-
monly well, while they pursue what is oftentimes an
arduous and thankless calling. There are some mission-
aries in the group, both Roman Catholic and Wesleyan,
who have had only one object in view, and that is to
better the moral condition of the natives, while they haVe
laboured incessantly Mid have encountered discomforts
and dangers throughout their conscientious task. Again,

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TEE TEACmjVa OF DOOMA. 141

many of the missionarieB in the Pacific deserve great
praise for having, in several instances, been the pioneers
of civilisation in the islands. Their residence amongst
savages has often allowed white people to foUow suit
quite securely, and they have been the means of creating
a friendly relationship between tribes opposed to one
another for ages and ages.

But could not other men have performed the same
amoimt of good without being in such a haste to impart
their Christian dogmas? In the matter of religion, the
native in many cases becomes more a hypocrite than any-
tliing else, because his mind is not sufficiently developed to
understand the full meaning of it. He is not in a condition
to embrace a new religion very rapidly, he is too easily led.
His knowledge of the world is so very limited that he
jumps at conclusions too quickly, and he is not acquainted
with the pros and cons of any particular dogma. He is,
frequently, too eager to rush at the bait, and would
probably have listened to a Mohammedan priest, especially
if he could get a few presents out of him, rather than to a
Confucian if he could not ; this is, of course, human
nature on the part of the savage. Seeing that such is the
case, can it be a source of much satiafactioD to a civilised
being, even if he wins a native over to his particular
religious dogma?

The natives of Fiji nearly all belong to the Wesleyan
or Roman Catholic persuasion; the majority have
embraced the former. When they know the diversity of
religion and sects in the world, surely their iaith must
slacken off. The missionaries, however, have, perhaps,
never told them that in England, the Established Church

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142 MISSIOTfABISS.

is the Church of England, but tiiat besides this there are
in Feritania (Great Britain) upwards of a hundred and fifty
sects of religious belief.

Again, in a new colony, the white traders and planters
are very often freethinkers, men who are not so straight-
laced, and who do not put on such a long face as the
missionaries ; among them are many who do not profess
dogmatical religion. Now, as the country develops, and
the white population flocks in with its load of freethought,
rum and tobacco, which are "tambued '' by the mission-
aries, the nativM cannot help wondering why they them-
selres should cling to the tenets and doctrines of the
missionary, when the other representatives of the same
race as the missionary himself seem not to reverence
either the missionary or his doctrines.

As ui example of what tiie upshot of our supposed
religious teaching is amongst the uncivilised, let us visit
some of the settlements in New Zealand — such as Opotiki,
on the east coast, where ministers of different denomina-
tions tried to instU their dogmas. The natives, who, after
s while, started a religion of their own, are now a horrid lot.

The fact is that very often a new fad acts as a stimulant
to the savage, who, when the first excitement is over,
begins to question himself whether the white man's
religion, in its several branches, is not all nonsense. Now,
in Fiji, the Wesleyau native thinks that the " lotu Popi "
(Boman Catholic) native is quite wrong, and vice versa.
At fee best, neither of the two religions seem to penetrate
more than skin deep ; for it is impossible that the native
mind can really catch the meaning of our religions. With
the Fijians, a ranting style of preaching, an opportunity

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THE CHARMS OF EXCITEMEJVT. 143

of displaying their clean "sulu" and new articles of
apparel, loud singing, and a sudden change from the old
times, when every day of the week passed away in much
the same fashion, keep up the superficial interest. It
seems, however, quite within the limits of probability that
the new religion of the natives will oscillate. Should it
possess such charms, in the way of excitement, as to
attach itself permanently to the Fijian mind, well and
good, some people might imagine ; -but, should it ever
cease, then it would, in all likelihood, leave the native a
thorough-going hypocrite, who would look upon white
people as tainted with hypocrisy equally with himself.

Taking for granted, then, that the Papuan mind is not
of the same calibre as that of the more civilised people,
the question which to my thinking appears worthy of
consideration is this. "Would not a more gradual process
of conversion be more beneficial for after generations,
who, we hope, though doubtfully, will exist thouswids of
years hence? Let the ordinary elementary instruction,
and, in time, learning of a higher standard, be taught.
Smooth down the comers of the numerous barbarisms
inherent in the Papuan mind. Above all, introduce sani-
tary laws and laws of morality, simple and soimd. Then,
when the Papuan mind has become expanded — it may be a
century or two from now — and when it is capable of
forming a rational opinion about which of the numerous
dogmas of the world is the proper one to choose — then it is
the time to lay before the natives of the islands a dogma
which is to be handed down to posterity. We ourselves
know how, in the history of Europe through many ages
past, antagonism between Church and State, and between

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144 MISSIOJf ARIES.

sect and sect, has existed, twd how civilisation has thereby
been considerably retarded ; therefore, how necessary it is
for philanthropists in civilised communities to impart a
sure basis of sound dogma to htmian communities first
tasting of the benefits of a sacred religions belief.

I assert unswervingly, though many people may fail to
see any vital differenoe in the Wesleyan, Church of
England, Presbyterian, Boman Catholic, or other offshoots
of the original Christian religion, that there is, neverthe-
less, sufficient disparity to create squabbles and oscillations
of Mth amongst savages. If the Christian reli^on is to
be preached to uncivilised races, let it be as Christ himself
and the early Christians would have preached it. Surely
this ought to suit every true philanthropist. In my short
experience, I have observed such a lot of hypocrisy, and
heard of more, in the converted natives of the Pacific,
that I am sure there must be something wrong ia the
dispensation of religion, and I am afraid that the near
future will not mate matters better. There are yet
plenty of unconverted Papuans in New Guinea., Solomon
Islands and elsewhere, and it is to be hoped, at any rate,
that these will not be treated with in any manner which
will hinder their onward march in the path of civilisation —
that no dogma which after generations can reject will be
laid before them.

It is a great pity to watch races in different parts of
the world — America, Africa, Australasia — savage though
they be, disappearing from the surface of the earth and
leaving no trace except perchance a few tools, as the white
man settles down on the Iwid of their forefathers. Thus,
in certain- parts of Australia the aboriginal is now no

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PEBXICIOUS IMPORTS. 145

more, and in Kew Zealand, the Maori himself is perfectly
aware of the feet that as the rat brought over by white
men's ships has exterminated the rat of the country, so
the white man is exterminating the natives. In a few
centmies, probably, the bones of the natives, like those of
the moa bird, will alone recall to mind the existence ol
animal life in the early days of Maori, New Zealand.
Look at Fiji, where by some blunder the measles arrived
about the same time as the annexation of the group of
islands to Great Britain, and mowed down fifty-thousand
natives in a few weeks. If we are genuine philanthro-
pists, and in reality wish the natives to prosper : and if the
missionaries desire that the maximum number of souls
should be saved — for we can only presume that this is
their aim — then it behoves that every means should be
adopted to keep the race alive, to do which moat
stringent laws would have to be devised. It is believed
that the introduction of grog and tobacco — two articles
which, when indulged in by savages, are generally
indulged in to excess — has helped to diminish tlie
numbers of several races. Another detrimental cause,
strange to say, is the result of the importation of clothing.
On a very hot day in New Zealand you may notice a
Maori clothed in thick raiment, strutting about a town-
ship. When he returns to his own settlement, and the
cool evening has set in, he throws aside his heavy Euro-
pean costume, and wraps his small rug of flax around him.
He does not take into consideration change of temperature.
It is surprising to hear the amount of coughing at early
mom in a Maori village. The Fijians, so far, excepting a
few who loiter about Levuka, or cruise in Papalangi

K

nigti/cdavGoOglc

146 MrSSIOMiJtIES.

crafts, have happily not carried any of the introduced
pernicious habits to excess, and it is to be hoped that
they may never have the opportunity or inclination to do
BO. One thing hopeful is, that they do not exhibit the
astonishing craving for papalaugi grog that is so remark-
able amongst the lighter-coloured races of Polynesia.
Surely one of the first objects of philanthropy is to endea-
vour to keep primitive races alive. For this end, laws
must he schemed out and enforced.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

NEW CALEDONIA.

,y Go Ogle

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER I.
FROM FIJI TO J^EW CALEDOJ^IA.

Once more we hoisted the canvas, and, waving fond
adieuS to Levuka, steered for the reef passage. After a
couple of tacks to reach the outside of the reef, our
50-ton schooner dashed along to the westward, her sails
well filled with a full and favourable breeze. Every
appearance of a successful voyage accompanied our
departure; but, in these latitudes uncertainties of
weather must always be expected. Accordingly, before
getting fairly away from the Fijian Group, we found
ourselves becalmed off Kandavu, and watching the
highest, or one of the highest mountains in Fiji, called
Mount Washington, or in native parlance "Mbuke Levu"
(Great Hill) •

When the shades of night began to fall, some of us on

board the L were cogitating over a problem, the

solution of which could be reached only by surmounting
certain grave physical difficulties. The question was,
bow, with any degree of comfort, was it possible for the

"Mbuke,"Do doubt U the same as llie Maori " puke," and the Malay " bukit,''
" a hill ; '' " levu," tignifie) great.

inyGoogIc

150 FROM FIJI TO JVEW CALEDOmA.

German skipper and his wife, the Norwegian mate, the
passengers — a Swedish gentleman, an English gentleman
on a botanical cruise, and myself — to manage to stow our-
selves away in the small stuflfy cabin, with its limited
bimks. As time was the means of deciding, no one
showed any particular desire to sleep down below on a
fine night ; for, when weather permitted, each of us rolled
himself in blankets and lay upon the roof of the cabin, or
upon the deck, and always awoke in the morning without
having been moonstruck or otherwise damaged. People
may say what they like about the night air being baneful,
but we who ha-ve cruised about the islands of the South
Seas never found it so in the Pacific. With the deck for
a mattress — a slightly hard one, 'tis true — and the canopy
of heaven for bed curtains, one can while away the hours
of night most delightfully, and how pleasant it is to wake
in time to appreciate the refreshing temperature of the
60 degrees, sufficient to recall to your mind, through
association of ideas, recollections of the old conntiy, and
then to watch the sun rise in all his splendour above the
clear horizon. In rainy weather, however, some of us
evidently had to be inconvenienced. Still, after travel-
ing about in the South Seas for a year or two, one gets
unaccustomed to expect any comfort in such a case, and
rather concerns himself as to the means by which disocm-
forts can be reduced to a minimum. A waterproof
mackintosh, a blanket, tobacco, and the knowledge that
there are other fellow-creatures in the same plight, go a
wonderfully long way in assisting a human being to battle
against adversity on board ship.

As a specimen of the living freight of an average South

inyGoogIc

JTHE ROLLIJfO DEEP. 151

Sea Island trading craft, ours was a characteristic cargo.
In addition to the cabin passengers mentioned before,
there were, in the steerage, our cook, a Mauritian half-
caste (who was quite an authority on sugar manufacture,
and had journeyed over to Fiji to get a billet in connec-
tion with, some plantation, but left disgusted), an English-
man, a Swede or Norwegian (of an eccentrically religious
turn of mind, sometimes praying on the deck most
conspicuously), a native of Anateum, two or three other
South Sea Islanders, and a Poi-tuguese man, who was a
world-ti-avelled "barnacle," and seemed to be acquainted
with every nook of the inhabited globe.

What with a squall now and again, and a succession of
cat's-paws, we managed to plough the deep at somewhat
a slower pace than was calculated to brighten up our
spirits. After a week's passage, we knew that Anateum
could not be more than a good day's journey off. Then,
suddenly, we came nearly to a standstill, excepting that
the rolling of the vessel — which rolled over to ime side
and shivered, and rolled back to the other side and
shivered — kept us in a kind of perpetual motion. Such
a sea on I The heavy rollers were such as one expects to
encounter off the Cape of Good Hope, but never a breath
of wind. This was sufficiently ominous. From the
unsettled state of the barometer, which in the tropics does
not fluctuate much in its reading, xmless something
unusual may be looked for ; from the interested manner
in which the skipper scanned the horizon ; and from the
fact that February is one of the hurricane moutlis, it was
nearly certain that. a "blow" was frolicking about in its
destructive cucular gambols somewhere among the

inyGoogIc

1 52 FROM FIJI TO JVEW CdLEDOXIJ.

islands, and that, though the disturbing waves had
arrived first, the hunieane would possibly come down on
us before long. The sea was just in the condition in
which I remember oace seeing it at Moala on the evening
before a tremendous blow struck the shores. On that
occasion, the sea inside the reef, usually calm as a pond,
was quite rough, and tlie village youths of both sexes
amused themselves for hours by diving into the large
approaching waves. What with the expectation of a
busy night, and a dead calm surrounding us, with a most
scorching sun above, and with the continiial sound of the
sails flapping — a sound unpleasant to the ear of sea-going
men, who know that the ropes and canvas are being
strained by the jerking as much as they would be strained
in a strong breeze — what with the creaking of the ship's
timbers, and tlie knowledge that our craft was not pro-
gressing at the rate of more than a knot an hour, tlie
time passed unsatisfactorily, while flying fish flitting
about, and sharks following in our wake, and gliding
around our vessel, claimed no attention.

Squally indeed was the night, and we sailed under
reefed canvas, yet no hurricane made its appearance.
We steered for the north side of the island of Anateum,
in the New Hebrides, where we were soon anchored.

Anateum, lat. 20=" S., long. 170 W., is, on the north side
at least, thickly covered with bush. The high land rises
up to nearly 3,000 feet above the sea level ; dense sorul
extends far up its precipitous backbone, and there seems
to be little flat land, at any rate cleared of superfluous
vegetation, between the sea beach and the base of the hill
range. Theislandissubjectto periodical earthquakes, which

nigti/cdavGoOglc

AJ^ATEUM. 153

are often of a violent character. No doubt the recurrence
of these shocks is regulated by the inactivity or activity
of the Tolcano on the island of Tanna, thirty or forty miles
off, the blaze issuing from the summit of which is, on a
dark night, seen very distinctly from the north side of
Anateum, and serves as a natural beacon, mucli to the
convenience of navigators cruising in these parts.
Anateum, like the rest of the New Hebrides, and also the
islands of Fiji, is of volcanic formation, no fossiliferous
strata are to be met with, and the island presents, to the
casual observer, the same flora as Fiji.

The natives bear a resemblance to the natives of Fiji, .
Solomon Islands and New Guinea. They are in fact
Papuans, " curly Laired ; " at the same time they have a
characteristic appearance, distinguishing them from the
other bi-anches of the Papuan race. Indeed, a practised
eye can at a glance easily point out, in a mixed body of
plantation labour, or in a boat's crew, whether a " boy "
(as a kanaka is called, though he be arrived at manhood)
is a native of Ambrym, Api, Mallicollo, Anateum, or any
other island of the New Hebrides group ; the natives from
each island have some characteristic features. The shape
of the head, the shade of colour of the skin-, the general
build of the body, are the principal means of discrimi-
nation.

In order to make the most of my time, I took a stroll

along the coast, accompanied by Mr. V , who iatended

to remain some time on the island. The walking was
extremely rough, the immense lumps of hard grey rook
lying about gave a wild look to the scenery, and told a
tale of many upheavals and dislocations that had taken

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154 FROM FIJI TO J^EW CALEDOJVM.

place in ages past, when convulsed nature hurled the
massive boulders, some of them several tons in weight,
from the precipitous background. While heading our
way ainong and clambering over these boulders, we came
across a very large water snake of the black and white
banded species, many feet in length ; it was, indeed, the
finest specimen which either of us had seen. Notwith-
standing that there is a prevalent notion that the sea
snakes are comparatively harmless, this one, coiled round
in a space between two rugged rocks, at a distance of
fifty yai'ds from tiie sea, did not strike us as being an
animal to tread upon with impunity.

We were equally disappointed with the Anateum
natives themselves and with their tenements. The people
and their houses looked both dirty and small in bmld.
The houses, or shanties, sometimes with the roof reaching
down to the ground and with one side open, and having a
platform of small branches raised off the ground as the
only piece of furniture, struck us as being of a type far
below the Fijian houses, which are more commodious and
decidedly better constructed and better kept. Smallness,
stufBness, smokiness, and, to all appearances, uncleanli-
ness, characterized the interior ; so much so that we felt
considerable reluctance in seating ourselves in any of the
shanties. With regard to clothing, I did not notice any,
except very primitive girdles ; the men were most
scantily clothed with a few leaves or one leaf, the women
a trifle better. Of the latter we observed a few decked
out in their best finery, on their way home from afternoon
cbiirch. They were dressed in very spacious and
ill-fitting straw hats, and wore large bulging out garments

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A STUPID LOT. 155

of the petticoat order, no doubt a recently introduced
garb. With all due deference to European style, popular
taste would rather see these uncivilised people in their
primitive outfit than in such a strikingly unbecomiag
get-up. If the savages must be clothed in European
cloth, Tvhy can't the loose flowing " saque," a dress in
one piece from the neck to the knees, be introduced to
their notice ; it becomes tbem and is suitable for the
tropics. In the way of ornaments, the only ones I
observed were bracelets, which consisted of circular bands
cut from the cocoanut shell, polished, and carved in a
zigzag pattern. The natives of Anateum are certainly a
stupid lot ; and surely are not, in bo far as their intel-
lectual capacity is concerned, many removes from the
Australian black. Still, they do not lead a nomadic life ;
on the contrary, they build houses, wretched as these are,
and even fence them in, not inartistically, with stiflF reeds
interlaced.

What attracted oiur notice as much as the natives were
clusters of peculiar nests made by insects of the hornet
kind. These little nests are met with in all the South
Sea Islands, but not so plentifully elsewhere as here.
They are generally buUt under the eaves of the houses,
or on the trunks of trees. They are made of brownish-
red earth, in the shape of a gipsy's iron-pot — spherical —
excepting the rim on the top, which turns outwards.
Each nest is about an inch in diameter ; and the shell,
being very thin, gives it the appearance of a miniature
piece of pottery. It is said that the Fijians conceived
the idea of their earthen pots from these specimens of
insect architecture.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

166 FROM FIJI TO JVEW CALEDOmA.

The Anateum itatives have been missionarieed by the
Presbytei-ian Society, I believe. Considering that they
cannot husk young cocoanuts with any degree of clever-
ness, though they have had centuries of schooling, how
on eai'th can they tackle with arguments about Christi-
anity? A sanitary inspector is the sort of missionary
they ought to have on the island ; and then, perhaps,
some one who would put them up to a few wrinkles
about "house and canoe building, about systematic
cultivation, and other practical matters of a similar
kind.

After having enjoyed the kind hospitality of Mr. and
Mrs. 0. and Captain and Mrs. L. — the white settlers on
this the north side of the island — it was necessary, after
having remained twenty-four hours, once more to seek
the open sea. The necessity was all the more pressing
because the anchorage was in a position exposed to the
N. and N. W., from which directions a hurricane usually
makes its first and worst appearance. Sorry as we were
to leave the island so soon, we were yet glad to push
forward, and steered away from the coral patches, and
with a stiff breeze aft, scudded beautifully along.

Next morning we were watching, ft-om just outside the
reef, the colossal building (colossal for these climes) of
the missionary's residence, and also the outlines of what
we were led to believe were the fortifications on the hills
at Marg, one of the Loyalty Islands. The island of Mar^
has been visited by whalers and traders for many years
past, and here the natives understand " biche-de-mer "
lingo. For the sake of philologists, a word of explanation
will not be out of place here, as few people away from

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MAEE, AJ^D ITS LIJ^GO. 157

the Pacific hare heard of this langu^e. It is interesting,
inasmuch as it shows the manner in which an uncivilised
race adopts the complex language of a higher civilisation.
One thing it demonstrates very well, and that is, how few
root words are necessary to make a conversation
intelligible. This broken English dialect comprises only
a few expressive words ; but, unfortunately, a number of
these have a most unparliamentary character, being far
too strong to bo used in any except the lowest order of
civilised society, Mid not to be found in either American
or English lexicons. Children are very apt to remember
any tabooed words they hear, and so are savages. As an
ordinary specimen of the talk, devoid of coarse phrase-
ology, here is one. " Where you pull away? You savey
catch big fellow yam stop garden belong you? Very
good, you bring plenty fellow yam all same.'' I remember
a chief of a settlement in New Caledonia, who had cruised
about on board a white trader's vessel, questioning me
about the active volcano at Tanna. " I think man
Tanna he wild fellow, all same man-o'-bush. What for
man Tanna he make big fellow fire place belong him?"
I did not quite know how to satisfy his mind, so, thinking
that perhaps Genesis might help me on, I said, " you
savey God?" To which he replied, "I no savey Him,
man stop Ti Uaka, he savey Him very good." After my
endeavouring to explain that the volcano existed long
before the island of Tanna was peopled, he exclaimed,
with a broad grin across his puzzled face ; " I think God,
He savey make plenty things. He clever fellow, He no
same black fellow belong Caledonia ! " In Fiji, this
manner of conversing has not Been introduced ; but it has

nigti/cdavGoOglc

158 FROM FIJI TO J^EW CALEHOKIA.

found ite way into N'ew Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands,
and some of the New Hebrides lalanda, especially into
those where there Htb boys who have worked on and
returned from plantations in Queensland.

It is difficult to say which is the worst sort of South
Sea Island inhabitants — the half-caates, or the natives who
speak the blohe-de-mer talk. For some reason or other
the more English language and the more English manners
the savage learns, so much the more objectionable does
he become. It is to be hoped that the Eijians will not be
in any hurry to adopt the anglo-saxon tongue, at least
not until the ways of the "papalangi" cease to be a
novelty. This broken English was set on foot by traders
in bSche-de-mer, "trepang," &c., and by whalers, who,
flitting about the Pacific, and anchoring off scores of
places, each of which was peopled by a race speaking a
distinct dialect, found it a convenient medium for express-
ing their wants in as simple a manner as possible for the
dull understanding of the islanders.

But to return ! The Mar^ natives, though Melanesians,
have taken to civilization better than most of the races of
the western isles in the South Sea. They wear European
clothing, if funds are forthcoming, and the chiefs occa*
sionally build good houses, and even buy 25 feet long
-whale boats. They have had serious quarrels among
themselves about rel^ious differences, there being two
branches of the Christian religion in the island. Un-
happily, as has happened among more civilized peoples,
argument by clubs, spears, or other death-inflicting
weapons, rather than by brain, is the order of the day for
settling certain vital points of dispute. The Mar^ natives.

n,gti7cd3yG00glc

MJBE SAILOR WIVES. 159

whose intellects have been sharpened through their contact
with civilization, are conversant with many of the tricks
of trade, and can drive a hard bargain. Like the
inhabitants of Lifn, another of the Loyalty Islands, they
turn out first-rate sailors. It is not an uncommon
practice for captains (white men) of small crafts plying
up and down the coast of Nouvelle Cal^donie, to tako
unto themselves Mar^ or Lifn women for wives. These
women are, aa a rule, massive, well built, and, notwith-
standing a few tattooed lines on their faces, pleasant
looking. T hey know how to splice a rope, and to take the
tiller when rec[uired ; they are most useful to their mates,
and behave in a more creditable manner than many of the
dusky females from other Pacific Islands do, except,
indeed, when a fit of jealousy breaks out. I remember a
white man, who had lived with a Papuan for a considerable
time, expending his lamentation when the news of his
partner's death arrived. " Ah well ! " said he, " I'm sorry
she's gone, poor girl; she was a good 'un to cook, and
unoommon handy with the needle and thread." Also
another, who was hourly expecting that his spouse was
about to retire to another world. " Shure and I couldn't
get a better sailor to ride out a hurricane in an open boat."
So it is that these South Sea Island women, even if they
are ornamental, must be useful; and white men who
live with them reckon their value according as they
display plenty of " savey " as well as personal attractive-
ness.

After skirting the reef at Mar^, and " speaking " with a
whale boat, full of boisterous natives of both sexes, bound
for Lifu, we gradually observed the Loyalty Islands grow

nigti/cdavGoOglc

160 FROM FIJI TO JVEW CALEDOJiflA.

smaller and more indistinct. After a pleasant day's sail,
we came in sight of the Isle of Fines, to the south west,
where most of the unfortunate French Communists are
exiled, and which owes its name to the beautiful sym-
metrical aracaiiria pines which thrive there. Shortly
afterwards we were discussing the rather barren appear-
ance of the high brown hills on the south-east comer of
New Caledonia. Gliding through the HaTannah passage —
where a most powerful and, in had weather, dangerous
current runs, and then through the canal Woodin, which
separates a pretty little island called Uen from the main
land — we soon knew that by this time our approach had
been signalled at Noumea, the capital of this French pos-
session. We passed several nasty shoals and reefs which
have baffled, and in bad weather will always baffle, boats
making for Noumea, and dashed along by the "porcepie,"
an isolated islet with pine trees growing thickly upon it,
and giving it the appearance of what the name of the
strange little spot implies ; then, after an hour's sailing,
we dodged round a comer, and entered a bay ; when, all
of a sudden, a most powerful puff of wind sweeping down
a gully filled the sails, heeled our vessel considerably
over, and drove us along at more than racing speed. We
span through the smooth waters of the bay as if charging
the town ahead, threaded our way amongst several craft
at anchor, nearly ran down a partially sunken vessel with
topmasts peeping above the water, down-sailed, and, at
clink, clink, clink of the anchor chain, found oureelvea
Son/owr-ing to some French official who had come along-
side — we were anchored at the capital town of Nouvelle
Cal^donie.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTEK II.

DESCJtIFTIOJV OF JfEW CALEBOmA.

Thougli Engliah and Colonial traders had for many
years carried on their business of bartering with the
aboriginal race in New Caledonia, and notwithstanding
that it was visited by the renowned navigator Cook so fer
back as 1774, the island was but little known to the
world at large until the French took possession of it in
1854. It lies between south latitudes 20^* and 20°-30',
and is thus just within the tropics. Distant from
Queensland about 750 miles, it is situated a trifle to the
north of the straight course from Fiji to Sydney, and is
about 600 miles from the former. It is an elongated
tract of mountaiaous land, many of the peaks bemg
3,000 feet high ; its length is about 200 miles, and the
average breadth about 30 miles.

The coast line on either side of the island runs nearly
in a north-westerly direction ; in consequence, when the
prevailing, that is the S.E., trade wind blows, a boat,
sailing along the coast, has the wind right ^t or dead
ahead. On the west coast, a coral reef extends for
300 miles, parallel to the shore, while on the east, a series
of disconnected reefs runs the whole length of the island ;
generally at a distance of about five miles from the main-
land. To the southward, the number of shoals is con-

inyGooglc

162 JV*£TT' CALBDOmA.

si(]erable. In 1)ad weather, what with shoals and coral
reefs, crafting is precarious, at any rate within half-a-
dozen miles from the shore ; and even in fine weather,
owing to the numerous reefs which are not always
Tifiible, it is not the custom, unless about the time of full
moon, to sail inside the outer reef during the night.
However, though the wind has lulled in the day, advan-
tage of the land breeze may be taken ; and, even if the
night be so dark as to render anchoring preferable to
sailing amongst reefs, this convenient breeze comes in
useful for a short time about sunset and sunrise, and
being on the ship's beam is available for crafts sailing
either up or down the coast.

The ranges of hills which traverse the island vary
from 1,000 to 3,000 feet in altitude, and ai'c most barren
in appearance ; but, as it often happens in many
countries, the loss profuse vegetation the hills display, so
much the better are they in other respects ; indeed, the
hills of New Caledonia are rich in latent treasures — how
rich yet remains to be discovered. The range which
runs along the east coast supplies the nickel ore, which
many people thought would be a great source of wealth
to the island. For about sixty miles the nickel country
extends, and nearly all the white inhabitants are or have
been in some way interested in this treacherous metal.

Having submitted to the enquiries of the Custom
House officials, we are at liberty to look about us. A
level quay extends for a few hundred yards along the
watei-'s edge. At right angles to this runs the principal
street, which the visitor naturally steers for.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

J^OUMEA, THE CAPITAL. 163

White, comparatively broad streets, white verandahed
wooden dwelling honses, stores, caf^s and shops, a popu-
lation of ordinary Frenchmen dressed in light- coloured
clothing, the army and navy being well represented,
some Communists in blouses, a few aboriginals and foreign
labour "boys" irom the other South Sea Islands, a batch
of convicts at work on the roads — these are the leading
features of Noumea. There is a scarcity of white women,
but there are white dazzling streets, and a generally
white-washy appearance of inhabitants and dwellings.
White is decidedly predominant ; yet a blue sea in front,
a deep blue sky above, and a verdant hiU at the back ot
the township, give variety of colour to the landscape.

Noumea, if it had- a better supply of water, is wisely
chosen for the capital, and the French have certainly
displayed great skill and taste in laying out the town-
ship. Convict labour has, in the same manner as in
Sydney, made the capital such as it is. Hills and
hillocks, of a limestone rock, have been and are still
being hewn down, and much of the once undulating land
is now level. A batch of convicts is constantly employed
in pickaxing the rock, and in road making. In time,
shoidd the colony show a tendency to progress, and the
convict labour be still employed for improving the
capital, Noumea with her clean avenued streets will be
a pleasant town for the tropics ; at present, of course, it
is unfinished, so much so that in the evening, when the
streets are badly lighted, you have to keep your eyes
open, wherever you walk, on account of excavations,
ditches and raised roads, suddenly ending in precipitous
banks.

I. 2

n,gti7cc-.yG00glc

164 ^•EW CALEDOm^.

The principal street, which contflins nearly all the
leading stores and hotels, and from which the other
thoroughfares hranch out, oommences at the wharf and
extends as far as the foot of the undulating background.
Proceeding up the main street till you arrive at the top,
and then turning to the left, you will come upon the
Government buildings, Government House, &c. If you
turn to the right, instead of to the left, you will pass the
club house, and then, by bearing to the left and going a
little out of the way, you can visit the English Consulate,
should business require you to do so, and you may have
the pleasure of seeing Mr. Layard. Or, if you walk
straight on, and, instead of crossuig the arm of the sea by
means of the raised road, bear to the left, you will in a
few minutes be attracted by the handsome infantry
barracks with the large drill square in front. New town-
ships rarely can afford to boast oi large buildings, and
Noumea contains but few. The Banque de la Nouvelle
Cal^donie (if the name still exists) is a handsome
structure to the eastward of the principal street, and the
Boman CathoUc Church to the westward is passable.

The convicts do not live in the capital, but on the other
side of the harbour. Every morning, near daybi-eak, a
steam launch may be observed towing a barge and steer-
mg its way from an islet across the harbour. It deposits
its load on thewhai-f at Noumea, and returns again, in the
evening, with the same cargo and with a melancholy
regularity. Prisoners of the worst type, mostly French-
men, as well as Chinese, and representatives of other
countries, form the cargo of the barge. The shaven
heads, the prison garb, and the bronzing effects of a

nigti/cdavGoOglc

THE COJVriCTS. 165

scorching sun, make these miserable specimens of
humanity look most unprepossessing. A naturally
depraved nature seems depicted on nearly eveiy counte-
nance ; one cannot help thinking that they came into the
world under adverse cifcumstances, with those evil dispo-
sitions, which were the cause of their having to leave their
native country, thoroughly ingrained.

The number of prisoners in New Caledonia is upwards
of 3,000. While most, and the worst lot of them, are
quartered in the vicinity of the capital, the remaining
convicts are dispersed tliroughout the island, and, under
the surveillance of the military, are employed in cutting
i-oads through the country, and in suchlike labour. The
strict manner in which these outcasts from society are
looked after would lead one to suppose that flight is
impossible. Still, this is not the case, and one often
hears of convicts managing to ^e themselves, though, I
should imagine, the majority effect only a temporary
escape. Woe betide them when they are caught ; for the
French system is severe. Even when a run-away party
of three or four manages to get as far as the coast, to
seize a small boat and steer for foreign climes, the dangers
and privations encountered must be extreme ; and if the
fiigitives land in Australia or elsewhere they do so in" a
most pitiful half-starved condition. Up country a run-
away convict would require to have his plans well
concerted, and to use his wits most skilfully ; otherwise,
his trackers would be upon him in a very short time.
An honest stranger, while walking through the country,
is suri^rised at the inquisitive turn of each native lie
meets. Such questions as — "Where you pull away?"

inyGoogIc

166 XEW CALEDOmA.

" Where you come from ? " — take priority of salutRtion,
and the ohserving native takes stock of every article of
dres9 a white man wears, and goBsipa ahout the look,
manner and destination of the stranger to eveiy one
with whom he comes in contact. For an escaped convict,
owing to the keen sense of seeing and hearing of the "New
Caledonian, it would be most difficult to journey far
without being noticed. When his prison garb was
apparent, the natives would be equal to the occasion, and
the runaway's chance of freedom next to nothing.

Aa soon as an escape is known to the authorities,
placards describing in detail the height, age, complexion,
characteristic features, and any distinguishing mark about
the runaway, are posted up at difterent places in the
island. The gendarmes mount their steeds and scour the
country, questioning natives and white men whom they
meet on the road. It is quite a common occurrence to be
stopped on a bridle track and interrogated by a gendarme,
who expects you to answer civUly any question he thinks
fit to ask. " Where do you live ? What time did you
leave your house? Whom have you passed on the road?"
&c., &e. Considering that the questions are put for a
necessary purpose, and by a man whose business is to
know the whereabouts of every person in a sparsely
populated district, there shoidd be no scruple about
satisfying these somewhat abrupt examiners, whom one
often meets in out of the way spots.

Uentioning this subject I'eminds me of a little affair in
New Zealand, which shows that it is sometimes advisable
that your whereabouts may bo known to the authorities.
Having slept at a half-caste's house, at a little settlement

nigti/cdavGoOglc

TRE CHAJ^CES OF RUJfAWATS. 167

of a dozen dwellings on the East Coast, I was making
preparations to start northwards next morning, and had
sent someone to catch my horse in a neighbouring
paddock. One of the constabulary stationed on the high
ground at the back ol the settlement desired me to come
up to the small ban-acks and sign my name in a book, us
it was customary for every white man travelling along
this coast to do. Accordingly I trudged up the hill, and
signed my name, and the constabulary men took stock of
my appearance. On my asking what was the object of
taking down the names of travellers, the sergeant told
me it was useful, because so many people were drowned
in creeks, or got into other difficulties while journeying
along the coast, and that, if enquiries were made, they
could — at any rate — refer to their book to see whether
the person enquired about had passed that way, and, if
so, on what day of the month. It was not many hours
afterwards when, crossing a creek at sunset, my horse
and self nearly got imbedded in a quick sand, and
presently found ourselves benighted in a swampy
country, and in danger of being hogged. It then
occurred to me that after all, even if the worst came to
the worst, there was the satisfaction that the constabulary
could give some clue, if anybody should ever enquire for
a missing friend answering to my description.

At Kanala and elsewhere up country in New Caledonia,
to judge from external appearance, the prisoners seem in
good condition, and have a tolerably contented look. If,
in reality, their spirits keep from drooping, this is due to
the genial climate.

There is one sight to be seen in Noumea, which is

nigti/cdavGoOglc

168 JVEW CALEDOJilJ.

hardly agreeable to an Englishman's eyes. On an occa-
sional Sunday afteraoon, some convicts, dressed in their
prison uniform and wearing the usual coarse straw hats,
perform a selection of music in a public square, while the
inhabitants promenade and appear to enjoy it. There
certainly seems something most incongruous in doomed
men playing lively melodies for the gratifioation of their
countrymen, free and unmarked by the stamp of infamy ;
joyous strains out of, and despair behind the musical
instruments — surely this is a most unnatural arrangement.
Of course, the question, "in what measure are the
feelings of men who have been a curse to society to be
considered ? " is one which has never been satisfactorily
solved.

Let us drop the subject of convicts, and return to our
impressions about Noumea. Lying at anchor in the
spacious harbour is a collection of ci-afts of all sizes.
The man-of-war, the mail steamer, which runs between
Noumea and Sydney, a host of small coasting crafts, and
some "labour" vessels; but no native canoes, as at
Levuka. To be on the wharf, when a labour vessel from
the New Hebrides arrives, laden with its crowd of
"kanakas" who are engaged to work on plantations or
on mines, is entertaining, especially to a visitor who
has never frequented the haunts of uncivilised races, and
does not underatand the ways of the unclothed and
demonsb-ative savage. It is quite a sight to see the
wild and astonished look of a hundred or more scantily
clothed Papuans, leaning over the side of the vessel, and
for the first time in their hves setting eyes on a white
man's township, so different from their own villages, and

n,g,t,7cd3yG00glc

STRAJfGE ACQUAI^TAJ^CES. 169

watehii^ white-Bkinned men engaged in tlie stem busi-
ness of life. They must feel mightily astonished, and
wonder what all the bustle can mean, and " cui bono."
No doubt, when they observe the scarcity of cocoanut
and breadfruit trees, at Noumea, the pangs of homesick-
ness must seize them. One thing is pretty certain,
however, — that most of them will be sent up country,
and, in a few days, will be as lively as crickets, and as
well provided for in the matter of vegetable diet as they
would be in their own villages.

The stranger in Noumea will have every opportunity
of studying human nature, and will constantly encounter
startlingly strange characters, very many of whom he will
never wish to meet again. He will sit at the same table
with men who have never done anything all their lives
but " rough it " in various parts of the globe. He will
converse with rough men, and quarrelsome men, and
drunken men will converse with him. He will fnrm the
acquaintance of the rough and ready good-hearted
colonial speculator, who has visited the island to discover
whether a " pile " is to be raised on it or not ; he will
listen to yams of adventures amongst the wildest of
savages, to the grumbling of Comishmen, and to the
spirited conversation of our lively transchannel neigh-
bours, who, whether they are or are not such good
colonists as the English, are at least more superficially
polite, and are agreeable companions. He must not
allow his national keep-at-a-distance mimner to display
itaelf, as if he were in the old country ; for if be does,
his stay at any of the hotels will not be comfortable.
The table d'hote fashion is the only one at dgeuner and

nigti/cdavGoOglc

170 J^EW CALEDOm^.

diner, and all classes sit down together at the same board,
festive or otherwise.

Unless a visitor at Noumea caiTJes about with him
latent resources, the township does not prove attractive in
the way of amusement. It does not boast of either public
gardens or a theatre as means to break the monotony. On
Sunday evening there is a "ball," but it is not of a select
kind. It might suit Jack on shore with a few francs to
dispose of, but not a rational beina; — it is too ludicrous
for that.

On week days, everybody rises with the sun, and a oup
of coffee commences the day's routine. Business hours
are from about six till ten o'clock in the morning. At
half-past ten, everyone sits down to dejeuner. After this
meal is concluded, as the heat of the day prevents or
dissuades one from walking about much, a siesta or other
means to pass away the time without exertion is indulged
in. (Between ten and three or four o'clock most of the
stores, shops, and offices, are closed). From about three
to six O'clock, business is again attended to ; and at six
all thoughts are centered upon dinner, for be it known
that there is no such thing as luncheon recognised, and
consequently every one feels rather peckish for the
evening meal. At ten o'clock, when the report of a gun
is heard, the doors of the hotel are closed. It is not
supposed to be the correct thing for people to walk about
in a French penal settlement after this hour ; and so t^e
population of Noumea prepares to roost.

In addition to the numerous French cafds, there are two
verandahed hotels in the principal street, where most of
the Englishmen, who generally are bound for up country

nigti/cdavGoOglc

SOCIAL LIFE IJ^ J^'OUMEA. 171

in a day or two, congregate. It is most remai-kable how
they wander from one hotel to the other, time aft«r time,
thi*ough the day. The fact is, unless a stranger takes a
ride into the counti-y — and there is a good caiTiage road
for twenty or thirty miles — he finds himself at rather a
loss for something to occupy his mind, especially as
newspapers of a recent date and books are remarkably
scarce.

With a certain class, there is a gi'eat deal more of
what is called "nipping" in these hot out-of-the-way
climes than in a temperate civilised country ; most
unfortunately the stronger kinds of beverages are sought
after. Britishers do not seem able to put on the brake so
well as the Frenchmen, in the matter of drinking. The
scores of variously shaped bottles of differently flavoured
syrups and light drinks do not attract the Englishman's
eye, nor the contents his taste, and so he calls again and
again for two or three star brandy, or gin, while his
French comrades sip their "syrup de grosseilles," or
some such harmless fluid. On Sundays, the stores are
closed after ten o'clock, and remain so for the rest of the
day, dming which time more absinthe, and vermouth,
and syrups are imbibed by the Frenchmen, more spirits
by the Englishmen, and more billiards are played, than
ordinarily ; but there is little symptom of church going.
Curious to remark, considering that in some parts of the
world a certain people profess to be very straight-laced,
the straius of such songs as " Auld Lang Syne," kc,
often exceed in loudness the other music of the even-
ing, notwithstanding the British population is small in
number.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

172 A'EW CALEDOmA.

Now, I have finished with Noumea and its ways, but
before leaving the place, it is worth while to notice a
capital method of Bignalling adopted there. On the
summit of the hill, which rises at the back of the town-
ship, is a semaphore station. A mast with a cross-yard,
at the end of which are moveable oblong signals, capable
of being placed at any angle to the yard, stands along
side of the signal-house. In nearly evei-y piincipal
hotel 01 store in Noumea, is to be found a printed card,
containing a key whereby to interpret the different
signals. So that, when the cry of "bateau" is raised,
you have merely to look up at the semaphore, notice the
position which each signal bears in relation to the cross-
yard, consult the card, and in a trice you are able to
ascertain whether the vessel signalled, which is certain
to be bound for Noumea, is a schooner, mail steamer,
man-of-war, or any other sort ; and this information you
obtain a considerable time before anyone on the low lying
ground sees the approaching vessel. Though this,
perhaps, seems a trifling aifair to take note of, still in the
Pacific Isles, and in roost isolated colonial possessions,
the aiTival of k. vessel from it matters not where is a
source of intense interest ; and white settlers in the
antipodes, all of whom have had a great deal of experi-
ence in shipping matters, are much more concerned in
the arrival and departure of vessels than most people in
the mother country. This French method of signalling
is, at any i-ate, far better than the one at Levnka, and
might be introduced there, and at several other places,
with advantage.

It so happened that our prognostications concerning

nigti/cdavGoOglc

,4 HURBIC.4JVE. 173

the weather during the journey from Fiji to New Cale-
donia were correct, for a few days after our arrival at
Noumea, an ominous black appearance of the sky was
dieeemible to the northward. All available anchors
were in requisition in the liarbour, and presently down
came the rain, and the blow commenced ; a hurricane of
the most determined sort. The circumstances undei'
which I had witnessed former hurricanes were different
from the present. For instance, at Fiji, in 1875, when a
cutter belonging to myself and another man was smashed
on a reef and became a total wreck, we had more distinct
warnings of the approach of a blow, and decided prepara-
tion was made to meet it. The natives lashed the roofs
of their houses tightly down, felled such cocoanut trees
as might possibly tall on to any building, and awaited tho
storm. The hurricane arrived. The walls of our cook-
bouse stood an angle of 45° ; an immense tree, ten feet
in diameter, nearly smashed in our dwelling-house,
falling with a crash within a few feet of where I was
sleeping ; the whale boat was hoisted high and dry inside
the fence, which was partially washed away. The hermit
crabs, leaves, branches, lumps of coral, dead fish, were
strewed all about the precincts of the domain, and the
cocoanut trees were all bent rigidly with their feathered
plumes blown out like inverted umbrellas. For several
hours it was almost impossible to walk outside the bouse,
and to keep a fire alight was quite impossible. But at
Noumea the scene was of a totally different kind. The
wind rushed along the streets, cannoned against the
wooden sound-conducting walls, and made a most awful
uproar. The galvanised iron roofing of the houses

nigti/cdavGoOglc

174 A-EW CALEDOmA.

vhizzed about the roads, and seemed to be unwilling to
rest, being lifted by the wind as shavinge of wood or
pieces of paper are in an ordinary gale ; as they glided
about they were certainly nasty enemies to meet edge
onwards. To walk up or down the main street in the
evening was awful. What with the complete darkness,
tropical rain of the densest kind, the deafening roar
of the storm, and an endeavour to keep one eye open
so as to be able to dodge obstacles, it was hardly
a night for a ramble. If the wind was a fair one,
you were nearly carried off your legs; if dead ahead,
you could hardly make any way on your course, not
even tacking from side to side of the street was of much
ai^.

On the following morning, some of the crafts were
high and dry and considerably battered about ; of course,
small casualties were numerous. Along the coast there
were several wrecks, including a large brig at Kanala.
Unfortunately, small vessels in these parts are not as a
general rule insured, and so a wreck is dead loss to the
owners.

A ten ton cutter, which I had once intended to charter
to visit the Solomon Islands, had just arrived at Noumea
before the heavy weather. The skipper who owned the
ci-aft hit upon rather a good idea, which I mention for the
benefit of others who find themselves waiting for a
cyclone. Notwithstanding that he possessed a couple
of good anchors, which, 1 remember, were of great
service during a hurricane at Ngau, Fiji, he took
his propei-ty close in to the shore and sank her,
and so his boat lay quietly at the bottom of the

n,gti7™3yG00glc

DODGIJVG THE CTCLOJVE. 175

harbotir while the blow lasted, to the inconvenience
and mortal danger only of the cockroaches which
infested the cabins. At low tide, after the storm,
plugging up the hole was all that had to be done ; with
the rise of the tide, the unharmed well-washed craft once
more floated.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER III.
A TRIP UP COUJfTRT.

AuxiouB to see the nickel country, of which so much
is spoken and comparatively little is known in Noumea,
M. and myself resolved once more to quit the haunts of
civilization, and to carry out our wiBh, To wait a foi-t-
night imtil a boat was ready to start for up-the-coast
seemed far from satisfactory, and as we both wanted to
judge for ourselves the resources of the island — to find
out whether there was much grazing, cocoanut- estate
raising, or mineral ground — we repaired to the principal
store, purchased a week's provisions — biscuits, bacon, tea,
sugar, &c., a "billy" (cylindrically-shapedtin pot), which
is a sine qua non for a journey up country, prospecting
apparatus, map, compass, a few pounds of twist tobacco,
pipes, turkey red cloth, &c., for trade, and then felt that,
with a few dozen dix sous pieces of silver, we were
thoroughly equipped for our march. Our destination was
Kanala, the jjrineipal township in the Nickel country.

Having ascertained, after many and prolonged conver-
sations with natives who were loitering about the town-
ship, tliat some few men belonging to a tribe living near
Kanala were now in Noumea, we obtained an interview
with these. Without showing any particular hurry or
concern — for it is bad policy to let the natives believe that

nigti/cdavGoOglc

OUB GUIDES. 177

an engagement is pressing — we endeaTOured to hire Bome
of ttem as guides ; we cared not how many so long as
the proposed contract price was adhered to. Owing,
however, to the usual procrastination which Fapuuis
display, arrangements were not easily made; for two
days the Kanala " boys " were to be noticed not far from
the hotel, discussing the subject. At last we were given
to understand that, at sunrise on tiie following day,
certain of them would be ready to accompany us. Accor-
dingly, before the bustle and heat of the day commenced,
we set out, bearing westwards, and a dozen natives, in the
highest possible spirits, followed in our rear.

Not understanding their language, we had not the
slightest idea, nor did we particularly care to know,
which or how many of this gang were to remain with us
for the whole journey; but, after proceeding on our way
for a few miles, and exhibiting no interest in how the
still enthusiastic confabulation was to end, we observed
that the procession halted, and that a most vehement
babble ensued. Exchanges of bamboo combs, tobacco,
pipes, &c., were made ; our baggage was divided into two
equal loads and lashed on to the backs of a couple of
natives ; and after farewells and adieus had terminated,
and aU but two of the natives had set out to return
to Noumea, we continued our trudge along a white
dazzling road.

Our two followers were very fair specimens of the
same race, though totally different in appearance and
manner. The one had served as cook in a Frenchman's
house at Noumea, and could speak French with fluency.
It is wonderful how soon these savages acquire Em-o-

inyGooglc

178 JVEW. CALEDOmA.

pean languages when they wish to do so. He was not
only intelligent and ohliging, bat also seemed to take a
decided interest in our well-being ; indeed, to us who
had become rather suspicioas from being acquainted with
the wily ways of Fijians and other South Sea Islanders,
his conduct assumed the appearance of being a trifle too
exemplary to last, for the excessively well behaved
native as often as not turns out to be a regular knave in
the long run. Dressed in a football jersey of many
stripes, blue calico trousers, and an elaborate turban of
red cloth, and brandishing a twelve foot long spear, he
made a very creditable appearance. Our other guide
was quite a different specimen. As wild in look as in
manner, and as stupid as possible. He wore no clothes ;
and with an unkempt mop of frizzly hair, with large eyes
which rolled about- in their sockets in a most restless
manuer, expressive of want of concentration, with an
unusually large mouth enclosed by two thick projecting
lips, nearly always grinning or singing at the pitch of his
voice most boisterous and spasmodic tunes or rather
noises — for the music soimded as if set to grunts rather
than to words — unable to speak or understand a syllable
of any language but his own, fond of ininning ahead at a
trot so as to have a rest \mtil we came up to him, and
plunging about in every creek we had to wade through,
as if he were an amphibious mortal, incessantly borrowing
a knife co cut his twist tobacco or a match, he pToved to
be a lively, though by no means an intelligent companion
on our tramp through the country.

Not having been accustomed to much exercise for many
weeks previously, we had to be cautious at first, more

nigti/cdavGoOglc

OA* THE TRAMP. 179

especially as the change from a comparatively rich Hring
to hard fare is apt to upset one. The rays of the sun
were scorohingly hot, and, reflected from the glaring
limestone road, -were intensified in their oppressiTcness,
especially while the sun was at its zenith, when unfortu-
nately there was no shady retreat to repair to.

Now passing a convict settlement, now toiling up the
well made road which shows very plainly the geological
formation of the country, we reached the highest point of
the hill range in this neighbourhood, and could see the
white houses at Noumea, eight miles ofi, very distinctly.
The bird's-eye view of the country, mostly flat, and slightly
undulating, but sparingly bushed land, was picturesque ;
for the atmosphere, as it usually is in the islands, was
beautifully clear. While on the high ground we were
sui-prised to meet an Englishman, who had walked
from somewhere on the coast, and was proceeding to
Noumea, having had the misfortune to lose his vessel in
the hurricane.

After passing a sugar plantation, we crossed a wide
swollen river, over which, fortunately, there was a well
constructed wooden bridge ; and before long we spied a
spacious building, which our French speaking native
informed us was an accommodation house. So we made
direct for it. There were no spare beds nor bedsteads ;
however, there were plenty of wooden floors and a spacious
verandah to stretch ourselves upon when night came.
Our hostess produced plenty of vin ordinaire, bread and
preserved meat ; and what better fare could we, with
ravenous appetites, wish for. From this house, we could
observe a black rectangular gap on the side of the range

M 2
, Google

180 ^^SW CALEBOmA.

of hills to the eastward, Trhioh, ve were informed, was a
tunnel driven in for nickel ore. It was the only one in
the neighbourhood ; and, thoi^h a mine on Mont d'Or,
about five miles from Noumea, haa been worked for some
time, still the nickel is not foimd plentifully in tiiis
Bouthem portion of the island.

Up with the larks, we set oflF next morning over clay
and quartz country on which the herbage grew in
average quantity. Breakfasting and luncheoning on the
banks of lovely creeks, we pushed along, up hUl and down
hiU, meeting on our way a gang of convicts. At length we
arrived at rather steep rising ground, where, however, a
zigzag road cut by the prisoners facilitated our exertions.
We were glad enough to reach the summit, and gladder
still to end our day's walk at Faita, where a German
storekeeper lived. Here we slept the night.

During this day's march, a little unpleasantness
occurred. On entering some bush land, two natives came
up to us in a great hurry, and were most commimicative
to our guides, with whom they struck up quite an acquain-
tance and walked for about a couple of miles. The drift
of the conversation we eventually knew ; for all of a
sudden, there was a halt, and our luggage was unstrapped,
when we were in the thickest part of the bush. One of
the strangers, who knew a few words of English, com-
menced to talk to us in a most insolent way about dollars.
In fact, these wretches had persuaded our guides that we
were going to pay them too little wages, and that instead
of so many francs they ought to receive so many five
franc pieces. A most impleasant conversation followed.
When we observed our luggage upstrapped, and our

n,,r,-.T-.yG00glc

TAMPEBIJVG WITS THE GUIDES. 181

hitherto well-behaved guides looking as sulkily as possi-
ble, and the manner of the strangers most dictatorial, we
had to use our judgment as to what was to be done. We,
therefore, gave the strangers to understand that they
were to vanish from the scene instanter, and informed our
own men that we would even dispense with their services
if any more discussion took place, and carry our traps
ourselves ; that they would be duly reported unless they
behaved well ; in fact, we yielded not one inch. After a
good round of grumbling and unpleasant looks and
i-emarks from the intruders, we gave the command to start
and anxiously waited for the residt, Luckily for all
parties we found ourselves once more trudging along,
and our subdued guides walking speechless behind us.
Most probably the whole plot was preconcerted.

Leaving Paita at daybreak, we pushed on over good
cattle land, which in some places is fenced in. The land
here is slightly undulating ; and though, when we passed
through, the flat parts were swampy and, at one time in
the day, we were now and again ankle deep in mud,
owing to the late deluge of rain, still the average land,
covered with natural grasses and scanty undergrowth,
more like that of Australia than the South Sea Islands
to the eastward, is suitable for cattle to thrive on, but,
judging from what we saw of it, not so fit for sheep.
Well-watered, and with plenty of trees scattered about
here and there, the land has many advantages for a
tropical country, both plenty of water and shelter being
absolutely necessary in so hot a climate. The soil in
many parte of the flat land is of such a natiure that it does
not allow the water to permeate quickly after rain ; yet

nigti/cdavGoOglc

182 J^EW CALEDOmA.

in this case, the stock can always more on to the higher
ground. At midday, we came to the hanks of the
Totumba river, fed by the numerous little streams which
take their rise on the high range of hills to the eastward.
It was rushing aJong wildly on its course, after the late
downpour of rain. What with the whirling of the eddies
and the rush of water bearing away pieces of timber at the
rate of several knots, and the distance from one side to
the other, the breadth at this particular spot being about
fifty yards, the river looked very uninviting, so that we
were doubtful about crossing it until the torrent subsided.
Still the thought of having to camp out on the side of
the river for a day or two wm a sufficiently gloomy one
to decide our movements.

The natives are quite at home in swift streams. They
seem to plant their feet firmly in the bed of a stream, and
shuffle along, never lifting their legs off the ground. Our
guides, to show us the recognised native track across,
waded to the other side though with great difficulty. In
time we followed suit. For my own part I was heartily
thankful when genuine solid dry earth was reached ; for
being self-confident, instead of following the native course,
I chose my own, and consequently, when in mid stream, I
found myself up to the chest in water, sinking deeper and
deeper every second, my feet just being lifted off the
ground, and myself drifting away from the track I
intended to keep on. Had not one of our natives, antici-
pating the event, nished to the rescue, and seized hold of
my neck by one arm, thus exposing himself to the danger
of a trip up ; and had not the other also come to my
assistance, and extended a long pole or spear for me to

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A DA^TGEROUS FORD. 18S

catch hold of, I should without doubt have been carried
away by tlie torrent and landed —goodness knows where.

In ordinary times, this river ia comparatively shallow ;
during a freshet, it is a caution. From the high washed
away banks and raised up sand heaps, it is perfectly
certain that it has been subject to many heavy floods in
times past.

Here let me throw out a hint, which probably is not
new to every one of my readers. It is — not to be too
eager in choosing the narrowest part of a swift river to
wade through, when a broader part ia quite close. Depth
is the question to consider. Some of the narrow bends of
a stream are often very deep on one side and generally
more dangeous than a broader part.

Rejoiced to have surmounted such an obstacle, and
with a feeling of thankfulness which an escape from
danger generally prompts, we lighted our pipes, and
jogged along contentedly until we came to a store, the
only white man's house in the neighbourhood. After a
refresher, for these bush stores have an assortment of
beverages to tempt the thirsty pedestrian, we pushed on
at walking race speed, for another horrid river had to be
crossed the same day. We reached it just at sundown,
and foimd it only one-third the breadth of the Totumba,
but bounding along, over and among boulders and snags,
in a desperate manner, and, on account o£ the slippery
rocks which lay in the bed of the river, it pi-omised to be
equally treacherous. Our natives provided themselves
with long stout poles to press into the bed of the stream,
in order to give greater resistance against the force of the
flood J thanks to this device, and to a combined action —

nigti/cdavGoOglc

184 J^EW CALEDOmA.

that is, by joining anas, so that if one man got off his
legs he yfiB kept from drifting away by the other three — •
ve gained the opposite bank, though our course was far
from a straight one, and the supports were just bent to
the very point of snapping. By the time we and our
impedimenta were fairly over, the sun was vanishing, and,
as there is but little twilight in these latitudes, we had to
pitch our camp for the night. Our employ^ had to fetch
wood and water, the " billy " had to be put on the fire,
the rashers of bacon to be cooked, the mosctnito curtains
to be rigged up, and our meal of tea, biscuits, and bacon
had to be eaten ; I need hardly say to be enjoyed, for
after a hard day's march one can appreciate a repast of
good solid food.

Such a night we passed ! Though our mosquito nets
were free from torn meshes, the indefatigable insects
crawled through die long grass in swarms, and the notion of
a net being of any use whatever had qmte to be given over.
The horrid buzz was increasing every minute. Pretty
well accustomed to partially sleepless nights through this
race of tormentors, we still thought that, tired as we were,
having been on our legs from sunrise to sunset, sleep would
surely overtake us. No such good luck attended us. Our
natives procured load upon load of firewood and lit a dozen
large fires around us and kept them alight. There we sat
in-the centre of this illumination, our faces muffled up, our
wrists covered up as much as possible, ourselves half-
blinded with smoke, speechless and irritated, slapping at
the face, wrists and ankles without resting ; no doubt, we
for the time envied those who stay at home at ease.
At last, a heavy shower of rain fell, soaking us to the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MOSQUITO TORMENTORS. 185

skin, extinguishing the fires, and driving away the
wretched insects for tie nonce. But it did not last half
long enough, and the attacking army returned to the
onslaiight with renewed energy, to have its ranks mowed
down, though the overpowering mob was not perceptibly
diminished in number. So, slapping, smoking, grumbling,
groaning, we passed the weary hours away, and not a
fraction of a moment's sleep did either we or our guides
enjoy; for my own part, I felt quite light-headed before
morning. It is not the pain which the insect causes — for
this is extremely slight — but the state of irritability in
which the tormented wretch is kept, that makes such a
night as we passed through so unbearable. Our nerves
were quite unstrung, and it was little consolation to
discuss what earthly use mosquitoes could be in nature's
complex government of the universe. No doubt they are
allowed to exist for some higher purpose than to annoy the
human species.

What a relief it was when the horizon began to change
colour from a dense black to a lighter hue ! Hot an
instant was lost. Cooking apparatus uid all the traps
were seized hold of at haphazard and bundled into the
two sacks, and off we started, shaping our course for a
store which was said to be a few miles away but off our
proper track. Discomforts are generally followed by
some pleasm'able reaction ; people can keenly appreciate
pleasure when they have jiist experienced its oppraite.
How thoroughly we enjoyed a dejeuner of sheep's tongues
and bread, washed down with passable Bordeaux, and how,
stretched out on two American easy chairs placed in the
shade of a verandah, we luxuriated in sleep for a couple of

nigti/cdavGoOglc

186 JfEW CALEDOJ^Ld.

hours, can only be realized by those who have been
placed in Btnular circumstancee. We were now in tlie
Boulupari district, which was the scene of the native out-
break in 1878. Indeed, the inmates of this very house
were massacred.

In the neighbourhood of Boulupari, within ten or moi-e
miles from the Bale de St. Vincent, there is some capital
grazing land, and the general appearance of the hills is
extremely different from that of the barren ones on the
east coast. There are (or used to be), unless the
majority were butchered in the outbreak, several settlers
living here and there in the district who raise stock, the
grazing land being probably as good as anywhere in the
island, and having the advantage of being at a convenient
distance from Noumea. There are some very fruitful
valleys in the island, such as the Tchio valley in the
nickel country ; but the farther away from the capital,
the less inducement to keep stock. Unless the white
population of New Caledonia increases considerably,
there will be but little encouragement for upcountry
settlers to pay much attention to cattle rearing. We must
consider that the Australian market regulates tbat of the
island, and that the journey from Noumea to Sydney only
occupies about a_week. Purchasing the live stock and
driving them up country are heavy items in New Cale-
donia ; and when the price of beef in Australia is only
about threepence per lb., the profit per head of stock in
an outlying district of New Caledonia is necessarily small.
Notwithstanding that in Noumea several thousand rations
of food are daily served out to convicts, soldiers, and
sailors, and that oousequently there is always a demand

nigti/cdavGoOglc

C^TTLS-BEASIJiTG DISTRICTS. 187

for a certaio amount of beef — though the French are not
so muoh meat consumers as we English — still, I imagine,
owing to the climate, in which meat remains fresh for
only a short time, most of the beef has to he salted, and,
in price, has to bring itself down to the level of Australian
competition.

So far our journey has been near the west coast, that
is to say, although we rarely caught a glimpse of the sea,
we were seldom more than half a dozen miles distant from
it, and with the exception of a few kilometres of heavy
walking through swamp, we had found the road far better
than one would have anticipated. Now our course was
by native track across the country, and we steered in a
N.N. westerly direction. Walking became considerably
rougher, while the scenery became grander and more
diversified. A beautiful panorama lay to the westward,
as seen from the hill tops of Boulupari. The calm blue
sea, with its picturesque islets in the Bale de St. Vincent
and the reefs beyond looked lovely, as the eye wandered
over the undulating and. low-lying country, so fresh and
green, outward to the horizon.

After much up hill and down dale work, following a
narrow beaten-down foot track, " taro " plantations on the
east side of a small range of hills came into view ; so,
after winding along the side of a well bushed hill, we
ascended the range and arrived at Shui, a native settlement
on the summit, the first one we had as yet visited. This
village was not a very interesting one compared to those
in Fiji, and the thatched dwellings were of smtd,'
dimensions. We were, however, struck with the appear-
ance of the chief's conical house, the height of which

nigti/cdavGoOglc

188 ^N-EW CALEDOmA.

was probably thirty feet, while the diameter only
measured a couple of fathoms. This maumon we succeeded
in chartering for our use, and hither we repaired, after
having devoured our evening meal in a shanty -which
boasted of such a rare article of furniture in a native
house as a chair, and was owned by a sharp French-speaking
youth who had been serving in a settler's household, and
had received payment in kind, I imagine, for he took care
to show us a few old coats, trousers, and hats, and also a
looking-glass. This last mentioned article was duly
handed round, much to the gratification of our
unsophisticated guide, who seemed wonderfully astonished ;
whether he found himself better looking than he expected
or the reverse, I can't say, but his feelings obtained the
better of him. The only food we could purchase here
consisted of unripe bananas, fit only for cooking on the
embers; one would need to be remarkably famished to
relish them. The entrance to our mansion was so narrow
that we had literally to crawl through it. Our sleeping
apartment was very confined as to space, and most
oppressive and half suffocating with the smoke. It was,
however, in common with all the large conical houses,
free from mosquitoes. Besides, when tmce inside, we were
not exposed to two or three hours of inquisitive gaze,
which would have had to be tolerated in a building more
easy of access.

We were, indeed, agreeably surprised with the
behaviour of the natives, still our first impression was
that, though nearly of the same colour and of the Papuan
stock, they were not so intelligent as the Fijians;
perhaps the absence of the fathom of girdle, for the

nigti/cdavGoQglc

JfATIVES. 189

Galedoniaii men walk about nude, biassed ub in forming
an opinion. As to their nasal conversation we could not
understand a word of it. We learnt a few words, through
one of our guides, but found that a few miles ofE (iie
dialect was totally different. This being a bush settle-
ment, the natives perhaps hardly represented tte average
population in intelligence. As a general rule throughout
the South Sea Islands, the " man of bosb '' lacks the
" savey " of the " man belong salt water." Probably the
inland tribes have been subdued and driven away from
the coast in days gone by, and the fittest have remained
on the coast. It is most likely that this is the case,
because it is difficult to see why a tribe should seek of its
own choice the inland country where the struggle for
esistfince, light as it is, oonnot be snoh an easy matter as
on the coast where the cocoanut palm thrives so much
more proliflcaUy than in the interior of the island, and
where fishing can be carried on day after day.

At daybreak, having handed over to the chief some
sticks of tobacco in exchange for our night's lodging, we
descended the range, waded across the Waimini river,
and a little farther on halted at a secluded part of the
forest, through which ran a lovely little creek. After
having had a glorious bathe in a water-hole underneath a
cascade, we returned to breakfast, and found the " billy "
over the fire, and the natives waiting for the quantum of
tea to be served out.

Let me here mention that savages are remarkably clever
at raising a fire. The ordinary way is to commence a
blaze by setting fire to light twigs, and then to place a
few small logs of wood so as to form radii of a circle with

nigti/cdavGoOglc

190 JTSW CALEBOmA.

the liglited twigs at the centre. By gentle bloiring, and
by pushing the logs in towards the centre, so that an end
of each is in close proximity to an end of each of the
others, a fire is stai-ted and easily kept alight for hours,
until each log is completely burnt away. Between the
logs they place three or four stones of the same height,
and arranged so that their upper surfaces may be about
that of the logs ; on these they rest the cooking apparatus.
Sometimes, instead of using stones, they fix a forked stick
in the ground ; by making with it an acute angle, the
"billy" can be suspended from the forked end, or some-
times two forked sticks perpendicular to the ground, with
a horizontal stick resting on the two Y-shaped forks,
constitute a more convenient arrangement. You can
order a fire to be made and boiling water to be ready, and
in a few minutes your orders will be carried out.

Of course, in these days, matches facilitate the process,
for if the method of raising a fire by the friction of a
sharp-pointed stick in the groove of a softer piece of wood
had to be resorted to, the present generation of natives
would be found more awkward than their fathers were.
Once, out of curiosity, I induced half a dozen Fijians who
were dawdling about my premises, to exhibit their skill in
the ancient method of striking a light. What with hunt-
ing in (be bush for the proper sorts of wood, and the
numerous failures in obtaining a blaze — for they could all
produce a smouldering dust at the end of the groove of
the softer piece of wood, but seldom raise a collection of
sparks to blow into a flame — I came to the conclusion
that in being able to draw the latent fire out of the two
sticks Othello's occupation was nearly gone. No doubt,

nigti/cdavGoOglc

HOW THEY BOIL TEE POT. 191

as in Fiji, so in New Caledonia ; and I imagine that in
days of yore the fire-producing implements were not often
needed, except in extreme cases ; in every settlement,
even now, there is usually a fire or fires kept aglow all
night, and by a perpetual borrowing of a few sparks to
start a fire, the natives of the various households could
always keep the pot boiling without having recourse to
Motion. When travelling, too, the natives nearly always
carry a lump of smouldering wood with tliem when
matches have run out ; not, by-the-bye, to such a detest-
able extent as the Fijian, who will actually walk into
your dwelling-house and lay his torch on a mat, and
seldom enters your whaleboat for a trip without one
wherewith to light his " saluka," or " cigarette."

To continue. Passing through well watered land, and
toiling over hills and rank wet grass, we at length landed
at a native settlemept. Here, notwithstanding that we took
considerable pains in doctoring the chief, who was sufieiing
from the effects of a tomahawk accident, the inhabitants,
an impudent lot, becoming aware that our provisions were
nearly exhausted, had the audacity to ask five francs,
instead of two, for a fowl, and an exorbitant price for
every other commodity. Although we yearned for a
" square meal " we did not give in. One has often to put
up with inconvenience rather than yield to whatever the
native asks, and men who have flitted about the islands,
become, in time, very particular in not allowing the
native to get to windward of tbem in a bargain. Strangers
to the ways of the uncivilized are very apt to study their
own comfort above anything else, and do not hesitate to
pay too high a figure for anything coveted, while the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

192 JfEW CALEBOJflA.

ordinary Englishman, who has had much experience in
native wsys, endeavours to cling to a certain fixed policy,
which is never to give in to a native if possible. An
outsider might say that this was an unreasonable principle.
Kot at all so. Wlien bai^aining with civilized people, it
might be unreasonable, but with people of the dusky
races, who look at bargains in theur own stupid light, the
case is totally different. The fact is, if a native gets the
better of you in a transaction to-day, he will remember it,
and will, in his own mind, quote that bargain in the future ;
he will not take into consideration alteration of circum-
stances or conditions. The white man, in these climes,
ought never to pay an exorbitant price to a native for any
article, however much he would like to possess it, and
ought to put himself to much inconvenience rather than
allow the native to get the better of him in any matter ;
by adhering to his point, he will gain the respect of the
savage, and by yielding, will lose it. It is really more
satisfactory to stint yourself than to yield ; if you yield,
tiie next white man who stops at the settlement will be
annoyed precisely in the same manner as yon ; but, by
adhering to your point logically, you often gam it, and
even if you do not, and if yon have to deprive yourself of
anything, then you have done an iota of good for future
travellers. It is a wise plan for a white man to find out
the current prices paid for every raticle by local traders,
and to pay the same price, neither more nor less.

After the above style of reasoning, it is advisable, but
not always an easy matter, to refrain from quarrelling
with natives, and also to avoid breaking taboos. The
fruits of any indiscretion on your part will most assiiredly

nigti/cdavGoOglc

rUSSIJ^Q FORWARD, 193

have to be borne, in some measure, by the next white
man who passes by that way. How many murders, rows,
and mishaps, have been occasioned in the South Sea
Islands and elsewhere through white men following
their own careless inclinations, and not thinking of those
who are to come after them ? Revenge is sweet, thinks
the native, who, if annoyed by one white man, will
remember the fact, and will eke out his vengeance on
another of the same colour as the aggressor. Never make
too free with natives in a settlement ; for, if you dp, they
will make free with the white man who next visits them,
who, perhaps, is made of stem material, and will take
oSencG at their familiarity.

Quitting these wretches iu this inhospitable village,
who I heard were as bad as any in the late massacre, we
left early in the morning, and pushed along through
beautiful and extensive banana and papaw plantations.
Here we saw decided evidence of the late hurricane, for
hundreds of fruit-bearing trees had been broken down in
the blow. After resting at midday iu an untidy little
settlement — where, however, China bananas were selling
at several dozen for a dis sous piece — we waded across a
stream, very like a Scotch one, and gradually ascended a
range of hills and penetrated thick bush. The road was
good, though here and there the remains of a landslip
balked us, or a massive tree blown down in the gale
blocked the way.

What a Oodsend it is to have a spell of walking in the
bush after one has been exposed to the heat of a burning
tropical sun for several hours. The road was cut along
the side of this rather precipitous range, and thus we

N

' nigti/cdavGoOglc

194 JfE W CALBDOmA.

were not far enough in tbe bush to experience that horrid
clammy feeling so unpleasant and unhealthy in a tropical
forest. Below us lay a dense mftSB of trees and luxuriant
glossy foliage ; above us, the same; still we could breathe
a pure atmosphere, and enjoy the shade of the overhanging
branches. Now and again we were able to catch a
glimpse of the beautiful prospect which stretched itself
out on the level, a few hundred feet below where we were
walking. The quiet beautifiil valley, so verdant in its
primitive garb, with a picturesque stream, whose waters
leapt over boulders and glistened in the sunshine as it
wound along to the distant ocean, contrasted pleasantly
with our near surroundings. During our walk we had to
cross, stepping-stone fashion, several picturesque cataracts,
and enjoyed the scenery amazingly. It was surprising to
observe the absence of gorgeous flowers, which some people
imagine to be so prolific in the tropical bush ; but the
richness of nature in her evergreen vesture could not fail
to strike the eye of the most indifferent atom of humanity
bred in a temperate climate. The stillness of the air,
also, broken only by an occasional cooing from the wood
pigeon, or the rush of a waterfall, or an intermittent
melody issuing from the imcontrollable mouth of our
native Toya, whose vocal powers increased as he drew
nearer tbe bosom of his family, added to the general
effect.

We were not sony, notwithstanding our pleasant
walking, to spy a group of huts in the distance. Descend-
ing the range, we very shortly entered the settlement of
Quandi. Here we selected a spacious house, and settled
down for the evening. This village of a score of houses

nigti/cdavGoOglc

^ DESERTED VILLAGE. 195

presented a most deserted and isolated appearance ; the
taboo mark— a oocoanut palm branch — was fixed on every
house. Only one man, who was looking after the place
while the other inhabitants were absent on a yisit, was to
bfe fovind. From him we purchased a turkey, which, with
yams, taro, and ripe bananas, made a handsome repast.
We noticed a few clumps of dwarfed cocoanut palms
here, but could not obtain any drinking nuts. It is a
curious fact that the cocoanut does not thrive at all well
inland, those that are to be seen being stunted. The
tree seems to require the presence of salt in some shape
or other ; the nearer the coast, the better it flourishes.

The first part of our journey after leaving Quandi, in
the morning, was up a steep slippery hill by means of a
very indistinct path. To make way necessitated the use
of all fours, and on reaching the summit we were
dripping with' moisture, having accumulated the morning
dew from the rank vegetation. An hour or two of hard
walking brought us to Mount Kanala, a well bushed hill
3,000 feet high. Over this we had to trudge. Thanks
to a good zigzag convict-made road, we tacked about from
side to side of the hill and avoided a precipitous climb ;
notwithstanding that these zigzag tracks involve more
walking than a straight one does, still they reduce the
toil to a minimum. What with the wildness and beauty
of the bush scenery to please the eye, and a desire to
reach the summit, the journey up Mount Kanala was
most pleasant. Just before reaching the top we noticed
a good show of quartz rock, some of which seemed to
form leading veins ; it hardly looked the aiiriferous sort,
still there \a plenty of scope for " prospecting '' in many

V %

n,gti7cc-.yG00glc

196 /fEW CALEDOmA.

places whicb one passes by. On arriving at the highest
point of the made road, a beautiful view presented itself,
and a refresbii^ five knot breeze helped to cool our
heated frames. The aspect of the country that lay ahead
was of quite a different stamp from that through which
we had just passed — quite a change of country, so far
as its geological formation was concerned. "We were,
indeed, quite close to the nickel ore bearing hills, and the
extensive and fertile £ana]a plains, bounded by high
ranges of hills, lay between us and the east coast. Hock of
a greasy feeling and talc-like nature abounded everywhere.
The distant hills, brown with ironstone, though tinged
with the blue which the atmosphere imparts to distant
objects, stamped the district with the look of a mineral
bearing country. A few miles from the base of the
mount we came to a convict settlement, and at the
invitation of the most hospitable officer in charge, whose
recollection of the English in the Crimea was favourable,
we sat down to a dejeuner of several courses served up to
us directly by a convict cook. Such a repast, winding
up with co&e and cognac, was most acceptable after a
five day's march on rough fare.

Shortly after leaving this unlocked for feast, our guides
were met by some of their friends, and we were asked to
repair to a neighbouring settlement. To please our men,
who, with the exception of one or two little attempts to
altercate, had behaved uncommonly well dining the
journey, we complied with the invitation. There is a
reason for everything, and so there was in this little move
of our new acquaintances, the chief and his firiends ; for,
when once in the village, the usual begging of presents

n,gti7cdpyG00glc

J^EARmO KdJ^ALJ. 197

from our guides was commenoed by their admirers.
Luckily, our men had not yet received their payment}
and go there was much ado about nothing, although I'm
afraid promises were made whereby the greedy come
best off at the time of exchanging presents.

By a gradually incHued road, alongside which runs a
water-race leading to the flat below, we descended the
hills and drew nigh to Kanala.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CHAPTER IV.

THE mCKEL COUJVTBr.

Kanala is one of the principal townships in New Cale-
donia, and stands next in importance to Noumea. It is
situated on the east coast. To anchor off it, vessels have
to Bail up a bay, four or five miles long, on each side
of which are lofty hills. Down the gullies in these
ranges the wind swoops with a vengeance, and so suddenly
&S to make crafting in small boata sometimes rather
dangerous. At the end of the bay is the anchorage,
which can only be classed as second rate. An unfortu-
nate 400-ton vessel which lay near the shore, with a large
hole in her side, and rendered useless, seemed to raise some
presumption against its good qualities.

The township, which lies nearly a mile distant, consists
of a small infantry barracks, a convict establishment, a stone
church partly blown down in a recent hurricane, a post-
offioe and telegraph office — for there is telegraph con-
nection with Noumea — and a few wooden houses where
the Crovemment officials reside. AH these are built on
the imdulating land. There are also a couple of veran-
dahed stores, kept by Frenchmen, and a few more wooden
houses scattered about on the plain.

There is a large native settlement a mile or so to the
nort^, and another to the south. The chiefs of both of

inyGoogIc

TEE BOA KAIJiE MIJVE. 199

these axe most energetic men in theii' way, and, dressed
in European clothing, loiter abont Kanala with an air of
extraordinary importance. The fact is, these men of
influence find it good policy to keep in with the French
officials, both for the sake of their exchequers and their
" prestige ;" the French, too, find it useful to be on good
terms with them, which means with their tribes, and
employ them in quelling native disturbances, making
roads, and doing other odd jobs.

Having made our way to one of the stores, we remu-
nerated our guides, whose relations and friends had some-
how or other turned up at the proper time and place,
with the notion of "fii'st come, best served" fully
impressed on them. We then paid a hurried visit to the
Boa Kaine nickel mine and returned to the store, where
we dined off preserved meats and haricot beans, and
shortly after retired to rest ; not on soft beds, however,
for such were not to be obtained. We lay upon the
wooden verandah facing the Government rice plantations,
and were lulled to sleep by, or fell asleep in spite of, a
loud dismal chorus of frogs which live in the flat land.

The Boa Eaine mine, famous for its rich dark green
coloured nickel ore, is within half-an-hour's journey from
the township, the workings being carried out in the range
of hills which run along the east coast. To reach it, you
have to walk past rice and coflee plantations and a native
village, to cross the same creek twice over, and to pass
along the flat land at the base of the hills. Here runs
the tramway leading from the sorting-house to the bank
of the creek, where the barges, which convey the ore to
the vessels in harbour, are loaded.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

200 THE mCKEL COUXTBI.

Before toiling up to the mine, it will repay you to rest
for some time in the sorting-house where the foreign
labour boys, chiefly from New Hebrides, fill the sacks.
Here you can examine the different qualities of the ore
better than when you are in the mine itself ; but you
will see no symptom of the pure niciel itself, only an
immense quantity of dark green rock mixed with a
certain amount of brown, due to the iron. In order to
reach the workings, which are high up the range — that is
to say, the entrance to the main shaft — you may be pre-
pared to pant violently on your ascent, for the road is a
tiring one for the feet and very steep. Upon the side of
the hill on the road to the main shaft, are the thatched
beehive-shaped huts in which live the miners, chiefly
Comishmen and men who have worked in Australian
Gold and Copper Mines. The houses are small, consisting
of a single room, and they axe of native construction, still
they are comfortable enough for a tropical climate. The
miners receive high wages, varying from £2 upwards per
week ; yet, considering the high price of provisions ( which
consist of tinned meat, salted beef, tea, flour, and ship
biscuits), and also the numerous drawbacks of living in a
decidedly rough country, as well as the debilitating effects
of hard work in so hot a climate, the pay is not by any
means too much. The hill side presents all the peculiari-
ties of the nickel country. Hardly any vegetation, except
small scrub, grows on it, and the sxuiace is covered with
small fragments of serpentine and other rock, with here and
there rough irregularly shaped masses of stone, cropping
out of the ground, and presenting an unusual appearance.
Ton may notice a few specs of green ore here and

inyGoogIc

THE PRIJVCTPAL MIJiES. 201

there, but very few, for the surface of the ground is
decidedly hrown.

If permission has been granted to you to inspect the
lodes, you will do well, especially if your dress is light
coloured or white, to direst yourself of your ordinary
apparel, or rather borrow a miner's suit to put above your
own, for, unless you do so, then, after wandering about
the tunnels and admiring the profusion of dark green
nickel ore, it will be next to impossible to emerge from
the mine without having accumulated numerous stains —
not green ones, as might be expected, but light brown
markings, which are most difficult to brush off or even
to wash out.

Kanaka may be considered the central township of the
nickel country, which extends along the East coast, thirty
miles to the North, and about the same distance to the
South. Traces of the green nickel ore are found even
outside this limit, and at Mont d'Or, a few miles from
Noumea, a mine has been worked — indeed, I believe it
was the first one in proper working order — but on the
west coast I have not heard of any " claims " being taken
up. Besides Houailou (pronounced Whyloo, and spelt
Wilo, Uailu, and in other ways), a place about twenty
miles to the north of Kanala, there is not another town-
ship in this tract of mineral coimtry which can boast of a
dozen well-built weatherboard houses. The principal
mines are at Houailou, Pura, Koua, 'Kanala, Neketd,
Tchio, and Brandy ; Houailou being the most noi-therly,
and Brandy the most southerly district

The whole range of hills along the coast has been
superfioi^y prospected, and several score of " claims " —

nigti/cdavGoOglc

202 TEE mCKEL COUJfTRr,

but a small proportion of the number duly registered at
head-quarters — have been worked ; few, however, on a
large scale.

From the Boa Eaine, EanaJa, and the Belair, Houailou,
both well managed mines, chiefly worked by Comishmen,
many thousand tons of rich ore have been exported. At
the former, the lode widens out in certain places to a
six feet breadth of rich green ore, in colour not unlike
some sort of malachite ; tiiroughout the workings, the
lode, Bo far as I could judge, seemed regular. At the
Belair, the profusion of ore of a much lighter green than
that of the Kanala ore, but equally rich — perhaps more
BO — is astounding. The Belair mine is of large extent ;
its present workings, high ^ip the range of hills, are
connected with the valley through which the river
Houailou flows by a good bullock dray road which winds
about the sides of the range.

Though I have travelled over nearly the whole of this
mineral country, I will not enter into details of the
various localities. Throughout the district, one meets
with numbers of well defined lodes of likely-looking
mineral, varying from a few inches to a few feet in
thickness, and of all shades of green, which are being
worked. There is, usually, a well defined foot wall to a
lode ; often no hanging wall. The ground, often varied
with brown loam, is generally of a very hard nature and
needs much blasting by dynamite. Soapy ground, liable
to come down with a run, owing to great masses of it
being bounded by polished surfaces, whose frictional
coefficient is small, is dangerously common. So different
in appearance and composition to "hupfemickel" and

n,g,t,7cd3yG00glc

JVJTURE 'OF TRS LODES. 203

otiter sources from 'which the metal nickel has been
hitherto obtained, the ores discovered in Kew Caledonia
hare a character of tiieir own. In Silesia, an ore rather
similar in composition and colour is known, still the ore
of New Caledonia may be reckoned as " sui generis."
At Houailou, the ore is of a beautifiilly light green
colour ; at Kanala, the lodes are made up of a very light
green mineral, of varying density and hardness, enclosed
in a honeycomb matrix of a brown silicate. The differ-
ence of shade of green varies a good deal according to
locality, but one cannot judge of the value of the ore
by colour. In all oaBes, the ore is the hydrated silicate
of nickel and magnesium, and usually shows traces of
iron. Different to copper ores, it is most difficult of
treatment in order that the per centage of metal con-
tained in the lode may be judged. There seems to be
no rule of thumb , to assist one ; consequently, until a
proper analysis has been made by a first-rate analytical
chemist or assayer, no one knows whether his lode will
yield fifteen or five per cent, of nickel, and many often
doubt whether there is any metal at all to be extracted
ft-om their " claims." The fact is, that some of the lodes
are of a very light unmetallic nature ; and, as the
Frenchman often says, like "fromage" in consistency.
Few people up country possess blowpipe apparatus, Mid
fewer possess the knowledge required to make a quanti-
tative analysis.

I remember some Frenchmen working indefatigably
for months, in sinking a shaft on a nearly vertical well
defined lode. It was an unmistakeable lode of a whitish
Bubstance, and supposed to contain a very high per centage

nigti/cdavGoOglc

204 THE mCKEL COUMTBT.

of nickel. Tons of it were sacked ready for shipment,
and "grand fortune" loomed in the distance, no doubt.
Alas ! the ore had never been analysed, and when the
first cargo ^ent to Nonmea, it is said to have contained
hardly a trace of the metal. So perfect, however, was
the lode between well-defined walls, that it is quite
possible there was something deeper down which might
have been found to pay. Numerous are the instances of
lodes supposed to yield twelve per cent, of nickel, turning
out to yield only two or three per cent

Australian miners and diggers, who take up " claims,"
look at the matter calmly. They are willing to speculate
their time and money, and do not unduly raise their
expectations ; knowing &om past experience the uncer-
tainty of result in every kind of mining, they are quite
prepared to find their claims yielding anything but a
payable ore. Frenchmen, I am inclined to believe, are
too sanguine, their hopes are raised to too great a pitch.
The whole game is a speculation, for, in the best of mines,
copper, silver or gold, the lodes are all liable to run out
suddenly, so that no person ought to play at the game if
he cannot meet his reverses or successes with equa-
nimity. Scores of Frenchmen, Englishmen, and other
white men, have burnt their fingers while dabbling in
nickel mining, and few have turned up trumps during the
game. Some of the large mines were, I know not if they
still are, said to pay well ; on the other hand, the majority
of claims taken up by men of small capital have proved
complete failures.

On an alluvial gold diggings, a man, if he has a
moderate clum, can cradle away, and with his grains of

n'gti7™3yG00glc

^ G^M£ OF SPECULATIOJV- 205

gold can pull hiB way along, can settle with his creditora,
and hope for a run of good and better luck ; the nickel
claim owner may be certain that the result of his digging
ought to be valuable, but until he finds a purchaser for
the ore he has no means of Terifying his conclusions.

Independently of the doubtftJ character of the nickel
ore, the mine holders have a host of drawbacks to
contend with. Among these the principal are connected
with the difficulties and, in consequence, the cost of
carriage — for the expense of sending a cargo by coasting
vessel to Noumea, storage, &c., is very considerable ; the
slack and slow way in which " claims " are properly sur-
veyed, thereby retarding a proper and safe embarkation of
capital ; the deamess of mining labour — for inexperienced
miners are of little use in underground working; the
trouble in ascertaining the real value of the ore — how
different in a colony like Australia, where aU information
about the value of minerals can soon be obtained ; and
the want of a ready market for the ore as it comes out of
the tunnels or shafts.

As known at present, the extraction of nickel from this
Kew Caledonian ore is, from all accounts, a most expen-
sive matter, the wet process seeming to be more satisfac-
tory than the smelting one. Should some new and
cheap process be discovered — should the demand for and
the price of the metal remain anything approaching the
present — and should factories for the reduction of the
ore be started, there is good reason to hope that many
of the lodes, some of which yield from five to fifteen
per cent, of metal, will be worked more hopefully than at
this time.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

206 TSR mCKEL COUXTBT.

The metal is xtsed exteoBiTely for plating articles, in
the manufacture of Geiinan silver, &c, ; it is in great
favour for surgical and scientific instruments, harness,
&c. ; and, from its property of rendering certain metals
nnoxidizable when alloyed with it, might be used more
extensively than now with advantage.

The principal mines, though owned by foreignOTS other
than English — be they French, Belgian, or Swiss — are
chiefiy worked by Comishmen, or miners from the gold
and copper mines of Australia, who receive high wages.
Lib^rfo (freed prisoners), of whom there is a great
number in the island, are also employed, at a much lower
wage than bond fide experienced miners. They work
uncommonly well, and grumble leas than Englishmen.
When they have had a few years' underground experience,
and know aU about timbering the shafts and tunnels, and
can distinguish the varioiis sorts of ground, whether
likely to tumble in, &c., — for to do this needs a long
course of training — they will become most useful men to
the colony. South Sea Islanders, chiefly New Hebrides
kanakas, as well as Malabar natives, are made use of for
the more buUocking work, under which white men from
a colder climate would succumb in the tropics. The
New Caledonian natives take little interest in the mines,
and will not undertake any heavy work for any length of
time. Even the imported South Sea Islanders do not
enter into the spirit of their work on the mines with half
so much pleasure as when employed on plantation work.
This is only natural.

In order to search for minerals, or to take up a " claim,"
it is necessary to procure a licence from the government

nigti/cdavGoOglc

FOBMALITIES AS TO CLAIMS. 207

authorities. By the payment of 25 franoB, a "miner's
right " may be obtained. By virtue of this *' miner's
right," which is available for twelve months, the possessor
can "prospect" for minerals upon government lands
throughout the island. On finding good indications, he
is at liberty to claim as much ground as he requires —
granted that it has not been taJcen up before.

Taking possession of land for raining purposes is
ejected thus. The intending occupier must erect, at
each of the four comers of the selected area (which is
marked off in as rectangular a form as he can judge), a
post of not less than one metre high above the surface.
On each of these must be notified the name of the
possessor, the date of taking possession, and the number
of hectares required. It is no easy matter, in a country
of rough deep gullies, to place the posts in their proper
positions relative to one another as boundary marks ;
still, with the aid of a little common sense, and a compass
to give the bearings, an ordinary individual can do so
approximately.

Within five days of marking out his " claim," the
would-be owner must report the same to the administrator
of the district. This probably means ten or twenty
miles of hard walking, for the nickel country has
few equals in the matter of roughness. It is
astonishing how nimbly the bai-efooted natives get over
the ground; but white men, wearing strongly made
boots, find toiling over the hills— some of which are
covered with ironstone — no easy matter, and are
constantly tripping up and running any number of
chances of dislocating ankles.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

208 TSM mOKEL COUJfTBY.

The administrator requires oertain intormation about
the selected area ; and, if he haa no objection to propose,
registers your claim, after having received payment for a
" collective miner's right." Of course, the more land
taken up, so much more annual rent has to be paid ; by
mining regulations, the more the hectares, the more men
must be employed on the claim, so that it may be worked
in a systematic and bond fide manner.

In course of time, it may be and most likely will be
months, the claim will be accurately surveyed by some
one authorised to mark out the boundaries. The delay
occasioned by the surveyors not having arrived had
better be borne quietly, for it is policy to be subordinate
to and not to dictate to or complain of the powers t^t be
in a French settlement. A rebellious subject might be
requested to leave the island ; at least, every inhabitant
is supposed to conform to the manners and customs of the
people in authority.

There are several stringent laws which must be rigidly
obeyed. One, much to the credit of the French, is that it
is illegal to interfere with native plantations ; generally,
native property must be respected. Suppose a miner
wishes to timber a timnel, law forbids him to go down
to that clump of bush by the seashore alongside the native
settlement and to hew down the splendid pine or other
massive ti-ee, unless previous consent has been given. If
there were no restriction in this matter, then, should ever
an influx of miners take place, few breadfruit trees would
be left to grace the village settlements. Very often some
splendid timber is to be found in the native burying-
grounds ; such trees are tabooed, however, and must only

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MiTIVE PBOFEBTY RESPECTED. 209

be admired, not cut down without leave from parties
interested in them.

The nickel country is dissimilar to any that you are
likely to hare the opportunity of seeing elsewhere.
Hills, brown in colour, due to the quantity of ironstone
which covers them, 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, slope down
to valleys or the flat land a few hundred yards or feet
from the sea margin, and sometimes form a precipice
against which the waters beat. Owing to the want of
disintegrated soil, they are nearly devoid of vegetation,
except light scrub. This gives an additionally strange
appearance to the lofty hill ranges. In the gulleys,
watered by the small mountain rivulets which bring
down the lighter particles of soil, and along the base
of the hills, thick bush flourishes. Between the foot
of the range and the beach, the land is invariably
rich, and, beautified by plantain, sugar-cane, tare, and
yam patches, by groves of oocoanut palms, stately
araucaria pines, towering straight and high, by bread-
fruit and other lovely trees, contrasts well with the barren
hill-sides.

Ordinarily, it is in the hot and bright weather, that
the number of dry gullies is most conspicuous. When
thirsty, you make sure that by travellmg along the bed of
one — the scampering and climbing is no joke — you will
come upon a refreshing stream; but, imless in some
isolated waterhole serving as a natural tank, you rarely
find the coveted water. It is only during a heavy
tropical downpour of rain that you realise how these
gullies have been eaten out so fantastically. Once, when
located in a hut 2,000 feet above the sea level, we were

nigti/cdavGoOglc

210 TBE mCKEL COVXTRY.

confined within doors on account of a beaTy Btorm, and,
notwithstanding that domeBtic inconveniences were jiiBt
as bad as they could be, and that to raise a fire was quite
an undertaking, we were much gratified at having an
opportunity of witnessing the efieet of so great a loosen-
ing of the elements. The very thunder was grand, as a
peal burst forth and cannoned about from bill to hill,
from mountain to mountain, until after the duration of
several minutes it expended itself. The rush of torrents
down the chines was equally striking. As tiie soil did
not allow the rain to permeate, so, commencing at the
summit of the range, streamlets trickled down small
grooves, and widened into larger channels, while, furtiier
down the slope, the numerous rills joined together to form
a cataract of large dimeuBionB. To watch the hundreds
of rivulets which, against the dark brown hills,
were of snow white colour, and to see the same
picturesque sight on every hill-side, to hear the
rushing soxmd of near and distant water-falls, while
the torrents were leaping along the gorges as fast ss
nature would permit them, to pour themBclves into the
swollen creek which winds about the luxurious flat laud,
compensated for a deal of the misery we were subjected
to within our domicile.

Perhaps rather too devoid of nature's green garb to
please the eye of an artist, the nickel country is replete
with objects of interest to the geologist. Landslips,
fissures, precipices, detached masses of rock, give a wild
look to the scenery, and tell a tale of violent upheavals
which must have once taken place. One is surprised at
the immenfle quantity of heavy iron to be found eveiy

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SCIEJVriST AJ^D TOURIST. 211

where; some lumps contain not many per cent, of
material other than the useful metal. On some of the
plateaus, the surface is covered with little, almost com-
pletely spherical, pellets of iron, which could be collected
in basketfuls, if there were any use for them.

To the botanist there is perhaps little to elicit atten-
tion. He may oome across the curious pitcher plant on
some of the hill-sides so wonderiiilly deficient in grass
and greenwood ; bat, unless he seeks in the gorges and
on the low-lying land, he will not meet with muoh
encouragement.

The prospect, however, from the top of a range will
repay one for a deal of rough walking to obtain it.
Casting the eye over the rich flat land, fringed with
thousands of cocoanut palms, and looking seaward, we
view the beautiful expanse of blue waters, streaked with
the white lines formed by the dashing of breakers against
the coral reefs, which run parallel to the shore, some-
times four or five miles distant. To the southward, the
peaks of the hills, all tinged with the colour which com-
parative distance imparts to them, tower above the
horizon, and between our point of view and the dim out-
line of the more remote ridges, rise many picturesque
bits of scenery. Two thousand feet below us, lies the
fertile valley, watered by the mountain streams, which,
imiting, flow harmoniously through clumps of mangroves
to the sea. Placidly, as in days before the white man waa
ever conscious of its existence, the river glides gently
along, and, here and there on its banks, the conical
houses of the natives peep out from the groves of
luxuriant cocoanut trees, while well irrigated taro beds,

2

n,gti7cc-.yG00glc

212 THE mCKEL COUJCTBT

patches of banana trees and sugar-cane, tall, graceful and
sjmmetricaUy growing araucaria pines, beneath the shade
of which lie the blackened bones of former generations of
the NeT Caledonian race, give a pleasing effect to the
landscape. A white weatherboard store, glistening in the
distance, or the solitary house of some lib^r^, doomed to
end his days on the island along with his "papini" or
native woman, or the shanty of some "prcrapector,"
turns one's thoughts to civilisation. The clink of a pick-
axe, tbe boisterous song of some native, who is wending
his way along the winding path which travei-ses the
valley, or the cooling sound of a cataract tumbling
along, alone breaks the silence. Certainly the view
has quite a character of its own, and one cannot help
being impressed with nature in her wild, fantastic,
unintentional, and, to the N^ew Caledonian native, unap-
preciated, grandeur.

In addition to nickel, other valuable metals are stored
up in the depths of the island. At Ualade, in tiie north
end, a copper mine has been worked for some time back.
How lucrative the mine has been I have never heard,
but the quality of the ore is good.

Gold mining has been carried on at Femhill, on the
East Coast. Chrome iron and cobalt ores are met
with in various parts of the nickel country. Anti-
mony, and traces of silver have been discovered. As for
ores rich in iron, the quantity seems inexhaustible ; yet,
at present, no one sees any way of making money from
them.

The island of New Caledonia, so limited in length and
breadth, and possessing only a small area of good agri-

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MINERAL WEALTH. 213

cultural land, is, without doubt, wondei-fuUy rich iu
mineral ■wealth. Still, mining has not enriched many
who have done their best to turn the latent treasures to
account, and while few hare scraped together a " pile,'
the majority have come off badly in the long run.

inyGoogIc

CHAPTER V.

RESOURCES OF JfEW CALEDOmA.

The nickel industry has been referred to in fall detail
in the preceding chapter.

The isolated position of the island is a very great
drawhack. White labour and carriage are expensive
items. Mineral ores have to be shipped to Newcastle,
New South Wales, or some of them even to Swansea, in
Wales, Great Britain, in order to be smelted. What an
expense this is ! Why, by the time a cargo is fairly
landed at its destination in Australia, it has probably
cost as much as it would to send freight from Sydney to

As mentioned before, farm or plantation land does not
occupy a large area. In the valleys, there is always
some really fine grazing land, and on the southern end of
the island there is a fair sprinkling of settlers, who carry
on a steady trade, either by planting, or by stock-raising.
The proximity to Noumea considerably enhances the
value of farms or plantations. Never have I heard of
half-a-dozen planters who have amassed handsome
fortunes ; but I have heard of several who, without
laying out much capital at first, found their labours
crowned with moderate success after a few years, and
also of many who, sinking a fair round sum on their land,

nigti/cdavGoOglc

FARMS AJi'B FLAJfT4TI0JrS. 215

hare Goiue to grief. This is the same old story that one
hears in Australia, in Kew Zealand, and, especially so far
as planting is concerned, in Fiji. The man who Ian with
the half-crown piece often succeeds, and the capitalist
often comes off badly. As for stock-raising, the business
must depend on local oonsimiption ; for, unless to supply
the demands of the local market, to what porpoae need
cattle be reared? To export stock to Australia is to
send coals to Newcastle. Sugar-cane, rice and coffee
plantations, are to be met with in various parts of the
island. WhUe in Fiji, the notion is that the high land,
1,000 and 2,000 feet above the sea level, offers the most
suitable elevation for coffee planting, it is worth while to
bear in mind that in New Caledonia, only a couple of
degrees of latitude distant, the bushes are to be noticed
on the flat land, and, to all appearances, thriving.

Passing through settlements on the East Coast, I have,
on several* occasions, been astonished at the number of
cocoanute which are allowed to go to waste in each.
Thousands on thousands of mature nuts, suitable forcoprah
making, fall down, and, half-buried in the undergrowth, are
allowed to spoil. Indeed, with the exception of tnose
which serve as food to the natives, or as many as are
necessary to feed the pigs of the settlements, and a few
which, when they commence to sprout — that is, when
the young shoots burst their way through the thick
husks — are placed in some central part of the village
to be ready for planting ; the old nuts are apparently
turned to no use whatever. Surely a coprah trade
could be started systematically ; and, if the natives
do not wish to exert themselves, it is questionable

inyGoogIc

216 NATURAL RESOVBCES.

whether such a waste ought to be allowed, year after
year.

Formerly, the b^che-de-mer fisheries about the coral
reefs were very lucrative. Whether or not the reefs are
worked out, for some reason or other, the b^che-de-mer is
hardly thought of ; yet, a perBevering Chinese firm still
retains its establishment at Noumea.

Compared with an average English new colony, New
Caledonia progresses but slowly in the development of its
natural resources. The fact of its having been signed
by the French for a penal settlement may be reckoned as
one of the likely causes. A very short residence in the
island suffices to acquaint one with the fact that freedom
of speech, committed or not to paper, and so prevalent
and tolerated in most new countries, is not appreciated.
It is quite po^ihle that the French consider that the
main and only recognised use of New Caledonia is the
part which it plays in being a convenient repository for
convicts who, as the population of France increases,
unless a change in morals takes place, will have their
number augmented, and that for this reason an influx of
freethinking capitalists, speculators, and settlers, is not
desirable. A new settler finds that he must not be too
ready with complaints, for by this means he will do
himself no good ; and if he carry his free-country
manners to too conspicuous a degree, be may bring much
harm upon himself by so doing. The leading newspaper
is poorly supplied with news of the kind which the
energetic and truth-seeking colonist requires. All this
may be right enough if the colony is to be a penal, and
nothing but a penal, settlement ; and though we Britishers

nigti/cdavGoOglc

SLOW DEVELOPMEJVT. ^U

like to carry our free notions along with ua, it ia question-
able whether, if our money-grabbing propensities were
introduced too freely into New Caledonia, the French
would have any cause to thank us.

The naval and military authorities stationed in the
island, who remain for a few yeai^, and then return to
their mother-country, are engrossed in their own line of
business ; and, therefore, cannot be expected to trouble
themselves much about matters external to their own
official duties.

With us there is a notion that the Latin races do not
make such good colonists as some others. They seem to
cling to town life and its comforts ; they love sociability
and care not to wander away from the haunts of their
own people ; still, they are probably just as happy in
their style as the English, who seem to enjoy
fighting their way through the diacomforta of a rough
lite, so long as the hope of obtaining the golden apples is
held out to them.

inyGoogIc

inyGoogIc

inyGoogIc

CHAPTER VI.

THE J^ATIVE RACE.

The natives of New Caledonia belong to the Papuan
race. In darkness of colour — a sooty brown — in frizzli-
ness of hair, io broadness of nose, in largeness of lips,
they resemble the natives of Fiji, the New Hebrides, New
Guinea, and Solomon Islands ; yet the New Caledonian
has distinguishing features to prove that centuries have
elapsed since his rac* became separated from the parent
stock of Papuans. The men are usually well developed
and, so far as the term applies to dark-coloured races,
handsome ; they are remarkably muscular and have very
high calves. They are capable of enduring great physical
exertion for a limited period, a fifty-mile walk being
looked upon as a trifle. Their eyes seem to possess
telescopic, and their ears telephonic, powers j at any rate,
the aboriginals have a far keener sense of seeing and
heariog than white men. The women, who perform
most of the drudgeiy and hard work which pertains to a
settlement, are more useful than beautiful. Eai-ly marriage
and rough work soou age them, and with hanging breasts,
wrinkled foreheads, and oftentimes closely shaven heads,
thoy look far from fascinating. Good-looking damsels
are as rare in a New Caledonian settlement as they are
common in most of the Polynesian villages.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

nigti/cdavGoOglc

nigti/cdavGoOglc

APPEARAJiCE AJVD DEESS. 219

The dress of the natives is remarkably scanty. As far
as decency permits, the men assmue nature's garb, and the
boys run about as naked as when they entered the world.
Women, on the other hand, weai' a fringe girdle made
jrom the fibre of the pandanus tree. A fringe unwrapped
measures several yards in length. It is wound round one
thigh and then round the other two or three times, with a
few circumscribing bindings about the body. This, the
only dress which the women adopt for clothiog, is formed
by twisting together the threads of a fibre into short
pieces of string about six inches long, and then attaching
these to amain cord. The fashion of wearing the beaten-
out inner bark of the paper mulberry tree seems unknown,
and the fathom of European print cloth, such a universal
article of dress in most of the South Sea Islands where
white men trade, is but rarely seen. A chief may some-
times be observed strutting about in a Frendi infantry
eoat, shako, and white trousers ; but, like the Maori, he
is soon satisfied, and throws aside his garments on return-
ing to bis home, and dons that of his ancestors, whose
tailors' bills were never very exorbitant.

While the men show such a distaste for body-clothing,
they one and all are most particular in wearing some
sort of coloured print or otter cloth, Turkey red or navy
blue, tied round their moppisb heads of hair. Judging
from a very old carved wooden figure, I imagine this
style of head-dress is not of modem introduction. In
every settlement you are sure to notice some women and
children with their heads perfectly bald. A bald head
does not add to the personal attractions of a yoimg woman;
still, it allows a stranger an opportunity of studying

nigti/cdavGoOglc

220 THE JVATIVE R^CE.

phrenology without fumbling about for the bumps. It is
strange how, with only bits of bottle-glass, and, in former
days, with shells or other piimitive instruments, sucH
barbering is effected.

As to ornamentation, the New Caledonian displays
hardly any taste. A cord of plaited flying fox's hair with
a few cowry shells, or a single white shell, or the shell of
a small crab, or beads attached, is the ordinary necklet.
Armlets and leglets are very similar. Ear-boring is
practised by the natives, the lower part of the ear bored
hanging down ungracefully, unless some ornament is
inserted. The ear-hole in course of time becomes large,
and serves as a receptacle for a reel (a discarded cotton
one), a tobacco pipe, a piece of twist tobacco, or, what
looks far neater, a portion of a plantain of palm leaf
rolled into a cylindrical shape. As in Fiji, the custom of
cutting off the little finger, when the decease of a relation
required it, seems to have been a most common one ; the
number of elderly people who have one hand disfigured is
great. Tattooing is not general, though the faces of some
of the females have a few tattoo marks on the chin and
near the mouth. Cutting and burning patterns on the
arm, which, when the scars are healed, stand out embossed,
is a popular fancy with the women.

Not to say that the women are uncleanly, for they are
constantly in the water, they certainly fall short of the
Fijian in regard to attention to toilet, and their scanty
clothing never seems to come into contact with soap and
water. Those who wear hair, bestow little pains on
dressing it. They are not lavish with cocoanut oil, the
constant applieation of which renders the skin of the

n,gti7cdr.yG00glc

TASTE AJiTD TOILET.

221

people in many of the more easterly islands so sleek, nor
do tliey seem so well versed in the art of extracting scent
essences from flowers, nuts, fruits, or woods ; and I have
not noticed that they ever wander forth at sunrise to
collect the fallen flowers, as the Fijian darnels, so fond of
perfuming the body, do.

Carved bamhoo combs, staffs of bamboo, with repre-
sentations of men, animals, stars, &c., cut on the surface,
wood carving, grotesque masks, clubs, spears, tomahawks,
paddles, represent the limited works of art manufiictured
by the native. The ordinary spear is a straight one, well
balanced, without any attempt at embellishment. The
ordinary club is a mushroom headed one, not unlike that
used by the Australian blacks ; it has this peculiarity,
that it thickens at the handle. One of the strangest
weapons is a sort of half-club, half-pick. This, according
to a high authority, is a development of the Australian
"Malga," which is a development of the boomerang.
The top portion is at right angles to the handle, and
tapers off to a point; though originally it was unoma-
mented, it now represents the head and beak of a bird.
Another peculiar implement is a kind of hatchet, consist-
ing of an oval-shaped piece of polished serpentine rock,
about a foot broad, strapped on the end of a handle.
This is an improved form of a very similar Australian
hatchet. The common stone adze, rather broader in
proportion to its length than most South Sea Island ones,
is strikingly like those of Erromango in the New Hebrides
group. Like tiie natives of New Ireland, not far from
New Guinea, the New Caledonians possess most grotesque
masks, which are or have been used when deeds of dark-

nigti/cdavGoOglc

222 THE JfATJVE RACE.

ness are oi have been committed, and when the perpe-
trator of the tragedy wishes to be unrecognised. The
face of a maek i-epresents a human countenance in a
grotesque and exaggerated manner, and on a scale two or
three times the size of an ordinary iace. Sometimes
with a black background of wood, sometimes of white
bark, with large eyes of mother-of-pearl, with a very
large mouth (the lips of which consist ot a collection of
little red bean-eeeds stuck to the framework), and with
the lower portion, which obscures the lower part of the
wearer's body as fer down as the ankles, composed of
black feathers, these curiosities of saTage art have a
startling aspect in broad daylight, and much more
so at night. They are rarely met with, and will soon be
obsolete.

While travelling through and round the island, one
notices that the island or bush settlements, probably
subdued ones, are not so nicely built or attended to as
those on the coast. On approaching a native village,
you are generally able to judge whei-eabout it lies, and
this some considerable time before entering it, by the
appearance of plantain trees, by yam patches, or taro
beds arranged in pai-allel terraces, and in some districts,
by the large towering and tapering conical chiefs' houses,
which rise high above the ordinary dwellings, and which,
in addition to their other recommendations, serve as first-
rate landmarks. On the coast, the settlements are'
usually bidlt at the mouths of creeks, and in spots where
the coooanut palms grow in the best profusion. The
houses are not arranged in any regular order, and very
frequently tangled bushes grow so thickly between them

nigti/cdavGoOglc

JfATIVE VILLAGES. 223

that a stranger cannot tell the extent of a village until be
has wandered along the numerous footworn tracks which
trarerse it, and explored all the nooks. Eoughly
constructed fences, portioning off the small domains, are
seen in some settlements. In a few of the larger head
centres, the houses are built close to one another, only a
few yards apart ; and, being of much the same character,
the stranger who is seeking for some particular one, with-
out knowing a word of the dialect, may wander along the
pathtj, round about, and go over the same ground many
times before he alights on the house he is looking for.
This can only happen in an especially populous place, for
the ordinary settlement, which is met with every two or
three miles along the coast, consists of only about twenty
or thirty houses.

Suppose that you arrive at a collection of dwellings,
and wish to rest for several hours. Unless you proceed
direct to the chiefs residence, there is usually one
building, quite different from the rest, for strangers to
repair to ; and this any native visitor would naturally
steer for. In these sheds set apart for outsiders, there is
no wall to the front, but one part of the roof extends
down to about two or three feet from the ground, and the
other part of the roof extends two or three feet above tho
top of the building ; this arrangement prevents the rain
from beating into the interior. If a white man makes a
halt at a village, he finds that one of these houses, being
pro bono publico, ia not a very comfortable resting place,
for he cannot well object to natives squatting about,
gaping, grinning, quizzing every action and look,
watching every mouthful of food he gets through ; it is

nigti/cdavGoOglc

224 THE M4TirS KACE.

not agreeable to see a score or more Papuans, who cannot
control their emotions, taking their places for the sole
object of criticising the white man, and endearouring, bj
all kinds of artfiil dodges, to elicit tobacco fiata. him. It
is fer more satisfactory to go to the chief, and, if you
intend to remain in the place for only an hour or two, to
make his head-quarters yours ; if you are to stop over
night, you should hire one of the conical houses.

The lai^ conicaUy>8haped houses are of a most
pecidiar type of architecture. Some of them are from
thirty to fifty feet high, and nearly every one has an
addition of twelve feet or so of ornamentation, which
usually consists of a vertical pole with large shells, used
in the South Seas for trumpets, arranged symmetrically,
so that, at equal intervals apart, they project from the
pole to which they are attached. The door of one of
these strange structures is just large enough to admit a
person stooping to enter, and the interior is very limited
in moving room. In height the room is about one and a
half fathoms ; in diameter about three or four. The
dwelling portion of the house is cylindrical in shape ; the
greater part of the edifice is the conical roof. The
middle post or axis which supports the structure is the
straight stem of a pine tree ; the skeleton framework of
the house consists of vertical posts for the lower portion
of the fabric, and a system of straight branches on the
side of the cone, which converge to the apex. The roof
is covered with a diatch of fine grass, and is of consider-
able thickness, so as to be perfectly watertight. A wall,
composed of strips of white bark, each piece being two or
more feet wide, and several feet long, and bound to the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

COmCAL HOUSES. 226

iramework liy tough bark fitsteDuigs, endoses the dwelling
room. With regard to the small entrance door, the
objeot of its being of such narrow dimensions was
probably to make it a difficult matter for intruders to visit
the chief without attracting his attention.

The natives invariably try to impress upon the stranger
that the great advantage of living in one of these chiefs
houses is that the occupant is unmolested by mosquitoes
because these annoying insects seek the upper recesses.
For all that, the atmosphere is frightfully close and
unpleasant, and the smoke from smouldering wood must
be as injurious to inhale, as it is unpleasantly irritating
to the eyes and nose. In all likelihood, these towering
edifices, which serve the purpose of landmarks oapitally,
have " show" as the primary object. One thing certain
is, that they would stand the force of a hurricane far
better than those presenting flat surfaces for the wind to
strike against. When newly built, their appearance is
wonderfully neat, the grass which forma the thatch being
laid on with surprising care.

The ordinary dwellings of the natives are sometimes
of the four-walled type ; more usually they present the
small conical roof on tiie cylindrical base. They are
inferior both in construction and in general appearance to
the Tongan and Fijian houses. Beed walls are unknown ;
plaited cocoanut palm leaves, or, more commonly, strips
of bark, form the wall coverings. Strange to say, cocoa-
nut fibre is rarely used for fastening purposes ; its
substitutes are strips of bark, parasitical creeping plants,
and bushes.
In some of the settieiaeatS; seyei4l o( the principal

nigti/cdavGoOglc

226 THS JTATirE RACE.

hoiwefl are ornamented with wooil-carving. A rude and
not very decent wooden figure is seen on the top of a
house ; hut all sorts of nondesoi-ipt carved objects attract
one's notice. On each side of the entrance of a chief's
habitation, carved slabs of wood, six or more feet in
height, are occasionally placed ; and similar slabs are
also to be seen in the inteiior of a few of the principal
houses. All the carvings are grotesque, and in this
respect present a slight similarity to the New Zealand
productions ; both in New Zealand and New Caledonia,
the women are invariably represented with enormously
developed mouths. At the same time, the New Cale-
donian cannot, or does not, turn oat such elaborate works
of art as, for instance, the carved " whares " of the
Maories, who pay high prices to, and sometimes send to
far off tribes for, an expert wood-carver. Anyone who has
had an opportunity of examining the Kaon, carved houses
at Whakatane, at Obinemutu, at Taheke, at Opitiki in
New Zealand, ia not likely to forget them. They are,
indeed, wonders, so far as grotesqneness is concerned.
The New Caledonians do not possess any buildings set
apart solely for the display of their works of art ; but the
carvings are distributed more generally than in New
Zealand.

The native merely uses his dwelling for a sleeping
place, and seldom squats in it during the day. It is hard
to say how the men occupy their time between sunrise
and the afternoon. They loiter about in the bush and
along the sea shore, and their S2)ears and slings and stones
afford them some pleasure. They nibble sugar-cane,
search for good wood to make clubs from, and, if there is

nigti/cdavGoOglc

DI^^EB. 227

a white man's store not far off, loiter about the verandah,
if allowed. They do anything but hard work. They
keep away from the settlement in the day-time, and
appear on the scene near sunset. The women, though
t, they pass most of the hours away from the village, have
not such an easy time of it, and, what with collecting
shell-fish, fetching wood and water, and looking after the
plantations, their day is pretty well occupied. Just before
sunset, the inhabitants, both male and female, young and
old, flock to the settlement — for then the principal and
indeed the only recognised meal of the day is prepared —
and the women, who superintend the cookiag, are busy
with their ovens. The meal is cooked in an open space,
enclosed by a wall of dried cocoanut palm leaves, arranged
vertically , and close to one another, so as to form a sheltering
screen. Inside this enclosure two or three ovens, which
serve the purpose of many separate smaller ones, are
made ; by this method of co-operation, the one meal of
the whole community can be cooked and distributed at
the same time. In the larger settlements several of these
enclosed open-air cookery establishments are, as the day
closes, to be seen in a state of bustle.

The so-called ovens are constructed on the same
principle as those met with in most South Sea Islands ;
but, while the Tfew Zealander digs a cylindrical pit, and
the Fijian a hemispherical one, the New Caledonian has
his own modus operandi, and places the fire, which heats
the stones, on the surface of the^^groimd ; then, when the
food is piled on the top of the stones, it is covered with
layers of banana leaves and stiips of bark, so that no heat

p2

n,g,t,7cd ay Google

228 TEE JfATIVE RACE.

can escape. The oven, Then completed, appears as a
hemispherical mound above the surface.

The yam may be reckoned the staff of life in most of
the Pacific Islands ; not in ^, for there are some coral
islands where the cocoanut is the chief article of diet. In
New Caledonia, however, the yam is the principal food.
Yams, taros, sweet potatoes (batata), roast bananas and
shell fish, are the usual edibles of an overy-day meal.

Large fish, small fish caught inside the reef, cray-fish,
and octopods are much eaten. Caterpillars, water-rats
(caught by children, who, carrying torches in the evening,
surprise the animals and knock them over), and locusts,
are entries. The locusts at times abound too plentifully
in the island, and, while resting after a long flight, can be
collected in basketfuls. This fact a native guide who is
piloting you through the country, notwithstanding that he
may take you a mile or two from the proper track, will
perhaps be the means of letting you know, as he has been
the means of my knowing. Of the fish eaten, most are
of the same kind as those caught elsewhere in the same
latitude in the South Seas. There is, however, one which
is considered a delicacy. In appearance it is most
peculiar. It has a smooth, hard skin, like that of a
porpoise, and a sharp, strong horn protrudesfrom its head,
after the fashion of the so-called unicorn. The fish is
about a foot long, and the flesh is of a more solid nature
than that of ordinary fish ; it is, as a native will tell you,
" all same po^a," and contains a good deal of fat. This
animal is in great favour at a feast. On the little island
of Kani, near Nek^t^, on the east coast, I once noticed
two hundred of them, cooked aud wrapped in bread fruit

' " n,gti7™3yG00glc

EDIBLES. 229

leaves, ready for a " pilo-pilo " which was to take place
inland.

Though pigs are plentiful in the island, the flesh is
seldom eaten. They are fed regularly on the kernels of
the cocoanut, and sold to white traders. The meat is
naturally oleaginous, and this to an unpleasant degree.

Fowls are comparatively scarce, eggs extremely so.
The pigs, roaming ahoat the bush, not only gobble up the
eggs, but also, when a favourable chance presents
itself, the young chickens. With regard to fruits, the
settlements are as well and variouBly supplied as elsewhere
in the prolific Pacific Isles ; the cocoanut palm, plantain,
and papaw tree grow profusely. Ghiava trees are plenti-
ful throughout the island.

Sugar-cane is cultivated by the natives ; but the cane
grown is thin, and the juice is poor in quality ; still, the
aboriginal does not grow it for the purpose of manu-
facturing payable sugar from it, but only to munch.

The yams are of a much smaller size than those met
with in the Fiji Islands. This is most probably due to
the New Caledonian method of planting them in beds, as
we do potatoes, whereas the Fijians make conical heaps of
fine earth for the tubers, and bestow much pains on the
yam cultivation. The small long and narrow yams axe,
nevertheless, excellent for roasting, and, if properly
attended to, the outside being scraped ofi' two or three
times during the cooking process, come off the fire as
mealy as a baked potato at Evans's. For the irrigation
of the taro beds, water is usually conveyed by a water-
course cut on the side of the hills, which winds about on
the hill-^opes for long distances. Waterfalls, numeroiu

. n,gti7™3yG00glc

230 TEE JfJTirS RACn.

in all parts of the island, and natural springs, help to feed
the water-courses. This system of obtaining a constant
supply of water for the taro patches is universal ; dried-
up aqueducts, out of repair, which lead to deserted settle-
ments, make one conjecture that it is an old'established
mode. Some of the water-races in the island can compare
favourably, as works of merit, with those met with at
Sawaiaki in Ngau, and at other places in Fiji. The idea
of irrigating the plantations by this means is, perhaps,
one which would occur to the most uncivilised savage ;
but a certain amount of skill displayed in cutting tho
channels on the side of the hills, which are sometimes
wooded, oftentimes rocky, and also in constructing them
at a constant, very gradual descent, imperceptible to the
naked eye, is sufficient to alter any previously assumed
notioD that the Kelanesian is a know-nothing specimen of
the " genus homo."

The ambition of the indigenes may be reckoned at zero.
Their wants are very limited. A six or twelve inch
sheath knife, a supply of twist tobacco, a pipe, and a yard
of Turkey red to wrap round the head, represent all the
trade goods which an ordinary native cares for. A leather
waist-belt and leather pouch, a jersey or shirt, a pair of
white or blue trousers, a cedar bos, and a tomahawk,
satisfy the most covetous. The New Caledonian does
not even fancy the fathom of print cloth, such a regular
article of trade throughout the South Sea Islands, rather
priding himself to strut about in a manner closely
approaching the state of nature. Dictates of natural
disposition may be a principal cause why his wants are so
restricted. There is, however, in tJl likelihood another

inyGoogIc

^•EW WAJns-lJTTLB WORK. 231

one, and this is tliat the chief of a settlement and a
man's own relations have their eyes on any recently
acquired wealth. If the chief be a man of power — for
there ai-e plenty of chiefs in New Caledonia whose power
is nearly nil, and whose word is law only when any
devilry is on the programme — it Ja improbable that he
would be refused anything that he thought fit to ask for ;
and, amongst kinsfolk, there is a kind of etiquette in the
matter of giving and receiving presents which, no doubt,
restrains the desire to aoquire personal property, and
consequently the energy required to obtain it.

As for getting any satisfactory work out of New Cale-
donians, the case is much the same as in Fiji. Sometimes
a " dix sous" or a stick of tobacco will work wonders ;
at other times, dollars will not induce them to work ;
and seldom can you persuade tbem to labom: for many
days at a stretch. According to New Caledonian notions,
it is considered injra dig. for the men to perform much
manual laboiir, at any rate in the neighbourhood of their
own settlements. The hewing out of canoes, the building
of houses (not the carrying of thatch), and the making ot
clubs, which, what with finding suitable wood and cutting
and scraping it into shape, seems to be one of the im-
portant duties of life — these occupations fall to the male
portion of the community. Curiously enough, the men
make the fishing nets and also fish with them, customs
pertaining to the feminine sex in most Pacific Islands.
By the way, I have been told by a world-wide traveller
that the knot in the mesh of a fishing net seems to be the
same in nearly every land, civilised and uncivilised. The
carrying of thatch, of food, firewood and water, the larger

nigti/cdavGoOglc

232 TBS J^ATIVE MACS.

share of the plantation work, the collecting of shell fish,
and the management of domestic afiairs, fall to the lot of
■ the women. The women are nearly constantly employed
at some sort of drudgery, the men seldom.

Suppose a canoe has to be fashioned out of a tree. It
does not seem to be the correct thing to finish it off as
soon as possible. Half-an-hour's adzing one day, and
another turn at it a few days later, is the style in which
a Kew Caledonian man carries out his task.

In New Caledonia, you rarely see the men and women
talking or sitting together. The women seem perfectly
content with the compimy of their own sex. Those of the
same settlement watch each others' movements tiiroughont
the day with suspicious eyes, and work, sit, walk and talk
together. The men, who loiter about with spears in a most
lazy fashion, are seldom seen in the society of the opposite
sex. Dowiiright domestic bliss, or its opposite, is hardly
known, I believe ; for the betrothal system, which
probably is the most moral one for a set of quarrelsome
savages, makes them look upon marriage as quite a
matter of course, and as such they take it, without show-
ing much outward, or possibly feeling much inward, dislike
to or love for their partners. Quarrels are rare, and
the women, notwithstanding that society has set them
apart for the drudgery of daily labour, seem to enjoy life,
to judge from their happy expressions and hilarity, and
try to make themselves agreeable.

From the evidence of massacres and outbreaks of hos-
tility, and the fact that inteitribal fights were of common
occurrence in formw days, we know when the native's
anger gets raised to a oaiain pitch, how diabolically it

n,gti7cd3y-G00glc

MORAL QtrALlTlES. 233

displays itself, and how revenge is constantly lurking in
the savage hreast ; yet, for all that, thanks probably to
recognised laws framed ages and ages ago for the main-
tenance of order, and, consequently, for the happiness of
small communities, it is perfectly sm^rising to observe
the absence of domestic broils or qnarrelling between
members of the same tribe. This applies to Fiji as well
as to New Caledonia, One cannot but feel ashamed at
the frequent unseemly rows between white men in their
cups, which constantly take place at the stores, and which
must have a most demoralising effect on the natives, who
watch and grin at their proceedings. Savages expect
white men to show themselves superior to themselves in
everything connected with morality.

A white man is surprised not only to notice how
orderly, and to all appearances morally, the natives
behave themselves when in a settlement, but also how
thoroughly independent the children become at a very
early age. The little fellows discuss matters with their
elders in a manner unknown in most civilized families ;
still they seldom exhibit too much precociousness, nor are
they impudent. Unfortunately, the convei-sations are not
always select, according to our way of thinking. While
the children are never pampered, one muBt give the New
Caledonians credit for treating their little ones with firm-
ness, yet without harshness.

Comparatively speaking, tile natives are not naturally
dishonest. For instance, suppose you want to forward a
few hundred francs to some person living in the capital
town, say fifty mUes off. Call a native, ask him whether
he is willing to take so much money in paper notes to

nigti/cdavGoOglc

2S4 TSE NATIVE RACE.

Noumea ; if he is, bargain about the pay, and tell him to
be ready to set off. It is rather ourious to watch his
morementa preparatory to moving off. He takes tlie
money, wraps it carefully in a piece of bark, encloses this
in a portion of plantain leaf, which serr^ as a waterproof,
and secures the package in the piece of cloth which, is
wrapped round his head. He then commences his journey
at a walking-race pace as unconcernedly as if he were
only going a few miles, wearing no clothing to impede his
movements, and carrying a spear or club, which is more
for effect than for use. When he comes to a stream,
which he is bound to do several times during a day's
journey, he wades or swims across it as comfortably and
composedly as if he were walking on terra firma. He
stops to rest at some of the settlements on the route ;
and, being on an errand of trust, he passes himself off as
quite an important personage. On arriving at his desti-
nation, he loosens his head-di'ess and produces the valuable
portion of his parcel, which, no matter what sort of
boisterous weather he has had to encounter, will be in as
perfectly sound a condition as when first intrusted to the
bearer.

The missionaries have not succeeded in converting the
majority of the natives to Koman Catholicism. At Tchio,
and Nek^t4 near Eanala, at Ti Uaka, fifty miles north, and
at a few other villages, some of the natives have embraced
this, to them, new faith, and are very fond of wearing, as
neck ornaments, brass trinkets containing representations
of the Virgin Mary ; still, the bulk of the population has
not changed its ancient ways very much, Mid neither
prays, reads, nor writes. For my own part, I have found

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MISSIONARIES. 235

the tmtutoTed savage just sfi honest as the missionarized
one. There is always danger in allowing the nncivilised
man to imagine himself on a par with the civilised, and
Wua has to be considered when implanting civilised
religion and education. There is no way of avoiding this
danger, unless by adopting a very gradual method of
introducing the ways and customs of white men. This
applies more to New Caledonia than, perhaps, to any of the
other Pacific Islands. In a French penal settlement, it is
not at all natural for the natives to comprehend why white
men's religion should be the correct thing to adopt,
considering that a large number of the white men with
whom they come in contact — convicts, lib^r^s, &o. — are
just as immoral and nearly as uneducated as themselves.
There are a great number of lib^rds — men who, after
having served their time in prison, have been liberated,
and now roam about the island. Many of these live with
native women, and associate with the natives very largely,
and introduce all sorts of bad manners, so that, while the
native naturally looks for a superior article in the white-
skinned races, he finds only an equal or an inferior, at any
mte in most of the white men he meets. The uncivilised
being, who scrapes together a little impoited knowledge,
always fancies himself considerably, and tries to use his
wits in becoming trickily disposed; whence, in most
cases, he drifts into an oflfensively impudent and deceitful
character. A little learning in the brain of a savage is
certainly a dangerous thing. It is this little learning
which helps to make the half-castes in most countries so
impleasant to deal with. Their little learning enables
them to know and retain all the tricks and vices of their

nigti/cdavGoOglc

236 TSS J^ATIVE RACE.

black parent, and their white parent, and to know and
reject the good qualities of the white race. And so the
New Caledonian who has acquired a knowledge of the
ways of white men too rapidly, generally tarns it to bad
account.

It is said that the leading insurgent in the late rebellion
had served his time in a settler's household. It cannot be
denied, that the English or French-talking native, in
whatever part of the island yon meet him, had better be
kept at a distance. Notwithstanding his undeveloped
mind, there is something about the native which at times
elicits a small degree of admiration. He has an agreeable
manner, and, usually, exuberant spirits. If he is a rogue,
the chances ^e that you will soon fathom him ; and, when
he sees that you understand his weak points, he becomes
tractable. However, there are moments when one cannot
help disliking everything native. The fact is, the fluctu-
ating humour of all uncivilised people is most irritating.

Our preconceived notions about the poor savage com-
pletely vanish during a residence in the South Sea
Islands. An easier life than the New Caledonian man
leads is difficult to imagine. His food almost comes to
his mouth. His cares are few, and so, perhaps, he does
not experience extreme pleasures ; but his contented
disposition tells its own tale.

One knows not how right it is that, while civilized
beings have to slave for existence — though most do so in
the hope of enriching themselves in a degree far more
than suffices for mere existence and ordinary comfort to
themselves and theirs — the uncivilized idlers should not
contribute a greater share of work for the world's wanta.

nigtircaavGOOglC

THEIR COJVTEJVTED DISPOSITIOJ^. 237

It is a pleasure to see these unciviliaed oommunities so
content; therefore, say I, why not leave them alone?
One is often inclined to regret that the influx of
white men must take plaoe as the world advances ; tot
the fact that, as civilisation spreads, we shall see kanakas
"marching slowly down the gloomy and dark road to
extinction,'' as Markham writes of the Indians, stares us
in the feoe.

In bygone days intertribal enmity must have been
the normal state of affiiirs ; that little intercourse took
place between the different tribes is obvious irom the
number of different dialects to be met with. Every few
miles along the coast introduces to you a new language,
or, more properly speaking, dialect. It is really hardly
worth while for a white man travelling in the country to
trouble himself in acquiring the patois, especially as a
smattering of French and the significant language of
signs and beche-de-mer talk will pull him through ; and
he wiU soon find that not being able to convolve fluently
with natives is an advantage, and that he will gain just as
much, and often more, respect by not being able to keep
up a spirited conversation. Talking too much is apt to
Induce iamiliarity ; and to be too familiar with a savage is
to lose your good name.

In appearance, in dress, and in customs, the New Cale-
donians throughout the length and breadth of the island,
are remarkably alike. That this is so, and that the first
language spoken by the first settlors has been split up
into numerous dialects, each of which is unintelligible to
tribes a few miles off, is instructive, as showii^ that a
lau^oa^ changes very much c^uicker than physical

nigti/cdavGoOglc

238 TSS J^ATIVE RACE.

characteriatioB. The lingo which abounds in monosyllabic
words is rather nasal, and the voice is raised at the end of
some sentences in a very peculiar way. A word or two of
a dialect may be noticed to bear some slight connection
with some word of the same meaning in other Papuan
dialects spoken in the South Pacific ; but the generality
of the words are quite untraceable aa to origin. I refer to
root words.

Counting seems, as in most primitive races, to have
5 and 10 (one hand and two hands) and 20 (feet and
hands combined, ue., one man) as important numerals.
The word for "hand" and the numeral "five" is nearly
the same in all Malay-Polynesian races, and in flji ; but
then there is a distinct name for each of the other nume-
rals between 5 and 10 unconnected with the limiting
number of the fingers of the hand, whereas in New Cale-
donia Uie quinary scale is the only one.

The New Caledonians reeogniae "tabu,'' tho "tapu" of
Polynesian light-coloured races, the "tambu" of Fijians,
no doubt the "mougoul'' of the PeUew Islands, the
"pomahi" of Timor Island (lat. 10" 8., long. 125°), as
strictly as can be. If the "tabu" mark — a cocoanut
branch, as in Timor — ^is placed across the entrance to your
dwelling, you may wander off for days, and, on your
return, will find your property all right, unless, perchance,
some French lib^r^ or a broken-English or French-
speaking native has been tempted to help himself.

In connection with native ways and customs, a descrip-
tion of a " pilo-pilo," or national dance, will not be
inappropriate, for it is an institution of undoubted utility

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A PILO-PIIO. 239

to a race naturally aTorse to systematic labour. It
gathers together a large mass of people from the neigh-
bouring settlements, who, generally for a few days, make
themselves useful for the good of the village in which the
festivity is to take place, and work on the village planta-
tions. The women often remain for some time, and,
being stimulated to exertion by competition with the repre-
sentatives of their own sex who live in localities several
miles from their own, get through a good deal of honest,
hard work.

The principal "pilo-pllos'' take place about the yam
season, and follow one another in quick succession at the
different villages. People of one settlement fix a certain
day for their entertainment, and send messengers to the
different settlements along the coast and inland with invi-
tations to attend.

On the day of a festival, or on the day before, the
guests may be seen trudging along the coast, sometimes
walking twenty or thirty miles — the men swaggering with
spears and mushroom-headed clubs : the women, often
bent double under their load of provisions, mats, &o.,
following in the rear like beasts of burden.

As soon as all tbe guests have arrived at the rendezvous,
a feast, accompanied by a &ir amount of ceremony, com-
mences the proceedings. Tons of yams — the principal
food — are consumed at a largely-attended and prolonged
pilo-pilo. The dance occurs sometimes at night, some-
times in the daytime. On some occasions the women
perforin by themselves, the men by themselves j on others,
both sexes trip the " light fantastic toe" together. After
one "pilo-pilo" is concluded, another elsewhere follows in

nigtircaavGOOglC

240 THE JVATIVE RACE.

a short time, and a mass of natives wend their way to the
new scene of merriment.

Of the several dances that I have had tiie curiosity and
Batisfaotion to witness, one that came off a few miles north
of Houailou struck me with most interest, as it was the
scene of a far larger oonoourse of natives than the ordi-
nary ones, the death of a famous chief, who lay in one of
the houses, having drawn them together from all quarters.
The only disagreeable part of the business was my being
"stuck up" — to use a colonial phrase — by a gang of
natives. The evenmg was pitch dark, and, after having
walked for a couple of hours along nearly imperceptible
tracks, steering as well as the night would allow to the
lights in the distance where the pilo-pilo was to be held, I
found myselfj all of a sudden, quite adrift and nonplussed,
with taU rank reeds and grass around, and no traces ot
any footpath in view. Some natives, bound for the pilo-
pilo, bad, by some means or other, I know not how, found
out my dilemma, and the sound of their unpleasant voices
drew nearer. They behaved most insolently, so much so
that I had to be on my guard, and had not only to restrain
my wrath, but also to persuade them that my knowledge
of the locality was not half so bad as they imagined. The
hailing that ensued was sufficient to show me that some
decisive move was desirable, as their tone became threat-
ening. After several attempts to humour them and to
assert authority on my part, their manner changed for the
better, and they agreed to pilot me; so, after this dis-
agreeable conversation, which, so far as I was concerned,
was carried on by signs and looks and the motiier-tongne
^^whicb fortunately, perhaps, was unintelligible to my

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A PILO.PILO- 241

ftnnoyers, we set off. Por the remainder of the journey
my escort behaved civilly, yet independently ; and, piloting
me over several creeks, or the same creelc several times,
landed me at the scene of action, after a long and hurried
tramp through streams, marshes, rank grass, over muddy
taro plantations, and goodness knows what not in the way
of unpleasant walking.

Judging approximately, the time of our ai-rival was
between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, and the open
space, though illuminated, was comparatively deserted.
In about half-an-hour men issued from the numerous
houses in the thickets, and, before many minutes, com-
menced the dance which was to continue for the whole
night. By degrees, the women, who kept close together
in houses assigned for their special and private use until
their turn to join in the performance arrived, streamed
forth in bevies from the dark recesses in the bush which
environed the dwellings. By eleven o'clock a mob of
between 1,000 to 2,000 savages was participating in the
pilo-pilo.

This concourse of excited beings was, with the excep-
tion of a few minutes' pause now and again, in perpetual
motion the whole night long. On this occasion the
audience or spectator portion was restricted to those who,
for some reason or other, either on account of old age or
illness, were unable to join the motley crowd of enthu-
siastic performers.

Picture to yourself, then, a mob of naked savages
arranged in concentric circles. The chiefs stand in the
centre. About this group is arranged a maSs of men
who, during the dance, are in continual motion, stamping

4
n,gti7cd ay Google

242 TEE ^"ATirE RACE.

their feet on the ground, and making a deafening, clashing
noise, by beating together two pieces of prepared bark with
whic^ each man is provided ; yet they do not shift their
position relatively to the centre. Outside this mob the
remaining and the most numerous portion of the assembly
is arranged in zones, the natives being three or four
abreast. The two interior zones consist of males, the
two succeeding interior zones of females; the outside
rabble, of old people and children.

The men are decked out fantastically as to their beads
and hair, while the rest of the body is naked, except in the
case of a few chiefs, who appear in French military coats,
or equally conspiououa apparel, and a few youths of capital
— a few francs — who turn out in brand-new jerseys.
Every man wears some sort of coloured cloth round hia
head ; and feathers, flowers, or bamboo combs adorn each
mop of frizzly hair. Shells set off the necks and ankles of
some, and every man carries a club, spear, long cane used
as a musical instrument, carved bamboo, or some insignia
of rank or office ; and very fine green serpentine-headed
clubs or battle-axes are seen in the crowd.

Excepting a few white men's " papinis," who are clothed
in the "saque" — a loose flowing robe covering the body
from the neck to the ankles — the women wear their usual
fibre girdle, and nothing else. Some of the females are
painted in a white-and-red stripe pattern^ which gives one
the notion that this style has a common origin with that
which is, I believe, to be noticed in the Australian corro-
bories. It makes the women look Tmcommonly ugly and
weird-like.

You can now picture the position of the mass as it
stands amongst the overshadowing cocoanut palm trees,

A PILO-PILO 213

and is illummated by the light from many flickering
torches which the women rush about with. It is trulj a
spectacle which one is glad to have witnessed : nothing of
the beautiful about it, but much of the pantomimic.

One of the chiefs in the centre iatones a short chant.
Down come the dashers, and a stamping of feet com-
mences j eTeryone utters a half-whistling, half-buzzing
noise. The inmost zone, composed of men, moves round
about the centre at a gentle and swinging pace, while a
good deal of graceful flexion of the body accompanies
each individual movement.

The second zone, also men, marches at a q^uioker paoe ;
the third zone, consisting of women, moves at a trot ; the
fourth zone, also women, advances at a still quicker velo-
city; and the outside performers literally rush. The
different velocities of the zones about a fixed common
centre has a most imposing appearaace by torchlight.

Words, however, cannot afford more than the slightest
idea of the strangeness of the pilo-pilo, of the row, the
perpetual whistling and clashing, which strike the air
with a marvellous regularity and continue the whole time,
and are audible a mile or two distant, nor of the various
motions of the moving mass, which bristles with javelins.

As the dance proceeds the mob becomes more and more
agitated, adding increments of enthusiasm ; while every
performer throws all possible spirit into the excitement,
until the rush becomes so great, and the noise so loud,
that a spectator feels bewildered, when, all of a sudden,
the deafening noise ceases, and a dead pause ensues.

In a minute or two the same whistling and buzzing, the
same clashing, commence afresh, and so the night wears

n,gti7™3yG00glc

244 TBB ^TATIVS RACE.

away. The curious thing la that, unlike the Fijian
meke-mekes, no words, except in the introductory chant,
enter into the performance ; the same half-buzzing, half-
whistling sound is kept up the whole night long.

As a spectator at a nootiimal pilo-pilo, you soon become
weary of watching and listening to the same thing over
and over again, and seek out an empty house, try to sleep,
and, most likely, signally fail. Should you succeed, it
will be worth while to awaken just as the sun throws his
heralding rays above the horizon. The same old noise is
as loud as before, and the performers more excited than
ever, eyery look and action expressing earnestness ; but
the scene is changed, for torches are thrown aside, and
the excited, fagged-out mob looks a very different sight
from what it did by artificial light. When the sun is
fairly risen, the performers retire. Some depart direct
for their homes — perhaps twenty miles off — apparently,
but not really, as fresh as when they commenced to dance,
while others repair to the neighbouring huts and settle
down quietly.

Should you ever notice, in the neighbourhood of a New
Caledonian settlement, a cluster of tall and symmetrical
araucaria pines towering high above the dense vegetation,
and overshadowed or surrounded by precipitous rocks or
wild scenery, you may feel nearly certain that in the
midst of the bush is situated a native cemetery.

A visit to one of these burial-grounds will interest
anyone who wishes to acquaint himself with the ways of
savagedom. As tiie natives themselves — probably on
account of superstition concerning some powerful spirit,
such as the New Zealand Taipo, who frequents dark

J CEMETERl. 245

places— have an aversion to visit these abode of the
departed, it is prudent to find out for yoiirself some fxack
leading through the tangled bush. As these lonely spots
are seldom visited by the natives — indeed less frequently
than by the pigs of the settlement, which make misguiding
tracks — the paths are very indistinct ; to make way, a
sheath-knife and tomahawk will be foimd useful in clearing
away the opposing vegetation.

Suddenly your eye rests on the remains of a mat, with
rib bones scattered about ; then On a skull, perched on the
summit of some huge boulder which has been detached
from its parent rock, the overshadowing precipice, in one
of nature's convulsions. In the dark natural caves, at the
foot of massive trees, in the recesses of irregular masses
of stone, in the wildest nooks of the thick jungle, you
gaze on the bones of a past generation of man-eating
savages. None of the bodies have been covered over
with earth ; for mats have served the purpose of winding-
sheets and cofiios, and these have been tossed about by
the pigs, and the bones have been scattered around.

There is one thing, however, which attracts even more
attention than the skulls and portions of skeletons which
lie around : it is the presence of objects which betoken
that the New Caledonian, in common with most savages
and civilised beings, recognises a world of spirits or an
after-existence. Above the remains of the bodies, eoeoa-
nut shells full of drinking water, and yams, have, in some
instances, been suspended from the trees — no doubt for the
sustenance of the departed spirit or as an offering to a deity.
Some of us may smile at this savage superstition, but why ?
Do we, enlightened as we are, possess much more definite
knowledge about the spiritual world than savages ?

, C.oogic

246 THS JfATIYE RACE.

The oold, clammy feeling of the bush air ; the unhealthy
Tapour which arises from the immenBe qiiantity of decom-
posing vegetable matter, and from some rotting human
remains; the stillness which pervades the hush; the
absence of sunlight, which cannot penetrate through the
overhanging foliage ; the wildness of the scenery, due to
the ranbness of vegetation, to ttie thick undergrowth, and
the parasitical plants which form a network in every direc-
tion ; to the masses of volcanic rock which have been
hurled from the precipitous heights; and the sense of
loneliness which every surrounding suggests — all have a
tendency to strike one with a superstitioas feeling. I
have been in all sorts of lonely bush in New Zealand and
elsewhere, but I never felt in such a hurry to see daylight
again as when in one of these dismal and revolting burying-
grounds.

Once, being piloted by a Maori through a very dense,
long, and lonely hush near Moturangi, in the "Waikato, I
was aBtonished, after half-an-hour ur so, to hear my guide
commence to whistle and shout out noisy melodies, and
presently to see him, notwithstanding that he was carrying
a heavy swag, begin to trot. He increased his pace so
much that, to keep up with him, I tripped over logs and
supple jacks every minute. At last, nearly dead-beat, we
reached the open, much to his delight and to my satisfac-
tion. All this scampering was due to the feeling of awe
or fear which overtook this otherwise courageous New
Zealander. Well ! — a New Caledonian cemetery has the
same effect on anyone easily and superstitiously affected
by the sense of loneliness in a dark forest ; and, although
he may not rush away from it, he makes his exit out of
it with a quicker step than he made his entrance into it.

ouTsnsAK a:nj> massacre. 247

Not long ago the world was informed of an outbreak in
New Caledonia, and, no doubt, most of tbe settlers in the
island were rather surprised at its occurrence, for, in few
islands peopled by Papuans, is traTelling about so safe
as in New Caledonia. In the Pacific Islands — such as
Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, &c. — peopled by savages,
whercTer English traders visit, muskets form one of the
chief objects of trade, though of an expensive sort. We
in England go in for free trade, and many people would
like black folk to have the same privileges as white ;
others, probably rightly, consider that savages should not
be treated in the same way as white people, for they do
not form a very correct distinction between the use and
abuse of imported ideas and things. People who &re
easily excited into a quarrel and cannot argue, ought not
to be trusted with more dangerous weapons than clubs
and spears. The French prohibit anyone from selling or
giving firearms to the natives in New Caledonia, and
80 the aboriginals have only clubs, spears, tomahawks,
slings and stones, and such like primitive weapons, to be
obnoxious with. It is for this reason that, in hostilities,
the French coidd not but eventually subdue an insur-
gent tribe, though they would have to put up with much
imsatisfactory skirmishing in the bush, where the natives
are naturally much more at home than Europeans.

One is astonished that the New Caledonians— who have
already had sufficient experience to know that the French
stand no nonsense, and regard the life of a white man as
more valuable than that of a kanaka — should have ventured
on such a massacre. No doubt it was perpetrated on the im-
pulse of temporary excitement ; but one who has travelled
through the Boulupari district can easily understand how

, ..Cooglc

248 TSE JTATIVE RACE.

easy- such a horrible butchery would be to the natives, on
account of the isolated position of the settlers.

The principal leader of the insui^ents was one of those
insulting wretches who had served in a European house in
Noumea, and who, like most uncivilised people who have
had sufficient intercourse with white people to be able to
speak their language, had, instead of respecting white men
for any good qualities they possess, despised them for
their bad qualities : and so he headed these, at most times,
smiling laces, but, at other times, easily excited savages, to
commit a series of horribly cowardly murders.

But I can vouch for this — that the French authorities
will not mince matters, and that the tribe of Boulupari
will have good cause to regret their insane conduct.

The French are very particular that natives are not
molested without cause. They set apart a considerable
portion of the fertile land for the native settlements and
plantations, so that the original owners of the soil really
possess more good land than they require ; but if quarrels
between native tribes, or between natives and white men,
occur, then the French show no leniency, and a man-of-
war ship soon steams round to the scene of action and
makes an example of the ofTending parties, generally con-
veying them to Noumea.

Betumingto the subject of firearms. That they should
be a recognised article of trade for bartering with unci-
vilised races seems exti-aordinary. Perhaps it is unfair to
put a veto on it, for civilised powers might, in an over-
reaching policy, take advantage of it, and walk over the
course too easily, despising /»s et ne/as. We have only to
look at the wars in New Zealand and Africa to remind us
how much unnecessary slaugliter has been occ^ioned by

n,g-,-^cT:G00glc

nnsARMS. 249

the importation of firearms. At present, except in New
Caledonia, firearms are to be met with in nearly every
island peopled by the Papuans. It id Tery questionable
whether this is a right state of affairs. If it is to be
stopped, the prohibition of selling artna to savages must be
a universal one ; for if it only applied to Englishmen, we
know that in some islands the trader who did not sell
them would be more unpopiilar with the natives than the
tradei-s who did. The only way would be to prevent
EngUshinen, Americans, Germans, Chinamen, half-castes,
&c., &c., and every trader, firom selling war weapons ta
any race of people considered unfit to handle such dreadful
toys as modem war weapons are.

inyGoogIc

SOUTH SEA ISLANDEES.

In places remote from the Pacific, people very frequently
speak of South Sea Islanders as being of one nationality.
Comparing them with European races, the styles of
language of the one part of the world have much in
common, and so those of the other ; but the two styles are
quite distinct. The ways and customs of South Sea
Islanders bear much similitude throughout the Pacific.
Islands. Some authorities on the subject of Ethnology
believe that there once existed a race of people in a large
continent which has left its trace in the small islands
scattered over the vast area of the Pacific Ocean : of this,
more anon. Before launching out into the oft disputed
topic of the origin of the races in the South Sea, I will
try to impart to the reader a general and easily compre-
hended notion of the inhabitants.

In the firet place, we find light-coloured and dark-
coloured natives. The former class is called the Malay-
Polynesian, and, latterly, Mahori. The designation,
Malay -Polynesian, indicates the theory of the emigration
of the race from Malaysia, and their spreading over
Polynesia. While the name Mahori is rather the preferable
of the two, as we are not quite convinced about the line
of emigration, we will, however, for the present, adhere
to the term Malay- Polynesian, and merely i-egard it as a
name without attaching too much importance to the
original reason which prompted its adoption. In colour,
the Malay-Polynesian is yellowish, sometimes as light aa

, ..Cotwic

MALAY-POLTJiESUJ^S A^'D TAPUAJfS. 251

a Spaniard. The race inhabits the Kavlgator's Islands,
the Friendly Islands, Cook's Isles, Austral Isles, Society
Islands, Marquesas Group, Sandwich Islands, and New
Zealand. The dark race is called the Papuan
(papua = " curly-haired "), and inhabits New Guinea,
Solomon Isles, New Britain, New Ireland, New Hebrides,
Loyalty Isles, New Caledonia, and Fiji. In colour, the
Papuan is brown, or nearly black. It is not my intention
to consider these two races as derived from entirely
distinct sources, because the whole matter of the dispersion
of races will not allow of such a theory. But the division
is made by most writers on the subject ; it is convenient ;
and it corresponds with an obvious distinction. Anybody
travelling about the islands could decide in an instant
whether the natives are Papuans or Malay-Polynesians ;
no one could mistake a fine light-sklnned damsel from
Samoa or Tonga for a female from New Hebrides.

Imprimis. Let us observe some leading characteristics
of the two. The head* of the Malay-Polynesian is
Brachycepbalic, that of the Papuan (also Australian) is
Dolichocephalic.

The facial index of the one is different from that of the
other. The haii- of the Malay- Polynesian is frizzly, and
so is the hair of the Papuan, but the latter grows in tufts,
like the hair of the Hottentots (Lophocomi, or tuft-haired).
The Malay-Polynesian is an undemonstrative, ofttimes
handsome, specimen of humanity, and has a slight notion

* Retzina divides races into two classes : Dolkkoeephalk, or long-
ekuUed races, where the length of the skull is due to a lengthening of
the posterior lobes of the braiu ; and BrachyKphalic, or short, broad-
skulled races, in whom the comparative shortness of these lobes oaasea
them to be more developed in breadth.

„glc

252

SOUTH SEA tSLAHDERS.

of gratitude. On the other hand, the Papuan is an
impetuous, demonstrative, meity, loud-laughing savage,
possessing a most imperfect sense of gratitude or sym-
pathy. Both races have good and bad points abont them,
albeit the lighter-coloured race is the superior. The
Malay-Folynesian speaks a very similar language where-
ever he is found, for example :

Navigator's Group

New Zedand . ,

Tangata

Tangata
Tangata

Fafiae
"Wahine
Faflne
Wahine

Fale
Whare
FaUe
Sale

On the other hand, the number of Papuan dialects Is
great, and (excepting the Fijian) they offer but few words
traceable to the Polynesian. The following are examples:

Woman.

New Guinea

Solomon Islands . . .
Tanikoro

( Mallicollo .

New J Erromango .
Hebrides \

I Tanna . .

( Anatenm .
Marf

New Caledonia
Fiji . . . .

Sui, &o.

Lamoka,
omoualigo

Ncbok, haue-
nuuk

Neteme,yiri-

Aremana
Atamaig

Ngome,

chamhani
Nganere.unit

abangoia
Tangane

Bihena, sina-
don, &c.

IlI^OtiBjUlaD,

wiao
Venime, vig-

nivi
Rabin

Nasivin,
yarevin
Peran
Tokata
Hmenewe

Vio

Alewa

Yama, ienn,i

Gniene,
namok
Heiki

Namoo

Ku

Nuo
Ika

Paumotu )
Tafjinania

[(? Papua

Kakoi

Ludowing,
penaa

Erire, lurga,

patarani
Pewanua,

lowla, quani

Peounina,
pennngons

,;, Google

CBABACTERISTIC8. 258

Before passing an opinion on the origin of the races, it
is well to remark that authorities agree in this matter,
namely, that physical peculiarities serve as a more reliable
basis for our enquiries than mere language doea ; still,
language, though it may not enable us to chart out the
line of travelling, leada us to many conclusions.

The dissimilarity in the hair of the Malays, Malay-
Polynesians, Papuans, and Australians, adds a difficult
element to the complexity of our problem. While the
hair of the light-coloured Malay is straight and fleecy,
unlike that of the Malay-Polynesian, the hair of the dark-
coloured Australian is straight and black, unlike that of
the Papuan. The hair of the extinct Tasmanian was
frizzly ; for which reason, as well as from the discovery of
a trace of Papuan words, a connection between the
Tasmanian race and the Melanesians (Papuans) has been
considered as more than probable. It would be well if
zoologiets, who have observed in what manner or degree
cross-breeding among animals afEects the hair, would make
known any trustworthy results for the guidance of those
who study the abstruse questions which the dispersion of
man from the original tribal community suggests. For
instance, we should like a solution to such a problem as
this : — Suppose a race of smooth haired animals to breed
with a race of curly haired animals, what is the nature of
the hair of the progeny. Supposing the progeny breeds
with the original stock, what change occurs in the hair of
the resulting offspring ? Exact conclusions alone would
be of any use to ethnologists. Were the Australian
Lophocomi, instead of Euthycomi men, we should consider
them far more nearly connected with the Papuan than we
can as the matter now stands. . It may be that the

, V, Google

254 SOUTH SEA ISLAJVDEBS.

character of the hair and features, under the iofluenoe of
circumstances, changes in a shorter space of time than wo
have hitherto believed.

That the Andaman Islanders, the Negritos of the
Philippine Islands, the Australians, and the Papuans have
this in common, that they possess a similarity in colour, in
savage instincts, and in simplicity of language, we cannot
fail to make a note of, though we do not possess any
definite clues wherewith to connect them in the historical
pedigree.

Let us glance at certain suppositions, most of which
have been noticed in works connected with the present
interesting subject. We may take as an axiom that the
T&oea emigrated by land or by water. There is conclusive
evidence of the existence of a large continent in the
Pacific — of which more presently — and a very celebrated
authority believes that the South Sea Islanders owe their
physical characteristics to a race which once inhabited it.
Should we consider emigration as taking place by water,
we must certainly be careful in not being misled by false
notions. Looking on a map at the numerous dots repre-
senting islands in the Pacific, we are apt to forget that,
though two tiny dots are nearly connected on paper, when
we travel from the one island to the other, it means
perhaps a day's sail, or (if in a period of calms) a week's
sail. We are inclined to overlook the fact, for instance,
that the Sandwich Islands are at least 1,800 miles from
the Marquesas Group. A canoe may sail properly, may
be drifted by currents, or may be blown by the wind; and
many instances might be adduced to verify the possibility
of each form of transmigration. Thus, in Lyell'a
" Principles of Geology," we read ; — " Mr, CrawfUrd

MODE OF DISPERSION. 256

informs me that tiiere are several weU>autbeiiticated
accounts of canoes having been drifled from Sumatra to
Madagascar." A difference of 50" of longitude ! One
would naturally expect long distance sailing to be aooom-
pUshed by the help of trade winds. However, though the
trade wind from the South East is the prevalent one, there
are others which might be taken advantage of. Hale, of
the United States Exploring Expedition, says: — "During
winter of our hemisphere, westerly and north-westerly
winds prevail in the Pacific as far east as the limit of the
Paumotu Archipelago." EUia says: — "Ev«:y native
voyage, of which we have an account, has invariably been
from east to west.'' But this is not absolutely correct ;
for instance, in the case of a Caroline Island canoe, which
was driven to the Eadaek Chain, and also in the case of a
canoe driven 600 miles eastward from Chain Island,
Wilkes, writing on Tonga, says ; — *' That trade winds are
by no means constant, and westerly winds occasionally
blow in every season which, from their variable character,
obtained the name of ' foolish winds.' ''

But there is another factor which must enter into our
calcidations about emigration, and that is the seaworthy
boat. Eeptiles and insects settled on some detached piece
of timber may be drifled from one island to a far off
shore ; but men cannot travel for many days on the
Pacific Ocean in small outrigger canoes, such as are used
for the reef journeys inside, being poled from one village
to another on the same island ; for these, if under canvas,
would probably capsize, should the outrider get to lee-
ward, for long journeys, double canoes or other stable
boats are the only ones available. The Malay-Polynesians
possess good double canoes, some 100 feet long ; bo do the

I. , , < .vGooglc

266 SOUTB SEA ISLAXDJSJiS

FijianB. Indeed, Mariner says that the Friendly Islanders
ohtained mncb knowledge of ships from the Fijiana.

Ab will be seen bj comparing the Fijian and Malay-
Polynesian, contact between the original Fijians and the
Malay- Polynesian race, or its ancestors, is cei-tain ; so
circumstances lead us to believe that, originally, the
Fijiana obtained their notion of shipbuilding from a
lighter-coloured race.

The New Caledonians have a few clumsily-constructed
double canoes, but where they obtained the idea from I
know not, unless it were from Uea (in the Loyalty
Islands), where, a century or two back, some Malay-
Polynesiana settled. The New Hebrides natives do not,
I believe, build first-rate canoes — at least, not such as
woxJd be fit to carry emigrants to a far-off island.

We are now in a position to consider the possibilities
and probabilities of emigration by land or water of the
Papuans or Malay-Polynesians.

It is a generally accepted belief that the Malay-Polyne-
sians travelled in the following manner : — From Navigator's
Group (Samoa) to Friendly Islands (Tonga), to Society
Islands (Tahiti), to Marquesas Islands, to Sandwich
Islands, and that the New Zealanders came from Samoa.
My own obsei-vations incline me to agree with this state-
ment, so far as present languages guide us, only it seems
quite possible that the New Zealanders came from Earo-
tonga. But though the above is perhaps as near the true
route as can now be marked out, still, knowing that
isluids have been subsiding gradually, it is open to us to
suppose that the emigration was effected by journey from
land to land, of which little remains at the present time.

Where the Malay-Polynesians sprang from, prior to

ROUTS OF MALAY-POLYJ^ESMJfS. 257

branohiag off eastward from Samoa, to populate the
Friendly lales, &c., we are not quite certain. Taking
language as a means of comparison, authorities have con-
cluded that the neighbourhood of the Moluccas or Celebes
was the point of departure. After comparing about
100 vocabularies, the languages of Salayer, Menado in
Celebes, Sanguiar, Salibabo, and Sula Islands, appear
to be most like the Malay-Polynesian. Language, how-
ever, is one thing, race another ; and the fact that the
Malays have a different hair from the Malay-Polynesian
is a stumbling block to our researches. Might not the
Malay-Polynesian, when setting out eastward from the
neighbourhood of Celebes, have been a mixture of
the Malay and the Papuan or Negrito; rather than have
acquired his few Papuan characteristics from the race of
people which inhabited the continent which existed
between Australia and America ? The Papuan element
is to be seen in several of the Malay Islands, and no
doubt has been there for centuries back. We are unable
to speak definitely on this point, and so will proceed
onwards.

Did the Malay- Polynesian travel by sea in his dispersion
over the Eastern Pacific? There is no reason why not;
though fi'om the Marquesas to the Sandwich Islands was
a tremendous journey to take on speculation. Still, chance
may have driven them there as it is said to have driven
them to New Zealand. This reminds one of the ques-
tion — How did the inhabitants of Madagascar, whose
language is very similar to Polynesian, but more so to
some dialects of Borneo, manage to have undertaken,
willingly or unwillingly, such an immense voyage ?

It
I.,., ,-, ,, Google

258 SOUTH SEA ISLAJVDJSBS.

It ia uBually believed to have been accomplished by
sea, and bo the whole Malay-Polynesian migration may
have been.

The Maoriea of New Zealand relate that they came
from Hawaiki,* which is believed by some writers to be
Sawai in Samoa ; that several canoes were blown away
and landed at New Zealand. We know that they brought
the sweet potato, tare and yam, tropical and subtropical
vegetables : and thus their story is most likely true. If
they really travelled from Samoa to New Ze^nd, a
distance of over 1,000 mUes, other long voyages must
have been similarly possible.

So similar are the langu^;e, legends, physical feature,
customs, &c., of -the Kalay- Polynesians, that we have no
hesitation in concluding that they are one and the same
race ; and so different is their language and appearance
from the westerly Papuans, whose languages are numerous, ,
that it seems a self-evident fact that the emigration of the
Malay-Polynesians from the neighbourhood of Celebes,
tooi place very recently, compared with the epoch when
the Papuans of New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and the
original Papuan Fijian broke ofi from the parent stock.

That a great portion of the land in the South Pacific
Ocean is an area of subsidence is undoubted. In certain
isolated places, there is proof of elevation, but only in the

* Tte atory of the native race having set out from Hawaiki muat be
fairly considered. The Hervey Islandeia believe that their ancestors
came from " Avaiki." The Marquesas Islanders believe land com-
posing their islands was once located in Hawaiki or regions below.
The name occurs in Fol^pesian legends as the region below, and as
we find the name Haw&i even m the Sandwich Islands, we must not
place the exact original locality of the Haories' home too positiyely.

,3yGooglc

EVIDEJfCE OF CORAL BEEFS. 259

case of single islands. It is Bald that on the west side of
Fiji a rising of the land has ocourred ; still, within the
area of supposed subsidence, no elevation, on a large scale,
can be proved. From living evidence we know that in
the l^orth of the Caroline Islands and MarahaU Islands,
subsidence is still going on, and we are led to understand
that, at present, there is not any elevation in either the
Kingsmill Islands or Paumotu ; for a proof, that in
past time a gradual subsidence has taken place, we must
have recourse elsewhere.

The uon-existence of mammalia (for those at present
met with are recently imported) has been brought forward
to show that the islands have not, at least since mammals
roamed at large over the world, been connected with the
continents of Australia or America. That an immense
tract of land occupied a large area in the South Pacific, is
based, principally, on evidence derived from the study of
coral reefs. Before quoting any deductions, let us
thoroughly comprehend the nature of the reefs apart from
any theory. We know that a reef is the secretion from
polypes. Dana says : — " Coral is not a collection of cells
into which the coral animals may withdraw for conceal-
ment any more than the skeleton of a dog is its house or
cell." How immense the work of these polypes is, may
be judged from the following passage in Owen's lectures
on the invertebrate animals : — " They (the polj^es) have
built up a barrier reef along the shores of New Caledonia
for a length of 400 miles, and another which nms along
the north-east coast of Australia 1,000 miles in extent.
To take an example : a single atoll (or coral island) may
be 50 miles in length by 20 in breadtii, so that, if tiie

B 2

nigti/cdavGoOglc

260 SOUTR SEA ISLAJfDERS.

ledge of coral rock forming the ring were extended in one
line, it would be 120 miles in length. Assuming it to be
a quarter of a mile in breadth and 150 feet deep, here is
a mound, compared with which the walls of Babylon, the
great wall of China, and the pyramids of Egypt, are but
children's toys, and built amidst the waves of the ocean
and in defiance of the storms !" There used to be a notion
that coral reefs marked the outline of the craters of extinot
volcanos. Darwin showed how absurd such a notion was,
and it was he who propounded the celebrated theory of
reefs so universally accepted as the right one. Huxley
and Dana have done much to endorse this wonderful
theory.

Let us now examine the different kinds of reefs, after
which future explanations will be easily understood.

SECTIONAL DIAGRAMS.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

A-ATUBE OF CORAL BSEFS.

Atoll

The fringe reef was the original form of ooral structure.
As the land sank, the fringe became a barrier reef; and as
the land still became submerged, the barrier itself became
the atoll, and, eventually, a small coral islet.

The question, " Why should the coral polypes build
upwards as the land subsided ?" naturally presents itself.
The limiting temperature of coral reef seas is 60° F. ; then
the Madrepores, Astrjeas, and other reef formers cannot
live at a depth lower than twenty fathoms (or there-
abouts) below the surface; thus, to attain selfish ends,
namely, to exist, the polypes found it necessary to build
upwards as their original homestead sank lower and
lower. Of course the sinking must have been very
gradual. Knowing this, wo are led to approximate the
length of time taken in building up a barrier reef. What
is the least time during which the land has been sub-
siding ? Huxley says: — " Every particle of coral lime-
stone is an expression of time An inch of

limestone may be added to one of these reefs in the course
of a year." So if we know the depth of the water on the
outside of the reef in feet, by multiplying this by twelve,

nigtircaavGOOglC

262 SOUTH SEA ISZAJVDESS.

we approximately — ^for our knowledge of the rate of
building of polypes is incomplete— obtain the minimum
of time taken to raise the limestone structure. On a
large Admiralty chart, you will notice that a few miles
irom the outside of the reefs at Australia and New
Caledonia or Fiji, the soundings are nearly all above 200
fathoms ; therefore this represents 14,000 years, at least,
as the number of years since there were fringing instead
of barrier reefs. How rational Darwin's theory appears
when compared with the volcanic theory now' obsolete I
A curious fact, worthy of notice —a fact that relates both
to the coral reefs and volcanic actions is this : — Coral
does not grow in the vicinity of an active volcano. Not
in Kilanen ; not in the New Hebrides Group, at each
extremity of which is an active volcano ; nor do we find
coral where extinct craters are to be met with. Evidently
the construction of coral patches was commenced after
igneous action ceased.

Dana's remarks on reefs, and his conclusions about the
'subsidence of land in the South Sea are so logical that I
cannot do better than refer to them, though verv briefly.
He marks out the area of subsidence and the line of
greatest subsidence, the data of which serve him as
hypotheses ; one is the following : — Barrier reefs are
evidence of less subsidence of land than atoll reefs. As
mentioned before, while complete subsidence of land
beneath the surface would leave a record in the form of
an atoll, so further submergence of the land (carrying
with it the whole coral structure) would eventuaUy
obliterate the lagoon within the atoll, and a coral island
would succeed the atoU reef. So, whenever we find coral

nigti/cdavGoOglc

DAR TT/JV §■ DAJfA'S COJfCL USIOJVS. 263

islets or barrier reefs, ve muat conclude that they mark
out the position of once-existing terra firma. The smallest
coral islands are above the equator, and five or eleven
degrees south, between Faumotu and Kingsmill Islands —
several of them not a mile in diameter. Between Sandwich
Islands and Marshall Islands there is not a single oasis of
dry land. On the north side of Vanikoro, the Solomon
Islands and New Ireland, there are coral atoUs to be met
with, though scarcely one to the south. Comparing all
these facts with those concerning the reefs at Fiji, New
Caledonia, &c., Dana aiTives at certain conclusions. He
believes that subsidence was greateet between Navigator's
Group and Sandwich Islands, about long, 170° to 175° W.,
and lat. 8° to 10** N., and that we can approximately
draw the line of greatest subsidence, which runs from the
Pitcairn Island to the Pelew Islands, keeping Society
Island and Navigator's Islands to the south. Between this
line and Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) there is hardly any
high land, and south of this there are scarcely any atolls.
Dana 'also observes, from conclusions derived &om a
study of the reef at Fiji, that subsidence gradually
diminished south-westerly from some point of greatest
depression, situated to the northward or eastward. In
all probability, the whole amount of land lost to the
Pacific by submergence was 50,000 square miles.
Suppose, however, that all this is perfectly correct, how
does it aflfect the question of emigration? It has led
ethnolo^sts to siu^uise that perhaps this continent was
peopled, and that perhaps the aboriginal race has left
traces in the Malay-Polynesian and Papuan. We cannot,
however, affix a date as a mark of the period when the

nigti/cdavGoOglc

264 SOJJTS SEA ISLA.YDEBS.

Bevoral islands became detached from the mainland with
any greater precision than we can determine when the
original tribe was dispersed.

That a race of people, probably of a higher civilisation
ttian the present race of Malay-Polynesians or Papuans,
inhabited the islands — perhaps the unbroken continent —
is attested by the wonderful ruins which travellers from
time to time are discovering. At Ponap^, in the Caroline
Islands, in the Marianne Islands, and also at Maiden's
Island, immense ruins are to be seen. At Easter Island
(long. 110°, lat. 27* 8.), where the Malay-Polynesian
language is spoken, are colossal stone figures,* some of
which weigh fifty tons. These remains are surely the
relics of a long-past race of people, though they may
have left traces in the Malay-Polynesian or Papuan, or both. ■

Then again, while the bulk of the Papuan population
inhabits the western islands, New Guinea, Solomon
Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and Fiji, we are
surprised to learn that the Earotongans h"ave legends to
the effect that, having emigrated from Samoa, they found
a race of black people in their new colony, and also that
in Hungaia, south of Barotonga, the Melanesian (Papuan)
type predominates at the present time. At Penrhyn's
Island (between Navigator's Island and the Marquesas
Group) the natives are of a dark brown colour, and their
wavy hair is sometimes frizzled into mops in Papuan
fashion. More astonished are we, however, to know that
in Paumotu (the most south-easterly of the Pacific Islands)

* Dr. Lang thought that there was a similarity in the temples of
Mexico and Polynesia. He mentions the stone terraces of the
MarqnesaB Gronp, Easter Island, and Central America., &c.

inyGoogIc

TSE PAPUAJT RACE. 265

there is spoken a language which seems not to be con-
nected with the ordinary Papuan, Malay-Polynesian, or
American.

All these details in combination suffice to show that the
South Sea Islands have witnessed very many changes in
shape as well as in population.

With regard to the Malay-Palynesians we haye already
remarked that their race seems recent compared to the
Papuans in the islands, and that they, though not neces-
sarily (for we know little concerning their antiquity),
might have travelled in double canoes ; but surely the
dark natives of the South Seas, with their imperfect ideas
of navigation, have emigrated overland.

We must pui-posely omit all discussion regarding the
Micronesians — the inhabitants of the Gilbert Islands,
Marshall Isles, Marianne Group, and Caroline Islands —
for, connected as they are with Malay-Polynesians or
Malayan races, their introduction would only involve the
subject in much more entanglement.

The Malay- Polynesian offshoots, the Friendly Islanders
(ToDgans), Society Islanders, New Zealanders, &c., are
very similar to each other in appearance, while their
customs, traditions, and languages, or rather dialects, are
closely allied. This certainly cannot be said of the
various branches of the Papuan stock. On a Fiji planta-
tion, where the " foreign labour," excepting Line Islanders,
consists of Papuans, any white man with very limited
experience can, at a glance, decide whether a " boy " has
been imported from the Solomon Islands, from Ambrym,
Mallicollo, Tanna, Api, or other island of the New Hebrides
Group. One can judge readily from the shade of colour

nigti/cdavGoOglc

266 SOUTH SEA ISLAJVDERS.

of the skin, the shape of the head, the character of the
hair, and the physical build. When we remember the
multiplicity of languages spoken by the tribes, we cannot
help being otherwise than impressed with the immensity
of time whicb it has taken to produce such changes since
the first family occupied one locality and spoke a common
tongue.

If we accept as feasible the proposition that a race of
Papuans once inhabited the continent which has left its
trace in the existing islands — that is in the high parts of
the original area which underwent least subsidence — the
diversity of Papuan langni^es admits of a more easy
explanation than if we assume that the geography of the
South Sea was always much the same as it is at this epoch
of the world's history. Suppose a large island to have
become detached from the mainland, the tribes would
naturally live on the coast or on the high land ; for
security of life and property from invaders would re-
commend the latter expedient, while the weaker tribes
would be driven to the interior to become " men of bush.'*
Now there is every reason to believe that, in an extensive
area so separated from the original continent, the tribes, .
being distant from one another, would soon diverge into
speaking distinct dialects. As this island sank little by
little, and its radius became proportionately smaller by
reason of the gradual encroachment of the sea, in process
of time the different tribes, each retaining varied remnants
of the original common speech, would constantly move
their settlements into nearer and nearer proximity.
We can thus comprehend the reason why so many different
languages are in use ; for instance} in the email

nigti/cdavGoOglc

MIORATIOJi OF FAFUAJiS. 267

island of Tanna, and in the larger island of New
Caledonia. While travelling through the latter island I
found that on each day's march a freah vocabulary was
needed to make myself understood. In the little volcanic
island of Tanna (New Hebrides) at least six languages,
all mutually unintelligible, are spoken.* Whatever may
be the cause, such a variety of tongues spoken by the
black races marks antiq^uity, and puzzles philologists as
well as ethnologists.

New Guinea, to all appearances, can claim to be the
home of the Melanesians. That this large island was
connected with Australia at a comparatively recent
geological period inclines us to hesitate in assigning it as
the exact locality in which the race originated. My own
impression is that the migration was by land rather than
by sea, that the people of the New Hebrides might have
travelled along the neck of land which includes, perhaps,
the Sol6mon Islands with New Guinea, and that the other
Papuan raees all travelled independently on a now
obsolete continent.

How to accoimt for the appearance of the dark race in
the more easterly portions of the South Pacific cannot
but baffle any enquirer. While, however, we are unable
to arrive at definite conclusions, we can at least collect
and examine carefully any and every little scrap of
information bearing on the subject, and each may in some
way assist us, indirectly or directly, to solve a few of the
minor problems leading up to the main one.

First, let us observe any helping circumstances of note

* Wallace's Amtrdlmia,

nigti/cdavGoOglc

268 SOUTH SEA ISLAJfDERS.

in Fiji. There, in the sixty or more inhabited islands,
the same langu^e is spoken throughout. It contains so
many words in common with the Halay -Polynesian that
we are boimd to admit .that the lighter coloured race, at
some period or other, came into close contact with the
Papuan. The arrival of a few canoe loads of warriors
would not bring about such an introduction of new words,
however captivating to the ear they may have been, unless
the original Fijian- Papuans constituted but a very small
tribe indeed. In one settlement at Moala, where the
Fijians live on one side of a creek, and on the other a
population of Tongans live, and have lived ever since the
Friendly Islanders subdued the island some twenty years
ago, I observed that the Fijians showed a disinclination
to adopt any new Tongan words, and the Tongans troubled
themselves little about learning the language of the
■ aboriginal race. In Fiji, such words as fii-e, rain, vrind,
earth, stone, hill, way, ear, nose and beard, breast, tree,
root, &c., are connected with Polynesian and Malayan.
At the same time several words are similar to the languages
of Malaysia and not to Polynesian ; which rather inclines
us to conclude that they were obtained from the Malay-
Polynesian before that race spread from Samoa eastward,
or else that they were obtained from a different source,
which is less probable.

The same considerations apply to Rotumah, north of
Fiji, where the natives are of a much lighter colour than
the Fijians. Indeed, the Eotumah natives may really be
more closely allied to the original offshoot from Malaysia,
than the present race of Malay-Polynesians.

Too much stress, however, must not be laid upon

nigti/cdavGoOglc

r

EriDSJVCE FROM LAJfQUAQE. :i69

language as a means to prove the course by whicli a race
has extended or broken off into sections. Still it can, in
some measure, assist us. For instance, as an exemplifica-
tion of how comparison of language can offer subject for
legitimate speculation, let us examine some of the numerous
words which signify " the moon " and " blood." I have
extended my researches very much beyond the limits of
the subject as connected with the 8outh Sea Islanders ;
the enlarged vocabulary, however, is interesting.

Malay Peninsula —

Tschampa ....
Madagascar (Malagasi)
Sum^ra

fMaruwi . ,
Small jNias . . .
Islands J Poggi . , .

(_Engajiho . .

Java

Borneo

Celebes

Bali, Madura, Sumenap

Sambawa

Plores

Timor

Eotti

Amboyna

Ceram

Bouro

Jilolo

Sola

Salibabo

Sanguiar

MjBOl .,,...
Philippine Islands . .
Negrito languages . .

Fonnoaa

Pelew Islands , . .
Caroline Islands ■ .

Fia, vula, masso-anru

Bulan, bawa, buluan

Bowah

Bawa

Lago

Moena

Wulan

Bulan, bolan, buran, pnn-allah, tukka, &c.

Bulo, bulan, bulrang, wura, &o.

Bulan

Wulan

Wulan

Fulan

Bulak, kissa, wolli

ITula-nita, hoolan, hulam, naran

Phulan, phulani, wiUani, hiano, melim,

kulan, &c.
Bulani, fhulan
Pai, osa
Faaina
Buran g
Bnran
Pet, nab

Bulan, fulan, buan, &g.
Panuodau, bulan, &c.
Waurat
Pooyer
Maram

inyGoogIc

270

SOUTH SEA ISLAJVDSSS.

TTalan ....
Fakaafo . . .
Navigator's GrOTip
IMendJy Islands
New Zealand. .
Society IslaudB .
Sandwich Islands
Rotamah . . .

Fiji

New Gainea . .
New Ireland . .
Solomon Islands.
Vanikoro . _. .

Loyalty Islands — tUtai
New Caledonia . . .

Mahina
Marama

Hula

Vnla

Nowarai, &c.

Ealan

Hura, &c. ,

Mele, mala onla, metete

Itiis, tais, &c.

Mankna

Mahoe

Jekole

Moe, &e.

Indian dialecte :—

( Darahi, Pak-

Nepanl-] hya. . .

Kagat

(Kusnwar. .

Eaktl

Tharn (Nepanl), Hindi

Lohn

Nilgherry — Irular . .

Latta

Paropomisan— Oabool,

Shma

Lohel

Ceylon (Singalese) . .

Rudhiraya, le

Nancowry

Yhoa

Malay

Darah

Sumatra

Darra, darro, daroh, moedar

Madagascar (Malagasi)

Ra

Borneo

Daha, doho, &o.

Celebes

Orah, rara, daha, duga

Timor, Manitolo . .

Rahan

Rotti

Dah

Flores

Rahah

Ceram

Lalah, lala, lara, lawa, lahim, lalai, laan

Matabello

Larah

Teor

Larah

nigti/cdavGoOglc

EYIDEKCE FROM LAKBUAdE.

271

Mjsol

LomoB, lomoh

Siiln .

Duga

Amboyna

Lala, ialai

GUolo .

Sislor, larah, nangow

Bonro .

Lala, raha

AmbUu

Hahanatea

Sanguiar

Daha

Sula iBl&nda

Poha

Philippine iBlanda

Dugu, darat, daga, &c.

Negrito languages

Saquo, dalaa, &c.

Yap ... .

Ratta

Ulea ....

Ta

Pelew lalandB .

Arrasack

Caroline Islanda

Atchapon

Navigator's Group

{

Toto

Friendly Islandfl

\

Tawto

New Zealand. .

)

Toto

Marquesas . .
Sandwich Islands

\

Tooto

\

Koko

Eotnmah . . .

(.

Toto .

Fiji

Ndra

New Caledonia .

Ouda, int6, &c.

Mar6 (Loyalty lalar
New fLouisade

ds)

DrT

Madihana

Guinea (Port Dorei .

Ouamaiere

Now, what do we particularly observe in these
vocabularies ? Well, in the first place, we observe that
the word for "moon" is nearly the same ia several
Malaysian dialects ; in Vanikoro (Tanema), in Rotumah
(whose inhabitants are light coloured), and in Fiji, it appears
in forms such as vula^ phulan, &c. In the so-called Malay-
Polynesian languages it is nearly the same throughout,
and allied to the word used in the Caroline Islands. From
this we may deduce where the changing the name for
" moon " commenced in the islands. The original Fijians
probably exchanged their Papuan word for that introduced

, ,, Google

272 SOUTH SEA ISLAJ^DERS.

by a lighter coloured race, before the lighter coloured race
exchanged theirs for marama or masina (though, by-the-
by, compare masma, mahina, &c., with fasina of Sula
Islands). Again, we observe that the Caroline Islands,
Maori, and Tahitiau, have marama, that the Friendly and
Sandwich Islands have maJdna or masina, from which,
connecting race with language, we conclude that the
Maories of New Zealand broke off from the Navigator's
Islands population before the word for "moon'' changed
from marama to mahina.

As regards the word "blood," we trace one root through
very many languages spoken from North-east India to
Fiji; and we are at liberty to conjecture that if the Malay-
Polynesian retained it from the Malaysians for some time,
they dropped it in the neighbourhood of Kotiimah, for we
find the Fijians obtained the word from a once Malayan
dialect. It is quite possible, however, that, after all, the
Fijian has travelled from New Guinea* or thereabouts,
and by an independent route to that of the Malay-
Polynesians, who are supposed to have started from
Celebes or the neighbourhood, and to have emigrated in
a direction round the nortil of New Guinea. Finding
traces of the Malayan root for " blood " not only in Fiji,
but also on the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia, we
are still led to believe that the Papuans have retained it
from an earlier date than the period when the Malay-
Polynesians spread over the eastern islands.

How to account for the presence of the dark coloured

• A comparison of the JTew Guinea and Fijian weapons sapporte this
opinion.

nigti/cdavGoOglc

CO:^rTIXEJrTAI. COXJ^ECTIOXS. 273

race in Paumotu, Rarotonga, and PenrLyn Island, &c., wlio
can say, unless we take for granted that, ages and ages
ago, a large continent served as a means for the dispersion
o£ a race? That the vestiges of the dark race are to be
found so far eastward, complicates the already complex
problems concerning the South Sea Islanders ; this,
however, should not interfere with a part solution. We
have still the western races to study and to draw
conclusions from.

Bearing in mind that, where barrier reefs are to be
encountered, fringe reefs, attached closely to the mainland,
were once to be met with in the same position ; and also
taking ' into consideration the comparatively shallow sea
between New Guinea and Australia ; we are able to form
some idea of a portion of the vast continent which has
been sinking gradually, and cannot fail to be interested in
noting the difference of distance which there now is
between New Caledonia and Australia, as compared with,
what there must have been when the barrier reefs of the
two were represented by dry land. When, too, we think
of the position of the Chesterfield reef as occupied by an
island fit for habitation, this stepping-stone reduces the
distance between shore and shore very considerably.
Unfortunately, on account of tiie deep soundings between
Australia and the Chesterfield reef, and between the latter
and New Caledonia, which, however, are nearly all imder
1,000 fathoms, we cannot with any exactness chart out the
contour of a former continent. But in associating this
continent with the emigration of a section of the human
race, we must not be surprised at any difficulty such as
this ; the length of time since the mainland became split

S

nigti/cdavGoOglc

274 SOVTS SEA ISLAJ^DSBS.

up into sections may be thousandB and thousands of years \
then we do not know any reason why a race of human
beings should not have inhabited the land in the South
Pacific at the same time. We do know, however, that
the numerous languages, as well as the different appearance
of the several ofishoots of the Papuans, make it appear
more than likely that the antiquity of the race is very
great indeed.

To the casual observer, the similarity between the
general appearance of the landscape on the western half
of the island of New Caledonia to that of parts of Australia,
suggests the possibility of a former union of the two
countries. Tet, this similarity is due to the vegetation,
and, as the original seeds of this might have been drifted
from the one coast to the other, too much stress must not
be laid on the circumstance. For my own part, notwith-
standing that the hair of the New Caledonians is unlike in
growth to the hair of the Australians, I certainly am in-
clined to believe that the New Caledonians might have
travelled from the west, or even south-west, or towards
the west or south-west, rather than from the north.
Having witnessed several " pilo-pilos," or New Caledo-
nian dances, and also other dances of the South Sea
Islanders, and having heard and read about the Australian
" corrohory," I am of the opinion that the New Caledonian
dance is much more connected with the Aiistralian than
with the Fijian.

In Wallace's Australasia we learn that some natives of
the New Hebrides group have a likeness to the now
extinct Tasmanian native ; and other authorities teach us
that the dialects of Tasmania contain a trace of some

, V, Google

WEAPOJrS Aim IMPLEMEJfTS. 275

Papuan root words. Where did the Tasmanian native
spring from ? Whether from nortJi, east, or west, is not
to be easily answered. Can we extract any information
from a study of the South Sea Island weapons and
utensils? naturally ocoura to the enquirer. Those who
would like to try can obtain ample opportimity to do so
without making a journey to the Antipodes ; for the
Anthropological CoUectiou at South Kensington, and the
Christy CoUection, are both very extensive and within
easy reach. I agree with Colonel Lane Fox in believing
that the New Caledonian pick (with bird's-head extremity)
may possibly be a development of the Australian "malga,"
which is itself a development of the boomerang. The New
Caledonian pick has also much in common with, one to be
met with in Santa Cruz. Again, in examining the South
Sea Island weapons and implements, we cannot help
noticing that the large New Caledonian circular adze
seems to be merely an advanced specimen of that used in
Australia, and very imlike anything used in Fiji. The
New Caledonian mushroom-headed clubs, too, are very
similar to the Australian ones, and also to those in New
Hebrides jmd Savage Island On the other band, wo
are struck with the resemblance which the masks of New
Britain and New Caledonia bear to one another, suggesting
a common origin. In studying the weapons, we observe
that the Erromanga adze is nearly the same as the
"serpentine" one used in New Caledonia, the breadth
being nearly the same as the length ; that the Fijian
spears are much akin to some in New Guinea, while the
" matai ni ivi"-adze of Fiji is a facsimile of one kind in
New Guinea ; and also that, generally, the Fijian clubs,

82 ,

■ogle

276 SOUTH SEA ISLAJVDEBS.

which are so varied, have Kttle in common with the
westerly Melanesian weapons. Indeed, such evidence
induces me to consider that the Z^ew Hebrideans and the
New Caledonians are more nearly allied to each other
than either people to the Fijians; and that the Fijiane,
probably, have emigrated from somewhere between New
Guinea and their present home, thus, perhaps, obtaining
Malayan and Polynesian words through a slightly different
channel from that through which the Malay-Polynesians
obtained theirs, although the number of words derived
from the same root in the Fijian and Malay-Polynesian
is considerable.

Vestiges of several words from the same root occur in
the languages of Fiji, Anateum, and Hard (Loyalty
Islands), and the dialects of Melanesia are supposed to
contain some words traceable in the extinct Tasmanian.
Some of the weapons of one group are like those of
another ; on the other hand, some resemble those of a
group more remote. Circumcision, the institution of
" taboo," the severing of the little finger, the cutting of
the flesh for ornament, and such like customs are to be
found here, there, and nearly everywhere in the Pacific
Islands. But notwithstanding all this we can no more
track out, with absolute certainty, the exact and various
routes along which the numerous ofishoots of the original
family emigrated, than we are able to assign a date to the
first dispersion of the race. We may waste our time in
endeavouring to do so, but, successful or unsuccessfnl in
our attempts, we conclude our task fidly impressed with
the antiquity of that portion of the human race which
inhabits, and has, for thousands of years, inhabited the

< .vGooglc

WIDSB PHILOLOGICAL COJ^SlDEBATIOJfS. 277

South Sea Islands, and we quite understand the exclama-
tion of the preacher that " one generation passeth away,
and another cometh, but the earth abidetii for erer."

COMPAJtJSOJV OF J FSW WORDS I^ ASIATIC,

MALAYSIAX AJfD OTHER LAJ^GUAGBS.
In separating the various races of mankind according to
their speech, we are accustomed to conclude that language
proceeded from a variety of sonrces rather than from one
original source. We begin to recognise as a fact that
man, arrived at his high estate, is a development of the
extinct Catarrhini Lipocerci or taU-less and narrow-nosed
apes, and that he is not descended, as the ancients
thought, from two first parents who sauntered about in
the garden of Eden. At the same time, as our insight
into our progressive natural history is becoming day by
d.iy more satisfactory by means of physiological deduc-
tions, philology reveals much that is interesting, and>
little by little, the comparative method is reducing the
number of so-called primary forms of speech to a
minimum. It has lately been discovered that the roots of
American languages can be traced to the Semitic, or
vice versd; and, as all philologists are aware, there are
connecting links between nearly every one of the
European languages and that of the Aryans, to which the
Keltic of "Wales and Cornwall is closely allied.

It is my intention to endeavour to impress on the reader
that, whereM we commonly speak of the ancestors of the
Malaya as belonging to the ambiguous race called Pro-
Malays, we are bound to admit that the Malayan
ancestors came into contact with, or are identical with,

nigti/cdavGoOglc

278 SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS.

the forefathers of aome of the races which now inhabit
India. A certain similarity between the languages of the
Malays and the languages of the people inhabiting the
nearest continent — Siam, Cochin-China, Burmah, has
often been remarked ; accordingly, I will touch on this
point very briefly. The best words for comparison are
those which in various localities are used for the " eye."
We shall be able to decide from this example that there
certainly is some connection between the languages of
^Malaysia and of the adjacent continent, and, after this, I
will endeavour to show that the languages of India 30°
west of the continent nearest to Malaysia have connecting
links with those of Malaysia and the South Sea Islands.
However, before attempting to demonstrate this fact,
which has heretofore been nearly or entirely overlooked,
let us compare the numerous words signifying the " eye,"
in Malaysia, Polynesia, and the adjacent Asiatic con-
tinent. Other examples might be selected, but this one
will suffice.

Tibetan, Eastern Bhot, Serpa in South contact ] Eye.

with NepauL ThakEja, in Nepaiil, Nepanl, / „. „.. „■ u; v

Gnrtmg.^urmi, uQr, Branihu, Che^gA "*'' ""*; '^&^'-^<>^
Vayn,NewarandPahri,Kirata{E.ofNepaul), ^°'^^-
Limbn, Lepcha, Stmwar (ABsam), Burmese, . )

Siam, Cochin China, Tonkin, Mandarin, Canton .. mot, mok, mu, &c.

Tanguhti ( W. China) mijhi.

Javanese, Borneo, in moat of the languages of ^
Malay ArchipeliUTO, Sunda Islands, Solomon / „ , „ . „. ,

Islands, NewWnea, Friendly Islands, Navi- 1 ^'^'^J^^ or ^^^
gator's Gronp, Society Islands, &c., &c., Fiji, I '"'™s-
Marianne Group j

Tanikoro mala, maleo, mataeo.

Mallicollo (New Hebrides) matang.

Tazma (New Hebrides) nanu>maiuk.

Annatom f New Hebrides) mtai.

Caroline luand metal.

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ASIA AJVD MALAYSIA. 279

In Australia we find (whether by chance or not it ig
not for me to decide) — "eye" mil or mer, mair, murai,
mirrook, in north and south, east and west.

Knowing, as we do, the great tendency of uncivilised
races to mutilate original words, we cannot fail to be
astonished in noticing how the original word for " eye "
has withstood the changes which time usually brings
about. Probably, the original word was one which, on
account of its pronunciation, took the popular fancy more
than most others. We may observe that it occurs very
frequently, and rather poetically in many of the hundred
dialects between Sumatra and Fiji. In several the
sxm is called "the eye of day." For instance, in
Fiji, singa = *' day," mata ni singa = " eye of day ;"
thiva = " pearlshell," mata ni thiva = "eye of pearl-
shell," or " pearl," and so on.

Let us now tiun our attention to India, and we shall
admit that there is a bond of connection, not only, as has
been pointed out by various philologists, between Sanskrit
and Javanese, but also, as I think, between the Indian
dialects, and other languages between Java and Easter
Island, the most easterly of the South Sea Islands. I am
. not aware that this has been, hitherto, recognised.
We will not select either adjectives or verbs for our
comparison, for these are apt to be completely altered
in a very short time ; but, out of a vocabulary of
twenty-six of the most ordinary noun sounds, we will
select such as will exemplify a similarity in a very
striking manner. These, with the first four numerals,
will suffice.

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SOtTE SEA ISLAJ^DEBS.

Lnghman .
Nepam. . .
Hindofibani—

Oadi. . .

Gnjerat. .

Hadora, Sumenap . '\

Tsohampa (Malay f

Peninsula) . . C

Merqni Archipelago }

In leUuidB —

Bali, Sasak, Bima,)

Snmbawa, FloreB /

Timor

Eotti

Eiasa

Smnatra

Kayan (Borneo) . . ,
Malaga^ (Madagascar)
South Celebes —

Salayer.

Bola. .

Amblaw

Amboyna

Geram .

Matabello

Teor .

tSjifA . . .
In Plulip[diie« —

Tagala

Lord North's

Ulea. . .

Bobnmah .

New Qainea

Vanikoro .

Tanna . .

New Caledonia
Navigabor'a Group
New Zealand. .
Bociety Islands .
Friendly Islands
Marquesas Islands
Sandwich Islands
Caroline Islands.

Island

Agar
Ongar
Age, aghi, ago, agi

Ag
Geni

Apoi

Api

Atta

A hi

Hai

Ai

Apia, apui, &o.

Apui

Aiu

Api

Afu

Aow

Taf, yafo, &c.

E&

Yaf

Tap

Apny

^'

Eaf

Eahi

Lahi, hiwo, ioreff, Ac.

Gnava, &c,, &c.

Nap

lep, &c., &c.

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JPHILOLOQICAL COMP^RTSOJVS.

Singalese

Cabool (Aighsnistaa) —

^ina

Deer

Lnghman ....

Gohnri

Nepaul —

Darahi

KuBwar

Pakhya

Thara

SaDskrit

Nilgherry Hill — ■

Irular

Punjabi , , . , 'J
Qadi (in Gaahmir) . f
Hindustani . , . f
Qnjerat (E. India) . }

Javaneee

Madura

Sasak

Bali

Timbora

Florra

Eotti and Savu . . .
Timor and Manitoto .

EiBsa

Bnba

Donlan. . . . . "i

Gani f

Giiaio (

Liang J

Wokan

IIoco ^

Gayagan . . . . >

Bashu )

Bonton (in 9. Celebes) .

Sala^r

Uenado

Sangniar

Sula )

Wayapo . . . . /

Bouro V

Massaratty . , . (
Amblav . . , . )

Watura

Wahi
Wahe
Warg
Pani

Hate
Hani
Pani
Pani
Var, Tari, ap, udaka

Dani

Pani and pane

Banui

Aing

Ai

Yeh

Oi

Naino

Wai

Owai

VeH

Oira

lera

Wair and we jr

Waya

Dnnnm

Mana
Aer
Akei
Aki

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SOVTS SEA ISLAXDERS.

Ceram ....
Matabello . .
Tschampa (in
FeninBnla). .
Malay .

Malay

MalagaBi (Madagascar]
New Guinea ■ .
Solomon Islands.
Vanitoro . . ,
New Hebrides .
New Caledonia ,
Loyalty iBlanda .

Fiji

Friendly Islands
Navi^tor's Islands.
New Zealand.
Society Islands, &a.
Marquesas Islands
Sandwich Islands

Aya

Ayer

Aiyah, &c., &o.

Sann

Bauu, goila, wawei, ouuer

Leona, wai, &c., &c.,

Oaira, nira, ero

Ergoor, nn, wai, &o., &c.

Wi, ooe, &c.
Wai

Cabool—

Sbina

Bat

Qohnri

Bhatta

Nepaul —
Darahi. ■ • • )

EuBwar , . . i

Punjabi >

Hindustanee ... I

Pathar

Gujerat . . . . )

Tschampa (Malay

Penimnla). . . .
Merqni Archipelago .

Batao

Batoe

Sumatra (all langnagea)

Batu

EngMio

Javanese

Watn

Malagas! (Madagascar)

Vatu

Madura .... 1

Sumenap

Bali .

Sasak .

Sumbaya

Bata

Flores .

Rotti .

Moat of dialeota of I

Borneo

... J

Timor ....
Sulu (Philippine Isli
Umray, St. M^el
Lord North's ulau'
Botnmah . . .
New Guinea , .

Vanikoro . . ,

New Hebrides —

Erromango .

New Caledonia .

Fiji

Navigator's Islands
Friendly Islands
New Z^and
Sandwich Islands
PeUew Islands .
Marianne Group
Caroline Islands

Patuk
) Bato
Balu
Vas
Uathn
Veu,pak,

&c.
Yaka,&c.

Hat
Buate

Fata

Too

Pohakn

Ko-hatn

Paathe

Ashoa

Faho

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PHILOLOOIOAL OOMPARISOJtS.

283

ONB

TWO

THHBE

rouR

Darahi ....

pSa ." ; ; :

Koooh

Hindi

Gadi

\

Ek
Yek
Ek
Ek
Ai
Eko
Ek

IS8S

Uia

Isabs

8atn

Sobua

TxAkii

Dwi

Dui

Dn

Do

Do

Doi

De

Rue

Doha

Baa

Dna

Lua

Lolai

Nna

Daa

Ua

Bua

Lna

Alna

Oiia

Bua

Sourou

Eou

Lou

Tiu

Tiu

Tin

Tin

Tre

Tini

Tun

Tolu

Tulo

Oru

Telu

Toin

Lotitu

Teun

Tellu

Teni

Torn

Tolu

Alolu

Torou

Tolu

Kior

Tonl

Toul

Oliar
Char
Chap
Char
Char

Uriya (Sooth Bengal)

Chari
Hatara

Malagaei (Madagaacar
Bisaaya (Philippine Is
SaparuA (Borneo) .
Saeak (Sumbaya) .
Bima „
riores. .

.an

is)

Effat

Mpat
Opat
Lopah
Hah

Savu . . .

fz

Haa

Kingsmill lalanda .

Te
Taha

tSi

Ndua
Ocer
Tik
Sa

A

Maori (New Zealand)
Narigator'B lalanda
Sajidwich Islands .
Marquesafl lalanda .

J

\

Wha
Fa
Aha
Pa

New Guinea (Port Do
New Ireland. . .
Molaccaa (Island of G

■ei)
iet>

e)

Kat
Hat

Eat

In examining the numerals we remark that, while the
first four eeem in some way related throughout these
languages of a very extensive area, the " pancha " " five "
of the Indian languages does not seem to have left a
distinct vestige in the Malay Archipelago or South Sea
Islands, unless it is in some way linked with tangan,
lanffan, leaden (from which are derived the usual words for
"hand" and "five" in the South Seas, viz., lima, Unga,
rima, &o). This is not a matter of surprise, for, as
primitive races count by the number of fingers on the
hands, and the toes of the feet, the quinary' and decimal

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284 SOnTS SEA ISIAJVDERS.

ayetems being always adopted, the word for "five"
undergoes a diange with the word for " hand." As for
the numerals between five and ten, the connection is
difficult to unravel. Taking note, however, that such
sounds as are usually denoted by the letters ch, Xj ^b, tb,
and by aspirates and sibilants generally, are very liable
to become softened down in tone, that p, v, b, f, are
interchangeable, as well as m, r, and 1, and sometimes t and
k (compare, in Navigator's Group, ian^aia, " a man," and
ioto, "blood," with liie corresponding words used in
the Sandwich Islands, kanaka and koko) ; not only these,
but several other words, may, with advantage to our
philological knowledge, be compared. For example : —
English " speech '' or ** voice " = Sanskrit vacha, Javanese
bhasa, Fiji voaa; "nose" = Sanskrit nasu, Fiji ngusu;
" foot " Gohuri j?ac ; Polynesian vae ; " wood " = kati
and katho io Cabool, kau in Fiji; "tooth" = Hindi
dantj N. Australian dang, danga ; " house " ^ ghar in
Nepaul, vale, tehare, &c., in South Sea Islands ; and so
also the words for "blood," "man," &c., may, with
advantage, be examined.

LEGENDS.

The likeness between the Sanskrit and the Javanese has
been shown many times by philologists, and it exists in a
most evident manner. That a bond of connection may be
traced between the Indian languages and the islands of
the South Seas, I have endeavoured, in as brief a space as

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possible, to point out ; and to give greater weight to the
bond between them, it beliovea some one who takes an
interest in the study of languages to trace the origin of the
numerous quaint legends which have been handed down
from generation to generation amongst the Papuans and
Polynesians. That some of them bear a strong resem-
blance to the legends of India, we should not be surprised
to hear. Unfortunately, I have not studied the subject
sufficiently to offer many remarks, and, therefore, will
not enter upon it ; I simply draw attention to the well
known legend of Haui (in the South Seas), and that
which is narrated by the Faropamisans at Boor, as
recorded in Latham's Comparative Philology, In Poly-
nesian mythology, Maui was a god who used, amongst
other exploits, to fish up islands ; for instance, he fished
up the north island of New Zealand, which is called " Ika
ni Maui." The Tongans, too, relate that he drew up
Ata, then Tonga, and other Hapai Islands, and, lastly,
Vavao.

Amongst l^e wonderful stories about him, I select the
following to compare with the Paropamisan legend recorded
by Latham. Kijikiji, a sou of Maui, obtained fire iirom
the earth and commanded it to go into certain trees,
whence it was obtained by friction. When Maui was
on earth the only light was that of the moon ; neither
day nor night existed. It is related that Maui and
his two sons live under the earth where he sleeps, and
that, when he turns himself over, he produces earth-
quakes.

Latham says: — "A small pool, near a place called
Door, to the east or nortti-east of Bamian, where there is

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286 SOUTH SEA ISLAJTBEBS.

an intrusive population of Kalzubi Turks, but where the
aborigines are Tberba and Shu Paropamisans, gives us
the following legend. It is believed to be bottomless.
The water is bitter and bituminous, bubbling up with
sulphuretted hydrogen, and surrounded by incrustations
of sulphur. liambent flames are said occasionally to play
over its surface. Near this is a dark cave, and in this cave
are the remains of idols — more than one. The chief of
these represent Moh and his wife, Mabun. . . . Two
other caves are dedicated to Sheh, the Destroyer, and
Zhei, the God of Fire. At each new moon the Therba
make a fire-oflering to Zhei. Two other caves are dedicated

to Hersh and Maul Moh created the earth,

and his wife, Mabun, created the wilderness. From them
sprang the iirst giant race. They slept alternately for
999 moons, and reigned 450,000 moons. After this
period, three sons rebelled, viz., Sheh, the Life Destroyer,
Zhei, the Fire-god, and Maul, the Earthquaker ; and by
their combined efforts, Moh was buried beneath the
mountains. Confusion lasted 5,000 moons, after which
the three victors retired each to his own region for 10,000
moons. Maul was lost in darkness of his own creating.
Sheh fled with his family towards the sun, which so much
enraged Zhei that he caused fire to spread over the
earth."

I extract further particulars from a work on Polynesian
mythology. Originally, fire was unknown, and the
inhabitants ate raw food. In the nether world (Avaifci)
lived four mighty ones : — Mauike, God of Fire ; Ra, Sun-
God ; Rn, supporter of the Heavens ; and his wife,
Buataranga, guardian of the road to the invisible world.

, ,, Google

LEGEJVDS. 287

To Eu and Buataranga was bom a son, Maui. At early
age, Maui was appointed guardian of this upper world of
mortals. He lived on uneooled food ; hia mother used to
visit him, but ate her food apart. Maui, liking the taste
of her food, followed her to the nether world, and said that
ho had come to learn the secret of fire. Buataranga
said : — " This secret rests with Mauike. When I wish to
cook in an oven, I ask your father Hu to beg a lighting
stick from Mauike." Now, Mauike lived in Are-ava
(House of Banyan stick). Maui became domineering in
his tone, and Mauike ordered him away, and then prepared
to turn him out ; but on returning foimd that Maui had
swelled himself. Mauike then threw him to the height of
a cocoanut tree, but Maui became so light that he was
unhurt by the fall. Then Maui seized Mauike (fire-god)
and threw him up to a dizzy height, and caught him again
like a ball. At length, Mauike entreated Maui to stop
his rough treatment, and told him the secret of fire. . The
names of the fire sticks were au, oronga^ tauinau (lemon
hibisens, urtioa argentea, ficus Indicus).

A comparison of the Polynesian and Paropamisan legends
concerning Maui, shows how dissimilar they are in detail ;
yet, there seems to be something in common between them
which has arisen not by pure chance.

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288 SOVTE SEA ISLAm)EBS.

For the Tocabularies contained in the pages on Philo-
logical and Ethnological topics, I have chiefly coneulted
Latham's "Elements of Comparative Philology,'' Wallace's
" Malay Archipelago," and Marsden's Toeabularies, pub-
lished in a volume, entitled " Miscellaneous.'' Prior to
compiling the last chapters, I perused several works, and,
as the names of some of them may be useful to students
of South Sea Islands history, I append a short list : —

Mariner's Tonga.

Bougainville's Travels.

Cook's Travels.

Pallegoix's Siam.

Philology of the French Exploring Expedition. 1825-29.

MftCgillivray's Bedscar Bay (Voyage of " Eattlesnake.")

D'TIrville's Voyage d' Astrolabe- Philologie.

Vol vi. United States of America Exploring Expedition.

Pratt's work on Samoa.

"Williamfl'a " New Zealand " and " Fiji."

Malagasy Language — Flacourt'a Dictionary.

Kazlewood's Fiji Dictionary.

Andrews's Dictionary of Eawaian Langni^.

De Gemblonx'9 Idiomologie dea lies Marquises.

ny Google

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