The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of CustomThomson, Basil
History
The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of Custom
Thomson, Basil
Ethnology -- Fiji; Fijians
"And all the time they tarried at Vunda, the chief
Lutu-na-sombasomba could not rest for thinking of his inscriptions
that had been lost in the sea. And he sent some of his young men to
go and seek them,[3] for he reflected that his descendants would
grow up ignorant if these inscriptions were indeed lost to them. So
the young men set out with their sail close hauled, and as they
voyaged they were astonished at the sight of islands right in their
course to the westward, and disputed among themselves, some
affirming these to be the islands at which some of their company
had landed before the hurricane struck them, while others cried,
'Impossible; they were far away.' So they called the islands Yasa
yawa[4] (Yasawa). Long did they scull the vessel up and down the
sea seeking the lost inscriptions, but finding them not. And then
he who commanded the _Kaunitoni_, and was named Wankambalambala
(Tree-fern-canoe), spoke, and said that they should return to Vunda
and tell their Lord, Lutu-na-sombasomba, that his inscriptions
could not be found. For they were wearied with rowing up and down,
and the wind had failed them. Then one of them called
Mbekanitanganga climbed the mast to look for the ripple of the
wind, and saw a puff of wind coming up from the west, and when this
reached them Wankambalambala, the sailor, ordered the great sail to
be hoisted and they set their course for Vunda. But they knew not
where Vunda lay, and they beached the vessel at an island, and
landed upon it, wondering at the fertility of the place, and they
said 'Let us stay here awhile (tiko manda la eke) and presently we
will seek the land where Lutu-na-sombasomba is, to tell him that we
cannot find the inscriptions we were sent to seek.' But
Wankambalambala said that they should go first, and afterwards
return to live on the island 'Manda-la-eke.' So they composed a
song telling how they found Manda-la-eke, and since the name was
too long for the rhythm of a song they shortened it to Malake to
suit the rhythm, as they also shortened the name Yasa yawa to
Yasawa. This is the song they made--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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