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
If the Fijian canoe is so carelessly handled as to bring the outrigger
to leeward she immediately capsizes, for the pressure of the wind
drives the outrigger under water. In order to keep the outrigger to
windward when tacking it is therefore necessary to make what was
formerly the bow become the stern, the sail must be turned inside out,
and the mast, yards and steer-oar must all be changed over. This
complicated manoeuvre is accomplished with extraordinary skill.
Instead of luffing up into the wind as in a cutter the steersman keeps
away until the wind is abeam, the sheetman slacking the sheet
simultaneously until the sail is flapping. Two or three men then run out
to the prow, seize the foot of the yards and carry them bodily
amidships. During this operation they have to bear the weight of the
mast, which is sloping forward at an angle of 45 degrees, and to relieve
them of some of this extra weight a man is hauling on the running stay,
which runs through a block astern. As they pass the mast with their
burden the lower yard is let go, the sheet is passed round their legs,
and the sail turns inside out. They tramp forward, and the mast again
begins to incline, throwing its weight upon them. A man now seizes the
other stay, and in obedience to their loud cries of "_Tuku!_" begins
cautiously to pay it out. If he is too quick the weight of the mast
precipitates the men and the sail into the water; if he is too slow he
holds them back. At last the foot of the yards is planted with a thud
into its nest in the carving and lashed secure, but before the sheet can
be hauled in the heavy steer-oar, which takes two men to lift, has to be
dragged inboard and carried aft. All this time the hull is heaving in
the trough of the sea, and the mat sail is thrashing itself to pieces.
Sometimes the yard-carriers slip on the wet deck, and tumble overboard,
sail and all, in inextricable ruin, but if all goes well the canoe is
gathering way on the new tack in less than sixty seconds, and though to
the spectator on board the moment is full of excitement and risk, to
those watching it on shore it is the most precise and beautiful
manoeuvre known to seamanship.
[Pageheader: NEW MODELS OF SCULLING]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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