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
There is a story that Maraia, Savage's half-caste daughter, then a child
of four,[22] remembered her father's last night at Mbau. Lying awake she
saw him open his sea-chest which he always kept locked, and take from it
a string of glittering objects. Startled by her childish exclamation,
for he thought himself alone, he kissed her and said that he was going
away for a long time, and must hide his property in a place of safety.
That night he poled himself over to the mainland, and when she awoke
next morning the canoes had sailed for Mbua, from whence her father
never returned. Probably the string was made of Chilian dollars from the
wreck, which now lie buried somewhere on the mainland opposite Mbau.
After Savage's death Mbau continued to consolidate her power. News of
her success tempted the broken tribes to flee to her for protection, and
settle on the conquered lands. Thus did Namara become borderers
(_mbati_) to Mbau. The story is a curious illustration of Fijian
contempt for human life. Two brothers of Namara had stolen down to the
sea shore for salt, and were seen by the king, Naulivou, then cruising
along the shore in his great canoe. He presented them in sport with a
shark and a sting-ray. Overwhelmed by his condescension, the brothers
began to contend for the honour of giving his dead body in return for
the fish. Their cousin standing by exclaimed, "Is a man's life more
precious than a banana? Let the elder be clubbed." So the elder bowed
his head to the club of the younger brother, who presented the body to
the chief. Grieved at what they had done, Naulivou ordered the body to
be buried, and said, "I wanted no return for the fish. Go, fetch your
wives and children, and settle on this land, and be my _mbati_
(borderers), for I have need of true men."
The navigable canal called Nakelimusu, which shortens the voyage between
Mbau and Rewa by connecting two of the river mouths, and is almost the
only example of native engineering, was constructed in this reign
shortly after the sack of Nakelo in 1810. The Queen of Rewa at that time
was a Mbau princess, and when Nakelo sent her submission to Mbau,
craving leave to rebuild the fortress, one of the conditions imposed was
that the isthmus between the two rivers should be cut at its narrowest
point, where it is about 400 yards wide. The Nakelo men dug a ditch into
which the water could wash at high tide, and the rapid current did the
rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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