The instances of oppressive _lala_ nearly all came from one province--that of Thakaundrove--governed by a young chief who, having been educated in Sydney, wished to live in European style beyond his means. For abuse of the _lala_, especially in levying goods for sale to Europeans, he was punished more than once by the government. The people who complained against him were those over whom the hereditary right to _lala_ did not exist, and not those who were the natural tenants of his estates. It is a significant fact that although the people have largely lost their fear of lodging complaints against their chiefs, most of the complaints that are made allege wrongful division of money or land, while very few indeed are based upon abuse of the _lala_. The commission appointed in 1893 to inquire into the causes of the decrease of the natives went very fully into these charges, and reported that throughout the largest portion of the group, no real discontent existed, and that in those provinces where the chief had influence enough to abuse the _lala_, the reported discontent was rather in the nature of grumbling at the inexorable regularity of the call for tax and communal work than at the chief's _lala_, for punctual recurrence is peculiarly abhorrent to the desultory mind of the Fijian. These murmurs, which are not thought worthy of being formulated in complaints, naturally reach the ears of the resident Europeans, to whom they are given as excuses for broken promises, and for disinclination to work. The fact is that _lala_ by a hereditary chief, unless pushed to great excess, is not considered a hardship by a Fijian. And seeing how lately the chiefs enjoyed absolute power, and how the temptations laid in their way by the introduction of money have increased, it is surprising how little they have abused their power. It is unreasonable to expect from them an entire freedom from errors which are not unknown in our own civilized society, where the rich take advantage of the poor, the strong of the weak, the shrewd of the simple. [Pageheader: SPOLIATION SANCTIONED BY CUSTOM]