The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristicsWood, J. G. (John George)
History
The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Anthropology; Ethnology; Manners and customs
The Fijian child receives no training, unless encouragement of every
bad passion may be called by that name. Revenge is impressed upon the
child’s mind from its earliest infancy, and most horrible are the means
which are sometimes employed for this purpose. In riper years the
duty of revenge is kept always before his eyes. Should one man insult
another, the offended individual keeps himself constantly reminded of
the offence by placing some object in his sight, and not removing it
until he has avenged himself.
Sometimes he will effect the same purpose by depriving himself of some
luxury until he has had his revenge. One man, for example, will plait
his hair in a particular manner, another will hang some article of
dress in his house, while another will refuse to dance, or to eat of
some particular kind of food. One chief, for example, hung a roll of
tobacco on the roof of his house, with the intention of refusing to
smoke until he had killed his enemy and could smoke that tobacco over
the dead body. Another refrained from speaking, and would only answer
by whistling.
The knowledge of this custom makes the Fijians a most nervous race.
Should a strange canoe appear off the coast, the inhabitants of the
villages are all in a stir, some escaping to the woods, and others
concealing their food and other valuables in secret storehouses. They
do not like to walk alone in the evening. Mr. Williams mentions that
he has seen a whole company disperse at the lifting of a telescope,
and, more than once, when he was visited by natives and the door
suddenly slammed with the wind, the whole of his visitors rushed
tumultuously out of the windows. On one occasion, a number of men were
dragging a large canoe into the sea, when one of them espied a slight
crack on one side. He whispered his discovery to the man next him, he
to the next, and so on, and in a few minutes every man had run away
from the boat, fearing lest the owner should charge him with having
done the damage.
The amusements of the Fijians are rather more varied than is usually
the case among savages. Some of them are identical with many of our
own children’s games, such as “hide and seek,” “blind man’s buff,” and
a sort of “hop, skip, and jump.” A sort of “pitch and toss,” is also
in vogue, the substitute for pence being the flat, circular fruit of a
species of mimosa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account