A HISTORY OF FIJI 



529 



and lolo, oily, referring to the oily appearance of the water when 

 myriads of the worms burst and cast forth their eggs. 



I suspect this myth to be of recent origin, for it bears a suspiciously 

 close resemblance to the manna story in the Bible. Moreover, the old 

 Fijian mythology asserts that their original ancestors were created in 

 Fiji and did not sail over the ocean to these islands. It is remarkable 

 how quickly a new mj^th may arise among a simple people. Certain 

 floods which occurred within the century have passed into mythology, 

 and one of the mountain tribes has a song of the marvellous manner 

 in which sugar is made at the recently established sugar mill on the 

 Eewa river. A tower of Babel myth has arisen since the conversion to 

 Christianity, and, in Tahiti, a recently originated folk story tells of the 

 creation of the first woman Ivi from a bone of the first man. 



The Fijians are of mixed stock. Their dark brown skin, thick 



WOMEX OF Fiji. The long uncut locks indicate tliat a woman is unmarried. 



