AMONG THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS. 233 



great bird, but it was empty, and tliey found only one little finger 

 of the hapless Tutu Wathi Wathi. The angry gods now swore to 

 avenge her death, when presently they saw the monster approach- 

 ing, his great wings darkening the sea like the shadow of a storm 

 cloud. In his beak he carried five large turtles and in his talons 

 ten porpoises. These he deposited upon the rocks and proceeded 

 to devour, while Okovo prayed the other gods to help him by 

 sending a storm of wind. The prayer was answered, and a sudden 

 gust ruffled the feathers of the monster, so that Rokoua was able 

 to force a spear through an unprotected spot into his vitals. Hav- 

 ing thus accomplished their just revenge, they took one of the 

 smallest feathers for a new sail, and then cast the dead body into the 

 sea, causing such a surge as to " flood the foundations of the sky.^' 



It is to be regretted that these legends have not been more 

 carefully collected by the earlier settlers in Fiji. Even the few of 

 them which have been preserved exhibit a truly interesting na- 

 tional character. But this national character has been lost since 

 the advent of the European. The Fijian of to-day does not like 

 to be reminded in any way of the old days when cannibalism was 

 in vogue. He is exceedingly sensitive to the sneer of the white 

 man. While the race has been partially rescued from barbarism, 

 it has lost its old vigor and spirit. The native population has of 

 late years been decreasing at an alarming rate. An epidemic of 

 measles, heedlessly introduced in 1875, carried off fifty thoueand 

 souls, about one third of the whole population of the islands. 

 Fiji is but the vestige of a former continent, which has gone down 

 beneath the steadily encroaching sea. The Fijians are fast be- 

 coming, before the resistless encroachments of the European, only 

 the vestige of a former race. 



We have here now a well-ordered British colony. Sugar, cot- 

 ton, wool, tobacco, bananas, cocoanuts, and other agricultural 

 products are exported in great quantities. The extensive planta- 

 tions are worked largely by laborers introduced from India and 

 the neighboring Pacific islands. But as a colony Fiji does not 

 prosper. Better times are looked for when the Nicaragua Canal 

 shall have become a reality, as these islands lie upon the great 

 commercial route which will then be established between Eng- 

 land and Australia. 



Enuivierating the applications that have been or may be made of 

 zoology to the arts and industries, Dr. William A. Hardman showed, ia the 

 British Association, that biological principles dominate medicine and sur- 

 gery ; bacteriology and brewing depend on the study of microscopic organ- 

 isms; economic entomology is of value in agriculture; and zoology has a 

 practical application to the fishing industry. 



