350 SUPERSTITIONS. [1840. 



colored than the Tongese, or the whites, because they have 

 behaved so badly. They have likewise a tradition of a great 

 deluge happening many years ago, which destroyed all the 

 persons on the island except eight. Mbures, or spirit-houses, 

 are the temples in which they deposit their offerings to their 

 gods. These are held very sacred, and women are not allowed 

 to enter them. Their priests, called ambati, constitute a 

 separate and distinct class, and possess great influence over 

 the lower orders of the population. Human sacrifices to their 

 deities are quite common. They have also a great festival, 

 or harvest moon, to celebrate the ingathering of their fruits. 



After death, the natives of this group believe their spirits 

 go immediately to Ndengei, by whom they are judged ; some 

 of them are allotted to the devils, who roast and eat them, 

 and others are sent to an island, variously located by the dif- 

 ferent tribes, where they remain for a certain period, and are 

 then annihilated. There are, of course, various shades of 

 belief, and modifications of their superstitions, prevailing in 

 the group ; for instance, there are some who think the spirit 

 is purified by Ndengei, after which it returns to hover about 

 its former place of abode. The idea of a second death, how- 

 ever, in some form or other, is common throughout the islands. 



(8.) The houses of the Feejeeans are of an oblong form, 

 except in the Eastern Group, where they are oval. They are 

 from twenty to twenty-five feet long, and usually about fif- 

 teen feet wide. The harems of the chiefs, however, are often 

 huge barn-like structures, from one to two hundred feet long. 

 They consist of a frame-work of cocoa-nut posts and sills, 

 with rafters ascending to a ridge pole as in American houses. 

 The roofs have a steep pitch, and are thatched with wild 

 cane. The ridge pole projects several feet at. either end, and 

 is often fancifully adorned with the cypraa ov/i/a, or other 

 beautiful shells. The sides are filled in with reeds and cane 

 woven neatly together. All the lashings are, of sennit, and 

 considerable pains are often taken in ornamenting the fronts 

 of the houses with prettily braided lattice work of the same 

 material, or of willow or cane. On the island of Vanua-levui, 



