Fulton. — On the Fiji Fire-walking Ceremony. 193 



which was particularly noticed by Dr. Smith and myself 

 independently of one another, and then remarked upon, and 

 confirmed by several trials with the hands on feet and legs. 



It is a well-known fact that one can, with cold feet, bear 

 for a long time — up to a minute in some instances — heat 

 from a fire which for five seconds at ordinary foot-tempera- 

 ture would be insupportable. Provided that the heat is not 

 enough to scorch the skin, there is every reason why in 

 such a ceremony as the vilavilairevo a cold foot should 

 have a great advantage over a foot at ordinary body-tem- 

 perature. Cold seems to me the most likely adjuvant to the 

 slow-conducting and slow-radiating nature of the stone, which 

 is the main factor in this "jugglery." Of any local applica- 

 tion like cocaine or alum there is no evidence whatever, and 

 from Dr. Hocken's observations such seems impossible. 



Next, as to the stones which are heated and walked upo?i 

 when hot. They appear to be of a dense black basalt, many 

 of them round in shape, and before heating have somewhat of 

 the look of Moeraki boulders. During the heating process 

 they explode, probably from water expansion, and small 

 fragments fly about. " All rocks that have once been in a 

 fluid or semi - pasty condition contain water within their 

 component crystals. This is not water that has been sub- 

 sequently introduced, but is contained in minute cells. In 

 the solid crystals of lava, which were erupted recently or 

 in early geological periods, the presence of water in minute 

 cavities may be readily detected. It is a fact that all rocks 

 contain ' interstitial ' water, which is not combined with 

 their mineral constituents, but merely retained in their 

 pores "(m). 



We were cold that the natives would not allow us to 

 "get a hold" of the real stone at all, but would "palm 

 off "on us another sort altogether. This statement was in- 

 correct. We were allowed to take any or as many of the 

 stones as we liked, and there was no attempt on the part 

 of the "walkers" or the "supernumeraries" to prevent our 

 making the most minute investigation into all points likely 

 to throw light on the subject. There did not seem to be 

 any of the stones lying about ; in fact, I made careful 

 search for the same kind of stone on the shore and beach 

 at Mbenga (Bega), and, finding none, concluded that they 

 had been brought from inland, probably from near some 

 extinct volcanic crater. This seems likely, as many ob- 

 servers consider the stone of the nature of basalt, some term 

 it "volcanic," some "hard conglomerate." Not being able to 

 give any opinion on this point myself, I submitted a small 

 fragment I had to Dr. Marshall, of the Otago School of 

 Mines, and received the following report : — 

 13 



