310 



A NATURALIST OX THE " CHALLENGER." 



SECTION OF FIJIAN LOG DRUM. 



a Log ; b b rests ; cc c resonating holes ; d surface 

 line of the ground. 



and 6 inches in diameter respectively ; over these holes a log 

 of light Hibiscus wood was supported on two cross rests of 

 rolled up palm-leaf mat. placed in the interspaces between the 

 holes. The holes in the earth acted as resonators, and when 



the log was struck with a 

 wooden mallet, a loud sound 

 was produced as from the 

 ordinary Fijian drum or 

 " lali," which consists of a 

 loo- hollowed out like a 

 canoe ; this was a rough 

 substitute. The use of holes 

 in the earth as resonators is remarkable. 



Hearing that there was to be a " meke meke " or native 

 dance at the next village, Bureta, we went on to this place, the 

 path crossing and recrossing continually a stream running here 

 through comparatively flat land, ■ and in places as much as 

 20 yards across. We found numerous visitors in Bureta, many 

 of whom had passed us on the road. All were dressed in their 

 best, with bright new girdles of yellow and scarlet dyed Pan- 

 danus leaves, bodies and hair freshly oiled, ornaments displayed, 

 and faces painted black or red or a mixture of both. 



The various methods of dressing;- the hair are so numerous as 

 to be indescribable. The thickly growing crisp mop of fine close 

 curls is trimmed just as an old-fashioned yew hedge used to be. 

 Sometimes a single thick tuft is left projecting from the back of 

 the head, sometimes a diagonal ridge-like tuft, sometimes one, 

 two, or more small plaited tails only, sometimes a curtain-like 

 fringe shading the neck. 



The hair is constantly dressed with shell or coral lime, both 

 to kill vermin and to change the colour, and also, certainly, 

 as a fashion. Most of the young Mbau chiefs that I saw 

 had their hair always in this condition. These young chiefs 

 cut their hair in front in a straight line across the forehead 

 and square at the temples ; and, in fact, trimmed it so that 

 when whitened with lime it reminded one most forcibly of a 

 barrister's wig. A young Mbau chief was on a visit at Bureta, 

 and besides having his hair whitened, his face was blackened 



