A COLLECTION FROM THE SOUTH SEAS 117 



THE FIJIAN COLLECTION. 



THE Museum has recently secured, as a gift from Mrs. Morris K. 

 Jesup, a valuable collection from the South Seas. This acces- 

 sion, containing more than two thousand specimens, comes 

 largely from the Fiji Islands and amply represents most features of the 

 culture of the native inhabitants. 



The Fijians, while resembhng the Melanesians in physique, speak 

 a language related to that of the Polynesians; also they share many 

 cultural traits with the Polynesian inhabitants of Tonga and Samoa, 

 with whom they have been in intimate contact for a long period. For 

 instance, like their eastern neighbors, the Fijians drink kava, a stupe- 

 fying beverage prepared from the roots of the plant Piper methysticum; 

 and the new collection contains an imposing array of the bowls used 

 in the process of kava making. Both preparation and drinking are 

 accompanied by a great deal of ceremony. Young men, in public 

 assembly, chew portions of the roots, then deposit them in the bowl, 

 which is afterwards filled with water. Next a special official is entrusted 

 with the task of straining the liquid, while hundreds of spectators watch 

 his movements, imitate his postures and join in a choral chant. Wlien 

 the kava is ready for use, a prayer is recited by a herald, and the king, 

 after pouring out a libation, drinks from a cup made from the half of 

 a cocoanut. To be served after the sovereign is a great honor usually 

 awarded for some distinguished personal service. A curious custom 

 connected with the kava ceremony is the voicing of a toast after each 

 draught. The drinker may express a wish for favorable winds, for 

 plenty of fish or an abundant crop, or may set forth some other hope 

 depending on his profession. Frequendy, this ceremony is followed by 

 a feast of yams, taro, figs and nuts. 



One of the most notable achievements of the South Sea aborigines 

 is the ornamentation of their tapa or native cloth, and here again the 

 collection furnishes interesting evidence of both material and method. 

 Tapa is manufactured from the inner bark of the paper mulberry, 

 strips of which are beaten with a mallet and joined together with arrow- 

 root paste to make the necessary size. Pattern-boards or stencils are 

 constructed from large palm leaves, the designs consisting of coarse 

 fibers or twigs sewed on to the leaf foundation. The cloth is placed 

 over the stencil and rubbed with a dye until the pattern of the orna- 



