282 FIJI ISLANDS, 



The whole site of the village has been levelled and raised. 

 Nearly all the houses rest upon raised platforms of earth, a foot 

 or six inches in height ; the chief's house being especially 

 elevated. Around all the houses were immense heaps of the 

 shells of the fresh-water mussel ( Unio), which is very common 

 in the river. The site of an old village on Mr. Storck's estate 

 was made up of beds of these mussel shells. We saw at 

 Navusa canoe-building going on. For an adze, a broad chisel 

 was used, fixed into what had been the handle of an old stone 

 adze, just as the Admiralty Islanders fix blades of iron tub hoop 

 into the old handles of their shell adzes. A chisel of hard wood 

 was used for caulking, shaped just like our own caulking irons. 

 Near Nadawa, on the road to Nakello, is the village of Tonga- 

 drava, which has also been strongly fortified. It is of an oval 

 form, with two deep broad ditches encircling it, a zone of flat 

 ground intervening between these. Narrow cross banks on 

 opposite sides of the village lead across the ditches. Formerly 

 all Fijian towns were fortified. Those in the Rewa district 

 appear to have been remarkable for their strength,* especially 

 a town called Tokotoko, where there was a perfect labyrinth of 

 moats and ditches. 



The people of Nakello, a large village about two miles from 

 Nadawa, according to Jackson's Narrative, were peculiar amongst 



the Fijians for not eating human 

 flesh ; it being forbidden " tam- 

 bu " with them. In the centre 

 of Nakello are the tombs of two 

 chiefs. They consist of two large 



SIXTION OF TUMULUS AT NAKELLO. , 1 • r ^1 J- " • 



tumuli of earth, adjommg one 



I Lower circle of stones ; 2 upper .1 1 • 1 j ^.u ^i 



circle ; 3 Tree-fern stems another, onc bcmg oldcr than the 



other. The older tumulus is oval 

 in form, about 20 yards in diameter at the base, with sloping 

 sides, and about 10 feet in height. At the top is a flat circular 

 space, which is enclosed by a wall formed of slabs of coral and 

 coral rock, set on edge ; none of the slabs being very large. 

 Another line of slabs surrounds the mound about halfway up, 

 and here there is a sort of step on the side of the mound. 

 Within the upper circle of stones are some slabs of Tree-fern 

 stem set on end like the stones. The more recent mound has 

 no circles of stones, and is oblong in form. 



Our object in visiting Nakello was to be present at a grand 

 dancing performance, which happens in each district only 

 once a year, and we were lucky enough to arrive just at the 

 right time to see it. The dance takes place on the occasion of 

 the collection of the contributions made to the Wesleyan Mis- 



* Capt. Erskine's " Islands of Western Pacific," App. A, p. 459. 



