THE FIJIAN OF TO-DAY. 93 



astonishing soundness. Their hair is always kept with great 

 cleanliness and care, and they prevent it in this way from 

 touching the ground. 



At Suva, in Viti Levu, the house of a chieftainess is a 

 gem in its way. Outside, the bamboos of which, like all 

 other native houses, it is constructed are arranged in lozenge- 

 shaped patterns ; the thatched roof is nicely trimmed along 

 the eaves ; the inside walls are tapestried with native cloth ; 

 the beams and doorposts polished and ornamented with 

 variously coloured sennit, or cocoa-fibre rope, and the floor is 

 laid with fine white matting. The bed is raised about a foot 

 from the floor, and enclosed by a mosquito curtain. 



The people live a settled life, in towns of good and 

 comfortable houses ; they respect and follow agriculture ; 

 their social and political organisation is complex ; they amass 

 property, and have laws for its descent ; their land-tenures 

 are elaborate ; they read, they write, and cipher. Women 

 are usually respected, and are exempt from agricultural 

 labour. There is a school in almost every village, and to the 

 classical Fijian of Bau is added the English tongue. Some 

 of their chiefs possess accounts at the bank, conduct correspon- 

 dence, and generally exhibit capacities for a higher grade of 

 civilisation. The Fijians, as I have said, all profess an at 

 least nominal allegiance to Christianity; and that it has 

 largely influenced the life and character of great masses of the 

 population, the most sceptical cannot, I think, deny. 



The political unit is the village. In every one of these is 

 found a local chief, practically hereditary, but nominally 

 appointed by the district council. He is assisted by a council 

 of elders and certain executive officers, a magistrate, frequently 

 the chief's brother, one or more constables to carry out his 

 decisions, a town-crier (an hereditary and important officer), 



