MORE ABOUT THE FIJIAN OF TO-DAY. 97 



jackets, and put them through some light infantry drill. In- 

 quiring of one of the chiefs present what he thought of the. 

 performance, the Fijian replied with that irony which is one 

 of their marked characteristics when they care to assume it, 

 ' The men might be very good warriors, but they waddled like 

 ducks.' 



The natives of Fiji are a fine race, of dark olive complexion, 

 good physique, and fairly intelligent cast of countenance. The 

 men perhaps average 5 feet 8 inches in height, while the 

 rokos and some of the hdis exceed this standard. The women 

 have sometimes pretty faces and undeniable figures when 

 young, but their natural grace early disappears ; for being 

 simple Fijians, and ignorant of women's rights, they labour too 

 much for their dusky lords, and the claims of Venus are merged 

 in the demands for fish to fill the husband's larder. In youth 

 both sexes have a superb carriage, and walk with the import- 

 ance of a life-guardsman with his sweetheart. 



No wonder therefore that the rdko was struck with the 

 rolling gait of the American sailors : a slouching Fijian would, 

 I fancy, be soon sent to Coventry by his friends. The military 

 class sometimes affect a ludicrously warlike adornment in the 

 way of red ochre and black patches on the cheeks, reminding 

 one forcibly of the very fierce-looking devils on the Chinese 

 war-standards. But this piece of eccentricity is not so common 

 as formerly. The civilians, in many cases, affect blue cheeks. 



The natives of Fiji are emphatically agriculturists. Not- 

 withstanding that some are called fishing tribes and others 

 carpenter or building, yet even these cultivate more or less 

 extensively. No greater mistake can be made than to suppose 

 that they are not as a people very industrious cultivators of 

 the soil. The idea of a race of lotus-eaters residing ' in summer 

 isles of Eden set in purple spheres of sea,' is certainly not 



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