io6 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



the people are corrected. Freedom, to their mind, means free- 

 dom to do nothing at all. The ordinary natives cannot under- 

 stand our working, and they are at a loss to comprehend why 

 we should wish them to work. 



' Having all these fine wongas ' (ships) ' and clothes, and 

 knowing all about engines and glass and the like, what- 

 ever makes you white people come over here, where we 

 have so little to give you?' asked a minor chief of me one 

 day. 



However, my native aristocrat was very particular in getting 

 the highest price for his cocoa-nuts, and relished J.D.K.Z. gin 

 like a Dutchman. The Fijians are honest as a rule, but some 

 of them are not so punctilious about stealing cocoa-nuts as 

 they might be, and I heard of a few cases of shirts and pocket- 

 handkerchiefs being 'borrowed' from back-yards after sun- 

 down. 



The Fijian is curious to a fault He will stay and watch 

 everything you do with astounding patience. Your dinner- 

 table is to him an inexhaustible fund of interest, and he will 

 stare with undiminished attention till every dish is disposed of 

 and ' thanks ' are returned. I remember on one occasion my 

 brother's ' boy ' asking him to whom he was writing, and on 

 being informed, replied, ' Ah ! give him my love,' a request 

 which was complied with. The process of nailing was at one 

 time a source of endless delight to the natives, but the rapid 

 increase of ship and boatbuilding in the group has rather 

 interfered with the pleasure of the business, as far as they are 

 concerned. 



In many cases very affectionate relations exist between the 

 papalagis, or white men, and the Fijians, and some touching 

 stories have been told of their self-devotion. A poor friend of 

 mine was endeavouring to shorten the sail of his cutter, when 



