LIFE HEREAFTER. 399 



pyramids, and that " lali " in Egyptian means ' to re- 

 joice/ and that "lali " in Fijian is the name of a drum- 

 beater when people do rejoice, advance conclusions of 

 a startling description. 



About live miles east of Naicobocobo there is a soli- 

 tary barren hill on the top of which grows a sacred 

 screw-pine, which the soul of a married man must hit 

 with the spirit of the whale's tooth, remember, in 

 Fiji all things have souls! if he wishes to make sure 

 of his wives being strangled to follow him to his future 

 abode. A similar screw-pine stood on the east end of 

 Vanua Levu, and was cut down by Chief Mara (p. 229) ; 

 and I may further add that an identical belief attaches 

 to some on the top of Degei's mountain : so that super- 

 stition seems to have placed these trees very conveniently 

 within the reach of all who desired to avail themselves 

 of their power. 



It is by no means clear where Bulu, the ultimate 

 abode of bliss, is situated, and whether it is, as in the 

 Tonguese mythology, a distant island ; but the fact that 

 it cannot be reached except in a canoe shows that it is 

 separated from this world by water, across which the 

 souls have to be ferried by the Charon of Fiji. Before 

 embarking they have to do battle with Samuyalo, the 

 killer of souls, informed of their approach by the cries 

 of a parroquet ; should they conquer, they are allowed to 

 pass on towards the judgment-seat of Degei, but if they 

 should be wounded or defeated, they have to wander 

 amongst the mountains. Again, if to any questions they 

 should return untrue answers, Samuyalo gives the lie 

 direct and fells them to the ground. Bachelors have a 

 still greater difficulty to encounter, and stand scarcely 



