480 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



were digging - sticks and hoes made of turtle-bone or 

 Hat oyster-shells, now replaced by iron. They are skilful 

 in basket, mat, and net making. 



The rijians are cleanly in their habits, and very par- 

 ticular about their personal appearance. They do not 

 load themselves with ornaments, like the more savage 

 Melanesian tribes, and the women only are tattooed. 

 Although so scantily dressed, they are essentially as 

 modest as the most civilised nations, and any public 

 indecency would be severely punished. They have 

 learned many arts from their intercourse with the 

 Samoans and Tongans, but it is the opinion of some 

 that in intelligence they are superior to these people. 



6. Religion and Education. 



Until the advent of Europeans, the religion of the 

 people consisted in a sort of ancestor -worship. They 

 had priests and temples, a complex mythology, and a firm 

 belief in a future state. The priests were possessed of 

 great power, being much consulted as soothsayers. Cir- 

 cumcision was practised. The temples were of rather 

 elal)orate construction, their roofs in the form of a high 

 truncated pyramid surmounted by a large beam with 

 carved and pendent finials ; they were surrounded by a 

 walled enclosure, and sometimes built on stone terraces. 

 Human sacrifices were offered. Now the Fijian reads 

 handbooks of theology and the Pilgrims Progress, as well 

 as his Bible, and there is not a single professed heathen 

 in the group. 



This great change was mainly effected by the Wes- 

 leyan missionaries, who commenced work in Lakeba in 

 the eastern part of the archipelago in 1835. The 

 successes of the Tonuians in their invasions of the islands 



