208 



Ambati, or priests. CUSTOMS OF THE FEEJEE GROUP. Their jugglery and influence. 



merits, and held sacred, are not worshipped as idols. 

 They are only produced on great occasions, such as 

 festivals, &c. 



The ambati, or priests, have great influence over 

 the people, who consult them on all occasions, but 

 are generally found acting in concert with the 

 chiefs, thus forming a union of power which rules 

 the islands. Each chief has his ambati, who at- 

 tends him wherever he goes. The people are 

 grossly superstitious, and there are few of their 

 occupations in which the ambati is not more or less 

 concerned. He is held sacred within his own dis- 

 trict, being considered as the representative of the 

 kalou, or spirit. Mr. Hunt informed me, that the 

 natives seldom separate the idea of the god from 

 that of his priest, who is viewed with almost divine 

 reverence. My own observations, however, led to 

 the conclusion, that it is more especially the case 

 at Somu-somu, where Mr. Hunt resides, and where 

 the natives are more savage, if possible, in their 

 customs, than those of the other islands. If inter- 

 course with white men has produced no other effect, 

 it has lessened their reverence for the priesthood; 

 for wherever they have foreign visitors, there may 

 be seen a marked change in this respect. 



The office of ambati is usually hereditary, but in 

 some cases may be considered as self-chosen. Thus, 

 when a priest dies without male heirs, some one, 

 who is ambitious to succeed him, and desirous of 

 leading an idle life, will strive for the succession. 

 To accomplish this end, he will cunningly assume a 

 mysterious air, speaking incoherently, and pretend- 

 ing that coming events have been foretold him by 

 the kalou, whom he claims to have seen and talked 

 with. If he should have made a prediction in re- 

 lation to a subject in which the people take an 

 anxious interest, and with which the event happens 

 to correspond, the belief that his pretensions are 

 well founded is adopted. Before he is acknow- 

 ledged as ambati, he, however, is made to undergo 

 a further trial, and is required to show publicly 

 that the kalou is entering into him. The proof of 

 this is considered to lie in certain shiverings, 

 which appear to be involuntary, and in the per- 

 formance of which none but an expert juggler 

 could succeed. 



I had an opportunity, while at Levuka, of seeing 

 a performance of this description. Whippy gave 

 me notice of it, having ascertained that the offering 

 which precedes the consultation was in preparation. 

 This offering consisted of a hog, a basket of yams, 

 and a quantity of bananas. In this case the am- 

 bati had received notice that he was to be consulted, 

 and was attached to the person of Seru, (Tanoa's 

 son,) for whose purposes the prophetic intervention 

 was needed. 



On such occasions the chiefs dress in the morn- 

 ing in their gala habits, and proceed with much 

 ceremony to the mbure, where the priest is. On 

 some occasions, previous notice is given him; at 

 other times he has no warning of their coming, 

 until he receives the offering. 



The amount of this offering depends upon the 

 inclination of the party who makes it. The chiefs 

 and people seat themselves promiscuously in a semi- 

 circle, the open side of which is occupied by the 

 person who prepares the ava. This mode of sitting 

 is intended as an act of humiliation on the part of 

 the chiefs, which is considered as acceptable to the 

 gods. 4 When all is prepared, the principal chief, if 



the occasion be a great one, presents a whale's 

 tooth. The priest receives this in his hands, and 

 contemplates it steadily, with downcast eyes, re- 

 maining perfectly quiet for some time. In a few 

 minutes distortions begin to be visible in his face, 

 indicating, as they suppose, that the god is entering 

 into his body. His limbs next show a violent mus- 

 cular action, which increases until his whole frame 

 appears convulsed, and trembles as if under the 

 influence of an ague fit; his eyeballs roll, and are 

 distended; the blood seems rushing with violence 

 to and from his head; tears start from his eyes; 

 his breast heaves; his lips grow livid, and his ut- 

 terance confused. In short, his whole appearance 

 is that of a maniac. Finally, a profuse perspira- 

 tion streams from every pore, by which he is re- 

 lieved, and the symptoms gradually abate; after 

 this, he again sinks into an attitude of quiet, gazing 

 about him from side to side, until suddenly striking 

 the ground with a club, he thus announces that the 

 god has departed from him. Whatever the priest 

 utters while thus excited, is received as a direct re- 

 sponse of the gods to the prayers of those who made 

 the offering. The provisions of which the offering 

 is composed are now shared out, and ava prepared. 

 These are eaten and drunk in silence. The priest 

 partakes of the feast, and always eats voraciously, 

 supplying, as it were, the exhaustion he has pre- 

 viously undergone. It is seldom, however, that his 

 muscles resume at once a quiescent state, and they 

 more usually continue to twitch and tremble for 

 some time afterwards. 



When the candidate for the office of ambati has 

 gone successfully through such a ceremony, and 

 the response he gives as from the god is admitted 

 to be correct, he is considered as qualified to be a 

 priest, and takes possession of the mbure. It is, 

 however, easily to be seen, that it is the chief who 

 in fact makes the appointment. The individual 

 chosen is always on good terms with him, and is 

 but his tool. The purposes of both are accom- 

 plished by a good understanding between them. 

 There can be no doubt that those who exercise the 

 office of ambati, and go through the actions just 

 mentioned, are consummate jugglers ; but they 

 often become so much affected by their own 

 efforts, that the motions of the muscles become in 

 reality involuntary, and they have every appear- 

 ance of being affected by a supernatural agency. 



By the dexterity with which the ambati perform 

 their juggling performances, they acquire great 

 influence over the common people; but, as before 

 remarked, they are merely the instruments of the 

 chiefs. When the latter are abou* going to battle, 

 or engaging in any other important enterprise, they 

 desire the priest to let the spirit enter him forth- 

 with, making him, at the same time, a present. 

 The priest speedily begins to shake and shiver, and 

 ere long communicates the will of the god, which 

 always tallies with the wishes of the chief. It 

 sometimes happens that the priest fails in exciting 

 himself to convulsive action ; but this, among a 

 people so wrapt in superstition, can always be in- 

 geniously accounted for : the most usual mode of 

 excusing the failure, is to say that the kalou is dis- 

 satisfied with the offering. 



The chiefs themselves admitted, and Whippy 

 informed me, that they have little respect for the 

 power of the priests, and use them merely to 

 govern the people. The ambati are generally the 



