Taliooed persons. 

 Funeral rites. 



CUSTOMS OF THE FEEJEE GROUP. 



Cannibalism. 



213 



wrapped together in folds of native cloth ; the 

 grave is then filled in, and the sacred earth is laid 

 on, and a stone over it. All the men who have 

 had any thing to do with the dead body take off 

 their maro or masi, and rub themselves all over 

 with the leaves of a plant they call koaikoaia. 

 A friend of the parties takes new tapa, and clothes 

 them, for they are not allowed to touch any thing, 

 being tabooed persons. At the end of ten days, 

 the head chief of the tribe provides a great feast 

 (mburua), at which time the tabooed men again 

 scrub themselves, and are newly dressed. After 

 the feast, ava is prepared and set before the priest, 

 who goes through many incantations, shiverings, 

 and shakings, and prays for long life and abun- 

 dance of children. The soul of the deceased is 

 now enabled to quit the body and go to its destina- 

 tion. During these ten days, all the women in the 

 town provide themselves with long whips, knotted 

 with shells; these they use upon the men, inflicting 

 bloody wounds, which the men retort by flirting 

 from a piece of split bamboo little hard balls of 

 clay. 



When the tabooed person becomes tired of re- 

 maining so restricted, they send to the head chief, 

 and inform him, and he replies that he will remove 

 the taboo whenever they please; they then send 

 him presents of pigs and other provisions, which 

 he shares among the people. The tabooed persons 

 then go into a stream and wash themselves, which 

 act they call vuluvulu; they then catch some 

 animal, a pig or turtle, on which they wipe their 

 hands: it then becomes sacred to the chief. The 

 taboo is now removed, and the men are free to 

 work, feed themselves, and live with their wives. 

 The taboo usually lasts from two to ten months in 

 the case of chiefs, according to their rank; in the 

 case of a petty chief, the taboo would not exceed a 

 month, and for a common person, not more than 

 four days. It is generally resorted to by the lazy 

 and idle; for during this time they are not only 

 provided with food, but are actually fed by attend- 

 ants, or eat their food from the ground. On the 

 death of a chief, a taboo is laid upon the cocoa- 

 nuts, pigs, &c., of a whole district. 



Taking off a taboo is attended with certain 

 ceremonies. It can be done by none but a chief 

 of high rank. Presents are brought to the priest, 

 and a piece of ava, which is brewed and drunk; he 

 then makes a prayer (sevu-sevu), and the cere- 

 mony is finished. ' 



In laying a taboo, a stone about two. feet in 

 length is set up before the mbure, and painted red ; 

 ava is chewed; after which the priest makes a 

 prayer, and invokes maledictions on the heads of 

 those who shall break it. Trees that are tabooed 

 have bands of cocoa-nut or pandanus-leaves tied 

 around them, and a stick is set in a heap of earth 

 near by. We had an instance of this at the time 

 of our arrival, when we found all the cocoa-nuts 

 tabooed. We in consequence could obtain none, 

 until I spoke to the chiefs of Ambau, who re- 

 moved the taboo. 



To the funeral ceremonies we have described, 

 others are added, in some parts of the group, and 

 there are differences in some of the details of the 

 rites. Thus, at Muthuata, the body of a chief is 

 usually taken to the royal mbure, on the island of 

 that name, to be interred. The corpse, instead of 

 being dressed in the habiliments of life, is wrapped 



in white mats, and borne on a wide plank. On its 

 arrival at the mbure, it is received by the priest, 

 who pronounces an eulogium on his character, 

 after which the young men form themselves into 

 two ranks, between which, and around the corpse, 

 the rest of the people pass several times. 



All the boys who have arrived at a suitable age 

 are now circumcised, and many boys suffer the 

 loss of their little fingers. The foreskins and 

 fingers are placed in the grave of the chief. When 

 this part of the ceremony is over, young bread- 

 fruit trees are presented by the relatives of the 

 chief to the boys, whose connexions are bound to 

 cultivate them until the boys are able to do it 

 themselves*. 



The strangulation of the chief's wives follows; 

 and this is succeeded by a farther eulogium of the 

 deceased, and a lament for the loss his people have 

 sustained. The whole is concluded by a great 

 feast of hogs, taro, yams, and bananas. 



The funerals of persons of lower rank are of 

 course far less ceremonious. The body is wrapped 

 in tapa or mats, and sometimes sprinkled with 

 turmeric, and is buried in a sitting posture, just 

 below the surface of the gi-ound. Even in this 

 class the wife generally insists on being strangled. 

 Instances are now, however, beginning to occur, in 

 which this custom is not persisted in, a circum- 

 stance which seems to show that the dawn of 

 civilization is breaking upon them. 



On the day of the death, a feast called mburua 

 is always provided; another four days after, called 

 boniva; and a third at the end of ten days, which 

 is called boniviti. 



The usual outward sign of mourning is to crop 

 the hair or beard, or very rarely both. Indeed, 

 they are too vain of these appendages to part with 

 them on trifling occasions; and as the hair, if cut 

 off, takes a long time to grow again, they use a wig 

 as a substitute. Some of these wigs are beauti- 

 fully made, and even more exact imitations of 

 nature than those of our best perruquiers. 



Another mark of sorrow is to cut off the joints 

 of the small toe and little finger; and this is not 

 done only as a mark of grief or a token of affec- 

 tion, but the dismembered joints are frequently 

 sent to families which are considered wealthy, and 

 who are able to reward this token of sympathy in 

 their loss, which they never fail to do. 



Women in mourning burn their skin into blis- 

 ters, as is the practice also in other groups visited 

 by us. The instrument used for the purpose is a 

 piece of tapa twisted into a small roll and ignited. 

 Marks thus produced may be seen on their arms, 

 shoulders, neck, and breast. This custom is called 

 loloe mate. 



The eating of human flesh is not confined to 

 cases of sacrifice for religious purposes, but is 

 practised from habit and taste. The existence of 

 cannibalism, independent of superstitious notions, 

 has been doubted by many. There can be no 

 question that, although it may have originated as 

 a sacred rite, it is continued in the Feejee Group 

 for the mere pleasure of eating human flesh as a 

 food. Their fondness for it will be understood 

 from the custom they have of sending portions of 



This custom has an important influence in keeping up 

 a stock of this important source of food, and may have 

 originated with that view. 



