Cannibal feast. 

 Council of chiefs. 



FEEJEE GROUP- 



Ceremony of ava drinking. 



231 



In it lie presented the dead to his son, and inti- 

 mated that the gods of Feejee should be propi- 

 tiated, that they might have rain, &c. The son 

 then rose and publicly accepted the gift, after 

 which the herald pronounced aloud the names of 

 the chiefs who were to have the bodies. The dif- 

 ferent chiefs take the bodies allotted to them away 

 to their mbures, there to be devoured. 



The chief of Lauthala was given to their prin- 

 cipal god, whose temple is near the missionaries' 

 house. He was cut up and cooked two or three 

 yards from their fence, and Mr. Hunt stood in his 

 yard and saw the operation. He was much struck 

 with the skill and despatch with which these prac- 

 tised cannibals performed their work. While it 

 was going on, the old priest was sitting in the door 

 of his temple giving orders, and anxiously looking 

 for his shai'e. All this, Mr. Hunt said, was done 

 with the most perfect insensibility. He could not 

 perceive the least sign of revenge on the part of 

 those who ate them, and only one body was given 

 to the injured party. Some of those who joined in 

 the feast acknowledged that the people of Lauthala 

 were their relations, and he fully believes that they 

 cooked and ate them, because they were com- 

 manded to do so. The coolness, Mr. Hunt further 

 remarked, with which all this was done, proved to 

 him that there was a total want of feeling and 

 natural affection among them. 



After all the parts but the head had been con- 

 sumed, and the feast was ended, the king's son 

 knocked at the missionaries' door, (which was 

 opened by Mr. Hunt,) and demanded why their 

 windows were closed ? Mr. Hunt told him to keep 

 out the sight as well as the smell of the bodies that 

 were cooking. The savage instantly rejoined, in 

 the presence of the missionaries' wives, that if it 

 happened again, he would knock them on the head 

 and eat them. 



The missionaries were of opinion, that after these 

 feasts, the chiefs become more ferocious, and are 

 often very troublesome. In the present case, they 

 attempted to bring accusations against the mission- 

 aries, that they might have a pretext for plunder- 

 ing them, but the only fault they could find to 

 complain of was, that they did not receive presents. 

 The missionaries' conduct was firm and decided, 

 telling them if they desired the property, they 

 must take it by force. This the natives seemed 

 afraid to do, and after they were fully convinced 

 they could not intimidate them, showed a desire 

 to become friends. The missionaries then took 

 them a present, which they were glad to accept, 

 and gave one in return, as a make-peace, since 

 which time they have lived in peace. 



On the afternoon of the 9th, the Porpoise joined 

 me here, agreeably to appointment. 



On the 10th, I endeavoured to get the chiefs on 

 board the Porpoise to sign the treaty, or regula- 

 tions, which the chiefs of Ambau and Rewa had 

 done. For this purpose I gave them an invitation 

 to come on board; but no inducement could per- 

 suade them to place themselves in our power, for 

 fear of a like detention with Vendovi. Finding 

 that they were determined to persist in their 

 refusal to come on board, I asked that a council of 

 chiefs should be held on shore. To this the king 

 agreed, and issued his orders for the meeting. It 

 took place in his house, which is built much after 

 the fashion of an mbure, though of larger dimensions; 



it had four apertures for doors; the fire-place was 

 in one corner, and part of the house was curtained 

 off with tapa. A large number of junk-bottles 

 were hung from a beam, both for use and to display 

 his wealth, for they are very much valued. The 

 king also possessed a chair, two chests, and several 

 muskets. The former he seemed to take much 

 pleasure in sitting in, having discovered, as he told 

 the interpreter, that they were very comfortable 

 for an old man. We had a full meeting, and I was 

 much struck with the number of fine-looking men 

 who were present. Their complexions were dark, 

 and they resembled one another more than any 

 collection of natives I had before seen in the 

 group. 



The two sons of the king were present. Tui 

 Ilia-ilia, who is the actual king, is held much in 

 awe by the people. The regulations, after a full 

 explanation of their objects, were signed, or rather 

 they made their mark, for the first time, on paper. 

 The old king has always been friendly to the 

 whites, but his son is considered quite unfriendly 

 towards them ; and it is thought, by the mission- 

 aries, that were it not for the old man, and the 

 fear of punishment by a man-of-war, they would 

 not be safe. 



Messrs. Hunt and Lythe acted as interpreters 

 on this occasion, but not until after the one I had 

 chosen was unable to make them understand. This 

 was intentional on my part, for I did not wish the 

 king and natives to think that the missionaries had 

 had any part in the proceeding; and they did not 

 undertake the office until the king and chiefs de- 

 sired their assistance. Besides the signing, we 

 had the clapping of hands and thighs, and the 

 three audible grunts of satisfaction from the audi- 

 ence. The meeting broke up with a distribution 

 of presents, and all, I believe, went away satis- 

 fied. 



The ceremony attending the ava drinking of the 

 king, at Somu-somu, is peculiar. Early in the 

 morning, the first thing heard is the king's herald, 

 or orator, crying out, in front of his house, " Yango- 

 na ei ava," somewhat like a muezzin in Turkey, 

 though not from the housetop. To this the people 

 answer, from all parts of the koro, " mama " (pre- 

 pare ava). The principal men and chiefs immedi- 

 ately assemble together from all quarters, bringing 

 their ava-bowl and ava-root to the mbure, where 

 they seat themselves to talanoa, or to converse on 

 the affairs of the day, while the younger proceed 

 to prepare the ava. Those who prepare the ava 

 are required to have clean and undecayed teeth, 

 and are not allowed to swallow any of the juice, on 

 pain of punishment. As soon as the ava-root is 

 chewed, it is thrown into the ava-bowl, where 

 water is poured on it with great formality. The 

 king's herald, with a peculiar drawling whine, 

 then cries, " Sevu-rui-a-na " (make the offering). 

 After this, a considerable time is spent in straining 

 the ava through cocoa-nut husks ; and when this is 

 done, the herald repeats, with still more ceremony, 

 his command, "Sevu-rui-a-na." When he has 

 chanted it several times, the other chiefs join 

 him, and they all sing, " Mana endina sendina le." 

 A person is then commanded to get up and take 

 the king his ava, after which the singing again goes 

 on. The orator then invokes their principal god, 

 Tava-Sava, and they repeat the names of their 

 departed fi-iends, asking them to watch over and 



