460 AUSTRALASIA. 



Inhabitants of F'iji. 



The Fijians present affinities both with the western Melanesians and eastern 

 Polynesians, and are at least partly of mixed descent, although the majority approach 

 nearest to the former group. They are tall and robust, very brown or coppery, 

 sometimes even almost black, with abundant tresses intermediate between hair and 

 wool. Half-breeds are numerous and are often distinguished by almost European 

 features. Till recently they went nearly naked, wearing only the loin-cloth or 

 skirt of vegetable fibre, smearing the body with oil, and dyeing the hair with red 

 ochre. The women passed bits of stick or bark through the pierced lobe of the 

 ear, and nearly all the men carried a formidable club ; now they wear shirts, 

 blouses, or dressing-gowns, or else drape themselves in blankets, and thus look more 

 and more like needy labourers dressed in the cast-off clothes of their employers. 

 They display great natural intelligence, and according to Williams are remarkable 

 for a logical turn of mind, which enables Europeans to discuss questions with them 

 in a rational way. Their generosity is attested by the language itself, which 

 abounds in terms meaning to give, but has no word to express the acts of borrowing 

 or lending. Compared with their Polynesian neighbours, they are also distin- 

 guished by great reserve. Their meke or dances, always graceful and marked by 

 great decorum, represent little land or sea dramas, sowing, harvesting, fishing, 

 even the struggles between the rising tides and rocks. 



At present all the Fijians are nominal Christians. The first missionaries, who 

 settled at Lekemba in the eastern group of islands so early as 1835, gradually 

 extended their influence, founding other stations in various parts of the archi- 

 pelago and even acquiring a share of authority with the chiefs. For the last fifty 

 years the history of the natives has been a record of endless rivalries and alliances 

 between the missionaries and planters, who are henceforth associated under the 

 protection of the British Government. The dominant religion is that of the 

 Wesleyans, comprising over 100,000 faithful ; some thousands have also become 

 Roman Catholics, while the Anglican Church, enjoying a considerable revenue, 

 yearly increases the number of its adherents. 



At first a great obstacle to the progress of Christianity was a mistake made by 

 the missionaries, who, in the ignorance of their language, adopted as the name of 

 the Deity the word Kalu, which is applied by the people only to the secondary gods, 

 the patrons of the social classes, family groups, and professions. A better term 

 would have been Ndegei, the name of a mysterious being, who under the form of a 

 great serpent hidden in the deep caverns created and still preserves the universe. 



Ancestry worship formerly prevailed ; the forefathers of the race had been 

 raised to the rank of gods, and some, renowned during life, had become potent 

 divinities invoked by the whole nation. As in most Polynesian islands, the exact 

 spot was shown where the dead started on their long journey to the unknown world 

 whence none return, and which lies far away in the region of the setting sun. 

 This Vanua-Levu, or " Land's End," lies at the extreme western headland of 

 Naikobokobo, whither the natives made frequent pilgrimages. They had also 

 powerful priests, who were able to hold commune with the souls of the dead and 



