KALOU RERE. 115 
peated until the crew reached Tonga; and on being 
reported to the king, he exclaimed, “ Oh, it is men, 
not women that are tatooed! well, then, I will be ta- 
tooed at once.” The example set was speedily followed ; 
hence the custom, that in Fiji the women, in Tonga the 
men are tatooed; hence also, adds the tradition, the 
name of the Ogea passage, “ Qia na tagane.”* 
Kuruduadua accompanied us on an exploring trip 
down the Navua river, which we found to have several 
deltas, one of which is called Deuba. We passed the 
mouth, and went several miles westward, as far as Vanua- 
dogo point, which is near Qamo peak. Close to one of 
the villages we stopped at there was a miniature temple, 
built of tree-fern wood, and thatched with Makita- 
leaves. Here parties of young men assemble for seve- 
ral weeks in order to practise certain tricks, which, 
when they are perfect in them, are exhibited before a 
numerous audience, but as long as they are practising 
nobody is supposed to go near them. On the day of 
the performance, the actors oil their bodies well and 
dress in white native cloth. The spectators, old and 
young, having formed a ring around them, the actors 
commence by chanting songs and beating time on 
bamboos, until they have worked themselves up to a 
certain pitch of excitement. Now a spinit (alou Rere) 
is supposed to enter them, and they pretend to be in- 
vulnerable to spear, proof against musket ball, and safe 
against the effects of heat or flame. By sleight of 
* Another version of the tradition is given by Williams, ‘Fiji and 
Fijians,’ vol. i. p. 160, where » man, repeating the intelligence, violently 
strikes his foot against the stump of a tree, and in the confusion ensuing 
changes its tenor. 
I 2 
