

FIJIANS DOING A CLUB DANCE 



In this land where wives were buried with their husbands before civilized restraints were 

 imposed, and where cutting off a finger still is a common sign of mourning, these most cruel 

 and barbarous of the South Pacific islanders show a human love for song, dance, and story- 

 telling. Their famous club dance is a martial exercise, with a low comedy motif, and the 

 costumes of the picture are supposed to be extremely clownish. 



oned by modern standards. Homer de- 

 scribed the set-to between Epeus and 

 Euryalus, wherein the latter was carried 

 away, insensible, "his legs hanging pow- 

 erless, his head dropping on his shoulder, 

 and dark blood flowing from his mouth." 

 Even that combat was mild compared 

 "to the fistic encounter of Kreugas of 

 Epidamnus and Damoxene, an historic 

 "heavy-weight slugger" of Syracuse. 

 Kreugas landed a hammerlike left on 



his opponent's pate, but Damoxene coun- 

 tered with a mighty clout of his right to 

 his adversary's stomach. His nails were 

 long and his hand bound with thongs. It 

 is recorded that the Damoxene terror's 

 fist "sunk into the entrails, pulled them 

 forth, and scattered them upon the arena, 

 the poor wretch, of course, dying on the 

 spot." 



When missile-throwing became the 

 technique of warfare the Italian city 



