2o6 The Triumphs of the Gospel in Fiji, 
sion of the common people, that these terrible sentences 
were never disputed, and rarely appealed against. There 
is, however, a custom which, in later times, was much 
resorted to, in order to avert punishment from culprits. 
This was the offering of soro^ or atonement for the crime, 
accompanied with presents, and was generally repeated 
again and again, until the desired end was gained. 
There were distinctions of rank and grade amongst the 
Fijians; and these were tenaciously preserved, generation 
after generation. The people were divided as follows : — 
kings, chiefs, warriors, common people, and slaves. 
The Fijians are an industrious people, fond of fishing, 
agriculture, and trade, as far as they are acquainted with 
articles of trade. Among the productions of the soil are 
to be found taros, yams, bananas, plantains, sugar-canes, 
tobacco, maize, oranges, pine-apples, bread-fruit, and other 
articles of food. Sweet potatoes of enormous size are 
grown ; well-authenticated instances are recounted, in which 
these potatoes, on being dug up, weighed from half a pound 
to five pounds each. The tare grows to an enormous size, 
from one pound to twelve pounds each. This vegetable is 
really the "staff of life" to the Fijians, for after being 
cooked, it is wholesome and delicious, taking the place of 
bread and pudding. Trees of different kinds supply the 
natives with clothing. They seem to possess much ingenuity 
in manufacturing articles of clothing, and tools^of agricul- 
ture, and weapons of war. The bark of the mala tree 
supplies them with a material from which native cloths of 
different thicknesses and qualities are made. The leaves of 
the cocoa-nut tree, as well as those of other trees, are made 
into mats, baskets, and fans, by the women. These articles 
are astonishingly beautiful, soft, and durable. Sinnet, which 
is made from cocoa-nut fibre and a creeping plant called 
