The Night of Heatlienism, 233 
and dales. Yet, while believing in a future state, they had 
no idea of future rewards and punishments. The future 
life was deemed to be much the same as at present, full of 
eating, drinking, and fighting. Their heaven was supposed 
to lie somewhere among the lonely hills, and the path to 
it, through the sea. Bachelors were considered ineligible 
for admission into the Fijian heaven ; for the offence of 
remaining unmarried, they were dashed into pieces after 
death, by the spirit who presided over the entrance to that 
world. They firmly believed that all disembodied spirits 
likewise had to undergo an examination by a god known 
as the " Killer of souls," who killed the soul if unable to 
answer his questions satisfactorily, or passed it on to a 
higher tribunal, provided it came out of the ordeal well. 
The Fijian heaven was, according to this belief, a place 
where people lived in families, enjoying greater happiness 
of the kinds most desired by a native, and where punish- 
ments were awarded to all those women who had neglected 
being tattooed, to those men who had not slain or eaten 
an enemy, or had not had their ears bored for ornaments. 
The belief in witchcraft exercised an extraordinary power 
over the minds of the people. Crime was often detected 
by its means, and all manner of extortion carried out. 
Many people were destroyed by means of wizards ; for so 
implicit was the belief in their power, that many persons, on 
being informed of the fact that they were under the ban, 
were actually known to lie down under their mats and die 
through fear. Spells were laid upon individuals by means 
of preparations of powder, food, and leaves ; and people 
who could afford it, often used heavy bribes with the pro- 
fessors of this art, to ensure the destruction of such people 
as they disliked, or wanted to be put out of their way. 
Among the traditions of the Fijians, were some that 
