Whenever he took a drink, a clapping of hands made me
aware of the fact.
One day, when they had chanted after a meal as usual, Ratu Lala turned
around to me and mimicked the way his jester or clown repeated it,
and there was a general laugh. This jester, whose name was Stivani,
was a little old man who was also jester to Ratu Lala's father. Ratu
Lala had given him the nickname of "Punch," and made him do all
sorts of ridiculous things - sing and dance and go through various
contortions dressed up in bunches of "croton" leaves. He kept us all
much amused, and was the life and soul of our party, but at times I
caught the old fellow looking very weary and sad, as if he was tired
of his office as jester.
The "angona" root (PIPER METHYSTICUM) is first generally pounded,
but is sometimes grated, and more rarely chewed by young maidens. It
is then mixed with water in a large wooden bowl, and the remains of
the root drawn out with a bunch of fibrous material. It is then ready
for drinking.
On gala and festal occasions the Fijians were wonderfully and
fantastically dressed up, their huge heads of hair thickly covered
with a red or yellow powder, and they themselves wearing large skirts
or "sulus" of coloured "tapa" and PANDANUS ribbons and necklaces of
coloured seeds, shells, and pigs'-tusks. In out-of-the-way parts the
"sulus" are still made of "tapa" cloth, and the women sometimes wear
small fibrous aprons. They also often wear wild pigs'-tusks round
their necks.
I noticed that many Fijian women were tattooed on the hands and arms,
and at each corner of the mouth (a deep blue colour). Both men and
women gave themselves severe wounds about the body, generally as a sign
of grief on the death of some near relative. I once noticed a young
girl of sixteen or seventeen with a very bad unhealed wound below
one of her breasts, which was self-inflicted. Her father, a chief,
had died only a short time previously. They often also cut off the
little finger for similar reasons. Like the Samoans, the Fijians often
cover their hair with white lime, and the effect of the sun bleaches
the hair and changes it from black to a light gold or brown colour.
A marriageable young lady in Fiji would generally have a great
quantity of long braided ringlets hanging down on ONE side of her
head. This looked odd, considering that the rest of her hair was
erect or frizzly. It was a great insult to have these ringlets cut. I
heard of it once being done by a white planter, and great trouble
and fighting were the result.
I accompanied Ratu Lala on several expeditions to various parts
of the island, and we also visited several smaller islands within
his dominions.
