On
One Occasion A Little Child Of About Two Years Old Yelled With
Fright When I Passed Near It.
I was much astonished that a white
man should make such a stir in any part of Fiji, but it is only so
in very out-of-the-way villages such as these.
I was exceedingly
lucky to witness these ceremonies, as they were the most important
ones that had taken place in Fiji for many years, and few of the
old white residents had seen their equal. I was all the more lucky,
as I never expected to see them when I started from Suva.
The next morning I said "Samoce"[9] (good-bye) to the great "Buli,"
who, though he was a big chief, was not above accepting with evident
glee the few shillings I pressed into his hand, and with Masirewa and
two fresh bearers continued my journey in the pouring rain. Once we
had to swim across a swift and swollen river, then we went over steep
hills, down deep gullies, wading through streams and passing all the
time through thick forests. We stopped once to feed on wild pineapples,
the pink "kavika." and the golden "wi," but Masirewa was a bad bushman
and slipped, and stumbled, swore and grumbled, and many times I had
to wait till he came up with me. We followed a deep and beautiful
gulch for some distance, wading all the way through a shallow stream
which flowed over a natural slanting pavement with a smooth surface,
and I found it hard to keep my footing.
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