Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/148



book is the result of a journey to the Fijian Islands undertaken by Miss King for the sake of health and recreation, and makes no claim to being in any sense of the word a scientific account of the regions visited. It contains much, however, that is of interest to anthropologists, such as the description of the meké or war dance, and the preparation and ceremonial drinking of yangona, and an account of the initiation of the warriors obtained from an eye-witness of one of the ceremonies. Miss King's notes on the structure of the native canoes and houses in some of the more remote islands, and of the Fijian method of catching and cooking the shark, and the making of tapa or native cloth, show her to be an efficient and sympathetic observer. She was fortunate in having as a fellow-traveller one who had lived for many years among the Fijians and had a thorough knowledge of their language.

Miss King attributes the lack of initiative and ambition, so characteristic of the natives, to the survival of the Fijian custom of keri-keri, which grants to certain chiefs, as a birth-right, the power to claim and take possession of anything belonging to another person should they feel disposed to do so. Although this is contrary to British rule, it remains an unwritten law of the people, who regard the right as a sacred one, and make no attempt to evade its demands. On the other hand, the persistence of certain superstitious beliefs has assisted the Government's efforts for the maintenance of village hygiene, since the natives bury or destroy all food refuse and other