Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/119

 FEEJEE ISLANDS 1U tesque forms, sometimes attaining a diameter of 5 ft. The chief's barber is held in high re- spect, and his hands are not allowed to touch food. The hair is colored sometimes with two or more* dyes. They are fond of music, and have invented the nose flute, the conch shell, the pandean pipes, a jewsharp made of a strip of bamboo, and several sorts of drums. The singing is invariably in a major key. The mu- sicians perform on one note, the base alternating with the air ; they then sound one of the com- mon chords in the base cleff without the alter- nation. The natives love to dance and are fond of poetry. Their verses occasionally rhyme, but seldom preserve a uniform measure. In chanting the chorus is repeated at the end of each line. Girls are betrothed at a very early age, and often to old men. Brothers and sis- ters, first cousins, fathers and sons-in-law, A Feejeean. mothers and daughters-in-law are forbidden to speak to each other or to eat from the same dish. The latter prohibition extends to hus- bands and wives. The common people usually take two meals a day, the chief three or more. As they abhor drinking after each other from the same cup, they hold the vessel about ten inches above the mouth, and pour the stream down the throat. They eat with their fingers. Rheumatism is common ; they relieve the pa- tient by making deep incisions over the part affected. The law of descent is curious. The successor of a chief is his next brother, failing whom, his own eldest son or the eldest son of his eldest brother fills his place ; but the rank of the mother often causes an infraction of this rule. The person of a pagan high chief is taboo or sacred. In some cases they claim a divine origin. Everything becomes consecrated which the supreme chief touches. He works some- times at agricultural labor or plaits sinnet. He has always several attendants about his person, who feed him and perform the most servile offices. He has no throne, but squats on the ground like his subjects. A peculiar language is used when speaking of the chief. All his actions and the members of his body are hyperbolized. Respect is indicated by the utterance of a peculiar shout or chant called tama ; this is uttered by inferiors on approach- ing a chief or chief town. It is necessary to crouch when a chief passes by. Standing in the presence of the chief is not allowed, and all who move about the house in which he is creep, or, if on their feet, advance bent, as in act of obeisance. No one may cross a chief behind his back ; the inferior must pass in front of the superior, and when at sea must not pass the canoe of a chief on the outrigger side. If a chief stumbles or falls, his subjects must do the same. The best produce of the gardens, the best animals, and the best fish are present- ed, to the chiefs. Pay day of taxes is regarded as a high festival. Whale's teeth, women, and canoes are prominent articles of tribute. The criminality of an act is in inverse proportion to the rank of the offender. Murder by 'a chief is less heinous than petty larceny by a man of low rank. The most serious offences are theft, adultery, abduction, witchcraft, infringement of a taboo, disrespect to a chief, incendiarism, and treason. Theft is punished by a fine, re- payment in kind, loss of a finger, or clubbing. The contumacious are punished by a fine, or loss of a finger, ear, or nose. The other crimes are punished by death, the instrument being the club, noose, or musket. Adultery is the crime most severely visited. The adulterer may be put to death, or he may be compelled to give up his own wife to the aggrieved man, or his property may be destroyed or taken away from him. The principle of vicarious atonement is acknowledged. A man sentenced to death will often surrender his father to suffer in his stead. There is also a species of pecuniary atonement called soro, of which there are five varieties; the soro with a whale's tooth, a mat, club, musket, or other valuable, is the most common. Society is divided into six recognized classes : 1, kings and queens; 2, chiefs of large districts or isl- ands ; 3, chiefs of towns, priests, and ambassa- dors; 4, distinguished warriors of low birth, chiefs of the carpenters, and chiefs of the turtle catchers ; 5, common people ; 6, slaves by war. Rank is hereditary through the female line. The dignity of a pagan chief is estimated by the number of his wives. The rights of the vasu, or sister's son, constitute one of the pecu- liar institutions of Feejee. A vasu of rank can claim anything in his mother's land, .excepting the wives, home, and land of a chief. In the moral and intellectual state of the Feejeeans there is a wide distinction between the pagan and Christian natives. As the majority are pagans, their customs, laws, and religion may 315 VOL. VII. 8