Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/123

 THE PEOPLE. 97 fashionable way of destroying themselves ; but they sometimes resort to the rope. Of deadly poisons they are ignorant, and drowning would be a difficult thing ; for, from infancy, they learn to be almost as much at home in the water as on dry land. Boasting generally attends upon pride, and in Fiji reaches to a very high growth. As among more civilized peopfe, pride of pedigree is largely indulged ; and should a native imagine that you are ignorant of his real origin, he will take care to fix it high enough, and support his pretensions by affecting to treat you as his inferior. Toki, a Chief of Raviravi, used to speak of himself as the offspring of a turtle, re- garding all other Chiefs as the progeny of inferior fishes. The ruler of a few little islands finds no difficulty in exalting himself above European Monarchs, and designates any of their subjects who may live within his domain, as " his animals." It is a very rare and difficult thing for a Fijian to give an impartial account of any transaction in which he took part, the most trifling incident being always greatly magnified. Had not this been natural, yet would the natives have learned to brag from the example of their gods, who take advantage of their visits to earth to boast of their mighty deeds. The Fijian language supplies a smart jest against these self-trumpeters, in the onomato-poetic name of their parrot, — kaka ; hence they accost the boasting egotist : " Ah ! you are like the kaka ; you only speak to shout your own name." Where there is habitual boasting, there must be occasional lying. Among the Fijians the propensity to lie is so strong, that they seem to have no wish to deny its existence, or very little shame when convicted of a falsehood. Ordinary lies are told undisguised, but, should it be necessary, a lie is presented with every appearance of truth. Adroit- ness in lying is attained by the constant use made of it to conceal the schemes and plots of the Chiefs, to whom a ready and clever liar is a valuable acquisition. The universal existence of this habit is so thoroughly taken for granted, that it is common to hear, after the most ordinary statement, the rejoinder, " That's a lie," or something to the same effect, at which the accused person does not think of taking offence. Anything marvellous, on the other hand, meets with ready credence. Walking with a shrewd old native for my guide, on Vanua Levu, he directed my attention to some stones at the side of the path : " These," said he, " mark the place where a giant was slain while I was a little boy. This stone marks where his head lay, that where his knees, and these where his feet reached." Measuring the distance with my walking staff, I found it twenty-five feet six inches ! " Well done,