Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/134

 108 FIJI AOTD THE FIJlAiq^S. bands. In native opinion, it is common for a woman to hate her hus- band, but rare for a man to hate his wife, and very rare for a woman to hate a man by whom she had children before her marriage with her present lord. Full-grown men, it is true, will walk about together hand in hand, with boyish kindliness, or meet with hugs and embraces ; but their love, though specious, is hardly real. Violent quarrels are not frequent ; nor need they be, if those I have seen were specimens, ending, as they did, with the axe and club, wounded heads, or broken arms. Too much has been said about the cleanliness of the natives. The lower classes are often very dirty ; a fact which becomes more evident when they wear calico, to which no soap is applied, and which presents a larger surface to the eye than the ordinary masi. They sit and often sleep on the ground, and seldom hesitate to sink both clean- liness and dignity in what they call comfort. To the description which has been given of the interior of a Fijian house, there may be added here a notice of its furniture and contents, which are few and simple. Where part of the floor is raised, forming a dais, which, by day, is the divan, and, by night, the bed of a Chief, it is cov- ered with mats, varying in number from two to ten, and spread over a thick layer of dried grass and elastic ferns, while on them are placed two or three neat wooden or bamboo pillows. Over this hangs the mosquito curtain, which is generally large enough to hang across the house, thus giving to one end of it an air of comfort. Cliequered bas- kets, gourds, and bottles for scented oil are hung about the walls ; and, in a conspicuous place, stands or hangs the yaqona bowl, with a strainer and cup. In various parts are suspended fans, a sunshade made of the leaf of the cabbage palm, an oil dish of dark wood, and several food dishes of Avood or wicker-work. On a slight frame behind the curtain stands a chest or two, with a musket hanging above, and, perhaps, an axe and spade beneath. Along the foot of the wall rest oblong wooden bowls with four feet, or round earthen pans with none. If there is any arrow-root, it is preserved in coarse wide-mouthed jars ; and one or more glazed water-vessels have a place near the hearth or bed, set in a nest of dry grass. The other domestic apparatus is found near the hearth, and comprises nets, a bone knife for cutting bread from the pit, and another of foreign make for cutting up yams, etc. ; a concave board, four or six feet long, on which to work up the bread, and round stones for mashing the same; coarse baskets for vegetables, cocoa-nut and bamboo vessels for salt and fresh water, and soup dishes, and a ladle made of the nut shell. On the hearth, each set on three stones, are several pots, capable of holding from a quart to five gallons. Near