Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/137

 MANNEES AND CrSTOMS. Ill iiig, the Chief converses familiarly with those round him, and all are perfectly at their ease, but very orderly. In many parts of the group the day is commenced by taking a cup of yaqona, the preparation of which is attended with much ceremony. Like the inhabitants of the groups eastward, the Fijians drink an infusion of the piper methysticum, generally called ava or Icava — its name in the Tongan and other languages. In Fiji, however, it is termed yaqona. This beverage is not so commonly in use on Vanua Levu and some parts of Viti Levu, as it is on other islands, where it is frequently the case that the Chiefs drink it as regularly as we do coffee. Some old men assert that the true Fijian mode of preparing the root is by grating, as is still the practice in two or three places ; but, in this de- generate age, the Tongan custom of chewing is almost universal, the operation nearly always being performed by young men. More form attends the use of this narcotic on Somosomo than else where. Early in the morning the King's herald stands in front of the royal abode, and shouts at the top of his voice, " Yaqona ! " Hereupon, all within hearing respond, in a sort of scream, " Mama ! " — " Chew it!" At this signal the Chiefs, priests, and leading men gather round the well known bowl, and talk over public affairs, or state the work as- signed for the day, while their favourite draught is being prepared. When the young men have finished the chewing, each deposits his por- tion, in the form of a round dry ball, in the bowl, the inside of which thus becomes studded over with a large number of these separate little masses. The man who has to make the grog, takes the bowl by the edge and tilts it towards the King, or, in his absence, to the Chief ap- pointed to preside. A herald calls the King's attention to the slanting bowl, saying, " Sir, with respects, the yaqona is collected." If the King thinks it enough, he replies, in a low tone, " Loha^^ " Wring it ; " an order which the herald communicates to the man at the bowl in a louder voice. The water, is then called for, and gradually poured in, a little at first, and then more, until the bowl is fall, or the master of the ceremonies says, " Stop ! " the operator, in the meantime, gathering up and compressing the chewed root. Now follows the science of the process, which Mariner describes so accurately, that I cannot do better than transcribe his account. The strainer is composed of a quantity of the fine fibrous vau, (hibiscus,) which is spread over the surface of the. infusion, on which it floats, and " the man who manages the bowl now begins his difficult operation. In the first place, he extends his lefl hand to the farther side of the bowl, with his fingers pointing down- wards, and the palm towards himself; he sinks that hand carefully