Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/162

 132 FIJI A^^D THE FIJIAIs^S. companions fasten the doors of the house securely, and run away. When the one within bh)ws a shell, the friends of the deceased surround the house, and thrust their spears at him through the fence. The ceremony may be followed by the assumption of the man's dress ; but this is not invariable, as some wear it long before, and others not till some time after. When a Chief's son first puts on the masi, a feast is made, followed by dancing. Youths, while uncircumcised, are regarded as unclean, and are not permitted to carry food to the Chiefs. Young men, as was intimated before, have separate sleeping apartments, and are forbidden to eat of food left by women, and to unroll and lie on their mats. Girls are betrothed at a very early age, and often to men past the prime of life. Although, when old enough to think for themselves, women express their dislike of this system, yet it certainly gives them one advantage, — that of a more careful guardianship. Not that the future husband takes the girl under his immediate care ; but the fear of him or his friends causes her parents to keep a strict watch over her, and his influence would be exerted to punish any one who might insult her. An imprudent step on her part sometimes costs her life. In the case of a young girl near Mbua, her friends, on perceiving the result of her infidelity, assembled, and strangled her, and then sent word to her intended husband, asking for forgiveness. About the middle of 1852, Ritova, the Mathuata Chief, on finding that his sister, or cousin, had been guilty of a similar offence, sent a messenger to the tribe to which her secret lover belonged, demanding that he should be given up to punishment. This, however, his friends refused. But Ritova, fixed in purpose, commanded his relation to be strangled and buried. Stern justice appears in both cases; but it is in appearance only. Fear, in the first instance, and mortified pride, in the other, was the real motive. When betrothed in infancy, as the daughters of Chiefs usually are, the mother of the girl, in some cases, takes a small liku to the future husband, as a pledge that her child shall hereafter be his wife. If he is grown up, he observes a form of asking the parents to give him their daughter, presenting, at the same time, one or more whales' teeth. ^Most improper matches are made. I have seen an old man of sixty living with two wives both under fifteen years of age. Women, indeed, are regarded as a sort of property, in which a regular exchange is carried on ; but there is no truth in the assertion that the natives sell their women among themselves. Whatever there has been like this, has been taught them by white men. The low estimate in which, on some