Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/174

 144 FIJI Amy the fijians. the wrath of a god, or condemn themselves or each other to endless de^ struction ; but they use filthy, irritatmg, and malevolent language, not uncommonly having reference to their cannibal practices. Like the Easterns, they speak abusively of the parents of the persons with whom they are angry. I have heard individuals, when protesting strongly, swear by the King. It is tabu for those to swear at each other who are prohibited from conversing together ; but those who are worship- pers of the same god may swear at one another to their heart's content. To the aged and infirm, the kindnesses of the Fijians are cruel. Bald heads and grey hairs excite contempt instead of honour ; and, on this account, the aged, when they find themselves likely to become trouble- some, beg of their children to strangle them. If the parent should be slow to make the proposal, they are anticipated by the children. The heathen notion is, that, as they die, such will their condition be in another world ; hence their desire to escape extreme infirmity. I have never known a case of self-destruction which had personal defect or deformity for its motive ; but a repugnance on the part of the sound, the healthy, and the young, to associate with the maimed, the sick, and the aged, is the maui cause of the sacrifice. It could answer no good purpose to record many of the frequent instances of abominable cruelty towards the aged and infirm, which are precisely similar to those practised by some other heathen nations. Exposure, burying alive, and the rope, are the means generally used for dispatching these unfortunates. One case, peculiarly Fijian, may be narrated. Wangka i Vuki told me that his brother was drowned at sea with Eambithi, a Somosomo Prince. " Then," said I, " he went from you well, and you saw him no more." Wangka i replied, " Well, not exactly so ; we saw him again ; for, when the canoe on which he sailed went down, he swam about until one of the fleet came near him, and he got on board, resting some time, it being night." As day broke, he was discovered by his companions in trouble, and, since he had fared worse than they, it was at once decided that he ought to be clubbed. Just then, some one recognised him as a skilful sailor : this turned the scale in his favour, as it was agreed that he should live, and at once take the helm. Weak and unfit as he necessarily was for a post which wearies the most energetic, he took the great steer-oar ; nor was he allowed to leave it until, after a tedious voyage, they reached Vuna. One heart there w^as among the crew that pitied that death-like being who grasped the helm, and, seeing that he was unable to move from the canoe, carried him ashore, and shared a piece of water-melon with him. His friends at Somosomo, on hearing of his