Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/183

 MANNEKS AND CUSTOMS. 153 and adorn her with flowers, I passed on to see the remains of the deceased Tuithakau. To my astonishment I found him alive ! He was weak, but quite conscious, and, whenever he coughed, placed his hand on his side, as though in pain. Yet his chief wife and a male at- tendant were covering him with a thick coat of black powder, and tying round his arms and legs a number of white scarfs, fastened in rosettes, with the long ends hanging down his sides. His head was turbaned in a scarlet handkerchief secured by a chaplet of small white cowries, and he wore armlets of the same shells. On his neck was the ivory necklace, formed in long curved points. To complete his royal attire, according to Fijian idea, he had on a ^y large new masi, the train being wrapped in a number of loose folds at his feet. No one seemed to display real grief, which gave way to show and ceremony. The whole tragedy had an air of cruel mockery. It was a masquer- ading of grim death, a decking, as for the dance, of bodies which were meant for the grave. The conflicting emotions which passed through my mind at that moment cannot be described. I had gone there to beg that the old man might be buried alone ; but he was not dead. I had hoped to have prevented murder ; but two victims lay dead at my feet. I came to the young King to ask for the life of women ; but now it seemed my duty to demand that of his father. Yet, should my plea be successful? it would cause other murders on a future day. Perplexed in thought, with a deep gloom on my mind, feeling my blood curdle, and " the hair of my flesh stand up," I approached the young King, whom I could only regard with abhorrence. He seemed greatly moved, put his arm round and embraced me, saying, before I could speak, " See ! the father of us two is dead." " Dead ! " I exclaimed, in a tone of surprise : " Dead ! No." " Yes," he answered ; " his spirit is gone. You see his body move ; but that it does unconsciously." Knowing that it would be useless to dispute the point, I ceased to care for the father, and went on to say, that the chief object of myself and my colleague was to beg him to " love us, and prevent any more women from being strangled, as he could not, by multiplying the dead, render any benefit to his father." He replied, " There are only two ; but they shall suffice. Were not you Missionaries here, we would make an end of all the women sitting around." The Queen, with pretended grief, cried, " Why is it that I am not to be strangled 1 " The King gave as a rea- son, that there was no one present of sufficiently high rank to suflbcate her. Two other women sat near the executioners, one of whom I had heard mentioned previously as part of "the grass" for the King's