Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/211

 EELIGIOIT. 181 tude, holding a piece of yam given him by the god as a pledge of plenty. K rain was wanted, the hete would return dripping with rain from Ndengei, and with a promise that he would thus bestow showers on all the district after two or four days. If they asked success in war, a fire-brand was darted from the cave ; a token that they should burn up their enemies. The splinter of burning wood must have been a mere trifle to his godship, if, as some assert, he has two vast logs always on fire on his hearth, the larger of which is thirty miles in circumference. In the event of the promised boon not being duly given, it was easy for the priests to discover some new offence or defect of offering on the part of the worshippers, as the cause. The worship of the gods of Fiji is not a regular and constant service, but merely suggested by circumstances, or dictated by emer- gency or fear. There are, however, certain superstitious ceremonies which are duly observed ; such as the sevu — ^presenting the first-fruits of yams ; tadravu — an offering made at the close of the year ; the keeping of silence when crossing sacred places ; the observance of tabus, and reverencing of shrines. The people formed no idea of any voluntary kindness on the part of their gods, except the planting of wild yams, and the wrecking of strange canoes and foreign vessels on their coast. After successful fishing for turtle, or remarkable deliverance from danger in war or at sea, or recovery from sickness, a madrali — a kind of thank-offering — was sometimes presented. Clubs, spears, and other valuable articles are thus, consecrated to the gods. I am told that many men, after killing an enemy, offer a spear to the priest, in order to insure pro- tection from the spears of the enemy on future occasions. Of the great offerings of food, native belief apportions merely the soul thereof to the gods, who are described as being enormous eaters ; the substance is consumed by the worshippers. Cannibalism is a part of the Fijian religion, and the gods are de- scribed as delighting in human flesh. Tuithakau once asked, in a fit of anger, " Is Jehovah the god of bodies killed to be eaten 1 " intimating that as Na Tavasara was so, he must be the superior deity. To main- tain the exaltation of these false gods, the abominable practice referred to is continued, and pity for any age or sex has no influence with those who may have to prepare the offering. At one time Ndengei would constantly have human bodies for his sacrifices ; with each basket of roots a man's or woman's body was to be brought, and Chiefs sometimes killed their inferior wives in order