Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/225

 EELIGION. 195 last of all the relics of their heathenism. Professed practisers of witch- craft are dreaded by all classes, and, by destroying mutual confidence, shake the security and comfort of society. Some of these persons, but not all, are priests. Any suggestion of malice or envy may become a cause for bewitching a person. Theft is detected and punished by the same agency. The design of the charms used is to destroy life, and most persons who have a long ilhiess ascribe it to witchcraft. One mode of operating is to bury a cocoa-nut, with the eye up- wards, beneath the temple-hearth, on which a fire is kept constantly burning ; and as the life of the nut is destroyed, so the health of the person it represents will fail till death ensues. At Matuku there is a grove sacred to the god Tokalau — the wind. The priest promises the destruction of any hated person in four days, if those who wish his death bring a portion of his hair, dress, or food which he has left. This priest keeps a fire burning, and approaches the place on his hands and knees. If the victim bathe before the fourth day, the spell is broken. The most common method, however, is the Vahadranikau^ or compounding of certain leaves supposed to possess a magical power, and which are wrapped in other leaves, or put into a small bamboo case, and buried in the garden of the person to be bewitched, or hidden in the thatch of his house. Processes of this kind are the most dreaded, and the people about Mbua are reputed to prepare the most potent compounds. The native imagination is so absolutely under the control of fear of these charms, that persons, hearing that they were the object of such spells, have lain dow^i on their mats, and died through fear. Those who have reason to suspect others of plotting against them avDid eating in their presence, or are careful to leave no fragment of food behind ; they also dispose their garment so that no part can be re- moved. Most natives, on cutting their hair, hide what is cut oiF in the thatch of their own homes. Some build themselves a small house and surround it with a moat^ believing that a little water will neutralize the charms which are directed against them. Those who suppose them- sleves to be under the power of a wizard, make offerings to the gods, or use counter spells, or bring presents to the Qiief in whose domain the magician is thought to reside. The evil-working power of these men may be purchased, and gener- ally the pay is high. Nearly all sudden deaths are ascribed to this cause. Persons detected in the act of burying these deadly charms are summarily dealt with; or if found out afterwards, their houses are burnt, and they themselves killed. Sticks or reeds are sometimes placed in gardens so as to wound