Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/46

 26 FIJI A^S^D THE FIJIAl^S. was staying with Thakombau, to whom he interpreted the Consul's dis- patch, translating the address, " Tui Viti." This title, till then unknown, thus became fixed, and proved of great use to the young Chief during his regency, though a cause of bitter jealousy to other Chiefs, some of whom I heard comfortmg themselves by saying, " It is without authority : foreigners gave it to him." At the death of the aged King, however, this proud appellation was laid aside, and Thakombau received the high hereditary title of Vu-ni-valu, though frequently addressed still as Tui Yiti — a name to which his widely-spread ascendancy gives him a real claim. An old Chief on Na Viti Levu, known to few, boasts that the Chiefs of Mbau and Rewa are his children ; thus putting them far below himself. Common men, though esteemed for superior prowess, and rewarded with an honorable name, do not rise in rank, their original grade being always remembered. There are many inferior Chiefs, but they have little authority. Obserdng that the land-breeze blows most strongly m the bays, the natives have thence made a proverb, alluding to the fact just stated : Sa dui cagi ni ioba, " Every one is a wind in his ovm. bay." Most prominent among the public notorieties of Fiji is the Vasu. The word means a nephew or niece, but becomes a title of office in the case of the male, who, m some localities, has the extraordinary privilege of appropriating whatever he chooses belonging to his uncle, or those under his uncle's power. Vasus are of three kinds : the Vasu laukei, the Vasu levu^ and the Vasu : the last is a common name, belonging to any nephew whatever. Vasu taukei is a term applied to any Vasu whose mother is a lady of the land in which he is born. The fact of Mbau being at the head of Fijian rank gives the Queen of Mbau a pre-eminence over all Fijian ladies, and her son a place nominally above all Vasus. No material difference exists between the power of a Vasu taukei and that of a Vasu levu, which latter title is given to every Vasu born of a woman of rank, and having a first-class Chief for his father. A Vasu taukei can claim any thing belonging to a native of his mother's land, excepting the wives, home, and land of a Chief Vasus cannot be (.•< n- sidered apart from the civil polity of the group, forming as they do one of its integral parts, and supplying the high-pressure power of Fijian despotism. In grasping a dominant influence the Chiefs have created a power which, ever and anon, turns round and gripes them with no gentle hand. However high a Chief may rank, however powerful a King may be, if he has a nephew, he has a master, one who will not be content with the name, but who will exercise his prerogative to the full, seizing whatever may take his fancy, regardless of its value or the