Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/49

 OEIGm AND POLITY. 29 commonest acts of his life, are mentioned in ordinary phraseology, but are all hyperbolized. Eespect is further indicated by the tama, which is a shout of reverence uttered by inferiors when approaching a Chief or chief town. The tama varies in different places, and the women have a formula distinct from that of the men. Sometimes, in uttering this shout, the people place their hands behind them, and stoop forward. Chiefs look for the tama fromi those they meet, whether on land or sea, and expect it when inferiors pass their houses. At the close of the day, or when a Chief is superintending the making or repairing of a sail, and in some other cases, the tama is improper, and would be answered by a laugh, or regarded as an insult. In some districts the tama is " long drawn out," and in others half sung, so as to produce a somewhat pleas- ing effect, when raised by fifty or a hundred voices at once. Generally the Chiefs acknowledge courteously the salutation of one of the lower orders of the people.* Equally expressive of respect are many of the actions prescribed by Fijian etiquette. An armed man lowers his arms, takes the outside of the path, and crouches down until the Chief has passed by. When a person has given anything, say a cigar, to a Chief, he claps his hands respectfully. The same form is observed after touching a Chiefs head, or when taking anything from a place over his head ; on receiving any trifle from him ; always at the close of his meals, and sometimes to applaud what he has said. In some parts the men do not crouch, but rub the upper part of the left arm with the right hand. Some take hold of their beards and look to the earth : this is very common when con- versing with a Chief, or begging ; hence great beggars are called " beard- scratchers." The speaker also intersperses his address with respectful expletives, of which they have many. If any one would cross the path of a Chief, or the place where he is sitting or standing, he must pass before, and never behind, his superior. Standing in the presence of a Chief is not allowed : all who move about the house in which he is, creep, or, if on their feet, advance bent, as in an act of obeisance. As in some other countries where the government is despotic, no one is permitted to address the Chief otherwise than in a sitting posture. Seamen are cautious not to sail by a Chief's canoe on the outrigger side, PI-ACE. MEN. -VrOMEN. Mbau. Muduo ! wo ! M-a-i-n-a-v-a-k-a-d-u-a ! Lakemba. 0-o!Oa! N-i-q-o! Somosomo. Duo ! wo I M-a-i-n-a-v-a-a-d-u-a I Vanua Levu. Dual dua! dual M-a-i-n-a-v-a-a-d-u-a!
 * The following are specimens of the tdma ;—