Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/52

 32 FIJI AND THE FIJIAJS^S. omitted in the peroration : " Therefore let us live, that we may chop out canoes for you ; and that we may live, I present this earnest " (the whale's tooth) " of the Ta ivee " (the name of the canoe) " as our soro^ and the soro of our friends." On receiving the tooth Thakombau expressed a wish, almost like an imperial permission, that all might live ; whereupon all present clapped their hands. Custom required of the receiver a form like this ; " Woi ! AYoi ! Woi ! The sacred canoe ! Yi ! Yi ! Yi ! " and a long shrill shout in conclusion. All love to make as much display as possible on these occasions ; food is provided in abundance, and on all hands is seen a liberality approaching to a community of goods : but where there exists anything like equality between those, who give and those who receive, the return of similar gifts and entertainment is anxiously expected, and calculated carefully beforehand. Sometimes the property or tribute is taken to the King ; sometimes he chooses to fetch it. In the latter case, he makes those he visits a small present, the time of so doing being made the opportunity for his public reception, after which he and his attendants dance. Such visits are very burdensome to the people thus honoured ; for the King's fleet may comprise twenty or thirty canoes, the crews of which, as well as the King's attendants, have to be fed by the visited, however long they remain. When the tribute is carried to the King, those who take it — varying in number from fifty to three hundred — are detained several weeks, well fed the first few days, and, in some parts, left to live as they can the remainder. By means of them and their canoes the King verifies the native proverb, " Work is easily done when strangers help." The strangers voyage and garden for the Chiefs of the place, receive a pres- ent, and are then sent home. Chiefs o^ power exact largely and give liberally, only a small portion of what they receive remaining in their own hands ; which fact will help to explain the following speech of a Mata on the occasion of one of these presentations of property : " We have a wish for eternal friendship : see this in our labours to procure cloth for you : we are wearied : we have left ourselves without clothing, that you may have it all. We have a Chief who loves peace : we also love it. War is an evil : let us not fight, but labour. Do not let difficulties or jealousies arise out of sharing this property. Our minds regard you equally. You are all our friends. Any difference in the quantity shared to each tribe is to be referred to the proportion of service rendered by the tribe. There has been no partiality.'"