Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/58

 38 FIJI AND THE FIJIAXS. they defy the foe, as also by banners, and gaudy kite-like things which, when the wind favours, are flown in the direction of the enemy. If a place, when attacked, is likely to hold out, an encampment is formed and a vigilant guard kept by the besiegers, and by each party the steps of the other seem to be counted. Such a position is not liked ; but great advantages and easy conquest best suit the aggressors. An attack being decided upon, a command to that effect is issued by the Vu-ni-valu, who names the order in which the several companies are to advance, and specifies which is to have the honour of the first assault. The assailants then join in a sort of slogan and set off. If the country be favourable, they prefer a stealthy approach, and when a little beyond gun-shot from the fort, each man acts as though his chief duty were to take care of himself. Not a stone, bush, or tree, but has a man behind it, glad of anything to come between him and the fort ; whence a strict watch is kept, until some straggler — perhaps a child — is exposed, and falls a victim. If the defenders of the place remain obstinate, the be- siegers repeat the war-cry, to encourage each other and alarm the enemy. Numerous shots are now exchanged ; and if those within are many and valorous, they make a sally, each man singling out his an- tagonist, and so the battle resolves itself into a number of single com- bats. Should the first detachment shoot and shout themselves tired, without drawing the enemy out, they are relieved by a second, who, if they succeed no better, are followed by a third, and so on. A rush from within generally makes the assaulting party run. This conduct is ex- cused by a native proverb, which, in some shape or other, is to be found in almost every language, and which in Fiji, in the form of a couplet, waits ready on every warrior's lip.* " 'Tis certain death to brave it out ; And but a jest to join the rout." Nevertheless, obstinate resistance is sometimes made. Death or victory was declared in a striking way by the Chief of !Mbua, Ngoneseuscu, at the beginning of the present century. He and his second in command — Ndungawangka — ordered the heads of two stately nut-trees to be cut off, and sent a messenger to the enemy, the Chief of Raviravi, to tell what was done, and defy him to do his worst. Both sides exerted themselves to the utmost, and a bloody battle ensued. The symbolic act of the Mbua Chiefs proved ominous of their own fate ; for their own heads and hundreds more of their followers (an eye-witness says, a ♦ "^ Tosota, na mate : A dro na ka ni ueiwale.^