Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/95

 mDUSTKIAL PKODTTCE, ETC. 69 with the order to lavi^ — keep her away, — and the accompanying " one, two, and another to come," by which the measured advance of the waves is counted, with passing comments on their good or ill demean- our, keep all alive and all in good humour. If the canoe is sound, nothing but bad weather can spoil the enjoyment of such voyaging. The duties of the ship are not attended to in the perfunctory style of a hired crew, but in just the same spirit as actuates friends on a pleasure- trip, where each feels his own happiness involved in the happiness of all. Generally my crews were careful to avoid the dangers of the deep : but sailors are allowed occasional freaks, and mine had theirs. On more trips than one they broke off their course, and, forgetful of the primary object of the voyage, engaged in an absorbing chase after a shark, or sting-ray, or turtle, apparently willing to wreck the canoe, rather than lose the fish. The heathen sailors are very superstitious. Certain parts of the ocean, through fear of the spirits of the deep, they pass over in silence, with uncovered heads, and careful that no fragment of food or part of their dress shall fall into the water. The common tropic-bird is the shrine of one of their gods, and the shark of another ; and should the one fly over their heads, or the other swim past, those who wore tur- bans would doff them, and all utter the word of respect. A shark lying athwart their course is an omen which fills them with fear. A basket of bitter oranges put on a vesi canoe is believed to diminish its speed. Qn one of their canoes it is tahu to eat food in the hold ; on another, in the house-on-deck ; on another, on the platform of the house. Canoes have been lost because the crew, instead of exerting themselves in a storm, have quitted their posts to soro to their god, and throw yaqona and whales' teeth at the waves to propitiate them. The fishermen, though associated with the sailors, move about still nearer home. They take great quantities of fish ; and the chief work of some is the catching of turtle. The principal fishing-tribes are those of Lasakau and Malaki ; but nearly every influential Chief has a com- pany of fishermen at command. Various means are employed for taking fish, including nets and a sort of weir formed like the creels and crab-pots used along the British coasts, and baited and secured in the same way. Another kind has two apertures ; a third contrivance is an intricate fence, either fixed or portable. Stone pens, hooks, and fishspears, are in use throughout Fiji. Some drowsy fish of the shark family are taken by passing a noose over their heads, and a vegetable poison from a climbing glycine is employed to stupefy smaller kinds.