TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12174, 20 April 1905, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

XJnder the title of "Taleijit] Old Fiji. Dr. Lorimer Fison, »Jkl veteran missionary WISP Fiji, and one of tho foremost anthrtWi pologists in Australia, has published tfU book which is full of intereeting infoV®! mation as to the customs, folk lore, atodlli traditions of the Fijians. Their ' gard for human life and delight 'ta'lP bloodshed, their inhumanity to their "aM women and old people, their belief in : *§; witchcraft, and their oannibalum, are'jjf l > all dealt with in the introduction, and itl|| may bo noted that as regards cannibal- S| I ism, Dr. Fison inclines to tho opinion '1 I that it originated neither in supenti- ">|i tion nor revenge, but in hunger for * ! flesh food. The talea are full of poetry. '|§ The account of the origin of 'canoe* Ja building links itself to every snoieW'iJi story with which we are all familiar, ~f|| in tho passage:—"The god threw hit Jl club up into the sky and the clouds Ji were broken in pieces and fell down the earth in a deluge of rain. Marty-'JjiJ days did the rain continue—it was not Jajlfl like the rs-.in which now falls upon thejlfin firth, but a great and terrible pourittg4||l out of waters—and the sea roe*, pour-lfiil Ini in ovoi- the land, a dreadful tight." 'wjm There is also in the same story an ana-I||| logue to the Tower of Babel, in the wfirfl|| fence, "strong and wide and high, *{;|BH which the Boat-builders built in order .IfiS to defy the Great Serpent of Kau- |||1 nandra. In the beginning of tne of the sun-child tho re is the Fijian **r-'>i|||l 6ion of the legend of Danae in herbal brasen tower, and the visit to her'of Zeua in a shower of gold. In the story, r 3 of Tonga-poa, the reader meet* his old ~||| ' frieiid of the Arabian Nights, the Roc, im - which Carrie* the hero, tied to its Wg,4||| far orer the seas to Tonga-Tabu. In ;J|B the hero of Another tale one recognise* *§9 Jack, the Giant-killer, and in his sd> ventures there is some resemblance to 'W* thoM of the much-travelled UlyMes./||||' Two of the tales are obviously modern 'Wjjm in origin, and admirably illustrate ■ process of myth-making. One is ft'tHH strange Tongan story in which It ie"'i|S» claimed that Napoleon was the eon of fcg&S , - Tongan, and was discovered by MawJiSf t French emissaries, who had becta by an oracle that the son of a red should save them ; from U*HneUftyj|»m', whom he accordingly defeated at and banished to a desert island. poetical side of theed tale» } -hoirev»r,^^^|- ; must riot, obscure their genuine! adikn- _/mm ' tlno value to tike lludent of anthropology ~ys%x and. religion. ; * JR|ii The region infer fthtj&Sl The Uganda Uganda Peoples. includes. . people*;"' flfpSSl : curiously diieVtn«|||||; habiU, ,■ gradually, .modifying , civilised rule. Thus Bahlm* women 'f t'Wmi high caste until 1902 refused to upon ft stranger. Good manner* quired them to eit with their bit&vSK turned to company. During " Coronation festivities, howtaV'tfeliH'' Collector of Revenue, Mr St. <tori»||Pr. Gait, entertained the court and nobUitfp|ia' the ladies duly bitting with to the march past, the speakers, •11 attractions, until at last, in place jWi^H • band, the Collector ■ turned [oh gramaphone with "Rule Britaßnl^|||jii; ; This novelty vu too much, for ladies; they turned end fftoed wjj||pi--gramaphone, and with " Role there dawned the diecotery. that. was not any heinous oftenoe after look towards tbMr wonder-working bi&ImSHR or henceforth upon any strange The Bahima are * raoe. without; ditions, because they have * the dead, and to mention et«n ''HlfflH noblest of xfeeeeeed heroes grow breach of etiquette. In' tftl»|||§§ nation genealogy i« an unknown jbotytmHm for no one wilt either think or euoh • repulsive thing m * dNd<gMij&&H|, father. Yet amongst the Beeukuinsi|||||; the correct salutation is to ■ ftddfswh man by the name of hie grandfather ~l9g Here most persona are ezperte in faui{y-||||l- %- history, though ft stranger is peraitted I§|| first to inquire, " What may So the '||I|;' name of your father'e father?" and then solemnly to proceed with the recognised '|aOT form. The Banyoro is tb* one tribe which honours ft mother-in-lsw. It essential that the eon-in-law should £jß:< kneel down and remain in that reveren* Vjmm< tial posture for some time whenever anil Wm" wherever he meets her. • A woman*'of nl; Bavuma may do eyerything she except sit on » chair. Ifirepi if alone in W&jk. • house full of chairs she would v never dream of. such an enormity. lAJljisf woman must sit upon the ground. , *". ske chooses her huaband, with .°«V' 4 * ,c ing even her parents' oonsent, herself if she wishee, and, 'falMKfttlySHp speaking, has ft merrier time than t * ,e woman of any other tribe in Africs/The : Bavuma man if he kills * no^wr ' man, is fined ton cows. There no provision in the code as iO "'WK the event of the murder of a '|I|. woman. Amongst this gallant . rsce such a thing has never occurred, * JKjjlß the law fails to imagine Stwh sibilitieft Amongst the likewise, there is no law in such ft c * < **!§||||| but for a different reason. . It is ft c " me l||ij|l not worth serious regard. "Wift mure ||||| der does not matter ai all." -^^3 It is a magnifioent The Okanaki cord that stands Brigade. the credit of the aaki Brigade, » hi **SH haa fought in nearly every engsge">« n »l which has marked the progress General Kuroki, and haa boree brunt of fifteen great fights. Wh #'i|||| General Okasaki landed at in March of last year he had 6000 under his command, of whom 4000 combatants. The oasualtiee of the gade.up to the end of October Hfiligfß 3889. It is almost incredible, but true, that out of those 6000 men three died from disease in seven mra^; jjiml a record which tho correspondent of "Standard" describes as "a wnrißeße |l|§| proof of the immunity of Japanese ,o *\||s«M diers against tho consequences of h * r fi||g«|

ship, privation, exposure, and insanitary conditions that devastate European arffiMVt." Of tho original combatants practically all have boon shun or wounded, not a single battalion is commanded by the officer who landed with it at Chinampo, and one battalion has , changed its leader no less than three tim«>. And, despite its enormous louses, the brigfldo is as eager as ever to bo foremost in buttle. In tho fierce fighting nt Liaoyang, when General Kuroki with one and a half division* kept at bay, and finally drove back, five divisions under General Kuropatkin, the writer declares that it may be said without exaggeration that tho Russian \', \ General was defeated by ono regiment of <he Okasaki Brigade. During a counter attack in the dark General OkagaJfi, leading some reserves into action, found friend and foe bo mingled that he could not tell at which point help was meet nwded, and ordered tho trumpeter to sound the "oeaso fire." Despite the f»ct that the Japanese wero scattered and wero engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle in which a second's hesitation meant certain death, they obeyed the signal as ono man. "When I saw that," eaid the General, "I was sure that we could keep tho position," In tho greet struggle on tho Shaho, tho Okasaki Brigade was tho wedge that General Kuroki drovn into tho Russian centre, and forced tho Russians to defend themwjlvoe. At Templo Hill on October 13th, one battalion of tho Brigade inj 'or throe long hours on a elope while their ranks were thinned by shell fire. So desperate wae the venture that Colonel Nihira, before setting out, burned hie confidential papers and the portraits of his children. When tho relieving battalion arrived tho commanding officer, on being informed of the death of hie friend Nihira, dashed out of »he trench, crying "How osm I ftjone remain alive," and would havo hurled himself into the fire-swept eono hud not. his men dragged him back. "Tho death of Colonel Nihira and of co many comrades rouwad tho men to frenny. Two companies sprang from the trench an<l rushed forward up tho hill. I have told how they woro rolled back and how they returned like nn everdiminishing wavo until at etititSv I caw •gainst the grey «ky lino a struggling maiw of men shooting, bdyonctting, wrestling and stoning one another. At ■ »iz o'clock the hill was taken, and tho elope was elippery with blood. To-day it beers tho namo Nihirayama, or Nlhira's Hill, in memory r o( a brnvo soldier."