THE STORY OF TUSALI

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 126, 29 May 1915, Page 10

THE STORY OF TUSALI

The island of Saweni crouched like a mighty mammoth upon the surface of the sea. Isolated from the main group, it was seldom visited by a European. The inhabitants led a peaceful, Arcadian existence, and as the vices of the white man had not touched them, they were healthy, and of an exceptionally fine physique. Their time was occupied mostly in cultivating their yam and taro patches, the coconut groves for the most part cultivated themselves ; also they fished with apears and small hand nets. An ancient Bulli had charge of the civio affairs, sustained law and order, and was responsible to the Government for the annual tithes. The people were nominally Christians, and the greater part of Sunday was spent in hymn-singing in I the little native church ; but their faith was largely commingled with the superstitions of their race. They clung to their ancient gods, and had a, wholesome dread of the spirits who inhabit the trees and rocks. Life passed like a dream npon Saweni, and the Fijians who dwelt there were well content, and quite without ambition or unruly desires. There was one restless spirit, however, in their midst; this was Tusali, the granddaughter of old Marissi. Marissi was a very rich woman, one of the largest property holders upon the island. Tusali was her sole relative, and, consequently, a considerable heiress, as such things were judged upon Saweni. Tusali was also young and beautiful, with a skin strangely fair, and a form so slight and delicate-as to set her as one apart from her strong and swarthy kindred. All knew the reason of Tusali's difference, ,and. although the half-caste is generally looked down upon, and somewhat despised by the pure-blooded, Tusali escaped such ignominy, probably on acconnt 'of her grandmother's eminence. About twelve yeare previously a white man had visited the islands — an artist, who was making a trip all through the group in search of tropical scenery. He lingered some time upon Saweni, charmed by ife Arcadian beauty and the handsome physique of its people. Tusali's mother, who was the belle of the village, was his principal sitter, and posed for numerous sketches. The' artist passed on, and was never heard of again by the islanders. Tusali's mother died coon after her birfch, and Tusali had fallen to the .care of her grandmother, % I crone with a crabbed and miserly temperament ; but devoted to her grandchild. When Tusali grew to maidenhood, and learnt the truth of her parentage, she understood the reason of many things about herself, which had hitherto puzzled her. For in her soul was an incessant shrinking from her associates, and an unutterable distaste for her environment. Even the affection her grandmother lavished upon her filled her with repulsion. Being of a quiet and gentle disposition, her inability to find contentment in her existence, and share happily in the simple life of her kindred, was a source of sore distress to Tusali. and caused her to lapse into a state of melancholy, quite alien to the sunnynatured village folk. Gradually they began to regard her as a being posw*sed by evil spirits, and she became an object to be pitied and 6omewhat feared. Finally she begged her grandmother to send her to the mission upon the main island, where she would be taught by Europeans, and learn something of the ways of her father's people. After half a day's sail in a large cutter, Tusali was landed upon the shore in front of the long, low, white mission building, which was situated in a native village close down by the sea. It was a spot of idyllic beauty The village was laid out in squares, with straight, narrow pathways, almost embowered in rioh foliage. The brown reed houses crouched upon the green sward, and brilliantly coloured crotons flamed about them. The song of the sea mingled with the rustle of the palms' and tbe sighing of the wind in the noak-anoaks. The missionary and his wife were considerate and kind, although they conducted the mission upon rigid lines. Tusali. whose ways had always been unrestricted, suffered much from the restraint* placed upon her actions, and often sinned against the discipline of the mission. Learning she founds difficult, and her inability to use a needle ultimately induced the missionary's wife, who was charmed by the girl's gentle and attractive appearance, to take her into her own service, and teach her some of the domestic duties of Europeans. Tusali endured tortures. The so-called civilised modes of living repelled her. The cooking of food, washing dirty linen, and other household tasks disgusted her unutterably. The white race, who by their habits made such disagreeable duties necessary, seemed infinitely inferior in these respects to the natives. The food of the latter, and their mode of cooking and eating, it, involved little culinary trouble or dirt, and they wore for the most part but one garment, which they washed in a convenient stream. Their beds were composed of mats— household furniture scarcely existed — and yet these things sufficed them. Tusali shrank even more violently from ■ this fettered existence of the white people than she had from the crudity of her mother's race. She longed to return again to Saweni, and sent an imploring request to her grandmother. After some difficulty, she obtained permission to depart, and, with a great sense of relief, she sailed away to where Saweni crouched, peacefully isolated. For a time Tusali was content, and entered more into the pastimes and occupations of village life. She could even hear without shuddering her grandmother relate gruesome stories of the olden days, when the great chiefs^ launched their war canoes upon *he living bodies of their people, and how many people were buried alive with the bodies of these same chiefs when they died. She sat with the old men at their kava drinking, helping to pound the root and squeeze the juice from the root of the yagona. At evening time she played with the children upon the beach, or watched the men catching fish in small hand nets, as they floated to thp shallows in shoals upon the incoming tide. When there was a festival, and festivals were numerous, she helped in the cooking of the food, and sang in tho chorus when the young men danced a ineke. Because Tusali was the fairest woman in the village, and also would inherit her grandmother's land, she had many lovers. She gently repelled them all. Some instinct within her violently shrank from the thought of mating with one of these stalwart natives ; although of their kin she was still not of their kind. Tusali was far from happy. Sometimes at night she would creep out of the house into the open, and, lying in the cool grass, stare up into the flashing tropical sky. Often she murmured little prayers, addressing the soul of her mother, and petitioning to be taken to that Christian Heaven where her mother dwelt. She pondered about her father, but she feared him. Such instincts as lie had implanted in her warred with her being, and caused all her sorrow. This fact she recognised dimly, and it was always to her mother thai she prayed. There was one man in the village who was much enamoured of Tuaali. and would not be denied! Vundi was a6plen«

did youth, and a nephew of a chief upon the island of Sau. He had acquired a coconut grove upon Saweni, and had settled there Although extremely popular, and much admired by the wpmen, all his thoughs were fixed on Tusali, and he disdained the overtures of the village girls. Soon after her return from the mission Tusali's grandmother died, leaving the girl in an utterly unprotected position. The Bulli of the village took her into his care, and insisted upon her living with him and his wife, who was considerably his junior. Tusali submitted docilely; but was even less happily placed than before. The Bulli's wife, who was of a jealous disposition, and who had cast admiring and sinful eyes upon the fine figure of Vundi, resented his open attentions to the girl who lived under her care. The sensitive spirit of Tusali was harrowed beyond endurance by the woman's treatment, and one night she fled, and crossed to the other side of the island. A small village was perched upon the cliffs there, and beneath it the sea beat upon the face of the sheer rock. It was a sleepy little village, with very few inhabitants, and Tusali obtained possession of a small house, somewhat isolated from the others, and close to the edge of the cliff. From her doorway she could gaze out upon a wide plain of sea, which stretched to the horizon in a bare expanse. A grove of coconuts stood about her house, and the sea-breeze rustled them with a sound like pattering rain. It was a peaceful retreat, and when the Bulli arrived, and tried to induce her to return to his protection, she firmly refused. She allowed him complete control of her property, demanding only enough to provide for herself. For a time Tusali experienced peace, and even happiness.- She made friends with the villagers, who never attempted to interfere with her, regarding her as a being apart, and with some superstition. She became an adept in scaling the^ cliffs, and spent her days in wandering about the little bays, and wading upon the reef. A short distance below the village a great rock balanced upon a sharp apex at the edge of the cliff, and appeared as though afc any moment it would topple into the sea. But it had been poised there longer than the islanders could remember. Tusali loved to sit in the shade of this rock, and stare down into the waters which surged below. About half-way up the face of the cliff a small opening showed ; this was the mouth of a cave, which penetrated for some distance into the heart of the rock. A legend was associated with it, which 'gave romance to the spot. Many years ago a young married couple were out fishing in their canoe, and had been stajtled by the appearance of a monstrous bird, sailing overhead. It suddenly _ swooped down upon them, and, seizing the young wife in his beak, flew with her to the cave, and kept her a prisoner there. The husband, frenzied with fear, managed to scale the cliffs and gain the cave. At the entrance a fierce battle was fought between the man and the bird, in which the former was worsted, and cruelly slain. Maddened by the sight, the young wife flung herself into the sea, and her body was never recovered. Tusali often pondered the sad fate of the pair as she lav face down upon the top of the cliff, and stared at the entrance to the cave, and the restless surging sea below. She possessed a good deal of imagination, and the soul of an artist stirred within her. Tusali' herself could not explain the emotions which filled her, or the longings which beset her. Her temperament was largely inherited from her father, and clashed tragically with her upbringing. She would have remained in comparative peace, however, had not the mad desire of Vundi driven him often to waylay her. Tusali's gentle refusals only added fire to his ardour, and he caused her great disquiet and unhappiness. The climax arrived one day, when the wild weather had driven Tusali within, and she lay upon her bed of mats, and. listened to the dashing of the sea upon the rocks below, and the wind rending the palms overhead. Vundi appeared suddenly in the narrow opening which served as a doorway, his great shoulders wet with rain, drops of which sparkled in his thick, upstanding hair. Tusali sprang up, instantly alert, for she saw at a glance that the young man was excited and beyond liiVnself. He advanced towards the girl, and caught her arm. "You must come with me to Sau, Tusali. There has been trouble in the village caused by that sho-drvil t.lip Bulli's wife. I hate her. and spit upon her, but she made her husbnnd jealous without cause, and he charged me wrongfully. I became mad with anger, and struck at him. He is hurt, and his people' are wild, threatening vengeance ; bo I must go at once to Sau, and claim the help of my uncle. But I will not go without you, Tusali. I have the cutter in the little bay near here, with two men ; when the wind lessens, we must, start. Gome, Tusali." He endeavoured to draw her towards the doorway, but she resisted, and, shaking herself free, backed against the wall. Her eyes were bright with fear, and she looked strangely beautiful in the dim light. "Listen, Vundi," she eaid, speaking quietly and forcibly. "I can never be yours; it would be easier for me to dio. In my veins there is more of my father's blood than my mother's; etill I am not of the white race. Nor am lan islander, or a native. Such people as I belong to stand alone, and are accursed. In our souls is a ceaseless warring, and our life is always a strife. You wish to bind my life to yours, but you can never know what kind of woman I am, and in a little" time would hate me. Over at the mission they did not know what to do with me, and I think that in this world there must be many others like me. Go. Vundi f You must fly to Sau, and I will go down to the village and see how the old man is." Vundi had listened intently, his eyes fixed upon Tusa-li. Vz greeted the conclusion of her speech with a laugh. "It is useless; I will not go without you, and the people at the village are co enraged because I have struck their Bulli that if I return there they will surely kill me. So you see, Tusali, if you will not come with me, you keep me here to meet death." Tusali stared at him desperately. She saw the eavage gaining command of the veneer of civilisation imposed by his religion : she knew that it would aoon be impossible to control him, and she shuddered when «he thought of her help lessness. Inch by inch she had been creeping nearer to the door, but her house was a tiny oue, and the massive figure of Vundi filled it. She decided that she must use stratagem. "If you will waifc a little, Vundi, and rest, and give me time to think, I will promise to come if I possibly can. The wind is lessening." She proceeded to take some food from a fihelf, and placed it before the young Fijian. Somewhat suspicious, he kept close to the door, and then proceeded to eat. Tusali stared out beyond to where a grey tossing sea allowed through a mist of rain. Neither of them spoke for a time, and the young man ate hungrily. Then came a lull ; the wind dropped suddenly, and Vundi sprang to his feet. "It is time to go," he said, and caught Tusali's wrist. She cried out in pain, *nd then her strength faiJed her, and she sank *i I his feel. Stooping, lie c*ughl< her in bis arms. *nd- all the savage

iwoke. Then a call was heard, and Vundi knew that it was one of his boatmen coming to tell him that it was time to sail. He released Tusali ; but held her tightly by one wrist ; then he half lad, half dragged her without. The rain wet them as they stumbled along the edge of the cliff, and the earth wbb slippery beneath their feet. The little bay where the cutter was anchored was hidden by a projecting point of rock ; but they could hear the boatmen loudly calling Vundi's name. They wanted to take advantage of the lull in the weather to get out to sea. Vundi retained his clutch upon Tusali, and hurried her painfully along. The rain beat upon their faces and obscured their vision. When opposite the great rock, which .seemingly balanced so precariously, the young Fijian stumbled upon a piece of wet stone, and fell headlong. Instantly Tnsali sprang from him, and rushed blindly to the edge of the cliff. She paused for a moment, gazing in terror at the seething sea beneath her. Then a glance beliind showed that Vundi had regained his feet, and was running towards her, wildly shouting her name. With a little sob the girl sprang forward into the void. When Vundi reached the spot he could see nothing but a whirl of white foam, which beat high up on the face of the cliff. No one could live an instant in such a sea — he would at once be dashed to pieces. For a time Vundi lay upon the wet rock, mpaning and shivering, 'and calling Tusali by name. Only the roar of the sea made reply. Then he rose, and hurried to where his boatmen were summoning him from the shelter of the bay. Tusali's body was never recovered. The sea took her as utterly as it had taken the young bride of the legend. — M.G.J., in the Australasian.