THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

Evening Star, Issue 11626, 10 July 1902, Page 3

THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

THE WAIKARE’S EXCURSION. [Specially Whitten tor the ‘Star’ by Mr James Allen, M.H.R.]

One cannot imagine a more pleasurable winter holiday than that provided by the Union Steam Ship Company during the Coronation time in the Waikare’s trip to Fiji, and it may well be hoped that some such excursion may become an annual event. It was a very full boat that left Auckland on Wednesday, the 18th June, and it became very soon evident that the many passengers were bent on thoroughly enjoying themselves. Amusement had to be found for the four days’ steam to Suva, and very soon the necessary committees were formed and were at work organising deck games, concerts, dances, and other amusements. Wc were specially fortujnate in the officers and staff of the ship, and no one could wish for a more genial and considerate commander than Captain Gibb, a more thoughtful worker for passengers’ pleasures than the chief officer (Mr C. Rcnaut), or for a more careful caterer of our creature comforts than the chief steward (Mr Beveridge). We started in a calm, and were persuaded the Fates were with us, and that in two days we should be in warm sunshine on a glassy sea; but this was not to bo. Nor were we to have the favoring breeze of the S.E. trade. Away in the north a few clouds began to show above the horizon, and out of the north-easterly ones came to us puffs of wind, which grew into a steady north-east breeze that kept to us all the way. Some gave way; others put on as bold a face as they could, and envied those who became more and more appreciative of the good things at table. On Sunday morning land was m sight—Kadavu (pronounced Kbaudavu), at one time the place of call of the mail steamers: basaltic-looking rocks, inhabited only by natives, who no doubt would send their quota to the festivities, and only six hours from Suva. Soon on the left another island, Benga, disclosed itself, and we looked with interest, for from hero THE FIRE-WALKERS come who were to astonish us on Friday next. Then, with eager curiosity, those new to such scenes traced out the coral reefj and looked hard for the opening into Suva Harbor. Soon we were inside, and one illusion is dispelled. There is a ripple on the water inside the Barrier Reef, where we had dreamt all was still and perfectly dear. But all the charm anticipated from the place and people was there—rowers with oiled, copper-colored bodies, laughing lips, and loving eyes smiled to us; and the cocoanut tree-lined shore bids us land and be welcome. Soon we were ashore, wondering at the strange admixture which met our gaze—Fijian, Samoan, Rotuman, Polynesian, and thinlegged coolie, all in Sunday best, and bnght with hits of color. But we must linger too long, for there is A GREAT DAY BEFORE US to-morrow, and we must on board, as the boat leaves to-nigbb for Ban, the island some of kings—the last resting-place of Cacobau (Thakombau), the cannibal king who became Christianised. Launches conveyed us from the Waikare’s anchorage inside the reef, and pretty indeed was the eight as we drew near the native village nestling in the trees, with Thakombau’s monument prominent on the left. Crowds of natives had gathered from all parts for the native “burua”—Le., the formal announcement of the discontinuance of mourning for the late Queen Victoria. His Excellency the Administrator (the Hon. W. L. Allardyce, C.M.G.) had already arrived, and. it was not long before the first ceremony—his formal reception by the native chiefs--took place. Fine-looking fellows * , b e 7 looked, in their white snlus (waistcloth), and some with white coats, as they inarched in single file up a plant-way to the old temple, “Vatu ni tawake.” Once inside, they quietly seated themselves on the dean mats, facing the Administrator and his party, and the ceremony commenced. In this, as in the other performances, what chiefly attracted notice were the methods of expressing approval by curious “AJis” and regulated clapping of hands, and-the “tambua,” or tmn of whales’ teeth, as a sign of greeting. Short were the speeches; brief what appeared to be a prayer over, the whales’ teeth from the scribe who sat in front of His Excellency; a moaning chant, and this part of the ceremony was over. Spare rime was occupied in a stroll to thakombau a tomb, and charming from this spot looked the village of steep-gabled, leaf-covered houses, nestling in the trees. Nor could one pass without accepting the consent mvitations to enter and see the and buy the curios. Clean mats £ one «°™« piled up to two feet high to form the bed. “Tapna ’’ native cloth, made of the bark of the male or paper mulberry, hung as a curtain, or •lay in folds in some comer. For other furniture one saw spears, clubs, a nd the on when rieepmg- Yams and bananas appeared to be tne chief articles of food. It was soon time however, to make one’s way to the village green, or rara, for here

TEE “DRINKING” CEREMONY W Alr « wi y the Chiefs had seated themselves on the grass in concentric circles, facing the Administrator, the large crowd forming an interested circle of spectators A large bowl of wood formed the centre of the circles, and a grand mnscular native sat by it, supported ™ fight and left by two others, a l! detited in solus of greenery, flowers, and strips of tappa. The centre man was to prepare the “yagona” (yangona) from the root of the kava plant (piper methysticum). VJf old the drink was prepared by young men and maidens chewing the root, but today it had been cleanly ground up ready for the water. After slight preliminary incantations the ground root was placed in the bowl, water poured on, and the whole was mixed by hand. Then came the straining with wisps of bark of rari to take out the grains of yangona wood. When all was ready a cocoannt cup was filled and taken to His Excellency, and then to the scribe who sat in front of him This was necessary to formally finish up that brew, for the highest chief could not drink even after K ■ Excellency. And so in imagination the drinking started afresh with the highest chief, tho others, when he had finished, clapping hands and shouting “Maca, maca” (It is empty, it is empty). The first taste of yangona is certainly not pleasant. Soapsuds some have likened it to, but it certainly cleans tbe palate, and taken in moderation is said to be healthv. Perhaps flavor has been lost in modern method of preparation, for Forbes, in his ‘Two Years in Fiji,’ says of the drink prepared by grating the diy root into cold water: “ Such stuff compared to real kava (chewed) is like gooseberry wine to champagne, or Rosolio to Lafitte.” THE QUEEN VICTORIA MEMORIAL. No sooner was the drinking over than tho “ cambua ” was performed over again, this time accompanied by material presentations from each chief of gold in Imperial purple velvet bags, totalling about £1,600, being subscription from the various provinces to erect a suitable memorial to “Tui Viti” (Queen Victoria.). Then came His Excellency's reply, in tbe course of which he read the following extract from the late King Cacobaa’a letter“ We, Tui Viti and the leading chiefs of Fiji, do cede Viti unconditionally to the great and lovin'* Queen, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, having every confidence that she will rule Viti with justice and kindness, and for our benefit.” NATIVE DANCES. And so ended the official part, but it was evident there was more to come, for preparations could be seen everywhere for the native club and spear dances “ meke incites.” Women were putting the lak touches of color or greenery on husbands or lovers • tho band, with wooden drums, were alreadv sounding the assembly ■ and soon the warriors, bedecked in many-patterned suing, with bodies blackened or vermiliion-colored * bright with gay colors and fans, and armed with spears or clubs, arrayed themselves cn the rara, and, the meke meke commenced. It was a dance of comparatively slow movements and turnings, clapping of hands, .without much use of the voice, and had

not the life and movement of a Maori i»ka. 1 ori,l, it- was of great interest, and the charm was aided by the associations and the general beauty of the scene, and Wo left Baa thoroughly pleased with the day’s outing. Wednesday, the 25th, found us at Levuka° . THE OLD CAPITAL, sweetly nestling at the-ba&of the hills which form so pretty a background. rTo right and left were native villages on the coast line, and some passengers went one way. some the other; but experiences were much alike —houses such as we had seen at Ban, curios* traits, bright-colored flowers, and a native schoolhouse; these and other items of interest took up the morning.- In the afternoon we were fortunate enough to have secured a boat and made oar way to the coral reef. And here lot me say every visitor to. these coral islands should take some old boots, old dresses, or pyjamas, row out to the coral reef and paddle. Unfortunately, we were not so prepared, and we could only envy tho dark-skinned native as he darted bero and there to catch us fish, to gather special bits of coral. But even from the beat the charm was great: water so clear that what one guessed to be a depth of 2ft turned out to be sft, bright blue and green fish darting here and there, great purplecolored star fish, ever-varying coral with busy polypes and swarming with other life, and, oyer all, the sunshine. Who can wonder if amidst all this we thought not of Dunedin in June and July? We had to leave it all, for the Waikare was to return that evening to Suva. Thursday mormngj tho Coronation Day, broke bright and fine, and wo started early for the armed native constabulary “ rara,” ' for the “ drinking in ceremony,” in gay spirits, little dreaming of the sad news to come. King Edward VU. was to-day to be installed as “TUI vm,” OR KING OF FIJI. The first ceremony consisted of the preparation and drinking of yangona. as had been done at Bau, but it was varied by the roko* or chiefs taking the oath of allegiance and by tho returning to these chiefs after they bad so done of their “ staffs of office.” It was an interesting sight to see each come up, repeat the oath, sign, if he could, or touch the pea as the Administrator signed, receive his staff, and again seat himself; and one could not help the mind wandering back not many years to the time when the ancestors, perhaps, of some of these very men were the wildest and most cruel of cannibals. The closing scene was the reading of THE KING’S LETTER to the rokos by the Administrator, the last paragraph of which said: “ You are my children, I will be your father, stern to them that do wrong, kind and loving to them that do right, always seeking what may be for the lasting happiness of you and yours.” From about ten o’clock, till two the road along the beach from Suva to the armed native constabulary “rara” was alive with a moving crowd iff natives, all making for the. “rara.” Wives accompanied their husbands, carrying greenery and flowers. Clubs and spears were in evidence everywhere, and it was clear great preparations were about to be made for THE GREAT MEKE MERE. Under the trees on the slope up to the rara they gathered, and decoration and coloring proceeded apace. Up on the rara the crowd began to gather, and very cosmopolitan it was. Here a group of coolies, all in Sunday best; women covered with necklets of silver and gold coins, and each vicing with other to show the greatest profusion of silver armlets and anklets—all happy, partaking of the simple food they had with them. Further along, the Fijians were seating themselves in numbers. Some Rotumans could be picked ; some Samoans; and, of course, the inevitable European. The armed native constabulary were drawn up in the centre, under native officers, coming smartly to the “ shoulder ” like one man. The band Were there, too, and the whole scene was bright and pleasing; the people gay and happy, and eagerly expectant of great things—such mekes as had never before been given—when a whisper went round, and messengers were noticed on the move, and quietly the whole assembly began to file away. THE BAD NEWS HAD COME. His Excellency had put off the Government House ball, but had left it to the chiefs to go on with the native dances if they wished. But, said they: “ Our jovs are your joys, our sorrows your sorrows *; and mekes and fire-walking were all “off.” A continuous crowd thronged the road back to Suva, made all the more interesting by the natives in dancing costume, and armed with spears or clubs, for none stopped to take off paint or decoration—all streamed into town; The question as to what the passengers were to do under the altered circumstances was happily solved fcy the captain of the Waikare and the agent of the U.S.S. Company, and great credit and many thanks are due to the. company for the generous way in which provision was made for our future entertainment. Next day (Friday) we had the pleasure of

A HUGE PICNIC in the ship’s boats up the Tamavua River. Very pleasant was it rowing past the mangrove banks, and excellent was the provision for lunch in the banana plantation. It was new to most of us. and very enjoyable, but we found further pleasures awaiting us on our arrival back at the steamer. Better news had come of the King, and so we could enter heartily into the pleasure of band music by the native boys of the Roman Catholic mission, and enjoy tbe screams of delight from the assembled natives when the ship let off the fireworks in tbe evening. Not least interesting w t as the frifcd entertainment this day. when wand exercises were performed, and Moody and Sankey—‘Rock of Age*.’ ‘Onward, Christian soldiers’—and finally ‘God save the King ’ were sung on the top deck by Wesleyan mission children. VISITING THE MISSION STATIONS. Saturday the company had arranged fur a trip in launches up the Rewa River, the sugar and banana plantations, the village of Rewa, and the E-oman. Catholic and Weslevan mission stations being chief points or interest. In the evening a ball was given on deck, and was a great success. On Sunday morning some visited the native Jubilee Church, and very interesting it was. The bells were novel, consisting of parts of tree trunks dug out, but having fairly thick sides, from which sound was produced by beating with wooden sticks. Two such drums were used, and a curious kind of time was kept. The preacher was a native pioneer missionary, and he reminded one of the Maori for graceful attitude, noble face, clear eye, expressive movement of hand and head, and evident power of elocution. Monday morning saw us en route to Beuga, the home of the fire-walker. The U.S.S. Company’s agent had neither spared effort nor money to prevent our disappointment.

FIRE-WALKING we had come to see, and he was determined we should see it, and we did. We had to land from boats, Carried on to the beach by natives, and many a snapshot was taken as the" 150 were conveyed in many varied ways to the shore, and much was the laughter and amusement. It was a lovely beach, with its _ fringe of cocoanut trees and pretty native village and many-colored shells, on which one could have spent hours of pleasure. But time was shorth and it was the great fire-walkers—the “ Vilavilairevo ” —we bad come to see. The spot was very pretty, surrounded on all sides by cocoanut trees. A space had been cleared, a pit formed, several cords of dry firewood were blazing away, and on the top we saw the stones. Was there anything peculiar about these? No; apparently they were ordinary volcanic rock—probably andesite. It would be some time yet before they were hot—the firewood had to burn down—and so we strolled to the village. On returning we fougfl preparations about to start to get the stones ready for walking oh. The unbumt timber had to be pulled out the stories levelled. For this purpose the natives used poles with supplejack-like loops fastened on one end, which they placed over the logs, twisted them to tighten, and then dragged out the burning timber. The deeper pieces were brought up to the surface by a curious lever action, the end of. the poles being placed down under the log, and a long, thick tendril carried round the back of the poles was used as a kind of rope, being manned by natives, who shouted as they hauled away and levered up the logs. Then, with the same jtoles, the stones were levelled off

for talking. Meanwhile, tranches had been brought, and food packed in green baskets for cooking. On inquiring for the fire-walkers, wc "learned they were in hiding, and would appear at the right moment. But we had two medical men with us, and we wanted an examination before and after the walking. So out of hiding one fire-walker was brought, and was submitted to inspection. Shining with cocoanut oil and dressed in the fantastic gaiety we bad seen donned for the “mekes,” he appeared, 'but all that could be discovered was that his feet were very cold and his pulse Then came the last of the levelling, and simultaneously, with weird droning, two by two the fire-walkers suddenly appeared from the surrounding bush, walked into the pit and round the circumference. So soon as they had completed the circle the other natives threw the branches into the centre, and on these the walkers sat down, as close to one another as possible, and queer indeed was the sight as the smoke from the green leaves began to ascend and shroud the sitters in a veil of mystery. There only remained to toss in the food and cover the whole with earth, to be opened next day, when the food would be cooked. On examination by the medical men after the walking had been performed, the feet were still cold ; not a hair on the leg was singed ; the dry fern anklets worn were not even scorched, and the only apparent difference was a rise in pulse from 90 to 120. We tri"d the stones, and could not bear our fingers on them. Some dragged a stone through the water to the ship’s side, and reported it hot even then. How to explain it all we knew not. We were satisfied at having seen, and were grateful to the Union Steam Ship Company for having provided us, the novel entertainment under even more pleasurable circumstances than fixed in our programme. Soon our darkskinned porters were selecting their live freight for the boats, and amidst laugh and jollity we hastened aboard.

AN UNEXPECTED ENTERTAINMENT. The run to Suva was short, and a quiet evening—the last before leaving—was expected ; but once more the thoughtfulness of the Union Steam Ship Company’s agent found for us further pleasure. Samoans are not a few in Suva, and a large number of these, both men and women, gaily decorated, had been sent on board to sing and dance. And thus ended up a trip which will live in the memories of all of us— A TRIP OF DELIGHT, SUNSHINE. AND PLEASURE. And there arc many who, if they get the opportunity, will be there again; and to those who were not with us, all one can say is Don’t miss the chance if it ever comes to you. It only remains to say we did what we could to express our appreciation of the kindness of Mr Duncan, the company’s agent in Suva; and on the voyage back Captain Gibb, the chief officer (Mr Renaut), and the chief steward (Mr Beveridge) received unanimous votes of thanks. But not only to these were we grateful, for all, from highest to lowest, did their utmost to add to our pleasure.