PLAYTIME IN POLYNESIA

Evening Star, Issue 22106, 13 August 1935, Page 4

PLAYTIME IN POLYNESIA

EUROPEAN GAMES ADOPTED “ Tiie Maori has not borrow ed many of our games, save in a casual way,” write Elsdon Best. “ Cricket never seems to have been much favoured by Natives. Football is better liked, and many Natives excel at his game.” Well, the Maori team now touring Australia have already shown themselves among the finest exponents of the Hug by game, which is exceedingly popular among the natives of many of the Pacific islands. Perhaps things have changed since Eldson Best wrote his monologue, for to-day the traveller in the Islands will find many European games as well as football occupying the leisure of the natives, and cricket not the least popular. Although none of the other Polynesian peoples have attained the New Zealand Maori’s skill at Rugby football, the game is very popular in Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. It is played barefooted, with great gusto, but with rather too much individual effort and insufficient team combination. It is a fast game, but not one that would appeal much to New Zealand players, as grounds in the tropics are usually con-crete-hard, and days are too hot for pleasure. When, a few years ago, the crew of a New Zealand yacht visited the outlying island of Naniuka, in Fiji, situated on the fringe of the Lau district, and seldom visited by Europeans, the first advances made by the natives took the form, as. in olden days, of a chatlenge—but to cricket, not to war. The match took place on the village square, surrounded by the thatched huts of the Namukans, and shaded by the tall palms. The game was a trifle irregular, because most of the natives were inclined to sit down when fielding, springing up with great dexterity if the ball came that way. Indeed, their, fielding was sufficiently good to win them the day. As batsmen they showed a tendency to slog blindly. An untoward interruption occurred when a lean, agile rooster, pursued by a crowd of eager children, dashed suddenly across _ the pitch, and the chief remarked, smiling blandly: ‘‘Side out; we go eat that fellow henl” But at the luncheon interval he recanted, saying; “ That hen he run too fast!” Another amusing interlude was when a sturdy Fijian knocked tlie bottom two inches off his bat; sending for a cane-machetc. with a few deft chops he straightened the splintered end, and proceeded to play on. FAVOURITE DANCE. Another favourite pastime of the Fijian was found to be dancing—not only the traditional posture dances of the race, but also —and rather more popular—a piebald form of our own European dancing, based on the Victorian waltz and polka. Wherever tliis type of dancing, known as the “ tra-la-la ” was permitted, it was one of the favourite amusements; the young men and maidens frequently danced till dawn. But on some islands the chiefs prohibited it, regarding it as a disturbing symptom of these immoral and degenerate modern days. To a casual eye-witness it appeared harmless enough. At other islands northward from Fip the yachtsmen found cricket and football popular, and also cards. Indeed, on certain islands there was a positive mania for a simple card gam© known among Europeans as Casino, but to the natives as “ sweep.” Although they never seemed to gamble on the play, they had regular schools, playing from dusk to 10 o’clock, when curfew sounded. They _ played with incredible energy and excitement, fairly slapping the cards on to the mat which served as a table, shouting with laughter, and being urged on to greater effort by the spectators, who usually. Crowded round to watch. Highly esteemed were those players who could successfully cheat unobserved, and it was amusing to note that on. one island it was the native missionary’s wife who was said to be the cleverest at this departure. Even the little children of five and six would be seen constantly playing “ sweep ” with packs of dog-eared cards discarded by their elders. Visiting a native school, founded by a European teacher on the lines of one of our public schools, but now managed by Europeans, the yachtsmen found the boys at physical jerks, while football was a regular part of their routine, and cricket and wrestling very popular. A native version of football was frequently observed; it_ consisted 6f the young men standing in a ring, kicking into tlie air a cube of plaited pandanus-leaf. Tlie object was to keep this ball in the air as long as possible, at which the players were surprisingly deft. NOT GOOD AT BOXING. At swimming and throwing the cricket ball, at wrestling and at jumping, the natives were able to defeat the visitors, but at boxing they did not excel. Many had had good training, and, indeed, one or two proved pretty fighters, but were unable to stand punishment. At Funafuti yaclit-racing is held every King’s Birthday; the natives handle their 18ft cutters with great skill and boldness. The Polynesian children play a number of games common to European children, such as hide and , seek, and knuckle-bones, but on the whole their favourite pastimes were telling stories or swimming in tlie breakers or in the fresh-water pools inland. Their elders on several islands favoured a game not unlike deck quoits, or shuffleboard, consisting of throwing wooden or stone discs on to a slippery mat some distance away; the object was to leave ■one’s disc as close as possible to the end of the mat, and to knock away any of one’s opponent’s discs. A native schoolmaster, who had a weakness for chess, was a skilful and reasonably cunning' player, up to, but not above average. Draughts, too, were included in the repertoire. • Surf-riding in their outrigger canoes was the usual termination of a fishing expedition, and was accompanied by whoops of ecstasy as tlie canoe sped shoreward on the crest of a great breaker. But the curious feature to Europeans visiting Polynesia is that the greatest sport, and most exciting sport, that the islands have to offer, fishing in all its manifold and varied forms, does not appeal to the Polynesian, except as a method of obtaining food; he regards it as work, not play-