CORONATION CELEBRATIONS IN FIJI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12403, 12 July 1902, Page 2

CORONATION CELEBRATIONS IN FIJI.

>r » By KdiTII SkAIUE (iItOSSMASK, M.A. FIRE-WALKING AT MBENGA. 'J he greatest " draw" amongst the Fijin celebrations was the vilavilairevo, or fire walking, Some of the passengers fror Austalia had come almost entirely for th purpose of scing it. As a spectacle it i not remarkable, but it is something in th nature of a miracle, so that there was ver great disappointment when the official pci formanco at Suva was stopped by the new of the King's ilbitss. Mr Duncan, th manager of the Union Company at Suva made every effort to prevent the tourist _ returning home disappointed, and on Satin j 'ley it was announced that he had mad 3 private arrangements with the chief of th s fire-walkers to have the "miracle" a 5 Mbenga. The passengers were taken off ii j the Kia-Oi'a, and carried ashore through th' shallow water by the natives. The fsmok of the fire could be seen some distance awa; , as the Kia-Ora, got near Mbenga. Yv examined the " oven" at our leisure, a there was an hour or more to wait befori tho preparations were completed. It wa ( circular pit about 15ft or 'so ncrora ( situated in a palm grove close to a litth |. stream. In the pit were great branehc , Hazing away, and tho heat was so fierci , that it was impossible to stand near foi more than a minute or two. Stones froir t tho rocks and shore were piled upon till I wood, tho_ flames were leaping amongsl them, and in <--omo parts they wore red hoi | While we were waiting one of the stone. l . exploded and fell in pieces out of tho oven ( About' 200 Ettopcans gathered round in t ! circle, just far enough olf to prevent beinj scorched. Several natives sat up in trees and in (lit palm branches to get a good view. A number of brawny Fijians came (Out from (he trees and hauled out the big logs, raising thorn by means of long pi!os"at the end ot which were uooros made of a fores! creeper like our supplejack. This noose w ! a* thrown round some projecting branch and the whole log was hauled out with the peculiar chants and deep "00-00, ali-h-h" characteristic of the people. Next the poles were placed in between the stones, and by a very ingenious method they were turned over and the pile reduced to a level. The fire-walkers now made their appearance, well oiled with eocoanut oil and decorated with fringe sulus and massive wreaths .of leaves and flowers, but othorwiso naked. Dr Fullton examined closely the feet and hands of one of the fire-walkers, but could detect nothing on them. The 12 Fijians then atepped on the smouldering stones, walked round them the whole circle, and then left the oven. Other natives now threw green branches on, and the firewalker? entered the oven again and this lime sat down oil the stonc-s. More green boughs were thrown on, and a dense smoke arose. The fire-walkers jumped out of the thick cloud somewhat hurriedly. Their faces during tho performance looked " intense," and they walked rather quickly. The green lioiighs wore smouldering around them, but neither their skins nor their solus were injured. They walked about amongst tho people and had their photographs taken. One of them afterwards carried me through the sea to the boat. I tried to test the heat of a stone on the oven, cooler than those, farther in. but it was too hot to do more than touch it for an instant with the tip of the finger. Several passengers (including myself) brought away bits of the hot stone as mementos. They wore placed in split cocoaliuts, or suspended m green withes to be carried, and partially cooled by dipping them in the stream. Ono fact, of which tho most sceptical must be convinced, is that the fire is real fire. Tho I'ijians brought baskets of draeena roots to he roasted on the stones after the firewalking was over, heaped on more leaves, and covered it over with earth, their ordinary method of roasting. Hut even so, we saw some smoke still rising as we left -Mbenga. Tho vilavilairevo does not seem to he a ceremony or to have any religious significance in Fiji. Only ono tribe in the entiro group possesses this extraordinary power. Sir James Thurston, while Governor of FiiU had the ceremony performed by men of tho tribe, 111 the presence of 500 spectators. He also had translated into English tho Fijian legend of tho origin of fire-walking. In the olden days, says the legend, the men of Navakesese, a village of Mbenga, used to meet at abure to listen to a famous storyteller, to whom each is turn gave gifts of food One day it was the turn of a chief. Xm k'alita, who promised to dig out, a great eel from a hoie. But when re sot to work ho had to dig and dig . a long time. before ho could roach anything. He then put ill Ills arm, and pulled out first some hibiscus kaves, then some tapa. Digging the hole Mall deeper lie felt the hand of a man, tlt^n us throat, and at last hauled him out by tlifl arm. J Tho man, whose name was Tui Namoliwai clapped hands in front of Opalita, in the fashion of a Fijian suppliant, and begged In ■ A"?., , ' >e spared, promisine: •nil Qalita that ho would be. hk god of war or of tiqa (a game Of Mil), of sailing or of women. But Tui Qalita said he could do and get all ho wanted by 'himself, and must give Namoliwai to tho story-teller TO BE EATEN. Tho captive god then promised him the. power of being roasted in an oven for four days without being hurt. Tho oven was prepared: Nninoliwai descended into it, and called <o Qalita to follow. He did so and remained unhurt. Namoliwai's lifo was snared and ho granted to Qalita and his descendants for ever the flower of walking ill rough the oven without receiving anv injury. " One of the first, t-i witness fire-walking in he islands was Jl.ss Tenira Henry, of HonolUlU, but hei account was received with incredulity, and the Polynesian Society refused to guarantee, its truth. From a identities point of view the most remarkable exhihition was that at Rarotonga, when Colonel Gudgeon, the well-known British Resident of the island, and throe other I'.uroprans, followed by 200 Maoris, Walked across burning stones. All but, one were unscathed, and this man got badlv burned'. Colonel Gudgeon says that, the sensation was like that of elcctric shocks. Half an hour after ho had crossed the priest throw a green branch on the oven, and in a quarter of a minute it was blazing. The interest of this occasion arises from its disproving altogether two theories by which people often try to explain away the performance. The power has nothing to do with hardness of iho fert, nor with any special preparation, for Colonel Gudgeon, whose . authority is above dispute, mentions that the soles of his fcot were particularly tender.' The Maoris claim that their ancestors performed the feat, but said that it had long gone out of use. Scientific investigation proved it, to be widespread in India, Japan, and Mauritius. In India jt is a religious ceremony, connected with tho worship of Kali, or of Draupati, and it is also performed by the priests in Japan. Harding suggests that it may have origi- I natcd among the Egyptians, and have been one of their religious "mysteries, acted like the Christian "mysteries" in the Middle Ages. 11l that case it would be a representation of the judgment of departed spirits, who are said to anoint themselves, and in pure white garments, holding a palm branch, to cross over inextinguishable fire. In some places the fire-walkers still carry green boughs in their hands. Ho also connects it. with tho ordeal by fire, practised in the Middle Ages. Fire-walking is as near as we can get to a miraelo in our days. I have, however, seen a cook often pick up a lump of red-hot coal in her hands and throw it back on to tho fire without suffering the slightest injury, and I have heard of similar feats pel-formed by people accustomed to furn.i-ces. Tho most we can say about firewalkillg is that it is a matter of faith, or an example of the power of mind over matter, and when v.-e have said that no ono is any the wiser than before. It romains still an unexplained mystery. LEAVING THH LANDS OF SUMMFJR. Tho vilavilairevo and the trip- to Mbenga wore so absorbinglv interesting that it was generally agreed that Mr Duncan, the deservedly popular manager of the Union Compnny at Suva, had kept the best for the last. Mbenga, with its high, wooded cliffs and sea coast walk under tropical forest trees, is well worth a visit for itself alone. The most comical incident of the j whole oruise was being carried ashore from I tho boats. A swarm of natives waded some distance out in the shallow water, and as a boat camc in they surrounded it. Half a dozen Fijians seized eagerly hold of each lady, exclaiming " Mamma, Marama! " and folding their arms enticingly to signify how nicely they would do it. The scene from the beach was most amusing. One lady sat perched up aloft on a native's shoulder, mortally afraid of slipping down that welloiled height. Another clung with both arms round her carrier's neck, another bostrode a dusky back in equestrian fashion; a fat gentleman clung with arms and with legs to another. A dainty damsel sat enfolded in a Fijian's; arms. We had not the choice of a certain lady, who was being wooed by several natives to be carried to land at Tahiti. "I'll have one with a singlet," she declared, firmly. These Mbenga men, however, were, dressed only in fringes and eocoanut oil. And that reminds mo of what happened after the mekes, when the native? sold their elaborate sulus as curios. A

, gontleman coming on board with one, tin lady lie showed it to naively remarked A native wanted to soli me one, font a: lie did not seem to have anything else 01 I thought I had better not buy it." The* anecdotes, perhaps, savour rather stronglj of the South Seas. ' The' evening after the vilavihiirevo, tin last in I lie tropiee, closed with a Samoai an dance on dock. These Samoans nut tc • e . Slmme-all our action songs" and dances, im iliey dance with every limb and oven imiselo vibrating down to tlieir finjrcr*tipß, and crooning melodiously as ihey move , 15 . ' l " 0I ' ll , in ? tlie Waibro left tlu he islandr of palm and 'flowers and sun, ami ry sailed homoward to Now, Poland. M she moved off, her deck lined with passengers, , vs anil the wharf eowtled with nearly all Siiva'r | 16 nllito and coloured populace, three cheers ■ a| were given for. Mt Duncan, who had S n flt ed : t3 no pains to make the stay in Fiji the succcM ir _ that it was. Sir Duncan replied bv calling .] e for three cliecrn for the Waikare'and her lie {; ass «'BMS, which were given heartily from at ' c wharf. The p.ihli jiuiivo.4 played "Auld in syne.' Fresh excitement arose as we lie l> asswl ' the .Japanese man-of-war, where there <o , wci 'f TC'iowed (treelin'gs and waving of »y h: '! uh a " d of,handkerchiefs, for the .Tapane=e le had visited the Wailcare several times as J" 1 " 5 ' port. n,lt ' ' la: ' made friends on re especially among the ladies, tts ■ t ' a y , 0 /' tH '° wore "comparatively >3, !*«*•., ««I conveniently bo buried le 111 0 ™ VI0 ,";- W |lcn tlle y WCl '° P«s»ed, and C 5 we all' relui'ncd to, tlio upper ai, we ionnd , B ourselves between sea and sky on the wide w desert of the racilic, steaming onward into m midwinter. Heavy clouds of black lay along )e the horizon,, then dissolved in thick, misty st ™ n ", ~ e , soft >, wru ' m trade wind was left , far behind, ami a bitter south wind was 33 °y or tl,e dock and through the ship. n iJn Saturday, after breakfast, wo saw again a the shore of New Zealand. We were mg the Bay of Islands, with all its sleep peaks,'romantic, but bleak, and bare after ie the luxuriance of the tropics, ft rev mists, A. il'f 6 £ ''- ot l' inl: . rcsied against their |(| sides, lmt their outlines were sharply defined „ in ..old blue colour against the morniii" '• sky. j® The la?t few day? were well filled with ' I'mmomenti?. not so exciting as the picnics , in Fiji aiid native ceremonies, but agreeable duough to.pass away the time. During ,; the day the Snorts' Committee arranged 'trials of skill and strength, at ship's billiards, ' ship's quoits, "cock fighting," threading the needle, and ciearette races, moiikcy and " bucket, and similar pastimes. The last evening there was a performance of a breach of •j promise case, " Trial by Jury," and Saturday ' morning was tat;en up by Dr dc Clivo j 1 Lowo'ij songs, recitations, and ventriloquinl entertainments. Then came the farewell '{ speeehts. The passengers expressed their " thanks lo Captain Clibb and Sir Duncan for | s their attention and ltindne?s at Suva, and thanVs were 1 also given to the chief steward " Beveridge). and to the whole o! ihe ' T attendants and crew. Xothing had been !' spared to- make the cruise a success, Tho 5 passengers, wore photographed on the upper 11 deck, and then gathered in groups, watching tlu- cpnst and having farewell chats with o their friends. On the whole, we were a? glad to. Ret back as we had been to start, and the cold blue shores looked as beautiful to our n eyes a3 tho loveliest islands of the tropics.