FROM EREBUS TO ELYSIUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 63

FROM EREBUS TO ELYSIUM.

By a Banker.

Amongst the most notable instances, perhaps, in the world's history of the sudden transformation of almost an entire race from a state of the most desperate and savage barbarity to a condition of refined civilisation, the record of the wonderful metamorphosis of the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands is probably the most remarkable.

Though dwelling in a land upon which Nature has lavished her charms with bounteous hand, according to it a fertile soil and a delightful climate, clothing it in a dazzling garb of floral beauty quite startling in its luxuriance, and even providing a complete and effective substitute for the great " staff of life" in tho priceless breadfruit, which grows so abunlantly in this lovely garden of the earth, yet at one time, perhaps, of no spot on the surface of the globe could the words of the poet be more appropriately quoted: —

" Where every prospect pleases,

And only man is vile." For scarcely more than 50 years ago theso natives were sunk in the lowest depths of "the ' most profound and bestial barbarism and savage, brutal cruelty. Though, like the entire human race throughout the ages, whether civilised or uncivilised, taught or untaught (and jurely not excluding those few who in these closing days of the -.vorld's history are trying their best to make themselves believe that there is no God and that they have no soul), these barbarians held a firm and distinct belief in a future existence on the other side of the grave, yet their tenets permitted them to indulge in savage brutalities, in degrading and repulsive orgies, and in -fierce, murderous ceremonies, perhaps unexampled in horror (with tho exception, perhaps, of the tortures of the Inquisition, and some other religious persecutions) in the whole history of man. And to crown all, th,eii" favourite food was the flesh of their own kith and kin, for these ruthless savages were amongst the most ferocious <vnd bestial cannibals who have ever sullied and defiled the fair face of our earth. When the supply of food was getting low, great wellarmed expeditions were organised, and their neighbours were attacked with the utmost feiocity, tho slain being then and there devoured, while the prisoners were reserved for nude cud gluttonous orgies of the most revolting kon-or. It is quite impossible fully to describe these rannibal atrocities; the recital would oe too loathsome and shocking, and the horrible dotails must be veiled in oblivion. For the whole scene is a disgrace &nd dishonour upon our commou humanity : the wretched bound aud gagged, awaiting their turn to be devoured ; the hungry and expectant savages gloating with longing and expectant eyes upon the disgusting and nauseous meal of which they were soon to partake, the hideous incantations and vile chants of the barbarian priests, all make a picture so gruesome and offensive that the description of it must be withheld. But all this is to be oitered, and these naked savages are to be civilised aud reformed, to abjure and regard with loathing and detestation their inhuman orgies, and to cast to the flames the hideous and repulsive images of wood, and stove, and feathers which they had imagined held in their power their destinies for an eternity. For a valiant baud of ministers of the Gospel of Christ, in obedience to the behests of their Master, who had commanded them to go into all the world and preach that Go3pel, had scorned the risk of being dismembered and cooked and eaten by a gluttonous savagery, and had boldly ventured upon the cannibal islands and unfolded to the heathen idolaters the wonderful story of the love of the Creator in giving His Son as a sacrifice for sin and a substitute for sinners, thereby offering to all who choose to avail themselves of it, a sure and certain inheritance to untold "pleasures. -And tho message sar.k into the hearts of even these vile and degraded specimens of humanity ; their idols were defiled and destroyed, their inlnmian feasts were abolished, the degradation of their women was suppressed ; aud the greater part of the nation were transformed into. law-abiding, decent and reputable citizens, clothed in decorous, modern, and florally-decorated costume, flocking Sunday after Sunday to the numerous churches and chapels of the land, and showing an example of sobriety, pure living, and straightforward honesty and integrity of a far higher type than that of vast numbers of professing Christians.