Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/111

THE PEOPLE. 85 uable present to a Chief from whom he seeks a favour, it will be re- garded with chilling indifference, although it is, of all things, what the delio-hted superior most wished to possess. I well recollect how an old Chief on Lakemba received from my lips an important piece of in- formation, just arrived from Mbau. I communicated it under the im- pression that no one else in his village knew of it. His manner strength- ened this belief; for, by simply naming the source of my report, I secured his ear, and, as I proceeded, his jaw fell, his eyes dilated, the muscles of his face worked strongly, and long before I finished, the old man was a very impersonation of admiring attention. The effect was complete, and I paused at the end of my story, expecting the usual out- burst of exclamation ; but, to my mortification, the old Chiefs features relapsed into their wonted placidity, as he coolly replied, ' The messen- ger of the King had just finished telling us this news as you approached the house." The conduct of Absalom towards his brother Amnon is exactly de- scriptive of what often happens in Fiji : " And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated. Amnon." I have oflen witnessed such outward calmness and apparent indifference, when within — " Slumber'd a whirlwind of the heart's emotions." I was personally acquainted with the chief parties in the following trag- edy, which serves to illustrate the characteristic just noted. Tui Wai- nunu, the principal actor, was himself my informant. In the year 1851, his cousin Mbatinamu of Mbua was slain. Shortly after Mbatinamu's death, part of a tribe from the district where he. fell visited Tui Wainunu with a present of pottery, and were entertained by him for several days. One day, when the party from Na Mbuna were conversing with Tu Wainunu, their Chief, ignorant of their entertainer's connection with Mbua, mentioned Mbatinamu, saying that he was a fine young Chief. Tui Wainunu's suspicions were at once excited, and he, pretending en- tire ignorance of the deceased Chief, made several inquiries about him. This had the desired effect. The Mbuna Chief gave ISIbatinamu's his- tory, concluding thus : " I struck him to the earth, and was deaf to his entreaties for life." After describing how the corpse lay, he added, " I turned it upon its back, cut out the tongue by the roots, and ate it myself ! And see this cord, by which my chest key is suspended from my neck ; it was braided of the ornamental tufts of hair cut from his head." " And did you eat his tongue 1 " calmly asked the listener. " Yes," was the reply, " I killed him, and ate his tongue." The guest