Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/146

120 FIJI iLND THE FIJLAJNS. going on a voyage parts from his friends by saying, " You stay and watch ; " to which they reply, " Yes, and you voyage." The parting kiss of the Fijians is peculiar, one smelling the other with a strong sniff. Equals do this on each other's faces. A Chief of lower grade will thus salute a superior's hand, and inferiors will embrace the knees and smell the feet of a Chief Shaking hands has been introduced by the Missionaries, and is in high repute. " Sa loloma" " My love to you," owes its origin to the same source, and is used by all the Chris- tians. When a canoe or canoes arrive at a place, — Somosomo, for example, — those on board shout out, " 0, aa ! " and put a messenger on shore, who goes direct to the King's house, to report their arrival. Having arrived, the messenger again shouts, " aa ! " and ascends the steps with his hands clasped, entering at a bidding from within. As soon as he is seated, the King's Mata welcomes him with the usual clapping, and says, " Good is your coming from Vuna," or another place, as the case may be. The messenger replies by clapping, and saying, " Good, with respect, is your sitting in a lordly style at Somo- somo." Several voices will then exclaim, " Report ! What is the report 1 " The orator is not allowed to stand, and the disadvantages of sitting are increased by his having to bow his head and body towards the Chief, and either clasp his hands or hold his beard. When fairly fixed, he begins by stating that his party were in their own land, and the thoughts of their Chiefs turned towards the Chiefs of this laud ; and they said, " Here are these pigs or yams ; why are they not taken, that the King may eat them ? Let a canoe be launched at once, that they may be taken." The messenger then proceeds, " We therefore were sent off, and we set sail, and the Avind was northerly, and, not long after, the clouds gathered and we had a squall, and then we had fine weather, and at last we got here, and found you Chiefs sitting together, and the gods ; and this is the end of my report, and that it may be accepted only." This kind of detail is generally wearisomely minute, and delivered in a tedious, slovenly, and irregular style. At one time, the speaker talks very rapidly ; then suddenly changes into a protracted drawl, sucking the air through his teeth, at intervals, with a hissing noise. As he warms, he gets his hands at liberty, but it is only to play with a straw, or, if out of doors, to pull up the grass near him. Tlie final sentence of this wonderful speech is accompanied by clapping his hands. The Mata, whose business it is to answer, often does so by saying, " Seven ! " to which the reporter respondsj " Eight ! " The Mata proceeds, " Let your report be favourably