Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/206

176 FIJI AOT) THE FIJIANS. forming a feast of which all may partake. The portion devoted to the god is eaten by his priest, and by old men ; but to youths and women it is tabu. Strangers wishing to consult a god, cut a quantity of fire-wood for a temple. Sometimes only a dish of yam or a whale's tooth is pre- sented. It is not absolutely necessary for the transaction to take place at a temple. I have known priests to become inspired in a private house, or in the open air ; indeed, in some parts of Fiji, the latter is usually the case. One 'who intends to consult the oracle, dresses and oils himself, and, accompanied by a few others, goes to the priest, who, we will suppose, has been previously informed of the intended ^^sit, and is lying near the sacred corner, getting ready his response. When the party enters, he rises, and sits so that his back is near to the white cloth by which the god visits him, while the others occupy the opposite side of the hure. The principal person presents a whale's tooth, states the pur- port of the visit, and expresses a hope that the god will regard him with favour. Sometimes there is placed before the priest a dish of scented oil, with which he anoints himself, and then receives the tooth, regard- ing it with deep and serious* attention. Unbroken silence follows. The priest becomes absorbed in thought, and all eyes watch him with unblinking steadiness. In a few minutes he trembles ; slight distor- tions are seen in his face, and twitching movements in his limbs. These increase to a violent muscular action, which spreads until the whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the man shivers as with a strong ague fit. In some instances this is accompanied with murmurs and sobs, the veins are greatly enlarged, and the circulation of the blood quickened. The priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and actions are considered as no longer his own, but those of the deity who has entered into him. Shrill cries of ^^Koi au ! Koi au ! " " It is I ! It is I ! " fill the air, and the god is supposed thus to notify his approach. While giving the answer, the priest's eyes stand out and roll as in a frenzy ; his voice is unnatural, his face pale, his lips livid, his breath- ing depressed, and his entire appearance like that of a furious madman. The sweat runs from every pore, and tears start from his strained eyes ; after which the symptoms gradually disappear. The priest looks round with a vacant stare, and, as the god says, " I depart," announces his actual departure by violently flinging himself down on the mat, or by suddenly striking the ground with a club, when those at a distance are informed by blasts on the conch, or the firing of a musket, that the deity has returned into the world of spirits. The convulsive move-