Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/209

RELIGION. 179 ill Mi tm 11 lar god can have no access to him where he has neither temple nor priest. The sacred insignia are a long-toothed comb, and a long oval frontlet of scarlet feathers. Wishing to hear from one of the fraternity an account of their in- spiration by the god, and suspecting that any inquiries of my own would be evaded, I got the well-known Tonga Chief, Tubou Toutai, to call into my house a famous Lakemba priest who was passing by, and question him in my hearing. The following dialogue took place : — " Langgu, did you shake yesterday ^ " " Yes." " Did you think beforehand what to say 1 " " No." " Then you just say what you happen to think at the time, do you 1" " No. I do not know what I say. My own mind departs from me, and then, when it is truly gone, my god speaks by me." This man had the most stubborn confidence in his deity, although his mistakes were such as to shake any ordinary trust. His inspired tremblings w^ere of the most violent kind, bordering on fury. Gods are supposed to enter into some men while asleep, and their visit is made known by a priest's ,. -^' '^ COMB. peculiar snore. There are various methods of divination used in Fiji. One is by a bunch of cocoa-nuts, pretty well dried. Having given the message of the god, the priest continues, " I shall shake these nuts : if all fall off, the child will recover ; but if any remain on, it will die. He then shakes and jerks the nuts, generally with all his might. An easier mode is by spinning a nut on its side, and watching in which- direction the eye points when again at rest. This method is not confined to priests. Some priests, when consulted, sit on the ground, with their legs stretched out, and a short club placed between them. They then watch to see which leg trembles first : if the right, the omen is good ; if the left, it is evil. A Chief, wishing to ascertain how many of a certain number of towns would espouse his cause, consulted the bete, who took as many short reeds as there were places named, and gave each a name. When they were set in the ground, he held his right foot over each, and every one above which his foot trembled was declared disloyal, and all the rest true. Some chew a certain leaf, and let the fact of its tasting^ bitter or sweet determine the question at issue. Some pour a few