RELIGION. 183 The gods allow only old men to eat certain kinds of plantains. In some houses, the turban may not be worn ; in others, certain common words may not be spoken. The first fish caught in any creel may not be boiled, but must be broiled. To sit on the threshold of a temple is tabu to any but a Chief of the highest rank. All are careful not to tread on the threshold of a place set apart for the gods : persons of rank stride over ; others pass over on their hands and knees.* The same form is observed in crossing the threshold of a Chiefs house. Lideed, there is very little difl^erence between a Chief of high rank and one of the second order of deities. The former regards himself very much as a god, and is often spoken of as such by his people, and, on some occasions, claims for himself publicly the right of divinity. It is believed that gods sometimes assume the human form, and are thus seen by men, generally in the likeness of some one particular person. Anybody who thus meets a god, must afterwards, on passing the same place, throw thereon a few leaves or blades of grass, to show that he keeps the event in mind. In the eastern part of Fiji, if there is a god named after an island, it is tabu for its Chief to attach the name of the island to his official title. For this reason, the King of Lakemba is styled Tui Nayau, although Nayau is a very small island within his dominion. To the westward, this observance is disregarded. Festivals, apparently of a religious character, are observed after the seed yams are in the earth, and again on the offering of the first- fruits. On both occasions plenty of noise is made. I have heard the natives of Mbua shout, blow the conch-shell, and fire muskets for an hour together at these feasts. Former times required one or more dead men to be placed on the top of the first-fruits ; but the influence of Christianity has already abolished this. •Frequent reference has already been made to that peculiar Poly- nesian institution known as the tajpu^ or tahu^ or tamhu, with which the civilized world is so familiar, and the name of which has, to some extent, become an adopted word in our own language, and is found as such in our modern dictionaries. The principle of the tabu seems to be exactly the same in every part of the South Seas, the only variety being in its application, and in the degree of severity with which its infringement is punished. The institution, as it exists in Fiji, is the secret of power, and the strength of despotic rule. It aflfects things both great and small.
- See an interesting parallel in 1 Sam. v. 5.
