Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/61

WJlR. 4:1 and wounded on the other side. Yet, altogether the total loss of life in consequence of war, amounting probably to 1,500 or 2,000 per annum, has hitherto told heavilj on the population of Fiji ; and perhaps the number here stated does not include the widows who are strangled on the death of their lords. The introduction of fire-arms has tended to diminish war. The fact that bullets are so promiscuous in their work, striking a Chief as well as commoner men, makes the people less dis- posed than ever to come to fighting, while their faith in the diviner qualities of their commanders is much shaken. Captives are sometimes taken, and are treated with incredible bar- barity. Some have been given up to boys of rank, to practise their in- genuity in torture. Some, when stunned, were cast into hot ovens ; and when the fierce heat brought them back to consciousness and urged them to fearful struggles to escape, the loud laughter of the spectators bore witness to their joy at the scene. Children have been hung by their feet from the mast-head of a canoe, to be dashed to death, as the rollings of the vessel swung them heavily against the mast. The return of a victorious party is celebrated with the wildest joy ; and if they bring the bodies f the slain foes, the excitement of the women, who go out to welcome the returning warriors, is intense. This custom of the women greeting the conquerors at once suggests a comparison with eastern, and especially Hebrew, usage. But among the Fijians, all that could be admired in the other case is brutalized and abominable. The words of the women's song may not be translated ; nor are the obscene gestures of their dance, in which the young virgins are compelled to take part, or the foul insults offered to the corpses of the slain, fit to be described. And who that has witnessed the scene on the canoes at such a time, can forget it, or help shrinking with horror from the thought of its repetition 1 Dead men or women are tied on the fore-part of the canoe, while on the main deck their murderers, like triumphant fiends, dance madly among the flourishing of clubs and sun shades, and confused din. At intervals they bound upon the deck with a shrill and terrible yell, expressive of unchecked rage and deadly hatred. The corpses, when loosed, are dragged with frantic running and shouts to the temple, where they are offered to the god, before being cooked. On these occasions, the ordinary social restrictions are destroyed, and the unbridled and indiscriminate indulgence of every evil lust and passion completes the scene of abomination. Modes of treating for peace vary. In some instances a woman of rank is dressed in highest Fijian style, and presented, with whales' teeth in her hand, to the hostile Chief, to procure peace. More generally