Part 11

We must hurry on to Vavau, the most northerly of the three main groups of the Friendly Islands. Here the main island is hilly, with high limestone cliffs and ridges. It is the top of a vast mass, heaved up by volcanic agency from the depths of the Pacific. So we have Vavau Sound, studded with islands and protected from the sea by cliffs and headlands running out on either hand. Here is a view of the Sound; it may remind us 9 perhaps of a Scottish loch, until we notice the coconut trees covering the hills and coming right down to the water’s edge. Gradually the Sound narrows, and after a rather abrupt turn we enter the landlocked harbour of Niafu, with its little wharf and 10 its group of houses buried in the trees. There are palms and bananas here as in the other islands, but Vavau is especially the home of the orange. The whole country round is a mass of orange trees, and the ripe fruit strews the grassy roads on which we walk. The picture is spoilt somewhat, especially near the town, by the style of the buildings. There is timber from New Zealand on the jetty, and the native grass and reed hut is giving place to the wooden house with galvanised iron roof, which is ugly and not well suited to the climate. The importance of Vavau lies in its deep and safe harbour, in a part of the world where such are somewhat rare.

Many of the islands of this part of the Pacific are often inaccessible, even for small vessels. Here we have an interesting method of landing on them; the figure in the water is a native 11 postman, who is swimming from our steamer to the island and carrying the mails sealed up in a water-tight can. The natives are fine swimmers and as much at home in the water as on the land.

From Vavau, we turn north-west, and after crossing about two hundred miles of open ocean reach the Lau Islands. These are the easternmost of the Fiji Islands and are, in Fiji, often spoken of as the Windward Islands. Here is one of the islands of this group: notice the white line of the fringing coral reef. 12

In this part of our voyage we follow the course of the Trade Wind, as the Tongans have done for many generations, and the missionaries after them. As a consequence of the easy voyage down wind, the Tongans have had great influence on Fijian affairs in the past; they even established for themselves a kingdom, in the Lau Group, shortly before Fiji was taken over by Britain. Great navigators though they were, they had less skill than the Fijians in boat-building and carpentry; so they came to Fiji for their canoes. In Fiji canoe-building is a hereditary occupation. In former times they used great twin canoes, with a deck between; but now the usual form is a single canoe with raised sides and a 13 solid outrigger, and carrying mat sails. This canoe is capable 14 of great speed, though it does not look very safe. It is giving place now to boats of a European type.

The Fiji Islands, the most important group in this part of the 15 Pacific, are really the higher parts of a great bank in the ocean; the bank is fringed by reefs and coral islands, and in the middle is the Koro Sea, like a vast lagoon, with a wide opening to the south. On the western side of the bank are the islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu; these names, in the Fijian language, mean respectively the “Great Viti” and the “Great Land.” These two islands are by far the largest in the group. Both are volcanic, with high mountains and long rivers, and are quite different from the ordinary coral island.

We touch first at Ovalau, a small volcanic island eight miles by six. It lies some fifteen miles off the nearest point of Viti Levu, from which it is separated by shallow water much interrupted by reefs. Here is a view from our steamer of one end 16 of Ovalau. We are approaching Levuka town, which stands on a narrow strip of lowland hemmed in by a wall of mountains. Levuka 17 was one of the earliest settlements of the white traders, and at a later period was the capital of the group; but we can see that there is little room for expansion. So the capital has been transferred to Suva, on the southern side of Viti Levu, where the conditions are very different. Before leaving the island let us have a glimpse of the western side. Here we see a typical coast 18 village; across the narrow strait is another island, and beyond it in the distance rise the heights of the mainland.

On our way from Ovalau to Suva we pass near the tiny islet of Bau, which is so near the mainland of Viti Levu that we can walk almost dry-shod from one to the other at low tide. Bau, small as it is, was once the stronghold of the most powerful of the Fijian chiefs from which they long effectually resisted both Tongans and Europeans. The importance of Bau has departed, but its chiefs are still looked up to as the real aristocrats of the group, and their way of talking is the standard for classical Fijian.

After passing Bau and the wide mouth of the Rewa River, we reach 19 Suva, which lies on the margin of a wide bay almost enclosed by the protecting reef which we see in the foreground of the picture. Inside the reef is a spacious and safe anchorage for small or large vessels. Here is a panoramic view of the harbour; 20 and here are some native vessels; notice that their cargo 21 consists of bananas. The houses are partly hidden in the trees, so that the streets are very different from our own. Here is a street scene: notice that the women in the foreground are Hindus. 22 The Fijians are darker in colour than the Tongans, and many still retain their strange national habit of wearing their hair frizzed out in a huge mop. They differ from both of the two great races of this part of the Pacific, from the Friendly Islanders whom we saw to the east and from the Solomon Islanders whom we shall presently see to the west. In fact, the Fijians are almost certainly a mixture of these two races, with the addition of yet other strains.

We should expect that the mode of life and the history of the Fijians would differ from that of the inhabitants of the small coral islands, since they have for their home a comparatively large area of land with marked geographical peculiarities. Viti Levu is over eighty miles from east to west and sixty from 23 north to south. It is a land of mountain and river; whereas the ordinary coral island has no rivers worth the name. A range of rugged mountains runs along the northern coast, at no great distance from the sea, the highest point being Mount Victoria, which rises to 4500 feet. It is from this part of the island that the long rivers Rewa and Singatoka flow to the south-east, and a smaller stream, the Ba, to the north-west. The third largest river, the Navua, rises in other heights towards the south of the island, which we shall visit later. Here is a scene on the Navua. 24 The Rewa is long and winding, but it is navigable for shallow draught steamers for about forty miles from its mouth. The whole of the south-eastern part of the island is wet and was originally covered with forest; but the coast-lands to the north-west, under the lee of the mountain ridges, are drier and more open, as we may judge from this picture. We can look across the forest, with 25 its dense undergrowth of fern and creeper, and narrow trails along which we walk, and see in the distance the outlines of 26 the jagged mountains of old volcanic rock. There are no active volcanoes in the island, though hot springs in many parts show that volcanic activity is not yet entirely exhausted. Here are 27 some of these springs.

Rivers have been an important element in the making of Fijian history, since it is in the fertile soil of the river deltas that the crops of the natives flourish best. Breadfruit and coconuts, together with the roots of the taro and the spindle-shaped yam form their principal food. The taro grows best in the wet districts, or where there is running water; so that the natives have long been familiar with simple methods of irrigation. These staple foods are supplemented by many kinds of wild tropical fruits and roots. The natives have pigs and fowls, but these are kept for state occasions; fish is the only usual non-vegetable food. The Fijians are clever fishermen, whether using the spear or arrow or net, or the fish-fences which they build in the estuaries of the rivers. In fact, the island provides them amply with all the food which they need, though sometimes there is a shortage as they lack means to preserve it. The taro and yams are stored in earth-covered heaps, as we store potatoes; and some of the vegetable food supply, especially breadfruit, is buried in pits and used in a partially fermented state. Here we have a 28 formal presentation of food, yams and turtle and the _yangona_ root for making the native drink called here _yangona_ but elsewhere _kava_. It is a typical Fijian scene.

The native is content to cultivate his patch of land with simple implements, such as the digging stick, and is not anxious to work harder than is necessary for his own needs. He is not very ready to work for a European employer, while all his traditions, and the communal system under which he lives, make it impossible for the industrious individual to accumulate any private property.

The cultivation of produce for export is due to the initiative of Europeans, and is largely carried on by the East Indian immigrants who now form a very considerable element in the population. We have already noticed the Hindu women in the streets of Suva. For a few years, during the American Civil War, Fiji exported excellent cotton, but at the present day its export trade consists practically of sugar, copra or dried coconut, and bananas. The sugar-cane is a native of the wet and fertile lowlands of the deltas; but the cultivated kinds are mostly introduced from elsewhere. We find the cane fields covering much of the land along certain parts of the coast, and on the river deltas of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu; and these are connected by nearly two hundred miles of steam tramways, which carry the cane to the centrally placed mills. Here is a view across the Rewa, 29 showing a sugar mill; inside the ugly buildings we find the elaborate European machinery for extracting the juice from the 30 cane. Here again we are in the cane fields with Indian women at work. It is all unlike the native agriculture, though it is very 31 profitable to Fiji, since sugar is the most valuable of all its exports.

The coconut industry is far more picturesque; it is chiefly confined to the south side of Vanua Levu and to Taveuni and the other islands. The nut is grown for its kernel, which, when dried, is called copra, and yields the coconut oil which we use for various purposes. The tree grows everywhere in this region, but does not flourish in Viti Levu owing to an insect pest which seems peculiar to that island. The nut has always been much used by the natives for food, but it is now carefully cultivated for the production of copra. Here is a plantation with the bungalow 32 of the planter; notice the hills in the background; here again is a tree carrying its fruit in curious clusters just below the 33 crown of leaves. The natives, who are excellent climbers, swarm up the taller trees to gather any fruit which is wanted in a not 34 quite ripe state, as for eating or drinking; but the bulk of the nuts, intended for copra, are allowed to ripen on the tree until they drop off. The ripe nuts are then cut open, the kernels 35 extracted and dried in great trays and put into bags for shipment.

We will now leave the coast for a short trip inland, to see something of the country and the people in their more primitive condition and less mixed type. We travel up the Rewa river for about twenty miles, and there turn westward across country. We have left behind the steamer and the European trader and planter and plunge suddenly into a strange and wild world. At our first stopping place we are entertained with a display which reminds us that a very short time ago the Fijians were fierce fighters and cannibals. This is the _meke_ or native war-dance and song, now only an interesting survival. First we see the dancers in the distance, entering the village in two lines. Their 36 faces are hideous with lampblack and vermilion, and they wear strange-looking dresses made of leaves. They go through many complicated evolutions. They rush towards us, stabbing with their long spears and swinging their formidable clubs, and as suddenly rush away. They stamp and charge and shout and imitate all the movements of a battle. Finally they subside quietly. 37 The women also have their special dance, of which we have here a picture. The war-dance is now only a game, but it was far 38 different before our occupation of the islands. Though we still utilise the old tribal organisation, and govern them through their native chiefs and councils, we have forced the Fijians to understand that fighting, raids and massacres are an amusement 39 no longer permitted. The constabulary, which we see here with their rifles and maxim guns, serve generally only in the coast regions, where they represent a form of law and order which the Fijians readily understand; but even in the interior certain Fijians, less formally organised into a sort of rural police, keep effective order. Our little trip might not have been so safe or pleasant forty years ago.

We now leave the Rewa and strike across country south-westward. Our road is a mere track, and often we find streams to be crossed but no bridges to help us. To our carriers this does not matter, as they are not overburdened with clothes. They plunge in and 40 wade through the shallows, and they will carry us if necessary. On the wider streams canoes must be used, or a bamboo raft lashed roughly together. We may notice that our carriers have slung our baggage on poles carried on the shoulders of one or two men; this is the regular native means of transport, for carts are only used near the plantations, and by Europeans, where roads are available. In the old time the women would have carried the burdens, as it was thought beneath the dignity of a man to carry anything but his weapons.

Presently we reach a village where we discover an interesting native industry, the making of mats from a kind of reed. Here 41 we see girls at work weaving the mats, and in one of the native huts they are making baskets from the same material. The Fijians are clever at this work, and both mats and baskets are important articles in their daily life. They also used to make a peculiar but very artistic pottery, such as we do not find in the islands of Polynesia further east; but this art is no longer practised 42 except in a few places, and for the production of pots for domestic use.

Perhaps the most noteworthy native manufacture is that of _tapa_ cloth for their dress. _Tapa_ is made by beating out the fibrous bark of the paper mulberry, and sometimes of certain other trees. The art is known in Polynesia generally, and the Fijians, like many of the other islanders, also print the cloth in various patterns and colours.

We continue our march, passing many villages. Here is a corner in one of them; notice the native huts of grass and reeds, very 43 different from the wood and corrugated iron of Suva. Notice, too, the coconut palms growing all around. Here again we have 44 a more elaborately finished house, in the old style; and here is the interior of the home of a chief; it looks somewhat 45 unfurnished to our eyes, though it is cool and airy. At the next village the natives receive us with a solemn presentation of food and _yangona_ in a rather dark hut. Here they are making the _yangona_. Finally we reach Namosi, a picturesque native 46 town perched up in the mountains. The town lies in a kind of pass between steep rocks, the “Gate of Namosi,” as we see in the 47 picture. The inhabitants are summoned together by the beating of the town drum, a hollow log of wood, and receive us sitting on the ground beneath an ancient tree. We have reached the limit of 48 our journey; but short though it is, it has given us some idea of the real Fijian as he is to-day, away from direct European influence.

The conditions in the other large island, Vanua Levu, are much the same as in Viti Levu. The island is long and narrow, but with the same irregular mountain structure, the same vegetation and the same contrast of wet and dry on the opposite coasts. We may remember that Ovalau, off the coast of Viti Levu, was much concerned in the past with the politics of the neighbouring mainland; the same was true of Taveuni off Vanua Levu. The dwellers on the rich coastlands of the larger islands led a very uncertain life between the raiders from the sea and the wild tribes of the interior. The sea was always the more important factor in the life of the whole group of islands; it united, while the land more often divided. We have already noted its importance in the relations of Fiji and the Friendly Islands.

Before we leave Fiji it is interesting to note that the line which divides East from West passes through this group, cutting the island of Taveuni into two; so that in one part of Taveuni we can stand with one foot in the East and the other in the West, or in other words, one foot may be in a place nearly twenty-four hours ahead of that occupied by the other according to Greenwich Time.

The Fiji Islands are governed as a Crown Colony--the only Colony so governed in the Pacific; and hitherto the Governor of that Colony has also been High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, that is to say, he has been in charge of most of the scattered islands in the Pacific which are more or less under British protection. We have already visited one of his charges, the Friendly or Tongan Islands. The number of these islands under the High Commissioner is very great, but unfortunately there is no regular means of communication between Fiji and most of them. Every month a steamer starts from Auckland, calls at Tonga Tabu, Haapai and Vavau, and then goes on to Levuka and Suva, exactly along the route which we have followed. But from Suva this steamer goes on to Sydney in Australia. Once a month, too, a steamer starts from Sydney, along the same route but in the reverse direction, to Auckland. With none of the other islands is there any direct means of communication; and when the High Commissioner wishes to visit them he must go round in a warship. We will accompany him on one of these tours, in order to see something of the other British islands.

Starting from Suva we steam a little west of north, along the chain of the Ellice and Gilbert Islands, which reaches quite up to the equator. These islands are all coral atolls; Funafuti, in the Ellice Group, serves as a type of all the rest. It consists 49 of a lagoon, about twelve miles across, roughly circular and surrounded by a reef; the top of this reef appears here and there above water in the form of coral islets, the largest of which is Funafuti proper. The whole atoll is merely the coral-rimmed summit of a huge mountain rising from the great depths of the Pacific. Funafuti is a complicated atoll; many of the smaller islands of the Fijian group are volcanic, and show a different kind of structure. In these we sometimes find the old crater filled with water, while the remnants of the slopes of the volcano form the shores of the lagoon. A good instance of this structure is Totoya, towards the south-east of the Fijian group. 50 Here the enclosing rim rises to over a thousand feet, but the sea has broken through on the south and formed a lagoon. The entrance is almost closed by the coral reef which encircles the whole of the outside of the island. Coral reefs grow everywhere if the water is shallow enough, so that we find reefs not only around the coasts of the islands but growing on banks which are isolated and entirely covered by the sea.

North of the Ellice Islands are the Gilberts, arranged also in rows from south-east to north-west. They, too, are coral atolls, with a thin soil which will grow nothing but coconuts and screw pines; none the less, on coconuts and fish a fairly dense population supports itself. They are, as we might expect, less civilised here than in the larger islands which we have visited further south.

From the Gilberts we turn south-west to visit another great row of islands, the Solomons and New Hebrides. On our way we pass Ocean Island, a small dot isolated from the rest of the Gilbert Group. Here we find, in addition to the natives, a considerable number of Europeans. The island is being exploited commercially, but instead of making copra they are digging out valuable deposits of phosphates. Here are some of the natives, and here is 51 a picture showing the excavation of the phosphatic coral rock. 52

Ocean Island has for us a further interest. North-west of it lies Nauru, where also phosphates are obtained. Nauru belongs to Germany, and the dividing line between the British and German spheres runs between the two islands. If we follow the line south-west, we see that it cuts through the Solomons and then turns sharply west to New Guinea which it divides roughly into halves. Germany shares with the United States the Samoa Islands, north-east of Tonga, but her main sphere of influence is in this western area.

On our voyage to the Solomons we pass another curious island, or rather group of islands. This is Ongtong Java, where the people differ from those of the islands which we have visited up to this point. We are approaching a region where we know little of the character and origin of the natives, a region more backward and savage than any other part of our dominions in the Pacific.