Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . of those horrid talking, joking, laugh-ing instruments. It was made to prattle for us to hear, andI felt that sometimes in a long evening, a hearty Englishguffaw might break the solitude, and give a sense of com-panionship, even if it came from a machine. I was kindly invited to go over the lighthouse, and wouldhave much liked to do so, and to have a little talk with a manwho interested me so deeply; but the time was short, and Iwas anxious to obtain a sketch, I had selected a view from the shore, but the coral sand waswhite as the driven
Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . of those horrid talking, joking, laugh-ing instruments. It was made to prattle for us to hear, andI felt that sometimes in a long evening, a hearty Englishguffaw might break the solitude, and give a sense of com-panionship, even if it came from a machine. I was kindly invited to go over the lighthouse, and wouldhave much liked to do so, and to have a little talk with a manwho interested me so deeply; but the time was short, and Iwas anxious to obtain a sketch, I had selected a view from the shore, but the coral sand waswhite as the driven snow, and in the glare of the sun it wasblinding, so I had to retreat to the shelter of some trees. The trees were new to me, the colouring was new to me,every tiling was new and strange, but the birds were strangestof all. These wild things had no fear ; they let us stroke themand pick them up, and one sat on my shoulder all the time Ipainted, giving a gentle peck to my hair or my ears now andthen, wdth its long pointed beak, or stretching round to. 2o6 Islands Far Away. examine my lips. It remained with me when I went on board,and as we neared the next island I threw it up in the air, andit flew away and settled on the water close to the shore, swim-ming comfortably about on the crest of the waves. On the lonely coast of \^aiiua Mbalavu, where dark forbiddingcliffs, undermined at the base, rise from the deep blue waters,we saw the sacred bird of Fiji* flying in pretty curves anddipping lightly into the sea. It is a strikingly beautifulcreature, glistening white, with one long snowyf feather in itstail, from which it gets its name, Lawe ndua (one feather). There are many stories about it, and it flits gracefullythrough all the mythology of the country. No one dared totouch it or harm it. It might at any time have been thehome of a deity, for when a god wished to travel, his spiritentered the bird, and its wings carried him over the sparklingsea to where he wished to go. Even n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidislandsfaraw, bookyear1921
