Fiji and the Fijians . well battered, as if by service, about the blade,which was daubed with red ochre. He took his place with perfect easeat the table, being kindly received by Mr. and Mrs. Lyth, who presentedhim to us. His manners were modest and gentle ; and he left us evenmore pleased with him than we had been with Tui Levuka. Here wasa good opportunity of showing how the general appearance of thepeople belied their true character. This Chief was all that CaptainErskine described, and the Missionaries had received many valuablefavours from him. But the Captain was greatly astonished when
Fiji and the Fijians . well battered, as if by service, about the blade,which was daubed with red ochre. He took his place with perfect easeat the table, being kindly received by Mr. and Mrs. Lyth, who presentedhim to us. His manners were modest and gentle ; and he left us evenmore pleased with him than we had been with Tui Levuka. Here wasa good opportunity of showing how the general appearance of thepeople belied their true character. This Chief was all that CaptainErskine described, and the Missionaries had received many valuablefavours from him. But the Captain was greatly astonished when heheard of the part which this man of modest and gentle mannerstook in the horrible tragedy, a few weeks before, when the Mbutonipeople were at Mbau. The next day the Missionaries took their visitors to Mbau, to thelarge temple, and showed them the stone, all bloody with recent use,where the heads of multitudes of victims had been dashed, when pre-sented to the god. Captain Erskines account of the visit is VIWA AND MBAtr. 439 Speaking of the temple, he says : The building stood on a raisedplatform, and was surrounded by a few trees of graceful foliage, underone of which lay the large wooden ? lali, or sacred drum, beaten atfestivals and sacrifices; and overshadowed by another was the placewhere the bodies of the victims are dedicated to the Jcalou or evilspirit, pevious to their being handed over to those who are to cookthem for the banquet. The lower branches of the tree had evidentlybeen lately cut away to the height of eight or ten feet from the ground ;and we were told that this had been done after the reduction of Lokia,a town belonging to Rewa, a few months before, when a mound of nofewer than eighty corpses, slain in battle, had been heaped up on the spot. We came at last upon an irregular square, on which stood a building, probably one hundred feet long, the * strangers house, stilloccupied by the Mbutoni people, and we entered it by a door in thecentre. T
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