Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . d talkwere suspended. It was difficult to believe how recent werethe wild savage days, and that some of those now bending inmeek devotion had witnessed the most hideous of cannibalfeasts, and been themselves partakers. Presenth^ the leaves of the door again rustled and a manentered carrying an uprooted plant with thick jointed squatted near the door and waited. This was a presentof yangona root to the chief, and was to be used for brewingthe famous Fiji grog. The great wooden yangona bowl wasunhooked from the wall, where I had alr
Islands far away; Fijian pictures with pen and brush . d talkwere suspended. It was difficult to believe how recent werethe wild savage days, and that some of those now bending inmeek devotion had witnessed the most hideous of cannibalfeasts, and been themselves partakers. Presenth^ the leaves of the door again rustled and a manentered carrying an uprooted plant with thick jointed squatted near the door and waited. This was a presentof yangona root to the chief, and was to be used for brewingthe famous Fiji grog. The great wooden yangona bowl wasunhooked from the wall, where I had already noticed it hang-ing, and set in the middle of the floor; then preparationsbegan. 72 Islands Far Away. Yangona is a kind of pepper-wort {Piper methisiicum). It-grows in Fiji, but tradition ascribes its origin to Tonga. It issaid to have been brought over when the Tongans first acci-dentally discovered Fiji. It came about in this way: Night after night the Tongans had watched the sun dropinto the sea and a new sun take its place each morning. What. YANGONA ROOT. waste to lose all those beautiful golden discs ! If only onecould be captured before it sank, what a splendid ornamentit would make hung round the neck as a breastplate ! An adventurous chief and his wife with their young son setoff in their canoe in quest of it. They sailed away westwards,and all day long they kept on their course, but in the evening,beyond their reach, the sun vanished into the depths. Theywere not discouraged but still went on, sun after sun eludingthem. At last with the long exposure their boy began todroop and they were glad when they sighted land (Fiji). Theymade for it as quickly as they could, but arrived too late tosave him ; as they gently carried him on shore he died. Theyburied him there, and watered his grave with their tears. B}^and by a little plant sprang up and grew and flourished : . itwas Yangona, the delight of Fiji. Till lately the first process in the preparation of yangonawas f
Size: 2438px × 1025px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidislandsfaraw, bookyear1921
