Fiji and the Fijians . pleaded on his behalf that his valour has noartificial supports,—no helmet or steel breast-plate to shield him fromdanger, and no fleet horse to carry him from it,—that he opposes anaked body to the dangers of the battle, all this is admitted; yet, afterall, the low estimate at which he rates life negatives his valour, androbs the mass of the people of all claim to be regarded as acting underthe impulse of nobler emotions. In addition to mutual suspicion anddistrust, that pride which rules in every savage nature, keeps the Fijianat war. He likes to take anothers property
Fiji and the Fijians . pleaded on his behalf that his valour has noartificial supports,—no helmet or steel breast-plate to shield him fromdanger, and no fleet horse to carry him from it,—that he opposes anaked body to the dangers of the battle, all this is admitted; yet, afterall, the low estimate at which he rates life negatives his valour, androbs the mass of the people of all claim to be regarded as acting underthe impulse of nobler emotions. In addition to mutual suspicion anddistrust, that pride which rules in every savage nature, keeps the Fijianat war. He likes to take anothers property without asking for it, andto trample the owner under foot with impunity; and hence goes towar. Few of this kind care for glory, and fewer still are susceptibleof a noble or really patriotic impulse. They make pretensions tobravery, and speak of strife andbattle with the tongues of heroes ; yet,with rare exceptions, meet the hardships and danger of war with effemi-nate timidity. CHAPTEE IY. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, PRIESTS BOWLS. It is pleasing to turn from the horrible scenes of barbarous war, tothe gentler and more profitable occupations of peace, of which the tillageof the soil seems always the attractive type. At this point there is observable one of the strange and almostanomalous blendings of opposite traits in the Fijian character. Side byside with the wildest savageism, we find among the natives of this groupan attention to agriculture, and a variety of cultivated produce, not to hefound among any other of the numerous islands of the western is observed that the increase of cultivated plants is regular on recedingfrom the Hawaiian group up to Fiji, where roots and fruits are foundthat are unknown on the more eastern islands.* The natives raise large * Pickerings Races of Man, p. 153. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCE, ETC. 47 quantities of taro, yams, kawai, banana, kumera, and sugar-cane. Rowsof maize and ti-tree, and patches of tobacco, are often seen, and thepapua-a
Size: 1840px × 1358px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorwilliams, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1859
