Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-04-11
CnIEFS OF TUE rEEJEE ISLANDS


Pie chiefs pay great attention To the
dressing of their heads; and, Tor tho pur
pose, all of them have BARRIERS whose sole
occupation is The care Of their masie RS
heads. The duties of these funciionarie s
Is he'll To he OF so sacred nature tha,
their hands are tabooed from AL OIL her
cnpio, ment; and they are not even per :
in'ited to feed themselves. 10 dress The
mead OF chief occupies several hours;
ana The hair is made 10 spread out from
the head on every side. {, distance thu,
IS often eight inches The beard, which
IS also carefully nursed, en- reaches the
breast; and when Fcejeean has these
important parts well dressed. he eAhil its
oegr'e Of conceit that is not "a little a.
mus'ng. in the process Of dressing the
hair, It is well anointcd with oil. mixed
win carbonaceous black, until il is com
p'e'eiy satueaied. The baroer then takes
the hair pin. which is long slender rod
whnh Is made Of tortoise shell or bone.
and proceeds 10 twi,ch almost every sep.
ara'e mar. This causes il 10 rrizzle and
stand erect. The bush OF hair is then
trimmed smooth, by singing it, until II
has the appearance of an irnmense wig.
When his has been finished, n piece of
,aPa, so fine ms to resemble lis,ue.naner.
Is wound in light folds around il. 10 pro.
'ect the'hair from dew or dust. This GOV.
ering, which has the look of ,urban, is
ca led zala, and none bat the chiefs are
"ed to wearit: anv attempt 10 assume
TINS head-dress by a Kai-si, or common
person, would be Immediately punished
with de,th. The sola, when taken care
o. wiil last three weeks, or month and
inc hair is not dressed, except when it is
removed; but the high chiefs and dandies
so'd I'M allow day To pass without chan>
g'ng the sota. and having their hair nu,
IN order. The Fecjeeuns are extremely
chan geablc in their dispositions. Tbey
are fond oil Joking, indulge in laughter.
ana w'i'. ut one moment. appear to give
themselves up TO merrimeni, from which
they' IN an instant, pass TO demon-,ike
anger, which they evince by looks tina,
cannot be misundrrs. God b those who are
The subjects Of i, and part cul ,rly if they
i,, IN The power OF the enraged native.
heir anger seldom finds vent in words, |
oui mas the character Of suiIenncss. A
CHIEF. when offended, seldom speaks
WORD. but puts sticks in the ground, 10
Keep the cause OF his anger constantly in
ms recollection The objects Of it now
understand that il is time 10 appease him
~ propitiatory offerings, If they would
avoid The bad consequences. When these
nave been rendered 10 The offended d,pni-
ary' he pulls up the sticks as 4 signal
hat ne is pacifed. Ia preparing for war
.nd during It's continuance, they abstain
rom the company Of women; and there
we're instances, RELAXED 10 me. where this
!bs'inence continued for several wears. I
he religion Of the Feeieeans, and The
'raciIces which are founded upon il, diff '
er materially hom those Of the lighter e
o'ored Polynesian people The tradi- @
lon, gwen by The natives. Of The origin Of I
ne various races is singular and not very
iatterlng 10 themselves. All are said to |
ave been born Of one pair Of frs, po
'en's. ne Fecj'c was b,rn first, but {
,cted wickedly, aud wac LiaoL L..
lore, received but little clothing. Tonga
was next born; he acted less wick ediy.
vas whi'er and had more clothes given
him. White mcn. or Papalingis, came
asst; they acted well, were white, and
lad plenty Of clothes. They have ira
iition of great A,od or delugc, which ,
hey call Walavu-!ern. Their account,
II 1t is as follows afer the islands had
been peopled by the first man and woman.
great rain took place. by which they
we're finally submerged; but before The
highest places were covered by the wa.
lers, Two large double canoes made their
appearances: in one If these was Roko.
ra, the god of carpenters; in the other
Roko'a, his head workman, who picked
up some OF the people, and kept them on
board until the waters had subsidized al>
er which they were again landed in the
island IL is reported that, in former
lines, canoes were Always kept in reads
Tess against another innnda;ion. The
persons thus saved, eight in number, were
landed at Nibenga. where the highest Of
gods is said 10 have made his firs! appear
,nce.
An ARGUMENT AGAINST RAILROADS. -