The Hawaiian gazette., 1869-01-06
A Voyage to the Fuiis.
NUMBER TWO.
Written for the Gazette.

OAAAANy AANANAAb6 AOaoO ASoSahSiCdf II
outward appearance, a huge barn, but in tn,
interior, it was decidedly comfortable. Their
were no partitions, and the whole of tn,
floor, with the exception of an excavated fire
place in the centre, was spread with q thicl
layer of fine mats, that sunk to the step, ant
were delicious for a tired man to repose on
The sides of the house were beautifully wat
tied with reeds and ornamented with parti
eolored sinet, braided from the fibre Of the
cocoanut husk. The uprights were stout
cocoannt logs, handsomely smoothed and
polished, and also ornamented with sinet
The house itself stood within an enclosure,
formed of cocoanut logs with reeds, about
fifteen feet high, with small entrance, capa-
BILE of admitting but one person at a time.
In the yard, which was in extent about a
quarter of an acre, were magnificent bread
fruit trees and towering cocoanut palms, be-
sides various other beautiful trees peculiar to
Pickering was well-to-do-he owned q tract
of land, which he roughly estimated was
two thousand acres in extent, and owned
also the two or three hundred people that
lived on it-men women and children-for
the common people were serfs. He had
twenty wives, exclusive of the Mariana or
queen, his head wife. This was the status
of Charley, an ignorant runaway sailor-a
Sydney "beach-comber''-who had somehow
drifted ashore in these beautiful islands, and
getting into favor with the King of Rewa,
had been made prince and ruler.
When we entered, the shay y-bags," as Char
ley termed his wives, were sitting about in
various parts of the house, engaged in va
rious occupations. Some were braiding sim
ct, others making mats, and one was plait-
ing hat from the pandanus leaf. They
were all young, and as to features, quite
goodlooking, but quite dark Their only
clothing was the Hk,t, braided affair, made
of the inner bark of a tree, about six inches
broad, and worn around the middle, with
fringes that extended half way down the
thighs. They all appeared cheerful and were
chatting, laughing gaily and quite noisily.
After we were seated on the soft, yielding
mats, a few words were spoken to one of
them by Charley, when she went out, and in
few moments returned with basket, in
geniously braided from the green leaves of
the cocoanut, in which were dozen of the
young nuts. These she proceeded to open,
with dexterous tap on the end, removing
just enough of the shell to make It convent
ent to drink the delicious liquid which ma
ture has deposited within. These she pre-
sented to us, one each, kneeling gracefully
as she did so. While we were enjoying
for the first time, to me-this refreshing
drink, the head wife of our host entered.
She was tall, quite fair for a Fijlian, and
walked with the true air of native nobility.
The moment she appeared, the other women,
who had previously been SO chatty and live
ly, became suddenly silent, as in the presence
of superior, and applied themselves with
extra diligence to their work. Charley in
troduced her to us, as she came and seated
herself beside him, with the observation
"Boys, this is my Moll," apparently dis
tinctive title from that of shay bags" which
he eapplied to the other members of his harem.
These latter were now addressed by the
Madam in few short, sharp words, and they
Immediately dropped their several employ
ments, and while one attended to the fire
which in Fiji house is never allowed to go
out-others prepared fish, taro and bread
fruit for cooking. Their style of cooking
struck me as novel. On the fireplace, which
as l mentioned before, was an excavation In
the centre of the house, and which was nice
ly lined with stones, was three immense
earthenware jars, vase-shaped, lying on their
sides. Into one of these was placed the fish,
with a small modicum of water, and then
the mouth, which was about four inches
across, was closed with fresh bread-fruit
leaves. The same process was followed with
jar or pot. Then came the yams. These
were small-about six inches in length, and
one inch and a half in diameter, and were
placed to roast on the embers Of the fire. /
watched all these preparations closely, not
only with the curiosity of young fellow,
for the first time in strange land-and how
very strange that land wasl-but with the
keen sense of hunger that naturally resulted
from sixteen mile pull up the river "Have
smoke?' says Charley. Forthwith, two of
the dark-skinned houris produced some leaf
tobacco, drying which by passing 1t rapidly
over the Goals, they proceeded to crush 1t in
their hands; then rolling up a small portion
in little square pieces of banana leaves, they
handed one to each of US, and presented
coal of fire with which to light the selslka,
as they term these "cigarritos." The Fiji
ans do not use pipes, but smoke only the
mild and comparatively harmless sel,fka.
After these were discussed, Charley shout
ed, Mama ma angonal Ma ungonia lewa"
"Chew ava, young girls" as it may be rem
dered in English. In came dozen young
girls, none of them over twelve years Of age,
who seated themselves in a semi-circle in
front Of us. A large root of the narcotic
plant so generally used in the Pacific Islands
called eaUa by the Samoans, Gaca by the
Hawaiiaus, and cngbna by the Fijiians-was
brought in and cut into fragments. Each of
the girls, taking her portion, proceeded to
stuff her mouth with the root and to masti-
cate the same with all imaginable industry.
Immediately in front of the chewers was
placed large shallow wooden bowl, made
Of a beautifully grained wood. Into this,
the girls each dumped the chews as they were
ground to the proper consistency-and they