Morning journal and courier., 1889-11-27
JUSTICE IN FlJI.

The Court nouse-The MagIstrate-
 The CrImlnals-The Sentence.
 From the Cornhill Magazne.l
 The gala dresses are not little startling. Here is digni6ed old gentleman arrayed in a second hand tunic of marine, in much the same plight as to buttons as it's owner as to teeth; near him stands fine young vile lage policeman, whose off oial gravity is not enhanced by the swallow tail coat of a nig- ger minstrel; while the background Is taken up by @ bevy of village maidens clad in gor- geous velvet pinafores, who are giggling af-
 ter the manner of their white sisters until they are fixed by the stern gray eye of the chief policeman, which turns their expres- sion into one of that preternatural solemnity
 they wear in church. The court house, a
 native building carpeted with mats, is now
 packed with natives, sitting cross legged, only small place being reserved in front of
 the table for the accused and witnesses.
 The magistrate takes his seat, and his
 scribe, sitting on the floor at his side, pre- pares his writing materials to record the sen
 tences. The dignity with which the old gen tleman adjusts his shirt collar and clears his throat is little marred when he produces HUH ulb po6O6l Wudt 6uOutu u0S0 b0oA Q pair of pince-nex, seeing that it was secured by a string around his neck, but is in fact a jew's harp. With the soft notes of this in- strument the man of law is wont to beguile the tedium of dull case. Bat, although
 the spectacle of Lord Coleridge gravely per- forming on the jew's harp in court would at
 least excite surprise in England, 1t provokes no smile here. The first case is called on. Reiterated calls for Samuel and Timothe pro- lnoa kxvo of aichfoor, and nineteen, who, sitting tailor fashion be- fore the table, are charged with fowl steal They plead 'snot guilty" and the owner of tho fowls being sworn, deposes that, having been awakening at night by the voice of a favorite hen in angry remonstrance, he ran out of his house, and after hot chase cap- tured the accused redhanded in two senses, for they were plucking his hen while still alive. Quite unmovsd by this strange tale, vatureba seems to listen only to the melan- choly notes of his jews harp; but the wit ness is chief and 8 man of influence with al, and period of awed silence follows his accusation, broken only by subdued twang- ing from the bench. But Vaturehas eyes
 are bright and piercing, and they have been fixed on the wretched prisoners. He has not the jew's harp is not capable of much ex-
 pression, it is with some interest we await the sentence. Suddenly the music ceases,
 the instrument is withdrawn from the mouth; the oracle is about to speak
 Alasl he utters but two words, "Vula
 tolu,n (three months), and there peals out a indignantly triumphant strain from the jews harp. But the prosecutor starts up with protest. One of the accused is his nephew, he explains, and he only wished Q | light sentence to be imposed. Three months
 for one fowl is severe; besides, if he has three months he must go to the central jail and not work out his sentence In his own district. Again there Is silence, and the jew's harp has changed from triumphant into thoughtful melancholy. At length it is | withdrawn and the oracle speaks again: 1 fsRoei tolun (three daYel