Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02
THE FIERY ORDEAL OF FIJI.

| THE FIERY ORDEAL OF FIJI.
| Inexplicable Performances Of Ma.
| tives in Red-HOt Oven.
| From the Worldwide Magazine.
The Island of Benga, where the fiery Or
deal takes place, was the supposed resi-
dence of some of the old gods of Fiji, and
was therefore considered sacred land.
Naturally, also, its chiefs took high rank.
| First of all, it is necessary to explain the
native lovo, or oven, in which the masawe
| root is baked. This oven is merely a more
o. less circular hole or hollow dug and pre-
pared in the ground, with a diameter Of
from eighteen feet to twenty-four feet.
The oven is next filled with rough logs of
irewood. piled up nine or ten feet. On the
logs are placed great number of water
worn stones, va wing in weight from eight
pounds or ten pounds to one hundred
weight. 1t may here be explained that the
| masawe is a Dracaena, with fibrous roots
| as large as yam, and full of sugar. These
| roots are baked IN the lovo for four days.
| The fire for the ordeal is lighted in the
| masawe oven before daybreak, and burns
| for several hours-that is to say, until all
| the stones on the top, big and little have
| fallen through ipto the hole and become
| almost white with heat. Then, of course,
| nothing remains but a quantity of charred
| embers and a few half-burned logs.
| In due time, the embers are dragged or
| fIshed out by means of vines attached to
long sticks, the end of the vine having 4
| running. loop which is placed over the log.
| The partially burned logs and embers
| having been removed. green sticks.
| eighteen or twenty feet long, are then in
| serted INTO the oven among the heaps of
hot stones, and using these as levers the
| stones are distributed evenly over the sur
face of the whole floor of the earth-oycn.
| Sometimes the heat is terrific that the
| operators are unable directly to manipu-
| late the levers themselves, so they arg
| compelled to rest the poles on the sides of
| the oven, and then pull on them by means
| of vine ropes. The Fijians who take part
| in this ceremony make for themselves out
| Of the broad banana leaf special kird
| of garment to shelter their bodies from the
| heat given off by the white-hot stones.
| When the big embers have been removed
| the wood ashes are swept away by means
of whisks fastened to the ends of long
| sticks, and then nothing remains in the
\ oven save the clean layer of glowing
| stones hese preliminaries, after the
| ire has burned itself out, occupy about
| half an hour, and then all is ready for the
ceremony itself. At a given signal the
performers, bare-legged and bare-footed.
| excepting for the anklets of dried fern
leaves. crowd into the pit and begin walk
| ing leisurely about as if on a fashionable
promenade.
Here is the narrative of a person who
witnessed the ceremony: Jonathan, a ma
| tive magistrate, led the way into the pit
closely followed by fourteen others. They
| marched round about the oven moving
slowly and leisurely, and treading firmly
| on the red-hot stones The spectacle held
me spellbound. Every moment / expected
my nostrils to be assailed with the smell
| of burning human fesh but it was not so;
| and as l looked in the face of the men
strolling about in the lovo, could see no
emotion whatever depicted, but merely the
| inscrutable impassivity of feature common
to many savage races. Some of the by
| ISLANDERS threw bundles OF green leaves
and branches into the oven, and then i'm
metiiately the men inside We're half hidden
| in the clouds of steam that arose from the
Kissing, boiling sap. Handkerchief were
also thrown in, and afforded an unmis-
! taxable proof. that there was no decep-
| tion.' Before these lace trifies reached
the floor of the oven they were alight and
almost consumed by the great heat.
marched out Of the inferno, and We're
promptly examined by the governors
| commissioner. Not only was there not
| the least trace of burning, but their
anklets. which were of dried fern leaves,
and therefore extremely infiammable, were
not so much as singed-"
Jonathan himself was closely cross-ex-
amined by the government officials
presented whom he stood In great awe
and he declared with perfect candor,
There is no trick Why should there be?
and my forefathers have done this thing
for generations, long before the white man
came into the islands. Some of US may
not believe the legend of the Fairy Chief
Moiwai, but do believe that 1t has been
given to my tribe to pass unframed at all
times through the masawe oven" An
other official eyewitness declares ''the
men had not anofted themselves with any
preparation whatsoever Traders, mis-
the ceremony cannot explain it, and some
have endeavored to DO the thing them
selves with the most horrible and dis
astroUS results.
more's aid-de-camp, is contained in the
following: 81 venture to think that the
ordinary mortal who visits tropical chimes
has no idea of the amount of heat the ma
tiyes can bear on the soles of their feet.
Let any one put his hand upon a rock or
object on which the tropical sun has been
playing for hours, and the result WIN be
that he will find himself extremely
anxious to withdraw II as speedily as pos
sible. The native, however, can go all
day on the rocks and not feel the heat
In fact. he has on the soles of his feet a
natural sort of leathery substance nom
conductor of heat-perhaps an eighth of
an inch thick. He can even peel off the
skin of the soles OF his feet and yet feel
ever. in a letter to the writer, directly
contradicts the inference here conveyed
III we accept this theory he says In
effect, 1.-THE thing excites no wonder. 1t
IL not. however. the case that the natives
feet are so insensble. have often seen
the hardest of natives, crossing a short
extent Of the shingiy bed of river in the
hot sunshine. compelled to- run of and cool
their feet in the stream. being utterly un-
able to bear the heat of the sun-warmed
stoneA" And Lord Stanmore's testimony
Is conclusive. In his opinion the thing is
simply inexpiieable, and q better theory
will have to be found than the callcusness
of the performers feet. But even grant,
ing that the naked feet of the Fijians do
become somewhat hardened in the course
of years, is 1t to be supposed that they
cyn walk leisurely about barefooted on
white-hot stones, pressing their cuticle on
to the glowing surface with all the weight
Of their bodxf