Footnote 687:[ (return) ]
Th. Williams, op. cit. i. 189.
Footnote 688:[ (return) ]
Th. Williams, op. cit. i. 197.
Footnote 689:[ (return) ]
Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. iii. 100. Williams also says (op. cit. i. 167) that the proper time for performing the rite of circumcision was after the death of a chief, and he tells us that "many rude games attend it. Blindfolded youths strike at thin vessels of water hung from the branch of a tree. At Lakemba, the men arm themselves with branches of the cocoa-nut, and carry on a sham fight. At Ono, they wrestle. At Mbau, they fillip small stones from the end of a bamboo with sufficient force to make the person hit wince again. On Vanua Levu, there is a mock siege."
Footnote 690:[ (return) ]
Th. Williams, op. cit. i. 198.
Footnote 691:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, "The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xiv. (1885) pp. 27 sq. On the other hand Mr. Basil Thomson's enquiries, made at a later date, did not confirm Mr. Fison's statement that the rite of circumcision was practised as a propitiation to recover a chief from sickness. "I was assured," he says, "on the contrary, that while offerings were certainly made in the Nanga for the recovery of the sick, every youth was circumcised as a matter of routine, and that the rite was in no way connected with sacrifice for the sick" (Basil Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 156 sq.). However, Mr. Fison was a very careful and accurate enquirer, and his testimony is not to be lightly set aside.
Footnote 692:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, "The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xiv. (1885) p. 26. Compare Basil Thomson, The Fijians, p. 147: "The Nanga was the 'bed' of the Ancestors, that is, the spot where their descendants might hold communion with them; the Mbaki were the rites celebrated in the Nanga, whether of initiating the youths, or of presenting the first-fruits, or of recovering the sick, or of winning charms against wounds in battle."
Footnote 693:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, op. cit. p. 27.
Footnote 694:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, "The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xiv. (1885) pp. 14-26. The Nanga and its rites have also been described by Mr. A. B. Joske ("The Nanga of Viti-levu," Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, ii. (1889) pp. 254-266), and Mr. Basil Thomson (The Fijians, pp. 146-156). As to the interval between the initiatory ceremonies Mr. Fison tells us that it was normally two years, but he adds: "This period, however, is not necessarily restricted to two years. There are always a number of youths who are growing to the proper age, and the length of the interval depends upon the decision of the elders. Whenever they judge that there is a sufficient number of youths ready for admission, a Nanga is appointed to be held; and thus the interval may be longer or shorter, according to the supply of novices" (op. cit. p. 19). According to Mr. Basil Thomson the rites were celebrated annually. Mr. Fison's evidence as to the gross license which prevailed between the sexes after the admission of the women to the sacred enclosure is confirmed by Mr. Basil Thomson, who says, amongst other things, that "a native of Mbau, who lived for some years near the Nanga, assured me that the visit of the women to the Nanga resulted in temporary promiscuity; all tabus were defied, and relations who could not speak to one another by customary law committed incest" (op. cit. p. 154).
Footnote 695:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, "The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xiv. (1885) pp. 14 sqq.; Basil Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 147, 149.
Footnote 696:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, op. cit. p. 30.