Footnote 697:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, op. cit. pp. 15, 17, with Plate I.; Basil Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 147 sq. Mr. Fison had not seen a Nanga; his description is based on information received from natives. Mr. Basil Thomson visited several of these structures and found them so alike that one description would serve for all. He speaks of only two inner compartments, which he calls the Holy of Holies (Nanga tambu-tambu) and the Middle Nanga (Loma ni Nanga), but the latter name appears to imply a third compartment, which is explicitly mentioned and named by Mr. Fison. The bell-shaped hut or temple to the west of the sacred enclosure is not noticed by Mr. Thomson.
Footnote 698:[ (return) ]
Rev. Lorimer Fison, op. cit. p. 17.
Footnote 699:[ (return) ]
Basil Thomson, The Fijians, p. 147.
Footnote 700:[ (return) ]
As to these monuments see Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), Prehistoric Times, Fifth Edition (London, 1890), p. 127.
LECTURE XX
THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE NATIVES OF EASTERN MELANESIA (FIJI) (concluded)
Worship of ancestors in Fiji.
In the last lecture I described the rites of ancestor worship which in certain parts of Fiji used to be celebrated at the sacred enclosures of stones known as Nangas. But the worship of ancestral spirits was by no means confined to the comparatively small area in Fiji where such sacred enclosures were erected, nor were these open-air temples the only structures where the homage of the living was paid to the dead. On the contrary we are told by one who knew the Fijians in the old heathen days that among them "as soon as beloved parents expire, they take their place amongst the family gods. Bures, or temples, are erected to their memory, and offerings deposited either on their graves or on rudely constructed altars—mere stages, in the form of tables, the legs of which are driven into the ground, and the top of which is covered with pieces of native cloth. The construction of these altars is identical with that observed by Turner in Tanna, and only differs in its inferior finish from the altars formerly erected in Tahiti and the adjacent islands. The offerings, consisting of the choicest articles of food, are left exposed to wind and weather, and firmly believed by the mass of Fijians to be consumed by the spirits of departed friends and relations; but, if not eaten by animals, they are often stolen by the more enlightened class of their countrymen, and even some of the foreigners do not disdain occasionally to help themselves freely to them. However, it is not only on tombs or on altars that offerings are made; often, when the natives eat or drink anything, they throw portions of it away, stating them to be for their departed ancestors. I remember ordering a young chief to empty a bowl containing kava, which he did, muttering to himself, 'There, father, is some kava for you. Protect me from illness or breaking any of my limbs whilst in the mountains.'"[701]
Fijian notion of divinity. Two classes of gods, namely, gods strictly so called, and deified men.