The ship was packed with passengers going to Fiji, as the sugar season had just begun. The first suggestion of the demoralization that accompanies living in the tropics was observed here. Whisky-and-soda, whisky-and-soda, all the day and a good part of the night, seemed to be the main "amusement" indulged in by many of the Islanders. This pronounced phase of tropical life does not apply to any particular white race—people of every nation travel the same road.
After six days' sail from Sydney the ship was angling about treacherous coral reefs, and before us were fields of bright green color—the sugar-cane; several buildings with smokestacks rising above—the sugar mill; one-story frame houses dotted here and there; the shores attractive with cocoanut palms, and just behind stretches of broad banana leaves, the tops of grass and leaf-built huts showing now and again through the foliage, were the unerring suggestions that the balmy tropics had been reached.
How savage these strange people, standing on the wharf at Lautoka, looked! The stiff hair was pointing upward for six inches from their heads, some so bushy that the bottom of a washtub would be none too large to accommodate the moplike, hairy spread. Tall, and of athletic build, their features flat and negroid, copper or black in color, with muscles standing out from legs and arms, their flesh shining from the frequent use of cocoanut-oil, and with a cloth about their waist extending to the knees, there stood the redeemed cannibals.
Their hair is black and kinky, but among groups of Fijis may be seen hair of a dark, reddish color, and, again, others are completely plastered with white mud. The plaster is coral lime, used to change the color, which accounts for the reddish-colored mops. Dyeing the hair is only a fad with a native, however, for he later on becomes tired of his reddish locks, when he will apply a black dye, the hair again becoming its natural color. In a few days the coral lime will change the hair from black to brown, or reddish. He rubs himself with cocoanut-oil every day, which gives his body and limbs a polished appearance. That daily massage largely accounts for his muscles standing out so prominently and also for his splendid build. Besides, he puts in a great deal of time bathing and swimming, which exercise will add strength to any one. In diving he excels perhaps any race in the world, for going to depths of from 35 to 40 feet is a common pastime with him.
The Fijis' mode of dealing with each other is communistic. A sailing boat may be seen tied to the trunk of a cocoanut palm. All the natives in that district having contributed to the building of the craft, when one wished to use the boat there was no protest from other members of the community. The same principle applies to money; when a Fiji has earned, say, $5, he shares with others who may be in need.
One day a week is about all he cares to work, but he will make a sacrifice of his scruples occasionally by working two days, when, for instance, a ship is being loaded or unloaded. He receives 50 cents a day, with board, for that labor. On the wharf are portions of food—sandwiches, biscuits, meat, and other eatables—for each native employed by the ship's company. Sitting on their haunches, they devour their allotted portion at "Smoke, ho," time.
Numbers of them gather at a wharf of an evening when a ship is in port. Soon the tunes of "Shall We Gather at the River?" "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," "Hold the Fort," and other well-known hymns fall harmoniously on the balmy air, the English words having been translated into their language. No missionary, however, can be sure of his black and brawny followers, for they think nothing of severing their connection with one denomination and affiliating with any other they think will better serve them. But all are affiliated with some religious body. Cannibalism has not been practiced for forty years. Fijians are a docile and agreeable race.
Unlike his Zulu brother, a Fiji has but one wife, and families, as a rule, are small, not averaging more than three children. For some years the birth rate was on the decrease, but of recent years they have held their own. Some 90,000 natives, and 40,000 Indians, or Hindus, live in the Fiji group.
Their huts are built of reeds, bamboo poles and cocoanut trees, the roofs being covered with grass; they have two doors, but no windows. Not a nail is used in the construction. Mats, made of cocoanut leaves, are spread about the floor, giving the inside a neat appearance. Their food is turtle, fish, yams, taro, boiled green bananas, cocoanut and rice. A small yam looks like a beet; but some of them grow very large, being a load for a man to carry. The taro is the root of a plant like a lily, which grows in swamps. With these growing all around, combined with the turtles and fish, he is as independent as he was a thousand years ago. Then there are papaws, breadfruit and other tropical fruits that furnish all the delicacies he may desire.
A large sugar mill is located at Lautoka, and the sugar shipment from the Fiji group is nearly 100,000 tons each season. The land is very rich, and some of the cane stalks are as large as a two-inch pipe. Working in the cane fields and mills being too hard for the Fijian, that work is done by Indian coolies. Narrow railways are built through the large cane fields, and the stalks are brought to the mills on trucks from the surrounding plantations. Fiji is the richest of all South Pacific groups.