The Vitians make no human sacrifices; they worship no images. They have sacred houses called ambure. (Compare Hawaiian, “pule”). At the death of a king or queen they cut off a finger or a toe, but not in times of sickness, like the Tongans. The Vitians use no betel, but drink awa like the other Polynesians.
At the age of fifteen years, the Vitians practice circumcision by slitting the prepuce.
Though they marry at an early age, they do not cohabit with their wives until they are twenty years old, for fear they should die—a religious injunction of the kapu. Wives are not sold by their husbands.
The women do not eat with the men, but afterwards.
The awa plant is called augona.
Coconut trees are climbed by means of a cord between the feet.
Tabuing in Viti is practised as in Hawaii and elsewhere in Polynesia. The tabu-tree is called alauzi.
The Vitians know how to make earthen vessels (pottery), probably derived from the Papuans of New Guinea.
Anthropophagy is common in the Viti group; enemies and others are equally acceptable.
The Viti canoes are fitted with out-riggers.