Seven Legs Across the Seas Part 18

CHAPTER III

After a four days' sail over the Tasman Sea we reached Sydney, Australia, where, after several weeks' stay, we counted our money.

Five dollars a day was our basis of expenses, but, as hotel rates had not exceeded $1.50 a day in Australasia, we found ourselves with a surplus of over a hundred dollars, for our expenses had been only $4 a day instead of $5. A very enticing trip, taking several weeks, was advertised to Fiji, Samoa, and the Tonga Islands for $125. We could spare $100, but feared that the other $25 might result in our being held in Australia at a time when we had promised to be in South Africa. However, we bought a ticket for the South Sea Islands trip, and took the chance of a shortage.

The ship was packed with pa.s.sengers 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 "amus.e.m.e.nt" indulged in by many of the Islanders. This p.r.o.nounced 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 sh.o.r.es attractive with cocoanut palms, and just behind stretches of broad banana leaves, the tops of gra.s.s 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 ma.s.sage 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 gra.s.s; 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.

Free railroad travel is a luxury seldom enjoyed anywhere, but this is to be found in Fiji. The distance from Lautoka to Ba is 28 miles, and a railway connects the two points. There are sugar mills at both places. A concession was granted to the sugar companies to build a railway from Lautoka to Ba, with the stipulation that all pa.s.sengers traveling to and from these points be carried free of charge. The track is two feet wide, and the locomotive is as broad as it is high.

A small car, with seats placed across, heads the train, and to this is coupled several freight trucks. The schedule for the 28 miles is four hours, but five and six hours is more often the time consumed in making the journey.

Europeans carrying horse-hair fastened to a stick is the first odd thing one notices at Lautoka. Flies are very numerous and stick to one like mosquitoes. The fly-swish is used to keep "tormentors" from worrying one to death. Australia has the same breed of insect, but because of the absence of black servants and black help their hands are occupied with tools of industry instead of a hair swish with which to insure personal comfort.

Only 150 Europeans live in Lautoka, and these were engaged at clerical or managerial employment. Few fat men were seen, and every one had a bleached appearance.

Suva, capital of the Fiji Islands, is, with Lautoka, located on the island of Viti Levu, the largest of the group. Abel J. Tasman, the daring navigator who first set foot on Tasmania and first saw New Zealand, was also the first white man to come in touch with these islands, in 1643. They became British territory in 1874. A governor, appointed by the King of England, directs the affairs of the group, aided by a legislative council composed of eighteen members, twelve of whom are appointed and six elected. Two native representatives are included in the legislative council. Great Britain recently ceded the government of these islands to Australia. The Fiji group are composed of 200 islands, 80 of which are inhabited. The other islands are small, but cocoanut palms grow on most of them.

One thousand Europeans live in Suva, and all of them dress in immaculate white. Business houses are located along the water-front, and the homes are built on rising hills. These dwellings rest on posts driven in the ground, are of wood and one story in height. Large verandas are built to the homes, and these are enclosed with reeds--this screen keeping out the hot sun and allowing the breeze to blow through at the same time.

Flowers grow everywhere, nature being liberal to Fiji both in quant.i.ty and variety. Leaves on vegetation range from the size of an ironing-board down to the finest fern-leaf. The sleeping tree, seen in Suva, is of interest. When the sun has hid behind the tropical hills the leaves begin to curl, and by dark they all close. At daylight, the leaves begin to wake, as it were, and a short time after sunrise they have unfolded to their full size. One weed or small bush that grows here is a marvel of the vegetable world. It is called the sensitive plant. If one looks at it, it seems to shrink away, and the slightest touch will cause its leaves to shrivel up, as if dead. On leaving the plant, the leaves slowly expand again. This plant goes to sleep, too, when the chill of evening falls, but opens at the first flush of the morning sun.

"The king of plants," the hibiscus, a flower from three to six inches across, of a bright red and sometimes red and white color, grows in profusion. Hedges are often made of the hibiscus, and when in bloom it offers a superior floral scene. There is no end to flowers in Fiji.

"Oh, mamma! Look at the black bobbies!" (policemen) roared a young Britisher when he first saw the Fiji police. The guardians of peace in Fiji are termed constabulary, and natives compose the force. They wear a bushy head of hair, as does the civilian native, have bare feet and polished legs. Their uniform is a blue jacket, or tunic, and white sulu (a kilt), the latter scalloped or vand.y.k.ed round the edges.

Natives prefer police duty or soldiering to all other work. Unlike the Zulu, he scorns domestic service, and field labor does not appeal to him. A bright red hibiscus, or another flower of flaring hue, may be seen sticking in his hair at the side. Thus the Suva policeman looks neat, and is certainly noticeable.

The best building in Suva is a library, donated by a Scotch philanthropist. It is built of cement. Little can be said of the government buildings; yet in this small place is a botanical garden large cities would be proud of.

Copra (dried cocoanut) is shipped in considerable quant.i.ties from Suva. Brought from adjacent islands in small sailing boats, it is loaded on vessels at the capital port. A cocoanut tree produces a dollar's worth of copra yearly. Forty trees is the number generally planted to the acre. Eight years' time is required from planting until bearing. The trees require very little care, and, if not blown down by storms, will yield for a hundred years.

It is marvelous to what uses the cocoanut tree and its fruit can be put. Besides being a staple food of natives, the pulp, together with cocoanut oil, is made into cakes for cattle, particularly dairy cows.

The pulp contains 40 per cent. nutriment, and both increased quant.i.ty and richness of milk result when a cow is fed with these cakes. There is a demand for this food in Australia. Soap is also made of the cocoanut, together with candies, and preparations for cooking purposes claim a large portion of the product. The coir, or fibers, and cocoanut leaves are used to make mats, baskets, scrub brushes, brooms, fans, pillows, for thatching houses, making rope and twine, and in many other ways the cocoanut tree and its product serve as articles of utility.

The Fijian believes that the food that tickles his palate should also be relished by the white man. When one stops at a native's home it would be better to forget for the time being that he is a white.

Fijians are very hospitable, and share with a white visitor the best they have. It makes no difference how the native food may look, smell or taste, if a white man refuses to partake of the hospitality offered the native will be offended.

From 40,000 to 50,000 Indian coolies live in these rich islands, most of whom work in the sugar-cane fields. Then there are what is known as the Solomon Island "boys," in considerable numbers in Fiji, engaged at the same work. The Fijian will not do hard work if he has a chance to run away. Indians are brought to Fiji under the indenture system for a term of five years. At the end of the indentureship, though, they may remain in Fiji. Herein a similar blunder was made in Natal, South Africa. Indians will eventually own the sections of Fiji worth having; then natives, white men, and all others will have no chance to make a living.

Some 500 lepers are detained on one island; but there was no leprosy in Fiji, nor other bad diseases affecting the group before Indians were imported to work in the sugar fields. From six to ten Indians are hanged here every month; but there were very few hangings before Indians came. When sending out packs of indentured coolies the Indian government apportions one woman to three men; this may explain the monthly hangings.

"Everybody in town knows what's in the papers before they come out,"

remarked a resident when speaking of the Suva newspapers. Two are printed in the Fiji capital, each appearing three times a week. As editions appear on alternate days, Suva enjoys the luxury of a daily.

Business men seem to be well satisfied with the publishers' efforts, for, out of 28 columns contained in each of the tri-weeklies, 20 columns were advertis.e.m.e.nts. Considering population, high cable charges, etc., Suva's newspapers outstrip anything we can recall; they sell at six cents a copy.

All natives go to church on Sunday morning. Each one has a Bible or hymn book carefully wrapped in a cloth or paper. Men and women are dressed in their best, the men mostly in white jackets and sulus (kilts), wearing vari-colored neckwear. Women wear cheap picture hats or go bareheaded. With the latter style go fronds of delicate ferns, artistically woven in the hair, or plaited together along with a pretty hibiscus or other flaring flower. The natives not only look attractive, but their demeanor commands respect. Their singing is of fair quality, and they put their heart in their efforts.

The English money system--shillings and pounds--is the one in use in the Fiji group. Hotel expenses were $2 to $3 a day.

All barriers and shoals in the sea in that part of the world are termed coral reefs. Beautiful specimens are brought to the steamships by natives to sell to pa.s.sengers. The natural color of the coral is brown, which becomes white when bleached in the sun. Then there are big sh.e.l.ls that are beauties--some so large they could not go in a water pail. One variety of pearl sh.e.l.l--cici--found in the vicinity of Suva has developed into quite an industry. A ton weight of these sell from $125 to $150. They are as large as a goose egg. The Fijian dives for these among the reefs, a kind of work that suits him to a T. These sh.e.l.ls are shipped to pearl merchants in China.

On the island of Mbau, situated not far from Suva, is the ancient capital of Fiji, where all who may be termed aristocratic in Fiji live. It was here the last king, Cakobau the Terrible, lived, died and was buried. Kandavu Levu, the greatest of the Fijian lords and the grandson of Cakobau, now lives in the old cannibal king's stronghold.

He receives a pension from the British government. The Fijian princess, Andi Cakobau, the grand-daughter of King Cakobau, is also among the high-bred Fijian residents at Mbau.

Sixty miles further a stop was made at Levuka, on the island of Ovalau, as pretty a settlement as one could wish to see. Only 250 Europeans live in this place, but all seemed prosperous. These are mostly traders, and it would surprise one to see the varied a.s.sortment of goods in the stores. Roofs of houses are painted red, and the residences are surrounded by cocoanut palms, papaw trees, and bananas.

There are flowers everywhere--even the shrubbery bears flowers.

A short distance from Levuka we came to a native village. Between the front rows of huts was a street, 150 feet wide, covered with gra.s.s. On visiting one of the huts, the husband pointed to a bed, which consisted of a dozen mats piled on the floor, inviting me to sit down. A moment later he bethought himself of the baby sleeping in the part of the bed where he had invited me to sit. He pointed to a little mound under the mats, laughed, and indicated that I sit in another place. Scanning the tidy enclosure, to my surprise, a large picture of Jeffries, the ex-prizefighter, hung from one side. It pleased the native to see the interest I took in the poster, for he laughed aloud, and, pointing to it, said something that sounded like "Ugh!"

Visiting another hut, it was also found very neat, the floor being covered with cocoanut mats; the mat bed was the visitor's seat here also. This Fijian could speak no English, and we had not been long enough in the islands to acquire a speaking knowledge of the native language. At our approach the wife came to the center of the hut, but a few moments later, much to our surprise, she sat on the floor and began turning a handle to an American-made hand sewing machine that rested on a soap box.

It is possible for a Fijian to march 40 miles a day, heavily loaded, without food; but sometimes he takes twelve hours to travel only twelve miles, and eats half a dozen big meals during the journey. He is said to have a more p.r.o.nounced weakness for yanggona, the native liquor, than have any other of the South Sea Islanders. This beverage is made from the root of a tree and, when drunk to excess, intoxicates. Each native must pay a yearly government tax of $5.

So that the reader may gather some idea of the scope of the planet on which we live, it may be of interest to note, before leaving Levuka, that this small port is located 11 hours and 59 minutes east of Greenwich, England, from which point the time of the world is computed.

CHAPTER IV

Traveling through still, blue-water channels, resembling wide esplanades, if the term be allowed, formed by heavily verdured tropical islands on each side, with curly coral reefs peeping out of the sea from time to time, we sailed for 150 miles through what may be termed an ocean park, when the ship entered the Koro Sea, and two days later reached the Samoan Islands. Sixty miles east of Levuka we crossed the line of the 180th meridian, where time changes 12 hours.

A red stream of lava, running from the mouth of a volcano down a mountain course 15 miles in length, and emptying into the sea, is a strange phenomenon. This volcano is located on the island of Savaii, the largest of the Samoan group. The distance from the sh.o.r.e to the mouth of the crater is seven miles, but the circuitous course of the stream is double the direct distance. The volcano burst into activity in 1905, and a foresh.o.r.e of lava a quarter of a mile in extent bears evidence of the crater's outpourings since that time. In daytime the molten stream is white, and at night it resembles a great flaring serpent as it angles its way about rocky obstructions down the mountainside to the sea. Not far from the sh.o.r.e the lava bored a tunnel through a hillock that interfered for a time with its flow, and day and night the stream is red when pa.s.sing through that opening. The cloud of steam that rises as the lava enters the water resembles a great volume of spray from a large waterfall. It is said the sea is a mile deep where this lava stream empties into the Pacific Ocean. Ships stop opposite the crater to allow pa.s.sengers to view this unusual spectacle.

Pa.s.sing through a coral reef channel, we arrived in the harbor of Apia, capital of the Samoan Islands. The little town stretches along the bay, cocoanut palms lining the sh.o.r.e at places, the trees and heavily verdured hills in the foreground giving the Samoan capital a high position in the list of pretty places. The ship was soon surrounded by natives, who offered for sale fans, sh.e.l.ls, corals, beads and flowers.