of the Government--A Man who
would like to Eat my Parrot "and the White Man too"--The Scene
of Former Cannibal Feasts--Revolting Accounts of Cannibalism as
Formerly Practised--Sporadic Cases in Recent Years--An Instance
of Unconscious Cannibalism by a White--Reception at Villages _en
route_--Masirewa Upset--Descent of Rapids--Dramatic Arrival at
Natondre ("Fallen from the Skies").

Toward the end of my stay in the Fijian Islands I determined to make
a journey far into the interior of Viti Levu (Great Fiji), the largest
island of the great Fijian archipelago. Suva, the chief town in Fiji,
and the headquarters of the government, is on this island, but very few
Europeans travel far beyond the coast, and my friends in Suva declared
that I would have a fit of repentance before I had travelled very far,
as the interior of the island is extremely mountainous and rough. After
a great deal of trouble I managed to get an interpreter named Masirewa,
who came from the small island of Bau. He was a fine-looking fellow,
and, like most Fijians, possessed a tremendous mop of hair. His stock
of English was limited, and we often misunderstood each other, but he
proved a most amusing companion, if only on account of his unlimited
"cheek."

I ought here to mention that Fijians vary a great deal, both in colour
and language. Fiji is the part of the Pacific where various types meet,
viz., Papuan, Malayan, and Polynesian. The mountaineers around Namosi,
which I visited, who were all cannibals twenty-five years ago, are
much darker in colour than the coast natives, and they are undoubtedly
of Papuan origin.

I left Suva with Masirewa on the morning of October 12th, and after
a short sea voyage of three or four hours on a small steam launch,
we arrived at the village of Navua. I had a letter to Mr. McOwan,
the government commissioner for that district. He put me up for the
night, and we played several games of tennis, and my stay, though
short, was an exceedingly pleasant one. The whites in Fiji are the
most hospitable people in the world. They are of the old _regime_
that is dying out fast everywhere.

The next day I set out on my journey into the interior, Masirewa and
another Fijian carrying my baggage (which was wrapped up in waterproof
cloth) on a long bamboo pole. We followed the course of the Navua River
for some distance. In the swamps bordering the river grew quantities
of a variety of sago palm (_Sagus v