FUNERAL OF THE LATE FIJIAN KING CAKOBAU.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3702, 28 May 1883, Page 2

FUNERAL OF THE LATE FIJIAN KING CAKOBAU.

[ Three friends and myself hired a boat, and boatman and five Fijians to i*oav us to Bau, about 36 miles from Suva, to witness tho funeral of the Into King Cakobau (pronounced Thakombau). AYe left Suva at •j.30 on April IJOth, proceeded up the Rewa river for lii'tecn miles and had somo supper at a riverside hotel, started again within an hour, and arrived at Eau, au island about twenty acres square, at 8 o'clock tho folio Aving morning, decidedly xuircfroshed, as the renowned Rewa mosquitoes Avould not let us sleep. On landing avo saAV tho natives preparing for a feast. Thuy looked anything but kindly towards us, so avo hurried out of the slaughteryard smell and sight. AYe then Avent aud ate somo food wo hud brought with us iv ono of the native houses. The natives wore very hospitable. They provided yams in lieu of potatoes, and also gave each of us a cocoa gui buAvl of yagona, or native grog, AA-liich, as a matter of courtesy, avo had to take. 1 •should have preferred stale soapsuds?, (.■specially as I afterwards learnt lioav it was prepared, namely—lt is the root of a shrub Avhich tho natives masticate, and then put it into a lioavl, pour water on it, and mix it up. Ugh!!! After breakfast we wandered \ over tho island, and siiav many posuliar ' sights. Most of the men had a black sulu or sash round their waist, and tho women also. Sonic of the latter had black jackots ou as avoll. AVo arrived at lho house (avligto the body had been kept since Cakobau's death oil Ist Februury) just as the chiefs

began to pull down the entrance. The princesses then covered the bier Avith costly mats, tapa, &c, and then about thirty chiofs carried the coffin on to the bier, which Avas then covered with flo Aver garlands, kc About 9 o'clock one hundred of tho chiefs carried tho coffin up a steep hill,'Avliero a grave 12ft deep had been prepared alongside his late consort, Adi Litia. Tho coffin, about Oft long, 4ft wide, and 2|ft deep, was then lowered into tho grave. At about 11 a.m. the launch of H.M.S. Miranda toAved the boats to shore conveying about tAventy marines and sixty sailors, and immediately folloAved the arrival of His Excellency tho Governor, the Miranda saluting. A detachment of armed native constabulary also assisted in the ceremony. Those forming in order, marines preceding, marched up the hill with sloav step and reversed arms, His Excellency and suite, followed by civil servants and visitors, folloAving in respectful order, succeeded by a mob of OA'er a thousand natives. Four clergymen met the procession close to the grave, and proceeded to conduct the funeral service in Fijian. The sons and daughters of the deceased stood around the grave. The Aveather was moist. At the conclusion Of the service three volleys Avere fired over tho grave, while the Miranda's minute guns continued during the procession and service. The procession, returning to the town below, Avas conducted to the Rara, where yagona had been prepared after Fiji custom. A bowl Avas handed to the Governor, Captain AVatson, and chiefs. AVhcn each had drunk the assembled natives clapped their hands. His Excellency then addressed the iiath'cs at considerable length through an interpreter, Avhich ended the corcmony so far as the Europeans Avere concerned. Rather different to tho old Fijian customs, as I belicA-e they used to sacrifice a few girls at a royal funeral, and all the elder chiefs wore cannibals not very lon*>* ago. Tho deceased Vunivalu Oakobau was as bad as anyone ; in fact he has had the tongue cut out of a living man, and has eaten it before his face, aud in all probability Avould havo continued so had he not seen the advantage of intercourse with the European. His Excellency loft Ban betAveen 1 and 2 o'clock, as also did the officers and marines of the Miranda. AA r e stayed until 3 o'clock, as I Avauted to obtain a yagona bowl and several small curiosities, Avhich Avere very hard to secure. AYe reached the Rewa Hotel at 11 p.m., and slept until daylight, arriving at Suva at* 10.80, having witnessed a, spectaelo well worth our journey, but not at all sorry to return to Suva.