THE CANNIBAL OUTBREAK IN FIJI.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 259, 29 November 1876, Page 4

THE CANNIBAL OUTBREAK IN FIJI.

. If this letter were not already far too looglcould giv&maay most interesting? ' inoid»Q'B connected with, ibis war. A very f«->w. mu\t suffi p? - One of tb towns, Bukutia, taken hy Mr Gordon, had sever hitherto been captured in any of the tribal wars. It waa tegarded aa a kind of sacred place by the cannibals. When it was surrounded by a the Government forces the "Devils" consulted their chief priests as to the meaning of these strange, portents. From the top of the rock he announced, in the' still evening air, the response of the 'br'acle* to his dispirited* followers. "My bouse," he cried, " ia not accustomed to be burned." Hia words were heard by friends and foes alike, and scarcely bad the echo died away when a gre At shoot arose from the Christians surrounding the rock, " Wait till tomorrow.^ The unexpected response seems to have struck terror alike into priest and people, for during the bight the town was evacuated, and the "Devil" cVTempte, "uiaaccustoaed to be burned/ 1 was duly coramited to the flames. One of the customs is that before proceeding to thd seat 6| war the soldiers selected should parade before the chief, and with hia face painted in a warlike ajanner each should commit himself to some boast of bia prowess. One of the police soldiers in thus parading before the Governor of Nasova, said quietly as hie boast, "This is an old musket; bat I bear ir." The chiefs harangue their followers before tin atJßapit,; and as a Fijian is naturally eioqueni, theae haraugue'a are uncommonly pithy, delivered .with great vigor of elocution ; they talk along tbe iront of the lines, beseeching* taunting, iraploriog, breftkiug out into great leaps and bounds, expressive of the activity they themselves intend to display, and thus inciting the followers to imitate their leaders. This may be, regarded as an appeal to the old savage elements for when it is finished a more seemly ceremony is observed. The Christian teacher, comes forward, and all the soldiers kneeling down with their faces to the earth, he pours forth a pmyer for success in bottle. The teucbers are. not slow to shoulder the musket themselves, and some of them hod to be reminded after the fight that it was their special duty to show care for the wounded, and to prevent anythiog like cruelty to the vanquished. Mr viotdon showed them an example which at first they could scarcely com* prebend, and one which certainly had never been shown them before. A poor baby was shot oa its mother's back during ihe fight, the ball passing accross ita stomach. The mother threw it down as dead, but it was found alive, and the utmost care taken of it ; and when at length it did die it was buried wrapped up in Mr Gordon's mat. The Cannibals did not observe eioiilar buniane practices. They captured a teacher beloo^iog to Mr Gordon's., turce*. Tue unfortunate -mat ' wbb rather . ebon Bigbied aud had vvaik d lute tbe enemy belore he vyut »*»!•.■ ■ iir *■ is ulunOeil, CHirifd otf, •-..".. c..a. tlie uoucb, «viib ihe maiks

of fire on. them, were found when the town was captured three days afterward. And the man who assisted in ibe capwere themselves cannibals only a few years ago, but are now as completely well-disposed and obedient subjects of her Majesty as if they had been born of Christian parents, and hemmed round with all the traditions of a Christian country. Curiously enough it has been found that the hills upon which Bukutia and M&tamvuta were situated are of marble, so that a new source of wealth bae been probably disclosed by the sad necessities of war. — Fiji (July 5) oorrespondenceof the London Daily News.