Читать книгу Lolóma, or two years in cannibal-land - Henry Britton - Страница 3

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The object of this romance is to preserve in a readable form some record of the ancient manners and customs, traditions and superstitions of the Fijians, the most numerous and the most interesting race of savages in the South Pacific, who are rapidly disappearing before the terrible push and civilisation of the white man. The opportunity of acquiring information on these subjects is fast slipping away with the older aboriginal inhabitants, and if not now seized upon it will be gone for ever. I have endeavoured to bring before the reader a picture of life in Fiji as it was before that portion of the New World “stretched its dusk hand to the Old.” To be of any value to the ethnologist, it is the first requisite of such a work that its details, so far as they relate to the country and its people, should be strictly accurate. In this respect the sources from which I derived my information render the book, I believe, thoroughly trustworthy. I desire to acknowledge my obligations to the Rev. Jesse Carey, for many years a missionary in the Fiji Islands, for his valuable assistance in translating legends and songs, and in placing at my disposal a quantity of other important material. Hearing of the progress of the story, Mr Carey furnished me with a bundle of manuscript, accompanied by the following remarks:—

With a view to the more intelligent discharge of my daily duties in Fiji, I added to other necessary studies the antiquities of that country. The more I examined the subject, the more I was assured that it was one of greater extent and interest than had been supposed. This belief led me to issue circular letters, addressed to the most intelligent native men in the islands. These letters put forth a long list of questions bearing on Fiji’s past, and concluded with an offer of prizes for the three best works thereon by native authors. Twelve months afterwards this call was nobly responded to by fifty competitors, and the result was as many essays, some of which were remarkably able and exhaustive, besides a large number of papers from non-competing writers. I now forward to you the pith of this cannibal literature, a literature which it was possible to secure only while the oldest inhabitants were still on this side of the spirit-world.

In the construction of this tale I have made use of the interesting manuscript here referred to, though of course a very large portion of it was not suited to my purposes. For the rest I have relied upon my own acquaintance with the scenery of the country, and my own recollections of the manners and customs of its people, which I had opportunities of observing during my residence among them.

Some portions of the first half of this book have appeared in the “Australasian” in the form of short stories.

Yorick Club,

Melbourne, 30th November, 1883.