FIJIAN SOCIETY.*
Mn. DEANE'S study of the sociology and psychology of Fiji is a useful addition to the bibliography on those islands. His work as a missionary brought him into close association with the people, and his knowledge of the native language enabled him to hear at first hand, from the old men, tales and legends which were invaluable aids to him in his researches. Though the appeal of the book is perhaps primarily to the anthropologist, to the general reader there is always a fascination in reading of life on those islands of the Southern Seas, which, from the dim, misty beauty of our own land, seem a-glitter with gold and emerald and sapphire. The loveliness of their surroundings, says Mr. Deane, seems to make little impression on the native mind. " On a certain beautiful moonlight night I made refer- ence to the sublimity of the scene to a native. His laconic reply was : In what respect is it beautiful 1' " Incidentally, we are surprised to find in this reply a savour so much more of Western dialectics than of primitive Fiji. One almost seems to hear the polite bored cadence of the modern intellectual when replying to a companion who has given an exhibition of emotion, and to anticipate a following question : " And what exactly do you mean by beautiful ' 1" Mr. Deane continues : " If one were to go into raptures over the glories of the unsur- passed Fijian sunset as seen from some of the outlying islets, the Fijians would look with an amused and half-pitying expres- sion
upon their faces at such a curious specimen of humanity." Such " amused and half-pitying expression " is not, we venture to think, peculiar to Fiji, but could be matched in many a village of Surrey or Norfolk, Devon or Yorkshire. Who cannot recall it in the eyes of a country cousin who has been accustomed all his life to loveliness which startles us into rhapsody ? " How gorgeous ! " we sigh, for instance, gazing over fields of ripe corn rolling amber to the oinking sun. And Cousin John, thinking
• "Ran aorieti. BY the Rev, W. Deane, M.A., M.D. London: Macmillan. 1105. net.
of the markets, says complacently : " It's a fine bit of corn, that."
But Mr. Deane refers to this characteristic, not so much as proving a lack of appreciation of natural beauty in the Fijian,
as betraying a deficiency " in the more complex emotion of wonder." Without wonder, he says, the Fijian religion becomes largely a thing of fear. " His beautiful land, set like an emerald in the Pacific, has been and is a land teeming with spirits, with evil powers capable of withholding good and doing harm." Fear, he maintains, is a dominant principle in the life of the
Fijian. To satisfy himself on the point, he prepared some small statistics of religious conversion. He persuaded twenty-eight native converts to Christianity to write down on paper the reason of their conversion :—
" The following was the result. One was converted through reading Matt. xxv. 46. ' These shall go away into everlasting punishment.' One was changed by the influence of a fearsome dream ; three through being put in jail ; another was frightened by a policeman ; eleven gave as their reason a serious illness ; one was shipwrecked ; eight became Christians under the preach- ing of the Gospel. Five of the latter heard sermons preached from the above-quoted text, Matt. xxv. 46. One of them lis- tened to a discourse on the text : The wrath of Clod abideth on him.' Yet another was converted by the passage, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.' Only two grow up in the calmer knowledge of Christianity, and even they were largely under the dominion of fear in their religious experience. Since that inquiry, made about ten years ago, I have come upon in- numerable cases of a similar kind. One of the problems of Christian work amongst the people is to induce them to be governed by the higher motives and impulses of Christianity."
Mr. Deane holds that the explanation of the fear of the native in relation to religion is to be found first in Fijian history, which
shows him always among the hunted and the persecuted ; and next in his social environment, which has given little guarantee for the safety of life or property. It is an interesting theory, but we cannot resist the speculation whether this fear is not one more of the characteristics which the Fijian holds in common with the rest of mankind. A useful commentary on Mr. Deane's theory would be a set of statistics, similar to his own, prepared by a body no more remote from civilization than, let us say, the Salvation Army or the leaders of a Welsh revival meeting.
Indeed it is possible, nay easy, to link up our Fijian convert with minds more cultivated and natures more sensitive (as would be argued) than those of the simple penitents of Salvation Hall or the revival tent. On the elementary principle of rewards and
punishment—the basis of fear—the South Sea Islander and the most advanced theosophist of Kensington meet.
Mr. Deane relates some of the legends told to him, and gives many interesting descriptions of Fijian customs. As to the influence of civilization upon them, he seems a little dubious. The Fijian " is in a state of transition and is extremely liable to be overcome by the temptations and dangers of the period." But he has hope for his development if he is given wise and patient teaching and good government.
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