Читать книгу Lolóma, or two years in cannibal-land. A story of old Fiji онлайн

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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.