Report of the Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population, with appendices.

  • Fiji. Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population, with appendices. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    284/442 (page 6)
    and am of opinion that polygamy was the cause—or rather the results o£ polygamy—for abortion was commonly practised. The men slept in bures, and the chiefs had free access to any or all of the women ; and to remain as favourites of the chiefs they were most anxious to retain their youthful appearance, and thought that the bearing of children was detrimental to this. Of late years, the sudden changes and exposure haVe much to do with it. In their houses and towns they dress themselves up in shirts, coats, and singlets, &c., and the women in pinafores ; and then, when they go out to their gardens or fishing, they throw these off, and are exposed to the changes of weather. Frequently the women come to my house, to beg for a little fire, shivering and shaking with cold, and wearing only their grass librus. They are much subject to low fevers ; and on the approach of any sickness the first thing they do is to cast off their clothing. The women, too, up to the day of child- birth, follow their daily avocations of fishing, carrying heavy loads of firewood, taro, or yams ; thus causing premature confinement. (I am aware this statement is in direct contradiction to the glowing description Sir Arthur Grordon gave of the life of the women in Fiji.) But the most potent cause of all, in my opinion, is tobacco and self-abuse amongst men and women, girls and boys. Again, before Annexation they had better food, and more of it. Under heathen rule every town was a pig-pen—every district a huge taro and yam bed—on every flat and reef was a fish-fence—and every few days a feast had to be made for the chiefs and people.—Now their principal food is tobacco and bananas. I have, &c., G. EODNEY BUET. No. 7. John K. M. B.OSS, Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate of Lomaiviti, to The Honourable the Colonial Secretary. Stipendiary Magistrate's Office, Sir, 'Levuka, 18 February, 1892. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 80th December last. No 275, 1892 ; and, in reply thereto, I respectfully submit the following observations for the consideration of His Excellency the (Governor. 2. The Grovernment should continue to direct its efforts towards imjjroved sanitation of the Tillages, in which regard much requires to be done still. 3. It is a matter for medical opinion whether the propagation of colco should not be checked, there being a belief among Fijians that a child should have coko almost in the same manner as it is vaccinated. 4. Grreater seclusion and isolation of families should be encouraged in the villages, by planting the houses at wider distances apart than is the case at present. There would thus be less inducement for mothers to haunt the houses of other people, and to neglect their children. 5. The evidence at the Eoyal Commission on Labour showed that the highest rate of infant mortality is in Preston, where the mortality was 22 per cent., and yet this rate is nearly one-half of the average rate of the Colony, and 8'77 per cent, under the lowest rate in the Colony. The cause assigned at the Commission for the high death-rate in factory-towns was the too early withdrawal of maternal care. The suggestion was made that a nursing-mother should not be allowed to work under six months after her confinement. A similar restriction would, I think, be beneficial in Fiji. 6. It is also a matter for medical opinion, whether the practice that prevails, among women of all ages, of spending several hours in the sea, while fishing, does not cause functional disorders. With proper forethought there is no need for these fishing excursions, as the fish-fences, poultry-j^ards and pig-sties should furnish the natives with an ample su]5ply of nitrogenous food. And here the question may be asked, Are the Fijians, and more especially the mothers of the race, properly fed ? They are not, as a rule; and this is because they live from hand to mouth in some measure, and rear their live stock in the same fashion. Indians, with the same opportunities as Fijians, would have goats, pigs, and fowls in large numbers, and would plant maize to feed them. They would also have meat probably once a da}'-, and would have an abundance of fresh milk for the young children. Fijians, as a rale, are content with meat not more than once a week at the most, and it is sometimes ])reserved —the natives on rich islands, such as Moturiki, buying preserved meat largely. Occasionally fish is procured from fences, but there is much uncertainty with them. In default of fish from the fences, and meat, the women spend hours in the water fishing with hand-nets; a habit that is probably hurtful, and for which there should be no occasion. I think it may be said with confidence, that Indians would increase rapidly were they under the same conditions as Fijians. Yet, apart from the existence of an unreasoning conservatism, there seems no reason why the latter should not avail themselves of the advantages which are-within their reach. There is also the fact that Fijian infants are suckled by their mother long after the period at which a European child would have been weaned, and receive unwholesome food when they are too old to take milk from the breast. 7. There is a gleam of hope so long as the birth-rate remains high among the Fijians, but otherwise the prospects of the future existence of the race are doubtful, the vis inertiae of native custom being so strong. 1 have, &c. JOHN K. M. EOSS.