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
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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.

    317/442 (page 39)
    But, until Fijian mothers are changed, I fear that infant mortality will continue to be a potent factor in the diminution of the people. To bring about that change Her Majesty's Government in Fiji may always count on the hearty co-operation of every member of the Mission to which it is my privilege to belong. I have, &c., W. SLADE. No. 23. W. L, Murray, Esq., Planter, Navua, to Tlie Honourable the Colonial Secretary. Sir, Navua, 24 February, 1892. In reply to your Circular of 30th December, I beg to submit the following :— That at no very remote date this gi-oup of islands was thickly populated. I gather this from conversations I have had with aged Fijiaus, and from the many sites of towns and fortifications to be met with, and which are now empty, but from their extent must have been more populous than most towns of the present day. In the olden time, the chief was the sole ruler of his tribe, he was always on the alert to prevent other tribes from making raids within his territory, consequently he was energetic and ambitious—not only that his people might be protected from others, but that the prestige of his tribe be kept up: and it must be remembered that they were continually at war, o]ie tribe being the natural enemy of the adjoining one ; therefore the people were active. Because the tribes were jiearly always at war with each other, I do not wish to imply that their numbers were decreased in any appreciable degree on that account. I do not think that the victims of warfare were great—their weapons were too primitive for that. Then again, because they were warlike, it was imperative that they were well provided with food. As I have said, their weapons Avere primitive, so likewise were their implements of agriculture. It must have been far more laborious at that time to raise their crops, than at the present; nevertheless they were well supplied with good food. I remember, even during my residence in the group, that the natives twenty-two years ago had infinitely more food than now. Therefore, at that period (when governed by their chiefs) they were not only ambitious, but energetic and thrifty, and consequently a healthy race. jVow we come to the appearance of Europeans in the group, who at first were not numerous, and in their wake arms and ammunition. The use of firearms, of course, was quite novel to the natives, and being such an improvement on their own weapons, raised their cupidity at once, and for which they bartered their lauds, and shot each other at their own sweet will. But 1 do not put this forward as the cause of the decline of the race, but I do maintain, that as the merchandise of the Europeans increased, so the natives purchased, and their own implements were laid aside, planting-became less laborious, and as the raising of their crops became less trouble, so, in the same ratio, they become more indolent, until at last they are too lazy to grow sufiicient food for their requirements. Then again, as the European influence gained power, so the chiefs have lost theirs, until they have simply become nonentities. A chief is no longer the oracle of his tribe, he is no longer infallible, he is simply an official who may be supplanted at any moment; hence the people themselves have lost their ambition also. To show this more clearly. At the period when whites were not so numerous the natives would work to supply the requirements of the whites, but as the whites and their merchandise increased, so the natives became less inclined to work, and did less ; but their wants had to be supplied all the same, so they had to buy, and what had they to sell ?—Food. And so this has been going on from year to year until we find them reduced to a state of semi-starvation, and, owing entirely to their indolence. For years past the natives have not grown sufficient food for their requirements, and have subsisted in a great measure upon improper food. I -will now say something of the existing Native Eegulations. I think they are good were they carried out, which they are not; for instance, one of the Regulations (and I think the most important), is Sa sau tu na Vanua, se seffai. Kow, I have heard this question asked at Provincial Meetings (and I have attended many), the reply has always been in the affirmative, while I have known at the time that the district was, and had been almost entirely existing on green bananas ; and so with all the Regulations. The questions are asked and the replies accepted as correct. It is nobody's business to ascertain the true state of affairs. Then there is the terrible mortality among children, which is very serious. Well, we will return > to the period when the chiefs ruled. At that time a woman giving birth to a child did not again become pregnant until the child was weaned. At least three years expired, and often longer, before this was accomplished. The mother in the meantime was well supplied with good food, and plenty of it, and did nothing else than look after her child. It appears to have been a very wise custom to have allowed the child to remain such a length of time with its mother. When the child was weaned it was strong and healthy. But what do we find of late years ?—A woman bearing a child cannot spare a lengthy period to attend her child ; she has other duties to perform besides the household duties ; there is the plantation to attend ; and, although suckling her child, she is subsisting upon improper food, and what is yet more fatal, instead of suckling her child for three years, she will become pregnant in half that time (this was an unheard of occurrence in the olden time), the consequence is—the child dies. Here the same cause appears, the man has become so indolent that he has shifted a great portion of his work on to his wife's shoulders, who is unable to do everything, and so there is a dearth of proper food, and another sickly infant is born. It has also come under my notice that young women, who appear strong and healthv, marry—and in the space of a very few years become broken-down old hags. The same cause applies. Then