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.

    349/442 (page 71)
    Sorglnim or Dliui-va {Soi-ghum scopariuni, Lin.; Sorghum vulgare, Lin.).—The principal food of tlie Egyptian fella- lieen. Sown in April, in good deejj soil, when not irrigated ; in June when water can be had. Is remarkable for its resistance to drought and for power of vegetation ; has a high food value for man and beast. Italian Millet {Panicum ifalicum, Setaria italica).—Delights in a light, elevated, tolerably dry soil. Much prized by native Indians, who make cakes and ]5orridge of it. For the purposes of pastry, little inferior to wheat. Brahmins hold it in high esteem. First crop sown in June or July, harvested in September ; second crop, from same ground, between September and end of January ; matures in about ninety days. Three varieties. Saiva Millet {Panicum gi-umentacemn, Roxb.).—Two crops ; soil light and dryish ; wholesome and nourishing, easy of digestion ; yields fiftyfold ; resembles rice, but is more palatable to children. Cumboo or Spiked Millet {PenciUaria spicata, Swartz ; Pennisetum typholdemn, Rich.; HoJcus spicatus, Lin.).— Terminal spike erect, as thick as a man's thumb, from 6 to 9 inches long; seed oborate, pearl coloured, smooth, with hilum. Called in some localities Bajree. Forms, with milk, a chief article of diet ; matures in about ninety days in India ; planted in June or Jidy, ripens in September. Raggee {Eleusine corocana).—Highly important to the poor of India from its hardiness and abundant return; will gi'ow on almost any soil. Seeds are ground into flour by the handmill. It is chiefly a bread grain ; chief food among the labouring classes in Mysore ; is usually stored in pits, and will keep good in them for many years. Two varieties. Sefl: {Poa Ahgssinica, Jacq. ; Eragrostis Ahys-nnica, Link).—Several varieties ; abundant yield ; the bread corn of the Soudan and Abyssinia. There are besides, of not much value, Sorghum saccharatum, grown in Australia as sweet fodder principally, but yielding also a good grain ; Broom Corn—in Australia, America, and New Zealand, for brooms—yields a valuable grain ; Chena or Indian Millet (Panicum niiliaceum,, Lin.), a poor crop in India; Shamay (Panicum miliare, Lam.), sometimes grown in India and China ; Koda Millet (Paspalium scorbiculatum), grown to some extent in India, but unjsrofitable, and only had recourse to on bad soil. I believe there are many more of which I have no information, such as Kafiir Imphee, Dhall, &c. GEORGE ALOYS PEAT. No. 49. The Reverend Arthur J. Small, Wesleyan Missionary, Viwa, to The Honourable the Colonial Secretary. Sir, Mission House, Viwa, 11 March, 1892. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of His Excellency the Grovernor's communi- cation on the question of JNTative Mortality, and of forwarding the following brief reply thereto, with humble apologies for so far exceeding the time at which it was stated in the Circular the replies were desired to be in hand. Before proceeding to give expression to the few observations I have to make, I may be permitted to say how glad I feel that His Excellency is taking so deep an interest in this very important question of native mortality, and to thank him very heartily for his lengthy, interesting, and valuable circular. The circulation of that document cannot fail of being helpful to him in the searching investigation he is making into the causes of the all too-evident decadence of the race of people who are the natives of this group of islands ; while at the same time those who desire to assist in the attempted solution of the problem in question cannot but feel gratified at His Excellency's courtesy and consideration in thus inviting their assistance and co-operation. With His Excellency's observation that it would almost appear, therefore, that the cause of this decadence of race is attributable, less to the form of their governments respectively or to the differing conditions springing therefrom, than to evils existing in the social and domestic life of the people, I am in general agreement. Erom my knowledge of the Fijians, now extending over a period of nearly thirteen years, I am convinced that while the conditions springing from the form of government in vogue here (one being the inci'eased power w^hich the chiefs exercise and invariably abuse to the great injury of their people), cannot be exempted from the list of causes to which the diminution of the race is referable ; yet, in comparison with those evils existing in the social and domestic life of the people, the practising of which is fatal to the upgrowth of the nation, they constitute a factor of insignificant proportions. And since it is certain, from the testimony of the natives themselves, that many of those evils were, with others that have been abolished, in operation before ever white men settled here, it seems to me only fair to conclude that a decrease in the population would have been apparent to-day even if the natives had never seen a European. Whether the decrease would have been as great to-day as it is had the natives never come in contact with the white race is a question that w ill receive different answers from different persons. For my own part, I think it is probable the decrease would have been considerably less. One reason for holding this opinion is, the group w^ould have been free from those foreign diseases which have proved and are still proving so destructive. Some of the Causes of the Abnormal Mortality. Respecting tbe causes of the lamented mortality, it is certainly beyond my powder to name any that are not already fully known to His Excellency ; nevertheless, I would respectfully invite attention to the following :— 1. Mistreatment by vitniwai and yalewa tmlcu.—AVhile it is undeniable that much good is done by the native doctors, it is also true that many lives are annually lost through medicines iguorantly administered and surgical operations unskilfully performed by them. Unfortunately I have never kept a record of the numerous instances of this character that have come under my notice, or I would give a few as illustrations. 2. Living on unhealthy sites.—No doubt the natives suffer less from living on swampy sites than Europeans, but it is manifestly impossible for them even to reside in malarial districts without pajang heavy penalties to Nature for such culpable transgression of her laws. 3. Immoderate tobacco smoking.—It is my firm conviction that many Fijian children are born in a sickly condition, and soon die, through the immoderate use of tobacco by their parents, especially by their mothers. 4.