the prosecutor starts up with a protest. One of the accused is his nephew, he explains, and he only wished a light sentence to be imposed. Three months for one fowl is so severe; besides, if he has three months, he must go to the central gaol, and not work out his sentence in his own district. Again there is silence, and the Jew's-harp has changed from triumph into thoughtful mel ancholy. At length it is again withdrawn, and the oracle speaks again: " Bogi totu" (three days). The prisoners are pounced upon and dragged out by the hungry police, and after a few more cases the District Court is ad journed to make way for the Provincial. The rural police, a fine body of men dressed in uniform, take up positions at the court house doors, and we take our seats beside our sable colleague at the table. A number of men of lighter color and different appear ance are brought in, and placed in a row be fore the table. These are the leading men of the island of Nathula, who are charged with slandering their "Buli" (chief of dis trict). They have, in fact, been ruined by a defective knowledge of arithmetic, as we learn from the story of the poor old Buli, whose pathetic and careworn face shows that he at least has not seen the humorous side of the situation. It appears that a sum of seventy pounds, due to the natives as a refund on overpaid taxes, was given to the Buli for distribution among the various heads of families. For this purpose he summoned a meeting, and the amount in small silver was turned out on the floor to be counted. Now, as not a few Fijians are hazy as to how many shillings go to the pound, it is not sur prising that the fourteen or fifteen people who counted the money made totals varying from fifty to one hundred pounds. They at once jumped to the conclusion that the Buli, who was by this time so bored with the whole thing that he was quite willing to forego his own share, had embezzled the money; but to make suspicion a certainty, they started off in a canoe to the mainland to consult a wiz
ard. This oracle, being presented with a whale's tooth, intimated that if he heard the name of the defaulter who had embezzled the money, his little finger, and perhaps other portions of his anatomy, would tingle ("kida"). They accordingly went through the names of all their fellow villagers, nam ing the Buli last. On hearing this name the oracle, whose little finger had hitherto re mained normal, regardless of grammar, cried out, "That's him!" On their return to Nathula they triumph antly quoted the oracle as their authority for accusing their Buli of embezzlement. The poor old gentleman, wounded in his tenderest feelings, had but one resort. He knew he had n't stolen the money, because the money had n't been stolen at all; but then who would believe his word against that of a wizard? And was not arithmetic itself a supernatural science? There was but one way to re-establish his shattered reputation, and this he took. His canoe was made ready, and he repaired to the mainland to consult a rival oracle named Na ivi (the ivy-tree). The little finger of this seer was positive of the Buli's innocence, so that, fortified by the support of so weighty an authority, he no longer feared to meet his enemies face to face, and even to prosecute them for slander. As the Buli was undoubtedly innocent and had certainly been slandered, the delinquents are reminded that ever since the days of Del phi seers and oracles have met with a very limited success, and are sentenced to three months' imprisonment. And now follows a real tragedy. The consideration enjoyed by the young Fijian is in proportion to the length and cut of his hair. Now these are evidently dandies to the verge of foppishness. Two of them have hair frizzed out so as to make a halo four inches deep round the face, and bleached by lime until it is graduated from deep auburn to a golden yellow at the points. Pounced on and dragged out of court by ruthless policemen, they are handed over to the tender mercies of a pitiless bar ber, and in a few moments they are as crest-
