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"Tamavua River".
Publisher: G.L. Griffiths, Suva, Fiji. Original Collection: Mrs Amy Wager, 1904.This picture was also published by A.M.Brodziak & Co. as a postcard (Stephenson p.239), and was reproduced on p.165 of the Cyclopedia of Fiji.
Addressed to "Mrs Wager, 63 Beresford Rd, Highbury New Park, London N, England." Bears the inscription on the front: "Part of our favorite picnicking (sic) river. Wishing you all a jolly Xmas time Chris"
The man is sitting on a river-going outrigger dugout canoe (takia). Thomas Williams wrote: "the takia is open throughout its length like a boat, and the spars to which the cama is secured rest on the gunwale" (p.72). These features are clearly visible here.
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"Fijian native canoe".
Publisher: "The Rose Stereographs" Series P #10022 Unused and undated.
No location is given for this, but like the previous picture, this men is standing in a river-going outrigger dugout canoe (takia). He has jammed his pole into the riverbottom to keep the canoe steady for the photo.
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"Spearing fish".
Publisher: Caine Studios, Suva, Fiji. #27. Unused and undated.
No location is given for this, but like the previous two pictures, the men here have a river-going outrigger dugout canoe (takia).
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"The outrigger canoe still in use in our times (La pirogue à balancier encore en usage de nos jours)".
Undated, but pre-1907, since it was reproduced that year in the Cyclopedia of Fiji. From a series of Fiji postcards produced by the Marist Brothers Missions in Oceania (Missions des Pères Maristes en Océanie). Published by Sous-Procure des Missions, 9, Rue de Bagneux, Paris-VI. Used as one page in a letter (in French), so not addressed or postmarked.
The description of this river canoe is as for the previous one. The two men are poling it along the Upper Navua River, loaded with provisions.
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"Canoeing — Fiji".
Publisher: A.M. Brodziak, Suva, Fiji. Used but stamp and postmark removed. Univided back, probably about 1900.
This is interesting in that it shows the two common outriggers for use in rivers and coastal waters inside the reef. Neares is the simple dugout canoe (takia) similar to that in the previous picture. The second has washstrakes lashed onto the dugout with sinnet which can be clearly seen, and evidently also has a deck (tau)
over the hull, and is thus called a waqa vakatau. The former was seldom sailed, certainly not at sea, while the latter could be sailed in virtually all conditions except major ocean voyages.
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Canoes and beach, evening.
Publisher: CoOperative - No.109. Unused, undated, and no location or caption for the picture. Caldwell collection.
Though this is clearly a sea-beach, the canoe appears to be of the takia type described above. That fact, the fact that the man is using a pole to propel it and there is no evidence of a sail even lying on it, suggests that it was used only for fishing in the bay and not for seagoing voyages.
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Fishing Canoes.
Publisher: Morris, Hedstrom & Co., Levuka, Fiji. Unused and undated, but probably from the first decade of the 20th Century.
The remarks about the canoes in the photo above apply equally to this.
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"Waiting for the tide".
Publisher: F.W.Caine, Suva, Fiji. #174819
These men are seated on a sea-going waqa vakatau canoe, with washstrakes added to the hull and decked over. This may be contrasted with the open-hulled dugout of the takia, above.
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"Houseboats on the river".
Tuck's Post Card. Publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd., By Appointment. Copyright Fiji Government, Printed in England.
No date. Probably around 1920. On the reverse is the caption: "Drifting down the Rewa River with food supplies for Suva". This is an accurate statement, but the caption of "houseboats" is misleading, since these are not boats but rafts, and not houses but merely weather-shields. The bamboo rafts (bilibili) are made in the highlands upstream, and float downstream with their cargoes of bananas and other vegetable produce, poled along where possible and fended off the banks using the long poles visible in the centre of the picture. The thatched covers are to provide protection from sun and rain that would spoil them, as well as to shelter the attendants. No attempt is made to salvage the rafts when the trip is complete.
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"Native bridge, Lami River, near Suva, Fiji".
Advance Australia Postcard. Unused. No photographer, no date but probably 1920s.
The bridges of the type shown in this and the next two photos, called kawakawa, are generally made of long coconut palms or other bush tree trunks, thrown across a stream or gorge, or jutting out into a bay as piers. The handrails and their supports are bush saplings. The whole affair is easier to fall off than to walk along, particularly in wet weather. They are very rarely seen in Fiji today, even on outer islands, where on occasion a single trunk will suffice, their use particularly precarious.
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"Native bridge, Tamavua".
Photographer/Publisher: Harry Gardiner, Suva, Fiji. Unused and undated, but early 1920s. Handcoloured, the card itself yellowed with age.
Tamavua is the area to the northwest of the city of Suva, above Walu Bay and Lami, today a sought-after residential area because of its raised elevation, slightly cooler temperatures and, from some parts, spectacular harbour views. This bridge is interesting in that it was quite substantial and wider than usual, for which reason, perhaps, the makers did not bother to make a handrail such as can be seen on the other two bridges pictured here.
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"Native bridge, Ngau [Gau], Fiji".
Publisher Co-Operative - No.178
Gau is the largest of the Lomaiviti ("Central Fiji") Group of isl;ands. It is mountainous and famed for its natural beauty, its women's matweaving skills (see Rod Ewins's Matweaving in Gau, FijiI, 1982, Fiji Museum, Suva), and its market crop of particularly strong yaqona (kava).
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"Fijians crossing native-made bridge".
H. King, Sydney
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"Native bridge, Fiji".
Publisher Stinson Studio, #9
Unused and undated, divided back card. The number assigned to this card makes it a very early one, probably around 1910. The man on the bridge is wearing all black, suggesting to me that he might have been a Catholic priest or Wesleyan talatala (minister).
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"Crossing to Bau, Fiji".
Bau is the chiefly island of the powerful Kubuna confederation. The island's military and political power was quite disproportionate to its tiny size, which led early missionaries to adopt its language as the standard for Fiji, a convention ratified by subsequent colonial government and still applying today. The island is close to the shore, and can be reached on foot at low tide when a virtual causeway emerges as a shallow strip. This photograph was taken from the island looking toward the shore.
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Outrigger canoe race.
J.W. Waters photographer. Original Collection: W.J. & R.M. Ewins.
Addressed and sent to Robert Ewins Esq., Coburg, Melbourne and signed "WE" [WJ Ewins]. Postage stamp and postmark have been removed.
Note that the correct term for small coastal sailing vessels such as these, with decked-in hulls, is waqa vakatau [tau = this small decking], NOT takia as one repeatedly hears. A takia is a river-going vessel with an open main hull [see photo], which would quickly swamp under sail at sea. Larger seagoing outriggers such as used to be common in the small islands were termed camakau [literally, "wooden outrigger", see drawing], with several types distinguished by the form of their bow, float, and rig. Today all are rare even in Lau.
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A canoe race, Suva Harbour.
Published by Caines, Suva. Caines Series 106.
Unused. It is entirely possible that this shows the same canoe race as the previous picture, and the fact that Caine published it does not mean he took the photograph - it could just as well have been Waters again. Or conversely, both may have been taken by Caine. Card publishers in Fiji during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries swapped images freely, each one attaching his own imprimatur.
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View of Bau Island, Fiji.
Photo by C.Meyer (photographer in Fiji from 1922 through the 1930s, his postcards sold through the Fiji Times & Herald stationery office. He finally died in Suva in 1967).
Used, Fiji George V stamp and postmark Suva Jul 1930. Addressed to Philip Howden Esq., Little Shaw, Rockshaw Rd., Merstham, Surrey, England. The jocular message reads "Salaams to Your Highness. Hope Your Highness flourisheth. Give my love to Your Highness's august parents and tell them I write soon. This is a jolly place. Ken"
Though the caption on the face of the card styles this a view of Bau, it is far more interesting for the outrigger canoes (camakau) under sail, though the closest of them may have run aground as the sailor is poling as though to free it. This passage between Bau and the mainland of Vitilevu is very shallow, in fact able to be waded across at low tide (see photo of Bau crossing above), so that is not an unlikely possibility.
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"Fiji canoe".
Publisher: Stinson Studio No 18. Sepia-printed.
Unused postally but personal message written on back, dated Feb. 12th 1932. The original publication date of the "Stinson Studio" photographs, however, was 1912-13 (Stephenson 1997: 22), so the photograph dates from some time before that.
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"Natives, Fiji".
Unused. No publisher or date, but number 710 on face of card, along with caption. Date would be early 20th Century.
The thatched house or valevakaviti is a good example of a completely traditional dwelling. It stands on a stone yavu housemound, and the main door is reached by a plank with footrungs. (There would be at least one other door for the family to come and go by, but traditional houses had no windows, as shown here.) Typically for coastal dwellings, the walls are finished with leaves of the makita tree (Parinari laurina) while the roof appears to be the foliage of reeds or grasses. But the centrepiece of this picture is the fine large waqaniviti or sailing canoe. It is a camakau, fully decked with a hatch for bailing. The structure on which the people are standing assisted with handling the rigging during sailing.
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"Typical Village - Fiji".
Publisher:G.L. Griffiths, Suva, Fiji. Original Collection: Mrs Amy Wager, 1904.
Addressed to "Mrs George Wager, 63 Hurlingham Villas, Ashley Hill, Bristol, England." Bears the inscription on the front: "Have sent letters to Joss. Am not sure whether you are in Bristol or not."
The man is sitting on a coastal sailing canoe or waqa vakatau (see notes at top of this page, and HERE). Note the washstrakes lashed on to the top edge of the dugout, and this vessel would also be covered to keep out the seas. The houses show typical reed-grass thatched roof and walls covered with leaves of the makita tree (Parinari laurina).
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Canoe-house — "Mission Station, Fiji".
Unused, handcoloured litho. No Publisher or photographer listed, but on message side noted as "Art Series — Copyright". Undated but probably early 1900s.
Although the title on the card is "Mission Station, Fiji", the building is not a house or a church, but a canoe-house. These large structures were not often illustrated for Fiji (though more commonly for Tonga), which makes this one interesting. It has a European-style punt or dinghy in the entrance, it is unclear whether it was still in use for storing the large canoe in the foreground.
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"Native women Fishing".
Publisher: Not stated, but numbered 33. Divided back postcard. post-1906 but early 20th Century, date unknown.
These women are in fact NOT fishing but prawning. They have been posed to show the three stages of catching freshwater prawns in a river. The woman in the middle holds her prawn net in readiness. Floats and weights can be seen. The one on the left of the picture is pushing the sticks into the bank just below the water level. The prawns live there and when disturbed jump off the bank and into the net. This is then closed by bringing the two sticks together, as the woman on the right is doing. The closed net is lifted out of the water and the prawns removed carefully and placed in a closed-mouth basket such as a noke, which is not shown here.
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"Fijian Fisherwomen".
Publisher: G.L. Griffiths, Suva, Fiji. Original Collection: Mrs Amy Wager, 1904.
Addressed to "Mrs G. Wager, 3 Hurlingham Villas, Ashley Hill, Bristol, England." Bears the inscription on the front: "Hope you are keeping well Love Chris"
This is a typical women's fishing group. Particularly when the weather is poor, when they have learned by experience that fish come inshore, women will assemble to conduct a series of mini- fishdrives along the shore near their village. They have nets that they stretch between pairs of women, along sticks with which they smack the water to panic small fish and drive them into their nets. They will frequently "work" the coast for a couple of miles before coming ashore and returning home with their catch.
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"Fiji Fishergirls".
Publisher: Co-Operative (Stinson) #165.
Unused and undated, but probably late 1920s - early 1930s.
This pair are exactly like those in the fishing group above. They carry the nets they would have been using between them., and the girl nearest the camera holds some of their catch in her left hand.They are dressed in the old clothes they would typically use for this work.
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"Turtle Fishers - Fiji".
Publisher: G.L. Griffiths, Suva, Fiji. Negative #22895. Unused and undated, but undivided back suggests that it is pre-April 1906, when regulations changed to permit dividing into address and message.
The turtle-nets made and used by these fishermen can be seen piled on the deck of the canoe. For the next act concerning these unfortunate creatures, see "ceremonies".
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"Spearing fish, Fiji".
Publisher: Co-Op #38224-N. Uused and undated but number suggests a date of 1938.
This photo shows very clearly how careless of authenticity photographers had become by the 1930s. The man is using not a multi-barbed fishing spear (saisai) but a man-killing barbed javelin (difficult to distinguish whether it is a sokilaki or gadregadre). While the man is naked (also very improbable for modest Fijian men), he wears a wasekaseka split-whale-tooth necklace, highly prized ceremonial attire that he would certainly not have worn on a fishing expedition.
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