Note 691 — INDEX
Reading edition
Footnote 691:
(return)
Rev. Lorimer Fison, "The Nanga, or Sacred Stone Enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xiv. (1885) pp. 27 sq. On the other hand Mr. Basil Thomson's enquiries, made at a later date, did not confirm Mr. Fison's statement that the rite of circumcision was practised as a propitiation to recover a chief from sickness. "I was assured," he says, "on the contrary, that while offerings were certainly made in the Nanga for the recovery of the sick, every youth was circumcised as a matter of routine, and that the rite was in no way connected with sacrifice for the sick" (Basil Thomson, The Fijians, pp. 156 sq.). However, Mr. Fison was a very careful and accurate enquirer, and his testimony is not to be lightly set aside.