[1] The notation n! denotes the product 1 . 2 . 3.... n, and is
termed "factorial n."
FIJI (_Viti_), a British colony consisting of an archipelago in the
Pacific Ocean, the most important in Polynesia, between 15 deg. and 20
deg. S., and on and about the meridian of 180 deg. The islands number
about 250, of which some 80 are inhabited. The total land area is 7435
sq. m. (thus roughly equalling that of Wales), and the population is
about 121,000. The principal island is Viti Levu, 98 m. in length (E. to
W.) and 67 in extreme breadth, with an area of 4112 sq. m. Forty miles
N.E. lies Vanua Levu, measuring 117 m. by 30, with an area of 2432 sq.
m. Close off the south-eastern shore of Vanua Levu is Taviuni, 26 m. in
length by 10 in breadth; Kandavu or Kadavu, 36 m. long and very narrow,
is 41 m. S. of Viti Levu, and the three other main islands, lying east
of Viti Levu in the Koro Sea, are Koro, Ngau or Gau, and Ovalau.
South-east from Vanua Levu a loop of islets extends nearly to 20 deg.
S., enclosing the Koro Sea. North-west of Viti Levu lies another chain,
the Yasawa or western group; and, finally, the colony includes the
island of Rotumah (q.v.), 300 m. N.W. by N. of Vanua Levu.
The formation of the larger islands is volcanic, their surface rugged,
their vegetation luxuriant, and their appearance very beautiful; their
hills rise often above 3000, and, in the case of a few summits, above
4000 ft., and they contrast strongly with the low coral formation of the
smaller members of the group. There is not much level country, except in
the coral islets, and certain rich tracts along the coasts of the two
large islands, especially near the mouths of the rivers. The large
islands have a considerable extent of undulating country, dry and open
on their lee sides. Streams and rivers are abundant, the latter very
large in proportion to the size of the islands, affording a waterway to
the rich districts along their banks. These and the extensive mud flats
and deltas at their mouths are often flooded, by which their fertility
is increased, though at a heavy cost to the cultivator. The Rewa,
debouching through a wide delta at the south-east of Viti Levu, is
navigable for small vessels for 40 m. There are also in this island the
Navua and Sigatoka (flowing S.), the Nandi (W.), and the Ba (N.W.). The
Dreketi, flowing W., is the chief stream of Vanua Levu. It breaches the
mountains in a fine valley; for this island consists practically of one
long range, whereas the main valleys and ranges separating them in Viti
Levu radiate for the most part from a common centre. With few exceptions
the islands are surrounded by barriers of coral, broken by openings
opposite the mouths of streams. Viti Levu is the most important island
not only from its size, but from its fertility, variety of surface, and
population, which is over one-third of that of the whole group. The town
of Suva lies on an excellent harbour at the south-east of the island,
and has been the capital of the colony since 1882, containing the
government buildings and other offices. Vanua Levu is less fertile than
Viti Levu; it has good anchorages along its entire southern coast. Of
the other islands, Taviuni, remarkable for a lake (presumably a
crater-lake) at the top of its lofty central ridge, is fertile, but
exceptionally devoid of harbours; whereas the well-timbered island of
Kandavu has an excellent one. On the eastern shore of Ovalau, an island
which contains in a small area a remarkable series of gorge-like valleys
between commanding hills, is the town of Levuka, the capital until 1882.
It stands partly upon the narrow shore, and partly climbs the rocky
slope behind. The chief islands on the west of the chain enclosing the
Koro Sea are Koro, Ngau, Moala and Totoya, all productive, affording
good anchorage, elevated and picturesque. The eastern islands of the
chain are smaller and more numerous, Vanua Batevu (one of the Exploring
Group) being a centre of trade. Among others, Mago is remarkable for a
subterranean outlet of the waters of the fertile valley in its midst.
[Illustration: Map of Fiji.]
The land is of recent geological formation, the principal ranges being
composed of igneous rock, and showing traces of much volcanic
disturbance. There are boiling springs in Vanua Levu and Ngau, and
slight shocks of earthquake are occasionally felt. The tops of many of
the mountains, from Kandavu in the S.W., through Nairai and Koro, to the
Ringgold group in the N.E., have distinct craters, but their activity
has long ceased. The various decomposing volcanic rocks--tufas,
conglomerates and basalts--mingled with decayed vegetable matter, and
abundantly watered, form a very fertile soil. Most of the high peaks on
the larger islands are basaltic, and the rocks generally are igneous,
with occasional upheaved coral found sometimes over 1000 ft. above the
sea; but certain sedimentary rocks observed on Viti Levu seem to imply a
nucleus of land of considerable age. Volcanic activity in the
neighbourhood is further shown by the quantities of pumice-stone drifted
on to the south coasts of Kandavu and Viti Levu; malachite, antimony and
graphite, gold in small quantities, and specular iron-sand occur.
_Climate._--The colony is beyond the limits of the perpetual S.E.
trades, while not within the range of the N.W. monsoons. From April to
November the winds are steady between S.E. and E.N.E., and the climate
is cool and dry, after which the weather becomes uncertain and the winds
often northerly, this being the wet warm season. In February and March
heavy gales are frequent, and hurricanes sometimes occur, causing
scarcity by destroying the crops. The rainfall is much greater on the
windward than on the lee sides of the islands (about 110 in. at Suva),
but the mean temperature is much the same, viz., about 80 deg. F. In the
hills the temperature sometimes falls below 50 deg. The climate,
especially from November to April, is somewhat enervating to the
Englishman, but not unhealthy. Fevers are hardly known. Dysentery, which
is common, and the most serious disease in the islands, is said to have
been unknown before the advent of Europeans.
_Fauna._--Besides the dog and the pig, which (with the domestic fowl)
must have been introduced in early times, the only land mammals are
certain species of rats and bats. Insects are numerous, but the
species few. Bees have been introduced. The avifauna is not
remarkable. Birds of prey are few; the parrot and pigeon tribes are
better represented. Fishes, of an Indo-Malay type, are numerous and
varied; Mollusca, especially marine, and Crustaceae are also very
numerous. These three form an important element in the food supply.
_Flora._--The vegetation is mostly of a tropical Indo-Malayan
character--thick jungle with great trees covered with creepers and
epiphytes. The lee sides of the larger islands, however, have grassy
plains suitable for grazing, with scattered trees, chiefly _Pandanus_,
and ferns. The flora has also some Australian and New Zealand
affinities (resembling in this respect the New Caledonia and New
Hebrides groups), shown especially in these western districts by the
_Pandanus_, by certain acacias and others. At an elevation of about
2000 ft. the vegetation assumes a more mountainous type. Among the
many valuable timber trees are the vesi (_Afzelia bijuga_); the dilo
(_Calophyllum Inophyllum_), the oil from its seeds being much used in
the islands, as in India, in the treatment of rheumatism; the dakua
(_Dammara Vitiensis_), allied to the New Zealand kauri, and others.
The dakua or Fiji pine, however, has become scarce. Most of the fruit
trees are also valuable as timber. The native cloth (_masi_) is beaten
out from the bark of the paper mulberry cultivated for the purpose. Of
the palms the cocoanut is by far the most important. The yasi or
sandal-wood was formerly a valuable product, but is now rarely found.
There are various useful drugs, spices and perfumes; and many plants
are cultivated for their beauty, to which the natives are keenly
alive. Among the plants used as pot-herbs are several ferns, and two
or three Solanums, one of which, _S. anthropophagorum_, was one of
certain plants always cooked with human flesh, which was said to be
otherwise difficult of digestion. The use of the kava root, here
called yanggona, from which the well-known national beverage is made,
is said to have been introduced from Tonga. Of fruit trees, besides
the cocoanut, there may be mentioned the many varieties of the
bread-fruit, of bananas and plantains, of sugar-cane and of lemon; the
wi (_Spondias dulcis_), the kavika (_Eugenia malaccensis_), the ivi or
Tahitian chestnut (_Inocarpus edulis_), the pine-apple and others
introduced in modern times. Edible roots are especially abundant. The
chief staple of life is the yam, the names of several months in the
calendar having reference to its cultivation and ripening. The natives
use no grain or pulse, but make a kind of bread (_mandrai_) from this,
the taro, and other roots, as well as from the banana (which is the
best), the bread-fruit, the ivi, the kavika, the arrowroot, and in
times of scarcity the mangrove. This bread is made by burying the
materials for months, till the mass is thoroughly fermented and
homogeneous, when it is dug up and cooked by baking or steaming. This
simple process, applicable to such a variety of substances, is a
valuable security against famine.
_People._--The Fijians are a people of Melanesian (Papuan) stock much
crossed with Polynesians (Tongans and Samoans). They occupy the extreme
east limits of Papuan territory and are usually classified as
Melanesians; but they are physically superior to the pure examples of
that race, combining their dark colour, harsh hirsute skin, crisp hair,
which is bleached with lime and worn in an elaborately trained mop, and
muscular limbs, with the handsome features and well proportioned bodies
of the Polynesians. They are tall and well built. The features are
strongly marked, but not unpleasant, the eyes deep set, the beard thick
and bushy. The chiefs are fairer, much better-looking, and of a less
negroid type of face than the people. This negroid type is especially
marked on the west coasts, and still more in the interior of Viti Levu.
The Fijians have other characteristics of both Pacific races, e.g. the
quick intellect of the fairer, and the savagery and suspicion of the
dark. They wear a minimum of covering, but, unlike the Melanesians, are
strictly decent, while they are more moral than the Polynesians. They
are cleanly and particular about their personal appearance, though,
unlike other Melanesians, they care little for ornament, and only the
women are tattooed. A partial circumcision is practised, which is
exceptional with the Melanesians, nor have these usually an elaborate
political and social system like that of Fiji. The status of the women
is also somewhat better, those of the upper class having considerable
freedom and influence. If less readily amenable to civilizing influences
than their neighbours to the eastward, the Fijians show greater force of
character and ingenuity. Possessing the arts of both races they practise
them with greater skill than either. They understand the principle of
division of labour and production, and thus of commerce. They are
skilful cultivators and good boat-builders, the carpenters being an
hereditary caste; there are also tribes of fishermen and sailors; their
mats, baskets, nets, cordage and other fabrics are substantial and
tasteful; their pottery, made, like many of the above articles, by
women, is far superior to any other in the South Seas; but many native
manufactures have been supplanted by European goods.
The Fijians were formerly notorious for cannibalism, which may have had
its origin in religion, but long before the first contact with Europeans
had degenerated into gluttony. The Fijian's chief table luxury was human
flesh, euphemistically called by him "long pig," and to satisfy his
appetite he would sacrifice even friends and relatives. The Fijians
combined with this greediness a savage and merciless nature. Human
sacrifices were of daily occurrence. On a chief's death wives and slaves
were buried alive with him. When building a chief's house a slave was
buried alive in the hole dug for each foundation post. At the launching
of a war-canoe living men were tied hand and foot between two plantain
stems making a human ladder over which the vessel was pushed down into
the water. The people acquiesced in these brutal customs, and willingly
met their deaths. Affection and a firm belief in a future state, in
which the exact condition of the dying is continued, are the Fijians'
own explanations of the custom, once universal, of killing sick or aged
relatives. Yet in spite of this savagery the Fijians have always been
remarkable for their hospitality, open-handedness and courtesy. They are
a sensitive, proud, if vindictive, and boastful people, with good
conversational and reasoning powers, much sense of humour, tact and
perception of character. Their code of social etiquette is minute and
elaborate, and the graduations of rank well marked. These are (1)
chiefs, greater and lesser; (2) priests; (3) _Mata ni Vanua_ (lit., eyes
of the land), employes, messengers or counsellors; (4) distinguished
warriors of low birth; (5) common people; (6) slaves.
The family is the unit of political society. The families are grouped in
townships or otherwise (_qali_) under the lesser chiefs, who again owe
allegiance to the supreme chief of the _matanitu_ or tribe. The chiefs
are a real aristocracy, excelling the people in physique, skill,
intellect and acquirements of all sorts; and the reverence felt for
them, now gradually diminishing, was very great, and had something of a
religious character. All that a man had belonged to his chief. On the
other hand, the chief's property practically belonged to his people,
and they were as ready to give as to take. In a time of famine, a chief
would declare the contents of the plantations to be common property. A
system of feudal service-tenures (_lala_) is the institution on which
their social and political fabric mainly depended. It allowed the chief
to call for the labour of any district, and to employ it in planting,
house or canoe-building, supplying food on the occasion of another
chief's visit, &c. This power was often used with much discernment; thus
an unpopular chief would redeem his character by calling for some
customary service and rewarding it liberally, or a district would be
called on to supply labour or produce as a punishment. The privilege
might, of course, be abused by needy or unscrupulous chiefs, though they
generally deferred somewhat to public opinion; it has now, with similar
customary exactions of cloth, mats, salt, pottery, &c. been reduced
within definite limits. An allied custom, _solevu_, enabled a district
in want of any particular article to call on its neighbours to supply
it, giving labour or something else in exchange. Although, then, the
chief is lord of the soil, the inferior chiefs and individual families
have equally distinct rights in it, subject to payment of certain dues;
and the idea of permanent alienation of land by purchase was never
perhaps clearly realized. Another curious custom was that of _vasu_
(lit. nephew). The son of a chief by a woman of rank had almost
unlimited rights over the property of his mother's family, or of her
people. In time of war the chief claimed absolute control over life and
property. Warfare was carried on with many courteous formalities, and
considerable skill was shown in the fortifications. There were
well-defined degrees of dependence among the different tribes or
districts: the first of these, _bati_, is an alliance between two nearly
equal tribes, but implying a sort of inferiority on one side,
acknowledged by military service; the second, _qali_, implies greater
subjection, and payment of tribute. Thus A, being bati to B, might hold
C in qali, in which case C was also reckoned subject to B, or might be
protected by B for political purposes.
The former religion of the Fijians was a sort of ancestor-worship, had
much in common with the creeds of Polynesia, and included a belief in a
future existence. There were two classes of gods--the first immortal, of
whom Ndengei is the greatest, said to exist eternally in the form of a
serpent, but troubling himself little with human or other affairs, and
the others had usually only a local recognition. The second rank (who,
though far above mortals, are subject to their passions, and even to
death) comprised the spirits of chiefs, heroes and other ancestors. The
gods entered and spoke through their priests, who thus pronounced on the
issue of every enterprise, but they were not represented by idols;
certain groves and trees were held sacred, and stones which suggest
phallic associations. The priesthood usually was hereditary, and their
influence great, and they had generally a good understanding with the
chief. The institution of Taboo existed in full force. The _mbure_ or
temple was also the council chamber and place of assemblage for various
purposes.
The weapons of the Fijians are spears, slings, throwing clubs and bows
and arrows. Their houses, of which the framework is timber and the rest
lattice and thatch, are ingeniously constructed, with great taste in
ornamentation, and are well furnished with mats, mosquito-curtains,
baskets, fans, nets and cooking and other utensils. Their canoes,
sometimes more than 100 ft. long, are well built. Ever excellent
agriculturists, their implements were formerly digging sticks and hoes
of turtlebone or flat oyster-shells. In irrigation they showed skill,
draining their fields with built watercourses and bamboo pipes. Tobacco,
maize, sweet potatoes, yams, kava, taro, beans and pumpkins, are the
principal crops.
Fijians are fond of amusements. They have various games, and dancing,
story-telling and songs are especially popular. Their poetry has
well-defined metres, and a sort of rhyme. Their music is rude, and is
said to be always in the major key. They are clever cooks, and for their
feasts preparations are sometimes made months in advance, and enormous
waste results from them. Mourning is expressed by fasting, by shaving
the head and face, or by cutting off the little finger. This last is
sometimes done at the death of a rich man in the hope that his family
will reward the compliment; sometimes it is done vicariously, as when
one chief cuts off the little finger of his dependent in regret or in
atonement for the death of another.
A steady, if not a very rapid, decrease in the native population set in
after 1875. A terrible epidemic of measles in that year swept away
40,000, or about one-third of the Fijians. Subsequent epidemics have not
been attended by anything like this mortality, but there has, however,
been a steady decrease, principally among young children, owing to
whooping-cough, tuberculosis and croup. Every Fijian child seems to
contract yaws at some time in its life, a mistaken notion existing on
the part of the parents that it strengthens the child's physique.
Elephantiasis, influenza; rheumatism, and a skin disease, _thoko_, also
occur. One per cent of the natives are lepers. A commission appointed in
1891 to inquire into the causes of the native decrease collected much
interesting anthropological information regarding native customs, and
provincial inspectors and medical officers were specially appointed to
compel the natives to carry out the sanitary reforms recommended by the
commission. A considerable sum was also spent in laying on good water to
the native villages. The Fijians show no disposition to intermarry with
the Indian coolies. The European half-castes are not prolific _inter
se_, and they are subject to a scrofulous taint. The most robust cross
in the islands is the offspring of the African negro and the Fijian.
Miscegenation with the Micronesians, the only race in the Pacific which
is rapidly increasing, is regarded as the most hopeful manner of
preserving the native Fijian population. There is a large Indian
immigrant population.
_Trade, Administration, &c._--The principal industries are the
cultivation of sugar and fruits and the manufacture of sugar and copra,
and these three are the chief articles of export trade, which is carried
on almost entirely with Australia and New Zealand. The fruits chiefly
exported are bananas and pineapples. There are also exported maize,
vanilla and a variety of fruits in small quantities; pearl and other
shells and beche-de-mer. There is a manufacture of soap from coconut
oil; a fair quantity of tobacco is grown, and among other industries may
be included boat-building and saw-milling. Regular steamship
communications are maintained with Sydney, Auckland and Vancouver. Good
bridle-tracks exist in all the larger islands, and there are some
macadamized roads, principally in Viti Levu. There is an overland mail
service by native runners. The export trade is valued at nearly L600,000
annually, and the imports at L500,000. The annual revenue of the colony
is about L140,000 and the expenditure about L125,000. The currency and
weights and measures are British. Besides the customs and stamp duties,
some L18,000 of the annual revenue is raised from native taxation. The
seventeen provinces of the colony (at the head of which is either a
European or a _roko tui_ or native official) are assessed annually by
the legislative council for a fixed tax in kind. The tax on each
province is distributed among districts under officials called _bulis_,
and further among villages within these districts. Any surplus of
produce over the assessment is sold to contractors, and the money
received is returned to the natives.
Under a reconstruction made in 1904 there is an executive council
consisting of the governor and four official members. The legislative
council consists of the governor, ten official, six elected and two
native members. The native chiefs and provincial representatives meet
annually under the presidency of the governor, and their recommendations
are submitted for sanction to the legislative council. Suva and Levuka
have each a municipal government, and there are native district and
village councils. There is an armed native constabulary; and a volunteer
and cadet corps in Suva and Levuka.
The majority of the natives are Wesleyan Methodists. The Roman Catholic
missionaries have about 3000 adherents; the Church of England is
confined to the Europeans and _kanakas_ in the towns; the Indian coolies
are divided between Mahommedans and Hindus. There are public schools for
Europeans and half-castes in the towns, but there is no provision for
the education of the children of settlers in the out-districts. By an
ordinance of 1890 provision was made for the constitution of school
boards, and the principle was first applied in Suva and Levuka. The
missions have established schools in every native village, and most
natives are able to read and write their own language. The government
has established a native technical school for the teaching of useful
handicrafts. The natives show themselves very slow in adopting European
habits in food, clothing and house-building.
_History._--A few islands in the north-east of the group were first seen
by Abel Tasman in 1643. The southernmost of the group, Turtle Island,
was discovered by Cook in 1773. Lieutenant Bligh, approaching them in
the launch of the "Bounty," 1789, had a hostile encounter with natives.
In 1827 Dumont d'Urville in the "Astrolabe" surveyed them much more
accurately, but the first thorough survey was that of the United States
exploring expedition in 1840. Up to this time, owing to the evil
reputation of the islanders, European intercourse was very limited. The
labours of the Wesleyan missionaries, however, must always have a
prominent place in any history of Fiji. They came from Tonga in 1835 and
naturally settled first in the eastern islands, where the Tongan
element, already familiar to them, preponderated. They perhaps
identified themselves too closely with their Tongan friends, whose
dissolute, lawless, tyrannical conduct led to much mischief; but it
should not be forgotten that their position was difficult, and it was
mainly through their efforts that many terrible heathen practices were
stamped out.
About 1804 some escaped convicts from Australia and runaway sailors
established themselves around the east part of Viti Levu, and by lending
their services to the neighbouring chiefs probably led to their
preponderance over the rest of the group. Na Ulivau, chief of the small
island of Mbau, established before his death in 1829 a sort of
supremacy, which was extended by his brother Tanoa, and by Tanoa's son
Thakombau, a ruler of considerable capacity. In his time, however,
difficulties thickened. The Tongans, who had long frequented Fiji
(especially for canoe-building, their own islands being deficient in
timber), now came in larger numbers, led by an able and ambitious chief,
Maafu, who, by adroitly taking part in Fijian quarrels, made himself
chief in the Windward group, threatening Thakombau's supremacy. He was
harassed, too, by an arbitrary demand for L9000 from the American
government, for alleged injuries to their consul. Several chiefs who
disputed his authority were crushed by the aid of King George of Tonga,
who (1855) had opportunely arrived on a visit; but he afterwards, taking
some offence, demanded L12,000 for his services. At last Thakombau,
disappointed in the hope that his acceptance of Christianity (1854)
would improve his position, offered the sovereignty to Great Britain
(1859) with the fee simple of 100,000 acres, on condition of her paying
the American claims. Colonel Smythe, R.A., was sent out to report on the
question, and decided against annexation, but advised that the British
consul should be invested with full magisterial powers over his
countrymen, a step which would have averted much subsequent difficulty.
Meanwhile Dr B. Seemann's favourable report on the capabilities of the
islands, followed by a time of depression in Australia and New Zealand,
led to a rapid increase of settlers--from 200 in 1860 to 1800 in 1869.
This produced fresh complications, and an increasing desire among the
respectable settlers for a competent civil and criminal jurisdiction.
Attempts were made at self-government, and the sovereignty was again
offered, conditionally, to England, and to the United States. Finally,
in 1871, a "constitutional government" was formed by certain Englishmen
under King Thakombau; but this, after incurring heavy debt, and
promoting the welfare of neither whites nor natives, came after three
years to a deadlock, and the British government felt obliged, in the
interest of all parties, to accept the unconditional cession now offered
(1874). It had besides long been thought desirable to possess a station
on the route between Australia and Panama; it was also felt that the
Polynesian labour traffic, the abuses in which had caused much
indignation, could only be effectually regulated from a point contiguous
to the recruiting field, and the locality where that labour was
extensively employed. To this end the governor of Fiji was also created
"high commissioner for the western Pacific." Rotumah (q.v.) was annexed
in 1881.
At the time of the British annexation the islands were suffering from
commercial depression, following a fall in the price of cotton after the
American Civil War. Coffee, tea, cinchona and sugar were tried in turn,
with limited success. The coffee was attacked by the leaf disease; the
tea could not compete with that grown by the cheap labour of the East;
the sugar machinery was too antiquated to withstand the fall in prices
consequent on the European sugar bounties. In 1878 the first coolies
were imported from India and the cultivation of sugar began to pass into
the hands of large companies working with modern machinery. With the
introduction of coolies the Fijians began to fall behind in the
development of their country. Many of the coolies chose to remain in the
colony after the termination of their indentures, and began to displace
the European country traders. With a regular and plentiful supply of
Indian coolies, the recruiting of _kanaka_ labourers practically ceased.
The settlement of European land claims, and the measures taken for the
protection of native institutions, caused lively dissatisfaction among
the colonists, who laid the blame of the commercial depression at the
door of the government; but with returning prosperity this feeling began
to disappear. In 1900 the government of New Zealand made overtures to
absorb Fiji. The Aborigines Society protested to the colonial office,
and the imperial government refused to sanction the proposal.
See Smyth, _Ten Months in the Fiji Islands_ (London, 1864); B.
Seemann, _Flora Vitiensis_ (London, 1865); and _Viti: Account of a
Government Mission in the Vitian or Fijian Islands_ (1860-1861); W.T.
Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_ (London, 1866); H. Forbes, _Two
Years in Fiji_ (London, 1875); Commodore Goodenough, _Journal_
(London, 1876); H.N. Moseley, _Notes of a Naturalist in the
"Challenger"_ (London, 1879); Sir A.H. Gordon, _Story of a Little War_
(Edinburgh, privately printed, 1879); J.W. Anderson, _Fiji and New
Caledonia_ (London, 1880); C.F. Gordon-Cumming, _At Home in Fiji_
(Edinburgh, 1881); John Horne, _A Year in Fiji_ (London, 1881); H.S.
Cooper, _Our New Colony, Fiji_ (London, 1882); S.E. Scholes, _Fiji and
the Friendly Islands_ (London, 1882); Princes Albert Victor and George
of Wales, _Cruise of H. M. S. "Bacchante"_ (London, 1886); A. Agassiz,
_The Islands and Coral Reefs of Fiji_ (Cambridge, Mass., U.S., 1899);
H.B. Guppy, _Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific_ (1896-1899),
vol. i.; _Vanua Levu, Fiji_ (Phys. Geog. and Geology) (London, 1903);
Lorimer Fison, _Tales from Old Fiji_ (folk-lore, &c.) (London, 1904);
B. Thomson, _The Fijians_ (London, 1908).
FILANDER, the name by which the Aru Island wallaby (_Macropus brunii_)
was first described. It occurs in a translation of C. de Bruyn's
_Travels_ (ii. 101) published in 1737.
FILANGIERI, CARLO (1784-1867), prince of Satriano, Neapolitan soldier
and statesman, was the son of Gaetano Filangieri (1752-1788), a
celebrated philosopher and jurist. At the age of fifteen he decided on a
military career, and having obtained an introduction to Napoleon
Bonaparte, then first consul, was admitted to the Military Academy at
Paris. In 1803 he received a commission in an infantry regiment, and
took part in the campaign of 1805 under General Davoust, first in the
Low Countries, and later at Ulm, Maria Zell and Austerlitz, where he
fought with distinction, was wounded several times and promoted. He
returned to Naples as captain on Massena's staff to fight the Bourbons
and the Austrians in 1806, and subsequently went to Spain, where he
followed Jerome Bonaparte in his retreat from Madrid. In consequence of
a fatal duel he was sent back to Naples; there he served under Joachim
Murat with the rank of general, and fought against the Anglo-Sicilian
forces in Calabria and at Messina. On the fall of Napoleon he took part
in Murat's campaign against Eugene Beauharnais, and later in that
against Austria, and was severely wounded at the battle of the Panaro
(1815). On the restoration of the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV. (I.),
Filangieri retained his rank and command, but found the army utterly
disorganized and impregnated with Carbonarism. In the disturbances of
1820 he adhered to the Constitutionalist party, and fought under General
Pepe (q.v.) against the Austrians. On the reestablishment of the
autocracy he was dismissed from the service, and retired to Calabria
where he had inherited the princely title and estates of Satriano. In
1831 he was recalled by Ferdinand II. and entrusted with various
military reforms. On the outbreak of the troubles of 1848 Filangieri
advised the king to grant the constitution, which he did in February
1848, but when the Sicilians formally seceded from the Neapolitan
kingdom Filangieri was given the command of an armed force with which to
reduce the island to obedience. On the 3rd of September he landed near
Messina, and after very severe fighting captured the city. He then
advanced southwards, besieged and took Catania, where his troops
committed many atrocities, and by May 1849 he had conquered the whole of
Sicily, though not without much bloodshed. He remained in Sicily as
governor until 1855, when he retired into private life, as he could not
carry out the reforms he desired owing to the hostility of Giovanni
Cassisi, the minister for Sicily. On the death of Ferdinand II. (22nd of
May 1859) the new king Francis II. appointed Filangieri premier and
minister of war. He promoted good relations with France, then fighting
with Piedmont against the Austrians in Lombardy, and strongly urged on
the king the necessity of an alliance with Piedmont and a constitution
as the only means whereby the dynasty might be saved. These proposals
being rejected, Filangieri resigned office. In May 1860, Francis at last
promulgated the constitution, but it was too late, for Garibaldi was in
Sicily and Naples was seething with rebellion. On the advice of Liborio
Romano, the new prefect of police, Filangieri was ordered to leave
Naples. He went to Marseilles with his wife and subsequently to
Florence, where at the instance of General La Marmora he undertook to
write an account of the Italian army. Although he adhered to the new
government he refused to accept any dignity at its hands, and died at
his villa of San Giorgio a Cremano near Naples on the 9th of October
1867.
Filangieri was a very distinguished soldier, and a man of great ability;
although he changed sides several times he became really attached to the
Bourbon dynasty, which he hoped to save by freeing it from its
reactionary tendencies and infusing a new spirit into it. His conduct in
Sicily was severe and harsh, but he was not without feelings of
humanity, and he was an honest man and a good administrator.
His biography has been written by his daughter Teresa Filangieri
Fieschi-Ravaschieri, _Il Generale Carlo Filangieri_ (Milan, 1902), an
interesting, although somewhat too laudatory volume based on the
general's own unpublished memoirs; for the Sicilian expedition see V.
Finocchiaro, _La Rivoluzione siciliana del 1848-49_ (Catania, 1906,
with bibliography), in which Filangieri is bitterly attacked; see also
under NAPLES; FERDINAND IV.; FRANCIS I.; FERDINAND II.; FRANCIS II.
(L. V.*)
FILANGIERI, GAETANO (1752-1788), Italian publicist, was born at Naples
on the 18th of August 1752. His father, Caesar, prince of Arianiello,
intended him for a military career, which he commenced at the early age
of seven, but soon abandoned for the study of the law. At the bar his
knowledge and eloquence early secured his success, while his defence of
a royal decree reforming abuses in the administration of justice gained
him the favour of the king, Charles, afterwards Charles III. of Spain,
and led to several honourable appointments at court. The first two books
of his great work, _La Scienza della legislazione_, appeared in 1780.
The first book contained an exposition of the rules on which legislation
in general ought to proceed, while the second was devoted to economic
questions. These two books showed him an ardent reformer, and vehement
in denouncing the abuses of his time. He insisted on unlimited free
trade, and the abolition of the medieval institutions which impeded
production and national well-being. Its success was great and immediate
not only in Italy, but throughout Europe at large. In 1783 he married,
resigned his appointments at court, and retiring to Cava, devoted
himself steadily to the completion of his work. In the same year
appeared the third book, relating entirely to the principles of criminal
jurisprudence. The suggestion which he made in it as to the need for
reform in the Roman Catholic church brought upon him the censure of the
ecclesiastical authorities, and it was condemned by the congregation of
the Index in 1784. In 1785 he published three additional volumes,
making the fourth book of the projected work, and dealing with education
and morals. In 1787 he was appointed a member of the supreme treasury
council by Ferdinand IV., but his health, impaired by close study and
over-work in his new office, compelled his withdrawal to the country at
Vico Equense. He died somewhat suddenly on the 21st of July 1788, having
just completed the first part of the fifth book of his _Scienza_. He
left an outline of the remainder of the work, which was to have been
completed in six books.
_La Scienza della legislazione_ has gone through many editions, and
has been translated into most of the languages of Europe. The best
Italian edition is in 5 vols. 8vo. (1807). The Milan edition (1822)
contains the _Opusculi scelti_ and a life by Donato Tommasi. A French
translation appeared in Paris in 7 vols. 8vo. (1786-1798); it was
republished in 1822-1824, with the addition of the _Opuscles_ and
notes by Benjamin Constant. _The Science of Legislation_ was
translated into English by Sir R. Clayton (London, 1806).
FILARIASIS, the name of a disease due to the nematode _Filaria sanguinis
hominis_. A milky appearance of the urine, due to the presence of a
substance like chyle, which forms a clot, had been observed from time to
time, especially in tropical and subtropical countries; and it was
proved by Dr Wucherer of Bahia, and by Dr Timothy Lewis, that this
peculiar condition is uniformly associated with the presence in the
blood of minute eel-like worms, visible only under the microscope, being
the embryo forms of a _Filaria_ (see NEMATODA). Sometimes the discharge
of lymph takes place at one or more points of the surface of the body,
and there is in other cases a condition of naevoid elephantiasis of the
scrotum, or lymph-scrotum. More or less of blood may occur along with
the chylous fluid in the urine. Both the chyluria and the presence of
filariae in the blood are curiously intermittent; it may happen that not
a single filaria is to be seen during the daytime, while they swarm in
the blood at night, and it has been ingeniously shown by Dr S. Mackenzie
that they may be made to disappear if the patient sits up all night,
reappearing while he sleeps through the day.
Sir P. Manson proved that mosquitoes imbibe the embryo filariae from the
blood of man; and that many of these reach full development within the
mosquito, acquiring their freedom when the latter resorts to water,
where it dies after depositing its eggs. Mosquitoes would thus be the
intermediate host of the filariae, and their introduction into the human
body would be through the medium of water (see PARASITIC DISEASES).
FILDES, SIR LUKE (1844- ), English painter, was born at Liverpool, and
trained in the South Kensington and Royal Academy schools. At first a
highly successful illustrator, he took rank later among the ablest
English painters, with "The Casual Ward" (1874), "The Widower" (1876),
"The Village Wedding" (1883), "An Al-fresco Toilette" (1889); and "The
Doctor" (1891), now in the National Gallery of British Art. He also
painted a number of pictures of Venetian life and many notable
portraits, among them the coronation portraits of King Edward VII. and
Queen Alexandra. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in
1879, and academician in 1887; and was knighted in 1906.
See David Croal Thomson, _The Life and Work of Luke Fildes, R.A._
(1895).
FILE. 1. A bar of steel having sharp teeth on its surface, and used for
abrading or smoothing hard surfaces. (The O. Eng. word is _feol_, and
cognate forms appear in Dutch _vijl_, Ger. _Feile_, &c.; the ultimate
source is usually taken to be an Indo-European root meaning to mark or
scratch, and seen in the Lat. _pingere_, to paint.) Some uncivilized
tribes polish their weapons with such things as rough stones, pieces of
shark skin or fishes' teeth. The operation of filing is recorded in 1
Sam. xiii. 21; and, among other facts, the similarity of the name for
the filing instrument among various European peoples points to an early
practice of the art. A file differs from a _rasp_ (which is chiefly used
for working wood, horn and the like) in having its teeth cut with a
chisel whose straight edge extends across its surface, while the teeth
of the rasp are formed by solitary indentations of a pointed chisel.
According to the form of their teeth, files may be _single-cut_ or
_double-cut_; the former have only one set of parallel ridges (either
at right angles or at some other angle with the length); the latter (and
more common) have a second set cut at an angle with the first. The
double-cut file presents sharp angles to the filed surface, and is
better suited for hard metals. Files are classed according to the
fineness of their teeth (see TOOL), and their shapes present almost
endless varieties. Common forms are--the _flat_ file, of parallelogram
section, with uniform breadth and thickness, or tapering, or "bellied";
the _four-square_ file, of square section, sometimes with one side
"safe," or left smooth; and the so-called _three-square_ file, having
its cross section an equilateral triangle, the _half-round_ file, a
segment of a circle, the _round_ or _rat-tail_ file, a circle, which are
generally tapered. The _float_ file is like the _flat_, but single-cut.
There are many others. Files vary in length from three-quarters of an
inch (watchmakers') to 2 or 3 ft. and upwards (engineers'). The length
is reckoned exclusively of the spike or tang which enters the handle.
Most files are tapered; the _blunt_ are nearly parallel, with larger
section near the middle; a few are parallel. The _rifflers_ of sculptors
and a few other files are curvilinear in their central line.
In manufacturing files, steel blanks are forged from bars which have
been sheared or rolled as nearly as possible to the sections required,
and after being carefully annealed are straightened, if necessary, and
then rendered clean and accurate by grinding or filing. The process of
cutting them used to be largely performed by hand, but machines are now
widely employed. The hand-cutter, holding in his left hand a short
chisel (the edge of which is wider than the width of the file), places
it on the blank with an inclination from the perpendicular of 12 deg. or
14 deg., and beginning near the farther end (the blank is placed with
the tang or handle end towards him) strikes it sharply with a hammer. An
indentation is thus made, and the steel, slightly thrown up on the side
next the tang, forms a ridge. The chisel is then transferred to the
uncut surface and slid away from the operator till it encounters the
ridge just made; the position of the next cut being thus determined, the
chisel is again struck, and so on. The workman seeks to strike the blows
as uniformly as possible, and he will make 60 or 80 cuts a minute. If
the file is to be single-cut, it is now ready to be hardened, but if it
is to be double-cut he proceeds to make the second series or course of
cuts, which are generally somewhat finer than the first. Thus the
surface is covered with teeth inclined towards the point of the file. If
the file is flat and is to be cut on the other side, it is turned over,
and a thin plate of pewter placed below it to protect the teeth.
Triangular and other files are supported in grooves in lead. In cutting
round and half-round files, a straight chisel is applied as tangent to
the curve. The round face of a half-round file requires eight, ten or
more courses to complete it. Numerous attempts were made, even so far
back as the 18th century, to invent machinery for cutting files, but
little success was attained till the latter part of the 19th century. In
most of the machines the idea was to arrange a metal arm and hand to
hold the chisel with a hammer to strike the blow, and so to imitate the
manual process as closely as possible. The general principle on which
the successful forms are constructed is that the blanks, laid on a
moving table, are slowly traversed forward under a rapidly reciprocating
chisel or knife.
The filing of a flat surface perfectly true is the test of a good filer;
and this is no easy matter to the beginner. The piece to be operated
upon is generally fixed about the level of the elbow, the operator
standing, and, except in the case of small files, grasping the file with
both hands, the handle with the right, the farther end with the left.
The great point is to be able to move the file forward with pressure in
horizontal straight lines; from the tendency of the hands to move in
arcs of circles, the heel and point of the file are apt to be
alternately raised. This is partially compensated by the bellied form
given to many files (which also counteracts the frequent warping effect
of the hardening process, by which one side of a flat file may be
rendered concave and useless). In bringing back the file for the next
thrust it is nearly lifted off the work. Further, much delicacy and
skill are required in adapting the pressure and velocity, ascertaining
if foreign matters or filings remain interposed between the file and
the work, &c. Files can be cleaned with a piece of the so-called
_cotton-card_ (used in combing cotton wool) nailed to a piece of wood.
In _draw-filing_, which is sometimes resorted to to give a neat finish,
the file is drawn sideways to and fro over the work. New files are
generally used for a time on brass or cast-iron, and when partially worn
they are still available for filing wrought iron and steel.
2. A string or thread (through the Fr. _fil_ and _file_, from Lat.
_filum_, a thread); hence used of a device, originally a cord, wire or
spike on which letters, receipts, papers, &c., may be strung for
convenient reference. The term has been extended to embrace various
methods for the preservation of papers in a particular order, such as
expanding books, cabinets, and ingenious improvements on the simple wire
file which enable any single document to be readily found and withdrawn
without removing the whole series. From the devices used for filing the
word is transferred to the documents filed, and thus is used of a
catalogue, list, or collection of papers, &c. File is also employed to
denote a row of persons or objects arranged one behind the other. In
military usage a "file" is the opposite of a "rank," that is, it is
composed of a (variable) number of men aligned from front to rear one
behind the other, while a rank contains a number of men aligned from
right to left abreast. Thus a British infantry company, in line two
deep, one hundred strong, has two ranks of fifty men each, and fifty
"files" of two men each. Up to about 1600 infantry companies or
battalions were often sixteen deep, one front rank man and the fifteen
"coverers" forming a file. The number of ranks and, therefore, of men in
the file diminished first to ten (1600), then to six (1630), then to
three (1700), and finally to two (about 1808 in the British army, 1888
in the German). Denser formations when employed have been formed, not by
altering the order of men within the unit, but by placing several units,
one closely behind the other ("doubling" and "trebling" the line of
battle, as it used to be called). In the 17th century a file formed a
small command under the "file leader," the whole of the front rank
consisting therefore of old soldiers or non-commissioned officers. This
use of the word to express a unit of command gave rise to the
old-fashioned term "file firing," to imply a species of fire (equivalent
to the modern "independent") in which each man in the file fired in
succession after the file leader, and to-day a corporal or sergeant is
still ordered to take one or more files under his charge for independent
work. In the above it is to be understood that the men are facing to the
front or rear. If they are turned to the right or left so that the
company now stands two men broad and fifty deep, it is spoken of as
being "in file." From this come such phrases as "single file" or "Indian
file" (one man leading and the rest following singly behind him).[1] The
use of verbs "to file" and "to defile," implying the passage from
fighting to marching formation, is to be derived from this rather than
from the resemblance of a marching column to a long flexible thread, for
in the days when the word was first used the infantry company whether in
battle or on the march was a solid rectangle of men, a file often
containing even more men than a rank.