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b i i I y-goa t * * w heel ho u ae.MThe Fijian Plaguo.Further in format ion from Fiji conveys still darker account# ol the plague which lias recently passed over the new colony. A resident of long standing, writing to a Victorian contemporary, savs: ••The death rate is not «*t made up, but tho probability is that 40.000 Fijians died during the plunge. The native population lt;i Fiji Is now about one-third only of what it was when I landed hero about twenty-five years ago.” 1 be account!* of tin* msg-idtude il the disaster are It-** harrowing tban those of the suffering-' of the t irtiin**. ••Very few died ot the measles, the majority dying of Hibseipieut disease in the forvit of the tly seuiery : congestion of the lungs, etc. Want of nourishment or starvation nrrhdoff thousand*. We are told that ••all work was suspended for two mouth*.” You could pa#** through whole towns without meeting any one in the streets which were «oon completely covered with grus*. Filtering a hon-e you could find men. women ami children ail lying down indiscriminately, some just attack, d. -nme -till in agony, aiui other* dying. Some who were strong enough attempted suicide, and not always ulisiicecAftttilly. Wi? are further told tiiai its the scourge became more permanent, fotir and fire were buried in the sunte grave, and generally without religion* -crvice#. In *omo case* the dead were buried in the earthen floor* of the houses, in others, ju-* outside the house. The burials were hurried, and the probability is tlirit some were buried alive. In many case* the hubaitd. wife and children all died. In one village all the women died, and in another ail the ineu. It i- interesting to read of the different mental effect** produced by the torture of di-«a-e. It is not surprising chut some nirde fruitless an peal- to the ancient god. Sontf island tribe-*, who had only recently embraced Christianity, considered that the disease was conveyed by their religious teacher:*, and they dismissed them, and then abandoned their new religion. Among these fiomu were for kiiln ‘ te.nl.ci-, 1 *M: their wiser coun-els prevailed. It is said that one tribe buried aliro one of the teacher'.-wives and her child, whoso husband and father hud tiled of the plague, to 8tup infection. But while some in their distress fell back on their former
Newspaper Details
The Wichita City Eagle
Wichita, Kansas, US
Thu, Oct 07, 1875
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Tom L.
USA 10 Nov 2023
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