ABSTRACT
Persons who handle the corpse of a Fijian are forbidden to touch anything for a long time after a death has occurred. This period varies with the rank of the deceased. When great chiefs die, this restriction lasts from two to ten months ; upon the demise of a petty chief it does not exceed one month, and when a commoner dies, a four days’ taboo is considered sufficient.3 A whole village will mourn for a chief of Waima and perhaps for an influential man from six to ten days by abstaining from fishing, hunting, and pot-making, and by doing as little gardening as possible.4
