IN his book Fijian Weapons and Warfare Fergus Clunie wrote about then recent archaeological discoveries which had revealed fortifications meaning had been part of Fiji, in his estimation, from about 1200 AD.
“Detailed historical records of event in Fiji only really began with the sandalwood trade in the early 19th century but by then Europeans were already aware of the warlike nature of the Fijians through the writings of European navigators; who had been warned in Tonga of a group of islands to the west inhabited by fierce cannibal people who fought with clubs, slings and bows in their wars.
“We can almost conclude that war was almost an everyday way of life in Fiji from the second half of the 19th century back for past the dimmest glimmerings of human memory for 800 years and possibly longer.”
Before the arrival of Europeans, Fijians were known to be very skilled warriors who mastered the art of warfare with unique techniques and various forms of weaponry. These ranged from wielded to throwing clubs, spears, sling shots, bows and arrows to man traps and battle stone axes.
If there was one thing the early Europeans witnessed, it was that Fijians were always armed even when in their own village or in the company of their families and friends doing their normal, daily chores.
William Mariner writing from Tonga in 1827 said: “In Fiji, a man seldom goes out, even perhaps with his greatest friend, without being armed and cautiously upon his guard.
“Heavy clubs, spears and other weapons accompanied the wary Fijian on even short walks beyond his village or town perimeter. A man politely lowers his weapon from his shoulder when on the path to show his friendly intentions and respectfully crouches down with it when encountering a chief.”
US armourer W Briscoe in his journal of 1840 added: “They all appeared to be well armed and a number of boys to carry extra weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and clubs, these are their mode of fighting.
“It must be realised that this constant bearing of arms was not just mere formality or tradition, but was a necessary precaution.”
Heavily armed foreign trading ships had to be on their guard when anchored in Fiji waters because of the fear of being attacked if they were not careful.
“A loaded musket stands near our bed, several loaded pistols are quietly lying in our state-room, and orders have been issued that the bell should be struck every half hour that the natives on shore may learn that there are some on board who are not napping,” wrote Mary Wallis in 1851 of the ship Zostoff.
Towards the end of the 17 century and into the early 18th century muskets and cannons changed the face of tribal warfare.
This led to lands being displaced or the early Europeans who introduced these new weapons being worshipped, some to the extent of being revered as chiefs.
Even the sound of an army was armed with at least one or two musket was enough to instil fear in its rivals and there have been stories where some wars were lost even before they begun just because of the sound of muskets being fired.
One of the most notable ones to have gained recognition through the introduction arms and ammunitions was Charlie Savage, who in 1808 alongside John Husk, claimed to have been the survivors of the ship Port au Prince and was agreed to board the Eliza which was en route to Fiji for sandalwood.
History tells us the Eliza ran aground on Mocea reef near Nairai Island.
It is said they were rescued by natives and because Savage had spent more than a year in Tonga he was able to speak a little bit of Tongan and Fijian — this proved to be valuable to him.
He, alongside the many others who followed suit, changed the Fijian way of war.
For the natives it was to be their first encounters with the white men and when news broke that they had been under the watchful eyes of the Tui Lawaki of Narai, many begged to take him away.
Savage was then taken to Bau to be the vunivalu’s white man.
RA Derrick in A History of Fiji wrote: “One way or the other he introduced firearms to Bau — and the vunivalu — Naulivou — was quick to see the advantage they would give him in his wars.
“Savage then soon demonstrated the effectiveness of the new weapons. His aim was excellent, and the Fijians said he was never known to miss. If any doubted the power of the musket, it was amply proved during an attack on Kasavu.
“The Kasavu people told Cargill that Savage stood on his canoe in the middle of the river, less than a pistol shot from the reed fence of the fortification and fired on the inhabitants, who had no means of defending themselves. The victims were so numerous that the townspeople piled up their bodies and sheltered behind them.
“Savage’s new exploit was Verata, Bau’s campaign there had been by no mean successful. Now in her new found strength she attacked again. Savage shot down the astonished warriors of Verata until the survivors took panic and fled.
“At Nakelo he was long spoken of with horror by his foes and admiration by his friends.”
The years that followed saw more white men join and strengthen the Bauan army. They were given special privileges and were the second most highly respected other than the chief.
While they disapproved cannibalism and strangling of widows as per customs, they were allowed to practise polygamy — with Savage having many wives and “Kapua a daughter of the Roko Tui Bau as the principal lady”.
Derrick wrote the Fijians were at first extremely afraid of guns.
“In a surprisingly short time the use of muskets became general among the chiefdoms. Chiefs spoke of their tame white men as they spoke of their canoes or other possessions — ‘na noqu kai palagi’. Men were sometimes kidnapped from visiting vessels, deserters were welcomed and the low whites, runaway sailors, many of them the dregs of the shipping ports of Europe, gained a standing a place far beyond their merits.
“When the muskets lost its novelty, cannon came into use. They were costly and consumed powder; their smoke and noise indeed, overawed the enemy.”
Such was the demand for these weapons emanating from greed, thirst for power and push for territory that chiefs would go to extreme lengths in order to acquire them.
“To get arms and powder and lead the chiefs would sell or promise anything, especially lands belonging to others more or less subject to them. Wherever the people were liable to raids, lands were sold for guns, powder, hatchets and knives. A large proportion of the early land sales especially along the Macuata coast, in Cakaudrove and at Sigatoka were made for the purchase of arms and ammunition.
“The Dreketi district of Macuata was in an almost constant state of war of war until Cession, and the chiefs there were so pressed for firearms that the Lands Commission found scarcely any land left in the hands of the local people. In 1840, Wilkes found more firearms on the Bua and Macuata coasts than anywhere else in the group.”
Arms and ammunitions gave authority to certain chiefs and even doubled their power.
While Savage was killed in 1813 by the people of Wailea, Derrick wrote it was he (Savage) and his like who changed Fiji. They ushered in a new era; a period of muskets and ball, of civil wars, rebellions, invasions, massacres, from which the earlier wars were as far removed as the knightly encounters of the age of chivalry from warfare of poison gas and aerial bombardment.
