FIGUREHEAD, an image, either head or bust, placed at the prow of ships. Such figures were carved in wood in the days of wooden vessels, and there was generally some connec tion between the figure and the name of the vessel. Thus, a vessel called the Lion would have at its prow a lion's head carved in wood and gilt. In modern vessels of iron and steel, with the usual straight stem, the old forms of figurehead, have disappeared. Whenever ornamentation is now employed on the prow it is generally limited to a shield bearing a coat of arms, or scroll-work in gold, but the general tendency is to dispense with such ornamenta tion altogether.
FIJI (feje) or VITI (vete) ISLANDS, a large group of islands in the South Pacific, be longing to Great Britain, situated between lat. 15° 48' S. and 4' S. and between long. 177° 51' E. and 38' E. There are 255 islands, great and small, of which about 80 are inhabited. The uninhabited islands scarcely rise above the level of the sea. Including Rotumah, which belongs to the same jurisdiction, they have an area of 7,435 square miles, of which the main island Viti Levu takes up 4,250 square miles, and Vanua Levu 2,600 square miles. Suva, on the south coast of Viti Levu, is the capital and has a fine natural harbor. The whole group is of coral formation, and all the islands seem origin ally to have formed portions of Viti Levu, some of them probably of Vanua Levu. The conformation of the main island is volcanic and side by side with volcanic deposits are granite, diorite, gabbros and syenite. The silent cra ters are most numerous in Taviuni. Among valuable metals found in the islands are gold, copper and iron. The islands lie in the track of the monsoons, which blow strongly from April to November, rendering the islands ex ceedingly healthy; there is an abundant rain fall (109-112 inches), the maximum tempera ture is and it seldom falls below The flora of the Fijis is very like that of the East Indian mainland. Up to the summits of the vol canic peaks stretches a luxuriant growth of tropical vegetation. The forest has little under wood, but abounds in palms, tree ferns, bam boo and orchids of tree-like dimensions. The fauna belongs to the south Australo-Polynesian group; bats and rodents are the only mam mals in the islands. There are about 50 species of birds, of which the most notable are doves and parrots. The native population is gradu ally decreasing. The Fijians were once idola tors, but since the arrival of English Wesleyan preachers in 1835 they have turned to Chris tianity. There are 10,820 Roman Catholics in
the islands and 84,185 Wesleyan. The princi pal occupation of the people is agriculture; the sugar, maize and cocoa culture is prosperous, but cotton growing has declined. Tropical fruits are exported to Australia and New Zea land. Many herds of swine run wild in the forests. Imports (1914) #911,274; exports, £1,389,865. Revenue (1914) i279,845; exports, 1301,351. In 1914, 143 vessels entered, of a total of 351,345 tons.
A disquieting feature in the life of the islands has been the decline in the native popu lation, which has fallen from 150,000 to 87,000. The ravages of measles, typhus and dysentery operating in virgin soil, especially among in fants, has brought about this decline, which is now, however, arrested. The natives, who be long to the Malayo-Polynesian race, are of fine physique, muscular and athletic; their language is Melanesian, with an admixture of Polynesian words. They are intensely conservative in habits and customs: the loin-cloth has not given place to pants; they in fashion a tree trunk into canoes and live n thatched huts just as their forefathers did. They are skilful navigators and expert potters. The greater part of the land is in their hands, one pecu liarity of tenure being that ownership of fruit trees and crops is held quite independently of ownership of the soil. The islands form an important link in the chain of British trade and influence in the Pacific, having steam communi cation with Australasia, Samoa, Honolulu and Canada, and serve as links in the All-Red Cable Route between Australia and Canada.
Some of the Fiji Islands were discovered by Tasman in 1643; they were visited by Captain Cook in 1773; and explored by Dumont d'Ur ville in 1827. They were constituted a British colony in 1874. The governor is assisted by a nominated executive council, and by a legisla tive council, 11 of whom are officials and seven elective (including two natives). Pop. (1911) 139,341 (Europeans 3,707); estimated (1915) 155,167. Consult Cumming, At Home in Fiji' (London 1887) • Churchill, The Polynesian Wanderings' (Washington 1911); Grimshaw, and Its Possibilities' (New York 1907); Thomson, Past and Present' (Melbourne 1899), and The Fijians: A Study in the of Custom' (London 1908); Williams, and the Fijians' (London 1870).