Ratu Lala's men often brought in
a live wild pig, which they captured with the aid of their dogs. At
other times they would run them down and spear them; this was hard
and exciting work, as I myself found on several occasions that I went
pig hunting. One of the most remarkable things that I saw in Taviuni,
from a sporting point of view, was the heart of a wild pig, which,
when killed, was found to have lived with the broken point of a
wooden spear fully four inches in length buried in the very centre
of its heart. It had evidently lived for many years afterwards,
and a curious kind of growth had formed round the point.
As for other game, every time I went out in the mountain woods I had
splendid sport with the wild chickens or jungle fowl and pigeons,
and I would often return with my guide bearing a long pole loaded
at both ends with the birds I had shot. The pigeons, which were
large birds, settled on the tops of the tallest trees and made a
very peculiar kind of growling noise. Many years ago (as Ratu Lala
told me) the natives of Taviuni had been in the habit of catching
great quantities of pigeons by means of large nets suspended from the
trees. The chickens would generally get up like a pheasant, and it
was good sport taking a snap shot at an old cock bird on the wing.
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