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by A. B. Brewster (Author)
An unparalleled eyewitness record from Fiji's mountain interiors. A rare, intimate portrait emerges. B. Brewster's The Hill Tribes Of Fiji is the product of forty years' close contact with the island's interior peoples - an immersive, nineteenth-century Fiji account that sits at the intersection of travel writing and field observation. As an ethnographic study of Fiji, it sets down habits in war and peace, methods of living, and the mental and physical characteristics noted over decades of direct presence. The prose is spare, precise and observant rather than theatrical; readers encounter detailed descriptions of domestic life, social organisation and inter-group relations that together sketch traditional Fiji lifestyles within a landscape of mountains and river valleys. Because Brewster writes from long-term proximity rather than a passing visit, the volume reads as both a vivid narrative for general readers and a primary source for pacific islands anthropology and any serious tribal history collection or library of pacific exploration books. The book's importance reaches beyond anecdote: it is a substantive contribution to colonial era studies and to the documentation of indigenous Fiji cultures and mountain tribes Fiji at a moment of rapid change. Casual readers will find striking scenes and human immediacy; cultural heritage readers and academic researchers will find an academic research resource rich in contemporaneous observation, including sober discussion of cannibalism in Fiji history set in historical context. Scholars will appreciate the observational notes and chronological perspective that support further study and citation, making the book a practical companion for fieldworkers, historians and collectors alike. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.
