Fiji Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Etymology ==<!--linked--> The name of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, served as the origin of the name "Fiji", though the common English pronunciation is based on that of Fiji's island neighbours in [[Tonga]]. An official account of the emergence of the name states: {{blockquote| Fijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of the members of the expeditions of [[James Cook|Cook]] who met them in Tonga. They were described as formidable warriors and ferocious cannibals, builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific, but not great sailors. They inspired awe amongst the Tongans, and all their Manufactures, especially bark cloth and clubs, were highly valued and much in demand. They called their home Viti, but the Tongans called it Fisi, and it was by this foreign pronunciation, Fiji, first promulgated by Captain James Cook, that these islands are now known.<ref>[http://www.fijihighcommission.org.uk/about_1.html About Fiji] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100202003312/http://www.fijihighcommission.org.uk/about_1.html |date= 2 February 2010 }}, section on Europeans in Fiji. Fiji High Commission to the United Kingdom.</ref>}} "Feejee", the Anglicised spelling of the Tongan pronunciation,<ref>{{cite journal|last= Schutz|first= Albert J.|title= The Forerunners of the Fijian Dictionary|journal= The Journal of the Polynesian Society|date= December 1974|volume= 83|issue= 4|pages= 443–457|jstor= 20705027|url= http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._4/The_forerunners_of_the_Fijian_dictionary%2C_by_Albert_J._Schutz%2C_p_443-458/p1|access-date= 21 January 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180208075139/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._4/The_forerunners_of_the_Fijian_dictionary%2C_by_Albert_J._Schutz%2C_p_443-458/p1|archive-date= 8 February 2018|url-status= live}}</ref> occurred in accounts and other writings by missionaries and other travellers visiting Fiji until the late-19th century.<ref> {{cite journal|last= Barbour|first= Thomas|title= The Frogs of the Fiji Islands|journal= Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia|year= 1923|volume= 75|pages= 111–115|jstor= 4063878}} </ref><ref> For example: {{cite book | last1 = Scarr | first1 = Deryck | title = Fiji: A Short History | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IkoxAQAAIAAJ | location = Laie, Hawaii | publisher = Institute for Polynesian Studies, Brigham Young University—Hawaii Campus | date = 1984 | page = 2 | isbn = 9780939154364 | oclc = 611678101 | access-date = 23 August 2020 | quote = 'The natives of Feejee whom we met here are of a colour that was a full shade darker than that of the Friendly Islands in general', observed Lieutenant James Cook [...]. }} </ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page