CANNIBAL FORKS !

The shop in Fiji was owned by an Indian-Fijian and the conversation went like this:
"What is this wooden spindle?" I asked the Indian shopkeeper.
"Gannibal imblement, mahm."
"Did you say 'cannibal'?"
"And gannibal glub," he went on, showing me a shiny skull-crushing bat, of the sort that had once been used to bash out an enemy's brains.
"Fahmerly this island was all ferocious gannibals, mahm," the Indian said, glancing furtively behind him. "Feezee pipple, mahm." Paul Theroux

In case you are wondering (or worrying) about the present day culinary tastes of Fijians, the last occurrence of cannibalism in Fiji was in 1867 (when a chief on the island of Viti Levu killed and devoured a Wesleyan Methodist missionary, Thomas Baker.)
A descendant of the chief recounted, "We ate everything, 'even tried to eat his shoes."
In the Fiji National Museum in Suva today, we saw one of Baker's shoes on display!!
In the old days, the defeated warriors were cooked in "lovo" - pit ovens -and eaten with breadfruit. The ceremonial practice of cannibalism was very important.
Fijian cannibals believed it was bad form to eat with their hands, so they used forks instead, made from sacred vesi wood, like the photo above.
Cheap copies of these cannibal forks are available for sale all over Fiji, and make interesting conversation pieces - the girls have one each as souvenirs. I think we're leaning towards a kava bowl for ours!