CHAP. IX.

ACCOUNTS OF OTAHEITE STILL IMPERFECT.—THE PREVAILING WINDS.—BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY.—CULTIVATION.—NATURAL CURIOSITIES.—THE PERSONS OF THE NATIVES.—DISEASES.—GENERAL CHARACTER.—LOVE OF PLEASURE.—LANGUAGE.—SURGERY AND PHYSIC.—ARTICLES OF FOOD.—EFFECTS OF DRINKING AVA.—TIMES AND MANNER OF EATING.—CONNECTIONS WITH THE FEMALES.—CIRCUMCISION.—SYSTEM OF RELIGION.—NOTIONS ABOUT THE SOUL AND A FUTURE LIFE.—VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.—TRADITIONS ABOUT THE CREATION.—AN HISTORICAL LEGEND.—HONOURS PAID TO THE KING.—DISTINCTION OF RANKS.—PUNISHMENT OF CRIMES.—PECULIARITIES OF THE NEIGHBOURING ISLANDS.—NAMES OF THEIR GODS.—NAMES OF ISLANDS THEY VISIT.—EXTENT OF THEIR NAVIGATION.

To what has been said of Otaheite, in the accounts of the successive voyages of Captain Wallis, Monsieur de Bougainville, and Captain Cook, it would at first sight, seem superfluous to add any thing; as it might be supposed, that little could be now produced, but a repetition of what has been told before. I am, however, far from being of that opinion; and will venture to affirm, though a very accurate description of the country, and of the most obvious customs of its inhabitants, has been already given, especially by Captain Cook, that much still remains untouched; that, in some instances, mistakes have been made, which later and repeated observation has been able to rectify; and that, even now, we are strangers to many of the most important institutions that prevail amongst these people. The truth is, our visits, though frequent, have been but transient; many of us had no inclination to make inquiries; more of us were unable to direct our inquiries properly; and we all laboured, though not to the same degree, under the disadvantages attending an imperfect knowledge of the language of those from whom alone we could receive any information. The Spaniards had it more in their power to surmount this bar to instruction; some of them having resided at Otaheite much longer than any other European visitors. As, with their superior advantages, they could not but have had an opportunity of obtaining the fullest information on most subjects relating to this island, their account of it would, probably, convey more authentic and accurate intelligence than, with our best endeavours, any of us could possibly obtain. But as I look upon it to be very uncertain, if not very unlikely, that we shall ever have any communication from that quarter, I have here put together what additional intelligence about Otaheite and its neighbouring islands I was able to procure, either from Omai while on board the ship, or by conversing with the other natives while we remained amongst them.

The wind, for the greatest part of the year, blows from between east south-east, and east north-east. This is the true trade wind, or what the natives call Maaraee; and it sometimes blows with considerable force. When this is the case, the weather is often cloudy, with showers of rain; but when the wind is more moderate, it is clear, settled, and serene. If the wind should veer farther to the southward, and become south-east, or south south-east, it then blows more gently, with a smooth sea, and is called Maoai. In those months, when the sun is nearly vertical, that is, in December and January, the winds and weather are both very variable; but it frequently blows from west north-west, or north-west. This wind is what they call Toerou; and is generally attended by dark, cloudy weather, and frequently by rain. It sometimes blows strong, though generally moderate; but seldom lasts longer than five or six days without interruption; and is the only wind in which the people of the islands to leeward come to this, in their canoes. If it happens to be still more northerly, it blows with less strength, and has the different appellation of Erapotaia; which they feign to be the wife of the Toerou; who, according to their mythology, is a male.

The wind from south-west, and west south-west, is still more frequent than the former; and though it is, in general, gentle, and interrupted by calms, or breezes from the eastward, yet it sometimes blows in brisk squalls. The weather attending it is commonly dark, cloudy, and rainy, with a close, hot air; and often accompanied by a great deal of lightning and thunder. It is called Etoa, and often succeeds the Toerou; as does also the Farooa, which is still more southerly, and, from its violence, blows down houses and trees, especially the cocoa-palms, from their loftiness; but it is only of short duration.

The natives seem not to have a very accurate knowledge of these changes, and yet pretend to have drawn some general conclusions from their effects; for they say when the sea has a hollow sound, and dashes slowly on the shore, or rather on the reef without, that it portends good weather; but, if it has a sharp sound, and the waves succeed each other fast, that the reverse will happen.

Perhaps there is scarcely a spot in the universe that affords a more luxuriant prospect than the south-east part of Otaheite. The hills are high and steep; and, in many places, craggy. But they are covered to the very summits with trees and shrubs, in such a manner, that the spectator can scarcely help thinking that the very rocks possess the property of producing and supporting their verdant clothing. The flat land which bounds those hills toward the sea, and the interjacent valleys, also teem with various productions that grow with the most exuberant vigour; and at once fill the mind of the beholder with the idea that no place upon earth can outdo this in the strength and beauty of vegetation. Nature has been no less liberal in distributing rivulets, which are found in every valley; and as they approach the sea, often divide into two or three branches, fertilizing the flat lands through which they run. The habitations of the natives are scattered, without order, upon the flats; and many of them appearing toward the shore, presented a delightful scene, viewed from our ships; especially as the sea, within the reef, which bounds the coast, is perfectly still, and affords a safe navigation at all times for the inhabitants, who are often seen paddling in their canoes indolently along, in passing from place to place, or in going to fish. On viewing these charming scenes, I have often regretted my inability to transmit to those who have had no opportunity of seeing them, such a description as might, in some measure, convey an impression similar to what must be felt by every one who has been fortunate enough to be upon the spot.

It is, doubtless, the natural fertility of the country, combined with the mildness and serenity of the climate, that renders the natives so careless in their cultivation, that, in many places, though overflowing with the richest productions, the smallest traces of it cannot be observed. The cloth plant, which is raised by seeds brought from the mountains, and the ava, or intoxicating pepper, which they defend from the sun when very young, by covering them with leaves of the bread-fruit-tree, are almost the only things to which they seem to pay any attention; and these they keep very clean.

I have inquired very carefully into their manner of cultivating the bread-fruit-tree; but was always answered, that they never planted it. This, indeed, must be evident to every one who will examine the places where the young trees come up. It will be always observed, that they spring from the roots of the old ones, which run along near the surface of the ground. So that the bread-fruit-trees may be reckoned those that would naturally cover the plains, even supposing that the island was not inhabited; in the same manner that the white-barked trees, found at Van Diemen’s Land, constitute the forests there. And from this we may observe, that the inhabitant of Otaheite, instead of being obliged to plant his bread, will rather be under a necessity of preventing its progress; which I suppose is sometimes done, to give room for trees of another sort, to afford him some variety in his food.

The chief of these are the cocoa-nut and plantain; the first of which can give no trouble, after it has raised itself a foot or two above the ground; but the plantain requires a little more care. For, after it is planted, it shoots up, and, in about three months, begins to bear fruit; during which time it gives young shoots, which supply a succession of fruit. For the old stocks are cut down, as the fruit is taken off.

The products of the island, however, are not so remarkable for their variety, as great abundance; and curiosities of any kind are not numerous. Amongst these we may reckon a pond or lake of fresh water, at the top of one of the highest mountains, to go to and to return from which takes three or four days. It is remarkable for its depth, and has eels of an enormous size in it; which are sometimes caught by the natives, who go upon this water in little floats of two or three wild plantain-trees fastened together. This is esteemed one of the greatest natural curiosities of the country; insomuch, that travellers, who come from the other islands, are commonly asked, amongst the first things, by their friends, at their return, if they have seen it. There is also a sort of water, of which there is only one small pond upon the island, as far distant as the lake, and to appearance very good, with a yellow sediment at the bottom; but it has a bad taste, and proves fatal to those who drink any quantity; or makes them break out in blotches, if they bathe in it.

Nothing could make a stronger impression at first sight on our arrival here, than the remarkable contrast between the robust make and dark colour of the people of Tongataboo, and a sort of delicacy and whiteness which distinguish the inhabitants of Otaheite. It was even some time before that difference could preponderate in favour of the Otaheitans; and then only, perhaps, because we became accustomed to them, the marks which had recommended the others began to be forgotten. Their women, however, struck us as superior in every respect; and as possessing all those delicate characteristics which distinguish them from the other sex in many countries. The beard, which the men here wear long, and the hair, which is not cut so short as in the fashion at Tongataboo, made also a great difference; and we could not help thinking, that, on every occasion, they shewed a greater degree of timidity and fickleness. The muscular appearance, so common amongst the Friendly Islanders, and which seems a consequence of their being accustomed to much action, is lost here, where the superior fertility of their country enables the inhabitants to lead a more indolent life; and its place is supplied by a plumpness and smoothness of the skin; which, though perhaps more consonant with our ideas of beauty, is no real advantage; as it seems attended with a kind of languor in all their motions, not observable in the others. This observation is fully verified in their boxing and wrestling, which may be called little better than the feeble efforts of children, if compared to the vigour with which these exercises are performed at the Friendly Islands.

Personal endowments being in great esteem amongst them, they have recourse to several methods of improving them, according to their notions of beauty. In particular, it is a practice, especially amongst the Erreoes, or unmarried men of some consequence, to undergo a kind of physical operation to render them fair. This is done by remaining a month or two in the house; during which time they wear a great quantity of clothes, eat nothing but bread-fruit, to which they ascribe a remarkable property in whitening them. They also speak as if their corpulence and colour, at other times, depended upon their food; as they are obliged, from the change of seasons, to use different sorts at different times.

Their common diet is made up of at least nine-tenths of vegetable food; and, I believe, more particularly, the mahee, or fermented bread-fruit, which enters almost every meal, has a remarkable effect upon them, preventing a costive habit, and producing a very sensible coolness about them, which could not be perceived in us who fed on animal food. And it is, perhaps, owing to this temperate course of life that they have so few diseases among them.

They only reckon five or six, which might be called chronic, or national disorders; amongst which are the dropsy, and the fefai, or indolent swellings before mentioned, as frequent at Tongataboo. But this was before the arrival of the Europeans; for we have added to this short catalogue a disease which abundantly supplies the place of all others; and is now almost universal. For this they seem to have no effectual remedy. The priests, indeed, sometimes give them a medley of simples; but they own that it never cures them. And yet they allow that, in a few cases, nature, without the assistance of a physician, exterminates the poison of this fatal disease, and a perfect recovery is produced. They say, that if a man is infected with it, he will often communicate it to others in the same house, by feeding out of the same utensils, or handling them; and that in this case, they frequently die, while he recovers; though we see no reason why this should happen.

Their behaviour, on all occasions, seems to indicate a great openness and generosity of disposition. Omai, indeed, who, as their countryman, should be supposed rather willing to conceal any of their defects, has often said, that they are sometimes cruel in punishing their enemies. According to his representation, they torment them very deliberately; at one time tearing out small pieces of flesh from different parts; at another, taking out the eyes; then cutting off the nose; and, lastly, killing them by opening the belly. But this only happens on particular occasions. If cheerfulness argues a conscious innocence, one would suppose that their life is seldom sullied by crimes. This, however, I rather impute to their feelings, which, though lively, seem in no case permanent; for I never saw them, in any misfortune, labour under the appearance of anxiety after the critical moment was past. Neither does care ever seem to wrinkle their brow. On the contrary, even the approach of death does not appear to alter their usual vivacity. I have seen them, when brought to the brink of the grave by disease, and when preparing to go to battle; but, in neither case, ever observed their countenances overclouded with melancholy or serious reflection.

Such a disposition leads them to direct all their aims only to what can give them pleasure and ease. Their amusements all tend to excite and continue their amorous passions; and their songs, of which they are immoderately fond, answer the same purpose. But as a constant succession of sensual enjoyments must cloy, we found that they frequently varied them to more refined subjects, and had much pleasure in chanting their triumphs in war, and their occupations in peace; their travels to other islands, and adventures there; and the peculiar beauties, and superior advantages of their own island over the rest, or of different parts of it over other less favourable districts. This marks that they receive great delight from music; and though they rather expressed a dislike to our complicated compositions, yet were they always delighted with the more melodious sounds produced singly on our instruments, as approaching nearer to the simplicity of their own.

Neither are they strangers to the soothing effects produced by particular sorts of motion; which, in some cases, seem to allay any perturbation of mind with as much success as music. Of this, I met with a remarkable instance. For on walking one day about Matavai Point, where our tents were erected, I saw a man paddling in a small canoe, so quickly, and looking about him with such eagerness on each side, as to command all my attention. At first I imagined he had stolen something from one of the ships, and was pursued; but, on waiting patiently, saw him repeat his amusement. He went out from the shore, till he was near the place where the swell begins to take its rise; and, watching its first motion very attentively, paddled before it with great quickness, till he found that it overlooked him, and had acquired sufficient force to carry his canoe before it, without passing underneath. He then sat motionless, and was carried along, at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him upon the beach. Then he started out, emptied his canoe, and went in search of another swell. I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure, while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea; especially as, though the tents and ships were so near, he did not seem in the least to envy, or even to take any notice of, the crowds of his countrymen collected to view them as objects which were rare and curious. During my stay, two or three of the natives came up, who seemed to share his felicity, and always called out when there was an appearance of a favourable swell, as he sometimes missed it, by his back being turned, and looking about for it. By them I understood that this exercise, which is called choroee, was frequent amongst them; and they have probably more amusements of this sort, which afford them at least as much pleasure as skaiting, which is the only one of ours, with whose effects I could compare it.

The language of Otaheite, though doubtless radically the same with that of New Zealand and the Friendly Islands, is destitute of that guttural pronunciation, and of some consonants, with which those latter dialects abound. The specimens we have already given, are sufficient to mark wherein the variation chiefly consists, and to show that, like the manners of the inhabitants, it has become soft and soothing. During the former voyage, I had collected a copious vocabulary, which enabled me the better to compare this dialect with that of the other islands; and, during this voyage, I took every opportunity of improving my acquaintance with it, by conversing with Omai before we arrived, and by my daily intercourse with the natives while we now remained there. [16] It abounds with beautiful and figurative expressions, which, were it perfectly known, would, I have no doubt, put it upon a level with many of the languages that are most in esteem for their warmth and bold images. For instance, the Otaheitans express their notions of death very emphatically, by saying, “That the soul goes into darkness; or rather into night.” And, if you seem to entertain any doubt, in asking the question, “if such a person is their mother,” they immediately reply with surprize, “Yes; the mother that bore me.” They have one expression that corresponds exactly with the phraseology of the scriptures, where we read of the “yearning of the bowels.” They use it on all occasions, when the passions give them uneasiness; as they constantly refer pain from grief, anxious desire, and other affections, to the bowels, as its seat; where they likewise suppose all operations of the mind are performed. Their language admits of that inverted arrangement of words which so much distinguishes the Latin and Greek from most of our modern European tongues, whose imperfections require a more orderly construction, to prevent ambiguities. It is so copious, that for the bread-fruit alone, in its different states, they have above twenty names; as many for the taro root; and about ten for the cocoa-nut. Add to this, that, besides the common dialect, they often expostulate, in a kind of stanza or recitative, which is answered in the same manner.

Their arts are few and simple; yet, if we may credit them, they perform cures in surgery which our extensive knowledge in that branch has not, as yet, enabled us to imitate. In simple fractures, they bind them up with splints; but if part of the substance of the bone be lost, they insert a piece of wood between the fractured ends, made hollow like the deficient part. In five or six days, the rapaoo, or surgeon, inspects the wound, and finds the wood partly covered with the growing flesh. In as many more days, it is generally entirely covered; after which, when the patient has acquired some strength, he bathes in the water, and recovers. We know that wounds will heal over leaden bullets; and sometimes, though rarely, over other extraneous bodies. But what makes me entertain some doubt of the truth of so extraordinary skill, as in the above instance, is, that in other cases which fell under my own observation, they are far from being so dexterous. I have seen the stump of an arm, which was taken off after being shattered by a fall from a tree, that bore no marks of skilful operation, though some allowance be made for their defective instruments. And I met with a man going about with a dislocated shoulder, some months after the accident, from their being ignorant of a method to reduce it; though this be considered as one of the simplest operations of our surgery. They know that fractures or luxations of the spine are mortal, but not fractures of the skull; and they likewise know, from experience, in what parts of the body wounds prove fatal. They have sometimes pointed out those inflicted by spears, which, if made in the direction they mentioned, would certainly have been pronounced deadly by us; and yet these people have recovered.

Their physical knowledge seems more confined; and that, probably, because their diseases are fewer than their accidents. The priests, however, administer the juices of herbs in some cases; and women who are troubled with after-pains, or other disorders after child-bearing, use a remedy which one would think needless in a hot country. They first heat stones, as when they bake their food; then they lay a thick cloth over them, upon which is put a quantity of a small plant of the mustard kind; and these are covered with another cloth. Upon this they seat themselves, and sweat plentifully, to obtain a cure. The men have practised the same method for the venereal lues, but find it ineffectual. They have no emetic medicines.

Notwithstanding the extreme fertility of the island, a famine frequently happens, in which, it is said, many perish. Whether this be owing to the failure of some seasons, to over population, which must sometimes almost necessarily happen, or to wars, I have not been able to determine; though the truth of the fact may be fairly inferred, from the great economy that they observe with respect to their food, even when there is plenty. In times of scarcity, after their bread-fruit and yams are consumed, they have recourse to various roots which grow without cultivation upon the mountains. The patarra, which is found in vast quantities, is what they use first. It is not unlike a very large potatoe or yam, and good when in its growing state; but, when old, is full of hard stringy fibres. They then eat two other roots; one not unlike taro; and lastly, the ehoee. This is of two sorts; one of them possessing deleterious qualities, which obliges them to slice and macerate it in water a night before they bake and eat it. In this respect, it resembles the cassava root of the West Indies; but it forms a very insipid, moist paste, in the manner they dress it. However, I have seen them eat it at times, when no such scarcity reigned. Both this and the patarra are creeping plants; the last, with ternate leaves.

Of animal food, a very small portion falls, at any time, to the share of the lower class of people; and then it is either fish, sea eggs, or other marine productions; for they seldom or ever eat pork. The Eree de hoi [17] alone is able to furnish pork every day; and inferior chiefs, according to their riches, once a week, fortnight, or month. Sometimes they are not even allowed that; for, when the island is impoverished by war, or other causes, the chief prohibits his subjects to kill any hogs; and this prohibition, we were told, is in force sometimes for several months, or even for a year or two. During that restraint, the hogs multiply so fast, that there are instances of their changing their domestic state, and turning wild. When it is thought proper to take off the prohibition, all the chiefs assemble at the king’s place of abode; and each brings with him a present of hogs. The king then orders some of them to be killed, on which they feast; and, after that, every one returns home with liberty to kill what he pleases for his own use. Such a prohibition was actually in force, on our arrival here; at least, in all those districts of the island that are immediately under the direction of Otoo. And, lest it should have prevented our going to Matavai after leaving Oheitepeha, he sent a message to assure us, that it should be taken off as soon as the ships arrived there. With respect to us, we found it so; but we made such a consumption of them, that, I have no doubt, it would be laid on again as soon as we sailed. A similar prohibition is also, sometimes extended to fowls.

It is also amongst the better sort that the ava is chiefly used. But this beverage is prepared somewhat differently from that which we saw so much of at the Friendly Islands. For they pour a very small quantity of water upon the root here; and sometimes roast or bake, and bruise the stalks, without chewing it previously to its infusion. They also use the leaves of the plant here, which are bruised, and water poured upon them, as upon the root. Large companies do not assemble to drink it, in that sociable way which is practised at Tongataboo. But its pernicious effects are more obvious here; perhaps owing to the manner of preparing it; as we often saw instances of its intoxicating, or rather stupifying powers. Some of us, who had been at these islands before, were surprised to find many people, who, when we saw them last, were remarkable for their size and corpulency, now almost reduced to skeletons; and, upon inquiring into the cause of this alteration, it was universally allowed to be the use of the ava. The skins of these people were rough, dry, and covered with scales; which, they say, every now and then fall off, and their skin is, as it were, renewed. As an excuse for a practice so destructive, they allege that it is adopted to prevent their growing too fat; but it evidently enervates them; and in all probability shortens their days. As its effects had not been so visible during our former visits, it is not unlikely that this article of luxury had never been so much abused as at this time. If it continues to be so fashionable, it bids fair to destroy great numbers.

The times of eating, at Otaheite, are very frequent. Their first meal, or (as it may rather be called) their last, as they go to sleep after it, is about two o’clock in the morning; and the next is at eight. At eleven, they dine, and again, as Omai expressed it, at two, and at five; and sup at eight. In this article of domestic life, they have adopted some customs which are exceedingly whimsical. The women, for instance, have not only the mortification of being obliged to eat by themselves, and in a different part of the house from the men; but, by a strange kind of policy, are excluded from a share of most of the better sorts of food. They dare not taste turtle, nor fish of the tunny kind, which is much esteemed; nor some particular sorts of the best plantains; and it is very seldom that even those of the first rank are suffered to eat pork. The children of each sex also eat apart; and the women, generally, serve up their own victuals; for they would certainly starve, before any grown man would do them such an office. In this, as well as in some other customs relative to their eating, there is a mysterious conduct which we could never thoroughly comprehend. When we enquired into the reasons of it, we could get no other answer, but that it is right and necessary it should be so.

In other customs respecting the females, there seems to be no such obscurity; especially as to their connections with the men. If a young man and woman, from mutual choice, cohabit, the man gives the father of the girl such things as are necessary in common life; as hogs, cloth, or canoes, in proportion to the time they are together; and if he thinks that he has not been sufficiently paid for his daughter, he makes no scruple of forcing her to leave her friend, and to cohabit with another person, who may be more liberal. The man, on his part, is always at liberty to make a new choice; but, should his consort become pregnant, he may kill the child; and, after that, either continue his connection with the mother, or leave her. But if he should adopt the child, and suffer it to live, the parties are then considered as in the married state, and they commonly live together ever after. However, it is thought no crime in the man to join a more youthful partner to his first wife, and to live with both. The custom of changing their connections is, however, much more general than this last; and it is a thing so common, that they speak of it with great indifference. The Erreoes are only those of the better sort, who, from their fickleness, and their possessing the means of purchasing a succession of fresh connections, are constantly roaming about; and, from having no particular attachment, seldom adopt the more settled method mentioned above. And so agreeable is this licentious plan of life to their disposition, that the most beautiful of both sexes thus commonly spend their youthful days, habituated to the practice of enormities which would disgrace the most savage tribes; but are peculiarly shocking amongst a people whose general character, in other respects, has evident traces of the prevalence of humane and tender feelings. [18] When an Erreoe woman is delivered of a child, a piece of cloth, dipped in water, is applied to the mouth and nose, which suffocates it.

As in such a life, their women must contribute a very large share of its happiness, it is rather surprising, besides the humiliating restraints they are laid under with regard to food, to find them often treated with a degree of harshness, or rather brutality, which one would scarcely suppose a man would bestow on an object for whom he had the least affection. Nothing, however, is more common, than to see the men beat them without mercy; and, unless this treatment is the effect of jealousy, which both sexes at least pretend to be sometimes infected with, it will be difficult to admit this as the motive, as I have seen several instances where the women have preferred personal beauty to interest; though I must own, that, even in these cases, they seem scarcely susceptible of those delicate sentiments that are the result of mutual affection; and, I believe, that there is less Platonic love in Otaheite than in any other country.

Cutting or inciding the fore-skin should be mentioned here as a practice adopted amongst them, from a notion of cleanliness; and they have a reproachful epithet in their language for those who do not observe that custom. When there are five or six lads, pretty well grown up in a neighbourhood, the father of one of them goes to a Tahoua, or man of knowledge, and lets him know. He goes with the lads to the top of the hills, attended by a servant; and seating one of them properly, introduces a piece of wood underneath the foreskin, and desires him to look aside at something he pretends is coming. Having thus engaged the young man’s attention to another object, he cuts through the skin upon the wood with a shark’s tooth, generally at one stroke. He then separates, or rather turns back the divided parts; and, having put on a bandage, proceeds to perform the same operation on the other lads. At the end of five days they bathe, and the bandages being taken off, the matter is cleaned away. At the end of five days more, they bathe again, and are well; but a thickness of the prepuce where it was cut, remaining, they go again to the mountains with the Tahoua and servant; and a fire being prepared, and some stones heated, the Tahoua puts the prepuce between two of them, and squeezes it gently, which removes the thickness. They return home, having their heads and other parts of their bodies adorned with odoriferous flowers; and the Tahoua is rewarded for his services by their fathers, in proportion to their several abilities, with presents of hogs and cloth; and if they be poor, their relations are liberal on the occasion.

Their religious system is extensive, and, in many instances, singular; but few of the common people have a perfect knowledge of it; that being confined chiefly to their priests, who are pretty numerous. They do not seem to pay any respect to one God, as possessing pre-eminence, but believe in a plurality of divinities, who are all very powerful; and in this case, as different parts of the island, and the other islands in the neighbourhood, have different ones, the inhabitants of each, no doubt, think that they have chosen the most eminent, or, at least, one who is invested with power sufficient to protect them, and to supply all their wants. If he should not answer their expectations, they think it no impiety to change; as has very lately happened in Tiaraboo, where, in the room of the two divinities formerly honoured there, Oraa [19] , god of Bolabola, has been adopted, I should suppose, because he is the protector of a people who have been victorious in war; and as, since they have made this change, they have been very successful themselves against the inhabitants of Otaheite-nooe, they impute it entirely to Oraa, who, as they literally say, fights their battles.

Their assiduity in serving their gods is remarkably conspicuous. Not only the whattas, or offering places of the morais, are commonly loaded with fruit and animals, but there are few houses where you do not meet with a small place of the same sort near them. Many of them are so rigidly scrupulous, that they will not begin a meal without first laying aside a morsel for the Eatooa; and we had an opportunity, during this voyage, of seeing their superstitious zeal carried to a most pernicious height in the instance of human sacrifices; the occasions of offering which, I doubt, are too frequent. Perhaps they have recourse to them when misfortunes occur; for they asked, if one of our men, who happened to be confined when we were detained by a contrary wind, was taboo? Their prayers are also very frequent, which they chant, much after the manner of the songs in their festive entertainments. And the women, as in other cases, are also obliged to show their inferiority in religious observances; for it is required of them, that they should partly uncover themselves, as they pass the morais; or take a considerable circuit to avoid them. Though they have no notion, that their god must always be conferring benefits without sometimes forgetting them, or suffering evil to befall them, they seem to regard this less than the attempts of some more inauspicious being to hurt them. They tell us, that Etee is an evil spirit, who sometimes does them mischief; and to whom, as well as to their god, they make offerings. But the mischiefs they apprehend from any superior invincible beings, are confined to things merely temporal.

They believe the soul to be both immaterial and immortal. They say that it keeps fluttering about the lips during the pangs of death; and that then it ascends, and mixes with, or, as they express it, is eaten by the deity. In this state it remains for some time; after which, it departs to a certain place destined for the reception of the souls of men, where it exists in eternal night; or, as they sometimes say, in twilight, or dawn. They have no idea of any permanent punishment after death for crimes that they have committed on earth; for the souls of good and bad men are eat indiscriminately by God. But they certainly consider this coalition with the deity as a kind of purification necessary to be undergone, before they enter a state of bliss. For, according to their doctrine, if a man refrain from all connection with women some months before death, he passes immediately into his eternal mansion without such a previous union; as if already, by this abstinence, he were pure enough to be exempted from the general lot.

They are, however, far from entertaining those sublime conceptions of happiness which our religion, and, indeed, reason, gives us room to expect hereafter. The only great privilege they seem to think they shall acquire by death, is immortality; for they speak of spirits being, in some measure, not totally divested of those passions which actuated them when combined with material vehicles. Thus, if souls who were formerly enemies, should meet, they have many conflicts; though, it should seem, to no purpose, as they are accounted invulnerable in this invisible state. There is a similar reasoning with regard to the meeting of man and wife. If the husband dies first, the soul of his wife is known to him on its arrival in the land of spirits. They resume their former acquaintance in a spacious house, called Tourooa, where the souls of the deceased assemble to recreate themselves with the gods. She then retires with him to his separate habitation, where they remain for ever, and have an offspring; which, however, is entirely spiritual; as they are neither married, nor are their embraces supposed to be the same as with corporeal beings.

Some of their notions about the deity are extravagantly absurd. They believe, that he is subject to the power of those very spirits to whom he has given existence; and that, in their turn, they frequently eat or devour him, though he possess the power of recreating himself. They doubtless use this mode of expression, as they seem incapable of conversing about immaterial things without constantly referring to material objects to convey their meaning. And in this manner they continue the account, by saying, that, in the Tourooa, the deity inquires, if they intend, or not, to destroy him? And that he is not able to alter their determination. This is known to the inhabitants on earth, as well as to the spirits; for when the moon is in its wane, it is said, that they are then devouring their Eatooa; and that, as it increases, he is renewing himself. And to this accident, not only the inferior, but the most eminent gods are liable. They also believe, that there are other places for the reception of souls at death. Thus, those who are drowned in the sea, remain there; where they think that there is a fine country, houses, and every thing that can make them happy. But what is more singular, they maintain, that not only all other animals, but trees, fruit, and even stones, have souls, which at death, or upon being consumed or broken, ascend to the divinity, with whom they first mix, and afterward pass into the mansion allotted to each.

They imagine that their punctual performance of religious offices procures for them every temporal blessing. And as they believe, that the animating and powerful influence of the divine spirit is every where diffused, it is no wonder that they join to this many superstitious opinions about its operations. Accordingly, they believe that sudden deaths, and all other accidents, are effected by the immediate action of some divinity. If a man only stumble against a stone, and hurt his toe, they impute it to an Eatooa; so that they may be literally said, agreeable to their system, to tread enchanted ground. They are startled, in the night, on approaching a toopapaoo, where the dead are exposed, in the same manner that many of our ignorant and superstitious people are with the apprehensions of ghosts, and at the sight of a church-yard; and they have an equal confidence in dreams, which they suppose to be communications either from their god, or from the spirits of their departed friends, enabling those favoured with them to foretel future events; but this kind of knowledge is confined to particular people. Omai pretended to have this gift. He told us, that the soul of his father had intimated to him in a dream, on the 26th of July, 1776, that he should go on shore, at some place, within three days; but he was unfortunate in this first attempt to persuade us that he was a prophet; for it was the 1st of August before we got into Teneriffe. Amongst them, however, the dreamers possess a reputation little inferior to that of their inspired priests and priestesses, whose predictions they implicitly believe, and are determined by them in all undertakings of consequence. The priestess who persuaded Opoony to invade Ulietea, is much respected by him; and he never goes to war without consulting her. They also, in some degree, maintain our old doctrine of planetary influence; at least, they are sometimes regulated, in their public counsels, by certain appearances of the moon; particularly when lying horizontally, or much inclined on the convex part, on its first appearance after the change, they are encouraged to engage in war, with confidence of success.

They have traditions concerning the creation, which, as might be expected, are complex, and clouded with obscurity. They say, that a goddess, having a lump or mass of earth suspended in a cord, gave it a swing, and scattered about pieces of land, thus constituting Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands, which were all peopled by a man and a woman originally fixed at Otaheite. This, however, only respects their own immediate creation; for they have notions of an universal one before this; and of lands, of which they have now no other knowledge than what is mentioned in the tradition. Their most remote account reaches to Tatooma and Tapuppa, male and female stones or rocks, who support the congeries of land and water, or our globe underneath. These produced Totorro, who was killed, and divided into land; and, after him, Otaia and Oroo were begotten, who were afterward married, and produced, first land, and then a race of gods. Otai is killed, and Oroo marries a god, her son, called Teorraha, whom she orders to create more land, the animals, and all sorts of food upon the earth; as also the sky, which is supported by men called Teeferei. The spots observed in the moon, are supposed to be groves of a sort of trees which once grew in Otaheite, and being destroyed by some accident, their seeds were carried up thither by doves, where they now flourish.

They have also many legends, both religious and historical; one of which latter, relative to the practice of eating human flesh, I shall give the substance of, as a specimen of their method. A long time since, there lived in Otaheite two men called Taheeai; the only name they yet have for cannibals. None knew from whence they came, or in what manner they arrived at the island. Their habitation was in the mountains, from whence they used to issue, and kill many of the natives, whom they afterwards devoured, and by that means prevented the progress of population. Two brothers, determined to rid their country of such a formidable enemy, used a stratagem for their destruction with success. These still lived farther upward than the Taheeai, and in such a situation, that they could speak with them without greatly hazarding their own safety. They invited them to accept of an entertainment that should be provided for them, to which these readily consented. The brothers then taking some stones, heated them in a fire, and thrusting them into pieces of mahee, desired one of the Taheeai to open his mouth. On which, one of these pieces was dropped in, and some water poured down, which made a boiling or hissing noise in quenching the stone, and killed him. They intreated the other to do the same; but he declined it, representing the consequences of his companion’s eating. However, they assured him that the food was excellent, and its effects only temporary; for that the other would soon recover. His credulity was such, that he swallowed the bait, and shared the fate of the first. The natives then cut them in pieces, which they buried; and conferred the government of the island on the brothers, as a reward for delivering them from such monsters. Their residence was in the district called Whapaeenoo; and, to this day, there remains a bread-fruit tree, once the property of the Taheeais. They had also a woman, who lived with them, and had two teeth of a prodigious size. After they were killed, she lived at the island Otaha, and, when dead, was ranked amongst their deities. She did not eat human flesh, as the men; but, from the size of her teeth, the natives still call any animal that has a fierce appearance, or is represented with large tusks, Taheeai.

Every one must allow, that this story is just as natural as that of Hercules destroying the Hydra, or the more modern one of Jack the giant-killer. But I do not find, that there is any moral couched under it, any more than under most old fables of the same kind, which have been received as truths only during the prevalence of the same ignorance that marked the character of the ages in which they were invented. It, however, has not been improperly introduced, as serving to express the horror and detestation entertained here against those who feed upon human flesh. And yet, from some circumstances, I have been led to think, that the natives of these isles were formerly cannibals. Upon asking Omai, he denied it stoutly; yet mentioned a fact, within his own knowledge, which almost confirms such an opinion. When the people of Bolabola, one time, defeated those of Huaheine, a great number of his kinsmen were slain. But one of his relations had, afterward, an opportunity of revenging himself, when the Bolabola men were worsted in their turn, and cutting a piece out of the thigh of one of his enemies, he broiled and eat it. I have also frequently considered the offering of the person’s eye who is sacrificed, to the chief, as a vestige of a custom which once really existed to a greater extent, and is still commemorated by this emblematical ceremony.

The being invested with the maro, and the presiding at human sacrifices, seem to be the peculiar characteristics of the sovereign. To these, perhaps, may be added, the blowing a conch-shell, which produces a very loud sound. On hearing it, all his subjects are obliged to bring food of every sort to his royal residence in proportion to their abilities. On some other occasions, they carry their veneration for his very name to an extravagant and very destructive pitch. For if, on his accession to the maro, any words in their language be found to have a resemblance to it in sound, they are changed for others; and if any man be bold enough not to comply, and continue to use those words, not only he, but all his relations, are immediately put to death. The same severity is exercised toward those who shall presume to apply this sacred name to any animal. And, agreeably to this custom of his countrymen, Omai used to express his indignation, that the English should give the names of prince or princess to their favourite horses or dogs. But while death is the punishment for making free with the name of their sovereign, if abuse be only levelled at his government, the offender escapes with the forfeiture of land and houses.

The king never enters the house of any of his subjects; but has, in every district, where he visits, houses belonging to himself. And if, at any time, he should be obliged by accident to deviate from this rule, the house thus honoured with his presence, and every part of its furniture, is burnt. His subjects not only uncover to him, when present, down to the waist; but if he be at any particular place, a pole, having a piece of cloth tied to it, is set up somewhere near, to which they pay the same honours. His brothers are also intitled to the first part of the ceremony; but the women only uncover to the females of the royal family. In short, they seem even superstitious in their respect to him, and esteem his person little less than sacred. And it is, perhaps, to these circumstances, that he owes the quiet possession of his dominions. For even the people of Tiaraboo allow him the same honours as his right; though, at the time, they look upon their own chief as more powerful; and say, that he would succeed to the government of the whole island, should the present reigning family become extinct. This is the more likely, as Waheiadooa not only possesses Tiaraboo, but many districts of Opooreanoo. His territories, therefore, are almost equal in extent to those of Otoo; and he has besides the advantage of a more populous and fertile part of the island. His subjects, also, have given proofs of their superiority, by frequent victories over those of Otaheite-nooe, whom they affect to speak of as contemptible warriors, easily to be worsted, if, at any time, their chief should wish to put it to the test.

The ranks of people, besides the Eree de hoi, and his family, are the Erees, or powerful chiefs; the Manahoone, or vassals; and the Teou, or Toutou, servants, or rather slaves. The men of each of these, according to the regular institution, form their connections with women of their respective ranks; but if with any inferior one, which frequently happens, and a child be born, it is preserved, and has the rank of the father, unless he happens to be an Eree, in which case it is killed. If a woman of condition should choose an inferior person to officiate as a husband, the children he has by her are killed. And if a Teou be caught in an intrigue with a woman of the blood royal, he is put to death. The son of the Eree de hoi succeeds his father in title and honours as soon as he is born; but if he should have no children, the brother assumes the government at his death. In other families, possessions always descend to the eldest son; but he is obliged to maintain his brothers and sisters, who are allowed houses on his estates.

The boundaries of the several districts into which Otaheite is divided, are, generally, either rivulets, or low hills, which, in many places, jut out into the sea. But the subdivisions into particular property are marked by large stones, which have remained from one generation to another. The removal of any of these gives rise to quarrels, which are decided by arms; each party bringing his friends into the field. But if any one complain to the Eree de hoi, he terminates the difference amicably. This is an offence, however, not common; and long custom seems to secure property here as effectually as the most severe laws do in other countries. In conformity also to ancient practice established amongst them, crimes of a less general nature are left to be punished by the sufferer, without referring them to a superior. In this case, they seem to think that the injured person will judge as equitably as those who are totally unconcerned; and as long custom has allotted certain punishments for crimes of different sorts, he is allowed to inflict them, without being amenable to any other person. Thus, if any one be caught stealing, which is commonly done in the night, the proprietor of the goods may put the thief instantly to death; and if any one should enquire of him after the deceased, it is sufficient to acquit him, if he only inform them of the provocation he had to kill him. But so severe a punishment is seldom inflicted, unless the articles that are stolen be reckoned very valuable; such as breast-plates and plaited hair. If only cloth, or even hogs be stolen, and the thief escape, upon his being afterward discovered, if he promise to return the same number of pieces of cloth, or of hogs, no farther punishment is inflicted. Sometimes, after keeping out of the way for a few days, he is forgiven, or, at most, gets a slight beating. If a person kill another in a quarrel, the friends of the deceased assemble, and engage the survivor and his adherents. If they conquer, they take possession of the house, lands, and goods of the other party; but if conquered, the reverse takes place. If a Manahoone kill the Toutou, or slave of a chief, the latter sends people to take possession of the lands and house of the former, who flies either to some other part of the island, or to some of the neighbouring islands. After some months he returns, and finding his stock of hogs much increased, he offers a large present of those, with some red feathers, and other valuable articles, to the Toutou’s master, who generally accepts the compensation, and permits him to repossess his house and lands. This practice is the height of venality and injustice; and the slayer of the slave seems to be under no farther necessity of absconding, than to impose upon the lower class of people who are the sufferers. For it does not appear, that the chief has the least power to punish this Manahoone; but the whole management marks a collusion between him and his superior, to gratify the revenge of the former, and the avarice of the latter. Indeed, we need not wonder that the killing of a man should be considered as so venial an offence, amongst a people who do not consider it as any crime at all, to murder their own children. When talking to them about such instances of unnatural cruelty, and asking, whether the chiefs, or principal people were not angry, and did not punish them? I was told, that the chief neither could nor would interfere in such cases; and that every one had a right to do with his own child what he pleased.

Though the productions, the people, and the customs and manners of all the islands in the neighbourhood, may, in general, be reckoned the same as at Otaheite, there are a few differences which should be mentioned, as this may lead to an enquiry about more material ones hereafter, if such there be, of which we are now ignorant.

With regard to the little island Mataia, or Osnaburgh Island, which lies twenty leagues east of Otaheite, and belongs to a chief of that place, who gets from thence a kind of tribute, a different dialect from that of Otaheite is there spoken. The men of Mataia also wear their hair very long, and when they fight, cover their arms with a substance which is beset with sharks’ teeth, and their bodies with a sort of shagreen, being skin of fishes. At the same time, they are ornamented with polished pearl shells, which make a prodigious glittering in the sun; and they have a very large one that covers them before like a shield or breast-plate.

The language of Otaheite has many words, and even phrases, quite unlike those of the islands to the westward of it, which all agree; and it is remarkable for producing great quantities of that delicious fruit we called apples, which are found in none of the others, except Eimeo. It has also the advantage of producing an odoriferous wood, called eahoi, which is highly valued at the other isles where there is none; nor even in the south-east peninsula, or Tiarraboo, though joining it. And at Mourooa there is a particular bird found upon the hills, much esteemed for its white feathers; at which place there is also said to be some of the apples, though it be the most remote of the Society Islands from Otaheite and Eimeo, where they are produced.

Though the religion of all the islands be the same, each of them has its particular or tutelar God; whose names, according to the best information I could receive, are set down in the following list:

Gods of the Isles.

Huaheine,

Tanne.

Ulietea,

Oroo.

Otaha,

Tanne.

Bolabola,

Oraa.

Mourooa,

Otoo, ee weiahoo.

Toobaee,

Tamouee.

Tabooymanoo, or Saunders’s Island, which is subject to Huaheine,

Taroa.

Eimeo,

Oroo hadoo.

Otaheite,

 

Otaheite nooe,

Ooroo.

Tiaraboo

Opoonoa, and Whatooteeree

whom they have lately changed for Oraa, god of Bolabola.

Mataia, or Osnaburgh Island,

Tooboo, toobooai, Ry maraiva.

The low isles, Eastward,

Tammaree.

Besides the cluster of high islands from Mataia to Mourooa inclusive, the people of Otaheite are acquainted with a low uninhabited island, which they name Mopeeha, and seems to be Howe’s Island, laid down to the westward of Mourooa in our late charts of this ocean. To this the inhabitants of the most leeward islands sometimes go. There are also several low islands, to the north-eastward of Otaheite, which they have sometimes visited, but not constantly; and are said to be only at the distance two days’ sail with a fair wind. They were thus named to me:

Mataeeva, Oanaa, called Oanna in Dalrymple’s Letter to Hawkesworth. Taboohoe, Awehee, Kaoora, Orootooa, Otavaoo, where are large pearls.

The inhabitants of these isles come more frequently to Otaheite, and the other neighbouring high islands, from whose natives they differ in being of a darker colour, with a fiercer aspect, and differently punctured. I was informed, that at Mataeeva and others of them, it is a custom for the men to give their daughters to strangers who arrive amongst them; but the pairs must be five nights lying near each other, without presuming to proceed farther. On the sixth evening, the father of the young woman treats his guest with food, and informs his daughter that she must that night receive him as her husband. The stranger, however, must not offer to express the least dislike, though the bed-fellow allotted to him should be ever so disagreeable; for this is considered as an unpardonable affront, and is punished with death. Forty men of Bolabola, who, incited by curiosity, had roamed as far as Mataeeva in a canoe, were treated in this manner; one of them having incautiously mentioned his dislike of the woman who fell to his lot, in the hearing of a boy who informed her father. In consequence of this, the Mataeevans fell upon them; but these warlike people killed three times their own number; though with the loss of all their party except five. These hid themselves in the woods, and took an opportunity, when the others were burying their dead, to enter some houses, where, having provided themselves with victuals and water, they carried them on board a canoe, in which they made their escape; and after passing Mataia, at which they would not touch, at last arrived safe at Eimeo. The Bolabolans, however, were sensible enough that their travellers had been to blame; for a canoe from Mataeeva, arriving some time after at Bolabola, so far were they from retaliating upon them for the death of their countrymen, that they acknowledged they had deserved their fate, and treated their visitors kindly.

These low isles are, doubtless, the farthest navigation, which those of Otaheite and the Society Islands perform at present. It seems to be a groundless supposition, made by Mons. de Bougainville, that they made voyages of the prodigious extent [20] he mentions; for I found, that it is reckoned a sort of prodigy, that a canoe once driven by a storm from Otaheite, should have fallen in with Mopeeha, or Howe’s Island, though so near, and directly to leeward. The knowledge they have of other distant islands is no doubt traditional, and has been communicated to them by the natives of those islands, driven accidentally upon their coasts, who besides giving them the names, could easily inform them of the direction in which the places lie from whence they came, and of the number of days they had been upon the sea. In this manner, it may be supposed, that the natives of Wateeoo have increased their catalogue by the addition of Otaheite and its neighbouring isles, from the people we met with there, and also of the other islands these had heard of. We may thus account for that extensive knowledge attributed by the gentlemen of the Endeavour [21] to Tupia in such matters. And with all due deference to his veracity, I presume that it was by the same means of information, that he was able to direct the ship to Oheteroa, without having ever been there himself, as he pretended; which, on many accounts, is very improbable.