and tumults arose; the gods still increased in number; but their
influence was no longer so friendly to man as when they were under the
superintendence of the revered Rono. Now also commenced many evil
customs, such as human sacrifices, which had been unknown in the good
old time: cannibalism, however, does not appear ever to have disgraced
them. A long period elapsed, of which no record remains; and the story
is resumed at the landing of five white men in Karekakua Bay, near to
the Marai, where the body of the goddess Opuna reposed. The inhabitants
supposed them to be superior beings, and offered no opposition when they
proceeded to take possession of the Marai, on which holy place they were
not only exempted from persecution, but also by the offerings daily
placed there before the images of the gods, from any danger of suffering
a scarcity of food. Here, then, they lived very comfortably; and from
their having, immediately on their arrival, taken up their abode in the
Marai, the people, who were all acquainted with the story of Opuna,
concluded they were sent thither by Rono, to watch over the grave of
his beloved consort. To this opinion they were indebted for a veneration
greater than that entertained for the gods themselves. The priests alone
had the privilege of providing for their wants, which they did with the
utmost care: the people were not even allowed to approach the
neighbourhood of the Marai.
The white men, however, soon found their time hang heavy in this entire
seclusion, and formed a more intimate connexion with the priests, whom
they assisted in the holy rites and ceremonies, and at length even made
their appearance among the people: the latter then discovered them to be
mortals like themselves, differing only in colour, but still retained a
high respect for their superior knowledge and good deportment. Maidens
of the highest rank were given to them for wives; and each of them was
installed governor of an island. "The descendants of these strangers,"
said Karemaku, "may still be distinguished by their whiter colour."
Here, as at Tahaiti, the Yeris differ from the lower classes in their
superior size, and some also by a greater degree of fairness.
The helmets and short mantles which Cook and King have described as
worn by this people, were introduced by these white strangers. At first,
the kings only appeared in this costume; but in Cook's time it was
common also among the Yeris. Now that European fashions have quite
banished those of the original inhabitants, it is only preserved and
shown to strangers as a relic of the past. The helmet, of wood covered
with small red and yellow feathers, and adorned with a plume, perfectly
resembles those of the chivalrous knights of yore; and the short mantle,
also most ingeniously made with feathers to supply the want of woven
stuff, forms a complete representation of the mantles worn by those
ancient heroes: hence it is sufficiently evident that the white men who
landed on O Wahi were Europeans; and that we are therefore more nearly
connected with, at least, a part of the inhabitants of the Sandwich
Islands, than with the other South Sea islanders.
With the arrival of the white men begins the chronology of O Wahi, from
the first white king to Tameamea, making seven successive reigns.
During this period, but long before Cook's time, two vessels are said to
have been wrecked on the north-east side of O Wahi. Tradition is not
unanimous in the account of what became of the crews. According to some,
they were lost in the wreck, but others say they were murdered by the
natives. My informant, Karemaku, mentioned only one ship, which was seen
at a distance; and although the iron anchors found at O Wahi and at Muwe
prove that they must have been there, he could give no account of them.
It is very probable that the Spaniards, who often made a mystery of
their discoveries in the South Seas, already knew of the existence of
these islands before their discovery by Cook.
Their authentic history begins with this event, in 1778, when, as has
already been mentioned, Cook bestowed on them the name of the First Lord
of the Admiralty at that period. They were not then, as now, united
under one King; but each island had its particular sovereign, called
Yeri-Rahi, who possessed full power over the lives of his subjects, and
to whom the proprietors of land paid tribute. The name of the monarch
of O Wahi, on Cook's arrival, was Teraiopu, or, as he writes it,
Terreobu.
Captain King, the companion of Cook, gives the following description of
the Sandwich Islanders:--
"They are in general of the middle size,[3] and well-proportioned. Their
movements are graceful, they run swiftly, and are able to carry great
weights. The men, however, are inferior to the Friendly Islanders, in
strength and activity; and the women are not so delicately formed as
those of Tahaiti: their colour is also a little browner, and they are
not so handsome, but the features of both sexes are open and agreeable;
the females especially have beautiful eyes and teeth, and a sweet
expression of countenance. Their hair is dark-brown, not so smooth as
that of the American Indians, nor so woolly as that of the negroes of
Africa, but between the two.
"Here, as on the other South Sea Islands, the Yeris are advantageously
distinguished in form from the lower classes, and are seldom disfigured
by the swellings and ulcers frequent among the latter, which we ascribed
to the great use of salt in their preparations of meat and fish; the
former, however, are much injured by immoderate indulgence in the Ava
drink. Those who suffered most from it had their whole bodies covered
with a white eruption: their eyes were red and inflamed, they trembled
much, and could scarcely hold up their heads. This beverage does not
shorten the lives of all who use it too freely, as Teraiopu, Kau, and
several other chiefs addicted to it, were old men; but it brings on
premature and diseased old age. Fortunately, this luxury is the
exclusive privilege of the chiefs. The son of Teraiopu, a boy of twelve
years old, often boasted of having obtained the right of drinking Ava,
and showed with much complacency a spot on his loins where the eruption
was already visible.
"Notwithstanding the great and irreparable loss which the sudden
violence of these Sandwich Islanders has occasioned us," (in the death
of Cook,) "I must in justice declare, that they are usually gentle and
kind, and by no means so changeable and volatile as the Tahaitians, nor
so reserved and melancholy as the Friendly Islanders: they live on the
best possible terms with each other, and in peace and kindness in their
families. We have often admired the care and tenderness with which the
women treated their children, while the men assisted them in their
domestic occupations with a readiness and good-will which did them great
credit.
"If however we should pronounce on the degree of civilization to which
they have attained by the estimation the female sex enjoys among them,
they would rank but low in the scale. The women are not only forbidden
to eat with the men, but the best kinds of food are denied them. They
are not allowed to eat pork, turtle, or several kinds of fish and
bananas; and we were informed that a poor girl had been severely beaten
for having tasted of these prohibited viands on board our ship. The
females seemed indeed almost to live in a state of separation from
their lords; and although we never perceived that they were ill treated,
it is certain they are held in little respect.
"We were always received when we came ashore with the greatest
friendliness and hospitality. As soon as we landed, the inhabitants vied
with each other in bringing us presents, preparing food for us, and
showing us every mark of kindness. The old people were much pleased when
they obtained permission to touch us; and they showed much modesty and
humility in the comparisons they made between us and themselves.
"In mental capacity, the Sandwich Islanders do not appear at all
inferior to any other people. Their progress in agriculture, and their
skill in handicrafts, is fully proportionate to their means and
situation. The earnest attention which they paid to the work of our
smiths, and the various means they devised, even before our departure,
to give any required form to the iron they obtained from us, convinced
us at once of their industry and ingenuity.
"Our unfortunate friend Kancena, (he was shot by one of the Englishmen
whom he had always treated with the greatest friendship) had a great
desire for knowledge, an admirable natural understanding and a vivacity
of mind seldom met with amongst uncultivated nations. He made
innumerable inquiries concerning our manners and customs, our King, our
form of government, the population and produce of our country, and the
manner in which our ships and houses were built. He wished to know if we
waged wars, with whom, and for what cause, what God we worshipped, and
many other things; which showed an extensive range of thought."
This testimony of Captain King to the good disposition of the Sandwich
Islanders becomes the more worthy of credit, when we consider that the
English always treated them with great severity, and that Captain Cook
only fell a sacrifice to his own error. King has also defended them from
the imputation of being cannibals, of which Anderson and several of
Cook's companions had accused them.
The propensity to theft was as common among the lower classes here, as
on the other South Sea islands; and this it was which occasioned the
thoughtless severity of Cook, who was always judge in his own cause,
and suffered himself to be hurried into unjustifiable acts of violence.
Had he been a philanthropist, as well as a great navigator, he would not
have lost his life at O Wahi.
The custom of tattooing existed also among the Sandwich Islanders; their
faces were frequently marked with lines crossing each other at right
angles, and some even had their tongues tattooed; pretty drawings were
frequently seen on the hands and arms of the women. The ordinary dress
of both sexes was nothing more than a piece of stuff folded round their
bodies. The females adorned themselves besides with necklaces of
muscle-shells, or little red shining beans, and with bracelets of
various ornamental materials; they sometimes wore collars of beautiful
feathers ingeniously blended together; their hair was also decorated
with feathers and with garlands of flowers.
The Sandwich Islanders lived in villages or little hamlets of from one
to two hundred dwellings, standing irregularly, pretty near each other,
and communicating by a winding path. Some of them were surrounded by
gardens, enclosed with hedges. The food of the lower classes consisted
chiefly of fish, yams, sweet potatoes, tarro-root, bananas, sugar-canes,
and bread-fruit. Those of higher rank also indulged in pork, and the
flesh of dogs, prepared in the same manner as on the Society Islands.
The tame poultry of Europe was also found here, but it was scarce, and
not very much prized. These people were particularly clean, and their
cookery was preferred by Englishmen to that of their own country.
The Yeris were chiefly employed in the building of vessels and the
manufacture of mats; the females prepared a stuff of the paper kind,
which was so pressed and coloured as to resemble our calico; and fishing
or agriculture was the chief business of the servants. These
occupations, however, left leisure for various pastimes, particularly
dancing, which the young people of both sexes delighted in. Drums of
several sorts were their only musical instruments, but their songs were
very pleasing. They often played at a game much resembling our draughts;
it is played with black and white stones on a piece of board, and from
the great number of pieces, seems to require much attention. In another
game, a stone was hidden under a large piece of stuff, and the player
was to point out the precise spot in which it lay. Running races, in
which the girls took part, and apparently dangerous exercises in
swimming amidst the surf, were also among their amusements. In wrestling
and boxing, they did not display so much strength and skill as the
Friendly Islanders. The children often handled their balls with great
dexterity, throwing several at once into the air and catching them
again.
Their vessels were very well built; the largest, a double one, seventy
feet long, twelve broad, and three and a half deep, belonged to
Teraiopu. The most remarkable of their utensils were the vessels
appropriated to drinking Ava; they were usually eight or ten inches in
diameter, perfectly round and very well polished, and were supported by
three or four little images of men in various attitudes, sometimes
bearing the vessel on their heads, sometimes on their shoulders, or on
their hands raised above their heads. These figures were very well
executed, the proportions correctly preserved, and even the proper
action of the muscles well defined.
Among the arts in which the Sandwich Islanders excelled, was that of
preparing salt: the English obtained from them a large quantity of the
best kind. Their arms consisted of clubs, lances, and daggers, made of
hard wood. War was of frequent occurrence amongst the inhabitants of the
several islands; the battles were often very bloody, and usually at sea,
the vessels grappling. The Yeris, when they went to battle, wore the
decorated helmets already described, and the mantles covered with black,
red, and yellow feathers: those of the Yerirahis, or kings, were of
yellow only. Images of the god of war, cut in wood; dreadful caricatures
of the human figure in a threatening posture, the mouth open and armed
with dogs' teeth, were always carried before the kings into battle; and
the chief aim of the enemy was to capture them, as this achievement
usually put an end to the war. A part of the prisoners were sacrificed
to the gods; but as the shedding of blood in this rite was forbidden,
they were strangled, and laid down before the images of the gods in the
Marai, with their faces turned to the earth.
The burial of the dead was a very sacred ceremony, and accompanied with
many forms. The corpse was laid in a pit till the flesh decayed, the
bones were then cleaned, and a part of them distributed among the
relations and friends to be preserved as relics, part laid in
consecrated ground. Dying persons sometimes desired that their bones
should be thrown into the crater of the volcano at O Wahi, which was
inhabited by the revered god Pelai. It has already been mentioned, that
the women were prohibited from eating many kinds of food; they were also
forbidden, under pain of death, to enter a house where the men were
eating, and they were entirely secluded from the Marais; with these
exceptions, they enjoyed great freedom, and even had a voice in the
deliberations concerning war and peace.
The religious regulation of the Tabu, or interdict, existed here as well
as on many other of the South Sea islands. A person declared under a
Tabu was inviolable; a piece of land under a Tabu must not be trodden
by any one; nor must a species of animal so declared, be injured or shot
until the Tabu was again taken off. Thus Tameamea declared the diamond
mountain under the Tabu, because an Englishman, finding there a piece of
quartz-crystal, considered it to be diamond; and the King, finding these
were of great value, supposed he possessed in the mountain an
inexhaustible treasure, till he discovered his mistake, and the Tabu was
taken off.
The vessels first seen by the Sandwich Islanders must have been very
small, for when Cook's appeared, they took her for a swimming island,
and believed that Etua-Rono, for whom they always retained the most
profound veneration, had at length fulfilled his promise and returned to
them. The joy was universal; and it was determined to receive the
beneficent god, so long absent, who was to restore the Golden Age upon
the island, with all possible honours. Neither Cook nor his companion
seemed to have had any notion that they were saluted with divine
honours; but they considered the ceremonies enacted by the rejoicing
people as marks of distinction commonly bestowed on persons of
importance. His being called by them "O Rono," (the Rono) did not
enlighten him on the subject, as he was unacquainted with the tradition;
but he contented himself with the conjecture, that the appellation was a
title of honour, signifying chief or priest. Had the conduct of Cook
made it possible for the islanders to retain their beneficial error, the
good understanding between them and the English would never have been
interrupted; but he himself was the first to convince them that he could
not be their divine benefactor.
Some of the populace conceived themselves entitled to appropriate a
portion of the presents which Rono, according to his promise, had
brought them--a licence which was immediately punished by Cook with
great severity: the offenders taken in the fact were whipped; those who
fled were fired upon; and several persons, some of whom were innocent,
lost their lives. Rono could not be so cruel and unjust; and _Tute_, as
they called Cook, immediately sunk in their estimation to the rank of
ordinary mortals. He was henceforth feared as a mighty chief, but
venerated no longer. This change of sentiment was very evident when he
returned hither from his voyage northward. The islanders met the ship as
before, with hogs and fruits; but they set a price upon them, instead of
presenting them, as formerly, in the character of offerings, and
accepting the returns made them as gratuitous gifts. Finding that they
obtained what appeared to them an exorbitant price for their provisions,
they supposed the strangers to come from a land of scarcity for the mere
purpose of satisfying their appetites; and the common people wholly
ceasing to regard them with reverence, became bolder in their
depredations. The King, the Priests, and many of the principal Yeris,
still however continued firm in their attachment to the English. A Yeri,
named Parea, gave a striking proof of this kindly disposition, which
Captain King has thus related:--Some Kanackas, having stolen certain
articles, were pursued with muskets; and though every thing was
recovered, an English officer thought himself justified in taking
possession of a canoe lying on the shore belonging to Parea, who, being
perfectly innocent of the theft, reclaimed his property. The officer
refused to surrender it; and in the subsequent contest, Parea received
so violent a blow on the head with an oar, that he fell senseless to the
ground. In the mean time the islanders had assembled, and, irritated at
this undeserved outrage on a chief, began to throw stones at the
English, who were obliged to swim to a neighbouring rock for safety. The
victorious people, thus left in possession of the field of battle, fell
upon the English boat, which they would have destroyed but for the
interposition of Parea, who had now recovered his senses. He dispersed
the crowd, made a signal to the English that they might return, restored
their boat, and sent them back in it to their ship. Parea afterwards
followed them, taking with him a midshipman's hat, and some other
trifles which were missing; expressed his sorrow for the dispute that
had arisen, and inquired whether O Rono desired his death, or whether he
might come again to the ship.--(It appeared from this that he still
looked upon Cook as the deity, or at least affected this belief to
propitiate the English.)--He was assured that he had nothing to fear,
and would always be welcome; he then touched the nose of the officers,
in sign of amity and reconciliation, and returned to land.
Since Parea had hindered his countrymen from wreaking their vengeance on
one boat, they indemnified themselves by stealing another, and in the
night cut through the rope which fastened it to the ship. Cook, enraged
at this occurrence, determined to bring the King himself on board his
ship, and detain him there as a hostage till the boat should be
restored; a measure which on another island he had already successfully
adopted on a similar occasion. He therefore went ashore with a party of
soldiers well armed, having given orders that none of the boats
belonging to the natives should be suffered to leave the bay, as it was
his determination, in case gentler measures should prove ineffectual, to
destroy them all. All the boats of both ships, well manned and armed,
were therefore so placed as to enforce obedience to this command.
Cook was received, according to King's account, with the greatest
respect: the people prostrated themselves before him. He proceeded
direct to the old King, and invited him on board his ship. The King
immediately consented; but some of the Yeris endeavoured to dissuade
him; and the more earnestly Cook pressed his going, the more strenuously
they endeavoured to prevent it. Cook, at length, seized the King by the
arm, and would have carried him off by force; which in the highest
degree irritated the assembled multitudes. At this moment a Yeri, who in
crossing the bay from the opposite side had been fired upon by the
English boats, rushed with blood streaming from his wound into the
presence of the King, and cried aloud to him to remain where he was, or
he would certainly receive similar treatment; this incident wound up the
rage of the people to its utmost pitch, and the conflict commenced, in
which Cook lost his life.
Karemaku, who, when a young man, had witnessed these circumstances,
related them to me; and the accounts of Cook's companions upon the whole
agree with his. Some isolated facts are differently stated by them; but
I was assured by all the natives of Wahu, that Karemaku had strictly
adhered to the truth. Even if we give entire credit to the English
narrative, we shall find that they were the aggressors,--that the
islanders acted only on the defensive, and that Cook's fate, however
lamentable, was not entirely undeserved.
John Reinhold Forster, in his preface to a journal of a voyage of
discovery to the South Sea, in the years 1776 to 1780, gives an extract
from a letter written to him by an Englishman in a responsible
situation, in which he says of Cook--"The Captain's character is not the
same now as formerly: his head seems to have been turned." Forster gives
the same account concerning the change in Cook, when he says--
"Cook, on his first voyage, had with him Messrs. Banks and Solander,
both lovers of art and science. On the second, I and my son were his
companions, enjoying daily and familiar intercourse with him. In our
presence, respect for his own character restrained him; our mode of
thinking, our principles and manners influenced his, and prevented his
treating the poor harmless South Sea Islanders with cruelty. The only
instance of undue severity we ever witnessed in his behaviour, was when
on account of some petty theft he once allowed his cannon to be fired
upon the fugitive offenders; fortunately, however, no one was injured by
this rash act. But having in his last voyage no other witnesses of his
actions, than such as were entirely under his command, he forgot what he
owed to his own great name, and was guilty in many instances of extreme
cruelty. I am therefore convinced, that if Messrs. Banks and Solander,
Dr. Spaarmann, or I and my son, had been with him on the last voyage,
his life would not have been lost in the manner it was."
The first ships which visited the Sandwich Islands after Cook's death
were those of Meeres, Dickson, and Coke, in the years 1786-9. They
traded in skins between China and the North-west Coast of America, and
found these islands very convenient to touch at. They were well
received; and some of the islanders made the voyage to America with
them. Tianna, one of the first Yeris of O Wahi, went with Meeres to
China. These voyages, and the continual intercourse with Europeans,
which their increasing trade in fur produced, necessarily enlarged the
ideas of these children of Nature; and as they were not under the
dominion of that folly which, in common with the Greenlanders, possesses
some of the most civilized nations in Europe, of considering themselves
the first people upon earth, they soon acquired our manners, and derived
all the advantage that could be expected from the opportunities of
improvement thus afforded them. Vancouver found, in 1792, that many
remarkable changes had taken place on these islands since Cook's time.