better than they are in New Guinea and New Holland; but, with these
exceptions, the condition of Polynesian women is generally preferable
to that of most savage tribes. The men universally take a share, though
not always an equal one, in laborious occupations. In the Tonga isles
a considerable degree of respect and delicacy is manifested toward
women of all classes. It is considered rude to take any freedoms
without their full consent, and they are not required to perform any
hard labor, or very menial tasks. Traits of gallantry and romantic
tenderness may be discovered in some of their love stories.
The sovereign power is often inherited by a woman; and not unfrequently
many powerful chiefs acknowledge the supremacy of a queen, pay her
tribute, and approach her with all the ceremonials due to superior
rank. The most distinguished warrior, if he have a wife descended
from a family more noble than his own, cannot dispense with certain
respectful forms prescribed by etiquette. The female chiefs have
as numerous attendants as the men. It is the business of these
attendants to shade them with umbrellas, to carry their fans, pipes,
spitting-boxes, and _kahiles_, or feathered staffs with richly
ornamented handles, borne as an insignia of their rank. Within doors
they are stationed near them to drive away the flies, while they are
eating, smoking, or sleeping. Mr. Stewart describes Tamehamaru, queen
of the Sandwich islands, as “a dignified and graceful woman, with an
unaffected expression of conscious and acknowledged rank.” When he
first saw her, she was seated at a long table, with an open writing
desk before her, receiving tribute from her subjects, as they passed
along in single file. It is now no uncommon thing, in the vicinity of
missionary stations, for chiefs, both male and female, to know how to
read and write; and it has even been said that one of the princesses
has her autobiography in preparation for the press.
A remarkable degree of energy and moral courage was evinced by one of
the native women, who had been a convert to Christianity. There was a
large burning lake in the island, that frequently sent forth volcanic
flames. From time immemorial there had been a tradition that this place
was the residence of Pelé, the mighty goddess of fire. Priestesses were
appointed to attend upon this invisible deity, and to place food within
the crater for her use; but all except these sacred women were afraid
to approach, lest they should be instantly devoured. Notwithstanding
the strength of this popular delusion, a female chief descended into
the crater, and stirred the fiery ashes with a stick, to convince her
ignorant countrymen that Pelé the fire goddess was merely an imaginary
being, and nothing was to be dreaded from her vengeance.
Besides the acknowledged priestesses, there are people of both sexes,
who when afflicted with extreme depression of spirits, without any
apparent cause, are supposed to be inspired by the gods.
Women of the South Sea islands are generally permitted to speak in
their councils, and their advice is listened to with respect. Finow
murdered his brother, and conferred his authority upon his aunt. She
assembled all the principal people, acknowledged her great obligations
to her deceased nephew, and proposed a rebellion against the government
of Finow. The matter was discussed for a long time, when the sister
of the female chief who had first spoken, rushed into the assembly,
armed with a club and spear, and exclaimed in a loud voice: “Why do
ye hesitate so long, when honor so clearly points out the proper path
to pursue? If the men have become women, the women will be men, and
revenge the death of their murdered chief! Then stand and look idly
on, while women are sacrificed in the glorious cause! Perhaps their
example may at last excite you to die in defence of their rights.” This
thrilling exhortation had the desired effect upon the chieftains.
In one respect, there is a decided contrast between the savages of
the South sea and those of North America. The North American Indians
consider voluptuousness a despicable vice; and in cases of seduction,
far more blame is attached to the man than the woman. The latter is
forgiven; and, unless her conduct is very gross, finds no difficulty
in subsequently forming a matrimonial connection; but her betrayer is
treated with the utmost neglect and contempt. It may be questioned,
whether Christian nations are in this respect so just as the Indians.
While such severe blame and eternal infamy rests on women who have
been deceived, it is obviously unjust that civilized society should so
readily forgive the deceiver.
The most common employment of the South sea women is the manufacture
of _tapa_, for garments and bed clothes. It is made from the bark of
the paper mulberry tree, beaten out with a piece of wood grooved like
a crimping machine. It can be bleached perfectly white, and much of
it is worn in that state. But in general it is stained with a variety
of colors extracted from vegetable productions. The stamps used for
this purpose are made by the women; sometimes by embroidering leaves
with fibres, so as to produce a raised surface, but more frequently by
cutting the pattern in a piece of bamboo. When _tapa_ is printed in
this way, it is called _gnatoo_. In point of beauty it compares very
well with calico; but as it cannot be washed, a new suit is frequently
required.
Women likewise braid very beautiful mats. Those used for sleeping are
coarse and strong; but some of them are exceedingly white and delicate,
or fancifully ornamented with stained grass woven in various patterns.
Mr. Nicholas saw a remarkably elegant and highly finished mat, made of
flax, by the wife of a New Zealand chief, and he was assured that it
could not be manufactured in less time than two or three years. Even
queens pride themselves on their skill in weaving mats and baskets. The
eating-houses, being sacred to the use of men, are built entirely by
men; but in many of the islands women assist in the construction of the
dwellings appropriated to common use. Sometimes a woman of distinction
may be seen carrying a heavy stone for the foundation of a building,
while a stout attendant carries the light feathered staff to denote
her rank. In some places people of noble birth pride themselves on
very long nails, to show that they perform no labor; but, generally
speaking, women of all classes assist in the labors of agriculture, and
the management of canoes; and when a journey is performed, they often
carry the baggage. Mr. Marsden, speaking of an expedition of about
fifty of the natives of New Zealand, says: “We were to travel more than
a hundred miles, in some of the worst paths that can be conceived, and
to carry provisions for the journey. A chief’s wife came with us all
the way, and I believe her load could not be less than one hundred
pounds; many carried much more.”
Females, particularly of the higher class, spend a great deal of their
time in making ornaments for their persons, such as necklaces, finger
rings, coronets and mantles of feathers. In those islands where there
are missionaries and other European residents, they are learning to
make neat hats and bonnets, and garments of cotton and silk. These
native mantua-makers are said to evince great dexterity and skill in
their new occupation. But with all these various employments, the
Polynesians, either men or women, seldom work more than five hours out
of the twenty-four. They sleep and lounge half their time, and frolic
away a good portion of the remainder. They are attracted by every new
object, and run after it with the eagerness of children. Mrs. Williams,
wife of one of the missionaries, says: “The best of native girls will,
on a hot day, take themselves off and swim, just when you may be
wishing for some one to relieve you; and after this, they will go to
sleep for two or three hours. The moment a boat arrives, away run men,
boys, and girls, to the beach. If the mistress censures them, they will
laugh at her, and tell her she has ‘too much of the mouth.’”
Dancing is one of the most common amusements in the islands of the
South sea. The dances in which the women join are generally slow and
graceful, accompanied by a variety of motions with the head, body, and
limbs. In most of these dances, little attention is paid to decorum.
Sometimes forty or fifty women dance together in a solid square,
changing their attitudes every moment; sometimes all squatting down,
and then all springing up at the same moment. A musician accompanies
the dancers, who beats a small drum, made of a cocoa-nut shell covered
with shark’s skin. The women likewise strike pieces of wood or notched
reeds together in cadence, like the castanets of more civilized
nations. In addition to this they often wear around their ankles a
network of shells, or dog’s teeth, which rattle as they dance.
They have songs descriptive of war, or love, or beautiful scenery.
These are generally sung alternately by both sexes, in a sort of
recitative. The following are extracts from a favorite song among the
Tonga people: “The women said to us, let us repair to the back of the
island to contemplate the setting sun; there let us listen to the
warbling of birds and the cooing of the wood-pigeon. We will gather
flowers from the burial place at Matawto, and then bathe in the sea,
and anoint ourselves in the sun with sweet-scented oil, and will weave
in garlands the flowers gathered at Matawto. Oh, how much happier shall
we be than when engaged in the wearisome and insipid affairs of life!
How troublesome are the young men begging for wreaths of flowers, while
they say in their flattery, ‘See how charming these young girls look
coming from Licoo! How beautiful is their skin, diffusing around a
fragrance like the flowery precipice of Mataloco!’”
It is a common amusement with the women of Polynesia to throw up five
balls in such a manner as to keep four perpetually in the air. They
are thrown with the left hand, and caught with the right. The players
at the same time chant verses, with the cadence of which their motions
keep perfect time. Sometimes seven or eight join together in this
recreation.
Swimming is their favorite diversion, and they show an astonishing
degree of courage and expertness in the practice of it. Women will
often, for mere sport, frolic in places where such a tremendous surf
breaks on the shore, that the boldest European swimmer would not dare
to venture within its power. If beads, or nails, be thrown into the
sea, they will dive after them with incredible velocity, and seldom
fail to bring them up.
If a shark makes his appearance when women are swimming, it is said the
playful water nymphs surround him, and, if they can once get him into
the surf, fairly drive him on shore; and even if the monster escapes
from them, they continue their sport, without any apparent fear of
danger.
At great festivals it is not uncommon for the women to wrestle together
in pairs. Finow, king of Tonga, ordered a mock fight, in which fifteen
hundred women were ranged on each side. They gave fair hits, without
pulling each other’s hair, and kept up the contest about an hour,
without an inch of ground being lost by either side.
In the Radack islands women fight not merely for pastime, but in good
earnest. They station themselves behind the men, beating drums, and
throwing stones gathered in baskets for the purpose. When the combat is
ended, they throw themselves in as mediators between the conquerors and
the vanquished.
When a person of superior rank is ill, it is customary for his
relations to cut off a joint of the little finger, as a sacrifice to
the gods for his recovery. Even little children will quarrel for the
honor of laying their finger upon a block of wood, and having a joint
cut off with an axe, or sharp stone. As soon as a person dies, the air
is rent with the shrieks and lamentations of friends and dependents.
The house is hung with coarse brown _gnatoo_ striped with black, and
the mourners, as an indication of wretchedness and gloom, wear the
most ragged and dirty mats they can find. They pluck out the hair,
beat their faces till they become black and swollen, and disfigure
themselves in a frightful manner with gashes made by sharp shells.
Very handsome women sometimes, in the excess of their grief, destroy
every vestige of their beauty. In the Feejee islands, when a chief
dies, custom requires that his principal wife should be strangled and
buried with him. Powerful friends, by the offer of very valuable gifts,
may save the widow from this fate; but in many cases they are unable
to do it, and in others the victim makes it a point of honor to be
sacrificed. In the Sandwich islands, it was formerly the practice to
immolate a number of slaves on the grave of the king and queen; but
this custom has been abolished by the influence of the missionaries.
The graves are decorated with flowers, and carefully kept in order with
smooth layers of black and white pebbles gathered from the beach.
Pitcairn’s island was peopled by English seamen, who having mutinied
on board the ship Bounty, sought concealment on its distant and
rock-bound shores. They went to Otaheite to obtain wives, returned in
safety, and for more than twenty years remained in complete seclusion
from the civilized world. It would be difficult for the imagination to
form a more charming picture, than the description of these primitive
people given by the first navigators who visited them in their peaceful
retreat. The young people were tall, vigorous, and most beautifully
formed, with countenances expressive of the utmost innocence,
frankness, kindness, and good humor. The women were exceedingly lovely,
and modest even to bashfulness. Marriages were performed with the
utmost solemnity, by John Adams, the old patriarch of the colony.
When young people formed an attachment for each other, it was simply
necessary to inform this old man that the lover had cleared a piece
of land, and raised sufficient stock to support a family; under such
circumstances, his approbation was easily obtained, and the marriage
ceremony immediately solemnized. Their habits were extremely neat and
orderly, and their manners characterized by the utmost purity and
decorum.
The young women assisted their fathers and brothers in the cultivation
of the ground, which produced bread-fruit, yams, sweet potatoes,
cocoa-nuts and bananas. They likewise manufactured _tapa_ for garments,
after the manner of their Otaheitan mothers; and had caps and bonnets
of their own weaving, in which they displayed a great deal of taste and
ingenuity.
The Sabbath was kept as a day of rest and devotion, and they never ate
a meal without kneeling and returning thanks, in the most simple and
unaffected manner, to the great Giver of all mercies.
[Illustration]
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors have been corrected.
Page 25: “bass-relief” changed to “bas-relief”
Page 208: “dance a cotillon” changed to “dance a cotillion”
Page 249: “Rio Janeiro” changed to “Rio de Janeiro”