Account of the natives--Personal appearance--Ranks--Power
of the king--Priests--Capital punishments--Mode of
detecting theft--Religious belief--Places of worship and
ceremonies--Macaheite--Houses--Food--Ava--Spirits distilled from the
tee-root--State of the women--Marriages--Dress--Manufactures--Nets
and lines--Modes of fishing--Trade--Price of
provisions--Amusements--Funeral Rites--Military--Progress in
civilization--Account of Tamaahmaah and family.
The manners and customs of the Sandwich islanders have been repeatedly
described by much abler observers; but my long residence has given me
opportunities of noticing many things which have escaped others; and to
these I shall, as much as possible, confine my remarks.
The natives, although not tall, are stout and robust in their make,
particularly those of the higher rank; their complexion is nut-brown,
and they are extremely cleanly in their persons. They are distinguished
by great ingenuity in all their arts and manufactures, as well as by a
most persevering industry.
They are divided into two great classes: the Erees, or chiefs, and the
Cannakamowree, or people. The former are the proprietors of the land,
the latter are all under the dominion of some chief, for whom they
work, or cultivate the ground, and by whom they are supported in old
age. They are not, however, slaves, or attached to the soil, but at
liberty to change masters when they think proper.
The supreme government is vested in the king, whose power seems to
be completely absolute. He is assisted by the principal chiefs, whom
he always keeps about his person; many of these have particular
departments to attend to; one chief took charge of the household, and
appointed the different surveys to be performed by every individual;
another, named Coweeowranee, acted as paymaster; his province was
to distribute wages and provisions amongst the people in the king’s
service.
An elderly chief, of the name of Naai, took a general charge of the
whole, and was, in fact, prime minister. He was commonly called Billy
Pitt by the white people, and was by no means pleased when they
addressed him by any other appellation.
The principal duties of the executive were, however, entrusted to the
priests; by them the revenues were collected, and the laws enforced.
Superstition is the most powerful engine by which the latter purpose
is effected; actual punishment being rare. I knew only one instance
of capital punishment; which was that of a man who had violated the
sanctity of the morai. Having got drunk, he quitted it during taboo
time, and entered the house of a woman. He was immediately seized, and
carried back to the morai, where his eyes were put out. After remaining
two days in this state, he was strangled, and his body exposed before
the principal idol.
The method of detecting theft or robbery, affords a singular instance
of the power of superstition over their minds. The party who has
suffered the loss applies to one of the priests, to whom he presents a
pig, and relates his story.
The following ceremony is then performed; the priest begins by rubbing
two pieces of green wood upon each other, till, by the friction, a kind
of powder, like snuff, is produced, which is so hot, that on being
placed in dry grass, and blown upon, it takes fire; with this, a large
pile of wood is kindled, and allowed to burn a certain time. He then
takes three nuts of an oily nature, called tootooee; having broken the
shells, one of the kernels is thrown into the fire, at which time he
says an anana, or prayer; and while the nut is crackling in the fire,
repeats the words Muckeeroio kanaka ai kooee, that is, kill or shoot
the fellow. The same ceremonies take place with each of the nuts,
provided the thief does not appear before they are consumed.
This, however, but seldom happens; the culprit generally makes his
appearence with the stolen property, which is restored to the owner,
and the offence punished by a fine of four pigs. He is then dismissed,
with strict injunctions not to commit the like crime in future, under
pain of a more severe penalty. The pigs are taken to the morai, where
they are offered up as sacrifices, and afterwards eaten by the priests.
Should it happen that the unfortunate criminal does not make his
appearance during the awful ceremony, his fate is inevitable; had
he the whole island to bestow, not one word of the prayer could be
recalled, nor the anger of the Etooah appeased. The circumstance is
reported to the king, and proclamation made throughout the island, that
a certain person has been robbed, and that those who are guilty have
been prayed to death.
So firm is their belief in the power of these prayers, that the culprit
pines away, refusing to take any sustenance, and at last falls a
sacrifice to his credulity.
The priests also practice medicine. Bathing is their great specific.
If the patient is too weak to be carried to the sea, he is washed with
salt water. The oil extracted from a nut, called tootooee, is used as
a purgative; and a black mineral substance, reduced to a powder, as an
emetic. This is very powerful in its effects; half the quantity that
can be laid on a sixpence forming a sufficient dose.
I have but few particulars to give of their religious opinions. Their
principal god, to whom they attribute the creation of the world, is
called Etooah; and they have seven or eight subordinate deities, whose
images are in the morai, and to whom offerings are made as well as to
the Etooah. Their names I cannot recollect.
They believe in a future state, where they will be rewarded or punished
for their conduct in this life. Their belief in the efficacy of prayer
has already been remarked. During the time I lived with the king, it
was reported that some person had prayed him to death; in order to
counteract the effects of this, the daughter of a chief prostrated
herself before the house, and turning towards the setting sun, prayed
with great fervency. I did not then understand the language, and
imagined that she was addressing that luminary; but William Moxely
explained that part to me. She said, How could the sun rise and set, or
the moon perform her revolutions, if there were not some superior Being
who regulated their motions.
They have a tradition of a general deluge. According to their account,
the sea once overflowed the whole world, except Mouna Kaa, in Owhyhee,
and swept away all the inhabitants but one pair, who saved themselves
on that mountain, and are the parents of the present race of mankind.
Their morais, or places of worship, consist of one large house, or
temple, with some smaller ones round it, in which are the images of
their inferior gods. The tabooed, or consecrated precincts, are marked
out by four square posts, which stand thirty or forty yards from the
building. In the inside of the principal house there is a screen or
curtain of white cloth, hung across one end, within which the image of
Etooah is placed. When sacrifices are offered, the priests and chiefs
enter occasionally within this space, going in at one side and out
at the other. Although present on one occasion, I did not enter this
recess, partly because I was doubtful of the propriety of doing so, and
also on account of the difficulty I had in moving myself, and the risk
of getting my wounds injured among the crowd.
On the outside are placed several images made of wood, as ugly as can
be well imagined, having their mouths all stuck round with dog’s teeth.
Their holidays took place about four times a month, and the ceremonies
lasted from sunset on the day preceding, to sunrise on the following
day; during which no person was permitted to pass the bounds of the
morai. This time was spent in prayer, in sacrificing pigs, in eating
the sacrifices, and in conversation. I attended only once, and was
not, at that time, sufficiently master of the language to understand
the purport of the prayers.
The priest continued nearly three hours, in a very solemn manner,
during which the most profound silence was observed; indeed, the
smallest noise of any kind, either within the morai or in the
neighbourhood, would have been a proof that the deity was offended, and
the prayer must have ceased; a proclamation was, therefore, made by
the public crier, whenever the king entered the morai, ordering every
animal near it to be confined, otherwise they should be seized and
offered up as sacrifices. Those present stood with their arms extended
towards heaven for about three quarters of an hour at the beginning of
the prayer, and the same length of time at its conclusion. I was not
required to perform this part of the ceremony.
The number present did not exceed forty, and were all of the higher
rank. Women are never permitted to attend on these occasions.
Human sacrifices are offered upon their going to war; but nothing
of the kind took place during my stay; unless in the case already
mentioned, of the man punished for breaking the taboo, and whose body
was exposed before the idol.
During the period called Macaheite, which lasts a whole month, and
takes place in November, the priests are employed in collecting the
taxes, which are paid by the chiefs in proportion to the extent of
their territories; they consist of mats, feathers, and the produce of
the country. The people celebrate this festival by dancing, wrestling,
and other amusements.
The king remains in the morai for the whole period; before entering
it, a singular ceremony takes place. He is obliged to stand till three
spears are darted at him: He must catch the first with his hand, and
with it ward off the other two. This is not a mere formality. The spear
is thrown with the utmost force, and should the king lose his life,
there is no help for it.[27]
[27] Tamaahmaah is so dexterous in the use of the spear, that
he probably runs little risk in thus exposing himself. Vancouver
relates, that in a sham-fight he saw him ward off six spears that were
hurled at him almost at the same instant. “Three he caught as they
were flying with one hand; two he broke by parrying them with his
spear; and the sixth, by a trifling inclination of his body, passed
harmless”--_Vancouver_, Vol. III. p. 254.
At the Macaheite, which happened when I was on the island, the eldest
son of Tamaahmaah, a youth about fifteen, was invested with royal
honours, and entitled to the same marks of respect as his father. What
share he had in the government I did not learn; but I observed no
alteration in the exercise of the king’s authority.
The houses of the natives are of the simplest form; they are oblong,
with very low side-walls, and high-thatched roofs; within, they are not
divided into separate apartments, nor have they any tables or seats.
It is only by size that the houses of the chiefs are distinguished from
those of the lower orders, for the same barn-like shape is universal.
They are, however, kept very clean; and their household utensils,
consisting of wooden dishes and calabashes, are hung, neatly arranged,
upon the walls. While the floors of the meaner houses are bare, except
the place for sleeping, where a few mats are spread, those of the
higher orders are entirely covered over with mats, many of which are
worked with great elegance into different patterns. At one end, a
platform raised about three feet from the ground, which extends the
whole breadth of the apartment, is spread with a layer of rushes, and
covered with mats. This forms the sleeping place for the upper part of
the family; the attendants sleep at the opposite end.
As the two sexes never eat together, the chiefs have always a separate
eating-house, and even the lower ranks have one to every six or seven
families for the men. The women take their food in the same houses in
which they sleep.
Few of the houses, except the largest, have any windows; the light
being admitted by the door, which is seldom closed. The dwellings of
the upper ranks are generally surrounded by a paling. In all of them
the utmost attention to cleanliness prevails.
Their mode of cooking has been often described. Poey, or taro-pudding,
which is the principal food of all ranks, is prepared by baking the
root in a pit with hot stones, upon which water is poured. It is
afterwards scraped, mashed, and mixed with cold water. When newly made,
it is not unpalatable, but it soon turns sour.
Fish are often eaten raw, seasoned with salt water. When cooked, they
are either done in their usual manner, under ground, or broiled, by
putting them, wrapt in leaves, upon the fire. When the leaves are
burnt, they consider them ready.
They preserve pork by taking out the bones, and rubbing it well with
salt; after which it is made up in rolls, and dried.
They frequently eat with their pork a kind of pudding made of
taro-root, which is previously cut in slices, and dried in the sun; it
keeps a great length of time, and is a good substitute for bread. In
this state it is preferred by the white people. The natives preserve it
for taking to sea, by mashing and forming it into a solid paste, when
it is wrapped in leaves, and will keep fresh for five or six weeks.
The sugar-cane, which they chew, is also a general article of food.
Instead of candles, the tootooee-nut is used, which being of an oily
nature, yields a considerable quantity of light. It grows upon a small
tree, and is about the size of a horse-chesnut. When pulled, they are
thrown into water, and those that sink are reckoned sound; they are
then baked under ground, and their shells broken off, in which state
they are kept till required. When used as candles, they string twenty
or thirty upon a slit of bamboo, each of which will burn five or six
minutes; but they require constant trimming, and it is necessary to
reverse the torch whenever a nut is consumed, that the one under it may
catch fire. It must, therefore, be held by a person whose business it
is to keep it always in order.
This nut, when pressed, yields an oil well adapted for mixing with
paint. The black colour, by which their canoes are painted, is produced
by burning the nuts after they are pressed, and by the cinders of the
torches, which are carefully preserved for the purpose; these are
reduced to powder, and mixed with oil.
Ava, with which the natives were formerly wont to intoxicate
themselves, is now giving way to the use of ardent spirits. I never saw
it used, except as a medicine to prevent corpulency, and is said to be
an effectual remedy. It causes a white scurf to strike out upon the
skin, somewhat like the dry scurvy.
The spirit distilled from the tea-root now usurps its place, and I fear
the consequences will be still more pernicious.
That plant grows wild in the upper part of the country, and varies
from the size of a carrot to that of a man’s thigh. It is put into a
pit, amongst heated stones, and covered with plantain and taro leaves;
through these a small hole is made, and water poured in; after which
the whole is closed up again, and allowed to remain twenty-four hours.
When the root has undergone this process, the juice tastes as sweet
as molasses. It is then taken out, bruised, and put into a canoe to
ferment; and in five or six days is ready for distillation.
Their stills are formed out of iron pots, which they procure from
American ships, and which they enlarge to any size, by fixing several
tier of calabashes above them, with their bottoms sawed off, and the
joints well luted. From the uppermost, a wooden tube connects with a
copper cone, round the inside of which is a ring with a pipe to carry
off the spirit. The cone is fixed into a hole in the bottom of a tub
filled with water, which serves as a condenser.
By this simple apparatus a spirit is produced, called lumi, or rum, and
which is by no means harsh or unpalatable. Both whites and natives are
unfortunately too much addicted to it. Almost every one of the chiefs
has his own still.
Smoking tobacco is another luxury of which the natives are very fond.
The plant grows in abundance upon the islands, and they use it in a
green state. In their tobacco pipes they display their usual taste and
ingenuity. The tube is made of a hollow stem of a kind of vine, fixed
to an iron bowl, which is inserted into hard wood. The stem is covered
with rings of ivory and turtle-shell, placed alternately; the whole
kept firmly together at the top by an ivory mouth-piece.
The women are subject to many restrictions from which the men are
exempted. They are not allowed to attend the morai upon taboo days, nor
at these times are they permitted to go out in a canoe. They are never
permitted to eat with the men, except when at sea, and then not out
of the same dish. Articles of delicacy, such as pork, turtle, shark,
cocoa-nuts, bananas or plantains, are also forbidden. Dog’s flesh and
fish were the only kinds of animal food lawful for them to eat; but
since the introduction of sheep and goats, which are not tabooed, the
ladies have less reason to complain.
Notwithstanding the rigour with which these ceremonies are generally
observed, the women very seldom scruple to break them, when it can
be done in secret; they often swim off to ships at night during the
taboo; and I have known them eat of the forbidden delicacies of pork
and shark’s flesh. What would be the consequence of a discovery I know
not; but I once saw the queen transgressing in this respect, and was
strictly enjoined to secrecy, as she said it was as much as her life
was worth.
Their ideas of marriage are very loose; either party may quit the other
when they tire or disagree. The lower classes in general, content
themselves with one wife; but they are by no means confined to that
number, and the chiefs have frequently several. Tamaahmaah had two,
besides a very handsome girl, the daughter of a chief, educating for
him. One elderly chief, Coweeooranee, had no fewer than fifteen.
They are very jealous of any improper connexion between natives and
their wives; but the case is widely different with respect to their
visitors, where connexion of that kind is reckoned the surest proof of
friendship, and they are always anxious to strengthen it by that tie.
The virtue of the king’s wives is, however, most scrupulously guarded;
each of them having a male and a female attendant, whose duty it is to
watch them on all occasions. Should it be discovered that any of the
queens have been unfaithful, these attendants are punished with death,
unless they have given the first intimation.
Immediately after child-birth, women are obliged to retire to the
woods, where they remain ten days, and must not be seen by the men.
The queen, who had a daughter whilst I was there, had a house for the
purpose of retirement; but, in general, they have no other shelter but
what the woods afford. They also retire in the same manner three days
in every month.[28]
[28] Captain Lisianski relates the same practice as prevalent among the
Aleutian women: if he is not mistaken in ascribing it to them instead
of the Sandwich islanders, or if our author has not fallen into the
opposite error, the coincidence is remarkable.
Campbell, upon being questioned, related several instances of its
having occurred in Wahoo. He cannot say as to the practice of the
Aleutian islands.
A simple garment, called pow, forms the principal part of the dress of
the women; it consists of a piece of cloth about one yard broad and
three in length, wrapped several times round the waist, with the end
tucked in below, and reaching to the calf of the leg. In cold weather,
they throw another piece of cloth, like a plaid, over their shoulders.
Round the neck they often wear wreaths of the leaves of a fragrant
plant called miri, resembling those of the vine.
An ivory ornament, called palava, is very generally worn, suspended
by a hair necklace, neatly plaited into small cords. The hole through
which it is passed is large enough to admit the thumb, and the plaits
are so numerous as to fill it entirely.
The hair is combed back in front, and plastered over with a kind
of lime made from burnt shells. This practice bleaches that on the
forehead nearly white.
Their heads are adorned with wreaths of flowers taken from the stalk,
and strung on the stem of a small creeping plant. They prefer purple,
yellow, and white, and arrange them alternately three or four inches of
each colour. This is twined several times round the head, and has a
very elegant appearance.
They are at great pains in ornamenting themselves, for which purpose
every female is provided with a small mirror. All ranks pay the utmost
attention to personal cleanliness.
The dress of the men consists merely of a small girdle, made of taper,
called the maro. Upon great occasions, the chiefs wear elegant cloaks
and helmets of red and yellow feathers.
The cloth called taper is entirely manufactured by women, and is made
from a bark of a tree, which is first steeped in water, and then beat
out with a piece of wood, grooved or furrowed like a crimping machine.
The bark is laid upon another piece of wood, grooved like the former.
As these two instruments are at right angles during the operation, the
marks in the cloth are crossed like warp and woof.
It is colored with the juice of berries, laid on with a piece of
turtle-shell, shaped like a knife, or with a brush, formed by chewing
the end of a slip of bamboo. In this manner it is tinged brown, green,
blue, and black; to produce a yellow, the cloth is dipt in a dye
prepared by boiling the cone of a tree in water. They often paint a
variety of patterns, in which they display great taste and fancy.
This cloth, from its texture, is, when wetted, extremely apt to
get damaged, in which state it tears like moist paper; great care,
therefore, is always taken to keep it dry, or to have it carefully
dried when it is wetted. When they swim off to ships, they hold their
clothes out of the water in one hand, occasionally changing it as it
becomes fatigued.
The mats with which the floors of the houses are covered, are also
manufactured by the women. They are made of rushes, or a kind of
broad-leaved grass, split at the stem, and are worked in a variety of
patterns.
The natives are most dexterous fishers, and their implements are
constructed with much ingenuity. The hooks are sometimes made of
mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, but those procured from ships are
coming into more general use.
Their nets and lines are spun from the fibre of a broad-leaved plant
called ourana, similar in appearance to sedge or flags; it is pulled
green, and the outside stripped off with a tortoise-shell knife, after
which it is steeped in water; the fibres are separated by the nail,
and spun into lines, by rolling them between the hand and the thigh.
The lines have sometimes two strands, and sometimes three, and are
much stronger than those of hemp. They drag these lines after their
canoes, and in this manner take bonettas, dolphins, and albicores.
For the hooks of their own manufacture bait is not required, the
mother-of-pearl shank serving the same end. When wire hooks are used,
they wrap a piece of white cloth round them.
The nets in which they take the flying fish are made of twine of the
same material.--They are about a hundred yards in length, by three or
four yards in breadth, and have a large bag in the centre.
They are set like herring-nets, with the upper edge floated by buoys
of light wood, whilst the lower edge is kept under water by weights of
lead or iron. In order to prevent the fish from flying over, branches
of trees are laid all along the head-line. When properly extended, a
canoe at each end of the net, gradually advances, forming it into a
circle, into which the fish are driven by a number of canoes, who fill
up the open side, and beat the surface violently with branches.--When
the canoes at each end of the net meet, they gradually take it in,
contracting the circle till the fish are forced into the bag in the
centre.
In this manner prodigious numbers are taken. I have known them return,
after a day’s fishing, with ten or twelve canoes deeply loaded.
Sometimes the net is so full they cannot take it on board, and are
obliged to drag it after them to the shore.
They have a singular method of catching fish by poison. This is done
by means of an herb like heath, stripped of its bark, and bruised;
with this they dive to the bottom, and place it beneath the stones,
where the fish lie. The poison is so powerful, that in a short time
they sicken, and come up to the surface.--When taken they are instantly
gutted, in order that the poison in their stomach may not affect the
quality of the fish.
The occupiers or proprietors of land are entitled to the privilege of
fishing upon their own shores as far as the tallest man in the island
can wade at low water, and they may exercise that right at all seasons;
but beyond that the sea is tabooed, except at two periods in the year,
of six weeks each, during which unlimited fishing is allowed. At these
times it is the general employment of the natives, and they cure enough
to serve them through the tabooed season.
In every article of their manufacture these islanders display an
extraordinary degree of neatness and ingenuity, considering the
simplicity of the tools with which they work.
The tool in most general use is a kind of tomahawk, or adze, called
toe; it was formerly made of hard polished stone, but is now
universally made of iron. To form it, they lash a thin plate of iron,
from one to four inches broad, and five or six long, to a branch which
has a piece of the stem attached to it. Plane irons are much in request
for this purpose; but the toe is frequently made of an old hoop.
This, with a piece of coral for a file, is almost the only tool used in
the construction of their houses, canoes, and implements of wood.
The circular wooden dishes, containing from half a pint to five or six
gallons, are formed with these simple tools, and are as neatly made as
if they had been turned in a lathe. It is astonishing how soon they
acquire the useful arts from their visitors. Many of the natives are
employed as carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths, and tailors, and do their
work as perfectly as Europeans.
In the king’s forge there were none but native blacksmiths; they had
been taught by the armourer of a ship, who quitted the island while I
was there.
Almost all their dealings are conducted by barter; they know the value
of dollars, and are willing to take them in exchange; but they seldom
appear again in circulation, being always carefully hoarded up.
Vessels are supplied with fresh provisions, live-stock, salt, and other
articles of outfit, for which they give in return cloth, fire-arms, and
ammunition, the teeth of the sea-lion, carpenter’s tools, hardware,
and, in general, European articles of every description.
Sandal-wood, pearls, and mother-of-pearl shells, are also the produce
of these islands, and are frequently purchased for the China market.
It is probable that the Russians will, in future, derive from hence
the principal supplies of provisions for their settlements on the Fox
islands, and northwest coast of America, and even Kamschatka.
With the island of Atooi the natives carry on a considerable trade. The
inhabitants of Wahoo excel in making taper or cloth, whilst those of
Atooi excel in canoes, paddles, and spears, and they very often make
exchanges in these articles.
Owing to the number of ships that are constantly touching at these
islands, provisions are by no means cheap. A pig is estimated by its
length. The largest size, called poanana, or fathom pig, measures that
length from the snout to the rump, and is valued at two axes; a junk of
the thickest part of the sea-horse tooth, five or six inches long, a
yard and a half of blue cloth, or five dollars.
Those that measure from the elbow to the opposite hand, are valued at
one axe, or about half the price of the larger size. A sheep or goat
may be had for a smaller piece of ivory; a maro, or a pair of fowls,
for a knife, a pair of scissors, or small mirror.
From their earliest years, the natives spend much of their spare time
in the water, and constant practice renders them so dexterous, that
they seem as much at their ease in that element as on land; they
often swim several miles off to ships, sometimes resting upon a plank
shaped like an anchor stock, and paddling with their hands, but more
frequently without any assistance whatever.
Although sharks are numerous in these seas, I never heard of any
accident from them, which I attribute to the dexterity with which they
avoid their attacks.
Throwing the top shoots of the sugar-cane at each other, and catching
them in their flight, is a favorite amusement, the practice of which
tends to render them very expert in the use of the spear.
Dancing, wrestling, and foot races, are also common amusements,
particularly at macaheite time.
The dances are principally performed by women, who form themselves into
solid squares, ten or twelve each way, and keep time to the sound of
the drum, accompanied by a song, in which they all join. In dancing
they seldom move their feet, but throw themselves into a variety of
attitudes, sometimes all squatting, and at other times springing up
at the same instant. A man in front with strings of shells on his
ankles and wrists, with which he marks time, acts as fugel-man. On
these occasions the women display all their finery, particularly in
European clothes, if they are so fortunate as to possess any. They
received great applause from the spectators, who frequently burst into
immoderate fits of laughter, at particular parts of the song.
They have a game somewhat resembling draughts, but more complicated.
It is played upon a board about twenty-two inches by fourteen, painted
black, with white spots, on which the men are placed; these consist of
black and white pebbles, eighteen upon each side, and the game is won
by the capture of the adversary’s pieces.
Tamaahmaah excels at this game. I have seen him sit for hours playing
with his chiefs, giving an occasional smile, but without uttering a
word. I could not play, but William Moxely, who understood it well,
told me that he had seen none who could beat the king.
The game of draughts is now introduced, and the natives play it
uncommonly well.
Flying kites is another favorite amusement. They make them of taper,
of the usual shape, but uncommon size, many of them being fifteen or
sixteen feet in length, and six or seven in breadth; they have often
three or four hundred fathom of line, and are so difficult to hold,
that they are obliged to tie them to trees.
The only employment I ever saw Tamena, the queen, engaged in, was
making these kites.
A theatre was erected under the direction of James Beattie, the king’s
block-maker, who had been at one time on the stage in England. The
scenes representing a castle and a forest were constructed of different
coloured pieces of taper, cut out and pasted together.
I was present on one occasion, at the performance of Oscar and Malvina.
This piece was originally a pantomime, but here it had words written
for it by Beattie. The part of Malvina was performed by the wife of
Isaac Davis. As her knowledge of the English language was very limited,
extending only to the words yes and no, her speeches were confined to
these monosyllables. She, however, acted her part with great applause.
The Fingalian heroes were represented by natives clothed in the
Highland garb, also made out of taper, and armed with muskets.
The audience did not seem to understand the play well, but were greatly
delighted with the after-piece, representing a naval engagement.
The ships were armed with bamboo cannon, and each of them fired a
broadside, by means of a train of thread dipped in saltpetre, which
communicated with each gun, after which one of the vessels blew up.
Unfortunately, the explosion set fire to the forest, and had nearly
consumed the theatre.
The ceremonies that took place upon the death of a chief have been
already described. The bodies of the dead are always disposed of
secretly, and I never could learn where they were interred. My
patroness, the queen, preserved the bones of her father, wrapt up in a
piece of cloth. When she slept in her own house they were placed by her
side; in her absence they were placed on a feather bed she had received
from the captain of a ship, and which was only used for this purpose.
When I asked her the reason of this singular custom, she replied, “it
was because she loved her father so dearly.”
When the king goes to war, I understand that every man capable of
bearing arms must follow his chief; for which purpose they are all
trained from their youth to the use of arms. I saw nothing like a
regular armed force, except a guard of about fifty men, who constantly
did duty at the king’s residence. There were about twenty of them on
guard daily, but the only sentry which they posted was at the powder
magazine. At night he regularly called out every hour, “All’s well.”
They were armed with muskets and bayonets, but had no uniform; their
cartridge-boxes, which were made by the king’s workmen, are of wood,
about thirteen inches long, rounded to the shape of the body, and
covered with hide.
I have seen those guards at their exercise; rapidity, and not
precision, seemed to be their great object. The men stood at extended
order, and fired as fast as they could, beating the butt upon the
ground, and coming to the recover without using the ramrod; each man
gave the word “fire,” before he drew the trigger.
The natives of these islands have been accused of being cannibals; but
as far as I could judge, either from my own observation, or from the
enquiries I made, I believe the accusation to be perfectly destitute
of foundation. Isaac Davis, who had the best means of knowing, having
resided there more than twenty years, and who had been present and
borne a share in all their wars, declared to me most pointedly, that
“it was all lies--that there never had been cannibals there since they
were islands.”
From a perusal of the foregoing pages, it will be seen, that these
islanders have acquired many of the useful arts, and are making rapid
progress towards civilization. Much must be ascribed, no doubt, to
their natural ingenuity and unwearied industry; but great part of the
merit must also be ascribed to the unceasing exertions of Tamaahmaah,
whose enlarged mind has enabled him to appreciate the advantages
resulting from an intercourse with Europeans, and he has prosecuted
that object with the utmost eagerness.
The unfortunate death of captain Cook, and the frequent murders
committed by the natives on navigators, particularly in Wahoo, in
which Lieutenant Hengist, and Mr. Gooch, astronomer of the Dædalus,
Messrs. Brown and Gordon, masters of the ships Jackall and Prince Le
Boo, lost their lives, gave such ideas of the savage nature of the
inhabitants, that for many years few ships would venture to touch at
these islands.[29]
[29] The editor has not thought himself at liberty to alter the
orthography of the king’s name adopted by Vancouver and Broughton.
Although, to his ear, it would be more correctly Tameamea. Every
voyager has spelt it in a different manner. Captain King has spelt it
Maiha Maiha; Mr. Samwell, the surgeon of the Discovery, who published
an account of Captain Cook’s death, Cameamea; Portlocke, Comaamaa;
Meares, Tomyhomyhaw; Vancouver and Broughton, Tamaahmaah; Lisianski,
Hameamea; Langsdorf, Tomooma; and Turnbull, Tamahama. As the hard sound
of _C_ and _T_ is scarcely to be distinguished in the pronunciation of
the language, and the h is silent, the reader, from a comparison, will
be able to ascertain the most correct way.
But since Tamaahmaah has established his power, he has regulated his
conduct by such strict rules of justice, that strangers find themselves
as safe in his port as in those of any civilized nation.
Although always anxious to induce white people to remain, he gives no
encouragement to desertion, nor does he ever attempt to detain those
who wish to depart.
In 1809 the king seemed about fifty years of age; he is a stout,
well-made man, rather darker in the complexion than the natives
usually are, and wants two of his front teeth. The expression of his
countenance is agreeable, and he is mild and affable in his manners,
and possesses great warmth of feeling; for I have seen him shed tears
upon the departure of those to whom he was attached, and has the art
of attaching others to himself. Although a conquerer, he is extremely
popular among his subjects; and not without reason, for since he
attained the supreme power, they have enjoyed repose and prosperity.
He has amassed a considerable treasure in dollars, and possesses a
large stock of European articles of every description, particularly
arms and ammunition; these he has acquired by trading with the ships
that call at the islands. He understands perfectly well how to make
a bargain; but is unjustly accused of wishing to over-reach in his
dealings. I never knew of his taking any undue advantages; on the
contrary, he is distinguished for upright and honourable conduct in all
his transactions.--War, not commerce, seems to be his principal motive
in forming so extensive a navy. Being at peace, his fleet was laid up
in ordinary during the whole time of my stay. When he chooses to fit it
out, he will find no difficulty in manning his vessels. Independently
of the number of white people he has constantly about him, and who are
almost all sailors, he will find, even among his own subjects, many
good seamen. He encourages them to make voyages in the ships that are
constantly touching at the islands, and many of them have been as far
as China, the northwest coast of America, and even the United States.
In a very short time they become useful hands, and continue so as long
as they remain in warm climates; but they are not capable of standing
the effects of cold.
During my stay the building of the navy was suspended, the king’s
workmen being employed in erecting a house, in the European style, for
his residence at Hanaroora. When I came away, the walls were as high as
the top of the first story.
His family consisted of the two queens, who are sisters, and a young
girl, the daughter of a chief, destined to the same rank. He had two
sons alive, one about fifteen, and the other about ten years of age,
and a daughter, born when I was upon the island.
The queen was delivered about midnight, and the event was instantly
announced by a salute of sixteen guns, being a round of the battery in
front of the house.
I was informed by Isaac Davis, that his eldest son had been put to
death by his orders in consequence of criminal connexion with one of
his wives. This took place before he fixed his residence at Wahoo.
His mode of life has already been described. He sometimes dressed
himself in the European fashion, but more frequently laid aside his
clothes, and gave them to an attendant, contenting himself with
the maro. Another attendant carried a fan, made of feathers, for
the purpose of brushing away the flies; whilst a third carried his
spit-box, which was set round with human teeth, and had belonged, as I
was told, to several of his predecessors.
It is said that he was at one time strongly addicted to the use
of ardent spirits; but that, finding the evil consequences of the
practice, he had resolution enough to abandon it. I never saw him pass
the bounds of the strictest temperance.
His queen, Tamena, had not the same resolution; and although, when he
was present, she durst not exceed, she generally availed herself of his
absence in the morai to indulge her propensity for liquor, and seldom
stopped short of intoxication. Two Aleutian women had been left on the
island, and were favorite companions of hers. It was a common amusement
to make them drunk; but, by the end of the entertainment, her majesty
was generally in the same situation.