IN this ballad, I have strung together some of the more striking
particularities of the Marquesas. It rests upon no authority; it is in
no sense, like “Rahéro,” a native story; but a patchwork of details of
manners and the impressions of a traveller. It may seem strange, when
the scene is laid upon these profligate islands, to make the story hinge
on love. But love is not less known in the Marquesas than elsewhere; nor
is there any cause of suicide more common in the islands.
{61} Note 1, page 61. “_Pit of Popoi_.” Where the breadfruit was
stored for preservation.
{62a} Note 2, page 62. “_Ruby-red_.” The priest’s eyes were probably
red from the abuse of kava. His beard (_ib._) is said to be worth an
estate; for the beards of old men are the favourite head adornment of the
Marquesans, as the hair of women formed their most costly girdle. The
former, among this generally beardless and short-lived people, fetch
to-day considerable sums.
{62b} Note 3, page 62. “_Tikis_.” The tiki is an ugly image hewn out
of wood or stone.
{67} Note 4, page 67. “_The one-stringed harp_.” Usually employed for
serenades.
{69} Note 5, page 69. “_The sacred cabin of palm_.” Which, however, no
woman could approach. I do not know where women were tattooed; probably
in the common house, or in the bush, for a woman was a creature of small
account. I must guard the reader against supposing Taheia was at all
disfigured; the art of the Marquesan tattooer is extreme; and she would
appear to be clothed in a web of lace, inimitably delicate, exquisite in
pattern, and of a bluish hue that at once contrasts and harmonises with
the warm pigment of the native skin. It would be hard to find a woman
more becomingly adorned than “a well-tattooed” Marquesan.
{72} Note 6, page 72. “_The horror of night_.” The Polynesian fear of
ghosts and of the dark has been already referred to. Their life is
beleaguered by the dead.
{74} Note 7, page 74. “_The quiet passage of souls_.” So, I am told,
the natives explain the sound of a little wind passing overhead unfelt.
{78} Note 8, page 78. “_The first of the victims fell_.” Without
doubt, this whole scene is untrue to fact. The victims were disposed of
privately and some time before. And indeed I am far from claiming the
credit of any high degree of accuracy for this ballad. Even in a time of
famine, it is probable that Marquesan life went far more gaily than is
here represented. But the melancholy of to-day lies on the writer’s
mind.
TICONDEROGA
A LEGEND OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS