ADULT AND ADVANCED YEARS.
Passing from infancy and childhood we proceed to the ceremonies,
superstitions, and customs connected with more advanced years.
_Tattooing._--"Herodotus found among the Thracians that the barbarians
could be exceedingly foppish after their fashion. The man who was not
tattooed among them was not respected." It was the same in Samoa.
Until a young man was tattooed, he was considered in his minority. He
could not think of marriage, and he was constantly exposed to taunts
and ridicule, as being poor and of low birth, and as having no right
to speak in the society of men. But as soon as he was tattooed he
passed into his majority, and considered himself entitled to the
respect and privileges of mature years. When a youth, therefore,
reached the age of sixteen, he and his friends were all anxiety that
he should be tattooed. He was then on the outlook for the tattooing of
some young chief with whom he might unite. On these occasions, six or
a dozen young men would be tattooed at one time; and for these there
might be four or five tattooers employed.
Tattooing is still kept up to some extent, and is a regular
profession, just as house-building, and well paid. The custom is
traced to Taēmā and Tilafainga (see p. 55); and they were worshipped
by the tattooers as the presiding deities of their craft.
The instrument used in the operation is an oblong piece of human bone
(_os ilium_), about an inch and a half broad and two inches long. A
time of war and slaughter was a harvest for the tattooers to get a
supply of instruments. The one end is cut like a small-toothed comb,
and the other is fastened to a piece of cane, and looks like a little
serrated adze. They dip it into a mixture of candle-nut ashes and
water, and, tapping it with a little mallet, it sinks into the skin;
and in this way they puncture the whole surface over which the
tattooing extends. The greater part of the body from the waist down to
the knee is covered with it, variegated here and there with neat
regular stripes of the untattooed skin, which when they are well
oiled, make them appear in the distance as if they had on black silk
knee-breeches. Behrens, in describing these natives in his narrative
of Roggewein's voyage of 1772, says: "They were clothed from the waist
downwards with fringes and a kind of silken stuff artificially
wrought." A nearer inspection would have shown that the "fringes"
were a bunch of red _ti_ leaves (_Dracæna terminalis_) glistening with
cocoa-nut oil, and the "kind of silken stuff," the tattooing just
described. As it extends over such a large surface the operation is a
tedious and painful affair. After smarting and bleeding for a while
under the hands of the tattooers, the patience of the youth is
exhausted. They then let him rest and heal for a time, and, before
returning to him again, do a little piece on each of the party. In two
or three months the whole is completed. The friends of the young men
are all the while in attendance with food. They also bring quantities
of fine mats and native cloth, as the hire of the tattooers; connected
with them, too, are many waiting on for a share in the food and
property.
The waste of time, revelling, and immorality connected with the custom
have led many to discountenance it; and it is, to a considerable
extent, given up. But the gay youth still thinks it manly and
respectable to be tattooed; parental pride says the same thing; and so
the custom still obtains. It is not likely, however, to stand long
before advancing civilisation. European clothing, and a sense of
propriety they are daily acquiring, lead them to cover the tattooed
part of the body entirely; and, when its display is considered a shame
rather than a boast, it will probably be given up as painful,
expensive, and useless; and then, too, instead of the tattooing, age,
experience, common-sense, and education will determine whether or not
the young man is entitled to the respect and privileges of mature
years.
There was a custom observed by the other sex worth noticing, for the
sake of comparison with other parts of the world. About the time of
entering into womanhood, their parents and other relatives collected a
quantity of fine mats and cloth, prepared a feast, and invited all the
unmarried women of the settlement. After the feast the property was
distributed among them, and they dispersed. None but females were
present. It was considered mean and a mark of poverty if a family did
not thus observe the occasion.
_Chastity_ was ostensibly cultivated by both sexes; but it was more a
name than a reality. From their childhood their ears were familiar
with the most obscene conversation; and as a whole family, to some
extent, herded together, immorality was the natural and prevalent
consequence. There were exceptions, especially among the daughters of
persons of rank; but they were the exceptions, not the rule.
_Adultery_, too, was sadly prevalent, although often severely punished
by private revenge. If the injured husband sought revenge in the blood
of the seducer no one thought he had done wrong. But the worst feature
of the law of private revenge was that the brother, or any near
relation of the culprit, was as liable to be killed as himself.
_Marriage_ contracts were never entered into before the parties
reached the years of maturity just described. Considerable care was
taken to prevent any union between near relatives; so much so, that a
list of what they deemed improper marriages would almost compare with
the "Table of kindred and affinity." They say that, of old, custom and
the gods frowned upon the union of those in whom consanguinity could
be closely traced. Few had the hardihood to run in the face of
superstition; but if they did, and their children died at a premature
age, it was sure to be traced to the anger of the household god on
account of the forbidden marriage.
A young man rarely, in the first instance, paid his addresses in
person to the object of his choice. A present of food was taken to her
and her relatives by a friend of his, who was, at the same time,
commissioned to convey the proposal to her father; or, failing him, to
the elder brother of the young woman. Her consent was, of course,
asked too; but that was a secondary consideration. She had to agree if
her parents were in favour of the match. If the present of food was
received and the reply favourable, the matter was considered settled.
There was also a somewhat formal meal directly after the marriage
ceremony.
All parties consenting, preparations commenced, and one, two, or
three months were spent collecting various kinds of property. All the
family and relatives of the bride were called upon to assist, and thus
they raised a great quantity of _tonga_, which included all kinds of
fine mats and native cloth, manufactured by the women. This was
invariably the dowry presented to the bridegroom and his friends on
the celebration of the nuptials. He and his friends, on the other
hand, collected in a similar manner for the family of the bride
_oloa_, which included canoes, pigs, and foreign property of any kind
which might fall into their hands, such as knives, hatchets, trinkets,
cloth, garments, etc., received through a Tongan canoe or a passing
vessel.
A time was fixed when the parties assembled. The bride and her
friends, taking with them her dowry, proceeded to the home of the
bridegroom, which might be in another settlement, or on an adjacent
island. If they were people of rank it was the custom that the
ceremonies of the occasion pass off in the marae. The marae is the
forum or place of public assembly--an open circular space, surrounded
by bread-fruit trees, under the shade of which the people sit. Here
the bridegroom and his friends and the whole village assembled,
together with the friends of the bride. All were seated cross-legged
around the marae, glistening from head to foot with scented oil, and
decked off with beads, garlands of sweet-smelling flowers, and
whatever else their varying fancy might suggest for the joyous
occasion. In a house close by the bride was seated. A pathway from
this house to the marae, in front of where the bridegroom sits, was
carpeted with fancy native cloth; and, all being ready, the bride,
decked off with beads, a garland of flowers or fancy shells, and girt
round the waist with fine mats, flowing in a train five or six feet
behind her, moved slowly along towards the marae. She was followed
along the carpeted pathway by a train of young women, dressed like
herself, each bearing a valuable mat, half spread out, holding it to
the gaze of the assembly; and, when they reached the bridegroom, the
mats were laid down before him. They then returned to the house for
more, and went on renewing the procession and display until some fifty
or a hundred fine mats and two or three hundred pieces of native cloth
were heaped before the bridegroom. This was the dowry. The bride then
advanced to the bridegroom and sat down. By-and-by she rose up before
the assembly, and was received with shouts of applause, and, as a
further expression of respect, her immediate friends, young and old,
took up stones and beat themselves until their heads were bruised and
bleeding. The obscenity to prove her virginity which preceded this
burst of feeling will not bear the light of description. Then followed
a display of the _oloa_ (or property) which the bridegroom presented
to the friends of the bride. Then they had dinner, and after that,
the distribution of the property. The father, or, failing him, the
brother or sister of the father of the bridegroom, had the disposal of
the _tonga_ which formed the dowry; and on the other hand, the father
or brother of the bride had the disposal of the property which was
given by the bridegroom. Night-dances and their attendant immoralities
wound up the ceremonies.
The marriage ceremonies of common people passed off in a house, and
with less display; but the same obscene form was gone through to which
we have referred--a custom which, doubtless, had some influence in
cultivating chastity, especially among young women of rank. There was
a fear of disgracing themselves and their friends, and a dread of a
severe beating from the latter after the ceremony to which the
faithless bride was sometimes subjected, almost as if the letter of
the Mosaic law had been carried out upon her.
But there were many marriages without any such ceremonies at all. If
there was a probability that the parents would not consent, from
disparity of rank or other causes, an elopement took place; and, if
the young man was a chief of any importance, a number of his
associates mustered in the evening, and walked through the settlement,
singing his praises and shouting out the name of the person with whom
he had eloped. This was sometimes the first intimation the parents had
of it, and, however mortified they might be, it was too late. After a
time, if the couple continued to live together, their friends
acknowledged the union by festivities and an exchange of property.
_Concubinage._--When the newly-married woman took up her abode in the
family of her husband she was attended by a daughter of her brother,
who was, in fact, a concubine. Her brother considered that if he did
not give up his daughter for this purpose, he should fail in duty and
respect towards his sister, and incur the displeasure of their
household god. Failing her brother, her mother's relatives supplied
her with this maid of honour. Hence, with his wife, a chief had one,
two, or three concubines. Each of these took with her _tonga_ as a
dowry, which, perhaps, was the most important part of the business,
for, after presenting her dowry, she might live with him or not, as
she pleased. Often the addition of these concubines to the family was
attended with all the display and ceremonies of a regular marriage.
_Polygamy._--The marriage ceremony being such a prolific source of
festivities and profit to the chief and his friends, the latter,
whether he was disposed to do it or not, often urged on another and
another repetition of what we have described. They took the thing
almost entirely into their own hands, looked out for a match in a rich
family, and, if that family was agreeable to it, the affair was pushed
on, whether or not the daughter was disposed to it. She, too, as a
matter of etiquette, must be attended by her complement of one or
more young women. According to this system, a chief might have some
ten or a dozen wives and concubines in a short time. Owing, however,
to quarrelling and jealousies, many of them soon returned to their
parental home; and it was rare to find a chief with more than two
wives living with him at the same time.
_Divorce._--If the marriage had been contracted merely for the sake of
the property and festivities of the occasion, the wife was not likely
to be more than a few days or weeks with her husband. With or without
leave, she soon found her way home to her parents. If, however, a
couple had lived together for years and wished to separate, if they
were mutually agreed, they did it in a more formal way. They talked
over the matter coolly, made a fair division of their property, and
then the wife was conveyed back to her friends, taking with her any
young children, and leaving those more advanced with their father. A
woman might thus go home and separate entirely from her husband; but,
while that husband lived, she dared not marry another. Nor could she
marry even after his death, if he was a chief of high rank, without
the special permission of the family with which she had connected
herself by marriage. Any one who broke through the custom, and married
her without this, was liable to have his life taken from him by that
family, or at least he had to pay them a heavy fine.
_Widows._--The brother of a deceased husband considered himself
entitled to have his brother's wife, and to be regarded by the orphan
children as their father. If he was already married, she would,
nevertheless, live with him as a second wife. In the event of there
being several brothers, they met and arranged which of them was to act
the part of the deceased brother. The principal reason they alleged
for the custom was a desire to prevent the woman and her children
returning to her friends, and thereby diminishing the number and
influence of their own family. And hence, failing a brother, some
other relative would offer himself, and be received by the widow.
Should none of them, however, wish to live with her, or should there
be any unwillingness on her part, she was, in either case, at liberty
to return to her own friends.
The following is a specimen of one of their love songs:--
1. There was Tafitofau and Ongafau, and they had two daughters;
The one was Sinaleuuna and the other Sinaeteva.
The two girls sat and wished they had a brother.
_Chorus_--Aue!
2. Again Ongafau had a child, and it was a boy.
The child grew up, but his sisters never saw him,
They lived apart from their parents and the boy.
etc.
3. Then Tafitofau and Ongafau said to the boy, who was called
Maluafiti ("Shade of Fiji"): "Go with some food to the ladies."
The lad went down, the girls looked and were struck with his beauty,
etc.
4. He came with the food and said he was their brother;
The sisters rejoiced and gave thanks that their desire was granted,
They had now a brother.
etc.
5. Then the sisters sat down and filled into a bamboo bottle
The liquid shadow of their brother.
etc.
6. A report came from Fiji of the beautiful lady Sina,
And that all the swells of Fiji were running after her.
etc.
7. Then off went Sinaleuuna and Sinaeteva to Fiji,
And took with them the shadow of their brother Maluafiti.
etc.
8. The two sisters dressed up and went to tell her
All about their handsome brother.
But they were slighted and shamefully treated by Sina.
etc.
9. Sina did not know they were the sisters of Maluafiti.
She had heard of his beauty and longed for his coming.
etc.
10. The sisters were still ill-treated by Sina; their anger rose,
And off they went to the water where Sina was bathing.
They threw out from the bottle on to the water the shadow of their
brother.
etc.
11. Sina looked at the shadow and was struck with its beauty.
"That is my husband," said she, "wherever I can find him."
etc.
12. Then Sinaleuuna wept and uttered in soliloquy:
"Oh, Sinaleuuna, Sinaeteva, you are enraged!
Where is our brother? 'Tis for him we are here and slighted."
etc.
13. Sina called out to the villagers for all to come,
All the beautiful young men to assemble and find out
Of whom the figure in the water was the image.
etc.
14. They sought in vain, they could not find.
The shadow was bright and beautiful and compared with no one.
When Maluafiti turned about in his own land,
The shadow wheeled round and round in the water.
etc.
15. But Sina heard not the weeping of the sisters of Maluafiti.
Again their song rang out, "Where is our brother?
'Tis for him we are here and slighted."
etc.
16. "Oh, Maluafiti! rise up, it is day;
Your shadow prolongs our ill-treatment.
Maluafiti come and talk with her face to face,
Instead of that image in water."
etc.
17. Sina had listened, and now she knew 'twas the shadow of Maluafiti.
These are his sisters too, and I've been ill-using them.
etc.
18. Sina reproached herself: "Oh! I fear these ladies;
I knew not they were seeking a wife for their brother Maluafiti.
etc.
19. "Come, oh come," said Sina, "forgive me, I've done you wrong."
Sina begged pardon in vain, the ladies were angry still.
etc.
20. The canoe of Maluafiti arrived.
He came to court Lady Sina, and also to fetch his sisters.
etc.
21. He came, he heard the tale of his sisters,
And then up flew implacable rage.
etc.
22. Sina longed to get Maluafiti;
He was her heart's desire, and long she had waited for him.
etc.
23. Maluafiti frowned and would return,
And off he went with his sisters.
Sina cried and screamed, and determined to follow swimming.
etc.
24. The sisters pleaded to save and to bring her,
Maluafiti relented not, and Sina died in the ocean.
etc.
In a story about another lady called Sinasengi, we are told about her
wonderful pool. She had "caught the shadows" of a variety of scenes,
and imprinted them on the _water_. A problem this for the
photographers! Night-dances, races, club exercise, battles, public
meetings, and some of the ordinary employments of daily life were all
there. The pool was covered over, but by the removal of a stone this
"chamber of imagery" could be all seen. Everything seemed so real
that a man one day was so enraptured with the sight of one of his
favourite sports that he jumped in to join a dancing party. But, alas!
he bruised his head and broke his arm on the _stones_ which he found
under the surface, instead of the gambols of living men.
Stories also of wifely and husband affection and the reverse are
preserved in song. Take the following as a specimen. The original runs
through twenty-six verses, but I abbreviate and give the substance:--
There was a youth called Siati noted for his singing. A serenading god
came along, threw down a challenge, and promised him his fair daughter
if he was the better singer. They sung, Siati beat, and off he went to
the land of the god, riding on a shark belonging to his aunt.
They reached the place. The shark went in to the shore, set him down,
and told him to go to the bathing-place, where he would find the
daughters of the god, the one was called Puapae, "White Fish," and the
other Puauli, "Dark Fish."
Siati went and sat down at the bathing-place. The girls had been
there, but had gone away. Puapae had forgotten her comb, returned to
get it, and there she found Siati. "Siati," said she, "however have
you come here?" "I've come to seek the song-god and get his daughter
to wife." "My father," said she, "is more of a god than a man--eat
nothing he hands you, never sit on a high seat lest death should
follow, and now let us unite." Siati and Puapae were united in
marriage, but they were sent off to live elsewhere.
The god sent his daughter Puauli to Puapae to tell her husband to
build him a house, and that it must be finished that very day, under a
penalty of death and the oven. Siati cried, but his wife Puapae
comforted him, said she could do it, and off she went and built the
house, and by the evening was weeding all around it.
In came another order, and that was for Siati to fight with the dog.
The fight took place and Siati conquered. Next the god had lost his
ring, and Siati must go to the sea and find it. Again Siati wept, and
again his wife cheered him. "I'll find the ring," said she; "only do
what I tell you. Cut my body in two, throw me into the sea, and stand
still on the beach till I come." He did so, cut her in two, threw her
into the sea, she was changed into a fish, and away she went to seek
for the ring.
Siati stood, and stood, sat and lay down, stood again, and then lay
down, and went off to sleep. Puapae returned, she was thrown up by the
fish and stood on the shore. Siati awoke by the splash of the sea on
his face. She scolded him for not keeping awake, and then said, "There
is the ring, go with it in the early morning," and in the morning off
the two went to her father.
That very morning the god called his daughter Puauli and said, "Come,
take me on your back, and let us seek Siati that I may eat him."
Presently they started back, Siati and Puapae were coming. Puapae and
Siati threw down the comb and it became a bush of thorns in the way to
intercept the god and Puauli. But they struggled through the thorns. A
bottle of earth was next thrown down, and that became a mountain; and
then followed their bottle of water, and that became a sea and drowned
the god and Puauli.
Puapae said to Siati, "My father and sister are dead, and all on
account of my love to you; you may go now and visit your family and
friends while I remain here, but see that you do not behave unseemly."
He went, visited all his friends, and then he forgot his wife Puapae.
He tried to marry again, but Puapae came and stood on the other side.
The chief called out, "Which is your wife, Siati?" "The one on the
right side." Puapae then broke silence with, "Ah Siati, you have
forgotten all I did for you;" and off she went. Siati remembered it
all, darted after her crying, and then fell down and died.