_The Situation of the Islands now discovered.--Their
Names.--Called the Sandwich Islands.--Atooi described.--The
Soil.--Climate.--Vegetable Productions.--Birds.--Fish.--Domestic
Animals.--Persons of the Inhabitants.--Their
Disposition.--Dress.--Ornaments.--Habitations.--Food.--Cookery.--
Amusements.--Manufactures.--Working-tools.--Knowledge
of Iron accounted for.--Canoes.--Agriculture.--Account of one of
their Chiefs.--Weapons.--Customs agreeing with those of Tongataboo and
Otaheite.--Their Language the same.--Extent of this Nation throughout
the Pacific Ocean.--Reflections on the useful Situation of the
Sandwich Islands._
It is worthy of observation, that the islands in the Pacific Ocean,
which our late voyages have added to the geography of the globe,
have been generally found lying in groups or clusters; the single
intermediate islands, as yet discovered, being few in proportion
to the others; though, probably, there are many more of them still
unknown, which serve as steps between the several clusters. Of what
number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for
future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given to
us by the natives, are Woahoo, Atooi, Oneeheow, Orrehoua, and Tahoora.
The last is a small elevated island, lying four or five leagues from
the S.E. point of Oneeheow, in the direction of S., 69° W. We were
told, that it abounds with birds, which are its only inhabitants. We
also got some information of the existence of a low uninhabited island
in the neighbourhood, whose name is Tammata pappa. Besides these
six, which we can distinguish by their names, it appeared, that the
inhabitants of those with whom we had intercourse, were acquainted
with some other islands both to the eastward and westward. I named the
whole group the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich.
Those that I saw, are situated between the latitude of 21° 30', and
22° 15' N., and between the longitude of 199° 20', and 201° 30' E.
Of Woahoo, the most easterly of these islands, seen by us, which lies
in the latitude of 21° 36', we could get no other intelligence, but
that it is high land, and is inhabited.
We had opportunities of knowing some particulars about Oneeheow, which
have been mentioned already. It lies seven leagues to the westward
of our anchoring-place at Atooi; and is not above fifteen leagues in
circuit. Its chief vegetable produce is yams, if we may judge from
what was brought to us by the natives. They have salt, which they call
_patai_, and is produced in salt ponds. With it they cure both fish
and pork; and some salt fish, which we got from them, kept very well,
and were found to be very good. This island is mostly low land, except
the part facing Atooi, which rises directly from the sea to a good
height; as does also the S.E. point of it, which terminates in a round
hill. It was on the west side of this point where our ships anchored.
Of Oreehoua we know nothing more than that it is a small elevated
island, lying close to the north side of Oneeheow.
Atooi, which is the largest, being the principal scene of our
operations, I shall now proceed to lay before my readers what
information I was able to collect about it, either from actual
observation, while on shore, or from conversation with its
inhabitants, who were perpetually on board the ships while we lay at
anchor; and who, in general, could be tolerably well understood, by
those of us who had acquired an acquaintance with the dialects of the
South Pacific Islands. It is, however, to be regretted, that we should
have been obliged, so soon, to leave a place, which, as far as our
opportunities of knowing reached, seemed to be highly worthy of a more
accurate examination.
Atooi, from what we saw of it, is, at least, ten leagues in length
from east to west; from whence its circuit may nearly be guessed,
though it appears to be much broader at the east than at the west
point, if we may judge from the double range of hills which appeared
there. The road, or anchoring-place, which we occupied, is on the
south-west side of the island, about six miles from the west end,
before a village which has the name of Wymoa. As far as we sounded, we
found, that the bank has a fine grey sand at the bottom, and is free
from rocks; except a little to the eastward of the village, where
there spits out a shoal, on which are some rocks and breakers; but
they are not far from the shore. This road would be entirely sheltered
from the trade-wind, if the height of the land, over which it blows,
did not alter its direction, and make it follow that of the coast; so
that it blows at N.E., on one side of the island, and at E.S.E., or
S.E., on the other, falling obliquely upon the shore. Thus the road,
though situated on the lee side of the island, is a little exposed to
the trade-wind; but, notwithstanding this defect, is far from being a
bad station, and much superior to those which necessity obliges ships
daily to use, in regions where the winds are both more variable and
more boisterous; as at Teneriffe, Madeira, the Azores, and elsewhere.
The landing too is more easy than at most of those places; and, unless
in very bad weather, always practicable. The water to be got in the
neighbourhood is excellent, and easy to be conveyed to the boats.
But no wood can be cut at any distance, convenient enough to bring it
from, unless the natives could be prevailed upon to part with the few
_etooa_ trees (for so they call the _cordia sebestina_,) that grow
about their villages, or a sort called _dooe dooe_, that grow farther
up the country.
The land, as to its general appearance, does not, in the least,
resemble any of the islands we have hitherto visited within the
tropic, on the south side of the _equator_; if we except its hills
near the centre, which are high, but slope gently to the sea, or lower
lands. Though it be destitute of the delightful borders of Otaheite,
and of the luxuriant plains of Tongataboo, covered with trees, which
at once afford a friendly shelter from the scorching sun, and an
enchanting prospect to the eye, and food for the natives, which may
be truly said to drop from the trees into their mouths, without the
laborious task of rearing; though, I say, Atooi be destitute of these
advantages, its possessing a greater quantity of gently-rising land,
renders it, in some measure, superior to the above favourite islands,
as being more capable of improvement.
The height of the land within, the quantity of clouds which we saw,
during the whole time we staid, hanging over it, and frequently on
the other parts, seems to put it beyond all doubt, that there is a
sufficient supply of water; and that there are some running streams
which we did not see, especially in the deep valleys, at the entrance
of which the villages commonly stand. From the wooded part to the sea,
the ground is covered with an excellent sort of grass, about two feet
high, which grows sometimes in tufts, and, though not very thick
at the place where we were, seemed capable of being converted into
plentiful crops of fine hay. But not even a shrub grows naturally on
this extensive space.
In the break, or narrow valley, through which we had our road to the
_morai_, the soil is of a brownish black colour, somewhat loose; but
as we advanced upon the high ground, it changed to a reddish brown,
more stiff and clayey, though, at this time, brittle from its dryness.
It is most probably the same all over the cultivated parts; for, what
adhered to most of the potatoes, bought by us, which, no doubt, came
from very different spots, was of this sort. Its quality, however, may
be better understood from its products, than from its appearance. For
the vale, or moist ground, produces _taro_, of a much larger size than
any we had ever seen; and the higher ground furnishes sweet potatoes,
that often weigh ten, and sometimes twelve or fourteen pounds; very
few being under two or three.
The temperature of the climate may be easily guessed from the
situation of the island. Were we to judge of it from our experience,
it might be said to be very variable; for, according to the generally
received opinion, it was now the season of the year, when the weather
is supposed to be most settled, the sun being at his greatest annual
distance. The heat was at this time very moderate; and few of those
inconveniences, which many tropical countries are subject to, either
from heat or moisture, seem to be experienced here, as the habitations
of the natives are quite close; and they salt both fish and pork,
which keep well, contrary to what has usually been observed to be the
case, when this operation is attempted in hot countries. Neither
did we find any dews of consequence, which may, in some measure, be
accounted for, by the lower part of the country being destitute of
trees.
The rock that forms the sides of the Valley, and which seems to be
the same with that seen by us at different parts of the coast, is
a greyish black, ponderous stone; but honey-combed, with some
very minute shining particles, and some spots of a rusty colour
interspersed. The last gives it often a reddish cast, when at a
distance. It is of an immense depth, but seems divided into _strata_,
though nothing is interposed. For the large pieces always broke off
to a determinate thickness, without appearing to have adhered to those
below them. Other stones are probably much more various, than in
the southern islands. For, during our short stay, besides the _lapis
lydius_, which seems common all over the South Sea, we found a species
of cream-coloured whetstone, sometimes variegated with blacker or
whiter veins, as marble; or in pieces, as _brecciæ_; and common
writing slate, as well as a coarser sort; but we saw none of them in
their natural state; and the natives brought some pieces of a coarse
whitish pumice-stone. We got also a brown sort of _hæmatites_, which,
from being strongly attracted by the magnet, discovered the quantity
of metal that it contained, and seems to belong to the second
species of Cronstedt, though Linnæus has placed it amongst his
_intractabilia_. But its variety could not be discovered; for what we
saw of it, as well as the slates and whetstones, was cut artificially.
Besides the vegetable articles bought by us as refreshments, amongst
which were, at least, five or six varieties of plantains, the island
produces bread-fruit; though it seems to be scarce, as we saw only one
tree, which was large, and had some fruit upon it. There are also a
few cocoa-palms; yams, as we were told, for we saw none; the _kappe_
of the Friendly Islands, or Virginian _arum_; the _etooa_ tree, and
sweet-smelling _gardenia_, or _cape jasmine_. We saw several trees
of the _dooe dooe_, so useful at Otaheite, as bearing the oily nuts,
which are stuck upon a kind of skewer, and burnt as candles. Our
people saw them used, in the same manner, at Oneeheow. We were not
on shore at Atooi but in the day-time, and then we saw the natives
wearing these nuts, hung on strings, round the neck. There is a
species of _sida_, or Indian mallow, somewhat altered, by the climate,
from what we saw at Christmas Island; the _morinda citrifolia_,
which is called _none_; a species of _convolvulus_; the _ava_, or
intoxicating pepper; and great numbers of gourds. These last grow to
a very large size, and are of a vast variety of shapes, which probably
is effected by art. Upon the dry sand, about the village, grew a
plant, that we had never seen in these seas, of the size of a common
thistle, and prickly, like that; but bearing a fine flower, almost
resembling a white poppy. This, with another small one, were the only
uncommon plants, which our short excursion gave us an opportunity of
observing.
The scarlet birds, already described, which were brought for sale,
were never met with alive; but we saw a single small one, about the
size of a canary-bird, of a deep crimson colour; a large owl; two
large brown hawks, or kites; and a wild duck. The natives mentioned
the names of several other birds; amongst which we knew the _otoo_, or
blueish heron; and the _torata_, a sort of whimbrel, which are known
by the same names at Otaheite; and it is probable, that there are a
great many sorts, judging by the quantity of fine yellow, green, and
very small, velvet-like, black feathers used upon the cloaks, and
other ornaments worn by the inhabitants.
Fish and other marine productions were, to appearance, not various;
as, besides the small mackarel, we only saw common mullets; a sort of
a dead white, or chalky colour; a small brownish rock-fish, spotted
with blue; a turtle, which was penned up in a pond; and three or four
sorts of fish salted. The few shell-fish that we saw, were chiefly
converted into ornaments, though they neither had beauty nor novelty
to recommend them.
The hogs, dogs, and fowls, which were the only tame or domestic
animals that we found here, were all of the same kind that we met with
at the South Pacific Islands. There were also small lizards, and some
rats, resembling those seen at every island at which we had, as yet,
touched.
The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some
exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking
features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a
keen intelligent disposition. Their visage, especially amongst the
women, is sometimes round; but others have it long; nor can we say
that they are distinguished as a nation, by any general cast of
countenance. Their colour is nearly of a nut-brown; and. it may be
difficult to make a nearer comparison, if we take in all the different
hues of that colour; but some individuals are darker. The women have
been already mentioned as being little more delicate than the men in
their formation; and I may say, that, with a very few exceptions, they
have little claim to those peculiarities that distinguish the sex in
other countries. There is, indeed, a more remarkable equality in the
size, colour, and figure of both sexes, than in most places I have
visited. However, upon the whole, they are far from being ugly, and
appear to have few natural deformities of any kind. Their skin is not
very soft, nor shining; perhaps for want of oiling, which is practised
at the southern islands; but their eyes and teeth are, in general,
very tolerable. The hair, for the greatest part is straight, though in
some frizzling; and though its natural colour be commonly black, it
is stained, as at the Friendly and other islands. We saw but few
instances of corpulence; and these oftener amongst the women than the
men; but it was chiefly amongst the latter that personal defects were
observed, though, if any of them can claim a share of beauty, it was
most conspicuous amongst the young men.
They are vigorous, active, and most expert swimmers; leaving their
canoes upon the most trifling occasion, diving under them, and
swimming to others, though at a great distance. It was very common to
see women with infants at the breast, when the surf was so high,
that they could not land in the canoes, leap overboard, and, without
endangering their little ones, swim to the shore, through a sea that
looked dreadful.
They seem to be blest with a frank cheerful disposition; and were I to
draw any comparisons, should say, that they are equally free from the
fickle levity which distinguishes the natives of Otaheite, and the
sedate east observable amongst many of those of Tongataboo. They seem
to live very sociably in their intercourse with one another; and,
except the propensity to thieving, which seems innate in most of the
people we have visited in this ocean, they were exceedingly friendly
to us. And it does their sensibility no little credit, without
flattering ourselves, that when they saw the various articles of our
European manufacture, they could not help expressing their surprise,
by a mixture of joy and concern, that seemed to apply the case as a
lesson of humility to themselves; and, on all occasions, they appeared
deeply impressed with a consciousness of their own inferiority; a
behaviour which equally exempts their national character from the
preposterous pride of the more polished Japanese, and of the ruder
Greenlander. It was a pleasure to observe with how much affection
the women managed their infants, and how readily the men lent their
assistance to such a tender office; thus sufficiently distinguishing
themselves from those savages, who esteem a wife and child as things
rather necessary, than desirable or worthy of their notice.
From the numbers which we saw collected at every village, as we sailed
past, it may be supposed, that the inhabitants of this island
are pretty numerous. Any computation, that we make, can be only
conjectural. But, that some notion may be formed, which shall not
greatly err on either side, I would suppose, that, including the
straggling houses, there might be, upon the whole island, sixty such,
villages, as that before which we anchored; and that, allowing five
persons to each house, there would be, in every village, five hundred;
or thirty thousand upon the island. This number is certainly not
exaggerated; for we had sometimes three thousand persons at least upon
the beach; when it could not be supposed that above a tenth part of
the inhabitants were present.
The common dress both of the women and of the men has been already
described. The first have often much larger pieces of cloth wrapped
round them, reaching from just below the breasts to the hams or lower;
and several were seen with pieces thrown loosely about the shoulders,
which covered the greatest part of the body; but the children when
very young are quite naked. They wear nothing upon the head; but the
hair in both sexes is cut in different forms; and the general fashion,
especially among the women, is to have it long before and short
behind. The men often had it cut or shaved on each side, in such a
manner, that the remaining part, in some measure, resembles the crest
of their caps or helmets formerly described. Both sexes, however, seem
very careless about their hair, and have nothing like combs to dress
it with. Instances of wearing it in a singular manner were sometimes
met with among the men, who twist it into a number of separate
parcels, like the tails of a wig, each about the thickness of a
finger; though the greatest part of these, which are so long that they
reach far down the back, we observed were artificially fixed upon the
head over their own hair.[1]
[Footnote 1: The print of Horn Island, which we meet with in Mr
Dalrymple's account of Le Maire and Schouten's voyage, represents some
of the natives of that island with such long tails hanging from their
heads as are here described. See Dalrymple's Voyages to the South
Pacific, vol. ii. p. 58.--D]
It is remarkable, that, contrary to the general practice of the
islands we had hitherto discovered in the Pacific Ocean, the people of
the Sandwich Islands have not their ears perforated; nor have they
the least idea of wearing ornaments in them. Both sexes, nevertheless,
adorn themselves with necklaces made of bunches of small black cord,
like our hat-string, often above a hundred-fold; exactly like those
of Wateeoo; only that instead of the two little balls on the middle
before, they fix a small bit of wood, stone, or shell, about two
inches long, with a broad hook turning forward at its lower part well
polished. They have likewise necklaces of many strings of very small
shells, or of the dried flowers of the Indian mallow. And sometimes a
small human image of bone, about three inches long, neatly polished,
is hung round the neck. The women also wear bracelets of a single
shell, pieces of black wood, with bits of ivory interspersed and well
polished, fixed by a string drawn very closely through them; or others
of hogs' teeth laid parallel to each other, with the concave part
outward, and the points cut off, fastened together as the former; some
of which made only of large boars' tusks are very elegant. The men
sometimes wear plumes of the tropic-bird's feathers stuck in their
heads; or those of cocks, fastened round neat polished sticks two feet
long, commonly decorated at the lower part with _oora_; and for the
same purpose, the skin of a white dog's tail is sewed over a stick
with its tuft at the end. They also frequently wear on the head a
kind of ornament of a finger's thickness or more, covered with red
and yellow feathers curiously varied and tied behind; and on the arm,
above the elbow, a kind of broad shell-work, grounded upon net-work.
The men are frequently punctured, though not in any particular part,
as the Otaheiteans and those of Tongataboo. Sometimes there are a few
marks upon their hands or arms, and near the groin; but frequently we
could observe none at all; though a few individuals had more of
this sort of ornament, than we had usually seen at other places, and
ingeniously executed in a great variety of lines and figures on the
arms and fore-part of the body; on which latter, some of them had the
figure of the _taame_, or breast-plate of Otaheite, though we did not
meet with the thing itself amongst them. Contrary to the custom of the
Society and Friendly Islands, they do not slit or cut off part of the
_prepuce_; but have it universally drawn over the _glans_, and tied
with a string as practised by some of the natives of New Zealand.
Though they seem to have adopted the mode of living in villages, there
is no appearance of defence or fortification near any of them; and the
houses are scattered about without any order, either with respect to
their distances from each other, or their position in any particular
direction. Neither is there any proportion as to their size; some
being large and commodious, from forty to fifty feet long, and twenty
or thirty broad, while others of them are mere hovels. Their figure is
not unlike oblong corn or hay-stacks; or, perhaps, a better idea may
be conceived of them, if we suppose the roof of a barn placed on the
ground, in such a manner as to form a high, acute ridge, with two
very low sides hardly discernible at a distance. The gable at each end
corresponding to the sides, makes these habitations perfectly close
all round; and they are well thatched with long grass, which is laid
on slender poles disposed with some regularity. The entrance is made
indifferently in the end or side, and is an oblong hole, so low, that
one must rather creep than walk in; and is often shut up by a board
of planks fastened together, which serves as a door, but having no
hinges, must be removed occasionally. No light enters the house but
by this opening; and though such close habitations may afford a
comfortable retreat in bad weather, they seem but ill adapted to the
warmth of the climate. They are, however, kept remarkably clean; and
their floors are covered with a large quantity of dried grass, over
which they spread mats to sit and sleep upon. At one end stands a kind
of bench about three feet high, on which their household utensils are
placed. The catalogue is not long. It consists of gourd-shells, which
they convert into vessels that serve as bottles to hold water, and as
baskets to contain their victuals, and other things with covers of
the same; and of a few wooden bowls and trenchers of different sizes.
Judging from what we saw growing, and from what was brought to market,
there can be no doubt, that the greatest part of their vegetable
food consists of sweet potatoes, _taro_, and plantains; and that
bread-fruit and yams are rather to be esteemed rarities. Of animal
food they can be in no want; as they have abundance of hogs, which run
without restraint about the houses; and if they eat dogs, which is not
improbable, their stock of these seemed to be very considerable. The
great number of fishing-hooks found amongst them, shewed that they
derive no inconsiderable supply of animal food from the sea. But it
should seem, from their practice of salting fish, that the openness of
their coast often interrupts the business of catching them; as it
may be naturally supposed, that no set of people would ever think of
preserving quantities of food artificially, if they could depend
upon a daily regular supply of it in its fresh state. This sort of
reasoning, however, will not account for their custom of salting their
pork, as well as their fish, which are preserved in gourd-shells. The
salt, of which they use a great quantity for this purpose, is of a red
colour, not very coarse, and seems to be much the same with what our
stragglers found at Christmas Island. It has its colour doubtless from
a mixture of the mud at the bottom of the part where it is formed; for
some of it that had adhered in lumps, was of a sufficient whiteness
and purity.
They bake their vegetable food with heated stones, as at the southern
islands; and from the vast quantity, which we saw dressed at one time,
we suspected that the whole village, or, at least, a considerable
number of people joined in the use of a common oven. We did not see
them dress any animal food at this island; but Mr Gore's party, as
already mentioned, had an opportunity of satisfying themselves, that
it was dressed at Oneeheow in the same sort of ovens, which leaves no
doubt of this being also the practice in Atooi; especially as we met
with no utensil there that could be applied to the purpose of stewing
or boiling. The only artificial dish we met with was a _taro_ pudding,
which, though a disagreeable mess from its sourness, was greedily
devoured by the natives. They eat off a kind of wooden plates or
trenchers; and the women, as far as we could judge from one instance,
if restrained from feeding at the same dish with the men, as at
Otaheite, are at least permitted to eat in the same place near them.
Their amusements seem pretty various; for during our short
stay, several were discovered. The dances at which they used the
feathered-cloaks and caps were not seen; but from the motions which
they made with their hands on other occasions, when they sung, we
could form some judgment that they are, in some degree at least,
similar to those we had met with at the southern islands, though not
executed so skilfully. Neither had they amongst them either flutes or
reeds, and the only two musical instruments which we observed were
of an exceedingly rude kind. One of them does not produce a melody
exceeding that of a child's rattle. It consists of what may be called
a conic cap inverted, but scarcely hollowed at the base above a foot
high, made of a coarse sedge-like plant, the upper part of which,
and the edges, are ornamented with beautiful red feathers, and to the
point, or lower part, is fixed a gourd-shell larger than the fist.
Into this is put something to rattle, which is done by holding the
instrument by the small part, and shaking or rather moving it from
place to place briskly, either to different sides or backward and
forward just before the face, striking the breast with the other hand
at the same time. The other musical instrument (if either of them
deserve that name) was a hollow vessel of wood, like a platter,
combined with the use of two sticks, on which one of our gentlemen saw
a man performing. He held one of the sticks, about two feet long, as
we do a fiddle with one hand, and struck it with the other, which was
smaller, and resembled a drum-stick, in a quicker or slower measure;
at the same time beating with his foot upon the hollow vessel that
lay inverted upon the ground, and thus producing a tune that was by
no means disagreeable. This music was accompanied by the vocal
performance of some women, whose song had a pleasing and tender
effect.
We observed great numbers of small polished rods, about four or five
feet long, somewhat thicker than the rammer of a musket, with a tuft
of long white dog's hair fixed on the small end. These are probably
used in their diversions. We saw a person take one of them in his
hand, and holding it up, give a smart stroke, till he brought it into
an horizontal position, striking with the foot on the same side upon
the ground, and with his other hand beating his breast at the same
time. They play at bowls with pieces of whetstone mentioned before, of
about a pound weight, shaped somewhat like a small cheese, but rounded
at the sides and edges, which are very nicely polished; and they have
other bowls of the same sort, made of a heavy reddish, brown clay,
neatly glazed over with a composition of the same colour, or of a
coarse dark-grey slate. They also use, in the manner that we throw
quoits, small flat rounded pieces of the writing slate of the diameter
of the bowls, but scarcely a quarter of an inch thick, also well
polished. From these circumstances, one would be induced to think that
their games are rather trials of skill than of strength.
In every thing manufactured by these people, there appears to be an
uncommon degree of neatness and ingenuity. Their cloth, which is
the principal manufacture, is made from the _morus papyrifera_; and
doubtless in the same manner as at Otaheite and Tongataboo; for
we bought some of the grooved sticks with which it is beaten. Its
texture, however, though thicker, is rather inferior to that of the
cloth of either of the other places; but in colouring or staining it,
the people of Atooi display a superiority of taste, by the endless
variation of figures which they execute. One would suppose, on seeing
a number of their pieces, that they had borrowed their patterns from
some mercer's shop, in which the most elegant productions of China
and Europe are collected; besides some original patterns of their own.
Their colours, indeed, except the red, are not very bright; but the
regularity of the figures and stripes is truly surprising; for, as
far as we know, they have nothing like stamps or prints, to make the
impressions. In what manner they produce their colours, we had not
opportunities of learning; but, besides the party coloured sorts, they
have some pieces of plain white cloth, and others of a single colour,
particularly dark-brown and light-blue. In general, the pieces which
they brought to us were about two feet broad, and four or five yards
long, being the form and quantity that they use for their common dress
or _maro_; and even these we sometimes found were composed of pieces
sewed together; an art which we did not find to the southward, but
is strongly, though not very neatly, performed here. There is also a
particular sort that is thin, much resembling oil-cloth; and which is
actually either oiled or soaked in some kind of varnish, and seems to
resist the action of water pretty well.
They fabricate a great many white mats, which are strong, with many
red stripes, rhombuses, and other figures, interwoven on one side;
and often pretty large. These probably make a part of their dress
occasionally; for they put them on their backs when they offered them
to sale. But they make others coarser, plain and strong, which they
spread over their floors to sleep upon.
They stain their gourd-shells prettily with undulated lines,
triangles, and other figures of a black colour; instances of which
we saw practised at New Zealand. And they seem to possess the art of
varnishing; for some of these stained gourd-shells are covered with
a kind of lacker; and, on other occasions, they use a strong size, or
gluey substance, to fasten their things together. Their wooden
dishes and, bowls, out of which they drink their _ova_, are of the
_etooa_-tree, or _cordia_, as neat as if made in our turning-lathe,
and perhaps better polished. And amongst their articles of handicraft,
may be reckoned small square fans of mat or wicker-work, with handles
tapering from them of the same, or of wood; which are neatly wrought
with small cords of hair, and fibres of the cocoa-nut coir intermixed.
The great variety of fishing-hooks are ingeniously made; some of bone,
others of wood pointed with bone, and many of pearl shell. Of the
last, some are like a sort that we saw at Tongataboo; and others
simply curved, as the common sort at Otaheite, as well as the wooden
ones. The bones are mostly small, and composed of two pieces; and all
the different sorts have a barb, either on the inside, like ours,
or on the outside, opposite the same part; but others have both, the
outer one being farthest from the point. Of this last sort, one was
procured nine inches long, of a single piece of bone, which doubtless
belonged to some large fish. The elegant form and polish of this could
not certainly be outdone by any European artist, even if he should
add all his knowledge in design to the number and convenience of
his tools. They polish their stones by constant friction, with
pumice-stone in water; and such of their working instruments, or
tools, as I saw, resembled those of the Southern Islands. Their
hatchets, or rather adzes, were exactly of the same pattern, and
either made of the same sort of blackish stone, or of a clay-coloured
one. They have also little instruments, made of a single shark's
tooth, some of which are fixed to the fore-part of a dog's jawbone,
and others to a thin wooden handle of the same shape; and at the other
end there is a bit of string fastened through a small perforation.
These serve as knives occasionally, and are perhaps used in carving.
The only iron tools, or rather bits of iron, seen amongst them, and
which they had before our arrival, were a piece of iron hoop,
about two inches long, fitted into a wooden handle;[2] and another
edge-tool, which our people guessed to be made of the point of a
broad-sword. Their having the actual possession of these, and their
so generally knowing the use of this metal, inclined some on board
to think that we had not been the first European visitors of these
islands. But it seems to me, that the very great surprise expressed
by them on seeing our ships, and their total ignorance of the use of
fire-arms, cannot be reconciled with such a notion. There are many
ways by which such people may get pieces of iron, or acquire the
knowledge of the existence of such a metal, without having ever had
an immediate connection with nations that use it. It can hardly be
doubted, that it was unknown to all the inhabitants of this sea,
before Magalhaens led the way into it; for no discoverer, immediately
after his voyage, ever found any of this metal in their possession;
though, in the course of our late voyages, it has been observed,
that the use of it was known at several islands, to which no former
European ships had ever, as far as we know, found their way. At all
the places where Mendana touched in his two voyages, it must have been
seen and left; and this would extend the knowledge of it, no doubt, to
all the various islands with which those whom he had visited had any
immediate intercourse. It might even be carried farther; and
where specimens of this favourite article could not be procured,
descriptions might, in some measure, serve to make it known when
afterward seen. The next voyage to the southward of the Line, in which
any intercourse was had with the natives of this ocean, was that of
Quiros, who landed at Sagittaria, the Island of Handsome People, and
at Tierra del Espiritu Santo; at all which places, and at those with
whom they had any communication, it must of consequence have been made
known. To him succeeded, in this navigation, Le Maire and Schouten,
whose connections with the natives commenced much farther to the
eastward, and ended at Cocos and Horn Islands. It was not surprising,
that when I visited Tongataboo, in 1773, I should find a bit of iron
there, as we knew that Tasman had visited it before me; but let
us suppose, that he had never discovered the Friendly Islands, our
finding iron, amongst them would have occasioned much speculation;
though we have mentioned before the method by which they had gained
a renewal of their knowledge of this metal, which confirms my
hypothesis. For Neeootaboo taboo, or Boscawen's Island, where Captain
Wallis's ships left it, and from whence Poulaho received it, lies
some degrees to the north-west of Tongataboo. It is well known, that
Roggewein lost one of his ships on the Pernicious Islands; which, from
their situation, are probably not unknown to, though not frequently
visited by, the inhabitants of Otaheite and the Society Islands. It is
equally certain, that these last people had a knowledge of iron, and
purchased it with the greatest avidity, when Captain Wallis discovered
Otaheite; and this knowledge could only have been acquired through
the medium of those neighbouring islands where it had been originally
left. Indeed, they acknowledge that this was actually the case; and
they have told us since, that they held it in such estimation before
Captain Wallis's arrival, that a chief of Otaheite, who had got two
nails into his possession, received no small emolument, by letting out
the use of these to his neighbours for the purpose of boring holes,
when their own methods failed, or were thought too tedious.[3] The
men of the Society Islands whom we found at Wateeoo, had been driven
thither, long after the knowledge and use of iron had thus been
introduced amongst their countrymen; and though probably they had
no specimen of it with them, they would naturally, and with ease,
communicate at that island their knowledge of this valuable material
by description. From the people of Wateeoo, again, those of Hervey's
Island might derive that desire to possess some of it, of which we had
proofs during our short intercourse with them.
[Footnote 2: Captain King, we are told, purchased this, and had it in
his possession at the time of publishing this account.--E.]
[Footnote 3: A similar instance of profitable revenue, drawn from the
use of nails by the chiefs of the Caroline Islands, is mentioned by
Father Cantova: "Si, par hazard, un vaisseau étranger laisse dans
leurs Isles quelques vieux morceaux de fer, ils appartiennent de
droit aux Tamoles, qui en font faire des outils, le mieux qu'il
est possible. Ces outils sent un fond le Tamole tire un revenu
considerable, car il les donne à louage, et ce louage se paye assez
chere."--P. 314.]
The consideration of these facts sufficiently explains, how the
knowledge of iron has been conveyed throughout this ocean to islands
which never have had an immediate intercourse with Europeans; and it
may easily be conceived, that wherever the history of it only has been
reported, or a very small quantity of it has been left, the greater
eagerness will be shewn by the natives to get copious supplies of
it. The application of these particulars to the instance now under
consideration, is obvious. The people of Atooi and Oneeheow, without
having ever been visited by Europeans before us, might have received
it from intermediate islands lying between them and the Ladrones,
which have been frequented by the Spaniards almost ever since the date
of Magalhaens's voyage. Or if the distant western situation of the
Ladrones should render this solution less probable, is there not the
extensive continent of America to windward, where the Spaniards have
been settled for more than two hundred years; during which long period
of time, shipwrecks must have frequently happened on its coasts?
It cannot be thought at all extraordinary, that part of such wrecks
containing iron, should, by the easterly trade wind, be, from time to
time, cast upon islands scattered about this vast ocean. The distance
of Atooi from America is no argument against this supposition. But
even if it were, it would not destroy it. This ocean is traversed
every year by Spanish ships; and it is obvious, that, besides the
accident of losing a mast and its appendages, casks with iron hoops,
and many other things containing iron, may be thrown or may fall
overboard during so long a passage, and thus find their way to land.
But these are not mere conjectures and possibilities; for one of my
people actually did see some wood in one of the houses at Wymoa, which
he judged to be fir. It was worm-eaten, and the natives gave him to
understand, that it had been driven ashore by the waves of the
sea; and we had their own express testimony, that they had got the
inconsiderable specimens of iron, found amongst them, from some place
to the eastward.
From this digression (if it can be called so) I return to the
observations made during our stay at Atooi; and some account must now
be given of their canoes. These, in general, are about twenty-four
feet long, and have the bottom, for the most part, formed of a single
piece or log of wood, hollowed out to the thickness of an inch, or an
inch and a half, and brought to a point at each end. The sides consist
of three boards, each about an inch thick, and neatly fitted and
lashed to the bottom part. The extremities, both at head and stern,
are a little raised, and both are made sharp, somewhat like a wedge;
but they flatten more abruptly; so that the two sideboards join each
other side by side, for more than a foot. As they are not more than
fifteen or eighteen inches broad, those that go single (for they
sometimes join them as at the other islands) have outriggers, which
are shaped and fitted with more judgment than any I had before seen.
They are rowed by paddles, such as we had generally met with; and
some of them have a light triangular sail, like those of the Friendly
Islands, extending to a mast and boom. The ropes used for their boats,
and the smaller cords for their fishing-tackle, are strong and well
made.
What we saw of their agriculture, furnished sufficient proofs that
they are not novices in that art. The vale ground has already been
mentioned as one continued plantation of _taro_, and a few other
things, which have all the appearance of being well attended to. The
potatoe fields, and spots of sugar-cane, or plantains on the higher
grounds, are planted with the same regularity; and always in some
determinate figure, generally as a square or oblong; but neither
these, nor the others, are enclosed with any kind of fence, unless
we reckon the ditches in the low grounds such, which, it is more
probable, are intended to convey water to the _taro_. The great
quantity and goodness of these articles may also, perhaps, be as much
attributed to skilful culture as to natural fertility of soil, which
seems better adapted to them than to bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees;
the few which we saw of these latter not being in a thriving state,
which will sufficiently account for the preference given to the
culture of the other articles, though more labour be required to
produce them. But, notwithstanding this skill in agriculture, the
general appearance of the island shewed, that it was capable of much
more extensive improvement, and of maintaining, at least, three times
the number of the inhabitants that are at present upon it; for the far
greater part of it, that now lies quite waste, seemed to be as good a
soil as those parts of it that are in cultivation. We must therefore
conclude, that these people, from some cause, which we were not long
enough amongst them to be able to trace, do not increase in that
proportion, which would make it necessary to avail themselves of
the extent of their island, toward raising a greater quantity of its
vegetable productions for their subsistence.
Though I did not see a chief of any note, there were however several,
as the natives informed us, who reside upon Atooi, and to whom they
prostrate themselves as a mark of submission; which seems equivalent
to the _moe_, _moea_, paid to the chiefs of the Friendly Islands, and
is called here _hamoea_, or _moe_. Whether they were at first afraid
to shew themselves, or happened to be absent, I cannot say; but, after
I had left the island, one of these great men made his appearance, and
paid a visit to Captain Clerke, on board the Discovery. He came off
in a double canoe; and, like the king of the Friendly Islands, paid
no regard to the small canoes that happened to lie in his way, but
ran against, or over them, without endeavouring in the least to avoid
them. And it was not possible for these poor people to avoid him, for
they could not manage their canoes; it being a necessary mark of
their submission that they should lie down till he had passed. His
attendants helped him into the ship, and placed him on the gangway.
Their care of him did not cease then; for they stood round him,
holding each other by the hands; nor would they suffer any one to come
near him but Captain Clerke himself. He was a young man, clothed from
head to foot, and accompanied by a young woman, supposed to be his
wife. His name was said to be Tamahano. Captain Clerke made him some
suitable presents; and received from him, in return, a large bowl,
supported by two figures of men, the carving of which, both as to the
design and execution, shewed some degree of skill. This bowl, as our
people were told, used to be filled with the _kava_ or _ava_, (as it
is called at Otaheite), which liquor they prepare and drink here as at
the other islands in this ocean. Captain Clerke could not prevail
upon this great man to go below, nor to move from the place where his
attendants had first fixed him. After staying some time in the ship,
he was carried again into his canoe, and returned to the island,
receiving the same honours from all the natives as when he came on
board. The next day several messages were sent to Captain Clerke,
inviting him to return the visit ashore, and acquainting him that
the chief had prepared a large present on that occasion. But, being
anxious to get to sea, and join the Resolution, the Captain did not
think it advisable to accept of the invitation.
The very short and imperfect intercourse which we had with the
natives, put it out of our power to form any accurate judgment of the
mode of government established amongst them; but, from the general
resemblance of customs, and particularly from what we observed of the
honours paid to their chiefs, it seems reasonable to believe, that
it is of the same nature with that which prevails throughout all
the islands we had hitherto visited; and probably their wars amongst
themselves are equally frequent. This, indeed, might be inferred from
the number of weapons which we found them possessed of, and from, the
excellent order these were kept in. But we had direct proof of the
fact from their own confession; and, as we understood, these wars
are between the different districts of their own island, as well as
between it and their neighbours of Oneeheow and Orrehoua, we need
scarcely assign any other cause besides this to account for the
appearance already mentioned, of their population bearing no
proportion to the extent of their ground capable of cultivation.
Besides their spears or lances, made of a fine chesnut-coloured
wood, beautifully polished, some of which are barbed at one end, and
flattened to a point at the other, they have a sort of weapon which we
had never seen before, and not mentioned by any navigator, as used by
the natives of the South Sea. It is somewhat like a dagger, in general
about a foot and a half long, sharpened at one or both ends, and
secured to the hand by a string. Its use is to stab in close fight;
and it seems well adapted to the purpose. Some of these may be called
double daggers, having a handle in the middle, with which they are
better enabled to strike different ways. They have also bows and
arrows; but, both from their apparent scarcity and their slender make,
it may almost be presumed that they never use them in battle. The
knife or saw, formerly mentioned, with which they dissect the dead
bodies, may also be ranked amongst their weapons, as they both strike
and cut with it when closely engaged. It is a small flat wooden
instrument, of an oblong shape, about a foot long, rounded at the
corners, with a handle almost like one sort of the _patoos_ of New
Zealand; but its edges are entirely surrounded with sharks' teeth,
strongly fixed to it, and pointing outward; having commonly a hole
in the handle, through which passes a long string, which is wrapped
several times round the wrist. We also suspected that they use slings
on some occasions; for we got some pieces of the _hæmatites_,
or blood-stone, artificially made of an oval shape, divided
longitudinally, with a narrow groove in the middle of the convex part.
To this the person, who had one of them, applied a cord of no great
thickness, but would not part with it, though he had no objection
to part with the stone, which must prove fatal, when thrown with any
force, as it weighed a pound. We likewise saw some oval pieces of
whetstone, well polished, but somewhat pointed toward each end, nearly
resembling in shape some stones which we had seen at New Caledonia in
1774, and used there in their slings.
What we could learn of their religions institutions, and the manner of
disposing of their dead, which may properly be considered as closely
connected, has been already mentioned. And as nothing more strongly
points out the affinity between the manners of these people and of
the Friendly and Society Islands, I must just mention some other
circumstances to place this in a strong point of view, and at the same
time to shew how a few of the infinite modifications, of which a few
leading principles are capable, may distinguish any particular nation.
The people of Tongataboo inter their dead in a very decent manner,
and they also inter their human sacrifices; but they do not offer, or
expose any other animal, or even vegetable, to their gods, as far as
we know. Those of Otaheite do not inter their dead, but expose them to
waste by time and putrefaction, though the bones are afterward buried;
and as this is the case, it is very remarkable that they should inter
the entire bodies of their human sacrifices. They also offer other
animals and vegetables to their gods; but are by no means attentive to
the state of the sacred places where those solemn rites are performed;
most of their _morais_ being in a ruinous condition, and bearing
evident marks of neglect. The people of Atooi, again, inter both their
common dead and human sacrifices, as at Tongataboo; but they resemble
those of Otaheite in the slovenly state of their religious places, and
in offering vegetables and animals to their gods.
The _taboo_ also prevails in Atooi in its full extent, and seemingly
with much more rigour than even at Tongataboo. For the people here
always asked, with great eagerness and signs of fear to offend,
whether any particular thing, which they desired to see, or we were
unwilling to shew, was _taboo_, or, as they pronounced the word,
_tafoo_? The _maia_, _ruä_, or forbidden articles at the Society
Islands, though doubtless the same thing, did not seem to be so
strictly observed by them, except with respect to the dead, about whom
we thought them more superstitious than any of the others were. But
these are circumstances with which we are not as yet sufficiently
acquainted to be decisive about; and I shall only just observe, to
shew the similitude in other matters connected with religion, that the
priests, or _tahounas_, here, are as numerous as at the other islands;
if we may judge, from our being able, during our short stay, to
distinguish several saying their _poore_ or prayer.
But whatever resemblance we might discover, in the general manners of
the people of Atooi to those of Otaheite, these, of course, were less
striking than the coincidence of language, indeed, the languages of
both places may be said to be almost, word for word, the same. It is
true, that we sometimes remarked particular words to be pronounced
exactly as we had found at New Zealand and the Friendly Islands; but,
though all the four dialects are indisputably the same, these people,
in general, have neither the strong guttural pronunciation of the
former, nor a less degree of it, which also distinguishes the latter;
and they have not only adopted the soft mode of the Otaheitans, in
avoiding harsh sounds, but the whole idiom of their language; using
not only the same affixes and suffixes to their words, but the same
measure and cadence in their songs; though, in a manner, somewhat less
agreeable. There seems, indeed, at first hearing, some disagreement to
the ear of a stranger; but it ought to be considered, that the people
of Otaheite, from their frequent connections with the English,
had learnt it, in some measure, to adapt themselves to our scanty
knowledge of their language, by using not only the most common, but
even corrupted expressions, in conversation with us; whereas, when
they conversed among themselves, and used the several parts necessary
to propriety of speech, they were scarcely at all understood by those
amongst us, who had made the greatest proficiency in their vocabulary.
A catalogue of words was collected at Atooi by Mr Anderson, who
lost no opportunity of making our voyage useful to those who amuse
themselves in tracing the migrations of the various tribes or families
that have peopled the globe, by the most convincing of all arguments,
that drawn from affinity of language.
How shall we account for this nation's having spread itself, in so
many detached islands, so widely disjoined from each other, in every
quarter of the Pacific Ocean! We find it, from New Zealand, in the
south, as far as the Sandwich Islands to the north! And, in another
direction, from Easter Island to the Hebrides! that is, over an extent
of sixty degrees of latitude, or twelve hundred leagues, north and
south! and eighty-three degrees of longitude, or sixteen hundred and
sixty leagues east and west! How much farther, in either direction,
its colonies reach is not known; but what we know already, in
consequence of this and our former voyage, warrants us in pronouncing
it to be, though perhaps not the most numerous, certainly, by far, the
most extensive nation upon the earth.[4]
[Footnote 4: See more about the great extent of the colonies of this
nation in the Introductory Preface.]
Had the Sandwich Islands been discovered at an early period by the
Spaniards, there is little doubt that they would have taken advantage
of so excellent a situation, and have made use of Atooi, or some other
of the islands, as a refreshing place to the ships that sail annually
from Acapulco for Manilla. They lie almost midway between the first
place and Guam, one of the Ladrones, which is at present their only
port in traversing this vast ocean; and it would not have been a
week's sail out of their common route to have touched at them; which
could have been done without running the least hazard of losing the
passage, as they are sufficiently within the verge of the easterly
trade-wind. An acquaintance with the Sandwich Islands would have been
equally favourable to our Buccaneers, who used sometimes to pass from
the coast of America to the Ladrones, with a stock of food and water
scarcely sufficient to preserve life. Here they might always have
found plenty, and have been within a month's sure sail of the very
part of California, which the Manilla ship is obliged to make, or else
have returned to the coast of America, thoroughly refitted, after an
absence of two months. How happy would Lord Anson have been, and what
hardships would he have avoided, if he had known that there was a
group of islands half way between America and Tinian, where all his
wants could have been effectually supplied; and in describing which,
the elegant historian of that voyage would have presented his reader
with a more agreeable picture than I have been able to draw in this
chapter![5]
[Footnote 5: We defer considering the curious subject of the identity
and origin of the people that inhabit the South Sea, till other
relations shall have put the reader in possession of the facts
requisite for the discussion. Of the Sandwich Islands, we shall
hereafter probably have mere complete information than is now
given.--E.]