extinct volcano of an island, densely covered with the most luxuriant
verdure. Only at its N.E. corner there sprang suddenly into the air a
naked, castellated rock, about 1000 feet high or so, cut off horizontally
above, and with perpendicular sides, which we were informed was a small
island (Dochokoits), separated by a narrow channel from the main island.
Gradually, on either side of the isle, several rocky points became
visible, which steadily increased in dimension, and began to stretch
towards each other, till they looked like a row of pearls densely
sprinkled in the air above the horizon; after which a number of thin,
small, white clouds suddenly rose and disappeared above the dark blue
surface of the sea, flickering here and there like flames. This was our
first glimpse of the island-reef and the surf-beaten coral, seen under the
influence of a mirage, when, as is very frequently the case in tropical
climates, the temperature of the surface of the water, and consequently of
the immediately adjacent strata of atmosphere, is higher than those next
above. Having got within about a couple of miles, the dark points resolved
themselves into verdant cocoa-groves, patches of which adorn the outermost
reef, while the small clouds now proved to be the tumultuous lash of a
tremendous blinding surf, on the reef which separated the rise and fall of
the ocean outside from the smooth placid surface of the broad channel,
which inside the ring-shaped coral reef forms those singular natural
canals, on which the natives in their frail canoes can sail right round
the island, sheltered from the violence of the waves, and which, at those
places where there is sufficient depth, and a breach in the line of reef
admits of ingress from without, affords for even large-sized ships a
secure harbour, according to observation in 6 deg. 47' N., 158 deg. 13' 3'' E.
We now endeavoured to enter between Nahlap Island on the west, covered
with cocoa-palms and bread-fruit, and Sandy Island on the east, surrounded
with a belt of raging foam, its coral masses clothed with low scanty
brushwood. But almost immediately "Halt" was once more the order. In order
to get into the harbour proper, which lay between two majestic banks of
coral rising from the level of the sea like an elegantly hewn dock, we
had to pass through a very narrow channel in the reef, barely 50 fathoms
wide, which indeed was pretty plainly indicated by the colour of the
smooth water, besides being well marked out by regular buoys, but winds in
a direction first westerly and then northwards, and accordingly was
inaccessible to us with a west wind blowing. There was no alternative but
to let the anchor go among the naked coral rocks forming the sub-marine
plateau over which we now lay. But anxiety for the safety of the ship did
not admit of her being suffered to remain in circumstances so dangerous.
While therefore the frigate once more made sail, a survey of the island
and harbour was ordered by a boat expedition.
About 9 A.M. the Commodore, accompanied by some of the scientific staff,
set off for land in a slim, flat-floored, Venetian gondola, admirably
adapted for such purposes. When we had passed the twin Nahlap Islands and
Sandy Island, we found ourselves in a channel about 100 fathoms in length
by not quite 80 in width, which led directly into the interior of this
huge basin constructed exclusively by insects, and surrounded by a triple
wall of coral, an unfathomable, mirror-like pool, in which a ship lies
calm and motionless as though in a dock. A buoy at the S.W. angle of the
channel indicates some sunken rocks. On the further side of the coral reef
one perceives the low-lying group of the Ants' Islands, thickly covered
with trees. Although our Venetian boat drew hardly any water, we
nevertheless found great difficulty in advancing in proportion as we
approached the shore. The fact too that it was ebb-tide served to increase
the obstacles that beset our progress. Every moment the gondola touched
upon sand-bank or rock. The utmost caution had therefore to be exercised,
as we steered for some huts which were visible under the cocoa-palms quite
close to the shore. Following the deeper more navigable channels, we
reached the mouth of a river running from N.E., the low swampy soil on
either side being covered with dense mangrove bushes, but all our efforts
to push through the thickets so as to reach the huts proved unavailing,
while the whole soil seemed to be beset with the stumps of the mangrove,
like so many sharp stakes. After pushing a short distance up this mangrove
channel, from which on either side smaller channels diverged, we retraced
our steps, as there was no appearance of the scene changing, nor any
appearance of human habitation, and endeavoured to reach the land near the
huts already mentioned, by some of the deeper channels. Just then a white
settler came to our assistance, who, standing on the shore, indicated to
us by manual signs the clue out of this labyrinth of coral, and enabled us
by a less shallow channel to reach one of the few points at which a
landing is practicable. For at almost every point of the shore the
mangroves, by the tenacity of their roots, prevent, or at any rate impede,
the approach of boats, the natives themselves being confined to the use of
those few spots where rivers or other natural channels afford means of
access. Close to the shore appeared three wooden huts thatched with
bamboo and palm-leaves. This was a small colony of whites, whom a singular
freak of destiny seemed to have cast away upon these islands, where they
earned their subsistence as wood-cutters, smiths, fishermen, &c. They call
their settlement Rei. The first hut we entered was inhabited by a
Scotchman, who called himself "Dr. Cook," and practised as a physician. He
had lived 26 years on the island. His dwelling consisted of three large
apartments, which up to a certain height were shut off from each other by
thin wooden walls, so that the air could circulate freely overhead
throughout the entire length of the hut. Everything was neat and orderly:
in the first room, which apparently was used as a surgery, stood a number
of medicine bottles duly labelled, and crucibles, which at the very first
glance revealed the avocation of the possessor. Cook, who seemed far past
the half century, with pale, faded, expressionless features, and a long
silver-grey beard, clothed in a coarse woollen jacket, and with the huge,
broad-brimmed, worn-out straw-hat pulled low upon his wrinkled forehead,
had quite caught the listless, motionless deportment of the natives.
Nothing roused him, nothing surprised him; it took considerable time to
elicit from him any reply to our questions. The other white settlers in
the adjoining islands were not much more communicative; all showed in
their conduct a certain embarrassment, which left little doubt that theirs
had not been an altogether blameless life in former days. Most of them
were surrounded by a number of native wives, who had covered their bodies
with a powder of an intense yellow, prepared from the _Curcuma longa_,
and wore merely a piece of calico round the loins, while splendid yellow
blossoms set off the raven blackness of their long hair.
We now followed up a narrow footpath, which led to a gently-sloping
eminence behind the huts, and soon found ourselves surrounded by
bread-fruit trees and banana, while from time to time a black basaltic
rock cropped out from among the red, marl-like soil, and beautiful small
lizards with sapphire-blue tails that shone with a metallic lustre, shot
about with the velocity of an arrow among the stones. The prevailing
formation, as in almost all the volcanic islands of the Pacific, is an
amorphous basalt-lava, full of olivin and porphyry. On gaining the summit
of the hill, we found there a solitary, wretched-looking hut. A dog, a few
hens, and a phlegmatic native worn away to a shadow, whom the sudden
appearance of a number of European strangers hardly seemed to rouse from
his apathy, were the only living creatures visible. On our requesting to
be furnished with a light, a wrinkled old hag crept out of the hut, and
handed us a piece of lighted wood. The dusky old woman was presented with
a cigar, which she forthwith lit, and proceeded to smoke with
unmistakeable satisfaction. To our request for fresh cocoa-nuts with which
to quench our thirst, the man, without moving from his place, shouted a
few words in the direction of the forest, which was speedily replied to,
when some young girls came forth giggling and romping, who brought us what
we had asked for, fresh plucked from the slender cocoa-stem, as well as a
sugar-cane, and some ginger (_Zingiber officinalis_); all these
refreshments were handed us amid much hilarity by a lot of daughters of
Eve, young, not the least shy, but by no means attractive, whom a present
of two small mirrors in return sent away in a state of enthusiastic
delight. On our return to Dr. Cook's hut on the shore, several natives had
approached who bartered mussels and fresh fruit for tobacco, which they
preferred to everything, besides a number of young females, who were
retailing, from small bags hung round their persons, the different animals
they had collected the same morning at ebb-tide among the coral reefs.
One of the white settlers offered his services as guide, to pilot us up
the Roankiddi river as far as a village of the natives about two miles
inland, where the chief of the nation dwelt, and several American
missionaries had formed a settlement. Before reaching the main stream,
which is about 100 feet wide and is densely wooded on either side, we had
to pass various small branches and canals, which appeared to be
artificially constructed, and wind about in a succession of extraordinary
meanderings beneath an elastic covering of conical mangrove roots. For
about a mile inwards there was nothing but dreary, swampy, unlovely
mangrove forest, after which the vegetation on either shore began to
assume an unusually variegated but thoroughly tropical appearance. Palms,
bread-fruit trees, pandanus trees, papayas, caladias, Barringtonias, were
the chief representatives of this abounding forest flora. The animals on
this island seem to be less numerous and less varied; there are no large
ones at all. Of doves, as also of sand-pipers and parrots, we saw some
very beautiful species, of which the fowling-pieces of our sportsmen
furnished numerous specimens for our zoological collection. All along the
bank of the river and around the hills lay scattered at will, under the
shade of the most beautiful and abundant vegetation, the dwellings of the
natives. Near where the pretty Roankiddi falls into the sea, rises on the
left bank the handsome mission house built of wood, which serves the
missionaries for school, church, and residence in one. Close by is a stone
building, which serves as a larder. Unfortunately, the sole missionary,
Mr. Sturges of Pennsylvania, was absent on a tour of inspection, and only
his assistant (a native of the Sandwich Islands, who had received his
education in the States) was at home with his family. A third missionary,
also a native of the Sandwich Islands, lives at what is called
Foul-weather Harbour, where he also occupies his time with meteorological
observations.
The mission, which has been in the island since 1851, is supported at
considerable expense. A schooner, the property of the American Missionary
Society, keeps up regular communication with the neighbouring islands and
the Sandwich Islands, and supplies the missionaries with provisions and
other necessaries. These industrious, energetic men have quite recently
made experiments in planting several sorts of vegetables, as also tobacco
and sugar-cane, nearer their houses, in the hope, if successful, of
inciting the natives to similar exertions. The great resources at the
disposal of the Protestant missionaries, and the circumstance that they
attend to the temporal as well as the eternal weal of their dusky
neophytes, exhausting their medical skill in illness, educating their
children, ministering to their wants both by advice and co-operation, must
be regarded as the main causes of the rapid spread of Protestantism
throughout the races of the Pacific Ocean. We have seen missions, of which
the schools, places of worship, and dwelling-houses, constructed of iron,
were imported from the United States ready made, while the expenses of
maintenance were defrayed by an annual grant of 20,000 dollars. What a
gratifying contrast to the wretched appliances with which Catholic oversea
missions are compelled to eke out a precarious existence!
We landed at a spot where the Roankiddi promised to be navigable for
vessels of a better class than the hollowed-out canoes of the natives, and
for the remainder of the distance to the chief's residence we followed a
footpath through the forest. Close to the landing-place is a large,
hall-like building, which is used as an assembly-room by the natives on
the occasion of their festivities. Around the interior of this are ranged
couches stuffed with straw for families of rank, not unlike berths round a
ship's cabin. The centre of the hall is set apart for slaves and servants,
who during these rude reunions are busily employed preparing food and
drink for strangers. As often as a meeting is deemed necessary,
invitations are sent off to the various chiefs requesting their
co-operation. On very important occasions these are intoned through a
conk. As soon as all are assembled the king lays the subject-matter of the
debate before them, when every one present is at liberty to express his
opinion. Frequently these discussions become very animated, especially
when the orators happen to have partaken too freely of Kawa, when only the
interference of the less excited chiefs can prevent the disputants from
coming to blows. When we saw it, there were in the hall of justice, as it
might be termed, a number of huge, lengthy, but elegant canoes, painted
red, which gave it rather the appearance of a shed than a festive hall.
The footpath to the chief's residence led through a most beautiful
tropical landscape. The estate of the Nannekin (as the natives designate a
king in their own language) was laid out quite in the European fashion,
and the entrance was indicated by a wooden gateway. The house itself, a
lengthy oblong of wood and cane-work, with a roof of palm-leaves, and
built upon a sort of platform of two or three courses of stone, and
furnished in every part with numerous large apertures serving as windows,
presented from without a very comfortable, even imposing appearance; but
the interior was bare, ill-equipped, and sadly out of order. A row of
wooden columns, irregularly cut, and partially covered with gay-coloured
stuffs, running parallel with the thin exterior walls, formed a narrow
passage, a closer view of which was, however, shut off by cotton hangings
stretching across. The clothes and other property of the family hung here
at random, suspended from pegs and lines all round the wide hall, and in
the middle a hole had been excavated, which apparently was intended for a
fire-place. Among the articles of furniture we specially noticed a large
iron chest, with iron clampings, and a very singular-looking loom, on
which a fabric was being woven in variegated colours. The chief was not at
home, and had to be summoned, his timely absence affording an excellent
opportunity for examining the environs of the palace a little more
closely. In immediate proximity were a number of bread-fruit trees
(_Dong-dong_), the fruit of which forms the staple diet of the natives,
and has long been prepared by them in quite a unique manner.
The bread-fruit, so soon as it is ripe, is stripped of its husk, and cut
into small pieces. These the natives place in pits dug for the purpose
about three feet deep, in which they are placed in layers carefully
wrapped in banana leaves so as to prevent moisture reaching them. Thus
prepared, the pits are filled up to within a few inches of the surface,
covered with leaves, and weighted with heavy stones so distributed as to
diffuse an equal pressure throughout. Thus each pit is both air and water
tight. After a short time fermentation sets in, till the whole is
converted into a substance resembling cheese. The original idea of thus
storing the bread-fruit is said, according to tradition, to have been
suggested to the natives by a violent hurricane having at a remote period
levelled all the bread-fruit trees on the island, thus causing a great
famine. The fruit thus treated continues fit for consumption for years,
and, despite its sour taste and nauseous odour when exhumed, it is
regarded by the natives as a most palatable and nutritive dish, when well
kneaded, placed between two banana leaves, and baked between two hot
stones. Besides the bread-fruit, the principal articles of food in use
among the natives are cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, yams, pigeons, turtle, fish,
and trepang, the sort of sea-cucumber of which we have already given a
description, and which the natives eat in the raw state.
They also eat taro (_Caladium esculentum_), a beautiful bulbous-rooted
plant of the _Aroidea_ tribe, with its broad elegant leaves, which,
together with wild ginger and turmeric (which is used sometimes for food,
sometimes for anointing the person, or dyeing their dresses) and the plant
they call Kawa (_Piper Methysticum_), grow in great profusion on the
property of the Nannekin.
As in all the South Sea Islands, the juice of the Kawa is used in Puynipet
for distilling an intoxicating beverage, which indeed plays a conspicuous
part in all their solemnities. But the mode of preparing it is somewhat
better calculated to tempt the palate, since it is not, as elsewhere,
first chewed by the women, but rubbed between two large stones, wetted,
and then drawn off in cocoa-nut shells. The leading chief is entitled to
the first shells of the prepared Kawa, or, if he is not present, the chief
priest, who mutters a few prayers over it ere drinking it.
The liquid, as thus procured from this species of pepper, is of a
brownish-yellow colour, somewhat like that of coffee into which milk has
been poured. The taste is sweet and agreeable, producing a glow in the
stomach, and induces a sort of intoxication, widely different however from
the form that alcoholic inebriations assume with us. Men in the habit of
drinking Kawa neither stagger about, nor speak thick and loud, when under
its influence. A sort of shiver affects the whole frame, and their gait
becomes listless and slow, but they never lose consciousness. In its last
stage, the person affected feels an extraordinary weakness in all his
joints; headache and an irresistible inclination to go to sleep supervene,
and a state of most complete repose becomes an absolute necessity.
The custom of Kawa drinking is diffused over the whole of the islands of
the Pacific. It even appears to have become a necessary of life among the
natives of Polynesia, just as betel-chewing and palm-wine are to the
Malays and Hindoos, opium-smoking and samchoo to the Chinese, chicha to
the Mexican races, and coca to the South American Indians.
In former times, on certain of the islands, the chiefs had regular
watchers, whose duty it was to guard their monarchs from being disturbed
when thus reposing. A dog which dared to bark, a cock that was venturesome
enough to crow, were forthwith put to death. The too liberal or
long-continued indulgence in Kawa seems to generate a peculiar cuticular
disease. Inveterate Kawa drinkers seem haggard or melancholy, their eyes
are sunk, their teeth of a bright yellow, their skin dry and chopped, and
the whole body is covered with boils; but those in whom such sores heal up
again, point with pride to the cicatrices that mark where they occurred.
The more of these scars a Kawa drinker can show, the higher is his
character. Besides producing unconsciousness, Kawa also induces
exceedingly erotic dreams.
According to the information which the white settlers gave us respecting
the method of cultivation of the soil of Puynipet and its climate, it
seems that sugar-cane, coffee, cotton, rice, tobacco, &c., would be
certain to succeed. Sugar-cane is found even now in the wild state; and to
a certain extent it forms an article of food of the natives, who suck the
juice.
The chief of Roankiddi is a handsome young man of lofty stature, strong
frame, of dark brown almost bronze skin, and agreeable, winning
expression. With the exception of the usual apron of palm-leaves, and a
bright red belt, he was naked, and wore a green circlet on his fine,
lustrous black hair, and a piece of sugar-cane in his right hand. His arms
and legs were very neatly tattooed. He seemed quite to understand the use
of a red Turkish fez with blue tassel, which we presented to him, and took
from his head its own exceedingly picturesque covering. Having been
apprized of the friendly nature of our visit, he begged us to enter his
house, which was not so easy a process as it seems, since the only access
was by one of the windows, about three feet from the ground. The Nannekin,
however, set us the example, and we followed. He first invited us to sit
upon European chairs, and ordered his pretty young wife to fetch us
cocoa-nut milk. It was the first time we had ever tasted this drink of the
natural man in the goblet of civilization! How differently did this
invaluable drink taste, when quaffed from the fresh green shell, than in
the artificial vessel of human manufacture! The natives of Puynipet did
not, like those of Nicobar, show their dexterity in opening the young
cocoa-nut by means of a slash. Here the husk is peeled off, and an opening
bored with much trouble till the fluid contents gush out--a process so
tedious, and manifesting so little ingenuity, that one would rather expect
it to be adopted by a European, who for the first time in his life was
opening a cocoa-nut, than from a child of the tropics. After the queen had
presented with her dainty little hands the cocoa-nut drink to the foreign
guests, she squatted herself smiling and laughing on the earth beside the
monarch, occasionally hiding herself with much natural grace behind her
youthful husband, when she could not restrain a burst of mirth at the
interest with which we seemed to regard many of the objects in her simple
household. Nothing surprised her more than that we should attach such
value to some baskets, plaited work, boxes, &c., as to be willing to
exchange articles of European make for them. Like all the other females
we saw, the young queen wore nothing but a piece of yellow linen (_liku_),
about five feet long, round her loins, which reached to her knees, and was
attached by one extremity to the haunch. Her splendid black hair was
adorned with a chaplet of yellow flowers, and her body, smeared with
cocoa-nut oil, was plentifully besprinkled with turmeric (called by the
natives _Kitschi-neang_). Her legs and forearms were beautifully tattooed.
The gown, or rather apron, worn by the men is made of the fresh leaves of
the cocoa-palm, which, bleached and cut into narrow strips, are fastened
at the upper end with a string, and then adorned with numerous flaps of
red cloth. This gown stretches from the hips to about the knees, and is
about two feet long. To be in the fashion at Puynipet, a dandy must wear
at least six of these round his body! The ladies of the island stain white
calico with turmeric, yellow being apparently the favourite colour of the
country. A bright-coloured light handkerchief usually covers the upper
part of the body, and they adorn their long beautiful black tresses with
the delicate flowers of the cocoa-palm. On high days the ladies wear red
clothes hemmed with white calico. Such of the natives, however, as are
converted to Christianity, appear in clothes made after the European
fashion, although many a part of dress would still have to be remedied,
ere a native of Puynipet or his better half would be presentable in a
saloon.
Men and women alike are tattooed from the loins to the ancles, and from
the elbows to the wrist. This curious practice is performed on both sexes
at from ten to twelve years of age by old women, with whom it is a regular
profession. The blue colouring matter used is obtained from the abundant
nut-like fruit of the _Aleurites triloba_, which they heat on the fire,
and then peel off the hard crust which forms upon it. The operation is
performed with the sharp point of a species of pine, or with a pointed
instrument[193] made from fish-bone, which is placed upon the skin, when
it is driven in with a slight blow, till the whole design comes out upon
the body. Besides the turmeric already mentioned, we saw but one colouring
stuff, dyeing red, which seemed to be obtained from _Bixa Orellana_, and
is used by the natives to paint their canoes with.
Many of the natives are subject to a very disgusting scaly eruption of the
skin (_Ichthyosis_), but do not seem to feel any discomfort from it. Some
travellers ascribe this to the immoderate use as an article of diet of raw
uncooked fish. It is singular that this malady is found on all the islands
near the equator, and was also found by Captain Cheyne among the Pellew
Islanders. That shrewd observer once had on board for four months a native
of Puynipet as servant, whose whole body was covered with this eruption,
but who speedily lost every trace of it as soon as his chief diet was salt
meat and vegetables. Beside this cuticular malady, the natives are
greatly afflicted with scurvy and intermittent fever. Most of their
infants too suffer from Yaws[194] (_Framboesia_), a disgusting eruption,
called by the natives "_Keutsch_," which, however, disappears when the
child has attained about its third or fourth year. The marks left by this
malady when cicatrized might easily be mistaken for those of inoculation.
The Nannekin, although the king of his tribe, nevertheless seemed on the
whole to exercise but little influence over his subjects. Thus, for
example, we were eye-witnesses of how he vainly attempted to induce two
native boys to carry our bananas as far as our place of disembarkation. On
the other hand, in all that concerned trading with foreigners he seemed to
be thoroughly alive to his own interest. One native who was driving a
bargain with us for something, was informed forthwith of the value which
the Nannekin assigned to it.
Money is as yet but little used at Puynipet as a medium of exchange, only
the whites resident there and the chiefs take a few English and United
States coins; and many a native would generally not part for a silver
dollar from an object which he will readily give for a piece of chewing
tobacco or a common knife. The most useful articles for barter are pieces
of bright-coloured calico, red shirts, hatchets, knives, axes, straight
swords, muskets, ammunition, biscuit, old clothes, and tobacco.[195]
Of the latter article American Cavendish or negro-head in longish pieces
is the most in repute. The Puynipetanese have no special fondness for
cigars, nor do they use pipes, but only chew passionately tobacco. As they
are unacquainted with the use of the Betel, their teeth are universally
beautiful, and of a brilliant white.
There are on the island five tribes, wholly independent of each
other,--the Roankiddi, the Metelemia, the Not, the Tchokoits, and the
Awnak, none, however, numbering much above 1500 souls, the most numerous
and important being the Roankiddi.
Each king, we are told, has a minister whose power almost rivals his own.
Next in rank to the minister are the nobles, who bear the following
strange-sounding titles: Talk, Washy, Nane-by, Noatch, Shoe-Shabut, and
Groen-wani; after these come such as are not of noble birth, but have
earned them through illustrious deeds, and have been rewarded with
estates. On the death of the king he is succeeded by whichever of his
nobles has the title of Talk, the others rising one grade. The monarch
has the right of freely disposing of his property. As a rule he leaves it
to his sons, but if he have none he usually bequeaths it to the next
sovereign. Between the monarch and his courtiers some quaint patriarchal
customs prevail. Thus the first ripe bread-fruit is brought to the king.
Whenever a chief uses a new turtle or fish net, the prey during a certain
number of days is sent to the king. Another mark of the respect paid to
the king, as also by all ranks to their superiors, is to be found in the
custom for a native who meets another of higher rank in a canoe,--he
cowers down in his own boat till the other has passed by, the two canoes
approaching on the side opposite the outrigger, so that the person of
superior condition may, if he see fit, satisfy himself of the identity of
the other.
The Awnaks and Tchokoits had, at the period of our visit, been at war with
each other for six months, and it is significant of the ferocity and
courage of both parties, that not a single combatant had thus far been
wounded on either side! Their weapons are chiefly spears of hard wood, six
feet long, the barb, instead of iron, being made of fish-bones, thorns, or
ground mussel-shells, which they throw with great dexterity; also
hatchets, long knives, and old muskets, obtained from the whale-fishers in
return for yams and tortoise-shell. At present there are about 1500
muskets in all on the island, and each native possesses at least one, some
of the chiefs having as many as three, besides ample ammunition. Singular
to say, these formidable auxiliaries are rarely called into play in any
of their wars, the fatal effect of fire-arms having contributed not a
little to the promotion of harmony and peace between the various tribes!
Their warriors are selected from among the most powerful men of the tribe,
and as a rule they behave with much consideration to the women and
children, whom they almost always spare. When either party sues for peace,
a neutral party is sent to the monarch of the opposite tribe with a few
Kawa roots. If these are accepted, the struggle is considered over, and a
succession of friendly visits are thereupon exchanged between the chiefs
of the two tribes, which are usually followed up by festivities and much
consumption of Kawa.
As to the narratives of most earlier travellers that the island is
inhabited by two entirely distinct races, the one yellow the other black,
we could neither see nor hear of anything which would confirm such a
statement. It seemed more probable that the diversity of skin and hair
among the various tribes was exclusively caused by a variety of crosses,
which are still frequent, and in former times must have been still more
prevalent. The present population consists of whites, negroes, and
yellow-coloured aborigines, who, as speaking a dialect allied to that of
Polynesia, seem to belong to the Malay-Polynesian _stirps_. The present
white settlers are English and North Americans; formerly they were chiefly
Spanish and Portuguese who traded with the natives. Negro slaves and free
blacks have also occasionally visited the island, or been left there for
good and all. These considerations alone suffice to explain certain
appearances among the natives, such as brown or yellow skins, with crisp
woolly hair, and very full lips, without any more marked characteristics
of the Ethiopian race. We noticed one native with woolly hair of a reddish
hue, but otherwise of strongly-marked Malay features, and on inquiring
into his ancestry, were informed in reply that his father was a Portuguese
(negro understood), and his mother a native.
The daughter of Doctor Cook, the Scotchman already mentioned, of whose
union with a native woman of the island there was issue a handsome
well-shaped _mestiza_ of a light yellow colour, strongly recalling the
stately, elegant quadroons of New Orleans and St. Domingo, had
intermarried with a full-blooded negro of the district of Columbia, U. S.,
from which resulted a new and entirely dissimilar admixture. Their
children had the face of the mother, with the woolly head of the father.
At all events it may be laid down with some degree of certainty, that the
aboriginal races, especially those inhabiting the Caroline Archipelago,
are not of the Pelagian Mongols, nor are they an offshoot of the Mongolian
race of the Asiatic continent, as Lesson maintained; also that Puynipet
has not been peopled by the Papuan negroes; that the woolly crisp hair of
so many of its inhabitants is mainly explained by the intimacy between the
black crews of the whalers (it being well known that a large proportion of
the crews of the American whalers are negroes), some 50 or 60 of which
visit the island every year, and often remain for several weeks taking in
provisions and other stores.
Puynipet has been for some years past the chief rendezvous of the whalers
in the Caroline Archipelago, because it is of all the islands the most
accessible, has the best and safest harbours, and because fuel and water
are procurable thence in unlimited quantities.
The complexion of the natives is of a clear copper hue, and the average
height of the males is 5 feet 8 in.; the women are much smaller than the
men, with delicate features and flexible forms. The sons of the chiefs are
usually well formed, and lighter in colour than the majority of the
population, the consequence of their being less exposed to the weather,
and in any part of the world would pass for elegant men. The nose is
arched, the mouth wide with full lips and dazzling teeth. The flap of the
ear is bored in both sexes, but is rarely much enlarged by artificial
means. Both men and women have beautiful black hair, which they take great
care of.
The men have neither beard nor mustachios. They eradicate the hair so soon
as it makes its appearance on the cheeks by means of mussel-shells, or two
little pieces of tortoise-shell sharpened. The women are usually pretty,
but as the girls marry very young they soon lose the freshness of youth.
Their complexion is much fairer than that of the men. The cause of this is
to be found in their wearing a sort of upper robe of calico; a large
piece of stuff with a hole in the centre through which to put the head,
which thus protects their bodies somewhat from the direct rays of the sun.
The natives are said to be very temperate and methodical in their habits
of life. They rise at daybreak, bathe in the river, take a little
vegetable food, anoint their bodies with cocoa-nut oil, after which they
sprinkle themselves plentifully with powdered turmeric. This done, they
address themselves to some simple avocation, which they prosecute till
noon, when they once more withdraw to their huts, bathe, and partake of
another equally frugal repast. The rest of the day is spent in amusements
and mutual visiting. Towards sunset they take a third meal, and as they
have neither torches nor artificial light of any sort, they usually retire
early to rest, unless fishing or dancing by moonlight.
Much respect and consideration is paid to the weaker sex throughout the
island, they not being put to any work which does not come within their
regular sphere of duty. All outdoor work is done by the men, who build the
huts and canoes, plant yams and Kawa, fish, transport the food from the
plantation to the house, and even cook it.
The women are chiefly occupied within-doors, in fishing, or cleaning the
vegetables, most of their time being taken up with preparing head-dresses,
weaving girdles, sewing together palm or pandanus leaves for clothes,
plaiting elegant baskets, and looking after the house and children.
Never at any time patterns of virtue and chastity, the importation of
European trinkets and luxuries of all sorts has greatly increased the
spread of immorality among the native women, who are actuated by an
insatiate, irresistible craving to possess articles of European
manufacture.
When a native wishes to marry, he makes a present to the father of the
girl he wishes to marry; if not returned, it is understood his addresses
are accepted. Thereupon invitations are issued to a merry-making, with
feast, and dance, and revel, after which the bridegroom conducts his bride
to his dwelling. When she dies the widower marries her sister, the brother
in like manner being required to marry his widowed sister-in-law in the
case of the death of the husband, even though he may happen to be already
married. Under certain circumstances a man is at liberty to divorce his
wife and take another; a woman, on the other hand, enjoys no such
privilege, unless she happen to be of higher rank. The chiefs usually have
several wives, polygamy, as among the Mormons, being only limited by the
means of providing subsistence. The women are of an unusually gossiping,
talkative turn, they are quite incapable of keeping their own secrets, and
many a delinquency is generally known at the very moment of its
commission.
The funeral ceremonies seem to have undergone some modification since the
natives began to have intercourse with Europeans. In former times the dead
were enveloped in straw mats, and kept for a considerable time in the
huts: through the influence of the missionaries, apparently, they have
adopted the European custom of interring their dead in certain special
places. On the death of a chief or any exalted person, the female
relatives of the deceased assemble to mourn for a specific period, and
betray their sorrow by loud sobs and lamentations by day and dances by
night. The connections of the deceased cut off their hair as a mark of
their sorrow. All the goods and clothes of the defunct are carried away by
whoever is nearest or first possesses himself of them, and this custom is
so universal that objects thus obtained are thenceforth considered as
lawful property.
The natives usually pray to the spirits of their departed chiefs, whom
they implore to grant them success in fishing, rich harvests in
bread-fruit and yams, the arrival of numerous foreign ships with beautiful
articles for barter, and a variety of similar matters. The priests of
their idols profess to be able to read the future, and the natives place
the most implicit confidence in these predictions. They believe that the
priest is inspired with the spirit of a deceased chief, and that every
word they utter when in this excited state is dictated by the departed.
When any of these prophecies fail, as is often enough the case, the
cunning priest pretends that another more powerful spirit has interfered,
and forcibly prevented the accomplishment of what they had foretold.
The religion of this primitive people is very simple. They have neither
idols nor temple, and although they believe in a future state after death,
they seem to have no religious customs or festivals of any sort. Their
notion of a future state is under such circumstances exceedingly
extraordinary.
Their abode after death they believe to be surrounded by a colossal wall
amid a fathomless abyss, in fact a sort of fortress. The only portal into
this Elysian abode is guarded by an old woman, whose duty it is to hurl
back into the yawning deep the shadows of the departed, who are compelled
to spring upwards from the abyss. Such of the shadows as succeed in
eluding the evil spirit and effecting an entrance are for ever happy; on
the other hand, those whom the malicious female demon succeeds in
precipitating into the abyss sink into the region of endless woe and
torture.
The native festivals, as a rule, take precedence of every other business,
no matter how pressing. Every year the king visits the various villages
and settlements of those of his tribe, at which period the chief
festivities take place, the chiefs vieing with each other in entertaining
him. Enormous quantities of yam and bread-fruit are on such occasions
cooked two days previous, and Kawa is drunk to excess.
Their dances are far from unbecoming, and are quite free from those
lascivious gestures which are so often seen at the festivals of the other
inhabitants of the South Sea. The dancers are usually unmarried lads and
girls, who stand opposite each other in long rows. While keeping time with
their feet to the music, they accompany the dance with graceful motions of
the arms and upper part of the body. Occasionally they throw their arms
out, snap their fingers, and then clap the hands together. Every movement
is performed with extraordinary precision, and at the same moment by all
the dancers. Their sole musical instrument is a small flute made of
bamboo-cane, the notes of which they draw forth by inserting one end in
the nostril and blowing gently, while their hands are busy fingering the
holes in the usual way.
Their drum is a piece of hollowed-out wood with the skin of a shark
stretched over it, of the shape of a sand-glass. This is struck with the
fingers of the right hand, the instrument being hung on the left side. The
sound somewhat resembles the Tom-tom of the Hindoos. The drummer sits
cross-legged on the ground, and accompanies the beat of the drum with
apposite words.
As to the monumental ruins of the interior of Puynipet which have never
yet been visited and described by scientific travellers, we were informed
that they consisted of nothing more than a large number of colossal
rough-hewn blocks of basalt in the heart of the forest, near Metelenia
harbour. The simplicity of the native, in the absence of all means of
accounting for them naturally, sees in these the grand forms of the
spirits of departed chiefs. Experienced travellers, on the other hand, are
of opinion that in this primeval forest, where now only rocky debris lie
scattered about, there once stood strong fortifications, such as indeed no
savage people could have erected, and that the character of the ruins
evidences a high state of civilization in those who erected them. Some of
the blocks are 8 or 10 feet long, hexagonal, and must evidently have been
brought from some other country, since, with the exception of these, there
are no other stones of a similar description found in any part of the
island. Streets are laid out at various points, and the whole settlement
seems to have consisted of a range of strongly fortified dwellings.[196]
These columns and blocks, however, possess a special interest not merely
in the history of civilization, but of geology, as a part is at present
under water, and can only be reached in canoes, a difficulty which cannot
have been in existence at the period of their erection. What once were
streets are now passages for canoes, and were the walls, built of massive
basalt blocks, to be pulled up, the water would obtain access to the
inclosed space. This has induced later geologists to refer this phenomenon
to a sinking of the entire group, so that Puynipet is perhaps the only
spot on the earth where Darwin's ingenious theory of the construction of
perpendicular reefs and atolls being the result of a sinking of the soil
on which the coral-animal had begun to erect his edifice, receives
confirmation from the existence of the remains of man's handiwork within
the historic period.
As even the "oldest inhabitants" could give us not the slightest
information as to these ruins, and their origin and history are plunged
in the utmost obscurity, it seems not improbable that these stone masses
were once the fortified retreat of pirates, and were built by Spanish
corsairs 200 or 300 years back. This hypothesis receives confirmation in
the fact that in 1838 or 1840, a small brass cannon was found on a hill in
the interior, which was brought home as a curiosity by H.M.S. _Larne_.
Occasionally, too, at various parts of the island clearings are found,
some of which are several acres in extent. In one of these, still in
existence near the harbour of Roankiddi, the traveller is shown an
artificial mound of about 20 feet wide, 8 feet high, and a quarter of a
mile long, which has obviously been thrown up as a defence, or else has
been the place of interment for such as have fallen in a severe contest.
This conjecture adopted, it follows that the present population is of
quite recent introduction, and the rumour of a black race inhabiting the
interior must necessarily be treated as a myth.
While we were asking questions and getting up information, evening was
beginning to draw on, and we could not remain longer on the island, as it
was necessary to return on ship-board before nightfall, the frigate having
meanwhile been kept cruising under easy sail, about three or four miles
off the island. Another reason for our immediate departure was to be found
in our narrow flat-bottomed craft, which in any sort of sea-way would have
some difficulty in escaping swamping. Had the wind during our return
voyage freshened ever so little, we should have found ourselves in a
serious dilemma. Numbers of herons, white, black, and mottled, were
fishing in the shallow water along the edge of the reefs, the sea-raven
flew in vast flights among the lagoons, while high overhead the graceful
frigate-bird swept along, every now and then darting rapidly down to
secure his booty.
One of the whites whom we employed as our guide in the island, accompanied
us on board, and asked as his reward some tobacco and clothes, with which
he departed much satisfied. In him, too, we observed a marked and quite
peculiar shyness, especially when on board the frigate. He seemed as
though he dreaded some avenging hand. His glance was timid, his gait and
motions betrayed a sense of insecurity, and he might have readily been
mistaken for some repentant sinner, who in consequence of some evil deed
had fled from civilized society and sought out this distant asylum, where
he had scarcely to fear any other persecution than that of his own
conscience! Hardly any spot, indeed, can be named more suitable for thus
expiating crime than this remote island, where the white man, face to face
with nature in a new and unwonted aspect, and at the mercy of a savage
people, often deprived for months of the consolations and support of
civilization, finds in his solitude ample opportunity to reflect upon the
enormity of his guilt, and to mourn over his own evil fortune.
As the west wind, which still blew, effectually prevented the frigate
from entering the harbour of Roankiddi, and there was no reason to hope
for any speedy change, our original intention of spending several days
there was abandoned, and the same evening we resumed our course for
Australia.
As our brief stay of barely five hours on the island of Puynipet
necessarily led to our observations and remarks being of the most
superficial nature, whereas the island has of late years begun to acquire
an unusual importance both in a maritime and a commercial sense, we must
content ourselves with referring the reader for a more detailed account to
Captain Cheyne's admirable and comprehensive account of the island.
"The Ant Islands (called also Fraser's Islands) lie in a S.W. direction
from the harbour of Roankiddi, from which they are about 12 nautical miles
distant.
"They consist of a group of low coral islets covered with cocoa-palms and
bread-fruit trees, and surrounded by a coral reef, which makes a lagoon in
the centre. Between the two longer islands at the east end of the group
there is a channel. The entire group from N.W. to S.E. measures seven
miles in width, is only inhabited from May to September, during the period
when the cuttle-fish are caught, and is the property of the chief of the
Roankiddi tribe. However the islands are frequented at all seasons by the
natives of Puynipet, who procure here cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit. The most
north-easterly point lies in 6 deg. 42' N., 158 deg. 3' E.
"Next the Ant Island is Pakeen, the sole adjoining island. It lies about
22 miles W. of Tschokoits, its central point lying in 7 deg. 10' N. and 157 deg.
43' E. It consists of five small coral islets, completely inclosed in a
reef, which forms an inaccessible lagoon in the interior.
"The entire group is about five miles in length from west to east, and
from north to south three miles in width. The islands are very low, but
produce an enormous quantity of cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit, while the
lagoon abounds with excellent fish. The westernmost island is inhabited by
about thirty persons in all, mainly of the family and attendants of the
Chief of Puynipet, who claims proprietorship of the whole group. This
scanty population is chiefly engaged in the construction of mats and
canoe-sails made of the leaves of the _pandanus_. In fine weather the
denizens of Pakeen are fond of running over to Puynipet to exchange their
own products for tobacco and other foreign articles.
"What are marked on the charts as Bottomless Group and St. Augustine's
Islands have no existence. Pakeen and Ant's Islands are the same groups
adjoining each other to the westward of Puynipet."
Our progress now began to be very slow, and the equatorial zones with
their vexatious calms, and variable light breezes alternating with violent
squalls, became a sore trial for our patience. An unusual and most
oppressive heat, from which we vainly sought shelter; tropical rains,
which often fell in unbroken torrents for hours at a time, and obscured
the daylight with clouds almost as suddenly at times as though there were
an eclipse; a long heavy swell, which knocked the good ship about with an
unceasing and most disagreeable motion, without nevertheless our being
able to advance one single mile in the twenty-four hours; the depressing
monotonous flapping and filling of the sails, which, with the rolling and
pitching of the ship, now bellied out and then fell idly back against the
masts and yards, straining the rigging and cordage, and keeping a constant
indescribable but most irritating noise--such is a faint sketch of the
miseries of voyagers caught by an equatorial calm in a sailing vessel! How
one longs for a good hearty storm, if only to drive us out of this truly
dismal plight! How in the monotony of such an existence does a quite
insignificant circumstance at once assume the proportions of an important
event! The most trifling incident on board, the most imperceptible object
which becomes visible in either atmosphere or water, attracts universal
attention, and gives rise to discussions by the hour. One day some one
perceived a dark object floating in the distance; when the frigate got
near this proved to be the trunk of a tree, almost 100 feet long, and
though at best we could only have used it as firewood, a boat was
forthwith manned and dispatched to tow it alongside. A few black
Albatrosses suffered themselves to be hauled contentedly along upon the
floating trunk, somewhat astonishing us by their being found so near the
equator. Only by dint of considerable exertion was the huge unwieldy
piece of wood brought on board, when the zoologists got a famous lesson in
conchology, from the shell-fish that had fastened on it, and the sailors
chuckled with delight at finding some occupation in cutting up the
vegetable colossus into sizeable pieces.
At 6.30 P.M. on the 29th Sept., we crossed the equator for the sixth time
in 161 deg. 57' E., and in the Southern hemisphere found we still had to
contend with calms and contrary winds.
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Crept in this petty pace from day to day,"
without our making any perceptible progress. When we had reached 4 deg. 15'
S., and 160 deg. 24' E., a circumstance occurred to break the uniformity of
our existence, as according to the charts we were using of the
Hydrographic Institute of England for the year 1856,[197] we must have
been quite close to some coral reefs, known as Simpson's Island. But
although by our observations, after due allowance made for currents, we
were, about 4 P.M. of the 5th October, off the N.W. extremity of the
islands, there was no land of any sort visible on either side even from
the royals, and we accordingly had to conjecture that Captain Simpson,
after whom these islands were named, must have sighted one of the Le Maire
or Tasman group, which lie 40 miles further to the west and 10 miles
further to the north, and had, owing to false reckoning, imagined to have
discovered a new cluster; for on the following day at 6 P.M., when by our
course, which was south-easterly, the island ought to have lain W.N.W. ten
miles distant, not a vestige of land could be descried from the deck, nor
even from the mast-head, so that we felt positive the Simpson group were
neither at the spot laid in the general chart of the English Admiralty,
nor within ten miles of it in either an easterly or westerly
direction.[198]
A few days after this interlude, an incident of a very peculiar character
took place, which excited universal attention, and more especially greatly
exercised the souls of the superstitious. The occasion was nothing less
than a dread whisper that there was a ghost on board. From time to time,
in fact, dull rumbling sounds were said to be audible, which some
professed to hear above them, others below, some in the fore part of the
ship, others aft. It was a noise like the roll of thunder, or of
cannon-balls that had got loose. The shot-racks were carefully examined,
but everything there appeared to be in its usual order. The sound was
repeated the following days, when there was hanging over us a sky as black
and murky, accompanied by heavy pelts of rain, as though all the clouds
of heaven were lavishing their contents upon us. All on board indulged in
every possible hypothesis that could explain these sounds, and exhausted
themselves in conjectures. Some maintained that one of the volcanoes of
the Solomon group, in the vicinity of which we were at the time, was in a
state of activity, and was the cause of these sub-marine thunders; but the
sailors, sailor-like, insisted it was ghosts playing pranks, and the
attendants refused any longer to remain in the cock-pit, alleging it was
haunted! However, when a second examination was made of the shot-racks, it
was found that no fewer than eighty thirty-pound iron shots had broken
through the wooden bulk-head of the ordnance room, whence they had made
their way into the bread-depot, as it was called, and on its metal floor
had produced the resonance peculiar to the impact of metal against metal.
The mystery was at once solved in the most natural manner, and the
"each-particular-hair-on-end" ghost stories which during the last few days
had been flying from mouth to mouth, forthwith dropped. Thus might many a
"marvel" prove to be the result of some very ordinary cause, if people
would but take the trouble to examine its natural causes, instead of
ascribing everything which they cannot understand or explain to some
supernatural influence.
At noon of the 7th October, in 6 deg. 37' S., 161 deg. 8' E., we were, according
to chart, 12 miles distant from Bradley's Reef. But although both seamen
and midshipmen were stationed at the mast-heads, in order the more
readily to make it out with the advantage of such an elevation, there was
not the slightest trace perceptible of rocks or shoals, and we sailed
without obstruction over the very spot at which, according to the English
charts, Bradley's Reef rises from the waves. This reef was discovered by
Captain Hunter in May, 1791, two days after he had passed Stewart's Island
(Sikayana), and is doubly dangerous in a climate where the sea rarely runs
so high as to make it easily observed by the surf breaking over it.
According to our observations, collated with those of Captain Cheyne,
Bradley's Reef must lie in about 160 deg. 48' E.[199]
The same day about 7 P.M., when we were about 120 miles distant from the
N.W. part of the Solomon group, there suddenly and altogether unexpectedly
blazed forth in the western sky an immense and most brilliant comet, with
a yellow, rather bright nucleus, and an enormous tail, sweeping over some
15 deg. or 20 deg. It was about 8 deg. or 10 deg. above the horizon when we observed it.
This rare phenomenon, during the fourteen days it continued visible,
presented a most excellent opportunity for astronomical observations. Upon
the sailors, usually so superstitious, this splendid celestial visitor
made a much less profound impression than we had anticipated. But few were
apprehensive that the end of the world was at hand, while the majority
seemed quietly to indulge the pleasing anticipation that the wine of the
present year would be good and plentiful.
At last, on the 8th of October, we sighted the Solomon Islands. Some reefs
which were said to lie a little to the north, adjoining Ontong-Java, we
looked for in vain in the positions assigned them on the charts. On the
other hand we could see the lofty, forest-covered Carteret Island directly
before us. Gower Island lay nearly due west, about four miles distant.
This flat low island, which also is not quite accurately laid down on the
English chart, appears to be about eight miles long, the highest point of
its ridge not exceeding 180 feet above the sea. Its S.E. and N.W. points,
upon which beats a furious surf, extend a full half mile into the sea. We
could nowhere perceive any huts of natives. Nevertheless it is highly
probable, if the island is inhabited at all, that the population would
have settled on the W. side, which is more sheltered against wind and
weather.
From the hills on Carteret Island smoke was issuing at different points,
but the natives did not put off in their boats, although on the afternoon
of 8th October the frigate was becalmed off the land. When it was found
that in consequence of the violence of the S.E. winds, which alternated
with calms and N.E. squalls accompanied by rain, it would be impossible
for us to pass through "Indispensable Straits," fringed as they are with
coral reefs, it was resolved to range along the N.E. side of the entire
chain of islands, so as to fetch the open passage between San Christoval
(the most south-easterly of the Solomon Islands) and the Nitendi group. We
thus had to beat with much difficulty against a S.E. wind and a strong
current, so that we barely made 15 miles a day.
On the 13th October, towards evening, we found ourselves about opposite
the large mountainous island of Malayta. This island presents fine
richly-wooded mountain scenery, but without any traces of volcanic
contours. The natives do not appear to dwell near the shore, but among the
hills we could observe cleared spots and huts. Curiously enough the
highest peak of the island, 3900 feet high, is named Kolowrat, a renowned
Austrian name, although it could hardly have been an Austrian navigator
who gave it to this mountain. Many others of these islands, however, have
German names, though the majority indicate their discovery by the French
navigators, Bougainville, Senville, and Dumont d'Urville, to whom the
sea-faring world are indebted for their first acquaintance with this
interesting group. During the afternoon a heavy blow came on from the
S.S.E., upon which we put about and steered E. by S., but had hardly made
the alteration, ere it came on to blow from N.N.E., with such fearful
violence that the cross-jack-yard, which was already sprung, broke in two,
and the sheet of the main try-sail gave way. It was the heaviest squall we
encountered during the voyage. Fortunately the cross-jack-yard had as a
precaution been firmly lashed, so that the two ends continued to hang in
the air. Consequently what might have been a serious calamity was avoided,
and the result of the accident was confined to the difficult task of
disengaging the unwieldy shattered yard. Towards evening a heavy rain
fell, and the wind went down. In the course of the profoundly calm night
which followed, the current swept us so close in shore, that by morning we
were not more than two or three miles distant. A few small boats with
natives were about, which endeavoured to approach us, but only one of
their number succeeded. These boats were not ordinary canoes, but
regularly decked and deep-waisted boats, with high stem and stern, not
unlike the boats in use at the Island of Madeira.
The one which came alongside was manned by five brownish-black men,
perfectly naked, with thick crisp hair resembling a wig, which seemed to
be stained red with ochre. By way of special adornment, some wore in their
side hair a yellowish-red tuft, something like a tassel, and apparently
made of strips of stained bast. One wore a wild boar's tooth in the tip of
the ear, two others had small cylinders neatly carved out of mussel-shells
passed through the nostrils, as well as rings of the same material around
the upper arm and below the knee. When the boat had got within about a
pistol shot from us, one of the natives rose, and in clear strong tones
shouted to us some unintelligible words, while at the same time he pointed
towards the land with very eager, energetic gestures. He seemed desirous
of inviting us to come on shore and visit the islands. At the close of
his address there arose those peculiar reverberating shouts, such as one
would have expected rather to hear among the Styrian Alps than from a
Papuan of the Solomon Islands! Upon this the rest of his companions rose
likewise, and waving in their long arms a piece of tortoise-shell, they
kept shrieking Matte-Matte! for an indefinite period. Not one of them knew
a single word of English, nor could we make ourselves intelligible even
with a vocabulary of the dialects used in the adjoining islands. Although
distant in a direct line N.W. only 60 miles from Stewart's Island and its
inhabitants, they spoke an entirely different idiom, and were likewise
distinguished widely from any of the latter in colour, make, and
physiognomy. Notwithstanding a repeated and pressing invitation to come on
board, they could not be induced to mount the frigate's side, even by the
most tempting promises, nor even by presents of linen-stuffs, tobacco,
articles of clothing, &c. They seemed to have had but little intercourse
with vessels. At length, on our repeated signs, they slowly and shyly came
so near that we could throw a rope on board. The most courageous of their
number planted his foot on the side rope, but made no attempt to proceed
one step further. But we were by this means at all events able to examine
these singular beings more closely. They all had oval faces, and broad,
flat, long noses. Two were full-grown men, of tall powerful frame, while
the rest seemed not above from fourteen to sixteen years old. None of
them were tattooed, but the practice of anointing the body and the want of
cleanliness left many coloured marks upon the skin. One of the lads had a
sort of scaly eruption all over his skin. Beyond the pieces of
tortoise-shell already mentioned, and the ornaments they wore upon their
bodies, they had absolutely nothing in their boats, not even fruit or
other natural products. They rowed a considerable distance after empty
bottles which were pitched into the sea, and one of them seemed to attach
such importance to the possession of these, that he plunged into the water
to swim after them, and thus secure them the more readily.
Unfortunately our intercourse with these islanders of the Solomon group
was confined to the little episode above related, and as a favourable
breeze once more sprang up, we soon lost sight of these simple savages and
their island. On this occasion the members of the Expedition were
unanimously of opinion (which is not always the case in matters of
personal impressions), that the inhabitants of Malayta were the wildest,
most uncivilized race of men we had as yet encountered in our voyaging to
and fro round the globe.
During the night numerous watch-fires were visible on the peaks of the
island. Were they lit for the protection of the slumbering inhabitants
against the cold and damp of the night, or were they alarm signals for the
entire population of the island, warning them against dangers that menaced
them? If any apprehensions were entertained by the natives of Malayta
that we had visited their shores with hostile intent, they must have been
of short duration, for the same wind which prevented our making Port Adam,
wafted us the following morning--it was the 16th October, 1858--in sight
of Sikayana.
FOOTNOTES:
[191] Occasionally called Bonabe, Bonibet, Funopet (by the French,
Ascension). It lies in 6 deg. 58' N., and 158 deg. 20' E., and, with the two low
atolls adjacent of Andema and Paphenemo (called by the English Ant's
Island and Pakeen respectively) were named by their discoverer, Admiral
Luetke, the Senjawin group, after the name of his ship.
[192] Captain Andrew Cheyne, of the English mercantile service, to whom
the sea-faring world is indebted for a very complete and excellent account
of the islands of the West Pacific, and who last visited Puynipet in 1846,
reckoned the population of the island at that period at from 7000 to 8000.
See a description of islands in the Western Pacific Ocean, North and South
of the Equator, with sailing Directions, &c. p. 94. London, J. D. Potter.
1852.--Sailing Directions from New South Wales to China and Japan.
Compiled from the most Authentic Sources. By Andrew Cheyne, first Class
Master, Mercantile Navy. p. 136. London, J. D. Potter. 1855.
[193] The natives of the Engano Islands, to the west of Sumatra, use
precisely similar instruments for the same purpose.
[194] Yaws is a very common disease among the lower class of the western
and eastern _coast_-population of England. It is unknown almost in
Ireland, where the poorer classes rarely eat fish.
[195] Captain Cheyne adds to the foregoing lists the following articles;
fish-hooks, butcher's-knives, chisels, hand-saws, bill-hooks, planes,
augers, piles, iron-pots, razors, needles, twine, drills, gay
parti-coloured cotton cloths, cotton hose, woollen cloths, trinkets, glass
beads, straw-hats, chests with lock, key, and handles, spirits. The
equivalents as laid down by Captain Cheyne are as follows:--
12 hens = 24 sticks of negro-head tobacco, or 4 ells
100 yams = 10 " " " of calico.
100 bread-fruit = 10 " " "
100 cocoa-nuts = 10 " " "
1 cluster of bananas = 2 " " "
[196] Similar ruins are described by Captain Cheyne as having been also
found in the forests of Nalan (Strong Island) in the Caroline Archipelago,
5 deg. 21' 30'' N., 163 deg. 0' 42'' E.
[197] From 1st October, 1856, upon which were marked all the improvements
known up to 1857.
[198] Compare Captain Cheyne's sailing directions, p. 68: "Captain Simpson
of Sydney reported to me in 1845, that a group of low coral islands,
covered with cocoa-nut trees and inhabited, had been seen in 4 deg. 52' S.,
and 160 deg. 12' E. This may probably be the same group seen by Captain
Wellings in 1824, which is laid down in Mr. Arrowsmith's chart in latitude
4 deg. 29' S., 159 deg. 28' E." It is matter of surprise in any case that
considering the uncertainty which prevails as to the precise locality of
the reef, its position on the English Admiralty Charts should not at least
be marked _doubtful_.
[199] A. Cheyne--Sailing Directions from New South Wales to China and
Japan. London, 1855, page 68.
[Illustration: Barrier Reef and Atoll of Sikayana.]
XVII.
The Coral Island of Sikayana.
17th October, 1858.
Natives on board.--Good prospects of fresh provisions.--An
interment on board.--A night scene.--Visit to the Island Group.--
Faole.--Voyage trip to Sikayana.--Narrative of an English
sailor.--Cruelty of merchantmen in the South Sea Islands.--
Tradition as to the origin of the inhabitants of Sikayana.--A
king.--Barter.--Religion of the natives.--Trepang.--Method of
preparing this sea-slug for the Chinese market.--Dictionary of
the native language.--Under sail.--Ile de Contrariete.--Stormy
weather.--Spring a leak.--Bampton Reef.--Smoky Cape.--Arrival in
Port Jackson, the harbour of Sydney.
The short distance at which we found ourselves from Sikayana, called
Stewart's Island by the English, as also the prospect of procuring there
fresh provisions for the crew, among whom after 66 days' confinement on
board ship, some symptoms of scurvy began to appear, determined our
Commodore on spending a day there, and effecting a landing. Towards
afternoon, when we were about four or five miles distant from the western
island, two splendid large canoes approached the ship, in which were
fifteen men stark naked, except for a piece of linen round their loins.
They were all tall, robust, powerful men, five and a half to six feet
high, some with long, others broad faces, all having long noses, of a
light brown colour, and the greater number with glossy black hair. With
the exception of one who had whiskers, they were beardless; almost all
being tattooed from the elbow to the shoulder. They spoke broken English,
and even had English names. We never saw among the savage races such
finely built, well-proportioned, healthy-looking men, as these inhabitants
of the coral reef of Sikayana. Their free, unaccustomed, familiar
deportment was something surprising. But our astonishment reached its
height when one of these apparently savage children of nature, happening
to find on a table on the gun-deck a draught-board lying open, immediately
challenged one of the by-standers to a game, which it seems he understood
so well that he beat his antagonist two games out of three. We afterwards
heard that the natives at Sikayana have learned draughts, as also an
English game at cards known as "odd fourth," of which they seemed
passionately fond, from some English sailors, who several years before had
spent five months on these islands, preparing Trepang, or _biche-de-mar_,
for the Chinese market, those sea-slugs having formerly been found here in
large quantities.
To our question whether they had fresh provisions for sale, and of what
description, they replied that they possess on the island plenty of Taro,
cocoa-nuts, bananas, pigs, and poultry, which they would willingly
exchange for fish-hooks, tobacco, calico, gunpowder, ammunition, biscuit,
playing-cards, and ornaments for their wives. For money they did not show
the slightest desire, and of the value of gold they seemed to be utterly
ignorant. They showed the utmost eagerness for playing-cards and trinkets.
We now also learned that there was on the island one white settler, an
English sailor. This man attempted to come off to the frigate in a small
canoe, but owing to night setting in, he could not reach her. As these
hearty people were taking their leave, we promised to pay them a visit
early next morning, with which they seemed highly delighted.
There still remained the same evening one mournful duty for those on board
the _Novara_. During the afternoon one of our sailors had died after
protracted sufferings consequent on dysentery, and we had now, for
sanitary reasons, to commit his remains to the deep the very evening of
his death. It was already dark when the officers and crew were mustered on
deck, to pay the last honours to the departed. The captain gave the
customary orders, the ship's bell tolled, the narrow plank, on which lay
the body of the deceased sewn up in his hammock, was brought to the
gangway, where an iron weight was attached to the body by the feet, and
last of all the plank being tilted up, the heavy body plunged into the
waves with a hollow splash, and the watery tomb closed over him.
We looked down into the abyss and beheld myriads of stars reflected in
all their lustre in the smooth mirror of the ocean; the deep, blue,
unfathomable ocean appearing like a second firmament beneath our feet!
Nothing in the gay scene around seemed out of harmony with the mournful
act which the community of Christians on board the _Novara_ had been
celebrating. Everything about us--the brightly glistening stars, the
whispering ripple of the waves, the balmy atmosphere, all left an
impression of a higher state of felicity and tranquil happiness, and
seemed to remind us that everything in the universe, even the poor remains
we had just committed to the waves, obeyed but one eternal, immutable law!
On the morning of 17th October, three boats put off from the _Novara_ with
some of the officers and all the naturalists of the Expedition, bound for
Sikayana, between three and four miles distant, while the frigate cruised
about in the vicinity.
Stewart's Atoll (8 deg. 22' S., 162 deg. 58' E.) is a semi-lunar coral reef of
about sixteen miles in circumference, with a deep lagoon in its centre,
and five small wooded islands on the reef itself, which are visible from
the deck of a ship about twelve miles away, and were first discovered by
Captain Hunter, in May, 1791. These islands are named Sikayana, Faole,
Manduiloto, Barena, and Maduawe, and are so overgrown with cocoa-nut
palms, that they appear capable of supporting a population of about 1000
souls (with the wants and requirements of men in the tropics).
The two largest islands, Sikayana and Faole, lie exactly at the sharp
horns of the lune-shaped atoll. Here we again had an opportunity of
observing the configuration of which all known atolls furnish examples,
viz. that the islands found adjoining these reefs are almost invariably at
the projecting extremities, where the surf rages on either side, and where
consequently the conditions are most favourable for the heaping up of
detached fragments of coral. The area of habitable dry land is to the
extent of the reef in the proportion of 1 : 21. As may readily be assumed
from the physical conditions of the islands, there is no drinkable water
to be found upon them; the liquid contents of the cocoa-nut when fresh is
almost the only beverage of the inhabitants, and hence the first thing the
natives asked for when they came on board was for some "drinking-water,"
since, except of course during the wet season, when they catch the
rain-water, this is a rarity with them--we might almost say an article of
luxury.
Sikayana, the Big Island of the English, the most easterly and largest of
the islands, is about 1 1/6th statute mile in length, and lies in 8 deg. 22'
24'' S., and 163 deg. 1' E. The reef which surrounds the island sinks at
certain points sheer downwards, so that a ship may in perfect safety
approach within a cable's length. We had to sail for a considerable time
along this line of reef, on which the sea beat with a thundering surf, ere
we came to one of those spots on the N.W. side where it is practicable in
a boat to pass the atoll reef into the tranquil lagoon, which it encloses.
At all times, even in the calmest weather, a tremendous surf roars against
the reef, and even this point is inaccessible when there is a fresh breeze
blowing. Here we found some of the canoes of the natives awaiting our
approach, who now, as though they had been on the look-out for our
arrival, came off to us, some in their boats, others swimming, to inform
us that, it being ebb-tide, the entry into the lagoon was not very easy,
but that at high-water one could pass right over the reef, in even larger
boats than ours. It was accordingly arranged that two of the boats should
anchor outside the reef, and only one should be hauled inside the lagoon
with a rope for our further use. But even this could not be managed until
by removing all baggage and transhipping almost her entire crew, she had
been made sufficiently light.
The passage between the coral reefs and the lagoon is at high-water about
three feet deep, but at lowest ebb it is barely a foot in depth, and three
to four feet wide, and then the reef juts up at most points to such
extent, that a skilled equilibrist may (although not to the advantage of
his soles) easily reach the interior of the lagoon without wetting his
shoes. As soon, however, as this narrow entrance, which is about 300 feet
long, has been passed, the navigation becomes easier. The appearance of
the reef was very peculiar. Corals of every description, _Astraeae_,
_Maeandrinae_, _Madriporae_, form a sort of series of clusters of
stone-bushes, among which beautifully mottled fish swim about, while
starfish of an exquisite indigo blue, and mussels of the most
extraordinary forms, people the ground.
The atoll presents some very remarkable geological features. At its N.W.
side, close to the reef and as it were growing to it, stand two singular
vase-shaped rocks, from 8 to 10 feet in height. While their base is
bathed by the sea, their upper portions, which are about 20 feet in
diameter, present the spectacle of luxuriant grass, brushwood, and one or
two fruit-bearing cocoa-nut palms, so that the two crags looked like two
gigantic flower-pots attached to the reef. They seem to be all that
remains of an island which Ocean had first thrown up, and was now busy
wearing away.
Another geological peculiarity is the occurrence of heaps of pumice-stone.
These are found about the size of walnuts over the entire interior of the
island of Faole at those places which the swell of the waves cannot reach
even in the stormiest weather, where they occur in such immense quantities
(though there are no traces of them on the sand or shingle of the actual
beach) that we may take for granted that the convulsion which brought them
here must have occurred in times long gone by, the more so as this
superposed pumice-stone exercises a marked and obvious influence upon the
vegetation of the island. So far as its soil consists of heaps of
fragments of coral and mussel-shells, the cocoa-nut palm reigns almost
alone, whereas as soon as the pumice-stone region is reached, there begins
an exceedingly luxuriant growth of lofty forest trees with huge trunks and
umbrageous foliage, and an astonishingly abundant _flora_ of species
apparently peculiar to these Atoll islands. The English naturalist Jukes,
who accompanied Captain Blackwood on his survey of Torres Straits, found
beds of pumice along the entire east and north coasts of Australia, over
an extent of 2000 miles, and under numerous special conditions, but most
frequently on flat grounds elevated about ten feet above high-water mark
and more or less distant from the beach--never upon the beach itself. The
occurrence of pumice in such vast quantities is of no slight interest in a
geological point of view. It must have been some tremendous natural
convulsions, an earthquake wave of enormous lateral dimensions, which
threw up this pumice-stone, and deposited it throughout this entire region
at the same height above high-water mark. Since this phenomenon occurred,
the general level of the coasts and islands on which this deposit of
pumice is found, can scarcely have undergone any considerable alteration,
if one is not inclined to assume for the entire region a perfectly equal
elevation or depression.
The whole party of Excursionists had wandered along the reef to a spot at
which we could embark once more, so as to row over to the next island,
Faole, which, however, the natives do not much frequent, except
occasionally to collect cocoa-nuts and pandanus fruits. But as one main
object had to be accomplished, namely, the supply of the ship with fresh
provisions, which were not found here, some of the party went off to the
principal settlement on the island of Sikayana, to barter some goods they
had brought, against as much private supplies for themselves as could be
conveniently conveyed to the boats and so taken on board.
While the natives were paddling along in their elegant canoes, escorting
us as far as Sikayana, we offered a seat in our boat to the only white man
on the island, the English sailor already mentioned. This man was named
John Davis, about forty years of age, a native of Greenwich, and was,
according to his own story, left behind against his will by Captain Ross,
a "sandal-wooder," who had visited this group in 1858. He stated he had
just before been with Captain Ross at the Tonga Islands, where the captain
sent two sailors on shore to fell sandal-wood. These men, however, got
into a quarrel with the natives, who would not permit them to rob them of
their property, in the course of which they lost their lives. The captain
immediately proceeded to the islands himself with some of his crew well
armed, attacked the unfortunate natives, shot five, and then sailed off.
Davis had become obnoxious to the captain, because in consequence of
over-work he had fallen ill with intermittent fever, and could not work,
upon which his remorseless superior cast about how to get rid of the now
useless seaman, and resolved to put him ashore by force on the next island
which came in sight. What a fearful doom! To be abandoned, sick and
helpless, on a lone island far from the highways of the world, where ships
but seldom touched, and amid savages with whose tongue he was
unacquainted! If even one were disposed to doubt the possibility of such
inhuman cruelty, it would find mournful confirmation in many similar
instances. To this charge the "sandal-wooders" are especially amenable,
who visit the islands of the South Sea to collect the costly sandal-wood,
and in the prosecution of their enterprise seem to go upon the exclusive
principle that the coloured man has no property over the natural wealth
of these islands, and has no right to resist the wishes of the white man!
Commander Erskine of H.M.S. _Savannah_, mentions a case in which an
English merchantman, engaged in the sandal-wood traffic, entered into an
engagement to employ his whole crew in assisting one native tribe to
overpower its neighbour, in return for which timely assistance certain
places were pointed out where the coveted sandal-wood was found in great
abundance. A battle took place, and a number of prisoners were carried on
board the ship, of whom, during the passage to the sandal-wood-producing
islands, several were in the presence of the European crew coolly
slaughtered and eaten by their cannibal foes of the Fee-jee Islands!!
Davis, whom the natives for distinction's sake called simply "the white
man," could not expatiate enough on the cordiality and kind treatment he
received from the poor inhabitants of Sikayana during his stay. Since
April no ship had called at the island, or even been visible from it. He
begged the favour of a passage to Sydney, which was readily accorded him
on condition he would first repay all his obligations to the natives, and
that on their side there should be no objections made to his leaving. On
our arrival in Sydney we learned that Captain Ross, who had put Davis
ashore at Sikayana, had been tried for another still greater atrocity; he
had inflicted Lynch-law, by hanging some of the natives of New Caledonia
at his yard-arm. Ross was somewhat later acquitted by the judges at
Sydney, but public opinion reversed the verdict.
After a row of an hour and a half we at last reached the island of
Sikayana, having previously met three canoes, one of which was manned by
twelve rowers, who now entered on a sort of regatta contest with us. These
canoes, not more than a foot and a half wide, glide with uncommon velocity
through the water, but despite their outriggers, they are not adapted for
carrying much provisions. We found it quite easy to land at the place, and
drew up our boat upon the sandy beach.
The world of these islanders, the entire area of dry habitable land upon
this coral reef, is about one-eighth of an English square mile; no stream,
no mountain, no eminence adorns the island, the highest part of which is
just sufficiently elevated to enable the winds and waves to heap up sand
and debris; around it on every side is the boundless ocean, and its
mineral wealth is reduced to one single mineral, carbonated chalk,
deposited in the brine by thousands of millions of coral-animals. Hither
too the ocean in some extraordinary cases wafts pumice and other stones
lighter than water, which somewhat improve the soil, or occasionally
stones are transported, entangled in the roots of floating trees, with
which the denizens of this little place can grind the mussel-shells, of
which they make all their tools, as well as knives and hatchets.
The immense vegetable kingdom has but 20 or 30 representatives here, whose
seeds have been transported hither by the sea from richer and more
congenial soils, and thrown up by it upon the strand. Animals are still
more scarce. A few sea-swallows and insects form the whole Fauna of the
group. The sea furnishes the only supply of animal food, in the shape of
fish, crabs, and shell-fish. One may well ask, what degree of moral or
spiritual development can be attained by a race of men whose sphere of
action is confined to a solitary coral reef! Yet the mode of existence of
the inhabitants of Stewart's Islands is by no means of the most primitive
or simple nature; through the occasional visits of ships they have
obtained much, by which they have sensibly improved their condition. They
now possess swine, poultry, and various tubers, which seem greatly to
thrive on the island, and which they can now exchange for other articles
of prime necessity.
Sikayana is the only member of the group which is permanently inhabited,
and that by a sincerely hospitable, most friendly race. Their origin is
variously accounted for.
Among the natives themselves there is a dim tradition that Captain Cook
transported hither the first settlers. Another version is, that the first
inhabitants came from South Island, 130 miles W. of Stewart's Islands, and
that they were brought hither by whalers, which latter, when they no
longer needed the services of these poor people, sought how most easily to
get rid of them. At the same time several English and American sailors,
who at various times have been left in these islands in consequence of
sickness, want of further employment, love of adventure, or quarrels with
their captains, must have largely contributed to the present quite
peculiar mixture. The practice of leaving upon any suitable island such
natives of the South Sea groups as may take service with English or
American whalers, is very common, and sufficiently explains the mode of
first settling many of these islands of Oceania.
When Captain Cheyne, who has greatly contributed to our more intimate
knowledge of the islands of the West Pacific, visited Sikayana in
September, 1847, the population amounted to 48 men, 73 women, and 50
children, who inhabited a small village lying on the lagoon at the eastern
end of the island. Although eleven years had elapsed ere we visited this
simple community, their numbers did not appear materially to have
increased.
Considering the powerful, healthy appearance of the natives, it should
seem that we must ascribe this stagnation in amount of population less to
the influence of climate, than to the ravages of the various diseases
which are from time to time introduced by foreign ships. Thus we saw one
woman whose whole body was deeply marked with small-pox, and presented a
living example that the fell scourge of all uncivilized races is no longer
unknown in Sikayana.
At the landing-place we were received by the king of the island, a very
aged man with grey hair and silver beard. He sat on the grass close to the
shore under the shade of cocoa-nut palms, driving away with his hand the
flies which were stinging his naked body. After a brief welcome he
invited us to be seated beside him on Nature's own soft green carpet.
The natives whom we met here were all tall handsome men, with good
features, decidedly of a European cast. The hair was black, very crisp,
but not the slightest appearance of being woolly. Many had shaved it till
there only remained a long tail; most of them had their arms and legs
tattooed, but wore no ear or nose ornaments like the Solomon Islanders.
Round the loins they wore a sort of girdle, four or five inches wide, of
strips of plants plaited by the women. In addition to this, most of them
wore some piece of European clothing; drawers, old caps, but most commonly
a sort of jacket without sleeves made of calico, which only covered the
back and chest. Like the natives of the Nicobars, they showed great
curiosity to learn our names, and kept repeating them over and over,
apparently to impress them upon their memory. They had beyond a doubt
taken their own names from sailors and ship captains, with whom they had
once been in communication.
Close to the shore, among some scattered palm-trees, stood a few wretched
huts, compared with which the bee-hive huts of the Nicobar Islanders
appear like palaces. They consisted of a roofing woven of cocoa-nut
palm-leaves, planted upon the naked soil which serves as a floor, and
closed in front and rear with mats of similar texture. The interior was no
less poverty-stricken than the exterior. We could see no articles of
furniture beyond a few baskets and battered boxes, in which the islanders
stow away their small property.
A crowd of eager expectants had gathered round the crates of merchandise
which our sailors had brought on shore, and the barter began.
The natives had swine, poultry, a few eggs, papayas, Taro, cocoa-nuts, and
bananas to offer, while we had an assortment of knives, hatchets, saws,
flints, fish-hooks, calico, linen, blue cloth, ribbons, linen-thread,
needles, coarse tobacco, biscuit, red coral, glass beads, empty bottles,
&c. &c.
This commerce was something higher than a mere barter--it had also a
psychological interest of its own. Useful goods and tools found a much
less demand than baubles and objects of personal adornment; and for a
string of glass beads only fit to hang round the neck of a wife, or to put
as a bracelet upon the arm of some little dusky daughter, provisions
enough were given away to have supported an entire family for days.
Red and green seemed the colours most in demand, and the small beads were
in far more request than the larger and heavier descriptions, even if
these latter were more costly and neat. It seemed the women were not
permitted to show themselves at market, which must have been a sore enough
disappointment for many; but the men earnestly requested before closing
with an offer to be permitted to carry off the coveted prizes, leaving
their own articles of barter in pledge, apparently with the gallant
attention of first of all obtaining the advice and consent of their
better halves. Hence it frequently happened that the article first
selected was exchanged for some other widely different, or the whole
bargain given up.
The women whom we afterwards saw in their huts were all tall and
powerfully built, but very unattractive, the majority appearing
prematurely old. The sole covering was a piece of gay-coloured calico
tolerably wide, which they wore around their loins. Their lower limbs and
faces were tattooed, the latter however with only a few cross-bars.
The two hampers of assorted articles, which was our stock in trade, were
ere long nearly emptied, and as the sailors would have found it hard work
to bring off the provisions we had purchased in our small boat, it was
agreed to break up our improvised exchange, and return to Faole with our
valuable cargo of fresh provisions.[200]
While the barter was going on, the author of this narrative occupied
himself with making some anthropometrical measurements, and at the same
time noting down a few cursory remarks respecting these interesting
people.
The chief food of these islanders consists of fish, cocoa-nuts, taro, and
the fruit of the pandanus (_dawa_); only at rare intervals do they taste
pork or poultry. The rearing of pigs and poultry is chiefly carried on for
the purpose of trading with foreign vessels, so as to obtain in return the
products of a higher civilization. Their fish-nets are prepared from the
rind of their trees. A few looms which they also possess have been given
them by whale-fishers. The cincture round the loins, which is their sole
article of apparel, is also prepared from the inner bark of the tree.
When the king dies, the oldest member of the community is elected his
successor. At their festivals they sing in a sort of monotonous drone, and
blow at the same time through mussel-shells.
When mourning for the dead, they stain their faces red with the seeds of
the _Bixa orellana_, and wear a piece of white calico, shaped something
like a capuchin's hood, which reaches down till it covers the shoulder.
One native, who was wearing one of these head coverings, could not be
induced to traffic, nor even to approach the place where our improvised
market was being held, because, as he made us understand, one of his near
relatives had lately died. Altogether the inhabitants of Sikayana struck
us as a primitive, very moral, and honourable race, and it made us almost
melancholy to think that these excellent people should be without the
blessings of Christianity. To our great amazement, however, we learned
that the natives themselves strenuously opposed the settlement in their
midst of any missionaries of any Christian denomination,--"Because," said
they, "all their Kai-kai (i. e. their food) would belong to the
missionaries." This naive reply reminds us of a similar remark on the part
of the Quiche Indians, which we once overheard in the highlands of
Guatemala, in whose language a missionary or priest is known as
Ki-sol-re-le-ak-uch, which being interpreted means "devourer of all hens!"
And just as among the Mormons every care is taken to keep certain
professions out of their community, as, for instance, the physician, in
order to prevent illness, or the lawyer, with the intent to keep away
law-suits, thus in their simplicity the natives of Sikayana have fallen
into the error of viewing the missionary, that moral physician, as only of
importance or of necessity in those places where there are really
spiritual and moral evils to cure!
The liquors of Europe are as yet but little known to the inhabitants of
Sikayana. In none of the huts could we discern any sort of spirituous
fluids, nor was any offered to us. Even during the trading, amid the
demands for every sort of article, no desire was expressed for them, not a
question even was asked respecting them, whereas hitherto all the wild or
semi-savage races with which we came in contact at once clamoured for
"Brandy," and not seldom presented themselves in a riotous condition.
That there is as yet no demand for spirits at Sikayana shows how little
intercourse they can as yet have had with civilization. In former years
this group was occasionally visited by American and English merchantmen,
owing to the abundance of Trepang. Since the year 1845, however, when one
American captain collected 250 Chinese piculs[201] (about 15 tons), and
ten years later when Captain Cheyne in the course of nine months gathered
265 piculs (about 16-3/4 tons), the business is no longer profitable and
at present years sometimes slip by without a ship lying to off Sikayana.
As these worm-like animals,[202] which in the dried state command, like
the Salangan swallows' nests, a high price as a costly delicacy in China
and Japan, form an important article of commerce and employ a considerable
number of ships annually, we shall indulge in a few remarks on the very
laborious operations of preparing the Trepang.
Of the large number of varieties of Trepang which are found among the
coral reefs of the Pacific, there are only ten suited to the Chinese
market, which are accurately distinguished by their special names. As they
fetch a price according to quality of from 6 to 35 dollars per picul, it
is a matter of great importance to obtain the very highest qualities.
The four species most in demand are known in China by the following
names,--_Bangkolungan_, _Kiskisan_, _Talipan_, and _Munang_, each of which
has a distinctive appearance, and is found at various depths on the coral
reefs.
_Bangkolungan_, when captured, is from 11 to 15 inches in length, of an
oval form, brown on the back, white on the belly, incrusted with chalk,
and with a row of papillae or warts along the side. This species is hard,
stiff, and possesses hardly any means of progression beyond expanding and
contracting at will. They are found on the inner edge of the coral reef in
coral-sandy ground, under water of from 2 to 10 fathoms, and are difficult
to get at without diving. Kiskisan is from 6 to 12 inches long, oval, very
black, smooth on the back, dark grey belly, and with a row of papillae
along its side. This description is found in shallow water near the
highest portion of the reef, and on a bottom of coral and sand. _Talipan_
varies in length from 9 inches to 2 feet, and is the most peculiar-looking
of all the Trepang species. This sort is found in all parts of the reef,
but chiefly in water of from 2 to 3 fathoms. It is of a dark red colour,
and less bulky than either of the sorts already described. The back is
covered with large red spots, which readily distinguish it from all other
species. It is more flexible than the black sort, and more difficult to
prepare. _Munang_ is oval, small, quite black, and rarely measures above
eight inches in length. It has neither warts nor other excrescences, and
is found in shallow water on the coral flats, and frequently also among
the sea-tangle along the shore. It is this sort which the Americans
usually catch at the Fee-jee Islands. In the Chinese markets, a picul of
_Munang_ is worth 15 to 25 dollars. Besides these four principal species,
there are a variety of less valuable descriptions, such as Zapatos-China,
Lowlowan, Balati-blanco, Matan, Hangenan, and Zapatos-Grande.
In order to prepare these four sorts of Trepang for commerce, they are
first soaked in a large iron kettle for from 5 to 10 minutes in boiling
water, and when thoroughly heated through, are taken out. The portion of
the animal which is cut off, when well boiled, should be of an amber
colour tinged with blue, and feel somewhat like Indian rubber.
A certain degree of dexterity and practice are requisite for boiling
Trepang to the proper point and afterwards drying it. While it becomes
puffed out through too sudden an application of heat, and porous like
sponge, too low a temperature or too short a time destroys it on the other
hand, and in 24 hours it becomes quite tainted. Trepang dried in the sun
is more valuable than that dried on the island, nor does the native ever
care for those he dries over his wood fire. Probably the former mode of
preparing it would not pay for a ship, since at least twenty days are
necessary to dry Trepang in the sun, whereas over a wood fire the same
end is attained in four days.
On the whole, the precautions requisite properly to prepare Trepang are so
manifold and require such an expenditure of time, that only those who for
years have been exclusively devoted to the business can secure a
successful result. Consequently the trade is exceedingly remunerative, and
numbers of captains have within a very few years realized a competency and
even affluence by preparing Trepang for the Chinese market.
We employed our time, when sailing back to the island of Faole, in
finishing a small vocabulary of the language in use by the inhabitants of
the Stewart Island group, which we accomplished with the last stroke of
the oar that brought our heavily-laden boat back to Faole, where the rest
of our companions already anxiously awaited our return. We had occasion to
remark with surprise the perseverance and readiness of comprehension of
one native named Karosi, to whose assistance we are entirely indebted for
the preparation of this vocabulary.
After a stay of about four hours on the island, we returned to the ship
about 4.30 P.M., and by sundown were again under weigh for Sydney.[203] If
the inhabitants of the Solomon group were the most savage race of men we
encountered throughout our cruise, these amiable Sikayanese left on us the
impression of being the most moral and peacefully disposed race of
aborigines that we became acquainted with, and even to this day the few
fleeting but highly suggestive hours we spent with these primitive people
are among the most singular, yet delightful, on which memory rests, when
recalling the incidents of our circumnavigation.[204]
A fresh breeze hurried us rapidly to the southward during the 18th, but we
soon entered once more upon the region of squalls[205] and calms, and on
19th and 20th October we were lying listlessly about 15 miles E., by
chart, from Sesarga,[206] called also _Ile de Contrariete_ (9 deg. 49' S.,
162 deg. 13' E.), condemned to inactivity to the northward of San Christoval.
We could now satisfy ourselves that it is quite erroneous to identify this
island with that seen by Pedro de Ortega in 1567, round in shape, and with
a lofty volcano in its midst continually throwing up smoke and steam. _Ile
de Contrariete_, as seen from the deck of our frigate, presented the
appearance of a long wooded ridge, averaging about 800 feet in height,
whereas some of the peaks of San Christoval, 3000 or 4000 feet in height,
presented all the configuration peculiar to a volcanic island; this was
especially the case with one remarkably regular cone of about 2000 feet in
height, which rises quite close to Cape Surville. So that Burney's theory
seems the most probable, that Ortega's Sesarga is no other than Mount
Lammot, 8000 feet high, on Guadalcanar (9 deg. 50' S., 160 deg. 20' E.).
At last, on 21st October, we succeeded in weathering Cape Surville. Thus
the Solomon's group too were what seamen call "hull-down," and we might
look forward to a speedy termination to this most tedious and unpropitious
voyage. For a long month we had, while to the northward of the Solomon's
Islands, vainly sighed for a fresh breeze, and now all at once the S.E.
trade was blowing so strong that the ship could only lay her course to the
southward under reduced sail, close-hauled, and had now to plunge
laboriously through the heavy seas, which the stiff breeze was knocking
up. On the 25th and 26th October it blew a regular storm from the S.E., we
forging along under double-reefed square-sails, till it almost seemed that
the end of our voyage was destined to be as stormy as its commencement
"away in the China seas." The ship's timbers creaked and groaned, as
though they would break into a thousand pieces, while the whistling and
moaning of the wind, the raging and roaring of the sea, the tremendous
crash of the waves against our bulwarks, left no peace night or day for
the "non-effectives," as all passengers not regularly borne upon the
ship's books are called on board a man-of-war. As though to increase the
discomfort of their position, it happened that the frigate began to make
water to such an extent, that in what was fortunately but a very small
portion of the hold, the water rose to fifty inches within four hours! It
was supposed that during the typhoon on the China sea, some of the copper
plates had been wrenched off, and that the water was finding entrance
through some leak in her outer timbers, but the most rigid examination
failed to discover its whereabouts. At all events it must have been at or
above the water line, as when the sea rose higher than usual, or the ship
lurched much, the water was sure to gain. We were compelled consequently
to vary from our original course by the open sea-way along the west coast
of New Caledonia, and steer for the coral sea, thickly studded with
reefs, which lies between New Caledonia and "Sandy Cape" on the shores of
Australia, as by adopting this dangerous route we should at least have
smoother water and more favourable winds. Meanwhile, every possible
precaution was taken in handling the ship, so as not to increase the leak,
and a sail was kept ready to be fothered from without over the leaky part
in case of necessity.
On 28th October we had expected to be in sight of the great
horse-shoe-shaped Bampton Reef. But there was no surf discernible from the
mast-head, only the change to smooth water, which we at once felt, proving
that the reef really existed, and that we were to leeward of it. Its
position is so variously laid down on the charts, that while by one chart
we must have been upon the very reef itself, we were, according to a
second, four miles, and, according to a third, fourteen miles to the
eastward of it! The last-mentioned seemed to be the most correct, since at
four miles the surf must have been visible, whereas it would be impossible
to see it at fourteen miles.
By 30th October we had passed the latitude of Sandy Cape, and could now
steer direct for Sydney, the capital of the colony of New South Wales. The
same day we also crossed the tropic of Capricorn. The temperature, which
had been falling regularly ever since we left the Solomon Islands, in 28 deg.
S., was as low as 64 deg.4 Fahr., so that we found it advisable to resume our
woollen clothing.
Ten months we had now spent in the tropics, in the hottest seas of the
globe, and we now felt, on a beautiful November morning in the southern
tropics, as on a clear spring morning at home. On 4th November we had our
first peep of the coast of Australia at Smoky Cape, a fresh easterly
breeze filling our sails, as we bowled along at 10 knots an hour,
constantly nearing the next station of our voyage. On the 5th, at 2 P.M.,
the not very high land round Port Jackson came in sight, and we had not to
alter her course by one spoke, so that our chronometer had given
unmistakeable proof of its accuracy. The coast is for the most part rather
flat and monotonous, but we soon recognized the entrance by North Cape,
which rises sheer out of the water at the harbour mouth, where we also
took a pilot on board. The light-house here, 420 feet above sea-level, had
been visible from the deck of the frigate 15 miles away! During the whole
voyage we had only seen one vessel, an American clipper off the Marianne
Archipelago, and were greatly amazed to find not a single sail in the
vicinity of the port. At last, just as we got abreast of the entrance, we
saw a steamer and some small boats making for the land. At 6 P.M., after a
voyage of 82 days, during which we had sailed 5930 miles, the anchor was
let go in the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, off Garden Island, to
the N.E. of the city of Sydney. We had reached in safety the fifth quarter
of the globe!
FOOTNOTES:
[200] As it is not uninteresting to know the course of exchange at
Sikayana existing between the products of European industry and its native
products, we subjoin a few of the most important equivalents:
For 5 lbs. tobacco one pig.
" 20 Steel fish-hooks "
" 5 Strings of red corals "
" 5 Strings of green and red glass beads "
" 5 Packets of needles and thread "
" 10 Ells of calico "
" 5 Fish-hooks ten eggs.
" 5 Fish-hooks two hens.
" 10 Fish-hooks 30 pieces of Taro.
" 2 Packets needles and threads 30 pieces of Taro.
" 1 Packet old playing-cards 4 hens.
[201] One Chinese picul = 133-1/2 lbs. English, whereas one Dutch picul =
135-3/5 lbs. English.
[202] Called Trepang by the Malays, _hai-schni_ by the Chinese, and
_Biche-de-mar_ by both English and French. Of this _holothuria_ or
sea-cucumber (_Holothuria edulis_), there are about 400 tons annually
imported into China from the various islands of the Southern Ocean.
[203] During our excursion, there were taken on board the frigate, which
cruised to and fro in short tacks off the island, about 200 readings of
the temperature, at depths of every 50 fathoms. It was also intended to
experiment as to soundings, but the state of the weather prevented this,
as there were continual squalls, and the threatening state of the weather
did not admit of a boat being launched. However at a distance of half a
mile from the reef, no bottom was found with 200 fathoms of line.
[204] It is perhaps a duty to our gallant companions of every grade to
vindicate the Expedition once more, and finally, from certain malignant
calumnies which, upwards of a year after we had left Australian waters,
were circulated in the columns of even respectable newspapers, accusing
the crew of the _Novara_ of having been guilty of most scandalous excesses
and wanton robbery while at Sikayana. It seems however needless to insist
that not the slightest pretext for such infamous aspersions was furnished
by any of the party who spent these few hours in Sikayana, of which we
have sketched the details in the present chapter. But the fact that they
could be circulated without its being possible to contradict them on
official authority points to a serious defect in our diplomatic position
abroad. True, that no respectable member of the community accredited the
idle mischievous report; true that the leading inhabitants, English,
American, and German, strenuously combated it on every possible occasion,
and in every possible manner. Yet had Austria been a recognized power,
instead of a friendly guest, it needs but little acquaintance with the
etiquette of public and official life to know that the calumny must have
been stifled in its birth, by the prompt action of those specially
appointed to protect the fair fame of their country in these distant
waters. Not till her flag floats regularly to the breeze in the most
distant countries, instead of being that of a casual visitor, will
Austria, and through her the entire German nation, receive that respect,
and occupy that position among the family of nations, to which her
intelligence, her energy, and her important influence upon the progress of
civilization alike entitle her.
[205] The quantity of rain that falls in these latitudes is something
almost incredible. One single squall from the N.W. was accompanied by a
rainfall of _three_ inches, in the course of _five hours_, whereas the
_entire rainfall_ for the _year_ in London, for instance, is only 18.07
inches.
[206] The native name is Ulatua.
END OF VOL. II.
JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
* * * * *
List of Modifications
Transcriber's Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Captions indicated in
the original publication's list of illustrations have been added to the
illustrations themselves. Illustrations omitted from the list of
illustrations have been added there. To these illustrations, new captions
have been added. Illustrations may have been moved. The footnotes have
been moved. We have rendered consistent on a per-word-pair basis the
hyphenation or spacing of such pairs when repeated in the same grammatical
context. We have corrected inconsistencies in the application of accents
to the same word when repeated. The publisher's inadvertent omissions of
punctuation have been corrected. Some wide tables have been re-formatted
to narrower equivalents with some words replaced with commonly known
abbreviations and possibly a key. Some ditto marks have been replaced with
the words represented. The publisher's corrections listed at the end of
Volume III have been applied. Duplicative front matter has been removed.
Other changes were made as listed below:
23: the poor people having been over whelmed[overwhelmed]
62: first the island of Meroe, than[then] the two
193: Javanese was their conversion to Brahmaism[Brahmanism]
205: of which is manufactured Manilla[Manila] hemp)
205: the plant in its orginal[original] climate,
206: beautifully situated Hotel Belleuve[Bellevue],
226: such as Gunnug[Gunung] Guntur and Gunung
236: caves.["] (The meaning of the above Javanese words is
236: name of _Njai[Njai]-Ratu-Segor-Kidul_,
270: Radhen[Raden] Saleh cherishes
281: Plans for canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos[Banos].
292: The two hotels lately started [to] levy,
301: was born 24th November, 1778, at Navianos[Navianos],
320: Athough[although] altogether more tobacco
345: the church was considered as descerated[desecrated]
353: owing to the attitude[altitude] of the hills
418: and wicker[-]work numerous skulls of rebels
451: In the dispensary there were, morever[moreover],
508: impart a certain bloom, an artificial fragrancy[fragrance],
529: clearly developes[develops] its tendency,
543: the centre of the _cylone[cyclone]_,
550: Wenn Welle ruht und jedes Luft gefluester[Luftgefluester]
550: Und fromm, fast wie zwei betende Geschwester[Geschwister].
617: with the seeds of the _Bixa ocellana[orellana]_,
* * * * *