The bay and harbor of Anna Maria is scooped out of the Island in shape
of a horse-shoe; hemmed in on three sides by steep mountains, whose
sharp, well-defined acclivities spring boldly from the water--dense with
foliage--where the brightest verdure closely clasps and kisses the
perpendicular faces of the lofty barriers around.
At the head of the harbor, along a white, shelly beach, are multitudes
of cocoanuts, hibiscus, and bread-fruit trees, screening within
their leafy groves thatched huts and villages of the natives. To
the right is a rocky projection, frowning with a heavy battery
of cannon; while near by are the pretty villa and grounds of the
Governor--barracks--store-houses--buildings and plantations pertaining
to the French garrison.
I viewed this scene soon after daylight, as the first rays of morning
came glancing in horizontal gleams over the eastern heights, tinging the
opposite peaks with the rich, warm glow of sunlight, peering and prying
into many a green-clad precipice and grassy dell, step by step, until it
fairly illumined the dark alcove-like bay and shores below.
The anchors had hardly struck bottom before the frigate was surrounded
by canoes, of a rough, clumsy structure, filled with natives of the most
hideous and frightful descriptions. The men were nearly naked. Many had
large, frizzled wigs of human hair, thrown down the back of the neck,
and confined to the throat by cords or wire--a style of peruke not
intended to be used, but merely as a decoration. Others had fresh green
leaves entwined around the brows, with concave flaps in front, like
visors to caps--their ears perforated with misshapen holes, in which
were thrust carved ivory horns, or small bunches of flowers. The hair,
from constant bleachings in salt water, dews and tropical suns, had a
brown, sandy hue, or the color of tow--brushed straight back, somewhat
resembling the head costume of ladies of the court of Louis Quatorze!
But what rendered them preeminently hideous, was the tatooing. It,
indeed, bordered on the infernal! Not only were their bodies covered
with these dark stains, of every pattern, figure and device, but large
numbers had angular stripes, two inches broad, beginning at the temple,
crossing the eyelid, part of the nose, traversing the mouth and lips,
and then going out of sight around the face. I judged it to be a dim
idea of the facial angle. Others had the entire upper or lower part of
the visage stained like masques in domino. Isosceles triangles were
common, leaving the noses clear, and from a distance they appeared the
only feature of their faces. There was one demon who claimed a large
share of our attention: not a square inch of him, excepting the tongue
and eye-balls, was free from this hieroglyphical human "picture
printing," and he took immense delight in pointing out many high touches
of art, that might from their position have eluded our observation, and
dilated with, to us, unintelligible gibberish, upon certain other
indescribable arabesques. We thought him intended as a pattern card; an
ambulating advertisement, or sign board, sent abroad, as knowing tailors
send dandies at home, to give an idea of the higher and more correct
delineations of the tatoo: but this individual was altogether so very
interesting a specimen of goblin tapestry, that Champollion himself
might have studied him with much benefit and gusto.
They all looked like consummate rascals, and not in the physiognomony of
a single individual could we detect the slightest approach to
benevolence, or any of the milder virtues. On the contrary, they are
famed for cruelty, selfish apathy, and cunning, and are among the worst
of the Polynesian tribes. There have been two or three praiseworthy
attempts to reform them, by different missionary boards, but they
signally failed. The Nukehevans were found too vicious to even suffer,
without great privation and danger, their teachers to reside on the
islands, and they now remain in the same shocking state of barbarism as
before the discovery of the group, in sad contrast, so far as the
humanizing influences of Christianity and civilization extend, to the
benefits the pioneers of religion have shed upon the other islands of
these Indian Archipelagoes.
During the few years the French, in their rage for colonization in the
Pacific, have occupied Nukeheva, they have encountered great
difficulties in keeping these unruly natives within the bounds of
moderation. For a length of time they were continually on the _qui vive_
to guard against treachery and attack; of late, the islanders had been
quiet, understanding that the French, who held the harbor under what was
termed a forcible proprietorship, were shortly to depart; and, indeed,
as a preparatory step, some of the government buildings had already been
taken down and sent to Tahiti. Still there seems no reason why the
Marquesans should have evinced this bitter hostility, for it was
conceded that they have been treated with great lenience and
forbearance.
As a harbor of refuge, in time of war, Anna Maria is perfectly
safe--accessible and defensible; but from the natural indolence of the
natives, it is destitute of supplies in sufficient quantities to feed
even the few whale-ships touching here during the year.
The garrison was composed of two hundred and fifty _Infanterie de la
Marine_, maintained, no doubt, at considerable expense, and for what
present or perspective benefit it would be difficult to surmise. The
Governor was M. Fournier, the commander, also, of a fine corvette, the
Galathee, moored near the shore battery. He was all prepared to give us
a warm reception, in case our ship had worn the cross of St. George at
her peak, instead of a Yankee gridiron, for they were hourly
anticipating a rupture with England, consequent upon the French
revolution.
Going on shore, I made the acquaintance of a number of polite officers
belonging to the garrison, and had also the pleasure of meeting an old
friend, a handsome young Enseigne de Vaisseau. "Ah!" said he, "would you
believe, I've been here amid these beasts of savages eighteen months.
_Mon Dieu!_ Such a _monotone diablement horrible_! And do you remember
all France was talking of Du Petit Thours and this Paradise of
Polynesia, and I, like a fool, was dazzled, too! _Sacre!
Voila!_"--pointing to a group of copper-tinted and tatooed imps
reclining under a banana tree devouring raw fish, and sucking _poee_
with their filthy fingers--"and regard me in a flannel jacket, smoking
pipes, and reading, for the hundredth time, old Revues des deux Mondes!
perpetually sighing for those ravishing scenes we passed together--those
dinners in the Bois de Bologne--the races in the alleys by
moonlight--evenings at Ranelagh, when I used to dance the _cancan_ with
poor _Reine Pomaree_, and, behold, I've a lock of her hair," running to
an escrutoire; "and is it not droll we should meet again five thousand
leagues away, and so near the veritable dominions of the great Pomaree
herself!" My young friend had cause truly to be disgusted.
We took a long stroll around the beaches and valleys at the head of the
harbor, made a number of visits, then bathed in a shallow, discolored
stream of mineral water. The district is not populous, and, during our
sojourn, the king and many of the natives had gone to a high heathenish
festival in an adjacent valley, on the opposite side of the island.
Since the occupation by the French, perfect amity had existed between
the different clans of Nukeheva, where each petty chief and people are
independent sovereigns in their romantic and secluded valleys: not so
much for mutual friendship existing between them, as in hatred to their
white visitors. The French seldom wandered to any great distance from
their quarters, fearing, possibly, the "anthropopagian tastes of their
cannibalistic brethren."
The women were tall and well shaped, with very much brighter complexions
than the Hawaiians, and, with exceptions of young girls, were all more
or less disfigured by the indigo hues of tatoo; the faces escaping with
a few delicate blue lines, or dots, on lips or cheeks. They all seemed
complimented, and gave us every assistance in deciphering different
designs engraved upon their persons, and one buxom dame, who had a large
painting similar to the tail of a peacock spread upon her shoulders,
insisted upon doffing her drapery and preceding us, that we might study
its beauties with every facility possible!
Many were decorated with bracelets and necklaces of leaves or flowers,
and some with anklets of human hair, toe nails, and other valuable
relics. All were perfumed with cocoanut oil, and smeared with another
equally odoriferous ointment, which dyed arms and faces a deep
saffron--neither cosmetic was I able to acquire a taste for, after
repeated trials; and, indeed, I may admit, that I have never conquered a
disgust, perhaps engendered by too nice a sense of perfume.
From a number of unmistakable signs and expressions, I presumed the
_Franees_ were not entirely beloved, even by the women, although the men
deigned ludicrous attempts in mode of beard, moustache, shrug of
shoulders, and other little grimace, to copy French dress and manner.
After bathing, we reclined on the thwarts of an immense war-canoe that
was hauled upon the beach, capable of holding, at least, fifty paddles,
and amused ourselves watching a score of young girls swimming in the
bay: they swam like fishes, but, as there were no surf or rocks, I had
no means of determining what novel or extraordinary feats they were able
to perform: they were quite skilful little fisherwomen, and procured for
us a cocoanut-shell full of delicious oysters--no bigger than shilling
pieces--which served to pass the time until we adjourned to the king's
house.
It was rather a modern structure--of roughly-laid stones and
boards--built by the French, though falling to decay. There was but a
single apartment of tolerable size--floor and walls were strewn with
mats, stools, a couple of bedsteads, spyglasses, fowling-pieces covered
with rust, spears, nets, calibashes, rolls of _tappa_, war conches,
whales' teeth, circular crowns of cocks' feathers, besides an infinite
variety of serviceable and useless trumpery, scattered indiscriminately
around.
Coiled up on a low, beastly collection of mats and _tappa_, was a
repulsive object, half dead with some loathsome disease, and drunk with
_arva_--he was the chief's brother, and was expected to die shortly, or
be killed on the return of his sovereign--a custom strictly observed
with invalids and old, decrepid persons.
Within a stone's throw of this habitation, was another nearly completed,
in native design. The foundation was raised two feet by a platform of
large, round, smooth stones. The building itself was in shape of an
irregular inverted acute angle, or trapezoid, at the ends, with the legs
slightly inclined outwardly, and resting on the foundation. Large
upright shafts of polished red wood supported roof and sides, which were
nicely formed of frames of white poles, lashed securely and neatly
together by braids of parti-colored sennit, and thatched evenly and
tastefully over by the spear-shaped leaves of the pandannus, leaving the
front of the dwelling open for light and air. It presented a deal of
ingenuity and nice mechanism in the design and construction.
The French allow the king sixty dollars a-month, and I should say, from
the careless appearance of his household, that he made a bad use of
it--besides, he was addicted to _arva_, which my friend assured me was a
shade worse for the stomach than prussic acid. I returned to the frigate
in the evening, with a party planned to visit the Happar valley, whose
beauties we had heard much extolled, on the following day.