A LADY’S CRUISE
IN A
FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR
“The morning watch was come; the vessel lay
Her course, and gently made her liquid way;
The cloven billow flashed from off her prow
In furrows formed, by that majestic plough.
· · · · ·
‘Huzza for Otaheite!’ was the cry.
The gentle island and the genial soil,
The friendly hearts, the feasts without a toil,
The courteous manners, but from nature caught,
The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbought.
· · · · ·
The soil where every cottage showed a home,
The sea-spread net, the lightly launched canoe,
Which stemmed the studded archipelago
O’er whose blue bosom rose the starry isles.
And sweetly now, those untaught melodies
Broke the luxurious silence of the skies,
The sweet siesta of a summer day,
The tropic afternoon of Toobonai,
When every flower was bloom, and air was balm,
And the first breath began to stir the palm.”
· · · · ·
—_The Island_: LORD BYRON.
[Illustration:
PAPEETE. CAPITAL OF TAHITI.
]
A LADY’S CRUISE
IN A
FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR
BY
C. F. GORDON CUMMING
AUTHOR OF ‘AT HOME IN FIJI,’ ‘FROM THE HEBRIDES TO
THE HIMALAYAS,’ ETC.
NEW EDITION, COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
_WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS_
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MDCCCLXXXII
_All Rights reserved_
INTRODUCTION.
When, in the spring of 1875, Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon was appointed
first Governor of Fiji, I had the good fortune to be invited to form one
of the party who accompanied Lady Gordon to that far country.
Two years slipped away, brimful of interest, and each month made me feel
more ‘At Home in Fiji,’ more fascinated with its lovely scenery, more
content to linger among its isles.
Then a counter-charm was brought to bear upon the spell which held me
thus entranced. The chief magician appeared in the guise of a high
ecclesiastic of the Roman Church, clothed in purple, and wearing the
mystic ring and cross of amethyst; while his coadjutor, a French
gentleman of the noble old school, was the commander of a large French
man-of-war, which had been placed at the service of the Bishop of Samoa,
to enable him to visit all the most remote portions of his diocese.
Already this warlike mission-ship had peacefully touched at many points
of exceeding beauty and interest, and our visitors had no sooner
recognised my keen appreciation of scenery, and inveterate love of
sketching, than they formally and most cordially invited me to complete
_le tour de la mission_, and so fill fresh portfolios with reminders of
the beautiful scenes which the vessel was about to visit.
Being duly imbued with a British conviction that such an invitation
could not possibly be a _bonâ fide_ one, I at first treated it merely as
a polite form; but when it was again and again renewed, in such terms as
to leave no possible doubt of its sincerity, and when, moreover, we
learnt that the most comfortable cabin in the ship had actually been
prepared for the invited guest, and that its owner was thoroughly in
earnest in his share of the invitation, then indeed we agreed that the
chance was too unique to be lost; and so it came to pass that on the 5th
September 1877 I started on the cruise in a French man-of-war, which
proved one of the most delightful episodes in many years of travel.
NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE KEY TO THE PANAMA CANAL.
While these pages were passing through the press, I have received
details from various sources, which prove that the policy referred to at
p. 241 is being actively carried out.
Not content with holding the Marquesas, the Paumotus, Tahiti, and the
Gambier Isles, France seems resolved to annex every desirable island
lying to the east of Samoa, thus securing possession of every good
harbour and coaling station lying between New Zealand and the coast of
South America; and also, diverting all the trade of these isles, from
Britain’s Australian colonies, to a French centre, which shall command
the great commercial highway of the future, when the Panama Canal shall
be completed. Raiatea in the Society Isles has recently been formally
annexed, and the independence of Huahine and Bora-Bora threatened.
Now a further step is contemplated. The Austral and Hervey groups still
remain free. They are self-governed, and Christianity is firmly
established among their people.
According to the latest information, a French man-of-war visited their
principal isles last August, to command the inhabitants to divert their
present trade from New Zealand to Tahiti, assuring them that Great
Britain had undertaken not to interfere with French action anywhere to
the east of Samoa. The islanders, who had at first received the French
vessel with all honour, no sooner got an inkling of the true object of
its visit than they became alarmed, and returned all presents which had
been made to them by the captain; who thereupon assured them that the
French admiral was on his way thither, and would soon bring them to
their bearings, and that they would have to accept a French
protectorate.
Remembering the history of French protection in Tahiti, the Australs and
Hervey Islanders are now justly alarmed for their own independence.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Letter to England announcing start from Fiji—Vague plans, 1
CHAPTER II.
Life in a French man-of-war—Convent-life in Tonga—Early
martyrs—Wesleyan mission—Roman Catholic mission—Cyclopean tombs
at Mua—Gigantic trilithon—Fines and taxes—King George Tupou, 3
CHAPTER III.
Sail from Tonga to Vavau—Volcano of Tofua—Wesleyan mission—Two
thousand miles from a doctor—Orange-groves—A lovely sea
lake—Coral caves, 24
CHAPTER IV.
Life on board ship—The Wallis Isles—Fotuna—Sunday Isle—Cyclopean
remains on Easter Isle—Stone adzes—Samoa—Pango-Pango harbour, 33
CHAPTER V.
Boat transit to Leone—Spouting caves—Council of war—Sketch of
Samoan history—Night dances, 48
CHAPTER VI.
A shore without a reef—Samoan plants—Houses—Animals—Laying
foundation-stone of a church—School festival—the Navigator’s
Isles, 61
CHAPTER VII.
Vanquished chiefs of the Puletoa faction under protection of the
union-jack—Convent school—“Bully” Hayes—Postal difficulties—House
of Godeffroy—Village of Mulinunu—Vegetables and fish—Advantages
of Anglo-American companies, 74
CHAPTER VIII.
The Ishmaelites of the Pacific—Injudicious intervention—Fa-Samoa
picnic—A torchlight walk—Training college at Malua—Apt
illustrations by native preachers—Dr Turner—Mission to the New
Hebrides—Escape to Samoa—Of many changes on many isles, 89
CHAPTER IX.
A sketch of the Samoan mission—The Rev. John Williams determines
to visit the Navigator’s Isles—Preliminary work in the Hervey
group—Discovery of Rarotonga—Conversion of its people—They help
Williams to build a ship which shall convey him to Samoa—Visit
Tonga—Proceed to Samoa—Overthrow of idolatry—Reverence for old
mats—Williams’s grave at Apia, 118
CHAPTER X.
Leave Samoa—Reach Tahiti—Grey shadows—Death of Queen Pomare—La
Loire and her passengers—A general dispersion—Life ashore at
Papeete—Admiral Serre and the royal family—Families of Salmon
and Brander—Adoption, 148
CHAPTER XI.
Papeete—Catholic mission—Protestant mission—A christening party—La
Maison Brandère—Tales of the past—Evenings in Tahiti—La
musique—Plans—Sunday, 164
CHAPTER XII.
Short sketch of a royal progress round Tahiti, 177
CHAPTER XIII.
The royal progress round Tahiti—Life day by day—_Himènes_—A
beautiful shore—Manufacture of arrowroot flowers—A deserted
cotton plantation—Tahitian dancing—The Areois—Vanilla
plantations—Fort of Taravao, 182
CHAPTER XIV.
The royal progress round Tahiti (_continued_)—French fort at
Taravou—The peninsula—Life in bird-cage houses—Torchlight
procession—Return to Papeete, 198
CHAPTER XV.
The semaphore—Immutable tides—The coral-reef—Spearing
fish—Netting—Catching sharks—A royal mausoleum—Superstitions of
East and West—Centipedes—Intoxicating drinks—Influenza—Death of
Mrs Simpson, 210
CHAPTER XVI.
The royal progress round Moorea—The Seignelay starts for the
Marquesas and Paumotus—Indecision, 226
CHAPTER XVII.
Vain regrets—Some account of the Marquesas and the Paumotu groups, 236
CHAPTER XVIII.
Tahitian hospitality—A South Sea store—A bathing picnic—The
Marquesans—Tattooing—Ancient games of Tahiti—Malay
descent—Theory of a northerly migration, 267
CHAPTER XIX.
Life in Papeete—The market—Churches—Country life in the South
Seas, 286
CHAPTER XX.
Visit to the Protestant mission on Moorea—A sketch of the early
history of the mission, 294
CHAPTER XXI.
A healing tree—Plantation life—Vanilla crops—Cat-and-dog life—A
foiled assassin—The tropics of to-day—England in days of
yore—Among the crags—Infanticide—Heathen days, 310
CHAPTER XXII.
Life on Moorea—An ancient place of sacrifice—Arrival of H.M.S.
Shah—Hospitalities on land and water, 322
CHAPTER XXIII.
The atoll group of Tetiaroa, 335
CHAPTER XXIV.
New Year’s Day in Tahiti—Ascent of Fautawa valley—Of palm salads,
screw-pines, and bread-fruit—Packing mango-stones—Return of
Gilbert Islanders—Departure of the Seignelay, 339
CHAPTER XXV.
Hurricane at the Paumotus—Mahena plantation—Watching for
vessels—Farewell to Tahiti, 353
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PAPEETE—CAPITAL, _Frontispiece_
TRILITHON, TONGA, 18
A CORAL CAVE, VAVAU, 29
OPUNOHU BAY, MOOREA, 153
LE DIADÈME, 169
A ROYAL RECEPTION, HAAPITI, 229
PAO PAO, OR COOK’S BAY, 230
ANCIENT MARAI, 324
MAP, _At the end_
NOTE.
The “Wa Kalou,”—_i.e._, “Fern of God,”—introduced on the cover of this
book, is a most delicate climbing fern which overtwines tall trees and
shrubs in the Pacific Isles, forming a misty veil of indescribable
loveliness. When in the state of fructification, each leaf is edged with
a dotted fringe of brown seed. In the Fijian Isles its beauty has gained
for it the name here given; and in olden days the ridge-poles of the
temples were wreathed with it, as those of chiefs’ houses are to this
day. It also finds favour for personal adornment, trailing garlands of
this exquisite green being singularly becoming to a clear brown skin.
A LADY’S CRUISE IN A FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR.
CHAPTER I.
LETTER TO ENGLAND ANNOUNCING START FROM FIJI—VAGUE PLANS.
NASOVA, FIJI, _5th Sept. 1877_.
MY DEAR EISA,—I have only time for a line, to enclose a packet of seed
of a lovely shrub which bears clusters of golden bells. Also to tell you
that I am just starting for a cruise in a French man-of-war, the
Seignelay, commanded by Captain Aube, who is taking Monseigneur Elloi,
the Roman Catholic Bishop of Samoa, a round of his diocese. Both are
exceedingly pleasant, and have made themselves much liked here. The
officers are a particularly gentlemanlike set. Judge of my amazement
(accustomed to the rigid regulations of the English navy), when these,
as one man, echoed an invitation given to me by the commander, to go for
a cruise over half the South Seas, where they purpose touching at many
isles, which I could by no possibility have any other chance of seeing.
Several of these most kind friends had placed their cabins at the
disposal of the captain, that he might offer me whichever he considered
most suitable. For the first day or two after this invitation was made,
we all treated it as a pleasant joke, never imagining that it could be
quite in earnest; but when at length we all became convinced that it
really was so, we agreed that there really could be no reason for
refusing so rare a chance of an expedition, which will be to me most
delightful.
So I am actually to embark this afternoon, Lady Gordon and dear little
sailor Jack, and Captain Knollys, accompanying me on board, to see me
fairly started.
This evening we sail for the Friendly Isles (Tonga), and thence proceed
to the Navigator’s Isles (Samoa), where there have been serious
disturbances, and where my friend Mrs Liardet, wife of the British
Consul, has for some time had about thirty chiefs living in sanctuary in
her house. I have long promised to visit her, should an opportunity
arise, so this is an admirable one. I shall probably take a return
passage thence in a German ship, and rejoin Lady Gordon at Loma Loma, a
point in this group, about one hundred miles from here.
My French friends urge my going on to Tahiti, the loveliest isle in the
South Seas; but the utter uncertainty of how to get back thence, either
here or to Tasmania, where Lady Gordon hopes to spend Christmas, makes
me hesitate. If I could reach the Sandwich Isles, I should then be on
the direct line of the Pacific mail-steamers; but Tahiti is utterly out
of the world, and till the Seignelay arrives there, she will not receive
her further orders, and may perhaps be sent to Valparaiso, which has no
attractions for me. So my line of march is at present somewhat
undecided. I think I shall almost certainly return here from Samoa; but
as B. long ago said, of my wandering propensities, that I was just like
a knotless thread, I may perhaps slip through, and you may hear of my
vanishing into space!
This place is looking lovely. It has improved wonderfully in these two
years, and has become so very homelike and pleasant, that I quite grudge
leaving it, with even the vague feeling of uncertainty which attaches to
any long journey; and though we all expect to return here, after a
winter in Tasmania, still, so many contingencies may arise, that one
always feels a home in the colonies to be a very insecure tenure.
Now I must finish my packing, which requires a good deal of
consideration in case it _should_ turn out that my locomotive demon
urges me onward, and that I _do_ visit the Hawaiian Isles, and then
Tasmania, ere returning here.
I wish you could see my room here, now. It really is a museum—the walls
covered with trophies of all the strange Fijian things I have collected
during the last two years. I have just finished a series of about sixty
studies of Fijian pottery, representing a hundred and fifty pieces, all
different, and made without any wheel, by the wives of the poor
fishermen. Some of the forms are most artistic, and the colour is very
rich. No time for more. I will write next from Tonga.