LIFE ON MOOREA—AN ANCIENT PLACE OF SACRIFICE—ARRIVAL OF H.M.S.
SHAH—HOSPITALITIES ON LAND AND WATER.
FRENCH MISSION, PAPETOAI, _Saturday Night_.
This has been a glorious day of unclouded sunlight, and in order that I
might enjoy it to the full, my kind hosts planned a family picnic on the
other side of the bay. There was no available boat, only a tiny canoe,
so we crossed in several detachments, till all were safely landed on the
opposite shore, where we established ourselves beneath the shade of some
noble iron-wood trees, whence the view of towering mountains, laughing
valley, and blue waters was so entrancing, that I at once settled down
to sketch, while the little ones disported themselves in the shallow
waters, therein capturing small crabs, and sea-urchins, and many other
treasures, till the kindling of a fire, and preparation of our gipsy
breakfast, afforded them fresh occupation and delight.
What a pleasant feast they spread on the briny grass, and with what
hospitality they ministered to our numerous self-invited guests, the
hermit-crabs! Less welcome were the inevitable mosquitoes, but to-day
there was sufficient breeze to disperse them in a great measure; and
after breakfast we wandered along the shore, and the strange lady from
Beretania was introduced to the gentle inmates of many a bird-cage home!
Oh dear, how fascinating is this simple, kindly, island life! Each day
leaves me more and more captivated by the loveliness of these isles of
paradise, where our eyes always rest on some scene of beauty, wherever
they turn. Each halting-place seems more charming than the last, and the
only sorrow is having to leave it, to pass on to another, which in its
turn becomes as attractive. Each week makes me wonder more how I shall
ever be able to settle down to a humdrum existence in well-appointed
English houses, with their regiments of fine servants, and wearisome
conventionalities of social life! I vote that, instead of my having to
do so, you should come out here and learn what true enjoyment means.
But, alas! my days in Moorea are for the present drawing to a close, for
on our return this evening I found kind letters from Mrs Brander and
from the governor, M. D’Oncieue, telling me of the arrival of H.M.S.
Shah, and requesting that, as a good British subject, I would hasten
back to share in the festivities to be held in her honour.
_Sunday Evening._
A morning of peaceful delight on the silent shore, and a long afternoon
stroll by myself, to drink in deep draughts of never-to-be-forgotten
enjoyment, of one of the loveliest spots in all this fair creation. We
had planned various pleasant expeditions for this week, but it seems
best to defer them; so I am to leave my baggage here to take its chance
of following me, and I am to ride to the other side of the island,
whence it is probable that a boat may go across to Papeete within a day
or two.
HAAPITI, ISLE MOOREA, _Monday Night_.
Bidding a provisional farewell to my charming hostess and my little
guides, I started in the fresh early morning, accompanied by M. Brun.
The whole ride was exquisite, though in places the beautiful forest has
suffered from ruthless carelessness, and many splendid old iron-wood
trees stand scathed and half-burnt by accidental fires. On our arrival
here, the big man of the village welcomed us to his house, and gave us
breakfast.
You may remember that it was at this place that Mrs Brander, in her
character of high chiefess of the isle, gave such a picturesque welcome
to the young king and queen. To-day the district was in its normal
condition of quiet—no crowds, no _himènes_, no feasting, save and except
the fatted fowl which perished on our arrival. Only the natural beauty
remained, unchanged and unsurpassable. I cannot believe that even the
Marquesas can be more beautiful, nor yet the nearer isle of Bora-Bora,
of which the Tahitians speak as of a marvel of loveliness, with its
towering rock-pinnacles and lofty crags, so veiled with trailing vines
as to resemble green waterfalls.
After breakfast we got a canoe and rowed back for a considerable
distance along the shore to a fine old _marae_—an immense platform of
huge blocks of hewn coral, on a pyramidal base, which in olden days was
a heathen altar, and also a tomb. Close by it are two smaller _marais_
and a large sacrificial stone, enclosed by a wall of small coral blocks.
The whole place is overgrown by grand old iron-wood trees (_casuarina_).
After we had left it, we were told of a stone image, four or five feet
high, which has somehow escaped the general destruction of its fellows;
and I was very sorry to have missed seeing so interesting a survivor of
a past so recent and yet so thoroughly extinguished.
This is the only _marae_ I have seen, the majority having been
destroyed, together with the temples and the altars, when the people, in
the zeal of first love, endeavoured to sweep away every trace of the old
idolatry.
Mr Ellis has recorded that one huge _marae_ having been destroyed, the
natives used the stones composing it to build an immense platform, on
which was spread a great feast for all the children of the school (both
boys and girls, in number about 240) and their parents. The point of
interest lay in the fact that in heathen times it would have been death
for a girl or a woman to set foot in the _marae_, or to taste the food
which was there offered. Indeed all the better sorts of food, such as
pig and fowl, were reserved exclusively for the men and the gods; and
the fire with which men’s food was cooked was also sacred; no woman
dared to use it—her simpler fare must be cooked apart, and eaten in a
separate hut. So a united festival, such as that held on the ruins of
the _marae_, was in every sense a Christian love-feast, and strangely in
contrast with the hideous scenes previously enacted on the spot, when
the coral walls were dyed with the blood of human victims offered to the
cruel war-gods, and where, in every crevice of the noble old trees, were
seen bleaching human bones, skeletons hanging from the boughs, and
beneath them, ghastly heaps of skulls, generally those of warriors slain
in battle.
[Illustration:
ANCIENT MARAI AND BASALTIC NEEDLE.
ISLE MOOREA.
]
These horribly unfragrant _marais_ were also considered as family
mausoleums, where the dried bones of great men might safely be
deposited. Nevertheless, even the sanctity of the temple did not always
protect the dead from ruthless spoliation; and in times of war the
victors not only carried off the idols of the vanquished, but also the
bones of their relations, to be converted into chisels or fish-hooks,
which was considered the lowest depth of degradation.
To avoid this danger, the dead were laid in small houses apart, and
carefully watched, till the flesh fell from their bones, when these were
collected by a trusty hand, and carried to some safe hiding-place in the
mountains. In the case of any person of great note, this custom is still
observed, as I learnt on visiting the little seaside chapel where old
Queen Pomare was buried shortly before my arrival; and I was told her
bones had been secretly removed, only three or four of her nearest
kindred being aware of their present hiding-place.
In olden days, however, a simple process of embalming was practised, by
means of which the wealthier families could preserve their dead for
about a year, not longer. The brain and intestines having been removed,
they were replaced by cloth saturated with aromatic oils, which were
also daily rubbed all over the corpse. Every day it was placed in a
sitting posture in the sun, that it might gradually become dried up; and
an altar was erected before it, on which were daily offered fresh
flowers, and fruit, and other food. With this the relations or priests
touched the lips of the dead several times a day, for, like the Chinese,
they averred that the departed spirit came to feast on the spiritual
essence[66] of the gross meats.
Indeed the whole ceremony savours of Chinese custom. There was the same
passionate ceremonial wailing for the dead, the same sort of religious
service to appease the unquiet spirit, and prevent it from returning to
earth to annoy the survivors. In place of burning paper effigies of
horses, and houses, and other things likely to be useful in the
spirit-world, the Tahitian priest placed about the corpse pieces of the
stalk of the mountain-plantain, and told the dead that these were its
parents, its wife, its children, and that with these it must be
satisfied, and refrain from vexing the living.
Here likewise, as in the Chinese cities of the dead, small low houses
were built as temporary homes for the unburied corpses, which were laid
on biers, and by day were drawn out into the sun; but by night the body
lay horizontally, and was frequently turned, lest it should dry
irregularly. When, notwithstanding all care, the poor body began to
decay, then the skull was wrapped in cloth, and carried home to be
preserved with the family gods, and duly worshipped. The bones were
either buried or carried off to the mountains in the mysterious way I
have already described.
Although the Tahitian embalmers failed to preserve their dead for more
than a year, the Samoans seem to have been more successful, though,
apparently, only a limited number of the chiefs were thus honoured. Dr
Turner, however, has seen bodies which had certainly been embalmed for
upwards of thirty years, and were still in excellent preservation, when,
on the death of the relations whose task it was to dress and tend the
bodies, all were laid together beneath the sod. The office of embalmer
was an exclusively feminine one, and the process observed in Samoa was
exactly the same as that practised in Tahiti. The body was wrapped in
native cloth, leaving the head, face, and hands exposed; these were
occasionally anointed with scented oil and turmeric, to give a lifelike
tinge to the complexion, and so were exhibited to all comers.
I spoke of the wailing at funerals as ceremonial, because it was not
only customary to weep frantically, rending the hair, tearing the
garments, and uttering agonising cries, but it was also _de rigueur_ to
display sympathy by inflicting on one’s self very serious wounds with
instruments made for the purpose. Several rows of shark’s teeth were
fixed in small canes, and with these the mourners smote their breasts,
their heads, even their faces. One of these useful implements formed
part of a girl’s bridal _trousseau_, that she might be ready to take her
part in whatever scene of sorrow or of joy might present itself. For,
strange to say, the same ceremonies were observed, though in a less
excessive degree, to mark great happiness; and the safe return of a
member of the family, or his escape from danger, was, and still is,
marked by the shedding of what might be mistaken for bitter tears.
Happily, however, the horrible custom of cutting and bruising one’s own
flesh is a thing of the past; and friends no longer express sympathy
with the bereaved by giving them strips of _tappa_ saturated in the
blood thus voluntarily shed, to be preserved as precious memorials of
affection!
The one pleasant feature connected with the _marais_, as with so many
forms of heathen worship, was the beautiful grove of old trees which
surrounded them. Different tribes adopted special trees as clan badges,
and planted these round their family shrines. Thus some were
overshadowed by huge banyan trees, others by the noble _tamanu_, or
native mahogany; and others, again, were distinguished from afar by the
gorgeous blossoms of the coral-tree,[67] which dripped its blood-red
petals on the altars below it. This beautiful tree is almost
imperishable; but unluckily it shared in the fate of too many of those
sacred temple trees, which were ruthlessly cut down by the early
converts, in their iconoclastic zeal. Now the mournful casuarina (the
_noko-noko_ of Fiji), with its dark hair-like drooping needles, is
almost the only distinctive foliage which marks the resting-place of the
dead.
We lingered at this weird and horribly suggestive spot till the evening,
and as we rode back to Haapiti, the crags and pinnacles towered in
purple majesty against a background of luminous gold, and one divided
ray from the setting sun threaded the eye of the great rock-needle.
Later, when the moon had risen, we went to the village to see the native
minister, who is going to Papeete to-morrow, and has agreed to give me a
passage in his boat. We are to start early, so I must now have a sleep.
Besides, the mosquitoes are troublesome, and the only refuge from them
is beneath my nets. So good-night.
LA MAISON ROUGE, PAPEETE,
_December 18th_.
Once more I find myself “at home” beneath this hospitable roof. We
started at daybreak and rowed leisurely along the lovely coast to
Afareaitu (the place where I told you that Mr Ellis, the early
missionary, established his first printing-press). At a short distance
further we came to Nuupuru, where we landed to explore another great
_marae_, likewise overgrown with casuarina and palm-trees. It stands on
the coral-shore, which there, as in most parts of the isles, is shaded
by dark trees with widespreading branches. Just behind this huge
coral-altar, rises a gigantic rock-needle—a cyclopean natural monolith,
such as might have accounted for the position of the altar, in lands
where nature-worship prevailed, which, however, does not appear to have
been the case in these isles.
Here we left the friendly shelter of the reef and passed into the outer
ocean. Happily a fair breeze favoured us, and we entered Papeete harbour
soon after noon. Great was the amazement of my native friends as they
realised the huge proportions of H.M.S. Shah, probably the largest ship
ever seen in these waters. I believe she weighs about 7000 tons.
Certainly she makes all the other vessels in harbour look like pigmies.
The little Daring is only 700 tons; Le Limier, 1000; and my trusty old
ship Le Seignelay, 2000. The Shah carries nearly 700 men and 50
officers, so England is well represented. My boatman rowed right under
her bows, the better to estimate her vast size.
On landing, I found that Mrs Brander and all the family had moved back
to town on account of the arrival of so important a vessel, which, of
course, involves much work for the house of Brander. I had just time to
feed, change my dress, and accompany my hostess to the palace to
“assist” at the king’s state reception of Admiral De Horsey and his
suite, which, of course, was as stiff as stiff could be. We had a
pleasant evening, however, at the band. Lovely full moonlight.
THE RED HOUSE, _Friday, 21st_.
Papeete is surpassing itself in its graceful hospitalities. On
Wednesday, M. D’Oncieue had a very large reception _au Gouvernement_,
and the French admiral’s band played “God save the Queen” as the British
admiral entered. To you, doubtless, that conveys little, but to a
stranger in a far land it means much. To me, who had not heard the grand
old air since I left Australia, more than two years ago, it was most
thrilling music, for you have no idea how patriotic we become when we
reach the antipodes!
The French and English bands played alternately the whole night, and as
all the ships were (for once) well represented, and all the dancing
world of Papeete present, in their happiest mood and prettiest toilets,
it was a most successful ball, and well kept up. The lovely moonlight
drew all the non-dancers to the gardens, much to the edification of the
crowds assembled outside the railing. I found several pleasant
acquaintances among the new-comers, and many more proved to be “friends’
friends”—a title which in these far countries means more than you
dwellers in overcrowded Britain can possibly be expected to understand,
though you may perhaps realise the unwonted pleasure of meeting so many
real English gentlemen.
The evening was far too beautiful for carriages, so the revellers
dispersed on foot, to walk home by bowery streets or peaceful shore.
Yesterday Mrs Brander gave us a startling proof of her skill in
organising, and of the resources at her command. At the governor’s ball
it suddenly occurred to her to invite all present to a great native
feast on the following day, at her country-home. At daybreak she started
to commence preparations, on a scale which, in most hands, would have
involved a week’s hard labour. Messengers were despatched in every
direction to collect fowls, turkeys, sucking-pigs, vegetables, fruit,
&c., &c. A party was told off to build a green bower in which to spread
the feast. Glass, crockery, silver, and wines had to be brought from the
Red House and the store; for the ordinary service required for even so
large a party as habitually assemble at Fautawa would not go far among
such a multitude as were invited to this impromptu gathering.
Still the question was undecided how the guests were to amuse
themselves, as feeding could not last all the evening. Happily Captain
Bedford came ashore to see my portfolio, and I ventured to ask if the
band might come to Fautawa—a favour which was cordially granted, and I
was able to drive off to Fautawa as the bearer of this excellent news.
In less than no time, the large drawing-room was cleared for dancing,
the wide verandahs gaily decorated with Chinese lanterns, and an
admirable ball-room was prepared. It was all like a transformation
scene, and accomplished so quietly. It would not be so remarkable in a
large European house, with a full complement of carefully drilled
servants; but here there really are no servants, properly so called,
only friendly “helps.” Certainly every one worked with a will on this
occasion, and all was ready ere the arrival of the first carriage, full
of middies.
The carriages, like everything else, bore testimony to Mrs Brander’s
thoughtful and generous care. She provided conveyance for every one,
from the English admiral and French governor down to the smallest middy.
Of course her own stable could not supply the demand, so every available
trap was hired, and plied to and fro over the three miles, till all the
guests were duly assembled. You will allow that this was a truly
Tahitian phase of hospitality.
So also was the kind forethought which provided towels and a new _pareo_
for every guest who cared to bathe in the lovely river—an invitation
which few, if any, refused; so that a succession of joyous parties soon
found their way to all the best pools, and therein revelled.
By the time the stragglers reassembled, a multitude of gay wreaths had
been prepared by the Tahitian maidens, and all the guests were duly
crowned. Some of the English officers were slightly taken aback by this
unwonted decoration, but all submitted meekly; and we then marched in
procession to the house of feasting, which was erected on the softest
green turf, not far from the brook. It was a long building, consisting
of a slight framework of bamboos, just sufficiently strong to support a
thatch of plaited cocoa-palm leaves; while for pillars, strong young
bananas were transplanted bodily, their broad cool leaves making a
lovely canopy of freshest green. The golden leaves of the dracæna were
strung together to form deep fringes and festoons along the rafters;
while a still deeper fringe, carefully prepared from the fibre of
hybiscus bark, and dyed pale yellow, was festooned all round the whole
building. There must have been many hundred yards of this. Just think of
the labour of preparing it! That, of course, had been done at leisure.
In lieu of a table-cloth, fresh green banana-leaves were spread upon the
grass down the centre of the building, and on these were laid all manner
of good things, in dishes made of plaited leaves. Dainty little
sucking-pigs, turkeys, and various preparations of chicken, were, as
usual, the foundation of the feast. These had been brought in hot haste
from Mrs Brander’s farm; while fish and all manner of crustacea seemed
to have arrived by magic from the depths of the sea, the mountain
streams, the mangrove-shore, and the coral-reef—each had sent its
contribution. The delicious white _wurrali_, and their red relations,
the cray-fish and lobsters, were there—shrimps and prawns, living and
cooked, to suit all tastes. Raw fish and cooked fish, each with
appropriate sauce; shell-fish of various sorts, including the delicate
little oysters from the isthmus. Fruits of all sorts, mangoes and
melons, strawberries, oranges, and bananas; yams, _taro_, and
_kumala_—_i.e._, sweet potatoes—and sundry other vegetables.
The obnoxious national drink of the South Seas, made from the chewed
root of _kava_, _alias_ _yangona_, seems to have quite disappeared in
Tahiti, and sweet young cocoa-nuts supplied the only native drink; but
these were supplemented by many a brimming bumper of the best foreign
wines, and champagne flowed like water. Thanks to the graceful
unaffected courtesy with which Narii and Ariipaea Salmon, and several of
the ladies of the family, themselves waited on all their guests, all
went off admirably; every one was well cared for, and mirth and laughter
reigned on all sides. Some of the naval guests, however, were not so
well accustomed, as are all the rest of us, to sitting curled up on the
fine mats, which were spread for the guests all round the leafy table;
and so obviously uncomfortable were some of the senior officers, that
the kind-hearted ladies took pity on their foreign friends, and brought
piles of cushions and pillows, to raise them; but as they could not
raise the tables also, I fear that some of the gentlemen must have voted
dining _à l’indigène_ rather a serious effort.
I should have mentioned that in “setting the table,” a pile of large
bread-fruit leaves are laid before each person to act as plates, and to
be changed as often as may be desired. Also, in lieu of tumblers,
wine-glasses, and cruet-stands, each guest is provided with a half
cocoa-nut shell, full of drinking water, and one of milk, a third with
chopped cocoa-nut, and a fourth with salt water. The two latter are
mixed together to make a sauce in which to dip the good things that are
coming. This done, the fourth shell is filled with fresh water to act as
a finger-glass. Half a bread-fruit, nicely cooked, is laid beside each
place in lieu of bread. I fear, if I must confess the truth, that
certain dainties in the way of creams and jellies, and tipsy-cakes, such
as were not common in Tahiti in the days of Captain Cook, did find their
way to our leafy bower, and were by no means despised.
Afterwards the band took up a good position outside the house, and a
right merry dance ensued. As the gentlemen considerably outnumbered the
ladies, great satisfaction was expressed when two very ladylike white
girls suddenly arrived, robed in loose white sacques, and of course
crowned with flowers. These turned out to be two of the middies, who
kept up their part admirably throughout the evening.
The Shah musters a first-rate theatrical corps, and they say they would
gladly act for the amusement of their Tahitian friends, but
unfortunately their stay is too short to admit of any such ploy.
We are all going to lunch on board to-day.
_Friday Evening._
We have had a very pleasant afternoon on the great ship. Soon after
twelve we joined the royal party, for whom the admiral’s barge was
waiting, the blue jackets receiving the king with uplifted oars. (I
believe “tossed” is the correct expression.) He was treated throughout
with full royal honours—twenty-one guns on arrival and departure, yards
manned, marines and crew on parade, and all the officers in the agonies
of full uniform, with which, however, they soon contrived to dispense. I
think that as soon as Captain Bedford had got over his surprise at being
asked by the queen where she might smoke, he realised that gold lace was
superfluous! Tahitian ladies can never be happy for long without their
cigarettes, and the queen has recently received a present of an enormous
supply, which are fast disappearing in faint films of smoke!
Our first introduction was to a large, very tame, black bear, which the
sailors captured as a baby on Vancouver’s Isle, and which now plays with
them like a very gentle big dog. It is a much nicer beast than the
Russian bears brought by the Limier.
We were formally conducted all over the huge ship, and duly wondered at
the length of the lower deck, with the row of great guns on either side;
in short, we felt exceedingly proud of our British representative, and
the French officers and their Peruvian friends kindly abstained from
invidious comments on the recent “Huascar” affair, which had been freely
discussed here before the arrival of the giant Shah. Now all allusion to
that pugnacious little vessel was studiously avoided, and everything
connected with the big ship called forth a chorus of undivided
admiration.
King Ariiaue was requested to touch an electric battery, and quick as
lightning a whole broadside went off. In like manner Queen Marau fired a
torpedo, which threw up the water in a gigantic fountain. We went
through the ward-room, the large airy gun-room, and the officers’
daintily fitted-up cabins, exquisite in their neatness. The admiral has
a most charming bedroom, drawing-room, and dining-room. In the latter we
sat down to luncheon, about twenty-four persons, including the
commanders of the other vessels.
When we returned on deck we found it transformed into a brilliant
ball-room, all draped with flags, and full of people from Papeete. As we
looked down from the upper decks and bridge, a prettier scene could not
be imagined. The dancing folk did dance to their hearts’ content; and
those who, like myself, hold the Eastern creed, that all such hard work
should be done by proxy, held possession of the higher levels, and
sometimes varied the picture by turning to the beautiful panorama on
every side of the harbour. To rest the band, there were two interludes,
when the sailors danced hornpipes, and sang capital songs with choruses,
which some of us enjoyed so much that we would fain have prolonged the
concert. Unfortunately the king was tired of the proceedings, and wanted
to hurry through the dances for which the queen had already engaged
herself; so the singing was soon stopped, and the ball resumed till the
sun had almost set behind Moorea, bathing its mountains in dreamy gold.
A few minutes later the island stood out in clear-cut lilac, floating
between a sea and sky of pale daffodil. Then we all returned ashore, and
in the evening went to hear some _himènes_, specially got up for the
edification of the strangers, who, however, by some unlucky
misunderstanding, failed to appear. But as compared with those I had
previously heard, these were very poor _himènes_, and I was almost glad
that they were not taken as samples of what those charming glees can be.
To-morrow morning the little Daring sails for Honolulu and the great
Shah for Valparaiso. Every one regrets so speedy a departure, but the
admiral says he dares not risk remaining with 700 Englishmen in this
port, over Christmas Day, as it would be impossible to keep the men on
board, with the tempting shore so close, and that if they once landed,
some would inevitably get drunk, and have a row with the French
authorities. Our good consul is evidently much relieved by this wise,
though unpopular decision.
It certainly is grievous that the jolly tars, of whom Britain is so
justly proud, contrive to do such scant credit to their nation or
themselves when they land in any foreign port. Here, for instance, day
after day, among the crowds who land on the shore just under my
verandah, I never hear a voice which seems to be raised in anger,—all
seem bright and happy. I wish I could say the sounds are equally
pleasant when a party of British sailors go past! _Then_ the echoes that
linger on the ear are sanguinary and repulsive; a painful contrast to
the musical speech of the natives.
The Shah is fortunate in possessing, in the Rev. —— Reed, a chaplain who
is exceedingly popular with all on board, and who takes an immense
interest in all that concerns his flock. Besides the regular band, he
has trained one specially to accompany sacred music; and the church
choir is said to be excellent. It would have been really pleasant to
have heard our own Church service on Christmas Day. By some fatality I
have not had that privilege since leaving England; last Christmas Day
having been spent in the hateful work of transhipping on our way from
Fiji to New Zealand; and the previous one was spent in the mountains of
great Fiji. It has been the same as regards Easter. We had to sail from
Marseilles on Easter morning 1875. Easter of 1876 was spent in a little
Fijian village in the isle of Koro, and Easter 1877 among the geysers of
northern New Zealand. Where they may next find me, who can tell?
I must close my letter that it may be sent on board the Daring at
daybreak. The pretty Tahitian girls are working all to-night to finish
arrowroot or bamboo fibre hats as parting gifts to the friends whom they
will probably never meet again. “Telle est la vie!”—Good-night.
YOUR LOVING SISTER.