THE SOCIETY ISLANDS.
APPEARANCE, DRESS, AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS.
DISCOVERY OF THE ISLANDS, AND REASONS FOR THEIR NAMES -- THE ISLAND
OF TAHITI OR OTAHEITE -- CONFORMATION AND CLIMATE OF TAHITI -- THEIR
EFFECT UPON THE INHABITANTS -- EFFEMINATE APPEARANCE OF THE MEN,
AND BEAUTY OF THE WOMEN -- SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE SEXES -- GENERAL
MODE OF LIFE IN TAHITI -- SEPARATE TABLES FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN --
POMARÉ’S CRUCIAL TEST, AND ITS RESULTS UPON IDOLATRY -- DRESS OF
THE SOCIETY ISLANDERS -- MODES OF WEARING THE HAIR -- TATTOOING IN
TAHITI -- MEANS EMPLOYED BY THE MISSIONARIES TO ABOLISH THE PRACTICE
-- HOSPITALITY OF THE TAHITANS -- MODE OF MAKING PRESENTS -- SOCIAL
USE OF PRESENTS -- THE BAKED PIG AND THE CLOTH -- DISTINCTIONS OF
RANK -- REASONS FOR OMAI’S FAILURE -- EXTERNAL INDICATIONS OF RANK --
DEPORTMENT OF TAHITANS TOWARD THEIR SOVEREIGN -- AMUSEMENTS OF THE
TAHITANS -- THEIR SONGS AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS -- SURF RIDING --
BOXING AND WRESTLING MATCHES.
This interesting group of islands was originally discovered in 1605 by
De Quiros, and has derived the name of the Society Islands from the
liberality of the Royal Society, which, in 1767, sent an expedition
under Captain Cook for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus
over the sun. There are many islands of this group, the best known of
which is TAHITI, or OTAIIEITE, as the word was given in Cook’s Voyages.
This island forms one of a portion of the group which is distinguished
by the name of the Georgian Islands, in honor of George III.
Tahiti is singularly picturesque when viewed from the sea, in
consequence of its mountainous character, the island being so filled
with lofty peaks and crags that the only way of reaching the interior
is by following the courses of the valleys. Sometimes the rocks shoot
up into sharp and spire-like peaks, sometimes they run for miles in
perpendicular precipices, several thousand feet in height; sometimes
they are scarped and angular like gigantic fortresses, sometimes they
are cleft into ravines of terrible depth, and sometimes they are
scooped out into hollows like the craters of extinct volcanoes.
Down these craggy steeps dash torrents that fertilize the soil, and so
equably genial is the temperature that every shelf and ledge is covered
with luxuriant foliage and gorgeous flowers. Tahiti indeed, as has been
well said, is the gem of the Pacific. Our business, however, lies not
so much with the island as with its inhabitants--not the semi-civilized
people of the present day, but the uncivilized people of 1769, when
Captain Cook visited them. In the following description, we will take
Tahiti as the typical island of the Society group, merely introducing
the lesser islands by way of illustration of the manners and customs
which pervaded the whole group.
In consequence of the superior fertility of Tahiti, and the consequent
supply of food without the need of labor, the Tahitans are more plump
and rounded of form than are the inhabitants of most other Polynesian
islands. In the case of the men, the fair skin and plump rounded forms
give them an effeminate appearance, and the earlier voyagers have all
noticed the strong contrast between the dark, nervous, and muscular
frames of the Tongan men, and the fair, smooth limbs and bodies of the
Tahitans. The men, too, wear their hair long, and, if it were not that
they permit the beard to grow to some length, they would well deserve
the epithet of effeminate.
Not only is this smoothness and fairness one of their distinguishing
marks, but they also are characterized by a sort of languor in their
movements and timidity in their carriage, very unlike the demeanor of
the bold and warlike Tongans and Samoans. “This observation,” writes
Captain Cook, “is fully verified in their boxing and wrestling, which
may be called little better than the feeble efforts of children, if
compared to the vigor with which those exercises are performed at the
Friendly Islands.”
They are so careful of their complexion that when they think their
skins are becoming darkened by exposure to the sun, they have a mode
of bleaching themselves. Captain Cook merely mentions that they remain
within doors for a month or two, wear great quantities of clothing, and
eat nothing but bread-fruit, this diet being supposed by them to have a
strong bleaching power. It is probable, however, that besides the diet
and the confinement within the house, they also employ some preparation
similar to that which is used by the Marquesan women under similar
circumstances.
The Tahitans place such reliance on the effect of food on complexion,
that they believe themselves to change the hue of their skins several
times in the year, owing to the kind of food on which, owing to the
change of season, they are obliged to live. They do not, however, like
many nations, think that corpulence is a mark of rank and wealth.
That fairness of skin and roundness of form which detract from the
manly beauty of the male sex only add to the feminine charms of the
women, who are far more beautiful even than those of Tonga, while
they infinitely surpass the short, thickset women of the Marquesans.
A Tahitan woman would be reckoned beautiful even among Europeans, the
skin being fairer than that of many a Spanish girl, and the large full
eyes and rich hair having a fascination peculiar to themselves, a charm
which many travellers have endeavored to describe, and all, according
to their own statements, have failed to convey in words.
Yet the lot of the Tongan women is far superior to that of the Tahitan.
As we have already seen, the woman of Tonga is by no means the mere
slave of the despotic husband, but is often his true helpmeet and best
adviser. Among the Tahitans, however, we find that the effeminate,
smooth-limbed, long-haired, fair-skinned man, who would not abide the
charge of a Tongan boy, is a very tyrant at home, having no idea that
women can be anything but chattels, and beating his wives, his dogs, or
his pigs, with equal disregard of their feelings.
The women are not allowed to eat of various kinds of food, as they
would offend the gods by so doing, and it is a remarkable coincidence
that the gods do not permit the women to eat exactly those articles
of food which the man likes best, such, for example, as turtle, and
certain kinds of fish and plantain.
Neither are the women allowed to eat with their husbands, but take
their meals in a separate part of the house. This prohibition is the
more galling because, in a well-to-do Tahitan’s family, eating goes
on all day with very short intervals. The family breakfast at eight,
and have a first dinner or luncheon at eleven. Thus invigorated, they
are able to wait until two, when they take their first dinner. This
is followed by a second dinner at five and supper at eight, after
which they retire to rest. But as it is manifestly impossible to go
without food for twelve hours, they awake at two, take another meal, or
“rere-supper,” and sleep again until daybreak.
As to the turtle, a certain sort of sanctity is attached to it. When
one of these reptiles is caught, it is always sent to the king, who,
however, does not cook so sacred a creature in his own house, but sends
it to the temple, where it is offered to the idol. It is cooked in the
marae, or sacred enclosure, and, after a portion has been taken by the
priest for the idol, the remainder is sent back to the king. Unless
this offering were made, the offender would immediately suffer from the
vengeance of the offended god.
This custom was exploded by Pomaré about 1820. The king had long
believed that the idols were nothing more than images, and that the
gods were but human inventions, and determined to try the subject by
a crucial test. He waited until his subjects had caught a turtle,
and sent it to him according to the custom of the island. Instead of
sending it to the marae, he had the turtle taken to his own kitchen and
cooked there. It was then served up, and his whole household sat down
with him to partake of it. No one, however, except the king, had the
courage to eat a mouthful, and even Pomaré himself was in a state of
nervous trepidation, and had very little appetite when he came to apply
his test. However, he was a man of great moral courage, and though he
could not eat much of the royal dainty, he ate enough to bring down
upon him the wrath of the god.
Finding that no harm happened to him, he convened an assembly of the
chiefs, and narrated the whole of the circumstances, telling them
they were free to act as they liked, but that for his part he abjured
idolatry from that time. The consequence was, that of their own accord
the people voluntarily abandoned their idols, and either gave them to
the missionaries, used them as seats, or put them in the fire with
which food is cooked, the last proceeding being the very depth of
degradation.
One of these raids on the idols was conducted after a very curious
manner.
When the converts had reached the temple in which were deposited the
idols that they had so long worshipped, their hearts failed them, and
not a man dared to enter the house and lay his hands on the sacred
images. They bethought themselves, however, of trying the effect of
fire-arms, with which they were furnished, and, in the presence of the
terrified population, made ready to fire upon the idols. After calling
upon the images, warning them that they were about to be fired upon,
and calling upon them to avenge themselves if they could, they fired a
volley into the house. Finding that no harm ensued, they advanced more
boldly, and burned down the temple together with its occupants.
A curious instance of courage similar to that of Pomaré occurred at the
island of Rurutu. A native teacher recommended at a public assembly
that a feast should be held, and that the king, his chiefs, his people,
and their wives should together partake of turtle and pork, both these
articles of diet being prohibited to women in Rurutu. The test was
accepted, and the party assembled, having by a curious coincidence
selected ignorantly a piece of ground sacred to Oro, the vengeful god
of war. That any one should eat on so sacred a spot would have been
sufficient to draw upon the delinquents the full terrors of Oro’s
anger; but that men and women should eat together on the spot, and
that women should absolutely eat both turtle and pork, were enormities
almost too great to be conceived.
The feast took place, and, as writes Mr. Bennett, “when the Rurutuans
saw that, they said, ‘No doubt they will die for this trespass on
the sacred ground,’ and looked earnestly, expecting some one to have
swollen or fallen down dead suddenly; but after they had looked for a
considerable time and saw no one come, they changed their minds, and
said, ‘Surely theirs is the truth; but perhaps the god will come in the
night and kill them: we will wait and see.’
“One man actually went in the night to the wife of the chief Auüra,
who also ate a part of a hog or turtle on the sacred spot, and said,
‘Are you still alive?’ When the morning arrived, and the Rurutuans
found that no harm had happened to any of them, they became exceedingly
disgusted at their having been deceived so long by the evil spirit.”
* * * * *
Like many other Polynesians, the Tahitans are of fair complexions, and
very well made. Both men and women are good-looking, and many of the
latter may be called beautiful, their graceful robe of bark cloth,
and the flowers with which they love to entwine their hair setting
off their charms in an admirable manner. It is rather strange, by the
way, that the women of Eimeo, one of this group, are very inferior to
those of the other islands, being darker, of lower stature, and not so
graceful, and, as Captain Cook remarked, if a handsome woman were seen
at Eimeo, she was sure to have come from another island.
The men dress in rather a variable manner. All wear the primitive
garment of Polynesia, namely, a piece of bark cloth passed round the
waist, then through the legs, and the end tucked into the girdle. Over
this garment many wear a sort of mantle made of finer cloth, gathered
neatly round the waist, and sometimes flowing over their shoulders;
while others wear the _tiputa_, or _tibuta_, a garment made in poncho
fashion, with a hole in the middle through which the head passes, and
hanging down in front and behind, but open at the sides. This garment
is found in a very great number of Polynesian islands, the material
and the form varying according to the locality. The bark cloth is made
exactly after the fashion employed in Tonga and Samoa.
Both sexes usually cut their hair short, and sometimes crop it so
closely at the crown of the head that it looks as if shaven. They
anoint their locks freely with scented cocoa-nut oil, or with a
resinous gum, which gives it a moist and glossy appearance, and causes
it to retain the shape into which it is twisted. Beside the flowers
worn in the hair and ears, and the garlands twisted round the head,
the women wear a very elegant and striking ornament. They take the
very young stipe of the cocoa-nut palm, peel it into long strips, and
dry it. When properly prepared, it is of a glossy, pure white, looking
much like white satin ribbon, and is worn twisted into rosettes and
similar ornaments. The normal color of the hair is mostly black, but in
some cases it takes a lighter and reddish hue. In children it is often
light, but assumes a dark hue in the course of a few years.
The Tahitans think that the shape of the head is much improved by
being flattened at the back. Accordingly, the mothers have a way of
supporting their children during infancy by the heels and back of the
head, and, as they think that the shape of the nose can be improved by
art, they continually squeeze and press it with the hand while it is
tender and plastic.
Tattooing was once much esteemed, and the operation was performed by
means of a comb and mallet, as has been described when treating of
Samoa. Professional artists executed the tattoo, and were accustomed
to travel about the islands, remaining for some months at each spot,
and being paid highly for each lad whom they decorated. The face was
almost invariably left untouched; the bust, legs, arms, and even hands
being covered with the graceful patterns. The women also employed the
same decoration, but in a less degree, wearing the tattoo mostly on the
arms, ankles, and feet, the latter being tattooed nearly half-way to
the knees, so that at a little distance the woman looked as if she were
wearing boots or socks fitting tightly to the skin. The missionaries,
however, discouraged the tattoo, which by degrees came to be accepted
as a mark of a revolutionary spirit, and rendered the offender liable
to punishment.
Mr. Bennett mentions two instances where old men were tattooed on the
face as well as the body, one of them being a man who had been the high
priest of the god Oro, the Polynesian Mars, who was worshipped with
every accessory of bloodshed and cruelty. This deity, together with
other objects of Tahitan worship, will be presently described.
The means that were employed to put an end to the practice of tattooing
were of a very severe and rather despotic character, It was found
that ordinary punishments were of little avail in checking a practice
so much in consonance with the feelings and habits of the natives.
Even after they had submitted themselves to the laws which the white
colonists introduced, they could scarcely bring themselves to obey
the edict which forbade the tattoo, and evaded it on every possible
pretext. They would even voyage to another island, nominally on
mercantile affairs, but in reality for the purpose of being tattooed
while out of the reach of the white men and their laws.
As to the punishment which ensued, the delinquents cared little about
it--the allotted task of road making or well digging was completed
in time, whereas the decoration of the tattoo lasted throughout
life. After trying to check the practice by various penal laws, the
new legislators hit upon a plan described by themselves as merely
disfiguring the pattern made by the tattoo. Dr. Bennett, however,
uses more forcible terms. “The ancient practice of tattooing the skin
is gradually declining amongst the Society Islanders generally. The
missionaries have been much opposed to the custom, and among the laws
framed for these islands was one which made tattooing criminal; but
this has since been repealed, or continues in force only in the islands
of Huahine, Raiatea, and Tahaa.
“When viewed in connection with the habits of the natives, tattooing
is not, certainly, so innocent a display of savage finery as most
Europeans imagine it to be; nevertheless, we felt much regret, not
unmingled with indignation, when we beheld, in the house of the royal
chief of Raiatea, a native woman of naturally agreeable features,
disfigured by an extensive patch of charcoal embedded in her cheek--a
punishment inflicted upon her by the judges for having slightly
tattooed herself. While we were regarding this spectacle a second
female showed us her hand, which afforded a similar instance of
judicial severity.”
The various figures employed by the Tahitans have each a separate name,
and these figures are imprinted not only upon the skin, but upon the
bark cloth garments of both sexes.
The Tahitans are naturally a hospitable people, and have invented a
complete code of etiquette for making presents, the most curious of
which is that which is employed in giving bark cloth. Captain Cook’s
description of this custom is very interesting. It is also illustrated
on the 1054th page. “I went with Otoo to his father’s house, where I
found some people employed in dressing two girls with a prodigious
quantity of fine cloth, after a very singular fashion. The one end of
each piece of cloth, of which there were a good many, was held up over
the heads of the girls, while the remainder was wrapped round their
bodies, under the arm-pits. Then the upper ends were let fall, and hung
down in folds to the ground, one over the other, so as to bear some
resemblance to a circular hoop-petticoat.
“Afterward, round the outside of all were wrapped several pieces of
differently colored cloth, which considerably increased the size, so
that it was not less than five or six yards in circuit, and the weight
of this singular attire was as much as the poor girls could support. To
each were hung two _taames_ or breastplates, by way of enlivening the
whole, and giving it a picturesque appearance. Thus equipped, they were
conducted on board the ship, together with several hogs and a quantity
of fruit, which, with the cloth, was a present to me from Otoo’s father.
“Persons of either sex, dressed in this manner, are called _atee_, but
I believe it is never practised except when large presents of cloth are
to be made. At least, I never saw it practised on any other occasion;
nor, indeed, had I ever such a present before; but both Captain Clarke
and I had cloth given to us afterward, thus wrapped round the bearers.”
These cloths are mostly put on the bearers by laying the end of the
cloth on the ground. The girl then lies down on the end of the piece,
holds it tightly to her body, and rolls over and over, until she has
wound herself up in all the cloth that she is intended to present.
When the bearers are taken into the presence of the chief to whom the
offering is made, they reverse the process, and unroll themselves, by
revolving on the floor in the contrary direction.
Food is presented in another way. The donor sends his servants with the
hogs, bread-fruit, and other provisions, to the house of the person
to whom the present is made. They do not enter the house, but simply
spread leaves on the ground, lay the provisions on them, and then
return to their master. The donor then enters the house, and calls upon
his friend to come out and look at the present that has been brought
for him. The latter signifies his acceptance by ordering his servants
to carry the food within his house, but utters no thanks.
In most of these cases, it is expected that a present of equal value
should be returned, and, if the recipient should be a wealthy man, he
would be thought rather shabby if his return present were not rather
more valuable. In consequence of this theory, Captain Cook found that
when he purchased provisions he got them much more cheaply than when
they were presented to him.
In these islands is found the widely spread practice of selecting
friends from strangers. When a ship arrives, each of the officers and
crew is selected by a native as his particular friend, and during
the time of the vessel’s stay is placed under his charge. Every day,
the “apoa” or friend will come on board with his present of cooked
bread-fruit and other provisions; and should his visitor go on shore,
he takes care that all possible necessaries, and even luxuries, shall
be provided for him. It is assumed that when the visitor departs he
will in his turn make a present; but there have been many instances
where the natives have been so grateful for some kindness that they
have refused to accept anything in return for their hospitality.
One very graceful mode of giving presents is by offering them in the
name of a child. In this case, whenever provisions are sent, they are
always accompanied by the child, who is supposed to present them, and
to whom all returns are made.
There is a custom--once very prevalent but now become nearly if not
wholly extinct--which is evidently based on the same principle. When
a man is in want of something which he cannot obtain, such as a new
house, or a quantity of cloth, he bakes a pig, and sends it by his
friends to all the population of the place. The bearers offer the
pig, and mention at the same time the needs of the owner. All those
who partake of it, even though they eat but a mouthful, thereby bind
themselves to share in assisting the petitioner, either in building the
house or in making the cloth.
Mr. Bennett mentions one instance, where a man wanted thirty-six yards
of cloth, and sent a pig after the usual fashion. No one, however,
would touch it, and the poor man would have gone without his cloth
had not the queen taken compassion on him. She ordered the bearers to
leave the pig in her house, thereby assuming to herself alone the task
of providing the cloth. A number of women who saw the proceeding, felt
rather ashamed that the queen should be left to perform the task alone,
so they went into the house, ate the pig, and made the desired cloth.
Among the Society Islands, the distinctions of rank are jealously
insisted upon, and no one can command any respect unless he be in the
possession of some acknowledged rank. Ignorance of this characteristic
was the real cause of Omai’s failure. Most of my readers are aware that
this man, the first Polynesian who had ever visited England, was a
native of Raietea, one of the Society Islands, and that he was brought
to England for the purpose of being educated, so that he might act as a
missionary both of Christianity and civilization in his native country.
In Captain Cook’s third voyage, Omai was taken back again, after he had
been loaded with presents of various kinds. It was found, however, that
all that he really cared for was the possession of weapons, especially
fire-arms, by means of which he might make himself master of the
island. He had several muskets and pistols, together with ammunition,
but Captain Cook remarked in his journal that he fancied Omai would be
happier without the fire-arms than with them, and expresses a doubt
whether he would not have been happier still if he had never been
removed from his island.
The result justified these anticipations. No one, except the lower
orders, would have anything to do with a man of no rank, and the
nobles, who led public opinion, would not even look at him as he
paraded up and down, clad in the suit of armor which had been presented
to him with more generosity than prudence. In fact, they felt that his
possession of all these treasures was a slight upon themselves, and the
natural result was that Omai was soon fleeced of all his property, and
speedily sank back again into his original barbarism and idolatry.
Tenacious as they are of their rank, the Tahitan nobles show but few
external marks of it. Even at the present day, although they have
obtained considerable wealth from trade, and though implicit deference
is paid to them by their own people, the chiefs, as a rule, dress and
fare no better than the generality of their subjects. The fact is,
that every person’s rank is so well known, that there is no necessity
for indicating it by outward show or luxurious habits, which would
only serve to bring upon them the contemptuous epithet of _fahié_, or
conceited.
In illustration of this principle, Mr. Bennett remarks in his “Whaling
Voyage round the Globe,” that it was “usual to see the Queen Aimata
clad in a loose cotton gown, bare-headed and bare-footed, mingling with
natives of every class. Her meals, too, are equally unostentatious, the
bread-fruit, poë, cocoa-nuts, and baked pig, intended for her food,
being placed on a layer of fresh leaves spread on the ground; while
the partaking party display, by the use of their fingers, a thorough
contempt for the modern innovation of knives and forks, in the use of
which, however, they are perfectly well versed.” This visit to Tahiti
was made in 1834.
Nothing, perhaps, shows the innate respect for rank more than the
conduct of the Tahitans toward their queen. Personally she was not in
the least respected, nor indeed did she deserve respect. Being the
only daughter of Pomaré II., and deriving from her birth the title
of Pomaré Vahine, by which she was better known than by the name of
Aimata, she became queen in 1827, on the death of her infant brother.
Her conduct as queen was at first of the most unqueenly kind. She
resisted to the utmost the attempts that were being made to improve the
moral condition of the people, and did her best, both by precept and
example, to bring back the state of unrestrained licentiousness which
had reigned through the land. Yet, in spite of her conduct, the respect
for her rank was in no way diminished, and, as has been seen, she could
be on familiar terms with the lowest of her subjects without derogating
from her dignity.
* * * * *
The amusements of the Tahitans are much like those of other
Polynesians, and therefore need but little description. The Tahitans
are fond of singing, and possess good voices and ears, so that they
have been apt pupils in European music. As a rule, however, they prefer
singing the air, or at most a first and second, the more elaborate
movements of concerted music scarcely pleasing them. They excel in
keeping time, and exhibit this capacity not only in their songs but in
their dances. The native mode of singing is not pleasing to an English
ear, being of a monotonous character, nasal in tone, and full of abrupt
transitions from the highest to the lowest notes.
The native songs are mostly on two subjects, namely, love and war,
the former predominating, as is likely to be the case from the quiet
and peaceable character of the people. Sometimes their songs assume
a more patriotic cast, and set forth the praises of their island
home, the beauty of its scenery, and the fertility of its soil. The
singers are usually women, whose sweet voices render pleasing even the
nasal intonations. The men sing but seldom, and when they do exert
their voices, they almost invariably use the harsh native mode of
vocalization.
Their musical instruments are but few. They have of course the drum,
with which they accompany their songs and dances, not by beating it
violently after the African style of drumming, but gently tapping
it with the fingers. The drums are of different sizes, and are all
cylindrical, and very long in proportion to their diameter. Like
many other uncivilized people, they display a great fondness for the
Jews’ harp, partly because it is easy to play, and partly because it
reproduces to some extent the peculiar intervals of savage music.
The chief native instrument that is capable of producing different
notes is a sort of flageolet or “hoe,” which produces a low, deep tone,
something like the “drone” of the bag-pipe. The native musician can
tune his instrument in a very simple manner. The mouth-piece is split
longitudinally, so that the pieces vibrate like those of any “reed”
instrument. Surrounding the mouth-piece is a ring of soft wood, and by
pushing this forward, or driving it back, the performer can tune his
instrument with some nicety, the former movement producing a sharp, and
the latter a graver tone.
The hoe is seldom played alone, and is generally used as an
accompaniment to the native dances. The performers, after tuning
their instruments, sit in a circle, pressed closely together, and,
bending forward so that their heads are bowed over their knees, play
in admirable time, though as much praise can scarcely be given to the
melody.
Following the instincts of the savage nature, the Tahitans are
passionately fond of cock-fighting, and amusements of a similar
character. Some of them are of a more harmless character. One of the
most manly and graceful of these amusements closely resembles the surf
swimming of the Sandwich Islanders, and is thus described by Captain
Cook:--
“Neither were they strangers to the soothing effects produced by
particular sorts of motion, which in some cases seem to allay any
perturbation of mind with as much success as music. Of this I met with
a remarkable instance. For on walking one day about Matavai Point,
where our tents were erected, I saw a man paddling in a small canoe
so swiftly, and looking about with such eagerness on each side, as to
command all my attention.
“At first I imagined that he had stolen something from one of the
ships, and was pursued, but on waiting patiently saw him repeat his
amusement. He went out from the shore till he was near the place where
the swell begins to take its rise; and watching its first motion very
attentively, paddled before it with great quickness till he found that
it overtook him, and had acquired sufficient force to carry his canoe
before it without passing underneath. He then sat motionless, and was
carried along at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him
upon the beach, when he started out, emptied his canoe, and went in
search of another swell.
“I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme
pleasure while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea,
especially as, though the tents and ships were so near, he did not
seem in the least to envy, or even to take any notice of the crowds of
his countrymen collected to view them as objects which were rare and
curious.
“During my stay, two or three of the natives came up, who seemed to
share his felicity, and always called out when there was an appearance
of a favorable swell, as he sometimes missed it by his back being
turned and looking about for it. By this I understood that this
exercise, which is called _chorooe_, was frequent amongst them, and
they have probably more amusements of this sort, which afforded them at
least as much pleasure as skating, which is the only one of ours with
whose effects I could compare it.”
Like the Tongans and Samoans, these people are fond of boxing and
wrestling matches, not only as spectators, but actors. They do not,
however, enter into them with the spirit and courage displayed by
the more hardy islanders, and there is little doubt that a boxer or
wrestler of Tonga would scarcely be able to find a worthy opponent in
the Society Islands.
Of these two sports, the Society Islanders much prefer wrestling,
boxing being thought rather too rough an amusement, and being apt
to leave unpleasant marks on the face of the vanquished combatant.
Wrestling, however, is much more common, and is conducted after the
following manner.
The intending combatants first went to the temples of their special
gods, and laid offerings before them, asking for their assistance in
the approaching struggle. They then proceeded to the spot selected
for the sports, which had always a smooth surface, sometimes covered
with grass and sometimes with sand. A circle of thirty or forty feet
in diameter was left clear for the competitors, and around it sat the
spectators, the inhabitants of the island or district on one side,
and the visitors on the other. All being ready, the combatants enter
the arena, wearing nothing but the simple girdle, and mostly having
well anointed their bodies and limbs with cocoa-nut oil. The mode of
challenge and wrestling has been so well described by Mr. Ellis that I
prefer to give his own words:--
“The fame of a celebrated wrestler was usually spread throughout
the islands, and those who were considered good wrestlers, priding
themselves on their strength or skill, were desirous of engaging only
with those they regarded as their equals. Hence when a chief was
expected in whose train were any distinguished wrestlers, those among
the adherents of the chief by whom the party were to be entertained who
wished to engage, were accustomed to send a challenge previous to their
arrival.
“If this, which was called _tipaopao_, had been the case, when they
entered the ring they closed at once without ceremony. But if no such
arrangement had been made, the wrestlers of one party, or perhaps their
champion, walked round and across the ring, having the left arm bent
with the hand on the breast, and, striking the right hand violently
against the left, and the left against the side, produced a loud hollow
sound, which was challenging any one to a trial of skill. The strokes
on the arm were sometimes so violent as not only to bruise the flesh,
but to cause the blood to gush out.
“When the challenge was accepted the antagonists closed, and the
most intense interest was manifested by the parties to which they
respectively belonged. They grasped each other by the shoulders, and
exerted all their strength and art each to throw his rival. This was
all that was requisite; and although they generally grappled with each
other, this was not necessary according to the rules of the game.
“Mape, a stout and rather active though not a large man, who was often
in my house at Eimeo, was a famous wrestler. He was seen in the ring
once with a remarkably tall heavy man, who was his antagonist; they had
grappled and separated, when Mape walked carelessly toward his rival,
and, on approaching him, instead of stretching out his arms as was
expected, he ran the crown of his head with all his might against the
temple of his antagonist, and laid him flat on the earth.
“The most perfect silence was observed during the struggle, but as soon
as one was thrown the scene was instantly changed; the vanquished was
scarcely stretched on the sand when a shout of exultation arose from
the victor’s friends. Their drums struck up; the women and children
danced in triumph over the fallen wrestler, and sung in derision of
the opposite party. These were neither silent nor unmoved spectators,
but immediately commenced a most deafening noise, partly in honor of
their own clan or tribe, but chiefly to neutralize the triumph of the
victors. It is not easy to imagine the scenes that must often have been
presented at one of these wrestling matches, when not less than four or
five thousand persons, dressed in their best apparel, and exhibiting
every variety of costume and brilliancy of color, were under the
influence of excitement. One party were drumming, dancing, and singing,
in all the pride of victory and the menace of defiance; while, to
increase the din and confusion, the other party were equally vociferous
in reciting the achievements of the vanquished, or predicting the
shortness of his rival’s triumph. When the contest was at an end,
victor and vanquished once more repaired to the idol temple, and
renewed their offerings of young plantain trees.
“Although wrestling was practised principally by the men, it was not
confined to them. Often when they had done, the women contended,
sometimes with each other, and occasionally with men. Persons of the
highest rank often engaged in this sport; and the sister of the queen
has been seen wearing nearly the same clothing the wrestlers wore,
covered all over with sand, and wrestling with a young chief in the
midst of the ring, round which thousands of the queen’s subjects were
assembled.”