missionaries, and outcasts. Even these at last abandoned him. The
missionary journal shows that they had long regarded their work as a
failure, and after identifying themselves with Pomare, in spite of
emphatic warnings, no other result was possible. So the missionaries,
leaving only Mr. Nott at Moorea, sailed for Australia, not daring to
accept the proffered protection of the Tahiti chiefs, because they could
not separate themselves, in the minds of the common people, from Pomare
and his interests. At Moorea, Pomare urged the visiting chiefs to become
Christians. On the 18th of July, 1812, he announced his own decision to
the missionaries, and shortly afterwards, on invitation from his old
district of Pare Arue, he returned to Tahiti, where he was permitted to
remain for two years, as an avowed Christian, unmolested by his old
enemies. He took up his residence at Pare Arue as a Christian chief,
August 13, 1812, and kept up a correspondence with the missionaries at
Moorea.
The missionaries returned and were more successful in Christianizing the
people. On the 17th of February, 1813, Pomare wrote: "Matavai has been
delivered up to me. When I am perfectly assured of the sincerity of this
surrender I will write to you another letter." The missionaries made a
tour of the island; many conversions took place; in Moorea several idols
were publicly burned; there could be no doubt that the Christians were
pursuing an active course, and that their success would bring back the
authority of Pomare over the whole island; but neither Opuhara nor Tati
interfered, and the peace remained. Yet, after waiting two years at
Pare, vainly expecting the restoration of his government, and
endeavoring to recover his authority in his hereditary districts, Pomare
returned to Moorea in the autumn of 1814, accompanied by a large train
of adherents and dependents, all professing Christianity. At the same
time the Christian converts in Tahiti became an organization known as
the Bure Atua, and every one could see that Pomare was making use of
them, and of his wife's resources, to begin a new effort to recover by
force his authority in the island. War was inevitable, and Pomare, with
his Christian followers and missionaries, could choose the time and
place.
Pomare himself was not a soldier, nor had he anything of a soldierly
spirit. He left active campaigning to his wives, who were less likely to
rouse the old enmity. His two wives, Terite and Pomare vehine, came over
to Pare Arue May, 1815, with a large party of Christians, and urged
their plans for the overthrow of the native chiefs. The chiefs had no
other alternative than to get rid of them, and fixed the night of July
7th for the combined attack. Opuhara led the forces, and it is said that
he had given the two queens timely warning to effect their escape. For
his delay some of the other chiefs charged him with treachery. He
replied that he wished no harm to the two women or their people; that
his enemies were the Parionuu; and he marched directly into Pare Arue,
and subdued it once more.
While Pomare and the missionaries grew stronger, and, as Ellis expressed
it, "became convinced that the time was not very remote when their faith
and principles must rise preeminent above the power and influence" of
the native chiefs, the chiefs themselves exhibited vacillation. Pomare
returned, with all his following, apparently armed and prepared for war.
The native converts were trained to the use of firearms and the whole
missionary interest became, for the moment, actively militant. The
native chiefs remained passive. Under the appearance of religious
services, Pomare and the missionaries kept their adherents under arms
and prepared them for any hostilities that might arise.
With his army numbering eight hundred, two war canoes, one manned with
musketeers, the other with a swivel gun in the stern, commanded by a
white man, Pomare, on November 11th, took possession at or near the
village of Punaauia, near Papara, with pickets far in advance. Opuhara
hastily summoned his men in the famous battle of Fei-pi (the ripe
plantains). The field of battle was among the foothills near the coast.
Opuhara's warriors made a valiant attack and pierced the front ranks of
the enemy till it reached the spot where one of the queens, Pomare
vehine, and the chief warriors stood. There one of the native converts
leveled his gun at Opuhara, fired, the chief fell, and in a very short
time expired. The leader of the native forces was killed by one of his
own people who had cast his lot with Pomare and the missionaries.
This war was brought on to force the natives to Pomare's rule, and not
for the purpose of removing obstacles to the Christianization of the
islanders, as the chiefs were not opposed to the peaceable dissemination
of the teachings of the gospel. It was a political and not a religious
war, and in this political endeavor the missionaries and their converts
took the leading part. The missionaries evidently forgot the legitimate
object of their mission and unmercifully slaughtered the natives who
took up arms to defend their rights. The Christians on Pomare's side
were fighting for supremacy, unmindful of the teachings of the sacred
Scriptures.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy;
and mercy rejoiceth against judgment St. James ii: 13.
When Opuhara fell, his men lost courage, retreated, and were not
pursued. The death of Opuhara was deeply regretted by Tati, his near
relative and successor in the government of the district. In the ranks
of his followers it was firmly believed Opuhara, few as his forces were,
would have vanquished the enemy, had not the native missionaries been
taught to shoot as they were taught to pray, and been supplied with guns
along with Bibles. With the death of Opuhara the last hope of the
natives was dissipated and submission to Pomare's rule became a stern
reality. Neither the missionaries nor the natives had any idea of
allowing Pomare to recede into his old ways. They made him refrain from
massacre or revenge after the battle of Fei-pi. Tati, the chief of
Papara, maintained peace from that time by his wise rule in that part of
the island. He began by the usual island custom of binding Pomare to him
by the strongest possible ties. The rapid extinction of chiefly families
in Tahiti had left the head chief of Moorea heir to most of the
distinguished names and properties in both islands. Marama, the head
chief of Moorea, had only one heir, a daughter, a relative of Pomare.
This great heiress, almost the last remnant of the three or four sacred
families of the two islands, was given by Pomare in marriage to Tati's
son, immediately after Tati himself was restored to his rights as head
chief of the Tevas. In doing so he claimed for his own the first child
that Marama (the bride) should have and made at the same time a compact
that the children from the marriage should marry into the Pomare family.
These conditions were made to render himself more influential with the
most refractory of the conquered tribes. Pomare II. died December 7,
1821, leaving a daughter, Aimata, and a son, Pomare III., a child in
arms. Aimata was never regarded with favor by Pomare, her father, who
was frank in saying that she was not his child; so the infant son was
made heir to the throne. Moerenhout made the statement that Pomare, on
his deathbed, expressed the wish that Tati should take the reins of the
government in his hands, but that the missionaries and other chiefs were
afraid to trust Tati, and preferred to take the charge of the infant
king on themselves. The missionaries in due time went through the formal
ceremony of crowning the infant, April 22, 1824, at Papara, and then
took him to their school, the South Sea Academy, which was established
in March, 1824, in the island of Moorea at Papetoai. There he was taught
to read and write, and educated in English, which became his language,
until he was seven years old, when he fell ill, and was taken over to
his mother at Pare, where he died January 11, 1827. During the reign of
the infant king, Mata, a friend of the family, managed the affairs of
state and became the guardian of Aimata, as the Queen, Pomare IV., was
always called by the natives. Aimata was married at the age of nine
years. She led an unhappy life, domestic, political, private and public,
until at last the missionaries, English and French, fought so violently
for control of her and the island that she was actually driven away.
Among other laws which were supposed to have been passed through the
influence of the English missionaries, to prevent strangers from
obtaining influence in the island, was one dated March 1, 1833,
forbidding strangers, under any pretext, from marrying in Tahiti or
Moorea. Ariitaimai, of noble birth, the historian of Tahiti, was not
inclined to marry a native chief, a decision which met the approval of
Marama, her mother. She finally consented to become the wife of Mr.
Salmon, an Englishman, who was held in high esteem and consideration in
the island; and Aimata suspended the law in order to enable her friend
to be married to the man of her choice. The missionaries virtually ruled
the island for forty years.
WARS BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES
In 1836 two French missionary priests landed at Tahiti to convert, not
pagans, but Protestants to the Roman Catholic faith. The Protestant
missionaries, who held the reins of the government, indignant at this
interference, invoked the aid of the British consul, Pritchard, who
caused the Queen to order their arrest and expulsion. The order was
executed December 12, 1836. The two priests made a protest to their
government, and King Louis Philippe sent a frigate to Papeete with the
usual ultimatum, to which the Queen naturally acceded. Then began a
struggle on the part of Consul Pritchard and the English missionaries to
recover their ground, which led to a letter from Queen Pomare to Queen
Victoria, suggesting a British protectorate, whereupon the French
government sent another warship to Tahiti, in 1839, and made Aimata
repeat her submission. As the British government at that time did not
take much interest in missionaries, and Sir Robert Peel had a very
precise knowledge of the value of unclaimed islands all over the world,
Queen Victoria did not accept the proposition made by the Tahitian
Queen, and the missionaries were again thrown on their own resources.
The chiefs ignored the missionaries, and in September, 1841, decided
that, between such powers as England and France, they could not hope to
maintain independence or even a good understanding, and since England
refused the proffered protectorate, they would turn to France. So they
drew up the necessary papers for the Queen to approve, but a British war
vessel arrived in that critical moment, and this reenforcement of
British interests induced the vacillating Queen to refuse to sign them.
The next August another French naval force arrived, and the chiefs again
met in council, with the admiral's aid and advice. The chiefs sent the
following letter to the French admiral, Du Petit—Tuhouars:
Inasmuch as we can not continue to govern ourselves so as to live on
good terms with foreign governments, and we are in danger of losing
our island, our kingdom, and our liberty, we, the Queen and the high
chiefs of Tahiti, write to ask the King of the French to take us under
his protection.
In response to this formal request the French admiral, on September 30,
1842, hoisted the flag of the protectorate. This did not end the
political and religious troubles of the little island. Consul Pritchard,
who had been absent from his post for some time, returned from England
February 23, 1843, and declared violent war against the French. As
usual, Queen Pomare yielded to his wishes, and refused to obey those of
the French admiral. The admiral lost his patience and temper, landed
troops and took possession of the island, declared the Queen deposed,
and, when disturbances arose, which he believed to be fomented and
fostered by Pritchard, he arrested him and had him expelled from the
island. This act excited much attention, both in the English and French
press, which resulted in an order from the King of France to the admiral
to restore the protectorate.
It will be seen that the last wars of Tahiti were caused by a religious
intolerance on the part of the English missionaries, who objected to the
presence of two Roman Catholic priests in the island. European
governments were appealed to and had to interfere in establishing in the
island free religious thought. It was a fight between two religious
denominations which kept the natives in a state of warfare, a most
serious reflection on Christian charity,
Alas for the rarity
Of Christian charity
Under the sun.
HOOD.
The constant unrest of the islanders caused by outside interference
provoked frequent rebellions, for "general rebellions and revolts of an
whole people never were encouraged, now or at any time; they are always
provoked."
The two priests, bent upon a humane mission, who, by their presence in
Tahiti, without any fault of their own, incurred the enmity of the
Protestant missionaries, were the direct cause of French intervention
which resulted in the protectorate and later annexation of the island.
The priests remained, new ones came, and today nearly one-half of the
population of the island are members of the Roman Catholic church.
The teachings and example of the English missionaries and their conduct
toward the Catholic priests prove only too plainly:
Christian graces and virtues they can not be, unless fed, invigorated
and animated by universal charity.
ATTERBURY.
THE LAST WAR
Our country sinks beneath the yoke;
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
SHAKESPEARE.
The disturbances which preceded and followed the establishment of the
French protectorate induced the Queen to seek safety on a British ship,
and the whole Pomare following took up arms and established themselves
in the stronghold of native power and influence near Papeete. Another
civil war broke out which waged between the natives and Europeans from
1844 to 1845. Tired of foreign dictation and oppression, the natives
fought with desperation. Forts, which remain today in a good state of
preservation, were erected by natives and the French. Most of the ruins
of these forts are scattered along the ninety-mile drive between Papeete
and Papara. From time to time, determined attacks were made with varying
fortunes of war. The natives were superior in number but could not stand
up against the well-directed firearms of the professional soldiers. A
last and crushing attack was ordered by the French admiral, which meant
certain defeat for the natives.
It was at this critical time that a woman came to the rescue of her
people and prevented a wholesale slaughter of the heroic defenders of
the island. This woman was Ariitaimai, the authoress of the book we have
been following so closely in sketching the history of the island. She
was the daughter of the famous Marama, of Moorea, the wife of Mr.
Salmon, and the mother of Tati Salmon, the present chief of Papara. She
recognized the hopelessness of the cause of her people and determined to
prevent further useless bloodshed and establish peace. It required good
judgment and a great deal of courage to undertake the task which she
finally accomplished with such a brilliant success. She was one of those
who believed that
Almost all difficulties may be got the better of by prudent thought,
revolving and pondering much in the mind.
MARCELLINUS.
She was intensely patriotic and had no fear of the results of her daring
mission. She was very popular with the natives and well known to the
French authorities, which aided her very much in formulating and
carrying out her plans. She had no time to lose, as the decisive attack
on her countrymen had been ordered and was to take place the next day.
She called on Bruaat, the governor of the island, with the determined
intention to end the war. He granted her twenty-four hours to accomplish
her task. She then called a meeting of the head chiefs and urged them to
surrender on the conditions stipulated by the French, in view of the
hopelessness of the island's cause. At that time this woman was the most
conspicuous figure in the politics of the island, loved and respected by
the chiefs and the people throughout Tahiti and Moorea. The head chiefs
received her proposition with favor. Notable speeches complimentary to
her were made on this occasion. One chief said:
Ariitaimai, you have flown amongst us, as it were, like the two birds,
Ruataa and Toena. Your object was to join together Urarii and Mauu,
and you have brought them into this valley. You have brought the
cooling medicines of _vainu_ and _mahainuieumu_ into the hearts of the
chiefs that are collected here. Our hearts yearn for you, and we can
not in words thank you; but the land, one and all, will prove to you
in the future that your visit will always remain in their memory. You
have come personally. I have heard you speak the words out of your own
mouth. You have brought us the best of all goods, which is peace. You
have done this when you thought we were in great trouble, and ran the
risk of losing our lives and property; you have come forward as a
peacemaker for us all.
What beautiful thoughts in simple, homely language! What a splendid
specimen of natural oratory!
In oratory, affectation must be avoided; it being better for a man by
a native and clear eloquence to express himself than by those words
which may smell either of the lamp or ink-horn.
LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY.
The chiefs unanimously accepted the terms of peace, and after the
adjournment of the council, Ariitaimai hastened to Papeete with the
message of the chiefs, which was accepted, and once more the
protectorate flag was raised and was recognized and respected by the
chiefs and the people. During all these great final trials of the
island, the Queen remained in the island of Moorea and even after peace
was restored and she was formally requested to return, she refused to do
so. The French authorities offered the crown repeatedly to Ariitaimai,
but as often, she refused the great honor. The exiled Queen was her
intimate and dear friend and
Ennuis has well remarked that "a real friend is known in adversity."
CICERO.
She was content with having accomplished a patriotic deed and with the
respect, love and gratitude of her people.
So true it is, that honor, prudently declined, often comes back with
increased lustre.
LIVIUS.
She could say:
Give me a staff of honour for mine age;
But not a sceptre to control the world.
SHAKESPEARE.
and
Tis less to conquer than to make wars cease,
And, without fighting, awe the world to peace.
HALIFAX.
Ariitaimai made several visits to the unhappy Queen, urging her to
return and resume her reign of the island, and had the satisfaction,
finally, to bring her back from Raiatea on her third visit.
True friends visit us in prosperity only when invited, but in
adversity they come without invitation.
THEOPHRASTUS.
The Queen, on her return, was received with regal honors by the French
authorities and by the people.
Pomare V. was the last of the kings of Tahiti. He was the oldest son of
Queen Pomare IV. and known as Ariiane Pomare. He was married to Marau
Taawa Salmon, Tati Salmon's sister, and had two daughters:
Teriimii-o-Tahiti, and Arii mainhinihi. Under European influences and
customs he became a degenerate Tahitian, profligate and dissipated, and
it is said that he was largely responsible for the annexation of the
island to France as a colony in 1880, as he received a substantial
remuneration for his influence in that direction and a pension of sixty
thousand francs a year. He died in 1891. Since Tahiti has become a
French possession the island has enjoyed uninterrupted peace. The French
government has been exceedingly liberal with the natives, having
interfered as little as possible with their habits and customs.
That is the best government which desires to make the people happy,
and knows how to make them happy.
MACAULEY.
The island is governed under the French laws, but local laws and tribal
rule remain and administer the local affairs. In completing the eventful
history of this little island it becomes apparent:
What is public history but a register of the successes and
disappointments, the vices, the follies and quarrels of those engaged
in the contention for power.
PALEY.
The government has established and enforced religious liberty, observing
the precept: "The protection of religion is indispensable to all
government" (Bishop Warburton). Taxation is limited to road tax only.
The annexation was looked upon with great disfavor by the natives, but
was finally accepted with good grace, and peace and happiness have
reigned since.
THE NATIVES
The Polynesians inhabiting the islands of the great Pacific Ocean
constitute a distinct race of people, supposed at one time by certain
writers to be of American origin, now almost universally admitted to
have a close affinity with the Malays of the peninsula and Indian
Archipelago, and hence classified by Dr. Latham under his subdivision
_Oceanica Mongolidæ_. In physical structure and appearance the Polynesians
in general more nearly resemble the Malays than they do any other race,
although differing from them in some respects, as, indeed, the natives
of several of the groups also do from each other. Centuries and
environment have left their impress on the inhabitants of the different
islands, as
Everything that is created is changed by the laws of man; the earth
does not know itself in the revolution of years; even the races of man
assume various forms in the course of years.
MANILIUS.
In stature the Tahitian compares well with any other race. The face is
expressive of more than ordinary intelligence. The color of the skin
varies from almost black to a light yellow. The aquiline nose is
commonly seen among them, and there are many varieties of hair and
complexion. In complexion they resemble more nearly the Japanese than
the Chinese. The beard is thin, the prevailing hair jet black, straight,
wavy or curly, profuse and long; eyes large and black; no drooping or
obliquity of eyelids. The face is generally roundish; lower jaw well
developed; no unusual malar prominences; forehead slightly receding;
mouth large, lips thick and as a rule slightly everted; wide nostrils;
ears large; chin prominent. The general resemblance of stature and
physiognomy, however, is more with the Malays than any other race, and
from which they are undoubtedly the descendants, changed by climatic
influences, food, habits and methods of living. In physical appearance
the Tahitians and Samoans are the handsomest and tallest of all the
natives of the Pacific Islands, with the exception, perhaps, of the
Maoris, or New Zealanders.
The superstition of the taboo, the use of kava as an intoxicating drink,
cannibalism, infanticide, offering of human sacrifices, tattooing, and
circumcision, which were formerly prevalent in Tahiti, have disappeared
under the influence of Christianity.
Much has been said about the beauty of some of the women of the South
Sea Islands, but I am sure I do them no injustice if I say that these
descriptions are overdrawn by sentimental writers and do not correspond,
when put to the test of comparison, with the reality. When young, there
is something fascinating about the women, imparted by the luxurious
jet-black hair, the large black eyes as they gaze at the strangers
With a smile that is childlike and bland.
FRANCIS BRET HARTE.
Beauty and youth among the Tahitian women are of short duration, and in
most of them advanced age brings an undesirable degree of corpulence.
Cook visited these people when they were in their original physical and
moral state. He praises their openness and generosity. "Neither does
care ever seem to wrinkle their brow. On the contrary, even the approach
of death does not appear to alter their usual vivacity. I have seen
them, when brought to the brink of the grave by disease, and when
preparing to go to battle; but in neither case, never observed their
countenance overclouded with melancholy, or serious reflection. Such a
disposition leads them to direct all their aims only to what can give
them pleasure and ease."
The whole countenance is a certain silent language of the mind.
CICERO.
These mental traits have been preserved up to the present time.
Melancholy and suicide are almost unknown in Tahiti. The people are
happy, contented and free from care and anxiety and