SECTION XIX.

_Of the Division of Time in Otaheile; Numeration, Computation of

Distance, Language, Diseases, Disposal of the Dead, Religion, War,

Weapons, and Government; with some general Observations for the Use of

future Navigators_.

We were not able to acquire a perfect idea of their method of dividing

time; but observed, that in speaking of it, either past or to come, they

never used any term but _Malama_, which signifies Moon. Of these moons

they count thirteen, and then begin again; which is a demonstration that

they have a notion of the solar year: But how they compute their months,

so that thirteen of them shall be commensurate with the year, we could

not discover; for they say that each month has twenty-nine days,

including one in which the moon is not visible. They have names for them

separately, and have frequently told us the fruits that would be in

season, and the weather that would prevail, in each of them; and they

have indeed a name for them collectively, though they use it only when

they speak of the mysteries of their religion.

Every day is subdivided into twelve parts, each of two hours, of which

six belong to the day, and six to the night. At these divisions they

guess pretty nearly by the height of the sun while he is above the

horizon; but there are few of them that can guess at them, when he is

below it, by the stars.[23]

[Footnote 23: It is distinctly proved by President Goguet, that the

course of the moon, and her various appearances, served mankind in

general, in the first ages, for the measurement of time. What is here

said of the Otaheitans confirms his observations. We are told too, in

another work, that the natives of the Pellew Islands reckon their time

by months, and not by years; in which, however, we see they are inferior

to the former as to extent of science. Now there are two sorts of lunar

month, called in the language of astronomers, synodical and periodical;

the first is the time from new moon to new moon, consisting of 29 days,

12 hours, 44 min. 3 seconds, which is the month most commonly used by

the early observers; the second, consisting of 27 days, 7 hours, 43 min.

5 seconds, is that portion of time which the moon takes to finish her

course round the earth. Neither of these multiplied by 13 will make up

the solar year exactly. In what manner then the Otaheitans reckon, it is

not easy to comprehend. The probability is, that they have no notion of

the periodical month.--E.]

In numeration they proceed from one to ten, the number of fingers on

both hands; and though they have for each number a different name, they

generally take hold of their fingers one by one, shifting from one hand

to the other, till they come to the number they want to express. And in

other instances, we observed that, when they were conversing with each

other, they joined signs to their words, which were so expressive that a

stranger might easily apprehend their meaning.

In counting from ten they repeat the name of that number, and add the

word _more_; ten, and one more, is eleven; ten, and two more, twelve;

and so of the rest, as we say one-and-twenty, two-and-twenty. When they

come to ten and ten more, they have a new denomination, as we say a

score; and by these scores they count till they get ten of them, when

they have a denomination for two hundred; and we never could discover

that they had any denomination to express a greater number: Neither,

indeed; do they seem to want any; for ten of these amount to two

thousand, a greater number than they can ever apply.[24]

[Footnote 24: The reader cannot but be pleased with what Goguet says on

the practice of numbering with the fingers, so common in most nations,

and adopted we see by the Otaheitans. "Nature has provided us with a

kind of arithmetical instrument more generally used than is commonly

imagined; I mean our fingers. Every thing inclines us to think, that

these were the first instruments used by men to assist them in the

practice of numeration. We may observe in Homer, that Proteus counts his

sea-calves by fives and fives, that is, by his fingers. Several nations

in America have no other instruments of calculation. It was probably the

same in the primitive ages. It is another strong presumption of the

truth of what I now advance, that all civilized nations count by tens,

tens of tens, or _hundreds_, tens of hundreds, _thousands_, and so on;

still from ten to ten. We can discover no reason why the number ten

should be chosen rather than any other for the term of numeration,

except this primitive practice of counting by the fingers." The whole of

his observations on this subject are well worthy of minute

consideration. On such elements, the provision of nature, are founded

the most sublime and important sciences.--E.]

In measuring distance they are much more deficient than in computing

numbers, having but one term which answers to fathom; when they speak of

distances from place to place, they express it, like the Asiatics, by

the time that is required to pass it.

Their language is soft and melodious; it abounds with vowels, and we

easily learnt to pronounce it: But found it exceedingly difficult to

teach them to pronounce a single word of ours; probably not only from

its abounding in consonants, but from some peculiarity in its structure;

for Spanish and Italian words, if ending in a vowel, they pronounced

with great facility.

Whether it is copious, we were not sufficiently acquainted with it to

know; but it is certainly very imperfect, for it is almost totally

without inflexion, both of nouns and verbs. Few of the nouns have more

than one case, and few of the verbs more than one tense; yet we found no

great difficulty in making ourselves mutually understood, however

strange it may appear in speculation.

They have, however, certain _affixa_, which, though but few in number,

are very useful to them, and puzzled us extremely. One asks another,

_Harre hea?_ "Where are you going?" the other answers _Ivahinera_, "To

my wives;" upon which the first repeating the answer interrogatively,

"To your wives?" is answered, _Ivahinereira_; "Yes, I am going to my

wives." Here the suffixa _era_ and _eira_ save several words to both

parties.[25]

[Footnote 25: A table of some words of the language follows in the

copy.--It is omitted here, because an opportunity will occur, to give

one more full and correct; and it seemed injudicious to run the hazard

of being charged with unnecessary repetition.--E.]

Among people whose food is so simple, and who in general are seldom

drunk, it is scarcely necessary to say, that there are but few diseases;

we saw no critical disease during our stay upon the island, and but few

instances of sickness, which were accidental fits of the cholic. The

natives, however, are afflicted with the erysipelas, and cutaneous

eruptions of the scaly kind, very nearly approaching to a leprosy. Those

in whom this distemper was far advanced, lived in a state of seclusion

from all society, each in a small house built upon some unfrequented

spot, where they were supplied with provisions: But whether they had any

hope of relief, or languished out the remainder of their lives in

solitude and despair, we could not learn. We observed also a few who had

ulcers upon different parts of their bodies, some of which had a very

virulent appearance; yet they seemed not much to be regarded by those

who were afflicted with them, for they were left entirely without

application even to keep off the flies.[26]

[Footnote 26: The affection of the skin, called leprosy in the text, is,

in the missionary account, ascribed to the excessive use of the _yava_,

the intoxicating beverage of the Otaheitans, and is there said to be

regarded by many as a _badge of nobility_. This perhaps is something on

the same principle as the gout is accounted among us, an evidence of a

person's being rich; for it appears, that the common people in general

are as unable to procure the yava in Otaheite, as they are on our side

of the world to indulge in luxurious living. What excellency there is in

the scabbed skins of the Otaheitan lepers, to entitle them to the

estimation of nobility, or what advantage they find in this to

compensate the sufferings of so grievous a malady, is difficult indeed

to divine; but it may be very safely affirmed of those among us, who

have prospered so well as to obtain the gout for a possession, that they

really require all the comforts of riches, though tenfold more than

imagined, to render the residue of life any way tolerable. Yet such is

the inconsistency of human nature, and so formidable its weakness of

resolution, when pernicious habits are once formed, that few persons,

though even writhing at the bare remembrance of its horrors, and

dreading its approach as the attack of

Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,

Abominable, unutterable, and worse

Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceived,

Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire,

can be prevailed on to swear rebellion against it "For," says Dr

Heberden, "this seems to be the favourite disease of the present age in

England; wished for by those who have it not, and boasted of by those

who fancy they have it, though very sincerely lamented by most who in

reality suffer its tyranny. For, so much respect hath been shown to this

distemper, that all the other evils, except pain, which the real or

supposed gouty patient ever feels, are imputed most commonly not to his

having too much of this disease, but to his wanting more; and the gout,

far from being blamed as the cause, is looked up to as the expected

deliverer from these evils." "The dread of being cured of the gout," he

further remarks, "was and is still much greater than the dread of having

it; and the world seems agreed patiently to submit to this tyrant, lest

a worse should come in its room." It is not difficult to account for

such absurdity, though it be quite impracticable to palliate it; and

what is worse, from its being founded on something more congenial to

human nature than even prejudice, it is almost impossible to remove it.

A single quotation more from the same author, so much in repute among

his professional brethren, will at once unravel the mystery, and show

how rare a thing a cure is, where the means essential to it are

necessarily dependent on the self-denial of the patient. "Strong wines,

and in no small quantity, have the reputation of being highly beneficial

to gouty persons; which notion they have very _readily_ and _generally_

received, not so much perhaps from a reasonable persuasion of its truth,

as from a desire that it should be true, because they love wine. Let

them consider, that a free use of vinous and spirituous liquors

peculiarly hurts the stomach and organs of digestion, and that the gout

is bred and fostered by those who indulge themselves in drinking much

wine; while the poorer part of mankind, who can get very little stronger

than water to drink, have better appetites than wine-drinkers, and

better digestions, and are far less subject to arthritic complaints. The

most perfect cures, of which I have been a witness, have been effected

by a total abstinence from spirits, and wine, and flesh, which in two or

three instances hath restored the helpless and miserable patients from a

state worse than death, to active and comfortable life: But I have seen

too few examples of the success of this method, to be confident or

satisfied of its general utility." The language of the missionary

account is very similar and equally encouraging. "On the discontinuance

of the practice of drinking the yava, the skin of the leprous persons

soon becomes smooth and clear, and they grow fat, though few are found

who deny themselves the use of it." If drugs could remove either of

these calamities, it is certain there would be no difficulty in getting

them to be swallowed; for most men, it seems, prefer any sorts of bitter

and nauseating substances, though taken by the pound, and without

intermission, to the salutary restraints on appetite and vicious

propensities, which common sense as well as common experience so

authoritatively enjoin. It is as unjust to censure physicians for

failing to cure the gout, as it would be to censure a surgeon for the

lameness or deformity of the leg of a man, who, while under treatment

for a fracture, should make daily attempts to dance or ride on

horseback.--E.]

Where intemperance produces no diseases, there will be no physicians by

profession; yet where there is sufferance, there will always be attempts

to relieve; and where the cause of the mischief and the remedy are alike

unknown, these will naturally be directed by superstition: Thus it

happens, that in this country, and in all others which are not further

injured by luxury, or improved by knowledge, the management of the sick

falls to the lot of the priest. The method of cure that is practised by

the priests of Otaheite, consists chiefly of prayers and ceremonies.

When he visits his patient he repeats certain sentences, which appear to

be set forms contrived for the occasion, and at the same time plaits the

leaves of the cocoa-nut into different figures very neatly; some of

these he fastens to the fingers and toes of the sick, and often leaves

behind him a few branches of the the _specia populnea_, which they call

_E'midho_: These ceremonies are repeated till the patient recovers or

dies. If he recovers, they say the remedies cured him, if he dies, they

say the disease was incurable, in which perhaps they do not much differ

from the custom of other countries.[27]

[Footnote 27: Dr Hawkesworth, we see, is at loggerheads with both

priests and physicians, and spares neither. Let the respective members

of these bodies defend their crafts as they best can. Certainly they

will have the bias of the multitude in their favour, and so need to care

little about the insinuations and sarcasms of the few. If nine-tenths of

mankind give them credit for their pretences, and of consequence yield

to their influence, they may contentedly, without a grudge, see the

remaining modicum persist in their obstinacy. The fact is, however, that

the fears and hopes of mankind are almost always superior in efficacy to

their reason, and accordingly, in the two predicaments of bodily and

spiritual health, are continually acting like tendrils which embrace

with undistinguishing affection whatever comes in their way, as the ivy

clings to the tree or wall that happens to be in its neighbourhood.

Influence, once acquired by accident or artifice, is easily prolonged by

him who knows the secret of its origin and existence--and hence in all

ages and countries of the world, the mysteries and mummeries of

designing men, leagued to practise on the infatuated propensities and

real weaknesses of their fellow creatures. It is not till many

generations have passed, that the small sparks of reason, occasionally

shooting off in various directions, have penetrated the gloomy

atmosphere around them, and ascertained the universal and unqualified

dependence of the whole human race on the same uncontroulable powers. In

proportion as these rays of light have coalesced, the presumption of the

_learned brethren_ has decreased; and should this superlative discovery

be ever consummated in the general conviction of society, then will

their characters undergo a thorough revolution--they will be loved more

and admired less--they will be considered, not as the repositories of

secrets to be dispensed with the cold hand of calculating avarice and

hypocrisy, but as the liberally minded declarers of those generally

beneficial truths which honest study has discovered, in their peculiar

departments of science. Till then the world must submit to wonder and

believe, and, above all things, to pay them fees. But, looking forward

to this era of improvement, they may join with the poet in saying

Yes! there are hearts, prophetic Hope may trust,

That slumber yet in uncreated dust,

Ordain'd to fire th' adoring sons of earth

With every charm of wisdom and of worth;

Ordain'd to light, with intellectual day,

The mazy wheels of Nature as they play.--E.]

If we had judged of their skill in surgery from the dreadful scars which

we sometimes saw, we should have supposed it to be much superior to the

art not only of their physicians, but of ours. We saw one man whose face

was almost entirely destroyed, his nose, including the bone, was

perfectly flat, and one cheek and one eye were so beaten in that the

hollow would almost receive a man's fist, yet no ulcer remained; and our

companion, Tupia, had been pierced quite through his body by a spear

headed with the bone of the sting-ray, the weapon having entered his

back, and come out just under his breast; but, except in reducing

dislocations and fractures, the best surgeon can contribute very little

to the cure of a wound; the blood itself is the best vulnerary balsam,

and when the juices of the body are pure, and the patient is temperate,

nothing more is necessary as an aid to nature in the cure of the worst

wound, than the keeping it clean.

Their commerce with the inhabitants of Europe has, however, already

entailed upon them that dreadful curse which avenged the inhumanities

committed by the Spaniards in America, the venereal disease. As it is

certain that no European vessel besides our own, except the Dolphin, and

the two that were under the command of Mons. Bougainville, ever visited

this island, it must have been brought either by one of them or by

us.[28] That it was not brought by the Dolphin, Captain Wallis has

demonstrated in the account of her voyage, and nothing is more certain

than that when we arrived, it had made most dreadful ravages in the

island. One of our people contracted it within five days after we went

on shore; and by the enquiries among the natives, which this occasioned,

we learnt, when we came to understand a little of their language, that

it had been brought by the vessels which had been there about fifteen

months before us, and had lain on the east side of the island. They

distinguished it by a name of the same import with _rottenness_, but of

a more extensive signification, and described, in the most pathetic

terms, the sufferings of the first victims to its rage, and told us that

it caused the hair and the nails to fall off, and the flesh to rot from

the bones; that it spread a universal terror and consternation among

them, so that the sick were abandoned by their nearest relations, lest

the calamity should spread by contagion, and left to perish alone in

such misery as till then had never been known among them. We had some

reason, however, to hope that they had found out a specific to cure it:

During our stay upon the island we saw none in whom it had made a great

progress, and one who went from us infected, returned after a short time

in perfect health; and by this it appeared, either that the disease had

cured itself, or that they were not unacquainted with the virtues of

simples, nor implicit dupes to the superstitious follies of their

priests. We endeavoured to learn the medical qualities which they

imputed to their plants, but our knowledge of their language was too

imperfect for us to succeed. If we could have learnt their specific for

the venereal disease, if such they have, it would have been of great

advantage to us, for when we left the island it had been contracted by

more than half the people on board the ship.

[Footnote 28: Bougainville most positively asserts, that the disease

existed in the island at his arrival; yet the statement of Wallis as to

the _soundness_ of his crew, seems deserving of all credit. After all,

perhaps, there is reason to doubt if the affection judged to be the Lues

Venerea, and at different times so exceedingly prevalent among these

people, were really so. Scientific men of the medical profession, know

the extreme difficulty there is of deciding, as to the existence of this

disease in certain cases. Common observers easily perceive and

confidently aver. But to the general reader the discussion of this topic

would be very unamusing. It is indeed quite irrelevant to the objects of

this work. But there may be some propriety in giving the following

remarks. The origin of the disease in question has never been distinctly

ascertained, and perhaps never will be. The common opinion is, that it

was brought from the western hemisphere; and the island of Hispaniola or

St Domingo is particularly mentioned by some writers as the place of its

first appearance. Hence the historian Robertson, with somewhat more of

unnecessary vehemence than of dignified moderation and good sense, tells

us in words very like part of our text: "One dreadful malady, the

severest scourge with which, in this life, offended heaven chastens the

indulgence of criminal desire, seems to have been peculiar to the

Americans. By communicating it to their conquerors, they have not only

amply avenged their own wrongs, but by adding this calamity to those

which formerly embittered human life, they have, perhaps, more than

counterbalanced all the benefits which Europe has derived from the

discovery of the New World." As if a disease which every body might have

avoided, so soon as its existence, its inveterate nature, and the mode

of communicating it, were known, and which, after all that has been said

of its malignity and rapid progress, was both mitigated by various means

soon after its appearance, and ultimately at no great distance of time

effectually arrested in its terrifying career--as if this could be

considered competent to liquidate all the advantages and the greatly

augmented comforts which have resulted to Europe and to the world at

large by the discoveries of Columbus: And as if, granting all that has

been exaggeratingly related of its spreading over Europe with the

celerity and unqualified extension of an epidemic--such visitation on

multitudes of generations no way implicated in the guilt, could by any

rules of logic for the interpreting of Providence be construed into acts

of righteous retribution in avenging these Indians! But in reality, it

is highly disputable if the facts on which is exhibited such an

_uncommonly_ zealous display of justice on the part of the historian,

are adequate to warrant his opinion, that America inflicted this

calamity. This is rather unfortunate for his apparent warmth of piety,

and the more so, as, from the information to which he alludes in his

note on the text, he must have been diffident at least of the accuracy

of its application. In that note, he makes mention of a dissertation

published in 1765, by Dr Antonio Sanchez Ribeiro, in which it is

endeavoured to be proved that the venereal disease took its rise in

Europe, and was brought on by an epidemical and malignant disorder.

Though calling in question some of the facts on which this opinion is

built, the Principal allows that it "is supported with such plausible

arguments, as render it (what? deserving of considerable regard, or very

probable? No such thing--as render it) a subject of enquiry well

deserving the attention of learned physicians!" Mr Bryan Edwards is more

moderate in his judgment of the matter, and seemingly more industrious

in ascertaining the evidence of it. In his opinion, an attentive

enquirer will hesitate to subscribe to the conclusion that this

infection was the product of the West Indies. He refers to the work of

Sanchez above mentioned, and to several other works, for reasons to

substantiate the other view; and he terminates his note with the

following paragraph, which by most readers will be considered of

superlative authority as to one important part of the case: In Stowe's

Survey of London, vol. ii. p. 7, is preserved a copy of the rules or

regulations established by parliament in the eighth year of Henry the

Second, for the government of the licensed stews in Southwark, among

which I find the following: "No stewholder to keep any woman that hath

the perilous infirmity of burning." This was 330 years before the voyage

of Columbus. If this "perilous infirmity of burning" be the disease now

denominated the Lues Venerea, the question is solved as to the concern

of America in its production. And all that Oviedo, Guicciardin,

Charlevoix, and others say, as to its first appearance in Europe, when

the king of Spain sent an army to the assistance of Ferdinand the Second

of Naples, must be reckoned as applicable only to its greater frequency,

or more common occurrence, than had before been known. But, indeed, the

description given of the disease which then prevailed so alarmingly, is

with some difficulty reconcileable to what is now ascertained of the

venereal infection. Guicciardin himself seems to hint at a diversity in

its form and mode of reception, betwixt the period he assigns for its

appearance, and "after the course of many years." "For then," says he,

(the quotation is made from Fenton's curious translation, London, 1599)

"the disease began to be less malitious, changing itself into diverse

kindes of infirmity, _differing from the first calamity_, whereof truly

the regions and people of our times might justly complain, _if it

happened to them without their proper disorder_ (that is, without their

own fault,) seeing it is well approved by all those that have diligently

studied and observed the properties of that evil, that either never or

very rarely it happeneth to any otherwayes, than by contagious whoredome

or immoderate incontinency." That a mistake exists in the early accounts

as to the nature of the disease which was found at Hispaniola by the

Spaniards, and by them on their return to Europe communicated to the

French and Neapolitans, is very probable from the circumstance mentioned

in them, that some vegetable substances, especially _guiaicum_, were

effectual for its cure;--since it is most certain, that the Lues Venerea

of modern times is not at all destructible by such means, whereas there

are several cutaneous affections which may be benefited by them. A

similar remark may be made respecting the disease observable at

Otaheite, which, as the reader will find in the text, is said to have

been cured by _simples_ known to the inhabitants. This is most unlikely,

if that disease were really the Lues Venerea, as is alleged, and had not

existed among them previous to the arrival of Europeans; though what

Lawson says in his account of the natives of North Carolina does

undoubtedly yield material evidence to such an opinion. "They cure,"

says he, "the pox, which is frequent among them, by a berry that

salivates, as mercury does; yet they use sweating and decoctions very

much with it; as they do, almost on every occasion; and when they are

thoroughly heated, they leap into the river." The natives of Madagascar

too are said to cure this disease by similar treatment. But the reader's

patience, perhaps, is exhausted, and it is full time to conclude this

long note. On the whole, it seems probable enough, that this disease is

not the product of any one particular country, and from it propagated

among others by communication, but is the result of certain

circumstances not indeed yet ascertained, but common to the human race,

and of earlier occurrence in the world than is generally imagined.--E.]

It is impossible but that, in relating incidents, many particulars with

respect to the customs, opinions, and works of these people should be

anticipated; to avoid repetition therefore, I shall only supply

deficiencies. Of the manner of disposing of their dead much has been

said already. I must more explicitly observe, that there are two places

in which the dead are deposited; one a kind of shed, where the flesh is

suffered to putrify; the other an inclosure, with erections of stone,

where the bones are afterwards buried. The sheds are called _Tupapow_

and the inclosures _Morai_. The Morais are also places of worship.[29]

[Footnote 29: "It is the heaviest stone," says Sir Thomas Brown in his

curious work Hydriotaphia, "that melancholy can throw at a man, to tell

him he is at the end of his nature; or that there is no farther state to

come, unto which this seems progressional, and otherwise made in vain."

But of such a conspiracy and assault against the best hopes of man,

these Otaheitans, we see, are by no means guilty. They look for another

existence after that one is finished, in which the body held an

inseparable companionship. By their mode of treating the dead, they seem

to study the perpetuity of friendship, and by their using their morais

as places of worship, they acknowledge a fellowship with them in

something that death cannot destroy. The philosopher of modern times may

say this is foolish, and may call for evidence that the notion of

immortality is not groundless. It is perhaps impossible to satisfy him,

because, in fact, he demands of reason what it is not the province of

reason to afford. The notion is founded on other principles of the

constitution which God has imparted to man, and these principles rebut

all the sophistry of the presumptuous sciolist. Is it true, that this

notion prevails universally among the human race? Let him answer to

this. He must admit it;--let him then explain it, if he can. Reason, he

will say, is incompetent to the task.--Admitted. But so is it to many

other tasks--it cannot, for instance, solve the question, why we believe

the sun will rise to-morrow and dispel the darkness now cloaking over

the horizon? The hope that it will do so, is nevertheless very natural.

Who shall say it is improper, or that it is founded on the mere fancy of

man? Reason indeed may strengthen the ground of this hope, and so may it

too the notion of a future existence. But they both rest on foundations

quite distinct from that faculty, and might, for any thing can be seen

to the contrary, have formed part of our moral constitution, although

that faculty had never existed in our minds. And here let it be

distinctly understood, that in stating the notion or expectation of a

future existence to be founded on some principle or principles separate

from reason, and the same in all the human race, it is not meant to be

denied that the mere opinions as to the nature and condition of that

existence may have no other foundation whatever than what Mr Hume, for

instance, has ascribed erroneously to the notion itself--men's own

conceit and imagination. This in fact is the secret of that writer's

vile sophistry on the subject, and at once confutes it, by proving the

inapplicability of his argument. All that is now contended for, is, the

universality of the notion or belief, not by any means the similarity of

the opinions connected with it. These opinions are as numerous, indeed,

as the characteristic features of different nations and governments; but

were they a thousand times more diversified than they are ascertained to

be, and a thousand times more contradictory and absurd, they still

recognise some instinctive or constitutional principle common to our

race, and which no reasoning or artifices of priests or designing men

could possibly produce. No conceit or imagination can ever originate,

though it may certainly foster, "this hope, this fond desire, this

longing after immortality;" and no reasoning, no efforts of the mind,

nay, what is still more striking, no dislike, however strong, as

proceeding from an apprehension of some evil consequences involved in

the truth of the belief, can eradicate the inclination to entertain it.

In short, it is no way paradoxical to assert, that, were man by any

means to know that there shall be no hereafter, his whole life,

supposing his constitution to remain the same, would be a direct and

continued contradiction to his knowledge. This, to be sure, would be a

strange anomaly in the government of God, and utterly irreconcileable

with every view we can form of his veracity, if we may use the

expression, though still consistent with his wisdom and goodness. But

what then shall we say of the conduct of the would-be philosophers, who,

with limited faculties and intelligences and benevolence, (this is no

disparagement, for even Voltaire himself, with all his powers, was but a

finite creature!) force reason and science to prove what their own

feelings belie, and to oppose what their consciences declare to be

irresistible? It is not profane, on such an occasion, to accommodate the

language of an apostle into a suitable rebuke to such perverse

contenders. "What if some labour not to believe, shall their attempts

frustrate the work of God? Far be it--God will maintain his truth,

though all men should conspire against it." Allowing then free scope to

a notion so natural to us, and having our opinions guided by an unerring

light, we shall see that there is something vastly more dignified than

fashion in the funeral rites of the Otaheitans--and feel that there is

something vastly more important than eloquence, in the words of an

author already quoted at the commencement of this note:--"Man is a noble

animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing

nativities and deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting ceremonies of

bravery, in the infancy of his nature;"--the reason for which is

explained by another author, in words still more sublime and

exhilarating:--"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle

were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,

eternal in the heavens."--E.]

As soon as a native of Otaheite is known to be dead, the house is filled

with relations, who deplore their loss, some by loud lamentations, and

some by less clamorous, but more genuine expressions of grief. Those who

are in the nearest degree of kindred, and are really affected by the

event, are silent; the rest are one moment uttering passionate

exclamations in a chorus, and the next laughing and talking without the

least appearance of concern. In this manner the remainder of the day on

which they assemble is spent, and all the succeeding night. On the next

morning the body is shrouded in their cloth, and conveyed to the seaside

upon a bier, which the bearers support upon their shoulders, attended by

the priest, who having prayed over the body, repeats his sentences

during the procession: When it arrives at the water's edge, it is set

down upon the beach; the priest renews his prayers, and taking up some

of the water in his hands, sprinkles it towards the body, but not upon

it. It is then carried back forty or fifty yards, and soon after brought

again to the beach, where the prayers and sprinkling are repeated: It is

thus removed backwards and forwards several times, and while these

ceremonies have been performing, a house has been built, and a small

space of ground railed in. In the centre of this house, or Tupapow,

posts are set up to support the bier, which is at length conveyed

thither, and placed upon it, and here the body remains to putrify till

the flesh is wholly wasted from the bones.

These houses of corruption are of a size proportioned to the rank of the

person whose body they are to contain; those allotted to the lower class

are just sufficient to cover the bier, and have no railing round them.

The largest we ever saw was eleven yards long, and such as these are

ornamented according to the abilities and inclination of the surviving

kindred, who never fail to lay a profusion of good cloth about the body,

and sometimes almost cover the outside of the house. Garlands of the

fruit of the palm-nut, or _pandanus_, and cocoa leaves, twisted by the

priests in mysterious knots, with a plant called by them _Ethee no

Morai_, which is particularly consecrated to funeral solemnities, are

deposited about the place; provision and water are also left at a little

distance, of which, and of other decorations, a more particular

description has been given already.

As soon as the body is deposited in the Tupapow, the mourning is

renewed. The women assemble, and are led to the door by the nearest

relation, who strikes a shark's tooth several times into the crown of

her head: The blood copiously follows, and is carefully received upon

pieces of linen, which are thrown under the bier. The rest of the women

follow this example, and the ceremony is repeated at the interval of two

or three days, as long as the zeal and sorrow of the parties hold out.

The tears also which are shed upon these occasions, are received upon

pieces of cloth, and offered as oblations to the dead: Some of the

younger people cut off their hair, and that is thrown under the bier

with the other offerings. This custom is founded upon a notion that the

soul of the deceased, which they believe to exist in a separate state,

is hovering about the place where the body is deposited; that it

observes the actions of the survivors, and is gratified by such

testimonies of their affection and grief.

Two or three days after these ceremonies have been commenced by the

women, during which the men seem to be wholly insensible of their loss,

they also begin to perform their part. The nearest relations take it in

turn to assume the dress, and perform the office which have already been

particularly described in the account of Tubourai Tamaide's having acted

as chief mourner to an old woman, his relation, who died while we were

in the island. One part of the ceremony, however, which accounts for the

running away of the people as soon as this procession is in sight, has

not been mentioned. The chief mourner carries in his hand a long flat

stick, the edge of which is set with shark's teeth, and in a phrenzy,

which his grief is supposed to have inspired, he runs at all he sees,

and if any of them happen to be overtaken, he strikes them most

unmercifully with this indented cudgel, which cannot fail to wound them

in a dangerous manner.

These processions continue at certain intervals for five moons, but are

less and less frequent, by a gradual diminution, as the end of that time

approaches. When it is expired, what remains of the body is taken down

from the bier, and the bones having been scraped and washed very clean,

are buried, according to the rank of the person, either within or

without a morai: If the deceased was an earee, or chief, his skull is

not buried with the rest of the bones, but is wrapped up in fine cloth,

and put in a kind of box made for that purpose, which is also placed in

the morai. This coffer is called _ewharre no te orometua_, the house of

a teacher or master. After this the mourning ceases, except some of the

women continue to be really afflicted for the loss, and in that case

they will sometimes suddenly wound themselves with the shark's tooth

wherever they happen to be: This perhaps will account for the passion

of grief in which Terapo wounded herself at the fort; some accidental

circumstance might forcibly revive the remembrance of a friend or

relation whom she had lost, with a pungency of regret and tenderness

which forced a vent by tears, and prompted her to a repetition of the

funeral rite.

The ceremonies, however, do not cease with the mourning: Prayers are

still said by the priest, who is well paid by the surviving relations,

and offerings made at the morai. Some of the things, which from time to

time are deposited there, are emblematical: A young plantain represents

the deceased, and the bunch of feathers the deity who is invoked. The

priest places himself over against the symbol of the god, accompanied by

some of the relations, who are furnished with a small offering, and

repeats his oraison in a set form, consisting of separate sentences; at

the same time weaving the leaves of the cocoa-nut into different forms,

which he afterwards deposits upon the ground where the bones have been

interred; the deity is then addressed by a shrill screech, which is used

only upon that occasion. When the priest retires, the tuft of feathers

is removed, and the provisions left to putrify, or be devoured by the

rats.[30]

[Footnote 30: There is something very remarkable in the circumstance of

resemblance among very different and distant people, as to the practice

of mourning for the dead, when in fact there can be no such thing as

grief in existence, and when the appearance of it is merely a part of

what may be called professional duty. It is clear from the accounts of

the text and other authorities, that more are concerned in this mourning

work at Otaheite, than are really concerned in the occasion of it; and

the probability of course is, that in some way or other these additional

attendants are recompensed for their doleful services. That the use of

mercenary mourners prevailed, and still prevails, among some eastern

nations, is clear from Scripture and the relations of recent authors.

The reader will find some amusing information concerning them, and an

account of the Caoinan or funeral cry of the Irish as practised for

similar purposes, in Dr A. Clarke's edition of Mr Harmer's Observations,

before alluded to. A quotation from that work can scarcely fail to

interest the reader, who will be afterwards favoured with a very curious

description of what is said by Lawson to have been practised in North

Carolina, in which the general point of resemblance is most strikingly

displayed.--"Not only do the relations and female friends, in Egypt,

surround the corpse, while it remains unburied, with the most bitter

cries, scratching and beating their faces so violently as to make them

bloody, and black, and blue; but, to render the hubbub more complete,

and do the more honour to the dead person, whom they seem to imagine to

be very fond of noise, those of the lower class of people are wont to

call in, on these occasions, certain _women_, who play on tabors, and

whose business it is to sing mournful airs to the sound of this

instrument, which they accompany with a thousand distortions of their

limbs, as frightful as those of people possessed by the devil. These

women attend the corpse to the grave intermixed with the relations and

friends of the deceased, who commonly have their hair in the utmost

disorder, like the frantic Bacchanalian women of the ancient heathens,

their heads covered with dust, their faces daubed with indigo, or at

least rubbed with mud, and howling like mad people." Now let us hear

Lawson.--"These savages all agree in their mourning, which is to appear,

every night, at the sepulchre, and howl and weep in a very dismal

manner, having their faces daubed over with light-wood soot, (which is

the same as lamp-black) and bears-oil. This renders them as black as it

is possible to make themselves, so that their's very much resemble the

faces of executed men boiled in tar. If the dead person was a grandee,

to carry on the funeral ceremonies, they hire people to cry and lament

over the dead man. Of this sort there are several, that practise it for

a livelihood, and are very expert at shedding abundance of tears, and

howling like wolves, and so discharging their office with abundance of

hypocrisy and art." The reader will meet with a pretty full account of

the funeral ceremonies among some of the eastern nations, in Dr Scott's

introduction to his recent edition of the Arabian Nights

Entertainments.--E.]

Of the religion of these people, we were not able to acquire any clear

and consistent knowledge: We found it like the religion of most other

countries, involved in mystery, and perplexed with apparent

inconsistencies. The religious language is also here, as it is in China,

different from that which is used in common; so that Tupia, who took

great pains to instruct us, having no words to express his meaning which

we understood, gave us lectures to very little purpose: What we learnt,

however, I will relate with as much perspicuity as I can.

Nothing is more obvious to a rational being, however ignorant or stupid,

than that the universe and its various parts, as far as they fall under

his notice, were produced by some agent inconceivably more powerful than

himself; and nothing is more difficult to be conceived, even by the most

sagacious and knowing, than the production of them from nothing, which

among us is expressed by the word _Creation_. It is natural therefore,

as no Being apparently capable of producing the universe is to be seen,

that he should be supposed to reside in some distant part of it, or to

be in his nature invisible, and that he should have originally produced

all that now exists in a manner similar to that in which nature is

renovated by the succession of one generation to another; but the idea

of procreation includes in it that of two persons, and from the

conjunction of two persons these people imagine every thing in the

universe either originally or derivatively to proceed.

The Supreme Deity, one of these two first beings, they call

_Taroataihetoomoo_, and the other, whom they suppose to have been a

rock, _Tepapa_. A daughter of these was _Tettowmatatayo_, the year, or

thirteen months collectively, which they never name but upon this

occasion, and she, by the common father, produced the months, and the

months, by conjunction with each other, the days; the stars they suppose

partly to be the immediate offspring of the first pair, and partly to

have increased among themselves; and they have the same notion with

respect to the different species of plants. Among other progeny of

Taroataihetoomoo and Tepapa, they suppose an inferior race of deities

whom they call _Eatuas_. Two of these Eatuas, they say, at some remote

period of time, inhabited the earth, and were the parents of the first

man. When this man, their common ancestor, was born, they say that he

was round like a ball, but that his mother, with great care, drew out

his limbs, and having at length moulded him into his present form, she

called him _Eothe_, which signifies _finished_. That being prompted by

the universal instinct to propagate his kind, and being able to find no

female but his mother, he begot upon her a daughter, and upon the

daughter other daughters for several generations, before there was a

son; a son, however, being at length born, he, by the assistance of his

sisters, peopled the world.

Besides their daughter Tettowmatatayo, the first progenitors of nature

had a son whom they called _Tane_. Taroataihetoomoo, the Supreme Deity,

they emphatically style the causer of earthquakes; but their prayers are

more generally addressed to Tane, whom they suppose to take a greater

part in the affairs of mankind.

Their subordinate deities or Eatuas, which are numerous, are of both

sexes: The male are worshipped by the men, and the female by the women;

and each have morais to which the other sex is not admitted, though they

have also morais common to both. Men perform the office of priest to

both sexes, but each sex has its priests, for those who officiate for

one sex do not officiate for the other.[31]

[Footnote 31: In several respects the theological notions of these

islanders resemble those of the oriental philosophers, spoken of in

Mosheim's Historical Account of the Church in the First Century, to

which the curious reader is referred. The Otaheitan Eatuas and the

Gnostic [Greek] seem near a-kin; the generation scheme is common to

both. What said the philosophers? The Supreme Being, after passing many

ages in silence and inaction, did at length beget of himself, two beings

of very excellent nature like his own; these, by some similar operation,

produced others, who having the same desires and ability, soon generated

more, till the [Greek], or whole space inhabited by them, was

completely occupied. A sort of inferior beings proceeded from these, and

were considered by the worshippers as intermediate betwixt themselves

and the upper gods. But enough of this trash. Let certain infatuated

admirers of ancient philosophy blush, if they are capable of such an

indication of modesty, to find that the rude and tin-lettered

inhabitants of an island in the South-Sea, are not a whit behind their

venerated sages in the manufacture of gods and godlings. Alas, poor

Gibbon! must the popular religion of Otaheite, the licentious, the

dissolute, the child-murdering, the _unnatural_ Otaheite, be put on a

level with the elegant mythology of Homer, and the mild, serviceable

superstition of imperial Rome? Why not? Is it fitting that even Otaheite

be excluded the benefit of this very impartial historian's humane maxim,

which he puts into the mouths of the Lords of the earth; "in every

country, the form of superstition, which has received the sanction of

time and experience, is the best adapted to the climate and to its

inhabitants?" By all means, give Taroataihetoomoo, Tepapa, and

Tettowmatatayo, the _freedom of the city_--only clip their names a

little for the conveniency of the liberal-minded catholics who may

desire their acquaintance.--E.]

They believe the immortality of the soul, at least its existence in a

separate state, and that there are two situations of different degrees

of happiness, somewhat analogous to our heaven and hell: The superior

situation they call _Tavirua Perai_, the other _Tiahoboo_. They do not,

however, consider them as places of reward and punishment, but as

receptacles for different classes; the first, for their chiefs and

principal people, the other for those of inferior rank, for they do not

suppose that their actions here in the least influence their future

state, or indeed that they come under the cognizance of their deities at

all. Their religion, therefore, if it has no influence upon their

morals, is at least disinterested; and their expressions of adoration

and reverence, whether by words or actions, arise only from a humble

sense of their own inferiority, and the ineffable excellence of divine

perfection.

The character of the priest, or Tahowa, is hereditary: The class is

numerous, and consists of all ranks of people; the Chief, however, is

generally the younger brother of a good family, and is respected in a

degree next to their kings: Of the little knowledge that is possessed in

this country, the priests have the greatest share; but it consists

principally in an acquaintance with the names and ranks of the different

Eatuas or subordinate divinities, and the opinions concerning the origin

of things, which have been traditionally preserved among the order in

detached sentences, of which some will repeat an incredible number,

though but very few of the words that are used in their common dialect

occur in them.

The priests, however, are superior to the rest of the people in the

knowledge of navigation and astronomy, and indeed the name Tahowa

signifies nothing more than a man of knowledge. As there are priests of

every class, they officiate only among that class to which they belong:

The priest of the inferior class is never called upon by those of

superior rank, nor will the priest of the superior rank officiate for

any of the inferior class.

Marriage in this island, as appeared to us, is nothing more than an

agreement between the man and woman, with which the priest has no

concern. Where it is contracted it appears to be pretty well kept,

though sometimes the parties separate by mutual consent, and in that

case a divorce takes place with as little trouble as the marriage.

But though the priesthood has laid the people under no tax for a nuptial

benediction, there are two operations which it has appropriated, and

from which it derives considerable advantages. One is _tattowing_, and

the other circumcision, though neither of them have any connection with

religion. The tattowing has been described already. Circumcision has

been adopted merely from motives of cleanliness; it cannot indeed

properly be called circumcision, because the _prepuce_ is not mutilated

by a circular wound, but only slit through the upper part to prevent its

contracting over the _glans_. As neither of these can be performed by

any but a priest, and as to be without either is the greatest disgrace,

they may be considered as a claim to surplice fees like our marriages

and christenings, which are cheerfully and liberally paid, not according

to any settled stipend, but the rank and abilities of the parties or

their friends.

The morai, as has already been observed, is at once a burying-ground and

a place of worship, and in this particular our churches too much

resemble it. The Indian, however, approaches his morai with a reverence

and humility that disgraces the christian, not because he holds any

thing sacred that is there, but because he there worships an invisible

divinity, for whom, though he neither hopes for reward, nor fears

punishment, at his hand, he always expresses the profoundest homage and

most humble adoration. I have already given a very particular

description both of the morais and the altars that are placed near them.

When an Indian is about to worship at the morai, or brings his offering

to the altar, he always uncovers his body to the waist, and his looks

and attitude are such as sufficiently express a corresponding

disposition of mind.[32]

[Footnote 32: Almost all the particulars now and afterwards stated _in

favour_ of the Otaheitans, are fully allowed by recent accounts,

especially that of the Missionary Voyage already noticed.--E.]

It did not appear to us that these people are, in any instance, guilty

of idolatry; at least they do not worship any thing that is the work of

their hands, nor any visible part of the creation. This island indeed,

and the rest that lie near it, have a particular bird, some a heron, and

others a king's fisher, to which they pay a peculiar regard, and

concerning which they have some superstitious notions with respect to

good and bad fortune, as we have of the swallow and robin-red-breast,

giving them the name of _Eatua_, and by no means killing or molesting

them; yet they never address a petition to them, or approach them with

any act of adoration.[33]

[Footnote 33: The account now given of the religion of the Otaheitans is

imperfect in point of information; and it must be held erroneous as to

principle, by all who chuse to derive their knowledge on the subject of

man's relation to his Maker, from the sacred Scriptures alone. The

imperfections were the consequence of the very limited acquaintance with

these islanders, which existed at the time, and may be readily filled up

on the authority of subsequent observers. As to the erroneousness of

principle, it may suffice for the enlightened reader to remind him, that

as the Supreme Being himself is the only object of worship, so every

other one that is worshipped in place of him, whether made by the hands

of men, or found made by nature, or conceived to exist, is virtually and

essentially an idol. It follows from this, that idolatry is much more

prevalent than is usually imagined, and is by no means confined to

nations in a barbarous or semi-barbarous state. The worshippers of

reason, or virtue, or taste, or fashion, or nature, or one's own

goodness and piety, or the spiritual entities of philosophers and

religionists, are as truly idolaters as the worshippers of the grand

lama in Thibet, or the economical sect in Lapland, who content

themselves with the largest stone they can find. Mr Hume, who has been

at such pains to enquire into the natural history of religion, is most

unnecessarily cautious as to the qualifying of one of his most important

assertions on the subject of the prevalence of idolaters. "The savage

tribes of America, Africa, and Asia," says he, "are all idolaters. Not a

single exception to this rule. Insomuch, that, were a traveller to

transport himself into any unknown region; if he found inhabitants

cultivated with arts and sciences, though even upon that supposition

there are odds against their being theists, yet could he not safely,

till further enquiry, pronounce any thing on that head; but if he found

them ignorant and barbarous, he might beforehand declare them idolaters;

and there is scarcely a possibility of his being mistaken." He might

have said with perfect confidence, that a traveller would scarcely find

one person in a thousand amid all the tribes of the earth, who was

entitled to be considered as a pure theist, or at least, who was

single-minded in the exercise of his religious devotion. The generality

of mankind, in short, are like a certain people of old,--they fear the

Lord, and worship their own gods. Then again as to the disinterestedness

of the Otaheitan devotees, Dr Hawkesworth egregiously blunders--as if it

were conceivable, or any way natural, that they or any other people

could possibly serve their divinities without entertaining the hope that

they should be served by them in turn. This were to exceed even Homer in

his exaggerating human nature at the expence of the gods. That poet puts

a curious speech in the mouth of Dione, the mother of Venus, when

addressing her daughter, who had been wounded by Diomede:--

My child! how hard soe'er thy sufferings seem,

Endure them patiently, since many a wrong

From human hands profane the gods endure,

And many a painful stroke mankind from ours.

But Dr H. it is probable, had embraced the fanatical and monstrous

notion of some specialists, that God and religion were to be loved for

their own sakes; not because of the benefits they confer; and he wished

to exalt the characters of these islanders by representing them as

acting on it. This, however, is as irrational in itself, as it is

impracticable by such a creature as man. Self-love, directed by wisdom,

is perhaps the best principle that can actuate him. Considering

scripture as an authority, there is a high degree of commendation

implied in what is said of Moses by an apostle, when speaking of his

faith and obedience, and accounting for it, "he had respect unto the

recompence of reward;" and of one higher than Moses it is related, that,

"for the joy set before him, (certainly not then possessed,) he endured

the cross." Were man always to act from a sense of what he has received,

and the hope of what he may receive, he would never do wrong. He, on the

other hand, that attempts to serve God out of pure benevolence, and

without expectation of advantage, will soon spurn archangels, and may

set up for a God himself, on any day he shall think he has succeeded in

accomplishing such super-eminent disinterestedness. On the whole, it may

be remarked, that the Dr seems correct enough in his notions of

religion, considered as founded on reason; but is far from being so in

those concerning its foundation in the principles of human nature. This,

however, seems the consequence of inattention to the subject as a

speculation, rather than of studied disregard to those secret surmisings

which every human heart will oftentimes experience to carry it beyond

the brink of perishable things, and to give it a birth amid the

realities of wonder, fear, and hope. Far be it from the writer to class

him amongst those whom the poet Campbell so pathetically, and yet so

indignantly describes in the beautiful lines,--

Oh! lives there, heaven! beneath thy dread expanse,

One hopeless, dark idolater of chance,

Content to feed, with pleasures unrefined,

The lukewarm passions of a lowly mind;

Who, mouldering earthward, 'reft of every trust,

In joyless union wedded to the dust,

Could all his parting energy dismiss,

And call this barren world sufficient bliss?

He may not merit the "proud applause," the "pre-eminence in ill," of

those "lights of the world," and "demi-gods of fame," who league reason

and science against the hopes of mankind, and busy themselves in

throwing the "heaviest stones of melancholy" at the poor wretch

shivering over the dregs of life, and tottering towards the grass. And

yet it is certain, that what was written on his own tombstone implied

much less the hope of another life, than the gloomy satisfaction of

having partners in the darkness and inactivity of death. The reader will

see it in the Encyclopædia Britannica, where a short account of him is

given.--E.]

Though I dare not assert that these people, to whom the art of writing,

and consequently the recording of laws, are utterly unknown, live under

a regular form of government, yet a subordination is established among

them, that greatly resembles the early state of every nation in Europe

under the feudal system, which secured liberty in the most licentious

excess to a few, and entailed the most abject slavery upon the rest.[34]

[Footnote 34: The government of this island, it is most certain, is both

monarchical and hereditary in one family. There is not the smallest

reason to think that the Otaheitans, with all their ingenuity and love

of freedom, are, any more than other people, exempt from those

principles so vigorously depicted by Cowper in his "Task," as the origin

of kingship:--

It is the abject property of most,

That, being parcel of the common mass,

And destitute of means to raise themselves,

They sink, and settle, lower than they need.

They know not what it is to feel within

A comprehensive faculty, that grasps

Great purposes with ease, that turns and wields

Almost without an effort, plans too vast

For their conception, which they cannot move.

Conscious of impotence, they soon grow drunk

With gazing, when they see an able man

Step forth to notice; and besotted thus,

Build him a pedestal, and say, "Stand there,

And be our admiration and our praise."

But at what time this able man stepped forth to monopolise the

admiration and the allegiance of his brethren (all sound men and true!),

is not in the record. The Otaheitans, we know, are not historians.

Probably, then, they have been favoured by their priests with some good

orthodox doctrine, as to divine appointment on the subject. Indeed, the

case of these islanders is one in which the necessary effect of that

consciousness of impotence and self-abasement, is scarcely in any degree

counteracted by other principles. We see it literally exemplifying the

description of the poet,--

Thenceforth they are his cattle: drudges, born

To bear his burdens, drawing in his gears,

And sweating in his service, his caprice

Becomes the soul that animates them all.

"It is considered," says the missionary account, "as the distinctive

mark of their regal dignity, to be every where carried about on men's

shoulders. As their persons are esteemed sacred, before them all must

uncover below their breast. They may not enter into any house but their

own, because, from that moment, it would become raã, or sacred, and none

but themselves, or their train, could dwell or eat there; and the land

their feet touched would be their property." It sometimes happens in

other countries, it is true, that men can be found base enough to

emulate beasts of burden, by drawing the carriages of their sovereign

lords. This, however, is only on some peculiar occasions, where certain

clear indications of personal superiority have been manifested, to

induce the mass of the people to revert to the notion of their own

pristine lowliness. The Otaheitan princes, on the other hand, practise

less self-denial in such imposition; or, which is perhaps more likely to

be the truth, they find their continuance in an exalted situation very

requisite to discriminate their office, which could not be inferred from

any superiority of character they possess; for, says the same account,

"the king and queen were always attended by a number of men, as

carriers, domestics, or favourites, who were ràa, or sacred, living

without families, and attending only on the royal pair; and a worse set

of men the whole island does not afford for thievery, plunder, and

impurity." If this opinion be correct, one might safely infer, that the

monarchy of Otaheite is of very old standing, or, in other words, that

the royal blood is run to the dregs. And what though it be? Cannot the

pageantry of state suffice for all the ends of good government in

Otaheite, as well as any where else? It is very foolish, to say no more

of it, to be exclaiming with the poet,

But is it fit, or can it bear the shock

Of rational discussion, that a man,

Compounded and made up like other men,

Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust

And folly in as ample measure meet,

As in the bosoms of the slaves he rules,

Should he a despot absolute, and boast

Himself the only freeman of his land?

This is to overlook, entirely, the existence of certain springs in a

government, which ensure its not stopping, for a considerable time after

the corruption or even disorganization of what is apparently its head

and source of vitality. It is to imagine that a political constitution

depends for its preservation on the same identical principles which gave

it origin, and that none other can be substituted in their place,

without breaking up the whole machine. It is to forget, that after a

certain period of society, the whims and vices of the nominal chief are

of little more importance, than the movements and attitudes of a dancing

doll. "Habit," says Mr Hume, in his sensible way, "soon consolidates

what other principles of human nature had imperfectly founded; and men

once accustomed to obedience never think of departing from that path, in

which they and their ancestors have constantly trod, and to which they

are confined by so many urgent and visible motives."--E.]

Their orders are, _earee rahie_, which answers to king; _earee_, baron;

_manahouni_, vassal; and _toutou_, villain. The earee rahie, of which

there are two in this island, one being the sovereign of each of the

peninsulas of which it consists, is treated with great respect by all

ranks, but did not appear to us to be invested with so much power as was

exercised by the earees in their own districts; nor indeed did we, as we

have before observed, once see the sovereign of Obereonoo while we were

in the island. The earees are lords of one or more of the districts into

which each of the peninsulas is divided, of which there may be about one

hundred in the whole island; and they parcel out their territories to

the manahounies, who cultivate each his part which he holds under the

baron. The lowest class, called toutous, seem to be nearly under the

same circumstances as the villains in feudal governments: These do all

the laborious work, they cultivate the land under the manahounies, who

are only nominal cultivators for the lord, they fetch wood and water,

and, under the direction of the mistress of the family, dress the

victuals; they also catch the fish.

Each of the eares keeps a kind of court, and has a great number of

attendants, chiefly the younger brothers of their own tribe; and among

these some hold particular offices, but of what nature exactly we could

not tell. One was called the _Eowa no l'Earee_, and another the _Whanno

no l'Earee_, and these were frequently dispatched to us with messages.

Of all the courts of these eares, that of Tootahah was the most

splendid, as indeed might reasonably be expected, because he

administered the government for Outou, his nephew, who was earee rahie

of Obereonoo, and lived upon his estate. The child of the baron or

earee, as well as of the sovereign or earee rahie, succeeds to the title

and honours of the father as soon as it is born: So that a baron, who

was yesterday called earee, and was approached with the ceremony of

lowering the garments, so as to uncover the upper part of the body, is

to day, if his wife was last night delivered of a child, reduced to the

rank of a private man, all marks of respect being transferred to the

child, if it is suffered to live, though the father still continues

possessor and administrator of his estate: Probably this custom has its

share, among other inducements, in forming the societies called

Arreoy.[35]

[Footnote 35: What renders this opinion the more probable, is the

circumstance of these societies being generally made up of the _nobles_.

But it is certain, that the inhuman practice of child-murder is not

confined to the Arreoys. "It is the common practice," says the

missionary account, "among all ranks, to strangle infants the moment

they are born," To the same work we are indebted for some particulars

respecting the division of ranks in Otaheite, which do not quite accord

with the statement in the text. The difference is indeed very

immaterial, and would scarcely deserve notice, if any thing were not

important which seems to illustrate the history of so interesting a

people. A slight sketch of the subject, as given in that work, may

suffice for the reader's consideration. The person next in rank to the

king is his own father, if alive--it being the invariable maxim of this

government, though quite unexampled elsewhere, for a son to succeed to

the title and dignity of king, immediately on his birth, and in

prejudice of his own father, who, however, is usually, but not always,

entrusted with the regency, till the young man have ability for the

duties of his office. The chiefs of the several districts are next in

dignity; they exercise almost regal authority in their respective

territories; they are notwithstanding subject to the sovereign, and

liable to be called on by him for such assistance as circumstances may

induce him to require. Next to these, are the near relatives of the

chiefs, called to-whas and tayos. Then follows the rank of rattira or

gentlemen, whose estates are called rahoe. These two ranks have the

power of laying a prohibition on their respective lands, or on

particular sorts of provision, for the purpose of accumulating articles

for their feasts, or after any great consumption of the necessaries of

life. The lowest class of society after the rattira, is the manahoune,

which bears a resemblance to our cottagers. They cultivate the lands,

and are in a state of vassalage, but they are not compelled to constant

service, and they are permitted both to change masters, and to migrate

to other districts. The servants in any class are called _toutou_; such

as wait on the women, _tuti_, an occupation into which, it seems, for

reasons best known to themselves, young men of the first families not

unfrequently insinuate, though by so doing they are excluded from the

solemnities of religion. A detestable set of men named _mahoos_, and

bearing a resemblance to the Catamites of old, deserve not to be

mentioned in the list of the ranks in this society. Birth has several

distinctions in its favour among these people. Thus, a chief is always a

chief, notwithstanding his demerits or misdemeanours; and, on the

contrary, nothing can raise a common man above the station of a towha or

rattira. The king allows perfect freedom of intercourse and communion

with his subjects, treating them with the greatest freedom, and, indeed,

scarcely preserving any appearance of distinction from them. His

household is often changed, as no one serves him longer than he likes,

and it is not usual to engage for any stated time, or for any wages.

With these people it is not a reproach to be poor; but they freely

express their contempt of those who are affluent, and at the same time

covetous. The dread of being thus despised is so great and prevalent

among them, that a man would give the clothes off his body, rather than

be called in their language peere peere, _i.e._ stingy. The rights of

_property_ are sacredly respected, and though there be no records or

writing in the island, are minutely ascertained, and carefully preserved

by tradition.--E.]

If a general attack happens to be made upon the island, every district

under the command of an earee, is obliged to furnish its proportion of

soldiers for the common defence. The number furnished by the principal

districts, which Tupia recollected, when added together, amounted, as I

have observed before, to six thousand six hundred and eighty.

Upon such occasions, the united force of the whole island is commanded

in chief by the earee rahie. Private differences between two earees are

decided by their own people, without at all disturbing the general

tranquillity.

Their weapons are slings, which they use with great dexterity, pikes

headed with the stings of sting-rays, and clubs, of about six or seven

feet long, made of a very hard heavy wood. Thus armed, they are said to

fight with great obstinacy, which is the more likely to be true, as it

is certain that they give no quarter to either man, woman, or child, who

is so unfortunate as to fall into their hands during the battle, or for

some hours afterwards, till their passion, which is always violent,

though not lasting, has subsided.

The earee rahie of Obereonoo, while we were here, was in perfect amity

with the earee rahie of Tiarreboo, the other peninsula, though he took

to himself the title of king of the whole island: This, however,

produced no more jealousy in the other sovereign, than the title of King

of France, assumed by our sovereign, did in his most Christian Majesty.

In a government so rude, it cannot be expected that distributive justice

should be regularly administered, and indeed, where there is so little

opposition of interest, in consequence of the facility with which every

appetite and passion is gratified, there can be but few crimes.[36]

There is nothing like money, the common medium by which every want and

every wish is supposed to be gratified by those who do not possess it;

there is no apparently permanent good which either fraud or force can

unlawfully obtain; and when all the crimes that are committed by the

inhabitants of civilized countries, to get money, are set out of the

account, not many will remain: Add to this, that where the commerce with

women is restrained by no law, men will seldom be under any temptation

to commit adultery, especially as one woman is always less preferred to

another, where they are less distinguished by personal decorations, and

the adventitious circumstances which are produced by the varieties of

art, and the refinements of sentiment. That they are thieves is true;

but as among these people no man can be much injured or benefited by

theft, it is not necessary to restrain it by such punishments, as in

other countries are absolutely necessary to the very existence of civil

society. Tupia, however, tells us, that adultery is sometimes committed

as well as theft. In all cases where an injury has been committed, the

punishment of the offender lies with the sufferer: Adultery, if the

parties are caught in the fact, is sometimes punished with death in the

first ardour of resentment; but without circumstances of immediate

provocation, the female sinner seldom suffers more than a beating. As

punishment, however, is enforced by no law, nor taken into the hand of

any magistrate, it is not often inflicted, except the injured party is

the strongest; though the chiefs do sometimes punish their immediate

dependants for faults committed against each other, and even the

dependants of others, if they are accused of any offence committed in

their district.[37]

[Footnote 36: It is impossible not to censure so gross a blunder, if

blunder that may be called, which is alike abhorrent to the truth of

facts and to the validity of all good principle. The language indeed is

so vague, as to admit something like a defence, under the shadow of a

definition which shall restrict crimes to gross violations of public and

private right; but even this would be faulty, as implying what is not

the case, that the facility of indulgence, and of course the frequency,

does not enhance the strength and efficacy of those passions and

appetites, which, if not moderated, certainly lead to outrageous

conduct. Habits of indulgence, it is no doubt certain, imply a softening

down of the violence of character; and hence, in a _peculiar sense_, it

may be said, that the ages of refinement and luxury are the most happy

and virtuous, an assertion which Mr Hume has spent no small labour in

maintaining: But, on the other hand, it is clear, that violence is more

easily guarded against, in almost any state of society, than the

artifices of dishonesty and the pollution of licentiousness; and,

besides, it never will be found that any fecundity of nature can keep

pace, with the accelerating increase of vicious desires and

propensities, consequent on indulgence. Restraint from the operation of

fear, and better still when practicable, the implantation and growth of

moral principle and right feeling, are vastly better preservatives

against crimes of every sort, than all the facilities of sensual

gratification which Otaheite or any other country can afford.--E.]

[Footnote 37: The nature of the laws of a country is perhaps the best

test of its civilization; as the condition and treatment of the women

are of its refinement in sentiment and feeling. In Otaheite, every man

seems to be his own lawyer; because in fact, the whole society is held

together by principles quite natural to a state of ease and enjoyment.

Now as women form a principal ingredient in this state of society, and

as, at the same time, property is considered heritable, we may readily

enough infer what will be the conduct of a dishonoured husband among

those islanders, when we know what his rank and circumstances are. The

poor man will think no real injury done him, but may resent the

partiality shewn to another, by a conduct certainly not calculated to

procure affection for himself, coolness or a drubbing. The rich, on the

other hand, in addition to the feeling of wounded pride, will dread the

spuriousness of his offspring, and so storm most lustily on both male

and female sinner, till revenge be fully gratified. The difference of

opinion about this matter, in different nations and ages, is immense and

embarrassing. Some people, we know, had their wives in common, as

related of our own ancestors by Cæsar, and of the Massagetæ by

Herodotus. The Greeks and Romans thought it more convenient to lend them

out occasionally to a friend or acquaintance, in which they seem to

have imitated the Spartans. In certain countries, the offer of a wife is

a common civility to strangers, who cannot be expected to carry their

own about with them constantly. The Indians of North Carolina, we are

told by Lawson, never punish a woman for adultery, because, say they,

she is a weakly creature, and easily drawn away by the man's persuasion.

That people, however, take good care to recover damages from the man, in

which one might think the inhabitants of Britain now-a-days would

conceive they acted wisely, and might only envy them the power they

allow to the husband of assessing the offender, and levying the fine;

for, says Lawson, "he that strives to evade such satisfaction as the

husband demands lives daily in danger of his life; yet, when discharged,

all animosity is laid aside, and the cuckold is very well pleased with

his bargain, whilst the rival is laughed at by the whole nation, for

carrying on his intrigue with no better conduct, than to be discovered,

and pay so dear for his pleasure." In this, however, _we_ differ; our

cuckolds are laughed at as fools, which is monstrously absurd, whilst

the transgressor is denominated a _fine fellow_, no less monstrously

unjust. How far the laws of England may be accessary to such glaring

perversity of sentiment, it is difficult to say; but if one were

disposed to fear with Mr Christian, (see his notes on Blackstone, lib.

1, ch. 16.) "that there is little reason to pay a compliment to them for

their respect and favour to the female sex," he might not hesitate to

suspect some radical vice in their constitution, which could so far

debase female honour as to leave it problematical, whether or not the

violaters of it, in any sense or degree, were capable of any thing but

infamy. 'Twere too puritanical, perhaps, to join Cowper in his ironical

commendation;--

"But now, yes, now,

We are become so candid and so fair,

So liberal in construction, and so rich

In Christian charity (good-natured age!)

That they are safe, sinners of either sex,

Transgress what laws they may."

But surely it is desirable, that a nation professing supreme regard to a

divine revelation, should shew something of its abhorrence, at a crime

which strikes at the root of all social comfort and happiness.--E.]

Having now given the best description that I can of the island in its

present state, and of the people, with their customs and manners,

language and arts, I shall only add a few general observations, which

may be of use to future navigators, if any of the ships of Great Britain

should receive orders to visit it. As it produces nothing that appears

to be convertible into an article of trade, and can be used only by

affording refreshments to shipping in their passage through these seas,

it might be made to answer this purpose in a much greater degree, by

transporting thither sheep, goats, and horned cattle, with European

garden stuff, and other useful vegetables, which there is the greatest

reason to suppose will flourish in so fine a climate, and so rich a

soil.

Though this and the neighbouring islands lie within the tropic of

Capricorn, yet the heat is not troublesome, nor did the winds blow

constantly from the east. We had frequently a fresh gale from the S.W.

for two or three days, and sometimes, though very seldom, from the N.W.

Tupia reported, that south-westerly winds prevail in October, November,

and December, and we have no doubt of the fact. When the winds are

variable, they are always accompanied by a swell from the S.W. or

W.S.W.; there is also a swell from the same points when it is calm, and

the atmosphere loaded with clouds, which is a sure indication that the

winds are variable, or westerly out at sea, for with the settled

trade-wind the weather is clear.

The meeting with westerly winds, within the general limits of the

eastern trade, has induced some navigators to suppose that they were

near some large tract of land, of which, however, I think they are no

indication.

It has been found, both by us and the Dolphin, that the trade-wind, in

these parts, does not extend farther to the south than twenty degrees,

beyond which, we generally found a gale from the westward; and it is

reasonable to suppose, that when these winds blow strong, they will

drive back the easterly wind, and consequently encroach upon the limits

within which they constantly blow, and thus necessarily produce variable

winds, as either happens to prevail, and a south-westerly swell. This

supposition is the more probable, as it is well known that the

trade-winds blow but faintly for some distance within their limits, and

therefore may be more easily stopped or repelled by a wind in the

contrary direction: It is also well known, that the limits of the

trade-winds vary not only at different seasons of the year, but

sometimes at the same season, in different years.

There is therefore no reason to suppose that south-westerly winds,

within these limits, are caused by the vicinity of large tracts of land,

especially as they are always accompanied with a large swell, in the

same direction in which they blow; and we find a much greater surf

beating upon the shores of the south-west side of the islands that are

situated just within the limits of the trade-wind, than upon any other

part of them.

The tides about these islands are perhaps as inconsiderable as in any

part of the world. A south or S. by W. moon makes high water in the bay

of Matavai at Otaheite; but the water very seldom rises perpendicularly

above ten or twelve inches.

The variation of the compass I found to be 4° 46' easterly, this being

the result of a great number of trials made with four of Dr Knight's

needles, adapted to azimuth compasses. These compasses I thought the

best that could be procured, yet when applied to the meridian line, I

found them to differ not only one from another, sometimes a degree and a

half, but the same needle, half a degree from itself in different trials

made on the same day; and I do not remember that I have ever found two

needles which exactly agreed at the same time and place, though I have

often found the same needle agree with itself, in several trials made

one after the other. This imperfection of the needle, however, is of no

consequence to navigation, as the variation can always be found to a

degree of accuracy, more than sufficient for all nautical purposes.