abovementioned; one of which is as coarse, but beyond all proportion
stronger than English canvass; the other, which is formed of the fibres
of a plant, drawn into threads which cross and bind each other,
resembles the matting on which we place our dishes at table. They make
borders of different colours to both these sorts of cloth, resembling
girls samplars, and finished with great neatness and elegance. What they
consider as the most ornamental part of their dress is the fur of dogs,
which they cut into stripes, and sew on different parts of their
apparel. As dogs are not plenty, they dispose these stripes with great
œconomy. They have a few dresses, ornamented with feathers; and one man
was seen covered wholly with those of the red parrot.
The women never tie their hair on the top of their head, nor adorn it
with feathers; and are less anxious about dress than the men. Their
lower garment is bound tight round them, except when they go a fishing,
and then they are careful that the men shall not see them. It once
happened that some of the ship’s crew surprized them in this situation,
when some of them hid themselves among the rocks, and the rest kept
their bodies under water till they had formed a girdle and apron of
weeds; in a word, their whole behaviour manifested the most refined
ideas of female modesty.
The ears of both sexes are bored, and the holes stretched so as to admit
a man’s finger. The ornaments of their ears are feathers, cloth, bones,
and sometimes bits of wood; a great many of them made use of the nails
which were given them by the English, for this purpose, and the women
sometimes adorned their ears with the white down of the albatross, which
they spread before and behind the hole, in a large bunch. They likewise
hung to their ears by strings, chissels, bodkins, the teeth of dogs, and
the teeth and nails of their deceased friends. The arms and ancles of
the women are adorned with shells and bones, or any thing else through
which they can pass a string. The men wear a piece of green talc, or
whalebone, with the resemblance of a man carved on it, hanging to a
string round the neck. They saw one man who had the gristle of his nose
perforated, and a feather being passed through it, projected over each
cheek.
These people shew less ingenuity in the structure of their houses, than
in any thing else belonging to them; they are from sixteen to
twenty-four feet long, ten or twelve wide, and six or eight in height.
The frame is of slight sticks of wood, and the walls and roof are made
of dry grass pretty firmly compacted. Some of them are lined with the
bark of trees, and the ridge of the house is formed by a pole, which
runs from one end to the other. The door is only high enough to admit a
person crawling on hands and knees and the roof is sloping. There is a
square hole near the door, serving both for window and chimney, near
which is the fire-place. A plank is placed near the door, adorned with a
sort of carving, and this they consider as an ornamental piece of
furniture. The side walls and roof projecting two or three feet beyond
the walls at each end, form a sort of portico, where benches are placed
to sit on. The fire is made in the middle of a hollow square in the
floor, which is enclosed with wood or stone. They sleep near the walls,
where the ground is covered with straw for their beds.
Some who can afford it, and whose families are large, have three or four
houses, enclosed within a court yard. Their cloaths, arms, feathers,
some ill-made tools, and a chest, in which all these are deposited, form
all the furniture of the inside of the house. Their hammers to beat
fern-root, gourds to hold water, and baskets to contain provisions, are
placed without the house.
One house was found near forty feet long, twenty wide, and fourteen
high. Its sides were adorned with carved planks of workmanship superior
to the rest; but the building appeared to have been left unfinished.
Though the people sleep warm enough at home, they seem to despise the
inclemency of the weather, when they go in search of fish or fern-roots.
Sometimes, indeed, they place a small defence to windward; but
frequently sleep under bushes, with their arms placed round them,
without the least shelter whatever.
Besides the fern-root, which serves them for bread, they feed on
albatrosses, penguins, and some other birds. Whatever they eat is either
roasted or baked, as they have no vessel in which water can be boiled.
They saw no plantations of coccos, potatoes and yams, to the southward,
though there were many in the northern parts.--The natives drink no
other liquor than water, and enjoy perfect and uninterrupted
health.--When wounded in battle, the wound heals in a very short time
without the application of medicine; and the very old people carry no
other marks of decay about them than the loss of their hair and teeth,
and a failure of their muscular strength:--but enjoy an equal share of
health and chearfulness with the youngest.--Such are the happy effects
of exercise and temperance!
The canoes of this country are not unlike the whale-boats of New
England, being long and narrow. The larger sort seem to be built for
war, and will hold from thirty to one hundred men. One of these at
Tolaga measured near seventy feet in length, six in width, and four in
depth. It was sharp at the bottom, and consisted of three lengths, about
two or three inches thick, and tied firmly together with strong
plaiting: each side was formed of one entire plank, about twelve inches
broad, and about an inch and a half thick, which were fitted to the
bottom part with equal strength and ingenuity. Several thwarts were laid
from one side to the other, to which they were securely fastened, in
order to strengthen the canoes.
Some few of their canoes, at Mercury Bay and Opoorage, are all made
entirely of one trunk of wood, which is made hollow by fire: but by far
the greater part are built after the plan above described. The smaller
boats, which are used chiefly in fishing, are adorned at head and stern
with the figure of a man, the eyes of which are composed of the white
shells of sea-ears, a tongue of enormous size is thrust out of the
mouth, and the whole face is a picture of the most absolute deformity.
The grander canoes, which are intended for war, are ornamented with open
work, and covered with fringes of black feathers, which gives the whole
an air of perfect elegance: the side boards, which are carved in a rude
manner, are embellished with tufts of white feathers.
[Illustration: _A Branch of the Bread-fruit Tree._
_A War Canoe._]
These vessels are rowed with a kind of paddles, between five and fix
feet in length, the blade of which is a long oval, gradually decreasing
till it reaches the handle; and the velocity with which they row with
these paddles is really surprising. Their sails are composed of a kind
of mat or netting, which is extended between two upright poles, one of
which is fixed on each side. Two ropes, fastened to the top of each
pole, serve instead of sheets. The vessels are steered by two men,
having each a paddle, and sitting in the stern; but they can only sail
before the wind, in which direction they move with considerable
swiftness.
These Indians use axes, adzes and chissels, with which last they
likewise bore holes. The chissels are made of jasper, or of the bone of
a man’s arm; and their axes and adzes of a hard black stone. They use
their small jasper tools till they are blunted, and then throw them
away, having no instrument to sharpen them with. The Indians at Tolaga
having been presented with a piece of glass, drilled a hole through it,
and hung it round the neck. A small bit of jasper is thought to have
been the tool they used in drilling it.
Their tillage of the ground is excellent, owing to the necessity they
are under of cultivating or running the risk of starving. At Tegadoo
their crops were just put into the ground, and the surface of the field
was as smooth as a garden, the roots were ranged in regular lines, and
to every root there remained a hillock. A long narrow stake, sharpened
to an edge at bottom, with a piece fixed across a little above it, for
the convenience of driving it into the ground with the foot, supplies
the place both of plough and spade. The soil being light, their work is
not very laborious, and with this instrument alone they will turn up
ground of six or seven acres in extent.
The seine, the large net which has been already noticed, is produced by
the united labour, and is probably the joint property of a whole town.
Their fish-hooks are of shell or bone; and they have baskets of
wicker-work to hold the fish.
Their warlike weapons are spears, darts, battle-axes, and the
patoo-patoo. The spear, which is pointed at each end, is about sixteen
feet in length, and they hold it in the middle, so that it is difficult
to parry a push from it. Whether they fight in boats or on shore, the
battle is hand to hand, so that they must make bloody work of it. They
trust chiefly in the patoo patoo, which is fastened to their wrists by
means of a strong strap, that it may not be wrenched out of their hand.
These are worn in the girdles of people of a superior rank, as a
military ornament. They have a kind of staff of distinction, which is
carried by the principal warriors. It is formed of a whale’s rib, is
quite white, and adorned with carvings, feathers, and the hair of their
dogs; and they sometimes carried a stick six feet long, inlaid with
shells, and otherwise adorned like the military staff. This honourable
mark of distinction was commonly borne by the old men.
[Illustration: _A New Zealand Warrior in the Dress of his Country._]
When they came to attack the English, there was usually one or more thus
distinguished in each canoe. It was their custom to stop at about fifty
or sixty yards distance from the ship, when the commanding officer,
arising from his seat, and putting on a garment of dog’s skin, used to
direct them how to proceed. When they were too far from the ship to
reach it either with stone or lance, they cried out, _Haromai, haromai,
harre uta a patoo-patoo oge_.--“Come to us, come on shore, and we will
kill you all with our patoo-patoos.” During these menaces they
approached the ship, till they came along-side, talking peaceably at
intervals, and answering whatever questions they were asked. Then again
their threats were renewed, till, imagining the sailors were afraid of
them, they began the war-song and dance--an engagement always followed,
and sometimes continued till the firing of small shot repulsed them; at
others, only till they had satiated their vengeance by throwing a few
stones on board the ship.
[Illustration: _The Manner in which a Native of Otaheite defies his
enemy by the wry Mouth._
_The manner in which the New Zealand Warriors defy their Enemies._]
In the war-dance, their motions are numerous, their limbs are distorted,
and their faces are agitated. Their tongue hangs out of their mouths to
a vast length, and their eye-lids are drawn so as to form a circle round
the eye; they shake their darts, brandish their spears, and wave their
patoo-patoos to and fro in the air. They accompany this dance with a
song, which is sung in concert; every strain ending with a loud and deep
sigh. There is an activity and vigour in their dancing, which is truly
admirable; and their idea of keeping time in music is such, that sixty
or eighty paddles will strike at once against the sides of their boats,
and make only one report.
They sometimes sing, in times of peace, in a manner resembling the
war-song; but then they do not dance with it. The women, whose voices
are exceeding soft and harmonious, likewise sing in a melodious, but
mournful manner; and their songs appear as if sung in parts. Their
instruments of musick are, a shell, from which they produce a sound,
resembling that made by a common horn; and a wooden pipe, not superior
in musical found to a child’s whistle.
These people fortify all their hippahs, or towns, of which there are
several between the bay of Plenty and queen Charlotte’s sound. In these
the inhabitants of those parts constantly reside; but near Tolaga,
Tegadoo, Hawk’s bay, and Poverty bay, there are no towns, only single
houses at a considerable distance apart. On the sides of the hills were
erected long stages, supplied with darts and stones, which were thought
to be retreats in time of battle, and on which, from their elevated
situation, they can combat the enemy with these weapons to great
advantage. In these repositories they store their dried fish and
fern-roots. The inhabitants of this part of the country were all subject
to Teratu, who resided near the bay of Plenty; and to their being thus
united under one Chief, they owed a security unknown to the inhabitants
of the other parts of the country. There were several inferior governors
in Teratus’s dominions, to whom the most implicit obedience was paid.
One of the inhabitants having robbed the English, complaint was made to
a Chief, who chastised him by kicking and striking him; while the thief
bore his punishment with unresisting humility.
The inhabitants of the southern parts appeared to be co-partners in
their fishing-nets and fine apparel. The latter, which probably were
obtained in war, were kept in a little hut, destined for that use, in
the centre of the town, and the several parts of the nets, being made by
different families, were afterwards joined together for the common use.
The gentlemen imagined, that the employment of the men consisted in
cultivating the ground, making nets, catching birds, and fishing; while
the women were engaged in weaving cloth, procuring fern-roots, and shell
fish, and dressing food.
With regard to religion, they acknowledge one superior being, and
several subordinate. Their mode of worship could not be learned, nor was
any place proper for that purpose seen. There was indeed a small square
area, encompassed with stones, in the middle of which hung a basket of
fern-roots on one of their spades. This they said was offered to the
gods, in the hope of a plentiful crop of provisions.
The inhabitants of the southern district said, they disposed of their
dead by throwing them into the sea; but those of the north said, they
buried them in the ground: our adventurers, however, saw not the least
sign of any grave or monument; but the body of almost every inhabitant
bore the marks of wounds which they had given themselves, in token of
grief for the loss or their friends and relations. Some of these scars
were newly made, which is a proof that their friends had died while the
ship’s crew were there; yet no one saw any thing like a funeral, as
these islanders conceal every thing respecting the dead, with the utmost
caution.
A great similitude was observed between the dress, furniture, boats and
nets of the New Zealanders, and those of the inhabitants of the
South-sea islands, which furnished a strong proof, that the common
ancestors of both were natives of the same country. Indeed the
inhabitants of these different places have a tradition, that their
ancestors migrated from another country many ages since; and they both
agree, that this country was called HEAWIGE. But perhaps a yet stronger
proof that their origin was the same, will arise from the similitude of
their language, of which the following is a specimen.
NEW ZEALAND. OTAHEITE.
Whahine, Aheine, _A woman_.
Taata, Tata, _People_.
Heoo-oo, Eraowroo, _The hair_.
Erai, Irai, _The brow_.
Mata, Matau, _The eyes_.
Ahewh, Eahoo, _The nose_.
Paparinga, Paparea, _The cheeks_.
Ateraboo, Eoboo, _The belly_.
Apeto, Pito, _The navel_.
Heromai, Harre mai, _Come hither_.
Taro, Taro, _Coccos_.
Tahai, Tohe, _One_.
Rua, Rooa, _Two_.
Torou, Torhoo, _Three_.
Ha, Ha, _Four_.
Etu, Hitoo, _Seven_.
Iva, Iva, _Nine_.
Heneaho, Eneeho, _The teeth_.
They sailed from Cape Farewell on the 31st of March 1770, and had fine
weather and a fair wind till the 9th of April, when they saw a tropic
bird, in the latitude of 38 degrees 29 minutes south, a sight very
unusual in so high a latitude. On the 15th they saw an egg-bird and a
gannet; and on the day following a small land-bird perched on the
rigging, from which they concluded they were near land; but they found
no ground with 120 fathom. On the 18th, in the morning, they saw a
pintado-bird, and some Port Egmont hens, an infallible sign that land
was not very distant. At six o’clock in the morning of the 19th they
discovered land four or five leagues distant; the southermost part of
which was called POINT HICKS, in compliment to Mr. Hicks, the first
Lieutenant, who made the discovery of it. At noon they discovered
another point of the same land, rising in a round hillock, extremely
like the Ram-Head at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, for which reason
Captain Cook gave it the same name. What they had yet seen of the land
was low and even, and the inland parts were green, and covered with
wood. They now saw three water-spouts at the same time, one of which
continued a quarter of an hour. At six in the evening the northermost
point on the main land, which was distant about two leagues, was named
CAPE HOWE. On the following day they had a distant view of the country,
which was in general covered with wood, and interspersed with several
small lawns. It appeared to be inhabited, as smoke was seen in several
places. At four o’clock the next morning they saw a high mountain,
which, from its shape, they called MOUNT DROMEDARY, under which there is
a point, which received the name of POINT DROMEDARY. In the evening they
were opposite a point of land which rose perpendicularly, and was called
POINT UPRIGHT. On Sunday the 22d they were so near the shore, as to see
several of the inhabitants on the coast, who were of a very dark
complexion, if not perfect negroes. At noon they saw a remarkably peaked
hill, to which the Captain gave the name of the PIGEON-HOUSE, from its
resemblance to such a building. The trees on this island were both tall
and large; but they saw no place fit to give shelter even to a boat.
The Captain gave the name of CAPE GEORGE to a point of land which he
discovered on St. George’s day: about two leagues to the north of which
the sea formed a bay, which, from its shape, was called LONG NOSE; eight
leagues from which lies RED-POINT, so called from the colour of the soil
in its neighbourhood. On the 27th they saw several of the inhabitants
walking along the shore, four of them carrying a canoe on their
shoulders: but as they did not attempt coming off to the ship, the
Captain took Messrs. Banks and Solander and Tupia in the yawl, and
employed four men to row them to that part of the shore where the
natives appeared; near which four small canoes laid close in land. The
Indians sat on the rocks till the yawl was within a quarter of a mile of
the shore, and then ran away into the woods. The surf beating violently
on the beach, prevented the boat from landing; the gentlemen were
therefore obliged to make what observations they could at a distance.
The canoes resembled the smaller sort of those of New Zealand. They saw,
with longing eyes, a great number of cabbage-trees on shore: the other
trees were of the palm-kind, and there was no underwood among them.
At five in the evening they returned to the ship, and a light breeze
springing up, they sailed to the northward, where they discovered
several people on shore round a fire, who, on their approach, retired to
an eminence; soon after which two canoes arrived on the shore, and four
men, who came in them, joined the others. The pinnace having been sent
a-head to sound, arrived near the spot where the Indians had stationed
themselves, on which one of them hid himself among the rocks near the
landing place, and the others retreated farther up the hill. The pinnace
keeping along shore, the Indians walked nearly in a line with her. They
were armed with long pikes, and a weapon resembling a cymeter, and, by
various signs and words, invited the boat’s crew to land. Those who did
not follow the boat, having observed the approach of the ship,
brandished their weapons, and threw themselves into threatening
attitudes. The bodies, thighs and legs of two of these, were painted
with white streaks, and their faces were almost covered with a white
powder. They talked to each other with great emotion, and each of them
held a kind of cymeter in his hand.
The ship having come to an anchor, they observed a few huts, in which
were some of the natives; and saw some canoes, in each of which was a
man busily employed in striking fish with a kind of spear. They had
anchored opposite a village of about eight houses, and observed an old
woman and three children come out of a wood, laden with fuel for a fire:
they were met by three smaller children, all of whom, as well as the
woman, were quite naked. The old woman frequently looked at the ship
with the utmost indifference, and, as soon as she had made a fire, the
fishermen brought their canoes on shore, and they set about dressing
their dinner with as much composure, as if a ship had been no
extraordinary sight.
Having formed a design of landing, they manned the boats, and took Tupia
with them; and they had no sooner come near the shore, than two men
advanced, as if to dispute their setting foot on land. They were each of
them armed with different weapons. They called out aloud in a harsh
tone, _warra warra wai_, the meaning of which Tupia did not understand.
The Captain threw them beads, nails and other trifles, which they took
up, and seemed to be delighted with. He then made signs that he wanted
water, and used every possible means to convince them that no injury was
intended. They now made signs to the boat’s crew to land, on which they
put the boat in; but they had no sooner done so, than the two Indians
came again to oppose them. A musquet was now fired between them, on the
report of which one of them dropped a bundle of lances, which he
instantly snatched up again in great haste. One of them then threw a
stone at the boat, on which the Captain ordered a musket loaded with
small shot to be fired, which wounding the eldest of them on the legs,
he retired hastily to one of their houses, which stood at some little
distance. The people in the boats now landed, imagining that the wound
which this man had received would put an end to the contest; in this,
however, they were mistaken, for he immediately returned with a kind of
shield, of an oval figure, painted white in the middle, with two holes
in it to see through. They now advanced with great intrepidity, and both
discharged their lances at the boat’s crew, but did not wound any of
them. Another musket was now fired at them, on which they threw another
lance, and then took to their heels. The crew now went up to the huts,
in one of which they found the children, who had secreted themselves
behind some bark. They looked at them, but left them without their
knowing they had been seen; and having thrown some pieces of cloth,
ribbons, beads, and other things into the hut, they took several of
their lances, and reimbarked in the boat. The canoes on this coast were
about thirteen feet in length, each made of the bark of a single tree,
tied up at the ends, and kept open in the middle by means of sticks
placed across them; their paddles are very small, and they use two at a
time.
They now sailed to the north point of the bay, where they found a plenty
of fresh water. On taking a view of the hut where they had seen the
children, they had the mortification to find that every Indian was fled,
and that they had left all the presents behind them. The Captain now
went in the pinnace to inspect the bay, and saw several of the natives,
who all fled as he approached them. Some men having been sent to get
wood and water, they no sooner, came on board to dinner, than the
natives came down to the place, and examined the casks with great
attention, but did not offer to remove them. When the people were on
shore in the afternoon, about twenty of the natives, all armed, advanced
within a trifling distance of them, and then stopped, while two of their
number approached still nearer. Mr. Hicks, the commanding officer, on
shore, went towards them, with presents in his hands, and endeavoured,
by every possible means, to assure them of his friendly intentions, but
to no purpose, for they retired before he came up to them. In the
evening Messrs. Banks and Solander went with the Captain to a cove north
of the bay, where they catched between three and four hundred weight of
fish, in four hauls.