some of the inhabitants of both sexes, clothed in European attire, were
sitting or lounging upon the ground, or crouching upon their hams.
Around, in sympathetic glee and full security, sprawled a squad of pigs
and children, some naked, others half-clothed. Most of the adults
stretched out their hands in the most friendly manner. Here we had again
occasion to remark the extraordinary diversity of physical appearance in
various individuals, no two of these Maories being like each other in
complexion, hair, or figure. In front of one of the huts a native oven was
standing uncovered, the mid-day meal being just over; after the earth and
other matters had been removed there appeared, each lying on a
cool-looking cabbage leaf, some splendid potatoes and eels from the river.
The Hangi-Maori, or Maori oven, is nothing but a hole some three feet long
by one and a half deep excavated in the earth. In this a strong fire is
made of dried timber, and when fully alight stones are placed over the
flames, and kept there till they are in a state of incandescence. As soon
as the wood has been consumed the ashes are carefully removed, and a
little wet flax thrown upon the hot stones, above which again is placed a
layer of fresh cabbage leaves. These form as it were a bed for the food to
be cooked, be it meat, vegetables, fish, or fruit. The viands are then
covered with another course of leaves, two mats of rushes being placed on
the top, after which the earth excavated is heaped over the pile and
pressed firmly down, so as to prevent the escape of the steam thus
generated. If there are no cabbage leaves handy, a substitute is made of
the leaves of the Tuakura (_Dicksonia Squamosa_), a species of fern which
grows in great luxuriance among the moist spots. These leaves impart to
the meat a peculiar and agreeable flavour, whereas other plants are apt to
alter the ordinary taste of the food.
"The women and girls were busily engaged during a few minutes in weaving
little baskets of rushes, in which the potatoes were served up garnished
with eel. A plateful was handed to each of our party, which we were
courteously pressed to eat. In every Maori household there is always a
sufficient quantity cooked to admit of any casual traveller or a neighbour
partaking with the family; for the Maori possesses in perfection the
savage virtue of hospitality, as we frequently experienced.
"The master of the hut in which we passed the night had suddenly
disappeared, and was busily engaged, as we witnessed through the open
door, in arranging his hair, which he combed carefully, after which he
anointed it with eel-fat, which he also plentifully smeared over his face,
neck, and arms. This curious toilette completed, he wrapped a clean mat
round him, and presented himself in full fig, to bid us all due welcome.
The mode of salutation among the New Zealanders is unique. The party
saluting draws his head rapidly backwards, and winks a couple of times
with half-closed eye and laughing face!
"Our bivouac suddenly received an unexpected accession of new arrivals.
From the mountain ridge which we had just passed six horsemen were seen
descending at full gallop and making for the village; they proved to be
young Maories, mounted on handsome horses, who, having been apprized by a
relative, whom we had met in the forest, of the arrival of _Pakehas_
(white men), had come hither partly out of curiosity, partly to do us
honour and show us hospitality. They all wore European clothes, rode in
good English saddles, and bestrode powerful horses, which they seemed to
manage with much grace. There are numerous Maories who have from 50 to 60
head of horses, and whole herds of cattle, besides several thousands of
pounds lying in bank.
"In the course of a stroll through the village we not only observed fields
planted with the customary rotations of wheat, oats, maize, potatoes,
cabbage, and so forth, but on the banks of the river came upon a new mill,
constructed on the English system, almost ready for work, which had been
erected by an Englishman at a cost of L500, to be repaid by the tribe. The
erection of this grinding machinery is the more indicative of the
speculative turn of mind of the Maori of the present day, that they use
none of the flour for their own primitive household, but manufacture it
solely for the purpose of selling it advantageously at Auckland market.
"Towards noon we again entered our canoes on our return, and descended the
Mangatawhiri, the navigable channel of which is so narrow that even our
narrow craft could with difficulty make its way. Gradually the hills began
to slope backwards, and the river to grow wider, till it expanded on
either side into a swampy morass covered with reeds and lofty elegant
water-plants, while at a short distance away we could descry magnificent
trees springing from the high-lying but fertile soil. It was a most
delightful day. Throughout our entire excursion the thermometer ranged
from 71 deg. 6 Fahr. to 77 deg. Fahr., so that, our strength not exhausted by
oppressive heat, and our attention not distracted by the hum or the sting
of insects, we were free to indulge those mingled feelings of which the
variety and magnificence of the landscape were so well calculated to
elicit the manifestation. Presently the river became once more very
narrow, the hills again closed in, covered with a thick belt of forest,
which extended down to the water's edge, occasionally forming a canopy of
indescribable grace above our boat, as she glided noiselessly below. At
last the Mangatawhiri, which hitherto had pursued a westerly direction,
made a bend to the southward, and debouched into the Waikato. The
impression made upon each of our party by the scenery at this point was so
overpowering, that all, as though smitten by one common impulse, broke
into expressions of delight. Its course lying between mountains of
magnificent outline and thickly wooded, the majestic stream presented many
points of resemblance to the Rhine and Danube, to which it was little if
at all inferior in point of width. A holy calm brooded over its clear
brown ripples, only broken by the flight of birds from time to time, which
in those undisturbed solitudes, far from the murderous weapons of man,
passed their existence in happy security. That we might enjoy in all their
plenitude the exquisite charm of the forest and its luxuriant vegetation,
we coasted along now on this side, now on that, as though we could never
weary of the mingled grandeur and beauty of this magic scene. Still
further to enhance the magnificence of nature in her present mood, a
tremendous thunder-storm broke over us in the course of the afternoon,
when the forked lightning played like arrows of fire above our heads, and
the thunder rolled in deafening peals, which were taken up again and again
by hundreds of mountain echoes.
"In the evening the sky cleared, and we reached the Maori village of
Tuakan, where we were made welcome, and the best hut in the place assigned
us. The evening was one of peculiar interest, it being that of Sylvester's
day, or the eve of the New Year of 1859, which will scarcely soon again be
spent by Austrians at the antipodes. Our entire party camped upon the
floor of the hut, two torches, stuck into the mouth of a couple of empty
bottles, shed an uncertain light, while an iron kettle served as
punch-bowl, in which a "brew," something resembling "Punch," was, by dint
of the joint experience of the English and German members of the
excursion, compounded out of the spirits we had brought with us. Ere long
the chorus went round, and we had German songs, alternating with English,
Irish, and Scotch melodies, and even melancholy New Zealand love-songs,
sung by some of the Maories present.
"As the evening, and with it the dying year, wore on, some little
difficulty, natural enough under the circumstances, arose, how to
ascertain the precise moment of its departure, as most of those present
had left their watches behind, as a something more than superfluous
article in the course of a forest excursion, and the few which had been
brought differed so much, that it was impossible to depend upon them for
the correct moment at which the old year sank to his rest, and the new
began his course of alternate hopes and alarms, joys and griefs.
"Suddenly Captain Drummond Hay rose, and opening the door, which, as in
most Maori huts, faced the south, exclaimed: 'Well, we have neither church
clock nor night watch to tell us the exact moment when the year changes,
but a bountiful Providence has suspended for us in yonder firmament
another and an unerring sentinel of night and time:--the constellation of
the Southern Cross! During how many sleepless nights, among the forest or
fern-covered plains of New Zealand, have I lain gazing at that
never-failing time-piece of the Almighty's own handiwork! See, the Cross
begins to bend to the west! It must now be midnight. A happy new year to
one and all!' Once more the glasses clinked against each other, and hand
locked in hand, after which the shades of night were left to gather round
our wearied party, who sunk into sound repose, relieved probably by many a
cheering vision of distant friends.
"The following morning, 1st January, 1859, we all rose early, refreshed
for the day's work, and found the entire population of the village
collected around us. There were also a couple of English carpenters who
joined the crowd, and welcomed us to the interior. They were employed in
constructing for the natives, at an expense of L400, a wooden chapel, as
the Maories attach great importance to having a place of worship, where
those resident on the spot, or any occasional European stranger, may unite
with them in spending the sabbath in a becoming manner. The majority of
the New Zealanders are Christians, and belong almost exclusively to the
High Church of England. Service is performed partly by missionaries, who
traverse the country up and down, partly by itinerant spiritual teachers,
regularly engaged for the purpose, the latter of whom have occasionally to
struggle against severe privations and obstacles of various kinds. Many
natives educated by the missionaries travel through the country preaching
and praying, and by their exemplary conduct must greatly influence their
fellow-countrymen. In almost every hut in the village we found a Bible, or
a hymn-book and prayer-book, in the Maori tongue.
"Notwithstanding their undoubted capacity, the natives will not apply
themselves to any handicraft pursuits, which indeed they attach so little
value to that they regard the shoemaker and the tailor, for example, as
inferior to them. On the other hand, the merchant or the seaman stands in
high esteem; and the warrior holds the chief place in their estimation,
while they themselves consider them not inferior to the Europeans, with
respect to courage, firmness, and love of war.
"About noon we set out on our return. The route chalked out for us, by
the only road which exists between Tuakan and Drury, was constructed
partly by the land-holders along its course, partly by the surveyors, only
intended for cattle, and to facilitate survey. We found it in such a rude
state that it was only with much trouble we got our horses over the trees
which lay felled across the road, or could induce them to put a foot on
the bridges of loose planks by which the water-courses were crossed. In
every direction the path was over-grown with roots, between deep pools,
into which one stepped over the knees, while the boughs of the trees
overhead rendered any attempt at progress a matter of considerable
difficulty.
"We could now form a pretty correct estimate of 'life in the interior of
New Zealand,' and of the obstacles the settler has to encounter in a
climate, the vegetation of which grows in rank luxuriance almost rivalling
that of the tropics. As, however, the Colonial Government attaches the
utmost importance to this matter, and expends large sums in laying out
good roads throughout the interior, many of the impediments to traffic at
present existing will be obviated in a few years. About 9 P.M. we were
once more in Drury, and on the following morning, 2nd January, 1859, the
little party returned to Auckland, when the geologist of the Expedition
made a comprehensive report to Government on the coal-fields of the Drury
district, which had first been noticed by the Rev. Mr. Purchas of
Onehunga, who employed his leisure in geological studies."
According to the geological researches of Dr. Hochstetter, it would appear
that the province of Auckland abounds in good coal that would repay
working, especially a brown coal occurring in the tertiary period, which
greatly resembles that of Bohemia and Styria. The plains of Papakura and
Drury on the eastern shore of Manukau Harbour are part of a rolling
country, and are but little above the level of the sea. S.E. and S. they
are bounded by a thickly-wooded range of hills from 1000 to 1500 feet in
height, running in a direction from S.W. to N.E., or from the Waikato to
the Wairoa; it is only in the vicinity of Drury that a portion of this
chain trends nearly N.E., rising with a gentle slope from the level land
below. At various points on these acclivities strata of coal have been
discovered partly by the action of water, partly by human labour, the
extent of which, owing to the impenetrable forest vegetation and the
consequent lack of natural indications, can only be ascertained by boring.
The coal is of the best quality of that kind of brown coal generally
called cannel coal, and is occasionally met with in immense seams. The
average thickness of the seam is about six feet. The Drury and Hunua
coal-fields seem indeed to be but a part of a far more extensive tertiary
formation, which occurs pretty universally throughout the province of
Auckland. The obvious practical value and commercial importance of this
New Zealand coal can only however be definitely proved, when the various
manufacturing processes in which it is used have been fairly set a-going.
It might at all events be worth the experiment to erect in the vicinity of
the coal mines some manufactories of porcelain, as the utmost variety of
clay has been met with in the course of the different borings, all
admirably suitable for every branch of that manufacture.
In like manner the brown coal might be made available for the supply of
gas, besides being called into requisition for fuel for numerous
industrial pursuits. On the other hand, it is not suitable for ocean steam
navigation, as its volume would prevent its being shipped in sufficient
quantities, so long as black coal could be procured, even at a somewhat
higher price.
The proposals of the geologist of our Expedition as to the best mode of
exploring the wealth of the Drury coal district, were so well received by
the Government, and so eagerly caught up by the proprietors of the various
plots of land--the benefits likely to result to the colony from such an
undertaking seemed so important, that there was not merely a rush to open
up the coal district, but a formal request was made to the Commander of
our Expedition that he would permit Dr. Hochstetter to remain behind to
aid the work, and prosecute further researches in this little-explored
island. This proposition, originated by a number of respectable and
influential persons, at last found official expression in an official
letter despatched by the Governor of the colony to our Commodore, in which
the farther geological exploration of the island by Dr. Hochstetter was
asked as a particular favour.[53] As the request was a high compliment,
and it was impossible the scientific objects of the Expedition could be
more obviously fulfilled than by the thorough geological examination of a
country never hitherto subjected to a similar scrutiny, Commodore Von
Wuellerstorf consented on condition that all the collections made, and the
observations and literary matter published, by Dr. Hochstetter during his
residence on the island, should without exception form part of the results
of the _Novara_ Expedition, and that all expenses incurred during his stay
on the island, or on his passage back to Europe, should be defrayed by the
Government of New Zealand.[54]
All these proposals were at once approved, and Dr. Hochstetter was
moreover handsomely remunerated, and every facility given him to devote
himself to the extension of science while contributing to the welfare of
the country at large. On the 8th January, our estimable travelling
companion disembarked from the _Novara_, intending to remain in Auckland
provisionally, and to make preparations for his arduous task, which was to
be inaugurated by a geological survey of Auckland Province, after which,
in the course of some weeks, he hoped to proceed into the interior.
Several officials, as also a photographer, a draughtsman, and 15 Maories,
were selected to accompany Dr. Hochstetter into the interior, each of whom
strove to contribute to the utmost of their power to the success of an
undertaking fraught with such important results.
During our stay in Auckland we had the misfortune to lose our boatswain,
who died suddenly of serous apoplexy, and was interred in the Catholic
burial-ground. The deceased was so universally beloved, that a collection
was started on board, which resulted in a sufficient sum being raised to
admit of a suitable tombstone being erected to the memory of this worthy
man.
In no part visited by the _Novara_ was she received by the Catholic clergy
with such lively demonstrations of delight as at Auckland. On new year's
day a special high mass was celebrated in the Catholic cathedral in
presence of all the seamen of the vessel, followed by a sermon from Dr.
Pompallier, the venerable R.C. bishop of the province. The gray-headed
prince of the Church, accompanied by his Vicar-General, and several Maori
chiefs, afterwards came off to the frigate, when he paid a visit to the
Commodore. As the Catholic mission at Auckland is anything but well
endowed, our chaplain, by orders of the Commodore and in the name of
H.I.R.M. the Emperor, presented various altar furniture and vessels for
the celebration of mass, which were accepted with many expressions of
gratitude and delight.
For several days a continuance of heavy gales from the northward prevented
the departure of the frigate, which gave our friends in Auckland a further
opportunity of renewing their warm-hearted hospitality. During this delay,
we also shipped as part of the crew two Maories, who at the last moment
declared their wish to accompany us. The official correspondence on this
subject between the Colonial Government and the Commodore is especially
interesting as illustrating the watchful care taken by the New Zealand
authorities in protecting the interests of the Maories. The most
favourable terms were sought to be secured for them, and a special clause
was inserted providing for their return to their native country free of
expense, should they express a wish to that effect at the conclusion of
our voyage. At first four Maories and a half-blood had resolved on making
the voyage, but when the time for embarkation came, only two adhered to
their determination, Wiremu Toe-toe Tumohe, and Te Hemara Rerehau Paraone,
both of Ngatiapakura, and belonging to the powerful Waikato tribe.
Toe-toe, himself a chief of two small tribes of Ngatiapakura and
Ngatiwakohike, about 32 years old when he shipped with us, had been
baptized at 15 by the English missionaries, by whom he had been instructed
in reading and writing. He had also been trained to agricultural pursuits,
and at 20 he married the _mestiza_ daughter of an Englishman and Maori
woman, who had presented him with a son. In his 26th year he entered the
service of the Colonial Government as post messenger, in which capacity he
proved himself so useful that he had been for two years postmaster of his
district, which position he still filled when the _Novara_ arrived.
Toe-toe was the first to display his willingness to assist Government in
constructing roads, and by his influence and example not alone induced
several chiefs to abstain from interposing obstacles in the way of that
much-needed improvement, but even prevailed upon several of his relatives
to take a part in their construction. His determination to accompany the
_Novara_ was solely the result of a long-cherished desire to see foreign
lands and races. Hemara Rerehau Paraone was fired with a similar wish. He
was the son of a wealthy relative of Toe-toe, and had been baptized at an
early age. From 12 to 18 he had frequented a school founded by the English
missionaries, where he learned to write his mother-tongue, and a little
English, arithmetic, geography, and history, besides the accomplishments
of sowing, corn-growing, grinding flour, and baking bread.[55]
At last, on 8th January, the frigate left the harbour of Auckland. Just as
the sails were let fall, some boats made their appearance crowded with
friends, who presented us with a last bouquet, ere we went on our way.
There was also a boat with several natives, and the Vicar-General, who
wished to saddle us with some wonderfully tattooed Catholic Maories,
anxious apparently that Protestant Maories should not alone be shipped.
The zealous father brought with him a letter from the Catholic Bishop,
Pompallier, and was so intent upon his mission that despite the somewhat
rapid rate at which the frigate was now cleaving the water, and the
difficulty which his long black cloak interposed to his movements, he
would not let go his hold, but held on to the Jacob's ladder in order to
get personal speech with the Commodore. It was, however, obviously
impossible to grant his request without further delaying the departure of
the frigate, and the poor Vicar-general, a warm-hearted Irishman, had to
make his way down the slippery ladder again into his little boat, and
return with his _proteges_ to Auckland, his praiseworthy object
unaccomplished.
As, favoured by fair winds, we sped gaily along to the next object of our
travels, the Island of Tahiti, our thoughts and wishes were repeatedly
reverting to New Zealand, where one of our number had remained behind, to
undertake the solution of so difficult but important a problem. The
information obtained by our colleague during his eight months' residence
only came to hand long after the frigate had been safely laid up in
ordinary in Trieste harbour. However, in order to show more fully the
activity displayed in surveying this little-explored island, we avail
ourselves of the following condensed narrative of his labours, drawn up by
Dr. Hochstetter himself.
"My first field of employment was the province of Auckland. The ample
assistance placed at my disposal by J. Williamson, Esq., the very
deserving superintendent of Auckland, enabled me within the short space of
five months to travel over the greater part of this province, which
constitutes nearly the whole of the northern island, while pursuing my
researches for the most part upon a definite plan.
"During the first two months, January and February, Auckland was my
head-quarters, as the season was not yet suitable for pedestrian
excursions in the interior. The heat during the summer months is so great,
and the annoyance caused by the mosquitoes, who during those months
frequent the forest in millions, is so intolerable, that travelling
becomes all but impracticable. Neither of these drawbacks exists to any
great degree in the vicinity of Auckland. The fresh sea-breezes, which
continually blow across the isthmus, temper the summer heats, and the
environs being cleared of forest are but little infested by those
blood-thirsty insects.
"I accordingly applied myself next to those works which during the stay of
the _Novara_ had been set on foot by myself among the brown-coal-fields
near the capital, and adjoining the remarkable volcanic formations of
Auckland, with the view of getting some definite result, in order that I
might provide for myself a detailed geological sketch of the volcanic
district, since even the portion in close vicinity to the capital,
notwithstanding the previous labours of my friend Mr. Heaphy, was, so far
as regarded geological formation, as much a _terra incognita_ as the
interior itself.
"The basis of such a geological chart of the Auckland district was
conveniently supplied by some topographical plottings on the scale of one
inch to the mile, with which I was provided by the Surveyor-general's
office. Unfortunately, these sketches almost entirely omitted any notice
of the description of land surveyed, and, in fact, comprised merely the
outline of the coast and the net-work of the rivers, so that it became
necessary to examine for myself the physical features of the country.
"On a closer examination, the variety of geological formation proved to be
much greater than I had at all anticipated. What chiefly took up my time
was the investigation of the remarkable extinct volcanic caves of the
Isthmus of Auckland, which, so far as regards the great number comprised
within a small space, and the peculiarities of their cave and crater
configuration as modifying the lava streams, must be pronounced unique of
their kind. Within a circuit of only ten miles from Auckland I had to mark
down 61 different points of eruption! An excursion southwards to Manukau
Harbour, and the mouth of the Waikato westward, led to our finding
important petrifactions at the south source of the Waikato, and along the
west coast to the discovery of belemnites and fossil ferns in excellent
preservation. Thus for the first time the secondary strata of New Zealand
were bared to view. Further excursions to the Drury and Papakina
districts, as also to the Wairoa River, were rewarded by the confirmation
of the extension thither of the brown coal formation, after which I
extended my investigation northwards to the Waitakeri, and the peninsula
of Wangaparoa.
"My map, so far as completed, and sent to the Colonial Government for
their use and to be copied, embraced by the end of February the whole of
the environs of Auckland for a distance of 20 miles. It brought to light a
district abounding in most important and remarkable geological features,
besides a stratum of sedimentary deposit of all the geological periods
(primary, secondary, tertiary, and diluvial), including numerous volcanic
phenomena. My collections however embraced a quantity of splendid
petrifactions, and an immense number of interesting rocks, while the
botanical and zoological collections were greatly added to through the
kind assistance of well-wishers of all degrees of the community.
"The question now to be solved was, 'Should I make the northern or the
southern portion of the province the scenes of further exploration?'
Properly to examine both was impossible within the short period I could
remain. I did not hesitate to decide in favour of the southern district,
and that for a variety of reasons. The southern portion of the province is
inhabited almost exclusively by natives. Only missionaries, tourists, and
a few Government officials had hitherto traversed these interesting
regions. The north of the island, on the other hand, is much better known.
Numbers of European settlers inhabit the shores of the numerous bays of
the northern Peninsula. The colonists themselves, by word of mouth, or
written information, could furnish me with all the information I required
respecting the natural history of those regions, not to speak of the
specimens that were constantly being sent me.
"Dieffenbach had already visited every point of importance in the north,
which he had very fully described in all other essentials, if not
geologically. The renowned American geologist, Dana, when attached to the
great expedition despatched by the United States to the Southern
Ocean,[56] landed at the Bay of Islands, the most important harbour in the
north, and had given full geological details of that neighbourhood.
Moreover, my friends, the Rev. A. G. Purchas and C. Heaphy, Esq., during
my stay in the country, visited several districts in the north, whence
they brought me collections and specimens of every kind, so that I was by
no means unacquainted with the north. On the other hand, the broad
interior of the southern part of the province seemed to me to be almost
entirely unexplored. Since Dieffenbach's remarkable voyage in 1840, no
naturalist had visited the remarkable volcanic peaks of the interior, the
beautiful inland lakes, the boiling springs, the Solfataras and Fumaroles.
The geological information respecting these conveyed by Dieffenbach's
narrative of travel, seemed to me very meagre, while topographically the
interior was a blank. Accordingly, a visit to it seemed to promise the
most important results.
"Towards the end of February all necessary preparations had been made;
Capt. Drummond Hay, well known as one of the best Maori scholars, was
commissioned by Government to lay out my route and act as interpreter. The
Government, however, forestalled my utmost wish by furnishing me with a
photographist, as well as an assistant to aid me in meteorological
observations, and generally to make himself useful in collecting and
sketching. The latter was a young German, M. Koch, who proved himself a
most invaluable ally, while M. Hamel took charge of the photography. There
were also an attendant, a cook, and fifteen natives, to transport baggage.
"I was likewise accompanied by my friend Mr. Haast, who had but recently
come to New Zealand, sent out by some mercantile firm in London to explore
the country for colonizing purposes. On the 6th March I set out with my
numerous company, intending to proceed first from Auckland to Mangatawhiri
on the Waikato, the chief river of New Zealand that flows from the
interior. Crossing the Waikato in a native canoe, and afterwards its
tributary the Waipa, I directed my steps westward from the Mission Station
on the last-named river in the direction of Whaingarva, Aotea, and Kawhia,
on the west coast. From Kawhia I struck landwards towards the upper course
of the Waipa, as far as the Mokan district. Thence, after crossing
frequent mountain-chains thickly wooded, I reached the source of the
Wanganui in the Tuhua district, and on 14th April arrived at the majestic
Lake Taupo, surrounded on every side by the most magnificent volcanic
caves. Here I was at the very heart of the country, at the foot of the
still smoking volcano of Tongariro, and its extinct neighbour Ruapahu,
9200 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow. At the southern
extremity of the lake is a mission-house, where I received a most
hospitable welcome, while my Maories received at the hands of Te Heukeu,
the great Maori chief, a most cordial reception, in conformity with the
excellent customs of the country. After I had laid out the chart of the
lake, and examined the springs along its banks, I followed up the Waikato
by its outlet from the lake, till I reached the very singular chain of
boiling springs, Solfatare, salt-springs and Fumaroles, which extend in a
N.E. direction between the active crater of Tongariro and the still active
volcano of Whakari or White Island on the east coast. On a longer stay,
the country adjoining the sea along the prolongation of this line
furnishes the site at Lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, and Rotomahana (or Hot
lake), for the _Ngawhas_ and Puias, i. e. boiling springs and geysers with
siliceous sintu-deposits, as in Iceland, which there display their
greatest activity. I look upon this locality as presenting the most
remarkable and extensive chain of hot-springs in the world, Iceland itself
not excepted.
"By the first week in May we gained the east coast at Maketu, whence we
kept along the coast as far as Tauranga harbour, and thence once more
turned our faces towards the interior at the Wai Ho valley, or valley of
the New Zealand Thames, and thus once more reached the Waikato at
Maungatautari. I now wandered through the fertile plains of the central
Waikato basin, to Rangiawhia, the central point of the Maori settlements,
paid a visit to the Maori king, Potatau te Wherowhero, at his residence,
Ngaruawahia, at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipah, and so by the
end of May reached Auckland from the Waikato, by way of Mangatawhiri.
"The results of this expedition, of almost three months' duration, were
most satisfactory to myself. The weather had been singularly favourable,
so that I found no insurmountable obstacles, although our route led
through districts difficult of approach, owing to the frequent recurrence
of flood, swamp, and almost impervious primeval forest. As my travels were
undertaken about the period of the New Zealand harvest-time, both of the
potato and corn crops, there was no lack of provisions. At the various
missionary stations scattered throughout this region we received the most
heartfelt hospitality, and even the native chiefs did not fail to receive
into their tents, and welcome in right hearty fashion, the Te Ratu
Hokiteta, as I was named in the Maori tongue, with all his numerous train.
My Maories had proved themselves so willing and obliging, as well as
cheerful, over the work, and my friends Haast, Hay, Hamel, and Koch, had
so zealously co-operated with me, that the results achieved were quite
beyond my most sanguine expectations. I now had complete geographical,
geological, botanical, and zoological materials in my hands, nor was there
any lack even of ethnographical specimens.
"My chief object had been to obtain a correct notion of the geography and
geology of the country. In order to be in a position to make geological
deductions, I had at the same time to get up the topography, for all that
was set down in the maps of the interior had not been taken from regular
hydrographic data, but were mere jottings, which had been laid down from
the hasty and necessarily imperfect sketches which travelling
missionaries, public officers, and other casual travellers had brought
with them. The imperfect charts which the Colonial Government had supplied
me with, to guide me in pushing to the eastward, only gave the inhabited
points along the coast, and even a few miles distant from Auckland were so
much waste paper. To remedy this I had recourse, from the very
commencement, to a system of triangulation, by means of an Azimuth
compass, based upon the nautical survey of the coast made by Capt. Drury,
which I prosecuted, with the invaluable assistance of Capt. Drummond Hay,
from the west coast to the east. The natives, who, in their profound
distrust of the government land speculations, always threw every possible
obstacle in the way of the land-surveyors and provincial engineers, so
soon as they made their appearance, theodolite in hand, on any land not
yet purchased, never once disturbed us. They knew I was a stranger, who
was only going to stay a few months in the country, and accordingly made
it a point of honour that I should carry home with me as high an opinion
as possible of the country. At every remarkable point the chiefs stationed
guides, and accompanied me to the summits of the mountains, whence I made
my observations, and with great readiness furnished me with the name of
every hill and stream visible, as well as the valleys and lakes within
sight, and explained in their own way the geography of the district. On my
side I collected carefully all the information I could glean respecting
the natives, and in this fashion I believe I have rescued from oblivion a
number of beautiful and highly-characteristic names. The configuration of
the soil I always sketched off on the spot, and thus brought away from my
tour materials sufficient to enable me to prepare during my stay in
Auckland a topographical chart of the southern part of the island on a
large scale, reserving for more mature consideration, at a future day, the
preparation of a carefully revised edition of this provisional map.
"The barometrical observations made during this tour were reduced by
comparison with those of the Royal Engineer's Observatory at Auckland, the
tables used in which were obligingly put at my disposal by Colonel Mould,
R.E.
"There are also to be noticed an immense number of drawings and
photographs, taken during the Expedition, as also some very valuable
landscape sketches, made for me by Mr. Heaphy.
"There still remained, however, a most interesting object for examination
in the vicinity of Auckland, namely, the Cape Colville peninsula on the
eastern shores of Hauraki Bay. The discovery of gold in Coromandel Harbour
on this coast, had some years before created great excitement. I devoted a
few days of fine weather in the month of June to visiting these
gold-fields; a projected visit to the copper-mines of Great Barrier
Island, and the Island of Kawau, had unfortunately to be abandoned, owing
to bad weather.
"With this, the period of my stay at Auckland was drawing to a close. At
the request of the members of the Mechanics' Institute, I delivered on the
24th June, shortly before my departure, a lecture in the hall of the
society, upon the geological capabilities of the province, in which I
threw together the chief results of my investigations, and illustrated
them by means of roughly-executed charts, plans, sketches, and
photographs. As I had neither time nor complete material for a more
extended report, it was on this lecture that Government relied for an
account of my various operations. The arrangement and careful packing of
the collections, and the drawing the maps, delayed my departure for some
weeks, and after my days of labour followed others, still more impossible
to forget, of agreeable society and festive meetings, ere I could tear
myself away from the inhabitants of Auckland. Thousands of mementos of New
Zealand were thrust into my hands. My collections comprised treasures of
all sorts, such as must for ever engrave on my memory the forests and
mountains of New Zealand. But I had yet again to thank the good people of
Auckland for a last souvenir of their kindly feeling and generosity to
myself. On the 24th July I was invited to a banquet in the name of the
province, at which I was presented, in terms far too flattering, with an
address,[57] accompanied by an elegant and valuable testimonial.
"Unfortunately, owing to want of time, I could not respond to the cordial
invitation extended to me to make a lengthened stay, accompanied by
further surveys of Wellington and New Plymouth (Province of Taranaki), and
Ahuhiri (Province of Hawke's Bay). So, too, I was compelled gratefully to
decline a kind invitation from the Governor to accompany him on an
expedition to the Southern Island, on board H.M.'s frigate _Iris_,
preferring to accept a previous invitation from the Superintendent of the
Province of Nelson, as a visit to Middle Island seemed of special
importance, however short my stay. It not alone satisfied me of the
justice of the name assigned to Nelson, of being the 'Garden of New
Zealand,' but also kept me fully occupied in examining its variety of
mineral treasures, such as copper, gold, coal, &c., which have made the
province the chief mineral and metalliferous district of New Zealand. And
how was it possible for me to come back to Europe without having seen the
splendid chain of the Southern Alps, and their summits crowned with
perpetual snow?
"Accordingly, on 28th July, I embarked on board the steamer _Lord Ashley_,
bound for Cook's Straits. The voyage gave me the opportunity, as the
vessel called at Nelson and Wellington both (anchoring at the latter),
before entering Blind Bay, of paying a flying visit to both those
localities. Thus, on 30th of July I had a splendid view of the lofty
Taranaki mountain (Mount Egmont), 8270 feet high, and was enabled to
study, among the sugar-loaf rocks of the Taranaki coast, the peculiarities
of the trachytic lava of this the most regular in shape of the volcanic
peaks of New Zealand. After a stormy passage through Cook's Straits, we
landed on 1st August at Wellington, and reached Nelson on the 3rd.
"I was received in the most cordial manner by the denizens of Nelson, who,
while the _Novara_ lay at anchor at Auckland, had extended to the members
of the Expedition a most cordial invitation.
"The provincial Government, under the advice of the excellent
superintendent, J. P. Robinson, Esq., had already issued the requisite
instructions to enable me to make the utmost possible use of the time at
my disposal for geological survey, and had chartered for me the steamer
_Tasmanian Maid_, so as to enable me to visit with all possible dispatch
the most important formations on the shores of Blind and Golden Bays.
"The geological field which is opened up on the Middle Island, was
entirely new as compared with the Northern Island. In the neighbourhood of
Nelson, the Southern Alps send off outliers, in the shape of
mountain-chains, 5000 and 6000 feet high, covered in winter with deep
snow, as far as Cook's Straits. The western chains are composed of primary
crystalline rocks, granite, gneiss, micaceous and hornblend slate,
quartz, and clay slate, whereas sedimentary sandstone, chalk, and almost
vertical stratifications, constitute the chief formations observable in
the eastern chain. Between these older formations, however, among the
valleys and depressions, occur later stratifications, including brown coal
or peat.
"A succession of splendid weather was gladly hailed as an evidence of the
renowned climate of Nelson, and my very first excursions opened to me such
interesting subjects of inquiry, that I was fain to decide on prolonging
till September the month's visit I had originally determined on
restricting myself to. I was thus enabled to examine more minutely the
various gold and coal-fields near Nelson, as also the copper-mines on the
Dun Mountains, and at all events to represent on a chart the geological
features of the northern part of the province.
"The results of the investigations into the mineral wealth of this
province were on the whole eminently favourable. I could not indeed
confirm the sanguine anticipations of some mining speculators, of the
inexhaustible, though as yet unrevealed, treasures of copper in the Dun
Mountains, although, adjoining the rather meagre copper-bearing strata,
there were instances of abundance of chromate of iron, which promised a
considerable return. Above all, however, there still remained to be
visited the gold-fields of the Aorere and Tetakaka valleys at Golden Bay,
the quantity already extracted from which, as well as its purity,
satisfied me that capital might secure a splendid return here by a more
extended and systematic mode of working, and that the discovery of this,
the first of the New Zealand gold-fields, is but the commencement of a
series of such along the range of hills which traverses the Middle Island;
discoveries which, though perhaps not on so extensive a scale as those of
Australia and California, must nevertheless tend to raise higher and
higher the rank of New Zealand among the gold-producing countries of the
earth. Lastly, it was found that in the province of Nelson, side by side
with the ordinary strata in which the brown coal occurs in North Island,
were beds of coal of a very superior quality. The excellent but
unfortunately very limited coal-fields of Pakawau give ground for
anticipating that in other localities it may very probably be possible to
discover larger and more easily-worked beds, and my friend Haast has, in
fact, since my visit discovered such on Buller-and-Grey river, on the
Western shore of the province of Nelson.
"During my stay in Nelson my collections waxed in amount to an unusual
degree. In vain had I attempted while in North Island to discover remains
of the gigantic extinct bird of New Zealand, or the bones of the
_Dinornis_ and _Palapteryx_, Moa of the natives. These researches met with
far greater success in Middle Island. The chalk valleys of the Aorere
valley furnished us with splendid specimens of these singular and rare
remains of birds. Not merely were individual bones daily discovered,
through the indefatigable exertions of my friend Haast, but from time to
time entire skeletons more or less perfect. Besides these, I was
presented with a very valuable complete skeleton of the _Palapteryx
ingens_ (Owen), from the Nelson Museum, so that the collection of
remains[58] of the Moa, which I brought back with me to Vienna, is
scarcely, if at all, inferior to the valuable series of relics of an
extinct race of birds which at present adorns the British Museum.
"I must express my thankful sense of the kindness with which my friends
Dr. Monro, Capt. Rough Travers, Messrs. Adams, Curtis, and many others,
contributed minerals, plants, and zoological specimens to the enrichment
of my collections of natural history. I am also deeply indebted to Messrs.
Campbell and Burnett for several exquisite landscape sketches, and the
Provincial Government for a variety of interesting photographic pictures
of the environs of Nelson.
"It was with regret I tore myself from a region where so much remained to
discover, and so much hitherto unexamined to explore. In the higher and
more remote regions of the Southern Alps, never yet trodden by human foot,
there was nothing left for me to do. From the shores of the Rotoito lake
(Lake Arthur) I could see the southernmost point reached by me, where the
lofty pinnacles of the southern range, crowned with perpetual snow, rose
grandly before me. I could but picture to myself the majesty and sublimity
of those hills, which my friend and travelling companion, J. Haast,
succeeded in ascending in 1860-61, after indescribable difficulties and
hardships, which redounded to the credit of German 'pluck' and
perseverance, as the results did honour to German science.
"My time had now been stretched to its utmost limit, and I had to prepare
for my return to Europe. In a lecture upon the geology of the province,
which I delivered at Nelson on 29th September, I presented in a succinct
form the results of my observations. An extract from this lecture,
accompanied by a copy of my geological map, I presented to the Provincial
Government of Nelson and the Colonial Government of Auckland.
"I cannot conclude without recording the numerous instances of
consideration and unexpected kindness which I received at the hands of the
inhabitants of Nelson, and especially for their flattering and gratifying
appreciation of my labours, which at the close of the lecture already
mentioned took the form of an address,[59] accompanied by an elegant and
appropriate souvenir, consisting of a beautifully-finished cabinet,
composed of the various coloured woods of New Zealand.
"On 2nd October, 1859, I embarked for Sydney, on board the steamer _Prince
Alfred_. After a short sojourn in the capital of New South Wales, I went
on to Melbourne, whence I visited the most important of the gold-fields of
the colony of Victoria, and by the middle of November returned _via_
Mauritius and the Red Sea to Europe."
* * * * *
Such is the account given by our geologist of his proceedings while the
_Novara_ was steering homewards. The voyage to the Society Islands
Archipelago promised at first to be very speedy, but ere long was
seriously delayed by strong contrary winds, and while, on the one hand, we
could make but short tacks, we had on the other not merely to forego the
pleasure of clear sunny weather, but had the miserable prospect of nothing
but squalls and rain. Our additions to our natural history collections
were likewise very scanty, and even our most important capture, a shark 10
feet 4 inches in length, and weighing 174 lbs., was much more of a treat
to the sailors than an acquisition to science.
The only circumstance throughout the voyage which made a certain
impression was the passage of the meridian of 180 deg., about 11 P.M., on the
10th of January, so that we had now entered upon W. longitude again.
Accordingly, there was no small astonishment among the sailors, when a day
seemed suddenly to be dropped out of our reckoning, and orders were issued
that Monday, 10th January, should be entered twice in all journals and
reckonings, that is, should be entered for that and the following day
also, so as to prevent our returning to Europe with the log one day ahead
of the calendar. Of course a little explanation soon satisfied all
landsmen of the necessity of the alteration, but their amazement reminds
me of the dismay of earlier Catholic navigators, when they found they had
been keeping irregular fast days. Thus, when the first circumnavigation of
the globe was made by Magelhaen, who sailed in the _San Lucas de
Barrameda_ on 20th September, 1519, he found on his return, after a three
years' cruise, to Santiago, one of the Cape De Verd Islands, that the
Portuguese there were keeping Thursday, the 10th July, 1522, whereas his
log marked Wednesday, the 9th, he having doubled the Horn and sailed from
east to west. The idea of having lost a day of their lives disquieted the
worthy and pious mariners far less than the fact that they had observed
Lady-day erroneously, and had eaten meat on fast days! On their return to
Spain they could not get credit for the lost day, which was set down to an
error in reckoning, the meaning being that they had omitted the
intercalary day in February, 1520. Peter Martyr spoke concerning this to
the renowned Venetian ambassador, Contarini, who at once pointed out that
a day must necessarily be lost in the course steered by the _Victoria_,
while, on the other hand, a day would have been gained by sailing from W.
to E. One consequence of this proof of the sphericity of the earth was,
that it at once became obviously necessary to draw a line of demarcation
between the Spanish and Portuguese settlements. Thus, too, Captain Steen
Bille relates, that when he sailed from Tahiti he logged his departure as
on Friday, 18th December, whereas on the adjacent island of Borra-Borra
they were already reckoning it the 19th. The mode of reckoning at Tahiti
corresponded with his own, but only, it would seem, in consequence of an
alteration which had been made a few weeks previously. In short, the mode
of reckoning time among the South Sea Archipelagoes depends solely upon
whether they have been approached in the first instance from the west or
the east by the navigator who has introduced among them the Christian
Calendar. However, so long as the discrepancy is not too great, a
conventional mode of computation is employed, and one general epoch is
used for all groups of islands in or near the meridian of 180 deg. In any
case, it is a matter of indifference to the brown natives of these island
groups whether or not they correspond with Greenwich at a given hour of a
given day.
On 4th February the look-out man at the mast-head sung out "Land on the
lee-bow!" This proved to be the small island of Tubuai, of the Rorutu
Archipelago, the inhabitants of which at present seem to be likewise under
the "careful" protection of France.
At length, on 11th February, we came in sight of Tahiti and the outlying
Island of Eimeo or Morea, after which we tacked towards the latter, which
we approached so closely that we could quite plainly distinguish its
singular serrated outline, its precipitous crags, and its crater-like
depressions, as well as the thick, gloomy forests that clothe its secluded
valleys. Many of these pinnacles and steep rocky declivities presented all
the appearance of a series of colossal ruins of cities and palaces,
protected by towers, battlements, and embrasures. About 4 P.M. we hove to
off Papeete. The entrance into this harbour, surrounded by coral reefs
which indeed form the haven, is exceedingly narrow, the fair way for the
frigate not exceeding half a cable's length. As no pilot boat was visible,
a blank shot was fired, and a certain signal hoisted, upon which a small
boat pulled off with the long-looked for pilot. At 6 P.M. we cast anchor
in 11 fathoms water, in clay ground. In the harbour were three whalers, a
French transport, and the dispatch steamer _Milan_, which had left Sydney
twelve days before us, had remained three days at New Caledonia, whence it
had been 54 days on the voyage to Papeete, only making use of its steam in
the most urgent cases. We ran up the flag of the French Protectorate at
the main-mast-head, and saluted the city with the customary 21 guns, which
were replied to by a field battery, which had to be brought down to the
beach for the purpose. Much astonishment was expressed that we should have
ventured to run the frigate through the narrow channel between Eimeo and
Tahiti, which has a very bad repute, and is very rarely attempted by
vessels of large size, but, as we ourselves experienced, is perfectly
practicable with a favourable wind, and greatly shortens the approach to
the harbour.
With the consent of the Governor, who received us with much cordiality (no
intelligence having as yet reached these waters of the diplomatic
misunderstandings which at our antipodes were forming the prologue as it
were of the war that broke out somewhat later), we were permitted to use
the islet of Motu-Uta, lying in the harbour, for the purpose of carrying
on, free from interruption, our astronomical, meteorological, and magnetic
observations. A simple wooden hut which we found upon the island served
for an observatory, while quantities of slender-stemmed cocoa-palms,
waving their rustling green canopies overhead, invited us to welcome
repose after the exhaustion of the day's labour. To this smiling islet,
which rose in the midst of the bay like a basket of flowers, King Pomare
II. once retired, there to translate the Holy Scriptures into Tahitian.
Here, too--probably in the very hut which now served us as an
observatory--it was that the same sovereign, when old, spent whole days,
and occasionally, according to tradition, indulged so freely in cognac
that he was frequently heard, when in that state, to say to himself,
"Pomare, Pomare! thy _puan_ (pig) were now better fitted to reign than
thou!"
FOOTNOTES:
[29] We are indebted to C. W. Stafford, Esq., Under Secretary of State to
the Colonial Government, for copies of the latest statistical documents,
from which we learn _inter alia_ that at the end of 1859 the population
amounted to 129,392, the aborigines numbering 56,049, and the foreigners
73,343.
[30] According to the tradition handed down from the chief
Te-he[)u]-he[)u], their forefathers emigrated first from
Hawaiki-Tawiti-Nui, to Hawaiki-Patata, where they sojourned some
time, and thence went to Hawaiki-Ki-te-Maite[)u], whence they came
to New Zealand.
[31] According to Dr. Thomson ("The story of New Zealand past and present,
savage and civilized." London. John Murray, 1859), who lived eleven years
at Auckland prosecuting his duties as a surgeon in the army, the Maori
came to New Zealand, passing by Rarotonga, from Sawaii, the largest of the
Navigators' Islands, about the year 1419. This opinion, which is not
devoid of probability, is not however incompatible with the Sandwich
Islands being the original cradle of the New Zealanders, and Sawaii only a
sort of intermediate station. (See United States Exploring Expedition
1838-42. Ethnography or Philology, vol. vii., by Horatio Hale,
Philadelphia. Lea and Blanchard, 1846.--The Traditionary Migrations of the
New Zealanders and the Maori Legends (_Die Wundersagen der Neu-Seelaender
und der Maori Mythos_), by C. Schirren. Riga. N. Kymmel, 1856.)
[32] The sick were formerly made to drink the fluid contained in the
shells of fresh and salt-water _Conchyliae_.
[33] Of these the most important are:--"Polynesian Mythology, and ancient
traditional History of the New Zealand Race, as furnished by their Priests
and Chiefs. London, 1855." "Proverbial and Popular Sayings of the
Ancestors of the New Zealand Race. Capetown, 1857."
[34] New Zealand: being a Narrative of Travels and Adventures during a
Residence in that Country, between the years 1831 and 1837. By J. S.
Polack, Esq., member of the Colonial Society of London. In two volumes.
London, Rich. Bentley, 1838.--Travels in New Zealand, with contributions
to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History of that Country. By Ernest
Dieffenbach, M.D., late Naturalist to the New Zealand Company. 2 vols.
London, J. Murray, 1843.--The Southern Districts of New Zealand; a Journal
with passing Notices of the Customs of the Aborigines.--By Edward
Shortland, M.A., London, Longman and Co. 1851.--A Dictionary of the New
Zealand Language and a concise Grammar; to which is added a Collection of
Colloquial Sentences. By W. Williams, D.C.L., Archdeacon of Waiapu.
London, 1852.--The Ika-a-Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants. By R.
Taylor. London, 1855.--A Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand. By
R. Taylor. Wellington, New Zealand, 1848.--New Zealand, the "Britain of
the South." By Charles Hursthouse. London, E. Stanford, 1861. Of purely
scientific works relating to botany, Dr. Hooker's "Flora of New Zealand"
may be mentioned as the most comprehensive.
[35] Rona is a Maori maiden of whom a legend relates that the moon,
irritated at her petulant disposition, carried her off to the upper
regions.
[36] The dead is here spoken of as the evening star, which is supposed to
rise in another world, where on its arrival it is welcomed with great
rejoicings by the thousands that have preceded it.
[37] Main is the same as the Kumera, or sweet potato.
[38] Tikoro is the name of a race or tribe of the Hokianga district.
[39] A Maori, who maintained his neutrality, though he evidently views the
victories of his countrymen with partial eyes, wrote us only a few months
ago, "that in the combats which marked the first outbreak of hostilities,
the English lost 2000 and the Maories only 1000!"
[40] Maori Mementos, being a series of Addresses presented by the Native
People to H.E. Sir George Grey, Governor and High Commissioner of the Cape
of Good Hope, and late Governor of New Zealand, with introductory remarks
and explanatory notes; to which is added a small Collection of Laments,
&c., by Charles Olivier B. Davis, translator and interpreter to the
General Government. Auckland, 1855. Also, "The New Zealand chief Kawiti,
and other New Zealand warriors." Auckland, 1855.
[41] Potatau (i. e. shriek by night) was so far back as 1833, during the
bloody contests of the Waikatos against the Taranaki, a renowned warrior
and cannibal, who at that period, according to undoubted authority, had
with his own hand slain 200 of the foe, and had returned home from the
battle-field satiated with human flesh, and rich in slaves. In the evening
of his days he was an advocate of peace, and a friend of the whites. When
he died, in 1860, his son, second of the name, was declared his successor.
[42] Observations on the State of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of New
Zealand. By F. D. Fenton, the compiler of the statistical tables of the
native population. Auckland, 1859. "The object of the publication by the
Government of this paper is to draw attention to the state of the native
population, especially to the decrease in numbers--_with a view to invite
inquiry as to the cause, and suggestions of a remedy_."
[43] Of the enormous waste of human life caused by these wars some idea
may be formed from the fact that at the storming and capture of the single
_pah_ of Matakitaki on the river Waipa 2000 warriors were killed; a larger
amount of killed than that of the English army at Waterloo!
[44] Of the bitter feelings excited by the Maori revolt among the
inhabitants of Australia, an idea may be formed from the fact that Dr.
Mackay, a well-known personage in political circles at Melbourne,
seriously proposed to the Government of Victoria to send a volunteer
expeditionary force to the seat of war, to assist in suppressing the
rebels. The expenses, which Dr. Mackay estimated at L15,000 to L20,000,
were to be repaid by sales of land in the conquered portion. Nay, this
learned expounder of the "law" went so far as to pronounce the subjugation
of these "savages" as imperatively necessary. The men were to be shipped
off to Melbourne, to work as "SLAVES" for seven years; the females to be
carried away and disposed of as wives for the Chinese and well-conducted
white convicts! Dr. Cairns, Bishop of Melbourne, and other ministers of
the gospel, adds this humane philanthropist, to be at liberty to use "_all
fair means_" (!!!) for their conversion.--Compare _Sydney Morning Herald_,
Saturday, July 21st, 1860.
[45] The most important American, Indian, and Australian markets may be
reached by screw steamer from Auckland as follows:--
Miles Days
New Caledonia 1250 5
Tahiti 2380 9
Sandwich Islands 4060 14
Valparaiso 5420 20
San Francisco 5950 22
Batavia 4750 17
Manila 4650 17
Singapore 5050 18
Calcutta 6820 26
Sydney 1260 5
Melbourne 1420 6
Adelaide 1780 7
Hobart Town 1250 5
Panama 5320 20
If the contemplated route _via_ Panama be made available (with a coaling
station at Gambier Islands), some 3500 miles or 14 days' sail would be
saved, so that New Zealand would be reached in from 41 to 48 days, and
Sydney and Melbourne in about 53 and 54 days respectively.
[46] According to Dr. Thomson's meteorological observations, the following
are the averages for the town of Auckland (36 deg. 50' S.), temperature
59-1/2 deg. Fahr.; rain-fall 45-1/2 inches; days on which rain falls 160;
barometer 29.95 inches.
[47] Not less interesting are the returns as to the number of soldiers
attacked with consumption and who died of it at the various garrisons,
which are as follows: Of 1000 soldiers there were
Attacked Died
In New Zealand 60 2.7
At Cape of Good Hope 98 3
In Australia 133 5.8
At Malta 120 6
In Canada 148 6.7
In Great Britain 148 8
[48] These grants, however, are only made to the person who actually
defrays the expenses of the passage: thus they are not made to children,
but to their parents; not to the servant, but to the master, who has paid
the passage of the former.
[49] Besides the Kauri pine, there is abundance of Rimu or red pine, the
Kahi-Katea or white pine, the Tanakaha or pitch pine, the Matan or black
pine, as also the Puriri or New Zealand oak, all trees of great utility.
[50] At the period of the _Novara's_ visit to Auckland the proportion of
the various nationalities and religions were as follows:
Nations.
Irish 11,881
Scotch 11,881
English 35,644
Germans and other nations 594
------
60,000
Religions.
Catholics 7,500
Presbyterians 7,500
Wesleyans and Dissenters 15,000
Episcopalians 30,000
------
60,000
[51] The Government also publishes at its own expense a Maori paper
weekly, Te Karere Maori, the Maori Messenger, the subscription to which
is 5_s._ 6_d._ per annum, and is intended to keep the coloured
population informed of the most important political and social events,
as also to tend to their civilization. We subjoin the contents of a
single number now lying before us. "The laws of England.--Remarks upon
ship-owners.--Official notices.--Letter from the chiefs of Chatham
Island.--Farming, commercial, and maritime news.--Price current.--Speech
of some brown chiefs at a meeting at Mongonui.--Letter from Bay of
Islands.--Deaths.--The Auckland infirmary.--Government orders, &c."
Colonel Brown deserves special praise and acknowledgment for the
publication of the laws of England in Maori, accompanied with the
original text, although the fruits of this arduous but important labour
may only gradually become apparent.
[52] It is especially worthy of remark, that wherever the Anglo-Saxon race
colonize, the newspaper and the post-office follow the footsteps of the
first settlers. After these come the church and the school-house.
Newspaper perusal and dispatch of letters are among the first necessities
of life to the Englishman. In the whole of New Zealand there were, in
1858, 64,357 copies of the various journals struck off, and 482,856
letters received and dispatched. The province of Auckland alone figures
for 239,367 papers and 133,121 letters.
[53] See Appendix III.
[54] See Appendix IV.
[55] These two Maories, who at first were very much depressed, soon got
reconciled to their new sphere, and by their excellent conduct and
obliging disposition, presently became great favourites among the crew.
Only during our rough passage round the Horn, the tremendous storms and
the unaccustomed severity of the cold caused them great uneasiness; they
thought, as they themselves said, that "they must have died then;" and
great were their longings for their native country. When at last they
arrived safely and in excellent health at Trieste, they travelled to
Vienna in company with one of the members of the Expedition, where,
through the kindness of Privy Councillor von Auer, they entered into the
Imperial-Royal Printing House, and were also instructed in the most
important and interesting particulars of European civilization. Mr.
Zimmerl, a member of that Institution, who had made the Maori idiom a
special study, taught them English and German, as well as the manipulation
of types and lithography, besides copper-plate engraving and drawing from
nature. So intelligent and anxious for improvement did they prove
themselves to be, that the Imperial Government were requested by the
Directors of the State Printing Office to present the two Maories on their
return to their native country with the necessary implements to enable
them to avail themselves at home of the knowledge they acquired under such
creditable circumstances. During their nine months' stay in Vienna, they
were made acquainted with all the "lions" of the metropolis, and all the
manners and customs of European civilized life. Of all the numerous sights
that must have astonished their unaccustomed senses, there was none that
seemed to have made a more powerful impression than the Railway, "the most
splendid evidence of the powers of the foreigners, compared with which all
others are unimportant, and which they earnestly trust will soon be
introduced into New Zealand." The culmination of their visit to Vienna
consisted in a visit they paid to their Majesties in the Imperial Palace,
by whom they were received with the most gracious consideration, and
orders issued that they should receive a handsome present, and have their
return to their native country defrayed at the Government cost. On 26th
May, 1860, the two New Zealanders quitted Vienna, and travelled through
Germany to London, where they stayed several weeks, were presented to the
Queen, and embarked at Southampton for Auckland direct. They arrived in
safety at home, and have since then repeatedly written to their friends
and associates in Vienna. The style of these epistles is in the highly
figurative style peculiar to New Zealand. They abound in repetitions, and
are not very inventive in rounding their sentences or giving their
impressions, though they occasionally surprise the reader by the
tenderness and poetic fervour of their thoughts. Thus, for example,
Toe-toe writes once from Vienna to one of the Expedition resident at
Trieste: "Thou art at Trieste, on the sea-shore! We climbed the Leopold
Berg,--thence to descry the clouds which floated over Styria. Trieste we
could not see, for our eyes were veiled by the tears which flowed from
them!" The news we have received of Toe-toe since have been rather
distressing. He issues from the press, presented to him at Vienna,
stirring publications, comparing the Maories to Pharaoh (?) and exciting
them to declare their independence!
[56] Commanded by Captain Wilkes, recently so notorious by his conduct
with reference to the English mail steamer _Trent_, in Nov. 1861.
[57] See Appendix V.
[58] Of this wonderful bird a cast was moulded in gypsum, and has been
sent to the great International Exhibition, 1862.
[59] See Appendix.
[Illustration: Native Fete to the Governor]
XX.
Tahiti.
Duration of Stay From 11th To 28th January, 1859.
State of the island at the close of last century.--The London
Missionary Society and its emissaries.--Great mortality among
the native population.--First arrival of Catholic Priests in
Oceania.--French Protectorate and its consequences.--The
Tahitian Parliament and Tahitian debaters.--William Howe.--Adam
Kulczycki.--Scientific aims and achievements.--The Catholic
mission.--_Pre Catalan_ and native dances.--Prisoners of war
from New Caledonia.--Point Venus.--Guava-fields.--The fort of
Fautaua.--Lake Waiiria.--Popular _Fete_ at Faaa.--Ball given by
the Governor.--Queen Pomare.--Geographical notes on Tahiti and
Eimeo.--Climate.--Vegetation.--The Kawa root, and the
intoxicating drink produced from it.--Great expense of the
French Stations in Oceania.--Projects of reform.--Results of
English and French colonization.--Two convicts.--Departure.--The
Whaler _Emily Morgan_.--Attempt to fix the zero point of
magnetic declination.--"Colique vegetale."--A victim.--Pitcairn
Island.--A fire-side tale of the tropical world.--An accident
without ill results.--Humboldt's Current.--Arrival at
Valparaiso.
Of all the innumerable islands of the vast Pacific, there is none which at
various periods has attracted the attention and aroused the interest of
the civilized world in the same degree as that in whose harbour we were
now lying at anchor. At first it was the inimitable grace of Cook's
narrative of his stay in Otaheite,[60] and the simplicity and felicity of
its inhabitants, that left a deep and permanent impression on the mind of
the educated reader; in after-times occurrences of a political nature
riveted the sympathy of Europe upon this distant island and its queen.
Before entering upon a description of the present condition of Tahiti we
may be permitted to cast a hasty retrospect as to the state of the group
when the first English missionaries arrived on the Society Islands.
It was in March, 1797, about 18 months after the foundation of the
Missionary Society in London, that eighteen ministers of the everlasting
gospel landed in Tahiti, with their wives and children, from the renowned
ship _Duff_. This small community dispersed itself among the various
islands, and had to make head against obstacles of unwonted magnitude
during a series of years. At length, about 1803, shortly after the death
of King Pomare I., who had raised himself from the position of a mere
chief to the sovereignty of the island,[61] Christianity began to take
root and spread abroad through the country. In 1812 Pomare II., the eldest
son and successor of Otu, declared himself of the Christian faith. Five
years later a further accession of missionaries arrived in a merchantman
from New South Wales, who, among other things, brought with them a small
printing press. Then for the first time the natives of the Society Islands
learned to comprehend the blessedness of the greatest discovery of all
time. On 30th June, 1817, after much preliminary instruction by the
missionaries, the first proof of a catechism was struck off by King Pomare
II. In the course of the same year there were issued from the missionary
press at Papeete 2300 copies of a little alphabet book.
It was the same ship that brought the first horse to the island, a present
from the owner of the vessel to King Pomare. The natives could not conceal
their amazement when they saw the captain astride of the splendid animal.
Very striking was the remark made by King Pomare on the occasion: "King
George of England," said he, "rides on a horse; but King Pomare, a yet
mightier king, sits at public solemnities upon the neck of one of his
subjects!"
The labours of the missionaries were crowned with the most splendid
success. To them is due the merit of having abolished the hideous custom
of human sacrifice, of having introduced law and order into the native
administration, and of having extirpated various odious vices from their
social habits. By their representatives, King Pomare II. was induced to
prohibit all distilleries and places where the kawa-drink was fabricated.
Schools and chapels were erected, Bibles and spelling-books were printed
and disseminated, till within ten years not alone did all the natives
profess Christianity, but the majority of the younger population had
learned to read and write.
The cheering spiritual influence exercised by these Protestant
missionaries over the aborigines was not unfortunately accompanied by a
simultaneous elevation of their physical condition. In consequence of
early debauchery and the spread of diseases of a certain class, which
appear to be the inevitable concomitants of the first contact of the white
man with primitive races, there has been a marked falling off among the
population. It almost seems as though the Tahitians had attained the
utmost pitch of their civilization, and thence, in obedience to a
mysterious natural law, have been compelled, like so many other coloured
races, to surrender this lovely abode to a more energetic and
self-developing race, till the appalling doom befalls them of being erased
from the list of nations!
Thirty-nine years had elapsed since the first missionary had set foot in
Tahiti, and Christianity had spread far and wide, before the first
Catholic priest appeared in Oceania.
Etienne Rochouse, a young priest of the so-called association of Picpus,
founded at Paris in 1814, had been named "Vicar Apostolic of Eastern
Oceania," with title of Bishop of Nelopolis _in partibus_, and about the
close of 1833 embarked at Bordeaux with four missionaries[62] bound for
Valparaiso, where the holy brethren arrived on 13th May, 1834. Their
design was, wherever practicable, to forestal the Protestant missionaries
in their zeal for conversion among the tribes of the South Sea Islands,
whence they might diffuse themselves over the neighbouring countries, and
thus gradually introduce themselves among the remotest populations, in the
hope "that all, whom heresy has led astray and brought under its iron
yoke, may be freely brought under the mild and gentle yoke of Catholic
doctrine."[63]
In 1836, the catechist Columban Murphy was dispatched to the Sandwich
Islands, with instructions to stop at Tahiti on his way, and to make on
the spot all possible inquiries as to the probable prospects of
establishing a Catholic mission there. This was the first representative
of the Romish Church that had visited Tahiti during the thirty-nine years
this island was evangelized; and, carried away by the blind religious
fanaticism which in former centuries led the Spanish monks so lamentably
astray, Murphy believed that "hell itself must have been moved and puzzled
by such an event!"[64] Murphy, or Columban, as he now called himself,
travelled as a working carpenter, wore a thick beard, smoked a "cutty"
pipe, and might have been taken for anything else under the sun than a
Catholic priest. Although serious misgivings were felt by the native
authorities as to his real quality, he nevertheless received permission to
settle upon the island. He accordingly spent a couple of months here, and
laboured with great zeal to pave the way for a Catholic settlement at a
future period. In November of the same year, two more missionaries,
Fathers Caret and Laval, came on to Tahiti. The circumstances under which
they arrived aroused the suspicions of the authorities and of the entire
population. For they did not land at Wilks's Harbour, at that time the
only accessible harbour on the island, but secretly, on the opposite side.
According to the law of the country, however, no captain or owner of a
ship was permitted to land a passenger without having previously obtained
the permission of the Queen or Governor of the island. After the two
Catholic priests had gone the round of the island and had visited nearly
all the native villages along the coast, they at last came to Wilks's
Harbour, now Papeete, where they received a most cordial welcome from a
Belgian settler, the then American consul, Mr. Moehrenhout.
In the course of an interview which Laval and Caret had with the Queen,
they remarked that they had only come to teach the word of God, and
presented the youthful and at that period pretty-looking Queen Pomare with
a silk shawl. The Queen did not however seem disposed to accede to their
wishes, but ordered the laws of the country to be read before them. The
priests however declined listening to them, and took their departure.
A notification was hereupon conveyed to the two strangers that the Queen
could not permit them to stay any longer upon the island, and a similar
intimation was made to Mr. Moehrenhout. As the schooner which had brought
Laval and Caret was preparing to set sail again, the opportunity was
seized to dismiss them by the same conveyance which had landed them. They,
meanwhile, had blockaded themselves in a house, to which they refused all
admission. The schooner thereupon was detained for twenty-four hours, and
the Queen's officers surrounded the house, awaiting the moment when the
two missionaries were to leave the place. They never made their appearance
however. Ultimately the officers of the law were compelled to tear off the
roof from the house, while others, forcibly seizing the priests, conveyed
them with their paraphernalia on board the schooner, which at once made
sail, and carried them back to Gambier Island, whence they had last come.
Notwithstanding the ill-success of this first venture, Pater Caret made
his appearance off Tahiti a second time seven weeks later, on board of an
American brig, accompanied on this occasion by another priest, Father
Maigrat. The captain of the brig, a man named Williams, wrote the Queen a
letter requesting permission to land his two passengers. The answer was a
firm refusal, and so continued, despite the repeated representations of
the captain, as also of the above-mentioned M. Moerenhout. Upon this the
captain went to work in true Yankee fashion with the view of landing the
two Catholic missionaries by force on the island, but had to give way
before the prudent but decided attitude of resistance adopted by the
natives, who crowded down to the water's edge and prevented the boats from
landing. This last attempt to carry matters with a high hand having
failed, the captain set sail and carried off with him the two
missionaries.
France, though no longer openly claiming the specific character of a
Catholic monarchy as in the days of Louis XIV., but, on the contrary,
proclaiming herself, by her laws at least, a free state for all forms of
religious worship, apparently thought herself compelled to interfere in
this quarrel, with all the weight of a great European power, two of whose
subjects had been treated with unmerited indignity. Accordingly in
September, 1838, the French frigate _Venus_, commanded by Commodore Du
Petit-Thouars, appeared off Tahiti to demand satisfaction for the
ill-treatment of the French missionaries Laval and Caret, which they
assessed at 2000 Spanish piastres. At the same time a treaty was
concluded between the French Government and Queen Pomare, by which from
that time all subjects of the King of France were to be at liberty to
visit and reside in the Society Islands without molestation, and were to
enjoy similar privileges with the English.[65]
To this treaty the French captain, La Place, who, in April, 1839, anchored
in Papeete harbour for repairs to his frigate, the _Artemise_, added
another article, which was countersigned by the Queen and the principal
chiefs, and authorized the free celebration of the rites of the Catholic
religion.[66]
Had these demonstrations on the part of France had for the sole object the
protection of the interests of Catholicism and French subjects, no
civilized power could have objected to an act which, in entire consonance
with the more humane and enlightened spirit of the 19th century, asserted
the equal rights of every form of religious worship.
But she was not content with removing obstacles or asserting rights;
political aims, as it proved, were being advanced under cover of a
struggle on behalf of the Catholic Church; and the events which speedily
ensued are but a series of acts of violence and humiliations inflicted, so
entirely unjustifiable, that even the French Government found itself in
the end compelled to disapprove and condemn the acts of its
representatives in Oceania.
In September, 1842, M. Du Petit-Thouars came on a second visit to Tahiti.
He had by this time been promoted to his flag, and had been appointed
Captain-general of the French stations in the Southern Ocean. He had
already taken possession of the Marquesas Islands in the name of France,
and appeared to have come to Tahiti with similar intentions. This second
visit terminated after the Queen and her subjects had been submitted to
the most cruel humiliations, in the establishment of a French
protectorate, which several chiefs demanded in a document addressed by
them to Louis Philippe, and which the Queen was compelled to subscribe. In
November, 1843, Du Petit-Thouars came once more to Papeete, and now took
possession of the entire island, on the flimsy pretext that an intentional
insult had been given to France, in the shape of a flag which he saw
waving above the Queen's residence, and which he mistook for that of
England! The Tahitian flag was forcibly struck by the French soldiers, and
replaced by that of France, while Tahiti itself was declared a French
colony. Queen Pomare protested against this new high-handed insult; she
wrote a letter of complaint to the French monarch, relating the
extravagances of his officers, and in a dignified and simple address,
implored the sympathy and support of Queen Victoria.[67]
The violent proceedings of the admiral were not endorsed by the Government
of Louis Philippe, which recalled Du Petit-Thouars, and restored to Queen
Pomare the islands of Tahiti and Eimeo, but the French protectorate
remained unaltered, since which the two islands have remained, if not _de
jure_, at all events _de facto_, a French colony. The administration is
vested in the hands of a proportionately increased staff of French
officials, and import and export duties are levied by the French
authorities, while the Queen herself receives her civil list of L1000 at
the hands of the "Tresorier et payeur des Etablissements francais en
Oceanie."[68]
Papeete or Papeiti (_Pape_, water, _Iti_, little), which derives its name
from a rivulet which falls into the sea here, lies at the bottom of a
semi-circular bay, seven miles west of Point Venus, the northernmost spot
of the island. It is the chief town on the island, the residence of the
Queen, and the seat of government, all which is not incompatible with its
being of very limited dimensions, not rising above the grandeur of an
ordinary village. The dwellings of the Europeans, constructed for the most
part of wood, covered with palm-leaves, partly extend along the shore,
partly help to make pretty regular streets, amid which rise up on every
side bread-fruit trees, cocoa-palms, and orange-trees, which make up in
cheerfulness for any deficiency in stateliness of aspect. Southwards of
the bay lie a belt of police barracks, the Protestant place of worship
(_Fare-pure_, house of prayer), and the prison (_Fare-auri_, house of
iron); eastward it is bounded by the promontory of Fare-Ute, forming a
sort of dock-yard, where ships of 300 tons can be repaired. Not far from
the place of disembarkation, and near the centre of the township, rises
one of the most elegant buildings in Papeete, namely, that where the
various stores for the troops are housed. The mansion of the Governor
closely adjoins the residence assigned to the Queen, from which it is only
separated by a garden hedge. Both are extremely simple and unpretending
edifices, built of wood, and impress the visitor much less than another
large quadrangular building, built of stone in the Oriental style, and
surmounted by a cupola--this is the Fare-Aporaa, or "House of Big Words,"
which has numerous congeners among more civilized communities. Here, for
the future, are to be held the sessions of the Legislative Assembly, and
here the laws of the country are to be debated. Ever since the protecting
hand of the French Protector has extended itself likewise over the
unfortunate inhabitants of the Society Islands, the Tahitian parliament is
opened with all that pomp and tinsel splendour which your true Frenchman
cannot dispense with, even among the primitive islands of the Pacific. The
Queen, accompanied by the Governor, proceeds, escorted by a long retinue,
to the Chamber, and opens the assembly in person, which solemnity is
announced to the gaping crowd outside by a salvo of twenty-one guns. The
French Governor, however, plays the most conspicuous part, as in him is
vested the right of deciding whether the convocation of the chosen of the
people be requisite or not. Hence it happens that many a year passes when
it does not suit the wishes of the Governor that parliament should meet.
On such occasions (such was the case while we were there) the Governor
promulgates a simple edict to that effect.[69]
The Tahitians, long before the arrival of the French, had a code or
charter of their own. The last was drawn up in 1823 by the Protestant
missionaries, upon the model of that of England, and was revised in 1826.
Its provisions were that the throne should be inherited by either male or
female descendants of the reigning dynasty. By it the island was divided
into seven districts; the legislative power was vested in an assembly of
fourteen members, viz. two from each district, who were to be re-elected
every three years by the people. This constitution underwent divers
mutilations at the hands of the French Protectorate, till it had lost all
importance. At present, however, it is the subject of lively debate, and
the Tahitian parliament at Papeete can reckon some really distinguished
speakers; but its solution depends much less upon the conviction of logic
than the influence of the French officials.
We heard a very remarkable speech from Ravaai, one of the most gifted of
the native orators, on the occasion of a debate as to whether a law should
be passed admitting beer and French wines, duty free, into the island.
Several speakers were of opinion, considering the terrible spread among
both sexes of drunkenness, with all its attendant evils, that every
description of spirituous liquor should be prohibited to be sold to the
natives; Ravaai, on the other hand, spoke in favour of the enactment, and
in the course of his speech remarked: "If the use of spirituous liquors
were in itself criminal, as some persons maintain, we should not see it in
every-day use by the Europeans living amongst us, our pioneers in the path
of civilization. It is only excess, abuse, that are punishable. This we
must expect to have to punish, but do not rob us of an inherent right by a
sumptuary and unnatural prohibition. Your declarations concerning murder,
incendiarism, ruffianism, all which you adduce as the results of the use
of brandy, are but oratorical flourishes: spirituous liquors, the misuse
of which I equally with yourselves deprecate, have, no doubt, produced
disorders, but these have been suppressed, and if our island had no
further ills to encounter we might rejoice this day over a future of such
prosperity and promise! Such, unfortunately, is _not_ the case! People
tell us of murders and robberies! Go the round of the island! go from
Mahaena to Punaruu, from Papenoo to Taapua, and a variety of other
places--climb the mountain to the very summit of Fautaua; ask at these
abodes of sorrow, baptized with noble blood, and covered with honoured
graves! Say what has filled the graves of Mahaena with human bones? Is it
the unlimited use of spirits, or is it not rather the ignorance begotten
of fanaticism run mad, which disloyally put weapons into your hands? But
the graves are dumb; and certain persons present may at this moment
rejoice at that repose. If it is your wish sincerely, and with hope of
definite results, to forbid the sale of intoxicating stimulants in Tahiti,
begin by forbidding those mighty nations who trade with our island, and
are interested in this traffic, from bringing and introducing the
destroying liquids in their vessels!! But your voices, ye unhappy
Tahitians, are too feeble to make themselves heard in England, in France,
in Spain, in America! Well, then, renounce it, deny yourselves!" The law
was passed by ninety-five votes against thirteen, and, in consequence, not
merely French wines, but all sorts of liquors, may be sold in Tahiti
unchecked by license. The penalties for drunkenness have since then formed
an important source of revenue!
Among the foreigners settled in Papeete our Expedition had reason to be
especially thankful to Mr. W. Howe, member of the London Missionary
Society, and M. Adam Kulczycki,[70] director of the administration of
native matters, two gentlemen, of whom the former has, during a residence
of twenty-two years in Tahiti, employed in spreading the gospel and
raising the morals and religious standard of his little flock, proved
himself as useful a servant, as the latter by his valuable contributions
to our knowledge of the physical condition of the island. Dr. Nadaud,
botanist and physician, also laid the Expedition under deep obligations
by the cordiality with which he placed himself at the disposal of the
naturalists, to accompany them on their various excursions, and imparting
to them his own valuable experience, while the splendid and comprehensive
work of Dr. G. Cuzent[71] upon Tahiti, contributed greatly to assist our
personal impressions, experiences, and observations. Mr. Howe, the sole
English missionary now resident in Tahiti, received us with much kindness,
and escorted us through the various missionary buildings, in which,
unfortunately, the spiritual energy of bygone years has dwindled away
under the baleful French Protectorate. The institute for the education of
teachers and pastors is quite closed,--in the printing establishment,
which formerly kept ten compositors and two iron hand-presses in constant
employment, only small religious tracts are now permitted to be sold, and
these exclusively in Tahitian, a work which one man can easily get
through. In the missionary library we saw several interesting works and
manuscripts, mostly of a religious cast. One was shown us which seemed to
be highly esteemed, and consisted of a thick manuscript treating of
Tahiti, the author of which was a Mr. Orsmond, the oldest Protestant
missionary upon the island, who died in 1857. It is said that M.
Moerenhout, the former Belgian and American consul at Papeete, in his work
upon Tahiti, availed himself largely of this manuscript, which has also
been translated into Swedish.
Mr. Howe spoke highly of the liberality of the present Governor, M.
Saisset, as compared with the intolerance displayed by his predecessors,
with respect to celebrating Protestant worship. Then, he told us, he was
not permitted to preach elsewhere than in his chapel, and then only in
English, whereas now he can perform religious service in other districts
whenever the natives request him to do so. Moreover, in the dissemination
of religious tracts and books of prayer, there is much more relaxation
than formerly, and during the last tour of inspection of the Governor,
that gentleman himself took with him 500 copies of a translation of the
Bible, for distribution among the Protestant natives of the districts he
was about to visit. The want of elementary religious books in the interior
was so great, that even Catholic teachers had to sue for some, preferring
Protestant Bibles to having none at all.
Although Mr. Howe is the only one of the fourteen missionaries once
resident here to whom permission was accorded to remain behind on the
island, there are nevertheless a great number of native teachers who
preach and celebrate worship on the Sunday. The _Canakas_,[72] as it is
the custom to call the natives, on such occasions bring with them to the
chapel their Bibles and little hymn-books in a small case made of plaited
palm fibre, a modern department of Tahitian industry, and, in the interior
more especially, observe the Sabbath with much strictness.[73] It may be
reckoned that by far the larger number of the inhabitants of Tahiti and
Eimeo, or Morea, profess Protestantism, whereas the number of native
Catholics does not exceed 100 in both islands. Notwithstanding the
numerous advantages which the Catholic Church has enjoyed since the
establishment of the French Protectorate, it has not succeeded in
acquiring any great influence among the natives, or in enlarging its
boundaries. The Bishop, Monseigneur Tepaud Jansen, Bishop of Axieri, who
resides at Papeete, is also the sole priest and teacher in the colony.
This spiritual guide has every day to celebrate mass in his wretched
little chapel of bamboo walls and palm thatch, and has never yet succeeded
in getting the half-ruined church close by finished for his reception; the
8000 francs per annum (L320) paid by Government as long as the church is
being built seem rather to postpone than hasten its erection. Moreover,
there is not as yet any public school in Papeete, a want which is the more
sensibly felt and the more permanent in its effects, as the majority of
the Protestant schools are closed, and consequently a large proportion of
the rising generation[74] are growing up in utter ignorance. In four
districts in the interior out of thirty-three, live two or three French
missionaries who instruct the natives in French. There is neither lack of
energy among these zealous labourers, nor of the requisite funds,[75] to
extend the field of their labours, so that if the Catholic mission in
Tahiti makes no progress, and after twenty years' exertion can only reckon
100 neophytes, the explanation must be sought in the existence of
conditions, which neither the self-denying zeal of Catholic missionaries
nor material protection can affect.[76]
While in the interior of the island Sunday is thus observed with much
strictness, there is great indifference, if not worse, in its observance
in the seaport; indeed, it is the French official who sets the example of
disregarding it. For nowhere does one witness more utter shamelessness
than at what is known as the Pre Catalan, a lawn-like meadow, which
extends directly in front of the Governor's palace, and, in fact, is one
of its dependencies. Here, in presence of the French gens d'armes and
soldiers, under the very eyes of the Protectorate authorities, and in
entire defiance of the native laws,[77] dances of the most dissolute kind
are executed by half-drunk Tahitian girls. One must have seen the Upa-Upa
danced by these lascivious Tahitians, with all the impassioned vehemence
of a sensual nature, in order to comprehend the mingled shame and
indignation with which it fills any but a French by-stander. Singularly
enough, the Upa-Upa, or Hiva, has a marked resemblance to the well-known
Can-can, as it is, or used formerly to be, danced in the Quartier Latin at
the Chaumiere, by the students and grisettes, with the sole difference
that in the Upa-Upa the grace of the Parisian dances is entirely lost
sight of, so that there remains nothing but a series of obscene gestures,
most unblushingly presented. The musicians sitting on the ground strike
with the flat of the hand a little kettle-drum (_pehu_), and beat time as
well with their feet. Suddenly, a dancer of either sex springs into the
inclosure, goes through a number of extraordinary animated movements,
which are the louder laughed at and applauded in proportion to their
indecency, after which he or she mingles once more with the crowd,
exhausted and breathless.
The Tahiti women have almost invariably beautiful black hair, and
singularly small hands and feet. Their figure is on the average that of
the middle stature of European women. Their dress is simple, but very
clean and neat. They wear a long white gown with plaits, which gives them
somewhat the appearance of vestals, and wear a coronal of flowers on their
head, or entwine the flaming blossoms of the _Hibiscus rosasinensis_ in
their thick black tresses. The more coquettish also affect an exceedingly
elegant head-dress (_rewarewa_), which they make of the young tender
leaves of the cocoa-palm, the satin-paper-like epidermis being converted
by the manipulation of their skilful hands into an exquisitely fine-wove,
rustling tissue, which they arrange among their luxuriant locks with
genuine idealistic grace.
The men, like the women, are tall, slim, and well-proportioned. The face
usually is far from ugly, and betokens no little intelligence; the lips
are full, the complexion a yellowish-brown, but on the whole fairer than
that of the New Zealanders. The occipital region of the head seems to be
artificially flattened, the forehead well-formed, the chin and lower
maxillary bones are broad. Some wear European clothing, others a wide
piece of blue calico (_pareu_), wound round the loins and reaching to the
knees.
The dancing in the Pre Catalan continued from afternoon till far on in the
night, although only a faint gleam of light shone on the green floor, so
that the darkness threw a convenient veil over both dancers and
spectators. Quite close to the crowd of pleasure-seeking natives was a
group of natives of New Caledonia. These had been made prisoners of war
during the recent campaign of the French on that island, and had been
transported hither to undergo a term of _travaux forces_ on the public
works. On the whole, however, they were kindly enough treated, and on
Sundays were permitted to "dance," such as the performance was, in the
presence of their custodian. On our presenting them with a few small
silver coins they went through their most renowned national dances for us,
which are much ruder and more natural than those of the Tahitians, but
apparently are not of so frivolous a character as the Upa-Upa, and other
similar cancanized contortions of the limbs as indulged at Tahiti. The New
Caledonians arranged themselves with spears and sticks in a circle, rushed
violently at each other, leaped impetuously about in a state of artificial
excitement, uttering the most singular sounds and the most appalling
yells, then dispersed and reunited repeatedly, the leader of the dance all
the while muttering very fast, but in perfect time, some unintelligible
words, apparently to fire their ardour by recalling to them the memory of
some national victory. The obscene Tahitian dances on the Sundays in
Government gardens had been resuscitated five months before, and for this
reason Pre Catalan, the only public promenade in Tahiti, is avoided by the
Europeans resident in Papeete. The Protestants feel themselves sorely
aggrieved by having such a spectacle openly sanctioned on the Lord's Day
by the French authorities, and a collection having been set on foot about
the time of our visit for raising sufficient to maintain a permanent band
of music, a number of Protestants and missionaries declined to subscribe,
on the ground of disapproving of money being expended in promoting such
amusements.
Among the excursions made by the members of the Expedition, a double
interest attached to that made to Point Venus. It was on this promontory
that Captain Cook first made the astronomical observations by which he
determined the position of the island. The ride thither lay through
delicious groves of cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees, mingled here and
there with citron and orange-trees, as also bananas and guavas. Near the
Point lies the village of Matavai, inhabited by several white settlers,
each in his little cottage with its blooming garden around it. The
tree-like _Oleander_ and the beautiful red flower _Hibiscus rosasinensis_
towered above in full bloom, the entire scene being almost sufficient to
captivate a European. The native governor of the district is a pretty
well-educated man, who has spent nine months in Paris, and on the occasion
of the capture by the French of the fort of Fautaua had been rewarded for
his not very patriotic services by the cross of the Legion of Honour,
besides being appointed chief of the militia. His farm is very nicely
managed, and his daughters, elegant, well-mannered brunettes, speak a
little French, an accomplishment in which the Tahitian ladies,
notwithstanding their intimate relations with the sons of "_la grande
nation_," are usually entirely deficient. At Point Venus is a lighthouse,
with an intermittent light, visible about 14 miles seaward, in charge of
an aged French veteran (_invalide_). The tamarind tree is still pointed
out, which Captain Cook planted close to the spot where he completed those
renowned labours, which still single him out as the greatest of Pacific
discoverers.
With the exception of those to Point Venus on one side, and to the large
villages of Faaa and Papeuriri in the opposite direction, there are no
practicable roads on the island. On the whole, there are about 36 miles of
road suitable for wheeled carriages,--all travels beyond must be performed
on horseback, by which means the entire island can be traversed in a few
days. One of the most agreeable excursions, and which well repays the
trouble, is undoubtedly a drive to the beautifully situate hill-fort of
Fautaua, renowned in the annals of the island. The first part of the road
leads over unsightly fields of guava (_Psidium guava_), first imported
from South America in 1815 by an American missionary, with the laudable
object of increasing the number of useful plants upon the island, but
which has since so entirely over-grown large tracts of land, that its
systematic extirpation begins to be discussed. Wherever the guava takes
root it destroys all other vegetation. It has already extended over the
loveliest spots, where its seeds have been dropped in human or animal
excrement. Its apple-shaped fruit, red-fleshed inside, is in the raw state
anything but pleasant to the taste, and is not readily eaten even by the
natives, but a sort of jelly prepared of it could be made an important
article of export, as it is already along the west coast of South America.
The fruit is also valuable for provender, as animals foddered with it
speedily get quite fat, while its wood, growing with great rapidity, is in
much request for fuel.
After riding a few miles through these guava-fields, we were astonished at
finding a sugar plantation close by the road, which here ran through a
lovely little valley. This is the property of an Englishman named Johnson,
who, once a whaler, and afterwards a sandal-wood trader, has resided for
more than thirty years in Tahiti, and has married a native woman. Johnson,
in partnership with a Frenchman named Le Rouge, had planted 23 acres of
land with sugar-cane, and when we saw him in February, 1859, expected a
crop of from 100 to 110 hogsheads of sugar. The whole property is a
perfect model farm, and receives every encouragement and assistance from
Government, with the view of extending sugar-planting.[78] Immediately
adjoining the plantation, the river Fautaua flows past, here about five
feet deep, and furnishing a most excellent bathing-place. Johnson, like
many another, lamented the appalling rapidity with which the native
population was falling off, which he ascribed to the daily increasing
prevalence of the vices of drunkenness and debauchery. He related to us
how many valleys, now lonely and abandoned, were pretty densely peopled
only twenty years ago! Then the population was estimated at 15,000, now it
is only 5000.[79]
The aspect of the sugar plantation is remarkably fine, and an occasional
glimpse of the surrounding hills, bathed in the sunlight, imparts a
sublimity that at once arrests the attention, the crags rising in close
proximity, and appearing much more precipitous and inaccessible than they
are in reality. The Diadem (the name given to several peaks which have a
striking resemblance to a crown) displays itself from this point in all
its wondrous loveliness, above which tower lofty mountain-peaks, 6000 or
7000 feet in height, which have never been trodden by the foot of the
naturalist.
Close behind the hospitable dwelling of Mr. Johnson begins the primitive
forest, under the delightful cool shades of which one can ride almost to
the goal of the excursion, surrounded on every side by luxuriant green
canopies that seem to scale the very clouds, under whose domes play
grateful currents of air.[80]
The path, although always a steep ascent, was in very fair condition; only
at the point where it was necessary to ford the river Fautaua, which every
year swells into an angry torrent during the rainy season, did we find any
serious impediment to our further advance. The bridge across the stream
had been swept away, and there was nothing for it but to lead the horses
through the water, an achievement of no little difficulty and waste of
time, owing to the strength of the current and the terror and obstinacy of
some of our horses.
After a ride of several hours in a sort of green twilight, the forest
began to open, and there before our astonished gaze was the most important
waterfall on the island, imparting an inconceivable freshness and
animation to the landscape around. The Fautaua makes at this point a leap
of about 200 metres (650 feet), into a huge basin, which lies at the foot
of a lofty precipice, 420 metres (1450 feet) above the level of the sea;
the temperature of the water in the basin itself being about 70 deg. Fahr.
The steep crags, which tower overhead on all sides, and like a gigantic
wall impede the view of the peninsula of Taiarapu, which lies behind them,
are as marvellous in the luxuriance of the vegetation that covers them, as
they are strategically important by their impregnability, the French
having only succeeded in gaining footing upon them by treachery, and not
by fortune of war. Some chiefs favourable to the French had acted as
guides, and had led them by secret and dangerous paths up to these
heights, for which service they to this day receive an annual pension paid
in gold out of the state treasury. Formerly the rough, steep, almost
inaccessible precipices formed of themselves a natural fort, and by their
peculiar form, their position, and their strength, might be called the key
of the entire island. The French conquerors immediately converted this
spot, 630 metres (2052 feet) above the level of the sea, into a small fort
with the usual tricolor flag, and, on the limited flat surface at their
disposal, on which alone it was possible to build, erected a barrack and a
few huts, besides laying out a kitchen-garden, which supplies with fruit
and vegetables the residents of this solitary but lovely abode.
The officer on guard within the fort received us with that fascinating
friendliness and _bonhommie_ characteristic of the French in all parts of
the world, and which makes them everywhere such "jolly" companions. The
provisions we had brought with us were speedily improved by the addition
of everything that the garrison mess could set before us, and there was no
lack even of delicacies, as they might be considered in these latitudes,
for the little kitchen-garden contiguous furnished plenty of water-cresses
and strawberries. The temperature was at this season singularly delicious
and elastic, but in July, when the thermometer occasionally sinks to
46-1/2 deg. Fahr., the little garrison suffers much from cold and inflammatory
attacks.
Another excursion, not less charming but far more arduous, is that to the
Waiiria Lake, far in the interior of the island. This was achieved by Mr.
Frauenfeld, one of the zoologists of the Expedition. From Papeuriri in the
south of the island, which is easily reached in one day from Papeete by a
road winding along the coast, the Waiiria valley leads in a S.S.E. to
N.N.W. direction, up to the central peak, whence the deep valleys and
water-courses radiate towards the coast like the spokes of a wheel. The
valley is at first tolerably wide, but so densely covered with trees and
shrubs, interlaced in wild confusion, that the horses had to be left
behind at Papeuriri. A rather wide mountain-torrent rushes throughout its
length, and, a little further on, when the valley contracts into a
pathless defile, has not merely to be crossed so frequently as to baffle
all count, but leaves the tourist to scramble up its rocky course by
leaping from stone to stone. After four hours' toil the valley suddenly
closes in, and it becomes necessary to scramble up an almost perpendicular
precipice 1000 feet in height. It was a tight bit of work, struggling
upwards under a tropical rain over the slippery moss-grown blocks, every
cranny and projection thickly studded with creeping plants. The crest of
the pass, from 60 to 80 feet wide, hemmed in by precipices impossible to
scale, was fortified by the natives during the war; that is to say, a
breastwork of stones was thrown up, thus converting the depression on the
other side of the mountain, in which lies the lake, into an inaccessible
lurking-place. Not far distant is the deep narrow defile of Ruotorea,
which played so conspicuous a part in the older history of Tahiti, as it
was customary to fling into it all prisoners of war. At length, about two
P.M., the lake itself was reached, lying in a sort of mountain cauldron,
the sides of which descend steeply, while two of the loftiest peaks, those
of Tetuero and Anaori, rise sheer out of the lake to a height of 5000
feet.[81] Except at the narrow strip of ground, on which M. Frauenfeld
found himself standing, and which was nothing but a beach of small extent,
there was no other spot within sight at which it would have been possible
to land. The distance to the opposite shore, when visible, seems about
half a mile. The whole basin, even where the enclosing rocks are steepest,
indeed, almost perpendicular, and thence up to the summits of the
loftiest peaks, is densely covered with trees, reeds, and creepers,
especially _scitamineae_, the brilliant green hues of which are reflected
in the mirror-like surface of the lake below. All the forests here are of
wild plantain, and the sugar-cane is found growing wild in a variety of
places. A few ducks, a swallow, and a couple of parrots were all that was
seen of animal life. A strange silence brooded over the entire
landscape,--not a leaf trembled, not a sound broke the solemn stillness,
and a depressing feeling of loneliness and utter abandonment seized on the
traveller. The spot for the night's encampment was selected close to a
large stone, against which a sort of penthouse was erected of banana
leaves, which promised welcome shelter during the night. The exceedingly
unfavourable weather prevented an adequate investigation being made of the
environs of the lake, and as the following morning was ushered in with, if
anything, an accession of bad weather, the plan which had been projected
of constructing a boat with which to explore the lake was abandoned, and
the party set out on their return to Papeete.
During our stay at Tahiti, a grand national festival took place at the
little village of Faaa, about an hour's walk from Papeete. In fact, it has
latterly become the custom, on every change of Governor, to have a feast
of welcome in his honour in every district. On such occasions speeches are
made, presents are prepared, dances are practised, and long tables,
groaning under all sorts of food and drink, are set out in the open air
for the invited guests. Governor Saisset, who had been seven months in
office, and had already made the circuit of the island, visiting all the
districts, was, however, not yet welcomed with the customary festivities
of the inhabitants of Faaa. This solemnity accordingly passed off with all
pomp on 22nd February. By eight A.M. some twenty cavaliers had assembled
in front of the Government Palace, whence, with the Governor at their
head, and accompanied by the native militia, also mounted, they took the
road to Faaa. Only one lady, Madame de la Richerie, wife of the
_Commissaire Imperial_, accompanied the cavalcade. On our arrival at Faaa
we found the native females, attired in their gayest national dress,
formed into line, and the men, partly clothed in the European manner,
partly in the "_Pareu_," a broad scarf of printed muslin wound round the
loins, shaking their variegated plumes, and carrying banners and flags of
bark specially prepared for the feast, some Pandanus leaves being also
handed to the guests.
As soon as the Governor had taken his seat in the verandah of the large
and elegant residence of the chieftain, or warden of the district (for in
Tahiti every office, with all rights pertaining thereto, descends among
the female members of the chief's family likewise),[82] a number of girls,
dressed all in white and wearing elegant garlands of flowers, stepped
forward and began to sing a national Tahitian hymn; after which the orator
of the day, a handsome man, dressed partly in the European, partly in the
native manner, wearing a black round felt hat and feathers, and a
variegated bark shirt over a black coat(!) delivered a very pathetic
address. His delivery and his gestures recalled strongly to mind the New
Zealand orators, but, unlike the latter, he was considerate enough not to
tax unduly the patience of his foreign guests, to whom not one word of his
very moving discourse was intelligible. This preliminary over, a number of
girls presented themselves one after the other to the Governor, and in
token of allegiance presented their garlands and the nicely prepared upper
robe of bast. In this manner about 100 crowns and bast-mantilles were
delivered, the most elegant of which the Governor kindly presented to the
members of our Expedition.
In the reception-court a perfect mountain of bananas had been piled up,
together with an immense heap of cocoa-nuts; these were also presented to
the Governor and his suite, with the remark that every inhabitant of the
district had contributed his mite to the festival, and bade the foreign
guests a cordial welcome. "We may stay days, weeks, ay! months," exclaimed
the orator, "and every house and all that was in it will be placed at our
disposal; every one will take a pleasure in doing our bidding and
forestalling all our wishes!"
After this hearty, idyllic ceremonial, the inhabitants of Punatana, an
adjoining district, came up, amid a flourish of drums and trumpets, and
arranged themselves on the wide road right in front of the chieftainess of
Faaa, in consequence of Maheanu, their chieftainess, a zealous Protestant,
not permitting on her grounds the execution of any improper dances, or the
singing of broad songs. In fact, neither the Upa-Upa nor any other of the
numerous Tahitian "_Cancans a la Chicard_" were suffered to be danced; the
consequence of which was that they danced it all the more eagerly on the
road. Six drummers, each with his little kettle-drum, squatted
cross-legged on the floor, the right hand being employed to strike the
instrument. To this primitive music, enlivened at times by a shrill cry,
both men and girls now began to go through the most indecent gestures,
accompanied by leaping on and toying with their partners till they had
worked themselves up to such an artificial frenzy of excitement, that each
couple at last retired exhausted and bathed in perspiration, under a
flourish of drums and a loud shriek from the orchestra.
The French Governor, the representative of European decorum, was one of
the most animated of the spectators, and gave full swing to the
recklessness of the Tahitians, who are accustomed to push the law of
hospitality to the extent of prostituting their daughters, remarking, with
much _naivete_, that the natives would take it exceedingly ill were any
one to refuse to take part in certain old habits and customs, or were to
declare themselves openly opposed to their continuance!
At the close of the fete the Governor ordered some French wines, "the
cocoa milk of the Europeans," to be set before the inhabitants of Faaa. A
_dejeuner a la fourchette_ was laid out under tents, where, at twenty long
tables covered in the European manner, the most distinguished personages
took their seats. Every family had contributed something, the whole having
the appearance of a regular pic-nic.
On each table were displayed flowers, bananas, bread-fruit, and other
delicious products of the vegetable world. The European guests were seated
at a large table erected at the upper end of an alley of trees. The
chieftainess and her husband sat beside the Governor. Next in order was
the Government interpreter, a Mr. Darling, the son of one of the oldest
English missionaries sent out to Tahiti, on whom devolved the
interpretation into Tahitian or French, as the case might be, of the
various speeches and toasts.
The dinner-service, at our table at least, was entirely in the European
manner, which seemed to me a pity; a meal without knives or forks, as is
the custom among the natives, would have been infinitely more interesting
and peculiar. The husband gave the health of the ruler of France,
and--evidently in honour of the guests from the banks of the Danube--that
of the Emperor of Austria! Immediately thereafter the Governor rose
suddenly and left the table, with the intention, it would seem, of
escaping some untimeous speeches of the natives. The company presently
broke up, and while a few of the guests returned straight to the port, the
majority, the French Governor himself mingling with the excited populace,
did not reach Papeete till far in the night.
The fete at Faaa was followed, a few days later, 24th February, by a
dashing ball at the Governor's. The _Pre Catalan_ was gaily festooned with
coloured lamps, and various devices for illuminating the festivities. The
Tahitians, accustomed to dance only in the darkness of night, or at most
under the light of a few paltry suet candles, flocked hither in crowds to
revel in the brilliant light, and witness the Europeans dance the
"_Upa-Upa_" after their own fashion. Within the Palace was assembled all
that was ultra-fashionable in Tahitian society. All the authorities and
notabilities of the country were present. More than 200 persons thronged
the apartment, where, out of courtesy to our host, the band of our frigate
played a succession of polkas, waltzes, and quadrilles. Queen Pomare,
accompanied by her consort and several princes and princesses of her
house, was also present. The Governor received her at the threshold of the
apartment, offered her his arm, and escorted her to seats already reserved
for the royal family. Pomare is now almost fifty years of age, stout and
under the middle size, with a full inexpressive countenance, and a
waddling gait. Her toilette was simple but thoroughly European. She wore a
white ball-dress of the latest French _mode_, and flowers in her hair. In
her hands she also carried a gigantic bouquet. Her youngest son, a boy of
twelve years, named after Prince de Joinville, showed spirit and
vivacity; the heir to the throne seemed feeble, sickly, and too soon
matured.
This happened to be the first presentation of the members of the
Expedition to the Queen--the first opportunity they had had of conversing
with her. Hitherto there had been apparent on the part of the French
authorities a reluctance to bring about a meeting, which the Queen might
possibly regard as a triumph. In fact, Queen Pomare was not at liberty to
receive any one in her house, except members of her family, without first
obtaining the permission of the French authorities. Two incidents, which
had occurred to arouse the French authorities shortly before our arrival,
had still further contributed to sharpen the Queen's watchfulness, and to
limit her receptions to her own nearest relatives. The poor woman had,
after much pressure, and without communicating with M. Saisset, signed in
his absence a document which fairly ran counter to a previous ordinance on
the same subject. A territorial squabble, which had long before been
decided by law, had, through the exertions of one of the parties
interested, been once more brought up for trial, before the native bench,
as it was thought that the result of the opinion of several judges might
be productive of some more favourable result. The Governor refused his
assent to this proceeding. The Queen, notwithstanding, under bad advice,
issued a written mandate to the native Court to try the case over again.
As the Court was being assembled, however, it was dismissed by the
Governor, the chief judge banished to an adjoining island, and the Queen
compelled herself to abrogate the ordinance. A somewhat similar affair had
occurred a few weeks before at the village of Papaoa, near which Queen
Pomare possesses a country-house, in which some of the royal family were
implicated. Some native feasts, which in Tahiti are always accompanied
with the wildest Bacchanalian license, had excited the crowd to an unusual
degree. A few of the Tahitian nationality-mongers drank death to the
whites, and pretty openly declared their hostility to a foreign yoke. The
excess of a couple of drunken patriots was magnified by the excited fancy
of the French officers into the dimensions of a political _emeute_, and
seemed to present the long-coveted opportunity of showing their authority,
and of acquiring with little trouble the credit of having nipped in the
bud a formidable insurrection. As soon as the news of these seditious
speeches and exclamations reached head-quarters, the Governor marched in
the night with 150 well-armed soldiers to Papaoa, distant about an hour's
march from the capital. Pomare and her family were just assembled to
evening prayers, when the Governor made his appearance, and ordered her
forthwith to accompany him to Papeete. An Englishman resident in the
harbour was ordered to convey the Queen to her town residence in his small
one-horse waggon. Her two sons, however, were escorted to Papeete as
prisoners on foot, and their hands bound behind their backs, their ears
saluted by the oft-repeated threat of the soldiers that their lives should
answer for any intentional injury which the Europeans might sustain at
the hands of the natives. As the procession approached the harbour, the
Queen bent forward to her driver, and asked him in a low voice whether it
was intended to carry her to the _Carabus_.[83] The driver turned off
towards her own residence. As he turned the corner, the Queen suddenly
started forwards, and seizing the reins from the driver with both hands,
stopped the horse, and looked whether her two sons were by her side. She
feared they would be taken to the prison, but they were likewise conducted
to her house. However, Queen Pomare and all her family and attendants were
cautioned not to leave Papeete till the matter had been thoroughly
inquired into. An intimation was even conveyed to the Protestant
missionary Mr. Howe that he must discontinue his visits to the Queen till
further orders.
Under these circumstances it is more than probable that the persecuted
Queen only made her appearance at the ball in deference to the Governor's
commands, and hence possibly she confined her conversation with the
strangers to the most common-place topics. The Queen was described to us
as a clever, well-educated woman, who spoke English with considerable
fluency, as also a little French, and in public affairs displayed a
surprising degree of shrewdness and tact. With the French authorities she
conversed exclusively in Tahitian. She appears much to dislike the
intervention of an interpreter or secretary, preferring greatly to place
herself directly in communication with the official concerned, as an
autograph letter exhibits, which she addressed to the Treasurer
Receiver-general, requesting him to send her a carriage in which to drive
on business from her estate at Papaoa to Papeete.[84]
It is very surprising to find in the course of conversation with natives
of every grade, that notwithstanding the French Protectorate has now
lasted upwards of twenty years, the French language has hardly made the
slightest advance. We met but two natives who could speak French. The
knowledge of English even is confined to the few individuals who live
entirely on the coast, and come frequently into contact with foreigners. A
law was in contemplation, however, at the period of our visit, by the
provisions of which no native after the lapse of 10 years, that is to say,
by 1869, would be eligible for any Government employ, not even that of a
_murtoi_ (police sergeant, literally "one who listens secretly to the
words of the people"[85]), unless he has a thorough acquaintance with
French.
On the whole, the Government of the Second of December appears to regard
Tahiti simply as a military outpost and naval station, and to attach
little value to the evident future commercial importance of the island.
If, however, there are behind this ostensible indifference no secret
views, or political _arriere-pensees_ involved, it must undoubtedly be
pronounced most unjust and unwise. True, Tahiti possesses but a small
proportion of surface suitable for cultivation; true, with the exception
of oranges,[86] there is hardly any natural product exported,[87] the
produce of the island barely sufficing to support its own population; but,
apart from its extremely favourable geographical position, and the
vegetable profusion of this and the adjoining islands, Tahiti might, under
able administration, be made a sort of general emporium for the
interchange of the products of Polynesia against the fabrics of Europe.
The total superficial area of Tahiti amounts to 104,215 hectares, 79,485
of which form Tahiti proper and the isthmus of Taravao, while the
peninsula of Taiarapu comprises the remaining 24,730. The greater portion
of this surface is occupied by mountains, only a very small proportion
being devoted to tillage. At the mouths of several of the rivers are small
strips of arable land, of which the plains of Taunoa (near Papeete), Point
Venus, Pusenaura, Papara, Papeuriri, and Papeari, as also the delta of the
river Fautaua, on the peninsula of Taiarapu, are the most important.
All these level grounds put together do not amount to more than from 2200
to 2500 hectares, while the swampy state of much of even this small area
renders many portions fit only for the cultivation of taro and rice.[88]
The climate of Tahiti is uncommonly salubrious and delightful; the
temperature is tolerably uniform, and is sensibly moderated by the
alternate land and sea-breezes. Only about mid-day, when there usually
sets in that profound calm, which the French, in their elegant
epigrammatic way, style _l'immobilite des feuilles_, the heat becomes
absolutely oppressive, but the mornings and evenings are cool, and the air
very refreshing. The average maximum temperature during the rainy season
is 84 deg.4 Fahr., the average minimum 74 deg.6 Fahr. Only immediately prior to
the outbreak of a storm does the fluctuation of the thermometer become
strongly marked. In the dry season the temperature averages 80 deg.6 Fahr.
during the day, and 68 deg. Fahr. during the night. When, however, as
occasionally happens, the temperature at Papeete sinks to 57 deg.2 Fahr. and
at Fautaua to 46 deg.4 Fahr., or even lower, even the Europeans are compelled
to adopt certain precautions against taking cold, which the natives for
the most part disregard, and are accordingly liable to acute inflammatory
disorders.
With such a temperature, combined with the fertility insured by the
volcanic tufa soil, it is perfectly evident that the majority of the
tropical and sub-tropical nut-bearing and other alimentary plants might be
extensively grown upon the island without much difficulty. The sugar-cane,
the coffee-tree, the cotton-shrub, the vanilla, the cocoa-tree, the indigo
plant, the sorgho[89], rice, maize, &c., flourish here in a marked degree,
and their persistent cultivation would realize a splendid profit for the
landowner.
Of fruits there are bananas, bread-fruits, mangoes, ananas (pine-apples),
papayas (carica papayi), pandanus fruit, cocoa-nuts, oranges, lemons,
anonas (a kind of custard apple), guavas, &c. The chief sustenance of the
natives consists of the following:--
I. The fei, or wild plantain (_Musa Fei_, or _Musa Rubra_), of which there
are five varieties. It is first encountered at an elevation of from 600 to
800 feet above the sea, grows most luxuriantly between the zones of 1000
and 1500 feet, is of a very peculiar saffron-yellow colour, and is usually
either roasted or boiled.
II. The haari, or cocoa-palm (_Cocos nucifera_), whose trunk, bark,
leaves, and fruit are pressed into their service by the natives. The
fruit, however, is the most important, as it is used as meat for man and
beast, as well as a beverage, and to obtain oil from it. Mixed with fine
sandal-wood shavings and other aromatic substances, the oily liquid
pressed out from the cocoa-nut is used by the Tahiti women as a
much-prized cosmetic (_monoi_), with which to lubricate their long
beautiful black hair. Here, as among the other South Sea islands, the
cocoa-palm begins to bear after the first seven or eight years only, after
which, however, it becomes so abundant that the fruit of each tree is
valued at five francs annually. It takes 20 to 25 cocoa-nuts to make a
gallon of oil.[90]