voyages, between the years 1769 and 1778. He remained much longer in
communication with the inhabitants than any of his predecessors had
done; brought back Omai, to whom in London it had been attempted to give
an European education, to his native land, and made use of the
narrations he obtained from him during the voyage. Since that time, Cook
and his companions, particularly the two Forsters, father and son, have
given us considerable information concerning the condition of the
Tahaitians before their conversion to the Christian faith.
To estimate the effect of this great change, we must compare Christian
Tahaiti as it now is, with the accounts these early voyagers have left
us of its heathen times; and as every reader may not be conveniently
able to do so, a short review of them may not be considered unwelcome.
The Society Islands, of which Tahaiti is the largest, are, like many
others, either fragments of a Southern continent swallowed up by
earthquake, or a mass of rock ejected from the bottom of the sea by
subterranean fire, which gradually becoming covered with a fertile soil,
is now adorned by the most beautiful vegetation. It consists of two
peninsulas united by a narrow isthmus, which together are about one
hundred and twenty miles in circumference; towards the centre of each
rise wild rocky mountains, intersected by deep ravines, from the side of
which, thickly wooded almost to their summits, flow numerous streamlets
of pure transparent water, forming the most picturesque cascades as
they descend from every direction into the sea. The high mountains are
uninhabited, and the settlements made only in the valleys, more
especially in the low land between the mountains and the sea-shore.
In these charming amphitheatrical landscapes, their houses, consisting
only of roofs resting on stakes, surrounded and shaded by bananas,
bread-fruit and cocoa-trees, are scattered at small distances from each
other.
Attached to every house are enclosed fields, where the proprietors
cultivate their yams, sweet potatoes, and other wholesome and pleasant
roots, which form their chief nourishment.
The rest of the cultivated land is filled by plantations of bananas and
plantains, or little forests of cocoa and bread-fruit trees, so
luxuriantly interwoven, that the burning rays of the sun cannot
penetrate to injure the bright verdure which clothes the soil. The
neatly kept grass footpaths leading through these groves from one
dwelling to another, are variegated with flowers of the richest colours
and most fragrant perfumes, and enlivened by the notes of innumerable
birds arrayed in all the splendid hues of the Tropics. Although Tahaiti
is only seventeen degrees from the Equator, the heat is so much
moderated by refreshing breezes that it is very supportable even to an
European. Bougainville never found it above twenty-two, and often under
eighteen degrees of Reaumur. That indeed was during the winter; but even
in January, the middle of the Tahaitian summer, the atmosphere is much
cooled by the frequent rains. The air is usually dry, clear, and
particularly healthy; sick people brought ashore from a sea voyage
recover rapidly. Here are neither ants, musquitoes, nor any of the
tormenting insects so common in tropical climates; no beast of prey, no
destructive worm nor serpent; even the scorpion (of which a small sort
is to be met with) here loses its poison. The only plague of this kind
is a large rat, which does much mischief in the fields, and sometimes
even bites the Tahaitians during their sleep.
Bougainville says, "The inhabitants of Tahaiti consist of two distinct
races, which remain such, although their language and manners are the
same, and they appear to mingle indiscriminately with each other. One,
the most numerous, produces the tallest men, commonly six feet and
upwards; and I have never seen better proportioned, or finer forms. A
sculptor could not choose a more suitable model for a Mars or a
Hercules. There is nothing to distinguish their features from those of
Europeans; and if they were clothed, and less exposed to the air and the
burning sun, they would be quite as fair. Their hair is usually black
(Wallis saw fair people, and Banks even Albinos). The other race is of
middle stature, with coarse curling hair, and resembles the Mulatto in
complexion and features."
Cook and his companions considered this difference among the Tahaitians
to arise from the circumstance of the tall fair race, (called Eris,
which is pronounced _Yeri_,) the more distinguished class, being less
exposed to the sun and to hard labour, and their women more reserved and
less licentious.
We were however more inclined to agree with Bougainville, who supposed
the dark Tahaitians to be the original inhabitants, and the Yeris
invaders, who at some remote period had subjugated them; for the latter
are the exclusive possessors of the land; the others obtaining only a
certain remuneration in fruits and vegetables for cultivating the fields
and plantations of their masters. The kings and all great personages are
of this race, which is held by the common people in much veneration.
That the language and customs of both races should have assimilated is
natural; but with respect to their intermarriages, Bougainville was in
error; the pride of the Yeris keeps them aloof from any such
connections, which, had they subsisted, must have long since destroyed
the broad and acknowledged line of distinction. It is, however, only
fair to confess, that this hypothesis of an invasion is unsupported by
any Tahaitian tradition.
"The men of both races," continues this traveller, "allow the lower part
of the beard to grow, but shave the whiskers and the upper lip. Some cut
their hair short off, others bind it together at the top of the head;
both hair and beard they grease with the oil of the cocoa-nut. A girdle
round the middle often serves for their only clothing; but the people
of rank generally wear a large piece of stuff which falls as low as the
knee. This is the principal garment of the women, who put it on in a
very becoming manner. The female Yeris, who never expose themselves to
the sun, and wear a hat of reeds adorned with flowers, which shades the
face, are fairer than the men: their features are handsome, but they are
chiefly remarkable for the beauty of their figures, which are not
spoiled by the artifices of European fashions. They paint their cheeks
red, and colour the lower part of the body dark blue, as an ornament and
a distinction of rank.
"Both sexes are tattooed, and both hang rows of pearls or flowers
through holes pierced in their ears. The greatest cleanliness reigns
among them; they bathe regularly, and wash themselves before and after
meals."
The descriptions of other travellers agree perfectly with this; all
appear to feel the greatest kindness for these "nurselings of joyous
nature," as some one calls them; and to have been particularly charmed
with the women, of whom Wallis says, "They are all handsome, and some
excessively lovely."
The companions of Cook also speak in the highest terms of their
attractions. Their tall and slender figures; the form of their faces,
which is agreeable, though rather round than oval; the tender
transparency of their skin; the complexions which, whether fair or
brown, are always blooming; the expressive eyes, now flashing fire and
now swimming in tenderness; the small white, even teeth, and fascinating
smile, are rapturously described by the younger Forster.
The nose only is defective in these beauties, it is usually too flat,
but may sometimes be seen as perfectly formed as in the females of
Europe.
The curse, "in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread," falls
harmless on the Tahaitians. Three bread-fruit trees are sufficient for a
man's subsistence during a year; and he has here only to stretch out his
hand to obtain this and many other fruits whose variety may please his
palate. Nutritious roots are cultivated with great ease; and the sea
yields abundance of shell and other fish, for the trifling trouble of
catching it: the brooks also contain fish, and a species of crab. The
opulent eat fowls and pigs roasted over hot stones in a hole in the
ground, the flavour of which is very agreeable even to an European; and,
by way of variety, they roast _dogs_ which have been fed upon
vegetables, and are considered great delicacies.
Several families often live together in the same house, in the greatest
concord. Their furniture consists simply of a few ingeniously-woven mats
for sleeping on, and some vessels made of gourds and cocoa-nut shells.
The disposition of the Tahaitians is gentle, benevolent, open, gay, and
peaceable, although some of them show scars of wounds received in war,
which prove that they are not deficient in courage. To hatred and
revenge they are wholly strangers. Hardly and unjustly as Cook sometimes
treated them, he was pardoned immediately that he required their
assistance, and showed the slightest wish to pacify them. Individuals of
his crew often ventured to pass the nights alone and unarmed upon the
island: they were every where received with the greatest hospitality,
and overwhelmed with marks of friendship. The simple inhabitants, wholly
devoid of envy, rejoiced in each other's good fortune, and when one
received a present, all seemed equally gratified. Their feelings readily
broke out either into smiles or tears: even men were often seen to weep;
and their joys and sorrows were as fugitive as those of children. Nor
are their minds more stable: notwithstanding the great curiosity with
which they gazed at and required an explanation of every object in the
ship, it was as impossible, says the elder Forster, to rivet their
attention for any time, as to make quicksilver stand still.
They seemed incapable of either mental or bodily effort, and their time
was passed in indolence and enjoyment. They were, however, skilful in
manufacturing a soft paper from the barks of trees; nets and lines from
the fibres of the cocoa-nut; and hooks from muscle-shells; in weaving
their rush mats, and especially in building canoes and war-boats. The
latter, large enough to contain forty men and upwards, were made of
planks laboriously split from the trunks of trees with sharp stones,
for want of better implements, fastened together with cocoa threads, and
well caulked. The value they set on our axes and nails may therefore be
easily imagined.
Like all islanders, they are expert seamen, but especially dexterous in
swimming and diving. They fetch any thing with ease from the bottom of
the sea, even at very considerable depths. The upsetting of a boat
causes them no uneasiness; men and women swim round it till they succeed
in righting it again; and then, baling out the water, continue their
voyage with the utmost unconcern.
These voyages, sometimes extending to considerable distances, have made
the observation of the stars, their only guides, absolutely necessary to
them. They have thus attained some astronomical knowledge.
They distinguish the planets from the fixed stars, and call the former
by particular names. They divide the year into thirteen months of
twenty-nine days each, with the exception of one, which has less,
apparently for the purpose of reconciling this lunar with a solar year.
The day and night are each divided into six parts of two hours each,
which they measure exactly in the day by the position of the sun, and at
night by the stars. Medical men have considered them to possess much
skill in surgery, from the kindly healing of wounds which, by their
scars, have evidently been severe.
The Tahaitians are particularly distinguished by their superior
civilization from all other savages, among whom indeed they scarcely
deserve to be ranked. Their language sounds agreeably, and is not
difficult to learn. The vowels occur much more frequently than the
consonants, our c, g, k, s, and p, being entirely wanting. Cook and his
companions made considerable progress in it; and one of them says--"It
is rich in figurative modes of expression; and I am convinced that a
nearer acquaintance with it would place it on a level with the most
distinguished for boldness and power of imagery."
By means of this knowledge of their language, however imperfect, many
details concerning the religion of the Tahaitians were gained. The elder
Forster enters rather at large into the subject.
They believed in one supreme God, _Athua-rahai_, creator and governor
of the world, and of all other gods. They gave him a consort, who
however was not of the same nature, but of a material and very firm
substance, and therefore called _O-te-Papa_, that is to say, _Rock_.
From this pair proceeded a goddess of the moon, the gods of the stars,
the winds, and the sea, and the protecting deities of the several
islands. After the chief god had created the sun, he conveyed his
consort, the mighty Rock, from the West to the East over the sea: in
their progress, some portions of her substance separated from her, and
formed the islands.
Besides the gods of the second rank, they believed also in inferior
deities, and in a wicked genius, who killed men suddenly at the
requisition of the priests--an article of faith which this order
doubtless found very convenient. They also supposed that a genius dwelt
in every man, thinking and feeling in him, and separated himself from
the body after death, but without removing from it; often inhabiting the
wooden images which are erected in the burial-places, but sometimes
stealing at night into their habitations, and killing the sleepers,
whose hearts and entrails he devoured. This belief in ghosts is perhaps
not more universal in Tahaiti than among civilized nations.
According to another of Cook's companions, the supreme God united
departed souls with his own existence, which was signified by the
phrase, "He eats them." This was purification, after which the soul, or
the genius, reached the abode of eternal happiness. If a man, for some
months before his death, had kept himself apart from women, he did not
require this purification, but went direct to Heaven. The pride of the
Yeris prompted them to believe in a Heaven peculiar to themselves, where
they should associate only with their equals in birth.
The Tahaitians of rank had each a _Marai_ sacred to themselves, and
which served for their religious assemblies. The greatest and most
solemn of these meetings were held at the Marai of the Kings. Here the
priests harangued the people; and here was performed the rite which
stained the otherwise amiable character of these islanders--the offering
of human sacrifices! Cook was once present at one of these detestable
oblations, and describes it circumstantially. Its object was to
propitiate the assistance of the Gods, in a war about to be undertaken.
The victim was always of the lower class. He was first killed, and the
ceremonies were afterwards performed by the priests, and many prayers
recited, in presence of the King and people. One of the formalities was
the presentation of the left eye to the King, which however he did not
receive. From this, Cook infers that the Tahaitians had at some period
been eaters of human flesh, and that this morsel was offered to the King
as a delicacy. If this conjecture be well-founded, which I think it is
not, so horrible an appetite must have long since disappeared, as not a
trace of it now remains. It is besides altogether contrary to the
character and manners of the people. So, indeed, is the oblation of
human victims; but this horrible rite had certainly been introduced by
the priests, for the purpose of attracting towards their office an
increased degree of veneration and awe. The burial of the dead was
accompanied by many religious ceremonies, but with the birth of a
child, or the celebration of marriage, their religion was no way
concerned.
If a woman bore her lover a child, which he acknowledged to be his, the
marriage was concluded without further ceremony, but was easily
dissolved and a new connexion formed.
A married man would sometimes entertain a concubine, but never had more
than one wife. The kings only formed an exception to this rule. The last
monarch married at the same time the four daughters of a neighbouring
king, and during our visit they were all living and respected as his
widows. One only of them had brought him children; and when during the
latter years of his government he became a convert to the Christian
religion, this one only passed for his lawful consort.
In both peninsulas of Tahaiti the form of government was monarchical,
and each had its own king, assisted by a council of Yeris, whom he
consulted on all important occasions. These were held in great
veneration among the people. No one, not even a female or a Yeri of the
highest rank, might appear before them without uncovering the upper part
of the body--a token of respect which was usually paid only to the Gods
in prayer or in passing a Marai. Before the princesses, the female sex
only uncovered themselves. All his subjects were much attached to the
sovereign, who reigned under a most singular law of succession.
As soon as a son was born to him, the sovereignty passed from the king
to the infant, in whose name, and during whose minority only, the father
continued to exercise the Regency.
The several districts were governed by deputies chosen from the class of
Yeris, who were also the sole administrators of justice; which amongst
this well-disposed people was generally very mild. The punishments in a
great measure depend on the injured party, and consist chiefly in
stripes. A native assured me that thieves are sometimes hung on a tree;
but they more frequently escape with a few strokes, or sometimes
altogether with impunity.
The two kingdoms of Tahaiti were often in a state of mutual warfare,
though they sometimes fought as allies against a common enemy. Cook and
his companions saw the preparations for a war with the neighbouring
island of Eimeo, and were present at a review of his naval force by the
King O Tu. From the number of warriors who manned this fleet, the elder
Forster estimated the entire population at not less than a hundred and
thirty thousand souls. According to his opinion, Tahaiti was capable of
containing and supporting an infinitely greater number of inhabitants,
and he therefore conjectured that in a short time it would be found
greatly increased. Experience has unfortunately proved this inference to
be erroneous, as will appear in the sequel.
Notwithstanding their usually gentle character, they treated their
prisoners of war with barbarity, but in their defence may be urged the
well-known fact, that in the heat of battle an unwonted rage will
sometimes take possession of the best disposed minds, even amongst
civilized nations; and it was only while this unnatural excitement
lasted that the conduct of the Tahaitians laid them open to the
imputation of cruelty.
Both sexes and all ranks were given to stealing; and so dexterous were
they in plundering the Europeans, that notwithstanding the utmost
vigilance and precaution, few days passed without something being
stolen. The young, beautiful, and noble Marorai stole, as the younger
Forster relates, a pair of sheets from the cabin of an officer, where
she had remained unnoticed during the general confusion occasioned by
the ship running aground. Even the princesses appropriated trifles
whenever they had an opportunity. Our experience, however, proves that
the lessons they have received from their Christian pastors on the
disgracefulness of theft have had a practically good effect.
Neither can I deny that the morals of the Tahaitians were very
exceptionable in another point, in which also the influence of the
Missionaries has been beneficially exerted. If the modesty which
conceals the mysteries of love among civilized nations be the offspring
only of their intellectual culture, it is not surprising that a wholly
uninstructed people should be insensible to such a feeling, and in its
unconsciousness should even have established public solemnities which
would strike us as excessively indelicate.
The coarse hospitality of the Tahaitians went so far as to present to a
welcome guest, a sister, a daughter, or even a wife; and they have been
known to sell them for pearls, pieces of glass, or implements of iron.
The women who distributed their favours indiscriminately, were almost
always of the lowest class; but a most licentious association called
Ehrioi, including both sexes, existed among the higher. Renouncing
matrimony, and the hopes of progeny, its members rambled about the
island leading the most dissolute lives; and if a child was born among
them, the laws of the society compelled its murder, or the expulsion of
the mother. The men were all warriors, and stood in high estimation
among the people. The Ehrioi themselves were proud of the title, and
even the King O Tu belonged to this profligate institution, to which,
fortunately, the Missionaries have put an end.
Where such manners prevailed, and woman was regarded merely as an object
of pleasure, she could not stand in very high estimation; and love, in
its best sense, remained wholly unknown among them. Hence the women of
Tahaiti, although not so much secluded as among many other nations, were
not permitted to eat with the men, and when the King and the Royal
Family visited Cook, on board his ship, he was obliged to entertain even
the princesses in a separate cabin.
The fidelity of a wife among the Tahaitians required that she should not
favour any man without the knowledge and consent of her husband; and a
beating was the punishment generally incurred by a violation of this
duty.
Among the failings of the Tahaitians, their love of the intoxicating
liquor which they prepared from the much cultivated Ava root, must not
be omitted. Nor have the Missionaries been wholly unsuccessful in this
respect. The drink is no longer allowed to be prepared, nor even the
root to be cultivated; but unfortunately, its place has been partly
supplied by the introduction of our wine and brandy; we, however, never
saw a drunken person.
Having now noticed all that was reprehensible in the otherwise amiable
character of the Ante-christian Tahaitian, I hope the reader, in
consideration of his many good qualities, will forgive his faults, and,
in a friendly disposition towards him, cast a glance upon his innocent
amusements, which were chiefly derived from music, dancing, mock-fights,
and theatrical representations.
Their musical instruments were very simple, and of two kinds only: the
one, a sort of flute, producing four notes, and blown with the nostrils;
the other, a drum, made of the hollow trunk of a tree; but the
accompanying songs, usually extempore poems, were pretty, and showed the
delicacy of their ear. The girls excelled in the dance; the married
women were forbidden to take part in it, and the men never did. The
dancers executed a species of ballet, and, according to the judgment of
travellers, they might with little trouble become capable of performing
on our theatres. The English dances they soon learnt, and in the
well-known hornpipe, especially, displayed much grace.
The mock-fights were of course in imitation of their serious warfare,
and they parried with admirable dexterity the blow of a club or thrust
of a lance, by which otherwise they must have been severely wounded. The
dramatic pieces were performed by both sexes, and sometimes by persons
of the highest quality. They were of a mixed character, serious, and
comic, but for want of a thorough acquaintance with the language, they
have been very imperfectly described to us. Thus, oppressed by no care,
burdened by no toil, tormented by no passion, seldom visited by
sickness, their wants easily satisfied, and their pleasures often
recurring, the Tahaitians passed a life of enjoyment under the
magnificent sky of the tropics, and amid scenes worthy of Paradise.