to assemble at the residence of the Queen, and thence in a regular
procession, arranged according to their several ranks and dignities, and
headed by the young King and the Missionaries, to pass to an appointed
open space, where a throne of stone had been erected, on which the
little Pomareh was to be seated. The procession was then to form a
circle round him, and Mr. Tyrman, after making a speech, was to set on
the King's head a crown, resembling in shape that of England, in which
country it had been made. A Bible was then to be placed in his hand,
with the admonition, "According to this Law, thou shall govern thy
people." Upon this, the train being marshalled as before, the King
should descend from his throne, and proceed to the church, where, after
the performance of divine service, he should be anointed. The ceremonies
should then conclude with a grand banquet.
It is remarkable that the Bible, and not the Act of the Constitution,
was to be given to the King, as the rule of his government. Was not a
sly mental reservation perhaps intended by this? If the Constitution
should not have exactly the effect intended, and the Tahaitians,
emboldened by it, should seek to withdraw themselves from their
leading-strings, then might the pupil of Nott, bound to them by no oath,
come forward to them boldly, and force them back under the yoke of the
Missionaries; all the while conscientiously obeying the rule of conduct
which had been delivered to him, according to the interpretation he had
been taught to put on it.
How this coronation turned out--whether the son of Tajo allowed it to
pass quietly--whether he has met the fate of many an unfortunate
European pretender, or survives to become the originator of a civil war,
which may yet give another destiny to Tahaiti, remains to be learnt from
the accounts of some future traveller.
Religion and political institutions may raise a nation in a short period
to a high point of civilization, and they may also serve, as in case of
the Turks, to retain them in perpetual barbarism. How will these mighty
powers operate on the Tahaitians? How can they, the qualifications of
their authors considered!
True, genuine Christianity, and a liberal government, might have soon
given to this people, endowed by nature with the seeds of every social
virtue, a rank among civilized nations. Under such a blessed influence,
the arts and sciences would soon have taken root, the intellect of the
people would have expanded, and a just estimation of all that is good,
beautiful, and eternally true, would have refined their manners and
ennobled their hearts. Europe would soon have admired, perhaps have
envied Tahaiti: but the religion taught by the Missionaries is not true
Christianity, though it may possibly comprehend some of its doctrines,
but half understood even by the teachers themselves. That it was
established by force, is of itself an evidence against its Christian
principle. A religion which consists in the eternal repetition of
prescribed prayers, which forbids every innocent pleasure, and cramps or
annihilates every mental power, is a libel on the Divine Founder of
Christianity, the benign Friend of human-kind. It is true, that the
religion of the Missionaries has, with a great deal of evil, effected
some good. It has abolished heathen superstitions, and an irrational
worship, but it has introduced new errors in their stead. It has
restrained the vices of theft and incontinence, but it has given birth
to bigotry, hypocrisy, and a hatred and contempt of all other modes of
faith, which was once foreign to the open and benevolent character of
the Tahaitian. It has put and end to avowed human sacrifices, but many
more human beings have been actually sacrificed to it, than ever were to
their heathen gods.
The elder Forster estimated, as we have already seen, the population of
Tahaiti at one hundred and thirty thousand souls. Allowing that he
over-calculated it, by even as much as fifty thousand, still eighty
thousand remained:--the present population amounts to only eight
thousand; so that nine-tenths must have disappeared. The diseases
introduced by the ardent spirits, the manufacture of Europe and America,
may, indeed, have much increased the mortality, but they are also known
in many islands in the South Seas, without having caused any perceptible
diminution in the population. It is not known that plague of any kind
has ever raged here: it was, therefore, the bloody persecution
instigated by the Missionaries which performed the office of a
desolating infection. I really believe that these pious people were
themselves shocked at the consequences of their zeal; but they soon
consoled themselves; and have ever since continued to watch with the
most vigilant severity over the maintenance of every article of their
faith. Hence, among the remains of these murdered people, their former
admirable industry, and their joyous buoyancy of spirits, have been
changed for continual praying, and meditating upon things which the
teachers understand as little as the taught.
The Tahaitians of the present day hardly know how to plait their mats,
make their paper stuffs, or cultivate a few roots. They content
themselves with the bread-fruit, which the soil yields spontaneously in
quantities more than sufficient for their reduced population. Their
navy, which excited the astonishment of Europeans, has entirely
disappeared. They build no vessels but a few little paltry canoes, with
which they fish off the neighbouring coral islands, and make their
longest voyages in American and European boats which they have
purchased. With the method of producing those commodities of civilized
nations which they prize so highly, they are still as much as ever
unacquainted. They possess sheep, and excellent cotton; but no
spinning-wheel, no loom, has yet been set in motion among them; they
choose rather to buy their cloth and cotton of foreigners for real gold
and pearls; one of our sailors sold an old shirt for five piastres.
Horses and cattle have been brought to them, but the few that remain
have fallen into the possession of strangers, and have become so scarce,
that one hundred piastres was asked for an ox, that we wanted in
provisioning the ship. The Queen alone possesses a pair of horses, but
she never uses them. The island contains but one smith, though the
assistance of the forge and bellows would be so useful in repairing the
iron tools which have superseded those of stone formerly in use. It is
extraordinary that even the foreigners established here carry on no kind
of mechanical trade. Can it be that the Missionaries object to it? It is
certain that they possess great influence even over the settlers. An
American, however, was planning the introduction of a sugar
manufactory, and promised himself great profit from it.
By order of the Missionaries, the flute, which once awakened innocent
pleasure, is heard no more. No music but that of the psalms is suffered
in Tahaiti: dancing, mock-fights, and dramatic representations are no
longer permitted. Every pleasure is punished as a sin, among a people
whom Nature destined to the most cheerful enjoyment. One of our friends
having begun to sing for joy over a present he had received, was
immediately asked by his comrades, with great terror, what he thought
would be the consequence, should the Missionaries hear of it.
It is remarkable that the degenerate Tahaitians are no longer even in
person such as they are described by the early travellers. Their
religion appears to have had an effect inimical to their beauty. The
large-grown Yeris, solely employed in praying, eating, and sleeping, are
all, men and women, excessively fat even in early youth. The smaller
common people, constrained to some degree of industry, look plump and
well fed, but not so swollen as their superiors, and more fine forms
are therefore to be seen among them than among the Yeris: the latter
also frequently suffer under a most disfiguring disease caused by want
of exercise and excess of nourishment: the legs swell to such a degree
from the knees downward, that the form of the calf and foot is entirely
lost, and the thick cylinders which usurp the place of legs, and from
under which the toes only project, resemble nothing but the legs of
elephants; thence the name of elephantism has been bestowed on the
complaint by Europeans. It does not appear to cause much pain.
The men of both classes shave the beard, and both sexes cut their hair
so close, that the skin can be seen under it; a fashion ugly enough for
any face, but especially so with their brown complexions, as it gives
them an ape-like appearance. As, however, a compliance with this custom,
is a mark of Christianity, and the heathen fugitives to the mountains
have retained their long hair, even the young females are proud of thus
disfiguring themselves.
All vanity is sin, and all care of the person is vanity. Hence the fat
Yeri beauties no longer shelter their skins from the burning rays of
the sun, and are become as brown as the rest. All the graces have
departed from them; their fascinating smiles have vanished; and the
rancid cocoa-oil with which they smear themselves may be smelt at many
paces distance. In short, either the picture drawn of them by the early
travellers was a monstrous flattery, or they are altogether different
from what they were. I saw but one handsome girl at Tahaiti; she was the
sister of the little King, only fourteen years old, and already the
bride of her uncle, the Prince of Ulietea. The men far surpass the women
both in form and feature.
The Missionaries have abolished the custom of tattooing, and so far at
least spared the Tahaitians some useless torment. These marks are now
only to be seen on people of the middle age and upwards--never on the
young. The first voyagers who visited this island, describe the
tattooing as representing half-moons, birds, and irregular or zig-zag
lines; but on a better acquaintance with Europeans, the fashion changed,
and drawings of our tools, animals, and even compasses and mathematical
instruments, were executed with the greatest exactness on their bodies.
Pantaloons being articles in particular request among them, he who could
not obtain a pair, comforted himself by having the representation of
them etched on his legs. Many of these are still to be seen.
We much wished to have had an opportunity of comparing the _soi-disant_
Christian Tahaitians, with the heathen inhabitants of the mountains; but
it would have taken too much time to seek them out in their retreats,
which they leave only at night for the purpose of robbing the dwellers
in the valleys, among whom they dare not appear in the day.
If the religion of the Missionaries has neither tended to enlighten the
Tahaitians nor to render them happy, just as little can be expected from
the Constitution founded upon it, which seems adapted only to draw yet
tighter the bonds in which this amiable people are held by their zealous
converters, and to retain them wholly under their authority.
By the influence of Wilson, a small house situated on Cape Venus was
cleared for our astronomical observations: we were told it stood
precisely on the same spot where Cook's Observatory had formerly been
erected. As a particular favour from the Government, I was also
accommodated with a royal pleasure-house in its neighbourhood for my
private residence. This very large building, which resembled an ancient
temple in appearance, had been a favourite abode of the deceased monarch
Pomareh, and since his death had remained uninhabited, out of respect
for his memory. A number of utensils which had belonged to him, and a
canoe, on which he had obtained many splendid victories, were still
preserved here as memorials of the beloved king. The house was wholly
without walls--the roof of leaves resting on numerous pillars; a mode of
construction extremely well adapted to this warm and dry climate. The
environs were very beautiful: high trees covered with thickest foliage
invited to repose under their shadows, and a brook clear as crystal
offered an inviting bath. The air was filled with the perfume of a
neighbouring orange-grove, which scattered its fruit upon the earth. The
lemons and oranges, which we found delicious, the Tahaitians despised as
too common. Since I could only afford to remain a very short time at
Tahaiti, Dr. Eschscholz and myself immediately took possession of my new
abode, and erected our little observatory. After a long, wearisome
voyage, I cannot express the delight I experienced in reposing amidst
such enchanting scenes of natural beauty. We passed a charming evening,
and a most refreshing night under our roof of leaves.
In the morning, as we were drinking our coffee and smoking our pipes,
while laying the plan of our observations so as to employ our short time
to the best advantage, a messenger arrived from the Queen requesting to
speak with me.
I desired he might be admitted, and a giant Yen strode proudly in,
accompanied by our pilot as interpreter. His only garment, with the
exception of the girdle always worn by the men, was an old worn-out
sand-coloured coat, with great shining buttons, in the fashion of the
last century, and so much too small for its present possessor, that he
could not button it, while his naked arms stuck out more than a quarter
of a yard below the sleeves. His bald head was covered by a red
night-cap, which, to show his knowledge of the customs of civilized
nations, he raised a little on his entrance.
He uttered, as he came towards me, the word Jorona (good day), stretched
out his great hand to me, and then, without waiting for my invitation,
seated himself on the ground close to my feet, with his legs crossed in
the Turkish fashion. The Queen had sent him to inform me, that she was
curious to see the Commander of a Russian frigate, and would gladly have
entertained me at her court; but as she feared I would not absent myself
so long from Matarai, she had resolved to pay me a visit accompanied by
the whole Royal Family. The ambassador added, that these exalted
personages, who had travelled by water, would soon arrive, and that he
must hasten to receive them; then rising, he pressed my hand, repeated
his jorona, touched his night-cap, and disappeared.
I had scarcely time to prepare for the reception of my illustrious
guests, when the concourse of people hastening to the shore announced
their approach. A man soon appeared as _avant courier_, in the short,
red uniform-jacket of an English drummer, an uncommonly showy,
many-coloured girdle, and the rest of his body, according to custom,
quite naked. His legs were adorned by a tattooed representation of
pantaloons; and when he turned his back and stooped very little, he
showed also a drawing of a large compass, with all the two-and-thirty
points executed with striking exactness. In his hand he held a rusty
broad-sword, and on his head was proudly displayed an old torn
three-cornered hat, with a long red feather. Our interpreter described
him as the royal Master of the Ceremonies; but it afterwards appeared,
that though not apparently belonging to the Yens, but to the smaller
race, he held several other offices in conjunction with this--those of
cook and chamberlain, for example: his talent, however, seemed most to
incline to that of court-fool or harlequin.
In all his motions, gestures and grimaces, he displayed so singular a
vivacity, that he might have been considered insane. Without the least
ceremony, or paying the slightest attention to me, he took possession of
my whole house. Several servants, in the livery of nature, followed him
with the various articles necessary to the convenience of the Royal
visitors. He immediately ordered that the whole floor should be covered
with matting, and had every thing placed as he thought proper, leaping
about all the while with both feet in the air, as if his life depended
on the velocity of his motions. No one of the servants pleased him; his
tongue ran incessantly; and his sword was flourished about in all
directions.
His preparations were not yet complete, when we saw a long procession of
Tahaitians approach, two and two, bearing on their shoulders various
kinds of provisions fastened on bamboo poles. This set our caperer upon
increased activity. Two or three springs having carried him out of the
house, he commanded the bearers to set down their burdens, which were
presents from the Queen to me, in a certain order, in front of my
dwelling. Three large pigs formed the right flank; and opposite to them
were piled potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of delicious
fruit. When the Master of the Ceremonies had arranged them all to his
satisfaction, he turned, for the first time, to me, and endeavoured,
with many comical pantomimic gestures, to make me understand that all
were mine. At length the Queen herself appeared, followed by a numerous
train of attendants. She walked first, carrying the little King in her
arms, and holding her daughter, the betrothed of the Prince of Ulietea,
by the hand. After her came her three sisters, all like herself, large
fat women, and then the whole crowd of the Court. The rear was brought
up by a multitude of people of the lower class, bearing viands for the
Royal entertainment, in utensils made of various kinds of gourds. Among
the dainties was a live pig, which squeaking and grunting in
anticipation of its fate, supplied to this orderly procession the
absence of a musical band.
The Queen and her three sisters were wrapped in sheets; and their straw
hats still bore streamers of black crape, as signs of mourning for the
late King. The little Pomareh, a pretty, lively boy, was dressed quite
in the European fashion, in a jacket and trowsers of bombasin; he wore a
round hat, but his feet, like those of all the other Tahaitians, were
bare. They object that any kind of shoe hinders their walking. The
young bride, a handsome girl, as I have before said, was very lightly
clad in a short striped shirt, without any covering on her head. The
giant Yeris who formed the Court, mostly wore white shirts, and round
straw hats with black ribbons.
It was the first time, since the death of her consort, that the Queen
had entered these precincts, and a shower of tears fell from her eyes at
the remembrance of the past. The whole court, as in duty bound, was also
immediately dissolved in grief; but this sorrowful mood did not last
long; their faces gradually cleared up--the Queen dried her tears, and
greeted me kindly. The Master of the Ceremonies then conducted the Royal
Family to the best mats, on which they sat down in the Asiatic fashion.
One of my chairs was placed opposite the Royal Family, and I was invited
to take my seat. In the mean time, the Master of the Ceremonies had
vanished to prepare the repast.
When the Queen, after surveying me from head to foot, had communicated
her remarks and opinions to the company, I requested the interpreter to
thank her, in my name, for my friendly reception on the island--for the
presents she had made me, and for the high honour conferred on me in
this visit. She received my thanks very graciously, and ordered some
questions to be put me, which I answered with all due respect. She
inquired how old I was?--whether my voyage had been long?--whether I was
a Christian?--and how often I prayed _daily_? This last question
afforded me an opportunity, had I thought fit, to give her Majesty some
new ideas on the subject of the Missionary religion; but I did not feel
myself quite capable of entering into a theological dispute, and
therefore merely replied, that Christianity taught us, that we should be
judged according to our actions rather than the number of our prayers. I
do not know how the interpreter rendered my answer, or whether the Queen
considered me as a heretic, but this I conjectured, from her speaking no
more on religious subjects, and asking me, in order to change the
conversation, whether the earth were really round? I assured her Majesty
that I could answer from my own experience, as I was now sailing round
it for the third time. This appeared to excite some astonishment; but
my assertion concerning its spherical form still gained but small
credit.
I then produced some presents for the Queen, her family, and their
immediate attendants, which, though in themselves extremely trifling,
were received with great pleasure, and produced a degree of hilarity
little consistent with the symbols of mourning worn by the Royal party,
or the feelings they had displayed on their first arrival.
To the Queen I presented a piece of calico four or five yards long, a
coloured silk handkerchief, a small looking-glass, a pair of scissors,
and some glass beads; to the young Princess, a silk handkerchief, beads,
and a looking-glass; to the sisters of the Queen, cotton handkerchiefs,
glasses, and scissors; their attendants, among whom were four ladies,
were content with knives.
During this time the Master of the Ceremonies had killed the pig, and
baked it in the earth in the Tahaitian manner. As soon as the Royal
Family had resumed their seats he brought it in, and placed it before
the Queen, on a great banana-leaf, other servants spreading yams,
potatoes, and bread-fruit upon the ground. My chair was brought and
placed opposite to the Queen, who invited me, with much friendliness, to
partake of the meal. I preferred, however, being an idle spectator, for
it was still very early in the day, and I had no appetite. When all the
provisions were brought in, the Master of the Ceremonies made a leap
into the air, flourished his rusty broad-sword, and then repeated a loud
prayer. All the company hung down their heads, and prayed with him in
silence. The prayer being concluded, the Master of the Ceremonies seized
the baked pig by the hind-legs and tore it in two; then, having carved
the whole with his broad-sword, laid a tolerably large portion on leaves
before each member of the Royal Family, who immediately attacked it with
a good appetite, helping themselves with fingers and teeth, instead of
knife and fork. During the repast, the suite ate nothing, but remained
looking on, and I did not perceive that they were indemnified for their
abstinence, even when the residue of the feast was carried out. When the
repast was over, and a prayer said as before, the Royal personages
washed their hands with water, and their mouths with cocoa-milk, and
then lay down altogether to sleep; the attendants retiring. I offered to
her Majesty the use of my bed, which she condescendingly accepted; and
during the siesta, I returned to my plans for our astronomical
observations. On awaking, the Queen expressed a wish to see my frigate;
my time was not at my own disposal, but I entrusted to one of my
officers the charge of doing the honours of the ship to our Royal
guests, as well as circumstances would permit. On leaving me, the Queen
pressed my hand in the most friendly manner, and repeated her jorona
several times; her whole train followed her.
On the strand, according to the account of my officer, the canoes lay in
readiness for the excursion. The Queen, accompanied by her family and
our officer, put off in her own European boat; the Master of the
Ceremonies took his station in the fore-part of the boat, turning his
compass to the company, and continued, during the passage, his
ridiculous harlequinades with his limbs and broad-sword, as if he had
been afflicted with Saint Vitus's dance. When they reached the frigate,
the deck was already occupied by Tahaitians, carrying on their trading
with so much eagerness and noise, that scarcely a word could be
distinguished. The vessel was also surrounded by a crowd of canoes
filled with all kinds of wares for barter; and so little attention was
paid to the Royal Family, that it was with much difficulty our people
could clear the way for their boat. Nor did the presence of these high
personages attract much more notice when they had climbed the deck;
their subjects continued to drive their bargains without interruption,
and scarcely vouchsafed the slightest salutation. Very different would
have been their conduct on the arrival of a Missionary. The Queen was
probably hurt by this neglect, for she went directly into my cabin,
followed by her family, and remained there till she quitted the ship.
The construction of the vessel was not likely to excite her curiosity,
as she was herself the owner of a well-built English merchant ship.
The goods in the cabin, however, delighted the ladies, who admired and
wanted every thing; nor was it easy to convince them, that each article
they coveted was indispensable to our convenience.