is found at the Society, Sandwich, and many other islands of the
Pacific. This has no seed, and can only be produced by cuttings from
the tree, or shoots, that spring up from the roots. The other kind
is seminal, and very much superior to the first. It was not the
bread-fruit season, when we were at the Mulgraves, and much to our
regret, we could not obtain any of the seeds of this rare and
valuable plant. This tree, in general, attains a size considerably
larger than that of the common bread-fruit. The leaf of the
bread-fruit tree strongly resembles that of the fig, and any one, who
has seen the latter, would immediately recognise it, by the
resemblance, and the fine rich foliage it bears, when growing
luxuriantly. This is by far the most important production of the
Mulgrave Islands. When the fruit is not blasted, as sometimes
happens, there is a great plenty for the inhabitants. It lasts,
however, only for a few weeks; and it is to be presumed, that the
natives have no way of preserving it, in a dried or baked state, as
is practised with many of the South Sea Islanders, none having been
seen by us during our stay. The cocoa-nut tree is next in value to
the natives. Of this food there is an ample supply, unless the fruit
is blasted. When the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut, both fail in the
same year, the natives experience great distress, and are reduced to
the necessity of living upon a fruit, they call bup. It is commonly
used by the poorest people, and in small quantities by the chiefs at
all times. It grows upon almost all the islands in the West Pacific;
but, when wild, is much inferior to that growing on the trees, which
have a clear open space around them.
Lay lived upon the wild bup for a considerable time after the
massacre, when residing with the poor old man, who saved his life,
and before the high chief took compassion on him. It has a sweet
taste, like the juice of a green corn-stalk. Bread-fruit,
cocoa-nuts, and bup, is the only food of the inhabitants of the
Mulgrave Islands, except at the season of the year, when great
numbers of fish are taken. The industrious and enterprising have an
abundant supply at that period; but it is only whilst the season
lasts, as they are not in the practice of preserving them. The
bup-tree is the most remarkable of all the vegetable productions of
the Mulgrave Islands. To shipwrecked seamen, it might be the means
of sustaining life, when no other food could be found, and, as it is
a never-failing resource, it ought to be generally known amongst
those, who navigate the Pacific Ocean. The tree generally grows from
twenty to thirty feet high,--sometimes singly, but more frequently in
small clusters. The diameter of the body rarely exceeds six inches.
It has a hard thick bark, but the wood is spongy, like that of the
cocoa-nut tree. It stands on from half a dozen to a dozen roots or
prongs, by which it is propped up two or three feet from the ground.
The fruit is an exact resemblance of a pine-apple. Its smell, when
ripe, is at first agreeable, but, so powerful, that it soon becomes
offensive. The taste of the ripe fruit has much the same
effect--agreeable at first, like a mellow, sweet apple, but cloying
and nauseous to the stomach, when taken in any quantity. The ripe
fruit is never eaten by the natives of the Mulgraves. When green, it
is not considered in a state to be eaten, until a beard, which grows
out alongside of the stem, has acquired a length of four or five
inches. It may then be taken from the tree, and eaten raw, or
roasted between hot stones. The soft part of the seeds (if I may so
call them) is alone palatable, the other part being hard and tough.
The manner of eating it is, to twist the soft part off with the
teeth, whereby the juice is expressed. There was but little about
the islands that would excite the interest of either the botanist or
naturalist. We saw but few flowers or plants. The islands were
swarming with a species of small rat, that had a tuft of hair upon
its tail. The natives spoke of them as being very troublesome. By
throwing a small quantity of food upon the ground, near one of the
huts, dozens of them could be collected together in a few moments.
When one of the natives is sick, the friends collect at the hut,
where he is lying, and chant over him, to appease the offended spirit
that has afflicted him. The same prescription is given for all
diseases, which is a tea, made from an herb found upon the island.
If death takes place, the friends of the deceased assemble, and mourn
over the body, keeping it until it becomes very offensive.
Frequently, in the midst of their most bitter mourning and
lamentation, some of the mourners will intentionally say or do
something calculated to excite mirth, when they all burst out into
immoderate laughter, as if their mourning were the affectation of
children, and as soon as the humorous excitement has passed over,
again relapse into their mournful strain of howling and chaunting.
When the body can be kept no longer, and the day of interment
arrives, the grave is dug, and the corpse taken upon sticks, and
carried to it by the friends of the deceased, followed by a large
concourse, who move along without order, and some one occasionally
breaks in upon their solemnity by a humorous trick, which gives rise
to others, and sets them all laughing. This is soon again succeeded
by mourning. The body is lowered into the grave, and covered up,
when a little canoe, with a sail to it, and laden with small pieces
of cocoa-nut or other food, having been previously prepared, is taken
to the sea-shore on the leeward part of the island, and sent off,
with a fair wind, to bear far away from the island the spirit of the
deceased, that it may not afterwards disturb the living. This
ceremony is considered indispensably necessary, and is never
neglected. At the head of the grave a cocoa-nut is planted, the tree
that springs from which, is held sacred, and its fruits never eaten,
in times of the greatest famine. Their burial places are usually a
short distance back of the houses, and the females are strictly
prohibited from going to them.
Their marriages are conducted with but little ceremony. If a man
fancies a female for his wife, he makes the proposal to her, which,
if agreeable, he applies to her friends. They meet, and hold a
consultation, as to the propriety of the match, and decide whether it
shall take place. If the man's suit is denied, nothing more is said
on the subject. When united, they are said to be very faithful, and
jealous of each other's chastity. Lay or Huzzy related an
occurrence, that took place during their residence on the islands,
which shows how keenly a sense of injury is felt by them, and that
jealousy sometimes inspires them with the most ferocious and deadly
revenge. A young man had taken a young woman for a wife, whom he
supposed to be a virgin. In a very short time after she went to live
with him, however, it was evident that she was pregnant, and before
the period which nature has prescribed had elapsed, gave birth to a
child. The indignant husband took the infant from its mother's arms,
and in her presence dashed its head upon a stone in front of his hut.
It was an act for which, under other circumstances, he would have
suffered death, by a custom of the islands, forbidding the destroying
of human life; and, as the female was of superior rank to the man,
being the daughter of a chief, it was believed that he would be
punished. Her friends were loud in their calls for justice upon the
offender, until a council of the chiefs was called, and the matter
brought before them.
After an investigation, the chiefs were satisfied, that the woman had
grossly imposed upon her husband, whom they suffered to depart
without censure. It is permitted to the men to have as many wives as
they can get; but as food is very scarce, and they find it difficult
to support one, there are few, even of the chiefs, who have more.
The high chief was the only exception to this remark at the time of
our visit. He had six, one of whom was a particular favourite.
Latuano, the high chief of the Mulgraves, was called the greatest
warrior that the islands had produced for a long time. He told us
that in one of his wars he was driven from his islands, and remained
(I think) fourteen days at sea in his canoe, most of the time out of
sight of land. He steered for an island, which, according to the
tradition of his countrymen, lay to the west of the Mulgraves, and,
after a great deal of suffering, arrived there in safety. The high
chief of this isle (south Pedder's Island) received him with
kindness, and after he had visited thirteen different islands of the
group,[11] sent him back to the Mulgraves with a fleet of canoes, and
a great many men. He arrived there in safety, conquered his enemies,
and at the time of our visit was tributary to the chief of Pedder's
Island, who had given him a daughter or grand-daughter in marriage.
They told us that every few years the chief of Pedder's Island, who
is very powerful and very wise, sends a fleet of canoes to the
Mulgraves, for tribute. Lay and Huzzy were to have been sent to him,
as also the Globe's whaleboat and swivel. I was particularly struck
with Latuanos' strong resemblance to General Bolivar. His stature
was about the same, and his face bore the same marks of care and
serious thought, when his attention was not awakened to any
particular thing; and, when animated by conversation, the same vivid
expression beamed from his fine features, and sparkling black eyes.
I could not but think, when I was looking at him, that if he and
General Bolivar could be placed near to each other, similarly
dressed, it would be difficult to tell which was the Indian chief,
and which the patriot hero.
The high chief is absolute in his authority, but, in the
administration of justice, particularly where the life of an
individual is concerned, he is influenced in passing judgment by the
opinion of the chiefs of most consequence.[12] Like all other men,
whether civilized or uncivilized, they have different grades of rank
in their society, from the high chief down to the farthest remove of
relationship to royalty. The different islets that are inhabited,
are partitioned off to different chiefs, who acknowledge their
subordination to the high chief, by sending him a part of whatever
grows, or is taken within the limits of their government. They send
him a portion of their cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, and bup, and of the
fish or birds, that may be caught by themselves or any of their
people. The high chief requires this for the support of his numerous
family. Besides his wives and children, he usually keeps a large
number of men about him, who go in his canoe, and perform other
essential duties in his service. Several of the principal chiefs are
also in attendance, and live with him constantly. In his family,
there is no ceremony, to remind the common people of their lowly
condition. They all eat, drink, and sleep alike. In dress, there is
nothing to distinguish the chiefs from the common people, except that
the former sometimes wear a mat that comes down to the knee, of
straw, and finely wrought. This, however, I believe, is only worn
upon particular occasions.
The men wear bunches of grass hanging down before and behind, such as
I have described at our first anchorage, being about the size and
appearance of a horse's tail. Those in most common use, were of a
reddish colour; but a few of them were white. The bark of which they
are made is taken from a long running vine. The boys go quite naked
until they are ten or twelve years old, when a dress similar to that
of the men is put on them. Their ornaments consist of shell
bracelets and necklaces, and sometimes a string of thorn is put round
the head; flowers, when they can be obtained, are often used instead
of shells. Many of the men, and some of the women have large slits
in their ears, through which they put rolls of leaves from one to two
inches in diameter. The women wear beautiful white straw mats, of
elegant workmanship, about two feet square, and sometimes larger,
bordered round the edge, from one to two inches, with black diamond
figures, worked in with coloured straw, died with the husk of the
cocoa-nut. They usually wear two of these mats, one of which is
behind and the other before, tied round the waist with a beautiful
round cord of braided straw. The ornaments of the women are the same
as those worn by the men. They have no manner of worship. They
acknowledge the existence of a Great Spirit whom they call Kenneet,
and who, they say, can make them sick and kill them: they look for
nothing good from him, and, so far as I could learn, have no idea of
rewards and punishments after death. They have a sort of conjurers
amongst them, for whose art they entertain great reverence, and in
whom they place a strict reliance. To them they apply in all cases
of great emergency. Their art consists in having a large bunch of
straws, which they fold double and tie in a great many different
ways; if, after the straws are thus folded, doubled, and tied, they
can be drawn out without being in any manner entangled the one with
the other, the omen is propitious; but otherwise, the contemplated
undertaking is relinquished. On the following morning it is again
resorted to, and so on until success is promised. It must never be
tried but in the morning, and only once on the same day. The morning
I took Lay from the natives, the chiefs had recourse to this art
before they would allow him to speak to us; they were promised good
fortune, otherwise he would have been concealed from us. He who
cannot perform the mysteries of this art, is not allowed to drink
from the same cup with him who can.
They had a great aversion to hearing us whistle, particularly in
their houses, and would invariably run up to any of our people when
they were whistling, and with a fearful look, beg them to stop;
saying, it would bring spirits about the house that would make them
sick and kill them. If one of them has wronged another who has died,
or if they were enemies, he never eats without throwing away a
portion[13] of his food to appease the ghost of the departed.
At a meeting we had with the chiefs on shore, the captain remarked an
old man in the circle, whose name and character he asked of Lay or
Huzzy; being replied to, he said, in a stern manner that he did not
like his face, meaning that he looked like a bad man. The old
fellow, seeing himself the subject of conversation, asked the
interpreter what the captain was saying about him. On being told,
his countenance expressed the utmost dismay, and in a day or two
afterwards, he died. There was not a native on the islands with whom
Lay or Huzzy conversed, that did not believe the captain's dislike
killed the old man. They seemed to entertain the most singular
notions of the captain's supernatural powers.
For the purpose of ascertaining what idea the high chief entertained
of a God, the captain asked him several questions, to which his
answers were vague and unsatisfactory. He thought he had conceived
the right one, when he asked the chief who he thought made it
thunder. After a moment's hesitation, he looked at the captain and
replied, "I suppose you can make it thunder." This was as
satisfactory as any thing he could be made to express. Thunder he
believed was produced by the agency of a being superior to himself,
and the captain he conceived to be infinitely his superior.
Not long after the massacre of the white men, the natives were
visited by a disease that caused their limbs to swell, and produced
great distress amongst them; it was before unknown, and they ascribed
it to Lay and Huzzy, who, they believed, had the power to afflict
them in that manner, and had done it to be revenged for the death of
their countrymen. They finally charged them with it, and threatened
to kill them, which, in all probability they would have done, but for
their superstitious fear of some greater evil.
Their huts are not, generally, more than ten by fifteen feet, and
from ten to fifteen feet high. They are divided into two apartments,
upper and lower; the lower is open all round, without any thatching;
the floor is raised a little above the adjacent ground, and covered
over with small pieces of the cleanest and whitest coral that can be
found. The rafters and small sticks that are laid across them for
the thatching, are secured by twine made from the outer husk of
cocoa-nut, with which the thatching is also secured. The thatch is
the leaves of palm or cocoa-nut. The ceiling of the lower room is
generally so low, that one must bend almost double to get into it,
and if you remain, it must be in a lying or sitting posture. The
garret has a floor of sticks thickly interwoven with leaves; it is
higher than the ground floor, and has an air of comfort. The natives
keep their provisions in it, and all such things as they would
preserve from the rats. They also sleep there in wet weather. In
the floor, a hole is left just large enough for a person to crawl
through, and so far from the sides that the rats cannot get to it.
Their canoes display the greatest ingenuity, and I have no doubt,
that in a civilized country, they would be ranked amongst the rarest
specimens of human industry, unassisted but by the rudest implements.
The model is most singular, and differs from all that I have ever
seen in use, either in the European or American world. Its
construction is so remarkable, and in many respects so inconvenient,
that it seems improbable the model should have had its origin in any
other cause than the want of suitable timber for a more perfect
structure. The depth of a Mulgrave canoe, of common size, is four or
five feet; its length from thirty to forty. It is so narrow that a
man can scarcely stand in it; perfectly flat on one side, and round
on the other. It is sharp at both ends. The mast is from twelve to
twenty-five feet long, and the sail, (a straw mat,) which is bent to
a small yard, is very large in proportion to the canoe. They always
sail on the flat side, and have the mast a little inclined forward.
It is supported by shrouds and a guy at either end, which is used at
pleasure to give the mast its proper inclination. In beating to
windward, instead of tacking as we do, and presenting the other side
of the boat to the wind, they bring the other end of the boat to it,
making that the bow which was before the stern. Amidships there are
several light spars extending about ten feet over the round side, and
four over the other. Across these are smaller sticks, which are
securely lashed above and below, and over them is made a platform.
Upon that part of it which extends over the flat side, they have a
small thatched cabin, in which they store whatever they wish to
preserve from getting wet, or would conceal from observation. The
other part of the platform is intended to keep the canoe from being
upset; and when hard pressed with carrying sail, several men will
sometimes get on it, to keep the canoe upright. They move through
the water with astonishing velocity, and, in turning to windward, no
boats can surpass them. Although the natives had no other tools to
work with than what they made of shells, previous to the visit of the
Globe, every article of their workmanship is neat, and as highly
polished as though it had been wrought with steel. In the
construction of their canoes, the keel-stern and sternpost are solid
pieces of hard wood, upon which they are built up of small pieces
laid one above the other, and closely seized on with the line of
cocoa-husk. The seams are neither caulked or payed, and the canoe
consequently leaks so much as to require one man to bail constantly.
The steerage is very laborious; they have no rudder, and the only
means by which they steer, is with a long flat paddle held in the
hands of the helmsman. To steer a large canoe in blowing weather,
requires the utmost strength of six or eight men. Upon the
outriggers or platforms, and along the masts, they arrange their
spears, which are always taken with them, even upon the most ordinary
occasions. The canoes are also always ballasted with a quantity of
round stones, weighing about a pound each, which forms a material
part of their armament. Our carpenter was several days at work upon
the canoe of the high chief, caulking and graving her. When he had
completed his work, the high chief, after expressing his
gratification, earnestly solicited the captain to leave him on the
island; he said that he would always provide him an abundance to eat,
and that no one should ever hurt him. This, according to the high
chief's standard, was the most ample reward that he could promise for
useful services.
The people of the Mulgraves are in general of moderate stature, and
well made. Their complexion is not so dark as that of the natives of
the Duke of Clarence and Byron's Island, and their features more
comely. They appeared to us like a different race of men. They have
not the flat noses and thick lips of the low islanders, except that
two or three persons we saw would come under that description. Their
hair is long and invariably combed out with great neatness, and tied
on the top of their heads. Their deportment is modest and manly, and
after one becomes a little accustomed to their dress, they have
always an air of gentility. They have a fine majestic walk, which
one would hardly suppose, when it is considered that their way is
everywhere paved with sharp coral.
After we had given them the pigs, it was amusing to see with what
apparent pleasure they carried them about in their arms, nursing them
with as much care and tenderness, as though they had been children,
whilst the pigs, unused to such treatment, were kicking and
scratching the naked bodies of the poor natives, and squealing away
most lustily. We had to interfere to keep the pigs from being killed
with kindness, and finally prevailed upon the chief to forbid their
being petted in this style. It is not improbable that, in a few
years, the whalers that may have occasion to cruise, in the vicinity
of these islands, will find an abundant supply. It is hoped,
however, that until they become numerous, no navigator who may chance
to touch there, will encourage the natives to diminish their number.