A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xiii Part 1

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels.

Vol. 13.

by Robert Kerr.

PART III--BOOK I.

CHAP, IV.

SECTION XVII.

_A particular Description of the Island of Otaheite; its Produce and Inhabitants; their Dress, Habitations, Food, Domestic Life and Amus.e.m.e.nts._

We found the longitude of Port Royal bay, in this island, as settled by Captain Wallis, who discovered it on the 9th of June, 1767, to be within half a degree of the truth. We found Point Venus, the northern extremity of the island, and the eastern point of the bay, to lie in the longitude of 14913', this being the mean result of a great number of observations made upon the spot. The island is surrounded by a reef of coral rock, which forms several excellent bays and harbours, some of which have been particularly described, where there is room and depth of water far any number of the largest s.h.i.+ps. Port Royal bay, called by the natives Matavai which is not inferior to any in Otaheite, may easily be known, by a very high mountain in the middle of the island, which bears due south from Point Venus. To sail into it; either keep the west point of the reef that lies before Point Venus, close on board, or give it a birth of near half a mile, in order to avoid a small shoal of coral rocks, on which there is but two fathoms and a half of water. The best anchoring is on the eastern side of the bay, where there is sixteen and fourteen fathom upon an oosy bottom. The sh.o.r.e of the bay is a fine sandy beach, behind which runs a river of fresh water, so that any number of s.h.i.+ps may water here without incommoding each other; but the only wood for firing, upon the whole island, is that of fruit-trees, which must be purchased of the natives, or all hope of living upon good terms with them given up.

The face of the country, except that part of it which borders upon the sea, is very uneven; it rises in ridges that run up into the middle of the island, and there form mountains, which may be seen at the distance of sixty miles: Between the foot of these ridges and the sea, is a border of low land, surrounding the whole island, except in a few places where the ridges rise directly from the sea: The border of low land is in different parts of different breadths, but no where more than a mile and a half. The soil, except upon the very tops of the ridges, is extremely rich and fertile, watered by a great number of rivulets of excellent water, and covered with fruit-trees of various kinds, some of which are of a stately growth and thick foliage, so as to form, one continued wood; and even the tops of the ridges, though in general they are bare, and burnt up by the sun, are, in some parts, not without their produce.

The low land that lies between the foot of the ridges and the sea, and some of the vallies, are the only parts of the island that are inhabited, and here it is populous; the houses do not form villages or towns, but are ranged along the whole border at the distance of about fifty yards from each other, with little plantations of plantains, the tree which furnishes them with cloth. The whole island, according to Tupia's account, who certainly knew, could furnish six thousand seven hundred and eighty fighting men, from which the number of inhabitants may easily, be computed.[1]

[Footnote 1: It is questionable if the whole existing population of the island amount to the number now mentioned. Such has been the decrease of its interesting but licentious inhabitants since the time of Cook, to which, it is melancholy to be obliged to say, their intercourse with Europeans has most rapidly contributed. The reader is referred, for some information on this point, to the account of Turnbull's voyage, published in 1805. A few particulars as to the appearance of Otaheite, on the authority of subsequent accounts, may be given with satisfaction to the reader. The island, which consists of two peninsulas connected by a low neck or isthmus covered with trees and shrubs but quite uninhabited, presents a mountainous aspect, rising high in the centre, with narrow valleys of romantic but luxuriantly pleasing scenery, and well watered, studding its verdant surface. The lofty and cl.u.s.tering hills of which the greater part of the island is formed, and which, however steep of ascent, or abrupt in termination, are clothed to the very summit with trees of very various colours and sizes, are encircled with a rich border of low land, the proper seat of the inhabitants, who seem to realize, in its fertility and beauty, all that human imagination can conceive requisite for animal enjoyment. The soil of this border, and of the valleys, is a blackish mould; that of the hills is different, changing as you ascend them into variously coloured earth and marl. The beds of the streams and rivers, which swell into torrents during the rainy season, consist of stones and gravel, often of a flinty nature, and often also containing particles of iron. Some basaltic appearances in one of the districts into which the island is divided, and several precipices among the mountains, evidently produced by sudden violence, indicate the volcanic origin of this highly favoured country. There is plenty of good water to be had over all the island. The weather from March till August is usually mild and pleasant. During the rough season, which lasts from December till March, the wind often blows very hard from the west, and is attended with rain.--E.]

The produce of this island is bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, bananas of thirteen sorts, the best we had ever eaten; plantains; a fruit not unlike an apple, which, when ripe, is very pleasant; sweet potatoes, yams, cocoas, a kind of _Arum_ fruit known here by the name of _Jambu_, and reckoned most delicious; sugar-cane, which the inhabitants eat raw; a root of the salop kind, called by the inhabitants _Pea_; a plant called _Ethee_, of which the root only is eaten; a fruit that grows in a pod, like that of a large kidney-bean, which, when it is roasted, eats very much like a chesnut, by the natives called _Ahee_; a tree called _Wharra_, called in the East Indies _Pandanes_, which produces fruit, something like the pine-apple; a shrub called _Nono_; the _Morinda_, which also produces fruit; a species of fern, of which the root is eaten, and sometimes the leaves; and a plant called _Theve_, of which the root also is eaten: But the fruits of the _Nono_, the fern, and the _Theve_, are eaten only by the inferior people, and in times of scarcity. All these, which serve the inhabitants for food, the earth produces spontaneously, or with so little culture, that they seem to be exempted from the first general curse, that "man should eat his bread in the sweat of his brow." They have also the Chinese paper mulberry, _morus papyrifera_, which they call _Aouto_; a tree resembling the wild fig-tree of the West Indies; another species of fig, which they call _Matte_; the _cordia sebestina orientalis_, which they call _Etou_; a kind of Cyprus gra.s.s, which they call _Moo_; a species of _tournefortia_, which they call _Taheinoo_; another of the _convolvulus poluce_, which they call _Eurhe_; the _solanum centifolium_, which they call _Ebooa_; the _calophyllum mophylum_, which they call _Tamannu_; the _hibiscus tiliaceus_, called _Poerou_, a frutescent nettle; the _urtica argentea_, called _Erowa_; with many other plants which cannot here be particularly mentioned: Those that have been named already will be referred to in the subsequent part of this work.

They have no European fruit, garden stuff, pulse, or legumes, nor grain of any kind.

Of tame animals they have only hogs, dogs, and poultry; neither is there a wild animal in the island, except ducks, pigeons, paroquets, with a few other birds, and rats, there being no other quadruped, nor any serpent. But the sea supplies them with great variety of most excellent fish, to eat which is their chief luxury, and to catch it their princ.i.p.al labour.[2]

[Footnote 2: It was no doubt a work of supererogation in the missionaries, to attempt to augment the stock of animal provision in this island, to which nature had been so bountiful in dispensing her favours. This however they did, but with little success. The natives were too amply furnished with pleasant and wholesome aliment, to undertake the care of cattle, which accordingly either perished from neglect, or were suffered to turn wild in their mountains. The imperfection too of their cookery operations not a little tended to bring beef and mutton into contempt. Instead of dressing them in some of the European methods, they treated them, as they did their dogs and hogs, by the process of burning. The consequence was, the skin became as tough as leather, and the taste very offensive. These were formidable difficulties, to people of such nice sense as the Otaheitans, who were therefore readily induced to revert to their own stock. See account of the missionary voyage, for a good deal of information on the subjects alluded to in this note.--E.]

As to the people, they are of the largest size of Europeans. The men are tall, strong, well-limbed, and finely shaped. The tallest that we saw was a man upon a neighbouring island, called _Huaheine_, who measured six feet three inches and a half. The women of the superior rank are also in general above our middle stature, but those of the inferior cla.s.s are rather below it, and some of them are very small. This defect in size probably proceeds from their early commerce with men, the only thing in which they differ from their superiors, that could possibly affect their growth.

Their natural complexion is that kind of clear olive, or _brunette_, which many people in Europe prefer to the finest white and red. In those that are exposed to the wind and sun, it is considerably deepened, but in others that live under shelter, especially the superior cla.s.s of women, it continues of its native hue, and the skin is most delicately smooth and soft; they have no tint in their cheeks, which we distinguish by the name of colour. The shape of the face is comely, the cheek-bones are not high, neither are the eyes hollow, nor the brow prominent; The only feature that does not correspond with our ideas of beauty is the nose, which, in general, is somewhat flat; but their eyes, especially those of the women, are full of expression, sometimes sparkling with fire, and sometimes melting with softness; their teeth also are, almost without exception, most beautifully even and white, and their breath perfectly without taint.[3]

[Footnote 3: The missionary account speaks less favourably of the comeliness of these islanders. But this being a matter of taste, will of course be very variously considered. The reader may amuse himself by comparing the following quotation with the text, and forming his own opinion. He will at all events readily admit, that nature has done more for these people than art, and that the predominance of fas.h.i.+on is amongst them, as it is sometimes elsewhere, accomplished at the expence of beauty. "The natural colour of the inhabitants is olive, inclining to copper. Some are very dark, as the fishermen, who are most exposed to the sun and sea; but the women, who carefully clothe themselves, and avoid the sun-beams, are but a shade or two darker than a European brunette. Their eyes are black and sparkling; their teeth white and even; their skin soft and delicate; their limbs finely turned; their hair jetty, perfumed and ornamented with flowers; but we did not think their features beautiful, as by continual pressure from infancy, which they call _tourooma_, they widen the face with their hands, distend their mouth, and flatten the nose and forehead, which gives them a too masculine look; and they are in general large, and wide over the shoulders; we were therefore disappointed in the judgment, we had formed from the report of preceding visitors; and though here and there was to be seen a living person who might be esteemed comely, we saw few who in fact could be called beauties; yet they possess eminent feminine graces: Their faces are never darkened with a scowl, or covered with a cloud of sullenness or suspicion." This account fully concurs in what follows as to the manners and behaviour of the Otaheitans.--E.]

The hair is almost universally black, and rather coa.r.s.e; the men have beards, which they wear in many fas.h.i.+ons, always, however, plucking out great part of them, and keeping the rest perfectly clean and neat. Both s.e.xes also eradicate every hair from under their arms, and accused us of great uncleanness for not doing the same. In their motions there is at once vigour and ease; their walk is graceful, their deportment liberal, and their behaviour to strangers and to each other affable and courteous. In their dispositions also, they seemed to be brave, open, and candid, without either suspicion or treachery, cruelty, or revenge; so that we placed the same confidence in them as in our best friends, many of us, particularly Mr Banks, sleeping frequently in their houses in the woods, without a companion, and consequently wholly in their power. They were, however, all thieves; and when that is allowed, they need not much fear a compet.i.tion with the people of any other nation upon earth. During our stay in this island we saw about five or six persons like one that was met by Mr Banks and Dr Solander on the 24th of April, in their walk to the eastward, whose skins were of a dead white, like the nose of a white horse; with white hair, beard, brows, and eyelashes; red, tender eyes; a short sight, and scurfy skins, covered with a kind of white down; but we found that no two of these belonged to the same family, and therefore concluded, that they were not a species, but unhappy individuals, rendered anomalous by disease.[4]

[Footnote 4: In the opinion here expressed the Editor has already acquiesced. He would remark by the bye, that although two or more persons had been of the same family, no sufficient argument could have been adduced, as to the peculiar affection depending on circ.u.mstances adequate to const.i.tute a species; for it is very clear that hereditary diseases do not necessarily imply essential distinctions, and there seems no reason to alter the laws of logic in favour of the Albinos.--E.]

It is a custom in most countries where the inhabitants have long hair, for the men to cut it short, and the women to pride themselves in its length. Here, however, the contrary custom prevails; the women always cut it short round their ears, and the men, except the fishers, who are almost continually in the water, suffer it to flow in large waves over their shoulders, or tie it up in a bunch on the top of their heads.

They have a custom also of anointing their heads with what they call _monoe, an oil expressed from the cocoa-nut, in which some sweet herbs or flowers have been infused: As the oil is generally rancid, the smell is at first very disagreeable to a European; and as they live in a hot country, and have no such thing as a comb, they are not able to keep their heads free from lice, which the children and common people sometimes pick out and eat; a hateful custom, wholly different from their manners in every other particular; for they are delicate and cleanly almost without example, and those to whom we distributed combs, soon delivered themselves from vermin, with a diligence which showed that they were not more odious to us than to them.[5]

[Footnote 5: This remark is scarcely consistent with what is related in the missionary account, by which it appears that these vermin are considered by the Otaheitans much in the same light as certain animals were once in our own land, viz. royal property. The pa.s.sage is too curious to be omitted. It displays a very remarkable instance of that ease and elegance, with which crowned heads can occasionally employ themselves for the good of their subjects. "The mode of carrying the king and queen is with their legs hanging down before, seated on the shoulders and leaning on the head of their carriers, and very frequently amusing themselves with picking out the vermin which there abound. It is the singular privilege of the queen, that of all women, she alone may eat them; which privilege she never fails to make use of." Such hunting excursions are surely much more commendable, because much more innocent in their own nature and more beneficial in their results, than those practised amongst ourselves, at the risque of neck and limbs, and to the still more important detriment of the farmer's gates and fences. The point of privilege, perhaps, is less capable of defence--admitting, however, for a moment, that pre-eminence of station and office ent.i.tles the holder to singularity of inclination and conduct, as it is certainly allowed to do in the case of some other sovereigns, the question then becomes a mere matter of taste, and it is ungenerous to deny the Otaheitan queen the benefit of the old maxim, _de gustibus non est disputandum_.--E.]

They have a custom of staining their bodies, nearly in the same manner as is practised in many other parts of the world, which they call _tattowing_. They p.r.i.c.k the skin, so as just not to fetch blood, with a small instrument, something in the form of a hoe; that part which answers to the blade is made of a bone or sh.e.l.l, sc.r.a.ped very thin, and is from a quarter of an inch to an inch and a half wide; the edge is cut into sharp teeth or points, from the number of three to twenty, according to its size: When this is to be used, they dip the teeth into a mixture of a kind of lamp-black, formed of the smoke that rises from an oily nut which they burn instead of candles, and water; the teeth, thus prepared, are placed upon the skin, and the handle to which they are fastened being struck, by quick smart blows, with a stick fitted to the purpose, they pierce it, and at the same time carry into the puncture the black composition, which leaves an indelible stain. The operation is painful, and it is some days before the wounds are healed.

It is performed upon the youth of both s.e.xes when they are about twelve or fourteen years of age, on several parts of the body, and in various figures, according to the fancy of the parent, or perhaps the rank of the party. The women are generally marked with this stain, in the form of a Z, on every joint of their fingers and toes, and frequently round the outside of their feet: The men are also marked with the same figure, and both men and women have squares, circles, crescents, and ill-designed representations of men, birds, or dogs, and various other devices impressed upon their legs and arms, some of which we were told had significations, though we could never learn what they were. But the part on which these ornaments are lavished with the greatest profusion, is the breech: This, in both s.e.xes, is covered with a deep black; above which, arches are drawn one over another as high as the short ribs. They are often a quarter of an inch broad, and the edges are not straight lines, but indented. These arches are their pride, and are shewn both by men and women with a mixture of ostentation and pleasure; whether as an ornament, or a proof of their fort.i.tude and resolution in bearing pain, we could not determine. The face in general is left unmarked; for we saw but one instance to the contrary. Some old men had the greatest part of their bodies covered with large patches of black, deeply indented at the edges, like a rude imitation of flame; but we were told, that they came from a low island, called _Noouoora_, and were not natives of Otaheite.

Mr Banks saw the operation of _tattowing_ performed upon the backside of a girl about thirteen years old. The instrument used upon this occasion had thirty teeth, and every stroke, of which at least a hundred were made in a minute, drew an ichor or serum a little tinged with blood. The girl bore it with most Stoical resolution for about a quarter of an hour; but the pain of so many hundred punctures as she had received in that time then became intolerable: She first complained in murmurs, then wept, and at last burst into loud lamentations, earnestly imploring the operator to desist. He was, however, inexorable; and when she began to struggle, she was held down by two women, who sometimes soothed and sometimes chid her, and now and then, when she was most unruly, gave her a smart blow. Mr Banks staid in a neighbouring house an hour, and the operation was not over when he went away; yet it was performed but upon one side, the other having been done some time before; and the arches upon the loins, in which they most pride themselves, and which give more pain than all the rest, were still to be done.

It is strange that these people should value themselves upon what is no distinction; for I never saw a native of this island, either man or woman, in a state of maturity, in whom these marks were wanting: Possibly they may have their rise in superst.i.tion, especially as they produce no visible advantage, and are not made without great pain; but though we enquired of many hundreds, we could never get any account of the matter.[6]

[Footnote 6: It is very remarkable that something like this tattowing was practised among the Thracians of old, and was actually considered as an indication of n.o.bility. So says Herodotus in Terps. 6. The notion is no way irrational, that early and semi-civilized people had no other way of distinguis.h.i.+ng ranks, than by making visible differences on the skin.

The original inhabitants of Britain, it is probable, meant the same thing by their use of colouring substances. Though it is probable enough too, that another purpose was also accomplished thereby, viz.

preservation in some degree from the inclemency of the climate. By some authors, it has been imagined, that such painting rendered them more terrible to their enemies, which was the reason for the practice. The Indians of North Carolina, according to the curious account of them by Surveyor-General Lawson, Lond. 1714, had still another reason for something similar. Speaking of their use of varnish, pipe-clay, lamp-black, &c. &c. for colouring their bodies before going out to war, he says, "when these creatures are thus painted, they make the most frightful figures that can be imitated by man, and seem more like devils than human creatures. You may be sure that they are about some mischief when you see them thus painted; for in all the hostilities which have ever been acted against the English at any time, in several of the plantations of America, the savages always appeared in this disguise, whereby they might never after be discovered, or known by any of the Christians that should happen to see them after they had made their escape; for it is impossible even to know an Indian under these colours, although he has been at your house a thousand times, and you know him at other times as well as you do any person living."--Mr Bryan Edwards mentions something of the Charaibes like this. "Not satisfied with the workmans.h.i.+p of nature, they called in the a.s.sistance of art, to make themselves more formidable. They painted their faces and bodies with arnotto so extravagantly, that their natural complexion, which was really that of a Spanish olive, was not easily to be distinguished under the surface of crimson. However, as this mode of painting themselves was practised by both s.e.xes, perhaps it was at first introduced as a defence against the venomous insects, so common in tropical climates, or possibly they considered the brilliancy of the colour as highly ornamental." These Charaibes had other ways of deforming themselves, some of which resembled what we shall find described in the course of this work. They made deep cuts on their cheeks, and stained them black; and painted white and black circles round their eyes. The tatooing which Mr Barrow speaks of, as practised in part of Africa where he travelled, one should incline to imagine very different from what is in fas.h.i.+on at Otaheite, which, according to our text, affords any other than pleasurable sensations to the person undergoing this operation. The reader may judge for himself, at least so far as idea goes. "A greater degree of amus.e.m.e.nt (than what their music and dancing yield) seems to be derived by the women from the practice of _tatooing_, or, marking the body, by raising the epidermis from the cuticle; a custom that has been found to exist among most of the uncivilized nations inhibiting warm countries, and which probably owes its origin to a total want of mental resources, and of the employment of time. By slightly irritating, it conveys to the body pleasurable sensations. In Kafferland it has pa.s.sed into a general fas.h.i.+on. No woman is without a tatooed skin; and their ingenuity is chiefly exercised between the breast and on the arms." Such a description corresponds with the notion of some frequently renewed beautfyings of the toilet, rather than that of the infliction of deep and indelible marks, as are prescribed in the Otaheitan ritual. Thus we may see here, as in other instances, that different motives give rise to similar practices.--E.]

Their clothing consists of cloth or matting of different kinds, which will be described among their other manufactures. The cloth, which will not bear wetting, they wear in dry weather, and the matting when it rains; they are put on in many different ways, just as their fancy leads them; for in their garments nothing is cut into shape, nor are any two pieces sewed together. The dress of the better sort of women consists of three or four pieces: One piece, about two yards wide, and eleven yards long, they wrap several times round their waist, so as 'to hang down like a petticoat as low as the middle of the leg, and this they call _Parou_: Two or three other pieces, about two yards and a half long, and one wide, each having a hole cut in the middle, they place one upon another, and then putting the head through the holes, they bring the long ends down before and behind; the others remain open at the sides, and give liberty to the arms: This, which they call the _Tebuta_, is gathered round the waist, and confined with a girdle or sash of thinner cloth, which is long enough, to go many times round them, and exactly resembles the garment worn by the inhabitants of Peru and Chili, which the Spaniards call _Poncho_. The dress of the men is the same, except that, instead of suffering the cloth that is wound about the hips to hang down like a petticoat, they bring it between their legs so as to have some resemblance to breeches, and it is then called _Maro_. This is the dress of all ranks of people, and being universally the same as to form, the gentlemen and ladies distinguish themselves from the lower people by the quant.i.ty; some of them will wrap round them several pieces of cloth, eight or ten yards long, and two or three broad; and some throw a large piece loosely over their shoulders, in the manner of a cloke, or perhaps two pieces, if they are very great personages, and are desirous to appear in state. The inferior sort, who have only a small allowance of cloth from the tribes or families to which they belong, are obliged to be more thinly clad. In the heat of the day they appear almost naked, the women having only a scanty petticoat, and the men nothing but the sash that is pa.s.sed between their legs and fastened round the waist. As finery is always troublesome, and particularly in a hot country, where it consists in putting one covering upon another, the women of rank always uncover themselves as low as the waist in the evening, throwing off all that they wear on the upper part of the body, with the same negligence and ease as our ladies would lay by a cardinal or double handkerchief. And the chiefs, even when they visited us, though they had as much cloth round their middle as would clothe a dozen people, had frequently the rest of the body quite naked.

Upon their legs and feet they wear no covering; but they shade their faces from the sun with little bonnets, either of matting or of cocoa-nut leaves, which they make occasionally in a few minutes. This, however, is not all their head-dress; the women sometimes wear little turbans, and sometimes a dress which they value much more, and which, indeed, is much more becoming, called _Tomou_; the _Tomou_ consists of human hair, plaited in threads, scarcely thicker than sewing silk. Mr Banks got pieces of it above a mile in length, without a knot. These they wind round the head in such a manner as produces a very pretty effect, and in a very great quant.i.ty; for I have seen five or six such pieces wound about the head of one woman: Among these threads they stick flowers of various kinds, particularly the cape-jessamine, of which they have great plenty, as it is always planted near their houses. The men sometimes stick the tail-feather of the Tropic-bird upright in their hair, which, as I have observed before, is often tied in a bunch upon the top of their heads: Sometimes they wear a kind of whimsical garland, made of flowers of various kinds, stuck into a piece of the rind of a plantain; or of scarlet peas, stuck with gum upon a piece of wood: And sometimes they wear a kind of wig, made of the hair of men or dogs, or perhaps of cocoa-nut strings, woven upon one thread, which is tied under their hair, so that these artificial honours of their head may hang down behind. Their personal ornaments, besides flowers, are few; both s.e.xes wear ear-rings, but they are placed only on one side: When we came they consisted of small pieces of sh.e.l.l, stone, berries, red peas, or some small pearls, three in a string; but our beads very soon supplanted them all.

The children go quite naked; the girls till they are three or four years old, and the boys till they are six or seven.

The houses, or rather dwellings of these people, have been occasionally mentioned before: They are all built in the wood, between the sea and the mountains, and no more ground is cleared for each house, than just sufficient to prevent the dropping of the branches from rotting the thatch with which they are covered; from the house, therefore, the inhabitant steps immediately under the shade, which is the most delightful that can be imagined. It consists of groves of bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts, without underwood, which are intersected, in all directions, by the paths that lead from one house to the other. Nothing can be more grateful than this shade in so warm a climate, nor any thing more beautiful than these walks. As there is no underwood, the shade cools without impeding the air; and the houses, having no walls, receive the gale from whatever point it blows. I shall now give a particular description of a house of a middling size, from which, as the structure is universally the same, a perfect idea may be formed both of those that are bigger, and those that are less.

The ground winch it covers is an oblong square, four and twenty feet long, and eleven wide; over this a roof is raised, upon three rows of pillars or posts, parallel to each other, one on each side, and the other in the middle. This roof consists of two flat sides inclining to each other, and terminating in a ridge, exactly like the roofs of our thatched houses in England. The utmost height within is about nine feet, and the eaves on each side reach to within about three feet and a half of the ground: Below this, and through the whole height at each end, it is open, no part of it being enclosed with a wall. The roof is thatched with palm-leaves, and the floor is covered, some inches deep, with soft hay; over this are laid mats, so that the whole is one cus.h.i.+on, upon which they sit in the day, and sleep in the night. In some houses, however, there is one stool, which is wholly appropriated to the master of the family; besides this, they have no furniture, except a few little blocks of wood, the upper side of which is hollowed into a curve, and which serve them for pillows.

The house is indeed princ.i.p.ally used as a dormitory; for, except it rains, they eat in the open air, under the shade of the next tree. The clothes that they wear in the day serve them for covering in the night; the floor is the common bed of the whole household, and is not divided by any part.i.tion. The master of the house and his wife sleep in the middle, next to them the married people, next to them the unmarried women, and next to them, at a little distance, the unmarried men; the servants, or _toutous_, as they are called, sleep in the open air, except it rains, and in that case they come just within the shed.[7]

[Footnote 7: If the Otaheitans were little benefited by the attempts of Europeans to rear cattle among them, as we have seen, they were certainly indebted for the introduction of another race of animals, not at all likely to degenerate or die out in a climate so much more congenial to their nature, than the comparatively inclement regions of our hemisphere, where, notwithstanding the activity of hostile hands, they are known to propagate with most vexatious activity. "Their houses," says the missionary account, "are full of fleas, which harbour in the floor, and are very troublesome, though the natives are much less affected by them than we are; they say they were brought to them by the Europeans. One of our missionaries writes, he has been obliged to get up at midnight, and to run into the sea to cool himself, and to get rid of the swarm of disagreeable companions." The poor missionary was worse off among the fleas, than even Mr Barrow in the midst of the musquitoes, from which, it does not seem, that he ever had occasion to seek refuge, in any such untimely ablution.--E.]

There are, however, houses of another kind, belonging to the chiefs, in which there is some degree of privacy. These are much smaller, and so constructed as to be carried about in their canoes from place to place, and set up occasionally, like a tent; they are enclosed on the sides with cocoa-nut leaves, but not so close as to exclude the air, and the chief and his wife sleep in them alone.

There are houses also of a much larger size, not built either for the accommodation of a single chief, or a single family; but as common receptacles for all the people of a district. Some of them are two hundred feet long, thirty broad, and, under the ridge, twenty feet high; these are built and maintained at the common expence of the district, for the accommodation of which they are intended; and have on one side of them a large area, inclosed with low pallisadoes.

These houses, like those of separate families, have no walls. Privacy, indeed, is little wanted among people who have not the idea of indecency, and who gratify every appet.i.te and pa.s.sion before witnesses, with no more sense of impropriety than we feel when we satisfy our hunger at a social board with our family or friends. Those who have no idea of indecency with respect to actions, can have none with respect to words; it is, therefore, scarcely necessary to observe, that, in the conversation of these people, that which is the princ.i.p.al source of their pleasure, is always the princ.i.p.al topic; and that every thing is mentioned without any restraint or emotion, and in the most direct terms, by both s.e.xes.[8]

[Footnote 8: Let us for once hear the missionary account, in palliation at least, of such clamant enormities. "They have no part.i.tions in their houses; but it may be affirmed, they have in many instances more refined ideas of decency than ourselves; and one long a resident, scruples not to declare, that he never saw any appet.i.te, hunger and thirst excepted, gratified in public. It is too true, that for the sake of gaining our extraordinary curiosities, and to please our brutes, they have appeared immodest in the extreme. Yet they lay the charge wholly at our door, and say, that Englishmen are ashamed of nothing, and that we have led them to public acts of indecency never before practised among themselves.

Iron here, more precious than gold, bears down every barrier of restraint. Honesty and modesty yield to the force of temptation." A remark may be made here of some consequence. In estimating the momentum of temptations, we ought to consider not only their direct strength, but also what is known or believed of the extent of their influence on the society to which people belong. A man, it is certain, will much more readily acquiesce in those which he has reason to think common to his fellow creatures, than in others exclusively directed to himself. In the one case he antic.i.p.ates sympathy, should he transgress; in the other, he is deterred by the apprehension of being singular in guilt. The Otaheitans were in the former predicament, and accordingly were perhaps universally accessible to the charms of nails and hatchets and beads.

Whereas, it is probable, that had even similar solicitations been attempted in any instances unknown to each other, they would perhaps have been resisted. But vice once known to be established in society, becomes daily more prolific of its kind, and, like the Fama of Virgil, _vires acquirit eundo_. It is but fair to give these islanders the full benefit of this principle, when we sit in a.s.size on them. Pray who can tell what would be the consequence of a visit from some of the inhabitants of Saturn, or the Georgium Sidus, should they open up their ultramundane treasures in sight of the British court? Is it conceivable, that the lovers of embroidery, and lace and diamonds would resist the witcheries of the strangers?--or that the marvellous effects of their liberality in distribution, should be confined within the walls of St James's? He that can wisely answer these questions, is at liberty to return a verdict in the trial of the Otaheitans.--E.]

Of the food eaten here the greater part is vegetable. Here are no tame animals except hogs, dogs, and poultry, as I have observed before, and these are by no means plenty. When a chief kills a hog, if is almost equally divided among his dependants; and as they are very numerous, the share of each individual at these feasts, which are not frequent, must necessarily be small. Dogs and fowls fall somewhat more frequently to the share of the common people. I cannot much commend the flavour of their fowls; but we all agreed, that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an English lamb; their excellence is probably owing to their being kept up, and fed wholly upon vegetables. The sea affords them a great variety of fish. The smaller fish, when they catch any, are generally eaten raw, as we eat oysters; and nothing that the sea produces comes amiss to them: They are fond of lobsters, crabs, and other sh.e.l.l-fish, which are found upon the coast; and they will eat not only sea-insects, but what the seamen call _blubbers_, though some of them are so tough, that they are obliged, to suffer them to become putrid before they can be chewed. Of the many vegetables that have been mentioned already as serving them for food, the princ.i.p.al is the bread-fruit, to procure which costs them no trouble or labour but climbing a tree: The tree which produces it, does not indeed shoot up spontaneously; but if a man plants ten of them in his lifetime, which he may do in about an hour, he will as completely fulfil his duty to his own and future generations, as the natives of our less temperate climate can do by ploughing in the cold of winter, and reaping in the summer's heat, as often as these seasons return; even if, after he has procured bread for his present household, he should convert a surplus into money, and lay it up for his children.

It is true, indeed, that the bread-fruit is not always in season; but cocoa-nuts, bananas, plantains, and a great variety of other fruits, supply the deficiency.

It may well be supposed, that cookery is but little studied by these people as an art; and, indeed, they have but two ways of applying fire to dress their food, broiling and baking; the operation of broiling is so simple that it requires no description, and their baking has been described already, in the account of an entertainment prepared for us by Tupia. Hogs and large fish are extremely well dressed in the same manner; and, in our opinion, were more juicy, and more equally done, than by any art of cookery now practised in Europe. Bread-fruit is also cooked in an oven of the same kind, which renders it soft, and something like a boiled potatoe; not quite so farinaceous as a good one, but more so than those of the middling sort.

Of the-bread-fruit they also make three dishes, by putting either water or the milk of the cocoa-nut to it, then beating it to a paste with a stone pestle, and afterwards mixing it with ripe plantains, bananas, or the sour paste which they call _mahie_.

The mahie, which has been mentioned as a succedaneum for ripe bread-fruit, before the season for gathering a fresh crop comes on, is thus made:

The fruit is gathered just before it is perfectly ripe, and being laid in heaps, is closely covered with leaves; in this state it undergoes a fermentation, and becomes disagreeably sweet: The core is then taken out entire, which is done by gently pulling the stalk, and the rest of the fruit is thrown into a hole which is dug for that purpose, generally in the houses, and neatly lined in the bottom and sides with gra.s.s; the whole is then covered with leaves, and heavy stones laid upon them: In this state it undergoes a second fermentation, and becomes sour, after which it will suffer no change for many months: It is taken out of the hole as it is wanted for use, and being made into b.a.l.l.s, it is wrapped up in leaves and baked; after it is dressed, it will keep five or six-weeks. It is eaten both cold and hot, and the natives seldom make a meal without it, though to us the taste was as disagreeable as that of a pickled olive generally is the first time it is eaten.

As the making of this mahie depends, like brewing, upon fermentation, so, like brewing, it sometimes fails, without their being able to ascertain the cause; it is very natural, therefore, that the making it should be connected with superst.i.tious notions and ceremonies: It generally falls to the lot of the old women, who will suffer no creature to touch any thing belonging to it, but those whom they employ as a.s.sistants, nor even to go into that part of the house where the operation is carrying on. Mr Banks happened to spoil a large quant.i.ty of it only by inadvertently touching a leaf which lay upon it. The old woman, who then presided over these mysteries, told him, that the process would fail; and immediately uncovered the hole in a fit of vexation and despair. Mr Banks regretted the mischief he had done, but was somewhat consoled by the opportunity which it gave him of examining the preparation, which perhaps, but for such an accident, would never have offered.[9]

[Footnote 9: "This paste," we are told in the missionary account, "makes a most nutritious and sweet pudding, and all the children of the family and their relations feast on it eagerly. During this festive season they seldom quit the house, and continue wrapped up in cloth: And it is surprising to see them in a month become so fair and fat, that they can scarcely breathe. The children afterwards grow amazingly. The baked bread-fruit in this state very much in taste resembles gingerbread."

This delicate and wholesome provision, it is said, is not confined to the chiefs and wealthier people, as all who will be at the pains to provide an oven, may readily be supplied with bread-fruit from their neighbours. Such is the generosity of these interesting people, that all of a man's own rank are at all times ready to contribute largely to his support, on his making known his need. In how many respects are these islanders worthy of being held up as examples for us!--E.]