Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before Part 11

A crop of bread-fruit is sometimes shaken off the trees by a gale before it is ripe, and occasionally taro plantations are destroyed by drought and caterpillars; but the people have wild yams in the bush, preserved bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and fish to fall back upon; so that there is rarely, if ever, anything like a serious famine. A scarcity of food, occasioned by any of the causes just named, they were in the habit of tracing to the wrath of one of their G.o.ds, called _O le Sa_ (or the Sacred One). The sun, storms, caterpillars, and all destructive insects were said to be his _au ao_, or servants, who were commissioned to go forth and eat up the plantations of those with whom he was displeased. In times of plenty as well as of scarcity the people were in the habit of a.s.sembling with offerings of food, and poured out drink-offerings of _'ava_ to _Le Sa_, to propitiate his favour.

A story is told of a woman and her child, who in a time of great scarcity were neglected by the family. One day they cooked some wild yams, but never offered her a share. She was vexed, asked the child to follow her, and when they reached a precipice on the rocky coast, seized the child and jumped over. It is said they were changed into turtles, and afterwards came in that form at the call of the people of the village.

_Cannibalism._--During some of their wars, a body was occasionally cooked by the Samoans; but they affirm that, in such a case, it was always some one of the enemy who had been notorious for provocation or cruelty, and that eating a part of his body was considered the climax of hatred and revenge, and was not occasioned by the mere relish for human flesh, such as obtained in the Fiji, New Hebrides, and New Caledonian groups. In more remote heathen times, however, they may have indulged this savage appet.i.te. To speak of roasting him is the very worst language that can be addressed to a Samoan. If applied to a chief of importance, he may raise war to avenge the insult. It is the custom on the submission of one party to another to bow down before their conquerors each with a piece of firewood and a bundle of leaves, such as are used in dressing a pig for the oven; as much as to say, "Kill us and cook us, if you please." Criminals, too, are sometimes bound hand to hand and foot to foot; slung on a pole put through between the hands and feet, carried and laid down before the parties they have injured, like a pig about to be killed and cooked. So deeply humiliating is this act considered that the culprit who consents to degrade himself so far is almost sure to be forgiven.

From such references to cannibalism as we have at pp. 47, 48, and also the following fragments from old stories, it is further apparent that the custom was not unknown in Samoa.

During a great scarcity occasioned by a gale cannibalism prevailed.

When a light was wanted in the evening, two or three went to fetch it--it was not safe for one to go alone. If a child was seen out of doors, some one would entice it by holding up something white and calling the child to get a bit of cocoa-nut kernel, and so kidnap and cook.

A story is also told of a woman who had a child who was playing on the surf on the beach. Three of her brothers came along and begged her to let them have the child. She said that if a _b.l.o.o.d.y_ surf should suddenly appear they might have the child, but not otherwise.

Presently the surf dashed red and b.l.o.o.d.y on the sh.o.r.e. She kept to her word, and let the heartless fellows carry off the boy to the oven.

Here is another piece about Ae a Tongan, who attached himself to the Samoan chief Tinilau. Tinilau travelled from place to place on two turtles. Ae wished to visit Tonga, and begged from his master the loan of the turtles. He got them, with the caution to be very careful of them. As soon as he reached Tonga he called his friends to take on sh.o.r.e the turtles, kill them, and have a feast, and this they gladly did.

Tinilau, after waiting long for the return of the turtles, suspected they had been killed. This was confirmed in his mind by the appearance on the beach of a b.l.o.o.d.y wave. He called a meeting of all the avenging G.o.ds of Savaii, and put the case into their hands. They went off to Tonga, found Ae at midnight in a sound sleep, picked him up, brought him back to Samoa, and laid him down in the front room of the house of Tinilau.

At c.o.c.k-crowing Ae woke up and said aloud, "Why, you c.o.c.k! you crow like the one belonging to the _pig_ I lived with." Tinilau called out from his room, "Had the fellow you lived with such a fowl?" "Yes, the _pig_ had one just like it." "Tell us more about him," and so Ae went on chattering, and still using the abusive epithet _pig_ when speaking of his master, and talked about the turtles, what a fine feast they had, etc. As it got lighter, he looked up to the roof and said, "This too is just like the house the _pig_ lived in." By-and-by he woke up, as it got light, to the full consciousness that somehow or other he was again in the very house of Tinilau, and that his cannibal master was in the next room. He was dumb and panic-stricken. Orders were given to kill him, and he was despatched accordingly, and his body dressed for the oven. And hence the proverb for any similar action, or if any one takes by mistake or intention what belongs to another, he says in making an apology, "I am like Ae."

Another curious fragment goes from cannibalism to the origin of pigs.

A cannibal chief had human victims taken to him regularly, and was in the habit of throwing the heads into a cave close by. A great many heads had been cast in, and he thought no more about them. One day, however, he was sitting on a rock outside the cave when he heard an unusual noise. On looking in, the place was full of _pigs_, and hence the belief that pigs had their origin in the heads of men, or, as some would call it, a humbling case of evolution _downwards_!

_Cooking._--The Samoans had and still have, the mode of cooking with hot stones which has been often described as prevailing in the South Sea Islands. Fifty or sixty stones about the size of an orange, heated by kindling a fire under them, form, with the hot ashes, an ordinary oven. The taro, bread-fruit, or yams, are laid among the stones, a thick covering of bread-fruit and banana leaves is laid over all, and in about an hour all is well cooked. In the same oven they bake other things, such as fish, done up in leaves and laid side by side with the taro or other vegetables. Little bundles of taro leaves, too, mixed with the expressed juice of the cocoa-nut kernel, and some other dishes, of which cocoa-nut is generally the chief ingredient, are baked at the same time, and used as a relish in the absence of animal food. Salt water is frequently mixed up with these dishes, which is the only form in which they use salt. They had no salt, and were not in the habit of preserving fish or pork otherwise than by repeated cooking. In this way they kept pork for a week, and fish for three weeks or a month. However large, they cooked the entire pig at once; then, using a piece of split bamboo as a carving-knife, cut it up and divided it among the different branches of the family. The duties of cooking devolved on the men; and all, even chiefs of the highest rank, considered it no disgrace to a.s.sist in the cooking-house occasionally.

_Forbidden Food._--Some birds and fishes were sacred to particular deities, as has been described, and certain parties abstained from eating them. A man would not eat a fish which was supposed to be under the protection and care of his household G.o.d; but he would eat, without scruple, fish sacred to the G.o.ds of other families. The dog, and some kinds of fish and birds, were sacred to the greater deities--the _dii majorum gentium_ of the Samoans; and, of course, all the people rigidly abstained from these things. For a man to kill and eat anything he considered to be under the special protection of his G.o.d, was supposed to be followed by the G.o.d's displeasure in the sickness or death of himself, or some member of the family. The same idea seems to have been a check on cannibalism, as there was a fear lest the G.o.d of the deceased would be avenged on those who might cook and eat the body.

_Liquors._--The young cocoa-nut contains about a tumblerful of a liquid something resembling water sweetened with lump-sugar, and very slightly acid. This is the ordinary beverage of the Samoans. A young cocoa-nut baked in the oven yields a hot draught, which is very pleasant to an invalid. They had no fermented liquors; but they made an intoxicating draught from an infusion of the chewn root of the 'ava plant (_Piper methystic.u.m_). A bowl of this disgustingly-prepared stuff was made and served out when a party of chiefs sat down to a meal. At their ordinary meals few partook of it but the father, or other senior members of the family. It was always taken before, and not after the meal. Among a formal party of chiefs it was handed round in a cocoa-nut sh.e.l.l cup with a good deal of ceremony. When the cup was filled the name, or t.i.tle rather, of the person for whom it was intended was called out; the cup-bearer took it to him, he received it, drank it off, and returned the cup to be filled again, as the "portion" of another chief. The most important chiefs had the first cups, and, following the order of rank, all had a draught. The liquor was much diluted; few drank to excess; and, upon the whole, the Samoans were perhaps among the most temperate 'ava drinkers in the South Seas. The old men considered that a little of it strengthened them and prolonged life; and often they had a cup the first thing in the morning.

_Hospitality._--The Samoans were remarkable for hospitality.

Travelling parties never needed to take food for any place beyond the first stage of their journey. Every village had its "large house,"

kept in good order, and well spread with mats for the reception of strangers. On the arrival of a party some of the members of every family in the village a.s.sembled and prepared food for them. It was the province of the head of one particular family to decide, and send word to the rest, how much it would be necessary for each to provide. After all was cooked, it was taken and laid down in front of the house, and, on presenting it, one of them would make a speech, welcoming them to their village; and, although a sumptuous repast had been provided, an apology would be made that there was nothing better. The strangers replied, returned thanks, and exchanged kind words. In the event of there being a chief of high rank among the party, it would probably be decided that every man, woman, and child of the place turn out, dress themselves in their best, walk in single file, each carrying a fish, a fowl, a lobster, a yam, or something else in the hand, and, singing some merry chant as they went along, proceed to the place, and there lay down in a heap what they had provided for their guests. An evening ball or night-dance was also considered an indispensable accompaniment to the entertainment. A travelling party rarely spent more than one night at a place.

_Meals._--The Samoans had a meal about 11 A.M., and their princ.i.p.al meal in the evening. At the evening meal every family was a.s.sembled; and men, women, and children all ate together. They had no tables, but seated themselves cross-legged round the circular house on mats. Each had his portion laid down before him on a bread-fruit leaf; and thus they partook, in primitive style, without knife, fork, or spoon.

Should any strangers be present, due respect was shown to them by laying before them "a worthy portion." After the meal, water to wash was handed round, and a _rub_ on the post of the house was the usual table-napkin.

The head of the family, in taking his cup of 'ava at the commencement of the evening meal, would pour out a little of it on the ground, as a drink-offering to the G.o.ds, and, all being silent, he would utter aloud the following prayer:--

"Here is 'ava for you, O G.o.ds! Look kindly towards this family; let it prosper and increase; and let us all be kept in health. Let our plantations be productive; let fruit grow; and may there be abundance of food for us, your creatures.

"Here is 'ava for you, our war G.o.ds! Let there be a strong and numerous people for you in this land.

"Here is 'ava for you, O sailing G.o.ds![1] Do not come on sh.o.r.e at this place; but be pleased to depart along the ocean to some other land."

It was also very common to pray with an offering of "flaming fire,"

just before the evening meal. Calling upon some one to blow up the fire and make it blaze, and begging all to be silent, a senior member of the family would pray aloud as follows:--

"This light is for you, O king[2] and G.o.ds superior and inferior!

If any of you are forgotten do not be angry, this light is for you all. Be propitious to this family; give life to all; and may your presence be prosperity. Let our children be blessed and multiplied.

Remove far from us fines and sicknesses. Regard our poverty; and send us food to eat, and cloth to keep us warm. Drive away from us sailing G.o.ds, lest they come and cause disease and death. Protect this family by your presence, and may health and long life be given to us all."

It is related of an old chief in Savaii, that one night at the evening meal he ordered a sea-crab to be reserved for his breakfast. In the night some lads of the family got up and ate it. Next morning the old man was in a great rage, rose, and said to his daughter that he was going off to commit suicide, he could bear no longer the unkindness of the family. He seized his staff and went off to the mountain, where there is a deep ravine. When he reached the edge of the precipice he called to his daughter, who had followed him, that he would jump over, and cause a storm to arise and destroy the place--and over he went.

The daughter thought it was of no use to go home, and so she lay down on the edge of the ravine, and became a mountain to shut up the storm and save the people from the threatened wrath of her father.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: G.o.ds supposed to come in Tongan canoes and foreign vessels.]

[Footnote 2: The princ.i.p.al G.o.d of the family.]

CHAPTER IX.

CLOTHING.

In our last chapter we alluded to the food of the Samoans, and now proceed to a description of their clothing, the materials of which it is made, their modes of ornament, etc.

During the day a covering of _ti_ leaves _(Dracaena terminalis_) was all that either s.e.x thought necessary. "They sewed" _ti_ "leaves together, and made themselves ap.r.o.ns." The men had a small one about a foot square, the women had theirs made of longer _ti_ leaves, reaching from the waist down below the knee, and made wide, so as to form a girdle covering all round. They had no regular covering for any other part of the body. Occasionally, during rain, they would tie a banana leaf round the head for a cap, or hold one over them as an umbrella.

They made shades for the eyes of a little piece of plaited cocoa-nut leaflet; and sometimes they made sandals of the plaited bark of the _Hibiscus tiliaceus_, to protect the feet while fis.h.i.+ng among the p.r.i.c.kly coral about the reef.

_Native Cloth._--At night they slept on a mat, using as a covering a mat or a sheet of native cloth, and inclosed all round by a curtain of the same material to keep out musquitoes. In sickness, also, they wrapped themselves up in native cloth. Their native cloth was made of the inner bark of the paper mulberry (_Morus papyrifera_) beaten out on a board, and joined together with arrow-root, so as to form any width or length of cloth required.

The juice of the raspings of the bark of trees, together with red clay, turmeric, and the soot of burnt candle-nut, furnished them with colouring matter and varnish, with which they daubed their native cloth in the form of squares, stripes, triangles, etc., but, with a few exceptions, perhaps, devoid of taste or regularity.

Tutunga is the native name of the paper mulberry. A fabulous story is told of it and a stinging tree called Salato. As the tale goes, they were two brothers, and had each his plot of ground and a distinct boundary. One morning Tutunga stretched over his boundary and crossed to Salato. Salato was displeased and complained to Tutunga, but he was sullen and made no reply. The affair was referred to the parents; who decided that the two should separate, and that Salato should go further inland, and be sacred and respected; and so it is, no one dares to touch it. On the other hand, Tutunga was severely punished for having proudly crossed his boundary. He was to be cut, and skinned, and beaten, and painted, and made to cover the bodies of men.

Then to rot, and then to be burned. And so it is--thus ends Tutunga the proud.

_Fine Mats._--Their fine mats were, and are still, considered their most valuable clothing. These mats are made of the leaves of a species of panda.n.u.s sc.r.a.ped clean and thin as writing-paper, and slit into strips about the sixteenth part of an inch wide. They are made by the women; and, when completed, are from two to three yards square. They are of a straw and cream colour, are fringed, and, in some instances, ornamented with small scarlet feathers inserted here and there. These mats are thin, and almost as flexible as a piece of calico. Few of the women can make them, and many months--yea, years, are sometimes spent over the making of a single mat. These fine mats are considered their most valuable property, and form a sort of currency which they give and receive in exchange. They value them at from two to forty s.h.i.+llings each. They are preserved with great care; some of them pa.s.s through several generations, and as their age and historic interest increase, they are all the more valued.

Another kind of fine mats for clothing they weave out of the bark of a plant of the nettle tribe, which is extensively spread over these islands without any cultivation. They are s.h.a.ggy on the one side, and, when bleached white, resemble a prepared fleecy sheep-skin. These they sometimes dye with red clay found in the mountains. From the strength and whiteness of the fibre manufactured from this plant, it is capable of being turned to great use.

_Cleanliness._--As the native cloth cannot be washed without destroying it, it is generally filthy in the extreme before it is laid aside. This has induced a habit of carelessness in was.h.i.+ng cotton and other garments, which is very offensive and difficult to eradicate.

They are cleanly, however, in other habits beyond most of the natives of Polynesia. Their floor and sleeping mats are kept clean and tidy.

They generally use the juice of the wild orange in cleansing, and bathe regularly every day. It is worth remarking, too, that, while bathing, they have a girdle of leaves or some other covering round the waist. In this delicate sense of propriety it would be well for some more civilised parts of the world to learn a lesson from the Samoans.

_Special Occasions._--At marriages and on other gala days, the women, and many of the men, laid aside the leaves and girded themselves with fine mats. Gay young men and women decorated themselves with garlands of flowers or sh.e.l.ls. The nautilus sh.e.l.l, broken into small pieces, and strung together, was a favourite head-dress. They oiled themselves from head to foot with scented oil, and sometimes mixed turmeric with the oil to give their skin a tinge of yellow.

Both s.e.xes kept uncovered the upper part of the body, and wore sh.e.l.ls, beads, or other trinkets round the neck. They prided themselves also in dressing their children in a similar style. The women wore the hair short, and, on occasions, sometimes had it raised and stiffened with a mixture of scented oil and the gum of the bread-fruit tree. It was fas.h.i.+onable, also, for young women to have a small twisted lock of hair, with a curl at the end of it, hanging from the left temple. The men wore their hair long and gathered up in a knot on the crown of the head, a little to the right side. In company, however, and when attending religious services, they were careful to untie the string, and let their hair flow behind, as a mark of respect. Gay young men occasionally cut their hair short, leaving a small twisted lock hanging down towards the breast from either temple.

Their hair is naturally black; but they were fond of dyeing it a light brown colour, by the application of lime, which they made by burning the coral. To dye hair, and also to rub and blind the eyes of pigs which trespa.s.sed into neighbouring plantations, were the only uses to which they applied lime in the time of heathenism.

The beard they shaved with the teeth of the shark. Armlets of small white sh.e.l.ls were worn by the men above the elbow-joint. Some pierced their ears with a thorn, and wore a small flower for an earring; but this was not very common. A long comb, made from the stem of the cocoa-nut leaflet, was a common ornament of the women, and worn in the hair behind the ear. For a looking-gla.s.s, they sometimes used a tub of water; but in arranging the head-dress, they were more frequently guided by the eyes and taste of others. The tattooing, which we described in a previous chapter, was also considered one of their princ.i.p.al ornaments.

There is a story told of a Fijian chief called Fulualela, _Feathers-of-the-Sun_, who came with his daughter to visit Samoa. He had heard of the beauty of the islands and their handsome inhabitants, and thought he might find here a husband chief for his daughter. He was greatly surprised, however, to discover that while the islands were lovely, and the people attractive, they had no mats in their houses, but slept on dried gra.s.s like the pigs. He could not think of leaving his daughter; but when he returned to Fiji he made up a present of fine mats, native cloth, and scented oil, as if it were his daughter's dowry, and went back to Samoa with the generous gift, adding also panda.n.u.s and paper mulberry plants with which to stock Samoa with material for making such household comforts as mats and native cloth. And hence it is said that ever since the gift of Feathers-of-the-Sun from Fiji, Samoa has had the luxuries of mats to sleep on, and sheets of native cloth to cover them.