Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before Part 12

CHAPTER X.

AMUs.e.m.e.nTS.

Under the head of _amus.e.m.e.nts_, dancing, wrestling, boxing, fencing, and a variety of games and sports, call for description, and to these we shall briefly advert.

_Dancing_ was a common entertainment on festive occasions, such as a marriage. Some of their dances were in the daytime, and, like dress-b.a.l.l.s of other countries, were accompanied with a display of fancy mats and other Samoan finery. At the night a.s.semblies the men dressed in their short leaf ap.r.o.ns. Sometimes only the men danced, at other times women, and occasionally the parties were mixed. They danced in parties of two, three, and upwards, on either side. If the one party moved in one direction, the other party took the opposite.

They had also various gesticulations, which they practised with some regularity. If, for example, the one party moved along with the right arm raised, the other did precisely the same. It was posturing rather than saltation.

Singing, clapping the hands, beating time on the floor-mats, and drumming, were the usual musical accompaniments. Their music, on these occasions, was a monotonous chant of a line or two, repeated over and over again, with no variety beyond two or three notes. They sought variety rather in _time_. They began slow, and gradually increased until, at the end of ten or twenty minutes, they were full of excitement, the perspiration streaming down, and their tongues galloping over the rhyme at breathless speed. For a drum, they had two or three contrivances. One, a log of wood six or eight feet long, hollowed out from a narrow elongated opening on the upper surface; and this they beat with a short stick or mallet. Another was a set of bamboos, four feet long and downwards, arranged like a Pan's pipe, having the open ends inclosed in a mat bag, and this bag they beat with a stick. A third kind of drumming was effected by four or five men, each with a bamboo open at the top and closed at the bottom, with which, holding vertically, they beat the ground, or a stone or any hard substance, and as the bamboos are of various lengths, they emitted a variety of sounds. At these night-dances all kinds of obscenity in looks, language, and gesture prevailed; and often they danced and revelled till daylight.

_Court buffoons_ furnished some amus.e.m.e.nt at dancing and other festivals, and also at public meetings. If a chief of importance went to any of these a.s.semblies he had in his train one or two humourists, who, by oddity in dress, gait, or gesture, or by lascivious jokes, tried to excite laughter.

_Boxing and fencing_ were common on festive days, and often led to serious quarrels. In fencing, they used the stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf as a subst.i.tute for a club. _Women_, as well as men, entered the ring, and strove for the fame of a pugilist.

_Wrestling_ was another amus.e.m.e.nt. Sometimes they chose sides, say four against four; and the party who had the most thrown had to furnish their opponents with a cooked pig, served up with taro, or supply any other kind of food that might be staked at the outset of the game. A supply of some kind of food was the usual forfeit in all their games.

_Clasp and undo_ was another kind of wrestling. One man clasped a second tightly round the waist, and this second does the same to a third. The three thus fastened together lay down and challenged any single man to separate them. If he succeeded, they paid the forfeit; if not, he did.

_Throwing the spear_ was also common. The young men of one street or village matched against those of another; and, after fixing a mark in the distance, threw a small wooden javelin so that it might first strike the ground, and then spring upwards and onwards in the direction of the mark. They who threw farthest won the game, and had a repast of food at the expense of those who lost it. In more direct spear-throwing they set up the stem of a young cocoa-nut tree, with the base upwards, which is soft and spongy. One party threw at it, and filled it with spears. The other party threw, and tried to knock them down. If any remained after all had thrown they were counted until they reached the number fixed for the game. In another of these amus.e.m.e.nts a man stood in the distance and allowed another to throw spears at him. He had no s.h.i.+eld, but merely a club; and with this he showed surprising dexterity in hitting off spear after spear as it approached him.

_Fis.h.i.+ng matches_ were in vogue at particular seasons. The party who took the most fish won, and were treated with cooked pigs and other viands by those who lost.

_Pigeon-catching_ was another amus.e.m.e.nt, and one, like our English falconry of other days, in which the chiefs especially delighted. The princ.i.p.al season set in about June. Great preparations were made for it; all the pigs of a settlement were sometimes slaughtered and baked for the occasion; and, laden with all kinds of food, the whole population of the place went off to certain pigeon-grounds in the bush. There they put up huts, and remained sometimes for months at the sport.

The ground being cleared, the chiefs stationed themselves at distances all round a large circular s.p.a.ce, each concealed under a low shed or covering of brushwood, having by his side a net attached to a long bamboo, and in his hand a stick with a tame pigeon on a crook at the end of it. This pigeon was trained to fly round and round, as directed by its owner, with a string at its foot thirty feet long, attached to the end of his stick. Every man flew his pigeon, and then the whole circle looked like a place where pigeons were flocking round food or water. The scene soon attracted some wild pigeon; and, as it approached the spot, whoever was next to it raised his net and tried to entangle it. He who got the greatest number of pigeons was the hero of the day, and honoured by his friends with various kinds of food, with which he treated his less successful compet.i.tors. Some of the pigeons were baked, others were distributed about and tamed for further use. Taming and exercising them for the sporting season was a common pastime.

_Spinning the cocoa-nut_ was another amus.e.m.e.nt. A party sat down in a circle, and one in the centre spinned a cocoa-nut. When it rested they saw to whom the three black marks or eyes on the end of the sh.e.l.l pointed, and imposed upon him some little service to the whole, such as unhusking chestnuts, or going for a load of cocoa-nuts. This is especially worthy of remark, as it was the Samoan method of _casting lots_. If a number of people were unwilling to go a message or do a piece of work, they decided the matter by wheeling round the cocoa-nut to see to whom it turned its _face_, as they called it, when it rested. Sometimes they appealed to this lot, and fixed the charge of stealing on a person towards whom the _face_ of the cocoa-nut pointed.

They had also a game of _hide-and-seek_, with the addition that those who hid tried to escape those who sought, and ran to a given post or mark. All who reached the post were counted towards making up the game.

_Pitching_ small cocoa-nut sh.e.l.ls to the end of a mat was a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt of the chiefs. They tried to knock each other's sh.e.l.ls off the given spot. They played in parties of two and two, with five sh.e.l.ls each. They who had most sh.e.l.ls left on the place after all had thrown won.

They had also _guessing_ sports. One party hid, the other bundled up one of their number in a large basket covered over with a mat or cloth. Then they too hid, all but three, who carried the basket to the other party for them to guess who was in it. If they guessed correctly, then they in turn got the basket to do the same. The successful guesses were counted for the game.

They were in the habit of amusing themselves with _riddles_, of which the following are a specimen:--

"1. A man who continues standing out of doors with a burden on his back.--_Explanation._ A banana tree, with a bunch of bananas.

"2. There are twenty brothers, each with a hat on his head.--_Explan._ A man's fingers and toes; the nails of which are represented as hats.

"3. A man who stands between two ravenous fish.--_Explan._ The tongue, as being placed between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws.

"4. There are four brothers, who are always bearing about their father.--_Explan._ The Samoan pillow, formed by four legs and a bamboo; the legs being the four brothers, the bamboo the father.

"5. There is a man who calls out continually day and night.--_Explan._ The surf on the reef, which never rests.

"6. There is a man who, when he leaves the bush, is very little; but when he has reached the sea-sh.o.r.e, becomes very great.--_Explan._ The bark of the paper-mulberry, which, when first taken off the wood, is very narrow; but, when beaten out to make the native cloth, becomes very broad.

"7. A man who has a white head stands above the fence, and reaches to the heavens.--_Explan._ The smoke rising from the oven.

"8. The person who sleeps on a bed of whales' teeth.--_Explan._ A fowl sitting on her eggs.

"9. Many brothers, but only one intestine.--_Explan._ A string of beads. The beads being the brothers, and the string the intestine.

"10. A long house with one post.--_Explan._ The nose; the septum being the post."

They had also games at _rhyming_. One party would choose the names of trees and another the names of men. Those who sided with the trees would say: "There is the _Fau_ tree, tell us a name which will rhyme with it." The reply would perhaps be _Tulifau_.

Again, there is the _Toa_, and the other party would reply _Tuisamoa_. And so on they went till one party had exhausted all the names they could think of, owned the defeat, and paid the forfeit.

In a similar game one party would name a bird or beast, and the other a fish with a corresponding rhyme. For example, for the birds:

Lupe, they would give the name of the fish, Une.

Ngongo, Do. do. do. Alongo.

Tiotala, Do. do. do. Ngatala.

Here, too, there was a forfeit if beaten. They had _tripping and stammering_ games also. One party would say to the other--you repeat

"O lo matou niu afaafa lava le la i tuafale, Sasa, ma fili, ma faataa, ma lafo i fongavai."

If any one tripped when repeating it he had to pay a forfeit.

Another might be in rhyme and run as follows:

"Na au sau mai Safata, Ou afe i le ngatai ala, E fafanga i si au tiaa, Fafanga, fafanga, pa le manava.

Fafanga, fafanga, pa le manava."

Another as his puzzle to repeat correctly would give:

"Na au sau mai Mali'oli'o, Lou ala i umu, Lou ala i paito, Lou ala i puto pute, Lou ala i pute puto."

If any one slipped in repeating he paid the forfeit.

In some of their evening sports _theatricals_ were in vogue.

Ill.u.s.trations would be given of selfish schemes to take things easy at the expense of others, clownish processions to create laughter, or marriage ceremonies in which, when it came to the point, the bride rebelled and would not have her husband. Ventriloquism also was attempted, in which, as they say, "voices spoke to them without bodies."

They amused each other also by stories of _hoodwinking and trickery_, such as the following:--A Samoan and a Tongan made friends with each other. When the latter went away on a visit to Tonga the former begged him to bring back one of their large cocoa-nuts, which are prized as water-bottles. He promised to do it on condition that the Samoan would look out for him a fine white fowl.

The Samoan got ready the fowl, and made a basket in which to put it.

The Tongan returned with a large unhusked nut, but on the voyage he split up the husk, took out the nut, and closed all up again. The Samoan had the gift of _second sight_, knew what the Tongan had done, and so he let loose the white fowl, and put an _owl_ in its place in the basket.

The Tongan on his arrival gave him the large _mock_ nut, _minus_ the real nut and kernel, and the Samoan handed him the basket with the pretended white fowl.

The Tongan jumped into his canoe again, and went off in high glee singing:

"Niu niu, pulu!

Niu niu, pulu!"