Presents of European fowls and seeds made to the chief.
I presented the chief of the district in which we were with a couple of turkies, and some ducks and drakes; they were to be considered as the mites of the widow. I likewise desired him to make a garden in our way, and to sow various sorts of feeds in them, and this proposal was received with joy. In a short time, Ereti prepared a piece of ground, which had been chosen by our gardeners, and got it inclosed. I ordered it to be dug; they admired our gardening instruments. They have likewise around their houses a kind of kitchen gardens, in which they plant an eatable hibiscus or okra, potatoes, yams, and other roots. We sowed for their use some wheat, barley, oats, rice, maize, onions, and pot herbs of all kinds. We have reason to believe that these plantations will be taken care of; for this nation appeared to love agriculture, and would I believe be easily accustomed to make advantage of their soil, which is the most fertile in the universe.
Visit of the chief of a neighbouring district.
During the first days of our arrival, I had a visit from the chief of a neighbouring district, who came on board with a present of fruits, hogs, fowls, and cloth. This lord, namedToutaa, has a fine shape, and is prodigiously tall. He was accompanied by some of his relations, who were almost all of them six feet (Frenchmeasure) high: I made them presents of nails, some tools, beads, and silk stuffs. We were obliged to repay this visit at his house, where we were very well received, and where the good-natured Toutaa offered me one of his wives, who was very young and pretty handsome. The assembly was very numerous, and the musicians had already began the hymenean. Such is their manner of receiving visits of ceremony.
On the 10th, an islander was killed, and the natives came to complain of this murder. I sent some people to the house, whither they had brought the dead body; it appeared very plain that the man had been killed by a fire-arm. However, none of our people had been suffered to go out of the camp, or to come from the ships with fire-arms. The most exact enquiries which I made to find out the author of this villainous action proved unsuccessful. The natives doubtless believed that their countryman had been in the wrong; for they continued to come to our quarters with their usual confidence. However, I received intelligence that many of the people had been seen carrying off their effects to the mountains, and that even Ereti’s house was quite unfurnished. I made him some more presents, and this good chief continued to testify the sincerest friendship for us.
Loss of our anchors, dangers which we meet with.
I hastened in the mean while the completing of our works of all kinds; for though this was an excellentplace to supply our wants at, yet I knew that we were very ill moored. Indeed, though we under-run the cables almost every day with the long boat, and had not yet found them chafed[98], yet we had found the bottom was strewed with large coral; and besides, in case of a high wind from the offing, we had no room to drive. Necessity had obliged us to take this anchorage, without leaving us the liberty of choosing, and we soon found that our fears were but too well grounded.
Account of the manoeuvres which saved us.
The 12th, at five in the morning, the wind being south, our S. E. cable, and the hawser of the stream-anchor, which by way of precaution we had extended to the E. S. E. parted at the bottom. We immediately let go our sheet-anchor, but before it had reached the bottom, the frigate swung off to her N. W. anchor, and we fell aboard the Etoile on the larboard side. We hove upon our anchor, and the Etoile veered out cable as fast as possible, so that we were separated before any damage was done. The store ship then sent us the end of a hawser, which she had extended to the eastward, and upon which we hove, in order to get farther from her. We then weighed our sheet-anchor, and hove in our hawser and cable, which parted at the bottom. The latter had been cut about thirty fathom from the clinch;we shifted it end for end, and bent it to a spare anchor of two thousand seven hundred weight, which the Etoile had stowed in her hold, and which we sent for. Our S. E. anchor, which we had let go without any buoy-rope, on account of the great depth, was entirely lost; and we endeavoured, without success, to save the stream-anchor, whose buoy was sunk, and for which it was impossible to sweep the bottom. We presently swayed up our fore-top-mast and fore-yard, in order to be ready for sailing as soon as the wind should permit.
In the afternoon the wind abated and shifted to the eastward. We then carried out to the S. E. a stream-anchor, and the anchor we had got from the Etoile, and I sent a boat to sound to the northward, in order to know whether there was a passage that way, by which means we might have got out almost with any wind. One misfortune never comes alone; as we were occupied with a piece of work on which our safety depended,|Another murder of some islanders.|I was informed that three of the natives had been killed or wounded with bayonets in their huts, that the alarm was spread in the country, that the old men, the women and the children fled towards the mountains with their goods, and even the bodies of the dead, and that we should perhaps be attacked by an army of these enraged men. Thus our situation gave us room to fear a war on shore, at the very moment when bothships were upon the point of being stranded. I went ashore, and came into the camp, where, in presence of the chief, I put four soldiers in irons, who were suspected to be the authors of this crime: these proceedings seemed to content the natives.
Precautions against the consequences which it might have had.
I passed a part of the night on shore, and reinforced the watches, fearing that the inhabitants might revenge their countrymen. We occupied a most excellent post, between two rivers, distant from each other at most only a quarter of a league; the front of the camp was covered by a marsh, and on the remaining side was the sea, of which we certainly were the masters. We had a fair chance to defend this post against the united forces of the whole island; but happily the night passed very quietly in the camp, excepting some alarms occasioned by thieves.
Continuation of the dangers which the ships run.
It was not from this part that I dreaded the worst that could happen; the fear of seeing the ships lost upon the coast, gave me infinitely more concern. From ten o’clock in the evening, the wind freshened very much from the east; and was attended with a great swell; rain, tempest, and all the sad appearances which augment the horror of these dreadful situations.
Towards two o’clock in the morning, a squall drove the ships towards the coast: I came on board; the squall happily was not of long duration; and as soon as it wasblown over, the wind blew off more. At day-break we encountered new misfortunes; our N. W. cable parted; the hawser, which the Etoile had given us, and which held us by her stream-anchor, had the same fate a few minutes after. The frigate then swinging off to her S. E. anchor and hawser, was no more than a cable’s length off shore, upon which the sea broke with great violence. In proportion, as the danger became more pressing, our resources failed us; the two anchors of which the cable’s had just parted, were entirely lost to us; their buoys disappeared, being either sunk, or taken away, during the night, by the Indians. Thus we had lost already four anchors, in four and twenty-hours, and had yet several losses to sustain.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the new cable we had bent to the anchor of two thousand seven hundred weight from the Etoile, which held us to the S. E. parted, and the frigate, riding by a single hawser, began to drive upon the coast. We immediately let go our sheet-anchor under foot; it being the only one which we had remaining at our bow: but of what use could it be to us? We were so close to the breakers, that we must have been upon them before we had veered out cable sufficient to make the anchor catch hold in the ground. We expected every moment the sad conclusion of this adventure, when a S. W. breeze gave us some hopes ofsetting sail. Our jib and stay-sails were soon hoisted; the ship began to shoot a-head, and we were endeavouring to make sail, in order to veer away cable and hawser, and get out; but the wind almost immediately shifted to the eastward again. This interval had, however, given us time to take on board the end of a hawser, from a second stream-anchor of the Etoile, which she had just carried out to the eastward, and which saved us for this time. We hove in upon both hawsers, and got somewhat further from the shore. We then sent our long-boat aboard the Etoile, to help her in mooring her securely; her anchors happily lay in a bottom less covered with coral than that where we had let ours go. This being done, our long-boat went to weigh the anchor of 2700 weight by its buoy-rope; we bent another cable to it, and carried it out to the N. E.WeWethen weighed the stream-anchor belonging to the Etoile, and returned it to her. During these two days M. de la Giraudais, captain of that store-ship, had a very great share in the preservation of the frigate, by the assistance which he gave me: it is with pleasure that I pay this tribute of gratitude to an officer, who has already been my companion on former voyages, and whose zeal equals his talents.
Peace made with the islanders.
However, when the day appeared, no Indian was come near the camp, not a single periagua was seen sailing,all the neighbouring houses were abandoned, and the whole country appeared as a desert. The prince of Nassau, who with only four or five men was gone out a little further, in order to search for some of the natives, and to inspire them with confidence again, found a great number of them with Ereti, about a league from the camp. As soon as that chief knew the prince again, he came up to him with an air of consternation.
The women, who were all in tears, fell at his feet, kissed his hands, weeping and repeating several times,Tayo, maté, you are our friends, and you kill us. By his caresses and demonstrations of friendship, he at last succeeded in regaining their confidence. I saw from on board a croud of people running to our quarters: fowls, cocoa-nuts, and branches full of bananas, embellished this procession, and promised a peace. I immediately went ashore with an assortment of silk stuffs, and tools of all sorts; I distributed them among the chiefs, expressing my concern to them on account of the disaster which had happened the day before, and assuring them, that I would punish the perpetrators. The good islanders loaded me with caresses; the people applauded the reunion, and, in a short time, the usual croud and the thieves returned to our quarters, which looked like a fair. This day, and the following, they brought more refreshments than ever. They likewise desired tohave several muskets fired in their presence, which frightened them very much, as all the creatures which we shot at were killed immediately.
The Etoile sets sail.
The boat, which I had sent to sound to the northward, was returned with the good news of having found a very fine passage. It was then too late to profit of it the same day; for night was coming on. Happily it passed quietly, both on shore and at sea. The 14th in the morning, wind at east, I ordered the Etoile, who had got her water and all her men on board, to weigh and go out by the new north passage. We could not go out by that passage before the store-ship, she being moored to the northward of us. At eleven she came to sail, from a hawser, which she had carried on board of us. I kept her long-boat and two small anchors; I likewise took on board, as soon as she was got under sail, the end of the cable of her S. E. anchor, which lay in a good bottom. We now weighed our sheet-anchor, carried the two stream-anchors further out; and were by this means moored by two great, and three small anchors. At two o’clock in the afternoon, we had the satisfaction of seeing the Etoile without the reefs. Our situation by this means became less terrifying; we had at least secured to ourselves the means of returning to our country, by putting one of the ships out of danger. When M. de la Giraudais was got outinto the offing, he sent back his boat to me, with Mr. Lavari Leroi, who had been employed to survey the passage.
We laboured all day, and a part of the night, to complete our water, and to remove the hospital and the camp.|Inscription buried.|I buried near the shed, an act of taking possession, inscribed on an oak plank, and a bottle well corked and glued, containing the names of the officers of both ships. I have followed the same method in regard to all the lands discovered during the course of this voyage. It was two o’clock in the morning, before every one of our people were on board: the night was still stormy enough to give us some disturbance, notwithstanding the number of anchors we had moored.
The Boudeuse sets sail; runs new dangers.
On the 15th, at six o’clock in the morning, the wind blowing off shore, and the sky looking stormy, we weighed our anchor, veered away the cable of that which belonged to the Etoile, cut one of the hawsers, and veered out the other two, setting sail under our fore-sail and top-sails, in order to go out by the eastern passage. We left the two long-boats to weigh the anchors; and as soon as we were got out of the reefs, I sent the two barges armed, under the command of ensign the chevalier de Suzannet, to protect the work of the long-boats. We were about a quarter of a league off shore, and began to give ourselves joy of having sohappily left an anchorage, that had given us such terrible alarms, when the wind ceasing all at once, the tide and a great swell from the eastward, began to drive us towards the reefs to leeward of the passage. The worst consequences of the shipwreck, with which we had hitherto been threatened, would have been to pass the remainder of our days on an isle adorned with all the gifts of nature, and to exchange the sweets of the mother-country, for a peaceable life, exempted from cares. But now shipwreck appeared with a more cruel aspect; the ship being rapidly carried upon the rocks, could not have resisted the violence of the sea two minutes, and hardly some of the best swimmers could have saved their lives. At the beginning of the danger, I had made signal for the long boats and barges to return and tow us. They came at the very moment, when we being only 35 or 36 fathom (50 toises) from the reef, our situation was become quite desperate; the more so as we could not let go an anchor. A westerly breeze, springing up that instant, brought hope along with it; it actually freshened by degrees; and at nine o’clock in the morning, we were quite clear of all dangers.
Departure from Taiti; losses which we sustained there.
I immediately sent the boats back in quest of the anchors, and I remained plying to wait for them. In the afternoon we joined the Etoile. At five in the evening our long-boat came on board with the best bower,and the cable of the Etoile, which she carried to her: our barge, that of the Etoile, and her long-boat returned soon after; the latter bringing us our stream-anchor and a hawser. As to the other two stream-anchors, the night coming on, and the sailors being extremely fatigued, they could not weigh them that day. I at first intended to keep plying off and on during night, and to send them out for them the next morning; but, at mid-night a strong gale sprung at E. N. E. obliging me to hoist in the boats, and make sail, in order to get clear of the coast.
Thus an anchorage of nine days cost us six anchors; which we should not have lost, had we been provided with some iron chains. This is a precaution which no navigator ought to forget, if he is going upon such a voyage as this.
Regret of the islanders at our departing.
Now that the ships are in safety, let us stop a moment to receive the farewel of the islanders. At daybreak, when they perceived us setting sail, Ereti leaped alone into the first periagua he could find on shore, and came on board. There he embraced all of us, held us some moments in his arms, shedding tears, and appearing much affected at our departure. Soon after, his great periagua came on board, laden with refreshments of all kinds; his wives were in the periagua; and with them the same islander, who, on the first day ofour land-fall, had, lodged on board the Etoile.|One of them embarks with us, at his own and his nation’s request.|Ereti took him by the hand, and, presenting him to me, gave me to understand, that this man, whose name was Aotourou, desired to go with us, and begged that I would consent to it. He then presented him to each of the officers in particular; telling them that it was one of his friends, whom he entrusted with those who were likewise his friends, and recommending him to us with the greatest signs of concern. We made Ereti more presents of all sorts; after which he took leave of us, and returned to his wives, who did not cease to weep all the time of the periagua’s being along-side of us. In it there was likewise a young and handsome girl, whom the islander that stayed along with us went to embrace. He gave her three pearls which he had in his ears, kissed her once more; and, notwithstanding the tears of this young wife or mistress, he tore himself from her, and came aboard the ship. Thus we quitted this good people; and I was no less surprised at the sorrow they certified on our departure, than at their affectionate confidence on our arrival.
CHAP. III.
Description of the new island; manners and character of itsinhabitants.
Description of the new island; manners and character of itsinhabitants.
Description of the new island; manners and character of its
inhabitants.
Lucis habitamus opacis,Riparumque toros & prata recentia rivisIncolimus.Virg.Æneid. Lib. VI.
Lucis habitamus opacis,Riparumque toros & prata recentia rivisIncolimus.Virg.Æneid. Lib. VI.
Lucis habitamus opacis,Riparumque toros & prata recentia rivisIncolimus.Virg.Æneid. Lib. VI.
Lucis habitamus opacis,
Riparumque toros & prata recentia rivis
Incolimus.
Virg.Æneid. Lib. VI.
The isle which at first was called New Cythera, is known by the name of Taiti amongst its inhabitants.|Geographical position of Taiti.|Its latitude has been determined in our camp, from several meridian altitudes of the sun, observed on shore with a quadrant. Its longitude has been ascertained by eleven observations of the moon, according to the method of the horary angles. M. Verron had made many others on shore, during four days and four nights, to determine the same longitude; but the paper on which he wrote them having been stolen, he has only kept the last observations, made the day before our departure. He believes their result exact enough, though their extremes differ among themselves 7° or 8°. The loss of our anchors, and all the accidents I have mentioned before, obliged us to leave this place much sooner than we intended, and have made it impossible for us to survey its coasts. The southern part of it isentirely unknown to us; that which we have observed from the S. E. to the N. W. point, seems to be fifteen or twenty leagues in extent, and the position of its principal points, is between N. W. and W. N. W.
Better anchorage than that where we were.
Between the S. E. point and another great cape advancing to the northward, about seven or eight leagues from the former, you see a bay open to the N. E. which has three or four leagues depth. Its shores gradually descend towards the bottom of the bay, where they have but little height, and seem to form the finest and best peopled district of the whole island. It seems it would be easy to find several good anchoring-places in this bay. We were very ill served by fortune in meeting with our anchorage. In entering into it by the passage where the Etoile came out at, M. de la Giraudais assured me, that between the two most northerly isles, there was a very safe anchorage for at least thirty ships; that there was from twenty-three to between twelve and ten fathom of water, grey sand and ooze; that there was a birth of a league in extent, and never any sea. The rest of the shore is high, and seems in general to be quite surrounded by a reef, unequally covered by the sea, and forming little isles in some parts, on which the islanders keep up fires at night on account of their fishery, and for the safety of their navigation; some gaps from space to space form entrances to the partwithin the reefs, but the bottom must not be too much relied upon. The lead never brings up any thing but a grey sand; this sand covers great masses of hard and sharp coral, which can cut through a cable in one night, as fatal experience taught us.
Beyond the north point of this bay, the coast forms no creek, nor no remarkable cape. The most westerly point is terminated by a low ground, from which to the N. W. and at about a league’s distance, you see a low isle, extending two or three leagues to the N. W.
Aspect of the country.
The height of the mountains in the interior parts of Taiti, is surprising in respect to the extent of the island. Far from making its aspect gloomy and wild, they serve only to embellish it, offering to the eye many prospects and beautiful landscapes, covered with the richest productions of nature, in that beautiful disorder which it was never in the power of art to imitate. From thence spring a vast number of little rivulets, which greatly contribute to the fertility of the country, and serve no less to supply the wants of the inhabitants than to adorn and heighten the charms of the plains. All the flat country, from the sea-shore to the foot of the mountains, is destined for the fruit-trees, under which, as I have already observed before, the houses of the people of Taiti are built, without order, and without forming any villages. One would think himself in theElysian fields: Public paths, very judiciously laid out, and carefully kept in a good condition form the most easy communication with every part of the country.
Its productions.
The chief productions of the isle are[99]cocoa-nuts, plantains or bananas, the bread-fruit, yams, curassol, okras, and several other roots and fruits peculiar to the country: plenty of sugar-canes which are not cultivated, a species of wild indigo, a very fine red and a yellow substance for dying, of which I cannot say from whence they get them. In general, M. de Commerçon has found the same kinds of vegetables there as are common in India. Aotourou, whilst he was amongst us, knew and named several of our fruits and legumes, and a considerable number of plants, cultivated by the curious, in hot-houses. The wood which is fit for carpenters work grew on the mountains, and the islanders make little use of it; they only employ it for theirgreat periaguas, which they make of cedar wood. We have likewise seen pikes of a black, hard and heavy wood among them, very like iron-wood. For building their common periaguas, they make use of the tree which bears the bread-fruit. This is a wood which will not split, but is so soft and full of gum, that it is only as it were bruised when worked with a tool.
It does not appear that there are any mines.
This isle, though abounding with very high mountains, does not seem to contain any minerals, since the hills are every where covered with trees and other plants[100]. At least it is certain that the islanders do not know any metals. They give the same name ofaouri, by which they asked us for iron, to all the kinds of metals we could shew them. But in what manner they became acquainted with iron, is not easily understood; however, I shall soon mention what I think on this subject.|There are fine pearls.|I know of only a single rich article of commerce, viz. very fine pearls. The wives and children of the chief people wear them at their ears; but they hid them during our stay amongst them. Theymake a kind of castanets of the shells of the pearl-oyster, and this is one of the instruments employed by their dancers.
Animals of the country.
We have seen no other quadrupeds than hogs, a small but pretty sort of dogs, and rats in abundance. The inhabitants have domestic cocks and hens, exactly like ours. We have likewise seen beautiful green turtle doves, large pigeons of a deep blue plumage and excellent taste, and a very small sort of perrokeets, very singular on account of the various mixture of blue and red in their feathers. The people feed their hogs and their fowls with nothing but plantains. Taking together what has been consumed by us on shore, and what we have embarked in both ships, we have in all got by our exchanges, upwards of eight hundred fowls, and near one hundred and fifty hogs; and if it had not been for the troublesome work on the last days, we should have got much more, for the inhabitants brought every day a greater quantity of them.
Meteorological observations.
We have not observed great heat in this island. During our stay, Reaumur’s thermometer never rose above 22°, and was sometimes at 18°, but it may be observed that the sun was already eight or nine degrees on the other side of the equator. However, this isle has another inestimable advantage, which is that of not being infested by those myriads of troublesome insects that arethe plague of other tropical countries: neither have we observed any venomous animals in it.|Goodness of the climate: vigour of the inhabitants.|The climate upon the whole is so healthy, that notwithstanding the hard work we have done in this island, though our men were continually in the water, and exposed to the meridian sun, though they slept upon the bare soil and in the open air, none of them fell sick there. Those of our men who were sent on shore because they were afflicted with the scurvy, have not passed one night there quietly, yet they regained their strength, and were so far recovered in the short space of time they staid on shore, that some of them were afterwards perfectly cured on board. In short, what better proofs can we desire of the salubrity of the air, and the good regimen which the inhabitants observe, than the health and strength of these same islanders, who inhabit huts exposed to all the winds, and hardly cover the earth which serves them as a bed with a few leaves; the happy old age to which they attain without feeling any of its inconveniences; the acuteness of all their senses; and lastly, the singular beauty of their teeth, which they keep even in the most advanced age?
Their nourishment.
Vegetables and fish are their principal food; they seldom eat flesh, their children and young girls never eat any; and this doubtless serves to keep them free from almost all our diseases. I must say the same oftheir drink; they know of no other beverage than water. The very smell of wine or brandy disgusted them; they likewise shewed their aversion to tobacco, spices, and in general to every thing strong.
There are two races of men in the isle.
The inhabitants of Taiti consist of two races of men, very different from each other, but speaking the same language, having the same customs, and seemingly mixing without distinction. The first, which is the most numerous one, produces men of the greatest size; it is very common to see them measure six (Paris) feet and upwards in height. I never saw men better made, and whose limbs were more proportionate: in order to paint a Hercules or a Mars, one could no where find such beautiful models. Nothing distinguishes their features from those of the Europeans: and if they were cloathed; if they lived less in the open air, and were less exposed to the sun at noon, they would be as white as ourselves: their hair in general is black. The second race are of a middle size, have frizzled hair as hard as bristles, and both in colour and features they differ but little from mulattoes. The Taiti man who embarked with us, is of this second race, though his father is chief of a district: but he possesses in understanding what he wants in beauty.
Account of some of their customs.
Both races let the lower part of the beard grow, but they all have their whiskers, and the upper part ofthe cheeks shaved. They likewise let all their nails grow, except that on the middle finger of the right hand. Some of them cut their hair very short, others let it grow, and wear it fastened on the top of the head. They have all got the custom of anointing or oiling it and their beard with cocoa-nut oil. I have met with only a single cripple amongst them; and he seemed to have been maimed by a fall. Our surgeon assured me, that he had on several of them observed marks of the small-pox; and I took all possible measures to prevent our people’s communicating the other sort to them; as I could not suppose that they were already infected with it.
Their dress.
The inhabitants of Taiti are often seen quite naked, having no other clothes than a sash, which covers their natural parts. However, the chief people among them generally wrap themselves in a great piece of cloth, which hangs down to their knees. This is likewise the only dress of the women; and they know how to place it so artfully, as to make this simple dress susceptible of coquetry. As the women of Taiti never go out into the sun, without being covered; and always have a little hat, made of canes, and adorned with flowers, to defend their faces against its rays; their complexions are, of course, much fairer than those of the men. Their features are very delicate; but what distinguishes them,is the beauty of their bodies, of which thecontourhas not been disfigured by a torture of fifteen years duration.
Custom of puncturing the skin.
Whilst the women in Europe paint their cheeks red, those of Taiti dye their loins and buttocks of a deep blue. This is an ornament, and at the same time a mark of distinction. The men are subject to the same fashion. I cannot say how they do to impress these indelible marks, unless it is by puncturing the skin, and pouring the juice of certain herbs upon it, as I have seen it practised by the natives of Canada. It is remarkable, that this custom of painting has always been found to be received among nations who bordered upon a state of nature. When Cæsar made his first descent upon England, he found this fashion established there;omnes vero Britanni se vitro insiciunt, quod cæruleum efficit Colorem. The learned and ingenious author of theRecherches philosophiques sur les Americains[101], thinks this general custom owes its rise to the necessity of defending the body from the puncture of insects, multiplying beyond conception in uncultivated countries. This cause, however, does not exist at Taiti, since, as we have already said above, the people there are not troubled with such insupportable insects. The custom of painting is accordingly a mere fashion, the same as at Paris. Anothercustom at Taiti, common to men and women, is, to pierce their ears, and to wear in them pearls or flowers of all sorts. The greatest degree of cleanliness further adorns this amiable nation; they constantly bathe, and never eat nor drink without washing before and after it.
Interior policy.
The character of the nation has appeared mild and beneficent to us. Though the isle is divided into many little districts, each of which has its own master, yet there does not seem to be any civil war, or any private hatred in the isle. It is probable, that the people of Taiti deal amongst each other with unquestioned sincerity. Whether they be at home or no, by day or by night, their houses are always open. Every one gathers fruits from the first tree he meets with, or takes some in any house into which he enters. It should seem as if, in regard to things absolutely necessary for the maintainance of life, there was no personal property amongst them, and that they all had an equal right to those articles. In regard to us, they were expert thieves; but so fearful, as to run away at the least menace. It likewise appeared, that the chiefs disapproved of their thefts, and that they desired us to kill those who committed them. Ereti, however, did not himself employ that severity which he recommended to us. When we pointed out a thief to him, he himself pursued him as fast as possible; theman fled; and if he was overtaken, which was commonly the case, for Ereti was indefatigable in the pursuit, some lashes, and a forced restitution of the stolen goods, was all the punishment inflicted on the guilty. I at first believed they knew of no greater punishment; for when they saw that some of our people were put in irons, they expressed great concern for them; but I have since learnt, that they have undoubtedly the custom of hanging thieves upon trees, as it is practised in our armies.
They are at war with the neighbouring islands.
They are almost constantly at war with the inhabitants of the neighbouring isles. We have seen the great periaguas, which they make use of to make descents, and even in sea-fights. Their arms are the bow, the sling, and a kind of pike of a very hard wood. They make war in a very cruel manner. According to Aotourou’s information, they kill all the men and male children taken in battle; they strip the skins, with the beards from the chins, and carry them off as trophies of their victory, only preferring the wives and daughters of their enemies, whom the conquerors do not disdain to admit to their bed. Aotourou himself is the son of a chief of Taiti, and of a captive woman from the isle of Oopoa, which is near Taiti, and often at war with its inhabitants. To this mixture I attribute the difference of the races we have observed among them. I am not acquaintedwith their method of healing wounds: our surgeons admired the scars which they saw.
Important custom.
I shall, towards the end of this chapter, give an account of what I have been able to discover, concerning their form of government, the extent of the power of their petty sovereigns, the kind of distinction existing between the men of note and the common people; and, lastly, the ties which unite together, under the same authority, this multitude of robust men, whose wants are so few. I shall only observe here, that in matters of consequence, the lord of the district does not give his decision without the advice of a council. I have mentioned above, that a deliberation of the people of note in the nation was required on the subject of our establishing a camp on shore. I must add too, that the chief seems to be implicitly obeyed by every body; and that the men of note have likewise people to serve them, and over whom they have an authority.
Canoe, of the isle of Navigators, under sail.Indian Canoe, of the isle of Choiseul.Canoe, of the isle of Taiti, under sail.
Canoe, of the isle of Navigators, under sail.Indian Canoe, of the isle of Choiseul.Canoe, of the isle of Taiti, under sail.
Canoe, of the isle of Navigators, under sail.Indian Canoe, of the isle of Choiseul.Canoe, of the isle of Taiti, under sail.
Customs on the subject of their dead.
It is very difficult to give an account of their religion. We have seen wooden statues among them, which we took for idols; but how did they worship them? The only religious ceremony, which we have been witnesses to, concerns the dead. They preserve their corpses a long while, extended on a kind of scaffold, covered by a shed. The infection which they spread does not prevent the women from going to weep around the corpse,during part of the day, and from anointing the cold relicks of their affection with cocoa-nut oil. Those women, with whom we were acquainted, would sometimes allow us to come near these places, which are consecrated to the manes of the deceased; they told usemoé, he sleeps. When nothing but the skeletons remain, they carry them into their houses, and I do not know how long they keep them there. I only know, because I have seen it, that then a man of consideration among the people comes to exercise his sacred rites there; and that in these awful ceremonies, he wears ornaments which are much in request.
Superstition of the islanders.
We have asked Aotourou many questions concerning his religion; and believe, we understood that, in general his countrymen are very superstitious; that the priests have the highest authority amongst them; that besides a superior being, namedEri-t-Era, king of the sun or of light, and whom they do not represent by any material image, they have several divinities; some beneficent, others mischievous; that the name of these divinities or genii isEatoua; that they suppose, that at each important action of human life, there presides a good and an evil genius; and that they decide its good or bad success. What we understand with certainty is, that when the moon has a certain aspect, which they callMalama Tamai, or moon in state of war[102], (an aspect inwhich we have not been able to distinguish any characteristic mark, by which it could be defined) they sacrifice human victims. Of all their customs, one which most surprised me, is that of saluting those who sneeze by saying,Evaroua-t-eatoua, that the goodeatouamay awaken thee, or that the evileatouamay not lull thee asleep. These are marks which prove, that they have the same origin with the people of the old continent. Upon the whole, scepticism is reasonable, especially when we treat of the religion of different nations; as there is no subject in which it is more easy to be deceived by appearances.
Polygamy.
Polygamy seems established amongst them; at least it is so amongst the chief people. As love is their only passion, the great number of women is the only luxury of the opulent. Their children are taken care of, both by their fathers and their mothers. It is not the custom at Taiti, that the men occupied only with their fishery and their wars, leave to the weaker sex the toilsome works of husbandry and agriculture. Here a gentle indolence falls to the share of the women; and the endeavours to please, are their most serious occupation. I cannot say whether their marriage is a civil contract, or whether it is consecrated by religion; whether it is indissoluble, or subject to the laws of divorce. Be this as it will, the wives owe their husbands a blind submission; theywould wash with their blood any infidelity committed without their husbands’ consent. That, it is true, is easily obtained; and jealousy is so unknown a passion here, that the husband is commonly the first who persuades his wife to yield to another. An unmarried woman suffers no constraint on that account; every thing invites her to follow the inclination of her heart, or the instinct of her sensuality; and public applause honours her defeat: nor does it appear, that how great soever the number of her previous lovers may have been, it should prove an obstacle to her meeting with a husband afterwards. Then wherefore should she resist the influence of the climate, or the seduction of examples? The very air which the people breathe, their songs, their dances, almost constantly attended with indecent postures, all conspire to call to mind the sweets of love, all engage to give themselves up to them. They dance to the sound of a kind of drum, and when they sing, they accompany their voices with a very soft kind of flute, with three or four holes, which, as I have observed above, they blow with their nose. They likewise practise a kind of wrestling; which, at the same time, is both exercise and play to them.
Character of the islanders.
Thus accustomed to live continually immersed in pleasure, the people of Taiti have acquired a witty and humorous temper, which is the offspring of ease and ofjoy. They likewise contracted from the same source a character of fickleness, which constantly amazed us. Every thing strikes them, yet nothing fixes their attention: amidst all the new objects, which we presented to them, we could never succeed in making them attend for two minutes together to any one. It seems as if the least reflection is a toilsome labour for them, and that they are still more averse to the exercises of the mind, than to those of the body.
Account of some of their works.
I shall not, however, accuse them of want of understanding. Their skill and ingenuity in the few necessary instances of industry, which notwithstanding the abundance of the country, and the temperature of the climate they cannot dispense with, would be sufficient to destroy such assertion. It is amazing with how much art their fishing tackle is contrived; their hooks are made of mother-of-pearl, as neatly wrought as if they were made by the help of our tools; their nets are exactly like ours; and knit with threads, taken from the great AmericanAloes. We admired the construction of their extensive houses, and the disposition of the leaves of theThatch-palm, with which they are covered.
Construction of their boats.
They have two sorts of periaguas; some are little, and without much ornament; being made of a single stem of a tree hollowed out; the others are much larger, and wrought with much art. A hollow tree forms the bottomof the periagua; from the head, to two-thirds of the intended length, another tree forms the back part, which is bent, and greatly elevated; in so much, that the extremity of the stern rises five or fix feet above the water. These two pieces are joined together, as an arch of a circle; and as they have no nails to fasten them together with, they pierce the extremity of both pieces in several places, and by the means of strings, (made of the filaments which surround cocoa-nuts) they tie them together. The sides of the periagua are raised by two boards, about one foot broad, sewed to the bottom, and to each other, with the preceding sort of strings. They fill the seams with the fibrous substance round cocoa-nuts; but do not cover or pay them with any coating. A plank, which covers the head of the periagua, and projects about five or six feet beyond it, prevents its plunging entirely into the water, when there is a great sea. To make these light boats less subject to overset, they fix an out-rigger to one of its sides. This is nothing more than a pretty long piece of wood, supported by two cross pieces, of about four or five feet in length; the other end of which is fastened to the periagua. When she is sailing, a plank projects along the side, opposite to the out-rigger; a rope is fastened to it, which supports the mast, and it likewise makes the periagua stiffer, by placing a man or a weight at the end of the plank.
Their ingenuity appears still more to advantage in the means they employ to render these vessels proper to transport them to the neighbouring isles, with which they have a communication, having no other guides than the stars on such navigations. They fasten two great periaguas together alongside of each other, (leaving about four feet distance between them) by means, of some cross pieces of wood tied very fast to the starboard of one and larboard of the other boat. Over the stern of these two vessels thus joined, they place a hut, of a very light construction, covered by a roof of reeds. This apartment shelters them from the sun and rain, and at the same time affords them a proper place for keeping their provisions dry. These double periaguas can contain a great number of persons, and are never in danger of oversetting. We have always seen the chiefs make use of them; they are navigated both by a sail and by oars, as the single periaguas: the sails are composed of mats, extended on a square frame, formed by canes, of which one of the angles is rounded.
The Taiti people have no other tool for all these works than a chissel, the blade of which is made of a very hard black stone[103]. It is exactly of the same formas that of our carpenters, and they use it with great expertness: they use very sharp pieces of shells to bore holes into the wood.