CHAPTER XXIII.

Figian “fustian”—Figian battle-field tactics—The first rending of the root—Fighting implements of the Figians—Five-bladed swords—Execution of Tahitian Prisoners—The obdurate Cacahoo—Heroism of Nonfaho’s widow—Figian ship-building—Surprising skill of savage boat-builders—Ordinary sea-women—Superstitions of Figian sailors—The warrior of New Zealand—The sacred wind of Tu—Distribution of the locks of the slain—Cooking the warriors’ hearts—Australian weapons—Throwing the boomerang—The Australian spear—Thick and thin heads—Remarkable mode of Duelling.

In Figi the disposition to quarrel and fight is no less rife than in Samoa. A very trifling matter constitutes acasus belli, and their forces are gathered by thetaga, a kind of review. Of these there is a series,—one at every place where the army stops on its way to the scene of action. If any part of Figian warfare has interest, it is this, and to the parties engaged it is doubtless glorious. They defy an enemy that is far away, and boast of what they will do on a day which has not yet come, and all this in the midst of their friends. The boasting is distinct from, though associated with, thetaga, which means “ready” or “on the move,” namely, for challenging. The challenging is calledbole-bole, and the ceremony, when complete, is as follows:—If the head of the party of allies just arrived is a great chief, his approach is hailed with a general shout. Taking the lead, he conducts his followers to a large open space, where the chief to whose help he comes waits with his men. Forthwith, shouts of respect are exchanged by the two companies. Presently a man, who is supposed to represent the enemy, stands forth and cries out, “Cut up! cut up! the temple receives;” intimating probably that the enemy will certainly be cut up, cooked, and offered to the gods. Then follow those whoboleor challenge. First comes the leader, and then others, singly at the beginning, but afterwards in companies of six, or ten, or twenty. It is impossible to tell all that is said when many are speaking at once; but there is no lack of bragging, if single challengers may he taken as specimens. One man runs up to the chief, brandishes his club, and exclaims, “Sir, do you know me? Your enemies soon will.” Another, darting forward, says, “See this hatchet! how clean! To-morrow it will bebathed in blood!” One cries out, “This is my club!—the club that never yet was false!” The next, “This army moves to-morrow; then you shall eat dead men till you are surfeited!” A man striking the ground violently with his club, boasts, “I cause the earth to tremble; it is I who meet the enemy to-morrow!” “See,” exclaims another, “I hold a musket and a battle-axe; if the musket miss fire the hatchet will not!” A fine young man stepped quietly towards a king, and, holding a pole used as an anchor for a canoe, says, “See, sire, the anchor of Natewa (the name of the locality threatened); I will do thus with it,” and he breaks the pole across his knee. A man swinging a ponderous club says, “This club is a defence: a shade from the heat of the sun and the cold of the rain.” Glancing at the chief, he adds, “You may come under it.” A fiery youth runs up as though breathless, crying out, “I long to be gone; I am impatient.” One of the same kind says, “Ah! ah! these boasters are deceivers; I only am a true man in the battle; you shall find me so.” These great swelling words are listened to with mingled laughter and applause. Although the speeches of the warriors are marked with great earnestness, there is nothing of the horrifying grimace in which the New Zealander indulges on similar occasions. The fighting men have their bodies covered with black powder; some, however, confine this to the upper part only. An athletic warrior, thus powdered, so as to make his skin wear a velvet-like blackness, has a truly formidable appearance, his eyes and teeth gleaming with very effective whiteness.

Figians, says Williams, make a show of war at thetaga, do no mischief, and incur no danger; and this is just what they like. The challenging is their delight; beyond it their ambition does not reach, and glory is without charms.

Notwithstanding the boasts of the braves, the chief will sometimes playfully taunt them, intimating, that from their appearance he should judge them to be better acquainted with spades than clubs, and fitter to use the digging stick than the musket.

With taunting scorn the antagonist would reply much in the same strain, sometimes mingling affected pity with his denunciations. When they had finished their harangue, theomoreaaclub of insult or insulting spear was raised and the onset commenced. Sometimes it was a single combat fought in the space between two armies and in sight of both.

At other times several men engaged on both sides, when those notengaged, though fully armed and equipped, kept their seat on the ground. If a single combat, when one was disabled or slain, the victor would challenge another, and seldom thought of retreating so long as one remained. When a number were engaged and one fell, a warrior from his own party rose and maintained the struggle; when either party retreated, the ranks of the army to which it belonged, rushed forward to sustain it; this brought the opposing army on, and from a single combat or a skirmish, it became a general engagement. The conflict was carried on with the most savage fury, such as barbarous warriors might be expected to evince—who imagined the gods on whom their destinies depended had actually entered into their weapons, giving precision and force to their blows, direction to their missiles, and imparting to the whole a supernatural fatality.

The din and clamour of the deadly fury were greatly augmented by the efforts of the Rauti. These were the orators of battle. They were usually men of commanding person and military prowess, arrayed only in a girdle of the leaves of the ti-plant round their waist, sometimes carrying a light spear in the left, but always a small bunch of green ti-leaves in the right hand. In this bunch of leaves the principal weapon, a small, sharp, serrated and barbedairo fai(bone of the sting-ray), was concealed, which they were reported to use dexterously when in contact with the enemy. The principal object of these Rautis was to animate the troops by recounting the deeds of their forefathers, the fame of their tribe or island, and the interests involved in the contest. In the discharge of their duties they were indefatigable, and by night and day, went through the camp rousing the ardour of the warriors. On the day of battle they marched with the army to the onset, mingled in the fury, and hurried to and fro among the combatants, cheering them with the recital of heroic deeds or stimulating them to achievements of daring and valour.

Any attempt at translating their expressions would convey so inadequate an idea of their original force as to destroy their effect. “Roll onward like the billows,—break on them with the ocean’s foam and roar when bursting on the reeds,—hang on them as the forked lightning plays above the frothing surf,—give out the vigilance, give out the strength, give out the anger, the anger of the devouring wild dog, till their line is broken, till they flow back like the receding tide.” These were the expressions sometimes used, and the recollection of their spirit-stirringharangues is still vivid in the memory of many who, when anything is forcibly urged upon them, often involuntarily exclaim,tini Rauti teia—“this is equal to a Rauti.”

If the battle continued for several successive days, the labours of the Rautis were so incessant by night through the camp, and by day amid the ranks in the field, that they have been known to expire from exhaustion and fatigue. The priests were not exempted from the battle; they bore arms and marched with the warriors to the combat.

The combatants did not use much science in the action, nor scarcely aim to parry their enemy’s weapons; they used no shield or target, and, believing the gods directed and sped their weapons with more than human force upon their assailants, they depended on strength more than art for success. Their clubs were invariably aimed at the head, and often with the lozenge-shaped weapon they would cleave the skulls of their opponents. When the first warrior fell on either side a horrid shout of exultation and of triumph was raised by the victors, which echoed along the line, striking a panic through the ranks of their antagonists, it being considered an intimation of the favour of the gods towards the victorious parties. Around the body the struggle became dreadful, and if the victors bore him away, he was despoiled of his ornaments, and then seized by the priests or left to be offered to the gods at the close of the battle.

The first man seized alive was offered in sacrifice, and calledte mata-ahaetumu Taaroa, the first rending of the root. The victim was not taken to the temple, but laid alive upon a number of spears, and thus borne on men’s shoulders along the ranks in the rear of the army, the priest of Ora walking by the side, offering his prayer to the god, and watching the writhings and involuntary agitation of the dying man. If these agonies were deemed favourable, he pronounced victory as certain. Such indications were considered most encouraging, as earnests of the god’s cooperation.

They sometimes practised what they calledtiputa taata. When a man had slain his enemy, in order fully to satiate his revenge and intimidate his foes, he sometimes beat the body flat, and then cut a hole with a stone battle-axe through the back and stomach, and passed his own head through the aperture, as he would through the hole of histiputaorponcho; hence the name of this practice. In this terrific manner, with head and arms of the slain hanging down before and the legs behind, hemarched to renew the conflict. A more horrible act and exhibition it is not easy to conceive, yet there once lived a man in Fare, named Tavara, who, according to his own confession, and the declaration of his neighbours, was guilty of this deed during one of their recent wars.

In times of war, all capable of bearing arms were called upon to join the forces of the chieftain to whom they belonged; and the farmers, who held their land partly by feudal tenure, were obliged to render military service whenever their landlord required it. There were, besides these, a number of men celebrated for their valour, strength, or address in war, who were calledaito, fighting-men or warriors. This title was the result of achievements in battle; it was highly respected, and proportionably sought by the courageous and ambitious. It was not, like the chieftainship and other prevailing distinctions, confined to any class, but open to all, and many from the lower ranks have risen as warriors to a high station in the community.

Tonga Weapons.

Originally their weapons were simple and formed of wood; they consisted of the spear, which the natives calledpatiaortao, made with the wood of the cocoa-nut tree or of theaito, iron-wood or casuarina. It was twelve or eighteen feet long, and about an inch or an inch and a half in diameter at the middle of the lower end, but tapering off to a point at the other. The spears of the inhabitants of Rurutu and other of the Austral Islands are remarkable for their great length and elegant shape, as well as for the high polish with which they are finished. Theomoreor club was another weapon used by them; it was always made of theaitoor iron-wood, and was principally of two kinds, either short and heavy like abludgeon, for the purpose of close combat, or long and furnished with a broad lozenge-shaped blade. The Tahitians did not often carve or ornament their weapons; but by the inhabitants of the Southern Islands they were frequently very neatly though partially carved. The inhabitants of the Marquesas carve their spears, and ornament them with human hair; and the natives of the Harvey Islands, with the Friendly and Figian islanders, construct their weapons with taste and carve them with remarkable ingenuity.

Thepachowas a terrific sort of weapon, although it was principally used at thehevaor seasons of mourning. It resembled in some degree a club; but having the inner side armed with large sharks’ teeth, it was more frequently drawn across the body, where it acted like a saw, than used for striking a blow. Another weapon of the same kind resembled a short sword, but instead of one blade, it had three, four, or five. It was usually made of a forkedaitobranch; the central and exterior branches, after having been pointed and polished, were armed along the outside with a thick line of sharks’ teeth, very firmly fixed in the wood. This was only used in close combat, and, when applied to the naked bodies of the combatants, must have been a terrific weapon. The bowels or lower parts of the body were attacked with it, not as a dagger is used, but drawn across like a saw. Some of the fighting men wore a kind of armour of network formed by small cords wound round the body and limbs so tight as merely to allow of the unencumbered exercise of the legs and arms, and not to impede the circulation of the blood. This kind of defence was principally serviceable in guarding from the blows of a club, or force of a stone, but was liable to be pierced by a spear. In general, however, the dress of the Tahitian warriors must have been exceedingly inconvenient. To make an imposing appearance, and defend their persons, seem to have been the only ends at which they aimed, differing greatly in this respect from the Hawaians, who seldom thought of guarding themselves, but adopted a dress that would least impede their movements.

The Tahitians went to battle in their best clothes, and often had the head not only guarded by an immense turban, but the body enveloped in folds of cloth, until the covering was many inches in thickness, extending from the body almost to the elbows, where the whole was bound round the waist with a finely braided sash or girdle. On the breast they wore a handsome military gorget ingeniously wrought with mother-of-pearlshells, feathers, and dog’s hair, white and coloured. The captives taken in war callediviortitiwere murdered on the spot, or shortly afterwards, unless reserved for slaves to the victors. The bodies of the slain were treated in the most savage manner. They were pierced with their spears and at times the conduct of the victors towards their lifeless bodies was inconceivably barbarous.

On the day following the battle thebure taatawas performed. This consisted in collecting the bodies of the slain and offering them to Oro as trophies of his prowess, and in acknowledgment of their dependence upon his aid. Prayers were preferred, imploring a continuance of his assistance.

The bodies were usually left exposed to the elements and to the hogs or wild dogs that preyed upon them. The victors took away the lower jaw-bones of the most distinguished among the slain as trophies, and often some of the bones, converting them into tools for building canoes with, or into fish hooks. Sometimes they piled the bodies in a heap, and built the skulls into a kind of wall around the temple, but they were commonly laid in rows near the shore, or in front of the camp, their heads all in the same direction. Here the skulls were often so battered with the clubs that no trace of the countenance or human head remained.

As to the manner of disposing of prisoners towards whom the king, when supplicated for forgiveness, preserves silence, the following brief account of a warrior execution as related by Mariner may be offered:—

“About mid-day, or a little after, the large canoe, in which were the prisoners lashed hand and foot, pushed out to sea under the command of Lolo Hea Malohi, an adopted son of Finow. They had on board three old small canoes, in a very leaky, rotten state, in which the prisoners were destined to be put and thus to be left gradually to sink, leaving the victims to reflect on their approaching dissolution, without having it in their power to help themselves.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE TERRIBLE FARCE.

“The distance they had to go was about two leagues, and the weather being calm the canoe was obliged to be paddled most of the way. In the meanwhile, some conversation passed between the prisoners, particularly Nonfaho and Booboonoo. Nonfaho observed to Booboonoo, that it would have been much better if they had never made a peace with Finow, and to a certain degree, he upbraided Booboonoo with not having followed his advice in this particular: to this the latter replied that he did not at all regret the late peace with Finow, for being his relation, he felt himself attached to his interests, and as to his own life, he thought it of no valuesince the king did not think his services worth having. Nonfaho stated that he had a presentiment of his fate that very morning; for as he was going along the road from Feletoa to Macave, he met a native woman of Hapai, and as he passed, he felt a strong inclination, he knew not from what cause, to kill her, and this bias of his mind was so powerful, that he could not help turning back and effecting his purpose; at the same time he felt a secret presentiment that he was going to die, and this murder that he had committed appeared now to be a piece of vengeance on the Hapai people, weak indeed in itself, yet better than no revenge at all. Nonfaho, among other things lamented that his friend Booboonoo had not repaired to the Figi Islands when peace was first made, and by that means have preserved his life. As to his own safety, he said it was not a matter of much consequence; he only lamented that he was not about to die in an honourable way. Booboonoo expressed sentiments to the same purpose. Cacahoo now and then joined in the conversation, remarking that he only lamented his death inasmuch as no opportunity had been afforded him of revenging himself upon his enemies by sacrificing a few of them.

There were eighteen prisoners on board, of whom the greater part, before they arrived at the place where they were to be sunk, begged that the manner of their death might be changed to the more expeditious one of having their brains knocked out with a club, or their heads cleaved with an axe: this was granted them, and the work of execution was immediately begun. Having dispatched a number in this way, it was proposed, for the sake of convenience, that the remainder who begged to be thus favoured, should be taken to a neighbouring small island to be executed; which being agreed on they disputed by the way who should kill such a one and who another. Such was the conversation, not of warriors—for knocking out brains was no new thing to them—but of others not so well versed in the art of destruction, who were heartily glad of this opportunity of exercising their skill without danger; for, cowardlike, they did not dare to attempt it in a field of battle. The victims being brought on shore, nine were dispatched at nearly the same moment, which, with the three killed in the canoe, made twelve who desired this form of death. The remaining six, being chiefs and staunch warriors of superior bravery, scorned to beg any favour of their enemies, and were accordingly taken out to sea, lashed in two rotten canoes which they had on board, three in each, and left to reflect on their fate, whilst their destroyers remained at a little distance to see them sink. Booboonoo,whilst in this situation, said that he only died unhappy on account of his infant son, who would be left friendless and unprotected; but calling to a younger chief in the larger canoe, of the name of Talo, begged, for the sake of their gods, that he would befriend his child, and never see him want either clothes or food suitable to the son of a chief: upon which Talo made a solemn promise to take the most attentive care of him, and Booboonoo seemed quite satisfied. Nonfaho lamented the sad disasters of that day, saying how many great and brave men were dying an ignominious death, who some time before were able to make the whole army of Finow tremble: he lamented, moreover, that he had ever retreated from his enemies, and wished that on such an occasion he had faced about, however inferior in strength, and sold his life at a high price, instead of living a little longer to die thus a shameful death: he earnestly requested them to remember him in an affectionate manner to his wife. Cacahoo swore heartily at Finow and all the chiefs of Hapai, cursing them in the most bitter manner, and their fathers for begetting them, and heaping maledictions upon all their generation. He went on in this manner, cursing and swearing at his enemies, till the water came up to his mouth, and, even then, he actually threw back his head for the opportunity of uttering another curse, spluttering the water forth from his lips till it bereft him for ever of the power of speech. They were about twenty minutes sinking, after which the large canoe returned immediately to Vavaoo.

The widows of those who were executed on the beach in the morning and of those who were dispatched at the small island in their way out to sea, petitioned Finow to grant them leave to perform the usual rites of burial in behalf of their deceased husbands, which the king readily acceded to: and they accomplished the ceremony with every mark of unfeigned sorrow and regret. When the last affectionate remembrances of Nonfaho were made to his widow, she appeared greatly moved; for, though she scarcely wept, her countenance betrayed marks of violent inward agitation: she retired to her house, and arming herself with a spear and a club, went about to seek for the other widows who had lost their husbands in the same way, and urged them to take up arms, as she had done, and go forth to revenge their husbands’ death, by destroying the wives of Finow and his principal chiefs; finding, at length, that none of the others were willing to follow her example, she was obliged to give up altogether. It was suspected that Finow would have been very angry on hearing her intention, but, on the contrary, he praised it much, andapproved of it as being not only a meritorious act of bravery, but a convincing proof that her affection for her deceased husband was great and genuine.

Four classes of canoes are found in Figi: thevelovelo, thecamakau, thetabilai, and thedrua. All these have various modifications of outrigger (cama), and are distinguished by peculiarities in the hulk. The velovelo, or more properly thetakia, is open throughout its length like a boat, and the spars to which the cama is secured rest on the gunwale. The camakau, as its name imports, has a solid spar for its cama: the hulk has a deck over the middle third of its length, twice its own width, and raised on a deep plank built edgeways on each gunwale. Between the edge of this deck and the outrigger all is open. The projecting ends of the canoe, which are lower than the main-deck or platform, as much as the depth of the plank on which it is raised, are each covered with one solid triangular piece of wood, hollowed underneath, and thickest at the broad end next the centre deck, to which it thus forms a gradual ascent. The two ridges, formed by the hollowing underneath on the sides of the triangle, are united to the edge of the hulk, so as completely to box it up. The rig of the camakau is the same as that of the double canoe described presently; and from the small resistance this build offers to the water, it is the “clipper” of Figi, and the vessel described under the name ofpiroguein the Imperial Dictionary.

The tabilai is a link between the camakau and drua, and is made with the outrigger of either. It is often of great length, several feet at each end being solid wood, cut away something like the hull of a ship stern-ward, the sternpost of the ship representing the cut-water of the canoe, which, instead of being sharp, presents a square perpendicular edge to the water. This is the same at both ends, and is distinctive of the class.

Thedrua, or double canoe, differs from the rest in having another smaller canoe for its outrigger, and the deck is laid across both.

When not more than thirty or forty feet long, canoes are often cut out of a single tree, and require comparatively little skill in their construction. When, however, a first-class canoe is to be built, the case is far otherwise, and its creditable completion is a cause of great triumph.

A keel is laid in two or three pieces carefully scarfed together. From this the sides are built up, without ribs, in a number of pieces varying in length from three to twenty feet. The edge of each piece has on the inside a flange; as the large pieces are worked in, openings of very irregularform are left to be filled in, as suitable pieces may be found. When it is recollected that the edges of the planks are by no means straight, it will be seen that considerable skill is required in securing neat joints; yet the native carpenters effect this with surprising success. After the edges are fitted together, holes of about three-eighths of an inch in diameter are bored a hand-breadth apart in them, having an oblique direction inwards, so as to have their outlet in the flange: the holes in the edge of the opposite board are made to answer these exactly. A white pitch from the bread-fruit tree, prepared with an extract from the cocoa-nut kernel, is spread uniformly on both edges, and over this a strip of finemasiis laid, which is burnt through with a small fire-stick where it covers the holes. The piece orvonois now ready for fixing, which is done by what is commonly but wrongly called “sewing;” the native word better describes the process, and means, “to bind.” The vono being lifted to its place, a well dressed but not large sinnet is passed through the hole in the top flange, so as to come out through the lower one: the end is then inserted in the sinnet further on, and the sinnet runs rapidly through the hole, until eight or twelve loose turns are taken: the inserted end is then sought and laid on the round projection formed by the united flanges, and fastened there by drawing one turn of the sinnet tightly over it; the other turns are then tightened, the last but one being made a tie to the last. The spare sinnet is now cut off close, and the operation repeated at the next hole. The bindings, already very strong, have their power increased by fine wedges of hard wood, to the number of six or seven, being driven in opposite directions under the sinnet, whereby the greatest possible pressure is obtained. The ribs seen in canoes are not used to bring the planks into shape, but are the last things inserted, and are for securing the deep side-boards described below, and uniting the deck more firmly with the body of the canoe. The outside of the vono is now carefully adzed into form, and the carpenter has often to look closely to find the joint. When the body of the canoe is cleaned off and rubbed down with pumice stone, the surface is beautifully smooth. Of course no signs of the fastenings are seen outside. This process is not used in fixing the deep planks which support the main deck, or the triangular coverings of the two ends already described. These being on the top of the gunwale, and above the water-mark, the sinnet is seen, at regular intervals, passing, like a band, over a flat bead which runs the whole length of the canoe, covering the joint and making a neat finish. Into the upperedge of planks, two or three feet deep, fixed along the top of the sides perpendicularly, the cross beams which join on the outrigger are let and lashed down, and over these a deck of light wood is laid. The scuttle holes for baling are left at each corner. The deck also has six holes forward, and six aft, through which to work the sculling-oars, used in light winds to help the sail, or when dead calm or foul wind makes the sail useless. A small house or cuddy is built amid-ships, on which boxes or bales are stowed, and on a platform over it persons can sit or lie; a rack behind it receives guns, and spears, and clubs, or baskets are hung upon it. Any aperture inside not filled with the sinnet is tightly caulked with cocoa-nut husk, and such as are next the water are flushed up with the white pitch or resin.

Women, as well as men, discharge the duties of “ordinary seamen.” When ready for sea the mast, which is “stepped on deck in a chop,” stands erect, except that it is hauled to bend towards the outrigger. It is secured by fore and back stays, the latter taking the place of shrouds: when the sail is hoisted the halyards also become back stays; these ropes as long as the canoe is under sail may be called her standing rigging, not being loosed in tacking. The halyards are bent on the yard at less than a third of its length, at the upper end, and passed over the top of the mast, which has generally a crescent form. The great sail is allowed to swing a few feet from the deck till orders are given to get it under weigh. The yard is now hoisted hard up to the mast-head, but as the length of the yard from the halyards to the tack is longer than the mast, the latter is slacked off so as to incline to that end of the canoe to which the tack is fixed, thus forming with the lower length of the yard a triangle, of which the line of deck is the base.

The ends of the deck beams on thecamaside serve for belaying pins, on which a turn of the halyards is taken, the loose ends being passed round the “dog” or belaying pole. The steersman, holding a long oar, stands nearly on a line with the tacks on the far edge of the main deck; while in the opposite corner is the man who tends the sheet. The sheet is bent on the boom about two-thirds, and by giving it a couple of turns on a beam one man can hold it even in a breeze. Like the felucca of the Mediterranean the helm is used at either end, and on tacking is put up instead of down, that the outrigger may be kept to windward: the wind being brought aft the tack is carried to the other end, which is thus changed from stern to bow, the mast being slacked back again to suit thechange; the helmsman and sheet-holder change places, and the canoe starts on a new tack.

A steer oar for a large canoe is twenty feet long, with an eight feet blade, sixteen inches wide. Being made of heavy wood, the great difficulty of handling it is eased by a rope, which is passed through the top of the blade, and the other end of which is made fast to the middle beam of the deck.

Figian canoe sailing, we are informed by the missionary Williams (from whose interesting account the above description of Figian naval architecture and canoe management is mainly taken), is not silent work. The sail is hoisted and the canoe put about with merry shouts; a brisk interchange of jest and raillery is kept up while sailing over shoal reefs, and the heavier task of sculling is lightened by mutual encouragement to exertion, and loud thanks to the scullers as each set is relieved at intervals of five or ten minutes. A dead calm is enlivened by playful invitations to the wind most wanted, the slightest breath being greeted with cries of “Welcome! welcome on board!” If there should be drums on board their clatter is added to the general noise.

The announcement to the helmsman of each approaching wave, with the order tolavi—keep her away—and the accompanying “one, two, three, and another to come,” by which the measured advance of the waves is counted, with passing comments on their good or ill demeanour, keep all alive and in good humour.

Figian sailors, like all other sailors throughout the world, are very superstitious. Certain parts of the ocean, through fear of the spirits of the deep, they pass over in silence, with uncovered heads, and careful that no fragment of wood or part of their dress shall fall into the water. The common tropic bird is the shrine of one of their gods, and the shark of another; and should the one fly over their heads, or the other swim past, those who wear turbans would doff them, and all utter some word of respect. A shark lying athwart their course is an omen which fills them with fear. A basket of bitter oranges on board a vessel is believed to diminish her speed. On one sort of canoe it is “tapu” (sacrilege) to eat food in the hold; on another in the house on deck; on another on the platform near the house. Canoes have been lost altogether because the crew, instead of exerting themselves in a storm, have quitted their posts tosoroto their gods, and throw yagona and whales’ teeth to the waves to propitiate them.

Very different from the elaborate Figian vessel is the canoe of the native of Torres Straits. This latter, which is often ninety feet in length, is constructed out of a single tree, obtained from the mainland of New Guinea. It is burnt out or hacked out, according to the New Guinean’s convenience; it has a raised gunwale, and in the centre is a platform. The stem and stern are closed, the head being shaped to the rude resemblance of a shark or some other marine monster, and in the stern is generally to be found a projecting pole from which is dangling a bunch of emu feathers. They carry a mat sail set forward between two poles hooked to the gunwale, bringing the heads of the poles to the wind as required.

Torres Straits Canoe.

To return, however, to the “war path.” No less superstitious than the Figian is his savage brother the New Zealander, who, as we are informed by Taylor and other trustworthy authorities, did not dare to go to war before he had undergone a sort of confirmation at the hands of the priest. Each priest, on the declaration of war, assembled his own party, and went to a sacred water. At first they all sat down, but after a time they stood up naked in the water, which they heaped up against their bodies, and threw over their heads. After they had been sprinkled by the priest, he said:

“This is the spirit, the spirit is present,The spirit of this tapu!The boy will be angry,The boy will flame,The boy will be brave,The boy will possess thought.Name this boyThat he may be angry, that he may flame,To make the hail fall:Dedicate him to fight for Tu;Ward off the blow that he may fight for Tu.The man of war jumps and wards off the blows.”

“This is the spirit, the spirit is present,

The spirit of this tapu!

The boy will be angry,

The boy will flame,

The boy will be brave,

The boy will possess thought.

Name this boy

That he may be angry, that he may flame,

To make the hail fall:

Dedicate him to fight for Tu;

Ward off the blow that he may fight for Tu.

The man of war jumps and wards off the blows.”

Here the ceremony terminated, and the assembly, as if inspired, jumped up, and rushed to the fight, while the priest repeated the following karakia, standing on some elevated spot, from which he could command a view of the battle:

“The god of strength, let him be present;Let not your breath fail you.”

“The god of strength, let him be present;

Let not your breath fail you.”

After the battle was over the priest called those who survived, and enquired of each if he had killed anyone, or taken any prisoners. All who had been in battle before delivered up their weapons to him, who deposited them in the house where they were kept. Those who had fought for the first time were called and asked if they had killed anyone. If the person addressed replied in the affirmative, the priest demanded hismere—stone battle-axe—and broke it into pieces. This was the invariable custom with young warriors when they had imbued their hands in the blood of their enemies. The priest having afterwards assembled them together, used the following words, which were called theHaha:

“This is the wind, the wind is feeding;The wind descends,The wind is prosperous,The many sacred things of Tu.The wind descends,The wind is prosperous,The living wind of Tu.”

“This is the wind, the wind is feeding;

The wind descends,

The wind is prosperous,

The many sacred things of Tu.

The wind descends,

The wind is prosperous,

The living wind of Tu.”

The natives regard the wind as an indication of the presence of their god, if not the god himself. After this ceremony the youths were considered as men, though they were narrowly watched for some time by the priest, and they were liable to be put to death if they broke any of the sacred rules of the tapu. They could not carry a load, cut their own hair, or plait a woman’s. If one of them was discovered by the priest doing any of these things, he assumed his authority, and pronounced the sentence ofdeath by saying “Go away, go away.” This so affected the person to whom it was addressed, that it was quite sufficient to kill him.

There was another ceremony performed after fighting, which was supposed to confer a benefit on all who had been engaged in the battle, and were successful in killing or making slaves. It was calledhe pureinga, which means a taking off of that sacredness which had been put upon them before the fight, or, in other words, the taking off the tapu:

“There is the wind;The wind rests;The wind is feeding;The wind which gathers—O wind subside!O living wind!O sacred wind of Tu!Loose the tapu,The god of strength;Let the ancient gods dismiss the tapu,O ... o ... o ... the tapu is taken away!”

“There is the wind;

The wind rests;

The wind is feeding;

The wind which gathers—

O wind subside!

O living wind!

O sacred wind of Tu!

Loose the tapu,

The god of strength;

Let the ancient gods dismiss the tapu,

O ... o ... o ... the tapu is taken away!”

When they went to war, they were separated from their wives, and did not again approach them until peace was proclaimed. Hence, during a period of long-continued warfare, they remarked that their wives were widows.

When a party attacking a pa had forced an entrance, they generally killed all within it. At the time of the slaughter the victors pulled off a lock of hair from each victim, and also from those they saved as slaves, which they stuck in their girdles. When the carnage was over, they assembled in ranks, generally three deep, each party being headed by its owntohunga, to thank their gods, and also to propitiate their favour for the future. When all the necessary arrangements were made, they each gave thetohungaa portion of the hair they had collected, which he bound on two small twigs; these he raised above his head, one in each hand, the people doing the same, except that they used twigs without any hair. They remained in this posture whilst the priest offered a prayer for the future welfare of the tribe. He then cast the twigs with the hair bound to them from him, as did the warriors with theirs, and all joined in apuhaor war song. Then, standing quite naked, they clapped their hands together and struck them upon their thighs in order to take off the tapu from their hands which had been imbued in human blood. When they arrived within their own pa, they marched slowly, and in order,towards the house of the principal tohunga, who stood in hiswaho tapuor sacred grove ready to receive them. As soon as they were about one hundred yards from him, he called out, “Whence comes the war party of Tu?” Whereupon he was answered by the tohunga of the party. “The war party of Tu comes from the search.” “From whence comes the war-party of Tu?” “The war party of Tu comes from the stinking place.” “From whence comes the war party of Tu?” “It comes from the south; it comes from the north; it comes from the thicket where birds congregate; it comes from the fortifications: it made speeches there; it heard news there.”

New Zealand Arms.

When they got near the principal tohunga, the warriors gave the remaining locks of hair to their own priests, who went forward and presented them to the chief one: he offered them to the god of war, with many prayers. They then performed thetupeke, or war dance, and clapped their hands a second time. The slave of the tohunga belonging to the war party then made three ovens, in which he cooked a portion of the hearts of the principal warriors of the conquered party. “When they were done, the chief tohunga took a portion, over which he uttered a harakia, and then threw it towards his god as an offering. Having eaten all the food of the three ovens, he took the tapu off the warriors, and they were permitted to “tangi,” or cry with their relations. The women came out armed, and if any of the attacking party had been lost in the assault, they fell upon the slaves and killed as many as they could.Among the Taupo tribes it was not lawful for women and girls to eat human flesh, though this restriction does not appear to have extended to other parts of the island.

Australian Weapons.

As we are now as close to Australia as we are likely for some time to be, we may as well take a voyage over and see what sort of man of war our dirty little friend the Bushman is. He is not at a loss for weapons, nor for skill to use them. They may be enumerated as follows:—The spear, nine or ten feet long, rather thicker than one’s finger, tapered to a point, hardened in the fire and sometimes jagged. The wammera or throwing stick, shows considerable ingenuity of invention; about two and a half feet long, it has a hook at one end which fits a notch on the heel of the spear, in whose projection it acts, much like a third joint of the arm, adding very greatly to the force. A lance is thrown with ease and accuracy sixty, eighty, and a hundred yards. The waddy is a heavy knobbed club about two feet long, and is used for active service, foreign or domestic. It brains the enemy in the battle, or strikes senseless the poor gin in cases of disobedience or neglect. In the latter instance a broken arm is considered a mild martial reproof.

Throwing the Boomerang.

The stone tomahawk is employed in cutting opossums out of their holes in trees, as well as to make notches in the bark, by inserting a toe into which, the black can ascend the highest and largest gums in the bush. One can hardly travel amile in New South Wales without seeing these marks, old or new. The quick eye of the native is guided to the retreat of the opossum by the slight scratches of its claws on the stem of the tree. The boomerang, the most curious and original of Australian war implements, is, or was, familiar in England as a toy. It is a paradox in missile power. There are two kinds of boomerang, that which is thrown to a distance straight ahead, and that which returns on its own axis to the thrower. “I saw,” says Mr. Mundy, “a native of slight frame throw one of the former two hundred and ten yards and much further when aricochetwas permitted. With the latter he made several casts truly surprising to witness. The weapon after skimming breast high, nearly out of sight, suddenly rose high into the air, and returning with amazing velocity towards its owner, buried itself six inches deep in the turf, within a few yards of his feet. It is a dangerous game for an inattentive spectator. An enemy or a quarry ensconced behind a tree or bank safe from spear or even bullet, may be taken in the rear and severely hurt or killed by the recoil of the boomerang. The emu and kangaroo are stunned and disabled, not knowing how to avoid its eccentric gyrations. Amongst a flight of wild ducks just rising from the water, or a flock of pigeons on the ground, this weapon commits great havoc. At closequarters in fight the boomerang, being made of very hard wood with a sharp edge, becomes no bad substitute for a cutlass.

The hieleman or shield, is a piece of wood about two and a half feet long, tapering to the ends with a bevelled face not more than four inches wide at the broadest part, behind which the left hand passes through a hole perfectly guarded. With this narrow buckler the native will parry any missile less swift than the bullet.

In throwing the spear after affixing the wammera, the owner poises it, and gently shakes the weapon so as to give it a quivering motion which it retains during its flight. Within fifty or sixty paces the kangaroo must, I should conceive, have a poor chance of his life.

Hurling the Spear.

The spear is immeasurably the most dangerous weapon of the Australian savage. Many a white man has owed his death to the spear; many thousands of sheep, cattle, and horses have fallen by it. Several distinguished Englishmen have been severely wounded by spear casts; among whom I may name Captain Bligh, the first governor of New South Wales, Sir George Grey, and Captain Fitzgerald, the present governors of New Zealand and Western Australia, and Captain Stokes, R.N., long employed on the survey of the Australian coasts. The attack by the blacks upon the Lieut.-Governor of Swan River, occurred so lately as December 1848. In self-defence he was compelled to shoot his ferocious assailants just too late to save himself, being seriously hurt by a spear passing through his thigh.

Our artist, Mr. Harden S. Melville, while attached to the Australian exploring expedition, in H.M.S. “Fly,” had a narrow escape from making a disagreeably close acquaintance with one of these formidable barbedwar tools. The ship’s boat had put ashore at a spot where there was a congregation of native huts, though not a solitary human inhabitant could be distinguished. With a spirit, however, which evinced more devotion to the cause of science than to the usages of polite society, our friend must needs penetrate to the interior of one of the kennel-like abodes, though to effect this purpose he had to crawl on all fours. Whether he found anything to repay him for his pains I don’t recollect; I only know that he had barely scrambled to the perpendicular, with his back to the bush, when the seaman who was with him, with laudable promptitude, called his attention to an interesting object in the distance. It was a native—the owner of the house Mr. Melville had so unceremoniously ransacked, no doubt—and there he stood with his spear nicely adjusted to the wammera and all a-tremble for a cast. The instant, however, that our artist (who I may tell the reader is a perfect giant) turned his face instead of his back to the native, the spear was lowered and the danger at an end.

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