Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V
OTAHITE
April 13—July 12, 1769
Reception by natives—Peace offerings and ceremonies—Thieving—Natives fired upon—Death of Mr. Buchan, the artist—Lycurgus and Hercules—Tents erected—An honest native—Flies—Music—A foreign axe found—Thefts—Names of the natives—The Dolphin's queen—Quadrant stolen—Dootahah made prisoner—Visit to Dootahah—Wrestling—Tubourai offended—Natives at divine service—Cask stolen—Natives swimming in surf—Imao—Transit of Venus—Nails stolen by sailors—Mourning—Previous visit of foreign ships—Banks takes part in a native funeral ceremony—Travelling musicians—Canoes seized for thefts—Dogs as food—Circumnavigation of the island—Image of man made of basket-work—Gigantic buildings (marai)—Battlefield—Return to station—Breadfruit—Excursion inland—Volcanic nature of the island—Seeds planted—Dismantling the fort—Banks engages a native to go to England.
13th. This morning early we came to an anchor in Port-royal by King George-the-Third's Island. Before the anchor was down we were surrounded by a large number of canoes, the people trading very quietly and civilly, chiefly for beads, in exchange for which they gave cocoanuts, breadfruit both roasted and raw, some small fish and apples. They had one pig with them which they refused to sell for nails upon any account, but repeatedly offered it for a hatchet; of these we had very few on board, so thought it better to let the pig go than to give one of them in exchange, knowing, on the authority of those who had been here before, that if we did so they would never lower their price.
As soon as the anchors were well down the boats were hoisted out, and we all went ashore, where we were met by some hundreds of the inhabitants, whose faces at least gave evident signs that we were not unwelcome guests, although at first they hardly dared approach us; after a little while they became very familiar. The first who approached us came creeping almost on his hands and knees, and gave us a green bough, the token of peace; this we received, and immediately each of us gathered a green bough and carried it in our hands. They marched with us about half a mile, then made a general halt, and scraping the ground clean from the plants that grew upon it, every one of the chiefs threw his bough down upon the bare place, and made signs that we should do the same. The marines were drawn up, and, marching in order, dropped each a bough upon those that the Indians had laid down; we all followed their example, and thus peace was concluded. We then walked into the woods followed by the whole train, to whom we gave beads and small presents. In this manner we proceeded for four or five miles, under groves of cocoanut and breadfruit trees, loaded with a profusion of fruit, and giving the most grateful shade I have ever experienced. Under these were the habitations of the people, most of them without walls; in short, the scene that we saw was the truest picture of an Arcadia of which we were going to be kings that the imagination can form.
Our pleasure in seeing this was, however, not a little allayed by finding in all our walk only two hogs, and not one fowl. Those of our crew who had been with the Dolphin told us that the people whom we saw were only of the common sort, and that the bettermost had certainly removed: as a proof of this they took us to the place where the Queen's palace had formerly stood, and of which there were no traces left. We, however, resolved not to be discouraged at this, but to proceed to-morrow morning in search of the place to which these superior people had removed, in hopes of making the same peace with them as with our friends the blackguards.
14th. Several canoes came to the ship, including two in which were people who, by their dress and appearance, seemed to be of a rank superior to those whom we had seen yesterday. These we invited to come on board, and in coming into the cabin each singled out his friend: one took the captain, and the other chose myself. Each took off a large part of his clothes, and dressed his friend with what he took off; in return for this we presented them with a hatchet and some beads apiece. As they made many signs to us to go to the places where they lived, to the south-west of where we lay, the boats were hoisted out, and, taking them with us, we immediately proceeded according to their directions.
After rowing about a league, they beckoned us on shore, and showed us a long house where they gave us to understand that they lived: here we landed and were met by some hundreds of the inhabitants, who conducted us into the long house. Mats were spread, and we were desired to sit down fronting an old man whom we had not before seen. He immediately ordered a cock and a hen to be brought, which were presented to Captain Cook and myself. We accepted the present; a piece of cloth was then presented to each of us, perfumed, not disagreeably, after their manner, as they took great pains to make us understand. My piece was eleven yards long by two wide. For this I made return by presenting him with a large laced silk neck-cloth I had on, and a linen pocket handkerchief: these he immediately put on and seemed much pleased. After this ceremony was over we walked freely about several large houses, attended by the ladies, who showed us all kinds of civilities.
We now took leave of our friendly chief, and proceeded along shore for about a mile, when we were met by a throng of people, at the head of whom appeared another chief. We had learned the ceremony we were to go through, namely, to receive the green bough always brought to us at every fresh meeting, and to ratify the peace of which it was the emblem, by laying our hands on our breasts and saying Taio, which I imagine signifies friend. The bough was here offered and accepted, and every one of us said Taio; the chief then made signs that if we chose to eat, he had victuals ready: we accordingly dined heartily on fish and bread-fruit with plantains, etc., dressed after their method. Raw fish was offered to us, which it seems they themselves eat. The adventures of this entertainment I much wish to record particularly, but am so much hurried by attending the Indians ashore almost all day long, that I fear I shall scarcely understand my own language when I read it again.
Our chief’s own wife (ugly enough in conscience) did me the honour with very little invitation to squat down on the mats close by me; no sooner had she done so than I espied among the common crowd a very pretty girl with a fire in her eyes that I had not before seen in the country. Unconscious of the dignity of my companion I beckoned to the other, who, after some entreaties, came and sat on the other side of me. I was then desirous of getting rid of my former companion, so I ceased to attend to her, and loaded my pretty girl with beads and every present I could think pleasing to her: the other showed much disgust, but did not quit her place, and continued to supply me with fish and cocoanut milk.
How this would have ended is hard to say; it was interrupted by an accident which gave us an opportunity of seeing much of the people’s manners. Dr. Solander and another gentleman who had not been in as good company as myself found their pockets had been picked: one had lost a snuff-box, the other an opera-glass. Complaint was made to the chief, and to give it weight I started up from the ground, and striking the butt end of my gun, made a rattling noise which I had before used in our walk to frighten the people and keep them at a distance. Upon this every one of the common sort (among whom was my pretty girl) ran like sheep from the house, leaving us with only the chief, his three wives, and two or three better dressed than the rest, whose quality I do not guess at. The chief then took me by the hand to the other end of the house where lay a large quantity of their cloth; this he offered to me piece by piece, making signs that if it would make amends, I might take any part or all. I put it back, and by signs told him that I wanted nothing but our own, which his people had stolen: on this he gave me into the charge of my faithful companion his wife, who had never budged an inch from my elbow. With her I sat down on the mat, and conversed by signs for nearly half an hour, after which time the chief came back bringing the snuff-box and the case of the opera-glass, which, with vast pleasure in his countenance, he returned to the owners; but his face changed when he was shown that the case was empty. He then took me by the hand and walked along shore with great rapidity about a mile; on the way he rereceived a piece of cloth from a woman which he carried in his hand. At last we came to a house in which we were received by a woman: to her he gave the cloth and told us to give her some beads. The cloth and beads were left on the floor by us, and she went out and returned in about a quarter of an hour, bringing the glass in her hand, with a vast expression of joy on her countenance, for few faces have I seen with more expression in them than those of these people. The beads were now returned with a positive resolution of not accepting them, and the cloth was as resolutely forced upon Dr. Solander as a recompense for his loss; he then made a present of beads to the lady. Our ceremonies ended, we returned to the ship, admiring a policy, at least equal to any one we had seen in civilised countries, exercised by people who have never had any advantage but mere natural interest uninstructed by the example of any civilised country.
15th. This morning we landed at the watering-place, bringing with us a small tent, which we set up. Whilst doing this we were attended by some hundreds of the natives, who showed a deference and respect to us which much amazed me. I drew a line before them with the butt end of my musket, and made signs to them to sit down without it. They obeyed instantly, and not a man attempted to set a foot within it. Above two hours were thus spent, and not the least disorder being committed, we proposed to walk into the woods and see if to-day we might not find more hogs, etc., than when we had last visited them, supposing it probable that some at least had been driven away on our arrival. This in particular tempted us to go, with many other circumstances, although an old man (an Indian well known to the Dolphin's crew) attempted by many signs to hinder us from going into the woods; the tent was left in charge of a midshipman with the marines, thirteen in number. We marched away, and were absent about two hours. Shortly before we came back we heard several musket shots. Our old man immediately called us together, and, by waving his hand, sent away every Indian who followed us except three, every one of whom took in their hands a green bough; on this we suspected that some mischief had happened at the tent, and hastened home with all expedition. On our arrival we found that an Indian had snatched a sentry's musket from him unawares and run off. The midshipman (may be) imprudently ordered the marines to fire, which they did, into the thickest of the flying crowd, some hundreds in number, and pursuing the man who had stolen the musket, killed him. Whether any others were killed or hurt no one could tell. No Indian was now to be seen about the tent except our old man, who with us took all pains to reconcile them again before night. By his means we got together a few of them, and explaining to them that the man who had suffered was guilty of a crime deserving of death (for so were we forced to make it), we retired to the ship, not well pleased with the day's expedition, guilty, no doubt, in some measure of the death of a man whom the most severe laws of equity would not have condemned to so severe a punishment.
16th. No canoes about the ship this morning, indeed we could not expect any, as it is probable that the news of our behaviour yesterday was now known everywhere, a circumstance which doubtless will not increase the confidence of our friends the Indians. We were rather surprised that the Dolphin's old man, who seemed yesterday so desirous of making peace, did not come on board to-day. Some few people were upon the beach, but very few in proportion to what we saw yesterday. At noon went ashore, the people rather shy of us, as we must expect them to be, till by good usage we can gain anew their confidence.
Poor Mr. Buchan, the young man whom I brought out as landscape and figure painter, was yesterday attacked by an epileptic fit; he was to-day quite insensible, and our surgeon gives me very little hopes of him.
17th. At two this morning Mr. Buchan died; about nine everything was made ready for his interment, he being already so much changed that it would not be practicable to keep him even till night. Dr. Solander, Mr. Sporing, Mr. Parkinson, and some of the officers of the ship, attended his funeral. I sincerely regret him as an ingenious and good young man, but his loss to me is irretrievable; my airy dreams of entertaining my friends in England with the scenes that I am to see here have vanished. No account of the figures and dresses of the natives can be satisfactory unless illustrated by figures; had Providence spared him a month longer, what an advantage would it have been to my undertaking, but I must submit.
Our two friends, the chiefs of the west, came this morning to see us. One I shall for the future call Lycurgus, from the justice he executed on his offending subjects on the 14th; the other, from the large size of his body, I shall call Hercules. Each brought a hog and bread-fruit ready dressed as a present, for which they were presented in return with a hatchet and a nail apiece. Hercules's present is the largest; he seems indeed to be the richest man.
In the afternoon we all went ashore to measure out the ground for the tents, which done, Captain Cook and Mr. Green slept ashore in a tent erected for that purpose, after having observed an eclipse of one of the satellites of Jupiter.
18th. The Indians brought down such great provision of cocoanuts and bread-fruit to-day that before night we were obliged to leave off buying, and acquaint them by signs that we should not want any more for two days. Everything was bought for beads, a bead about as large as a pea purchasing four or six bread-fruits and a like number of cocoanuts. My tents were got up before night, and I slept ashore in them for the first time. The lines were guarded by many sentries, but no Indian attempted to come near them during the whole night.
19th. This morning Lycurgus and his wife came to see us and brought with them all their household furniture, and even houses to be erected in our neighbourhood, a circumstance which gave me great pleasure, as I had spared no pains to gain the friendship of this man, who seemed more sensible than any of his fellow-chiefs we have seen. His behaviour in this instance makes us sure of having gained his confidence at least.
Soon after his arrival he took me by the hand and led me out of the lines, signing that I should accompany him into the woods, which I did willingly, as I was desirous of knowing how near us he intended to settle. I followed him about a quarter of a mile, when we arrived at a small house, or rather the awning of a canoe set up on the shore, which seemed to be his temporary habitation. Here he unfolded a bundle of their cloths and clothed me in two garments, one of red cloth, the other of a very pretty matting, after which we returned to the tents. He ate pork and bread-fruit which was brought him in a basket, using salt-water instead of sauce, and then retired into my bed-chamber and slept about half an hour.
About dinner-time Lycurgus’s wife brought a handsome young man of about twenty-two to the tents, whom they both seemed to acknowledge as their son; at night he and another chief, who had also visited us, went away to the westward, but Lycurgus and his wife went towards the place I was at in the morning, which makes us not doubt of their staying with us for the future.
20th. Rained hard all this day, at intervals so much so that we could not stir at all: the people, however, went on briskly with the fortification in spite of weather. Lycurgus dined with us, he imitated our manners in every instance, already holding a knife and fork more handily than a Frenchman could learn to do in years. In spite of the rain some provisions are brought to the market, which is kept just without the lines.
21st. Several of our friends at the tents this morning; one from his grim countenance we have called Ajax, and at one time thought to be a great king. He had in his canoe a hog, but chose rather to sell it in the market than give it to us as a present, which we accounted for by his having in the morning received a shirt in return for a piece of cloth; this may have made him fear that had he given the hog it might have been taken into the bargain, a proceeding very different from that of our friend Lycurgus, who seems in every instance to place a most unbounded confidence in us.
22nd. Our friends as usual come early to visit us, Hercules with two pigs, and a Dolphin's axe which he wished to have repaired, as it accordingly was. Lycurgus brought a large fish, an acceptable present, as that article has always been scarce with us. Trade brisk to-day; since our new manufacture of hatchets has been set on foot we get some hogs, though our tools are so small and bad that I only wonder how they can stand one stroke.
The flies have been so troublesome ever since we have been ashore, that we can scarcely get any business done; they eat the painter's colours off the paper as fast as they can be laid on, and if a fish has to be drawn, there is more trouble in keeping them off than in the drawing itself.
Many expedients have been thought of, but none succeed better than a mosquito-net covering table, chair, painter and drawings, but even that is not sufficient. A fly-trap was necessary within this to attract the vermin from eating the colours. For this purpose tar and molasses were mixed yesterday together, but this did not succeed, for the plate which had been smeared with it was left outside the tent to clean, and one of the Indians noticing this took the opportunity, when he thought no one was observing him, of taking some of this mixture up into his hand. I saw him, and was curious to know for what use it was intended: the gentleman had a large sore on his body, to which this clammy liniment was applied, but with what result I never took the trouble to inquire.
Hercules to-day gave us a specimen of the music of this country; four people performed upon flutes, which they sounded with one nostril, while they stopped the other with their thumbs: to these four others sang, keeping very good time, but during half an hour they played only one tune, consisting of not more than five or six notes; more I am inclined to think they have not upon their instruments, which have only two stops.
23rd. Mr. Green and myself went to-day a little way upon the hills in order to see how the roads were. Lycurgus went with us, but complained much at the ascent, saying that it would kill him. We found as far as we went, possibly three miles, exceedingly good paths, and at the end of our walk we met boys bringing wood from the mountains, which we look upon as a proof that the journey will be very easy whenever we attempt to go higher.
We had this evening some conversation about an axe which was brought in the morning by Hercules to be ground. It was very different from our English ones, and several gentlemen were of opinion that it was French. Some went so far as to give it as their opinion that some other ship had been here since the Dolphin. The difficulty, however, appeared to be easily solved by supposing axes to have been taken in the Dolphin for trade, in which case old ones of any make might have been bought, for many such I suppose there are in every old iron shop in London.
25th. I do not know by what accident I have so long omitted to mention how much these people are given to thieving. I will make up for my neglect to-day, however, by saying that great and small, chiefs and common men, all are firmly of opinion that if they can once get possession of anything it immediately becomes their own. This we were convinced of the very second day we were here; the chiefs were employed in stealing what they could in the cabin, while their dependents took everything that was loose about the ship, even the glass ports not escaping them, of which they got off with two. Lycurgus and Hercules were the only two who had not yet been found guilty; but they stood in our opinion but upon ticklish ground, as we could not well suppose them entirely free from a vice their countrymen were so much given to.
Last night Dr. Solander lent his knife to one of Lycurgus's women, who forgot to return it; this morning mine was missing. I resolved to go to Lycurgus, and ask him whether or not he had stolen it, trusting that if he had he would return it. On taxing him with it, he denied knowing anything concerning it. I told him I was resolved to have it returned; on this a man present produced a rag in which were tied up three knives. One was Dr. Solander's, the other a table-knife, and the third no one claimed. With these he marched to the tents to make restitution, while I remained with the women, who much feared that he would be hurt. Arrived there, he restored the two knives to the proper owners, and began immediately to search for mine in all the places where he had ever seen it. One of my servants seeing what he was about brought it to him; he had, it seems, laid it aside the day before without my knowledge. Lycurgus then burst into tears, making signs with my knife that if he was ever guilty of such an action he would submit to have his throat cut. He returned immediately to me with a countenance sufficiently upbraiding me for my suspicions; the scene was immediately changed, I became the guilty and he the innocent person. A few presents and staying a little with him reconciled him entirely; his behaviour, however, has given me a much higher opinion of him than of his countrymen.
27th. Lycurgus and a friend of his (who ate most monstrously, and was accordingly christened Epicurus) dined with us. At night they took their leave and departed; but Lycurgus soon returned with fire in his eyes, seized my arm, and signed to me to follow him. I did, and he soon brought me to a place where was our butcher, who, he told me by signs, had either threatened or attempted to cut his wife's throat with a reaping-hook he had in his hand. I signed to him that the man should be punished to-morrow if he would only clearly explain the offence, which made him so angry that his signs were almost unintelligible. He grew cooler, and showed me that the butcher had taken a fancy to a stone hatchet lying in his house; this he offered to purchase for a nail; his wife who was there, refused to part with it, upon which he took it up and, throwing down the nail, threatened to cut her throat if she attempted to hinder him. In evidence of this the hatchet and nail were produced, and the butcher had so little to say in his defence that no one doubted of his guilt; after this we parted and he appeared satisfied, but did not forget to put me in mind of my promise that the butcher should to-morrow be punished.
This day we found that our friends had names, and they were not a little pleased to discover that we had them likewise. For the future Lycurgus will be called Tubourai Tamaide, his wife Tamio, and the three women who commonly came with him, Terapo, Teraro, and Omie. As for our names, they make so poor a hand at pronouncing them that I fear we shall each be obliged to take a new one for the occasion.
After breakfast Jno. Molineux came ashore, and the moment he entered the tent, fixed his eyes upon a woman who was sitting there, and declared that she had been the queen when the Dolphin was here. She also instantly acknowledged him as a person whom she had seen before. Our attention was now entirely diverted from every other object to the examination of a personage we had heard of so much of in Europe; she appeared to be about forty, tall, and very lusty, her skin white and her eyes full of meaning; she might have been handsome when young, but now few or no traces of it were left.
As soon as her Majesty's quality was known to us, she was invited to go on board the ship, where no presents were spared that were thought to be agreeable to her in consideration of her services to the Dolphin. Among other things a child's doll was given to her, of which she seemed very fond; on her landing she met Hercules (whom for the future I shall call by his real name Dootahah), and showed him her presents. He became uneasy, and was not satisfied till he also had got a doll, which he now seemed to prefer to a hatchet; after this, however, dolls were of no value.
29th. My first business this morning was to see that the butcher was punished, as I promised Tubourai and Tamio, and of which they had not failed to remind me yesterday, when the crowd of people who were with us had prevented its being carried out. I took them on board the ship, where Captain Cook immediately ordered the offender to be punished; they stood quietly and saw him stripped and fastened to the rigging, but as soon as the first blow was given, interfered with many tears, begging that the punishment might cease, a request which the captain would not comply with.
At night I visited Tubourai, as I often did by candle-light, and found him and all his family in a most melancholy mood; most of them shed tears, so that I soon left them without being at all able to find out the cause of their grief. An old man had prophesied to some of our people that in four days we should fire our guns; this was the fourth night, and the circumstance of Tubourai crying over me, as we interpreted it, alarmed our officers a good deal; the sentries are therefore doubled, and we sleep to-night under arms.
30th. A very strict watch was kept last night, as intended, and at two in the morning I myself went round the point, finding everything perfectly quiet. Our little fortification is now complete; it consists of high breastworks at each end; the front palisades and the rear guarded by the river, on the bank of which we placed casks full of water: at every angle is mounted a swivel, and two carriage-guns pointed in the two directions by which the Indians might attack us out of the woods. Our sentries are also as well relieved as they could be in the most regular fortification.
About ten, Tamio came running to the tents; she seized my hand and told me that Tubourai was dying, and that I must go instantly with her to his house. I went and found him leaning his head against a post. He had vomited, they said, and he told me he should certainly die in consequence of something our people had given him to eat, the remains of which were shown me carefully wrapped up in a leaf. This upon examination I found to be a chew of tobacco which he had begged of some of our people, and trying to imitate them in keeping it in his mouth, as he saw them do, had chewed it almost to powder, swallowing his spittle. I was now master of his disease, for which I prescribed cocoanut milk, which soon restored him to health.
1st May. In walking round the point, I saw a canoe which I supposed to have come from a distance, as she had a quantity of fresh water in her in bamboos. In every other respect she is quite like those we have seen; her people, however, are absolute strangers to us.
2nd. This morning the astronomical quadrant, which had been brought ashore yesterday, was missed, a circumstance which alarmed us all very much. After some time, we ascertained from Tubourai that it was in the hands of an Indian; so we set out together. At every house we passed Tubourai inquired after the thief by name, and the people readily told which way he had gone, and how long ago it was since he passed by, a circumstance which gave us great hopes of coming up with him. The weather was excessively hot, the thermometer before we left the tents was 91°, which made our journey very tiresome. At times we walked, at times we ran, when we imagined (as we sometimes did) that the chase was just before us, till we arrived at the top of a hill about four miles from the tents: from this place Tubourai showed us a point about three miles off, and made us understand that we were not to expect the instrument till we got there. We now considered our situation: no arms among us but a pair of pocket-pistols, which I always carried, going at least seven miles from our fort, where the Indians might not be quite so submissive as at home, going also to take from them a prize for which they had ventured their lives; all this considered, we thought it proper that while Mr. Green and myself proceeded, the midshipman should return, and desire Captain Cook to send a party of men after us, telling him at the same time that it was impossible that we could return till night. This done we proceeded, and at the very spot Tubourai had mentioned, were met by one of his people bringing part of the quadrant in his hand: we now stopped, and many Indians gathered about us rather rudely; the sight of one of my pistols, however, instantly checked them, and they behaved with all the order imaginable, though we quickly had some hundreds surrounding a ring we had marked out on the grass. The box was now brought to us, and some of the small matters such as reading glasses, etc., which in their hurry they had put into a pistol-case. This I knew belonged to me; it had been stolen from the tents with a horse-pistol in it, which I immediately demanded, and had immediately restored. Mr. Green began to overlook the instrument to see if any part, or parts, were wanting; several small things were, and people were sent out in search of them, some of whom returned, and others did not: the stand was not there, but that, we were informed, had been left behind by the thief, and we should have it on our return, an answer which, coming from Tubourai, satisfied us. Nothing else was wanting but what could easily be repaired, so we packed up all in grass as well as we could, and proceeded homewards. After walking about two miles we met Captain Cook with a party of marines coming after us, all not a little pleased at the event of our excursion.
The captain on leaving the tents left orders, both for the ship and shore, that no canoes should be suffered to go out of the bay, but that nobody's person should be seized or detained, as we rightly guessed that none of our friends had any hand in the theft. These orders were obeyed by the first lieutenant, who was ashore; but the second aboard, seeing some canoes going along shore, sent a boat to fetch them back. The boatswain commanding it did so, and with them brought Dootahah; the rest of the crew leaped overboard. Dootahah was sent ashore prisoner; the first lieutenant of course could not do less than confine him, to the infinite dissatisfaction of the Indians. This we heard from them two miles before we reached the tents. On our return Tubourai, Tamio, and every Indian that we let in, joined in lamenting over Dootahah with many tears. I arrived about a quarter of an hour before the captain, during which time this scene lasted. As soon as he came he ordered him to be instantly set at liberty, which done he walked off sulkily enough, though at his departure he presented us with a pig.
3rd. No kind of provisions brought to market to-day.
5th. At breakfast-time two messengers came from Dootahah to remind the captain of his promise [given yesterday] to visit him; accordingly the boat set out, carrying the captain, Dr. Solander, and myself. We arrived in about an hour, Eparre, his residence, being about four miles from the tents. An immense throng of people met us on the shore, crowding us very much, though they were severely beaten for so doing by a tall good-looking man, who laid about him most unmercifully with a long stick, striking all who did not get out of his way without intermission, till he had cleared for us a path to Dootahah, who was seated under a tree, attended by a few grave-looking old men. With him we sat down, and made our presents, consisting of an axe and a gown of broadcloth made after their fashion, and trimmed with tape; with these he seemed mightily satisfied. Soon after this Oborea [the queen] joined us, and with her I retired to an adjacent house where I could be free from the suffocating heat, occasioned by so large a crowd of people as was gathered about us. Here was prepared for our diversion an entertainment quite new to us, a wrestling match, at which the other gentlemen soon joined us. A large courtyard railed round with bamboo about three feet high was the scene of the diversion; at one end of this Dootahah was seated, and near him were seats for us, but we rather chose to range at large among the spectators, than confine ourselves to any particular spot.
The diversion began by the combatants, some of them at least, walking round the yard with a slow and grave pace, every now and then striking their left arms very hard, by which they caused a deep and very loud noise, and which it seems was a challenge to each other, or to any one of the company who chose to engage in the exercise. Within the house stood the old men ready to applaud the victor, and some few women who seemed to be here out of compliment to us, as much the larger number absented themselves upon the occasion.
The general challenge being given as above, the particular soon followed it, any man singling out his antagonist by joining the finger-ends of both hands level with the breast, and moving the elbows up and down; if this was accepted, the challenged immediately returned the signal, and both instantly put themselves in an attitude to engage. This they very soon did, striving to seize each other by the hands, hair, or the cloth round the waist, for they had no other dress. They then attempted to seize each other by the thigh, which commonly decided the contest, by the fall of him who was thus taken at a disadvantage; if this was not soon done, they always parted either by consent, or their friends interfered in less than a minute, in which case both began to clap their arms, and seek anew for an antagonist, either in each other or some one else. When any one fell, the whole amusement ceased for a few moments, while the old men in the house gave their applause in a few words which they repeated together in a kind of tune. This lasted about two hours, during all which time the man whom we observed at our first landing continued to beat the people who did not keep at a proper distance; we understood that he was some officer belonging to Dootahah, and was called his Tomite.
The wrestling over, the gentlemen informed me that they understood that two hogs and a large quantity of bread-fruit, etc., were cooking for our dinner; news which pleased me very well, as I was by this time sufficiently prepared for the repast. I went out and saw the ovens in which they were buried; these the Indians readily showed me, telling me at the same time that they would soon be ready, and how good a dinner we should have. In about half an hour all was taken up, but Dootahah began to repent of his intended generosity (he thought, I suppose, that a hog would be looked upon as no more than a dinner, and consequently no present made in return); he therefore changed his mind, and ordering one of the pigs into the boat, sent for us, who soon collected together, and getting our knives prepared to fall to, saying that it was civil of the old gentleman to bring the provisions into the boat, where we could with ease keep the people at a proper distance. His intention was, however, very different from ours, for instead of asking us to eat, he asked to go on board of the ship, a measure we were forced to comply with, and row four miles with the pig growing cold under our noses before he would give it to us. On board, however, we dined upon this same pig, and his Majesty ate very heartily with us. After dinner we went ashore. The sight of Dootahah reconciled to us acted like a charm upon the people, and before night, bread-fruit and cocoanuts were brought for sale in tolerable quantity.
10th. This morning Captain Cook planted divers seeds which he had brought with him in a spot of ground turned up for the purpose; they were all bought of Gordon at Mile End, and sent in bottles sealed up. Whether or no that method will succeed, the event of this plantation will show.
We have now got the Indian name of this island, Otahite, so therefore for the future I shall call it. As for our own names the Indians find so much difficulty in pronouncing them that we are forced to indulge them in calling us what they please, or rather what they say when they attempt to pronounce them. I give here the list: Captain Cook is Toote, Dr. Solander Torano, Mr. Hicks Hete, Mr. Gore Toarro, Mr. Molineux Boba (from his Christian name Robert), Mr. Monkhouse Mato, I myself Tapane. In this manner they have names for almost every man in the ship.
11th. Cocoanuts were brought down so plentifully this morning that by half-past six I had bought 350. This made it necessary to lower the price of them, lest so many being brought at once we should exhaust the country, and want hereafter; notwithstanding which I had before night bought more than a thousand at the rate of six for an amber-coloured bead, ten for a white one, and twenty for a fortypenny nail.
13th. Going on shore I met Tubourai near his house. I stopped with him; he took my gun out of my hand, cocked it, and holding it up in the air, drew the trigger. Fortunately for him it flashed in the pan. Where he had obtained so much knowledge of the use of a gun I could not conceive, but I was sufficiently angry that he should attempt to exercise it upon mine, as I had upon all occasions taught him and the rest of the Indians that they could not offend me more than by merely touching it. I scolded him severely, and even threatened to shoot him. He bore all patiently, but the moment I had crossed the river he and his family moved bag and baggage to their other house at Eparre. This step was no sooner taken than I was informed of it by the Indians about the fort. Not willing to lose the assistance of a man who had upon all occasions been particularly useful to us, I resolved to go this evening and bring him back. Accordingly as soon as dinner was over I set out, accompanied by Mr. Molineux. We found him sitting among a large circle of people, himself and many of the rest with most melancholy countenances, some in tears. One old woman on our coming into the circle struck a shark's tooth into her head several times till it foamed with blood, but her head seemed to have been so often exercised with this expression of grief that it had become quite callous, for though the crown of it was covered with blood, enough did not issue from the wounds to run upon her cheeks. After some few assurances of forgiveness Tubourai agreed to return with us, in consequence of which resolution a double canoe was put off, in which we all returned to the tents before supper-time, and as a token of renewal of friendship both he and his wife slept in my tent all night.
14th. Our friends Dootahah, Oborea, Otheothea, etc., at the tents this morning as usual. It being Sunday, Captain Cook proposed that divine service should be celebrated, but before the time most of our Indian friends had gone home to eat. I was resolved, however, that some should be present that they might see our behaviour, and we might if possible explain to them (in some degree at least) the reasons of it. I went, therefore, over the river, and brought back Tubourai and Tamio, and having seated them in the tent, placed myself between them. During the whole service they imitated my motions, standing, sitting, or kneeling as they saw me do; and so much understood that we were about something very serious, that they called to the Indians without the fort to be silent. Notwithstanding this they did not, when the service was over, ask any questions, nor would they attend at all to any explanation we attempted to give them. We have not yet seen the least traces of religion among these people, maybe they are entirely without it.
15th. In the course of last night one of the Indians was clever enough to steal an iron-bound cask. It was indeed without the fort, but so immediately under the eye of the sentry that we could hardly believe the possibility of such a thing having happened. The Indians, however, acknowledged it, and seemed inclined to give intelligence, in consequence of which I set off in pursuit of it, and traced it to a part of the bay where they told me it had been put into a canoe. It was not of sufficient consequence to pursue with any great spirit, so I returned home. At night Tubourai made many signs that another cask would be stolen before morning; and thinking, I suppose, that we did not sufficiently regard them, came with his wife and family to the place where the cask lay, and said that they themselves would take care that no one should steal them. On being told this I went to them, and explaining to them that a sentry was this night put over these particular casks, they agreed to come and sleep in my tent, but insisted on leaving a servant to assist the sentry in case the thief came, which he did about midnight. He was seen by the sentry, who fired at him, on which he retreated most expeditiously.
18th. The apples[1] now begin to be ripe, and are brought in large quantities very cheap; so that apple-pies are a standing dish with us.
29th. We saw the Indians amuse or exercise themselves in a manner truly surprising. It was in a place where the shore was not guarded by a reef, as is usually the case, consequently a high surf fell upon the shore, and a more dreadful one I have not often seen; no European boat could have landed in it, and I think no European who had by any means got into it could possibly have saved his life, as the shore was covered with pebbles and large stones. In the midst of these breakers ten or twelve Indians were swimming. Whenever a surf broke near them they dived under it with infinite ease, rising up on the other side; but their chief amusement was being carried on by an old canoe; with this before them they swam out as far as the outermost beach, then one or two would get into it, and opposing the blunt end to the breaking wave, were hurried in with incredible swiftness. Sometimes they were carried almost ashore, but generally the wave broke over them before they were half-way, in which case they dived and quickly rose on the other side with the canoe in their hands. It was then towed out again, and the same method repeated. We stood admiring this very wonderful scene for fully half an hour, in which time no one of the actors attempted to come ashore, but all seemed most highly entertained with their strange diversion.
30th. Carpenters employed to-day in repairing the longboat, which is eaten in a most wonderful manner; every part of her bottom is like a honey-comb, some of the holes being an eighth of an inch in diameter, such progress has this destructive insect made in six weeks.
31st. The day of observation now approaches. The weather has for some days been fine, though in general, since we have been upon the island, we have had as much cloudy as clear weather, which makes us all not a little anxious for the success. In consequence of hints from Lord Morton, the captain resolved to send a party to the eastward and another to Imao, an island in sight of us, thinking that in case of thick weather one or the other might be more successful than those at the observatory. I resolve to go on the Imao expedition.
1st June. The boat was not ready until after dinner, when we set out: we rowed most of the night, and came to a grappling just under the island of Imao.
2nd. Soon after daybreak we saw an Indian canoe, and upon hailing her she showed us an inlet through the reef into which we pulled, and soon fixed upon a coral rock about 150 yards from the shore as a very proper situation for our observatory. It was about eighty yards long and twenty broad, and had in the middle a patch of white sand large enough for our tents. The second lieutenant and people therefore immediately set about fixing them, while I went upon the main island to trade with the inhabitants for provisions, of which I soon bought a sufficient supply. Before night our observatory was in order, the telescopes all set up, and tried, etc., and we went to bed anxious for the events of to-morrow. The evening having been very fine gave us great hopes of success.
3rd. Various were the changes observed in the weather during the course of last night; some one or other of us was up every half-hour, and constantly informed the rest that it was either clear or hazy. At daybreak we rose, and soon after had the satisfaction of seeing the sun rise as clear and bright as we could wish. I then wished success to the observers, Messrs. Gore and Monkhouse, and repaired to the island, where I could do the double service of examining the natural produce and buying provision for my companions who were engaged in so useful a work. Tarroa, the king of the island, came to pay me a visit. After the first internal contact was over, I went back to the observatory, carrying with me Tarroa, his sister Nuna, and some of their chief attendants; we showed them the planet upon the sun, and made them understand that we had come on purpose to see it. I spent the rest of the day in examining the produce of the island, and found it very nearly similar to that of Otahite. The people, indeed, were exactly the same. Many of them we had often seen at Otahite, and every one knew well what kind of trade we had and the value it bore in that island. The hills in general came nearer to the water, and the plains were consequently smaller and less fertile than in Otahite. The low point near which we lay was composed entirely of sand and coral; here neither bread-fruit nor any other useful vegetables would grow; the land was covered with Pandanus sectorius, with which grew several plants we had not seen at Otahite. Among them was Iberis,[2] which Mr. Gore tells me is the plant called by the voyagers scurvy grass, and which grows plentifully upon all the low islands.
4th. What with presents and trade our stock of provisions was so large that we were obliged to give away a large quantity; this done we put off, and before night arrived at the tents, where we had the great satisfaction to find that the observation there had been attended with as much success as Mr. Green and the captain could wish, the day having been perfectly clear, without so much as a cloud intervening. We also heard the melancholy news that a large part of our stock of nails had been purloined by some of the ship's company during the time of the observation, when everybody who had any degree of command was ashore. One of the thieves was detected, but only seven nails out of one hundredweight were found upon him, and he bore his punishment without impeaching any of his accomplices. This loss is of a very serious nature, as these nails, if circulated by the people among the Indians, will greatly lessen the value of iron, our staple commodity.
5th. During our absence at Imao an old woman of some consequence died, and was placed not far from the fort to rot above ground, as is the custom of the island. I went this morning to see her. A small square was neatly railed in with bamboo, and in the midst of it a canoe awning set up upon two posts; in this the body was laid, covered with fine cloth. Near this was laid fish, meat, etc. for the gods, not for the deceased, but to satisfy the hunger of the deities lest they should eat the body, which Tubourai told us they would certainly do, if this ceremony were neglected. In the front of the square was a kind of stile, or place lower than the rest, where the relatives of the deceased stood when they cried or bled themselves. Under the awning were numberless rags containing the blood and tears they had shed. Within a few yards were two occasional houses; in one of them some of the relations, generally a good many, constantly remained; in the other the chief male mourner resided, and kept a very remarkable dress in which he performed a ceremony. Both dress and ceremony I shall describe when I have an opportunity of seeing it in perfection, which Tubourai promises me I shall soon have.
This day we kept the King's birthday, which had been delayed on account of the absence of the two observing parties. Several of the Indians dined with us and drank his Majesty's health by the name of Kilnargo, for we could not teach them to pronounce a word more like King George. Tupia (Oborea's right-hand man, who was with her when the Dolphin was here), to show his loyalty, got most enormously drunk.
6th. In walking into the woods yesterday, I saw in the hands of an Indian an iron tool, made in the shape of the Indian adzes, but very different, I am sure, from anything that had been carried out or made either by the Dolphin or this ship. This excited my curiosity, the more so as I was told that it did not come out of either of those ships, but from two others which came here together. This was a discovery not to be neglected. With much difficulty and labour I at last got the following account of them, viz. that in their month of Pepare (which answers to our January 1768), two Spanish ships came here, commanded by a man whom they called To Otterah; that they lay eight days in a bay called Hidea, some leagues to the eastward of Matavie, where our ship now lies; that during their stay they sent tents ashore, and some slept in them; that they were chiefly connected with a chief whose name was Orette, and whose younger brother they carried away with them, promising to return in nine months; that they had on board their ships a woman; and that on their departure they stood to the westward as long as they were seen from the island. I was very particular in these inquiries, as the knowledge got by them may be of some consequence. The methods by which I gained this account would be much too tedious to mention. One of my greatest difficulties was to determine the nationality of the ships: for this purpose I pointed to our colours and asked whether the two ships had the same or not. "No," was the answer, when the question was thoroughly understood. I then opened a large sheet of flags, and asked which of them they had. Tubourai looked steadfastly over them, and at last pitched upon the Spanish ensign, and to that he adhered, although we tried him over and over again.[3]
9th. Yesterday and to-day the Heiva no Metua, or chief mourner, walked. My curiosity was raised by his most singular dress, and being desirous of knowing what he did during his walk, I asked Tubourai, at the same time desiring leave to attend him to-morrow, which was readily granted upon my consenting to act a character.
Bread-fruit has for some time been scarce with us; about ten days ago, when there had been a great show of fruit, the trees were thinned all at once, and every one was employed in making mahie for about a week. Where the bread-fruit we now have comes from we cannot tell, but we have more than the woods around us can supply us with; probably our consumption has thinned the trees in this neighbourhood, as the Dolphin, which came here about this time, found great plenty during the whole of her stay. If this is the case, what we now get may be brought from some neighbouring place, where the trees are not yet exhausted.
10th. This evening, according to my yesterday's engagement, I went to the place where the Metua lay; there I found Tubourai, Tamio, Hoona, the Metua's daughter, and a young Indian prepared to receive me. Tubourai was the Heiva, the three others and myself were to be Nineveh. Tubourai put on his most fantastical though not unbecoming dress. I was next prepared by stripping off my European clothes and putting on a small strip of cloth round my waist, the only garment I was allowed to have. They then began to smut me and themselves with charcoal and water, the Indian boy was completely black, the women and myself as low as our shoulders; we then set out. Tubourai began by praying twice, once near the corpse, and again near his own house. We then proceeded towards the fort; it was necessary, it seems, that the procession should visit that place, but they dare not do it without our sanction, indeed it was not until they had received many assurances of our consent that they ventured to perform any part of their ceremonies.
To the fort then we went, to the surprise of our friends and affright of the Indians who were there, for they everywhere fly before the Heiva, like sheep before a wolf; we soon left it and proceeded along shore towards a place where above a hundred Indians were collected together. We, the Ninevahs, had orders from the Heiva to disperse them; we ran towards them, but before we came within a hundred yards of them they dispersed every way, running to the first shelter and hiding themselves under grass or whatever else would conceal them. We now crossed the river into the woods and passed several houses, all deserted; not another Indian did we see during the half-hour that we spent in walking about. We (the Ninevehs) then came to the Heiva and said imatata (there are no people), after which we repaired home; the Heiva undressed, and we went into the river and scrubbed one another until it was dark, before the blacking came off.
12th. In my morning's walk to-day I met a company of travelling musicians; they told me where they should be at night, so after supper we all repaired to the place. There was a large concourse of people round the band, which consisted of two flutes and three drums, the drummers accompanying their music with their voices. They sang many songs, generally in praise of us, for these gentlemen, like Homer of old, must be poets as well as musicians. The Indians seeing us entertained with their music, asked us to sing them an English song, which we most readily agreed to, and received much applause, so much so that one of the musicians became desirous of going to England to learn to sing. These people, by what we can learn, go about from house to house, the master of the house and the audience paying them for their music in cloth, meat, beads, or anything else which the one wants and the other can spare.
13th. Mr. Monkhouse, our surgeon, met to-day with an insult from an Indian, the first that has been met with by any of us; he was pulling a flower from a tree which grew on a burial-ground, and was consequently, I suppose, sacred, when an Indian came behind him and struck him; Mr. Monkhouse caught and attempted to beat him, but was prevented by two more, who, coming up, seized hold of his hair and rescued their companion, after which they all ran away.
14th. I lay in the woods last night, as I very often do; at daybreak I was called up by Mr. Gore and went with him shooting. We did not return till night, when we saw a large number of canoes in the river behind the tents. It appears that last night an Indian was clever enough to steal a coal-rake out of the fort without being perceived; in the morning it was missed, and Captain Cook being resolved to recover it, and also to discourage such attempts for the future, went out with a party of men and seized twenty-five of their large sailing canoes which had just come in from Tethurva, a neighbouring island, with a supply of fish. The coal-rake was upon this soon brought back, but Captain Cook thought he had now an opportunity of recovering all the things which had been stolen; he therefore proclaimed to every one that the boats should not stir until all the things were brought back. A list of the articles was immediately drawn up and read several times to the Indians, who at once promised that everything should be returned. Great application was made to me on my arrival that some of the boats might be released. I did not until I got to the fort understand the reason of their detention, but when I did nothing appeared plainer than that no one of them should on any account be given up from favour, but that the whole should be kept till the things were restored—if ever they were—which I much doubted, as the canoes did not belong to the people who had the articles. I confess, that had I taken a step so violent, I would have seized either the persons of the people who had stolen from us (most of whom we either knew, or shrewdly suspected), or at least their goods, instead of those of people who were entirely unconcerned in the affair, and had not probably interest enough with their superiors (to whom all valuable things are carried) to procure the restoration demanded.
17th. Mr. Gore and myself went to Eparre to shoot ducks, little thinking what the consequence of our expedition would be; for before we had half filled our bags we had frightened away Dootahah and all his household with their furniture. It was no small diversion to us to find his Majesty so much more fearful than his ducks.
20th. This morning early Oborea and some others came to the tents, bringing a large quantity of provisions as a present, among the rest a very fat dog. We had lately learnt that these animals were eaten by the Indians, and esteemed more delicate food than pork; now therefore was an opportunity of trying the experiment. The dog was immediately given over to Tupia, who, finding that it was a food that we were not accustomed to, undertook to stand butcher and cook. He killed the animal by stopping his breath, holding his hands fast over his mouth and nose, an operation which took more than a quarter of an hour: he then proceeded to dress him much in the same manner as we would do a pig, singeing him over the fire and scraping him clean with a shell. He then opened him with the same instrument, and taking out his entrails, pluck, etc., sent them to the sea, where they were most carefully washed and put into cocoanut shells with what blood he had found in him. The stones were now laid, and the dog, well covered with leaves, laid upon them; in about two hours he was dressed, and in another quarter of an hour completely eaten. A most excellent dish he made for us, who were not much prejudiced against any species of food. I cannot, however, promise that an European dog would eat as well, as these in Otahite scarcely in their lives touch animal food; cocoanut kernel and bread-fruit, yams, etc., being what their masters can best afford to give them, and what indeed from custom I suppose they prefer to any other food.
24th. The market has been totally stopped ever since the boats were seized, nothing being offered for sale but a few apples; our friends, however, are liberal in presents, so that we make-shift to live without expending our bread, which last, and spirits, are our most valuable articles. Late in the evening Tubourai and Tamio returned from Eparre, bringing with them several presents, among the rest a large piece of thick cloth, which they desired that I would carry home to my sister Opia, and for which they would take no kind of return. They are often very inquisitive about our families, and remember anything that is told them very well.
26th. At three o'clock this morning Captain Cook and myself set out to the eastward in the pinnace, intending, if it was convenient, to go round the island.[4]
28th. We saw an English goose and a turkey-cock, which they told us had been left by the Dolphin, both of them immensely fat and as tame as possible, following the Indians everywhere, who seemed immensely fond of them.
29th. We saw a singular curiosity: a figure of a man made of basket-work, roughly but not ill designed. It was seven feet high, and too bulky in proportion to its height; the whole was neatly covered with feathers—white to represent skin, and black to represent hair, and tallow on the head, where were three protuberances which we should have called horns, but the Indians called them tata ete (little men). The image was called by them Manne. They said it was the only one of the kind in Otahite, and readily attempted to explain its use, but their language was totally unintelligible, and seemed to refer to some customs to which we are perfect strangers. Several miles farther on we went ashore again, though we saw nothing remarkable but a burying-ground, whose pavement was unusually neat. It was ornamented by a pyramid about five feet high, covered entirely with the fruits of Pandanus odorus and Cratæva gynandra. In the middle, near the pyramid, was a small image of stone very roughly worked, the first instance of carving in stone that I have seen among these people. This they seemed to value, as it was protected from the weather by a kind of shed built purposely over it. Near it were three human skulls, laid in order, very white and clean, and quite perfect.
We afterwards took a walk towards a point on which we had from afar observed trees of etoa (Casuarina equisetifolia), from whence we judged that there would be some marai in the neighbourhood; nor were we disappointed, for we had no sooner arrived there than we were struck with the sight of a most enormous pile, certainly the masterpiece of Indian architecture in this island, and so all the inhabitants allowed. Its size and workmanship almost exceed belief. Its form was similar to that of marais in general, resembling the roof of a house, not smooth at the sides, but formed into eleven steps, each of these four feet in height, making in all 44 feet; its length was 267 feet, its breadth 71 feet. Every one of these steps was formed of white coral stones, most of them neatly squared and polished; the rest were round pebbles, but these, from their uniformity of size and roundness, seemed to have been worked. Some of the coral stones were very large, one I measured was 3½ by 2½ feet. The foundation was of rock stone, likewise squared; the corner-stone measured 4 feet 7 inches by 2 feet 4 inches. The building made part of one side of a spacious area walled in with stone; the size of this, which seemed to be intended for a square, was 118 by 110 paces, and it was entirely paved with flat paving-stones. It is almost beyond belief that Indians could raise so large a structure without the assistance of iron tools to shape their stones or mortar to join them; which last appears almost essential, as most of them are round: but it is done, and almost as firmly as an European workman would have done it, though in some things they seem to have failed. The steps for instance, which range along its greatest length, are not straight; they bend downward in the middle, forming a small segment of a circle. Possibly the ground may have sunk a little under the immense weight of such a great pile; such a sinking, if it took place regularly, would have this effect. The labour of the work is prodigious, the quarried stones are but few, but they must have been brought by hand from some distance; at least we saw no signs of a quarry near it, though I looked carefully about me. The coral must have been fished up from under the water, where indeed it is most plentiful, but usually covered with at least three or four feet of water, and generally with much more. The labour of forming the blocks when obtained must also have been at least as great as that employed in getting them. The natives have not shown us any way by which they could square a stone except by means of another, which must be a most tedious process, and liable to many accidents through tools breaking. The stones are also polished as well and as truly as stones of the kind could be by the best workman in Europe; in that particular they excel, owing to the great plenty of a sharp coral sand which is admirably adapted to the purpose, and which is found everywhere upon the sea-shore in this neighbourhood.
About a hundred yards to the west of this building was another court or paved area, in which were several Ewhattas, a kind of altar raised on wooden pillars about seven feet high; on these they offer meat of all kinds to the gods. We have thus seen large hogs offered; and here were the skulls of above fifty of them, besides those of dogs, which the priest who accompanied us assured us were only a small fraction of what had been here sacrificed. This marai and apparatus for sacrifice belonged, we were told, to Oborea and Oamo.
The greatest pride of an inhabitant of Otahite is to have a grand marai; in this particular our friends far exceed any one in the island, and in the Dolphin's time the first of them exceeded every one else in riches and respect. The reason of the difference of her present appearance, I found by an accident which I now relate. Our road to the marai lay by the seaside, and everywhere under our feet were numberless human bones, chiefly ribs and vertebræ. So singular a sight surprised me much, and I inquired the reason. I was told that in the month called by them Owarahew last, which answers to our December 1768, the people of Tiarreboo made a descent here and killed a large number of people, whose bones we now saw; that upon this occasion Oborea and Oamo were obliged to flee for shelter to the mountains; that the conquerors burnt all the houses, which were very large, and took away all the hogs, etc.; that the turkey and goose which we had seen were part of the spoils, as were the jaw-bones which we had also seen; these had been carried away as trophies, and are used by the Indians here in exactly the same manner as the North Americans do scalps.
30th. At night we came to Otahourou, the very place at which we were on the 28th of May; here we were among our intimate friends, who expressed the pleasure they had in entertaining us, by giving us a good supper and good beds, in which we slept the better for being sure of reaching Matavie [where the ship lay] to-morrow night at the farthest. Here we learned that the bread-fruit (a little of which we saw just sprouting upon the trees) would not be fit to eat in less than three months.
2nd July. All our friends crowded this morning to see us, and tell us that they were rejoiced at our return; nor were they empty-handed, most of them brought something or other. The canoes were still in the river, and Captain Cook, finding that there was no likelihood now of any of the stolen goods being restored, resolved to let them go as soon as he could. His friend Potattow solicited for one, which was immediately granted, as it was imagined that the favour was asked for some of his friends; but no sooner did he begin to move the boat than the real owners and a number of Indians opposed him, telling him and his people very clamorously that it did not belong to them. He answered that he had bought it of the captain, and given a pig for it; the people were by this declaration satisfied, and had we not luckily overheard it, he would have taken away this boat, and probably soon after have solicited for more. On being detected he became so sulky and ashamed, that for the rest of the day neither he nor his wife would open their mouths, or look straight at any of us.
3rd. This morning very early Mr. Monkhouse and myself set out, resolving to follow the course of the valley down which our river comes, in order to see how far up it was inhabited, etc. etc. When we had got about two miles up it, we met several of our neighbours coming down with loads of bread-fruit upon their backs: we had often wondered from whence our small supply of bread-fruit came, as there was none to be seen upon the flats. They soon explained the mystery, showing us bread-fruit trees planted on the sides of the hills, and telling us at the same time that when the fruit in the flats failed, these, which had been by them planted upon the hills to preserve the succession, were ready for use. The quantity was much less than in the lowlands, and not by any means sufficient to supply the whole interval of scarcity. When this was exhausted they were obliged to live on ahee nuts, plantains, and vae (or wild plantain), which grows very high up in the mountains. How the Dolphin's men, who were here much about this time, came to find so great plenty of bread-fruit upon the trees, is a mystery to me, unless perhaps the season of this fruit alters. As for their having met with a much larger supply of hogs, fowls, etc., than we have done, I can most readily account for that, as we have found by constant experience that these people may be frightened into anything. They have often described to us the terror which the Dolphin's gun caused them, and when we ask how many people were killed, they number names upon their fingers, some ten, some twenty, some thirty, and then say worrow worrow, the same word as is used for a flock of birds or a shoal of fish. The Dolphin's journals often serve to confirm this opinion. "When," say they, "towards the latter end of our time provisions were scarce, a party of men were sent towards Eparre to get hogs, etc., an office which they had not the smallest difficulty in performing, for the people, as we went along the shore, drove out their hogs to meet us, and would not allow us to pay anything for them."
About a mile farther on we found houses fairly plentiful on each side of the river, the valley being all this way three or four hundred yards across. We were now shown a house which proved the last we saw; the master offered us cocoa-nuts, and we refreshed ourselves. Beyond this we went maybe six miles (it is difficult to guess distances when roads are bad as this was, for we were generally obliged to travel along the course of the river). We passed by several hollow places under stones where, we were told, that people who were benighted slept. At length we arrived at a place where the river was banked on each side with steep rocks; and a cascade which fell from them made a pool so deep, that the Indians said we could not go beyond it—they never did. Their business lay below the rocks, on each side of the plains, above which grew great plenty of vae. The avenues to these were truly dreadful, the rocks were nearly perpendicular, one being nearly a hundred feet in height, with its face constantly wet and slippery from the water of numberless springs. Directly up the face of even this was a road, or rather a succession of long pieces of bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus, which served as a rope to take hold of and scramble up from ledge to ledge, though upon these very ledges none but a goat or an Indian could have stood. One of these ropes was nearly thirty feet in length; our guides offered to help us up this pass, but rather recommended one lower down, a few hundred yards away, which was much less dangerous. We did not choose to venture on it, as the sight which was to reward our hazard was nothing but a grove of vae trees, such as we had often seen before.
In the whole course of this walk the rocks were almost constantly bare to the view, so that I had a most excellent opportunity of searching for any appearance of minerals, but saw not the smallest sign of any. The stones everywhere showed manifest signs of having been at some time or other burnt, indeed I have not yet seen a specimen of stone in the island that has not the visible marks of fire upon it; small pieces indeed of the hatchet stone may be without them, but I have pieces of the same kind burnt almost to a pumice: the very clay upon the hills shows manifest signs of fire. Possibly the island owes its origin to a volcano, which now no longer burns, or, theoretically speaking, for the sake of those authors who balance this globe by a proper weight of continent placed near these latitudes, this necessary continent may have been sunk by dreadful earthquakes and volcanoes two or three hundred fathoms under the sea, the tops of the highest mountains only remaining above the water in the shape of islands: an undoubted proof being that such a thing now exists, to the great support of their theory, which, were it not for this proof, would have been already totally demolished by the course our ship made from Cape Horn to this island.
4th. I employed myself in planting a large quantity of the seeds of water-melons, oranges, lemons, limes, etc., which I had brought from Rio de Janeiro; they were planted on both sides of the fort in as many varieties of soil as I could choose. I have very little doubt of the former, especially, coming to perfection, as I have given away large quantities of seed among the natives; I planted some also in the woods. The natives now continually ask me for seeds, and have already shown me melon plants of their raising which had taken perfectly well. The seeds that Captain Cook sowed have proved so bad that not one has come up, except the mustard; even the cucumbers and melons have failed, owing probably to their having been packed in small bottles sealed down with rosin.
7th. The carpenters were this morning employed in taking down the gates and palisades of our little fortification to make us firewood for the ship, when one of the Indians made shift to steal the staple and hook of the great gate. We were immediately apprised of the theft, to the great affright of our visitors, of whom the bell-tent was full; their fears were, however, presently quieted, and I (as usual) set out on my ordinary occupation of thief-catching. The Indians most readily joined me, and away we set full cry, much like a pack of fox-hounds; we ran and walked, and walked and ran, for, I believe, six miles with as little delay as possible, when we learnt that we had very early in the chase passed our game, who was washing in a brook when he saw us coming, and hid himself in the rushes. We returned to the place, and by some intelligence which some of our people got, found a scraper which had been stolen from the ship and was hid in those very rushes; with this we returned, and Tubourai soon after brought the staple.
12th. This morning Tupia came on board; he had expressed his intention of going with us to England, a circumstance which gives me much satisfaction; he is certainly a most proper man, well born, chief Tahowa or priest of this island, consequently skilled in the mysteries of their religion; but what makes him more than anything desirable is his experience in the navigation of these people and knowledge of the islands in these seas. He has told us the names of above seventy, at most of which he has himself been. The captain refuses to take him on his own account; in my opinion sensibly enough, as the Government will never in all human probability take any notice of him. I therefore have resolved to take him; thank Heaven, I have a sufficiency, and I do not know why I may not keep him as a curiosity as well as my neighbours do lions and tigers at a larger expense than he will ever probably put me to. The amusement I shall have in his future conversation, and the benefit which will be derived by this ship, as well as any other which may in the future be sent into these seas, will, I think, fully repay me. As soon as he had made his mind known, he said he would go ashore and return in the evening, when he would make a signal for a boat to be sent off for him. He took with him a miniature picture of mine to show his friends, and several little things to give them as parting presents.
- ↑ Spondias dulcis, Forst.
- ↑ Lepidium piscidium, Forst.
- ↑ As will appear later (see p. 370), the ships were French, under Bougainville.
- ↑ The circumnavigation of the island presents few interesting features beyond what was noticed on the 28th and 29th; any differences in customs are recorded in Chapter VII. ("General Account of the South Sea Islands").