A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12 by Robert Kerr

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In the mean time, Mr Banks and Mr Green pursued their journey, under the
auspices of Tubourai Tamaide, and in the very spot which he had
specified, they met one of his own people, with part of the quadrant in
his hand. At this most welcome sight they stopped; and a great number of
Indians immediately came up, some of whom pressing rather rudely upon
them, Mr Banks thought it necessary to shew one of his pistols, the
sight of which reduced them instantly to order: As the crowd that
gathered round them was every moment increasing, he marked out a circle
in the grass, and they ranged themselves on the outside of it, to the
number of several hundreds, with great quietness and decorum. Into the
middle of this circle, the box, which was now arrived, was ordered to be
brought, with several reading glasses, and other small matters, which in
their hurry they had put into a pistol-case, that Mr Banks knew to be
his property, it having been some time before stolen from the tents,
with a horse-pistol in it, which he immediately demanded, and which was
all restored.

Mr Green was impatient to see whether all that had been taken away was
returned, and upon examining the box found the stand, and a few small
things of less consequence wanting; several persons were sent in search
of these, and most of the small things were returned: But it was
signified that the thief had not brought the stand so far, and that it
would be delivered to our friends as they went back; this being
confirmed by Tubourai Tamaide they prepared to return, as nothing would
then be wanting but what might easily be supplied; and after they had
advanced about two miles, I met them with my party, to our mutual
satisfaction, congratulating each other upon the recovery of the
quadrant, with a pleasure proportioned to the importance of the event.

About eight o'clock, Mr Banks, with Tubourai Tamaide, got back to the
fort; when, to his great surprise, he found Tootahah in custody, and
many of the natives in the utmost terror and distress, crowding about
the gate. He went hastily in, some of the Indians were suffered to
follow him, and the scene was extremely affecting. Tubourai Tamaide
pressing forward, ran up to Tootahah, and catching him in his arms, they
both burst into tears, and wept over each other, without being able to
speak: The other Indians were also in tears for their chief, both he and
they being strongly possessed with the notion that he was to be put to
death. In this situation they continued till I entered the fort, which
was about a quarter of an hour afterwards. I was equally surprised and
concerned at what had happened, the confining Tootahah being contrary to
my orders, and therefore instantly set him at liberty. Upon enquiring
into the affair, I was told, that my going into the woods with a party
of men under arms, at a time when a robbery had been committed, which it
was supposed I should resent, in proportion to our apparent injury by
the loss, had so alarmed the natives, that in the evening they began to
leave the neighbourhood of the fort, with their effects: That a double
canoe having been seen to put off from the bottom of the bay by Mr Gore,
the second lieutenant, who was left in command on board the ship, and
who had received orders not to suffer any canoe to go out, he sent the
boatswain with a boat after her to bring her back: That as soon, as the
boat came up, the Indians being alarmed, leaped into the sea; and that
Tootahah, being unfortunately one of the number, the boatswain took him
up, and brought him to the ship, suffering the rest of the people to
swim on shore: That Mr Gore, not sufficiently attending to the order
that none of the people should be confined, had sent him to the fort,
and Mr Hicks, the first lieutenant, who commanded there, receiving him
in charge from Mr Gore, did not think himself at liberty to dismiss him.

The notion that we intended to put him to death had possessed him so
strongly, that he could not be persuaded to the contrary till by my
orders he was led out of the fort. The people received him as they would
have done a father in the same circumstances, and every one pressed
forward to embrace him. Sudden joy is commonly liberal, without a
scrupulous regard to merit; and Tootahah, in the first expansion of his
heart, upon being unexpectedly restored to liberty and life, insisted
upon our receiving a present of two hogs; though, being conscious that
upon this occasion we had no claim to favours, we refused them many
times.

Mr Banks and Dr Solander attended the next morning in their usual
capacity of market-men, but very few Indians appeared, and those who
came brought no provisions. Tootahah, however, sent some of his people
for the canoe that had been detained, which they took away. A canoe
having also been detained that belonged to Oberea, Tupia, the person who
managed her affairs when the Dolphin was here, was sent to examine
whether any thing on board had been taken away: And he was so well
satisfied of the contrary, that he left the canoe where he found it, and
joined us at the fort, where he spent the day, and slept on board the
canoe at night. About noon, some fishing-boats came abreast of the
tents, but would part with very little of what they had on board; and we
felt the want of cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit very severely. In the course
of the day, Mr Banks walked out into the woods, that by conversing with
the people he might recover their confidence and good-will: He found
them civil, but they all complained of the ill-treatment of their chief;
who, they said, had been beaten and pulled by the hair. Mr Banks
endeavoured to convince them, that he had suffered no personal violence,
which, to the best of our knowledge, was true; yet, perhaps, the
boatswain had behaved with a brutality which he was afraid or ashamed to
acknowledge. The chief himself being probably, upon recollection, of
opinion that we had ill-deserved the hogs, which he had left with us as
a present, sent a messenger in the afternoon to demand an axe, and a
shirt, in return; but as I was told that he did not intend to come down
to the fort for ten days, I excused myself from giving them till I
should see him, hoping that his impatience might induce him to fetch
them, and knowing that absence would probably continue the coolness
between us, to which the first interview might put an end.

The next day we were still more sensible of the inconvenience we had
incurred by giving offence to the people in the person of their chief,
for the market was so ill supplied that we were in want of necessaries.
Mr Banks therefore went into the woods to Tubourai Tamaide, and with
some difficulty persuaded him to let us have five baskets of breadfruit;
a very seasonable supply, as they contained above one hundred and
twenty. In the afternoon another messenger arrived from Tootahah for
the axe and shirt; as it was now become absolutely necessary to recover
the friendship of this man, without which it would be scarcely possible
to procure provisions, I sent word that Mr Banks and myself would visit
him on the morrow, and bring what he wanted with us.

Early the next morning he sent again to remind me of my promise, and his
people seemed to wait till we should set out with great impatience: I
therefore ordered the pinnace, in which I embarked with Mr Banks and Dr
Solander about ten o'clock: We took one of Tootahah's people in the
boat with us, and in about an hour we arrived at his place of residence,
which is called Eparre, and is about four miles to the westward of the
tents.

We found the people waiting for us in great numbers upon the shore, so
that it would have been impossible for us to have proceeded, if way had
not been made for us by a tall well-looking man, who had something like
a turban, about his head, and a long white stick in his hand, with which
he laid about him at an unmerciful rate. This man conducted us to the
chief, while the people shouted round us, _Taio Tootahah_, "Tootahah is
your friend." We found him, like an ancient patriarch, sitting under a
tree, with a number of venerable old men standing-round him; he made a
sign to us to sit down, and immediately asked for his axe: This I
presented to him, with an upper garment of broad cloth, made after the
country fashion, and trimmed with tape, to which I also added a shirt:
He received them with great satisfaction, and immediately put on the
garment; but the shirt he gave to the person who had cleared the way for
us upon our landing, who was now seated by us, and of whom he seemed
desirous that we should take particular notice. In a short time, Oberea,
and several other women whom we knew, came and sat down among us:
Tootahah left us several times, but after a short absence returned; we
thought it had been to shew himself in his new finery to the people, but
we wronged him, for it was to give directions for our refreshment and
entertainment. While we were waiting for his return the last time he
left us, very impatient to be dismissed, as we were almost suffocated in
the crowd, word was brought us, that he expected us elsewhere; We found
him sitting under the awning of our own boat, and making signs that we
should come to him: As many of us therefore went on board as the boat
would hold, and he then ordered bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts to be
brought, of both which we tasted, rather to gratify him than because we
had a desire to eat. A message was soon after brought him, upon which he
went out of the boat, and we were in a short time desired to follow. We
were conducted to a large area or court-yard, which was railed round
with bamboos about three feet high, on one side of his house, where an
entertainment was provided for us, entirely new: This was a
wrestling-match. At the upper end of the area sat the chief, and several
of his principal men were ranged on, each side of him, so as to form a
semicircle; these were the judges, by whom the victor was to be
applauded; seats were also left for us at each end of the line; but we
chose rather to be at liberty among the rest of the spectators.

When all was ready, ten or twelve persons, whom we understood to be the
combatants, and who were naked, except a cloth that was fastened about
the waist, entered the area, and walked slowly round it, in a stooping
posture, with their left hands on their right breasts, and their right
hands open, with which they frequently struck the left fore-arm so as to
produce a quick smart sound: This was a general challenge to the
combatants whom they were to engage, or any other person present: After
these followed others in the same manner, and then a particular
challenge was given, by which each man singled out his antagonist: This
was done by joining the finger ends of both hands, and bringing them to
the breast, at the same time moving the elbows up and down with a quick
motion: If the person to whom this was addressed accepted the challenge,
he repeated the signs, and immediately each put himself into an attitude
to engage: The next minute they closed; but, except in first seizing
each other, it was a mere contest of strength: Each endeavoured to lay
hold of the other, first by the thigh, and if that failed by the hand,
the hair, the cloth, or elsewhere as he could: When, this was done they
grappled, without the least dexterity or skill, till one of them, by
having a more advantageous hold, or greater muscular force, threw the
other on his back. When the contest was over, the old men gave their
plaudit to the victor in a few words, which they repeated together in a
kind of tone: His conquest was also generally celebrated by three
huzzas. The entertainment was then suspended for a few minutes, after
which another couple of wrestlers came forward and engaged in the same
manner: If it happened that neither was thrown, after the contest had
continued about a minute, they parted, either by consent or the
intervention of their friends, and in this case each slapped his arm, as
a challenge; to a new engagement, either with the same antagonist or
some other. While the wrestlers were engaged, another party of men
performed a dance, which lasted also about a minute; but neither of
these parties took the least notice of each other, their attention being
wholly fixed on what they were doing. We observed with pleasure, that
the conqueror never exulted over the vanquished, and that the vanquished
never repined at the success of the conqueror; the whole contest was
carried on with perfect good-will and good-humour, though in the
presence of at least five hundred spectators, of whom some were women.
The number of women indeed was comparatively small, none but those of
rank were present, and we had reason to believe that they would not have
been spectators of this exercise but in compliment to us.

This lasted about two hours; during all which time the man who had made
a way for us when we landed, kept the people at a proper distance, by
striking those who pressed forward very severely with his stick: Upon
enquiry we learnt that he was an officer belonging to Tootahah, acting
as master of the ceremonies.

It is scarcely possible for those who are acquainted with the athletic
sports of very remote antiquity, not to remark a rude resemblance of
them in this wrestling-match among the natives of a little island in the
midst of the Pacific Ocean: And our female readers may recollect the
account given of them by Fenelon in his Telemachus, where, though the
events are fictitious, the manners of the age are faithfully transcribed
from authors by whom they are supposed to have been truly related.

When the wrestling was over, we were given to understand that two hogs,
and a large quantity of bread-fruit, were preparing for our dinner,
which, as our appetites were now keen, was very agreeable intelligence.
Our host, however, seemed to repent of his liberality; for, instead of
setting his two hogs before us, he ordered one of them to be carried
into our boat; at first we were not sorry for this new disposition of
matters, thinking that we should dine more comfortably in the boat than
on shore, as the crowd would more easily be kept at a distance: But when
we came on board, he ordered us to proceed with his hog to the ship:
This was mortifying, as we were now to row four miles while our dinner
was growing cold; however, we thought fit to comply, and were at last
gratified with the cheer that he had provided, of which he and Tubourai
Tamaide had a liberal share.

Our reconciliation with this man operated upon the people like a charm;
for he was no sooner known to be on board, than bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts,
and other provisions were brought to the fort in great plenty.

Affairs now went on in the usual channel; but pork being still a scarce
commodity, our master, Mr Mollineux, and Mr Green, went in the pinnace
to the eastward, on the 8th, early in the morning, to see whether they
could procure any hogs or poultry in that part of the country: They
proceeded in that direction twenty miles; but though they saw many hogs,
and one turtle, they could not purchase either at any price: The people
every where told them, that they all belonged to Tootahah, and that they
could sell none of them without his permission. We now began to think
that this man was indeed a great prince; for an influence so extensive
and absolute could be acquired by no other. And we afterwards found that
he administered the government of this part of the island, as sovereign,
for a minor whom we never saw all the time that we were upon it. When Mr
Green returned from this expedition he said he had seen a tree of a size
which he was afraid to relate, it being no less than sixty yards in
circumference; but Mr Banks and Dr Solander soon explained to him that
it was a species of the fig, the branches of which, bending down, take
fresh root in the earth, and thus form a congeries of trunks, which
being very close to each other, and all joined by a common vegetation,
might easily be mistaken for one.

Though the market at the fort was now tolerably supplied, provisions
were brought more slowly: A sufficient quantity used to be purchased
between sun-rise and eight o'clock, but it was now become necessary to
attend the greatest part of the day. Mr Banks, therefore, fixed his
little boat up before the door of the fort, which was of great use as a
place to trade in: Hitherto we had purchased cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit
for beads; but the market becoming rather slack in these articles, we
were now, for the first time, forced to bring out our nails: One of our
smallest size, which was about four inches long, procured us twenty
cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit in proportion, so that in a short time our
first plenty was restored.

On the 9th; soon after breakfast, we received a visit from Oberea, being
the first that she had made us after the loss of our quadrant, and the
unfortunate confinement of Tootahah; with her came her present
favourite, Obadee, and Tupia: They brought us a hog and some
bread-fruit, in return for which we gave her a hatchet. We had now
afforded our Indian friends a new and interesting object of curiosity,
our forge, which, having been set up some time, was almost constantly at
work. It was now common for them to bring pieces of iron, which we
suppose they must have got from the Dolphin, to be made into tools of
various kinds; and as I was very desirous to gratify them, they were
indulged, except when the smith's time was too precious to be spared.
Oberea having received her hatchet, produced as much old iron as would
have made another, with a request that another might be made of it; in
this, however, I could not gratify her upon which she brought out a
broken axe, and desired it might be mended; I was glad of an opportunity
to compromise the difference between us: Her axe was mended, and she
appeared to be content. They went away at night, and took with them the
canoe, which had been a considerable time at the point, but promised to
return in three days.

On the 10th, I put some seeds of melons and other plants into a spot of
ground which had been turned up for the purpose; they had all been
sealed up by the person of whom, they were bought, in small bottles,
with resin; but none of them came up except mustard; even the cucumbers
and melons failed, and Mr Banks is of opinion that they were spoiled by
the total exclusion of fresh air.

This day we learned the Indian name of the island, which is _Otaheite_,
and by that name I shall hereafter distinguish it: But after great pains
taken we found it utterly impossible to teach the Indians to pronounce
our names; we had, therefore, new names, consisting of such sounds as
they produced in the attempt. They called me _Toote_; Mr Hicks, _Hete_;
Mollineux they renounced in absolute despair, and called the master
_Boba_, from his Christian name Robert; Mr Gore was _Toarro_; Dr
Solander, _Torario_; and Mr Banks, _Tapane_; Mr Green, _Eteree_; Mr
Parkinson, _Patini_; Mr Sporing, _Poliui_; Petersgill, _Petrodero_; and
in this manner they had now formed names for almost every man in the
ship: In some, however, it was not easy to find any traces of the
original, and they were perhaps not mere arbitrary sounds, formed upon
the occasion, but significant words in their own language. Monkhouse,
the midshipman, who commanded the party that killed the man for stealing
the musket, they called _Matte_; not merely by an attempt to imitate in
sound the first syllable of Monkhouse, but because _Matte_ signifies
dead; and this probably might be the case with others.

SECTION XII

_Some Ladies visit the Fort with very uncommon Ceremonies: The Indians
attend Divine Service, and in the Evening exhibit a most extraordinary
Spectacle: Tubourai Tamaide falls into Temptation._

Friday, the 12th of May, was distinguished by a visit from some ladies
whom we had never seen before, and who introduced themselves with very
singular ceremonies. Mr Banks was trading in his boat at the gate of the
fort as usual, in company with Tootahah, who had that morning paid him a
visit, and some, other of the natives; between nine and ten o'clock, a
double canoe came to the landing-place, under the awning of which sat a
man and two women: The Indians that were about Mr Banks made signs that
he should go out to meet them, which he hasted to do; but by the time he
could get out of the boat, they had advanced within ten yards of him:
They then stopped, and made signs that he should do so too, laying down
about a dozen young plantain trees, and some other small plants: He
complied, and the people having made a lane between them, the man, who
appeared to be a servant, brought six of them to Mr Banks by one of each
at a time, passing and repassing six times, and always pronouncing a
short sentence when he delivered them. Tupia, who stood by Mr Banks,
acted as his master of the ceremonies, and receiving the branches as
they were brought, laid them down in the boat. When this was done
another man brought a large bundle of cloth, which having opened, he
spread piece by piece upon the ground, in the space between Mr Banks and
his visitors; there were nine pieces, and having laid, three pieces one
upon another, the foremost of the women, who seemed to be the principal,
and who was called Oorattooa, stepped upon them, and taking up her
garments all around her to the waist, turned about, with great composure
and deliberation, and with an air of perfect innocence and simplicity,
three times; when this was done, she dropped the veil, and stepping off
the cloth, three more pieces were laid on, and she repeated the
ceremony, then stepping off as before; the last three were laid on, and
the ceremony was repeated in the same manner the third time. Immediately
after this the cloth was rolled up, and given to Mr Banks as a present
from the lady, who, with her friend, came up and saluted him. He made
such presents to them both as he thought would be most acceptable, and
after having staid about an hour they went away. In the evening the
gentlemen at the fort had a visit from Oberea, and her favourite female
attendant, whose name was Otheothea, an agreeable girl, whom they were
the more pleased to see, because, having been some days absent, it had
been reported she was either sick or dead.

On the 19th, the market being over about ten o'clock; Mr Banks walked
into the woods with his gun, as he generally did, for the benefit of the
shade in the heat of the day: As he was returning back, he met Tubourai
Tamaide, near his occasional dwelling, and stopping to spend a little
time with him, he suddenly took the gun out of Mr Banks's hand, cocked
it, and holding it up in the air, drew the trigger: Fortunately for him
it flashed in the pan: Mr Banks immediately took it from him, not a
little surprised how he had acquired sufficient knowledge of a gun to
discharge it, and reproved him with great severity for what he had done.
As it was of infinite importance to keep the Indians totally ignorant of
the management of fire-arms, he had taken every opportunity of
intimating that they could never offend him so highly as by even
touching his piece; it was now proper to enforce this prohibition, and
he therefore added threats to his reproof: The Indian bore all
patiently; but the moment Mr Banks crossed the river, he set off with
all his family and furniture for his house at Eparre. This being quickly
known from the Indians at the fort, and great incovenience being
apprehended from the displeasure of this man, who upon all occasions had
been particularly useful, Mr Banks determined to follow him without
delay, and solicit his return: He set out the same evening, accompanied
by Mr Mollineux, and found him sitting in the middle of a large circle
of people, to whom he had probably related what had happened, and his
tears of the consequences; he was himself the very picture of grief and
dejection, and the same passions were strongly marked in the
countenances of all the people that surrounded him. When Mr Banks and Mr
Mollineux went into the circle, one of the women expressed her trouble,
as Terapo had done upon another occasion, and struck a shark's tooth
into her head several times, till it was covered with blood. Mr Banks
lost no time in putting an end to this universal distress; he assured
the chief, that every thing which had passed should be forgotten, that
there was not the least animosity remaining on one side, nor any thing
to be feared on the other. The chief was soon soothed into confidence
and complacency, a double canoe was ordered to be got ready, they all
returned together to the fort before supper, and as a pledge of perfect
reconciliation, both he and his wife slept all night in Mr Banks's tent:
Their presence, however, was no palladium for, between eleven and twelve
o'clock, one of the natives attempted to get into the fort by scaling
the walls, with a design, no doubt, to steal whatever he should happen
to find; he was discovered by the centinel, who happily did not fire,
and he ran away much faster than any of our people could follow him. The
iron, and iron-tools, which were in continual use at the armourer's
forge, that was set up within the works, were temptations to theft which
none of these people could withstand.