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

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

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[Footnote 93: "The sacred ground, around the Morais," says the
missionary account, "affords a sanctuary for criminals. Thither, on any
apprehension of danger, they flee, especially when numerous (human)
sacrifices are expected, and cannot therein be taken by force, though
they are sometimes seduced to quit their asylum." The reader will often
have to notice with surprise the remarkable resemblance in certain
customs of a religious nature, betwixt these people and others more
known in history.--E.]

[Footnote 94: The liberality of these people to their gods is
particularly noticed in the missionary account. "They offer to them all
the products of their island, hogs, fowls, fish, and vegetables; and at
every feast a portion is presented to the Eatooa, before they presume to
take their own repast."--E.]

The principal object of ambition among these people is to have a
magnificent Morai, and this was a striking memorial of the rank and
power of Oberea. It has been remarked, that we did not find her invested
with the same authority that she exercised when the Dolphin was at this
place, and we now learnt the reason of it. Our way from her house to
the Morai lay along the sea-side, and we observed every-where under our
feet a great number of human bones, chiefly ribs and vertebrae. Upon
enquiring into the cause of so singular an appearance, we were told,
that in the then last month of _Owarahew_, which answered to our
December, 1768, about four or five months before our arrival, the people
of Tiarrabou, the S.E. peninsula which we had just visited, made a
descent at this place, and killed a great number of people, whose bones
were those that we saw upon the shore: That, upon this occasion, Oberea,
and Oamo, who then administered the government for his son, had fled to
the mountains; and that the conquerors burnt all the houses, which were
very large, and carried away the hogs, and what other animals they
found. We learnt also, that the turkey and goose, which we had seen when
we were with Mathiabo, the stealer of cloaks, were among the spoils;
this accounted for their being found among people with whom the Dolphin
had little or no communication; and upon mentioning the jawbones, which
we had seen hanging from a board in a long house, we were told, that
they also had been carried away as trophies, the people here carrying
away the jaw-bones of their enemies, as the Indians of North America do
the scalps.

After having thus gratified oar curiosity, we returned to our quarters,
where we passed the night in perfect security and quiet. By the next
evening we arrived at Atahourou, the residence of our friend Tootahah,
where, the last time we passed the night under his protection, we had
been obliged to leave the best part of our clothes behind us. This
adventure, however, seemed now to be forgotten on both sides. Our
friends received us with great pleasure, and gave us a good supper and a
good lodging, where we suffered neither loss nor disturbance.

The next day, Saturday, July the 1st, we got back to our fort at
Matavai, having found the circuit of the island, including both
peninsulas, to be about thirty leagues. Upon our complaining of the want
of bread-fruit, we were told, that the produce of the last season was
nearly exhausted; and that what was seen sprouting upon the trees, would
not be fit to use in less than three months: This accounted for our
having been able to procure so little of it in our route.

While the bread-fruit is ripening upon the flats, the inhabitants are
supplied in some measure from the trees which they have planted upon the
hills to preserve a succession; but the quantity is not sufficient to
prevent scarcity: They live therefore upon the sour paste, which they
call _Mahie_, upon wild plantains, and ahee-nuts, which at this time are
in perfection. How it happened that the Dolphin, which was here at this
season, found such plenty of bread-fruit upon the trees, I cannot tell,
except the season in which they ripen varies.

At our return, our Indian friends crowded about us and none of them came
empty-handed. Though I had determined to restore the canoes which had
been detained to their owners, it had not yet been done; but I now
released them as they were applied for. Upon this occasion I could not
but remark with concern, that these people were capable of practising
petty frauds against each other, with a deliberate dishonesty, which
gave me a much worse opinion of them than I had ever entertained from
the robberies they committed, under the strong temptation to which a
sudden opportunity of enriching themselves with the inestimable metal
and manufactures of Europe exposed them.

Among others who applied to me for the release of a canoe, was one
_Potattow_, a man of some consequence, well known to us all. I
consented, supposing the vessel to be his own, or that he applied on the
behalf of a friend: He went immediately to the beach, and took
possession of one of the boats, which, with the assistance of his
people, he began to carry off. Upon this, however, it was eagerly
claimed by the right owners, who, supported by the other Indians,
clamorously reproached him for invading their property, and prepared to
take the canoe from him by force. Upon this, he desired to be heard, and
told them, that the canoe did, indeed, once belong to those who claimed
it; but that I, having seized it as a forfeit, had sold it to him for a
pig. This silenced the clamour, the owners, knowing that from my power
there was no appeal, acquiesced; and Potattow would have carried off his
prize, if the dispute had not fortunately been overheard by some of our
people, who reported it to me. I gave orders immediately that the
Indians should be undeceived; upon which the right owners took
possession of their canoe, and Potattow was so conscious of his guilt,
that neither he nor his wife, who was privy to his knavery, could look
us in the face for some time afterwards.

SECTION XV.

_An Expedition of Mr Banks to trace the River: Marks of Subterraneous
Fire: Preparations for leaving the Island: An Account of Tupia._

On the 3d, Mr Banks set out early in the morning with some Indian
guides, to trace our river up the valley from which it issues, and
examine how far its banks were inhabited. For about six miles they met
with houses, not far distant from each other, on each side of the river,
and the valley was every where about four hundred yards wide from the
foot of the hill on one side, to the foot of that on the other; but they
were now shewn a house which they were told was the last that they would
see. When they came up to it, the master of it offered them refreshments
of cocoa-nuts and other fruits, of which they accepted; after a short
stay, they walked forward for a considerable time; in bad way it is not
easy to compute distances, but they imagined that they had walked about
six miles farther, following the course of the river, when they
frequently passed under vaults, formed by fragments of the rock, in
which they were told people who were benighted frequently passed the
night. Soon after they found the river banked by steep rocks, from which
a cascade, falling with great violence, formed a pool, so steep, that
the Indians said they could not pass it. They seemed, indeed, not much
to be acquainted with the valley beyond this place, their business lying
chiefly upon the declivity of the rocks on each side, and the plains
which extended on their summits, where they found plenty of wild
plantain, which they called _Vae_. The way up these rocks from the banks
of the river, was in every respect dreadful; the sides were nearly
perpendicular, and in some places one hundred feet high; they were also
rendered exceeding slippery by the water of innumerable springs which
issued from the fissures on the surface: Yet up these precipices a way
was to be traced by a succession of long pieces of the bark of the
_hibiscus tiliaceus_, which served as a rope for the climber to take
hold of, and assisted him in scrambling from one ledge to another,
though upon these ledges there was footing only for an Indian or a goat.
One of these ropes was nearly thirty feet in length, and their guides
offered to assist them in mounting this pass, but recommended another at
a little distance lower down, as less difficult and dangerous. They took
a view of this "better way," but found it so bad that they did not chuse
to attempt it, as there was nothing at the top to reward their toil and
hazard, but a grove of the wild plantain or vae tree, which they had
often seen before.

During this excursion, Mr Banks had an excellent opportunity to examine
the rocks, which were almost every where naked, for minerals; but he
found not the least appearance of any. The stones every where, like
those of Madeira, shewed manifest tokens of having been burnt; nor is
there a single specimen of any stone, among all those that were
collected in the island, upon which there are not manifest and
indubitable marks of fire; except perhaps some small pieces of the
hatchet-stone, and even of that, other fragments were collected which
were burned almost to a pumice. Traces of fire are also manifest in the
very clay upon the hills; and it may, therefore, not unreasonably be
supposed, that this, and the neighbouring islands, are either shattered
remains of a continent, which some have supposed to be necessary in this
part of the globe, to preserve an equilibrium of its parts, which were
left behind when the rest sunk by the mining of a subterraneous fire, so
as to give a passage to the sea over it; or were torn from rocks, which,
from the creation of the world, had been the bed of the sea, and thrown
up in heaps, to a height which the waters never reach. One or other of
these suppositions will perhaps be thought the more probable, as the
water does not gradually grow shallow as the shore is approached, and
the islands are almost every where surrounded by reefs, which appear to
be rude and broken, as some violent concussion would naturally leave the
solid substance of the earth.

On the 4th, Mr Banks employed himself in planting a great quantity of
the seeds of water-melons, oranges, lemons, limes, and other plants and
trees which he had collected at Rio de Janeiro. For these he prepared
ground on each side of the fort, with as many varieties of soil as he
could chuse; and there is little doubt but that they will succeed. He
also gave liberally of these seeds to the Indians, and planted many of
them in the woods: Some of the melon seeds having been planted soon
after our arrival, the natives shewed him several of the plants, which
appeared to be in the most flourishing condition, and were continually
asking him for more.

We now began to prepare for our departure by bending the sails, and
performing other necessary operations on board the ship, our water being
already on board, and the provisions examined. In the mean time we had
another visit from Oamo, Oberea, and their son and daughter; the Indians
expressing their respect by uncovering the upper parts of their body as
they had done before. The daughter, whose name we understand to be
Toimata, was very desirous to see the fort, but her father would by no
means suffer her to come in. Tearee, the son of Waheatua, the sovereign
of Tiarrabou, the south-east peninsula, was also with us at this time;
and we received intelligence of the landing of another guest, whose
company was neither expected nor desired: This was no other than the
ingenious gentleman who contrived to steal our quadrant. We were told,
that he intended to try his fortune again in the night; but the Indians
all offered zealously to assist us against him, desiring that; for this
purpose, they might be permitted to lie in the fort. This had so good on
effect, that the thief relinquished his enterprise in despair.

On the 7th, the carpenters were employed in taking down the gates and
pallisadoes of our little fortification, for firewood on board the ship;
and one of the Indians had dexterity enough to steal the staple and hook
upon which the gate turned: He was immediately pursued, and after a
chace of six miles, he appeared to have been passed, having concealed
himself among some rushes in the brook; the rushes were searched, and
though the thief had escaped, a scraper was found which had been stolen
from the ship some time before; and soon after our old friend Tubourai
Tamaide brought us the staple.

On the 8th and 9th, we continued to dismantle our fort, and our friends
still flocked about us; some, I believe, sorry at the approach of our
departure, and others desirous to make as much as they could of us while
we staid.

We were in hopes that we should now leave the island without giving or
receiving any other offence; but it unfortunately happened otherwise.
Two foreign seamen having been out with my permission, one of them was
robbed of his knife, and endeavouring to recover it, probably with
circumstances of great provocation, the Indians attacked him, and
dangerously wounded him with a stone; they wounded his companion also
slightly in the head, and then fled into the mountains. As I should have
been sorry to take any farther notice of the affair, I was not
displeased that the offenders had escaped; but I was immediately
involved in a quarrel which I very much regretted, and which yet it was
not possible to avoid.

In the middle of the night between the 8th and 9th, Clement Webb and
Samuel Gibson, two of the marines, both young men, went privately from
the fort, and in the morning were not to be found. As public notice had
been given, that all hands were to go on board on the next day, and that
the ship would sail on the morrow of that day or the day following, I
began to fear that the absentees intended to stay behind. I knew that I
could take no effectual steps to recover them, without endangering the
harmony and good-will which at present subsisted among us; and therefore
determined to wait a day for the chance of their return.

On Monday morning the 10th, the marines, to my great concern, not being
returned, an enquiry was made after them of the Indians, who frankly
told us, that they did not intend to return, and had taken refuge in the
mountains, where it was impossible for our people to find them. They
were then requested to assist in the search, and after some
deliberation, two of them undertook to conduct such persons as I should
think proper to send after them to the place of their retreat. As they
were known to be without arms, I thought two would be sufficient, and
accordingly dispatched a petty officer, and a corporal of the marines,
with the Indian guides, to fetch them back. As the recovery of these men
was a matter of great importance, as I had no time to lose, and as the
Indians spoke doubtfully of their return, telling as, that they had each
of them taken a wife, and were become inhabitants of the country, it was
intimated to several of the chiefs who were in the fort with their
women, among whom were Tubourai Tamaide, Tomio, and Oberea, that they
would not be permitted to leave it till our deserters were brought
back. This precaution I thought the more necessary, as, by concealing
them a few days, they might compel me to go without them; and I had the
pleasure to observe, that they received the intimation with very little
signs either of fear or discontent; assuring me that my people should be
secured and sent back as soon as possible. While this was doing at the
fort, I sent Mr Hicks in the pinnace to fetch Tootahah on board the
ship, which he did, without alarming either him or his people. If the
Indian guides proved faithful and in earnest, I had reason to expect the
return of my people with the deserters before evening. Being
disappointed, my suspicions increased; and night coming on, I thought I
was not safe to let the people whom I had detained as hostages continue
at the fort, and I therefore ordered Tubourai Tamaide, Oberea, and some
others, to be taken on board the ship. This spread a general alarm, and
several of them, especially the women, expressed their apprehensions
with great emotion and many tears when they were put into the boat. I
went on board with them, and Mr Banks remained on shore, with some
others whom I thought it of less consequence to secure.

About nine o'clock, Webb was brought back by some of the natives, who
declared that Gibson, and the petty officer and corporal, would be
detained till Tootahah should be set at liberty. The tables were now
turned upon me, but I had proceeded too far to retreat. I immediately
dispatched Mr Hicks in the long-boat, with a strong party of men, to
rescue the prisoners, and told Tootahah that it behoved him to send some
of his people with them, with orders to afford them effectual
assistance, and to demand the release of my men in his name, for that I
should expect him to answer for the contrary. He readily complied; this
party recovered my men without the least opposition; and about seven
o'clock in the morning, returned with them to the ship, though they had
not been able to recover the arms which had been taken from them when
they were seized: These, however, were brought onboard in less than half
an hour, and the chiefs were immediately set at liberty.

When I questioned the petty officer concerning what had happened on
shore, he told me, that neither the natives who went with him, nor those
whom they met in their way, would give them any intelligence of the
deserters; but, on the contrary, became very troublesome: That, as he
was returning for further orders to the ship, he and his comrade were
suddenly seized by a number of armed men, who having learnt that
Tootahah was confined, had concealed themselves in a wood for that
purpose, and, who having taken them at a disadvantage, forced their
weapons out of their hands, and declared, that they would detain them
till their chief should be set at liberty. He said, however, that the
Indians were not unanimous in this measure; that some were for setting
them at liberty, and others for detaining them: That an eager dispute
ensued, and that from words they came to blows, but that the party for
detaining them at length prevailed: That soon after Webb and Gibson were
brought in by a party of the natives, as prisoners, that they also might
be secured as hostages for the chief; but that it was after some debate
resolved to send Webb to inform me of their resolution, to assure me
that his companions were safe, and direct me where I might send my
answer. Thus it appears that whatever were the disadvantages of seizing
the chiefs, I should never have recovered my men by any other method.
When the chiefs were set on shore from the ship, those at the fort were
also set at liberty, and, after staying with Mr Banks about an hour,
they all went away. Upon this occasion, as they had done upon another of
the same kind, they expressed their joy by an undeserved liberality,
strongly urging us to accept of four hogs. These we absolutely refused
as a present, and they as absolutely refusing to be paid for them, the
hogs did not change masters. Upon examining the deserters, we found that
the account which the Indians had given of them was true: They had
strongly attached themselves to two girls, and it was their intention to
conceal themselves till the ship had sailed, and take up their residence
upon the island. This night every thing was got off from the shore, and
every body slept on board.

Among the natives who were almost constantly with us, was Tupia, whose
name has been often mentioned in this narrative. He had been, as I have
before observed, the first minister of Oberea, when she was in the
height of her power: He was also the chief tahowa or priest of the
island, consequently well acquainted with the religion of the country,
as well with respect to its ceremonies as principles. He had also great
experience and knowledge in navigation, and was particularly acquainted
with the number and situation of the neighbouring islands. This man had
often expressed a desire to go with us, and on the 12th in the morning,
having with the other natives left us the day before, he came on board
with a boy about thirteen years of age, his servant, and urged us to let
him proceed with us on our voyage. To have such a person on board, was
certainly desirable for many reasons; by learning his language, and
teaching him ours, we should be able to acquire a much better knowledge
of the customs, policy, and religion of the people, than our short stay
among them could give us, I therefore gladly agreed to receive them on
board. As we were prevented from sailing to-day, by having found it
necessary to make new stocks to our small and best bower anchors, the
old ones having been totally destroyed by the worms, Tupia said, he
would go once more on shore, and make a signal for the boat to fetch him
off in the evening. He went accordingly, and took with him a miniature
picture of Mr Banks's, to shew his friends, and several little things to
give them as parting presents.

After dinner, Mr Banks, being desirous to procure a drawing of the Morai
belonging to Tootahah at Eparre, I attended him thither, accompanied by
Dr Solander, in the pinnace. As soon as we landed, many of our friends
came to meet us; though some absented themselves in resentment of what
had happened the day before. We immediately proceeded to Toolahah's
house, where we were joined by Oberea, with several others who had not
come out to meet us, and a perfect reconciliation was soon brought
about; in consequence of which they promised to visit us early the next
day, to take a last farewell of us, as we told them we should certainly
set sail in the afternoon. At this place also we found Tupia, who
returned with us, and slept this night on board the ship for the first
time.

On the next morning, Thursday the 13th of July, the ship was very early
crowded with our friends, and surrounded by a multitude of canoes, which
were filled with the natives of an inferior class. Between eleven and
twelve we weighed anchor, and as soon as the ship was under sail, the
Indians on board took their leaves, and wept, with a decent and silent
sorrow, in which there was something very striking and tender: The
people in the canoes, on the contrary, seemed to vie with each other in
the loudness of their lamentations, which we considered rather as
affectation than grief. Tupia sustained himself in this scene with a
firmness and resolution truly admirable: He wept indeed, but the effort
that he made to conceal his tears, concurred, with them, to do him
honour. He sent his last present, a shirt, by Otheothea, to Potomia,
Tootahah's favourite mistress, and then went with Mr Banks to the
mast-head, waving to the canoes as long as they continued in sight.

Thus we took leave of Otaheite, and its inhabitants, after a stay of
just three months; for much the greater part of the time we lived
together in the most cordial friendship, and a perpetual reciprocation
of good offices. The accidental differences which now and then happened
could not be more sincerely regretted on their part than they were on
ours: The principal causes were such as necessarily resulted from our
situation and circumstances, in conjunction with the infirmities of
human nature, from our not being able perfectly to understand each
other, and from the disposition of the inhabitants to theft, which we
could not at all times bear with or prevent. They had not, however,
except in one instance, been attended with any fatal consequence; and to
that accident were owing the measures that I took to prevent others of
the same kind. I hoped indeed to have availed myself of the impression
which had been made upon them by the lives that had been sacrificed in
their contest with the Dolphin, so as that the intercourse between us
should have been carried on wholly without bloodshed; and by this hope
all my measures were directed during the whole of my continuance at the
island, and I sincerely wish, that whoever shall next visit it, may be
still more fortunate. Our traffic here was carried on with as much order
as in the best regulated market in Europe. It was managed principally by
Mr Banks, who was indefatigable in procuring provision and refreshments
while they were to be had; but during the latter part of our time they
became scarce, partly by the increased consumption at the fort and ship,
and partly by the coming on of the season in which cocoa-nuts and
bread-fruit fail. All kinds of fruit we purchased for beads and nails,
but no nails less than forty-penny were current: After a very short time
we could never get a pig of more than ten or twelve pounds, for less
than a hatchet; because, though these people set a high value upon spike
nails, yet these being an article with which many people in the ship
were provided, the women found a much more easy way of procuring them
than by bringing down provisions.