A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18) by Robert Kerr

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The graceful air and firm step with which these people walk, are not the
least obvious proof of their personal accomplishments. They consider
this as a thing so natural, or so necessary to be acquired, that nothing
used to excite their laughter sooner, than to see us frequently
stumbling upon the roots of trees, or other inequalities of the ground.

Their countenances very remarkably express the abundant mildness or
good-nature which they possess; and are entirely free from that savage
keenness which marks nations in a barbarous state. One would, indeed, be
apt to fancy that they had been bred up under the severest restrictions,
to acquire an aspect so settled, and such a command of their passions,
as well as steadiness in conduct. But they are, at the same time, frank,
cheerful, and good-humoured; though sometimes in the presence of their
chiefs, they put on a degree of gravity, and such a serious air, as
becomes stiff and awkward, and has an appearance of reserve.

Their peaceable disposition is sufficiently evinced from the friendly
reception all strangers have met with who have visited them. Instead of
offering to attack them openly or clandestinely, as has been the case
with most of the inhabitants of these seas, they have never appeared, in
the smallest degree, hostile; but, on the contrary, like the most
civilized people, have courted an intercourse with, their visitors by
bartering, which is the only medium that unites all nations in a sort of
friendship. They understand barter (which they call _fukkatou_) so
perfectly, that at first we imagined they might have acquired this
knowledge of it by commercial intercourse with the neighbouring islands;
but we were afterward assured, that they had little or no traffic,
except with Feejee, from which they get the red feathers, and the few
other articles mentioned before. Perhaps no nation in the world traffic
with more honesty and less distrust. We could always safely permit them
to examine our goods, and to hand them about one to another; and they
put the same confidence in us. If either party repented of the bargain,
the goods were re-exchanged with mutual consent and good-humour. Upon
the whole, they seem possessed of many of the most excellent qualities
that adorn the human mind; such as industry, ingenuity, perseverance,
affability, and, perhaps, other virtues which our short stay with them
might prevent our observing.

The only defect sullying their character, that we know of, is a
propensity to thieving, to which we found those of all ages, and both
sexes, addicted, and to an uncommon degree. It should, however, be
considered, that this exceptionable part of their conduct seemed to
exist merely with respect to us; for, in their general intercourse with
one another, I had reason to be of opinion, that thefts do not happen
more frequently (perhaps less so) than in other countries, the dishonest
practices of whose worthless individuals are not supposed to authorise
any indiscriminate censure on the whole body of the people. Great
allowances should be made for the foibles of these poor natives of the
Pacific Ocean, whose minds were overpowered with the glare of objects,
equally new to them, as they were captivating. Stealing, amongst the
civilized and enlightened nations of the world, may well be considered
as denoting a character deeply stained with moral turpitude, with
avarice unrestrained by the known rules of right, and with profligacy
producing extreme indigence, and neglecting the means of relieving it.
But at the Friendly and other islands which we visited, the thefts, so
frequently committed by the natives, of what we had brought along with
us, may be fairly traced to less culpable motives. They seemed to arise
solely from an intense curiosity or desire to possess something which
they had not been accustomed to before, and belonging to a sort of
people so different from themselves. And, perhaps, if it were possible,
that a set of beings, seemingly as superior in our judgment, as we are
in theirs, should appear amongst us, it might be doubted, whether our
natural regard to justice would be able to restrain many from falling
into the same error. That I have assigned the true motive for their
propensity to this practice, appears from their stealing every thing
indiscriminately at first sight, before they could have the least
conception of converting their prize to any one useful purpose. But I
believe with us, no person would forfeit his reputation, or expose
himself to punishment, without knowing, before-hand, how to employ the
stolen goods. Upon the whole, the pilfering disposition of these
islanders, though certainly disagreeable and troublesome to strangers,
was the means of affording us some information as to the quickness of
their intellects. For their small thefts were committed with much
dexterity; and those of greater consequence with a plan or scheme suited
to the importance of the objects. An extraordinary instance of the last
sort, their attempts to carry away one of the Discovery's anchors at
mid-day, has been already related.

Their hair is, in general, straight, thick, and strong, though a few
have it bushy and frizzled. The natural colour, I believe, almost
without exception, is black; but the greatest part of the men, and some
of the women, have it stained of a brown or purple colour, and a few of
an orange cast. The first colour is produced by applying a sort of
plaster of burnt coral, mixed with water; the second, by the raspings of
a reddish wood, which is made up with water into a poultice, and laid
over the hair; and the third is, I believe, the effect of _turmeric_
root.

When I first visited these islands, I thought it had been an universal
custom for both men and women to wear the hair short; but, during our
present longer stay, we saw a great many exceptions. Indeed, they are so
whimsical in their fashions of wearing it, that it is hard to tell which
is most in vogue. Some have it cut off from one side of the head, while
that on the other remains long; some have only a portion of it cut
short, or perhaps shaved; others have it entirely cut off, except a
single lock, which is left commonly on one side; or it is suffered to
grow to its full length, without any of these mutilations. The women in
general wear it short. The men have their beards cut short; and both men
and women strip the hair from their arm pits. The operation by which
this is performed has been already described. The men are stained from
about the middle of the belly, to about half way down their thighs,
with a deep, blue colour. This is done with a flat bone instrument, cut
full of fine teeth, which, being dipped in the staining mixture,
prepared from the juice of the _dooe dooe_, is struck into the skin with
a bit of stick, and, by that means, indelible marks are made. In this
manner they trace lines and figures, which, in some, are very elegant,
both from the variety, and from the arrangement. The women have only a
few small lines or spots, thus imprinted, on the inside of their hands.
Their kings, as a mark of distinction, are exempted from this custom, as
also from inflicting on themselves any of those bloody marks of
mourning, which shall be mentioned in another place.

The men are all circumcised, or rather supercised; as the operation
consists in cutting off only a small piece of the foreskin at the upper
part, which, by that means, is rendered incapable ever after of covering
the _glans_. This is all they aim at; as they say, the operation is
practised from a notion of cleanliness.

The dress of both men and women is the same, and consists of a piece of
cloth or matting (but mostly the former), about two yards wide, and two
and a half long; at least, so long as to go once and a half round the
waist, to which it is confined by a girdle or cord. It is double before,
and hangs down like a petticoat, as low as the middle of the leg. The
upper part of the garment, above the girdle, is plaited into several
folds; so that when unfolded, there is cloth sufficient to draw up and
wrap round the shoulders, which is very seldom done. This, as to form,
is the general dress; but large pieces of cloth, and fine matting, are
worn only by the superior people. The inferior sort are satisfied with
small pieces, and very often wear nothing but a covering made of leaves
of plants, or the _maro_, which is a narrow piece of cloth, or matting,
like a sash. This they pass between the thighs, and wrap round the
waist; but the use of it is chiefly confined to the men. In their great
_haivas_, or entertainments, they have various dresses made for the
purpose; but the form is always the same, and the richest dresses are
covered, more or less, with red feathers. On what particular occasion
their chiefs wear their large red feather-caps, I could not learn. Both
men and women sometimes shade their faces from the sun with little
bonnets, made of various materials.

As the clothing, so are the ornaments, worn by those of both sexes, the
same. The most common of these are necklaces, made of the fruit of the
_pandamus_, and various sweet-smelling flowers, which go under the
general name of _kahulla_. Others are composed of small shells, the wing
and leg-bones of birds, shark's teeth, and other things; all which hang
loose upon the breast. In the same manner, they often wear a
mother-of-pearl shell, neatly polished, or a ring of the same substance
carved, on the upper part of the arm; rings of tortoise-shell on the
fingers, and a number of these joined together as bracelets on the
wrists.

The lobes of the ears (though most frequently only one) are perforated,
with two holes, in which they wear cylindrical bits of ivory, about
three inches long, introduced at one hole, and brought out of the other;
or bits of reed of the same size, filled with a yellow pigment. This
seems, to be a fine powder of turmeric, with which the women rub
themselves all over, in the same manner, as our ladies use their dry
rouge upon the cheeks.

Nothing appears to give them greater pleasure than personal cleanliness;
to produce which, they frequently bathe in the ponds, which seem to
serve no other purpose.[178] Though the water in most of them stinks
intolerably, they prefer them to the sea; and they are so sensible that
salt water hurts their skin, that, when necessity obliges them to bathe
in the sea, they commonly have some cocoa-nut shells, filled with fresh
water, poured over them, to wash it off. They are immoderately fond of
cocoa-nut oil for the same reason; a great quantity of which they not
only pour upon their head and shoulders, but rub the body all over,
briskly, with a smaller quantity. And none but those who have seen this
practice, can easily conceive how the appearance of the skin is improved
by it. This oil, however, is not to be procured by every one; and the
inferior sort of people, doubtless, appear less smooth for want of it.

[Footnote 178: So at the Caroline Islands. "Ils sont accoutumes a se
baigner trois fois le jour, le matin, a midi, et sur le soir." _Lettres
Edifiantes et Curieuses_, tom. xv. p. 314.--D.]

SECTION XI.

_Employments of the Women, at the Friendly Islands.--Of the
Men.--Agriculture.--Construction of their Houses.--Their working
Tools.--Cordage and fishing Implements.--Musical Instruments.--Weapons.
--Food and Cookery.--Amusements.--Marriage.--Mourning Ceremonies for the
Dead.--Their Divinities.--Notions about the Soul, and a Future
State.--Their Places of Worship.--Government.--Manner of paying
Obeisance to the King.--Account of the Royal Family.--Remarks on their
Language, and a Specimen of it.--Nautical, and other Observations_.

Their domestic life is of that middle kind, neither so laborious as to
be disagreeable, nor so vacant as to suffer them to degenerate into
indolence. Nature has done so much for their country, that the first can
hardly occur, and their disposition seems to be a pretty good bar to the
last. By this happy combination of circumstances, their necessary labor
seems to yield in its turn to their recreations, in such a manner, that
the latter are never interrupted by the thoughts of being obliged to
recur to the former, till satiety makes them wish for such a transition.

The employment of the women is of the easy kind, and, for the most part,
such as may be executed in the house. The manufacturing their cloth is
wholly consigned to their care. Having already described the process, I
shall only add, that they have this cloth of different degrees of
fineness. The coarser sort, of which they make very large pieces, does
not receive the impression of any pattern. Of the finer sort, they have
some that is striped and chequered, and of other patterns differently
coloured. But how these colours are laid on, I cannot say, as I never
saw any of this sort made. The cloth, in general, will resist water for
some time; but that which has the strongest glaze will resist longest.

The manufacture next in consequence, and also within the department of
the women, is that of their mats, which excel every thing I have seen at
any other place, both as to their texture and their beauty. In
particular, many of them are so superior to those made at Otaheite, that
they are not a bad article to carry thither by way of trade. Of these
mats, they have seven or eight different sorts, for the purposes of
wearing or sleeping upon, and many are merely ornamental. The last are
chiefly made from the tough membraneous part of the stock of the
plantain tree; those that they wear from the _pandanus_, cultivated for
that purpose, and never suffered to shoot into a trunk; and the coarser
sort, which they sleep upon, from a plant called _evarra_. There are
many other articles of less note, that employ the spare time of their
females; as combs, of which, they make vast numbers; and little baskets
made of the same substance as the mats, and others of the fibrous
cocoa-nut husk, either plain, or interwoven with small beads; but all
finished with such neatness and taste in the disposition of the various
parts, that a stranger cannot help admiring their assiduity and
dexterity.

The province allotted to the men is, as might be expected, far more
laborious and extensive than that of the women. Agriculture,
architecture, boat-building, fishing, and other things that relate to
navigation, are the objects of their care.[179] Cultivated roots and
fruits being their principal support, this requires their constant
attention to agriculture, which they pursue very diligently, and seem to
have brought almost to as great perfection as circumstances will permit.
The large extent of the plantain fields has been taken notice of
already, and the same may be said of the yams; these two together, being
at least as ten to one, with respect to all the other articles. In
planting both these, they dig small holes for their reception, and
afterward root up the surrounding grass, which, in this hot country, is
quickly deprived of its vegetating power, and, soon rotting, becomes a
good manure. The instruments they use for this purpose, which they call
_hooo_, are nothing more than pickers or stakes of different lengths,
according to the depth they have to dig. These are flattened and
sharpened to an edge at one end, and the largest have a short piece
fixed transversely, for pressing it into the ground with the foot. With
these, though they are not more than from two to four inches broad, they
dig and plant ground of many acres in extent. In planting the plantains
and yams, they observe so much exactness, that, whichever way you look,
the rows present themselves regular and complete.

[Footnote 179: How remarkably does Captain Cook's account of the
employments of the women and men here, agree with Father Cantova's, of
the Caroline Islanders?--"La principale occupation des hommes, est de
construire des barques, de pecher, et de cultiver la terre. L'affaire
des femmes est de faire la cuisine, et de mettre en oeuvre un espece de
plante sauvage, et un arbre,--pour en faire de la toile."--_Lettres
Edifiantes et Curieuses_, tom. xv. p. 313.--D.]

The cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees are scattered about without any
order, and seem to give them no trouble, after they have attained a
certain height. The same may be said of another large tree, which
produces great numbers of a large, roundish, compressed nut, called
_eeefee_; and of a smaller tree that bears a rounded oval nut, two
inches long, with two or three triangular kernels, tough and insipid,
called _mabba_, most frequently planted near their houses.

The _kappe_ is commonly regularly planted, and in pretty large spots;
but the _mawhaha_ is interspersed amongst other things, as the _jeejee_
and _yams_ are; the last of which I have frequently seen in the
insterspaces of the plantain trees at their common distance. Sugar-cane
is commonly in small spots, crowded closely together; and the mulberry,
of which the cloth is made, though without order, has sufficient room
allowed for it, and is kept very clean. The only other plant, that they
cultivate for their manufactures, is the _pandanus_, which is generally
planted in a row, close together, at the sides of the other fields; and
they consider it as a thing so distinct in this state, that they have a
different name for it, which shews, that they are very sensible of the
great changes brought about by cultivation.

It is remarkable, that these people, who, in many things shew much taste
and ingenuity, should shew little of either in building their houses,
though the defect is rather in the design than in the execution. Those
of the lower people are poor huts, scarcely sufficient to defend them
from the weather, and very small. Those of the better sort are larger
and more comfortable, but not what one might expect. The dimensions of
one of a middling size, are about thirty feet long, twenty broad, and
twelve high. Their house is, properly speaking, a thatched roof or shed,
supported by posts and rafters, disposed in a very judicious manner. The
floor is raised with earth smoothed, and covered with strong thick
matting, and kept very clean. The most of them are closed on the
weather-side, (and some more than two-thirds round), with strong mats,
or with branches of the cocoa-nut tree plaited or woven into each other.
These they fix up edgewise, reaching from the eaves to the ground, and
thus they answer the purpose of a wall. A thick strong mat, about two
and one-half or three feet broad, bent into the form of a semicircle,
and set up on its edge, with the ends touching the side of the house, in
shape resembling the fender of a fire-hearth, incloses a space for the
master and mistress of the family to sleep in. The lady, indeed, spends
most of her time during the day within it. The rest of the family sleep
upon the floor, wherever they please to lie down; the unmarried men and
women apart from each other. Or, if the family be large, there are small
huts adjoining, to which the servants retire in the night; so that
privacy is as much observed here as one could expect. They have mats
made on purpose for sleeping on; and the clothes that they wear in the
day, serve for their covering in the night. Their whole furniture
consists of a bowl or two, in which they make _kava_; a few gourds,
cocoa-nut shells, some small wooden stools which serve them for pillows;
and, perhaps, a large stool for the chief or master of the family to sit
upon.

The only probable reason I can assign for their neglect of ornamental
architecture in the construction of their houses, is their being fond of
living much in the open air. Indeed, they seem to consider their houses,
within which they seldom eat, as of little use but to sleep in, and to
retire to in bad weather. And the lower sort of people, who spend a
great part of their time in close attendance upon the chiefs, can have
little use for their own houses, but in the last case.

They make amends for the defects of their houses by their great
attention to, and dexterity, in, naval architecture, if I may be allowed
to give it that name. But I refer to the narrative of my last voyage,
for an account of their canoes, and their manner of building and
navigating them.[180]

[Footnote 180: The reader, by comparing that account with what Cantova
says of the sea-boats of the Caroline Islands, will find, in this
instance, also, the greatest similarity. See _Lettres Edifiantes et
Curieuses_, p. 286.--D.]

The only tools which they use to construct these boats, are hatchets, or
rather thick adzes, of a smooth black stone that abounds at Toofooa;
augres, made of sharks' teeth, fixed on small handles; and rasps of a
rough skin of a fish, fastened on flat pieces of wood, thinner on one
side, which also have handles. The labour and time employed in finishing
their canoes, which are the most perfect of their mechanical
productions, will account for their being very careful of them. For they
are built and preserved under sheds, or they cover the decked part of
them with cocoa leaves, when they are hauled on shore, to prevent their
being hurt by the sun.

The same tools are all they have for other works, if we except different
shells, which they use as knives. But there are few of their productions
that require these, unless it be some of their weapons; the other
articles being chiefly their fishing materials and cordage.

The cordage is made from the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, which, though
not more than nine or ten inches long, they plait, about the size of a
quill or less, to any length that they please, and roll it up in balls,
from which the larger ropes are made, by twisting several of these
together. The lines that they fish with, are as strong and even as the
best cord we make, resembling it almost in every respect. Their other
fishing implements are large and small hooks. The last are composed
entirely of pearl-shell, but the first are only covered with it on the
back, and the points of both commonly of tortoise-shell; those of the
small being plain, and the others barbed. With the large ones they catch
bonnetos and albicores, by putting them to a bamboo rod, twelve or
fourteen feet long, with a line of the same length, which rests in a
notch of a piece of wood, fixed in the stern of the canoe for that
purpose, and is dragged on the surface of the sea, as she rows along,
without any other bait than a tuft of flaxy stuff near the point. They
have also great numbers of pretty small seines, some of which are of a
very delicate texture. These they use to catch fish with, in the holes
on the reefs, when the tide ebbs.

The other manual employments consist chiefly in making musical reeds,
flutes, warlike weapons, and stools, or rather pillows, to sleep on. The
reed have eight, nine, or ten pieces, placed parallel to each other, but
not in any regular progression, having the longest sometimes in the
middle, and several of the same length; so that I have seen none with
more than six notes, and they seem incapable of playing any music on
them, that is, distinguishable by our ears. The flutes are a joint of
bamboo, close at both ends, with a hole near each, and four others; two
of which, and one of the first only, are used in playing. They apply the
thumb of the left hand to close the left nostril, and blow into the hole
at one end with the other. The middle finger of the left hand is applied
to the first hole on the left, and the fore-finger of the right to the
lowest hole on that side. In this manner, though the notes are only
three, they produce a pleasing, yet simple music, which they vary much
more than one would think possible, with so imperfect an instrument.
Their being accustomed to a music which consists of so few notes, is,
perhaps, the reason why they do not seem to relish any of ours, which is
so complex. But they can taste what is more deficient than their own;
for, we observed, that they used to be well pleased with hearing the
chant of our two young New Zealanders, which consisted rather in mere
strength, than in melody of expression.

The weapons which they make, are clubs of different sorts (in the
ornamenting of which they spend much time), spears, and darts. They have
also bows and arrows; but these seemed to be designed only for
amusement, such as shooting at birds, and not for military purposes. The
stools are about two feet long, but only four or five inches high, and
near four broad, bending downward in the middle, with four strong legs,
and circular feet; the whole made of one piece of black or brown wood,
neatly polished, and sometimes inlaid with bits of ivory. They also
inlay the handles of fly-flaps with ivory, after being neatly carved;
and they shape bones into small figures of men, birds, and other things,
which must be very difficult, as their carving instrument is only a
shark's tooth.

Yams, plantains, and cocoa-nuts, compose the greatest part of their
vegetable diet. Of their animal food, the chief articles are hogs,
fowls, fish, and all sorts of shellfish; but the lower people eat rats.
The two first vegetable articles, with bread-fruit, are what may be
called the basis of their food at different times of the year, with fish
and shell-fish; for hogs, fowls, and turtle, seem only to be occasional
dainties reserved for their chiefs. The intervals between the seasons of
these vegetable productions, must be sometimes considerable, as they
prepare a sort of artificial bread from plantains, which they put under
ground before ripe, and suffer them to remain till they ferment, when
they are taken out, and made up into small balls; but so sour and
indifferent, that they often said our bread was preferable, though
somewhat musty.