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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 17 by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 17




These feathered dresses seemed to be exceedingly scarce, appropriated to
persons of the highest rank, and worn by the men only. During the whole
time we lay in Karakakooa Bay, we never saw them used but on three
occasions; in the curious ceremony of Terreeoboo's first visit to the
ships; by some chiefs, who were seen among the crowd on shore when Captain
Cook was killed, and afterward when Eappo brought his bones to us.

The exact resemblance between this habit, and the cloak and helmet formerly
worn by the Spaniards, was too striking not to excite our curiosity to
enquire, whether there were any probable grounds for supposing it to have
been borrowed from them. After exerting every means in our power of
obtaining information on this subject, we found that they had no immediate
knowledge of any other nation whatever, nor any tradition remaining among
them of these islands having been ever visited before by such ships as
ours. But, notwithstanding the result of these enquiries, the uncommon form
of this habit appears to me a sufficient proof of its European origin,
especially when added to another circumstance, that it is a singular
deviation from the general resemblance in dress, which prevails amongst all
the branches of this tribe, dispersed through the South Sea. We were driven
indeed, by this conclusion, to a supposition of the shipwreck of some
Buccaneer, or Spanish ship, in the neighbourhood of these islands. But when
it is recollected, that the course of the Spanish trade from Acapulco to
the Manillas is but a few degrees to the southward of the Sandwich Islands
in their passage out, and to the northward on their return, this
supposition will not appear in the least improbable.[9]

The common dress of the women bears a close resemblance to that of the men.
They wrap round the waist a piece of cloth, that reaches half way down the
thighs; and sometimes in the cool of the evening they appeared with loose
pieces of fine cloth, thrown over their shoulders, like the women of
Otaheite. The _pau_ is another dress very frequently worn by the younger
part of the sex. It is made of the thinnest and finest sort of cloth, wrapt
several times round the waist, and descending to the leg, so as to have
exactly the appearance of a full short petticoat. The hair is cut short
behind, and turned up before, as is the fashion among the Otaheiteans and
New Zealanders; all of whom differ, in this respect, from the women of the
Friendly Islands, who wear their hair long. We saw, indeed, one woman in
Karakakooa Bay, Whose hair was arranged in a very singular manner; it was
turned up behind, and brought over the forehead, and then doubled back, so
as to form a sort of a shade to the face, like a small bonnet.

Their necklaces are made of shells, or of a hard shining red berry. Besides
which, they wear wreaths of dried flowers of the Indian mallow; and another
beautiful ornament called _eraie_, which is generally put about the neck,
but is sometimes tied like a garland round the hair, and sometimes worn in
both these ways at once. It is a ruff, of the thickness of a finger, made
in a curious manner, of exceedingly small feathers, woven so close together
as to form a surface as smooth as that of the richest velvet. The ground
was generally of a red colour, with alternate circles of green, yellow, and
black. Their bracelets, which were also of great variety, and very peculiar
kinds, have been already described.

At Atooi, some of the women wore little figures of the turtle, neatly
formed of wood or ivory, tied on their fingers in the manner we wear rings.
Why this animal is thus particularly distinguished, I leave to the
conjectures of the curious. There is also an ornament, made of shells,
fastened in rows on a ground of strong netting, so as to strike each other
when in motion; which both men and women, when they dance, tie either round
the arm or the ankle, or below the knee. Instead of shells, they sometimes
make use of dog's teeth, and a hard red berry, resembling that of the
holly.

There remains to be mentioned another ornament (if such it may be called),
which is a kind of mask, made of a large gourd, with holes cut in it for
the eyes and nose. The top was stuck full of small green twigs, which, at a
distance, had the appearance of an elegant waving plume; and from the lower
part hung narrow stripes of cloth, resembling a beard. We never saw these
masks worn but twice, and both times by a number of people together in a
canoe, who came to the side of the ship, laughing and drolling, with an air
of masquerading. Whether they may not likewise be used as a defence for the
head against stones, for which, they seem best designed; or in some of
their public games; or be merely intended for the purposes of mummery, we
could never inform ourselves.

It has already been remarked, in a few instances, that the natives of the
Sandwich Islands approach nearer to the New Zealanders in their manners and
customs, than to either of their less distant neighbours of the Society or
Friendly Islands. This is in nothing more observable than in their method
of living together in small towns or villages, containing from about one
hundred to two hundred houses, built pretty close together, without any
order, and having a winding path leading through them. They are generally
flanked, toward the sea, with loose detached walls, which, probably, are
meant both for the purposes of shelter and defence. The figure of their
houses has been already described. They are of different sizes, from
eighteen feet by twelve, to forty-five by twenty-four. There are some of a
larger kind, being fifty feet long and thirty broad, and quite open at one
end. These, they told us, were designed for travellers or strangers, who
were only making a short stay.

In addition to the furniture of their houses, which has been accurately
described by Captain Cook, I have only to add, that at one end are mats on
which they sleep, with wooden pillows, or sleeping stools, exactly like
those of the Chinese. Some of the better sort of houses have a courtyard
before them, neatly railed in, with smaller houses built round it, for
their servants. In this _area_ they generally eat, and sit during the day-
time. In the sides of the hills, and among the steep rocks, we also
observed several holes or caves, which appeared to be inhabited; but as the
entrance was defended with wicker-work, and we also found, in the only one
that was visited, a stone-fence running across it within, we imagine they
are principally designed for places of retreat, in case of an attack from
an enemy.

The food of the lower class of people consists principally of fish and
vegetables, such as yams, sweet-potatoes, tarrow, plantains, sugar-canes,
and bread-fruit. To these the people of a higher rank add the flesh of hogs
and dogs, dressed in the same manner as at the Society Islands. They also
eat fowls of the same domestic kind with ours; but they are neither
plentiful nor much esteemed by them. It is remarked by Captain Cook, that
the bread-fruit and yams appeared scarce amongst them, and were reckoned
great rarities. We found this not to be the case on our second visit; and
it is therefore most probable, that, as these vegetables were generally
planted in the interior parts of the country, the natives had not had time
to bring them down to us during the short stay we made at Wymoa Bay. Their
fish, they salt, and preserve in gourd-shells; not, as we at first
imagined, for the purpose of providing against any temporary scarcity, but
from the preference they give to salted meats. For we also found, that the
_Erees_ used to pickle pieces of pork in the same manner, and esteemed it a
great delicacy.

Their cookery is exactly of the same sort with that already described in
the accounts that have been published of the other South Sea islands; and
though Captain Cook complains of the sourness of their tarrow puddings,
yet, in justice to the many excellent meals they afforded us in Karakakooa
Bay, I must be permitted to rescue them from this general censure, and to
declare, that I never eat better even in the Friendly Islands. It is
however remarkable, that they had not got the art of preserving the bread-
fruit, and making the sour paste of it called _Maihee_, as at the Society
Islands; and it was some satisfaction to as, in return for their great
kindness and hospitality, to have it in our power to teach them this useful
secret. They are exceedingly cleanly at their meals; and their mode of
dressing both their animal and vegetable food was universally allowed to be
greatly superior to ours. The chiefs constantly begin their meal with a
dose of the extract of pepper-root, brewed after the usual manner. The
women eat apart from the men, and are _tabooed_, or forbidden, as has been
already mentioned, the use of pork, turtle, and particular kinds of
plantains. However, they would eat pork with us in private; but we could
never prevail upon them to touch the two last articles.

The way of spending their time appears to be very simple, and to admit of
little variety. They rise with the sun; and, after enjoying the cool of the
evening, retire to rest a few hours after sun-set. The making of canoes and
mats forms the occupations of the _Erees_; the women are employed in
manufacturing cloth; and the _Towtows_ are principally engaged in the
plantations and fishing. Their idle hours are filled up with various
amusements. Their young men and women are fond of dancing; and on more
solemn occasions, they have boxing and wrestling matches, after the manner
of the Friendly Islands; though, in all these respects, they are much
inferior to the latter.

Their dances have a much nearer resemblance to those of the New Zealanders
than of the Otaheiteans or Friendly Islanders. They are prefaced with a
slow, solemn song, in which all the party join, moving their legs, and
gently striking their breasts, in a manner, and with attitudes, that are
perfectly easy and graceful; and so far they are the same with the dancers
of the other Society Islands. When this has lasted about ten minutes, both
the tune and motions gradually quicken, and end only by their inability to
support the fatigue; which part of the performance is the exact counterpart
of that of the New Zealanders; and (as it is among them) the person who
uses the most violent action, and holds out the longest, is applauded as
the best dancer. It is to be observed, that, in this dance, the women only
take a part; and that the dancing of the men is nearly of the same kind
with what we saw of the small parties at the Friendly Islands; and which
may, perhaps, with more propriety, be called the accompaniment of songs,
with corresponding and graceful motions of the whole body. Yet, as we were
spectators of boxing exhibitions, of the same kind with those we were
entertained with at the Friendly Islands, it is probable that they had
likewise their grand ceremonious dances, in which numbers of both sexes
assisted.

Their music is also of a ruder kind, having neither flutes nor reeds, nor
instruments of any other sort, that we saw, except drums of various sizes.
But their songs, which they sung in parts,[10] and accompany with a gentle
motion of the arms, in the same manner as the Friendly Islanders, had a
very pleasing effect.

It is very remarkable that the people of these islands are great gamblers.
They have a game very much like our draughts; but if one may judge from the
number of squares, it is much more intricate. The board is about two feet
long, and is divided into two hundred and thirty-eight squares, of which
there are fourteen in a row; and they make use of black and white pebbles,
which they move from square to square.

There is another game, which consists in hiding a stone under a piece of
cloth, which one of the parties spreads out, and rumples in such a manner
that the place where the stone lies is difficult to be distinguished. The
antagonist, with a stick, then strikes the part of the cloth where he
imagines the stone to be; and as the chances are, upon the whole,
considerably against his hitting it, odds, of all degrees, varying with the
opinion of the skill of the parties, are laid on the side of him who hides.

Besides these games, they frequently amuse themselves with racing matches
between the boys and girls; and here, again, they wager with great spirit.
I saw a man in a most violent rage, tearing his hair, and beating his
breast, after losing three hatchets at one of these races, which he had
just before purchased from us with half his substance.

Swimming is not only a necessary art, in which both their men and women are
more expert than any people we had hitherto seen, but a favourite diversion
amongst them. One particular mode, in which they sometimes amused
themselves with this exercise, in Karakakooa Bay, appeared to us most
perilous and extraordinary, and well deserving a distinct relation.

The surf, which breaks on the coast round the bay, extends to the distance
of about one hundred and fifty yards from the shore, within which space the
surges of the sea, accumulating from the shallowness of the water, are
dashed against the beach with prodigious violence. Whenever, from stormy
weather, or any extraordinary swell at sea, the impetuosity of the surf is
increased to its utmost height, they choose that time for this amusement,
which is performed in the following manner: Twenty or thirty of the
natives, taking each a long narrow board, rounded at the ends, set out
together from the shore. The first wave they meet they plunge under, and,
suffering it to roll over them, rise again beyond it, and make the best of
their way, by swimming out into the sea. The second wave is encountered in
the same manner with the first; the great difficulty consisting in seizing
the proper moment of diving under it, which, if missed, the person is
caught by the surf, and driven back again with great violence; and all his
dexterity is then required to prevent himself from being dashed against the
rocks. As soon as they have gained, by these repeated efforts, the smooth
water beyond the surf, they lay themselves at length on their board, and
prepare themselves for their return. As the surf consists of a number of
waves, of which every third is remarked to be always much larger than the
others, and to flow higher on the shore, the rest breaking in the
intermediate space, their first object is to place themselves on the summit
of the largest surge, by which they are driven along with amazing rapidity
toward the shore. If, by mistake, they should place themselves on one of
the smaller waves, which breaks before they reach the land, or should not
be able to keep their plank in a proper direction on the top of the swell,
they are left exposed to the fury of the next, and, to avoid it, are
obliged again to dive, and regain the place from which they set out. Those
who succeed in their object of reaching the shore, have still the greatest
danger to encounter. The coast being guarded by a chain of rocks, with here
and there a small opening between them, they are obliged to steer their
board through one of these, or, in case of failure, to quit it before they
reach the rocks, and, plunging under the wave, make the best of their way
back again. This is reckoned very disgraceful, and is also attended with
the loss of the board, which I have often seen, with great terror, dashed
to pieces, at the very moment the islander quitted it. The boldness and
address with which we saw them perform these difficult and dangerous
manoeuvres, were altogether astonishing, and is scarcely to be
credited.[11]

An accident, of which I was a near spectator, shews at how early a period
they are so far familiarized to the water, as both to lose all fears of it,
and to set its dangers at defiance. A canoe being overset, in which was a
woman with her children, one of them an infant, who, I am convinced, was
not more than four years old, seemed highly delighted with what had
happened, swimming about at its ease, and playing a hundred tricks, till
the canoe was put to rights again.

Besides the amusements I have already mentioned, the young children have
one, which was much played at, and shewed no small degree of dexterity.
They take a short stick, with a peg sharpened at both ends, running through
one extremity of it, and extending about an inch on each side; and throwing
up a ball, made of green leaves, moulded together, and secured with twine,
they catch it on the point of the peg; and immediately throwing it up again
from the peg, they turn the stick round, and thus keep catching it on each
peg alternately, without missing it, for a considerable time. They are not
less expert at another game of the same nature, tossing up in the air, and
catching, in their turns, a number of these balls; so that we frequently
saw little children thus keep in motion five at a time. With this latter
play the young people likewise divert themselves at the Friendly Islands.

The great resemblance which prevails in the mode of agriculture and
navigation, amongst all the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, leaves me
very little to add on those heads. Captain Cook has already described the
figure of the canoes we saw at Atooi. Those of the other islands were
precisely the same; and the largest we saw was a double canoe, belonging to
Terreeoboo, which measured seventy feet in length, three and a half in
depth, and twelve in breadth; and each was hollowed out of one tree.

The progress they have made in sculpture, their skill in painting cloth,
and their manufacturing of mats, have been all particularly described. The
most curious specimens of the former, which we saw during our second visit,
are the bowls in which the chiefs drink _ava_. These are usually about
eight or ten inches in diameter, perfectly round, and beautifully polished.
They are supported by three, and sometimes four small human figures, in
various attitudes. Some of them rest on the hands of their supporters,
extended over the head; others on the head and hands; and some on the
shoulders. The figures, I am told, are accurately proportioned, and neatly
finished, and even the anatomy of the muscles, in supporting the weight,
well expressed.

Their cloth is made of the same materials, and in the same manner, as at
the Friendly and Society Islands. That which is designed to be painted, is
of a thick and strong texture, several folds being beat and incorporated
together; after which it is cut in breadths, about two or three feet wide,
and is painted in a variety of patterns, with a comprehensiveness and
regularity of design that bespeaks infinite taste and fancy. The exactness
with which the most intricate patterns are continued is the more
surprising, when we consider that they have no stamps, and that the whole
is done by the eye, with pieces of bamboo-cane dipped in paint; the hand
being supported by another piece of the cane, in the manner practised by
our painters. Their colours are extracted from the same berries, and other
vegetable substances, as at Otaheite, which have been already described by
former voyagers.

The business of painting belongs entirely to the women, and is called
_kipparee_; and it is remarkable that they always gave the same name to our
writing. The young women would often take the pen out of our hands, and
shew us that they knew the use of it as well as we did; at the same time
telling us that our pens were not so good as theirs. They looked upon a
sheet of written paper as a piece of cloth striped after the fashion of our
country; and it was not without the utmost difficulty that we could make
them understand that our figures had a meaning in them which theirs had
not.

Their mats are made of the leaves of the _pandanus_; and, as well as their
cloths, are beautifully worked in a variety of patterns, and stained of
different colours. Some have a ground of pale green, spotted with squares
or rhomboids of red; others are of a straw colour, spotted with green; and
others are worked with beautiful stripes, either in straight or waving
lines of red and brown. In this article of manufacture, whether we regard
the strength, fineness, or beauty, they certainly excel the whole world.

Their fishing-hooks are made of mother-of-pearl, bone, or wood, pointed and
barbed with small bones or tortoise-shell. They are of various sizes and
forms, but the most common are about two or three inches long, and made in
the shape of a small fish, which serves as a bait, having a bunch of
feathers tied to the head or tail. Those with which they fish for sharks
are of a very large size, being generally six or eight inches long.
Considering the materials of which these hooks were made, their strength
and neatness are really astonishing; and, in fact, we found them, upon
trial, much superior to our own.

The line which they use for fishing, for making nets, and for other
domestic purposes is of different degrees of fineness, and is made of the
bark of the _touta_, or cloth-tree; neatly and evenly twisted, in the same
manner as our common twine; and may be continued to any length. They have a
finer sort, made of the bark of a small shrub, called _areemah_; and the
finest is made of human hair; but this last is chiefly used for things of
ornament. They also make cordage of a stronger kind, for the rigging of
their canoes, from the fibrous coatings of the cocoa-nuts. Some of this we
purchased for our own use, and found it well adapted to the smaller kinds
of the running rigging. They likewise make another sort of cordage, which
is flat, and exceedingly strong, and used principally in lashing the
roofing of their houses, or whatever they wish to fasten tight together.
This last is not twisted like the former sorts, but is made of the fibrous
strings of the cocoa-nut's coat, plaited with the fingers, in the manner
our sailors make their points for the reefing of sails.

The gourds, which grow to so enormous a size, that some of them are capable
of containing from ten to twelve gallons, are applied to all manner of
domestic purposes; and in order to fit them the better to their respective
uses, they have the ingenuity to give them different forms, by tying
bandages round them during their growth. Thus some of them are of a long
cylindrical form, as best adapted to contain their fishing-tackle; others
are of a dish form, and these serve to hold their salt and salted
provisions, their puddings, vegetables, &c. which two sorts have neat close
covers, made likewise of the gourd; others, again, are exactly in the shape
of a bottle with a long neck, and in these they keep their water. They have
likewise a method of scoring them with a heated instrument, so as to give
them the appearance of being painted in a variety of neat and elegant
designs.

Amongst their arts, we must not forget that of making salt, with which we
were amply supplied during our stay at these islands, and which was
perfectly good of its kind. Their salt-pans are made of earth, lined with
clay; being generally six or eight feet square, and about eight inches
deep. They are raised upon a bank of stones near to high-water mark, from
whence the salt-water is conducted to the foot of them in small trenches,
out of which they are filled, and the sun quickly performs the necessary
process of evaporation. The salt we procured at Atooi and Oneeheow, on our
first visit, was of a brown and dirty sort; but that which we afterward got
in Karakakooa Bay was white, and of a most excellent quality, and in great
abundance. Besides the quantity we used in salting pork, we filled all our
empty casks, amounting to sixteen puncheons, in the Resolution only.

Their instruments of war are spears, daggers, called _pahooas_, clubs, and
slings. The spears are of two sorts, and made of a hard solid wood, which
has much the appearance of mahogany. One sort is from six to eight feet in
length, finely polished, and gradually increasing in thickness from the
extremity till within about half a foot of the point, which tapers
suddenly, and is furnished with four or six rows of barbs. It is not
improbable that these might be used in the way of darts. The other sort,
with which we saw the warriors at Owhyhee and Atooi mostly armed, are
twelve or fifteen feet long, and, instead of being barbed, terminate toward
the point like their daggers.

The dagger, or _pahooa_, is made of heavy black wood, resembling ebony. Its
length is from one to two feet, with a string passing through the handle,
for the purpose of suspending it to the arm.

The clubs are made indifferently of several sorts of wood. They are of rude
workmanship, and of a variety of shapes and sizes.

The slings have nothing singular about them; and in no respect differ from
our common slings, except that the stone is lodged on a piece of matting
instead of leather.


[5] The nice and highly interesting subject now adverted to, it is evident,
will require a very extensive and cautious enquiry, and cannot
possibly be discussed in the small compass allotted to notes. See
Forster's Observations. But additional information has been obtained
since the time of that author.--E.

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