CHAPTER IX
Description of Wahoo – Extent – Whyteete-bay – Account of Tamaahmaah’s navy – Town and harbour of Hanaroora – Bass’s harbour – Wymumme, or Pearl-river – State of cultivation – Breed of cattle – Account of the white people resident on the island.
The island of Wahoo lies about seven leagues to the northwest of Morotai, and about thirty from Owhyhee, in the same direction; it is nearly forty miles in length from northwest to southeast, and almost half that extent in breadth.
Although only of secondary size, it has become the most important island in the groupe, both on account of its superior fertility, and because it possesses the only secure harbour to be met with in the Sandwich islands.
In consequence of this, and of the facility with which fresh provisions can be procured, almost every vessel22 that navigates the north Pacific puts in here to refit. This is probably the principal reason why the king has chosen it as his place of residence; perhaps the vicinity to Atooi and Onehow, the only islands independent of himself, and the conquest of which he is said to meditate, is another and no less powerful motive.
The south coast of the island extends from Diamond-hill on the east, to Barber’s Point23 on the west, a distance of about twenty-four miles. A range of mountains run almost parallel to the shore, from which it is separated by a fertile plain, which varies in breadth; at Hanaroora, where it is broadest, the distance from the sea to the mountains is about five miles.
A reef of coral runs along the whole extent of this shore, within a quarter of a mile of the land; the greater part of it dries at low water, and in the inside it is in many places too shallow even for canoes, except at full tide.24
Whyteete bay, where captain Vancouver anchored, is formed by the land falling back from the southern promontory of the island, called by the white people Diamond-hill. It is open to the south one half of the compass, and there being no channel, ships are obliged to anchor on the outside of the reef.
Tamaahmaah formerly resided at this place, and great part of his navy were hauled up on the shore round the bay. I counted more than thirty vessels; they are kept with the utmost care, having sheds built over them, their spars laid alongside, and their rigging and cables preserved in stores.
They are chiefly sloops and schooners, under forty tons burden, and have all been built by his own carpenters, principally natives, under the direction of an Englishman of the name of Boyd.
He possesses one ship of about two hundred tons, called the Lily Bird. This vessel was originally an American, which arrived from the coast of California in a leaky condition. He purchased her from the captain, by giving his largest schooner in exchange, and paying the difference in dollars. She was repaired by his own carpenters, and laid up at Hanaroora, along side a wharf built for the purpose. The remainder of his fleet, ten or twelve more, were hauled up at the same place, except one small sloop, which he kept as a packet between Wahoo and Owhyhee. She was navigated by native seamen, under the command of an Englishman, of the name of Clerk, who had formerly been mate of the Lily Bird.
Three miles to the west of Whyteete is the town of Hanaroora, now the capital of the island, and residence of the king. The harbour is formed by the reef, which shelters it from the sea, and ships can ride within in safety in any weather, upon a fine sandy bottom. There is a good channel through the reef, with three or four fathoms water; but if there is a swell it is not easily discovered, as the sea often breaks completely across. Pilots, however, are always to be had; John Hairbottle, captain of the Lily Bird, generally acted as such. The best anchorage is in five fathoms water, about two cables length from the shore, directly in front of the village. Ships sometimes anchor on the outside of the reef, but they run the risk of having their cables cut by the coral.
The entrance to this harbour may probably, at no very distant period, be filled up by the growth of the coral, which must be rapid indeed, if Hairbottle, the pilot, was correct, when he informed me that he knew a difference of three feet during the time he had been at Hanaroora.25
A small river runs by the back of the village, and joins the sea at the west side of the harbour; owing to the flatness of the country, the water is brackish, and there is none fresh to be had within several miles of the place. Ships, however, can be supplied at a moderate rate by the natives, who bring it from the spring in calabashes.
Six miles to the westward is Bass’s harbour, also formed by an entrance through the reef; within it is well sheltered, with good anchorage in five or six fathoms; but there being no village in the vicinity, it is little frequented.26
Wymumme, or Pearl river, lies about seven miles farther to the westward. This inlet extends ten or twelve miles up the country. The entrance is not more than a quarter of a mile wide, and is only navigable for small craft; the depth of water on the bar, at the highest tides, not exceeding seven feet; farther up it is nearly two miles across. There is an isle in it, belonging to Manina, the king’s interpreter, in which he keeps a numerous flock of sheep and goats.
Pearls and mother-of-pearl shells are found here in considerable quantity. Since the king has learned their value, he has kept the fishing to himself, and employs divers for the purpose.
Ten miles to the west of this is Barber’s Point, (so called from the captain of a ship wrecked there,) the northwest extremity of the island. It is very low, and extends a considerable way into the sea.
The tides upon this coast do not rise more than four feet at springs; it is high water about three at full and change of the moon. The force of the current is scarcely perceptible.
The flat land along shore is highly cultivated; taro root, yams, and sweet potatoes, are the most common crops; but taro forms the chief object of their husbandry, being the principal article of food amongst every class of inhabitants.
The mode of culture is extremely laborious, as it is necessary to have the whole field laid under water; it is raised in small patches, which are seldom above a hundred yards square; these are surrounded by embankments, generally about six feet high, the sides of which are planted with sugar-canes, with a walk at top; the fields are intersected by drains or acqueducts, constructed with great labour and ingenuity, for the purpose of supplying the water necessary to cover them.
The ground is first carefully dug and levelled with a wooden spade, called maiai, which the labourers use, squatting on their hams and heels. After this, it is firmly beat down by treading it with their feet till it is close enough to contain water.
The plants are propagated by planting a small cutting from the upper part of the root with the leaves adhering. The water is then let in, and covers the surface to the depth of twelve or eighteen inches; in about nine months they are ready for taking up; each plant sends forth a number of shoots, or suckers, all around. This mode of culture is particularly laborious, and in all the operations those engaged are almost constantly up to the middle in the mud.
Notwithstanding this, I have often seen the king working hard in a taro patch. I know not whether this was done with a view of setting an example of industry to his subjects. Such exertion could scarcely be thought necessary amongst these islanders, who are certainly the most industrious people I ever saw.
The potatoe and yam grounds are neatly inclosed by stone walls, about eighteen inches high. In addition to these native productions, Indian corn, and a great variety of garden stuffs have been lately introduced, and are cultivated with success, chiefly by the white people.
When the islands were discovered, pigs and dogs were the only useful animals they possessed; but Tamaahmaah has paid so much attention to the preservation of the breeds left by Vancouver, and other navigators, that in a short time the stock of horned cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, will be abundant.
At Owhyhee I was informed that there were many hundreds of cattle running wild, and several in a domestic state. The king had introduced the breed into Wahoo; and at the time I was there he had a herd of nine or ten upon the north side of the island.
Sheep and goats are already very numerous. Several individuals had large flocks of them. The queen had one, consisting of about one hundred and fifty; and Manina had several hundreds on the island in Pearl river. – The king had five horses, of which he was very fond, and used frequently to go out on horseback. I was informed there were still more at Owhyhee.
The cattle lately introduced are pastured upon the hills, and those parts of the country not under cultivation, the fences not being sufficient to confine them. The hogs are kept in pens, and fed on taro leaves, sugar canes, and garbage.
The chiefs are the proprietors of the soil, and let the land in small farms to the lower class, who pay them a rent in kind, generally pigs, cloth, or mats, at four terms in the year.
At one time during my stay, there were nearly sixty white people upon Wahoo alone; but the number was constantly varying, and was considerably diminished before my departure. Although the great majority had been left by American vessels, not above one third of them belonged to that nation; the rest were almost all English, and of these six or eight were convicts, who had made their escape from New South Wales.
Many inducements are held out to sailors to remain here. If they conduct themselves with propriety, they rank as chiefs, and are entitled to all the privileges of the order; at all events, they are certain of being maintained by some of the chiefs, who are always anxious to have white people about them.
The king has a considerable number in his service, chiefly carpenters, joiners, masons, blacksmiths, and bricklayers; these he rewards liberally with grants of land. Some of these people are sober and industrious; but this is far from being their general character; on the contrary, many of them are idle and dissolute, getting drunk whenever an opportunity presents itself. They have introduced distillation into the island; and the evil consequences, both to the natives and whites, are incalculable. It is no uncommon sight to see a party of them broach a small cask of spirits, and sit drinking for days till they see it out.
There are, however, a few exceptions to this. William Davis, a Welshman, who resided with Isaac Davis, used to rise every morning at five, and go to his fields, where he commonly remained till the same hour in the evening. This singularity puzzled the natives not a little; but they accounted for it, by supposing that he had been one of their own countrymen, who had gone to Caheite, or England, after his death, and had now come back to his native land.
There were no missionaries upon the island during the time I remained in it, at which I was often much surprised.
Most of the whites have married native women, by whom they have families; but they pay little attention either to the education or to the religious instruction of their children. I do not recollect having seen any who knew more than the letters of the alphabet.
CHAPTER X
Account of the natives – Personal appearance – Ranks – Power of the king – Priests – Capital punishments – Mode of detecting theft – Religious belief – Places of worship and ceremonies – Macaheite – Houses – Food – Ava – Spirits distilled from the tee-root – State of the women – Marriages – Dress – Manufactures – Nets and lines – Modes of fishing – Trade – Price of provisions – Amusements – Funeral Rites – Military – Progress in civilization – Account of Tamaahmaah and family.
The manners and customs of the Sandwich islanders have been repeatedly described by much abler observers; but my long residence has given me opportunities of noticing many things which have escaped others; and to these I shall, as much as possible, confine my remarks.
The natives, although not tall, are stout and robust in their make, particularly those of the higher rank; their complexion is nut-brown, and they are extremely cleanly in their persons. They are distinguished by great ingenuity in all their arts and manufactures, as well as by a most persevering industry.
They are divided into two great classes: the Erees, or chiefs, and the Cannakamowree, or people. The former are the proprietors of the land, the latter are all under the dominion of some chief, for whom they work, or cultivate the ground, and by whom they are supported in old age. They are not, however, slaves, or attached to the soil, but at liberty to change masters when they think proper.
The supreme government is vested in the king, whose power seems to be completely absolute. He is assisted by the principal chiefs, whom he always keeps about his person; many of these have particular departments to attend to; one chief took charge of the household, and appointed the different surveys to be performed by every individual; another, named Coweeowranee, acted as paymaster; his province was to distribute wages and provisions amongst the people in the king’s service.
An elderly chief, of the name of Naai, took a general charge of the whole, and was, in fact, prime minister. He was commonly called Billy Pitt by the white people, and was by no means pleased when they addressed him by any other appellation.
The principal duties of the executive were, however, entrusted to the priests; by them the revenues were collected, and the laws enforced. Superstition is the most powerful engine by which the latter purpose is effected; actual punishment being rare. I knew only one instance of capital punishment; which was that of a man who had violated the sanctity of the morai. Having got drunk, he quitted it during taboo time, and entered the house of a woman. He was immediately seized, and carried back to the morai, where his eyes were put out. After remaining two days in this state, he was strangled, and his body exposed before the principal idol.
The method of detecting theft or robbery, affords a singular instance of the power of superstition over their minds. The party who has suffered the loss applies to one of the priests, to whom he presents a pig, and relates his story.
The following ceremony is then performed; the priest begins by rubbing two pieces of green wood upon each other, till, by the friction, a kind of powder, like snuff, is produced, which is so hot, that on being placed in dry grass, and blown upon, it takes fire; with this, a large pile of wood is kindled, and allowed to burn a certain time. He then takes three nuts of an oily nature, called tootooee; having broken the shells, one of the kernels is thrown into the fire, at which time he says an anana, or prayer; and while the nut is crackling in the fire, repeats the words Muckeeroio kanaka ai kooee, that is, kill or shoot the fellow. The same ceremonies take place with each of the nuts, provided the thief does not appear before they are consumed.
This, however, but seldom happens; the culprit generally makes his appearence with the stolen property, which is restored to the owner, and the offence punished by a fine of four pigs. He is then dismissed, with strict injunctions not to commit the like crime in future, under pain of a more severe penalty. The pigs are taken to the morai, where they are offered up as sacrifices, and afterwards eaten by the priests.
Should it happen that the unfortunate criminal does not make his appearance during the awful ceremony, his fate is inevitable; had he the whole island to bestow, not one word of the prayer could be recalled, nor the anger of the Etooah appeased. The circumstance is reported to the king, and proclamation made throughout the island, that a certain person has been robbed, and that those who are guilty have been prayed to death.
So firm is their belief in the power of these prayers, that the culprit pines away, refusing to take any sustenance, and at last falls a sacrifice to his credulity.
The priests also practice medicine. Bathing is their great specific. If the patient is too weak to be carried to the sea, he is washed with salt water. The oil extracted from a nut, called tootooee, is used as a purgative; and a black mineral substance, reduced to a powder, as an emetic. This is very powerful in its effects; half the quantity that can be laid on a sixpence forming a sufficient dose.
I have but few particulars to give of their religious opinions. Their principal god, to whom they attribute the creation of the world, is called Etooah; and they have seven or eight subordinate deities, whose images are in the morai, and to whom offerings are made as well as to the Etooah. Their names I cannot recollect.
They believe in a future state, where they will be rewarded or punished for their conduct in this life. Their belief in the efficacy of prayer has already been remarked. During the time I lived with the king, it was reported that some person had prayed him to death; in order to counteract the effects of this, the daughter of a chief prostrated herself before the house, and turning towards the setting sun, prayed with great fervency. I did not then understand the language, and imagined that she was addressing that luminary; but William Moxely explained that part to me. She said, How could the sun rise and set, or the moon perform her revolutions, if there were not some superior Being who regulated their motions.
They have a tradition of a general deluge. According to their account, the sea once overflowed the whole world, except Mouna Kaa, in Owhyhee, and swept away all the inhabitants but one pair, who saved themselves on that mountain, and are the parents of the present race of mankind.
Their morais, or places of worship, consist of one large house, or temple, with some smaller ones round it, in which are the images of their inferior gods. The tabooed, or consecrated precincts, are marked out by four square posts, which stand thirty or forty yards from the building. In the inside of the principal house there is a screen or curtain of white cloth, hung across one end, within which the image of Etooah is placed. When sacrifices are offered, the priests and chiefs enter occasionally within this space, going in at one side and out at the other. Although present on one occasion, I did not enter this recess, partly because I was doubtful of the propriety of doing so, and also on account of the difficulty I had in moving myself, and the risk of getting my wounds injured among the crowd.
On the outside are placed several images made of wood, as ugly as can be well imagined, having their mouths all stuck round with dog’s teeth.
Their holidays took place about four times a month, and the ceremonies lasted from sunset on the day preceding, to sunrise on the following day; during which no person was permitted to pass the bounds of the morai. This time was spent in prayer, in sacrificing pigs, in eating the sacrifices, and in conversation. I attended only once, and was not, at that time, sufficiently master of the language to understand the purport of the prayers.
The priest continued nearly three hours, in a very solemn manner, during which the most profound silence was observed; indeed, the smallest noise of any kind, either within the morai or in the neighbourhood, would have been a proof that the deity was offended, and the prayer must have ceased; a proclamation was, therefore, made by the public crier, whenever the king entered the morai, ordering every animal near it to be confined, otherwise they should be seized and offered up as sacrifices. Those present stood with their arms extended towards heaven for about three quarters of an hour at the beginning of the prayer, and the same length of time at its conclusion. I was not required to perform this part of the ceremony.
The number present did not exceed forty, and were all of the higher rank. Women are never permitted to attend on these occasions.
Human sacrifices are offered upon their going to war; but nothing of the kind took place during my stay; unless in the case already mentioned, of the man punished for breaking the taboo, and whose body was exposed before the idol.
During the period called Macaheite, which lasts a whole month, and takes place in November, the priests are employed in collecting the taxes, which are paid by the chiefs in proportion to the extent of their territories; they consist of mats, feathers, and the produce of the country. The people celebrate this festival by dancing, wrestling, and other amusements.
The king remains in the morai for the whole period; before entering it, a singular ceremony takes place. He is obliged to stand till three spears are darted at him: He must catch the first with his hand, and with it ward off the other two. This is not a mere formality. The spear is thrown with the utmost force, and should the king lose his life, there is no help for it.27
At the Macaheite, which happened when I was on the island, the eldest son of Tamaahmaah, a youth about fifteen, was invested with royal honours, and entitled to the same marks of respect as his father. What share he had in the government I did not learn; but I observed no alteration in the exercise of the king’s authority.
The houses of the natives are of the simplest form; they are oblong, with very low side-walls, and high-thatched roofs; within, they are not divided into separate apartments, nor have they any tables or seats.
It is only by size that the houses of the chiefs are distinguished from those of the lower orders, for the same barn-like shape is universal. They are, however, kept very clean; and their household utensils, consisting of wooden dishes and calabashes, are hung, neatly arranged, upon the walls. While the floors of the meaner houses are bare, except the place for sleeping, where a few mats are spread, those of the higher orders are entirely covered over with mats, many of which are worked with great elegance into different patterns. At one end, a platform raised about three feet from the ground, which extends the whole breadth of the apartment, is spread with a layer of rushes, and covered with mats. This forms the sleeping place for the upper part of the family; the attendants sleep at the opposite end.
As the two sexes never eat together, the chiefs have always a separate eating-house, and even the lower ranks have one to every six or seven families for the men. The women take their food in the same houses in which they sleep.
Few of the houses, except the largest, have any windows; the light being admitted by the door, which is seldom closed. The dwellings of the upper ranks are generally surrounded by a paling. In all of them the utmost attention to cleanliness prevails.
Their mode of cooking has been often described. Poey, or taro-pudding, which is the principal food of all ranks, is prepared by baking the root in a pit with hot stones, upon which water is poured. It is afterwards scraped, mashed, and mixed with cold water. When newly made, it is not unpalatable, but it soon turns sour.
Fish are often eaten raw, seasoned with salt water. When cooked, they are either done in their usual manner, under ground, or broiled, by putting them, wrapt in leaves, upon the fire. When the leaves are burnt, they consider them ready.
They preserve pork by taking out the bones, and rubbing it well with salt; after which it is made up in rolls, and dried.
They frequently eat with their pork a kind of pudding made of taro-root, which is previously cut in slices, and dried in the sun; it keeps a great length of time, and is a good substitute for bread. In this state it is preferred by the white people. The natives preserve it for taking to sea, by mashing and forming it into a solid paste, when it is wrapped in leaves, and will keep fresh for five or six weeks.
The sugar-cane, which they chew, is also a general article of food.
Instead of candles, the tootooee-nut is used, which being of an oily nature, yields a considerable quantity of light. It grows upon a small tree, and is about the size of a horse-chesnut. When pulled, they are thrown into water, and those that sink are reckoned sound; they are then baked under ground, and their shells broken off, in which state they are kept till required. When used as candles, they string twenty or thirty upon a slit of bamboo, each of which will burn five or six minutes; but they require constant trimming, and it is necessary to reverse the torch whenever a nut is consumed, that the one under it may catch fire. It must, therefore, be held by a person whose business it is to keep it always in order.
This nut, when pressed, yields an oil well adapted for mixing with paint. The black colour, by which their canoes are painted, is produced by burning the nuts after they are pressed, and by the cinders of the torches, which are carefully preserved for the purpose; these are reduced to powder, and mixed with oil.
Ava, with which the natives were formerly wont to intoxicate themselves, is now giving way to the use of ardent spirits. I never saw it used, except as a medicine to prevent corpulency, and is said to be an effectual remedy. It causes a white scurf to strike out upon the skin, somewhat like the dry scurvy.
The spirit distilled from the tea-root now usurps its place, and I fear the consequences will be still more pernicious.
That plant grows wild in the upper part of the country, and varies from the size of a carrot to that of a man’s thigh. It is put into a pit, amongst heated stones, and covered with plantain and taro leaves; through these a small hole is made, and water poured in; after which the whole is closed up again, and allowed to remain twenty-four hours. When the root has undergone this process, the juice tastes as sweet as molasses. It is then taken out, bruised, and put into a canoe to ferment; and in five or six days is ready for distillation.
Their stills are formed out of iron pots, which they procure from American ships, and which they enlarge to any size, by fixing several tier of calabashes above them, with their bottoms sawed off, and the joints well luted. From the uppermost, a wooden tube connects with a copper cone, round the inside of which is a ring with a pipe to carry off the spirit. The cone is fixed into a hole in the bottom of a tub filled with water, which serves as a condenser.
By this simple apparatus a spirit is produced, called lumi, or rum, and which is by no means harsh or unpalatable. Both whites and natives are unfortunately too much addicted to it. Almost every one of the chiefs has his own still.
Smoking tobacco is another luxury of which the natives are very fond. The plant grows in abundance upon the islands, and they use it in a green state. In their tobacco pipes they display their usual taste and ingenuity. The tube is made of a hollow stem of a kind of vine, fixed to an iron bowl, which is inserted into hard wood. The stem is covered with rings of ivory and turtle-shell, placed alternately; the whole kept firmly together at the top by an ivory mouth-piece.
The women are subject to many restrictions from which the men are exempted. They are not allowed to attend the morai upon taboo days, nor at these times are they permitted to go out in a canoe. They are never permitted to eat with the men, except when at sea, and then not out of the same dish. Articles of delicacy, such as pork, turtle, shark, cocoa-nuts, bananas or plantains, are also forbidden. Dog’s flesh and fish were the only kinds of animal food lawful for them to eat; but since the introduction of sheep and goats, which are not tabooed, the ladies have less reason to complain.
Notwithstanding the rigour with which these ceremonies are generally observed, the women very seldom scruple to break them, when it can be done in secret; they often swim off to ships at night during the taboo; and I have known them eat of the forbidden delicacies of pork and shark’s flesh. What would be the consequence of a discovery I know not; but I once saw the queen transgressing in this respect, and was strictly enjoined to secrecy, as she said it was as much as her life was worth.
Their ideas of marriage are very loose; either party may quit the other when they tire or disagree. The lower classes in general, content themselves with one wife; but they are by no means confined to that number, and the chiefs have frequently several. Tamaahmaah had two, besides a very handsome girl, the daughter of a chief, educating for him. One elderly chief, Coweeooranee, had no fewer than fifteen. They are very jealous of any improper connexion between natives and their wives; but the case is widely different with respect to their visitors, where connexion of that kind is reckoned the surest proof of friendship, and they are always anxious to strengthen it by that tie.
The virtue of the king’s wives is, however, most scrupulously guarded; each of them having a male and a female attendant, whose duty it is to watch them on all occasions. Should it be discovered that any of the queens have been unfaithful, these attendants are punished with death, unless they have given the first intimation.
Immediately after child-birth, women are obliged to retire to the woods, where they remain ten days, and must not be seen by the men. The queen, who had a daughter whilst I was there, had a house for the purpose of retirement; but, in general, they have no other shelter but what the woods afford. They also retire in the same manner three days in every month.28
A simple garment, called pow, forms the principal part of the dress of the women; it consists of a piece of cloth about one yard broad and three in length, wrapped several times round the waist, with the end tucked in below, and reaching to the calf of the leg. In cold weather, they throw another piece of cloth, like a plaid, over their shoulders. Round the neck they often wear wreaths of the leaves of a fragrant plant called miri, resembling those of the vine.