Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

was turned, very dexterously laid hold of it with a 1769. long crooked ftick, and drew it over the wall. 1, June. thought it of fome confequence, if poffible, to put an end to these practices at once, by doing fomething that fhould make it the common intereft of the natives themselves to prevent them. I had given ftrict orders that they should not be fired upon, even when detected in these attempts, for which I had many reasons : the common centinels were by no means fit to be entrufted with a power of life and death, to be exerted whenever they should think fit; and I had already experienced, that they were ready to take away the lives that were in their power, upon the flighteft occafion; neither indeed did I think that the thefts which these people committed against us were, in them, crimes worthy of death: that thieves are hanged in England, I thought no reason why they should be fhot in Otaheite; because, with refpect to the natives, it would have been an execution by a law' ex poft facto:' they had no fuch law among themselves, and it did not appear to me that we had any right to make fuch a law for them. That they should abstain from theft, or be punished with death, was not one of the conditions under which they claimed the advantages of civil fociety, as it is among us; and as I was not willing to expose them to fire arms, loaded with fhot, neither could I perfectly approve of firing only with powder: at first, indeed, the noife and the fmoke would alarm them, but when they found that no mischief followed, they would be led to defpife the weapons themselves, and proceed to infults, which would make it neceffary to put them to the teft, and from which they would be deterred by the very fight of a gun, if it was never used but with effect. At this time, an accident furnished me with what I thought a happy expedient. It happened that above twenty of their failing canoes were just come in with a fupply of fish; upon thefe I immediately feized, and bringing them into the river behind the fort, gave publick notice, that except the rake, and all the rest of the things which from time to time had been stolen, were returned, the canoes fhould be burned. This menace I ventured to publish, though I had no defign to put it into execution, making no B 4 doubt

1769.

June.

doubt but that it was well known in whofe poffeffion the stolen goods were, and that as reftitution was thus made a common caufe, they would all of them in a short time be brought back. A lift of the things was made out, confifting principally of the rake, the mufket which had been taken from the marine when the Indian was fhot, the piftols which Mr. Banks loft with his clothes at Atahourou, a fword belonging to one of the petty officers, and the water cafk. About noon the rake was restored, and great folicitation was made for the release of the canoes; but I ftill insisted Thurf. 15. upon my original condition. The next day came, and nothing farther was restored, at which I was much furprised, for the people were in the utmost distress for the fish, which in a short time would be spoiled; I was therefore reduced to a disagreeable fituation, either of releafing the canoes, contrary to what I had folemnly and publicly declared, or to detain them, to the great injury of thofe who were innocent, without anfwering any good purpose to ourielves: as a temporary expedient, I permitted them to take the fish, but till detained the canoes. This very licence, however, was productive of new confufion and injury; for, it not being eafy at once to distinguish to what particular perfons the feveral lots of fish belonged, the canoes were plundered, under favour of this circumftance, by thofe who had no right to any part of their cargo. Moft preffing inftances were still made that the canoes might be restored; and I having now the greatest reafon to believe, either that the things for which I detained them were not in the island, or that thofe who suffered by their detention had not fufficient influence over the thieves to prevail upon them to relinquish their booty, determined at length to give them up, not a little mortified at the bad fuccefs of my project.

Another accident also about this time was, notwithftanding all our caution, very near embroiling us with the Indians. I fent the boat on fhore with an officer to get ballast for the fhip, and not immediately finding ftones convenient for the purpose, he began to pull down fome part of an inclofure where they deposited the bones of their dead: this the Indians violently opposed, and a meffenger came down to the tents to ac

quaint the officers that they would not fuffer it. Mr.
Banks immediately repaired to the place, and an ami-
cable end was foon put to the difpute, by fending the
boat's
's crew to the river, where ftones enough were to
be gathered without a poffibility of giving offence. It
is very remarkable, that these Indians appeared to be
much more jealous of what was done to the dead than
the living. This was the only measure in which they
ventured to oppose us, and the only infult that was of-
fered to any individual among us was upon a fimilar
occafion. Mr. Monkhouse happening one day to pull
a flower from a tree which grew in one of their fepul-
chral inclosures, an Indian, whose jealousy had proba-
bly been upon the watch, came fuddenly behind him.
and struck him: Mr. Monkhoufe laid hold of him,
but he was instantly rescued by two more, who took
hold of Mr. Monkhoufe's hair, and forced him to quit
his hold of their companion, and then ran away, with-
out offering him any farther violence.

1769.

June.

In the evening of the 19th, while the canoes were Mond. 19. ftill detained, we received a vifit from Oberea, which furprized us not a little, as fhe brought with her none of the things that had been ftolen, and knew that the was fufpected of having some of them in her custody. She faid, indeed, that her favourite, Obadee, whom she had beaten and dismissed, had taken them away; but the feemed confcious that she had no right to be believed the discovered the strongest figns of fear, yet she furmounted it with astonishing refolution, and was very preffing to fleep with her attendants in Mr. Banks's tent. In this, however, fhe was not gratified; the affair of the jackets was too recent, and the tent was befides filled with other people. Nobody else feemed willing to entertain her, and the therefore, with great appearance of mortification and difappointment, spent the night in her canoe.

The next morning early the returned to the fort, Tuefd. zo. with her canoe and every thing that it contained, putting herself wholly into our power, with fomething like greatness of mind, which excited our wonder and admiration. As the most effectual means to bring about a reconciliation, the prefented us with a hog, and feveral other things, among which was a dog.

We

1769. We had lately learned, that these animals were esteemJune. ed by the Indians as more delicate food than their pork; and upon this occafion we determined to try the experiment: the dog, which was very fat, we configned over to Tupia, who undertook to perform the double office of butcher and cook. He killed him, by holding his hands clofe over his mouth and nofe, an operation which continued above a quarter of an hour. While this was doing, a hole was made in the ground about a foot deep, in which a fire was kindled, and fome fmall ftones placed in layers alternately with the wood to heat; the dog was then finged, by holding him over the fire, and, by fcraping him with a shell, the hair was taken off as clean as if he had been scalded in hot water he was then cut up with the fame instrument, and his entrails being taken out, were fent to the fea, where being carefully washed, they were put into cocoa-nut-fhells, with what blood had come from the body when the hole was fufficiently heated, the fire was taken out, and some of the stones which were not fo hot as to discolour any thing that they touched, being placed at the bottom, were covered with green leaves: the dog, with the entrails, was then placed upon the leaves, and other leaves being laid upon them, the whole was covered with the rest of the hot ftones, and the mouth of the hole close stopped with mould in somewhat less than four hours it was again opened, and the dog taken out excellently baked, and we all agreed that he made a very good dish. The dogs which are here bread to be eaten, tafte no animal food, but are kept wholly upon bread-fruit, cocoanuts, yams, and other vegetables of the like kind; all the flesh and fish eaten by the inhabitants is dressed in the fame way.

Wednef. 21.

:

On the 21ft, we were vifited at the fort by a Chief, called OAMO, whom we had never feen before, and who was treated by the natives with uncommon respect; he brought with him a boy about feven years old, and a young woman about fixteen ; the boy was carried upon a man's back, which we confidered as a piece of ftate, for he was as well able to walk as any prefent. As foon as they were in fight, Oberea, and feveral other natives who were in

the

the fort, went out to meet them, having first uncovered 1769. their heads and bodies as low as the waift: as they, June. came on, the fame ceremony was performed by all the natives who were without the fort. Uncovering the body, therefore, is in this country probably a mark of refpect; and as all parts are here expofed with equal indifference, the ceremony of uncovering it from the waist downwards, which was performed by Oorattooa, might be nothing more than a different mode of compliment, adapted to perfons of a different rank. The chief came into the tent, but no entreaty could prevail upon the young woman to follow him, though she feemed to refufe contrary to her inclination; the natives without were indeed all very folicitous to prevent her; fometimes when her refolution feemed to fail, almoft ufing force the boy also they restrained in the fame but Dr. Solander happening to meet him at the gate, took him by the hand, and led him in before the people were aware of it: as foon, however, as thofe that were within saw him, they took care to have him sent out.

manner;

These circumstances having strongly excited our cu riofity, we enquired who they were, and were informed, that Oamo was the husband of Oberea, tho' they had been a long time separated by mutual confent; and that the young woman and the boy were their children. We learnt also, that the boy, whose name was TERRIDIRI, was heir apparent to the fovereignty of the island, and that his fifter was intended for his wife, the marriage being deferred only till he should arrive at a proper age. The fovereign at this time was a son of WHAPPAI, whofe name was OUTOU, and who, as before has been observed, was a minor. Whappai, Oamo, and Tootahah, were brothers: Whappai was the eldest, and Oamo the fecond; fo that, Whappai having no child but Outou, Terridiri, the fon of his next brother Oamo, was heir to the fovereignty. It will, perhaps, feem ftrange that a boy fhould be fovereign during the life of his father: but, according to the custom of the country, a child fucceeds to a father's title and authority as foon as it is born: a regent is then elected, and the father of the new fovereign is generally continued in his authority,

under

« ZurückWeiter »