A Lady's Cruise in a French Man-of-War/Chapter 22
CHAPTER XXII.
LIFE ON MOOREA—AN ANCIENT PLACE OF SACRIFICE—ARRIVAL OF H.M.S. SHAH—HOSPITALITIES ON LAND AND WATER.
French Mission, Papetoai, Saturday Night.
This has been a glorious day of unclouded sunlight, and in order that I might enjoy it to the full, my kind hosts planned a family picnic on the other side of the bay. There was no available boat, only a tiny canoe, so we crossed in several detachments, till all were safely landed on the opposite shore, where we established ourselves beneath the shade of some noble iron-wood trees, whence the view of towering mountains, laughing valley, and blue waters was so entrancing, that I at once settled down to sketch, while the little ones disported themselves in the shallow waters, therein capturing small crabs, and sea-urchins, and many other treasures, till the kindling of a fire, and preparation of our gipsy breakfast, afforded them fresh occupation and delight.
What a pleasant feast they spread on the briny grass, and with what hospitality they ministered to our numerous self-invited guests, the hermit crabs! Less welcome were the inevitable mosquitoes, but to-day there was sufficient breeze to disperse them in a great measure; and after breakfast we wandered along the shore, and the strange lady from Beretania was introduced to the gentle inmates of many a bird-cage home!
Oh dear, how fascinating is this simple, kindly, island life! Each day leaves me more and more captivated by the loveliness of these isles of paradise, where our eyes always rest on some scene of beauty, wherever they turn. Each halting-place seems more charming than the last, and the only sorrow is having to leave it, to pass on to another, which in its turn becomes as attractive. Each week makes me wonder more how I shall ever be able to settle down to a humdrum existence in well-appointed English houses, with their regiments of fine servants, and wearisome conventionalities of social life! I vote that, instead of my having to do so, you should come out here and learn what true enjoyment means.
But, alas! my days in Moorea are for the present drawing to a close, for on our return this evening I found kind letters from Mrs Brander and from the governor, M. D'Oncieue, telling me of the arrival of H.M.S. Shah, and requesting that, as a good British subject, I would hasten back to share in the festivities to be held in her honour.
Sunday Evening.
A morning of peaceful delight on the silent shore, and a long afternoon stroll by myself, to drink in deep draughts of never-to-be-forgotten enjoyment, of one of the loveliest spots in all this fair creation. We had planned various pleasant expeditions for this week, but it seems best to defer them; so I am to leave my baggage here to take its chance of following me, and I am to ride to the other side of the island, whence it is probable that a boat may go across to Papeete within a day or two.
Haapiti, Isle Moorea, Monday Night.
Bidding a provisional farewell to my charming hostess and my little guides, I started in the fresh early morning, accompanied by M. Brun. The whole ride was exquisite, though in places the beautiful forest has suffered from ruthless carelessness, and many splendid old iron-wood trees stand scathed and half-burnt by accidental fires. On our arrival here, the big man of the village welcomed us to his house, and gave us breakfast.
You may remember that it was at this place that Mrs Brander, in her character of high-chiefess of the isle, gave such a picturesque welcome to the young king and queen. To-day the district was in its normal condition of quiet—no crowds, no himènes, no feasting, save and except the fatted fowl which perished on our arrival. Only the natural beauty remained, unchanged and unsurpassable. I cannot believe that even the Marquesas can be more beautiful, nor yet the nearer isle of Bora-Bora, of which the Tahitians speak as of a marvel of loveliness, with its towering rock pinnacles and lofty crags, so veiled with trailing vines as to resemble green waterfalls.
After breakfast we got a canoe and rowed back for a considerable distance along the shore to a fine old marae—an immense platform of huge blocks of hewn coral, on a pyramidal base, which in olden days was a heathen altar, and also a tomb. Close by it are two smaller marais and a large sacrificial stone, enclosed by a wall of small coral-blocks. The whole place is overgrown by grand old iron-wood trees (casuarina). After we had left it, we were told of a stone image, four or five feet high, which has somehow escaped the general destruction of its fellows; and I was very sorry to have missed seeing so interesting a survivor of a past so recent and yet so thoroughly extinguished.
This is the only marae I have seen, the majority having been destroyed, together with the temples and the altars, when the people, in the zeal of first love, endeavoured to sweep away every trace of the old idolatry.
Mr Ellis has recorded that one huge marae having been destroyed, the natives used the stones composing it to build an immense platform, on which was spread a great feast for all the children of the school (both boys and girls, in number about 240) and their parents. The point of interest lay in the fact that in heathen times it would have been death for a girl or a woman to set foot in the marae, or to taste the food which was there offered. Indeed all the better sorts of food, such as pig and fowl, were reserved exclusively for the men and the gods; and the fire with which men's food was cooked was also sacred; no woman dared to use it—her simpler fare must be cooked apart, and eaten in a separate hut. So a united festival, such as that held on the ruins of the marae, was in every sense a Christian love-feast, and strangely in contrast with the hideous scenes previously enacted on the spot, when the coral-walls were dyed with the blood of human victims offered to the cruel war-gods, and where, in every crevice of the noble old trees, were seen bleaching human bones, skeletons hanging from the boughs, and beneath them, ghastly heaps of skulls, generally those of warriors slain in battle.
ANCIENT MARAI AND BALSATIC NEEDLE.
ISLE MOOREA.
To avoid this danger, the dead were laid in small houses apart, and carefully watched, till the flesh fell from their bones, when these were collected by a trusty hand, and carried to some safe hiding-place in the mountains. In the case of any person of great note, this custom is still observed, as I learnt on visiting the little sea-side chapel where old Queen Pomare was buried shortly before my arrival; and I was told her bones had been secretly removed, only three or four of her nearest kindred being aware of their present hiding-place.
In olden days, however, a simple process of embalming was practised, by means of which the wealthier families could preserve their dead for about a year, not longer. The brain and intestines having been removed, they were replaced by cloth saturated with aromatic oils, which were also daily rubbed all over the corpse. Every day it was placed in a sitting posture in the sun, that it might gradually become dried up; and an altar was erected before it, on which were daily offered fresh flowers, and fruit, and other food. With this the relations or priests touched the lips of the dead several times a-day, for, like the Chinese, they averred that the departed spirit came to feast on the spiritual essence[1] of the gross meats.
Indeed the whole ceremony savours of Chinese custom. There was the same passionate ceremonial waiting for the dead, the same sort of religious service to appease the unquiet spirit, and prevent it from returning to earth to annoy the survivors. In place of burning paper effigies of horses, and houses, and other things likely to be useful in the spirit-world, the Tahitian priest placed about the corpse pieces of the stalk of the mountain-plantain, and told the dead that these were its parents, its wife, its children, and that with these it must be satisfied, and refrain from vexing the living.
Here likewise, as in the Chinese cities of the dead, small low houses were built as temporary homes for the unburied corpses, which were laid on biers, and by day were drawn out into the sun; but by night the body lay horizontally, and was frequently turned, lest it should dry irregularly. When, notwithstanding all care, the poor body began to decay, then the skull was wrapped in cloth, and carried home to be preserved with the family gods, and duly worshipped. The bones were either buried or carried off to the mountains in the mysterious way I have already described.
Although the Tahitian embalmers failed to preserve their dead for more than a year, the Samoans seem to have been more successful, though, apparently, only a limited number of the chiefs were thus honoured. Dr Turner, however, has seen bodies which had certainly been embalmed for upwards of thirty years, and were still in excellent preservation, when, on the death of the relations whose task it was to dress and tend the bodies, all were laid together beneath the sod. The office of embalmer was an exclusively feminine one, and the process observed in Samoa was exactly the same as that practised in Tahiti, The body was wrapped in native cloth, leaving the head, face, and hands exposed; these were occasionally anointed with scented oil and turmeric, to give a life-like tinge to the complexion, and so were exhibited to all comers.
I spoke of the wailing at funerals as ceremonial, because it was not only customary to weep frantically, rending the hair, tearing the garments, and uttering agonising cries, but it was also de rigueur to display sympathy by inflicting on one's self very serious wounds with instruments made for the purpose. Several rows of shark's teeth were fixed in small canes, and with these the mourners smote their breasts, their heads, even their faces. One of these useful implements formed part of a girl's bridal trousseau, that she might be ready to take her part in whatever scene of sorrow or of joy might present itself. For, strange to say, the same ceremonies were observed, though in a less excessive degree, to mark great happiness; and the safe return of a member of the family, or his escape from danger, was, and still is, marked by the shedding of what might be mistaken for bitter tears. Happily, however, the horrible custom of cutting and bruising one's own flesh is a thing of the past; and friends no longer express sympathy with the bereaved by giving them strips of tappa saturated in the blood thus voluntarily shed, to be preserved as precious memorials of affection!
The one pleasant feature connected with the marais, as with so many forms of heathen worship, was the beautiful grove of old trees which surrounded them. Different tribes adopted special trees as clan badges, and planted these round their family shrines. Thus some were overshadowed by huge banyan-trees, others by the noble tamanu, or native mahogany; and others, again, were distinguished from afar by the gorgeous blossoms of the coral-tree[2], which dripped its blood-red petals on the altars below it. This beautiful tree is almost imperishable; but unluckily it shared in the fate of too many of those sacred temple trees, which were ruthlessly cut down by the early converts, in their iconoclastic zeal. Now the mournful casuarina (the noko-noko of Fiji), with its dark hair-like drooping needles, is almost the only distinctive foliage which marks the resting-place of the dead.
We lingered at this weird and horribly suggestive spot till the evening, and as we rode back to Haapiti, the crags and pinnacles towered in purple majesty against a background of luminous gold, and one divided ray from the setting sun threaded the eye of the great rock-needle. Later, when the moon had risen, we went to the village to see the native minister, who is going to Papeete tomorrow, and has agreed to give me a passage in his boat. We are to start early, so I must now have a sleep. Besides, the mosquitoes are troublesome, and the only refuge from them is beneath my nets. So good-night.
La Maison Rouce, Papeete,
December 18th.
Once more I find myself "at home" beneath this hospitable roof. We started at daybreak and rowed leisurely along the lovely coast to Afareaitu (the place where I told you that Mr Ellis, the early missionary, established his first printing-press). At a short distance further we came to Nuupuru, where we landed to explore another great marae, likewise overgrown with casuarina and palm-trees. It stands on the coral-shore, which there, as in most parts of the isles, is shaded by dark trees with wide-spreading branches. Just behind this huge coral-altar, rises a gigantic rock-needle—a cyclopean natural monolith, such as might have accounted for the position of the altar, in lands where nature—worship prevailed, which, however, does not appear to have been the case in these isles.
Here we left the friendly shelter of the reef and passed into the outer ocean. Happily a fair breeze favoured us, and we entered Papeete harbour soon after noon. Great was the amazement of my native friends as they realised the huge proportions of H.M.S. Shah, probably the largest ship ever seen in these waters. I believe she weighs about 7000 tons. Certainly she makes all the other vessels in harbour look like pigmies. The little Daring is only 700 tons; Le Limier, 1000; and my trusty old ship Le Seignelay, 2000. The Shah carries nearly 700 men and 50 officers, so England is well represented. My boatman rowed right under her bows, the better to estimate her vast size.
On landing, I found that Mrs Brander and all the family had moved back to town on account of the arrival of so important a vessel, which, of course, involves much work for the house of Brander. I had just time to feed, change my dress, and accompany my hostess to the palace to "assist" at the king's state reception of Admiral De Horsey and his suite, which, of course, was as stiff as stiff could be. We had a pleasant evening, however, at the band. Lovely full moonlight. Papeete is surpassing itself in its graceful hospitalities. On Wednesday, M. D'Oncieue had a very large reception au Gouvernement, and the French admiral's band played "God save the Queen" as the British admiral entered. To you, doubtless, that conveys little, but to a stranger in a far land it means much. To me, who had not heard the grand old air since I left Australia, more than two years ago, it was most thrilling music, for you have no idea how patriotic we become when we reach the antipodes!
The French and English bands played alternately the whole night, and as all the ships were (for once) well represented, and all the dancing world of Papeete present, in their happiest mood and prettiest toilets, it was a most successful ball, and well kept up. The lovely moonlight drew all the non-dancers to the gardens, much to the edification of the crowds assembled outside the railing. I found several pleasant acquaintances among the newcomers, and many more proved to be "friends' friends"—a title which in these far countries means more than you dwellers in over-crowded Britain can possibly be expected to understand, though you may perhaps realise the unwonted pleasure of meeting so many real English gentlemen.
The evening was far too beautiful for carriages, so the revellers dispersed on foot, to walk home by bowery streets or peaceful shore.
Yesterday Mrs Brander gave us a startling proof of her skill in organising, and of the resources at her command. At the governor's ball it suddenly occurred to her to invite all present to a great native feast on the following day, at her country home. At daybreak she started to commence preparations, on a scale which, in most hands, would have involved a week's hard labour. Messengers were despatched in every direction to collect fowls, turkeys, sucking-pigs, vegetables, fruit, &c., &c. A party was told off to build a green bower in which to spread the feast. Glass, crockery, silver, and wines had to be brought from the Red House and the store; for the ordinary service required for even so large a party as habitually assemble at Fautawa would not go far among such a multitude as were invited to this impromptu gathering.
Still the question was undecided how the guests were to amuse themselves, as feeding could not last all the evening. Happily Captain Bedford came ashore to see my portfolio, and I ventured to ask if the band might come to Fautawa—a favour which was cordially granted, and I was able to drive off to Fautawa as the bearer of this excellent news. In less than no time, the large drawing-room was cleared for dancing, the wide verandahs gaily decorated with Chinese lanterns, and an admirable ball-room was prepared. It was all like a transformation scene, and accomplished so quietly. It would not be so remarkable in a large European house, with a full complement of carefully drilled servants; but here there really are no servants, properly so called, only friendly "helps." Certainly every one worked with a will on this occasion, and all was ready ere the arrival of the first carriage, full of middies.
The carriages, like everything else, bore testimony to Mrs Brander's thoughtful and generous care. She provided conveyance for every one, from the English admiral and French governor down to the smallest middy. Of course her own stable could not supply the demand, so every available trap was hired, and plied to and fro over the three miles, till all the guests were duly assembled. You will allow that this was a truly Tahitian phase of hospitality.
So also was the kind forethought which provided towels and a new pareo for every guest who cared to bathe in the lovely river—an invitation which few, if any, refused; so that a succession of joyous parties soon found their way to all the best pools, and therein revelled.
By the time the stragglers reassembled, a multitude of gay wreaths had been prepared by the Tahitian maidens, and all the guests were duly crowned. Some of the English officers were slightly taken aback by this unwonted decoration, but all submitted meekly; and we then marched in procession to the house of feasting, which was erected on the softest green turf, not far from the brook. It was a long building, consisting of a slight framework of bamboos, just sufficiently strong to support a thatch of plaited cocoa-palm leaves; while for pillars, strong young bananas were transplanted bodily, their broad cool leaves making a lovely canopy of freshest green. The golden leaves of the dracæna were strung together to form deep fringes and festoons along the rafters; while a still deeper fringe, carefully prepared from the fibre of hybiscus bark, and dyed pale yellow, was festooned all round the whole building. There must have been many hundred yards of this. Just think of the labour of preparing it! That, of course, had been done at leisure.
In lieu of a table-cloth, fresh green banana-leaves were spread upon the grass down the centre of the building, and on these were laid all manner of good things, in dishes made of plaited leaves. Dainty little sucking-pigs, turkeys, and various preparations of chicken, were, as usual, the foundation of the feast. These had been brought in hot haste from Mrs Brander's farm; while fish and all manner of crustacea seemed to have arrived by magic from the depths of the sea, the mountain streams, the mangrove-shore, and the coral-reef—each had sent its contribution. The delicious white wurrali, and their red relations, the cray-fish and lobsters, were there—shrimps and prawns, living and cooked, to suit all tastes. Raw fish and cooked fish, each with appropriate sauce; shell-fish of various sorts, including the delicate little oysters from the isthmus. Fruits of all sorts, mangoes and melons, strawberries, oranges, and bananas; yams, taro, and kumala'—i.e., sweet potatoes—and sundry other vegetables.
The obnoxious national drink of the South Seas, made from the chewed root of kava, alias yangona, seems to have quite disappeared in Tahiti, and sweet young cocoa-nuts supplied the only native drink; but these were supplemented by many a brimming bumper of the best foreign wines, and champagne flowed like water. Thanks to the graceful unaffected courtesy with which Narii and Ariipaea Salmon, and several of the ladies of the family, themselves waited on all their guests, all went off admirably; every one was well cared for, and mirth and laughter reigned on all sides. Some of the naval guests, however, were not so well accustomed, as are all the rest of us, to sitting curled up on the fine mats, which were spread for the guests all round the leafy table; and so obviously uncomfortable were some of the senior officers, that the kind-hearted ladies took pity on their foreign friends, and brought piles of cushions and pillows, to raise them; but as they could not raise the tables also, I fear that some of the gentlemen must have voted dining à l'indigène rather a serious effort.
I should have mentioned that in "setting the table," a pile of large bread-fruit leaves are laid before each person to act as plates, and to be changed as often as may be desired. Also, in lieu of tumblers, wine-glasses, and cruet-stands, each guest is provided with a half cocoa-nut shell, full of drinking water, and one of milk, a third with chopped cocoa-nut, and a fourth with salt water. The two latter are mixed together to make a sauce in which to dip the good things that are coming. This done, the fourth shell is filled with fresh water to act as a finger-glass. Half a bread-fruit, nicely cooked, is laid beside each place in lieu of bread. I fear, if I must confess the truth, that certain dainties in the way of creams and jellies, and tipsy-cakes, such as were not common in Tahiti in the days of Captain Cook, did find their way to our leafy bower, and were by no means despised.
Afterwards the band took up a good position outside the house, and a right merry dance ensued. As the gentlemen considerably outnumbered the ladies, great satisfaction was expressed when two very lady-like white girls suddenly arrived, robed in loose white sacques, and of course crowned with flowers. These turned out to be two of the middies, who kept up their part admirably throughout the evening.
The Shah musters a first-rate theatrical corps, and they say they would gladly act for the amusement of their Tahitian friends, but unfortunately their stay is too short to admit of any such ploy. We are all going to lunch on board to-day.
Friday Evening.
We have had a very pleasant afternoon on the great ship. Soon after twelve we joined the royal party, for whom the admiral's barge was waiting, the blue jackets receiving the king with uplifted oars. (I believe "tossed" is the correct expression.) He was treated throughout with full royal honours—twenty-one guns on arrival and departure, yards manned, marines and crew on parade, and all the officers in the agonies of full uniform, with which, however, they soon contrived to dispense. I think that as soon as Captain Bedford had got over his surprise at being asked by the queen where she might smoke, he realised that gold lace was superfluous! Tahitian ladies can never be happy for long without their cigarettes, and the queen has recently received a present of an enormous supply, which are fast disappearing in faint films of smoke!
Our first introduction was to a large, very tame, black bear, which the sailors captured as a baby on Vancouver's Isle, and which now plays with them like a very gentle big dog. It is a much nicer beast than the Russian bears brought by the Limier.
We were formally conducted all over the huge ship, and duly wondered at the length of the lower deck, with the row of great guns on either side; in short, we felt exceedingly proud of our British representative, and the French officers and their Peruvian friends kindly abstained from invidious comments on the recent "Huascar" affair, which had been freely discussed here before the arrival of the giant Shah. Now all allusion to that pugnacious little vessel was studiously avoided, and everything connected with the big ship called forth a chorus of undivided admiration.
King Ariiaue was requested to touch an electric battery, and quick as lightning a whole broadside went off. In like manner Queen Marau fired a torpedo, which threw up the water in a gigantic fountain. We went through the ward-room, the large airy gun-room, and the officers' daintily fitted-up cabins, exquisite in their neatness. The admiral has a most charming bedroom, drawing-room, and dining-room. In the latter we sat down to luncheon, about twenty-four persons, including the commanders of the other vessels.
When we returned on deck we found it transformed into a brilliant ball-room, all draped with flags, and full of people from Papeete. As we looked down from the upper decks and bridge, a prettier scene could not be imagined. The dancing folk did dance to their hearts' content; and those who, like myself, hold the Eastern creed, that all such hard work should be done by proxy, held possession of the higher levels, and sometimes varied the picture by turning to the beautiful panorama on every side of the harbour. To rest the band, there were two interludes, when the sailors danced hornpipes, and sang capital songs with choruses, which some of us enjoyed so much that we would fain have prolonged the concert. Unfortunately the king was tired of the proceedings, and wanted to hurry through the dances for which the queen had already engaged herself; so the singing was soon stopped, and the ball resumed till the sun had almost set behind Moorea, bathing its mountains in dreamy gold. A few minutes later the island stood out in clear-cut lilac, floating between a sea and sky of pale daffodil. Then we all returned ashore, and in the evening went to hear some himènes, specially got up for the edification of the strangers, who, however, by some unlucky misunderstanding, failed to appear. But as compared with those I had previously heard, these were very poor himènes, and I was almost glad that they were not taken as samples of what those charming glees can be.
To-morrow morning the little Daring sails for Honolulu and the great Shah for Valparaiso. Every one regrets so speedy a departure, but the admiral says he dares not risk remaining with 700 Englishmen in this port, over Christmas Day, as it would be impossible to keep the men on board, with the tempting shore so close, and that if they once landed, some would inevitably get drunk, and have a row with the French authorities. Our good consul is evidently much relieved by this wise, though unpopular decision.
It certainly is grievous that the jolly tars, of whom Britain is so justly proud, contrive to do such scant credit to their nation or themselves when they land in any foreign port. Here, for instance, day after day, among the crowds who land on the shore just under my verandah, I never hear a voice which seems to be raised in anger,—all seem bright and happy. I wish I could say the sounds are equally pleasant when a party of British sailors go past! Then the echoes that linger on the ear are sanguinary and repulsive; a painful contrast to the musical speech of the natives.
The Shah is fortunate in possessing, in the Rev. —— Reed, a chaplain who is exceedingly popular with all on board, and who takes an immense interest in all that concerns his flock. Besides the regular band, he has trained one specially to accompany sacred music; and the church choir is said to be excellent. It would have been really pleasant to have heard our own Church service on Christmas Day. By some fatality I have not had that privilege since leaving England; last Christmas Day having been spent in the hateful work of transhipping on our way from Fiji to New Zealand; and the previous one was spent in the mountains of great Fiji. It has been the same as regards Easter. We had to sail from Marseilles on Easter morning 1875. Easter of 1876 was spent in a little Fijian village in the isle of Koro, and Easter 1877 among the geysers of northern New Zealand. Where they may next find me, who can tell?
I must close my letter that it may be sent on board the Daring at daybreak. The pretty Tahitian girls are working all to-night to finish arrowroot or bamboo fibre hats as parting gifts to the friends whom they will probably never meet again. "Telle est la vie!"—Good-night.
Your Loving Sister.
- ↑ The gods also were supposed to feed on the essence of the food offered to them. Every evening the priest in the principal temple of Mangaia cooked an ovenful of taro for their use, and threw one root at a time into the scrub, dedicating each to one of the gods. When the thirteen principal deities had thus been recognised the priest threw one more, as an offering to all the lesser gods, of whose names and attributes he was ignorant. This ceremony exactly answers to one which I have seen practised at the Buddhist monasteries in China, where, ere the monks taste their own food, a small portion is set aside on a pillar, as an offering to any saintly or divine beings whom they have neglected in their temple-worship.
- ↑ Erythrina corallodendrum.