Read Ebook: A New Voyage Round the World in the Years 1823 24 25 and 26. Vol. 1 by Kotzebue Otto Von

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ttle attention was paid to the Royal Family, that it was with much difficulty our people could clear the way for their boat. Nor did the presence of these high personages attract much more notice when they had climbed the deck; their subjects continued to drive their bargains without interruption, and scarcely vouchsafed the slightest salutation. Very different would have been their conduct on the arrival of a Missionary. The Queen was probably hurt by this neglect, for she went directly into my cabin, followed by her family, and remained there till she quitted the ship. The construction of the vessel was not likely to excite her curiosity, as she was herself the owner of a well-built English merchant ship.

The goods in the cabin, however, delighted the ladies, who admired and wanted every thing; nor was it easy to convince them, that each article they coveted was indispensable to our convenience.

While the Royal Family remained below in the cabin, their attendants were engaged on deck in purchasing from our sailors all sorts of old clothes for a hundred times their value, in Spanish piastres. The Tahaitians have yet no notion of the value of money, which they get from the ships that touch at the island, and by their trade in cocoa-oil with New Holland.

The Missionaries have done their utmost to draw money into the country, and for this purpose have fixed prices on every article of provision, under which no one dares to sell them to foreign ships. These prices are, however, so high that nothing but necessity would induce any one to pay them, so that the ships in general rather provide themselves with old clothes, utensils of various kinds, and toys, which enable them to make most advantageous barters, and frequently even to bring away money. The plan of the Missionaries, therefore, like many other financial regulations, has been found in operation to produce a result directly contrary to the effect intended.

During the visit to my vessel, the young Princess had found an opportunity to bargain with a sailor for a sheet; having secured this treasure, she ran with it upon deck in the most extravagant joy, viewed it over and over with delight, and there formed it into a really very becoming drapery. She appeared quite conscious of her increased attractions in this attire, leaped about in the most sprightly manner, and called on all the persons of the Court to admire her. In short, a young European lady on first decorating herself with the most costly Persian shawl, would not have been half so happy as this young Princess dressed in the sailor's sheet.

At four o'clock, the dinner was served to our guests and their suite, entirely in the Russian mode; except the etiquette of placing the Royal Family a little apart from the rest of the company. The infant King had long before begun to cry from weariness, and had been carried back into the boat, where he had quietly fallen asleep. A prayer was repeated before and after dinner. The visitors seemed to think our dishes very palatable, and even the Royal Family ate with good appetite, though they had so recently made a substantial meal. Their conduct was extremely decorous, and showed much aptitude in imitation. They made use of the knives, forks, and spoons as readily as if they had been always accustomed to them; and the wine, though by no means despised, was very moderately enjoyed.

After dinner a general conversation took place, in which a man of seventy years of age distinguished himself by his animation and intelligence. He was the only individual present who had personally known Captain Cook. He asserted that he had been his particular friend, and for this reason still bore his name, which he pronounced quite correctly, although there is neither a C nor K in the Tahaitian alphabet. He boasted not a little of having accompanied Cook in his coasting voyages about the islands, and of having often slept in the same tent with him. He knew the names of all Cook's company, and could recollect the particular pursuits of each officer. To describe the manner in which Cook had observed the height of the sun, he asked for a sextant, placed himself in a stooping position, and looking fixedly upon an angle, often called with a loud voice, Stop!

He could relate the Bible-history in short extracts, from the Creation to the birth of Christ; and in order to explain the doctrine of the Trinity, he held up three fingers, pressed them together, and looked towards the Heavens. The old Cook was not entirely ignorant of geography. He said he possessed a map presented to him by his friend;--that England was an island, and much smaller than Russia; and traced out, on a map of the World being opened before him, the way by which we had come to Tahaiti.

At sunset our Royal visitants departed, highly gratified with their entertainment, and returned to the capital. This visit being over, I hoped to be at liberty to pursue my occupations in peace, but in this I was disappointed. Though my habitation was surrounded by sentinels, I was continually disturbed by swarms of curious islanders, who, troublesome as they were, were yet so gentle and good-tempered that it was impossible to be angry with them. They were particularly pleased with Dr. Eschscholz's little museum, and took pains to collect from every corner of the island, butterflies, beetles, birds, and marine productions, by way of showing their sense of the kindness with which he exhibited his treasures, often receiving from him in return some trifling present, which they considered of great value. One of them was fairly overpowered with gratitude by the gift of an old coat. With much admiration of such profuse generosity, and many expressions of rapture, he at length succeeded in cramming his large body into the garment of the infinitely smaller and more slender philosopher, and strutted about with his back hunched up, and his arms sticking out, envied by all his acquaintances for the magnificence of his attire.

Though the vice of theft has certainly greatly diminished among the Tahaitians, they cannot always refrain from endeavouring to appropriate the articles they prize so highly. For instance, I think if any one of the Tahaitian ladies had found an opportunity of stealing a bit of the mock gold lace, the temptation would have been too great to withstand. Every theft however is, on discovery, punished without distinction of persons, and the criminal, on conviction, is generally sentenced to work on the highway. A road has been made round the island, on which those who have committed great transgressions, are condemned to labour; but it is probable that neglect of prayer, or any trifling offence against the Missionaries, would also entail this punishment upon them.

Having occasion one morning to visit Wilson on business, I found his door, which usually stood open, closed and fastened: I knocked several times; but the whole house seemed buried in the repose of death: at length, after loud and repeated strokes, the door was opened by Wilson, whose cheeks bedewed with tears made me apprehensive that some great calamity had befallen him; I was however soon satisfied that devotion alone had caused this emotion. In an ante-room I found four or five naked Tahaitians, of the highest rank, as Wilson told me, on their knees reading the Bible. Having apologized for what appeared to be an unseasonable intrusion, I was about to retire, but was invited by Wilson, in a friendly manner, into the inner apartment, where I found his whole family, with Messrs. Bennet and Tyrman, kneeling round a breakfast-table, on which coffee and various kinds of meat were arranged. Tyrman was praying aloud, the rest silently joining him. He thanked God for the progress the Missionaries had made in spreading Christianity. How willingly would I have concurred in his thanksgiving, had the religion they taught been true, genuine Christianity, propitious to human virtue and human happiness.

The prayer lasted yet a quarter of an hour; on its conclusion, the company rose and breakfasted with a good appetite; but offered nothing to the distinguished personages in the other apartment, who were suffered to leave the house unnoticed.

I found the bread-fruit, as baked in the ovens by the Europeans here, excellent. The natives retain their old custom of baking in the earth.

During breakfast, Wilson related the difficulties he had encountered in the conversion of the Tahaitians. They would not allow that his faith was superior to their own; and when he appealed to the miracles which confirmed the truth of the Christian doctrine, they required that he also should restore sight to the blind and raise the dead to life; the confession of his inability was met with derision, and for many years he gained no disciples. How different, in all probability, would the effect have proved, had he, instead of the miraculous history of his religion, directed the attention of the susceptible Tahaitians to its pure morality, leading so naturally to the idea of a common Father, and a fellowship of charity. O, ye Missionaries, how much blood might ye not have spared!

I received another visit from the Royal Family, accompanied this time by many of the Vice-Kings then in Tahaiti, with their consorts. Among them was the grandfather of the little monarch Pomareh the Second. After some preliminaries, my illustrious guests unanimously preferred a request in the most modest, yet pressing manner. They wished me to get a pair of boots made for the little King. His coronation, they said, would soon take place, and they did not think it decorous, on so solemn an occasion, for the Sovereign of all the Society Islands to sit barefooted on his throne.

I immediately ordered my shoemaker to provide for the Royal necessity; the measure was taken, and my complaisance rewarded by the gratitude of the whole company. At this visit, also, the guests ate and slept. I took advantage of this opportunity to observe the method of preparing the pig, always the chief dish in their feasts. A sufficiently large round hole was dug in the earth, and filled with stones. A fire was then lighted in it, and kept burning till the stones were red-hot, when the ashes and cinders were taken out, and the stones covered with large banana-leaves, upon which the pig was laid, after being thoroughly cleaned, and stuffed with the glowing stones; more leaves were spread upon it, and covered with hot stones, and finally, the hole was filled up with earth. After a certain time it was taken out, and proved a more tender and delicate roast, than the best European cook could have produced. They dress their vegetables in the same manner, and the flavour is excellent; the bread-fruit, only, I preferred as baked in Wilson's European oven.

Matarai Bay is rich in finely flavoured fish, of various, sometimes extraordinary form, and beautiful colours. The Tahaitians eat them raw, or only steeped in sea-water. Their fishing-tackle consists of nothing more than bad angling lines and hooks; to make nets as their forefathers did, would trespass too much upon the time they are obliged to spend in prayer. Hence fish is so great a rarity to them, that their eager desire for it sometimes prompts them to belie their good character, of which we had an example. One of our large nets having brought up a multitude of fine fish, the temptation was too strong to be resisted, and our friends would have forcibly shared our acquisition with us, had not our severe reproof, and the accidental appearance of the judge of the district, restrained them. They then tried to obtain the fish by barter, and offered their most valuable tools for the smallest and worst of them; I gave them, however, so many, that for once their appetite was fully satisfied with a luxurious repast.

I had heard much of an institution established by the Missionaries for the instruction of the people, and was desirous to learn what progress the Tahaitians had made in the rudiments of science. Being informed that the lessons commenced at sunrise, the first rays of that luminary found me one morning at the school-house, as I conceived the simple structure before me to be. Its walls were formed of bamboo canes, erected singly, at sufficient distances to admit the refreshing breeze from all sides, and supporting a good roof. The interior was one spacious quadrangular apartment, provided with benches, and raised seats for the teachers.

I had not waited long before the pupils of both sexes entered. They were not lively children, nor youths, whom ardour for the acquisition of knowledge led to the seat of instruction, but adults and aged persons, who crept slowly in with downcast looks, and prayer-books under their arms. When they were all assembled and seated on the benches, a Psalm was sung; a Tahaitian then rose, placed himself on an elevated bench, and read a chapter from the Bible. After this they sang again, and then knelt with their backs to the reader, who, also kneeling, repeated with closed eyes a long prayer. At its conclusion, the orator resigned his place to another Tahaitian, when the whole ceremony commenced anew; another Psalm, another chapter, and another prayer were sung and said; again and again, as I understood, a fresh performer repeated the wearisome exercise; but my patience was exhausted, and, at the second course, with depressed spirits and painful impressions, I left the assembly.

Several such meetings are established in different parts of the island, but no schools of a different character. The children are taught a little reading and writing in their parents' houses, and beyond this, knowledge is mischievous. It is true, that most of the Missionaries are incapable of communicating further instruction; but the opinion that it is easier to govern an ignorant than a well-educated community, seems here, as elsewhere, to form a fundamental principle of policy.

To pray and to obey are the only commands laid upon an oppressed people, who submissively bow to the yoke, and even suffer themselves to be driven to prayers by the cudgel!

A police-officer is especially appointed to enforce the prescribed attendance upon the church and prayer-meetings. I saw him in the exercise of his functions, armed with a bamboo-cane, driving his herd to the spiritual pasture. He seemed himself to be conscious of the burlesque attaching to his office,--at least he behaved very absurdly in it, and many a stroke fell rather in jest than in earnest. The drollery of the driver did not, however, enliven the dejected countenances of his flock.

In the prayer-house, which at first, in my simplicity, I had taken for a school, no Missionary was present. The assembly consisting, except myself, of natives only, though tolerably quiet, was not so profoundly silent as at church. I endeavoured to read in the countenances of those around me, what might be the thoughts which at the moment occupied their minds, and few were the eyes which did not, as they passed muster, speak of other matter than devotion and the Bible. Most of them appeared engaged in very profane speculations: friendly glances occasionally interchanged, betrayed the hopes of the younger devotees; while many a stately Yeri was probably considering by what means he should procure from my ship's-company an old waistcoat, or a pair of torn pantaloons in which he might appear with suitable dignity at the approaching coronation; and among the ladies, some might be weighing the pleasure of possessing a sailor's sheet, against the risks they must run to obtain it.

Exactly facing me was seated a fair one most becomingly enveloped in this envied habiliment, and enjoying with modest complacency, but visible triumph, the admiration with which the eyes of her country-women were fixed upon her garment.

I had heard from the Missionaries many wonderful accounts of the Lake Wahiria, situated among the mountains which rise in the centre of the northern peninsula. They had themselves never seen it, and considered it almost impossible for an European to reach it; even the boldest Tahaitians rarely visit it; and a saying is current in the island, that it is inhabited by an evil demon. Its depth they report to be unfathomable, and cannot conceive from what cause this huge body of water can be stationary at so great a height.

Mr. Hoffman, our mineralogist, an active young man, resolved to undertake this expedition, accompanied by three Tahaitians:--Maititi, who on our arrival had concluded a treaty of friendship with him, and adopted the name of Hoffman; Tauru, a respectable elderly man; and Teiraro, a brisk and lively young fellow. The two latter could write their own names. At first they raised many objections, assuring him that the journey, at all times difficult, was now dangerous from the waters being swollen by the rains; however, a shirt promised to each of them overcame all these obstacles, and the travellers set out at mid-day in excellent spirits. Maititi, a soldier in the royal Tahaitian army, bore the insignia of his rank in a musket, to which nothing but the lock was wanting, and a cartouche-box without powder. He had learnt a few English words, and, by their help, advised Mr. Hoffman to carry with him some presents for his countrymen: for he observed, that though hospitality and the consequence attaching to the stranger's appearance would secure him a good reception, it was desirable that a man with whom he had united himself in the bonds of friendship, should also command respect by his liberality.

They travelled on a broad fine path through forests of fruit trees, and several villages, and considered the population of this district to exceed that in the neighbourhood of Matarai. In the country of Weijoride they began to climb the mountains, and soon entered a charming valley stretching to the south-southwest, and enclosed by high steep rocks, basaltic, like those of Matarai. Down their precipitous sides clothed with the richest green rushed innumerable streamlets to swell the largest and most rapid rivulet on the island, which watered the whole extent of this luxuriant valley. Here the cocoa, palm, and the bread-fruit tree disappear, but bananas and oranges flourishing wild, produce finer and more juicy fruit than our best hot-houses.

A few scattered huts raised on the margin of the little river, gave tokens of human habitation. In one of these, occupied by an old married pair, our travellers passed the first night. Maititi seemed to consider himself quite on a foraging party, and Mr. Hoffman was under the necessity of begging him to moderate his zeal, and leave the care of the entertainment to their host. The old man fetched a pig, and Maititi, with great dexterity, played the part both of butcher and cook. Mr. Hoffman describes the operation of lighting the fire on this occasion, in the following manner:--A Tahaitian took two pieces of wood of different degrees of hardness, laid the softer upon the ground, and very rapidly rubbed its length backwards and forwards with the harder. This made a furrow, in which the dust rubbed from the wood collected, and soon became hot; it was then shaken among dry leaves and burst into a flame. The whole process seemed easy and quick; but Mr. Hoffman could not succeed in it though he made many attempts. Before supper, the master of the house recited a prayer aloud, the family repeating it after him, but not audibly. They then ate a hearty but silent meal, and prayed again before lying down to sleep. The couch offered to Mr. Hoffman was a raised platform in the hut, thickly spread with mats, with a pair of sheets of the Tahaitian manufacture, called Tapa, for its covering.

The volubility of his guides, restrained during the repast by the more important business of satisfying their appetites, now broke out to his great disturbance. They chattered almost incessantly during great part of the night with the host, whom they were probably entertaining with an account of our ship, which he had not yet visited, and of their intercourse with us. Mr. Hoffman, on taking leave in the morning, gave his host a knife, an important present, which the old man received very gratefully, as far exceeding his expectations.

The valley as they proceeded became wilder, but more beautiful: it opened to greater width, the precipices around rose to a thousand feet in height, covered from their black summits down to the valley with green shrubs of a thousand hues, through which cascades glittering like silver in the sun, rushed gurgling and foaming to the river.

At noon the travellers reached a hut inhabited by a friend of Maititi, named Tibu; the owner also of another hut some miles further up, where his wife lived with the pigs and dogs! This being the last station on the road to the Wahiria Lake, it was determined to spend the night here. Before they set forward in the morning, a large pig was tied up, to be prepared for killing on the expected return of Mr. Hoffman and his associates, whom the hospitable Tibu accompanied on the remainder of their journey.

Here every vestige of a path disappeared. At a height of seven hundred and eleven feet above the level of the sea, the travellers found enormous blocks of granite lying in a south-easterly direction. The way to Wahiria lay towards the south-south-west. They continued ascending till they reached a marsh in a rocky basin, where wild boars were running about.

Another steep precipice was to be climbed before they could reach the Valley of the Wahiria. This stretches from north to south, and forms an oval, in the centre of which lies the lake, according to barometrical measurement, one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea. The surrounding rocks rise perpendicularly more than two thousand feet. The lake is above a mile and a quarter in circumference, and receives the springs from the mountains. A little brook also flows into it from the north, but no channel could be found by which its waters might be carried off. The depth of the lake near the shore is eleven, and in the middle not more than seventeen toises. After Mr. Hoffman had satisfied his curiosity, he returned with his companion to Tibu's hut, and happily reached its shelter before a heavy storm that followed them had begun to discharge its fury. Exhausted by the fatigue of the march, and the oppressive heat, Mr. Hoffman threw himself on his couch to take a little repose, while his companions killed and roasted the pig. The storm now burst in tremendous violence over the hut. The thunder rolled fearfully along the valley, and reverberated from the rocks; the lightnings gave to the thick darkness a momentary illumination equal to the brightness of mid-day, and the rain pouring down in torrents, suddenly swelled the rivulet, near which the frail dwelling was erected, far above its natural channel. Whoever has witnessed a violent storm in the high mountains of a tropical country, will never lose the impression of its awfulness.

The following day being Sunday, Tauru, immediately on rising, repeated a long prayer, and then read a chapter of the New Testament, of which at least one copy was to be found in every hut. After a good breakfast, Mr. Hoffman wished to proceed, but his guides were not to be moved, and threats and entreaties were equally unavailing. They assured him that a continuation of the journey would be a profanation of the Sabbath, a crime for which they would be hanged, should it come to the knowledge of the Missionaries. This was a little too strongly expressed; and the tempting remains of the roasted pig had, no doubt, as much influence in supporting their resolution, as their religious scruples, or their fears of the Missionaries. The next morning they made no objection to setting out. Our travellers were joined on the road by many families, laden with mountain bananas, so that they arrived in a large company at Matarai.

Mr. Hoffman made several other journeys into the interior of the island, and visited Arue, the present residence of the Court. The mineralogical and geological observations made on these excursions, are reserved for a separate treatise; but some particulars concerning his intercourse with the inhabitants, may be properly introduced here.

The houses are merely built of perpendicular bamboo-canes, standing at some distance apart, to give free admission to the air. The roofs of palm-leaves are strong enough to defy the heaviest rain.

As curious after novelty as more civilized infants, the heads of the children were thrust out from every hut he passed, and the parents hospitably asked him in. When he accepted the invitation, he was always conducted to the seat of honour, a raised bench covered with matting and tapa stuff; and, after freely partaking of the best the house afforded, was considered to have paid handsomely for his entertainment with a knife. Bedsteads made of bamboo-canes, and filled with soft matting, are placed along the walls, and make very comfortable, easy couches. These pleasant little abodes, in which the greatest cleanliness is everywhere observable, are all surrounded by cultivated gardens. In the evening, they are lighted by the oily nuts of the taper-tree, fastened in rows on splinters.

Mr. Hoffman's visit to the house of his friend Maititi, excited the greatest joy. His host presented to him his wife and children, and entertained him in the most splendid manner his means would allow.

In the capital Mr. Hoffman found nothing remarkable. The palace inhabited by the Royal Family, was a spacious hut, with an ante-chamber or outer house, in which eight of the guard kept watch. Their only weapon was an old pistol fastened on a plank; this was frequently fired, probably to accustom the young King to the tumult of battle. The old King lies buried under a stone monument, in front of which three guns are kept; but, to prevent accidents, they are nailed up.

We have already mentioned the trade in cocoa-oil carried on by the Tahaitians, and the ship possessed by the Queen. This is commanded by an Englishman, and a part of the crew is also English. It was just returned from a voyage among the Society Islands, where it had been to collect tribute, and was preparing to carry a cargo of cocoa-oil, stowed in thick bamboo-canes, to Port Jackson. From the Captain, who visited me, I gained much information concerning the present state of affairs in these seas. He had learnt from ships returned from the Friendly Islands, that their King had recently conquered the Navigator Islands, which now paid tribute to him.

The map of Matarai, and of the bay which bounds it on the north-east, completed by us with the utmost care from trigonometrical surveys, is attached to this volume, and renders any further description of the coast it embraces unnecessary. In December and January, the Tahaitian summer months, the trade-wind is often interrupted by violent north-westers. Rain and storms are then frequent, and often last till April; in the other months the trade-winds blow without intermission, and the sky is always serene. For this reason, what is here called the summer, might pass for the actual winter; and as the roads of Matarai are open to the west wind, it is advisable for ships visiting Tahaiti at this season, to run into the harbour, which lies eight miles west of Venus Point. It is spacious, formed by coral reefs, protected against all winds, and has two entrances so convenient, that ships may sail either in or out with almost any wind.

The ebb and flow of the tide in the Matarai Bay differs entirely from the ordinary rules, and appears wholly uninfluenced by the moon, to which it is everywhere else subject. The rise and fall is very inconsiderable. Every noon the whole year round, at the moment the sun touches the meridian, the water is highest, and falls with the sinking sun till midnight. This phenomenon serves, as well as the sun's motion, to supply the place of clocks to the inhabitants.

According to Humboldt, the altitude of the highest mountain in Tahaiti is ten thousand feet; according to the barometrical measurement of Mr. Long, only eight thousand feet above the level of the sea.

Our first observation by chronometers, on our arrival at Matarai, gave the longitude of Venus Point as 149? 20' 30"; the true one, as given by Admiral Krusenstern on his map, is 149? 27' 20"; consequently, the error of our chronometers was 6' 50". This correction has been made in all the longitudes taken by us in the dangerous Archipelago. From our observatory on Venus Point, we found its latitude 17? 29' 17", and its longitude 149? 29'.

The variation of the needle was 6? 50' east, and its inclination 29? 30'.

The barometer ranged from 29' 80" to 29' 70"; Reaumur's thermometer from twenty-three and a half to twenty-four and a half.

The islands which I discovered on my former voyage in the ship Rurik,--the Romanzow, Spiridow, Dean's Islands, the Rurik's Chain, &c. whose longitude I had not then an opportunity to rectify upon Venus Point, lie 5' 36" more to the west than I at first supposed.

The longitude given by Captain Bellingshausen for the island which he discovered, appeared to us by 3' 10" too great.

On the morning of the 24th of March, we broke up our tent on the Venus Point, left our dwelling-house, and shipped all our instruments and effects. The afternoon was appointed for our departure. The Tahaitians now boarded the ship, bringing as many provisions as they could carry. They expressed great regret at losing us; and, to prove the disinterestedness of their good-will, would accept no presents in return. They unanimously assured us, that of all nations whose ships had visited their island, none pleased them so well as the Russians. They took leave of us with the most cordial embraces, and many of them shed tears. They accompanied us in their canoes to the mouth of the Bay, and were standing out to sea, when a sudden and violent gust of wind forced them to return. The same gust very nearly carried away one of our sails, and the proximity of the land placed us for a minute or two in a critical situation, but the coolness and skill of our officers and men relieved us from the momentary danger. In half an hour the regular trade-wind returned, and with the liveliest wishes for the future welfare of the good Tahaitians, we lost sight of their lovely island.

To the remarks concerning them already made, I will add some on their language, from the work on this subject which I have before mentioned. The author says, "The language spoken on most of the islands of the South Sea, and therefore called the Polynesian, may be considered either as primitive, or as related to, and descended from, a common source with the Malay." It is undoubtedly very old, for these people have been from an unknown period separated from all others, and before the arrival of Europeans among them, considered themselves as the whole human race.

The Polynesian language being so widely extended, and spoken by the inhabitants of so many islands, who have little or no intercourse with each other, it naturally branches into many dialects. These are indeed so various, that they cannot readily be recognised as derivatives from the same stock.

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