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diff --git a/33524-8.txt b/33524-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00e7ce4 --- /dev/null +++ b/33524-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21182 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Belief in Immortality and the Worship +of the Dead, by James George Frazer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead + Vol. II + +Author: James George Frazer + +Release Date: August 24, 2010 [EBook #33524] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was made using scans of public domain works from the +University of Michigan Digital Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY + VOL. II + + + MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED + LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA · MADRAS + MELBOURNE + + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO + DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO + + THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. + TORONTO + + + + THE + BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY + AND THE WORSHIP OF THE DEAD + + BY + SIR JAMES GEORGE FRAZER, F.R.S., F.B.A. + + FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE + + HON. D.C.L., OXFORD; HON. LITT.D., CAMBRIDGE AND DURHAM; + + HON. LL.D., GLASGOW; DOCTOR HONORIS CAUSA OF THE UNIVERSITIES OF + PARIS AND STRASBOURG + + + + VOL. II + THE BELIEF AMONG THE POLYNESIANS + + + MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED + ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON + 1922 + + + + COPYRIGHT + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN + + + + +PREFACE + + +The first volume of this work, which comprised the Gifford Lectures +given by me at St. Andrews in the years 1911 and 1912, dealt with the +belief in immortality and the worship of the dead, as these are found +among the aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New +Guinea, and Melanesia. In the present volume I take up the subject at +the point at which I broke off, and describe the corresponding belief +and worship among the Polynesians, a people related to their neighbours +the Melanesians by language, if not by blood. The first chapter formed +the theme of two lectures delivered at the Royal Institution in 1916; +the other chapters have been written for lectures at Trinity College, +Cambridge, in 1921 and 1922. But in the book the lecture form has been +discarded, and the treatment of the subject is somewhat fuller than +comports with the limits imposed by oral delivery. + +Should circumstances allow me to continue the work, I propose in the +next volume to treat of the belief in immortality and the worship of the +dead among the Micronesians and Indonesians. + + +J. G. FRAZER. + +NO. 1 BRICK COURT, TEMPLE, +LONDON, _19th July 1922_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGES + + PREFACE v + + TABLE OF CONTENTS vii-ix + + CHAP. + I. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE MAORIS 1-51 + + § 1. The Polynesians 1-5 + § 2. The Maoris of New Zealand 5-10 + § 3. The Beliefs of the Maoris concerning the Souls of + the Living 10-19 + § 4. The Beliefs of the Maoris concerning the Souls of + the Dead 19-37 + § 5. Taboo among the Maoris 37-50 + § 6. Conclusion 51 + + II. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE TONGANS 52-147 + + § 1. The Tonga or Friendly Islands 52-57 + § 2. The Tonga Islanders, their Character, Mode of + Life, and Government 57-63 + § 3. The Tongan Religion: its General Principles 64-68 + § 4. The Primary or Non-human Gods 68-73 + § 5. The Temples of the Gods 73-77 + § 6. Priests and their Inspiration 77-79 + § 7. The Worship of the Gods, Prayers, and Sacrifices 79-84 + § 8. The Doctrine of the Soul and its Destiny + after Death 84-91 + § 9. The Souls of the Dead as Gods 91-98 + § 10. Temples and Tombs: Megalithic Monuments 99-132 + § 11. Rites of Burial and Mourning 132-146 + § 12. The Ethical Influence of Tongan Religion 146-147 + + III. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE SAMOANS 148-218 + + § 1. The Samoan Islands 148-156 + § 2. The Samoan Islanders, their character 156-163 + § 3. Houses, Agriculture, and Industries 163-169 + § 4. Rights of Property 169-171 + § 5. Government, Social Ranks, Respect for Chiefs 171-181 + § 6. Religion: Gods of Families, Villages, + and Districts 181-192 + § 7. Priests and Temples 192-200 + § 8. Origin of the Samoan Gods of Families, Villages, + and Districts: Relation to Totemism 200-202 + § 9. The High Gods of Samoa 202-205 + § 10. The Samoan Belief concerning the Human + Soul: Funeral Customs 205-213 + § 11. The Fate of the Human Soul after Death 213-218 + + IV. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE HERVEY ISLANDERS 219-245 + + § 1. The Hervey or Cook Islands 219-220 + § 2. The Islanders and their Mode of Life 220-223 + § 3. Social Life: the Sacred Kings 223-225 + § 4. Religion, the Gods, Traces of Totemism 225-229 + § 5. The Doctrine of the Human Soul 229-231 + § 6. Death and Funeral Rites 231-237 + § 7. The Fate of the Human Soul after Death 238-245 + + V. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE SOCIETY ISLANDERS 246-327 + + § 1. The Society Islands 246-248 + § 2. The Islanders and their Mode of Life 248-256 + § 3. The Religion of the Society Islanders 256-278 + § 4. The Temples and Images of the Gods 278-291 + § 5. The Sacrifices, Priests, and Sacred Recorders 291-296 + § 6. The Doctrine of the Human Soul 297-299 + § 7. Disease, Death, and Mourning 299-308 + § 8. The Disposal of the Dead 308-313 + § 9. The Fate of the Soul after Death 313-321 + § 10. The Worship of the Dead 322-327 + + VI. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE MARQUESANS 328-374 + + § 1. The Marquesas Islands 328-331 + § 2. Physical Appearance of the Natives 331-333 + § 3. Food, Weapons, Tools, Houses, Canoes, Fishing 333-337 + § 4. Polyandry, Adoption, Exchange of Names 337-339 + § 5. Amusements, Dancing-places, Banqueting-halls 339-344 + § 6. Social Ranks, Taboo 344-347 + § 7. Religion and Mythology 348-352 + § 8. The Soul, Death, and Funeral Customs 352-363 + § 9. Fate of the Soul after Death 363-374 + + VII. THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE HAWAIIANS 375-431 + + § 1. The Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands 375-377 + § 2. The Natives and their Mode of Life 377-380 + § 3. Houses, Mechanical Arts 380-383 + § 4. Government, Social Ranks, Taboo 383-390 + § 5. Religion, the Gods 390-404 + § 6. Priests, Sorcerers, Diviners 404-406 + § 7. Temples, Images, Human Sacrifices 406-414 + § 8. Festivals 414-416 + § 9. Death and Funeral Rites 417-427 + § 10. Fate of the Soul after Death 427-431 + + INDEX 433-447 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE MAORIS + + +§ 1. _The Polynesians_ + +The Polynesians are the tall brown race of men who inhabit the widely +scattered islands of the Pacific, from Hawaii on the north to New +Zealand on the south, and from Tonga on the west to Easter Island on the +east.[1] Down to the eighteenth century they remained practically +unknown to Europe; the first navigator to bring back comparatively full +and accurate information concerning them was our great English explorer, +Captain James Cook. Thus at the date of their discovery the natives were +quite unaffected by European influence: of our civilisation they knew +nothing: of Christianity, though it had existed in the world for nearly +eighteen hundred years, they had never heard: they were totally ignorant +of the metals, and had made so little progress in the arts of life that +in most of the islands pottery was unknown,[2] and even so simple an +invention as that of bows and arrows for use in war had not been thought +of.[3] Hence their condition was of great interest to students of the +early history of man, since it presented to their observation the +spectacle of a barbaric culture evolved from an immemorial past in +complete independence of those material, intellectual, and moral forces +which have moulded the character of modern European nations. The +lateness of their discovery may also be reckoned a fortunate +circumstance for us as well as for them, since it fell at a time when +scientific curiosity was fully awakened among us, and when scientific +methods were sufficiently understood to allow us to study with profit a +state of society which differed so widely from our own, and which in an +earlier and less enlightened age might have been contemplated only with +aversion and disgust. + + [1] Horatio Hale, _The United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. 4 _sqq_., + 9 _sqq._; J. Deniker, _The Races of Man_ (London, 1900), pp. 500 + _sqq._ + + [2] J. Deniker, _The Races of Man_ (London, 1900), pp. 154, 501; + _British Museum, Handbook to the Ethnographical Collections_ + (1910), p. 147. + + [3] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1809), v. 416; W. + Mariner, _Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands_, Second + Edition (London, 1818), i. 67; W. Ellis, _Polynesian + Researches_, Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), i. 220; E. + Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, + Second Edition (London, 1856), p. 212; J. Deniker, _The Races of + Man_, p. 501. In Polynesia "the bow was not a serious weapon; it + was found in some islands, _e.g._ in Tahiti and Tonga, but was + principally used for killing rats or in shooting matches" + (_British Museum, Handbook to the Ethnographical Collections_, + p. 153). As to the limited use of bows and arrows in Polynesia, + see further E. Tregear, "The Polynesian Bow," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, vol. i. no. 1 (April 1892), pp. 56-59; W. + H. R. Rivers, _The History of Melanesian Society_ (Cambridge, + 1914), ii. 446 _sqq._ + +The question of the origin of the Polynesian race is still unsettled, +but the balance both of evidence and of probability seems to incline in +favour of the view that the people are descended from one of the yellow +Mongoloid races of South-Eastern Asia, who gradually spread eastward +over the Indian Archipelago and intermingling to some extent with the +black aboriginal inhabitants of the islands formed the lighter-tinted +brown race which we call the Polynesian.[4] A strong argument in favour +of this theory is drawn from the Polynesian language, which belongs +essentially to the same family of speech as the Melanesian and Malay +languages spoken by the peoples who occupy the islands that intervene +between Polynesia and the south-eastern extremity of the Asiatic +continent.[5] The black Melanesian race occupies the south-eastern +portion of New Guinea and the chain of islands which stretches in a +great curve round the north-eastern coasts of New Guinea and Australia. +The brown Malays, with the kindred Indonesians and a small admixture of +negritoes, inhabit the islands westward from New Guinea to the Malay +Peninsula.[6] Of the two kindred languages, the Polynesian and the +Melanesian, the older in point of structure appears unquestionably to be +the Melanesian; for it is richer both in sounds and in grammatical forms +than the Polynesian, which may accordingly be regarded as its later and +simplified descendant.[7] + + [4] Compare (Sir) E. B. Tylor, _Anthropology_ (London, 1881), p. + 102; R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesian Languages_ (Oxford, + 1885), pp. 33 _sqq._; S. Percy Smith, _Hawaiki, the Original + Home of the Maori_ (Christchurch, etc., New Zealand, 1910), pp. + 85 _sqq._; A. C. Haddon, _The Wanderings of Peoples_ (Cambridge, + 1919), pp. 34 _sqq._; A. H. Keane, _Man Past and Present_, + revised by A. Hingston-Quiggin and A. C. Haddon (Cambridge, + 1920), p. 552. + + [5] On the affinity of the Polynesian, Melanesian, and Malay + languages, see R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesian Languages_ + (Oxford, 1885), pp. 10 _sqq._; S. H. Ray, "The Polynesian + Language in Melanesia," _Anthropos_, xiv.-xv. (1919-1920), pp. + 46 _sqq._ + + [6] J. Deniker, _The Races of Man_, pp. 482 _sqq._ + + [7] _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to + Torres Straits_, vol. iii. _Linguistics_, by Sydney H. Ray + (Cambridge, 1907), p. 528 (as to the relation of the Polynesian + to the Melanesian language). As to the poverty of the Polynesian + language in sounds and grammatical forms by comparison with the + Melanesian, see R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesian Languages_, p. + 11. + +But whereas the three peoples, the Polynesians, the Melanesians, and the +Malays speak languages belonging to the same family, their physical +types are so different that it seems impossible to look on the brown +straight-haired Polynesians and Malays as pure descendants of the +swarthy frizzly-haired Melanesians. Accordingly in the present state of +our knowledge, or rather ignorance, the most reasonable hypothesis would +appear to be that the Melanesians, who occupy a central position in the +great ocean, between the Polynesians on the east and the Malays on the +west, represent the original inhabitants of the islands, while the +Polynesians and Malays represent successive swarms of emigrants, who +hived off from the Asiatic continent, and making their way eastward over +the islands partially displaced and partially blent with the aborigines, +modifying their own physical type in the process and exchanging their +original language for that of the islanders, which, through their +inability to assimilate it, they acquired only in corrupt or degenerate +forms.[8] Yet a serious difficulty meets us on this hypothesis. For +both the Polynesians and the Malays, as we know them, stand at a +decidedly higher level of culture, socially and intellectually, than the +Melanesians, and it is hard to understand why with this advantage they +should have fallen into a position of linguistic subordination to them, +for as a rule it is the higher race which imposes its language on its +inferiors, not the lower race which succeeds in foisting its speech on +its superiors. + + [8] This seems to be the hypothesis favoured by Dr. R. H. + Codrington, _The Melanesian Languages_, pp. 33 _sqq._ Compare J. + Deniker, _The Races of Man_, p. 505. On the other hand Sir E. B. + Tylor says (_Anthropology_, pp. 163 _sq._), "The parent language + of this family may have belonged to Asia, for in the Malay + region the grammar is more complex, and words are found like + _tasik_ = sea and _langit_ = sky, while in the distant islands + of New Zealand and Hawaii these have come down to _tai_ and + _lai_, as though the language became shrunk and formless as the + race migrated further from home, and sank into the barbaric life + of ocean islanders." Dr. W. H. R. Rivers suggests that the + Polynesian language "arose out of a pidgin Indonesian" (_The + History of Melanesian Society_, ii. 584). + +But these are intricate questions which await future investigation. I +cannot enter into them now, but must confine myself to my immediate +subject, the beliefs of the Polynesians concerning the human soul and +the life after death. + +In spite of their diffusion over a multitude of islands separated from +each other by hundreds and even thousands of miles of ocean, the +Polynesians are on the whole a remarkably homogeneous race in physical +type, language, and forms of society and religion. The differences of +language between them are inconsiderable, amounting to little more than +some well-marked dialectical variations: all dwell in settled homes and +subsist partly by fishing partly by the fruits of the earth, tilling the +soil and gathering coconuts and bread-fruit from the trees:[9] all are +bold and expert mariners, making long voyages in large well-built +canoes: all possess a copious and comparatively well developed +mythology; and all at the time of their discovery enjoyed, or perhaps we +should rather say suffered from, a singular institution, half social, +half religious, which may be summed up in the single Polynesian word +taboo. Hence it would no doubt be possible to give a general account of +the belief in human immortality which would hold good in outline for all +the different branches of the Polynesian race; but such an account would +necessarily be somewhat meagre, inexact in detail, and liable to many +exceptions. Accordingly I shall not attempt it, but shall describe the +creed of each group of islanders separately. As the beliefs of the +various islanders on this momentous topic are characterised by a general +similarity, the method I have adopted will no doubt involve a certain +sameness and repetition, but for the serious student of comparative +religion I hope that these disadvantages may be more than outweighed by +the greater accuracy and fulness of detail which this mode of treating +the subject renders possible. + + [9] J. Deniker, _The Races of Man_, p. 501. On the apparent + homogeneity of the Polynesian race see W. H. R. Rivers, _The + History of Melanesian Society_ (Cambridge, 1914), ii. 280, who, + however, argues (ii. 280 _sqq._) that the race has been formed + by the fusion of two distinct peoples. + +The principal groups of islands included in Polynesia are New Zealand, +the Friendly or Tonga Islands, the Samoan or Navigators Islands, the +Hervey or Cook Islands, the Society Islands, including Tahiti, the +Marquesas Islands, and Hawaii or the Sandwich Islands.[10] All of them, +except New Zealand, are within the tropics; and all of them, except +Hawaii, lie to the south of the equator. I shall deal with them in the +order I have mentioned, beginning with New Zealand. + + [10] Horatio Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. 4 _sqq._ + + +§ 2. _The Maoris of New Zealand_ + +The Maoris of New Zealand are not aborigines of the islands which they +inhabit: they possess long and apparently in the main trustworthy +traditions of their migration to New Zealand many generations ago. The +circumstances which led to the migration, the names of the canoes in +which it was accomplished, the names and genealogies of the chiefs who +conducted it, are all recorded, having been handed on by word of mouth +from generation to generation, till they were finally written down from +the lips of the natives by English enquirers.[11] The place from which +the Maoris came is unanimously designated as Hawaiki, an island or +group of islands lying far to the north or north-east of New Zealand. +Among English scholars there is some difference of opinion whether +Hawaiki is to be identified with Hawaii, that is, the Sandwich Islands, +or with Savaii, one of the Samoan or Navigators Islands, since Hawaii +and Savaii are both dialectical variations of the New Zealander's +pronunciation of Hawaiki.[12] Though Hawaii is more than twice as far as +Savaii from New Zealand, being separated from it by almost the whole +breadth of the tropics and a great stretch of ocean besides, some good +authorities have inclined to regard it as the original home of the +Maoris, but the balance of opinion appears now to preponderate in favour +of the view that Savaii was the centre from which the Polynesians +dispersed all over the Pacific.[13] However, the question is one that +hardly admits of a positive answer. + + [11] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_ (London, 1843), + ii. 85 _sqq._; Horatio Hale, _United States Exploring + Expedition, Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. + 146 _sqq._; Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_ (London, + 1855), pp. 123 _sqq._, 136 _sqq._, 162 _sqq._, 202 _sqq._; E. + Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, + Second Edition (London, 1856), pp. 1 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika + A Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_, Second Edition + (London, 1870), pp. 26, 27, 289 _sqq._; John White, _The Ancient + History of the Maori, his Mythology and Traditions_ (London, + 1887-1889), ii. 176 _sqq._; Elsdon Best, "The Peopling of New + Zealand," _Man_, xiv. (1914) pp. 73-76. The number of + generations which have elapsed since the migration to New + Zealand is variously estimated. Writing about the middle of the + nineteenth century Shortland reckoned the number at about + eighteen; Mr. Elsdon Best, writing in 1914, variously calculated + it at about twenty-eight or twenty-nine (on p. 73) and from + eighteen to twenty-eight (on p. 74). + + [12] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 33. + + [13] H. Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the U.S. Exploring + Expedition_, pp. 119 _sq._; E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New + Zealand_ (London, 1843), ii. 85 _sqq._; E. Shortland, + _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, pp. 33 + _sqq._; A. S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_ (London, + 1859), i. 57 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 26; E. + Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_ (Wellington, + N.Z., 1891), pp. 56 _sqq._, _s.v._ "Hawaiki"; A. C. Haddon, _The + Wanderings of Peoples_ (Cambridge, 1919), p. 36. Of these + writers, Dieffenbach, Shortland, and Taylor decide in favour of + Hawaii; Thomson, Hale, and Haddon prefer Savaii; Tregear seems + to leave the question open, pointing out that "the inhabitants + of those islands themselves believe in another Hawaiki, neither + in Samoa nor Hawaii." + +The Maoris are not a pure-blooded Polynesian race. Among them even at +the present day two distinct racial types may be distinguished, one of +them the comparatively fair Polynesian type with straight nose and good +features, the other the swarthy, thick-lipped, flat-nosed, +frizzly-haired Melanesian type. They have a tradition that on their +arrival in New Zealand they found the country in the possession of a +dark-skinned folk of repulsive appearance, tall, spare, and +spindle-shanked, with flat faces, overhanging brows, and noses of which +little but the upturned nostrils could in some cases be discerned. These +savages wore little clothing and built no good houses, nothing but rude +shelters against the inclemency of the weather. They were ignorant and +treacherous, and the Maoris regarded them with dislike and contempt; but +their women looked with favour on the handsome Maori men, and a mixture +of the two races was the result. This tradition both explains and is +confirmed by the two different racial types which still exist side by +side or blent together among the Maoris. It seems, therefore, highly +probable that before the advent of the Maoris the North Island of New +Zealand was occupied by a people of inferior culture belonging to the +Melanesian stock, who may themselves have had a strain of Polynesian +blood in their veins and some Polynesian words in their language. This +at least is suggested by some features in the Maori traditions about +them. For these savages told the Maoris that they were the descendants +of the crews of three fishing canoes which had been driven to sea from +their own land in past times, and that their original home was a much +warmer country than New Zealand. All these various indications may +perhaps be reconciled by supposing that the dark predecessors of the +Maoris in New Zealand were a Melanesian people, who had accidentally +drifted from Fiji, the inhabitants of which have long been in contact +with their Polynesian neighbours on the east, the Tongans.[14] They +received from the Maoris the name of Maruiwi,[15] and were perhaps of +the same stock as the Moriori of the Chatham Islands; for two skulls of +the Moriori type have been found in an old deposit at Wanganui, near the +south end of the North Island of New Zealand.[16] + + [14] Elsdon Best, "The Peopling of New Zealand," _Man_, xiv. + (1914) pp. 73-76. The Melanesian strain in the Maoris was + recognised by previous writers. See J. S. Polack, _Manners and + Customs of the New Zealanders_ (London, 1840), i. 6, "The nation + consists of two aboriginal and distinct races, differing, at an + earlier period, as much from each other as both are similarly + removed in similitude from Europeans. A series of intermarriages + for centuries has not even yet obliterated the marked difference + that originally stamped the descendant of the now amalgamated + races. The first may be known by a dark-brown complexion, well + formed and prominent features, erect muscular proportions, and + lank hair, with a boldness in the gait of a warrior, wholly + differing from that of the second and inferior race, who have a + complexion brown-black, hair inclining to the wool, like the + Eastern African, stature short, and skin exceeding soft." The + writer rightly connects the latter people with the stock which + we now call Melanesian. Compare also R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, + pp. 13 _sqq._, who says (p. 13), "The Melanesian preceded the + Polynesian.... The remains of this race are to be seen in every + part of New Zealand, especially among the Nga-ti-ka-hunu, to + which the derisive name of Pokerekahu--Black Kumara--is applied. + The Maori traditions preserve both the names of the canoes which + brought them to New Zealand, as well as of the chiefs who + commanded them; several of these records make mention of their + having found this black race in occupation of the country on + their arrival." The blending of two distinct races, a + light-brown and a dark race, among the Maoris is clearly + recognised by E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. + 8-11. The dark race, he says (pp. 9 _sq._), "has undoubtedly a + different origin. This is proved by their less regularly shaped + cranium, which is rather more compressed from the sides, by + their full and large features, prominent cheek-bones, full lips, + small ears, curly and coarse, although not woolly, hair, a much + deeper colour of the skin, and a short and rather + ill-proportioned figure. This race, which is mixed in insensible + gradations with the former, is far less numerous; it does not + predominate in any one part of the island, nor does it occupy + any particular station in a tribe, and there is no difference + made between the two races amongst themselves; but I must + observe that I never met any man of consequence belonging to + this race, and that, although free men, they occupy the lower + grades; from this we may perhaps infer the relation in which + they stood to the earliest native immigrants into the country, + although their traditions and legends are silent on the + subject." + + [15] Elsdon Best, "The Peopling of New Zealand," _Man_, xiv. + (1914) pp. 73 _sq._ + + [16] (Sir) Arthur Keith, "Moriori in New Zealand," _Man_, xiii. + (1913) pp. 171 _sq._ + +At the time of their discovery the Maoris had attained to a fair level +of barbaric culture. They lived in comfortable houses ornamented with +carved work and with scrolls painted in red and white on the posts and +beams. Their villages were fortified with earthworks, palisades, and +trenches, and surrounded by large gardens planted with sweet potatoes, +taro, and melons.[17] "They excel in tillage," says Captain Cook, as +might naturally be expected, where the person that sows is to eat the +produce, and where there is so little besides that can be eaten: when we +first came to Tegadoo, a district between Poverty Bay and East Cape, +their crops were just covered, and not yet begun to sprout; the mould +was as smooth as in a garden, and every root had its small hillock, +ranged in a regular quincunx, by lines, which with the pegs were still +remaining in the field.[18] They understood the arts of irrigating their +gardens[19] and of manuring them so as to render the soil light and +porous and therefore better suited for the growth of the sweet potato, +their favourite food. For this purpose they used sand, and in the +Waikatoo district, where the root was formerly much cultivated, deep +excavations, like the gravel pits of England, may still be seen, from +which the natives extracted sand to fertilise their gardens.[20] +Moreover, they cultivated various species of native flax and used the +fibre for the manufacture of garments, first scraping it and drying it +in the sun, then steeping it in water, and afterwards beating it with +wooden mallets. Thus prepared the flax was dyed black or reddish brown +and woven into cloth with broad borders of neat and varied patterns. The +stronger and coarser fibres were made into string, lines, and cordage of +all sorts.[21] The Maoris also built large and magnificently adorned +canoes,[22] in which they made long voyages; for example, they invaded +and conquered the Chatham Islands, which lie to the eastward across the +open sea about five hundred miles distant from the nearest coast of New +Zealand.[23] In hunting they had little opportunity to shine, for the +simple reason that in their country there were no beasts to hunt except +rats;[24] even birds they could not shoot, because they had no bows and +arrows to shoot them with,[25] but they made some amends by catching +them in ingeniously constructed snares.[26] They caught fish both with +nets, some of which were of enormous size, and with hooks made of bone +or shell.[27] They displayed great skill and infinite patience in +fashioning, sharpening, and polishing their stone implements and +weapons.[28] In council they were orators, and in the battlefield +warriors whose courage has merited the respect, and whose military skill +has won the admiration of the British troops opposed to them.[29] In +short, the Maoris were and are one of the most highly gifted among the +many uncivilised peoples which the English race, in its expansion over +the world, has met and subdued. It is therefore of peculiar interest to +learn what conceptions they had formed of man's spiritual nature and his +relations to the higher powers. + + [17] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the Maoris_, + p. 202. The elaborate system of fortification employed by the + Maoris, of which the remains may be seen by thousands, seems to + have no exact parallel in Polynesia. See Elsdon Best, "The + Peopling of New Zealand," _Man_, xiv. (1914) p. 75. These native + forts or _pas_, as they were called, had often a double or even + quadruple line of fence, the innermost formed by great poles + twenty or thirty feet high, which were tightly woven together by + the fibrous roots of a creeper. They were built by preference on + hills, the sides of which were scarped and terraced to assist + the defence. Some of them were very extensive and are said to + have contained from one to two thousand inhabitants. Many of + them were immensely strong and practically impregnable in the + absence of artillery. It is believed that the habit of + fortifying their villages was characteristic of the older race + whom the Maoris, on landing in New Zealand, found in occupation + of the country. See W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_ + (London, 1835), pp. 122 _sqq._; G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and + Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_ (London, 1847), i. 332 + _sq._; Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the + Maoris of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, + vol. xii. no. 4 (December 1903), pp. 204 _sqq._; W. H. Skinner, + "The Ancient Fortified _Pa_," _Journal of the Polynesian + Society_, vol. xx. no. 78 (June 1911), pp. 71-77. + + [18] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1809), ii. 50. + + [19] The ruins of native irrigation works are to be found in New + Zealand as well as in other parts of Polynesia (J. Deniker, _The + Races of Man_, p. 501). + + [20] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 202 _sq._ + + [21] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, ii. 30 _sq._, 40 _sq._; W. + Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_ (London, 1835), pp. 157 + _sqq._; E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 204 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 5. + + [22] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, ii. 47 _sq._; W. Yate, _op. + cit._ pp. 161 _sqq._ + + [23] A. Shand, "The Occupation of the Chatham Islands by the + Maoris in 1835," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. i. + no. 2 (July 1892), pp. 83 _sqq._ + + [24] R. Taylor, _op. cit._ p. 496; A. R. Wallace, _Australasia_ + (London, 1913), pp. 442 _sq._ + + [25] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 212; Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as + conducted by the Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, vol. xi. no. 4 (December 1902), p. 240. + + [26] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 212 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 442 + _sq._ + + [27] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, i. 49 _sq._; W. Yate, _An + Account of New Zealand_, p. 160. + + [28] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, ii. 49; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A + Maui_, p. 4. + + [29] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 4. The Maoris delivered set + speeches composed according to certain recognised laws of + rhetoric, and their oratory was distinguished by a native + eloquence and grace. See E. Shortland, _Traditions and + Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, pp. 186 _sqq._ + + +§ 3. _The Beliefs of the Maoris concerning the Souls of the Living_ + +Like most other peoples, whether savage or civilised, the Maoris +explained the mystery of life in man by the presence of an invisible +spirit or soul, which animates his body during life and quits it at +death to survive the separation for a longer or shorter time either in +this world or another. But like many others who have sought to fathom +this profound subject, the Maoris would seem to have experienced some +difficulty in ascertaining the precise nature of the human soul. When +the natural man, on the strength of his native faculties, essays to +explore these dark abysses and to put his vague thoughts into words, he +commonly compares his soul either to his breath or to his shadow and +his reflection, and not content with a simple comparison he is led, by a +natural confusion of thought, to identify more or less closely the +imperceptible entity which he calls his soul with one or both of these +perceptible objects. To this general rule the Maori is apparently no +exception. He has two words which he specially uses to designate the +human spirit or soul: one is _wairua_, the other is _hau_.[30] Of these +words, _wairua_, the more usual name, is said to mean also a shadow, an +unsubstantial image, a reflection, as of a person's face from a polished +surface;[31] and we may surmise that these were the original and proper +meanings of the term. Similarly _hau_, which is described as "the vital +essence or life principle" in man,[32] appears primarily to mean +"wind,"[33] from which we may infer that in its application to man it +denotes properly the breath. The idea of the soul as a breath appears in +the explanation which was given to Dumont d'Urville of the Maori form of +salutation by rubbing noses together. The French traveller was told that +the real intention of this salute was to mingle the breath and thereby +the souls of the persons who gave each other this token of friendship. +But as his informant was not a Maori but a certain Mr. Kendall, the +truth of the explanation remains doubtful, though the Frenchman believed +that he obtained confirmation of it from his own observation and the +testimony of a native.[34] On the other hand the comparison of the soul +to a shadow comes out in the answer given by a Maori to an Englishman +who had asked him why his people did not prevent their souls from +passing away to the nether world. The Maori replied by pointing to the +Englishman's shadow on the wall and asking him whether he could catch +it.[35] + + [30] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), pp. 177 + _sqq._, 189 _sqq._ + + [31] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp. + 591 _sq._, _s.v._ "wairua." + + [32] Elsdon Best, _op. cit._ p. 189. + + [33] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. + 52, _s.v._ "hau"; Elsdon Best, _op. cit._ p. 190. + + [34] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la + recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), + ii. 558 _sq._ + + [35] William Brown, _New Zealand and its Aborigines_ (London, + 1845), p. 81. + +Thus far the Maori conception of the soul does not perhaps differ very +materially from the popular notion of it current among ourselves. But +we come now to a marked difference between the Maori idea of the soul +and our own. For whereas the European commonly believes his soul to be +fixed during life immovably in his body, and only to depart from it once +for all at death, the soul of the Maori is under no such narrow +restrictions, but is free to quit its bodily mansion at pleasure and to +return to it without prejudice to the life and health of its owner. For +example, the Maori explains a dream by supposing that the soul of the +sleeper has left his body behind and rambled away to places more or less +distant, where it converses with the spirits of other people, whether +alive or dead. Hence no well-bred Maori would waken a sleeper suddenly +by shaking him or calling out to him in a loud voice. If he must rouse +him, he will do it gradually, speaking to him at first in low tones and +then raising his voice by degrees, in order to give the truant soul fair +warning and allow it to return at leisure.[36] Believing in the power of +the soul to wander far away and converse with other spiritual beings in +sleep, the Maoris naturally paid great attention to dreams, which they +fancied were often sent them by the gods to warn them of coming events. +All dreams were supposed to have their special significance, and the +Maoris had framed a fanciful system for interpreting them. Sometimes, as +with ourselves, the interpretation went by contraries. For example, if a +man dreamed that he saw a sick relative at the point of death, it was a +sign that the patient would soon recover; but if, on the contrary, the +sufferer appeared in perfect health, it was an omen of his approaching +end. When a priest was in doubt as to the intentions of the higher +powers, he usually waited for his god to reveal his will in a dream, and +accepted the vagaries of his slumbering fancy as an infallible +intimation of the divine pleasure. Spells were commonly recited in order +to annul the effect of ill-omened dreams.[37] + + [36] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), pp. 177 + _sq._ + + [37] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 333-335. As to omens + derived from dreams see Elsdon Best, "Omens and Superstitious + Beliefs of the Maori," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + vii. no. 27 (September 1898), pp. 124 _sqq._ + +But the departure of the soul from the body in life was not always +voluntary; it might take place under the compulsion of a hostile +sorcerer or magician. In a Maori legend called _The curse of Manaia_ we +read that "the priests next dug a long pit, termed the pit of wrath, +into which by their enchantments they might bring the spirits of their +enemies, and hang them and destroy them there; and when they had dug the +pit, muttering the necessary incantations, they took large shells in +their hands to scrape the spirits of their enemies into the pit with, +whilst they muttered enchantments; and when they had done this, they +scraped the earth into the pit again to cover them up, and beat down the +earth with their hands, and crossed the pit with enchanted cloths, and +wove baskets of flax-leaves to hold the spirits of the foes which they +had thus destroyed, and each of these acts they accompanied with the +proper spells."[38] + + [38] Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_ (London, 1855), pp. + 168 _sq._ + +This mode of undoing an enemy by extracting and killing his soul was not +with the Maoris a mere legendary fiction; it was practised in real life +by their wizards. For we are told that when a priest desired to slay a +person by witchcraft, he would often dig a hole in the ground, and +standing over it with a cord in his hand would let one end of the cord +hang down into the hole. He then recited an incantation which compelled +the soul of the doomed man to swarm down the cord into the pit, +whereupon another potent spell chanted by the magician speedily put an +end to the poor soul for good and all.[39] + + [39] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), p. 187. + +It seems obvious that spells of this sort may be used with great +advantage in war, for if you can only contrive to kill the souls of your +foes, their mere bodies will probably give you little or no trouble. Nor +did this practical application of the magic art escape the sagacity of +the Maoris. When they marched to attack an enemy's stronghold, it was an +ancient custom to halt and kindle a fire, over which the priest recited +certain spells to cause the souls of his adversaries to be drawn into +the fire and there to perish miserably in the flames. In theory the idea +was admirable, but unfortunately it did not always work out in +practice. For magic is a game at which two can play, and it sometimes +happened that the spells of the besieged proved more powerful than those +of the besiegers and enabled the garrison to defy all the attempts of +the enemy to filch their souls from their bodies.[40] But even when the +assailants were obliged to retire discomfited, they did not always lose +heart, the resources of the magic art were not yet exhausted. On their +return home the priest, nothing daunted by a temporary discomfiture, +might betake himself again to his spells, and by crooning his +incantations over a garment or a weapon belonging to one of his party, +might dash in pieces the arms of the enemy and cause their souls to +perish. Thus by his ghostly skill would he snatch victory from defeat, +and humble the pride of the insolent foe in the very moment of his +imaginary triumph.[41] One way in which he effected his purpose was to +take a bag or basket containing some sacred food, hold it to the fire, +and then opening the bag point the mouth of it in the direction of the +enemy. The simple recitation of a spell then sufficed to draw the souls +of the adversaries into the bag, after which nothing was easier for him +than to destroy them utterly by means of the appropriate +incantation.[42] + + [40] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), p. 181. + + [41] Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the + Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + xi. no. 3 (September 1902), p. 141. + + [42] Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the + Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + xii. no. 2 (June 1903), p. 72. + +But valuable as are these applications of magic to practical life, the +art, like every good thing, is liable to abuse; and even where it is +employed with the best intentions, the forces which it controls are so +powerful that in spite of all precautions an accident will sometimes +happen. For example, in sickness the patient often had recourse to a +priest, who would lead him down to the nearest water, whether a pool or +a stream, and there perform the magical rites necessary for the relief +of his particular malady. While the wizard was engaged in this +beneficent task, all the people in the village kept strictly indoors, +lest their souls should wander forth to the water-side and there +colliding, if I may be allowed the expression, with the mystic forces +of the priest's spells be damaged or even annihilated by the +collision.[43] In such a case the fatal consequences were the result of +a pure accident, but sometimes they were intentional. For this fell +purpose a malignant wizard would dig a hole, invoke the spirit of the +man against whom he had a grudge, and when the spirit appeared over the +hole in the form of a light, he would curse it, and the man whose soul +was cursed would be sure to die, sooner or later; nothing could save +him. The Uriwera, who dwelt dispersed among the forests and lonely hills +of a wild mountainous region in the North Island, were reputed to be the +greatest warlocks in all New Zealand. When they descended from their +mountains to the coast, the lowlanders scarcely dared refuse them +anything for fear of incurring their displeasure. It is said that in +their magical rites they made a special use of the spittle of their +destined victims; hence all visitors to their country were careful to +conceal their spittle lest they should give these wicked folk a handle +against them.[44] Another mode in which a Maori wizard could obtain +power over a man's soul was by working magic on the footprints of his +intended victim. The thing was done in this way. Suppose you are walking +and leave your footprints behind you on the ground. I come behind you, +take up the earth from your footprints, and deposit it on the sacred +_whata puaroa_, that is, a post or pillar set up in the holy place of a +village and charged in a mysterious manner with the vitality both of the +people and of the land. Having laid the earth from your footprints on +the sacred post, I next perform a ceremony of consecration over it, and +then bury it with a seed of sweet potato in the ground. After that you +are doomed. You may consider yourself for all practical purposes not +only dead but buried, like the earth from your footprints.[45] + + [43] Elsdon Best, "Maori Medical Lore," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, vol. xiii. no. 4 (December 1904), p. 225. + + [44] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_ (London, 1843), + ii. 58 _sq._; E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the + New Zealanders_, pp. 116 _sq._; _id._, _Maori Religion and + Mythology_ (London, 1882), p. 31. + + [45] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), pp. 194 + _sq._, 196. + +From some of the foregoing facts it seems to follow that the souls of +the Maoris are not, so to say, constitutionally immortal, but that they +are of a brittle and perishable nature, and that in particular they are +liable to be cut short in their career and totally exterminated by the +insidious arts of magicians. So frequently, indeed, did this happen in +former days that the Maoris of old apparently recognised no other cause +of death, but imagined that every man and woman would naturally live for +ever, if the thread of his or her life were not prematurely snipped by +the abhorred shears of some witch or wizard. Hence after every death it +was customary to hold an inquest in order to discover the wretch who had +brought about the catastrophe by his enchantments; a sage presided at +the solemn enquiry, and under his direction the culprit was detected, +hunted down, and killed.[46] + + [46] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 51. + +The Maoris tell a story to explain how death first came into the world, +or at least how men were prevented from enjoying the boon of +immortality. The story runs as follows. + +The great mythical hero of Polynesia is Maui, a demigod or man of +marvellous powers, who lived in the early ages of the world, and whose +mighty deeds are the theme of tales of wonder told far and wide among +the islands of the Pacific.[47] In his childhood his mother prophesied +that he should thereafter climb the threshold of his great ancestress +Hine-nui-te-po, and that death should have no more dominion over men. A +happy prediction, but alas! never destined to be fulfilled, for even the +would-be saviour Maui himself did not escape the doom of mortality. The +way in which he became subject to death was this. His father took him to +the water to be baptized, for infant baptism was a regular part of Maori +ritual.[48] But when the baptism was over and the usual prayers had +been offered for making the lad sacred and clean from all impurity, his +father bethought him that through haste or forgetfulness he had omitted +some of the prayers and purifications of the baptismal service. It was a +fatal oversight, and the anxious father was struck with consternation at +the thought, for too well he knew that the gods would punish the +omission by causing his son Maui to die.[49] Yet did his son make a +brave attempt to rescue all men from the doom of death and to make them +live for ever. One day, after he had performed many feats and returned +to his father's house, his father, heavy at heart and overcome with a +foreboding of evil, said to him, "Oh, my son, I have heard from your +mother and others that you are very valiant, and that you have succeeded +in all feats that you have undertaken in your own country, whether they +were small or great; but now that you have arrived in your father's +country, you will perhaps be overcome." Then Maui asked his father, +"What do you mean? what things are there that I can be vanquished by?" +And his father answered him, "By your great ancestress, by +Hine-nui-te-po, who, if you look, you may see flashing, and, as it were, +opening and shutting there, where the horizon meets the sky." And Maui +answered, "Lay aside such idle thoughts, and let us both fearlessly seek +whether men are to die or live for ever." And his father said, "My +child, there has been an ill omen for us; when I was baptizing you, I +omitted a portion of the fitting prayers, and that I know will be the +cause of your perishing." Then Maui asked his father, "What is my +ancestress Hine-nui-te-po like?" and he answered, "What you see yonder +shining so brightly red are her eyes, and her teeth are as sharp and +hard as pieces of volcanic glass; her body is like that of a man, and +as for the pupils of her eyes, they are jasper; and her hair is like the +tangles of long sea-weed, and her mouth is like that of a barracouta." + + [47] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp. + 233 _sqq._, _s.v._ "Maui"; Horatio Hale, _United States + Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, + 1846), p. 23. + + [48] J. L. Nicholas, _Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand_ + (London, 1817), i. 61 _sq._, "The New Zealanders make it an + invariable practice, when a child is born among them, to take it + to the _Tohunga_, or priest, who sprinkles it on the face with + water, from a certain leaf which he holds in his hand for that + purpose; and they believe that this ceremony is not only + beneficial to the infant, but that the neglect of it would be + attended with the most baneful consequences. In the latter case, + they consider the child as either doomed to immediate death, or + that, if allowed to live, it will grow up with a most perverse + and wicked disposition." Before or after sprinkling the child + with water the priest bestowed on the infant its name. See W. + Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_ (London, 1835), pp. 82-84; A. + S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_ (London, 1859), i. 118 + _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, Second Edition (London, + 1870), pp. 184 _sqq_. Compare J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage + autour du Monde et à la recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du + Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), ii. 443 _sq_. (who says that the + baptism was performed by women); E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New + Zealand_ (London, 1843), ii. 28-30 (who, in contradiction to all + the other authorities, says that the naming of the child was + unconnected with its baptism). + + [49] Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_ (London, 1855), p. + 32. + +Now Hine-nui-te-po was the Great Woman of Night, the Goddess of Death, +who dwelt in the nether world and dragged down men to herself. But Maui +was not afraid, for he had caught the great Sun himself in a snare and +beaten him and caused him to go so tardily as we now see him creeping +across the sky with leaden steps and slow; for of old the Sun was wont +to speed across the firmament like a young man rejoicing to run a race. +So forth fared the hero on his great enterprise to snatch the life of +mortals from the very jaws of death. And there came to him to bear him +company the small robin, and the large robin, and the thrush, and the +yellow hammer, and the pied fantail (_tiwakawaka, Rhipidura +flabellifora_), and every kind of little bird; and these all assembled +together, and they started with Maui in the evening, and arrived at the +dwelling of Hine-nui-te-po, and found her fast asleep. + +Then Maui addressed them all, and said, "My little friends, now if you +see me creep into this old chieftainess, do not laugh at what you see. +Nay, nay, do not, I pray you, but when I have got altogether inside her, +and just as I am coming out of her mouth, then you may shout with +laughter if you please." But his little friends were frightened at what +they saw, and they answered, "Oh, sir, you will certainly be killed." +And he answered them again, saying, "If you burst out laughing at me as +soon as I get inside her, you will wake her up, and she will certainly +kill me at once; but if you do not laugh until I am quite inside her, +and am on the point of coming out of her mouth, I shall live, and +Hine-nui-te-po will die." And his little friends answered, "Go on then, +brave sir, but pray take good care of yourself." + +Then the young hero started off, and twisted the strings of his weapon +tight round his wrist, and went into the house, and stripped off his +clothes, and the skin on his hips was as mottled and beautiful as the +skin of a mackerel by reason of the tattoo marks cut on it with the +chisel of Uetongo, and he entered the old chieftainess. The little birds +now screwed up their little mouths to keep back their laughter when +they saw him disappearing into the body of the giantess; their cheeks +swelled up and grew purple, and they almost choked with suppressed +emotion. At last the pied fantail could bear it no longer, and he +suddenly exploded with a loud guffaw. That woke the old woman, she +opened her eyes, and shut her jaws with a snap, cutting the hero clean +through the middle, so that his legs dropped out of her mouth. Thus died +Maui, but before he died he begat children, and sons were born to him, +and some of his descendants are alive to this day. That, according to +Maori tradition, is how death came into the world; for if only Maui had +passed safely through the jaws of the Goddess of Death, men would have +died no more and death itself would have been destroyed. Thus the Maoris +set down human mortality at the door of the pied fantail, since but for +his unseasonable merriment we might all have lived for ever.[50] + + [50] Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_, pp. 56-58; John + White, _The Ancient History of the Maori_ (Wellington and + London, 1887-1889), ii. 98, 105-107. For another version of the + myth, told with some minor variations, see S. Percy Smith, _The + Lore of the Whare-w[=a]nanga_, Part I. (New Plymouth, N.Z., + 1913), pp. 145 _sq._, 176-178. For the identification of the + bird _tiwakawaka_ see E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, p. 519, _s.v._ "Tiwaiwaka." + + +§ 4. _The Beliefs of the Maoris concerning the Souls of the Dead_ + +When a chief died, a loud howl or wail announced the melancholy event, +and the neighbours flocked to the scene of death to testify their +sorrow. The wives and near relations, especially the women, of the +deceased displayed their anguish by cutting their faces, arms, legs, and +breasts with flints or shells till the blood flowed down in streams; it +was not wiped off, for the more the person of a mourner was covered with +clotted gore, the greater was esteemed his or her respect for the dead. +Sometimes relatives would hack off joints of their fingers as a token of +grief. Mourners likewise cut their hair, the men generally contenting +themselves with clipping or shaving it on one side only, from the +forehead to the neck. The eyes of the dead were closed by the nearest +relative; and the body dressed in the finest mats, decked with +feathers, and provided with weapons, lay in state for a time. After the +first day a brother of the deceased used to beat the body with fresh +flax gathered for the purpose; this he did to drive away any evil thing +that might be hovering about the corpse. In the olden time one or more +of the chief's wives would strangle themselves, that their souls might +accompany their dead lord and wait upon him in the other world, and with +the same intentions slaves were killed, lest the great man should lack +attendants in the spirit land.[51] + + [51] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 135 _sqq._; J. + Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la recherche de + la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), ii. 541 + _sq._; Servant, "Notice sur la Nouvelle-Zélande," _Annales de la + Propagation de la Foi_, xv. (1843) p. 25; E. Dieffenbach, + _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 62, 118; W. Brown, _New Zealand + and its Inhabitants_, pp. 15 _sqq._; G. F. Angas, _Savage Life + and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_, i. 331; A. S. Thomson, + _The Story of New Zealand_, i. 185 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A + Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_, Second Edition + (London, 1870), pp. 217 _sq._; E. Tregear, "The Maoris of New + Zealand," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xix. + (1890) pp. 104 _sq._ + +The body was kept for three days because, we are told, the soul was +believed not to quit its mortal habitation till the third day.[52] The +mode of disposing of the corpse differed in different districts and +according to the rank of the deceased. In some places a grave was dug in +the house and the body buried in a sitting posture, the legs being kept +in that position by bandages or doubled up against the chest. In the +grave the dead man retained the fine garments in which he had been +dressed together with the family ornaments of jade and shark's teeth. +With him also was usually interred his property, especially the clothes +which he had worn and everything else that had touched him during his +last illness. The weapons of a warrior were laid near him that he might +be able to fight his battles in the spirit land. In other places the +corpse was laid in a box on a stage; or two pieces of an old canoe were +set upright in the earth, and in the hollow between them the body was +seated on a grating so as to allow the products of decomposition to drip +through on the ground. In other places again, the corpse was laid in a +sort of canoe-shaped coffin and deposited among the branches of a tree +in a grove, where it remained for several months. This burial in the +branches of a tree seems to have been usually adopted for the bodies of +commoners; the corpses of chiefs, enclosed in coffins, were placed in +mausoleums, carved and painted red, which were raised on pillars. +Whether buried in the earth or placed in a tree or on a stage, the body +was left until the flesh had so far decayed as to permit of the bones +being easily detached; there was no fixed time allowed for +decomposition, it might vary from three months to six months, or even a +year. When decay was thought to have proceeded far enough, the bones +were dug up or taken down from the stage or tree and scraped; the +ornaments also were removed from the skeleton and worn by the relatives. +In the south, where the custom was to bury the dead in the ground, this +disinterment took place four weeks after the burial; the bones were then +buried again, but only to be dug up again after a longer interval, it +might be two years, for the final ceremony. When this took place, all +the friends and relatives of the dead were summoned to assist, and a +great feast was given: the bones were scraped, painted red, decked with +feathers, and wrapped up in mats. The precious bundle was then deposited +in a small canoe or a miniature house elevated on a pole; or it was +carried to the top of some sacred tree and there left on a small stage. +Sometimes the bones were concealed in a hollow tree in a secret place of +the forest, or hidden away in one of the numerous limestone caverns or +in some lonely and inaccessible chasm among the rocks. The motive for +secret burial was a fear lest an enemy should get possession of the +bones and profane them by making fish-hooks out of them or converting +the skull into a baler for his canoe. Such a profanation was deemed a +deadly insult to the surviving relatives. After a burial the persons who +had dressed or carried the corpse, and all indeed who had had anything +to do with it, repaired to the nearest stream and plunged themselves +several times over head in the water.[53] + + [52] J. Dumont d'Urville, _op. cit._ ii. 541. + + [53] J. Dumont d'Urville, _op. cit._ ii. 543 _sq._; W. Yate, + _op. cit._ p. 137; Servant, "Notice sur la Nouvelle-Zélande," + _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xv. (1843) p. 25; E. + Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 62 _sqq._; G. F. + Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_, + i. 331; A. S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_, i. 188; R. + Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 218 _sqq._; E. Tregear, "The Maori + of New Zealand," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, + xix. (1890) p. 105; Elsdon Best, "Cremation among the Maori + Tribes of New Zealand," _Man_, xiv. (1914) p. 110. + +In some districts the removal of the bones from their temporary to their +final resting-place was the occasion of a grand annual festival in which +several neighbouring tribes took part. The bones of all members of the +tribes who had died within the year were taken down from the stages or +trees where the bodies had been temporarily deposited. The grave-clothes +having been removed, the mouldering remains were wrapped in new blankets +and carried in procession, attended by the crowd, to a place where they +were deposited on a carpet of leaves. Should any putrid flesh be found +still adhering to the bones, it was scraped off and buried on the spot. +A few old women, dressed in their best, oiled from head to foot, and +plastered with raddle, received the skulls into their laps. While they +held them thus, a funeral ode was sung and speeches, loud and long, were +delivered. Then the bones were tied up, decked with feathers of the +gannet, rolled up in blankets, and carried to their last place of rest +in a sacred grove, where they were left, securely fastened up and +gaudily decorated with red and white. Having thus discharged their duty +to the dead, the living gave themselves up to festivity; they ate and +drank, danced, sang, whistled, wrestled, quarrelled, bought and sold. +This Holy Fair, which went by the name of Hahunga, lasted several days. +At the end of it the mourners, or revellers, dispersed and returned to +their homes, laden with food which had been made ready for them by their +hosts.[54] Great importance was attached to the final disposal of the +remains of the dead. According to one account, the soul of the dead man +could not rest till his bones were laid in the sepulchre of his +ancestors, which was often a natural cave or grotto. There they were +deposited on a shelf or platform a few feet above the floor of the +cavern.[55] + + [54] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 137-139; Servant, + "Notice sur la Nouvelle-Zélande," _Annales de la Propagation de + la Foi_, xv. (1843) pp. 26 _sq._ The name _Hahunga_ is doubtless + connected with the verb _hahu_ which means "to exhume the bones + of dead persons before depositing them in their final + resting-place." See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, p. 42, _s.v._ "hahu." + + [55] J. Dumont d'Urville, _op. cit._ ii. 543, 545. + +Not uncommonly the bones of the dead, instead of being preserved, were +burned.[56] But cremation, though not unusual, seems never to have been +a general custom with the Maoris. They resorted to it only in +exceptional circumstances, for example, in order to stay the spread of +disease, or in cases where a tribe occupied open country and found no +suitable place where to lay the bones of their dead after exhumation. +Cremation for the latter reason is said to have been practised by the +Ngati-apa tribe in the Rangatikikei District, and also by the tribes who +occupied the Waimate Plains. An old earthwork fort near the present +township of Manaia was the scene of many cremations of the Maori dead in +former days. Again, it was a common custom for a raiding party to +cremate their dead in the enemy's country, when there was no time to +carry them home for the usual obsequies. The intention of burning them +was to prevent the enemy from eating the bodies and making fish-hooks +out of the bones. For a similar reason even the wounded, whom they could +not carry with them, were sometimes thrown into great fires and burnt +alive. If the slain man was a chief, only his body would be consumed in +the flames; his head would be cut off, steamed, cured, and carried home, +to be wept over by his friends. In the Bay of Plenty district the bodies +of persons who died of a certain disease called _Kai uaua_, apparently +consumption, used to be burnt to prevent the spread of the malady, and +all the ashes were carefully buried.[57] + + [56] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 220. This was called + _tahunga_, "burning," a word no doubt derived from _tahu_, + "to set on fire, kindle." See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian + Comparative Dictionary_, p. 444, _s.v._ "tahu." + + [57] Elsdon Best, "Cremation amongst the Maori tribes of New + Zealand," _Man_, xiv. (1914) pp. 110 _sq._ + +Often enough the heads of dead relatives were cut off, dried, and +preserved by the family for many years in order to be occasionally +brought forth and mourned over. Sometimes a widow would sleep with her +husband's severed head at her side. After a victory, too, it was +customary to decapitate the slain foes and dry their heads, which were +then carried home and used as scarecrows or stuck on short stakes in the +village, where they were jeered at and reviled. When the time came to +plant the sweet potatoes, and the priests recited their spells for the +sake of the crops, the dried heads were sometimes brought out and +placed at the edge of the field, for this was believed to promote the +growth of the sweet potatoes.[58] Apparently the spirits of the dead +were thought able to quicken the fruits of the earth. + + [58] Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the + Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + xii. no. 4 (December 1903), pp. 195-197. Compare W. Yate, _An + Account of New Zealand_, pp. 130 _sqq._; E. Dieffenbach, + _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 66. + +At all events the Maoris undoubtedly believed that the souls of the +departed survive the death of their bodies for a longer or shorter time +and in their disembodied state can influence the living for weal or woe. +The belief in the survival of the soul is strikingly manifested in their +old custom of killing widows and slaves to serve dead chiefs in the +other world. It found expression in the more harmless custom of laying +food beside a dead person or burying it with him in the grave; but, as +usually happens in such cases, the ghost only consumed the spiritual +essence of the victuals, considerately leaving the gross material +substance to be despatched by the priest.[59] A dying Maori, unable to +eat a loaf which a missionary had offered to him, begged that it might +be kept for his ghost, who, after his death, would come and fortify +himself with it for the journey to his long home.[60] At Tanaraki the +child of a chief was buried in its father's house, grasping in each of +its little fists a taro for consumption in the other world. Over the +grave were laid boards, and the family slept on them. When they thought +that the child's body was sufficiently decayed, they dug it up, scraped +the bones, and hung them in the verandah, where from time to time the +priest recited spells to assist the soul in its ascent to heaven. Every +spell was supposed to raise the soul one stage nearer to the abode of +bliss. But the ascent was long and tedious, for there were no less than +ten heavens one above the other; the tenth was believed to be the +principal abode of the gods. When the parents of the child who had been +despatched to the happy land with taro in each hand were asked, "Why +taro, if the little one is gone to heaven?" they answered that they +were not quite sure whether it went up or down, and therefore as an +additional precaution they planted a seed of taro in the grave, so that +their offspring might find something to eat either above or below.[61] + + [59] J. Dumont d'Urville, _op. cit._ ii. 542; G. F. Angas, + _op. cit._ ii. 71; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 220. + + [60] J. Dumont d'Urville, _l.c._ + + [61] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 220. + +Similar ceremonies were performed to facilitate the ascension of the +souls of chiefs and priests. Before the body was taken to the place of +burial, it was laid out with its feet towards the north, and all the +blood-relations of the deceased, men, women, and children, assembled +round it. Then the priest, standing at the head of the corpse, between +the rows of the people, chanted two incantations, of which the second +was supposed to assist the soul to ascend to heaven. The priest next put +a bulb of taro in the left hand of the corpse and chanted another +incantation. After that, flaxen cords were tied with a slip-knot to a +tassel of the mat in which the body was enshrouded, and a cord was +placed in the hand of each child, boy and girl, present at the ceremony. +When the priest had chanted one more incantation, each child pulled the +cord with a jerk, to disconnect the soul from the body, lest it should +remain and afflict the relatives.[62] This last rite, with the reason +assigned for it, is significant at once of the dread which the Maoris +felt for departed spirits, and of the very materialistic conception +which they entertained of the human soul, since they appear to have +imagined that it could be detached from the body by jerking at a cord. + + [62] John White, "A Chapter from Maori Mythology," _Report of + the Third Meeting of the Australasian Association for the + Advancement of Science, held at Christchurch, New Zealand, in + January 1891_, pp. 362 _sq._ + +The wish to raise the soul to heaven was perhaps the motive for another +curious rite performed at the obsequies of a chief. When the body had +been buried, the chief returned to the village; but the men who had +carried the body went to the nearest swamp, and having caught a +swamp-sparrow (_matata_) sent word to the priest, who forthwith rejoined +them. Each of the bearers was then provided with a stick to which +certain of the feathers of the bird were tied. Then, holding the sticks +in their hands, they sat on their heels in a row opposite the priest, +who stood facing the east with a stick similarly adorned in his left +hand. Next he moved to the south end of the row of men and chanted, and +as he chanted he gradually raised his stick, while at the same time all +the bearers, holding their sticks at arm's length, gradually raised them +and their bodies simultaneously, keeping perfect time, till the priest +had concluded his chant, when they all stood erect with outstretched +arms. After that the priest collected the sticks and threw them down in +front of the _mua_, which seems to have been a kind of altar.[63] We may +surmise that the ceremony was intended to waft the soul of the dead +chief upward, the feathers of the bird being naturally fitted to +facilitate its heavenward flight. + + [63] John White, "A Chapter from Maori Mythology," _op. cit._ + p. 363. As to the meaning of _mua_, see E. Tregear, + _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 267, _s.v._ "mua." + +At other times, however, with the inconsistency so common in such +matters, it appears to have been supposed that the soul set out on its +far journey across the sea, and steps were accordingly taken to equip it +for the voyage. Thus we hear of a _wahi tapu_ or sacred repository of +the property of a deceased chief, which contained, among other things, a +little canoe with sail and paddles, "to serve as a ferry-boat for the +spirit to enter in safety into the eternal abodes." Nevertheless in the +same enclosure, which was fenced with a double set of palings, +"calabashes of food and water, and a dish prepared from the pigeon, were +placed for the ghost to regale itself when visiting the spot; and the +heathen natives aver that at night the spirit comes and feeds from the +sacred calabashes."[64] + + [64] G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New + Zealand_, ii. 70 _sq._ + +Many people in the Taranaki district thought that souls went neither up +nor down, but always stayed near their mouldering bodies. Hence the +sacred grove in which their remains were buried was full of disembodied +spirits; and when a man died a violent death his soul wandered about +disconsolate, till a priest by his spells and enchantments had brought +the poor ghost within the spiritual fold.[65] + + [65] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 220 _sq._ + +When a chief was killed in battle and eaten by his foes, as often +happened, his departed spirit entered the stones of the oven in which +his body had been cooked, and the stones retained their heat so long as +the ghost was in them. Meanwhile his sorrowing friends at home recited +their most potent spells to draw his soul out of the oven and back to +the sacred grove (_wahi tapu_) the burial-place of his people; for +otherwise the soul could find no repose, but must roam about for ever, +wreaking its spite on the living, for all disembodied spirits were +deemed malicious. Hence after a battle, if people could not obtain the +body of a slain friend, they sought to procure at least some drops of +his blood or shreds of his raiment, that by crooning over them the +appropriate spell they might draw home the vagrant spirit to his place +of rest. The burial-grounds were regarded with awe and fear, for +sometimes a restless ghost would break bounds and spread sickness among +the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Within their sacred precincts +stood altars or stages for offerings to the gods, and any living man who +entered them did so at his peril. For the same reason no one would set +foot in a house where a dead man or woman had been buried. Hence in +nearly every village half the houses stood empty and deserted, falling +into decay, tenanted only by ghosts. The living had constantly before +their eyes the mansions of the dead.[66] + + [66] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 221. + +The common belief of the Maoris seems to have been that the souls of the +dead pass away to a region of the underworld, which was sometimes called +Po and sometimes Reinga. Properly speaking, Po was night or the +primaeval darkness out of which all forms of life and light were evolved +or created;[67] and Reinga was not so much the spirit land itself as the +leaping-off place where the souls bade good-bye to earth and took their +departure for the far country. This leaping-off place was at the North +Cape, the Land's End of New Zealand. The cape terminates in a steep +cliff with a sea-cave at its foot, into which the tide rushes with a +thunderous roar. There the evil spirit Wiro is thought to dwell, lurking +for his prey; for he battens on such of the passing souls of the dead as +he can get into his clutches. On their passage to the North Cape the +ghosts stop by the way at two hills; at the first, which is called +Wai-hokimai, they wail, cut themselves, and strip off their clothes; at +the second, which is called Wai-otioti, they turn their backs on the +land of the living and set their faces to the land of the dead. Arrived +at the cape they pass outward over a long narrow ledge of rock and then +leap down on a flat stone. There they see a mass of sea-weed floating on +the water, its roots hidden in the depth, its upper branches clinging to +a _pohutukawa_ tree. When they perceive an opening in the sea-weed they +dive and soon find themselves in the lower world. But before they reach +the abode of spirits they must cross a river by a plank; the river is +called Waiorotane or the River of the Water of Life; and sometimes the +warden of the plank will not suffer the ghosts to pass the river, but +drives them back with friendly violence and bids them return to their +friends on earth. Such souls come back to the bright world of light and +life, and tell their friends what they have seen and heard on the +journey to that bourne from which so many travellers return no more. +Hence when any one has recovered from a dangerous sickness or escaped +some great peril, they say of him that he has come back from the River +of the Water of Life. Even if a soul has crossed that sombre stream, he +may still return to the land of the living, if only he refuses to +partake of the food set before him by the ghosts; but should he taste of +it, he cannot come back. They say that people living near the North Cape +can hear the spirits of the dead passing through the air on their way to +the spirit land; and in the old days, when a battle had been fought and +before the news of it could reach them by word of mouth, the natives +near the cape were made aware of what had happened by the rushing sound +of a great multitude flitting by overhead in the darkness.[68] Perhaps +the sighing of the night-wind or the clangour of birds of passage +winging their way out to sea may have contributed to create or foster +these fancies. + + [67] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, + p. 342, _s.v._ "Po." + + [68] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 150 _sqq._; _id._, _Maori Religion and + Mythology_, p. 45; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 52, 231; + W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 140; E. Dieffenbach, + _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 66 _sq._; E. Tregear, "The Maoris + of New Zealand," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, + xix. (1890) pp. 118 _sq._; _id._, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, pp. 407 _sq._, 591, _s.vv._ "Reinga" and "Waiora"; + John White, "A Chapter from Maori Mythology," _Report of the + Third Meeting of the Australasian Association for the + Advancement of Science, held at Christchurch, New Zealand, + in January 1891_, pp. 361 _sq._ + +On the day after a burial the priest used to perform a ceremony to +facilitate the passage of the soul to its final rest. For this purpose +some men would go out in the morning and kill a small bird of the swamps +called _kokata_ and pluck up some reeds of a certain sort (_wiwi_). +These they brought to the priest at the grave. He asked them, "Whence +came ye?" They answered, "From the seeking, from the searching." He +asked them again, "Ah! what have you got? ah! what have you gained?" +Then the men threw the bird and the reeds on the ground. Next the priest +chose a stalk of grass or fern and put it near the grave in a direction +pointing towards Hawaiki, the land far away from which the forefathers +of the Maoris came long ago. Another stalk of grass or fern was laid +near the place of death, and along these stalks the soul of the dead man +travelled to rejoin his friends and kinsfolk who had gone before.[69] + + [69] E. Shortland, _Maori Religion and Mythology_, p. 44. Such + a stalk to aid the spirit on its passage was called a _tiri_. + Compare E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, + p. 517, _s.v._ "Tiri." The ceremony described in the text + resembles in some points the one which seems intended to raise + the soul of the deceased to heaven. See above, p. 25. + +As might be anticipated, the accounts which the Maoris gave of the +spirit world and of life in it were neither clear nor consistent. +According to one account, while the heavens increase in beauty as they +ascend one above the other, the lower regions increase in darkness and +horror as they descend, each being darker and worse than the one above +it, till in the lowest of all complete darkness reigns. There the souls, +deprived alike of light and food, wasted away and ultimately ceased to +exist; or according to another account they assumed the shape of worms +and in that guise returned to earth, where they died a second death and +so finally perished. But it was only the souls of common folk which came +to this melancholy end. Chiefs and priests were believed to be descended +from the gods, and at death their souls ascended to heaven, there to +live for ever.[70] + + [70] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 232; John White, "A Chapter + from Maori Mythology," _Report of the Third Meeting of the + Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held + at Christchurch, New Zealand, in January 1891_, pp. 361 _sq._ + +Other reports, however, paint the nether world in more cheerful +colours. We are told that the souls of the dead live there very much as +people do on earth, but all good things are more plentiful there than +here. The staple food of the ghosts is sweet potatoes, and the quality +of the potatoes appears to be remarkably fine; for once a woman, who had +the good fortune to go to the spirit land and come back, received from +her dead father in the nether regions two roots of sweet potatoes of a +most prodigious size. These the ghost told her to take back to earth and +plant for the benefit of his grandchild. So she hurried away with them +and arriving at the foot of the North Cape had begun to clamber up the +face of the cliff, when two infant spirits overtook her and attempted to +drag her back to dead land by tugging at her cloak. To divert their +attention she threw the two roots of sweet potato behind her, and while +the sprites were munching them she made good her escape up the cliff and +succeeded in reaching home. Her friends were very glad to see her again, +but they always lamented that she had not brought back at least one of +those gigantic roots of sweet potato, since it would unquestionably have +done much to improve the quality of sweet potatoes grown here on +earth.[71] + + [71] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 48 _sq._, 67, + 118; E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 153 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 233 + _sq._ + +But the spirits of the dead are by no means strictly confined to the +lower world; they can quit it from time to time and return to earth, +there to influence the actions and fortunes of the living and to +communicate with them through the priest, who can hear their voices. +They speak in whistling tones, which even common folk can sometimes +distinguish as they walk about in the dark. Often their communications +are made to the priest or chief in dreams, and he announces the glad or +mournful tidings to other people in the morning. Any commands conveyed +in this manner from the other world are, or used to be, implicitly +obeyed and might decide the course to be pursued in the most important +affairs of life.[72] In some tribes, especially among the natives of +Wangunui, it used to be customary to keep in the houses small carved +images of wood, each of them dedicated to an ancestor of the family, who +was believed occasionally to enter into the image in order to hold +converse with his living descendants.[73] But even without the +intervention of such images the priest could summon up the spirits of +the dead and converse with them in the presence of the relatives or of +strangers; at these interviews, which were held within doors and in the +dark, the voices of the ghosts, or perhaps of the priestly +ventriloquist, were sometimes distinctly audible even to sceptical +Europeans. Nor was the art of necromancy confined to men; for we read of +an old woman who, like the witch of Endor, professed to exercise this +ghostly office, and treated an English visitor to an exhibition of her +powers.[74] + + [72] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 67, 118; E. + Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, + ii. 83, 84. + + [73] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 83. + + [74] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 84 _sqq._; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha + Maori (London, 1884), pp. 122 _sqq._ As to the belief in the + reappearance of the dead among the living compare R. A. Cruise, + _Journal of a Ten Months' Residence in New Zealand_ (London, + 1823), p. 186: "The belief in the reappearance of the dead is + universal among the New Zealanders: they fancy they hear their + deceased relatives speaking to them when the wind is high; + whenever they pass the place where a man has been murdered, it + is customary for each person to throw a stone upon it; and the + same practice is observed by all those who visit a cavern at the + North Cape, through which the spirits of departed men are + supposed to pass on their way to a future world." + +The spirits of the dead were sometimes useful to the living, for +commonly enough they would appear to their kinsfolk in dreams and warn +them of approaching foes or other dangers. Again, they might be and were +invoked by spells and enchantments to avenge a murder or even to slay an +innocent person against whom the enchanter had a grudge.[75] But for the +most part the ghosts were greatly dreaded as malicious demons who worked +harm to man.[76] Even the nearest and dearest relations were believed to +have their natures radically changed by death and to hate those whom +they had loved in life.[77] And so powerful were these malignant beings +supposed to be that they were confused with the gods, or rather the +spirits of the dead became themselves gods to all intents and purposes, +and played a much more important part in the religious life of the +Maoris than the high primaeval deities, the personifications of nature, +who figured in Maori mythology and cosmogony.[78] The gods whom the +Maoris feared, we are told, were the spirits of the dead, who were +believed to be constantly watching over the living with jealous eyes, +lest they should neglect any part of the law relating to persons or +things subject to the sacred restriction called taboo (_tapu_). These +spirits, however, confined their care almost exclusively to persons +among the living with whom they were connected by ties of relationship, +so that every tribe and every family had its own worshipful ancestral +spirit or god, whom members of the tribe or family invoked with +appropriate prayers or spells (_karakias_). Ancestral spirits who lived +in the flesh before the Maoris emigrated to New Zealand were invoked by +all the tribes in New Zealand without distinction, so far as their names +and memories survived in tradition. Thus the worship of these remote +ancestors constituted what may be called the national religion of the +Maoris as distinguished from the tribal and family religions, which +consisted in the worship of nearer and better remembered progenitors. +The great importance attached by the Maoris to the worship of ancestors +may account, we are told, for the care with which they preserved their +genealogies; since the names of ancestors often formed the groundwork of +their religious formulas (_karakias_), and any error or even hesitation +in repeating these prayers or incantations was deemed fatal to their +efficacy.[79] "Ancestor worship, or rather the deification of +ancestors, was essentially a Maori cult. It was a form of necrolatry, or +hero worship. A man would placate the spirit of his father, grandfather, +or ancestor, and make offerings to the same, that such spirit might +protect his life principle, warn him of approaching danger, and give +force or effectiveness to his rites and charms of black or white +magic."[80] + + [75] Elsdon Best, "Spiritual Concepts of the Maori," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. ix. no. 4 (December 1900), p. 182. + + [76] Elsdon Best, _op. cit._ p. 184. + + [77] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 104. + + [78] E. Shortland, _The Southern Districts of New Zealand_ + (London, 1851), p. 294; _id._, _Traditions and Superstitions of + the New Zealanders_, pp. 80, 81; _id._, _Maori Religion and + Mythology_, pp. 10 _sq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 108, + "Maori gods are so mixed up with the spirits of ancestors, whose + worship entered largely into their religion, that it is + difficult to distinguish one from the other." + + [79] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 81; _id._, _Maori Religion and Mythology_, p. + 11. As to the _karakias_, which were prayers or invocations, + spells or incantations, addressed to gods or ancestral spirits, + see E. Shortland, _Maori Religion and Mythology_, pp. 28 _sqq._; + E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 128, + _s.v._ "karakia." Apparently the _karakia_ partook of the nature + of a spell rather than of a prayer, since it was believed to be + so potent that the mere utterance of it compelled the gods to do + the will of the person who recited the formula. See R. Taylor, + _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 180 _sq._: "The Maori, in his heathen + state, never undertook any work, whether hunting, fishing, + planting, or war, without first uttering a _karakia_; he would + not even take a journey without repeating a spell to secure his + safety; still he could not be said to pray, for, properly + speaking, they had no such thing as prayer. As in war, they + armed themselves with the most formidable weapons they could + procure, and laid their plans with the greatest skill they + possessed, so to secure the fruition of their desires, they used + their most powerful means to compel the gods to be obedient to + their wishes, whether they sought for victory over their foes, + fruitful crops, successful fishings, or huntings, they called in + the aid of potent incantations; when they planted their _kumara_ + [sweet potatoes], they sought to compel the god who presided + over them to yield a good increase; when they prepared their + nets and their hooks, they must force the ocean god to let his + fish enter them; as the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and + the violent take it by storm, so the heathen Maori sought, by + spells and incantations, to compel the gods to yield to their + wishes; they added sacrifices and offerings at the same time, to + appease as it were their anger, for being thus constrained to do + what they wished them. Their ancestors were addressed as + powerful familiar friends; they gave them offerings, and if it + can be said that any prayers were offered up, it was to them + they were made. The word _karakia_, which we use for prayer, + formerly meant a spell, charm, or incantation." + + [80] Elsdon Best, "Maori Religion," _Report of the Twelfth + Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of + Science, held at Brisbane, 1909_, p. 459. + +The ancestral spirits who particularly watched over the fortunes of a +tribe were the souls of its dead warriors and great men. In war these +powerful, though invisible, beings were thought to attend the army and +direct its movements on the march by communicating advice or warning +through some one or other of their nearest living kinsmen. In battle +they hovered over the combatants and inspired courage into the hearts of +their own tribe. Hence when, on the eve of battle, any young man showed +signs of the white feather, recourse was immediately had to the family +priest, who repeated a charm, invoking the aid of his friendly spirit; +for the sensation of fear was ascribed to the baneful influence of a +hostile spirit. If the friendly spirit prevailed, and the craven spirit +was expelled, the young man would rush into the thickest of the fight +and prove himself the bravest of the brave.[81] + + [81] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 81 _sq._ + +The interest taken by the spirits of the dead in mundane affairs seldom +extended beyond the limits of the tribe to which they belonged. Hence a +captive in war, who was carried away and enslaved by another tribe, +ceased from that moment to be under the protection and care of any +ancestral spirit or god. For the ancestral spirits of his own tribe did +not trouble themselves to follow him among a hostile tribe and hostile +spirits, and the ancestral spirits of the tribe whom he served as a +slave would not deign to give him a thought. Hence being forsaken of +god and left to their own devices, slaves were relieved from many of +the burdensome restrictions which the Maori gods laid upon their +worshippers; they were therefore free to perform many menial offices, +particularly in regard to carrying and cooking food, which no free Maori +could discharge without sinning against the sacred law of taboo and +incurring the wrath of the ancestral spirits, who for such a +transgression might punish the sinner with sickness or death.[82] + + [82] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, pp. 82 _sq._; _id._, _The Southern Districts of New + Zealand_, pp. 296 _sq._ + +In addition to their deified ancestors, who had lived as men of flesh +and blood on earth, the Maoris believed in certain great primaeval +deities, who had existed before the human race came into being, and +whose doings were the theme of many mythical stories. These mighty +beings appear to have been personifications of the various forces or +elements of nature, such as the sky and the earth. But though fancy wove +round them a glistering web of myth and fable, they were apparently +believed to stand aloof in cold abstraction from human affairs and to +take no interest in the present race of men. The practical religion of +the Maori was concentrated on the souls of his deceased kinsfolk and +forefathers: "neither in any existing superstition nor tradition, purely +such, is there to be found internal evidence that an idea of God existed +more exalted than that of the spirit of a dead ancestor."[83] + + [83] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 80. Compare _id._, _Traditions and Superstitions + of the New Zealanders_, p. 81; _id._, _The Southern Districts of + New Zealand_, p. 294; _id._, _Maori Religion and Mythology_, pp. + 10 _sq._ In Maori mythology Rangi is the personification of the + sky, and Papa of earth. They were the primal parents, and the + other great gods were their offspring. See Elsdon Best, "The + Maori Genius for Personification," _Transactions of the New + Zealand Institute_, liii. (1921) p. 2. Among the great + primordial deities who were worshipped by all tribes of New + Zealand may be mentioned Tane, Tu, Tangaroa, and Rongo. Of the + four, Tane was the origin and tutelary deity of forests and + birds: no tree might be felled and no bird caught till certain + rites had been performed to placate him. Tu was the god of war. + Tangaroa was the god of the ocean, the origin and tutelary deity + of fish. Rongo was the god of peace, and presided over + agriculture. See Elsdon Best, "Maori Religion," _Report of the + Twelfth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the + Advancement of Science, held at Brisbane, 1909_, p. 458. The + same four gods, with names only dialectically different, were, + as we shall see later on, the principal deities of the Sandwich + Islanders, the most distant geographically from the Maoris of + all the Polynesians. The coincidence furnishes an example of the + homogeneity of religion which prevailed among the various + branches of the Polynesian race. + +The word which the Maoris applied to a god, whether a personification of +nature or the spirit of a dead ancestor, was _atua_. The name is not +confined to the Maori language, but is the common word for god +throughout Polynesia.[84] When the Maoris attempt to define the nature +of an _atua_, they have recourse to the same comparisons with a shadow +and with breath which appear to underlie their conception of the human +soul.[85] But though "god" is the nearest English equivalent of the word +_atua_, we must beware of assuming that the Maori idea of godhead +coincided with ours. On this subject one of our best authorities tells +us that the term "god" is really not applicable to the _Atua Maori_, the +so-called gods of the Maoris. For these beings, he says, "were, with few +exceptions, malignant demons, to be feared and placated or conciliated, +but not worshipped. Their principal task seems to have been the +inflicting upon mankind of diverse evils, pains, and penalties. Of the +few good offices performed by them, the warning of the people in regard +to coming troubles, seems to have been the most important. The vast +majority of the so-called gods of the Maori were simply deified +ancestors."[86] + + [84] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp. + 30 _sq._, _s.v._ "Atua." + + [85] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la + recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), + ii. 516 _sq._ + + [86] Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the + Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + xi. no. 2 (June 1902). pp. 63 _sq._ + +In order to illustrate the difference between the Maori conception of +deity and our own, I will quote the words of another eminent authority +on the native religion of the New Zealanders. He says, "Before the +mythology of the Maori is further considered, it will be necessary +briefly to state what were the ideas of God entertained by the natives. +The word _atua_, or spirit, which is used for God, formerly had various +significations; a plague or disease was also _he atua_, or God; a thief +was an _atua_, thus also a thievish dog was _he kuri atua_, a god-like +dog, so also _he tangata atua ki te muru_, a man equal to a god in +stealing; a child who pilfered was _he tamaiti atua_, a divine child; +there were great spirits and small ones, a man's spirit was an _atua +pore pore_, a little spirit, but Maru Rongomai and other gods were _Atua +nui_, great gods; there were _atua ika_, reptile or fish gods; a great +chief was called _He ika_, a fish, sea monster, or reptile, and was +regarded as a malignant god in life, and a still worse one after death; +there were likewise _Atua marau_, as the _toroa_, albatross, the _ruru_, +owl; and _karu karu_, the film which shades its eye from the light, was +also an _atua_; male and female spirits presided over dreams, and were +regarded as _atuas, Ko nga atua moe moea o te poko_, the gods of dreams; +_Tunui a rangi_, a male, _Pare kewa_, a female deity, both were prayed +to as gods; the _atua kore_ and _atua kiko kiko_ were inferior gods. The +_Atua ngarara_ or reptile gods were very abundant, and were supposed to +be the cause of all diseases and death, being always ready to avail +themselves of every opportunity of crawling down the throat during +sleep, and thus preying upon the lives of unfortunate creatures. _Atuas_ +or spirits of the deceased were thought to be able to revisit the earth +and reveal to their friends the cause of their sickness. Everything that +was evil or noxious was supposed especially to belong to the gods; thus +a species of euphorbium, whose milk or juice is highly poisonous, is +called _wai u atua_, the milk of the gods."[87] "In fact, in the +accounts which the natives give of their gods and their exploits, we +have but a magnified history of their chiefs, their wars, murders, and +lusts, with the addition of some supernatural powers; they were +cannibals; influenced by like feelings and passions as men, and were +uniformly bad; to them were ascribed all the evils incident to the human +race; each disease was supposed to be occasioned by a different god, who +resided in the part affected; thus, Tonga, the god who caused headache, +took up his abode in the forehead; Moko Titi, a lizard god, was the +source of all pains in the breast; Tu-tangata-kino was the god of the +stomach; Titihai occasioned pains in the ankles and feet; Rongomai and +Tuparitapua were the gods of consumption, and the wasting away of the +legs and arms; Koro-kio-ewe presided over childbirth, and did his worst +to unfortunate females in that state. In fact, the entire human body +appears to have been shared out amongst those evil beings, who ruled +over each part, to afflict and pain the poor creatures who worshipped +them."[88] + + [87] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 134 _sq._ + + [88] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 137. + +Anything, indeed, whether good or evil, which excited the fear or wonder +of the Maoris would seem in the old days to have been dubbed by them an +_atua_ and invested with the attributes of divinity. For example, when a +traveller in the early years of the nineteenth century showed his watch +to some Maoris, the ticking struck them with such astonishment that they +deemed it nothing less than the voice of a god; and the watch itself, +being looked upon as a deity (_atua_) in person, was treated by the +whole of them with profound reverence.[89] Other travellers have had +similar experiences among the Maoris,[90] and compasses and barometers +have also been accorded divine honours by these ignorant savages.[91] + + [89] J. L. Nicholas, _Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand_ + (London, 1817), i. 254. + + [90] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la + recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), + ii. 516. + + [91] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 118. + + +§ 5. _Taboo among the Maoris_ + +But the most momentous practical consequence which flowed from their +belief in the spirits of the dead was the enormous influence which that +creed wielded in establishing and maintaining the system of taboo, the +most remarkable and characteristic institution in the life of the Maoris +and of the Polynesians in general. I shall first give some account of +the taboo or _tapu_, as the Maoris called it, and afterwards show how +this extraordinary system of society and religion was directly based on +a belief in the existence of ghosts and their mighty power over human +destiny. + +First, then, as to taboo or _tapu_ itself. This curious institution, as +I have said, prevailed throughout all the widely scattered islands of +Polynesia, but nowhere to a greater extent than in New Zealand. It +pervaded the whole life of the natives, affected their plans, influenced +their actions, and in the absence of an efficient police provided a +certain security both for their persons and their property. Sometimes it +was used for political, and sometimes for religious purposes; sometimes +it was the means of saving life, and at other times it was the +ostensible reason for taking life away.[92] It may be defined as a +system of consecration which made any person, place, or thing sacred +either permanently or for a limited time.[93] The effect of this +consecration was to separate the sacred person or thing from all contact +with common (_noa_)[94] persons and things: it established a sort of +quarantine for the protection not only of the sacred persons themselves, +but of common folk, who were supposed to be injured or killed by mere +contact with a tabooed person or object. For the sanctity which the +taboo conferred on people and things was conceived of as a sort of +dangerous atmosphere, charged with a spiritual electricity, which +discharged itself with serious and even fatal effect on all rash +intruders. A tabooed person might not be touched by any one, so long as +the taboo or state of consecration lasted; he might not even put his own +hand to his own head; and he was most stringently forbidden to touch +food with his hands. Hence he was either fed like a child by another, +who put the food into his mouth; or he had to lap up his victuals like a +dog from the ground, with his hands held behind his back; or lastly he +might convey the nourishment by means of a fern stalk to his mouth. When +he wished to drink, somebody else poured water into his mouth from a +calabash without allowing the vessel to touch his lips; for mere contact +with the lips of the tabooed man would have rendered the vessel itself +sacred or tabooed and therefore unfit for common use. Similarly, when he +desired to wash his hands, water had to be poured on them from a +distance by his attendant. This state of consecration or defilement, as +we might be tempted rather to call it, was incurred by any person who +had touched either a young child or a corpse or had assisted at a +funeral. The taboo contracted by association with the dead was the +strictest and most virulent of all. It extended not only to the persons +who had handled the corpse or paid the last offices of respect to the +departed; it applied to the place where the body was buried or the bones +deposited. So sacred, indeed, was deemed the spot where a chief had died +that in the old days everything upon it was destroyed by fire. Hence in +order to avoid the destruction of a house, which a death in it would +have entailed, it was customary to remove a sick or dying man to a +temporary shed just large enough to shelter him from the sun or screen +him from the rain; for if the man died in it, the destruction of the +wretched hovel was no great loss to the survivors.[95] A widow was +tabooed and had to observe the aforesaid restrictions from the death of +her husband until his bones had been scraped and deposited in their last +resting-place; and the same rule applied to a widower.[96] These taboos +were temporary and could be removed by a priest, who performed certain +rites and repeated certain spells (_karakias_), and thereby relieved the +tabooed person from the state of sanctity or consecration under which he +had laboured. The performance of the ceremony put an end to the +spiritual quarantine; the man ceased to be sacred, he became common +(_noa_) once more, and could mingle freely with his fellows. One of the +ceremonies of desecration, as we may call it, was to pass a consecrated +piece of wood over the right shoulder of the tabooed person, then round +his loins, and back again over the left shoulder, after which the stick +was broken in two and buried, burned, or cast into the sea.[97] Again, a +temporary taboo was laid on all persons who were engaged in planting +sweet potatoes, or in sorting the seed, or in digging and preparing the +ground; they might not leave the fields where they were at work nor +undertake any other labour. The fields themselves were sacred during +these operations; none but the persons who were tabooed for the purpose +might set foot on the ground or pluck up the weeds which grow rankly +round the roots of the vegetable.[98] Similarly, in their great +fishing-expeditions to catch mackerel, all concerned in making or +mending the nets were under a taboo: the ground where the nets were made +was sacred, and so was the river on the banks of which the work went on. +No man but the tabooed persons might walk over the land or pass up or +down the river in a canoe: no fire might be lighted within a prescribed +distance: no food might be dressed while the taboo lasted. Not till the +net had been finished and wetted with the sacred water, and the owner +had caught and eaten a fish, did these burdensome restrictions come to +an end by the removal of the taboo.[99] Once more, the men who took part +in a warlike expedition were under a severe taboo and had to observe +very strictly the customs which that mysterious state of consecration +rendered obligatory.[100] Even after their return home they were not +allowed to enter their houses or to hold any direct communication with +their families who had remained there, till they had been rendered +common (_noa_) by a ceremony of desecration. Before that ceremony took +place, the warriors were obliged to throw away the remains of the bodies +of their foes on which, as usual, they had been feasting; for being +sacred food the flesh could only be touched by sacred or tabooed +persons. One woman only, the _wahine ariki_, as she was called, that is +the elder female of the elder branch of the stock from which the tribe +traced their descent, was permitted to touch the sanctified meat; +indeed, in order to carry out the ritual of desecration in due form she +was expected and required to swallow an ear of the first enemy killed in +battle.[101] A warlike expedition might lay even people at home under a +taboo; for all who remained behind, including old men, women, and +slaves, were often required to observe a rigid fast and to abstain from +smoking till the return of the warriors.[102] + + [92] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 84 _sq._ + + [93] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 84; R. Taylor, _Te + Ika A Maui_, p. 163. + + [94] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp. + 268 _sq._, _s.v._ "Noa." + + [95] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. 85 _sq._; R. + Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 163, 164. + + [96] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 40. + + [97] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la + recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), + iii. 685; W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 86; E. + Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 104 _sq._; Servant, + "Notice sur la Nouvelle-Zélande," _Annales de la Propagation de + la Foi_, xv. (1843) p. 23; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 166 + _sq._; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. 104 _sqq._ The + taboo could be got rid of more simply by the tabooed man + touching his child or grandchild and taking food or drink from + the child's hands. But when that was done, the taboo was + transferred to the child, who retained it for the rest of the + day. See E. Dieffenbach, _op. cit._ ii. 105. + + [98] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 85; R. Taylor, + _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 165 _sq._; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha + Maori, pp. 103 _sq._ + + [99] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 85. + + [100] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. 96, 114 _sq._ + + [101] E. Shortland, _The Southern Districts of New Zealand_, pp. + 68 _sq._ + + [102] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. 114 _sq._ + +But in contrast to the temporary taboos which affected common folk and +debarred them for a time from familiar intercourse with their fellows, a +perpetual and very stringent taboo was laid on the persons and property +of chiefs, especially of those high hereditary chiefs who bore the title +of _Ariki_ and were thought to be able at any time to hold visible +converse with their dead ancestors.[103] Strictly speaking, "the _ariki_ +of a Maori tribe is the senior male descendant of the elder branch of +the tribe, that is, he is a descendant of the elder son of the elder son +of each generation from the time of the original ancestor down to the +present day. As such, he was of old regarded almost as a god, inasmuch +as he represented all that there was of _m[)a]na_ and sacredness of his +tribe. That he should have been regarded in this light is not +astonishing, for the Maoris believed he was something more than human, +in that he was the shrine of an hereditary _Atua_, the guardian spirit +of the tribe, and could therefore at any time communicate with the +tribal gods.... Such a man was not only _tapu_ in person but he made +everything he touched so dangerously sacred as to be a source of terror +to the tribe. To smoke his pipe, or drink from any vessel he had +touched, was death speedy and certain at the hands of the gods, who +avenge breaches of the _tapu_."[104] "The gods being no more than +deceased chiefs, the _arikis_ were regarded as living ones, and thus +were not to be killed by inferior men, but only by those who had more +powerful _atuas_ in them; the victorious chief who had slain numbers, +swallowed their eyes, and drunk their blood, was supposed to have added +the spirits of his victims to his own, and thus increased his _mana_ or +power; to keep up this idea, and hinder the lower orders from trying +whether it were possible to kill such corporeal and living gods, was the +grand work of the _tapu_."[105] The godhead of a chief was thought to +reside in his eyes, especially in his left eye; that was why by +swallowing the eye or eyes of a slain chief a living chief was believed +to absorb the divine spirit of the dead man and thereby to strengthen +his own divinity; the more eyes he swallowed, the greater god he +became.[106] + + [103] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 40, 112 + _sq._, 356; E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the + New Zealanders_, p. 104; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 149, + 164, 212 _sq._; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, pp. 23 _sq._, _s.v._ "Ariki." The word _ariki_ + signifies properly the first-born or heir, whether male or + female, of a family. + + [104] Lieut.-Col. W. E. Gudgeon, "Maori Religion," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, vol. xiv. no. 3 (September 1905), p. + 130. Compare _id._, "The Tipua-Kura and other Manifestations of + the Spirit World," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. xv. + no. 57 (March 1906), p. 38. + + [105] R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui_, p. 173. _Mana_ means + authority, especially divine authority or supernatural power. + See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. + 203, _s.v._ "Mana"; and for a full discussion of the conception + see Lieut.-Col. W. E. Gudgeon, "Mana Tangata," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, vol. xiv. no. 2 (June 1905), pp. 49-66. + "_Mana_ plays a leading part in the ability of a leader, or + successes in war of celebrated warriors. When a man frequently + undertakes daring deeds, which ought under ordinary + circumstances to fail, but none the less prove successful, he is + said to possess _mana_, and thereafter is regarded as one + peculiarly favoured by the gods, and in such cases it is held + that he can only be overcome by some act or default; such as a + disregard or neglect of some religious or warlike observance, + which has been shown by experience to be essential to success in + war, but which our warrior, spoiled by a long career of good + fortune, had come to regard as necessary to ordinary mortals + only and of but little consequence to men of _mana_" (W. E. + Gudgeon, _op. cit._ p. 62). "There were cases in which the + _mana_ of a man depended upon the facility with which he could + communicate with the spirits of departed ancestors, that is, + upon his capacity to enforce the aid and attendance of these + minor deities. To this end every man with any pretension to + _mana_ had a knowledge of certain forms of invocation by which + he could summon the spirits of long departed heroes and + ancestors, but it must not be supposed that these invocations + would necessarily have power in the mouths of all men, for such + was not the case. The efficacy of a _karakia_ or invocation + depended in part on its method of delivery, and in part on the + _mana_ of the man who used it" (W. E. Gudgeon, _op. cit._ p. + 50). Compare R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 172, 173; _Old New + Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, p. 100. + + [106] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 147, 352. The soul was + thought to reside especially in the left eye; accordingly it was + the left eye of an enemy which was most commonly swallowed by a + victorious chief who desired to increase his spiritual power. + See J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la + recherche de la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), + ii. 527; E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 118, 128 + _sq._ + +Every such divine chief was under a permanent taboo; he was as it were +surrounded by an atmosphere of sanctity which attached to his person and +never left him; it was his birthright, a part of himself of which he +could not be divested, and it was well understood and recognised by +everybody at all times. And the sanctity was not confined to his person, +it was an infection which extended or was communicated to all his +movable property, especially to his clothes, weapons, ornaments, and +tools, indeed to everything which he touched. Even the petty chiefs and +fighting men, everybody indeed who could claim the title of _rangatira_ +or gentleman, possessed in some degree this mysterious quality.[107] +However, in young people of rank the sanctity which appertained to them +by virtue of their birth was supposed to be only latent; it did not +develop or burst into full bloom till they had reached mature age and +set up house on their own account. Hence noble boys and lads were under +none of the irksome restrictions to which in their adult years they were +afterwards bound to submit; they mixed freely with the profane vulgar +and did not even disdain to carry fuel or provisions on their backs, a +thing which no man of any standing could possibly do; at all events, if +he did so demean himself, the food was thereby rendered taboo and could +accordingly be used by nobody but himself. "If he went into the shed +used as a kitchen (a thing, however, he would never think of doing +except on some great emergency), all the pots, ovens, food, etc., would +be at once rendered useless--none of the cooks or inferior people could +make use of them, or partake of anything which had been cooked in them. +He might certainly light a little fire in his own house, not for +cooking, as that never by any chance could be done in his house, but for +warmth; but that, or any other fire, if he should have blown upon it +with his breath in lighting it, became at once _tapu_, and could be used +for no common or culinary purpose. Even to light a pipe at it would +subject any inferior person, or in many instances an equal, to a +terrible attack of the _tapu morbus_, besides being a slight or affront +to the dignity of the person himself. I have seen two or three young men +fairly wearing themselves out on a wet day and with bad apparatus +trying to make fire to cook with, by rubbing two sticks together, when +on a journey, and at the same time there was a roaring fire close at +hand at which several _rangatira_ and myself were warming ourselves, but +it was _tapu_, or sacred fire--one of the _rangatira_ had made it from +his own tinder-box, and blown upon it in lighting it, and as there was +not another tinder-box amongst us, fast we must, though hungry as +sharks, till common culinary fire could be obtained."[108] + + [107] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, p. 94. + + [108] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, p. 98. + +The head of a chief was always and at all times deemed most sacred, and +in consequence he might not even touch it with his own hand; if he +chanced to commit the sacrilege, he was obliged at once to apply his +fingers to his sacred nose and to snuff up the odour of sanctity which +they had abstracted, thus restoring the holy effluvium to the place from +which it had been taken.[109] For the same reason the cutting of a +chief's hair was a most difficult and delicate operation. While it +lasted neither the great man himself nor the barber who operated on him +was allowed to do anything or partake of any food except under the +restrictions imposed on all sacred or tabooed persons; to use the +scissors or the shell, with which the operation was performed, for any +other purpose or any other person would have been a terrible profanation +of sacred things, and would have rendered the rash sacrilegious wretch, +who had dared so to appropriate it, liable to the severest punishment. +The severed hair was collected and buried or hung up on a tree,[110] +probably to put it out of the way of common folk, who might have been +struck dead by contact with the holy locks. But apparently the dangers +incident to hair-cutting were by no means confined to chiefs, but +extended to any one who was bold enough to submit his head to the +barber's shears; for one of the early writers on the Maoris tells us +that "he who has had his hair cut is in the immediate charge of the +_Atua_; he is removed from the contact and society of his family and his +tribe; he dare not touch his food himself; it is put into his mouth by +another person; nor can he for some days resume his accustomed +occupations, or associate with his fellow-men."[111] The hair of the +first-born of a family in particular, on account of his extreme +sanctity, might be cut by nobody but a priest; and for many days after +the operation had been performed the priestly barber was in a state of +strict taboo. He could do nothing for himself, and might not go near +anybody. He might not touch food with his hands, and no less than three +persons were required to feed him. One of them prepared the food at a +safe distance, took it to a certain place, and retired; a second came +forward, picked up the victuals, carried them to another spot and left +them; finally, a third, venturing into the danger zone, actually brought +the food to the priest and put it into his mouth.[112] + + [109] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 87; R. Taylor, + _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 165. + + [110] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 87; E. + Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 104. + + [111] Richard A. Cruise, _Journal of a Ten Months' Residence in + New Zealand_ (London, 1823), pp. 283 _sq._ Compare J. Dumont + d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la recherche de la + Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), ii. 533. + + [112] Elsdon Best, "Maori Religion," _Report of the Twelfth + Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of + Science, held at Brisbane, 1909_, p. 463. + +The atmosphere of taboo or sanctity which thus surrounded Maori chiefs +and gentlemen not only imposed many troublesome and inconvenient +restraints on the men themselves, it was also frequently a source of +very real danger, loss, and annoyance to other people. For example, it +was a rule that a chief should not blow on a fire with his mouth, +because his breath being sacred would communicate its sanctity to the +fire, and if a slave or a common man afterwards cooked food at the fire +or merely took a brand from it, the chief's holiness would cause that +man's death.[113] Again, if the blood of a high chief flowed on +anything, though it were but a single drop, it rendered the thing sacred +to him, so that it could be used by nobody else. Thus it once happened +that a party of natives came in a fine new canoe to pay their respects +to an eminent chief; the great man stepped into the canoe, and in doing +so he chanced to strike a splinter into his foot, which bled. That +sufficed to consecrate the canoe to him. The owner at once leaped out, +drew the canoe ashore opposite to the chief's house and left it +there.[114] Again, a Maori gentleman, visiting a missionary, knocked +his head against a beam in the house, and his sacred blood was spilt. +The natives present thereupon told the missionary that in former times +his house would after such an accident have belonged to his noble +visitor.[115] Even the cast garments of a chief had acquired, by contact +with his holy body, so virulent a degree of sanctity that they would +kill anybody else who might happen in ignorance to find and wear them. +On a journey, when a chief found his blanket too heavy to carry, he has +been known to throw it very considerately down a precipice where nobody +would be likely to light on it, lest some future traveller should be +struck dead by appropriating the sacred garment. Once a chief's lost +tinder-box actually caused the death of several persons; for having +found it and used it to light their pipes, they literally died of fright +on learning the sacrilege which they had committed.[116] Such fatal +effects consequent on the discovery of a breach of taboo were not +uncommon among the Maoris. For instance, a woman once ate some peaches +which, though she did not know it, had been taken from a tabooed place. +As soon as she heard where the fruit had come from, the basket which she +was carrying dropped from her hands, and she exclaimed in agony that the +spirit (_atua_) of the chief whose sanctuary had thus been profaned +would kill her. That happened in the afternoon, and next day by twelve +o'clock she was dead.[117] Again, a slave, a strong man in the prime of +life, once found the remains of a chief's dinner beside the road, and +being hungry ate it up without asking any questions. No sooner, however, +did he hear to whom the food had belonged than he was seized with the +most extraordinary convulsions and cramps in the stomach, which never +ceased till he died about sundown the same day. The English eyewitness +who reports the case adds, that any European freethinker who should have +denied that the man was killed by the chief's taboo would have been +listened to by the Maoris with feelings of contempt for his ignorance +and inability to understand plain and direct evidence.[118] + + [113] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 165. + + [114] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 101; R. + Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 164 _sq._ + + [115] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 165. + + [116] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, pp. 164 _sq._ + + [117] W. Brown, _New Zealand and its Aborigines_ (London, 1845), + p. 76. + + [118] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. 95-97. + +In order that a thing should be consecrated or tabooed to the exclusive +use and possession of a chief, it was not necessary that his sacred +blood should flow on it, or that he should merely touch it; he had only +to call it his head, or his back-bone, or any other part of his body, +and at once the thing, by a legal fiction, became his and might be +appropriated by nobody else under pain of violating the taboo which the +chief had laid upon it. For example, when a chief desired to prevent a +piece of ground from being cultivated by any one but himself, he often +resorted to the expedient of calling it his back-bone; after that if any +man dared to set foot on the land so consecrated, the transgression was +equivalent to a declaration of war. In this simple and easy fashion a +chief might acquire anything that took his fancy from an axe or a canoe +to a landed estate, and the rightful owner of the property dared not +complain nor dispute the claim of his superior.[119] + + [119] E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New + Zealanders_, p. 111; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, pp. + 137 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 168. + +Nevertheless in daily life even ordinary people used the taboo to secure +their property or to acquire for themselves what had hitherto been +common to all. For example, if a man found a piece of drift timber, he +could make it his own by tying something to it or giving it a chop with +his axe; he thereby set his taboo on the log, and as a general rule the +taboo would be respected. Again, with a simple piece of flax he might +bar the door of his house or his store of food; the contents of the +house or store were thus rendered inviolable, nobody would meddle with +them.[120] + + [120] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui_, p. 171. + +It is easy to see that this form of taboo must have greatly contributed +to create and confirm respect for the rights of private property. The +most valuable articles might, we are told, under ordinary circumstances +be left to its protection in the absence of the owners for any length of +time.[121] Indeed so obvious and so useful is this function of taboo +that one well-informed writer supposes the original purpose of the +institution to have been no other than the preservation of private +property;[122] and another observer, after eulogising its beneficent +effects, declares that "it was undoubtedly the ordinance of a wise +legislator."[123] But to say this is greatly to overrate the wisdom and +foresight of primitive man in general and of the Polynesians in +particular; it implies a fundamental misconception of the real nature +and history of taboo. That curious institution was not the creation of a +prudent and sagacious legislator, who devised this system of checks and +restrictions for the purpose of curbing the passions of a savage race +and inducing them to submit to the salutary restraints of law and +morality. It was in its origin, I believe, simply a crude and barbarous +form of superstition, which, like many other superstitions, has +accidentally led to good results that were never contemplated by its +ignorant and foolish votaries. It is thus that in the long history of +mankind things which to a contemporary spectator might seem to be almost +unmitigated evils turn out in the end to be fraught with incalculable +good to humanity. This experience, often repeated, enables students of +the past to look forward, even in the darkest hours, with cheerful +confidence to the future. + + [121] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, p. 97. + + [122] _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori, p. 94. + + [123] E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 100, + "Ridiculous as this custom of the _tapu_ has appeared to some, + and as many of its applications really are, it was, + notwithstanding, a wholesome restraint, and, in many cases, + almost the only one that could have been imposed; the heavy + penalties attached to the violation of its laws serving in one + tribe, or in several not in actual hostility with each other, as + moral and legal commandments. It was undoubtedly the ordinance + of a wise legislator." Compare G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and + Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_, i. 330, "Doubtless this + law is the result of some wise regulation for the protection of + property and individuals, and it has in many things a beneficial + influence amongst a people who have no written or regularly + established code of laws of their own." To the same effect + another authority on the Maoris observes: "The most politic and + useful of all the superstitious institutions of the Maori people + is that which involves the rites of _tapu_. It has always seemed + to me that this institution, with its far-reaching + ramifications, must have been the conception of a very gifted + mind, for, as a governing factor, it is very superior to the + Hindu institution of caste. It must, moreover, have been + initiated during a period of civilisation, to which the + Polynesians have long been strangers, but with which at one + period of their history they were sufficiently familiar." See + Lieut.-Colonel Gudgeon, "The Tipua-Kura and other Manifestations + of the Spirit World," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. + xv. no. 57 (March 1906), p. 49. + +The particular superstition which lies at the root of taboo and has +incidentally exercised a beneficent influence by inspiring a respect for +law and morality appears to be a belief in the existence of ghosts and +their power to affect the fortunes of the living for good or evil. For +the ultimate sanction of the taboo, in other words, that which engaged +the people to observe its commandments, was a firm persuasion that any +breach of these commandments would surely and speedily be punished by an +_atua_ or ghost, who would afflict the sinner with a painful malady till +he died. From youth upwards the Maori was bred in the faith that the +souls of his dead ancestors, jealous of any infraction of the +traditionary rites, would commission some spirit of their kin to enter +into the transgressor's body and prey on a vital part. The visible signs +of this hidden and mysterious process they fancied to be the various +forms of disease. The mildest ailments were thought to be caused by the +spirits of those who had known the sufferer on earth, and who +accordingly were imagined to be more merciful and more reluctant to +injure an old friend and relation. On the other hand the most malignant +forms of disease were attributed to the spirits of dead infants, who +having never learned to love their living friends, would rend and devour +the bowels of their nearest kin without compunction. With these ideas as +to the origin of disease the Maoris naturally did not attempt to heal +the sick through the curative properties of herbs and other drugs; their +remedies consisted not in medicine but in exorcism: instead of a +physician they sent for a priest, who by his spells and incantations +undertook to drive the dangerous sprite from the body of the patient and +to appease the ancestral spirit, whose wrath was believed to be the +cause of all the mischief. If the deity proved recalcitrant and +obstinately declined to accept this notice to quit, they did not +hesitate to resort to the most threatening and outrageous language, +sometimes telling him that they would kill and eat him, and at others +that they would burn him to a cinder if he did not take himself off at +once and allow the patient to recover.[124] Curiously enough, the +spirit which preyed on the vitals of a sick man was supposed to assume +the form of a lizard; hence these animals, especially a beautiful green +species which the Maoris called _kakariki_, were regarded with fear and +horror by the natives.[125] Once when a Maori of Herculean thews and +sinews was inadvertently shown some green lizards preserved in a bottle +of spirits, his massive frame shrank back as from a mortal wound, and +his face betrayed signs of extreme horror. An aged chief in the room, on +learning what was the matter, cried out, "I shall die! I shall die!" and +crawled away on hands and knees; while the other man gallantly +interposed himself as a bulwark between the fugitive and the green gods +(_atuas_) in the bottle, shifting his position adroitly so as to screen +the chief till he was out of range of the deities.[126] An old man once +assured a missionary very seriously that in attending to a sick person +he had seen the god come out of the sufferer's mouth in the form of a +lizard, and that from the same moment the patient began to mend and was +soon restored to perfect health.[127] + + [124] E. Shortland, _The Southern Districts of New Zealand_, pp. + 30 _sq._, 294 _sq._; _id._, _Traditions and Superstitions of the + New Zealanders_, pp. 114 _sqq._; _id._, _Maori Religion and + Mythology_, 31 _sq._; W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, pp. + 141 _sq._ Most malignant and dangerous of all appear to have + been thought the spirits of abortions or still-born infants. See + Elsdon Best, "The Lore of the _Whare-Kohanga_," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, vol. xv. no. 57 (March 1906), pp. 12-15; + _Reise der Oesterreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde, + Anthropologischer Theil, Dritte Abtheilung, Ethnographie_, + bearbeitet von Dr. Fr. Müller (Vienna, 1868), pp. 59 _sq._ Even + more dangerous than the spirits of dead infants were supposed to + be the spirits of human germs, which the Maoris imagined to + exist in the menstrual fluid. See E. Shortland, _Traditions and + Superstitions of the New Zealanders_, pp. 115, 292; _id._, + _Maori Religion and Mythology_, pp. 107 _sq._ As to disease + inflicted by ancestral spirits (_atuas_) for breaches of taboo, + see further J. L. Nicholas, _Narrative of a Voyage to New + Zealand_ (London, 1817), i. 272 _sq._, ii. 176 _sq._; E. + Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 105, "The breaking of + the _tapu_, if the crime does not become known, is, they + believe, punished by the _Atua_, who inflicts disease upon the + criminal; if discovered, it is punished by him whom it regards, + and often becomes the cause of war." + + [125] Richard A. Cruise, _Journal of a Ten Months' Residence in + New Zealand_ (London, 1823), p. 320; J. Dumont d'Urville, + _Voyage autour du Monde et à la recherche de la Pérouse, + Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), ii. 517; W. Yate, _An + Account of New Zealand_, pp. 141 _sq._; E. Dieffenbach, _Travels + in New Zealand_, ii. 117; Elsdon Best, "Maori Medical Lore," + _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol. xiii. no. 4 (December + 1904), p. 228. As to the superstitious veneration of lizards + among the peoples of the Malay-Polynesian stock, see G. A. + Wilken, _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iv. 125 + _sqq._ + + [126] G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New + Zealand_, ii. 67. + + [127] W. Yate, _An Account of New Zealand_, p. 142. + + +§ 6. _Conclusion_ + +If now we attempt to sum up the effects which the belief in human +immortality exercised on the life of the Maoris we may perhaps conclude +that these effects were partly good and partly evil. On the one hand by +ascribing to the chiefs the special protection of the powerful spirits +of the dead, it invested the governing class with a degree of authority +to which on merely natural or rational grounds they could have laid no +claim; hence it tended to strengthen the respect for government and to +ensure the maintenance of law and order. Moreover, by lending a +supernatural sanction to the rights of private property among all +classes it further contributed to abolish one of the most fruitful +sources of discord and crime in the community and thereby to foster +economic progress, which cannot exist without some measure of peace and +security for life and possessions. These were great gains, and so far as +the faith in immortality helped to win them for the Maoris, it certainly +ameliorated their condition and furthered the cause of civilisation +among them. But on the other hand the belief in the essential malignancy +of the spirits of the dead and in their great power to harm the living +added a host of purely imaginary terrors to the real evils with which +man's existence on earth is naturally and inevitably encompassed: it +imposed a regular system of needless and vexatious restrictions on +social intercourse and the simplest acts of daily life; and it erected +an almost insuperable barrier to the growth of science, and particularly +of that beneficent branch of science which has for its object the +alleviation of human suffering, since by concentrating the whole +attention of the people on a false and absurd theory of supernatural +agency it diverted them from that fruitful investigation of natural +causes which alone can strengthen and extend man's control over matter. +This was a heavy toll to pay for the advantages incidental to a belief +in immortality; and if we were asked to strike a balance between the +good and the evil which that belief entailed on the Maoris, we might +well hesitate to say to which side the scales of judgment should +incline. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE TONGANS + + +§ 1. _The Tonga or Friendly Islands_ + +The Tonga or Friendly Islands form an archipelago of about a hundred +small islands situated in the South Pacific, between 18° and 22° South +latitude and between 173° and 176° East longitude. The archipelago falls +into three groups of islands, which lie roughly north and south of each +other. The southern is the Tonga group, the central is the Haabai or +Haapai group, and the northern is the Vavau group. In the southern group +the principal islands are Tongataboo and Eua; in the central group, +Namuka and Lifuka (Lefooga); in the northern group, Vavau. The largest +island of the archipelago, Tongataboo, is about twenty-two miles long by +eight miles wide; next to it in importance are Vavau and Eua, and there +are seven or eight other islands not less than five miles in length. The +rest are mere islets. Most of the islands are surrounded by dangerous +coral reefs, and though the soil is deep and very fertile, there is a +great lack of flowing water; running streams are almost unknown. Most of +the islands consist of coral and are very low; the highest point of +Tongataboo is only about sixty feet above the level of the sea.[1] +However, some of the islands are lofty and of volcanic formation. When +Captain Cook visited the islands in 1773 and 1777 there was apparently +only one active volcano in the archipelago; it was situated in the small +island of Tufoa, which lies to the west of Namuka. Cook saw the island +smoking at the distance of ten leagues, and was told by the natives that +it had never ceased smoking in their memory, nor had they any tradition +of its inactivity.[2] In the hundred and fifty years which have elapsed +since Cook's time volcanic action has greatly increased in the +archipelago. A considerable eruption took place at Tufoa in 1885: the +small but lofty island of Kao (5000 feet high) has repeatedly been in +eruption: the once fertile and populous island of Amargura, or +Funua-lai, in about 18° South latitude, was suddenly devastated in 1846 +or 1847 by a terrific eruption, which reduced it to a huge mass of lava +and burnt sand, without a leaf or blade of grass of any kind. Warned by +violent earthquakes, which preceded the explosion, the inhabitants +escaped in time to Vavau. The roar of the volcano was heard one hundred +and thirty miles off; and an American ship sailed through a shower of +ashes, rolling like great volumes of smoke, for forty miles. For months +afterwards the glare of the tremendous fires was visible night after +night in the island of Vavau, situated forty miles away.[3] Another +dreadful eruption occurred on the 24th of June 1853, in Niua Foöu, an +island about two hundred miles to the north-north-west of Funua-lai. The +entire island seems to be the circular ridge of an ancient and vast +volcano, of which the crater is occupied by a lake of clear calm water. +On the occasion in question the earth was rent in the centre of a native +village; the flames of a new volcano burst forth from the fissure, +belching a sea of molten lava, under which ten miles of country, once +covered with the richest verdure, have been encased in solid rock, +averaging from eight to fifteen feet in thickness. The lake boiled like +a cauldron, and long after the more powerful action of the volcano had +ceased, the waters of the lake were often rent by tongues of flame, +which shot up from them as well as from the clefts in the surrounding +precipices.[4] In the island of Late, lying to the west of Vavau, a new +volcano broke out with great violence in 1854; the roar of the volcano +was heard at Lifuka, fifty miles away; the immense pillar of smoke was +visible by day and the fire by night. The central portion of one side of +the mountain (about 2500 feet high) was completely blown out by the +explosion.[5] + + [1] Horatio Hale, _U.S. Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and + Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. 4 _sq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. (London, 1894) pp. 497, 499. As + to the scarcity of running water, see Captain James Cook, + _Voyages_ (London, 1809), iii. 206, v. 389. He was told that + there was a running stream on the high island of Kao. As to the + soil of Tongataboo, see Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage + to the Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1899), p. 280, "The soil + is everywhere prolific, and consists of a fine rich mould, upon + an average about fourteen or fifteen inches deep, free from + stones, except near the beach, where coral rocks appear above + the surface. Beneath this mould is a red loam four or five + inches thick; next is a very strong blue clay in small + quantities; and in some places has been found a black earth, + which emits a very fragrant smell resembling bergamot, but it + soon evaporates when exposed to the air." + + [2] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 277. For descriptions of + the volcano see W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, Second Edition + (London, 1818), i. 240 _sq._; and especially Thomas West, _Ten + Years in South-Eastern Polynesia_ (London, 1865), pp. 89 _sqq._ + Both these writers ascended the volcano. + + [3] Thomas West, _op. cit._ pp. 79 _sqq._; J. E. Erskine, + _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific_ + (London, 1853), p. 120; F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. + p. 497. + + [4] T. West, _op. cit._ pp. 82 _sqq._; George Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 4 _sq._ + + [5] T. West, _op. cit._ pp. 88 _sq._ + +But not only have new volcanoes appeared or long extinct volcanoes +resumed their activity within the last century in the existing islands, +new islands have been formed by volcanic action. One such island, +emitting volumes of fire, smoke, and steam, issued from the surface of +the sea, and was discovered by the missionary ship _John Wesley_ in +August 1857; its appearance had been heralded some years before by a +strange agitation of the sea and by fire and smoke ascending from the +water. This new volcanic island lies about midway between the two other +volcanic islands of Tufoa and Late.[6] A third new volcanic island seems +to have been formed to the south of Tufoa in 1886.[7] Another new island +was thrown up from the sea about the beginning of the twentieth century; +it was partly washed away again, but has again materially increased in +size.[8] It is noteworthy that the volcanoes, new or old, all occur in a +line running roughly north and south at a considerable distance to the +west of, but parallel to, the main body of the Tongan archipelago. They +clearly indicate the existence of submarine volcanic action on a great +scale. Even in the coralline islands traces of volcanic agency have come +to light in the shape of pumice-stones, which have been dug out of the +solid coral rock at considerable depths.[9] In the lofty island of Eua +an extensive dyke of basalt is found inland underlying the coral +formation.[10] + + [6] T. West, _op. cit._ pp. 92-93. + + [7] I infer this from the entry "Volcanic island, 1886," in Mr. + Guillemard's map of the Pacific Islands. He does not mention it + in the text (_Australasia_, ii. p. 497). + + [8] George Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 6. + + [9] T. West, _op. cit._ p. 94. + + [10] George Brown, _op. cit._ p. 4. + +These facts lend some countenance to the view that the whole archipelago +forms the summit or visible ridge of a long chain of submarine +volcanoes, and that the islands, even those of coralline formation, have +been raised to their present level by volcanic action.[11] That very +acute observer, Captain Cook, or one of the naturalists of the +expedition, noticed that in the highest parts of Tongataboo, which he +estimated roughly at a hundred feet above sea-level, he often met with +"the same coral rock, which is found at the shore, projecting above the +surface, and perforated and cut into all those inequalities which are +usually seen in rocks that lie within the wash of the tide."[12] Again, +on ascending the comparatively lofty island of Eua, Captain Cook +observes: "We were now about two or three hundred feet above the level +of the sea, and yet, even here, the coral was perforated into all the +holes and inequalities which usually diversify the surface of this +substance within the reach of the tide. Indeed, we found the same coral +till we began to approach the summits of the highest hills; and, it was +remarkable, that these were chiefly composed of a yellowish, soft, sandy +stone."[13] In the island of Vavau it was remarked by Captain Waldegrave +that the coral rock rises many feet above the present level of the sea, +and he adds: "The action of fire is visible on it, and we saw several +instances of its crystallisation."[14] + + [11] T. West, _op. cit._ 95. + + [12] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 344. + + [13] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 381. + + [14] Captain the Hon. W. Waldegrave, R.N., "Extracts from a + Private Journal," _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, + iii. (1833) p. 193. + +The view that even the coralline islands of the Tongan archipelago have +been elevated by volcanic agency is not necessarily inconsistent with +Darwin's theory that coral reefs are formed during periods of +subsidence, not of elevation;[15] for it is quite possible that, after +being raised ages ago by volcanic forces, these islands may be now +slowly subsiding, and that it has been during the period of subsidence +that they have become incrusted by coral reefs. Yet the occurrence of +coral rocks, bearing all the marks of marine action, at considerable +heights above the sea, appears indubitably to prove that such a general +subsidence has been in some places varied by at least a temporary +elevation. + + [15] Charles Darwin, _Journal of Researches, etc., during the + Voyage of the "Beagle"_ (London, 1912), pp. 471 _sqq._; Sir + Charles Lyell, _Principles of Geology_, Twelfth Edition (London, + 1875), ii. 602 _sqq._; T. H. Huxley, _Physiography_ (London, + 1881), pp. 256 _sqq._ + +In thus postulating elevation by volcanic action, as well as subsidence, +to explain the formation of the Tongan islands I am glad to have the +support of a good observer, the late Rev. Dr. George Brown, who spent +the best years of his life in the Pacific, where his experience both of +the larger and the smaller islands was varied and extensive. He writes: +"I have seen islands composed of true coralline limestone, the cliffs of +which rise so perpendicularly from the blue ocean that the natives have +to ascend and descend by ladders in going from the ocean to the top, or +vice versa. A large steamer can go so close to some of these cliffs that +she could be moored alongside of them in calm weather. It is not at all +improbable, I think, that in these islands we have the two factors in +the formation of islands, viz. subsidence, during which these immense +cliffs were formed, and subsequent upheaval. This is the only way, I +think, in which we can account for these perpendicular cliffs in the +midst of deep blue ocean."[16] + + [16] George Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), + pp. 13 _sq._ + +I have dwelt at what may seem undue length on the volcanic phenomena of +the Tonga islands because the occurrence of such phenomena in savage +lands has generally influenced the beliefs and customs of the natives, +quite apart from the possibility, which should always be borne in mind, +that man first obtained fire from an active volcano. But even if, as has +been suggested, the Tonga islands formed the starting-point from which +the Polynesian race spread over the islands of the Pacific,[17] it seems +very unlikely that the Polynesians first learned the use of fire when +they reached the Tongan archipelago. More probably they were +acquainted, not only with the use of fire, but with the mode of making +it long before they migrated from their original home in Southern Asia. +A people perfectly ignorant of that prime necessity could hardly have +made their way across such wide stretches of sea and land. But it is +quite possible that the myth which the Tongans, in common with many +other Polynesians, tell of the manner in which their ancestors procured +their first fire, was suggested to them by the spectacle of a volcano in +eruption. They say that the hero Maui Kijikiji, the Polynesian +Prometheus, first procured fire for men by descending into the bowels of +the earth and stealing it from his father, Maui Atalanga, who had kept +it there jealously concealed.[18] + + [17] John Crawfurd, _Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay + Language_ (London, 1852), _Preliminary Dissertation_, p. 253, + quoted by Thomas West, _Ten Years in South-Central Polynesia_, + pp. 248 _sqq._ But the more usual view is that the + starting-point of the dispersal of the Polynesian race in the + Pacific was Samoa. + + [18] Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_ (London, + 1855), pp. 134-137; Le P. Reiter, "Traditions Tonguiennes," + _Anthropos_, xii.-xiii. (1917-1918), pp. 1026-1040; E. E. + Collcott, "Legends from Tonga," _Folk-lore_, xxxii. (1921) pp. + 45-48. Miss Farmer probably obtained the story from the Rev. + John Thomas, who was a missionary in the islands for twenty-five + years (from 1826 to 1850). She acknowledges her obligations to + him for information on the religion of the natives (p. 125). For + the period of Mr. Thomas's residence in Tonga, see Miss Farmer's + book, p. 161. The story is told in closely similar forms in many + other islands of the Pacific. For some of the evidence see my + edition of Apollodorus, _The Library_, vol. ii. p. 331 _sqq._ + + +§ 2. _The Tonga Islanders, their Character, Mode of Life, and +Government_ + +Physically the Tonga islanders are fine specimens of the Polynesian race +and generally impress travellers very favourably. Captain Cook, the +first to observe them closely, describes them as very strong and well +made, some of them really handsome, and many of them with truly European +features and genuine Roman noses.[19] At a later date Commodore Wilkes, +the commander of the United States Exploring Expedition, speaks of them +as "some of the finest specimens of the human race that can well be +imagined, surpassing in symmetry and grace those of all the other groups +we had visited"; and farther on he says: "A larger proportion of +fine-looking people is seldom to be seen, in any portion of the globe; +they are a shade lighter than any of the other islanders; their +countenances are generally of the European cast; they are tall and well +made, and their muscles are well developed."[20] Still later, in his +account of the voyage of the _Challenger_, Lord George Campbell +expressed himself even more warmly: "There are no people in the world," +he says, "who strike one at first so much as these Friendly Islanders. +Their clear, light, copper-brown coloured skins, yellow and curly hair, +good-humoured, handsome faces, their _tout ensemble_, formed a novel and +splendid picture of the genus _homo_; and, as far as physique and +appearance go, they gave one certainly an impression of being a superior +race to ours."[21] A Catholic missionary observes that "the natives of +Tonga hardly differ from Europeans in stature, features, and colour; +they are a little sallower, which may be set down to the high +temperature of the climate. It is difficult to have a very fresh +complexion with thirty degrees of heat, Réaumur, as we have it during +four or five months of the year."[22] In appearance the Tonga islanders +closely resemble the Samoans, their neighbours on the north; some find +them a little lighter, but others somewhat darker in colour than the +Samoans.[23] According to the French explorer, Dumont d'Urville, who +passed about a month in Tongataboo in 1827, the Polynesian race in Tonga +exhibits less admixture with the swarthy Melanesian race than in Tahiti +and New Zealand, there being far fewer individuals of stunted stature, +flat noses, and frizzly hair among the Tongans than among the other +Polynesians.[24] Even among the Tongans the physical superiority of the +chiefs to the common people is said to be conspicuous; they are taller, +comelier, and lighter in colour than the lower orders. Some would +explain the difference by a difference in upbringing, noblemen being +more carefully nursed, better fed, and less exposed to the sun than +commoners;[25] but it is possible that they come of a different and +better stock. + + [19] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 401 _sq._ + + [20] Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring + Expedition_, New Edition (New York, 1851), iii. 10, 25. + + [21] Quoted by F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. p. 488. + + [22] Jérôme Grange, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, + xvii. (1845) p. 8. + + [23] Horatio Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_, pp. 10 _sq._; Charles Wilkes, + _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, iii. 25; + J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the + Western Pacific_, pp. 116, 155. The naturalist J. R. Forster + thought the Tongans darker than the Tahitians. See his + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_ (London, + 1778), p. 234. + + [24] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage de la corvette Astrolabe, + Histoire du Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1832) p. 229. + + [25] J. E. Erskine, _op. cit._ pp. 155 _sq._; Sarah S. Farmer, + _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, p. 140. + +Intellectually the Tongans are reported to "surpass all the other South +Sea islanders in their mental development, showing great skill in the +structure of their dwellings and the manufacture of their implements, +weapons, and dress."[26] They are bold navigators,[27] and Captain Cook +observes that "nothing can be a more demonstrative evidence of their +ingenuity than the construction and make of their canoes, which, in +point of neatness and workmanship, exceed everything of this kind we saw +in this sea."[28] However, the Tongans appear to have acquired much of +their skill in the art of building and rigging canoes through +intercourse with the Fijians, their neighbours to the west, who, though +their inferiors in seamanship and the spirit of marine adventure, +originally surpassed them in naval architecture.[29] Indeed we are told +that all the large Tongan canoes are built in Fiji, because the Tongan +islands do not furnish any timber fit for the purpose. Hence a number of +Tongans are constantly employed in the windward or eastern islands of +the Fiji group building these large canoes, a hundred feet or more in +length, a process which, it is said, lasts six or seven years.[30] The +debt which in this respect the Tongans owe to the Fijians was +necessarily unknown to Captain Cook, since he never reached the Fijian +islands and knew of them only by report, though he met and questioned a +few Fijians in Tongataboo.[31] + + [26] F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. pp. 498 _sq._ + + [27] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 264. + + [28] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 197. + + [29] W. Mariner, _The Tonga Islands_, ii. 263 _sqq._ + + [30] J. E. Erskine, _op. cit._ p. 132. + + [31] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 396 _sq._ + +When Captain Cook visited the Tonga islands he found the land almost +everywhere in a high state of cultivation. He says that "cultivated +roots and fruits being their principal support, this requires their +constant attention to agriculture, which they pursue very diligently, +and seem to have brought almost to as great perfection as circumstances +will permit."[32] The plants which they chiefly cultivated and which +furnished them with their staple foods were yams and plantains. These +were disposed in plantations enclosed by neat fences of reeds about six +feet high and intersected by good smooth roads or lanes, which were +shaded from the scorching sun by fruit-trees.[33] Walking on one of +these roads Cook tells us, "I thought I was transported into the most +fertile plains in Europe. There was not an inch of waste ground; the +roads occupied no more space than was absolutely necessary; the fences +did not take up above four inches each; and even this was not wholly +lost, for in many places were planted some useful trees or plants. It +was everywhere the same; change of place altered not the scene. Nature, +assisted by a little art, nowhere appears in more splendour than at this +isle."[34] Interspersed among these plantations irregularly were +bread-fruit trees and coco-nut palms, of which the palms in particular, +raising their tufted heads in air above the sea of perpetual verdure, +formed a pleasing ornament of the landscape.[35] There were no towns or +villages; most of the houses were built in the plantations, generally +surrounded by trees or ornamental shrubs, whose fragrancy perfumed the +air.[36] + + [32] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 411 _sq._ + + [33] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 184, 195, v. 274, 316, + 357, 416. + + [34] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 184. + + [35] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 274, 357. + + [36] _Id._ iii. 196. + +When Captain Cook surveyed this rich and beautiful country, the islands +were and had long been at peace, so that the natives were able to devote +themselves without distraction to the labour of tilling the soil and +providing in other ways for the necessities of life. Unhappily shortly +after his visit to the islands wars broke out among the inhabitants and +continued to rage more or less intermittently for many years. Even the +introduction of Christianity in the early part of the nineteenth +century, far from assuaging the strife, only added bitterness to it by +furnishing a fresh pretext for hostilities, in which apparently the +Christians were sometimes the aggressors with the connivance or even the +encouragement of the missionaries.[37] In consequence cultivation was +neglected and large portions of land were allowed to lie waste.[38] + + [37] This is affirmed by the Catholic missionary, Jérôme Grange + (_Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xvii. (1845) pp. 15 + _sqq._), and though he writes with a manifest prejudice against + his rivals the Protestant missionaries, his evidence is + confirmed by Commodore Wilkes, the commander of the United + States Exploring Expedition, who on his visit to Tongataboo + found the Christians and heathens about to go to war with each + other. He attempted to make peace between them, but in vain. The + heathen were ready to accept his overtures, but "it was evident + that King George and his advisers, and, indeed, the whole + Christian party, seemed to be desirous of continuing the war, + either to force the heathen to become Christians, or to carry it + on to extermination, which the number of their warriors made + them believe they had the power to effect. I felt, in addition, + that the missionaries were thwarting my exertions by permitting + warlike preparations during the pending of the negotiations." + See Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring + Expedition_, iii. 7 _sqq._ (my quotation is from p. 16). The + story is told from the point of view of the Protestant + (Wesleyan) missionaries by Miss S. S. Farmer, _Tonga and The + Friendly Islands_, pp. 293 _sqq._ + + [38] John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprise in the + South Seas_ (London, 1838), p. 264; Charles Wilkes, _op. cit._ + iii. 32 _sq._ + +Like all the Polynesians the natives of Tonga were ignorant of the +metals, and their only tools were made of stone, bone, shells, shark's +teeth, and rough fish-skins. They fashioned axes, or rather adzes, out +of a smooth black stone, which they procured from the volcanic island of +Tufoa; they used shells as knives; they constructed augers out of +shark's teeth, fixed on handles; and they made rasps of the rough skin +of a fish, fastened on flat pieces of wood. With such imperfect tools +they built their canoes and houses, reared the massive tombs of their +kings; and did all their other work.[39] The wonder is that with +implements so imperfect they could accomplish so much and raise +themselves to a comparatively high level among savages. + + [39] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 199, v. 414 _sq._ + Captain Cook says that the only piece of iron he found among the + Tongans was a small broad awl, which had been made of a nail. + But this nail they must have procured either from a former + navigator, perhaps Tasman, or from a wreck. + +A feature of the Tongan character in which the islanders evinced their +superiority to most of the Polynesians was their regard for women. In +most savage tribes which practise agriculture the labour of tilling the +fields falls in great measure on the female sex, but it was not so in +Tonga. There the women never tilled the ground nor did any hard work, +though they occupied themselves with the manufacture of bark-cloth, +mats, and other articles of domestic use. Natives of Fiji, Samoa, and +Hawaii, who resided in Tonga, used to remark on the easy lives led by +the Tongan women, and remonstrated with the men on the subject, saying +that as men underwent hardships and dangers in war and other masculine +pursuits, so women ought to be made to labour in the fields and to toil +for their living. But the Tongan men said that "it is not _gnale fafíne_ +(consistent with the feminine character) to let them do hard work; women +ought only to do what is feminine: who loves a masculine woman? besides, +men are stronger, and therefore it is but proper that they should do the +hard labour."[40] + + [40] W. Mariner, _The Tonga Islands_, ii. 287. Compare _id._ ii. + 124, note *; Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 410 _sq._ + +Further, it is to the credit of the Tongans that, unlike many other +Polynesians, they were not generally cannibals, and indeed for the most +part held in abhorrence the practice of eating human bodies. Still young +warriors occasionally devoured the corpses of their enemies in imitation +of the Fijians, imagining that in so doing they manifested a fierce, +warlike, and manly spirit. On one occasion, returning from such a +repast, they were shunned by every one, especially by the women, who +upbraided them, saying, "Away! you are a man-eater."[41] + + [41] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 194; compare _id._ i. + 317-320. + +The government of the Tongan islanders was eminently monarchical and +aristocratic. A strict subordination of ranks was established which has +been aptly compared to the feudal system. At the head of the social +edifice were two chiefs who bore some resemblance to the Emperor and the +Pope of mediaeval Europe, the one being the civil and military head of +the State, while the other embodied the supreme spiritual power. +Nominally the spiritual chief, called the Tooitonga, ranked above the +civil chief or king, who paid him formal homage; but, as usually happens +in such cases, the real government was in the hands of the secular +rather than of the religious monarch. The Tooitonga was acknowledged to +be descended from one of the chief gods; he is spoken of by Mariner, our +principal authority, as a divine chief of the highest rank, and he is +said to have enjoyed divine honours. The first-fruits of the year were +offered to him, and it was supposed that if this ceremony were +neglected, the vengeance of the gods would fall in a signal manner upon +the people. Yet he had no power or authority in matters pertaining to +the civil king.[42] The existence of such a double kingship, with a +corresponding distribution of temporal and spiritual functions, is not +uncommon in more advanced societies; its occurrence among a people so +comparatively low in the scale of culture as the Tongans is remarkable. + + [42] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 424 _sqq._; W. Mariner, + _Tonga Islands_, ii. 74 _sqq._, 132 _sqq._; J. Dumont d'Urville, + _Voyage de l'Astrolabe, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1832) + pp. 90 _sq._, "_Si tout était suivant l'ordre légal à + Tonga-Tabou, on verrait d'abord à la tête de la société le + toui-tonga qui est le véritable souverain nominal des îles + Tonga, et qui jouit même des honneurs divins_." + +Below the two great chiefs or kings were many subordinate chiefs, and +below them again the social ranks descended in a succession of sharply +marked gradations to the peasants, who tilled the ground, and whose +lives and property were entirely at the mercy of the chiefs.[43] Yet the +social system as a whole seems to have worked well and smoothly. "It +does not, indeed, appear," says Captain Cook, "that any of the most +civilised nations have ever exceeded this people, in the great order +observed on all occasions; in ready compliance with the commands of +their chiefs; and in the harmony that subsists throughout all ranks, and +unites them, as if they were all one man, informed with, and directed +by, the same principle."[44] According to the American ethnographer, +Horatio Hale, the mass of the people in the Tonga islands had no +political rights, and their condition in that respect was much inferior +to that of commoners in the Samoan islands, since in Tonga the +government was much stronger and better organized, as he puts it, for +the purpose of oppression. On the other hand, he admitted that +government in Tonga was milder than in Tahiti, and infinitely preferable +to the debasing despotism which prevailed in Hawaii or the Sandwich +Islands.[45] + + [43] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 424 _sq._, 429 _sq._; W. + Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 83 _sqq._ + + [44] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 426. + + [45] Horatio Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_, p. 32. + + +§ 3. _The Tongan Religion: its General Principles_ + +For our knowledge of the religion and the social condition of the +Tongans before they came under European influence, we are indebted +chiefly to an English sailor, William Mariner, who lived as a captive +among them for about four years, from 1806 to 1810.[46] His account of +the natives, carefully elicited from him and published by a medical +doctor, Mr. John Martin, M.D., is one of the most valuable descriptions +of a savage people which we possess. Mariner was a good observer and +endowed with an excellent memory, which enabled him to retain and record +his experiences after his return to England. He spoke the Tongan +language, and he was a special favourite of the two Tongan kings, named +Finow, who reigned successively in Tonga during his residence in the +islands. The kings befriended and protected him, so that he had the best +opportunities for becoming acquainted with the customs and beliefs of +the people. His observations have been confirmed from independent +sources, and we have every reason to regard them as trustworthy. So far +as we can judge, they are a simple record of facts, unbiassed by theory +or prejudice. In the following notice of the Tongan religion and +doctrine of the human soul I shall draw chiefly on the evidence of +Mariner. + + [46] Mariner was captured by the Tongans on December 1, 1806, + and he escaped from the islands in 1810, apparently in November, + but the exact date of his escape is not given. See W. Mariner, + _Tonga Islands_, i. 43, ii. 15 _sqq._, 68, 69. + +According to him, the religion of the Tonga islanders rests, or rather +used to rest, on the following notions.[47] + + [47] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 97 _sqq._ + +They believed that there are _hotooas_,[48] gods, or superior beings, +who have the power of dispensing good and evil to mankind, according to +their merit, but of whose origin the Tongans formed no idea, rather +supposing them to be eternal. + + [48] The word is commonly spelled _atua_ in the Polynesian + languages. See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_ (Wellington, N.Z. 1891), pp. 30 _sq._, who gives + _otua_ as the Tongan form. + +They believed that there are other _hotooas_ or gods, who are the souls +of all deceased nobles and _matabooles_, that is, the companions, +ministers, and counsellors of the chiefs, who form a sort of inferior +nobility.[49] The souls of all these dead men were held to possess a +power of dispensing good and evil to mankind like the power of the +superior gods, but in a lesser degree. + + [49] As to the _matabooles_ see W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. + 84 _sqq._ + +They believed that there are besides several _hotooa pow_, or +mischievous gods, who never dispense good, but only petty evils and +troubles, not as a punishment, but indiscriminately to anybody, from a +purely mischievous disposition. + +They believed that all these superior beings, although they may perhaps +have had a beginning, will have no end. + +They believed that the world also is of uncertain origin, having +coexisted with the gods. The sky, which they regard as solid, the +heavenly bodies, and the ocean were in being before the habitable earth. +The Tonga islands were drawn up out of the depth of the sea by the god +Tangaloa one day when he was fishing with a line and a hook. + +They believed that mankind, according to a partial tradition, came +originally from Bolotoo, the chief residence of the gods, a fabulous +island situated to the north-west of the Tongan archipelago. The first +men and women consisted of two brothers, with their wives and +attendants. They were commanded by the god Tangaloa to take up their +abode in the Tonga islands, but of their origin or creation the Tongans +professed to know nothing.[50] + + [50] According to a later account, "on Ata were born the first + men, three in number, formed from a worm bred by a rotten plant, + whose seed was brought by Tangaloa from heaven. These three were + afterwards provided by the Maui with wives from the Underworld." + See E. E. V. Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) p. 154. + +They believed that all human evil was inflicted by the gods upon mankind +on account of some neglect of religious duty, whether the neglect is the +fault of the sufferers or of the chief whom they serve. In like manner +the Tongans apparently referred all human good to the gods, regarding it +as a reward bestowed by the divine beings on men who punctually +discharged the offices of religion.[51] + + [51] So apparently we must interpret Mariner's brief statement + "and the contrary of good" (_Tonga Islands_, ii. 98). + +They believed that nobles had souls, which existed after death in +Bolotoo, not according to their moral merit, but according to their rank +in this world; these had power like that of the original gods, but less +in degree. The _matabooles_, or ministers of the nobles, also went after +death to Bolotoo, where they existed as _matabooles_, or ministers of +the gods, but they had not, like the gods and the souls of dead +noblemen, the power of inspiring the priests with superhuman knowledge. +Some thought that the _mooas_, who ranked next below the _matabooles_ in +the social hierarchy, also went after death to Bolotoo; but this was a +matter of great doubt. As for the _tooas_ or commoners, who formed the +lowest rung in the social ladder, they had either no souls at all or +only such as dissolved with the body after death, which consequently +ended their sentient existence. + +They believed that the human soul during life is not an essence distinct +from the body, but only the more ethereal part of the corporeal frame, +and that the moment after death it exists in Bolotoo with the form and +likeness of the body which it had on earth. + +They believed that the primitive gods and deceased nobles sometimes +appear visibly to mankind to warn or to afford comfort and advice; and +that the primitive gods also sometimes come into the living bodies of +lizards, porpoises, and a species of water snake, hence these animals +are much respected. When the gods thus entered into the bodies of +porpoises, it was for the sake of safeguarding canoes or for other +beneficent purposes. + +They believed that the two personages in the Tonga islands known by the +titles of Tooitonga and Veachi were descendants in a right line from two +chief gods, and that all respect and veneration are therefore due to +them. + +They believed that some persons are favoured with the inspiration of the +gods, and that while the inspiration lasts the god actually exists in +the body of the inspired person or priest, who is then capable of +prophesying. + +They believe that human merit or virtue consists chiefly in paying +respect to the gods, nobles, and aged persons; in defending one's +hereditary rights; in honour, justice, patriotism, friendship, meekness, +modesty, fidelity of married women, parental and filial love, +observance of all religious ceremonies, patience in suffering, +forbearance of temper, and so on. + +They believed that all rewards for virtue or punishments for vice happen +to men in this world only, and come immediately from the gods. + +They believed that several acts which civilised nations regard as crimes +are, under certain circumstances, matters of indifference. Such acts +included the taking of revenge on an enemy and the killing of a servant +who had given provocation, or indeed the killing of anybody else, always +provided that the victim were not a very superior chief or noble. +Further, among indifferent acts was reckoned rape, unless it were +committed on a married woman or on one whom the offender was bound to +respect on the score of her superior rank. Finally, the list of venial +offences included theft, unless the stolen object were consecrated +property; for in that case the action became sacrilege and was, as we +shall see presently, a very serious crime. + +They believed that omens are the direct intimations of the future +vouchsafed by the gods to men. "Charms or superstitious ceremonies to +bring evil upon any one are considered for the most part infallible, as +being generally effective means to dispose the gods to accord with the +curse or evil wish of the malevolent invoker; to perform these charms is +considered cowardly and unmanly, but does not constitute a crime."[52] +One such charm consisted in hiding on a grave (_fytoca_) some portion of +the wearing apparel of an inferior relation of the deceased. The person +whose garment was so hidden was believed to sicken and die. An equally +effectual way of working the charm and ensuring the death of the victim +was to bury the garment in the house consecrated to the tutelary god of +the family. But when a grave was made use of for the malignant purpose, +it was thought essential that the deceased should be of a rank superior +to that of the person against whom the charm was directed; otherwise it +was supposed that the charm would have no effect.[53] In either case the +fatal result was clearly held to be brought about by the power of the +ghost or of the god, who used the garment as an instrument for putting +the charm in operation. These charms or superstitious ceremonies are +what we should now call magical rites, and they were apparently supposed +to effect their purpose indirectly by constraining the gods to carry out +the malevolent intention of the magician. If I am right in so +interpreting them, we seem driven to conclude that in Tonga magic was +supposed to be ineffectual without the co-operation of the gods, +although its power to compel them was deemed for the most part +irresistible. Even so its assumed dependence on the consent, albeit the +reluctant consent, of the deities implies a certain decadence of magic +and a growing predominance of religion. Moreover, the moral reprehension +of such practices for the injury of enemies is another sign that among +the Tongans magic was being relegated to that position of a black art +which it generally occupies among more civilised peoples. Be that as it +may, certain it is that we hear extremely little about the practice of +magic among the Tongans. + + [52] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 101. + + [53] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 424, note *. + + +§ 4. _The Primary or Non-human Gods_ + +Such are, or rather used to be, the principal articles of the old Tongan +creed. We may now examine some of them a little more at large. But first +we may observe that on this showing the Tongans were an eminently +religious people. They traced all the good and ill in human affairs to +the direct intervention of the gods, who rewarded or punished mankind +for their deeds in this life, bestowing the reward or inflicting the +punishment in the present world and not deferring either to a distant +and more or less uncertain future in a world beyond the grave. Thus with +the Tongans the fear of the gods was a powerful incentive to lead a +virtuous life; morality was placed under the immediate guardianship of +the deities. It is true that according to their notions morality +consisted largely in the performance of religious ceremonies, but it was +by no means limited to a simple observance of the prescribed rites; for +we have seen that their conception of a virtuous life included +compliance with the dictates of justice, modesty, and friendship, the +fidelity of wives to their husbands, the mutual affection of parents and +children, patience in suffering, and other modes of conduct which we too +should not hesitate to rank among the virtues. + +When we consider the nature of the Tongan gods, we perceive that they +are sharply discriminated into two classes, namely, the primitive and +superior gods on the one side and the secondary and inferior gods on the +other side. The primitive and superior gods are those who have always +been gods and whose origin and beginning are unknown; the secondary and +inferior gods are the souls of dead men, who consequently have not +always been gods, because they were human beings before death elevated +them to the rank of deities. The distinction between these two classes +of gods is highly important, not merely for Tongan religion in +particular, but for the history of religion in general. For whatever we +may think of Euhemerism as a universal explanation of the gods, there +can be no doubt that in many lands the ranks of the celestial hierarchy +have been largely recruited by the ghosts of men of flesh and blood. But +there appears to be a general tendency to allow the origin of the human +gods to fall into the background and to confuse them with the true +original deities, who from the beginning have always been deities and +nothing else. The tendency may sometimes be accentuated by a deliberate +desire to cast a veil over the humble birth and modest beginning of +these now worshipful beings; but probably the obliteration of the +distinction between the two classes of divinities is usually a simple +result of oblivion and the lapse of time. Once a man is dead, his +figure, which bulked so large and so clear to his contemporaries, begins +to fade and melt away into something vague and indistinct, until, if he +was a person of no importance, he is totally forgotten; or, if he was +one whose actions or thoughts deeply influenced his fellows for good or +evil, his memory lingers in after generations, growing ever dimmer and +it may be looming ever larger through the long vista of the ages, as the +evening mist appears to magnify the orb of the descending sun. Thus +naturally and insensibly, as time goes on, our mortal nature fades or +brightens into the immortal and divine. + +As our subject is the belief in immortality and the worship of the dead, +we are not directly concerned with the original Tongan deities who were +believed never to have been men. But since their functions and worship +appear to have been in certain respects closely analogous to those of +the inferior deities, the souls of the dead, some notice of them may not +be out of place, if it helps to a fuller understanding of what we may +call the human gods. Besides, we must always bear in mind that some at +least of the so-called original gods may have been men, whose history +and humanity had been forgotten. We can hardly doubt that the celestial +hierarchy has often been recruited by the souls of the dead. + +The original and superior gods, Mariner tells us, were thought to be +rather numerous, perhaps about three hundred all told; but the names of +very few of them were known, and even those few were familiar only to +some of the chiefs and their ministers, the _matabooles_; "for it may +easily be supposed," says Mariner, "that, where no written records are +kept, only those (gods) whose attributes particularly concern the +affairs of this world should be much talked of; as to the rest, they +are, for the most part, merely tutelar gods to particular private +families, and having nothing in their history at all interesting, are +scarcely known to anybody else."[54] + + [54] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 104. + +Among these original and superior deities was Tali-y-Toobo, the patron +god of the civil king and his family. He was the god of war and was +consequently always invoked in time of war by the king's family; in time +of peace prayers were sometimes offered to him for the general good of +the nation as well as for the particular interest and welfare of the +royal house. He had no priest, unless it was the king himself, who was +occasionally inspired by him; but sometimes a whole reign would pass +without the king being once favoured with the divine afflatus.[55] + + [55] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 105. + +Another god was Tooi fooa Bolotoo, whose name means "Chief of all +Bolotoo." From this it might be supposed that he was the greatest god in +Bolotoo, the home of the gods and of the deified spirits of men; but in +fact he was regarded as inferior to the war god, and the natives could +give no explanation of his high-sounding title. He was the god of rank +in society, and as such he was often invoked by the heads of great +families on occasion of sickness or other trouble. He had several +priests, whom he occasionally inspired.[56] + + [56] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 105 _sq._ + +Another great god was Toobo Toty, whose name signifies "Toobo the +mariner." He was the god of voyages, and in that capacity was invoked by +chiefs or anybody else at sea; for his principal function was to +preserve canoes from accidents. Without being himself the god of wind, +he had great influence with that deity, and was thus enabled no doubt to +save many who were in peril on the great deep.[57] + + [57] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 106 _sq._ + +Another god was Alo Alo, whose name means "to fan." He was the god of +wind and weather, rain, harvest, and vegetation in general. When the +weather was seasonable, he was usually invoked about once a month to +induce him to keep on his good behaviour; but when the weather was +unseasonable, or the islands were swept by destructive storms of wind +and rain, the prayers to him were repeated daily. But he was not +supposed to wield the thunder and lightning, "of which, indeed," says +Mariner, "there is no god acknowledged among them, as this phenomenon is +never recollected to have done any mischief of consequence."[58] From +this it would appear that where no harm was done, the Tongans found it +needless to suppose the existence of a deity; they discovered the hand +of a god only in the working of evil; fear was the mainspring of their +religion. In boisterous weather at sea Alo Alo was not invoked; he had +then to make room for the superior god, Toobo Toty, the protector of +canoes, who with other sea gods always received the homage of +storm-tossed mariners. However, Alo Alo, the weather god, came to his +own when the yams were approaching maturity in the early part of +November. For then offerings of yams, coco-nuts, and other vegetable +products were offered to him in particular, as well as to all the other +gods in general, for the purpose of ensuring a continuation of +favourable weather and consequent fertility. The offering was +accompanied by prayers to Alo Alo and the other gods, beseeching them to +extend their bounty and make the land fruitful. Wrestling and boxing +matches formed part of the ceremony, which was repeated eight times at +intervals of ten days. The time for the rite was fixed by the priest of +Alo Alo, and a curious feature of the ceremony was the presence of a +girl of noble family, some seven or eight years old, who represented the +wife of Alo Alo and resided in his consecrated house during the eighty +days that the festal season lasted.[59] + + [58] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 108. + + [59] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 205-208; compare _id._ 7, + note *, 108. + +Another god named Móooi was believed to support the earth on his +prostrate body. In person he was bigger than any other of the gods; but +he never inspired anybody, and had no house dedicated to his service. +Indeed, it was supposed that this Atlas of the Pacific never budged from +his painful and burdensome post beneath the earth. Only when he felt +more than usually uneasy, he tried to turn himself about under his heavy +load; and the movement was felt as an earthquake by the Tongans, who +endeavoured to make him lie still by shouting and beating the ground +with sticks.[60] Similar attempts to stop an earthquake are common in +many parts of the world.[61] + + [60] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 112 _sq._ Compare Captain James + Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_ + (London, 1799), pp. 277 _sq._ Móooi is the Polynesian god or + hero whose name is usually spelled Maui. See Horatio Hale, + _United States Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and Philology_, + p. 23; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, + pp. 233 _sqq._ _s.v._ "Maui." + + [61] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, i. 197 _sqq._ + +Tangaloa was the god of artificers and the arts. He had several priests, +who in Mariner's time were all carpenters. It was he who was said to +have brought up the Tonga islands from the bottom of the sea at the end +of his fishing line;[62] though in some accounts of Tongan tradition +this feat is attributed to Maui.[63] The very hook on which he hauled +up the islands was said to be preserved in Tonga down to about thirty +years before Mariner's time. It was in the possession of the divine +chief Tooitonga; but unfortunately, his house catching fire, the basket +in which the precious hook was kept perished with its contents in the +flames. When Mariner asked Tooitonga what sort of hook it was, the chief +told him that it was made of tortoise-shell, strengthened with a piece +of whalebone, and that it measured six or seven inches from the curve to +the point where the line was attached, and an inch and a half between +the barb and the stem. Mariner objected that such a hook could hardly +have been strong enough to support the whole weight of the Tonga +islands; but the chief replied that it was a god's hook and therefore +could not break. The hole in the rock in which the divine hook caught on +the memorable occasion was shown down to Mariner's time in the island of +Hoonga. It was an aperture about two feet square.[64] + + [62] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 109, 114 _sq._; Horatio + Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and + Philology_, pp. 24 _sq._ + + [63] Jérôme Grange, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, + xvii. (1845) p. 11; Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United + States Exploring Expedition_, iii. 23; Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga + and the Friendly Islands_, p. 133. According to this last writer + it was only the low islands that were fished up by Maui; the + high islands were thrown down from the sky by the god Hikuleo. + + [64] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 272, ii. 114 _sq._ The + Catholic missionary Jérôme Grange was told that the hook in + question existed down to his time (1843), but that only the king + might see it, since it was certain death to anybody else to look + on it. See _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xvii. (1845) + p. 11. + + +§ 5. _The Temples of the Gods_ + +Some of the primitive gods had houses dedicated to them. These sacred +houses or temples, as we may call them, were built in the style of +ordinary dwellings; but generally more than ordinary care was taken both +in constructing them and in keeping them in good order, decorating their +enclosures with flowers, and so on. About twenty of the gods had houses +thus consecrated to them; some of them had five or six houses, some only +one or two. For example, Tali-y-Toobo, the patron god of the royal +family, had four houses dedicated to him in the island of Vavau, two in +the island of Lefooga (Lifuka), and two or three others of smaller +importance elsewhere.[65] Another patron god of the royal family, +called Alai Valoo, had a large consecrated enclosure in the island of +Ofoo; he had also at least one priest and was very frequently consulted +in behalf of sick persons.[66] + + [65] W. Mariner, _Tonga Island_, ii. 104 _sq._ + + [66] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii, 107 _sq._ + +To desecrate any of these holy houses or enclosures was a most serious +offence. When Mariner was in the islands it happened that two boys, who +had belonged to the crew of his ship, were detected in the act of +stealing a bale of bark-cloth from a consecrated house. If they had been +natives, they would instantly have been punished with death; but the +chiefs, taking into consideration the youth and inexperience of the +offenders, who were foreigners and ignorant of native customs, decided +that for that time the crime might be overlooked. Nevertheless, to +appease the anger of the god, to whom the house was consecrated, it was +deemed necessary to address him humbly on the subject. Accordingly his +priest, followed by chiefs and their ministers (_matabooles_), all +dressed in mats with leaves of the _ifi_ tree[67] round their necks in +token of humility and sorrow, went in solemn procession to the house; +they sat down before it, and the priest addressed the divinity to the +following purport: "Here you see the chiefs and _matabooles_ that have +come to thee, hoping that thou wilt be merciful: the boys are young, and +being foreigners, are not so well acquainted with our customs, and did +not reflect upon the greatness of the crime: we pray thee, therefore, +not to punish the people for the sins of these thoughtless youths: we +have spared them, and hope that thou wilt be merciful and spare us." The +priest then rose up, and they all retired in the same way they had come. +The chiefs, and particularly the king, severely reprimanded the boys, +endeavouring to impress on their minds the enormity of their offence, +and assuring them that they owed their lives only to their presumed +ignorance of the heinousness of the crime.[68] + + [67] The _ifi_ tree, of which the leaves were used by the + Tongans in many religious ceremonies, is a species of chestnut + (_Inocarpus edulis_) which grows in Indonesia, but is thought to + be a native of America. It is supposed that the Polynesians + brought the seeds of this tree with them into the Pacific, where + it is said to be a cultivated plant. See S. Percy Smith, + _Hawaiki, the Original Home of the Maori_ (Christchurch, etc., + New Zealand, 1910), p. 146. To wear a wreath of the leaves round + the neck, and to sit with the head bowed down, constituted the + strongest possible expression of humility and entreaty. See E. + E. V. Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) p. 159. + + [68] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 163 _sq._ + +Another case of sacrilege, which occurred in Mariner's time, was +attended with more tragic consequences. He tells us that consecrated +places might not be the scene of war, and that it would be highly +sacrilegious to attack an enemy or to spill his blood within their +confines. On one occasion, while Mariner was in the islands, four men, +pursued by their enemies, fled for refuge to a consecrated enclosure, +where they would have been perfectly safe. One of them was in the act of +scrambling over the reed fence, and had got a leg over it, when he was +overtaken by a foe, who struck him such a furious blow on the head that +he fell dead within the hallowed ground. Conscience-stricken, the slayer +fled to his canoe, followed by his men; and on arriving at the fortress +where the king was stationed he made a clean breast of his crime, +alleging in excuse that it had been committed in hot blood when he had +lost all self-command. The king immediately ordered kava to be taken to +the priest of his own tutelary god, that the divinity might be consulted +as to what atonement was proper to be made for so heinous a sacrilege. +Under the double inspiration of kava and the deity, the priest made +answer that it was necessary a child should be strangled to appease the +anger of the gods. The chiefs then held a consultation and determined to +sacrifice the child of a high chief named Toobo Toa. The child was about +two years old and had been born to him by a female attendant. On such +occasions the child of a male chief by a female attendant was always +chosen for the victim first, because, as a child of a chief, he was a +worthier victim, and second, because, as a child of a female attendant, +he was not himself a chief; for nobility being traced in the female line +only those children were reckoned chiefs whose mothers were +chieftainesses; the rank of the father, whether noble or not, did not +affect the rank of his offspring. On this occasion the father of the +child was present at the consultation and consented to the sacrifice. +The mother, fearing the decision, had concealed the child, but it was +found by one of the searchers, who took it up in his arms, while it +smiled with delight at being noticed. The mother tried to follow but +was held back; and on hearing her voice the child began to cry. But on +reaching the place of execution it was pleased and delighted with the +bandage that was put round its neck to strangle it, and looking up in +the face of the executioner it smiled again. "Such a sight," we are +told, "inspired pity in the breast of every one: but veneration and fear +of the gods was a sentiment superior to every other, and its destroyer +could not help exclaiming, as he put on the fatal bandage, _O iaaoé chi +vale!_ (poor little innocent!)." Two men then tightened the cord by +pulling at each end, and the struggles of the innocent victim were soon +over. The little body was next placed upon a sort of hand-barrow, +supported on the shoulders of four men, and carried in a procession of +priests, chiefs, and _matabooles_, all clothed as suppliants in mats and +with wreaths of green leaves round their necks. In this way it was +conveyed to various houses dedicated to different gods, before each of +which it was placed on the ground, all the company sitting behind it, +except one priest, who sat beside it and prayed aloud to the god that he +would be pleased to accept of this sacrifice as an atonement for the +heinous sacrilege committed, and that punishment might accordingly be +withheld from the people. When this had been done before all the +consecrated houses in the fortress, the body was given up to its +relations, to be buried in the usual manner.[69] + + [69] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 216-219. As to the rule + that nobility descended only in the female line, through + mothers, not through fathers, see _id._ ii. 84, 95 _sq._; J. + Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage de l'Astrolabe, Histoire du Voyage_, + iv. 239. + +The consecration of a house or a piece of ground to a god was denoted by +the native word _taboo_, the general meaning of which was prohibited or +forbidden.[70] It was firmly believed by the Tongans in former days that +if a man committed sacrilege or broke a taboo, his liver or some other +of his internal organs was liable to become enlarged and scirrhous, that +is, indurated or knotty; hence they often opened dead bodies out of +curiosity, to see whether the deceased had been sacrilegious in their +lifetime. As the Tongans are particularly subject to scirrhous tumours, +it seems probable that many innocent persons were thus posthumously +accused of sacrilege on the strength of a post-mortem examination into +the state of their livers.[71] Another disagreeable consequence of +breaking a taboo was a peculiar liability to be bitten by sharks, which +thus might be said to act as ministers of justice. As theft was included +under the general head of breach of taboo, a simple way of bringing the +crime home to the thief in case of doubt was to cause the accused to go +into the water where sharks were known to swarm; if they bit him, he was +guilty; if they did not, he was innocent.[72] + + [70] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 220. + + [71] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 194, note *; compare 434, + note *. + + [72] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 221. + + +§ 6. _Priests and their Inspiration_ + +Priests were known by the title of _fahe-gehe_, a term which means +"split off," "separate," or "distinct from," and was applied to a man +who has a peculiar sort of mind or soul, different from that of ordinary +men, which disposed some god occasionally to inspire him. Such +inspirations frequently happened, and when the fit was on him the priest +had the same reverence shown to him as if he were the god himself; at +these times even the king would retire to a respectful distance and sit +down among the rest of the spectators, because a god was believed to +exist at that moment in the priest and to speak from his mouth. But at +other times a priest had no other respect paid to him than was due to +him for his private rank in society. Priests generally belonged to the +lower order of chiefs or to their ministers, the _matabooles_; but +sometimes great chiefs were thus visited by the gods, and the king +himself has been inspired by Tali-y-Toobo, the chief of the gods.[73] +The profession of priest was generally hereditary, the eldest son of a +priest becoming, on his father's death, a priest of the same god who had +inspired his deceased parent. In their uninspired moments the priests +lived indiscriminately with the rest of the people and were treated with +no special deference.[74] + + [73] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 80 _sq._ + + [74] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 136-138. + +The ceremony of inspiration, during which the priest was believed to be +possessed by a god and to speak in his name, was regularly accompanied +or preceded by a feast, at which the drinking of kava formed the +principal feature. The priest himself presided at the feast and the +people gathered in a circle round him; or, to be more exact, the people +formed an ellipse, of which the priest occupied the place of honour at +one of the narrow ends; while opposite him, at the other extremity of +the ellipse, sat the man who was charged with the important duty of +brewing the kava. At such sessions the chiefs sat indiscriminately among +the people on account of the sacredness of the occasion, conceiving that +such humble demeanour must be acceptable to the gods. The actual process +of inspiration was often witnessed by Mariner, and is described by him +in his own words as follows: + +"As soon as they are all seated, the priest is considered as inspired, +the god being supposed to exist within him from that moment. He remains +for a considerable time in silence, with his hands clasped before him; +his eyes are cast down, and he rests perfectly still. During the time +that the victuals are being shared out, and the cava preparing, the +_matabooles_ sometimes begin to consult him; sometimes he answers them, +at other times not; in either case he remains with his eyes cast down. +Frequently he will not utter a word till the repast is finished, and the +cava too. When he speaks, he generally begins in a low and very altered +tone of voice, which gradually rises to nearly its natural pitch, though +sometimes a little above it. All that he says is supposed to be the +declaration of the god, and he accordingly speaks in the first person as +if he were the god. All this is done generally without any apparent +inward emotion or outward agitation; but on some occasions his +countenance becomes fierce, and, as it were, inflamed, and his whole +frame agitated with inward feeling; he is seized with an universal +trembling; the perspiration breaks out on his forehead, and his lips, +turning black, are convulsed; at length, tears start in floods from his +eyes, his breast heaves with great emotion, and his utterance is choked. +These symptoms gradually subside. Before this paroxysm comes on, and +after it is over, he often eats as much as four hungry men, under other +circumstances, could devour. The fit being now gone off, he remains for +some time calm, and then takes up a club that is placed by him for the +purpose, turns it over and regards it attentively; he then looks up +earnestly, now to the right, now to the left, and now again at the club; +afterwards he looks up again, and about him in like manner, and then +again fixes his eyes upon his club, and so on, for several times: at +length he suddenly raises the club, and, after a moment's pause, strikes +the ground, or the adjacent part of the house, with considerable force: +immediately the god leaves him, and he rises up and retires to the back +of the ring among the people."[75] + + [75] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 99-101. Compare E. E. V. + Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of the Polynesian + Society_, xxx. (1921) pp. 155-157. + + +§ 7. _The Worship of the Gods, Prayers, and Sacrifices_ + +The worship offered to the gods consisted as usual of prayers and +sacrifices. Prayers were put up to them, sometimes in the fields, and +sometimes at their consecrated houses. On ordinary occasions a simple +offering consisted of a small piece of kava root deposited before a +god's house.[76] But in the great emergencies of life the favour of the +gods was sued with more precious offerings. When the younger daughter of +Finow, a girl of six or seven years, was sick to death, the dying +princess was carried from her father's house into the sacred enclosure +of Tali-y-Toobo, the patron god of the kings, and there she remained for +a fortnight. Almost every morning a hog was killed, dressed, and +presented before the god's house to induce him to spare the life of the +princess. At the same time prayers were addressed to the deity for the +recovery of the patient; but as this particular god had no priest, the +prayers were offered by a minister (_mataboole_), sometimes by two or +three in succession, and they were repeated five, six, or seven times a +day. Their general purport was as follows: "Here thou seest assembled +Finow and his chiefs, and the principal ministers (_matabooles_) of thy +favoured land; thou seest them humbled before thee. We pray thee not to +be merciless, but to spare the life of the woman for the sake of her +father, who has always been attentive to every religious ceremony. But +if thy anger is justly excited by some crime or misdemeanour committed +by any other of us who are here assembled, we entreat thee to inflict on +the guilty one the punishment which he merits, and not to let loose thy +vengeance on one who was born but as yesterday. For our own parts, why +do we wish to live but for the sake of Finow? But if his family is +afflicted, we are all afflicted, innocent as well as guilty. How canst +thou be merciless? Have regard for Finow and spare the life of his +daughter." When despite of prayers and the sacrifices of pigs, the girl +grew daily worse instead of better, she was removed to many other +consecrated enclosures of other gods, one after the other, where the +like fond prayers and fruitless offerings were presented in the vain +hope of staving off the approach of death.[77] + + [76] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 224. + + [77] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 350-360. + +But more precious sacrifices than the blood of hogs were often laid at +the feet of the angry gods. When a relation of a superior rank was ill, +it was a very common practice for one or more of his or her inferior +kinsfolk to have a little finger, or a joint of a finger, cut off as a +sacrifice to induce the offended deity to spare the sick man or woman. +So common was the custom in the old days that there was scarcely a +person living in the Tonga islands who had not thus lost one or both of +his little fingers, or a considerable portion of both. It does not +appear that the operation was very painful. Mariner witnessed more than +once little children quarrelling for the honour of having it performed +on them. The finger was laid flat upon a block of wood: a knife, axe, or +sharp stone was placed with the edge on the joint to be severed, and a +powerful blow with a hammer or heavy stone effected the amputation. +Sometimes an affectionate relative would perform the operation on his or +her own hand. John Williams questioned a girl of eighteen who had hacked +off her own little finger with a sharp shell to induce the gods to spare +her sick mother. Generally a joint was taken off at a time; but some +persons had smaller portions amputated to admit of the operation being +often repeated in case they had many superior relations, who might be +sick and require the sacrifice. When they had no more joints which they +could conveniently spare, they rubbed the stumps of the mutilated +fingers till the blood streamed from the wounds; then they would hold up +the bleeding hands in hope of softening the heart of the angry god.[78] +Captain Cook understood that the operation was performed for the benefit +of the sufferers themselves to heal them in sickness,[79] and the same +view was apparently taken by the French navigator Labillardière,[80] but +in this they were probably mistaken; neither of them had an accurate +knowledge of the language, and they may easily have misunderstood their +informants. Perhaps the only person in the islands who was exempt from +the necessity of occasionally submitting to the painful sacrifice was +the divine chief Tooitonga, who, as he ranked above everybody, even +above the king, could have no superior relation for whom to amputate a +finger-joint. Certainly we know that Tooitonga had not, like the rest of +his countrymen, to undergo the painful operations of tattooing and +circumcision; if he desired to be tattooed or circumcised, he was +obliged to go to other islands, particularly to Samoa, for the +purpose.[81] Perhaps, though this is not mentioned by our authorities, +it would have been deemed impious to shed his sacred blood in his native +land. + + [78] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 438 _sq._, ii. 210-212; + Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific + Ocean_, pp. 239, 278; John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary + Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, pp. 470 _sq._; Jérôme + Grange, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xvii. (1845) + pp. 12, 26; Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, + p. 128. + + [79] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 204, v. 421 _sq._ + However, in a footnote to the latter passage Captain Cook gives + the correct explanation of the custom on the authority of + Captain King: "It is common for the inferior people to cut off a + joint of their little finger, on account of the sickness of the + chiefs to whom they belong." + + [80] Labillardière, _Relation du Voyage à la recherche de la + Pérouse_ (Paris, 1800), ii. 151. + + [81] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 79, 268. + +But sacrifices to the gods for the recovery of the sick were not limited +to the amputation of finger-joints. Not uncommonly children were +strangled for this purpose.[82] Thus when Finow the king was grievously +sick and seemed likely to die, the prince, his son, and a young chief +went out to procure one of the king's own children by a female +attendant to sacrifice it as a vicarious offering to the gods, that +their anger might be appeased and the health of its father restored. +They found the child sleeping in its mother's lap in a neighbouring +house; they took it away by force, and retiring with it behind an +adjacent burial-ground (_fytoca_) they strangled it with a band of +bark-cloth. Then they carried it before two consecrated houses and a +grave, at each place gabbling a short but appropriate prayer to the god, +that he would intercede with the other gods in behalf of the dying king, +and would accept of this sacrifice as an atonement for the sick man's +crimes.[83] When, not long afterwards, the divine chief Tooitonga, in +spite of his divinity, fell sick and seemed like to die, one or other of +his young relations had a little finger cut off every day, as a +propitiatory offering to the gods for the sins of the saintly sufferer. +But these sacrifices remaining fruitless, recourse was had to greater. +Three or four children were strangled at different times, and prayers +were offered up by the priests at the consecrated houses and +burial-grounds (_fytocas_) but all in vain. The gods remained deaf to +the prayers of the priests; their hearts were not touched by the cutting +off of fingers or the strangling of children; and the illness of the +sacred chief grew every day more alarming. As a last resort and +desperate remedy, the emaciated body of the dying man was carried into +the kitchen, the people imagining that such an act of humility, +performed on behalf of the highest dignitary of the Tonga islands, would +surely move the deities to compassion and induce them to spare a life so +precious to his subjects.[84] The same curious remedy had shortly before +been resorted to for the benefit of the dying or dead king, Finow the +First: his body was carried into the kitchen of the sacred chief, the +Tooitonga, and there placed over the hole in the ground where the fire +was lighted to cook victuals: "this was thought to be acceptable to the +gods, as being a mark of extreme humiliation, that the great chief of +all the Hapai islands and Vavaoo, should be laid where the meanest class +of mankind, the cooks, were accustomed to operate."[85] + + [82] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 208 _sq._ + + [83] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 366. + + [84] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 438 _sq._; compare _id._ + ii. 214. + + [85] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 367 _sq._ + +The custom of strangling the relations of a sick chief as a vicarious +sacrifice to appease the anger of the deity and ensure the recovery of +the patient was found in vogue by the first missionaries to Tonga before +the arrival of Mariner. When King Moom[=o]oe lay very sick and his death +was hourly expected, one of his sons sent for a younger brother under +pretence of wishing to cut off his little fingers as a sacrifice to save +the life of their dying father. The young man came, whereupon his elder +brother had him seized, strangled, and buried within a few yards of the +house where the missionaries were living. Afterwards the fratricide came +and mourned over his murdered brother by sitting on the grave with his +elbows on his knees and covering his face with his hands. In this +posture he remained for a long time in silence, and then departed very +thoughtful. His motive for thus mourning over the brother whom he had +done to death is not mentioned by the missionaries and was probably not +known to them. We may conjecture that it was not so much remorse for his +crime as fear of his brother's ghost, who otherwise might have haunted +him.[86] Morality, or at all events a semblance of it, has often been +thus reinforced by superstitious terrors. + + [86] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 238-240. + +In recording this incident the missionaries make use of an expression +which seems to set the strangling of human beings for the recovery of +sick relations in a somewhat different light. They say that "the prince +of darkness has impressed the idea on them, that the strength of the +person strangled will be transferred into the sick, and recover +him."[87] On this theory the sacrifice acts, so to say, mechanically +without the intervention of a deity; the life of the victim is +transfused into the body of the patient as a sort of tonic which +strengthens and revives him. Such a rite is therefore magical rather +than religious; it depends for its efficacy on natural causes, and not +on the pity and help of the gods. Yet the missionaries, who record this +explanation of the custom, elsewhere implicitly accept the religious +interpretation of such rites as vicarious sacrifices; for they say that +among the superstitious notions of the natives concerning spirits was +one that "by strangling some relations of the chief when he is sick, the +deity will be appeased, and he (that is, the sick chief) will +recover."[88] Perhaps both explanations, the religious and the magical, +were assigned by the Tongans: consistency of thought is as little +characteristic of savage as of civilised man: provided he attains his +ends, he recks little of the road by which he reaches them. An English +sailor named Ambler, who had resided for thirteen months in Tonga before +the arrival of the missionaries, told them, "that when a great chief lay +sick they often strangled their women, to the number of three or four at +a time."[89] Such a sacrifice is more likely to have been religious than +magical; we may suppose that the victims were rather offered to the gods +as substitutes for the chief than killed to recruit his failing strength +by an infusion of their health and vigour. A chief would probably have +disdained the idea of drawing fresh energy from the bodies of women, +though he might be ready enough to believe that the gods would consent +to accept their life as a proxy for his own. It is true that elsewhere, +notably in Uganda, human beings have been killed to prolong the life of +the king by directly transferring their strength to him;[90] but in such +cases it would seem that the victims have invariably been men and not +women. + + [87] Captain James Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 240. + + [88] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, p. 257. + + [89] Captain James Wilson, _op. cit._, p. 278. This Ambler was a + man of very indifferent, not to say infamous, character, but he + rendered the missionaries considerable service by instructing + them in the Tongan language, which he spoke fluently. See + Captain James Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 98, 244 _sq._ + + [90] See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Third Edition, ii. 219 _sqq._ + + +§ 8. _The Doctrine of the Soul and its Destiny after Death_ + +Thus far we have dealt with the primary or superior gods, who were +believed to have been always gods, and about whose origin nothing was +known. We now pass to a consideration of the secondary or inferior gods, +whose origin was perfectly well known, since they were all of them the +souls of dead chiefs or nobles, of whom some had died or been killed in +recent years. But before we take up the subject of their worship, it +will be well to say a few words on the Tongan doctrine of the human +soul, since these secondary deities were avowedly neither more nor less +than human souls raised to a higher power by death. + +The Tongans, in their native state, before the advent of Europeans, did +not conceive of the soul as a purely immaterial essence, that being a +conception too refined for the thought of a savage. They imagined it to +be the finer or more aeriform part of the body which leaves it suddenly +at the moment of death, and which may be thought to stand in the same +relation to the body as the perfume of a flower to its solid substance. +They had no proper word to express this fine ethereal part of man; for +the word _loto_, though it might sometimes be used for that purpose, yet +rather means a man's disposition, inclination, passion, or sentiment. +The soul was supposed to exist throughout the whole of the body, but to +be particularly present in the heart, the pulsation of which they +regarded as the strength and power of the soul. They did not clearly +distinguish between the life and the soul, but said that the right +auricle of the heart was the seat of life. They took the liver to be the +seat of courage, and professed to have remarked, on opening dead bodies, +that the largest livers belonged to the bravest men, in which +observation they were careful to make allowance for the enlargement of +livers consequent on disease.[91] + + [91] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 127 _sq._ + +They acknowledged that the _tooas_ or lower order of people had minds or +souls; but they firmly believed that these vulgar souls died with their +bodies and consequently had no future existence. In this aristocratic +opinion the generality of the commoners acquiesced, though some were +vain enough to think that they had souls like their betters, and that +they would live hereafter in Bolotoo. But the orthodox Tongan doctrine +restricted immortality to chiefs and their ministers (the _matabooles_); +at most, by a stretch of charity, it extended the privilege to the +_mooas_ or third estate; but it held out no hope of salvation to +_tooas_, who formed the fourth and lowest rank of society.[92] + + [92] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 419, ii. 99, 128 _sq._ + +Mariner's account, which I have followed, of the sharp distinction which +the Tongans drew between the immortality of chiefs and the mortality of +common people is confirmed by the testimony of other and independent +observers. According to Captain Cook, while the souls of the chiefs went +immediately after death to the island of Boolootoo (Bolotoo), the souls +of the lower sort of people underwent a sort of transmigration or were +eaten by a bird called _loata_, which walked upon their graves for that +purpose.[93] The first missionaries, who landed in Tongataboo in 1797, +report that the natives "believe the immortality of the soul, which at +death, they say, is immediately conveyed in a very large fast-sailing +canoe to a distant country called Doobludha, which they describe as +resembling the Mahometan paradise. They call the god of this region of +pleasure Higgolayo, and esteem him as the greatest and most powerful of +all others, the rest being no better than servants to him. This +doctrine, however, is wholly confined to the chiefs, for the _tooas_ (or +lower order) can give no account whatever; as they reckon the enjoyments +of Doobludha above their capacity, so they seem never to think of what +may become of them after they have served the purposes of this +life."[94] One of these first missionaries was a certain George Veeson, +who had been a bricklayer before he undertook to convert the heathen to +Christianity. Wearying, however, of missionary work, he deserted his +brethren and betook himself to the heathen, among whom he lived as one +of them, adopting the native garb, marrying native women, and eagerly +fighting in the wars of the natives among themselves. In this way he +acquired a considerable knowledge of the Tongan language and customs, of +which he made some use in the account of his experiences which he +published anonymously after his return to England. Speaking of Tongan +ideas concerning the immortality of the soul he says that he heard the +chiefs speak much of Bulotu (Bolotoo). "Into this region, however, they +believed none were admitted but themselves. The Tuas, or lower class, +having no hope of sharing such bliss, seldom speculate upon a futurity, +which to them appears a subject lost in shadows, clouds, and +darkness."[95] The missionaries reported to Commodore Wilkes that the +spirits of all chiefs were supposed to go to Bolotoo, while the souls of +poor people remained in this world to feed upon ants and lizards.[96] +With regard to the fate of the soul after death, the Tongans universally +and positively believed in the existence of a great island, lying at a +considerable distance to the north-west, which they considered to be the +abode of their gods and of the souls of their dead nobles and their +ministers (the _matabooles_). This island they supposed to be much +larger than all their own islands put together, and to be well stocked +with all kinds of useful and ornamental plants, always in a high state +of perfection, and always bearing the richest fruits and the most +beautiful flowers according to their respective natures; they thought +that when these fruits or flowers were plucked, others immediately took +their place, and that the whole atmosphere was filled with the most +delightful fragrance that the imagination can conceive, exhaled from +these immortal plants. The island, too, was well stocked with the most +beautiful birds, of all imaginable kinds, as well as with abundance of +hogs; and all of these creatures were immortal, except when they were +killed to provide food for the gods. But the moment a hog or a bird was +killed, another live hog or bird came into existence to supply its +place, just as happened with the fruits and flowers; and this, so far as +they could ascertain, was the only way in which plants and animals were +propagated in Bolotoo. So far away was the happy island supposed to be +that it was dangerous for living men to attempt to sail thither in +their canoes; indeed, except by the express permission of the gods, they +could not find the island, however near they might come to it. They +tell, however, of a Tongan canoe which, returning from Fiji, was driven +by stress of weather to Bolotoo. The crew knew not the place, and being +in want of provisions and seeing the country to abound in all sorts of +fruits, they landed and proceeded to pluck some bread-fruit. But to +their unspeakable astonishment they could no more lay hold of the fruit +than if it were a shadow; they walked through the trunks of the trees +and passed through the substance of the houses without feeling any shock +or resistance. At length they saw some of the gods, who passed through +the men's bodies as if they were empty space. These gods recommended +them to go away immediately, as they had no proper food for them, and +they promised them a fair wind and a speedy passage. So the men put to +sea, and sailing with the utmost speed they arrived at Samoa, where they +stayed two or three days. Thence, again sailing very fast, they returned +to Tonga, where in the course of a few days they all died, not as a +punishment for having been at Bolotoo, but as a natural consequence, the +air of that place, as it were, infecting mortal bodies with speedy +death. The gods who dwell in Bolotoo have no canoes, not requiring them; +for if they wish to be anywhere, there they are the moment the wish is +felt.[97] + + [93] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 423. + + [94] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 278 _sq._ + + [95] Quoted by Miss Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly + Islands_, p. 131. As to Veeson, see _id._ pp. 78, 85 _sqq._ The + title of his book is given (p. 87) as _Authentic Narrative of a + Four Years' Residence in Tongataboo_ (London: Longman & Co., + 1815). I have not seen the book. The man's name is given as + Vason by (Sir) Basil Thomson in his _Diversions of a Prime + Minister_ (Edinburgh and London, 1894), pp. 326, 327, 329, 331; + but his real name seems to have been George Veeson. See Captain + James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, + pp. 6, 230. + + [96] Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring + Expedition_, iii. 22. + + [97] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 101-103. + +It is said that in order to people Bolotoo the god Hikuleo used to carry +off the first-born sons of chiefs and other great men, whom he +transported to the island of the gods. To such lengths did he go in this +system of abduction that men on earth grew very uneasy. Their ranks +became thinner and thinner. How was all this to end? At last the other +gods were moved to compassion. The two gods Tangaloa and Maui laid hold +of brother Hikuleo, passed a strong chain round his waist and between +his legs, and then taking the chain by the ends they fastened one of +them to the sky and the other to the earth. Thus trussed up, the deity +still made many attempts to snatch away first-born sons; but all his +efforts were thwarted and baffled by the chain, for no sooner did he +dart out in one direction, than the chain pulled him back in another. +According to another, or the same story, the excursions of the deity +were further limited by the length of his tail, the end of which was +tethered to the cave in which he resided; and though the tail was long +and allowed him a good deal of rope, do what he would, he could not +break bounds or obtain more than a very partial view of what was going +on in the rest of the world.[98] + + [98] Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, pp. 132 + _sq._ As to Hikuleo and his long tail, see also Charles Wilkes, + _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, iii. 23, + "Hikuleo is the god of spirits, and is the third in order of + time; he dwells in a cave in the island. Bulotu is most + remarkable for a long tail, which prevents him from going + farther from the cave in which he resides than its length will + admit of." Here the god Hikuleo appears to be confused with the + island of Bulotu (Bulotoo) in which he resided. Tradition wavers + on the question whether Hikuleo was a god or goddess, "but the + general suffrage seems in favour of the female sex." See E. E. + V. Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) pp. 152, 153. + +In this curious story we may perhaps detect a tradition of a time when +among the Tongans, as among the Semites, religion or superstition +demanded the sacrifice of all first-born sons, a barbarous custom which +has been practised by not a few peoples in various parts of the +earth.[99] + + [99] As to a custom of putting the first-born to death, see _The + Dying God_, pp. 178 _sqq._; and for other reported instances of + the custom, see Mrs. James Smith, _The Booandik Tribe of South + Australia_ (Adelaide, 1880), pp. 7 _sq._; C. E. Fox, "Social + Organisation in San Cristoval, Solomon Islands," _Journal of the + R. Anthropological Institute_, xlix. (1919) p. 100; E. O. + Martin, _The Gods of India_ (London and Toronto, 1914), p. 215; + N. W. Thomas, _Anthropological Report on the Ibo-speaking + peoples of Nigeria_, Part i. (London, 1913) p. 12. Compare E. + Westermarck, _Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_ + (London, 1906), i. 458 _sqq._ + +The human soul after its separation from the body at death was termed a +_hotooa_ or _atua_, that is, a god or spirit, and was believed to exist +in the shape of the body and to have the same propensities as in life, +but to be corrected by a more enlightened understanding, by which it +readily distinguished good from evil, truth from falsehood, and right +from wrong. The souls dwelt for ever in the happy regions of Bolotoo, +where they bore the same names as in life and held the same rank among +themselves as they had held during their mortal existence. But their lot +in Bolotoo was in no way affected by the good or evil which they had +done on earth; for the Tongans did not believe in a future state of +retribution for deeds done in the body; they thought that the gods +punished crime in this present world, without waiting to redress the +balance of justice in the world to come. As many of the nobles who +passed at death to Bolotoo had been warlike and turbulent in their life, +it might naturally be anticipated that they should continue to wage war +on each other in the land beyond the grave; but that was not so, for by +a merciful dispensation their understandings were so much enlightened, +or their tempers so much improved, by their residence in Bolotoo, that +any differences they might have between themselves, or with the +primitive gods, they adjusted by temperate discussion without resort to +violence; though people in Tonga sometimes heard an echo and caught a +glimpse of these high debates in the rumble of thunder and the flash of +lightning.[100] In the blissful abode of Bolotoo the souls of chiefs and +nobles lived for ever, being not subject to a second death, and there +they feasted upon all the favourite productions of their native country, +which grew also abundantly in the happy island.[101] + + [100] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 110 _sq._, 130, 131, 139, + 140. + + [101] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 423. + +A less cheerful picture, however, of the state of souls in the other +world was painted for Commodore Wilkes by the missionaries who furnished +him with information on the native religion of the Tongans. According to +them, the souls were forced to become the servants, or rather slaves, of +the long-tailed deity Hikuleo, whose commands they had no choice but to +execute. His house and all things in it were even constructed of the +souls of the dead; and he went so far as to make fences out of them and +bars to his gates, an indignity which must have been deeply resented by +the proud spirits of kings and nobles.[102] How this gloomy picture of +the fate of souls in Bolotoo is to be reconciled with the bright +descriptions of it which I have drawn from the pages of Mariner and +Cook, it is not easy to say. Apparently we must acquiesce in the +discrepancy. That savages should entertain inconsistent views on the +life after death need not surprise us, when we remember how little +accurate information even civilised peoples possess on that momentous +subject. + + [102] Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring + Expedition_, iii. 23. The writer here speaks of Bulotu, where he + should have said Hikuleo. See above, p. 89, note^1. + + +§ 9. _The Souls of the Dead as Gods_ + +We have seen that according to Mariner, our best authority on Tongan +religion, the souls of dead nobles ranked as gods, possessing all the +powers and attributes of the primary or original deities, though in an +inferior degree.[103] Thus, like the primary gods, they had the power of +returning to Tonga to inspire priests, relations, or other people.[104] +For example, the son of Finow, the King, used to be inspired by the +spirit of Toogoo Ahoo, a former king of Tonga, who had been assassinated +with the connivance of his successor, Finow. One day Mariner asked this +young chief how he felt when he was visited by the spirit of the +murdered monarch. The chief replied that he could not well describe his +feelings, but the best he could say of it was, that he felt himself all +over in a glow of heat and quite restless and uncomfortable; he did not +feel his personal identity, as it were, but seemed to have a mind +differing from his own natural mind, his thoughts wandering upon strange +and unusual topics, though he remained perfectly sensible of surrounding +objects. When Mariner asked him how he knew it was the spirit of Toogoo +Ahoo who possessed him, the chief answered impatiently, "There's a fool! +How can I tell you how I knew it? I felt and knew it was so by a kind of +consciousness; my mind told me that it was Toogoo Ahoo." Similarly Finow +himself, the father of this young man, used occasionally to be inspired +by the ghost of Moomooi, a former king of Tonga.[105] + + [103] W. Mariner, _Tongan Islands_, ii. 97, 99, 103, 109 _sq._ + See above, pp. 64 _sq._, 66. + + [104] W. Mariner, ii. 130 _sq._; compare _id._ pp. 99, 103 + _sq._, 109 _sq._ + + [105] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 104 _sq._ + +Again, the souls of dead nobles, like gods, had the power of appearing +in dreams and visions to their relatives and others to admonish and warn +them. It was thought, for example, that Finow the king was occasionally +visited by a deceased son of his; the ghost did not appear, but +announced his presence by whistling. Mariner once heard this whistling +when he was with the king and some chiefs in a house at night; it was +dark, and the sound appeared to come from the loft of the house. In +Mariner's opinion the sound was produced by some trick of Finow's, but +the natives believed it to be the voice of a spirit.[106] Once more, +when Finow the king was himself dead, a noble lady who mourned his death +and generally slept on his grave, communicated to his widow a dream +which she had dreamed several nights at the graveyard. She said that in +her dream the late king appeared to her, and, with a countenance full of +sorrow, asked why there yet remained so many evil-designing persons in +the islands; for he declared that, since he had been at Bolotoo, he had +been disturbed by the plots of wicked men conspiring against his son; +therefore was he come to warn her of the danger. Finally, he bade her +set in order the pebbles on his grave, and pay every attention to his +burial-ground. With that he vanished.[107] In such dreams of the +reappearance of the recent dead we may discover one source of the belief +in the survival of the soul after death. + + [106] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 110, 130 _sq._ + + [107] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 423 _sq._ + +But the gods appeared to mankind to warn, comfort, and advise, not only +in their own divine form but also in the form of animals. Thus the +primitive gods, according to Mariner, sometimes entered into the living +bodies of lizards, porpoises, and a species of water snake. Hence these +creatures were much respected. The reason why gods entered into +porpoises was to take care of canoes. This power of assuming the form of +living animals, says Mariner, belonged only to the original gods, and +not to the deified souls of chiefs.[108] In thus denying that the +spirits of the dead were supposed sometimes to revisit the earth in +animal shapes Mariner was perhaps mistaken, for a different view on the +subject was apparently taken at a later time by Miss Farmer, who had +access to good sources of information. She writes as follows: "Bulotu +(Bolotoo) was peopled with the spirits of departed chiefs and great +persons of both sexes; and it was to these chiefly that worship was paid +and that sacrifices were offered. These spirits in Bulotu were supposed +to act as intercessors with the supreme gods, who were too highly +exalted to be approached by men except in this way. The spirits were in +the habit of revisiting earth. They would come in birds, or in fish as +their shrines. The tropic-bird, king-fisher, and sea-gull, the sea-eel, +shark, whale, and many other animals were considered sacred, because +they were favourite shrines of these spirit-gods. The heathen never +killed any of these creatures; and if, in sailing, they chanced to find +themselves in the neighbourhood of a whale, they would offer scented oil +or kava to him. To some among the natives the cuttle-fish and the lizard +were gods; while others would lay offerings at the foot of certain +trees, with the idea of their being inhabited by spirits. A rainbow or a +shooting star would also command worship."[109] + + [108] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 99, 131. + + [109] Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, pp. 126 + _sq._ + +This account seems to imply that the spirits which took the form of +these animals, birds, and fish were believed to be the souls of the dead +returning from the spirit world to revisit their old homes on earth. But +even if we suppose that herein the writer was mistaken, and that, as +Mariner affirmed, only the original and superior gods were deemed +capable of incarnation in animal shape, the account is still valuable +and interesting because it calls attention to a side of Tongan religion +on which our principal authority, Mariner, is almost silent. That side +comprises the worship of natural objects, and especially of animals, +birds, and fish, regarded as embodiments of spirits, whether gods or +ghosts. This worship of nature, and particularly of animated nature, was +highly developed among the Samoans; it would be natural, therefore, to +find the same system in vogue among their neighbours and near kinsmen +the Tongans, though our authorities on Tongan religion say little about +it. The system may with some appearance of probability be regarded as a +relic of a former practice of totemism.[110] + + [110] See below, pp. 182 _sqq._, 200 _sqq._ + +In recent years a considerable amount of evidence bearing on the subject +has been collected by Mr. E. E. V. Collocot. He distinguishes the +national Tongan gods from the gods of tribes, clans, and small groups +of allied households; such a group of households, it appears, formed the +ordinary social unit. Indeed, he tells us that there was nothing to +prevent a man from setting up a tutelary deity of his own, if he were so +disposed; he might adopt almost any object for the religious reverence +of his household and himself. Thus there was "a gradation in the divine +hierarchy from gods of populous tribes down to deities the private +possession of a very few."[111] Further, Mr. Collocot found that most of +the gods had sacred animals or other natural objects associated with +them,[112] and that the worshippers were generally forbidden to eat the +sacred animals of their gods. He concludes that "in the period of which +we have information totemism has given way to a more highly developed +polytheism, but there are indications that the development was by way of +totemism."[113] Among the facts which appear to support this conclusion +we may note the following. + + [111] E. E. V. Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of + the Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) pp. 154 _sq._, 159. + + [112] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 160, 161. + + [113] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 159 _sq._ + +There was a great god called Boolotoo Katoa, that is, "the whole of +Boolotoo (Bolotoo)," who had the dog for his sacred animal; while the +deity was being worshipped, a dog lay at the side of the priest. This +god had his principal shrine at Boha in the eastern part of Tongataboo: +the district was of old the centre of government and the residence of +the Tooitonga.[114] Another god, whose name was the King of the tribe or +clan of Fonua (_Tui-Haafakafonua_), had for his sacred animal a lizard, +and for the convenience of his departure, and presumably arrival, a tree +or post was always provided for him to crawl along. A handy post or +tree-stump was a regular part of his temple furnishings.[115] Another +god, whose name signifies "Proud Boastfulness of the Season" +(_Mofuta-ae-ta'u_), had for his sacred animal a great sea-eel, which +dwelt in an opening of the reef opposite the village. This deity used to +take it very ill if anybody appeared on the beach near his abode wearing +a turban or whitened with lime; and should a man rashly disregard the +feelings of the divine eel in these respects, it was believed that the +deity would carry him off to his hole in the rock.[116] Another god, +named Haele-feke, used to manifest himself in the form of an octopus +(_feke_). Whenever an octopus appeared in a certain pool, it was at once +recognised as the god, and the priestess immediately went and awaited +him at the shrine, which seems to have been a small raised platform. +Thither the people presently resorted, bringing bunches of coco-nuts and +coco-nut leaves and earth. The priestess thereupon spoke as in the +person of the octopus, and apparently imitated the creature, presumably +by sprawling in the ungainly manner of an octopus. The worshippers of +this deity abstained from eating the flesh of the octopus, and even from +approaching a place where other people were eating it. If any of them +transgressed the taboo, he was afflicted with complete baldness. Should +any of the worshippers find a dead octopus, they buried it with all due +ceremony in Teekiu, their principal village.[117] The rail bird +(_kalae_) was worshipped by some people, who used to tie bunches of the +birds together and carry them about with them when they travelled; and +the priest had a bunch of the sacred birds tattooed as a badge on his +throat.[118] The clan Fainga'a had for its sacred animal the mullet; and +it is said that young mullets were tabooed to the men of the clan.[119] +A family group in Haapai had the owl for their sacred creature; if an +owl hooted near a house in the afternoon, it was a sign that there was a +pregnant woman in the household.[120] The god of Uiha in Haapai was the +Eel-in-the-Open-Sea (_Toke-i-Moana_); as usual, the worshippers might +not eat the flesh of eels or approach a place where an eel was being +cooked.[121] The clan Falefa worshipped two goddesses, Jiji and +Fainga'a, whose sacred creature was the heron. Jiji was supposed to be +incarnate in the dark-coloured heron, and Fainga'a in the light-coloured +heron. When a pair of herons, one dark and the other light-coloured, +were seen flying together, people said that it was the two goddesses +Jiji and Fainga'a.[122] In the island of Tofua there was a clan called +the King of Tofua (_Tui Tofua_), which had the shark for its god; +members of the clan might not eat the flesh of sharks, because they +believed themselves to be related to the fish; they said that long ago +some of the clansmen leaped from a canoe into the sea and were turned +into sharks.[123] Another god who appeared in the form of a shark was +Taufa of the Sea (_Taufa-tahi_); but in another aspect he was a god of +the land (_Taufa-uta_) and a notable protector of gardens. To secure his +aid the husbandman had only to plait a coco-nut leaf in the likeness of +a shark and to hang it up in his plantation; a garden thus protected was +under a taboo which no one would dare to violate. A Christian, who +ventured to thrust his hand in mockery into the maw of the sham shark, +had both his arms afterwards bitten off by a real shark.[124] Other gods +were recognised in the shape of flying-foxes, shell-fish, and little +blue and green lizards.[125] We hear of two Tongan gods who had black +volcanic pebbles for their sacred objects,[126] and of one whose shrine +was the tree called _fehi_, the hard wood of which was commonly used for +making spears and canoes.[127] The gods of Niua Fo'ou, one of the most +distant islands of the Tongan group, were three in number, to wit, the +octopus, pig's liver, and a large lump of coral. The worshippers of the +two former deities might not eat the divine octopus and the divine pig's +liver.[128] Christianity itself appears not to have wholly extinguished +the reverence of the natives for the sacred animals of their clans. A +much-respected native minister of the Methodist Church informed Mr. +Collocot that to this day he gets a headache if he eats the sacred +animal of his clan, though other people may partake of the creature, not +only with impunity, but with relish.[129] + + [114] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 162. + + [115] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 227. + + [116] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 227 _sq._ + + [117] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 231 _sq._ + + [118] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 161, 233. + + [119] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 234. + + [120] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 234. + + [121] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 234 _sq._ + + [122] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 232. + + [123] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 238 _sq._ + + [124] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 229. + + [125] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 230, 231, 233. + + [126] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ pp. 230, 233. + + [127] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 232. + + [128] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 239. + + [129] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 160. + +Thus the worship of natural objects, and especially of animals, fish, +and birds, presents a close analogy to the Samoan system, as we shall +see presently;[130] and it is not without significance that tradition +points to Samoa as the original home from which the ancestors of the +Tongans migrated to their present abode.[131] On the question of the +nature of the divine beings who presented themselves to their +worshippers in the form of animals, the evidence collected by Mr. +Collocot seems to confirm the statement of Mariner, that only the +primary or non-human gods were believed capable of thus becoming +incarnate; at least Mr. Collocot gives no hint that the worshipful +creatures were supposed to be tenanted by the souls of the human dead; +in other words, there is nothing to show that the Tongan worship of +animals was based on a theory of transmigration. + + [130] See below, pp. 154 _sq._ + + [131] E. E. V. Collocot, _op. cit._ p. 239. + +The statement of Miss Farmer, which I have quoted, that among the +Tongans the souls of the dead were the principal object of worship and +received the most sacrifices, is interesting and not improbable, though +it is not confirmed by Mariner. It may indeed, perhaps, be laid down as +a general principle that the worship of the dead tends constantly to +encroach on the worship of the high gods, who are pushed ever farther +into the background by the advent of their younger rivals. It is natural +enough that this should be so. The affection which we feel for virtue, +the reverence and awe inspired by great talents and powerful characters, +persist long after the objects of our love and admiration have passed +away from earth, and we now render to their memories the homage which we +paid, or perhaps grudged, to the men themselves in their lifetime. For +us they seem still to exist; with their features, their characteristic +turns of thought and speech still fresh in our memories, we can hardly +bring ourselves to believe that they have utterly ceased to be, that +nothing of them remains but the lifeless dust which we have committed to +the earth. The heart still clings fondly to the hope, if not to the +belief, that somewhere beyond our ken the loved and lost ones are joined +to the kindred spirits who have gone before in that unknown land, where, +in due time, we shall meet them again. And as with affection, so with +reverence and fear; they also are powerful incentives to this +instinctive belief in the continued existence of the dead. The busy +brain that explored the heights and depths of this mysterious +universe--the glowing imagination that conjured up visions of beauty +born, as we fondly think, for immortality--the aspiring soul and +vaulting ambition that founded or overturned empires and shook the +world--are they now no more than a few mouldering bones or a handful of +ashes under their marble monuments? The mind of most men revolts from a +conclusion so derogatory to what they deem the dignity of human nature; +and so to satisfy at once the promptings of the imagination and the +impulse of the heart, men gradually elevate their dead to the rank of +saints and heroes, who in course of time may easily pass by an almost +insensible transition to the supreme place of deities. It is thus that, +almost as far back as we can trace the gropings of the human mind, man +has been perpetually creating gods in his own likeness. + +In a pantheon thus constantly recruited by the accession of dead men, +the recruits tend to swamp the old deities by sheer force of numbers; +for whereas the muster-roll of the original gods is fixed and +unchangeable, the newcomers form a great host which is not only +innumerable but perpetually on the increase, for who can reckon up the +tale of the departed or set bounds to the ravages of death? Indeed, +where the deification of the dead is carried to its logical limit, a new +god is born for every man that dies; though in Tonga against such an +extreme expansion of the spiritual hierarchy, and a constant +overcrowding of Bolotoo, a solid barrier was interposed by the Tongan +doctrine which opened the gates of paradise only to noblemen.[132] + + [132] We have seen (p. 70) that according to Mariner the number + of the original gods was about three hundred; but as to the + deified noblemen he merely says that "of these there must be a + vast number" (_Tonga Islands_, ii. 109). In his "Notes on Tongan + Religion" (_Journal of the Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) p. + 159) Mr. E. E. V. Collocot remarks: "The number of the gods, + moreover, was liable to constant augmentation by the deification + of the illustrious or well-beloved dead." As a notable instance + he cites the case of a certain chief named Fakailoatonga, a + native of Vavau, who subdued or overran a large part of + Tongataboo. He was a leper, but for a long time did not know the + true nature of his malady. When he learned the truth, he in + disgust buried himself alive, and after his death he was + elevated to the godhead. But in this deification, if Mariner is + right, there was nothing exceptional; as a chief he became a god + after death in the course of nature. + + +§ 10. _Temples and Tombs: Megalithic Monuments_ + +On the whole it seems reasonable to conclude that in Tonga the +distinction between the original superhuman deities and the new human +gods tended to be obliterated in the minds of the people. More and more, +we may suppose, the deified spirits of dead men usurped the functions +and assimilated themselves to the character of the ancient divinities. +Yet between these two classes of worshipful beings Mariner draws an +important distinction which we must not overlook. He says that these new +human gods, these souls of deified nobles, "have no houses dedicated to +them, but the proper places to invoke them are their graves, which are +considered sacred, and are therefore as much respected as consecrated +houses."[133] If this distinction is well founded, the consecrated house +or temple, as we may call it, of an original god was quite different +from the grave at which a new god, that is, a dead man or woman, was +worshipped. But in spite of the high authority of Mariner it seems +doubtful whether the distinction which he makes between the temples of +the old gods and the tombs of the new ones was always recognised in +practice, and whether the two were not apt to be confounded in the minds +even of the natives. The temples of the gods, as we have seen, did not +differ in shape and structure from the houses of men, and similar +houses, as we shall see, were also built on the graves of kings and +chiefs and even of common people. What was easier than to confuse the +two classes of spirit-houses, the houses of gods and the houses of dead +kings or chiefs, especially when the memory of these potentates had +grown dim and their human personality had been forgotten? Certainly +European observers have sometimes been in doubt as to whether places to +which the natives paid religious reverence were temples or graves. In +view of this ambiguity I propose to examine some of the descriptions +which have been given by eye-witnesses of the sacred structures and +enclosure which might be interpreted either as temples or tombs. The +question has a double interest and importance, first, in its bearing on +the theory, enunciated by Herbert Spencer, that temples are commonly, if +not universally, derived from tombs,[134] and gods from dead men; and +secondly, in its bearing on the question of the origin and meaning of +megalithic monuments; for not a few of the tombs of Tongan kings and +sacred chiefs are constructed in part of very large stones. + + [133] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 110 + + [134] Herbert Spencer, _Principles of Sociology_, vol. i + (London, 1904) pp. 249 _sqq._ + +I will begin with the evidence of Captain Cook, an excellent observer +and faithful witness. He paid two visits to the Tonga islands, a short +one in 1773, and a longer one of between two and three months in 1777. +Speaking of his first visit to Tongataboo in 1773, he writes as follows: + +"After sitting here some time, and distributing some presents to those +about us, we signified our desire to see the country. The chief +immediately took the hint, and conducted us along a lane that led to an +open green, on the one side of which was a house of worship built on a +mount that had been raised by the hand of man, about sixteen or eighteen +feet above the common level. It had an oblong figure, and was inclosed +by a wall or parapet of stone, about three feet in height. From this +wall the mount rose with a gentle slope, and was covered with a green +turf. On the top of it stood the house, which had the same figure as the +mount, about twenty feet in length, and fourteen or sixteen broad. As +soon as we came before the place, every one seated himself on the green, +about fifty or sixty yards from the front of the house. Presently came +three elderly men; who seated themselves between us and it, and began a +speech, which I understood to be a prayer, it being wholly directed to +the house. This lasted about ten minutes; and then the priests, for such +I took them to be, came and sat down along with us, when we made them +presents of such things as were about us. Having then made signs to them +that we wanted to view the premises, my friend Attago immediately got +up, and going with us, without showing the least backwardness, gave us +full liberty to examine every part of it. + +"In the front were two stone steps leading to the top of the wall; from +this the ascent to the house was easy, round which was a fine gravel +walk. The house was built, in all respects, like to their common +dwelling-houses; that is, with posts and rafters; and covered with palm +thatch. The eaves came down within about three feet of the ground, which +space was filled up with strong matting made of palm leaves, as a wall. +The floor of the house was laid with fine gravel; except in the middle, +where there was an oblong square of blue pebbles, raised about six +inches higher than the floor. At one corner of the house stood an image +rudely carved in wood, and on one side lay another; each about two feet +in length. I, who had no intention to offend either them or their gods, +did not so much as touch them, but asked Attago, as well as I could, if +they were _Eatuas_, or gods. Whether he understood me or no, I cannot +say; but he immediately turned them over and over, in as rough a manner +as he would have done any other log of wood, which convinced me that +they were not there as representatives of the Divinity. I was curious to +know if the dead were interred there, and asked Attago several questions +relative thereto; but I was not sure that he understood me; at least I +did not understand the answers he made, well enough to satisfy my +inquiries. For the reader must know, that at our first coming among +these people, we hardly could understand a word they said. Even my +Otaheitean youth, and the man on board the _Adventure_, were equally at +a loss: but more of this by and by. Before we quitted the house we +thought it necessary to make an offering at the altar. Accordingly we +laid down upon the blue pebbles, some medals, nails, and several other +things; which we had no sooner done than my friend Attago took them up, +and put them in his pocket. The stones with which the walls were made +that inclosed this mount, were some of them nine or ten feet by four, +and about six inches thick. It is difficult to conceive how they can cut +such stones out of the coral rocks. + +"This mount stood in a kind of grove open only on the side which fronted +the high road, and the green on which the people were seated. At this +green or open place, was a junction of five roads, two or three of which +appeared to be very public ones. The groves were composed of several +sorts of trees. Among others was the _Etoa_ tree, as it is called at +Otaheite, of which are made clubs, etc., and a kind of low palm, which +is very common in the northern parts of New Holland. + +"After we had done examining this place of worship, which in their +language is called _a-fiat-tou-ca_, we desired to return."[135] + + [135] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 182-184. + +A little farther on, still speaking of his first visit to Tonga, Captain +Cook observes: "So little do we know of their religion, that I hardly +dare mention it. The buildings called _afiatoucas_, before mentioned, +are undoubtedly set apart for this purpose. Some of our gentlemen were +of opinion, that they were merely burying-places. I can only say, from +my own knowledge, that they are places to which particular persons +directed set speeches, which I understood to be prayers, as hath been +already related. Joining my opinion with that of others, I was inclined +to think that they are set apart to be both temples and burying-places, +as at Otaheite, or even in Europe. But I have no idea of the images +being idols; not only from what I saw myself, but from Mr. Wales's +informing me that they set one of them up, for him and others to shoot +at."[136] + + [136] Captain James Cook, _op. cit._ iii. 206. + +Thus Captain Cook and his party were divided in opinion as to whether +the house on the mound, within its walled enclosure built of great +stones, was a temple or a tomb. Captain Cook himself called it simply a +"house of worship" and a "place of worship," but he inclined to the view +that it was both a temple and a burying-place, and in this opinion he +was probably right. The native name which he applied to it, _afiatouca_, +means a burial-place; for it is doubtless equivalent to _fytoca_, a word +which Mariner explains to mean "a burying-place, including the grave, +the mount in which it is sunk, and a sort of shed over it."[137] +Moreover, the oblong square of blue pebbles, which Captain Cook observed +on the floor of the house on the mound, and which he regarded as the +altar, speaks also in favour of the house being a tomb; for Mariner has +described how the mourners brought white and black pebbles to the house +which stood over the grave of King Finow, and how they "strewed the +inside of the house with the white ones, and also the outside about the +_fytoca_, as a decoration to it: the black pebbles they strewed only +upon those white ones, which covered the ground directly over the body, +to about the length and breadth of a man, in the form of a very +eccentric ellipse. After this, the house over the _fytoca_," continues +Mariner, "was closed up at both ends with a reed fencing, reaching from +the eaves to the ground, and, at the front and back, with a sort of +basket-work, made of the young branches of the cocoa-nut tree, split and +interwoven in a very curious and ornamental way, to remain till the next +burial, when they are to be taken down, and, after the conclusion of the +ceremony, new ones are to be put up in like manner."[138] This +description of the house over King Finow's grave agrees so closely with +Captain Cook's description of the house in the _afiatouca_, that we may +with much probability regard the latter as a tomb, and suppose that the +"oblong square of blue pebbles," which Cook regarded as an altar and on +which he laid down his offering, marked the place of the body in the +grave: it was at once an altar and a tombstone. + + [137] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 144, note *. However, in + another passage (i. 392, note *) Mariner tells us that, strictly + speaking, the word _fytoca_ applied only to the mound with the + grave in it, and not to the house upon the mound; for there were + several _fytocas_ that had no houses on them. For other mentions + of _fytocas_ and notices of them by Mariner, see _op. cit._ i. + pp. 386, note *, 387, 388, 392, 393, 394, 395, 402, ii. 214-218. + + [138] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 402. A little farther on + (p. 424, note *) Mariner remarks that "mourners were accustomed + to smooth the graves of their departed friends, and cover them + with black and white pebbles." + +On his second and more prolonged visit to the Tonga islands, Captain +Cook expressed, with more confidence, his opinion that the _fiatookas_, +as he calls them, were at once burial-grounds and places of worship. +Thus he says: "Their _morais_ or _fiatookas_ (for they are called by +both names, but mostly by the latter), are, as at Otaheite, and many +other parts of the world, burying-grounds and places of worship; though +some of them seemed to be only appropriated to the first purpose; but +these were small, and, in every other respect, inferior to the +others."[139] Again, in another passage he describes one of the more +stately of these temple-tombs. He says: "Some of us, accompanied by a +few of the king's attendants, and Omai as our interpreter, walked out to +take a view of a _fiatooka_, or burying-place, which we had observed to +be almost close by the house, and was much more extensive, and seemingly +of more consequence, than any we had seen at the other islands. We were +told, that it belonged to the king. It consisted of three pretty large +houses, situated upon a rising ground, or rather just by the brink of +it, with a small one, at some distance, all ranged longitudinally. The +middle house of the three first, was by much the largest, and placed in +a square, twenty-four paces by twenty-eight, raised about three feet. +The other houses were placed on little mounts, raised artificially to +the same height. The floors of these houses, as also the tops of the +mounts round them, were covered with loose, fine pebbles, and the whole +was inclosed by large flat stones of hard coral rock, properly hewn, +placed on their edges; one of which stones measured twelve feet in +length, two in breadth, and above one in thickness. One of the houses, +contrary to what we had seen before, was open on one side; and within it +were two rude, wooden busts of men; one near the entrance, and the other +farther in. On inquiring of the natives, who had followed us to the +ground, but durst not enter here, What these images were intended for? +they made us as sensible as we could wish, that they were merely +memorials of some chiefs who had been buried there, and not the +representations of any deity. Such monuments, it should seem, are seldom +raised; for these had probably been erected several ages ago. We were +told, that the dead had been buried in each of these houses; but no +marks of this appeared. In one of them, was the carved head of an +Otaheite canoe, which had been driven ashore on their coast, and +deposited here. At the foot of the rising ground was a large area, or +grass-plot, with different trees planted about it; amongst which were +several of those called _etoa_, very large. These, as they resemble the +cypresses, had a fine effect in such a place. There was also a row of +low palms near one of the houses, and behind it a ditch, in which lay a +great number of old baskets."[140] + + [139] Captain Cook, _Voyages_, v. 424. + + [140] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 342 _sq._ + +Between the departure of Cook and the arrival of Mariner the first +Protestant missionaries were fortunate enough to witness the burial of +a king of Tonga, by name Moom[=o]oe. Their description of it and of the +royal tomb entirely bears out the observations and conclusions of +Captain Cook. The _fiatooka_ or burial-ground, they tell us, "is +situated on a spot of ground about four acres. A mount rises with a +gentle slope about seven feet, and is about one hundred and twenty yards +in circumference at the base; upon the top stands a house neatly made, +which is about thirty feet long, and half that in width. The roof is +thatched, and the sides and ends left open. In the middle of this house +is the grave, the sides, ends, and bottom of which are of coral stone, +with a cover of the same: the floor of the house is of small stones. The +_etoa_ and other trees grow round the _fiatooka_."[141] Into this grave, +or rather stone vault, the missionaries saw the king's body lowered. The +stone which covered the vault was eight feet long, four feet broad, and +one foot thick. This massive stone was first raised and held in suspense +by means of two great ropes, the ends of which were wound round two +strong piles driven into the ground at the end of the house. The ropes +were held by about two hundred men, who, when the king's body had been +deposited in the grave, slowly lowered the great stone and covered the +vault.[142] Some years later Mariner witnessed the funeral of another +king of Tonga, Finow the First; and he similarly describes how the tomb +was a large stone vault, sunk about ten feet deep in the ground, the +covering stone of which was hoisted by the main strength of a hundred +and fifty or two hundred men pulling at the two ends of a rope; when the +bodies of the king and his daughter had been laid side by side in the +vault the massive stone was lowered by the men with a great shout.[143] +The number of the men required to raise and lower these great stones +gives us some idea of their weight. + + [141] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 240 _sq._ + + [142] Captain James Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 244. + + [143] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 387 _sq._ + +Thus far we have been dealing only with the tombs of the civil kings of +Tonga. But far more stately and massive are the tombs of the sacred +kings or pontiffs, the Tooitongas, which still exist and still excite +the curiosity and admiration of European observers. The Tongan name for +these tombs is _langi_, which properly means "sky," also "a band of +singers"; but there appears to be no connexion between these different +meanings of the word.[144] The tombs are situated in Tongataboo, not far +from Mooa, the old capital of the island. They stand near the +south-eastern shore of the lagoon, which, under the name of the Mooa +Inlet, penetrates deeply into the northern side of Tongataboo. Beginning +at the northern outskirts of the village of Labaha, they stretch inland +for more than half a mile into the forest.[145] They are of various +constructions and shapes. Some consist of a square enclosure, on the +level of the ground, the boundary walls being formed of large stones; +while at each corner of the square two high stones, rising above the +wall, are placed upright at right angles to each other and in a line +with their respective sides.[146] But apparently the more usual and +characteristic type of tomb has the form of a truncated pyramid or +oblong platform raised in a series of steps or terraces, which are built +of massive blocks of coral. The number of steps or terraces seems to +vary from one to four according to the height of the monument.[147] It +is much to be regretted that no one has yet counted and mapped out these +tombs and recorded the names of their royal or divine occupants, so far +as they are remembered; but a trace of the religious awe which once +invested this hallowed ground still avails to keep it inviolate. A +proposal which Sir Basil Thomson made to clear away the forest and +preserve the tombs was very coldly received; in the eyes of the natives, +professing Christians as they are, it probably savoured of sacrilege. +The ancient custom was to clear the ground about every new tomb, and +after the interment to suffer the tropical undergrowth to swallow it up +for ever. Nowadays no holy pontiffs are borne to their last +resting-place in these hallowed shades; so the forest is never cleared, +and nature is left free to run wild. In consequence the tombs are so +overgrown and overshadowed that it is difficult to photograph them in +the gloomy and tangled thicket. Great _ifi_ trees[148] overhang them: +banyan-trees have sprouted on the terraces and thrust their roots into +every crevice, mantling the stones with a lacework of tendrils, which +year by year rend huge blocks asunder, until the original form of the +terrace is almost obliterated. Sir Basil Thomson followed the chain of +tombs for about half a mile, but on each occasion his guides told him +that there were other smaller tombs farther inland. The tombs increase +in size and in importance as they near the shore of the lagoon, and to +seven or eight of the larger ones the names of the occupants can be +assigned; but the names of the sacred chiefs who sleep in the smaller +tombs inland are quite forgotten. Some of them are mere enclosures of +stones, not squared, but taken haphazard from the reef.[149] + + [144] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 213 _sq._ + + [145] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 86. + + [146] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 283 _sq._ + + [147] The tomb described and illustrated by the first + missionaries had four massive and lofty steps, each of them five + and a half feet broad and four feet or three feet nine inches + high. See Captain James Wilson, _l.c._, with the plate facing p. + 284. One such tomb, rising in four tiers, is ascribed + traditionally to a female Tooitonga, whose name has been + forgotten. See (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities + of Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 88 n.^2. + + [148] The Tahitian chestnut (_Inocarpus edulis_); see above, p. + 74, note^2. + + [149] (Sir) Basil Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_ + (Edinburgh and London, 1894), pp. 379 _sq._; _id._ "Notes upon + the Antiquities of Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological + Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 86. According to an earlier + authority, the Tongans could name and point out the tombs of no + less than thirty Tooitongas. See the letter of Mr. Philip + Hervey, quoted in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of + London_, Second Series, vol. ii. p. 77. + +The tombs were built in the lifetime of the sacred chiefs who were to +lie in them, and their size accordingly affords a certain measure of the +power and influence of the great men interred in them. Among the largest +is the tomb which goes by the name of Telea, though it is said to +contain no body, Telea himself being buried in the tomb next to it. We +are told that, dissatisfied with the first sepulchre that was built for +him, he replaced it by the other, which is also of great size. The most +modern of the tombs is that of Laufilitonga, the last to bear the title +of Tooitonga. He died a Christian about 1840 and was buried in the tomb +of very inferior size which crowns the village cemetery. The most +ancient cannot be dated; but that some are older than A.D. 1535 may be +inferred from the tradition that Takalaua, a Tooitonga, was assassinated +about that time because he was a tyrant who compelled his people to drag +great stones from Liku, at the back of the island, to the burial ground +at Mooa; the distance is about a mile and a half.[150] + + [150] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 86 _sq._, 88 n.^2. As to the legend of the tyrant + Takalaua, see _id._ _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, pp. + 294-302. + +The first, so far as I know, to see and describe these remarkable tombs +were the earliest missionaries to Tonga about the end of the eighteenth +century. Speaking of the burial ground at Mooa, where lay interred the +divine chiefs whose title was Tooitonga and whose family name was +Futtaf[=a]ihe or Fatafehi, the missionaries observe that "the +_fiatookas_ are remarkable. There lie the Futtaf[=a]ihes for many +generations, some vast and ruinous, which is the case with the largest; +the house on the top of it is fallen, and the area and tomb itself +overgrown with wood and weeds."[151] Later on they had the advantage of +being conducted over the august cemetery by the Futtaf[=a]ihe or +Tooitonga of the day in person, who gave them some explanations +concerning these sepulchres of his ancestors. To quote their +description, they say that the tombs "lie ranged in a line eastward from +his house, among a grove of trees, and are many in number, and of +different constructions: some, in a square form, were not in the least +raised above the level of the common ground; a row of large stones +formed the sides, and at each corner two high stones were placed upright +at right angles to each other, and in a line with their respective +sides: others were such as the brethren describe that of Moom[=o]oe to +be: and a third sort were built square like the first; the largest of +which was at the base one hundred and fifty-six feet by one hundred and +forty; it had four steps from the bottom to the top, that run quite +round the pile: one stone composed the height of each step, a part of it +being sunk in the ground; and some of these stones in the wall of the +lower are immensely large; one, which I measured, was twenty-four feet +by twelve, and two feet thick; these Futtaf[=a]ihe informed me were +brought in double canoes from the island of Lefooga. They are coral +stone, and are hewn into a tolerably good shape, both with respect to +the straightness of their sides and flatness of their surfaces. They are +now so hardened by the weather, that the great difficulty we had in +breaking a specimen of one corner made it not easy to conjecture how the +labour of hewing them at first had been effected; as, by the marks of +antiquity which some of them bear, they must have been built long before +Tasman showed the natives an iron tool. Besides the trees which grow on +the top and sides of most of them, there are the _etooa_, and a variety +of other trees about them; and these, together with the thousands of +bats which hang on their branches, all contribute to the awful solemnity +of those sepulchral mansions of the ancient chiefs. On our way back +Futtaf[=a]ihe told us that all the _fiatookas_ we had seen were built by +his ancestors, who also lay interred in them; and as there appeared no +reason to doubt the truth of this, it proves that a supreme power in the +government of the island must for many generations have been in the +family of the Futtaf[=a]ihes: for though there were many _fiatookas_ in +the island, the brethren, who had seen most of them, said they were not +to be compared to these for magnitude, either in the pile or the stones +which compose them."[152] + + [151] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean,_ p. 252. As to Futtaf[=a]ihe, the Tooitonga or + divine chief of their time, the missionaries remark (_l.c._) + that "Futtaf[=a]ihe is very superstitious, and himself esteemed + as an _odooa_ or god." Here _odooa_ is the Polynesian word which + is usually spelled _atua_. Mariner tells us (_Tonga Islands_, + ii. 76) that the family name of the Tooitonga was Fatafehi, + which seems to be only another way of spelling Futtaf[=a]ihe, + the form adopted by the missionaries. Captain Cook similarly + gives Futtaf[=a]ihe as the family name of the sacred kings or + Tooitongas, deriving the name "from the God so called, who is + probably their tutelary patron, and perhaps their common + ancestor." See Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 425. + + [152] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 283-285. The description is accompanied by + an engraved plate, which illustrates the three types of tombs + mentioned in the text. In the foreground is the stepped pyramid, + a massive and lofty structure, its flat top surmounted by a hut. + To the right, in the distance, is seen the square walled + enclosure, with high stones standing upright at the corners of + the walls, and with a hut enclosed in the middle of the square. + In the background appears a mound enclosed by a wall and + surmounted by a hut. Thus a hut figures as an essential part + in each type of tomb. However, Mariner tells us that "they + have several _fytocas_ which have no houses on them" (_Tonga + Islands_, i. 392 note *). + + Top. + ____________ + | + | 3 ft. 9 in. + | + 5-1/2 feet. | + _____________| + | + | 3 ft. 9 in. + | + 5-1/2 feet. | + _____________| + | + | 3 ft. 9 in. + | + 5-1/2 feet. | PROFILE OF THE STEPS. + _____________| + | + | 4 feet. + | + | + | + | + +Some thirty years later the tombs of the Tooitongas were visited and +described by the French explorer, J. Dumont d'Urville. His description +is worth quoting. He says: "I directed my steps to the splendid +_faï-tokas_ of the Fata-Faïs. As these monuments are essentially taboo, +in the absence of the Tooi-tonga no one looks after their upkeep, and +they are now buried on every side among dark masses of trees and almost +impenetrable thickets. Hence we had some difficulty in approaching them, +and it was impossible for us to get a single general view of the whole +of these structures, which must have a somewhat solemn effect when the +ground is properly cleared. + +"For the most part these mausoleums have the form of great rectangular +spaces surrounded by enormous blocks of stone, of which some are as much +as from fifteen to twenty feet long by six or eight broad and two feet +thick. The most sumptuous of these monuments have four or five rows of +steps, making up a total height of eighteen or twenty feet. The interior +is filled up with shingle and fragments of unhewn coral. One of these +_faï-tokas_, which I measured, was a hundred and eighty feet long by a +hundred and twenty broad. At one of the upper angles I observed a block +of considerable size with a deep cutting in it. I was told that it was +the seat of the Tooi-tonga-fafine[153]; it was there that she sat to +preside at the ceremony of the funeral of the Tooi-tonga. + + [153] The Tooi-tonga-fafine (or fefine) was the Tooitonga's + sister and ranked above him. Her title means "the lady + Tooi-tonga." "Her dignity is very great. She is treated as a + kind of divinity. Her rank is too high to allow of her uniting + herself in marriage with any mortal: but it is not thought wrong + or degrading for her to have a family, and in case of the birth + of a daughter the child becomes the _Tamaha_. This lady rises + higher than her mother in rank, and is nearer the gods. Every + one approaches her with gifts and homage. Her grandfather will + bring his offerings and sit down before her, with all humility, + like any of the common people. Sick people come to her for cure" + (Miss Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, p. 145, + apparently from the information of Mr. John Thomas). Captain + Cook learned with surprise that Poulaho, the Tooitonga of his + time (whom Cook speaks of as the king) acknowledged three women + as his superiors. "On our inquiring, who these extraordinary + personages were, whom they distinguish by the name and title of + _Tammaha_, we were told that the late king, Poulaho's father, + had a sister of equal rank, and elder than himself; that she, by + a man who came from the island of Feejee, had a son and two + daughters; and that these three persons, as well as their + mother, rank above Futtafaihe the king. We endeavoured, in vain, + to trace the reason of this singular pre-eminence of the + _Tammahas_; for we could learn nothing besides this account of + their pedigree. The mother and one of the daughters called + Tooeela-Kaipa, live at Vavaoo. Latoolibooloo, the son, and the + other daughter, whose name is Moungoula-Kaipa, reside at + Tongataboo. The latter is the woman who is mentioned to have + dined with me on the 21st of June. This gave occasion to our + discovering her superiority over the king, who would not eat in + her presence, though she made no scruple to do so before him, + and received from him the customary obeisance, by touching her + foot." See Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 430 _sq._ + +"Some of these edifices were of an oval form, but they were much +smaller. Each of them was surmounted by a small hut, which served as an +oratory or house for the spirit of the dead; most of them have been +destroyed by the lapse of time, and only traces of them are left +scattered on the ground. + +"The enormous blocks of coral employed in the construction of these +monuments have all been brought by sea from Hifo to Mooa. They were got +on the shore of the sea at Hifo, were hewn on the spot, and were +transported in great canoes; then they were landed at Mooa and drawn on +rollers to the place of their destination. These monuments are +astonishing evidence of the patience which they must have demanded on +the part of these islanders; they were ocular testimony to me of the +high degree of civilisation which the natives had reached. Man must have +risen to ideas of a much higher order than those of a simple savage +before he would take so great pains for the single object of +consecrating the memory of his chiefs. + +"Such tombs are no longer built in Tongataboo: people content themselves +with simple mounds surrounded by a row of posts or even an ordinary +palisade. However, Singleton assured me that Finow the Younger had +erected two great _faï-tokas_ of stone in Vavao, one for the last +Tooitonga, and one for his father."[154] + + [154] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage de l'Astrolabe, Histoire du + Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1832) pp. 106-108. Singleton was an + Englishman, one of the crew of the _Port-au-Prince_, the ship in + which Mariner sailed. When Dumont d'Urville visited Tonga, + Singleton had lived as a native among the natives for + twenty-three years; he was married and had children, and he + hoped to end his days in Tongataboo. See J. Dumont d'Urville, + _op. cit._ iv. 23 _sq._ + +The Frenchman, De Sainson, who accompanied Dumont d'Urville on his visit +to Tongataboo, has also described the tombs of the Tooitongas at Mooa +from personal observation. I will quote his description: "It is in the +heart of the forest that the ancient inhabitants of these countries, who +idolized their Kings (Tooi-tongas), placed the tombs of that sacred +race. These monuments of a more enterprising age still astonish the +beholder by their mass and their extent. The _fai-tokas_, as these +burial-places are called, are artificial eminences, on the top of which, +in the form of a square, are three or four crosses of great granitic +blocks arranged as steps, of which each block may be four or five feet +high. If there is only a single step on the top of the mound, it is +because only a single Tooi-tonga sleeps there in the grave; if the bones +of a whole family are deposited in a common tomb, three or four steps, +one above the other, mark their union in death. Some of these monuments +which contain only a single body are arranged in an oval. I counted more +than twelve of these immense structures, and yet we left a great many +aside. I counted more than one stone between eight and fifteen feet +long; and I conceived a high idea of those men of ancient days who +erected over the remains of their kings these imperishable mausoleums, +in an island based on coral, where it would be difficult to find a stone +of two feet square. I imagined them to be very different from their +effeminate descendants, those men of old who went in their canoes more +than a hundred and fifty leagues to look for the enormous blocks of +which these tombs are built, who cut them without the help of iron, and +succeeded, by means unknown, in planting them on these hillocks, where +by their own weight they are fixed for ever, like the Druidical +monuments of Brittany, which one would say were dropped on earth rather +by the magic of talismans than by the power of man. + +"The present inhabitants of Tonga contemplate with a pious awe the fruit +of the labours and patience of their forefathers, without dreaming for a +moment of imitating them in their noble enterprises. A distant voyage +affrights these degenerate scions of a hardy race, and the great canoes +which still survive, sheltered under sheds very skilfully built, are +little more than the useless encumbrance of chiefs grown languid in the +long peace which has infected the whole people with habits of indolence. + +"The most recent tombs consist of a small house enclosed on all sides, +built on a rising ground, and shaded by a circle of mimosas, a tree +sacred to the dead. Most of the illustrious graves are clustered +together at Mafanga, a large village of which the whole territory is +sacred on account of the hallowed relics which it contains. Along with +the corpse they bury at the depth of a few inches small wooden effigies +representing persons of both sexes. I had occasion to unearth a few of +these little statues, and I remarked in them an astonishing feeling for +artistic design."[155] + + [155] "Extrait du Journal de M. de Sainson," in J. Dumont + d'Urville, _Voyage de l'Astrolabe, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. + (Paris, 1832) pp. 361 _sq._ + +Some sixteen years later a Catholic missionary, living among the heathen +population of Tongataboo, wrote thus: "Nothing equals the care which +they take in the burial of their dead. As soon as a native has breathed +his last, the neighbours are informed, and immediately all the women +come to weep about the corpse. Here the men never weep. The body is kept +thus for a day or two, during which they are busy building a tomb near +the dwelling of the deceased's family. The sepulchral house is neat, +built on an eminence, surrounded by a pretty fence of choice bamboos; +the enclosure is planted with all kinds of odoriferous shrubs, +especially evergreens. Finally, the monument is covered by a roof +artistically constructed. For the tombs of kings and the greatest chiefs +they go to distant islands to find huge stones to crown the grave. I +have seen one twenty-four feet long by eight broad and at least eighteen +inches thick. One of these tombs was built by the natives of Wallis +Island, who brought the enormous blocks in immense canoes. It is +wonderful for these peoples."[156] + + [156] Jérôme Grange, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, + xvii. (1845) pp. 12 _sq._ + +Captain Erskine, who visited Tongataboo in 1849, says that "near the +landing-place at the village of Holobeka, off which we were lying, we +saw overshadowed with trees, one of the _faitokas_, or old burial-places +of the country, which, although no longer 'tabu,' are still in some +cases used as places of sepulture, and very carefully kept. This one was +an oblong square platform a few feet high, surrounded by a stone wall, +the interior being beautifully paved with coloured corals and gravel; +the house or temple, which Captain Cook and others describe as occupying +the centre, having been, I suppose, removed. I saw but one other of +these monuments during our stay among the islands, the largest of which +stands on several rows of steps, as described by all former +visitors."[157] + + [157] J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of + the Western Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 130. + +Thomas West, who lived as a missionary in the Tongan islands from 1846 +to 1855, tells us that "chiefs were usually interred in tombs, +constructed of blocks of sandstone, cut from suitable localities by the +seashore, where, at a little depth from the surface, layers of hard and +durable sandstone are found, even on many of the coralline islands. In +several of the ancient burial-places, similar stones, arranged in +terraces, surround the whole enclosure. Some of these are of immense +size, and seem to indicate the possession, on the part of former +inhabitants, either of greater energy than the present race, or of +better tools and appliances. The burial-places of the Tonguese are +always surrounded by the most imposing foliage of the tropics, and +placed in sequestered spots. A mound of earth is raised, of dimensions +varying with the necessities of the place; and, whenever a grave is +opened within the limits of this mound, it is always filled up with +beautiful white sand, and never contains more than one body. No particle +of clay or earthy mould is allowed to touch the remains of the dead. The +sand is brought in baskets by the chief mourners, who sometimes sail or +journey many miles to procure it; and each person pours the contents +into the grave until it is sufficiently filled up. The top of the grave +is, afterwards, carefully tended and decorated with black pebbles and +red coral, arranged in various devices, which have a very pretty effect. +Small houses are also placed over the tombs of the chiefs and +gentry."[158] + + [158] Thomas West, _Ten Years in South-Central Polynesia_ + (London, 1865), pp. 268 _sq._ + +In more recent years the tombs of the Tooitongas at Mooa have been +visited by Sir Basil Thomson, who has described and discussed them.[159] +From an anonymous pamphlet called _The Wairarapa Wilderness_, written by +the passengers of the s.s. _Wairarapa_ and published in 1884, Sir Basil +Thomson quotes a passage containing a description of the tombs, with +measurements which, he tells us, are accurate as far as they go. From it +I will extract a few particulars. The writers inform us that the tombs +are built of blocks of coral which vary in length and thickness; some of +the largest they found to be from fifteen to eighteen feet long and from +one and a half to two feet thick. The largest measured by them is +twenty-two feet long and two feet thick and stands between seven and +eight feet above the ground. This great stone, now split in two, is at +the middle of the lowest step of one of the pyramidal tombs. The height +of the steps varies much in the different pyramids; one step was found +to be four feet high. The breadth of each step is three feet or more: it +has been carefully levelled and covered with coral gravel. The stones +fit very closely and are very regular at top and bottom throughout the +tiers. The corners of one pyramid observed by the writers are formed of +huge rectangular stones, which seem to have been put in position before +they were finally faced. On the upper surface of the largest stone is a +deep hollow about the size and shape of a large chestnut mortar. Sir +Basil Thomson, who has examined this hollow, believes it to be a natural +cavity which has been artificially smoothed by a workman. He suggests +that it may have been lined with leaves and used as a bowl for brewing +kava at the funeral ceremonies. On one mound the writers of the +pamphlet remarked a large flat stone, some five and a half feet square; +and in several of the tombs they noticed huge slabs of volcanic stone +placed indiscriminately side by side with blocks of coral. The writers +measured the bases of three of the tombs and found them to be about two +chains (one hundred and thirty-two feet) long by a chain and a half +(ninety-nine feet) broad; the base of a fourth was even larger.[160] + + [159] (Sir) Basil Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, pp. + 379 _sq._; _id._ "Notes upon the Antiquities of Tonga," _Journal + of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 86-88. + + [160] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 87 _sq._ + +Surveying these various accounts of the tombs of the Tooitongas or +sacred chiefs, we may perhaps conclude that, while the type of tomb +varied in different cases, the most characteristic, and certainly the +most remarkable, type was that of a stepped or terraced pyramid built of +such large blocks of stone as to merit the name of megalithic monuments. +So far as I have observed in the accounts given of them, this type of +tomb was reserved exclusively for the sacred chiefs, the Tooitongas, +whom the Tongans regarded as divine and as direct descendants of the +gods. The civil kings, so far as appears, were not buried in these +massive pyramids, but merely in stone vaults sunk in the summits of +grassy mounds. + +It is natural, with Sir Basil Thomson,[161] to compare the pyramids of +the Tooitongas with the similar structures called _morais_ or _marais_ +which are found in Tahiti and the Marquesas islands. Indeed, the very +name _morai_ was sometimes applied to them by the Tongans themselves, +though more usually they called them _fiatookas_, which was simply the +common word for burying-ground.[162] In Tahiti and the Marquesas islands +these _marais_ were in like manner truncated pyramids, rising in a +series of steps or tiers, built of stones, some of which were large, but +apparently not so large as in the corresponding Tongan edifices; for in +describing one of the largest of the Tahitian _morais_ or _marais_ Cook +mentions only one stone measuring as much as four feet seven inches in +length by two feet four in breadth, though he found several three and a +half feet long by two and a half feet broad. These dimensions can hardly +compare with the size of the blocks in the tombs of the Tooitongas, some +of which, as we have seen, measure fifteen, eighteen, and even +twenty-two or twenty-four feet in length by eight or twelve feet in +height. These Tahitian and Marquesan pyramids are commonly described as +temples, and justly so, because the gods were worshipped there and human +sacrifices were offered on them.[163] But they were also, like the +similar structures in Tonga, used in certain cases for the burial of the +dead, or at all events for the preservation of their embalmed bodies. +Captain Cook seems even to have regarded the Tahitian _morais_ primarily +as burying-grounds and only secondarily as places of worship.[164] In +the island of Huahine, one of the Society Islands, the sovereign chiefs +were buried in a _marai_, where they lay, we are told, in more than +Oriental state.[165] William Ellis, one of our best authorities on the +religion of the Tahitians, tells us that "the family, district, or royal +_maraes_ were the general depositories of the bones of the departed, +whose bodies had been embalmed, and whose skulls were sometimes +preserved in the dwelling of the survivors. The _marae_ or temple +being sacred, and the bodies being under the guardianship of the gods, +were in general considered secure when deposited there. This was not, +however, always the case; and in times of war, the victors sometimes +not only despoiled the temples of the vanquished, and bore away their +idol, but robbed the sacred enclosure of the bones of celebrated +individuals."[166] Moerenhout, another good authority on the Tahitian +religion, informs us that the _marais_ which belonged to individuals +often served as cemeteries and were only the more respected on that +account; but he says that in the public _marais_ almost the only persons +buried were the human victims offered in sacrifice, and sometimes the +priests, who were laid face downwards in the grave, for the curious +reason that otherwise the gaze of the dead men would blight the trees +and cause the fruit to fall to the ground.[167] + + [161] (Sir) Basil Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, p. + 379. + + [162] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 424. Elsewhere (v. 364) + he speaks of "a _morai_ or _fiatooka_"; and shortly afterwards, + referring to the same structure, he mentions it as "this + _morai_, or what I may as well call temple" (p. 365). As to the + equivalence of the words _morai_ and _marai_ (_marae_), see J. + A. Moerenhout, _Voyages aux Îles du Grand Océan_ (Paris, 1837), + i. 466; and as to the significance of the word in its various + dialectical forms, see E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, p. 213, _s.v._ "malae." + + [163] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, i. 157 _sqq._; J. R. + Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_ + (London, 1788), pp. 543 _sqq._; Captain James Wilson, + _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. 207 + _sqq._; David Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific + Ocean_ (New York, 1822), ii. 38 _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, + _Journal of Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1831), i. 240-248, 265 + _sqq._, 271, 274, 529 _sq._, ii. 13 _sq._, 38 _sq._; W. Ellis, + _Polynesian Researches_, Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), i. + 340, 405; J. A. Moerenhout, _Voyages aux Îles du Grand Océan_, + i. 466-470; G. H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfurt + am Mayn, 1812), i. 115, 134; H. Melville, _Typee_ (London, + N.D.), pp. 166-169 (_Everyman's Library_); Matthias G----, + _Lettres sur les Îles Marquises_ (Paris, 1843), pp. 54 _sq._; + C. E. Meinicke, _Die Inseln des Stillen Oceans_ (Leipzig, + 1875-1876), i. 49, ii. 180, 183 _sq._; G. Gerland, in Th. Waitz, + _Anthropologie_, vi (Leipzig, 1872) pp. 376 _sqq._ + + [164] Capt. James Cook, _Voyages_, i. 157 _sq._, "Their name for + such burying-grounds, which are also places of worship, is + _Morai_." Compare _id._, i. 217, 219, 220, 224, vi. 37, 41; J. + Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_ (London, 1813), p. 151, "the + _morais_, which serve the double purpose of places of worship + and receptacles for the dead." Compare J. R. Forster, + _Observations_, p. 545, "To ornament the _marais_ and to honour + by it the gods and the decayed buried there, the inhabitants + plant several sorts of trees near them." + + [165] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 271. + + [166] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 405. Elsewhere (p. + 401), speaking of the Tahitian burial customs, Ellis observes + that "the skull was carefully kept in the family, while the + other bones, etc., were buried within the precincts of the + family temple." + + [167] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 470. As to the Tahitian + custom of burying the dead in the _marais_, see also C. E. + Meinicke, _Die Inseln des Stillen Oceans_, ii. 183 _sq._, + according to whom only the bodies of persons of high rank were + interred in these sanctuaries. + +In the Marquesas islands the _morais_ appear to have been also used +occasionally or even regularly as burial-places. Langsdorff, one of our +earliest authorities on these islands, speaks of a _morai_ simply as a +place of burial.[168] He tells us that the mummified bodies of the dead +were deposited on scaffolds in the _morai_ or family burial-place, and +that the people of neighbouring but hostile districts used to try to +steal each other's dead from the _morais_, and deemed it a great triumph +when they succeeded in the attempt. To defeat such attempts, when the +inhabitants of a district expected to be attacked in force by their +enemies, they were wont to remove their dead from the _morai_ and bury +them in the neighbourhood.[169] Again, in their monograph on the +Marquesas islands, the French writers Vincendon-Dumoulin and Desgraz +recognise only the mortuary aspect of the _morais_. They say: "The +_morais_, funeral monuments where the bodies are deposited, are set up +on a platform of stone, which is the base of all Nukahivan +constructions. They are to be found scattered in the whole extent of the +valleys; no particular condition seems to be required in the choice of +the site. Near the shore of Taïohae is the _morai_ which contains the +remains of a brother of the _atepeïou Patini_, an uncle of Moana, who +died some years ago, as they tell us."[170] + + [168] G. H. von Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 115. + + [169] G. H. von Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 134. + + [170] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _Îles Marquises ou + Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843), p. 253. + +Thus to some extent, in function as well as in form, these pyramidical +temples of Tahiti and the Marquesas islands corresponded to the +megalithic monuments of the Tooitongas or sacred chiefs of Tonga; in +fact, they were mausoleums as well as temples. We are not at liberty to +assume, with one authority on the Polynesians, that they were mausoleums +first and foremost, and that they only developed into temples at a later +time.[171] It is possible, on the contrary, that from the outset they +were temples dedicated to the worship of the high gods, and that the +custom of depositing the dead in them was a later practice adopted for +the sake of the protection which these holy places might be expected to +afford against the efforts of enemies to carry off and desecrate the +remains of the departed. Dr. Rivers propounded a theory that the custom +of building these megalithic monuments in the form of pyramids was +introduced into the Pacific by a people who brought with them a secret +worship of the sun, and he apparently inclined to regard the monuments +themselves as at least associated with that worship.[172] The theory can +hardly apply to the megalithic monuments of the Tooitongas in +Tongataboo; for the evidence which I have adduced seems to render it +certain that these monuments were erected primarily as tombs to receive +the bodies of the sacred chiefs. It is true that these tombs enjoyed a +sacred character and were the scene of worship which justly entitles +them to rank as temples; but so far as they were temples, they were +devoted to the worship, not of the sun, but of the dead. + + [171] C. E. Meinicke, _Die Inseln des Stillen Oceans_, ii. 180. + + [172] W. H. R. Rivers, "Sun-cult and Megaliths in Oceania," + _American Anthropologist_, N.S. xvii. (1915) pp. 431 _sqq._ + +Thus our enquiry into the meaning and origin of these interesting +monuments entirely confirms the view of the shrewd and observant Captain +Cook that the _fiatookas_, as the Tongans called them, were both places +of burial and places of worship. + +Finally, the evidence which I have cited appears to render it highly +probable that these imposing monuments were built, not by a prehistoric +people, predecessors of the Tongans in the islands, but by the Tongans +themselves; for not only do the people affirm that the tombs were +erected by their ancestors, but they have definite traditions of some of +the chiefs who built them, and are buried in them; and they still +profess to remember some of the islands from which the huge stones were +brought to Tongataboo in great double canoes. + +That the graves of the great chiefs were, like temples, regarded by the +people with religious reverence appears plainly from a statement of +Mariner. He tells us that a place called Mafanga, in the western part of +Tongataboo, being a piece of land about half a mile square, was +consecrated ground. "In this spot," he says, "are the graves where the +greatest chiefs from time immemorial have been buried, and the place is +therefore considered sacred; it would be a sacrilege to fight here, and +nobody can be prevented from landing: if the most inveterate enemies +meet upon this ground, they must look upon each other as friends, under +penalty of the displeasure of the gods, and consequently an untimely +death, or some great misfortune. There are several of these consecrated +places on different islands."[173] Thus the reverence paid to the tombs +of the chiefs was like the reverence paid to the consecrated houses and +enclosures of the gods; we have already seen what a sacrilege it was +deemed to fight or to pursue an enemy within the consecrated enclosure +of a god,[174] and we now learn that it was equally a sacrilege to fight +within the ground that was hallowed by the graves of the chiefs. + + [173] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 88. + + [174] Above, pp. 74 _sqq._ + +Mariner has described for us the worship paid by the king and his chiefs +to one of the sacred graves at Mafanga. One morning Finow the king, +accompanied by several of his chiefs and their ministers (the +_matabooles_), landed at Mafanga and immediately proceeded to his +father's grave to perform a ceremony called _toogi_. Mariner attended +the party and witnessed the ceremony. All who went to participate in it +assumed the attire of mourners or suppliants, that is, they wore mats +instead of their usual dress and they had wreaths, made of the leaves of +the _ifi_ tree, round their necks. They sat down before the grave, and +the king and all of them beat their cheeks with their fists for about +half a minute without speaking a word. One of the principal ministers +(_matabooles_) then addressed the spirit of the king's father to the +following effect: "Behold the man (meaning Finow, the king) who has come +to Tonga to fight his enemies. Be pleased with him, and grant him thy +protection. He comes to battle, hoping he is not doing wrong. He has +always held Tooitonga in the highest respect, and has attended to all +religious ceremonies with exactness." One of the attendants then went to +the king and received from him a piece of kava root, which he laid down +on the raised mount before the burial-place (_fytoka_). Several others, +who had pieces of kava root in their bosoms, went up to the grave in +like manner and deposited them there.[175] + + [175] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 88 _sq._ + +Thus the king prayed to the spirit of his dead father at his grave and +made an offering at the tomb. What more could he do to a god at his +temple? And in general we are told that when a great blessing was +desired, or a serious evil deprecated, if the people wished to enjoy +health or beget children, to be successful at sea, or victorious in war, +they would go to the burial grounds of their great chiefs, clean them +up thoroughly, sprinkle the floor with sand, and lay down their +offerings.[176] When Finow the king was dying, his friends carried him +on a bier, not only to the temples of the great gods Tali-y-Toobo and +Tooi-fooa-Bolotoo, where prayers for his recovery were offered; they +bore him also to the grave of a chieftainess and invoked her spirit in +like manner to pity and spare the expiring monarch.[177] Apparently they +thought that the ghost of the chieftainess was quite as able as the +great gods to heal the sick and restore the dying. + + [176] Sarah S. Farmer, _Tonga and the Friendly Islands_, p. 127. + + [177] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 367. + +But on no occasion, perhaps, was the assimilation of dead men to gods +so conspicuous as at the annual offering of first-fruits, which seems to +have been the most impressive of all the yearly rites observed by the +Tongans. The ceremony was observed once a year just before the yams in +general had arrived at a state of maturity; the yams offered at it were +of a kind which admitted of being planted sooner than the others, and +which consequently, ripening earlier, were the first-fruits of the yam +season. The object of the offering was to ensure the protection of the +gods, that their favour might be extended to the welfare of the nation +generally, and in particular to the productions of the earth, of which +in Tonga yams are the most important. At this solemn ceremony the new +yams, slung on poles, were brought from distant islands, carried in +procession to the grave of the late Tooitonga, and deposited in front of +it, their bearers sitting down beside them. Thereupon one of the +ministers (_matabooles_) of the living Tooitonga arose, advanced, and +sat down before the grave, a little in front of the men who had brought +the yams. Next he addressed the gods generally, and afterwards +particularly, mentioning the late Tooitonga and the names of several +others. In doing so he returned thanks for their divine bounty in +favouring the land with the prospect of a good harvest, and prayed that +their beneficence might be continued in future. In this harvest +thanksgiving the spirit of the dead Tooitonga seems to have ranked on an +equality with the original or superhuman gods; indeed, in a sense he +took precedence of them, since the offerings were presented at his +grave. The first-fruits, we are told, were offered to the gods in the +person of the divine chief Tooitonga.[178] + + [178] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 196-202, compare p. 78. + The ceremony was also witnessed, though not understood, by + Captain Cook (_Voyages_, v. 363 _sqq._) and by the first English + missionaries (Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the + Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. 264 _sq._). + +On the whole we may conclude that, however sharp a distinction was drawn +in theory between the old gods, who had always been gods, and the new +gods, who had once been men, the line which divided them in practice was +wavering and blurred. The dead men and women were fast rising, if they +had not already risen, to an equality with the ancient deities. We may +even surmise that some of these old gods themselves were human beings, +whose original humanity was forgotten. + +The tombs of the kings and sacred chiefs may be described as megalithic +monuments in so far as immense stones were often employed in the +construction either of the enclosing walls or of the high steps which +led up to the summit of the mound where the grave was dug. It is +possible, and indeed probable, that great stones were similarly employed +as ornaments or accessories of the consecrated houses or temples of the +primary gods, but of such an employment I have met with no express +notice among our authorities. So far as their descriptions allow us to +judge, these megalithic monuments of the Tongans were purely sepulchral +in character; they were dedicated only to the worship of the dead. But +there exists at least one other remarkable megalithic monument in these +islands of which the original meaning is quite uncertain, and of which +consequently we cannot confidently say that it was erected for the sake +of honouring or propitiating the spirits of the departed. The monument +in question is situated near the eastern extremity of Tongataboo, at a +distance of three or four hundred yards from the beach and facing +towards the island of Eua. The land on which it stands was the private +property of the Tooitongas, whose megalithic tombs are situated some +eight or nine miles away to the west. In the intervening country, which +is perfectly flat and partly covered with forest, partly under +cultivation, there are said to be no other monuments or ruins. It is +remarkable that this imposing monument, which naturally impresses the +observer by its resemblance to the trilithons or gate-like structures of +Stonehenge, should have apparently escaped the observation of Europeans +down to the middle of the nineteenth century. It is not mentioned by +Cook and Mariner, nor even by those who, like the first missionaries and +Dumont d'Urville, described in some detail the tombs of the Tooitongas +not many miles off. Perhaps the solitariness of the surrounding country +may partly account for their ignorance and silence; for there are said +to be few inhabitants in this part of the island and none at all in the +immediate neighbourhood of the monument. It seems to have been first +discovered by Mr. Philip Hervey of Sydney in 1850 or 1851, but his +description of it was not published for some ten years. In August 1852 +it was seen by Dr. Charles Forbes, Surgeon of H.M.S. _Calliope_, and his +description of it was published by the Society of Antiquaries of London +in the following year. In 1865 it was seen and briefly described by Mr. +Foljambe of H.M.S. _Curaçoa_. Some twenty years later the passengers of +the s.s. _Wairarapa_, on a yachting cruise from New Zealand, visited the +spot and published an account of the structure. Still later Sir Basil +Thomson examined the monument and discussed its history.[179] + + [179] See the letter of Dr. Charles Forbes, in _Archaeologia, or + Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity_, xxxv. (London, + 1853) p. 496 (with a woodcut); _Proceedings of the Society of + Antiquaries of London_ [First Series], iii. 19; _id._ Second + Series, i. 287; letter of Philip Hervey, quoted by Kenneth R. H. + Mackenzie, in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of + London_, Second Series, ii. 75-77; Julius L. Brenchley, + _Jottings during the Cruise of H.M.S. "Curaçoa" among the South + Sea Islands in 1865_ (London, 1873), p. 132 (with a woodcut); + (Sir) Basil Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_ (Edinburgh + and London, 1894), pp. 380-382 (with a woodcut on p. 393); _id._ + "Notes upon the Antiquities of Tonga," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 81-84 (with a + photograph). Views of the monument, taken apparently from + photographs, have also been published by Dr. F. H. H. Guillemard + (_Australasia_, vol. ii. London, 1894, p. 501), Dr. George Brown + (_Melanesians and Polynesians_, London, 1910, plate facing p. + 410), and by Mr. S. Percy Smith (_Hawaiki_, Third Edition, + Christchurch, N.Z., 1910, pp. 157 _sq._). Dr. W. H. R. Rivers + spoke as if there were several trilithons in Tongataboo + (_History of Melanesian Society_, ii. 430 _sq._; _id._ "Sun-cult + and Megaliths in Oceania," _American Anthropologist_, N.S. + xvii., 1915, p. 444); but in this he seems to have been + mistaken. So far as I can gather, there is only one of these + remarkable monuments in Tongataboo or indeed in the whole of the + Pacific. + +The monument in question is a structure of the type known as a +trilithon; that is, it is composed of three large stones, of which two +stand upright, while the third rests horizontally on their tops. All +three stones are monoliths of hardened coral, rough and much weathered +on the surface, and precisely similar to the coral of the neighbouring +reefs. Indeed, about halfway between the monument and the beach the +coral rock is exposed in a hollow, from which it seems probable that the +great blocks were hewn and brought to their present situation. The +statement of Mr. Brenchley, that the stone of which the monument +consists is not to be found elsewhere on the island, is erroneous. The +uprights are quadrangular monoliths neatly squared. No measurements of +the stones appear to be on record, but the two uprights are variously +estimated to measure from fourteen to sixteen feet in height; their +breadth or depth from front to back is variously given as from eight to +ten or even twelve feet; but they seem to taper somewhat upwards, for +the estimate which assigns twelve feet for the depth of the uprights at +their base, mentions seven feet or probably more as their breadth at the +top. The thickness of the uprights seems to be four feet. The space +between them is variously stated at ten and twelve feet. The +cross-stone, which rests on the two uprights, is reported to measure +twenty-four feet in length, by four or five feet in depth, and two feet +in thickness. Each of the uprights is estimated by Sir Basil Thomson to +weigh not less than fifty tons. The tops of both are deeply mortised to +receive the cross-stone, the ends of which are sunk into them instead of +being laid flat on the top. The cross-stone lies east and west, so that +the opening between the uprights faces north and south. On the upper +surface of the cross-stone, and at about the middle of it, is a cup-like +hollow, very carefully cut, about the size of a coco-nut shell. A large +bowl of the same material is said to have formerly stood on the +cross-stone, but the statement is not made by an eyewitness and is +probably mistaken.[180] + + [180] For the authorities, see the preceding note. The + measurements, to some extent discrepant, are given by Dr. + Charles Forbes, Mr. Philip Hervey, and the passengers of s.s. + _Wairarapa_, as reported by Sir Basil Thomson _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. 82 _sq._), who had + unfortunately mislaid his own notes containing the measurements. + The statement that the monument was surmounted by a large bowl + is made by Mr. Brenchley, in whose sketch of the structure the + bowl figures. But Mr. Brenchley did not himself see the + monument, and nobody else appears to have seen the bowl. I + suspect that the report of the bowl may have originated in a + hasty reading of Mr. Hervey's statement that "on the centre of + it [the cross-stone] a small cava bowl is scooped out," though + in Mr. Brenchley's account the bowl has seemingly increased in + size. Similarly in his report the height of the uprights has + grown to about thirty feet, which appears to be just double of + their real size. Perhaps Mr. Brenchley's erroneous allegation as + to the material of the monument similarly originated in a + misunderstanding of Mr. Hervey's statement that "the material is + the coral rock, or coral rag which are formed of stone brought + from Wallis's Island." + +The name which the natives give to this megalithic monument is +_Haamonga_ or _Ho ha Mo-nga Maui_, which is said to mean "Maui's +burden." The name is explained by a story that the god or hero Maui +brought the massive stones in a gigantic canoe from Uea (Wallis Island), +where the great holes in the rock from which he quarried them may still +be seen. From the canoe he bore them on his back to the spot where they +now stand.[181] This story can hardly be thought to throw much light on +the origin of the monument; for the natives are in the habit of +referring the marvels which they do not understand to the action of the +god or hero Maui, just as the ancient Greeks fathered many natural +wonders on the deified hero Hercules.[182] But from Mateialona, Governor +of Haapai and cousin of the King of Tonga, Sir Basil Thomson obtained a +tradition of the origin of the stones which is at least free from the +miraculous element and connects the monument with Tongan history. The +account runs thus: "Concerning the Haamonga of Maui, they say forsooth +that a Tui Tonga (the sacred line of chiefs), named Tui-ta-tui, +erected it, and that he was so named because it was a time of +assassination.[183] And they say that he had it built for him to sit +upon during the Faikava (ceremony of brewing kava), when the people sat +round him in a circle, and that the king so dreaded assassination that +he had this lordly seat built for himself that he might sit out of the +reach of his people. And this, they say, is the origin of the present +custom of the Faikava, it being now forbidden for any one to sit behind +the king." At such wassails the presiding chief sits at the apex of an +oval. To this tradition Sir Basil Thomson adds: "Mr. Shirley Baker told +me that he believed the Haamonga to have been erected as a _fakamanatu_ +(memorial) to the son of some Tui Tonga, a view that finds support in +the fondness of Tongan chiefs for originality in the burial ceremonies +of their near relations--witness Mariner's account of the funeral of +Finau's daughter--but on the other hand native traditions generally +have a kernel of truth, and the legend of Tui-ta-tui and its +consequences finds an analogy in our own custom of guarding against an +assassin's dagger at the drinking of the loving cup."[184] The tradition +receives some confirmation from the bowl-like hollow on the upper +surface of the cross-stone; for the hollow might have served as the +king's drinking-cup to hold his kava at the customary wassails. Indeed, +Mr. Philip Hervey, the first to examine the monument, describes the +hollow in question as "a small cava bowl";[185] and after giving an +account of the monument Mr. Brenchley adds: "Its history seems to be +entirely unknown, but it is very natural to suppose from its form that +it was connected with some ancient kava ceremonies."[186] + + [181] Charles Forbes, in _Archaeologia_, xxxv. 496 (who gives + _Ho ha Mo-nga Maui_ as the name of the stones); (Sir) Basil + Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, p. 382; _id._, "Notes + upon the Antiquities of Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological + Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 81 (who gives _Haamonga_ as the + native name of the stones). + + [182] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 81. Maui is the great hero of Polynesia, known in + nearly every group of islands, generally regarded as a demigod + or deified man, but sometimes and in some places rising to the + dignity of full godhead. He appears, says Mr. E. Tregear, to + unite the classical attributes of Hercules and Prometheus. See + E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 233, + _s.v._ "Maui." + + [183] "_Tui-ta-tui, lit._ 'King-strike-King.'" + + [184] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 82. + + [185] _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London_, + Second Series, ii. 77. + + [186] Julius L. Brenchley, _Jottings during the Cruise of H.M.S. + "Curaçoa" among the South Sea Islands in 1865_ (London, 1873), + p. 132. + +The tradition which connects the erection of the monument with the reign +of a Tooitonga named Tui-ta-tui is further countenanced, if not +confirmed, by a list of the Tooitongas, in which the name of Tui-ta-tui +occurs as the eleventh in descent from the great god Tangaloa.[187] This +Tui-ta-tui is believed to have reigned in the thirteenth or fourteenth +century of our era.[188] From the size and style of the masonry Sir +Basil Thomson is disposed to assign the monument to a later date. He +points out that for the quarrying and mortising of stones that weigh +some fifty tons apiece the craft of stone-cutting must have been fully +developed; and from a comparison of the megalithic tombs of the +Tooitongas which can be approximately dated, he infers that the craft of +stone-cutting in Tonga reached its culmination at the end of the +seventeenth century, though it was still practised down to the beginning +of the nineteenth century; for Mariner tells us that in his time a +professional class of masons was set apart for building the stone +sepulchral vaults of chiefs.[189] Yet on the whole Sir Basil Thomson +concludes that "when one is left to choose between a definite native +tradition on the one hand and probability on the other for the +assignment of a date, I would prefer the tradition. If the Tongans had +invented the story as a mere expression for antiquity they would not +have pitched upon Tui-ta-tui, about whom nothing else is recorded, in +preference to Takalaua, Kau-ulu-fonua-fekai, or any of the kings who +loom large in traditionary history. Whether the Haamonga was built for a +throne or for a memorial, doubtless it is connected with the reign of +Tui-ta-tui, who lived in the fourteenth century."[190] + + [187] (Sir) Basil Thomson, _Diversions of a Prime Minister_, p. + 395. In this work the author prints a list of the Tooitongas "as + given by Mr. E. Tregear on the authority of the Rev. J. E. + Moulton." + + [188] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 83; S. Percy Smith, _Hawaiki_, p. 158. + + [189] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 266. As to the size of + the stones, Mariner says, "The stones used for this purpose are + about a foot in thickness, and are cut of the requisite + dimensions, out of the stratum found on the beaches of some of + the islands." + + [190] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 83 _sq._ + +As an alternative to the view that the hollow on the cross-stone was a +kava bowl Dr. Rivers suggests that it "may have been destined to receive +the skull and other bones of the dead, so often preserved in +Polynesia."[191] The suggestion accords well with the opinion that the +monument is a memorial of the dead, and it might be supported by the +Samoan practice of severing a dead chief's head from his body and +burying it separately, to save it from being dug up and desecrated by +enemies in time of war.[192] However, Dr. Rivers is careful to add that +such a practice is not recorded in Tonga and appears to be incompatible +with the mode of sepulture which prevails there. + + [191] W. H. R. Rivers, _History of Melanesian Society_, ii. 431. + + [192] See below, p. 212. + +In this connexion another megalithic monument of the Tonga islands +deserves to be considered, though it appears to have been commonly +overlooked. It was observed by Captain Cook in the island of Lefooga +(Lifuka). He says: "Near the south end of the island, and on the west +side, we met with an artificial mount. From the size of some trees that +were growing upon it, and from other appearances, I guessed that it had +been raised in remote times. I judged it to be about forty feet high; +and the diameter of its summit measured fifty feet. At the bottom of +this mount stood a stone, which must have been hewn out of coral rock. +It was four feet broad, two and a half thick, and fourteen high; and we +were told by the natives present, that not above half its length +appeared above ground. They called it _Tangata Arekee_;[193] and said, +that it had been set up, and the mount raised, by some of their +forefathers, in memory of one of their kings; but how long since, they +could not tell."[194] + + [193] "_Tangata_, in their language, is man; _Arekee_, king." + + [194] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 298 _sq._ To this + description of the monument Sir Basil Thomson has called + attention; he rightly classes it with the tombs of the chiefs. + See his "Notes upon the Antiquities of Tonga," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 85. + +When we remember that Tongan kings were commonly buried in such mounds +as Captain Cook here describes, and further that these mounds were +commonly enclosed or faced with great blocks of hewn stone, we may be +disposed to accept as reasonable and probable the explanation which the +natives gave of this great monolith, which, if the reported measurements +of it are correct, must have been no less than twenty-eight feet high. +If it was indeed a memorial of a dead king, it might be thought to +strengthen the view that the great trilithon was also set up as a +monument to a deceased monarch or Tooitonga. + +Another possible explanation of the trilithon is, as Sir Basil Thomson +points out, that it served as a gateway to some sacred spot inland. But +against this view he observes that he examined the bush for some +distance in the neighbourhood without finding any trace of ruins or +stones of any kind. He adds that the memory of sacred spots dies very +hard in Tonga, and that the natives do not believe the trilithon to have +been a gateway.[195] + + [195] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 81 _sq._ + +It is natural to compare the trilithon of Tongataboo with the famous +trilithons of Stonehenge, which it resembles in plan and to which it is +comparable in size. The resemblance struck Dr. Charles Forbes, the first +to publish a description of the monument based on personal observation. +He says: "The route we pursued led us over a country perfectly level, +with the exception of occasional mounds of earth, apparently artificial, +and reminding one very much of the barrows of Wilts and Dorset, which +idea is still more strongly impressed upon the mind on coming in sight +of the monument, which bears a most striking resemblance to the larger +gateway-looking stones at Stonehenge."[196] But at the same time, as Dr. +Forbes did not fail to note, the Tongan trilithon differs in some +respects from those of Stonehenge. In the first place the interval (ten +or twelve feet) between the uprights of the Tongan trilithon appears to +be much greater than the interval between the uprights of the trilithons +at Stonehenge.[197] In the second place, the cross-stone of the Tongan +trilithon is mortised much more deeply into the uprights than are the +cross-stones at Stonehenge. For whereas at Stonehenge these cross-stones +present the appearance of being laid flat on the top of the uprights, +the cross-stone of the Tongan trilithon is sunk deeply into the uprights +by means of mortises or grooves about two feet wide which are cut into +the uprights, so that the top of the cross-stone is nearly flush with +their tops, while its ends also are nearly flush with their outside +surfaces.[198] + + [196] Dr. Charles Forbes, in _Archaeologia_, xxxv. p. 496. + + [197] I have no measurements of these intervals, but write from + the impression of a recent visit to Stonehenge. + + [198] (Sir) Basil Thomson, "Notes upon the Antiquities of + Tonga," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) p. 82, quoting the anonymous pamphlet _The Wairarapa + Wilderness_. + +As the origin and purpose of Stonehenge are still unknown, its massive +trilithons can hardly be cited to explain the similar monument of +Tongataboo. The rival theories which see in Stonehenge a memorial of the +dead and a temple of the sun[199] are equally applicable or inapplicable +to the Tongan monument. In favour of the mortuary character of this +solitary trilithon it might be urged that the Tongans were long +accustomed to erect megalithic monuments, though of a different type, at +the tombs of their sacred kings, which are situated not many miles away; +but against this view it may be argued that there are no traces of +burial or graves in the immediate neighbourhood, and that native +tradition, not lightly to be set aside, assigns a different origin to +the monument. Against the solar interpretation of the trilithon it may +be alleged, first, that the monument faces north and south, not east and +west, as it might be expected to do if it were a temple of the sun or a +gateway leading into such a temple; second, that, while a circle of +trilithons, as at Stonehenge, with an opening towards the sunrise may be +plausibly interpreted as a temple of the sun, such an interpretation +cannot so readily be applied to a solitary trilithon facing north and +south; and, third, that no trace of sun-worship has been discovered in +the Tonga islands. So far as I have observed, the Tongan pantheon is +nowhere said to have included a sun-god, and the Tongans are nowhere +reported to have paid any special respect to the sun. Savages in +general, it may be added, appear to be very little addicted to +sun-worship; it is for the most part among peoples at a much higher +level of culture, such as the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, and +Peruvians, that solar worship becomes an important, or even the +predominant, feature of the national faith.[200] Perhaps the impulse to +it came rather from the meditations of priestly astronomers than from +the random fancies of common men. Some depth of thought was needed to +detect in the sun the source of all life on earth; the immutable +regularity of the great luminary's movements failed to rouse the +interest or to excite the fear of the savage, to whom the elements of +the unusual, the uncertain, and the terrible are the principal +incentives to wonder and awe, and hence to reflexion. We are all +naturally more impressed by extraordinary than by ordinary events; the +fine edge of the mind is dulled by familiarity in the one case and +whetted by curiosity in the other. + + [199] Lord Avebury, _Prehistoric Times_, Seventh Edition + (London, 1913), pp. 132 _sqq._; Sir Norman Lockyer, _Stonehenge + and other British Stone Monuments astronomically considered_ + (London, 1906); C. Schuchhardt, "Stonehenge," _Zeitschrift für + Ethnologie_, xlii. (1910), pp. 963-968; _id._ in _Zeitschrift + für Ethnologie_, xliii. (1911) pp. 169-171; _id_., in + _Sitzungsberichte der königl. preuss. Akademie der + Wissenschaften_, 1913, pp. 759 _sqq._ (for the sepulchral + interpretation); W. Pastor, "Stonehenge," _Zeitschrift für + Ethnologie_, xliii. (1911) pp. 163-(for the solar + interpretation). + + [200] Adolph Bastian observed that "sun-worship, which people + used to go sniffing about to discover everywhere, is found on + the contrary only in very exceptional regions or on lofty + table-lands of equatorial latitude." See his book, _Die Voelker + des Oestlichen Asien_, iv. (Jena, 1868) p. 175. Nobody, + probably, has ever been better qualified than Bastian to + pronounce an opinion on such a subject; for his knowledge of the + varieties of human thought and religion, acquired both by + reading and travel, was immense. It is only to be regretted that + through haste or negligence he too often gave out the fruits of + his learning in a form which rendered it difficult to sift and + almost impossible to digest them. Yet from his storehouse he + brought forth a treasure, of which we may say what Macaulay said + of the scholarship of Parr, that it was "too often buried in the + earth, too often paraded with injudicious and inelegant + ostentation, but still precious, massive, and splendid." + +Bearing in mind the numerous other stone monuments scattered widely over +the islands of the Pacific, from the Carolines to Easter Island, Dr. +Guillemard concludes that some race, with a different, if not a higher +civilisation preceded the Polynesian race in its present homes, and to +this earlier race he would apparently refer the erection of the +trilithon in Tongataboo.[201] He may be right. Yet when we consider, +first, the native tradition of the setting up of the trilithon by one of +the sacred kings of Tonga; second, the practice of the Tongans of +building megalithic tombs for these same sacred kings; and, third, the +former existence in Tonga of a professional class of masons whose +business it was to construct stone vaults for the burial of chiefs,[202] +we may hesitate to resort to the hypothesis of an unknown people in +order to explain the origin of a monument which the Tongans, as we know +them, appear to have been quite capable of building for themselves. + + [201] F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 500. + + [202] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 266. + + +§ 11. _Rites of Burial and Mourning_ + +The only mode of disposing of the dead which was practised in the Tonga +islands seems to have been burial in the earth. So far as appears, the +corpse was not doubled up, but laid at full length in the grave; at all +events I have met with no mention of burying a corpse in a contracted +posture; and Captain Cook says that "when a person dies, he is buried, +after being wrapped up in mats and cloth, much after our manner." He +adds that, while chiefs had the special burial-places called _fiatookas_ +appropriated to their use, common people were interred in no particular +spot.[203] So far as I have observed, none of our authorities speak of a +practice of embalming the dead or of giving the bodies any particular +direction in the grave. + + [203] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 421. + +After a death the mourners testified their sorrow by dressing in old +ragged mats and wearing green leaves of the _ifi_ tree round their +necks. Thus attired they would repair to the tomb, where, on entering +the enclosure, they would pull off the green twigs from their necks and +throw them away; then sitting down they would solemnly drink kava.[204] +Further, they accompanied their cries and ejaculations of grief and +despair by inflicting on their own bodies many grievous wounds and +injuries. They burned circles and scars on their bodies, beat their +teeth with stones, struck shark's teeth into their heads till the blood +flowed in streams, and thrust spears into the inner part of the thigh, +into their sides below the arm-pits, and through the cheeks into the +mouth.[205] Women in wailing would cut off their fingers, and slit their +noses, their ears, and their cheeks.[206] At the funerals of the kings +especially the mourners indulged in frantic excesses of self-torture and +mutilation. Of two such funerals we have the detailed descriptions of +eye-witnesses who resided in the islands at a time when the natives were +as yet practically unaffected by European influence. King Moom[=o]oe +died in April 1797, and the first missionaries to Tonga witnessed and +described his funeral. They have told how, when the corpse was being +carried in procession to a temporary house near the royal burial-ground +(_fiatooka_), it was preceded by relatives of the deceased in the usual +mourning garb, who cut their heads with shark's teeth till the blood +streamed down their faces. A few days later, when the burial was to take +place, the missionaries found about four thousand people assembled at +the mound where the body was to be interred. In a few minutes they heard +a great shouting and blowing of conch-shells, and soon after there +appeared about a hundred men, armed with clubs and spears, who, rushing +into the area, began to cut and mangle themselves in a most dreadful +manner. Many struck their heads such violent blows with their clubs that +the sound could be heard thirty or forty yards off, and they repeated +them till the blood ran down in streams. Others, who had spears, thrust +them through their thighs, arms, and cheeks, all the while calling on +the deceased in a most affecting manner. A native of Fiji, who had been +a servant of the late king, appeared quite frantic; he entered the area +with fire in his hand, and having previously oiled his hair, he set it +ablaze, and ran about with it all on flame. When they had satisfied or +exhausted themselves with this manner of torment, they sat down, beat +their faces with their fists, and then retired. A second party then +inflicted on themselves the same cruelties. A third party next entered, +shouting and blowing shells; four of the foremost held stones, which +they used to knock out their teeth, while those who blew the shells +employed them as knives with which they hacked their heads in a shocking +manner. A man who had a spear pierced his arm with it just above the +elbow, and with it sticking fast in his flesh ran about the area for +some time. Another, who seemed to be a principal chief, acted as if +quite bereft of his senses; he ran to every corner of the area, and at +each station beat his head with a club till the blood flowed down on his +shoulders. At this point the missionary, unable to bear the sight of +these self-inflicted tortures, quitted the scene. When his colleagues +visited the place some hours later in the afternoon, they found the +natives of both sexes still at the dreadful work of cutting and mangling +themselves. In the course of these proceedings a party of mourners +entered the area, sixteen of whom had recently cut off their little +fingers. They were followed by another party with clubs and spears, who +battered and wounded themselves in the usual fashion, and also +disfigured their faces with coco-nut husks, which they had fastened to +the knuckles of both hands. The missionaries noticed that the mourners +who were either related to the dead king or had held office under him, +were the most cruel to themselves; some of them thrust two, three, and +even four spears into their arms, and so danced round the area, while +others broke off the spear-heads in their flesh.[207] + + [204] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 345 _sq._ As to the + mourning costume of mats and leaves, see also Captain James + Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, p. + 240; W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 380, 392, 431, ii. 214 + _sq._ + + [205] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_ v. 420. + + [206] Jérôme Grange, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, + xvii. (1845) p. 13. + + [207] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, pp. 242-244. + +Similar scenes were witnessed some years later by Mariner at the death +and burial of Finow, another king of Tonga; and the Englishman has +described from personal observation how on this occasion the mourners +cut and wounded their heads and bodies with clubs, stones, knives, or +sharp shells. This they did on one or other of the _malais_[208] or +ceremonial grounds in the presence of many spectators, vying apparently +with each other in the effort to surpass the rest in this public +manifestation of their sorrow for the death of the king and their +respect for his memory. As one ran out into the middle of the ground he +would cry, "Finow! I know well your mind; you have departed to Bolotoo, +and left your people under suspicion that I, or some of those about you, +were unfaithful; but where is the proof of infidelity? where is a single +instance of disrespect?" Then, inflicting violent blows and deep cuts on +his head with a club, stone, or knife, he would again exclaim at +intervals, "Is this not a proof of my fidelity? does this not evince +loyalty and attachment to the memory of the departed warrior?" Some more +violent than others cut their heads to the skull with such heavy and +repeated blows that they reeled and lost their reason for a time.[209] +The king's successor, Finow the Second, not content with the usual +instruments of torture, employed a saw for the purpose, striking his +skull with the teeth so violently that he staggered for loss of blood; +but this he did, not at the time of the burial and in presence of the +multitude, but some weeks later at a more private ceremony of mourning +before the grave.[210] At the public ceremony the late king's fishermen +varied the usual breaking of heads and slashing of bodies by a peculiar +form of self-torment. Instead of clubs they appropriately carried the +paddles of canoes, with which they battered their heads in the orthodox +style; but besides every man of them had three arrows stuck through each +cheek in a slanting direction, so that, while the points pierced through +the cheeks into the mouth, the other ends went over the shoulder and +were kept in position by another arrow, the point of which was tied to +the ends of the arrows passing over one shoulder, while the other end +was tied to the ends of the other arrows which passed over the other +shoulder. Thus each fisherman was decorated with a triangle of arrows, +of which the apex consisted of six arrow-heads in his mouth, while the +base dangled on his back. With this remarkable equipment they walked +round the grave, beating their faces and heads with their paddles, or +pinching up the skin of the breast and sticking a spear right through +it.[211] + + [208] Mariner defines a _malai_ as "a piece of ground, generally + before a large house, or chief's grave, where public ceremonies + are principally held" (_Tonga Islands_, vol. ii., "Vocabulary" + _s.v._). It is the same word as _malae_ or _marae_, noticed + above, p. 116, note^3. + + [209] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 379-384. + + [210] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 440-442. + + [211] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 404 _sq._ + +The grave of a chief's family was a vault paved with a single large +stone, while the four walls were formed each of a single block. The +vault was about eight feet long, six feet broad, and eight feet deep, +and was covered at the top by one large stone.[212] So heavy was this +covering stone that, as we have seen, from a hundred and fifty to two +hundred men were required to lift and lower it.[213] Mariner estimated +that the family vault in which King Finow was interred was large enough +to hold thirty bodies. When the king's corpse was being deposited in it, +Mariner saw two dry and perfectly preserved bodies lying in the vault, +together with the bones of several others; and he was told by old men +that the well-preserved bodies had been buried when they, his +informants, were boys, which must have been upwards of forty years +before; whereas the bodies of which nothing but the bones remained had +been buried later. The natives attributed the exceptional preservation +of the two to the better constitution of their former owners; Mariner, +or more probably his editor, Dr. Martin, preferred to suppose that the +difference was due to the kind or duration of the disease which had +carried them off. Apparently the natives did not suggest that the bodies +had been embalmed, which they would almost certainly have done if they +had known of such a custom.[214] No sooner was the king's body deposited +in the grave, and the great stone lowered over it, than certain +ministers (_matabooles_) and warriors ran like men frantic round and +round the burial-ground, exclaiming, "Alas! how great is our loss! +Finow! you are departed; witness this proof of our love and loyalty!" At +the same time they cut and bruised their own heads with clubs, knives, +and axes in the usual fashion.[215] Afterwards the grave was filled up +with earth and strewed with sand, which a company of women and men had +brought for the purpose in baskets from a place at the back of the +island; what remained of the sand was scattered over the sepulchral +mound (_fytoca_), of which it was deemed a great embellishment. The +inside of the burial-ground was then spread with mats made of coco-nut +leaves.[216] + + [212] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 144 note *. + + [213] See above, p. 105. + + [214] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 388 note *. + + [215] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 388 _sq._ + + [216] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 389-392. + +Meantime the company of mourners had been seated on the green before the +burial-ground, still wearing their mourning garb of mats, with leaves of +the _ifi_ tree strung round their necks. They now arose and went to +their homes, where they shaved their heads and burnt their cheeks with a +lighted roll of bark-cloth, by applying it once upon each cheek-bone; +next they rubbed the place with an astringent berry, which caused it to +bleed, and afterwards they smeared the blood in a broad circle round the +wound, giving themselves a very ghastly appearance. They repeated this +friction with the berry every day, making the wound bleed afresh; and +the men meanwhile neglected to shave and to oil themselves during the +day, though they indulged in these comforts at night. Having burnt their +cheeks and shaved their heads, they built for themselves small temporary +huts, where they lived during the time of mourning, which lasted twenty +days.[217] + + [217] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 392 _sq._ + +The women who had become tabooed, that is, in a state of ceremonial +pollution, by touching the king's dead body, remained constantly within +the burial-ground for the twenty days of mourning, except when they +retired to one of the temporary huts to eat,[218] or rather to be fed by +others. For it was a rule that no ordinary person, man or woman, could +touch a dead chief without being tabooed, that is ceremonially polluted, +for ten lunar months, during which time he or she might not touch food +with their own hands. But for chiefs the period of pollution was +limited to three, four, or five months, according to the superiority of +the dead chief. Only when the dead body which they had touched was that +of the sacred chief, the Tooitonga, they were all tabooed for ten +months, however high their rank; for example, the king's wife was +tabooed for that length of time during the residence of Mariner, because +she had touched the dead body of the Tooitonga. During the time that a +person was tabooed, he might not feed himself with his own hands, but +must be fed by somebody else: he might not even use a toothpick himself, +but might guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he was +hungry and had no one to feed him, he must go down on his hands and +knees, and pick up his victuals with his mouth; and if he infringed any +of these rules, it was firmly expected that he would swell up and +die.[219] Captain Cook observed this custom in operation at Tongataboo. +On one of his walks he met with a party of women at supper, and noticed +that two of them were being fed by others. On asking the reason, he was +answered _taboo mattee_, that is, "Death taboo." It was explained to him +that one of the women had washed the dead body of a chief two months +before, and that consequently she might not handle any food for five +months. The other had performed the same office for the corpse of +another person of inferior rank, and was now under the same restriction, +but not for so long a time.[220] The tabooed women at Finow's grave were +supplied with food by the new king, Finow the Second. The food was +brought and placed on the ground at some distance from the grave, or +else it was deposited before the temporary house to which the chief of +the tabooed women retired to be fed. With the provisions was also sent +every day a supply of torches to light up the burial-ground by night. +The torches were held up by a woman of inferior rank, who, when she was +tired, was relieved in her office by another. During the twenty days of +mourning, if any one passed the burial-ground, he had to go at a slow +pace, with his head bowed down, and his hands clasped before him; and +if he carried a burden, he must lower it from his shoulder and carry it +in his hands or on his bended arms; but if he could not do so +conveniently, he had to make a circuit to avoid the grave. + + [218] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 393. + + [219] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 141 note *. + + [220] Captain James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 336. The writer does not + translate the expression _taboo mattee_; but _mate_ is the + regular Tongan word for "death" or "to die." See Mariner, _Tonga + Islands_, Vocabulary, _s.v._ "Mate." Compare E. Tregear, + _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 228, _s.v._ + "Mate." + +Such were the regular observances at the death and burial of chiefs; +they were not peculiar to the obsequies of Finow the king.[221] + + [221] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 394 _sq._ + +The twentieth day of mourning concluded the ceremonies in honour of the +deceased monarch. Early in the morning all his relations, together with +the members of his household, and also the women who were tabooed on +account of having touched his dead body in the process of oiling and +preparing it, went to the back of the island to procure a quantity of +flat pebbles, principally white, but a few black, which they brought +back in baskets to the grave. There they strewed the inside of the house +and the outside of the burial-ground (_fytoca_) with the white pebbles +as a decoration; the black pebbles they laid only on the top of those +white ones which covered the ground directly over the body, to about the +length and breadth of a man, in the form of a very eccentric ellipse. +After that, the house on the burial mound was closed up at both ends +with a reed fencing, which reached from the eaves to the ground; while +at the front and the back the house was closed with a sort of +basket-work, made of the young branches of the coco-nut tree, split and +interwoven in a very curious and ornamental way. These fences were to +remain until the next burial, when they would be taken down and, after +the conclusion of the ceremony, replaced by new ones of similar pattern. +A large quantity of food and kava was now sent by the chiefs and the +king to the public place (_malai_) in front of the burial mound, and +these provisions were served out among the people in the usual way. The +company then separated and repaired to their respective houses, to +prepare for the dances and the grand wrestling-match, which were to +conclude the funeral rites.[222] + + [222] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ i. 401-403. + +During the intervals of the dances, which followed, several warriors and +ministers (_matabooles_) ran before the grave, cutting and bruising +their heads with axes, clubs, and so forth as proofs of fidelity to +their late chief, the dead and buried King Finow. It was on this +occasion that the deceased king's fishermen demonstrated their loyalty +and attachment to his memory by the self-inflicted tortures which I have +already described.[223] When these exhibitions of cruelty were over, the +day's ceremonies, which altogether lasted about six hours, were +terminated by a grand wrestling-match. That being over, the people +dispersed to their respective houses or occupations, and the obsequies +of Finow, king of the Tonga islands, came to an end.[224] + + [223] Above, pp. 135 _sq._ + + [224] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 403-405. + +The wrestling-match which wound up the funeral honours paid to the +departed monarch would seem not to have been an isolated case of +athletic sports held at this particular funeral. Apparently it was a +general custom in Tonga to conclude burial-rites with games of this +kind. At least we may infer as much from an expression made use of by +the first missionaries to Tongataboo. They say that the chief of their +district, after taking to himself a wife in the morning went in the +afternoon "to finish the funeral ceremonies for his brother, in +celebrating the games usual on that occasion."[225] The practice, which +is apt to seem to us incongruous, of holding games at a funeral, was +observed by the Greeks in antiquity and by not a few other peoples in +modern times.[226] + + [225] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, p. 265. + + [226] _The Golden Bough_, Part III., _The Dying God_, pp. 92 + _sqq._ + +On the other hand the obsequies of the sacred or divine chief, the +Tooitonga, differed in certain remarkable particulars from the +posthumous honours generally paid to chiefs. It is true that his +burial-place was of the same form as that of other chiefs, and that the +mode of his interment did not differ essentially from theirs, except +that it was customary to deposit some of his most valuable property with +him in the grave, including his beads, whale's teeth, fine Samoan mats, +and other articles. Hence the family burying-place of the Tooitongas in +the island of Tongataboo, where the whole line of these pontiffs had +been interred, must have become very rich in the course of time; for no +native would dare to commit the sacrilege of stealing the treasures at +the holy tomb.[227] However, the sacrifice of property to the dead seems +not to have been, as Mariner supposed, peculiar to the funeral of the +Tooitonga; for at the burial of King Moom[=o]oe, in May 1797, the first +missionaries saw files of women and men bringing bags of valuable +articles, fine mats, and bales of cloth, which they deposited in the +tomb expressly as a present for the dead.[228] Again, the mourning +costume worn for the Tooitonga was the same as that for any chief, +consisting of ragged old mats on the body and leaves of the _ifi_ tree +round the neck; but in the case of the Tooitonga the time of mourning +was extended to four months, the mats being generally left off after +three months, while the leaves were still retained for another month; +and the female mourners remained within the burial-ground (_fytoca, +fiatooka_) for about two months, instead of twenty days, only retiring +occasionally to temporary houses in the neighbourhood to eat or for +other necessary purposes.[229] + + [227] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 213 _sq._ + + [228] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, p. 243. + + [229] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 214 _sq._ + +One very remarkable peculiarity in the mourning for a Tooitonga was +that, though he ranked above the king and all other chiefs, the mourners +strictly abstained from manifesting their grief by wounding their heads +and cutting their bodies in the manner that was customary at the +funerals of all other great men. Mariner was never able to learn the +reason for this abstention.[230] + + [230] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 213. + +Other peculiar features in the obsequies of a Tooitonga were the +following. In the afternoon of the day of burial, when the body of the +Tooitonga was already within the burial-ground, almost every man, woman, +and child, all dressed in the usual mourning garb, and all provided with +torches, used to sit down about eighty yards from the grave; in the +course of an hour a multitude of several thousands would thus assemble. +One of the female mourners would then come forth from the burial-ground +and call out to the people, saying, "Arise ye, and approach"; whereupon +the people would get up, and advancing about forty yards would again sit +down. Two men behind the grave now began to blow conch-shells, and six +others, with large lighted torches, about six feet high, advanced from +behind the burial-ground, descended the mound, and walked in single file +several times between the burial-ground and the people, waving their +flaming torches in the air. After that they began to ascend the mound, +whereupon all the people rose up together and made a loud crashing noise +by snapping their _bolatas_, which were pieces of the stem of a banana +tree used to receive the ashes falling from lighted torches. Having done +so, the people followed the torch-bearers in single file up the mound +and walked in procession round about the tomb (_fytoca_). As they passed +at the back of the tomb, they all, torch-bearers and people, deposited +their extinguished torches on the ground; while the female mourners +within thanked them for providing these things. Having thus marched +round, the people returned to their places and sat down. Thereupon the +master of the ceremonies came forward and ordered them to divide +themselves into parties according to their districts; which being done +he assigned to one party the duty of clearing away the bushes and grass +from one side of the grave, and to another party a similar task in +regard to another side of the grave, while a third party was charged to +remove rubbish, and so forth. In this way the whole neighbourhood of the +burial-ground was soon cleared, and when this was done, all the people +returned to the temporary houses which, as mourners, they were bound to +occupy.[231] + + [231] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 215-217. + +Soon after darkness had fallen, certain persons stationed at the grave +began again to sound the conches, while others chanted a song, or rather +recitative, partly in the Samoan dialect, partly in an unknown language, +of which the natives could give no account. None of them understood the +words, nor could they explain how their forefathers came to learn them. +All that they knew was that the words had been handed down from father +to son among the class of people whose business it was to direct burial +ceremonies. According to Mariner, some of the words were Tongan, and he +thought that the language was probably an old or corrupt form of Tongan, +though he could make no sense out of it. Such traditional repetition of +a litany in an unknown tongue is not uncommon among savages; it occurs, +for instance, very frequently among some of the aboriginal tribes of +Australia, where the chants or recitatives accompanying certain dances +or ceremonies are often passed on from one tribe to another, the members +of which perform the borrowed dance or ceremony and repeat by rote the +borrowed chants or recitatives without understanding a word of +them.[232] + + [232] W. E. Roth, _Ethnological Studies among the + North-west-central Queensland Aborigines_ (Brisbane and London, + 1897), pp. 117 _sq._; (Sir) Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, + _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 234, + 235; _id._, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), + p. 281 note; _id._, _Across Australia_ (London, 1912), i. 244. + +While the conches were sounding and the voices of the singers broke the +silence of night, about sixty men assembled before the grave, where they +awaited further orders. When the chanting was over, and the notes of the +conches had ceased to sound, one of the women mourners came forward, and +sitting down outside the graveyard addressed the men thus: "Men! ye are +gathered here to perform the duty imposed on you; bear up, and let not +your exertions be wanting to accomplish the work." With these words she +retired into the burial-ground. The men now approached the mound in the +dark, and, in the words of Mariner, or his editor, performed their +devotions to Cloacina, after which they withdrew. As soon as it was +daylight the next morning, the women of the first rank, wives and +daughters of the greatest chiefs, assembled with their female +attendants, bringing baskets and shells wherewith to clear up the +deposit of the preceding night; and in this ceremonious act of humility +no lady of the highest rank refused to take her part. Some of the +mourners in the burial-ground generally came out to assist, so that in a +very little while the place was made perfectly clean. This deposit was +repeated the fourteen following nights, and as punctually cleared away +by sunrise every morning. No persons but the agents were allowed to be +witnesses of these extraordinary ceremonies; at least it would have been +considered highly indecorous and irreligious to pry upon them. On the +sixteenth day, early in the morning, the same women again assembled, but +now they were dressed in the finest bark-cloth and beautiful Samoan +mats, decorated with ribbons and with wreaths of flowers round their +necks; they also brought new baskets, ornamented with flowers, and +little brooms very tastefully made. Thus equipped, they approached and +acted as if they had the same task to perform as before, pretending to +clear up the dirt, and to take it away in their baskets, though there +was no dirt to remove. Then they returned to the capital and resumed +their mourning dress of mats and leaves. Such were the rites performed +during the fifteen days; every day the ceremony of the burning torches +was also repeated.[233] + + [233] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 217-219. + +For one month from the day of burial, greater or less quantities of +provisions were brought every day and shared out to the people. On the +first day the quantity supplied was prodigious; but day by day the +supply gradually diminished till on the last day it was reduced to very +little.[234] Nevertheless the consumption or waste of food on such +occasions was so great that to guard against a future dearth of +provisions it was deemed necessary to lay a prohibition or taboo on the +eating of hogs, fowls, and coco-nuts for a period of eight or ten +months, though two or three plantations were exempted from this rigorous +embargo, to the end that in the meantime hogs, fowls, and coco-nuts +might be furnished for occasional religious rites, and that the higher +order of chiefs might be able to partake of these victuals. At the end +of the eight or ten months' fast the taboo was removed and permission to +eat of the forbidden foods was granted by the king at a solemn ceremony. +Immense quantities of yams having been collected and piled up in +columns, and some three or four hundred hogs having been killed, the +people assembled from all quarters at the king's _malái_ or public +place. Of the slaughtered hogs about twenty were deposited, along with a +large quantity of yams, at the grave of the deceased Tooitonga. The rest +of the provisions were shared out in definite proportions among the +gods, the king, the divine chief (the living Tooitonga), the inferior +chiefs, and the people, so that every man in the island of Tongataboo +got at least a mouthful of pork and yam. The ceremony concluded with +dancing, wrestling, and other sports, after which every person retired +to his home with his portion of food to share it with his family. The +hogs and yams deposited at the dead Tooitonga's grave were left lying +till the pork stank and the yams were rotten, whereupon the living +Tooitonga ordered that they should be distributed to all who chose to +apply for a portion. In strict law they belonged to the principal +chiefs, but as these persons were accustomed to feed on meat in a rather +less advanced stage of decomposition they kindly waived their claims to +the putrid pork and rotten yams in favour of the lower orders, who were +less nice in their eating.[235] + + [234] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, ii. 220. + + [235] W. Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 112 _sq._, 120-126, ii. + 220. + +It was customary that the chief widow of the Tooitonga should be +strangled and interred with his dead body.[236] But the practice of +strangling a wife at her husband's funeral was not limited to the widows +of the Tooitongas. A similar sacrifice seems to have been formerly +offered at the obsequies of a king; for at the funeral of King Moomöoe +the first missionaries to Tonga saw two of the king's widows being led +away to be strangled.[237] + + [236] W. Mariner, _op. cit._ ii. 135, 209 _sq._, 214. + + [237] Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, p. 240. + +The funeral and mourning customs which we have passed in review serve to +illustrate the Tongan conceptions of the soul and of its survival after +death. The strangling of widows was probably intended here as elsewhere +to despatch their spirits to attend their dead husbands in the spirit +land;[238] and the deposition of valuable property in the grave can +hardly have had, at least in origin, any other object than to ensure the +comfort of the departed in the other world, and incidentally, perhaps, +to remove from him any temptation to return to his sorrowing friends in +this world for the purpose of recovering the missing articles. The +self-inflicted wounds and bruises of the mourners were clearly intended +to impress the ghost with the sincerity of their regret at his departure +from this sublunary scene; if any doubt could linger in our minds as to +the intention of these extravagant proceedings, it would be set at rest +by the words with which, as we have seen, the mourners accompanied +them, calling on the dead man to witness their voluntary tortures and to +judge for himself of the genuineness of their sorrow. In this connexion +it is to be borne in mind that all dead noblemen, in the opinion of the +Tongans, were at once promoted to the rank of deities; so that it was in +their power to visit any disrespect to their memory and any defalcation +of their dues with the double terror of ghosts and of gods. No wonder +that the Tongans sought to keep on good terms with such mighty beings by +simulating, when they did not feel, a sense of the irreparable loss +which the world had sustained by their dissolution. + + [238] This was the reason assigned for the strangling of widows + at their husband's funeral in Fiji. See John Williams, + _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, + pp. 478 _sq._ + + +§ 12. _The Ethical Influence of Tongan Religion_ + +Surveyed as a whole, the Tongan religion presents a singular instance of +a creed which restricted the hope of immortality to the nobly born and +denied it to commoners. According to the doctrine which it inculcated, +the aristocratic pre-eminence accorded to chiefs in this world was more +than maintained by them in the next, where they enjoyed a monopoly of +immortality. And not content with sojourning in the blissful regions of +Bolotoo, their departed spirits often returned to earth to warn, to +direct, to threaten their people, either in dreams and visions of the +night, or by the mouth of the priests whom they inspired. Such beliefs +involved in theory and to some extent in practice a subjection of the +living to the dead, of the seen and temporal to the unseen and eternal. +In favour of the creed it may at least be alleged that, while it looked +to spiritual powers, whether ghosts or gods, for the reward of virtue +and the punishment of vice, it did not appeal to another life to redress +the balance of justice which had been disturbed in this one. The Tongan +religion inculcated a belief that the good and the bad alike receive a +recompense here on earth, thus implicitly repudiating the unworthy +notion that men can only be lured or driven into the narrow way of +righteousness by the hope of heaven or the fear of hell. So far the +creed based morality on surer foundations than any faith which would +rest the ultimate sanctions of conduct on the slippery ground of +posthumous rewards and punishments. In this respect, if in no other, we +may compare the Tongan religion to that of the Hebrew prophets. It has +been rightly observed by Renan that whereas European races in general +have found in the assurance of a life to come ample compensation for the +iniquities of this present life, the Hebrew prophets never appeal to +rewards and punishments reserved for a future state of existence. They +were not content with the conception of a lame and laggard justice that +limps far behind the sinner in this world and only overtakes him in the +next. According to them, God's justice is swift and sure here on earth; +an unjust world was in their eyes a simple monstrosity.[239] So too, +apparently, thought the Tongans, and some Europeans may be inclined to +agree with them. + + [239] E. Renan, _Histoire du peuple d'Israël_, ii. 505. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE SAMOANS + + +§ 1. _The Samoan Islands_ + +About three hundred and fifty or four hundred miles nearly due north of +Tonga lies Samoa, a group of islands situated between 13° 30' and 14° +30' South latitude and between 168° and 173° West longitude. The native +name of the group is Samoa, which has this singularity, that it is +apparently the only name that designates a group of islands in the +Pacific; native names for all the other groups are wanting, though each +particular island has its own individual name. Samoa is also known to +Europeans as the Navigators' Islands, a name bestowed on them by the +French explorer De Bougainville, who visited the group in 1768. The +three most easterly islands were discovered in 1722 by Jacob Roggewein, +a Dutch navigator, but he appears not to have sighted the principal +islands of the group, which lie a good deal farther to the westward. +There is no record of any visit paid by a European vessel to the islands +in the interval between the visits of Roggewein and De Bougainville. The +whole archipelago was not explored till 1787, when the French navigator +La Pérouse determined the position of all the islands.[1] + + [1] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, New Edition (New York, 1851), ii. 117; J. + B. Stair, _Old Samoa_ (London, 1897), pp. 21 _sq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. (London, 1894) p. 500; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 1, 360. + +The islands are disposed in a line running from west to east. The most +westerly, Savaii, is also the largest, measuring about forty miles in +length. Next follow two small, but important islands, Apolima and +Manona. Then about three miles to the east of Manona comes Upolu, the +second of the islands in size, but the first in importance, whether we +regard population, harbours, or the extent of soil available for +cultivation. The channel which divides Upolu from Savaii is from fifteen +to twenty miles broad. About forty miles to the east, or rather +south-east, of Upolu lies the island of Tutuila, with the fine and +almost landlocked harbour of Pangopango. It was in this island that the +French navigator La Pérouse lost his second in command and twelve men in +a fierce encounter with the natives. The place where the fight took +place is now known as Massacre Cove.[2] Some fifty miles to the east of +Tutuila is situated a group of three small islands, Tau, Ofu, and +Olosenga, which are collectively known as Manua. + + [2] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 27 _sq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _op. cit._ pp. 500, 504. + +The islands are of volcanic formation and for the most part surrounded +by coral reefs, but the intervening seas are quite free from danger, and +the possession of good harbours renders Samoa politically important. +Viewed from the sea the islands are mountainous and for the most part +wooded to the water's edge, except where a stretch of fertile plain is +interposed between the foot of the mountains and the sea. The whole +group presents to the voyager a succession of enchanting views as he +sails along the coast. The eye is delighted by the prospect of lofty and +rugged mountains, their tops sometimes lost in clouds, their slopes +mantled in the verdure of evergreen forests, varied here and there by +rich valleys, by grey and lofty cliffs, or by foaming waterfalls +tumbling from heights of hundreds of feet and showing like silvery +threads against the sombre green of the woods. Along the shore rocks of +black lava alternate with white sands dazzling in the sunlight and +fringed by groves of coco-nut palms, their feathery tops waving and +dancing in the breeze, while the brilliant cobalt blue of the calm +lagoon contrasts with the olive-green of the deep sea, which breaks in a +long line of seething foam on the barrier reef. The scenery as a whole +combines romantic grandeur with wild and rank luxuriance, thus winning +for Samoa the reputation of being among the loveliest of the islands +which stud like gems the bosom of the Pacific.[3] + + [3] J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the + Islands of the Western Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 110; T. H. + Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western + Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 40; J. L. Brenchley, _Jottings + during the Cruise of H.M.S. "Curaçoa" among the South Sea + Islands in 1865_ (London, 1873), pp. 37-39, 61 _sq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 502 _sq._; John B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, pp. 26 _sqq._ + +The island of Upolu in particular is wooded from its summit to the +water's edge, where in some places the roots of the trees are washed by +the surf, while in many places clumps of mangrove trees spread out into +the lagoon. The forests are dense and more sombre even than those of +Brazil. The lofty trees shoot up to a great height before sending out +branches. At their feet grow ferns of many sorts, while climbing vines +and other creepers mantle their trunks and sometimes even their tops. +But the gloom of the tropical forest is seldom or never relieved by +flowers of brilliant tints; the few flowers that bloom in them are of a +white or greyish hue, as if bleached for want of the sunbeams, which are +shut out by the thick umbrageous foliage overhead.[4] + + [4] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 31 _sq._, 52 _sq._ + +Very different from the aspect presented by this luxuriant vegetation is +a great part of the interior of Savaii, the largest island of the group. +Here the desolate and forbidding character of the landscape constantly +reminds the traveller of the dreadful forces which slumber beneath his +feet. Extinct volcanoes tower above him to heights of four and five +thousand feet, their steep and almost perpendicular sides formed of +volcanic ashes and denuded of vegetation. For miles around these gloomy +peaks the ground presents nothing to the eye but black rocks, scoriae, +and ashes; the forlorn wayfarer seems to be traversing a furnace barely +extinguished, so visible are the traces of fire on the sharp-pointed +stones among which he picks his painful way, and which in their twisted +and tormented forms seem still to preserve something of the movement of +the once boiling flood of molten lava. The whole country is a barren +and waterless wilderness, a solitude destitute alike of animal and of +vegetable life, alternately parched by the fierce rays of the tropical +sun and deluged by hurricanes of torrential rain. Even the natives +cannot traverse these dreary deserts; a European who strayed into them +was found, after five or six days, prostrate and almost dead on the +ground.[5] + + [5] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel + de Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) pp. 71 _sq._; + F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 502 _sq._; J. B. Stair, + Old Samoa, p. 34; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 1 + _sqq._ + +In Samoa, as in Tonga, volcanic activity has ominously increased within +less than a hundred years. Near the island of Olosenga, in 1866 or 1867, +a submarine volcano suddenly burst out in eruption, vomiting forth rocks +and mud to a height, as it was estimated, of two thousand feet, killing +the fish and discolouring the sea for miles round.[6] Still later, +towards the end of 1905, another volcano broke out in the bottom of a +deep valley in the island of Savaii, and rose till it attained a height +of about four thousand feet. Down at least to the year 1910 this immense +volcano was still in full action, and had covered many miles of country +under a bed of lava some ten or twelve feet thick, while with the same +river of molten matter it completely filled up the neighbouring lagoon +and replaced the level shore by an iron-bound coast of volcanic +cliffs.[7] + + [6] F. H. H. Guillemard, _op. cit._ ii. 504; J. B. + Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 43. + + [7] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 3. + +A remarkable instance of these volcanic cliffs is furnished by the +little island of Apolima between Savaii and Upolu. The islet, which is +in fact the crater of an extinct volcano, is only about a mile long by +half to three-quarters of a mile in width. On every side but one it +presents to the sea a precipitous wall of basaltic rock some thousand +feet high, while the interior is scooped out in the likeness of a great +cauldron. Only at one place is there a break in the cliffs where a +landing can be effected, and there the operation is difficult and +dangerous even in fine weather. In bad weather the island is completely +isolated. Thus it forms a strong natural fortress, which under the +conditions of native warfare was almost impregnable.[8] + + [8] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 33 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 171. + +As might be expected from their volcanic formation, the islands are +subject to frequent and sometimes severe shocks of earthquake. The +veteran missionary, J. B. Stair, has recorded that the shocks increased +in number and violence during the last years of his residence in Samoa. +The last of them was preceded by loud subterranean noises, which lasted +for hours, to the great alarm of the natives. At the north-west of Upolu +also, Mr. Stair used often to hear a muffled sound, like the rumble of +distant thunder, proceeding apparently from the sea under the reef. This +curious noise always occurred on hot, sultry days, and seemed to strike +a note of warning, which filled natives and Europeans alike with a sense +of awe and insecurity.[9] Thus if, beheld from some points of view, the +Samoan islands appear an earthly paradise, from others they present the +aspect, and emit the sounds, of an inferno. + + [9] T. H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in + the Western Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 145; J. B. Stair, + _op. cit._ pp. 41 _sq._ + +And with all their natural beauty and charm the islands cannot be said +to enjoy a healthy climate. There is much bad weather, particularly +during the winter months, when long and heavy rains, attended at times +with high winds and gales, are frequent. The air is more moist than in +Tahiti, and the vegetation in consequence is more rank and luxuriant. +Decaying rapidly under the ardent rays of a tropical sun, it exhales a +poisonous miasma. But the heat, oppressive and exhausting at times, is +nevertheless tempered by the sea and land breezes, which blow daily, +alternating with intervals of calm between them. Besides these daily +breezes the trade wind blows regularly from the east during the fine +season, when the sky is constantly blue and cloudless. Yet with all +these alleviations the climate is enervating, and a long residence in it +is debilitating to the European frame.[10] Nor are the natives exempt +from the noxious effects of an atmosphere saturated with moisture and +impregnated with the fumes of vegetable decay. The open nature of their +dwellings, which were without walls, exposed them to the heavy night +dews and rendered them susceptible to diseases of the chest and lungs, +from which they suffered greatly; consumption in its many forms, coughs, +colds, inflammation of the chest and lungs, fevers, rheumatism, +pleurisy, diarrh[oe]a, lumbago, diseases of the spine, scrofula, and +many other ailments are enumerated among the disorders which afflicted +them. But the prevailing disease is elephantiasis, a dreadful malady +which attacks Europeans and natives alike. There are many cases of +epilepsy, and though idiots are rare, lunatics are less infrequent. +Hunchbacks are very common in both sexes, and virulent ophthalmia is +prevalent; many persons lose the sight of one eye, and some are totally +blinded; not less than a fifth part of the population is estimated to +suffer from this malady.[11] Curiously enough, hunchbacks, who are said +to be very numerous on account of scrofula, used to be looked on as +special favourites of the spirits, and many of them, on growing to +manhood, were accordingly admitted to the priesthood.[12] + + [10] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 118; Violette, "Notes d'un + Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions + Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 72 (who, however, affirms that the + climate is not unhealthy); T. H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in + H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 144 + _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 16, 35 _sqq._ + + [11] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 124 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, + pp. 165 _sq._, 169 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 180 _sqq._ + + [12] S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of + the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, + held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 622. + +During the stormy season, which lasts from December to April, hurricanes +sometimes occur, and are greatly dreaded by the natives on account of +the havoc which they spread both among the crops and the houses. A +steady rain, the absence of the sun, a deathlike stillness of the birds +and domestic animals, and above all the dark and lowering aspect of the +sky, are the premonitory symptoms of the coming calamity and inspire +general consternation, while the thunderous roar of the torrents and +waterfalls in the mountains strike on the ear with redoubled +distinctness in the prevailing silence which preludes the storm. Warned +by these ominous signs, the natives rush to secure their property from +being swept away by the fury of the blast. Some hurry their canoes +inland to places of comparative safety; others pile trunks of +banana-trees on the roofs of their houses or fasten down the roofs by +hanging heavy stones over them; while yet others bring rough poles, +hastily cut in the forest, and set them up inside the houses as props +against the rafters, to prevent the roof from falling in. Sometimes +these efforts are successful, sometimes futile, the hurricane sweeping +everything before it in its mad career, while the terrified natives +behold the fruits of months of toil, sometimes the growth of years, laid +waste in an hour. On such occasions the shores have been seen flooded by +the invading ocean, houses carried clean away, and a forest turned +suddenly into a bare and treeless plain. Men have been forced to fling +themselves flat on the ground and to dig their hands into the earth to +save themselves from being whirled away and precipitated into the sea or +a torrent. In April 1850 the town of Apia, the capital of the islands, +was almost destroyed by one of these cyclones. When the rage of the +tornado is spent and calm has returned, the shores of a harbour are apt +to present a melancholy scene of ruin and desolation, their shores +strewn with the wrecks of gallant ships which lately rode there at +anchor, their pennons streaming to the wind. So it happened in the +harbour of Apia on March 16th, 1889. Before the tempest burst, there +were many ships of various nations anchored in the bay, among them five +or six American and German warships. When it was over, all were wrecked +and their shattered fragments littered the reefs. One vessel alone, the +British man-of-war, _Calliope_, was saved by the courage and skill of +the captain, who, seconded by the splendid seamanship of the crew, +forced his ship, in the very teeth of the hurricane, out into the open +sea, where he safely weathered the storm.[13] + + [13] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 72; Violette, "Notes d'un + Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions + Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 72; F. H. H. Guillemard, + _Australasia_, ii. 504; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 38-41. + +A special interest attaches to Samoa in so far as it is now commonly +believed to be the original seat of the Polynesian race in the Pacific, +from which their ancestors gradually dispersed to the other islands of +that vast ocean, where their descendants are settled to this day. +Polynesian traditions point to such a dispersal from Samoa as a centre, +and they are confirmed by the name which the various branches of the +race give to their old ancestral home. The original form of that name +appears to have been Savaiki, which through dialectical variations has +been altered to Hawaiki in New Zealand, to Hawaii in the Sandwich +Islands, to Havaii in Tahiti, to Havaiki in the Marquesas, and to Avaiki +in Rarotonga. In the Samoan dialect, which of all the Polynesian +dialects alone retains the letter S, the word presumably appears as +Savaii, the name of the largest island of the group, which accordingly +may be regarded, with some probability, as the cradle-land of the +Polynesians in the Pacific; though native traditions indicate rather +Upolu or Manua as the place from which the canoes started on their long +and adventurous voyages. On the other hand in favour of Savaii it has +been pointed out that the island holds a decided superiority over the +other islands of the group in respect of canoe-building; for it +possesses extensive forests of hard and durable timber, which is much +sought after for the keels and other parts of vessels; indeed, the large +sea-going canoes were generally, if not always, built on Savaii, and +maritime expeditions appear sometimes to have started from its +shores.[14] In proof that the Samoans have long been settled in the +islands which they now occupy, it may be alleged that they appear to +have no tradition of any other home from which their ancestors migrated +to their present abode. With the single exception of a large village +called Matautu in Savaii, the inhabitants of which claim that they came +originally from Fiji, all the Samoans consider themselves +indigenous.[15] The Samoans and Tongans, says Mr. S. Percy Smith, +"formed part of the first migration into the Pacific, and they have +been there so long that they have forgotten their early history. All the +numerous legends as to their origin seem to express their own belief in +their being autochthones, created in the Samoan Islands."[16] + + [14] Horatio Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the + United States Exploring Expedition_ (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. + 119 _sqq._; J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the + Islands of the Western Pacific_, pp. 102 _sq._; J. B. Stair, + _Old Samoa_, pp. 271 _sqq._ (compare _id._ p. 34 as to the + timber and canoe-building of Savaii); G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 358, 371 _sq._; A. C. Haddon, _The Wanderings + of Peoples_ (Cambridge, 1919), p. 36; A. H. Keane, _Man Past and + Present_ (Cambridge, 1920), p. 552. That the Samoan language, + alone of the Polynesian dialects, retains the S sound, is + affirmed by Ch. Wilkes (_Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 123). In some of the islands the name + of the ancient fatherland of the race (Hawaiki, etc.) has been + applied or transferred to the spirit-land to which the souls of + the dead are supposed to pass as their final abode. See S. Percy + Smith, _Hawaiki_, pp. 46 _sqq._; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian + Comparative Dictionary_, pp. 56 _sqq._, _s.v._ "Hawaiki." + + [15] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 360 + _sq._ As to the Fijian colony in Savaii, compare T. H. Hood, + _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific_ + (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 117 _sq._ + + [16] S. Percy Smith, _Hawaiki_, pp. 114 _sq._ + + +§ 2. _The Samoan Islanders, their character_ + +In spite of the many diseases prevalent among them, the Samoans are +commonly reckoned among the finest, as well as the purest, specimens of +the Polynesian race. Like the Tongans, whom they closely resemble, they +are generally tall and shapely, with full rounded faces and limbs, but +without that grossness and laxity of fibre common in the Tahitians. The +average height of the men is said to be five feet ten inches, but some +of them are over six feet with the thews and sinews of a Hercules. Their +features, though not always regular, are commonly pleasing; and in +particular the forehead is remarkable for its ample development, which, +with the breadth between the eyes, gives to the countenance an +expression of nobleness and dignity. Some of the young men especially +are models of manly beauty; we read of one who, having decked his hair +with the flowers of the scarlet hibiscus, might have sat for an +Antinous. The women are comely enough, but strikingly inferior to the +men in point of personal beauty. The prevailing colour is a light copper +or olive brown, but the shade varies a good deal, deepening somewhat in +fishermen and others who are much exposed to the sun; but it never +approaches the dark chocolate tint, or Vandyke brown, of the +Melanesians. Their hair is usually black and wavy, sometimes curly; but +hardly a vestige is to be seen among them of the crisped and woolly hair +and dusky complexion of the Melanesians, their neighbours on the +west.[17] + + [17] Horatio Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the + United States Exploring Expedition_, pp. 10 _sq._; Ch. Wilkes, + _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, ii. 125 + _sq._; J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of + the Western Pacific_, pp. 41, 51; C. E. Meinicke, _Die Inseln + des Stillen Oceans_ (Leipzig, 1875-1876), ii. 110 _sq._; G. + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 3; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 58; G. + Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 55 _sq._ + +The prepossessing appearance of the Samoans on the whole does not belie +their character. They are reputed to be the most refined and civilised +of all the native races of the Pacific, and this superiority is said to +manifest itself in their social and domestic life.[18] The Samoans, we +are told, are a nation of gentlemen and contrast most favourably with +the generality of the Europeans who come among them.[19] They are said +to carry their habits of cleanliness and decency to a higher point than +the most fastidious of civilised nations;[20] and the Samoan women +appear to be honourably distinguished by their modest behaviour and +fidelity in marriage, qualities which contrast with the profligacy of +their sex in other branches of the Polynesian race.[21] Equally +honourable to the men are the respect and kindness which, according to +the testimony of observers, they pay to their women, whom they are said +to regard as their equals.[22] The aged were treated with respect and +never abandoned; and strangers were always received in the best house +and provided with food specially prepared for them.[23] Infanticide, +which was carried to an appalling and almost incredible extent among +some of the Polynesians,[24] was unknown in Samoa; abortion, indeed, was +not uncommon, but once born children were affectionately cared for and +never killed or exposed.[25] Wives and slaves were never put to death at +a chief's burial, that their souls might attend their dead lord to the +spirit land[26], as was the practice in some of the other islands, even +in Tonga. Again, human sacrifices were not offered by the Samoans to the +gods within the time during which the islands have been under the +observation of Europeans; but in some of the more remote traditions +mention is made of such sacrifices offered to the sun. Thus it is said +that in the mythical island of Papatea, somewhere away in the east, the +sun used to call for two victims every day, one at his rising and +another at his setting. This lasted for eighty days. At such a rate of +consumption the population of the island was rapidly wasting away. To +escape the threatened doom, a brother and sister, named Luama and Ui, +fled from Papatea to Manua, the most easterly of the Samoan islands, but +they found to their consternation that there too, the sun was demanding +his daily victims. Every house had to supply a victim in succession, +and, when all had yielded the tribute, it came to the first house in +turn to renew the sacrifice. The victim was laid out on a pandanus tree, +and there the sun devoured him or her. When the lot fell on Luama, his +heroic sister Ui insisted on taking his place, and lying down, she +cried, "O cruel sun! come and eat your victim, we are all being devoured +by you." But the amorous sun fell in love with her and took her to wife, +at the same time putting an end to the human sacrifices. Another story +affirms that the heroine was a daughter of the King of Manua, and that +he yielded her up as an offering to the sun in order to end the +sacrifices by making her the saviour of the people.[27] + + [18] S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of + the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, + held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 634. + + [19] T. H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in + the Western Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 59 _sq._ + + [20] J. E. Erskine, _op. cit._ p. 110 + + [21] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ ii. 125; J. E. Erskine, + _op. cit._ p. 110 + + [22] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ ii. 148; Violette, " Notes + d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions + Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 156; J. L. Brenchley, _op. cit._ p. + 77; S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 628 _sq._; G. Brown, _op. cit._ pp. + 43, 410. + + [23] G. Brown, _op. cit._ p. 410. + + [24] For some evidence of the practice see John + Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_ (London, 1813), pp. 363 + _sq._; C. S. Stewart, _Journal of a Residence in the Sandwich + Islands_ (London, 1828), pp. 251 _sqq._; P. Dillon, _Voyage in + the South Seas_ (London, 1829), ii. 134; William Ellis, + _Polynesian Researches_, Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), i. + 248 _sqq._; J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in + the South Sea Islands_ (London, 1838), pp. 479-486. According to + Stewart, in those parts of Hawaii to which the influence of the + missionaries had not penetrated, two-thirds of the infants born + were murdered by their parents within the age of two years. In + Tahiti three women, questioned by Mr. Williams, acknowledged + that they had killed twenty-one of their children between them. + Another, at the point of death, confessed to him, in an anguish + of remorse, that she had destroyed sixteen of her children. + + [25] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 79. Compare J. Williams, + _op. cit._ p. 479; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 621; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 47. + + [26] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 219. + + [27] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 201 _sq._ Compare G. + Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 230 _sq._; J. + Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea + Islands_, p. 471; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 210. + +The Samoans, when they became known to Europe in the nineteenth century, +did not habitually indulge in cannibalism; indeed, according to John +Williams, one of the earliest missionaries to the islands, they spoke of +the practice with great horror and detestation.[28] But we have the +testimony of other early missionaries that in their wars they +occasionally resorted to it as a climax of hatred and revenge, devouring +some portion of an enemy who had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious +by his cruelty or his provocations. Traditions, too, are on record of +chiefs who habitually killed and devoured their fellow-creatures. A form +of submission which a conquered party used to adopt towards their +conquerors has also been interpreted as a relic of an old custom of +cannibalism. Representatives of the vanquished party used to bow down +before the victors, each holding in his hands a piece of firewood and a +bundle of leaves, such as are used in dressing a pig for the oven. This +was as much as to say, "Kill us and cook us, if you please." Criminals, +too, were sometimes bound hand and foot, slung on a pole, and laid down +before the persons they had injured, like pigs about to be killed and +cooked. Combining these and other indications we may surmise that +cannibalism was formerly not infrequent among the ancestors of the +Samoans, though among their descendants in the nineteenth century the +practice had almost wholly died out.[29] It is further to the credit of +the Samoans that their public administration of justice was on the whole +mild and humane. Torture was never employed to wring the truth from +witnesses or the accused, and there seems to be only a single case on +record of capital punishment inflicted by judicial sentence. At the same +time private individuals were free to avenge the adultery of a wife or +the murder of a kinsman by killing the culprit, and no blame attached to +them for so doing. The penalties imposed by the sentence of a court or +judicial assembly (_fono_) included fines, banishment, and the +destruction of houses, fruit-trees, and domestic animals. But a criminal +might also be condemned by a court to suffer corporal punishment in one +form or another. He might, for example, be obliged to wound himself by +beating his head and chest with a stone till the blood flowed freely; if +he seemed to spare himself, he would be ordered by the assembled chiefs +to strike harder, and if he still faltered, the prompt and unsparing +application of a war club to his person effectually assisted the +execution of the sentence. Again, he might be condemned to bite a +certain acrid and poisonous root (called in the native language _tevi_) +which caused the mouth to swell and the culprit to suffer intense agony +for a considerable time afterwards. Or he might have to throw up a spiny +and poisonous fish into the air and to catch it in his naked hand as it +fell; the sharp-pointed spines entered into the flesh and inflicted +acute pain and suffering. Or he might be suspended by hands and feet +from a pole and in this attitude exposed to the broiling sun for many +hours together; or he might be hung by the feet, head downward, from the +top of a tall coco-nut tree and left there to expiate his crime for a +long time. For certain offences the culprit was condemned to have his +nose tattooed or his ears split. In sentences of banishment the term of +exile was never specified, but when the sentence had been pronounced in +full assembly, and the offence was great, the culprit might live in +exile for years. When the punishment consisted in the destruction of +houses, plantations, and live stock, it was immediately inflicted by the +whole force of the district, under the direction and superintendence of +the leading men, who had taken part in the assembly and passed the +sentence. A whole family might suffer in this way for the offence of one +of its members, and be driven into exile, after witnessing the burning +of their house, the killing of their pigs, and the barking of their +breadfruit trees.[30] If such penalties seem to us in some cases +needlessly severe, they at least testify to a strong sense of public +justice developed among the Samoans, who had thus advanced far enough to +transfer, in some measure, the redress of wrongs to judicial assemblies +instead of leaving it to the caprice of the injured individuals. +Nevertheless the transference was but imperfect: the administration of +justice was loose and irregular: for the most part every man was a law +to himself, and did what was right in his own eyes. An aggrieved party +would become his own judge, jury, and executioner. The thirst for +vengeance was slaked only by the blood of a victim.[31] + + [28] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises + in the South Sea Islands_, p. 456. + + [29] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 108-111; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 149 _sq._, 290; J. E. + Erskine, _op. cit._ pp. 39, 101 _sq._; W. T. Pritchard, + _Polynesian Reminiscences_ (London, 1866), pp. 125 _sq._; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 168; J. B. Stair, + _Old Samoa_, pp. 240 _sq._ + + [30] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 91 _sqq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 288-291. Compare Violette, + "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions + Catholiques_, iii. (1870) pp. 119, 120. + + [31] S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of + the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, + held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 633. + +It is another sign of the intellectual enlightenment of the Samoans that +they rose apparently superior to that system of malignant magic, which +kept their neighbours the Melanesians in lifelong bondage. The +experienced missionary, Dr. George Brown, could not find in Samoa any +trace of the practice of that particular form of the black art with +which he was familiar in New Britain and other Melanesian islands, the +practice of procuring some object which has belonged to an enemy or been +touched by him, and taking it to a sorcerer, that he may perform over it +a ceremony for the purpose of injuring the person from whom the object +has been obtained. The proceeding is one of the commonest forms of +sympathetic magic, but the Samoans appear to have ignored or despised +it.[32] Again, the silence of our authorities on the subject of amulets +and talismans leaves us to infer that the Samoans were equally +indifferent to that branch of magic which seeks to ensure the safety and +prosperity of the individual by attaching a miscellaneous collection of +rubbish to his person, a system of ensurance against evil and misfortune +which has attained a prodigious development among some savages, notably +in Africa,[33] and is very far from being unknown in Europe at the +present day. Again, unlike most savages, the Samoans were close +observers of the stars, not only reckoning the time of night by the +rising of particular stars, but steering by them when they were out of +sight of land.[34] + + [32] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 245. + Compare S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 638. + + [33] See, for example, E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, _The + Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia_ (London, 1920), i. + 252 _sqq._ + + [34] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 348. + +Against these amiable and enlightened traits in the Samoan character +must be set their cruelty in war. If they opened hostilities with a +great deal of formal politeness, they conducted them with great +ferocity. No quarter was given to men in battle, and captives were +ruthlessly slaughtered. Women were sometimes spared for the use of their +captors. Nor did death save the conquered from the insults and outrages +of the insolent victors. The slain on the battlefield were treated with +great indignity. Their heads were cut off and carried in triumph to the +village, where they were piled up in a heap in the place of public +assembly, the head of the most important chief being given the place of +honour on the top of the pile. However, they were not kept as trophies, +but after remaining for some hours exposed to public gaze were either +claimed by the relatives or buried on the spot. The headless trunks were +given to children to drag about the village and to spear, stone, or +mutilate at pleasure.[35] The first missionary to Samoa was told in +Manua that the victors used to scalp their victims and present the +scalps, with kava, either to the king or to the relatives of the slain +in battle, by whom these gory trophies were highly prized. He mentions +as an example the case of a young woman, whose father had been killed. A +scalp of a foe having been brought to her, she burnt it, strewed the +ashes on the fire with which she cooked her food, and then devoured the +meat with savage satisfaction.[36] But the climax of cruelty and horror +was reached in a great war which the people of A'ana, in Upolu, waged +against a powerful combination of enemies. After a brave resistance they +were at last defeated, and the surviving warriors, together with the +aged and infirm, the women and children, fled to the mountains, where +they endeavoured to hide themselves from their pursuers in the caves and +the depths of the forest. But they were hunted out and brought down to +the seashore; and an immense pit having been dug and filled with +firewood, they were all, men, women, and children, thrown into it and +burnt alive. The dreadful butchery went on for days. Four hundred +victims are said to have perished. The massacre was perpetrated at the +moment when the first missionaries were landing in Samoa. From the +opposite shore they beheld the mountains enveloped in the flames and +smoke of the funeral pile. The decisive battle had been fought that +very morning. For many years a great black circle of charcoal marked the +scene and preserved the memory of the fatal transaction.[37] + + [35] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 456; Ch. Wilkes, _op. + cit._ ii. 150 _sq._; W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian + Reminiscences_, p. 61; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 247 _sqq._; + G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 170, 172 _sq._ Dr. + Brown here speaks as if captive women were regularly spared and + married by the victors. As to the elaborate civilities which + passed between the vanguards of two hostile armies at their + first meeting, see Dr. Brown, _op. cit._ pp. 166 _sq._ + + [36] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 458. + + [37] J. Williams, _op. cit._ pp. 286 _sq._, 456; J. B. + Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 254-258. + + +§ 3. _Houses, Agriculture, and Industries_ + +Like all the Polynesians, the Samoans are not nomadic, but live in +settled villages. The typical Samoan house is commonly described as oval +or elliptical, though in fact it would seem to be of oblong shape with +semicircular ends. But many houses were circular in shape, and with +their conical thatched roofs resembled gigantic beehives. From the +Tongans the Samoans also borrowed the custom of building oblong +quadrangular houses, which were called _afolau_. The best houses, in +particular those of important chiefs, were built on raised platforms of +stones about three feet high. One of the circular houses would measure +about thirty-five feet in diameter by a hundred in circumference. Two or +three posts in the centre of the house, some twenty feet high, supported +the roof, the lower end of which rested on a series of short posts, four +or five feet high, placed at intervals of about four feet all round the +house. The intervals between these posts were sometimes closed by thatch +neatly tied to sticks, which were planted upright in the ground and +fastened to the eaves; but more commonly, it would seem, the intervals +between the posts were left open and only closed at night by blinds made +of coco-nut leaves, which could be let down or pulled up like Venetian +blinds. During the day these blinds were drawn up, so that there was a +free current of air all through the house. The roofs of the best houses +were made of bread-fruit wood carefully thatched with leaves of the wild +sugar-cane; when well made, the thatch might last seven years. The +circular roofs were so constructed that they could be lifted clean off +the posts and removed anywhere, either by land or on a raft of canoes. +The whole house could also be transported; and as Samoan houses were +often bartered, or given as presents, or paid as fines, it frequently +happened that they were removed from place to place. In the whole house +there was not a single nail or spike: all joints were made by exactly +corresponding notches and secured by cinnet, that is cordage made from +the dried fibre of the coco-nut husk. The timber of the best houses was +the wood of the bread-fruit tree; and, if protected against damp, it +would last fifty years. The floor of the house was composed of stones, +overlaid with fine gravel and sand. In the centre of the floor was the +fire-place, a circular hollow two or three feet in diameter and a few +inches deep, lined with hardened clay. It was not used for cooking, but +for the purpose of lighting up the house by night. The cooking was never +done in the house, but always in the open air outside on an oven of hot +stones. An ordinary Samoan house consisted of a single apartment, which +served as the common parlour, dining-room, and bedroom of the family. +But at night small tents made of bark-cloth were hung from the +ridge-pole, and under them the various members of the family slept +separately, the tents serving them at the same time as curtains to +protect them against the mosquitoes. Formerly, the houses of the +principal chiefs were surrounded with two fences; the outer of the two +was formed of strong posts and had a narrow zigzag entrance, several +yards long, leading to an opening in the inner fence, which was made of +reeds. But with the advent of a more peaceful epoch these fortified +enclosures for the most part disappeared. Houses constructed on the +Tongan model were often very substantially built: a double row of posts +and cross-beams supported the roof. These houses were found better able +to resist the high winds which prevail at one season of the year.[38] + + [38] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._. ii. 145 _sqq._; J. E. + Erskine, _op. cit._ pp. 45-47; T. H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in + H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 32; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 135; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, pp. 152 _sqq._; S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 634 _sq._; J. + B. Stair, _Old Samoa,_ pp. 105 _sqq._, 153 _sqq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 24 _sqq._ + +Like the rest of the Polynesians, the Samoans are an agricultural +people, and subsist mainly by the fruits of the earth, though the +lagoons and reefs furnish them with a large supply of fish and +shell-fish, of which they are very fond. They all, but especially +persons of rank, occasionally regaled themselves on pigs, fowls, and +turtle. But bread-fruit, taro, yams, bananas, and coco-nuts formed the +staff of life in Samoa. As the soil is very rich and the hot, damp +climate is eminently favourable to the growth of vegetation, food was +always abundant, and the natives could procure the necessaries and even +the luxuries of life at the cost of very little labour; if they tilled +the soil, it was rather to vary their diet than to wring a scanty +subsistence from a niggardly nature. Coco-nut palms, bread-fruit and +chestnut trees, and wild yams, bananas, and plantains abound throughout +the islands, and require little attention to make them yield an ample +crop. For about half the year the Samoans have a plentiful supply of +food from the bread-fruit trees: during the other half they depend +principally upon their taro plantations. While the bread-fruit is in +season, every family lays up a quantity of the ripe fruit in a pit lined +with leaves and covered with stones. The fruit soon ferments and forms a +soft mass, which emits a very vile smell every time the pit is opened. +In this state it may be kept for years, for the older and more rotten +the fruit is, the better the natives like it. They bake it, with the +juice of the coco-nut, into flat cakes, which are eaten when the ripe +fruit is out of season or when taro is scarce. For taro is on the whole +the staple food of the Samoans; it grows all the year round. The water +of the coco-nut furnishes a cool, delicious, slightly effervescing +beverage, which is peculiarly welcome to the hot and weary wayfarer far +from any spring or rivulet.[39] + + [39] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ ii. 147; W. T. Pritchard, + _Polynesian Reminiscences_ (London, 1866), pp. 126-128; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) pp. 87 _sq._; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, pp. 105-107; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 53-55; G. + Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 130 _sqq._ According + to Dr. Brown, there are generally three crops of bread-fruit in + the year, one of them lasting about three months. + +To obtain land for cultivation the Samoans went into the forest and cut +down the brushwood and creeping vines with small hatchets or large +knives. The large forest-trees they destroyed by chopping away the bark +in a circle round the trunk and then kindling a fire of brushwood at the +foot of the tree. Thus in the course of a few days a fair-sized piece of +ground would be cleared, nothing of the forest remaining but charred +trunks and leafless branches. Then followed the planting. The +agricultural instruments employed were of the simplest pattern. A +dibble, or pointed stick of hard wood, was used to make the hole in +which the plant was deposited. This took the place of a plough, and a +branch served the purpose of a harrow. Sometimes the earth was dug and +smoothed with the blade of a canoe paddle. The labour of clearing and +planting the ground was done by the men, but the task of weeding it +generally devolved on the women. The first crop taken from a piece of +land newly cleared in the forest was yams, which require a peculiar +culture and frequent change of site, two successive crops being seldom +obtained from the same land. After the first crop of yams had been +cleared off, taro was planted several times in succession; for this root +does not, like yams, require a change of site. However, we are told that +a second crop of taro grown on the same land was very inferior to the +first, and that as a rule the land was allowed to remain fallow until +the trees growing on it were as thick as a man's arm, when it was again +cleared for cultivation. In the wet season taro was planted on the high +land from one to four miles inland from the village; other kinds of taro +were planted in the swamps, and these were considered more succulent +than the taro grown on the uplands. The growing crops of taro were +weeded at least twice a year. The natives resorted to irrigation, when +they had the means; and they often dug trenches to drain away the water +from swampy ground. Yams also required attention; for sticks had to be +provided on which the plants could run. The fruit ripens only once a +year, but it was stored up, and with care would keep till the next +season. The natives found neither yams nor bread-fruit so nourishing as +taro.[40] + + [40] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel + de Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 188; S. + Ella, _op. cit._ p. 635; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 54 _sq._; + G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 130 _sqq._, 338 + _sqq._ + +The degree of progress which any particular community has made in +civilisation may be fairly gauged by the degree of subdivision of labour +among its members; for it is only by restricting his energies to a +particular craft that a man can attain to any perfection in it. Judged +by this standard the Samoans had advanced some way on the road to +civilisation, since among them the division of labour was carried out to +a considerable extent: in their native state they had not a few separate +trades or professions, some of which may even be said to have developed +the stability and organisation of trade guilds. Among them, for example, +house-building, canoe-building, tattooing, and the making of nets and +fish-hooks were distinct crafts, which, though not strictly hereditary, +were usually confined to particular families. Thus by long practice and +experience handed down from generation to generation a considerable +degree of skill was acquired, and a considerable degree of reputation +accrued to the family. Every trade had its particular patron god and was +governed by certain well-known rules. The members formed, indeed, we are +told, a trade union which was remarkably effective. Thus they had rules +which prescribed the time and proportions of payment to be made at +different stages of the work, and these rules were strictly observed and +enforced by the workmen. For example, in the house-building trade, it +was a standing custom that after the sides and one end of a house were +finished, the principal part of the payment should be made. If the +carpenters were dissatisfied with the amount of payment, they simply +left off work and walked away, leaving the house unfinished, and no +carpenter in the whole length and breadth of Samoa would dare to finish +it, for it would have been as much as his business or even his life was +worth to undertake the job. Anyone so foolhardy as thus to set the rules +of the trade at defiance would have been attacked by the other workmen +and robbed of his tools; at the best he would receive a severe +thrashing, at the worst he might be killed. A house might thus stand +unfinished for months or even years. Sooner or later, if he was to have +a roof over his head, the unfortunate owner had to yield to the trade +union and agree to such terms as they might dictate. If it happened that +the house was almost finished before the fourth and final payment was +made, and the builder at that stage of the proceedings took offence, he +would remove a beam from the roof before retiring in dudgeon, and no +workman would dare to replace it. The rules in the other trades, such +as canoe-building and tattooing, were practically the same. In +canoe-building, for example, five separate payments were made to the +builders at five stages of the work; and if at any stage the workmen +were dissatisfied with the pay, they very unceremoniously abandoned the +work until the employer apologised or came to terms. No other party of +workmen would have the temerity to finish the abandoned canoe upon pain +of bringing down on their heads the wrath of the whole fraternity of +canoe-builders; any such rash offenders against the rules of the guild +would be robbed of their tools, expelled from their clan, and prohibited +from exercising their calling during the pleasure of the guild. Such +strides had the Samoans made in the direction of trade unionism.[41] + + [41] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 157 _sqq._, 162 _sqq._; J. + B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 141 _sqq._, 145 _sqq._, 153 _sqq._, + 157 _sqq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 268, + 305-308. Compare Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ ii. 143 _sqq._; + Violette, _op. cit._ pp. 134 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 635 + _sq._ + +In addition to their household duties women engaged in special work of +their own, particularly in the manufacture of bark-cloths and of fine +mats; but among them there seems to have been no subdivision of labour +and consequently no professional guilds. In all families the making of +bark-cloth and mats was carried on by the women indifferently, though +some no doubt excelled others in the skill of their handiwork. The cloth +was made from the bark of the paper-mulberry (_Morus papyrifera_), which +was beaten out on boards with a grooved beetle. The sound of these +beetles ringing on the boards, though not very musical, was a familiar +sound in a Samoan village. The fine mats, on the manufacture of which +the Samoans particularly prided themselves, were worn as dresses on +ceremonial occasions. They were made from the leaves of a large plant +which the natives call _lau ie_; the leaves closely resemble those of +the pandanus, but are larger. These mats were of a straw or cream +colour, and were sometimes fringed with tufts of scarlet feathers of the +paroquet. They were thin and almost as flexible as calico. Many months, +sometimes even years, were spent over the making of a single mat. +Another kind of fine mat was made from the bark of a plant of the nettle +tribe (_Hibiscus tiliaceus_), which grows wild over the islands. Mats +of the latter sort were shaggy on one side, and, being bleached white, +resembled fleecy sheep-skins. These fine mats, especially those made +from the leaves of the pandanus-like plant, were considered by the +Samoans to be their most valuable property; they were handed down as +heirlooms from father to son, and were so much coveted that wars were +sometimes waged to obtain possession of them. The pedigrees of the more +famous mats, particularly those fringed with red feathers, were +carefully kept, and when they changed hands, their history was related +with solemn precision. Age enhanced their value; and their tattered +condition, deemed a proof of antiquity, rather added to than detracted +from the estimation in which they were held. The wealth of a family +consisted of its mats; with them it remunerated the services of +carpenters, boat-builders, and tattooers. The mats formed, indeed, a +sort of currency or medium of exchange; for while the Samoans were not +in general a trading people, and there was little or no actual buying +and selling among them, there was nevertheless a considerable exchange +of property on many occasions; at marriage, for example, it was +customary for the bride's family to give mats and bark-cloth as her +dowry, while the bridegroom's family provided a house, canoes, and other +articles. But though the fine mats were thus paid away or given in +exchange, they had no fixed negotiable value, and thus did not serve the +purpose of money.[42] + + [42] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 142 _sq._; J. E. Erskine, _Journal of + a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific_, pp. 109 + _sq._; W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. 129-132; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 135; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, pp. 119-121; S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth + Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of + Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 636; J. + B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 143 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 304 _sq._, 305, 315, 434. + + +§ 4. _Rights of Property_ + +In Samoa the rights of private property, both personal and landed, were +fully recognised, but with certain limitations. The lands were owned +alike by chiefs and by heads of families; the laws regulating their +possession were very definite. In no case did the whole of the land +belong to the chiefs. Every family owned portions of land not only in +the village and adjoining gardens, but far away in the unreclaimed +forests of the interior. The title, which passed by inheritance, +generally vested in the family; but the family was represented by the +head, who often claimed the right to dispose of it by sale or otherwise. +Yet he dared not do anything without consulting all concerned; were he +to persist in thwarting the wishes of the rest, they would take his +title from him and give it to another. Sometimes, however, the title to +landed property vested in individual owners. The legitimate heir was the +oldest surviving brother, but occasionally he waived his right in favour +of one of the sons. Women might hold land when the male side of a family +was extinct. The boundaries of land were well defined, being marked by +pathways, natural limits, such as a river, or by trenches and stones +half buried in the ground. Every inch of ground had its owner, even to +the tops of the mountains. Trespass by a neighbouring village would be +resisted, if necessary, by force of arms.[43] + + [43] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 176 _sq._; J. B. Stair, + _Old Samoa_, pp. 83 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 287 _sq._, 314, 339. + +In regard to personal property it may be said that, like landed +property, it belonged rather to the family than to the individual; for +no Samoan could refuse to give, without an equivalent, anything which +any member of his family asked for. In this way boats, tools, garments, +and so forth passed freely from hand to hand. Nay, a man could enter the +plantation of a relative and help himself to the fruit without asking +the owner's leave; such an appropriation was not considered to be +stealing. Under this communistic system, as it has been called, +accumulation of property was scarcely possible, and industry was +discouraged. Why should a diligent man toil when he knew that the fruit +of his labour might all be consumed by lazy kinsfolk? He might lay out a +plantation of bananas, and when they were full-grown, bunch after bunch +might be plucked and eaten by his less industrious relations, until, +exasperated beyond endurance, the unfortunate owner would cut down all +the remaining trees. No matter how hard a man worked, he could not keep +his earnings; they all soon passed out of his hands into the common +stock of the clan. The system, we are told, ate like a canker-worm at +the roots of individual and national progress.[44] + + [44] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 160 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 247, 262 _sq._, 434. + + +§ 5. _Government, Social Ranks, Respect for Chiefs_ + +The native government of Samoa was not, like that of Tonga, a +centralised despotism. Under the form of a monarchy and aristocracy the +political constitution was fundamentally republican and indeed +democratic. The authority of the king and chiefs was limited and more or +less nominal; practically Samoa consisted of a large number of petty +independent and self-governing communities, which sometimes combined for +defence or common action in a sort of loose federation.[45] + + [45] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises + in the South Sea Islands_, p. 454; H. Hale, _Ethnography and + Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition_, p. 29; T. + H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western + Pacific_ (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 118; G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 173; + S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of the + Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at + Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 631; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, pp. 83 _sq._, 89; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, p. 333. + +To a superficial observer the aristocratic cast of Samoan society might +at first sight seem very marked. The social ranks were sharply divided +from each other, and the inferior orders paid great formal deference to +their superiors. At the head of all ranked the chiefs (_alii_); but even +among them the ordinary chiefs were distinct from the sacred chiefs +(_alii paia_), who enjoyed the highest honours. These sacred chiefs +preserved their pedigrees for twenty or more generations with as great +care as the oldest and proudest families in Europe, and they possessed +many feudal rights and privileges which were as well known and as fully +acknowledged as are, or were, those of any lord of a manor in England. +The task of preserving a record of a chief's pedigrees was entrusted to +his orator or spokesman, who belonged to a lower social rank (that of +the _tulafales_).[46] The influence of chiefs was supported by the +belief that they possessed some magical or supernatural power, by which +they could enforce their decisions.[47] Their persons were sacred or +taboo. They might not be touched by any one. No one might sit beside +them. In the public assemblies a vacant place was left on each side of +the seat of honour which they occupied. Some chiefs were so holy that +they might not even be looked at by day. Their food might not be handed +to them, but was thrown to them, and it was so sacred that no one might +eat any of it which they had left over.[48] + + [46] H. Hale, _op. cit._ p. 28; Violette, _op. cit._ p. + 168; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 173 _sqq._; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, pp. 65 _sqq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, + pp. 283, 430. + + [47] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 431. + + [48] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 280, + 283, 285; Violette, _op. cit._ p. 168 (as to chiefs too holy to + be seen by day). + +"The sacredness attributed to many chiefs of high rank gave rise to +observances which were irksome to their families and dependents, since +whatever they came in contact with required to undergo the ceremony of +_lulu'u_, or sprinkling with a particular kind of cocoanut-water +(_niu-ui_); both to remove the sanctity supposed to be communicated to +the article or place that had touched the chief, and also to counteract +the danger of speedy death, which was believed to be imminent to any +person who might touch the sacred chief, or anything that he had +touched; so great was the mantle of sanctity thrown around these chiefs, +although unconnected with the priesthood. Thus the spot where such a +chief had sat or slept was sprinkled with water immediately he had left +it, as were also the persons who had sat on either side of him when he +received company, as well as all the attendants who had waited upon him. + +"This remarkable custom was also observed on other occasions. It was +always used on the occasion of deposing a chief, and depriving him of +his _Ao_, or titles, in which case the ceremony was performed by some of +those who had either conferred the titles or had the power to do so. In +the case of O le Tamafainga, the usurper who was killed in A'ana in +1829, his body was first sprinkled with cocoanut-water, and his title of +_O le Tuia'ana_ recalled from him, before he was hewn in pieces. The +ceremony consisted of sprinkling the body with cocoanut-water, and the +officiating chief or _Tulafale_ saying, 'Give us back our _Ao_,' by +which means the title was recalled, and the sacredness attaching to it +was dispelled. It was also used over persons newly tattooed, and upon +those who contaminated themselves by contact with a dead body. In each +of these cases the ceremony was carefully observed, and reverently +attended to, as very dire consequences were considered certain to follow +its omission."[49] Thus the sacredness of a chief was deemed dangerous +to all persons with whom he might come, whether directly or indirectly, +into contact; it was apparently conceived as a sort of electric fluid +which discharged itself, it might be with fatal effect, on whatever it +touched. And the sacredness of a chief was clearly classed with the +uncleanness of a dead body, since contact with a dead body involved the +same dangerous consequences as contact with the sacred person of a chief +and had to be remedied in precisely the same manner. The two conceptions +of holiness and uncleanness, which to us seem opposite and even +contradictory, blend in the idea of taboo, in which both are implicitly +held as it were in solution. It requires the analytic tendency of more +advanced thought to distinguish the two conceptions, to precipitate, as +it were, the components of the solution in the testing-tube of the mind. + + [49] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 127 _sq._ Compare + Violette, _op. cit._ p. 168; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 231, 280, 285. In this work Dr. Brown remarks + (p. 231) that there is no clear explanation of the custom of + sprinkling coco-nut water as a purificatory rite. But the + explanation given by Stair, which I have quoted in the text, is + clear and satisfactory, and elsewhere (p. 285) Dr. Brown + implicitly adopts the same explanation, where he says that the + man who had served kava to a sacred chief "sprinkled himself all + over to wash away the sacredness (_paia_)." + +The profound respect which the Samoans entertained for their chiefs +manifested itself in yet another fashion. A special form of speech was +adopted in addressing a chief, in conversing in his presence, or even in +alluding to him in his absence. Thus there arose what is called a +chiefs' language, or polite diction, which was used exclusively in +speaking to or of a chief, whether the speaker was a common man or a +chief of lower rank. But it was never used by a chief when he was +speaking of himself. Persons of high rank, in addressing others and +alluding to themselves, always employed ordinary language and sometimes +the very lowest terms; so that it was often amusing to listen to +expressions of feigned humility uttered by a proud man, who would have +been indignant indeed if the same terms which he applied to himself had +been applied to him by others. Thus, for example, the actions of +sitting, talking, eating, sleeping, and dying were expressed by +different terms according as the agent was a chief or a common man. The +ordinary word for a house was _fale_; but a chief's house was called +_maota_. The common word for anger was _ita_; the polite term was +_toasa_. To sleep in ordinary language was _moe_, but in polite language +it was _tof[=a]_ or _toá_. To be sick in common speech was _mai_, but in +polite language it was _ngasengase, faatafa, pulu pulusi_. To die was +_mate_ or _pe_ (said of animals), or _oti_ (said of men); but the +courtly expressions for death were _maliu_ ("gone"), _folau_ ("gone on a +voyage"), _fale-lauasi, ngasololo ao_, and a number of others. The terms +substituted in the court language sometimes had a meaning the very +opposite of that borne by the corresponding terms in the ordinary +language. For example, in the court language firewood was called +_polata_, which properly means the stem of the banana plant, a wood that +is incombustible. If the use of an ordinary word in the presence of a +chief were unavoidable, it had to be prefaced by the apologetic phrase +_veaeane_, literally "saving your presence," every time the word was +spoken. Nay, the courtly language itself varied with the rank of the +chief addressed or alluded to. For example, if you wished to say that a +person had come, you would say _alu_ of a common man; _alala_ of a head +of a household or landowner (_tulafale_); _maliu_ of a petty chief; +_susu_ of a chief of the second class; and _afiu_ of a chief of the +highest rank.[50] The same respect which was shown in the use of words +descriptive of a chief's actions or possessions was naturally extended +to his own name, when he belonged to the class of sacred chiefs. If his +name happened to be also the name of a common object, it ceased to be +used to designate the thing in question, and a new word or phrase was +substituted for it. Henceforth the old name of the object was dropped +and might never again be pronounced in the chief's district nor indeed +anywhere in his presence. In one district, for example, the chief's name +was Flying-fox; hence the ordinary word for flying-fox (_re'a_) was +dropped, and that species of bat was known as "bird of heaven" (_manu +langi_).[51] Again, when the chief of Pango-pango, in the island of +Tutuila, was called Maunga, which means "mountain," that word might +never be used in his presence, and a courtly term was substituted for +it.[52] This is only one instance of the ways in which the dialects of +savages tend to vary from each other under the influence of +superstition. + + [50] H. Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the United + States Exploring Expedition_, pp. 28 _sq._; Violette, "Notes + d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions + Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 190; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. + 67 _sqq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 380 + _sq._ Compare G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 175. + + [51] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 280, + 381. + + [52] J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the + Islands of the Western Pacific_, p. 44. + +Yet despite the extraordinary deference thus paid to chiefs in outward +show, the authority which they possessed was for the most part very +limited; indeed in the ordinary affairs of life the powers and +privileges of a chief were little more than nominal, and he moved about +among the people and shared their everyday employments just like a +common man. Thus, for example, he would go out with a fishing party, +work in his plantation, help at building a house or a canoe, and even +lend a hand in cooking at a native oven. So strong was the democratic +spirit among the Samoans. The ordinary duties of a chief consisted in +administering the law, settling disputes, punishing transgressors, +appointing feasts, imposing taboos, and leading his people in war. It +was in time of war that a chief's dignity and authority were at their +highest, but even then he could hardly maintain strict discipline.[53] +However, the influence of chiefs varied a good deal and depended in +great measure on their personal character. If besides his hereditary +rank a chief was a man of energy and ability, he might become +practically supreme in his village or district. Some chiefs even used +their power in a very tyrannical manner.[54] + + [53] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 174 _sq._; S. Ella, + "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian + Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, + Tasmania, in January 1892_, pp. 631 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, p. 70; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 286. + + [54] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 70; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 286. + +But for the abuse of power by their nominal rulers the Samoans had a +remedy at hand. When a chief rendered himself odious to his people by +tyranny and oppression, the householders or gentry (_tulafales_) and +neighbouring chiefs would not uncommonly depose him and transfer his +office to another; in extreme cases they might banish him or even put +him to death. The place of banishment for exiled chiefs was the island +of Tutuila. Thither the fallen potentate was conveyed under custody in a +canoe, and on landing he was made to run the gauntlet between two rows +of the inhabitants, who belaboured him with sticks, pelted him with +stones, or subjected him to other indignities. He was lucky if he +escaped with nothing worse than bruises, for sometimes the injuries +inflicted were severe or actually fatal.[55] Chieftainship was +hereditary in the male line, but did not necessarily pass from father +to son; the usual heir would seem to have been the eldest surviving +brother, and next to him one of the sons. But a dying chief might +nominate his successor, though the final decision rested with the heads +of families. Failing a male heir, a daughter might be appointed to, or +might assume, the prerogative of chieftainship.[56] + + [55] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises + in the South Sea Islands_, p. 454; H. Hale, _Ethnography and + Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition_, p. 28; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 119; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, p. 177; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 71 _sqq._ + + [56] Violette, _op. cit._ p. 119; G. Turner, _Samoa_, + p. 174; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 631; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 282, 286, 430. + +In addition to their hereditary nobility chiefs might be raised to +higher rank by the possession of titles (_ao_), which were in the gift +of certain ruling towns or villages. When four or, according to another +account, five of these titles were conferred upon a single chief, he was +called _o le tupu_, or King of Samoa. But if the constituencies were not +unanimous in their choice of a candidate, the throne might remain vacant +for long periods. Thus the monarchy of Samoa was elective; the king was +chosen by a hereditary aristocracy, and his powers were tempered by the +rights and privileges of the nobility. Yet under the show of a limited +monarchy the constitution was essentially a federal republic.[57] The +ceremony of anointing a King of Samoa in ancient times appears to have +curiously resembled a similar solemnity in monarchical Europe. It took +place in presence of a large assembly of chiefs and people. A sacred +stone was consecrated as a throne, or rather stool, on which the king +stood, while a priest, who must also be a chief, called upon the gods to +behold and bless the king, and pronounced denunciations against such as +should fail to obey him. He then poured scented oil from a native bottle +over the head, shoulders, and body of the king, and proclaimed his +several titles and honours.[58] + + [57] Violette, _op. cit._ pp. 118 _sq._; J. B. Stair, + _Old Samoa_, pp. 65 _sqq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, p. 283. Compare H. Hale, _Ethnography and + Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition_, p. 29. + + [58] S. Ella, "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of + the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, + held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892_, p. 631. + +Next below the chiefs ranked an inferior order of nobility called +_tulafales_ or _faipules_, who are variously described as householders, +councillors, and secondary chiefs. They formed a very powerful and +influential class; indeed we are told that they generally exercised +greater authority than the chiefs, and that the real control of +districts often centred in their hands. They usually owned large lands: +they were the principal advisers of the chiefs: the orators were usually +selected from their number: the _ao_ or titles of districts were always +in their gift; and they had the power, which they did not scruple to +use, of deposing and banishing an unpopular chief. Sometimes a chief +contrived to bring them into subjection to himself; but as a rule they +were a sturdy class, who did not shrink from speaking out their minds +to their social superiors, often uttering very unpalatable truths and +acting with great determination when the conduct of a chief incurred +their displeasure. In short, they made laws, levied fines, and generally +ruled the village.[59] + + [59] H. Hale, _op. cit._ p. 28; Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ + ii. 152; Violette, _op. cit._ p. 119; S. Ella, _op. cit._ + p. 629; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 70 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 285 _sq._, 287. + +Below the _tulafales_ ranked the _faleupolu_ or House of Upolu, and the +_tangata nuu_ or Men of the Land. The former were considerable +landowners and possessed much influence; the latter were the humblest +class, bearing arms in time of war, and cultivating the soil, fishing, +and cooking in time of peace. But they were far from being serfs; most +of them were eligible for the position of head of a family, if, when a +vacancy occurred, the choice of the family fell upon them.[60] For the +title of head of a family was not hereditary. A son might succeed his +father in the dignity; but the members of the family would sometimes +pass over the son and confer the title on an uncle, a cousin, or even a +perfect stranger, if they desired to increase the numerical strength of +the family.[61] + + [60] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 74 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 432. + + [61] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 173. + +The villages of the Samoans were practically self-governing and +independent communities, though every village was more or less loosely +federated with the other villages of its district. Each district or +confederation of villages had its capital (_laumua_) or ruling town. +These federal capitals, however, possessed no absolute authority over +the other villages of the district; and though great respect was always +shown to them, the people of the district, or even of a particular +village, would often dissent from the decisions of the capital and +assert their independence of action.[62] Of this independence a notable +instance occurred when the Catholic missionaries first settled in Samoa. +Under the influence of the Protestant missionaries a federal assembly +had passed a decree strictly forbidding the admission of Roman Catholics +to the islands, and threatening with war any community that should dare +to harbour the obnoxious sect. The better to enforce the decree, prayers +were publicly offered up in the chapels that God would be pleased to +keep all Papists out of Samoa. To these charitable petitions the deity +seems to have turned a deaf ear; for, in spite of prayers and +prohibitions, two Catholic priests and a lay brother landed and were +hospitably received and effectually protected by the people of a +village, who paid no heed either to the remonstrances of the chiefs or +to the thunders of the federal assembly.[63] + + [62] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 180; G. Brown, _Melanesians + and Polynesians_, p. 333. + + [63] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel + de Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) pp. 119 + _sq._ + +The population of a village might be from two to five hundred persons, +and there might be eight or ten villages in a district. Throughout the +Samoan islands there were in all eight of these separate districts. The +union of the villages in a district was voluntary; they formed by common +consent a petty state for their mutual protection. When war was +threatened by another district, no single village acted alone; the whole +district, or state, assembled at their capital and held a special +parliament to concert the measures to be taken.[64] The boundaries of +the districts were well known and zealously guarded, if necessary, by +force of arms against the aggression of a neighbouring state. The +wardenship of the marches was committed to the two nearest villages on +either side, the inhabitants of which were called Boundary-Keepers. +Between two such villages in former days mutual ill-feeling constantly +existed and border feuds were frequent.[65] + + [64] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 173, 180 _sq._ A third + local division, intermediate between the village and the + district, is mentioned by Stair, who calls it a settlement (_Old + Samoa_, p. 83); but the other authorities whom I have consulted + appear not to recognise such an intermediate division. + + [65] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 83. + +The form of government both of the village and of the district was +parliamentary. Affairs were discussed and settled in a representative +assembly (_fono_), composed of the leading men of each village or +district. These representatives included the chiefs, together with the +householders or landowners (_tulafales_) and the inferior gentry (the +_faleupolu_). The more weighty affairs, such as declaring war or making +peace, or any matters of importance which concerned the whole district, +were debated in the general parliament of the district, while business +of purely local interest was transacted in the parliament of the +village. It was the privilege of the capital to convene the district +parliament, to preside over its deliberations, to settle disputed +points, to sum up the proceedings, and to dismiss the assembly. These +meetings were usually conducted with much formality and decorum. They +were always held in the large public place (_malae_ or _marae_) of the +village or town. It was an open green spot surrounded by a circle of +trees and houses. The centre was occupied by a large house which +belonged to the chief and was set apart as a caravansary for the +entertainment of strangers and visitors. Members of all the three orders +which composed the parliament had the right to address it; but the +speaking was usually left to the householders or landowners +(_tulafales_). Each chief had generally attached to him one of that +order who acted as his mouthpiece; and in like manner each settlement +retained the services of a member of the order, who was the leading +orator of the district. Decisions were reached not by voting but by +general consent, the discussion being prolonged until some conclusion, +satisfactory to the greater part of the members, and particularly to the +most influential, was arrived at. One of the principal prerogatives of +the king seems to have been that of convoking a parliament; though, if +he refused to do so, when circumstances seemed to require it, the +assembly would undoubtedly have met without him. The functions of these +assemblies were judicial as well as legislative and deliberative. +Offenders were arraigned before them and, if found guilty, were +condemned and punished.[66] + + [66] H. Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the United + States Exploring Expedition_, p. 29; Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of + the United States Exploring Expedition_, ii. 153 _sq._; + Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," + _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 119; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, pp. 177 _sqq._, 180 _sqq._; S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 632 + _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 84 _sqq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 286 _sq._, 288 _sqq._ + +It says much for the natural ability of the Samoans that they should +have attained to a level of culture so comparatively high with material +resources so scanty and defective. Nature, indeed, supplied them with +abundance of food and timber, but she denied them the metals, which were +unknown in the islands until they were introduced from Europe. In their +native state, accordingly, the Samoans were still in the Stone Age, +their principal tools being stone axes and adzes, made mainly from a +close-grained basalt which is found in the island of Tutuila. Of these +axes the rougher were chipped, but the finer were ground. Shells were +used as cutting instruments and as punches to bore holes in planks; and +combs, neatly carved out of bone, were employed as instruments in +tattooing. A wooden dibble served them instead of a plough to turn up +the earth. The only skins they prepared were those of sharks and some +other fish, which they used as rasps for smoothing woodwork. The art of +pottery was unknown.[67] Food was cooked in ovens of hot stones;[68] +fire was kindled by the friction of wood, the method adopted being what +is called the stick-and-groove process.[69] + + [67] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 319; + G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 158; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 146, + 149, 154, 159. As to the wooden dibbles, see Ella, _op. cit._ p. + 635 (above, p. 166). + + [68] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 111 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 130. + + [69] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 129. + +We now pass to a consideration of the religion of these interesting +people, especially in regard to the human soul and its destiny after +death. + + +§ 6. _Religion: Gods of Families, Villages, and Districts_ + +The first missionary to Samoa, John Williams, was struck by the contrast +between the religion of the Samoans and the religion of the other +Polynesian peoples whom he had studied. "The religious system of the +Samoans," he says, "differs essentially from that which obtained at the +Tahitian, Society, and other islands with which we are acquainted. They +have neither _maraes_, nor temples, nor altars, nor offerings; and, +consequently, none of the barbarous and sanguinary rites observed at the +other groups. In consequence of this, the Samoans were considered an +impious race, and their impiety became proverbial with the people of +Rarotonga; for, when upbraiding a person who neglected the worship of +the gods, they would call him 'a godless Samoan.' But, although +heathenism was presented to us by the Samoans in a dress different from +that in which we had been accustomed to see it, having no altars stained +with human blood, no _maraes_ strewed with the skulls and bones of its +numerous victims, no sacred groves devoted to rites of which brutality +and sensuality were the most obvious features, this people had 'lords +many and gods many';--their religious system was as obviously marked as +any other with absurdity, superstition, and vice."[70] + + [70] John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary + Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, pp. 465 _sq._ + +This account of the Samoan religion, written at a time when the islands +were not yet fully opened up to Europeans, must be modified by the +testimony of later writers, in particular with regard to the alleged +absence of temples and offerings; but in its broad outlines it holds +good, in so far as the Samoan ritual was honourably distinguished from +that of many other islands in the Pacific by its freedom from human +sacrifice and from the gross and licentious practices which prevailed in +other branches of the Polynesian race. The notion of the Rarotongans +that the Samoans were a godless people has proved to be totally +mistaken. On closer acquaintance it was found that they lived under the +influence of a host of imaginary deities who exercised their faith and +demanded their obedience. Among these deities the most numerous and +perhaps the most influential were the _aitu_, which were the gods of +individuals, of families, of towns or villages, and of districts.[71] +These gods were supposed to appear in some visible embodiment or +incarnation, and the particular thing, or class of things, in which his +god was in the habit of appearing, was to the Samoan an object of +veneration, and he took great care never to injure it or treat it with +contempt. In the great majority of cases the thing in which the deity +presented himself to his worshippers was a class of natural objects, +most commonly a species of animal, bird, or fish, less frequently a tree +or plant or an inanimate object, such as a stone, the rainbow, or a +meteor. One man, for example, saw his god in the eel, another in the +shark, another in the turtle, another in the owl, another in the lizard, +and so on throughout all the fish of the sea, the birds, the four-footed +beasts, and creeping things. In some of the shell-fish, such as the +limpets on the rocks, gods were supposed to be present. It was not +uncommon to see an intelligent chief muttering prayers to a fly, an ant, +or a lizard, which chanced to alight or crawl in his presence. A man +would eat freely of the incarnation of another man's god, but would most +scrupulously refrain from eating of the incarnation of his own +particular god, believing that death would be the consequence of such +sacrilege. The offended god was supposed to take up his abode in the +body of the impious eater and to generate there the very thing which he +had eaten, till it caused his death. For example, if a man, whose family +god was incarnate in the prickly sea-urchin (_Echinus_), were to eat of +a sea-urchin, it was believed that a prickly sea-urchin would grow in +his body and kill him. If his family god were incarnate in the turtle, +and he was rash enough to eat a turtle, the god would enter into him, +and his voice would be heard from within the sinner's body, saying, "I +am killing this man; he ate my incarnation." Occasionally, however, the +penalty exacted by the deity was less severe. If, for instance, a man's +god was in cockles, and he ate one of these shell-fish, a cockle would +grow on his nose; if he merely picked up a cockle on the shore and +walked away with it, the shell-fish would appear on some part of his +person. But in neither case, apparently, would the kindly cockle take +the life of the offender. It was not a bloodthirsty deity. Again, a man +whose god was in coco-nuts would never drink the refreshing beverage +which other people were free to extract from the nuts. But the +worshipper who shrank from eating or drinking his god in the shape, say, +of an octopus or of coco-nut water, would often look on with +indifference while other people partook of these his divinities. He +might pity their ignorance or envy their liberty, but he would not seek +to enlighten the one or to restrain the other.[72] Indeed this +indifference was sometimes carried to great lengths. For example, a man +whose god was incarnate in the turtle, though he would not himself dare +to partake of turtle, would have no scruple in helping a neighbour to +cut up and cook a turtle; but in doing so he took the precaution to tie +a bandage over his mouth to prevent an embryo turtle from slipping down +his throat and sealing his doom by growing up in his stomach.[73] +Sometimes the incarnate deity, out of consideration perhaps for the +weakness of the flesh, would limit his presence to a portion of an +animal, it might be the left wing of a pigeon, or the tail of a dog, or +the right leg of a pig.[74] The advantages of such a restriction to a +worshipper are obvious. A man, for instance, to whom it would have been +death to eat the right leg of a pig, might partake of a left leg of pork +with safety and even with gusto. And so with the rest of the divine +menagery. + + [71] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_ + (London, 1866), pp. 106 _sqq._; T. H. Hood, _Notes of a Cruise + in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific_, p. 141; G. Turner, + _Samoa_, pp. 16 _sqq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 211, 215 + _sqq._ + + [72] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises + in the South Sea Islands_, p. 468; Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the + United States Exploring Expedition_, ii. 131 _sq._; T. H. Hood, + _Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific_, p. + 141; W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. 106 + _sqq._; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de + Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 111; G. + Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 16 _sqq._, 40, 50 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, pp. 211, 216 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 137, 218. The account of these deities given + by Dr. G. Turner is by far the fullest and best. + + [73] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 67 _sq._ + + [74] W. T. Pritchard, _op. cit._ p. 107. Similarly some + people had pig's heart for their god, or the embodiment of their + god, and they scrupulously avoided eating pigs' hearts lest + pigs' hearts should grow in their bodies and so cause their + death. See G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 72. + +However, even if the worst had happened, that is to say, if the deity +had been killed, cooked and eaten, the consequences were not necessarily +fatal to his worshippers; there were modes of redeeming the lives of the +sinners and of expiating their sin. Suppose, for example, that the god +of a household was the cuttle-fish, and that some visitor to the house +had, either in ignorance or in bravado, caught a cuttle-fish and cooked +it, or that a member of the family had been present where a cuttle-fish +was eaten, the family would meet in conclave to consult about the +sacrilege, and they would select one of their number, whether a man or a +woman, to go and lie down in a cold oven and be covered over with +leaves, just as in the process of baking, all to pretend that the person +was being offered up as a burnt sacrifice to avert the wrath of the +deity. While this solemn pretence was being enacted, the whole family +would engage in prayer, saying, "O bald-headed cuttle-fish, forgive what +has been done. It was all the work of a stranger." If they did not thus +abase themselves before the divine cuttle-fish, they believed that the +god would visit them and cause a cuttle-fish to grow internally in their +bodies and so be the death of some of them.[75] Similar modes of +appeasing the wrath of divine eels, mullets, stinging ray fish, turtles, +wild pigeons, and garden lizards were adopted with equal success.[76] + + [75] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 31 _sq._ + + [76] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 38, 58, 59, 69 _sq._, 72. + +Apparently the Samoans were even more concerned to defend their village +gods or district gods against injury and insult than to guard the +deities of simple individuals. We are told that all the inhabitants of a +district would thus unite for the protection of the local divinity.[77] +For example, it happened that in a village where the first native +Christian teachers settled one of them caught a sea-eel (_Muraena_) and +cooked it, and two of the village lads, who were their servants, ate +some of the eel for their supper. But the eel was the village god, and +when the villagers heard that the lads had eaten the god, they +administered a sound thrashing to the culprits, and dragged them off to +a cooking-house where they laid them down in the oven pit and covered +them with leaves in the usual way, as if the lads had been killed and +were now to be cooked as a peace-offering to avert the wrath of the +deity.[78] When John Williams had caused some Christian natives to kill +a large sea-snake and dry it on the rocks to be preserved as a specimen, +the heathen fishermen of the island at sight of it raised a most +terrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian +natives, saying, "You have killed our god! You have killed our god!" It +was with difficulty that Mr. Williams restrained their violence on +condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to the +boat from which the missionary had landed.[79] The island in which this +happened belonged to the Tongan group, but precisely the same incident +might have occurred in Samoa. In some parts of Upolu a goddess was +believed to be incarnate in bats, and if a neighbour chanced to kill one +of these creatures, the indignant worshippers of the bat might wage a +war to avenge the insult to their deity.[80] If people who had the +stinging ray fish for the incarnation of their god heard that their +neighbours had caught a fish of that sort, they would go and beg them to +give it up and not to cook it. A refusal to comply with the request +would be followed by a fight.[81] + + [77] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 216 _sq._ + + [78] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 58. + + [79] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 469. + + [80] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 57. + + [81] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 75. + +Accordingly, when the Samoans were converted to Christianity, they gave +the strongest proof of the genuineness of their conversion by killing +and eating their animal gods. Thus when a chief named Malietoa renounced +heathenism, he caused an eel to be publicly caught, cooked, and eaten by +many persons who had hitherto regarded the eel as their god. His own +sons had a different sort of fish, called _anae_, for their private +deity, and to demonstrate their faith in the new religion they had a +quantity of the fish caught, cooked, and served up in the presence of a +large party of friends and relations. There, with trembling hearts, they +partook of the once sacred morsel; but, their fears getting the better +of them, they immediately retired from the feast and swallowed a +powerful emetic, lest the divine fish should lie heavy on their stomachs +and devour their vitals.[82] As nothing particular happened after these +daring innovations, the people took heart of grace, and concerted +further plans for the destruction of their ancient deities. Among these +was a certain Papo, who was nothing more or less than a piece of old +rotten matting, about three yards long and four inches wide; but being a +god of war and, in that capacity, always attached to the canoe of the +leader when they went forth to battle, he was regarded with great +veneration by the people. At the assembly convoked to decide on his +fate, the first proposal was to throw him into the fire. But the idea +was too shocking to the general sense of the community, and by way of +making death as little painful as possible to the deity, they decided to +take him out to sea in a canoe and there consign him to a watery grave. +Even from this mitigated doom Papo was rescued by the efforts of the +missionaries, and he now adorns a museum.[83] + + [82] J. Williams, _op. cit._ pp. 373 _sq._ + + [83] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 375. + +But even when the career of one of these animal gods was not prematurely +cut short by being killed, cooked, and eaten, he was still liable to die +in the course of nature; and when his dead body was discovered, great +was the sorrow of his worshippers. If, for example, the god of a village +was an owl, and a dead owl was found lying beside a road or under a +tree, it would be reverently covered up with a white cloth by the person +who discovered it, and all the villagers would assemble round the dead +god and burn their bodies with firebrands and beat their foreheads with +stones till the blood flowed. Then the corpse of the feathered deity +would be wrapped up and buried with as much care and ceremony as if it +were a human body. However, that was not the death of the god. He was +supposed to be yet alive and incarnate in all the owls in existence.[84] + + [84] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 21, 26, 60 _sq._ Compare + W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. 110 _sq._ + +The offerings to these deities consisted chiefly of cooked food,[85] +which was apparently deemed as essential to the sustenance of gods as of +men, and that even when the gods were not animals but stones. For +example, two oblong smooth stones, which stood on a platform of loose +stones near a village, were regarded as the parents of the rain-god, and +when the people were making ready to go off to the woods for the +favourite sport of pigeon-catching, they used to lay offerings of cooked +taro and fish on the stones, accompanied by prayers for fine weather and +no rain. These stone gods were also believed to cause yams to grow; +hence in time of dearth a man would present them with a yam in hope of +securing their favour.[86] + + [85] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 20. + + [86] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 24 _sq._ + +At the feasts the first cup of kava was dedicated to the god, the +presiding chief either pouring it out on the ground or waving it towards +the sky. Afterwards all the chiefs drank from the same cup according to +their rank; then the food brought as an offering was divided and eaten +there before the god.[87] Even within the circle of the family it was +customary to pour out on the ground a little kava as an offering to the +family god before any one else drank of it.[88] + + [87] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 20; W. T. Pritchard, + _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. 121 _sqq._ + + [88] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 229. + +Annual feasts were held in honour of the gods, and the season of the +feast was often in May, but sometimes in April or June.[89] In some +cases the feasts were regulated by the appearance of the bird which was +believed to be the incarnation of the god. Whenever the bird was seen, +the priest would say that the god had come, and he would fix upon a day +for the entertainment of the deity.[90] At these festivals all the +people met in the place of public assembly, where they had collected +heaps of cooked food. First, they made their offerings to the god and +prayed to him to avert calamity and grant prosperity; then they feasted +with and before their god, and after that any strangers present might +eat. Some of the festivals included games, such as wrestling, +spear-throwing, club exercises, sham-fights, and nocturnal dances; and +they lasted for days.[91] At one of these annual festivals held in the +month of June, the exercise with clubs assumed a serious and indeed +sanguinary form. All the people, old and young, men, women, and +children, took part in it, and battered their scalps till the blood +streamed down over their faces and bodies. This proof of their devotion +was supposed to be acceptable to the deity, who, gratified by the sight +of their flowing blood, would answer their prayers for health, good +crops, and victory in war.[92] At the feast of the cockle god in May +prayers were offered up to the divine shell-fish that he would be +pleased to cure the coughs and other ailments usually prevalent at that +season, which in Samoa forms the transition from the wet to the dry +months.[93] At the festival of an owl god, which fell about the month of +April, the offerings and prayers were particularly directed towards the +removal of caterpillars from the plantations; for these insects were +believed to be the servants of the owl god, who could send them as his +ministers of vengeance to lay waste the fields and orchards of the +impious.[94] Elsewhere the owl was a war god, and at the beginning of +the annual fish festivals the chiefs and people of the village assembled +round the opening of the first oven and gave the first fish to the +god.[95] A family, who had the eel for their household god, showed their +gratitude to him for his kindness by presenting him with the first +fruits of their taro plantation.[96] Another family believed their deity +to be incarnate in centipedes; and if a member of the family fell ill or +was bitten by a centipede, they would offer the divine reptile a fine +mat and a fan, with a prayer for the recovery of the patient.[97] The +utility of a fine mat and a fan to a centipede is too obvious to be +insisted on. Sometimes offerings were made to a god, not to persuade him +to come, but to induce him to go away. For example, where gods or +spirits were believed to voyage along the coast, offerings of food were +often set down on the beach as an inducement to the spirits to take the +victuals and pass on without calling at that particular place.[98] + + [89] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20, 26, 29, 41, 44, 47, + 53, 57. + + [90] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20 _sq._ + + [91] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 20, 26, 29; W. T. + Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. 123. + + [92] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 57. + + [93] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 41. + + [94] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 47. + + [95] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 25 _sq._ + + [96] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 70 _sq._ + + [97] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 47 _sq._ + + [98] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 229. + +Formal prayers were offered to the god by the head of a family, and +public prayer was put up when the men were setting out for war. On such +occasions they prayed that stones, stumps of trees, and other obstacles +might be taken out of the way of the warriors, and that their path might +be wet with the blood of their foes. All their prayers were for temporal +benefits, such as protection against enemies, plenty of food, and other +desirable objects. They attached great importance to confession of +wrongdoing in times of danger, but, so far as appears, they expressed no +repentance, promised no amendment, and offered no prayer for +forgiveness. If, for example, a canoe, crossing the channel between +Savaii and Upolu, were caught in a squall and seemed likely to be +swamped, the steersman would head the canoe to the wind, and every man +on board would make a clean breast of his sins. One would say, "I stole +a fowl at such and such a village." Another would confess an intrigue +with a married woman somewhere else; and so on. When all had either +confessed their guilt or declared their innocence, the helmsman would +put the helm about and scud before the wind, in perfect confidence of +bringing the canoe and crew safe to land.[99] + + [99] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 229 + _sq._ + +When a god was believed to be incarnate in a species of birds or animals +or fish, omens were naturally drawn from the appearance and behaviour of +the creatures. This happened particularly in time of war, when hopes and +fears were rife among the people. Thus, if their war god was an owl, +and the bird fluttered above the troops on the march, the omen was good; +but if the owl flew away in the direction of the enemy, it was an evil +omen, the god had deserted them and joined the foe;[100] if it crossed +the path of the warriors or flew back on them, it was a warning to +retreat.[101] So in places where the war-god was a rail-bird, if the +bird screeched and flew before the army, the people marched confidently +to battle; but if it turned and flew back, they hesitated. If the +plumage of the rail showed glossy red, it was a sign to go to war; but +if the feathers were dark and dingy, it was a warning to stay at home. +And if the bird were heard chattering or scolding, as they called it, at +midnight, it prognosticated an attack next day, and they would at once +send off the women and children to a place of safety.[102] In like +manner omens were drawn from the flight of herons, kingfishers, the +_Porphyris Samoensis_, and flying-foxes, where these creatures were +supposed to incarnate the war god.[103] People who saw their war god in +the lizard used to take omens from a lizard before they went forth to +fight. They watched the movements of a lizard in a bundle of spears. If +the creature ran about the outside of the bundle and the points of the +spears, the omen was favourable; but if it crept into the bundle for +concealment, it was an evil sign.[104] The inhabitants of several +villages looked upon dogs, especially white dogs, as the incarnation of +their war god; accordingly if the dog wagged his tail, barked, and +dashed ahead in sight of the enemy, it was a good omen; but if he +retreated or howled, their hearts failed them.[105] Again, where the +cuttle-fish was the war god, the movements of that fish at sea were +anxiously observed in time of war. If the fish swam inshore while the +people were mustering for battle, it augured victory; but if it swam far +away, it portended defeat.[106] + + [100] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 25 _sq._ + + [101] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 60. + + [102] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 52, 61, 65. + + [103] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 35, 51, 54 _sq._, 64. + + [104] G. Turner, pp. 46 _sq._ + + [105] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 49. + + [106] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 29. + +When a god was supposed to dwell in some inanimate object, the art of +divination was similarly employed to elicit a knowledge of the future +from an observation of the object, whatever it might be. In several +villages, for example, the people viewed a rainbow as the representative +of their war god. If, when they were going to battle by land or sea, a +rainbow appeared in the sky right in front of them, with the arch, as it +were, straddling across the line of march or the course that the fleet +was steering, it was a warning to turn back. But if the bow shone on the +right or left of the army or of the fleet, it meant that the god was +marching with them, and cheering on the advance.[107] Another village +revered its god in the lightning. When lightning flashed frequently in +time of war, it was believed that the god had come to help and direct +his people. A constant play of lightning over a particular spot was a +warning that the enemy was lurking there in ambush. A rapid succession +of flashes in front meant that the foe was being driven back; but if the +lightning flashed from front to rear, it was a signal to retreat.[108] +In one large village the war god resided in two teeth of the sperm +whale, which were kept in a cave and observed by a priest in time of +war. If the teeth were found lying east and west, it was a good omen; +but if they lay north and south, it prognosticated defeat.[109] In +another place the war god was present in a bundle of shark's teeth, and +the people consulted the bundle before they went out to fight. If the +bundle felt heavy, it foreboded ill; but if it was light, it was an omen +of victory, and the troops marched with hearts correspondingly +light.[110] + + [107] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 35; compare p. 43. + + [108] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 59 _sq._ + + [109] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 35. + + [110] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 55. + +When the god was incarnate in a live creature, it was an obvious +advantage to ensure his constant presence and blessing by owning a +specimen of his incarnation and feeding it. Hence some folk kept a tame +god on their premises. For instance, some people possessed a war god in +the shape of a pet owl;[111] others had a divine pigeon, which was +carefully kept and fed by the different members of the family in +turn.[112] Yet others were so fortunate as to capture the thunder god +and to keep him in durance, which effectually prevented him from doing +mischief. Having caught him, they tied him up with pandanus leaves and +frightened him by poking firebrands at him. And lest, as an old +offender, he should attempt to break prison and relapse into his former +career of crime, they filled a basket with pandanus leaves and charred +firebrands and hung it up on a tree _in terrorem_, to signify what he +might expect to get if he took it into his head to strike houses +again.[113] + + [111] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 25 _sq._ + + [112] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 64. + + [113] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 34. + +Vegetable gods were much less plentiful than animal gods in Samoa. Still +they occurred. Thus, the god of one family lived in a large tree +(_Hernandia peltata_); hence no member of the family dared to pluck a +leaf or break a branch of that tree.[114] The household deity of another +family dwelt in a tree of a different sort (_Conanga odorata_), which +has yellow and sweet-scented flowers.[115] In Savaii the special abode +of a village god called Tuifiti or "King of Fiji" was a grove of large +and durable trees (_Afzelia bijuga_). No one dared to cut that timber. +It is said that a party of natives from another island once tried to +fell one of these trees; but blood flowed from the trunk, and all the +sacrilegious strangers fell ill and died.[116] One family saw their god +in the moon. On the appearance of the new moon all the members of the +family called out, "Child of the moon, you have come." They assembled +also, presented offerings of food, feasted together, and joined in +praying, "Oh, child of the moon! Keep far away disease and death." And +they also prayed to the moon before they set out on the war path.[117] +But in Samoa, as in Tonga, there seems to be no record of a worship of +the sun, unless the stories of human sacrifices formerly offered to the +great luminary be regarded as reminiscences of sun-worship.[118] + + [114] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 72. + + [115] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 71. + + [116] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 63. + + [117] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 67. + + [118] See above, p. 158. + + +§ 7. _Priests and Temples_ + +The father of a family acted as the priest of the household god. He +usually offered a short prayer at the evening meal, begging the deity to +guard them all from war, sickness, death, and the payment of fines. +Sometimes he would direct the family to hold a feast in honour of their +god, and on these occasions a cup of kava was poured out as a libation +to the divinity. Such simple domestic rites were celebrated in the +house, where the whole family assembled; for the gods were believed to +be present with men in a spiritual and invisible form as well as in the +material objects which were regarded as their visible embodiments. Often +the deity spoke through the father or other members of the family, +telling them what to do in order to remove a present evil or avert a +threatened one.[119] + + [119] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 18. For the offering of + kava to the household god, compare _id._ p. 51. + +But while every head of a family might thus act as a domestic priest and +mouthpiece of the deity, there was also a professional class of priests +set apart for the public worship of the gods, particularly of the war +gods, who in their nature did not differ essentially from the gods of +families, of villages, and of districts, being commonly embodied either +in particular material objects or in classes of such objects, especially +in various species of birds, animals, and fish, such as owls, rails, +kingfishers, dogs, lizards, flying-foxes, and cuttle-fish. Sometimes the +ruling chiefs acted as priests; but in general some one man in a +particular family claimed the dignity of the priesthood and professed to +declare the will of the god. His office was hereditary. He fixed the +days for the annual feasts in honour of the deity, received the +offerings, and thanked the people for them. He decided also whether the +people might go to war.[120] The priests possessed great authority over +the minds of the people, and they often availed themselves of their +influence to amass wealth.[121] The gods were supposed from time to time +to take possession of the priests and to speak through their mouths, +answering enquiries and issuing commands. Thus consulted as an oracle +the priest, or the god through him, might complain that the people had +been slack in making offerings of food and property, and he would +threaten them with vengeance if they did not speedily bring an ample +supply to the human representative of the deity. At other times the god +required a whole family to assemble and build him a large canoe or a +house, and such a command was always obeyed with alacrity and a humble +apology tendered for past neglect. The priests were also consulted +oracularly for the healing of the sick, the recovery of stolen property, +and the cursing of enemies. Thus they kept the people in constant fear +by their threats and impoverished them by their exactions.[122] + + [120] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 20. For a full account of + the priesthood, see J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 220 _sqq._ As + to the Samoan war-gods, see G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 23, 25 + _sq._, 27 _sq._, 28, 32, 33, 35, 42, 46 _sq._, 48, 49, 51, 52, + 54 _sq._, 55, 57, 60, 61, 64, 65; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. + 215 _sq._ + + [121] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 70, 222 _sq._, 225; + G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 228, 246 _sq._ + + [122] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 223-225; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 246 _sq._ + +The outward signs of divine inspiration or possession were such as +priests or prophets have manifested in many lands and ages as conclusive +evidence of their being the vehicles of higher powers. The approach or +presence of the god was indicated by the priest beginning to gape, yawn, +and clear his throat; but soon his countenance changed, his body +underwent violent contortions, and in loud, unearthly tones, which the +trembling and awe-stricken hearers interpreted as the voice of an +indwelling deity, he delivered his message of exhortation or warning, of +menace, or comfort, or hope.[123] + + [123] J. B. Stair, p. 223; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 228, 246 _sq._ + +Spirit-houses (_fale-aitu_) or temples were erected for some, but not +all, of the class of deities (_aitu_) which we are now considering. It +was chiefly the war gods who were thus honoured. Such temples were built +with the same materials and in the same style as the houses of men, with +nothing to distinguish them from ordinary dwellings, except that they +almost always stood on platforms of stones, which varied in height and +size with the respect felt for the particular deity. They were usually +situated on the principal public place or green (_malae_) of the village +and surrounded by a low fence. Sometimes they were mere huts; yet being +viewed as the abode of gods they were held sacred and regarded with +great veneration by the Samoans in the olden time. Whatever emblems of +deity were in possession of the village were always placed in these +houses under the watchful care of keepers.[124] In one temple, for +instance, might be seen a conch shell hung from the roof in a basket. +This shell the god was supposed to blow when he wished the people to go +to war. In another a cup made of the shell of a coco-nut was suspended +from the roof, and before it prayers were uttered and offerings +presented. The cup was also used in an ordeal for the detection of +theft. In a trial before chiefs the cup would be sent for, and each of +the suspected culprits would lay his hand on it and say, "With my hand +on this cup, may the god look upon me, and send swift destruction, if I +took the thing which has been stolen." They firmly believed that it +would be death to touch the cup and tell a lie.[125] + + [124] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 226-228. + + [125] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 19. + +The temples were always built by the united exertions of a whole family, +village, or district.[126] For example, when the inhabitants of a +village whose god was the cuttle-fish erected a new temple to that +deity, every man, woman, and child in the village contributed something +to it, if it was only a stick or a reed of thatch. While some of the +villagers were drafted off to put up the house, the rest engaged in a +free fight, which appears to have been considered as a necessary part of +the proceedings. On this occasion many old scores were settled, and he +who got most wounds was believed to have earned the special favour of +the deity. With the completion of the temple the fighting ended, and +ought not to be renewed for a year, till the anniversary of the building +of the temple came round, when the worshippers were again at liberty to +break each other's heads in honour of the divine cuttle-fish.[127] + + [126] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 227 _sq._ + + [127] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 29 _sq._ + +At one place in Savaii there was a temple in which a priest constantly +resided. The sick used to be carried to him in the temple and there laid +down with offerings of fine mats. Thereupon the priest stroked the +diseased part, and the patient was supposed to recover.[128] We hear of +another temple in which fine mats were brought as offerings to the +priests and stored up in large numbers among the temple treasures. Thus +in time the temples might have amassed a considerable degree of wealth +and might even, if economic progress had not been arrested by European +intervention, have developed into banks. However, when the people were +converted to Christianity, they destroyed this particular temple and +dissipated the accumulated treasures in a single feast by way of +celebrating their adhesion to the new faith.[129] Where the bat was the +local deity, many bats used to flock about the temple in time of +war.[130] Where the kingfisher received the homage of the people as the +god of war, the old men of the village were wont to enter his temple in +times of public emergency and address the kingfisher; and people outside +could hear the bird replying, though, singularly enough, his voice was +that of a man, and not that of a bird. But as usual the god was +invisible.[131] In one place a temple of the great god Tangaloa was +called "the House of the Gods," and it was carefully shut up all round, +the people thinking that, if this precaution were not taken, the gods +would get out and in too easily and be all the more destructive.[132] +Such a temple might be considered rather as a prison than a house of the +gods. + + [128] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 49. + + [129] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 55. + + [130] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 56 _sq._ + + [131] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 54 _sq._ + + [132] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 53. + +To the rule that Samoan temples were built of the same perishable +materials as ordinary houses a single exception is known. About ten +miles inland from the harbour of Apia, in the island of Upolu, are the +ruins of a temple, of which the central and side posts and the rafters +were all constructed of stone. The ground plan seems to have resembled +that of an ordinary Samoan house of the best style, forming an ellipse +which measured fifty feet in one direction by forty feet in the other. +Two central pillars appear to have supported the roof, each fashioned of +a single block of stone some thirteen feet high, twelve inches thick one +way and nine inches the other. The rafters were in lengths of twelve +feet and six feet, by four inches square. Of the outside pillars, which +upheld the lower edge of the sloping roof, eighteen were seen standing +by Pritchard, who has described the ruins. Each pillar stood three feet +high and measured nine inches thick in one way by six inches in the +other. Each had a notch or shoulder on the inner side for supporting the +roof. Pillars and rafters were quarried from an adjoining bluff, distant +only some fifty yards from the ruins. Some squared stones lying at the +foot of the bluff seem to show that the temple was never completed. The +site of the ruins is a flat about three acres in area. The natives call +the ruins _Fale-o-le-Fe'e_, that is, the House of the Fe'e. This Fe'e +was a famous war god of A'ana and Faleata, two native towns of Upolu; he +was commonly incarnated in the cuttle-fish. As the Samoans were +unacquainted with the art of cutting stones, and had no tools suitable +for the work, they thought that this temple, with its columns and +rafters of squared stone, must have been built by the gods, and they +explained its unfinished state by alleging that the divine builders had +quarrelled among themselves before they had brought the work to +completion.[133] + + [133] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 119-121; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de + Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 112; G. + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 31; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 228; G. + Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 220. + +For the sake of completeness I will mention another stone monument, of +more imposing dimensions, which has been discovered in Samoa, though its +origin and meaning are unknown. It stands on a tableland in the high +mountainous interior of Upolu and appears to be not altogether easy of +access. The discoverer, Mr. H. B. Sterndale, reached it by clambering up +from what he describes as a broad and dangerous ravine. In making his +way to the tableland he passed through a gap which from a distance he +had supposed to be a natural fissure in the rocks; but on arriving at it +he discovered, to his surprise, that the gap was in fact a great fosse +formed by the hand of man, being excavated in some places and built up +at others, while on one side, next to the rise of the hill, it was +further heightened by a parapet wall. When, passing through the fosse, +he issued upon the tableland, which is a level space of some twenty +acres in extent, he perceived the monument, "a truncated conical +structure or _Heidenmauer_ of such huge dimensions as must have required +the labour of a great multitude to construct. So little did I expect," +he says, "in this neighbourhood to meet with any example of human +architecture, and so rudely monstrous was the appearance of this +cyclopean building, that from its peculiar form, and from the vegetation +with which it was overgrown, I might have passed it by, supposing it to +have been a volcanic hillock, had not my attention been attracted by the +stonework of the fosse. I hastened to ascend it. It was about twenty +feet high by one hundred in diameter. It was circular with straight +[perpendicular?] sides; the lower tiers of stone were very large, they +were lava blocks, some of which would weigh at least a ton, which must +have been rolled or moved on skids to their present places. They were +laid in courses; and in two places near the top seemed to have been +entrances to the inside, as in one appeared a low cave choked with rocks +and tree roots. If there had been chambers within, they were probably +narrow and still existing, as there was no sign of depression on the +crown of the work, which was flat and covered with flat stones, among +which grew both trees and shrubs. It is likely that it was not in itself +intended as a place of defence, but rather as a base or platform upon +which some building of importance, perhaps of timber, had been erected, +no doubt in the centre of a village, as many foundations of a few feet +high were near it. The fosse, when unbroken, and its inner wall entire, +was probably crossed by a foot-bridge, to be withdrawn on the approach +of an enemy; and the little gap, by which I had entered, closed, so that +this must have been a place of great security. The Samoan natives, as +far as I have been able to learn, have no tradition of what people +inhabited this mountain fastness."[134] + + [134] H. B. Sterndale, quoted by R. A. Sterndale, + "Asiatic Architecture in Polynesia," _The Asiatic Quarterly + Review_, x. (July-October 1890) pp. 347-350. The writer of this + article reports the discoveries of his brother, Mr. Handley + Bathurst Sterndale. + +On an adjoining tableland, approached by a steep and narrow ridge, Mr. +Sterndale saw a great number of cairns of stone, apparently graves, +disposed in rows among huge trees, the roots of which had overturned and +destroyed very many of the cairns. Here, within the numerous trunks of a +great spreading banyan tree, Mr. Sterndale found what he calls an inner +chamber, or cell, about ten feet square, the floor being paved with flat +stones and the walls built of enormous blocks of the same material, +while the roof was composed of the twisted trunks of the banyan tree, +which had grown into a solid arch and, festooned by creepers, excluded +even the faint glimmer of twilight that dimly illuminated the +surrounding forest. Disturbed by a light which the traveller struck to +explore the gloomy interior, bats fluttered about his head. In the +centre of the chamber he discovered a cairn, or rather cromlech, about +four feet high, which was formed of several stones arranged in a +triangle, with a great flat slab on the top. On the flat slab lay a +large conch shell, white with age, and encrusted with moss and dead +animalculae. The chamber or cell, enclosed by the trunks of the +banyan-tree, might have been inaccessible, if it were not that, under +the pressure of the tree-trunks, several of the great slabs composing +the wall had been displaced, leaving a passage.[135] + + [135] H. B. Sterndale, _op. cit._ pp. 351 _sq._ + +What were these remarkable monuments? Mr. Sterndale believed the stone +chamber to be the tomb of some man of authority in ancient days, the +antiquity of the structure being vouched for by the great banyan-tree +which had so completely overgrown it. This view is likely enough, and is +confirmed by the large number of cairns about it, which appear to be +sepulchral. But what was the massive circular monument or platform, +built of huge blocks of lava laid in tiers? From Mr. Sterndale's +description it would seem that the structure closely resembled the tombs +of the sacred kings of Tonga, though these tombs are oblong instead of +circular. But they often supported a house or hut of wood and thatch; +and Mr. Sterndale may well be right in supposing that the circular +Samoan monument in like manner served as a platform to support a wooden +building. In this connexion we must not forget that the typical Samoan +house was circular or oval in contrast to the typical Tongan house, +which was oblong. The openings, which seemed to lead into the interior +of the monument, may have given access to the sepulchral chamber where +the bodies of the dead were deposited. + +Slight as are these indications, they apparently point to the use of the +monument as a tomb. There is nothing, except perhaps its circular shape, +to suggest that it was a temple of the sun. As no such stone buildings +have been erected by the Samoans during the time they have been under +European observation, it may be, as Mr. Sterndale supposed, that all the +ruins described by him were the work of a people who inhabited the +islands before the arrival of the existing race.[136] + + [136] H. B. Sterndale, _op. cit._ p. 352. + + +§ 8. _Origin of the Samoan Gods of Families, Villages, and Districts: +Relation to Totemism_ + +If we ask, What was the origin of the peculiar Samoan worship of animals +and other natural objects? the most probable answer seems to be that it +has been developed out of totemism. The system is not simple totemism, +for in totemism the animals, plants, and other natural objects are not +worshipped, that is, they do not receive offerings nor are approached +with prayers; in short, they are not gods, but are regarded as the +kinsfolk of the men and women who have them for totems. Further, the +local distribution of the revered objects in Samoa, according to +villages and districts, differs from the characteristic distribution of +totems, which is not by place but by social groups or clans, the members +of which are usually more or less intermixed with each other in every +district. It is true that in Samoa we hear of family or household gods +as well as of gods of villages and districts, and these family gods, in +so far as they consist of species of animals and plants which the +worshippers are forbidden to kill or eat, present a close analogy to +totems. But it is to be observed that these family gods were, so to say, +in a state of unstable equilibrium, it being always uncertain whether a +man would inherit his father's or his mother's god or would be assigned +a god differing from both of them. This uncertainty arose from the +manner of determining a man's god at birth. When a woman was in travail, +the help of several gods was invoked, one after the other, to assist the +birth; and the god who happened to be invoked at the moment when the +child saw the light, was his god for life. As a rule, the god of the +father's family was prayed to first; so that generally, perhaps, a man +inherited the god of his father. But if the birth was tedious and +difficult, the god of the mother's family was next invoked. When the +child was born, the mother would call out, "To whom were you praying?" +and the god prayed to just before was carefully remembered, and his +incarnation duly acknowledged throughout the future life of the +child.[137] Such a mode of selecting a divine patron is totally +different from the mode whereby, under pure totemism, a person obtains +his totem; for his totem is automatically determined for him at birth, +being, in the vast majority of cases, inherited either from his father +or from his mother, without any possibility of variation or selection. +Lastly, the Samoan system differs from most, though not all, systems of +totemism, in that it is quite independent of exogamy; in other words, +there is no rule forbidding people who revere the same god to marry each +other. + + [137] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 17, 78 _sq._ + +Thus, while the Samoan worship of certain classes of natural objects, +especially species of animals, is certainly not pure totemism, it +presents points of analogy to that system, and might easily, we may +suppose, have been developed out of it, the feeling of kinship for +totemic animals and plants having been slowly transformed and sublimated +into a religious reverence for the creatures and a belief in their +divinity; while at the same time the clans, which were originally +intermixed, gradually sorted out from each other and settled down in +separate villages and districts. This gradual segregation of the clans +may have been facilitated by a change from maternal to paternal descent +of the totem; for when a man transmits his totem to his offspring, his +descendants in the male line tend naturally to expand into a local group +in which the totem remains constant from generation to generation +instead of alternating with each successive generation, as necessarily +happens when a man's children take their totem not from him but from +their mother. That the Samoan worship of _aitu_ was developed in some +such way out of simple totemism appears to have been the view of Dr. +George Brown, one of our best authorities on Samoan society and +religion; for he speaks without reserve of the revered objects as +totems.[138] A similar derivation of the Samoan _aitu_ was favoured by +Dr. Rivers, who, during a visit to Samoa, found some evidence +confirmatory of this conclusion.[139] + + [138] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 137, + 218, 334. + + [139] W. H. R. Rivers, "Totemism in Polynesia and + Melanesia," _Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, + xxxix. (1909) pp. 159 _sq._ + + +§ 9. _The High Gods of Samoa_ + +But besides these totemic gods of Samoa, as we may term them, which were +restricted in the circle of their worshippers to particular families, +villages, or districts, there were certain superior deities who were +worshipped by all the people in common and might accordingly be called +the national divinities of Samoa; indeed the worship of some of them was +not confined to Samoa, but was shared by the inhabitants of other groups +of islands in Polynesia. These high gods were considered the progenitors +of the inferior deities, and were believed to have formed the earth and +its inhabitants. They themselves dwelt in heaven, in the sea, on the +earth, or under the earth; but they were invisible and did not appear to +their worshippers in the form of animals or plants. They had no temples +and no priests, and were not invoked like their descendants.[140] + + [140] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 111 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 211 _sq._ + +Among these high gods the chief was Tangaloa, or, as he was sometimes +called, Tangaloa-langi, that is, Tangaloa of the Skies. He was always +spoken of as the principal god, the creator of the world and progenitor +of the other gods and of mankind.[141] It is said that after existing +somewhere in space he made the heavens as an abode for himself, and that +wishing to have also a place under the heavens he created this lower +world (_Lalolangi_, that is, "Under the heavens"). According to one +account, he formed the islands of Savaii and Upolu by rolling down two +stones from the sky; but according to another story he fished them up +from the depths of the sea on a fishing-hook. Next he made the _Fee_ or +cuttle-fish, and told it to go down under the earth; hence the lower +regions of sea or land are called _Sa he fee_ or "sacred to the +cuttle-fish." In its turn the cuttle-fish brought forth all kinds of +rocks, including the great one on which we live.[142] Another myth +relates how Tangaloa sent down his son or daughter in the likeness of a +bird called _turi_, a species of plover or snipe (_Charadrius fulvus_). +She flew about, but could find no resting-place, for as yet there was +nothing but ocean; the earth had not been created or raised above the +sea. So she returned to her father in heaven and reported her fruitless +search; and at last he gave her some earth and a creeping plant. These +she took down with her on her next visit to earth; and after a time the +leaves of the plant withered and produced swarms of worms or maggots, +which gradually developed into men and women. The plant which thus by +its corruption gave birth to the human species was the convolvulus. +According to another version of the myth, it was in reply to the +complaint of his daughter or son that the sky-god Tangaloa fished up the +first islands from the bottom of the sea.[143] + + [141] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 212. + + [142] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 7. + + [143] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 7 _sq._; J. B. Stair, + _Old Samoa_, pp. 212-214. The bird _turi_ or _tuli_ is spoken of + by Turner as the daughter, but by Stair as the son, of Tangaloa. + According to Turner, the bird is a species of snipe; according + to Stair, a species of plover. As to Tangaloa and the stories + told about him, compare John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary + Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, pp. 469 _sq._; H. Hale, + _Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring + Expedition_, p. 22; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur + l'archipel de Samoa," _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) + pp. 111 _sq._; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, p. 463, _s.v._ "Tangaroa." + +Another of the national gods of Samoa was Mafuie, who was supposed to +dwell in the subterranean regions and to cause earthquakes by shaking +the pillar on which the earth reposes. In a tussle with the hero +Ti'iti'i, who descended to the lower world to rob Mafuie of his fire, +the earthquake god lost one of his arms, and the Samoans considered this +as a very fortunate circumstance; for otherwise they said that, if +Mafuie had had two arms, he would have shaken the world to pieces.[144] +It is said that during a shock of earthquake the natives used to rush +from their houses, throw themselves upon the ground, gnaw the grass, and +shriek in the most frantic manner to Mafuie to desist, lest he should +shake the earth to bits.[145] + + [144] Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States + Exploring Expedition_, ii. 131; W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian + Reminiscences_, pp. 112, 114 _sqq._; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. + 209-211; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 238 _sq._ + + [145] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 379. + +It seems to be doubtful whether among the Samoan gods are to be numbered +the souls of deceased ancestors. Certainly the evidence for the practice +of a worship of the dead is far less full and clear in Samoa than in +Tonga. On this subject Dr. George Brown writes as follows: "Traces of +ancestor worship are few and indistinct. The word _tupua_ is supposed by +some to mean the deified spirits of chiefs, and to mean that they +constituted a separate order from the _atua_, who were the original +gods. The word itself is the name of a stone, supposed to be a petrified +man, and is also generally used as the name of any image having some +sacred significance, and as representing the body into which the deified +spirit was changed. What appears certain is that ancestor worship had +amongst the Samoans gradually given place to the worship of a superior +order of supernatural beings not immediately connected with men, but +having many human passions and modes of action and life. There are, +however, some cases which seem to point to ancestor worship in olden +days, as in the case of the town of Matautu, which is said to have been +settled by a colony from Fiji. Their principal deity was called Tuifiti, +the King of Fiji. He was considered to be the head of that family, and a +grove of trees, _ifilele_ (the green-heart of India), was sacred to him +and could not be cut or injured in any way."[146] This god was supposed +to be incarnate in a man who walked about, but he was never visible to +the people of the place, though curiously enough he could be seen by +strangers.[147] + + [146] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 223. + See also above, p. 192. + + [147] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 62 _sq._ The town or + village of Matautu is in the island of Savaii. According to G. + Turner, the sacred tree of Tuifiti was the _Afzelia bijuga_. + +However, another experienced missionary, J. B. Stair, who knew Samoa a +good many years before Dr. Brown arrived in it, speaks apparently +without hesitation of the _tupua_ as being "the deified spirits of +chiefs, who were also supposed to dwell in Pulotu," where they became +posts in the house or temple of the gods. Many beautiful emblems, he +says, were chosen to represent the immortality of these deified spirits; +among them were some of the heavenly bodies, including the Pleiades and +the planet Jupiter, also the rainbow, the marine rainbow, and many +more. He adds that the embalmed bodies of some chiefs were worshipped +under the significant title of "sun-dried gods"; and that people prayed +and poured libations of kava at the graves of deceased relatives.[148] + + [148] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 210 _sq._, 215. + + +§ 10. _The Samoan Belief concerning the Human Soul: Funeral Customs_ + +Whether the Samoans practised the worship of the dead in a developed +form or not, they certainly possessed the elements out of which the +worship might under favourable circumstances be evolved. These elements +are a belief in the survival of the human soul after death, and a fear +of disembodied spirits or ghosts. + +The Samoans believed that every man is animated by a soul, which departs +from the body temporarily in faints and dreams and permanently at death. +The soul of the dreamer, they thought, really visited the places which +he saw in his dream. At death it departed to the subterranean world of +the dead which the Samoans called Pulotu, a name which clearly differs +only dialectically from the Tongan Bolotoo or Bulotu. Some people +professed to see the parting soul when it had quitted its mortal body +and was about to take flight to the nether region. It was always of the +same shape as the body. Such apparitions at the moment of death were +much dreaded, and people tried to drive them away by shouting and firing +guns. The word for soul is _anganga_, which is a reduplicated form of +_anga_, a verb meaning "to go" or "to come." Thus apparently the Samoans +did not, like many people, identify the soul with the shadow; for in +Samoan the word for shadow is _ata_.[149] + + [149] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 8, 16; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, p. 220; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 218 + _sq._; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. + 26, _s.v._ "Ata." + +However, they seem to have in a dim way associated a man's soul with his +shadow. This appears from a remarkable custom which they observed in the +case of the unburied dead. The Samoans were much concerned for the lot +of these unfortunates and stood in great dread of their ghosts. They +believed that the spirits of those who had not received the rites of +burial wandered about wretched and forlorn and haunted their relatives +everywhere by day and night, crying in doleful tones, "Oh, how cold! oh, +how cold!" Hence when the body of a dead kinsman was lost because he had +been drowned at sea or slain on a battlefield, some of his relatives +would go down to the seashore or away to the battlefield where their +friend had perished; and there spreading out a cloth on the ground they +would pray to some god of the family, saying, "Oh, be kind to us; let us +obtain without difficulty the spirit of the young man!" After that the +first thing that lighted on the cloth was supposed to be the spirit of +the dead. It might be a butterfly, a grasshopper, an ant, a spider, or a +lizard; whatever it might be, it was carefully wrapt up and taken to the +family, who buried the bundle with all due ceremony, as if it contained +the body of their departed friend. Thus the unquiet spirit was believed +to find rest. Now the insect, or whatever it happened to be, which thus +acted as proxy at the burial was supposed to be the _ata_ or shadow of +the deceased. The same word _ata_ served to express likeness; a +photographer, for example, is called _pue-ata_, "shadow-catcher." The +Samoans do not appear to have associated the soul with the breath.[150] + + [150] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 170 + _sq._, 218 sq.; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 150 _sq._; S. Ella, + "Samoa," _Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian + Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, + Tasmania, in January 1892_, pp. 641 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, p. 184. According to Brown and Stair the ceremony + described in the text was observed when a man had died a violent + death, even when the relatives were in possession of the body, + and in that case the insect, or whatever it might be, was buried + with the corpse. I have followed Turner and Ella in supposing + that the ceremony was only observed when the corpse could not be + found. As to the fear of the spirits of the unburied dead, see + also W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. 58 _sq._, + 151. + +They attributed disease and death to the anger of a god, to the agency +of an evil spirit, or to the ghost of a dead relative who had entered +into the body of the sufferer. Epilepsy, delirium, and mania were always +thus explained by the entrance into the patient of a god or demon. The +Samoan remedy for all such ailments was not medicine but exorcism. +Sometimes a near relative of the sick person would go round the house +brandishing a spear and striking the walls to drive away the spirit that +was causing the sickness.[151] Hence when a member of a family fell +seriously ill, his friends did not send for a doctor, but repaired to +the high priest of the village to enquire of him the cause of the +sickness, to learn why the family god (_aitu_) was angry with them, and +to implore his mercy and forgiveness. Often the priest took advantage of +their anxiety to demand a valuable piece of property, such as a canoe or +a parcel of ground, as the best means of propitiating the angry deity +and so ensuring the recovery of the patient. With all these demands the +anxious and unsuspecting relatives readily complied. But if the priest +happened not to want anything in particular at the time, he would +probably tell the messengers to gather the family about the bed of the +sufferer and there confess their sins. The command was implicitly +obeyed, and every member of the family assembled and made a clean breast +of his or her misdeeds, especially of any curse which he or she might +have called down either on the family generally or on the invalid in +particular. Curiously enough, the curse of a sister was peculiarly +dreaded; hence in such cases the sister of the sick man was closely +questioned as to whether she had cursed him and thus caused his illness; +if so, she was entreated to remove the curse, that he might recover. +Moved by these pleadings, she might take some coco-nut water in her +mouth and spurt it out towards or upon the body of the sufferer. By this +action she either removed the curse or declared her innocence; a similar +ceremony might be performed by any other member of the family who was +suspected of having cursed the sick man.[152] + + [151] S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 639, 643; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 223 _sq._, 402. + + [152] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 146 _sq._; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 140 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. + cit._ p. 639; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 180 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 223 _sq._, 401. + +When an illness seemed likely to prove fatal, messengers were despatched +to friends at a distance that they might come and bid farewell to the +dying man. Every one who came to visit the sufferer in his last moments +brought a present of a fine mat or other valuable piece of property as +a token of regard, and to defray the cost of the illness and funeral. +The best of the mats would be laid on the body of the dying man that he +might have the comfort of seeing them before he closed his eyes for +ever. Dr. George Brown thought that the spirits of the mats thus laid on +the body of the dying chief were supposed to accompany his soul to the +other world. It is possible that their spirits did so, but it is certain +that their material substance did not; for after the funeral all the +mats and other valuables so presented were distributed among the +mourners and friends assembled on the occasion, so that every one who +had brought a gift took away something in return on his departure.[153] + + [153] W. T. Pritchard, _op. cit._ pp. 147, 150 _sq._; + G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 141 _sq._, 146; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. + 639; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 180; G. Brown, _Melanesians + and Polynesians_, pp. 220, 401, 405 _sq._ + +If the dying man happened to be a chief, numbers crowded round him to +receive a parting look or word, while in front of the house might be +seen men and women wildly beating their heads and bodies with great +stones, thus inflicting on themselves ghastly wounds, from which the +blood poured as an offering of affection and sympathy to their departing +friend or lord. It was hoped that, pleased and propitiated by the sight +of their devotion, the angry god might yet stay his hand and spare the +chief to his people. Above all the tumult and uproar would rise the +voice of one who prayed aloud for the life then trembling in the +balance. But if the prayer seemed likely to prove ineffectual, it was +exchanged for threats and upbraiding. "O thou shameless spirit," the +voice would now be heard exclaiming, "could I but grasp you, I would +smash your skull to pieces! Come here and let us fight together. Don't +conceal yourself, but show yourself like a man, and let us fight, if you +are angry."[154] + + [154] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 181 _sq._ + +Immediately after death, all the mats on the floor of the house were +thrown outside, and the thatched sides of the house were either torn +down or knocked in with clubs; while the relatives and assembled crowds +wrought themselves up to frenzy, uttering loud shrieks, rending their +garments, tearing out their hair by handfuls, burning their bodies with +firebrands, beating their faces and heads with clubs and stones, or +gashing themselves with shells and shark's teeth, till the blood ran +freely down. This they called an offering of blood for the dead. In +their fury some of the mourners fell on the canoes and houses, breaking +them up and tearing them down, felling the bread-fruit trees, and +devastating the plantations of yams and taro.[155] + + [155] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. + 148; G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 144; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 640; J. + B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 182; G. Brown, _Melanesians and + Polynesians_, pp. 401 _sq._ + +As decomposition is rapid in the hot moist climate of Samoa, it was +customary to bury commoners a few hours after death. The body was laid +out on a mat, anointed with scented oil, and the face tinged with +turmeric, to soften the cadaverous look. It was then wound up in several +folds of native cloth and the chin propped up, the head and face being +left uncovered, while for some hours longer the body was surrounded by +weeping relatives, who kept constant watch over it, so long as it +remained in the house. These watchers were always women, and none of +them might quit her post under any pretext till she was relieved by +another. A fire was kept burning brightly in the house all the time. If +the deceased had died of a complaint which had previously carried off +other members of the family, they would probably open the body to +"search for the disease." Any inflamed substance which they happened to +find they would take away and burn, thinking thus to prevent any other +member of the family from being similarly afflicted. Such a custom +betrays an incipient sense of death from natural, instead of +supernatural, causes, and must have contributed to diffuse a knowledge +of human anatomy.[156] + + [156] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 148 _sq._; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 144 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, 182; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 402. + +So long as a corpse remained in the house no food might be eaten under +the roof; the family had their meals outside or in another house. Those +who had attended to the deceased or handled the corpse were taboo: they +might not feed themselves or touch food with their hands. For days they +were fed by others as if they were helpless infants. Baldness and the +loss of teeth were supposed to be the punishment inflicted by the +household god for a breach of the rule. Many people fasted at such +times, eating nothing during the day, but taking a meal in the evening. +The fifth day was a day of purification. The tabooed persons then washed +their faces and hands with hot water and were clean; after that they +were free to eat at the usual time and in the usual manner.[157] + + [157] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 145; W. T. Pritchard, _op. + cit._ p. 149; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 640; J. B. Stair, _Old + Samoa_, p. 182; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. + 402. + +The ordinary mode of disposing of the dead was by interment either in a +stone vault or in a shallow grave. But occasionally other modes were +adopted, such as embalming, putting the corpse in a canoe and setting it +adrift on the sea, or exposing it on a stage erected in the forest, +where it was left to decay, the bones being afterwards collected and +buried. Upon the death of a chief his body was generally deposited in a +family vault, the sides and bottom of which were lined with large slabs +of sandstone or basalt, while another large slab of the same material +formed the roof. Such vaults were sometimes large and massive. The +stones used in their construction were found in various parts of the +islands. Commoners were buried in shallow graves.[158] + + [158] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 178 _sq._ + +Ordinary people were usually buried the day after they died. As many +friends as could be present attended the funeral. Every one brought a +present, but on the day after the funeral all these presents, like those +which had previously been made to the dying man, were distributed again, +so that none went empty-handed away. The corpse was generally buried +without a coffin; but chiefs were laid in hollow logs or canoes. +However, even the bodies of common people were sometimes interred +in rude coffins similarly constructed. There were no common +burying-grounds; all preferred to bury their dead on their own land. +Often the grave was dug close to the house. The body was laid in it with +the head to the east and the feet to the west. When it had been thus +committed to its last resting-place, a near relative of the deceased, a +sister, if one survived, seated herself at the grave, and waving a white +cloth over the corpse, began an address to the dead. "Compassion to +you," she said, "go with goodwill, and without bearing malice towards +us. Take with you all our diseases, and leave us life." Then pointing to +the west, she exclaimed, "Misery there!" Next pointing to the east, she +cried, "Prosperity there!" Lastly, pointing to the grave, she said, +"Misery there; but leave happiness with us!" With the body they +deposited in the grave several things which had been used by the +deceased during his illness, such as his clothing, his drinking-cup, and +his bamboo pillow. The wooden pickaxes and coco-nut shells employed as +shovels in digging the grave were also carefully buried with the corpse. +It was not, we are told, because the people believed these things to be +of use to the dead; but because it was supposed that, if they were left +and handled by others, further disease and death would be the +consequence. Valuable mats and other articles of property were sometimes +buried with the corpse, and the grave of a warrior was surrounded with +spears stuck upright in the ground. Graves were sometimes enclosed with +stones and strewn with sand or crumbled coral.[159] + + [159] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 150 _sq._; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 146 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. + cit._ pp. 640 _sq._; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 179 _sq._, + 182 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 403. + +The obsequies of a chief of high rank were more elaborate. The body was +kept unburied for days until his clansfolk had assembled from various +parts of the islands and paraded the body, shoulder high, through the +village, chanting a melancholy dirge.[160] The mourning and ceremonies +lasted from ten to fifteen days. All that time the house of death was +watched night and day by men appointed for the purpose. After the +burial, and until the days of mourning were ended, the daytime was +generally spent in boxing and wrestling matches, and sham-fights, while +the nights were occupied with dancing and practising a kind of +buffoonery, which was customary at these seasons of mourning for the +dead. The performance was called _O le tau-pinga_. The performers amused +themselves by making a variety of ludicrous faces and grimaces at each +other, to see who could excite the other to laugh first. Thus they +whiled away the hours of night till the days of mourning were +expired.[161] So long as the funeral ceremonies and feasts lasted no +work might be done in the village, and no strangers might approach it. +The neighbouring lagoon and reefs were taboo: no canoe might pass over +the lagoon anywhere near the village, and no man might fish in it or on +the reef.[162] For a chief or man of distinction fires were kept burning +day and night in a line from the house to the grave; these fires were +maintained for ten days after the funeral. The reason assigned for this +custom, according to Ella, was to keep away evil spirits. Even common +people observed a similar custom. After burial they kept a fire blazing +in the house all night, and they were careful to clear the intervening +ground so that a stream of light went forth from the house to the grave. +The account which the Samoans gave of the custom, according to Turner, +was that it was merely a light burning in honour of the departed, and a +mark of their tender regard for him. Dr. George Brown believed that the +original motive for the custom was to warm the ghost, and probably at +the same time to protect the mourners against dangerous spirits.[163] + + [160] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 146 + + [161] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 183 _sq._ + + [162] W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, pp. + 149 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p. 642; G. Brown, _Melanesians + and Polynesians_, pp. 403 _sq._ + + [163] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 149; S. Ella, _op. cit._ + pp. 640 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 402. + +The head was deemed a very sacred part, and in olden days the bodies of +chiefs were often buried near their houses until decomposition had set +in, when the head was cut off and interred in some family burying-place +inland, to save it from insult in time of war. This interment of the +head was accompanied with feasts, dances, and sham-fights. The skull was +borne to the appointed place on a kind of stage, attended by a troop of +armed men. With these sham-fights Dr. George Brown, who records the +custom, compares the sham-fights which used to take place among the +Melanesians of the Duke of York Island when the body of a chief was laid +on a high platform in front of his house, one company of warriors +striving to deposit the corpse on the platform, while their adversaries +attempted to prevent them from doing so.[164] The meaning of these +curious sham-fights is obscure. Perhaps the attacking party represented +a band of evil spirits, who endeavoured to snatch away the chief's +body, but were defeated in the nefarious attempt. + + [164] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 388 + _sq._, 404 _sq._ + +One or two families of chiefs in the island of Upolu used to practise a +rude kind of embalming. The work was done exclusively by women. The +viscera having been removed and buried, the women anointed the body +daily with a mixture of oil and aromatic juices. To let the fluids +escape, they punctured the body all over with fine needles. Finally, +wads of native cloth, saturated with oil or resinous gums, were inserted +in the abdomen, the apertures were closed up, and the body wrapt in +native cloth. The face, hands, and feet were left exposed, and were +repeatedly anointed with oil, mixed with turmeric powder, to give a +fresh and life-like appearance to the mummy. The whole process lasted +about two months. On its completion the mummy was placed in a house +built specially for the purpose, where, loosely covered with a sheet of +native cloth, it rested on a raised platform. Strangers were freely +admitted to see it. Four of these mummies, laid out in a house, were to +be seen down to about the year 1864. They were the bodies of a chief, +his wife, and two sons. Dr. George Turner judged that they must have +been embalmed upwards of thirty years, and although they had been +exposed all that time, they were in a remarkably good state of +preservation. The people assigned no particular reason for the practice, +further than that it sprang from an affectionate desire to keep the +bodies of their departed friends with them, as if they were still +alive.[165] + + [165] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 148 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. + cit._ p. 641; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 184 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 405. + + +§ 11. _The Fate of the Human Soul after Death_ + +With regard to the fate of human souls after death the Samoans appear to +have believed in their immortality, or at all events in their indefinite +survival. On this subject Dr. Brown observes: "All souls survived after +death, and so far as I know they had no idea of their dying a second +death or being destroyed. I do not think that a Samoan could give any +reason for his belief that the soul does not perish with the body, but +he certainly does believe this, and I never heard any one question +the fact."[166] Thus, according to Dr. Brown the Samoans, unlike the +Tongans, drew no invidious distinction between the souls of noblemen and +the souls of commoners, but liberally opened the doors of immortality to +gentle and simple alike. So far, they carried their republican or +democratic spirit into the world beyond the grave. + + [166] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 220 + _sq._ + +However, according to the American ethnologist, Horatio Hale, some of +the Samoans agreed with the Tongans in taking an aristocratic view of +the destiny of souls after death; and as he had good opportunities for +acquainting himself with the Samoan religion during the prolonged stay +of the American Exploring Expedition at Samoa in 1839, when the islands +were as yet but little affected by European influence, I will quote his +account. He says: "All believe in the existence of a large island, +situated far to the north-west called _Pulótu_, which is the residence +of the gods. Some suppose that while the souls of the common people +perish with their bodies, those of the chiefs are received into this +island, which is described as a terrestrial elysium, and become there +inferior divinities. Others hold (according to Mr. Heath) that the +spirits of the departed live and work in a dark subterraneous abode, and +are eaten by the gods. A third, and very common opinion is, that the +souls of all who die on an island, make their way to the western +extremity, where they plunge into the sea; but what then becomes of them +is not stated. The rock from which they leap, in the island of Upolu, +was pointed out to us; the natives term it '_Fatu-asofia_,' which was +rendered the 'jumping-off stone.'"[167] + + [167] H. Hale, _Ethnography and Philology of the United + States Exploring Expedition_, p. 27. + +Of these various opinions described by Hale the third would seem to have +been by far the most prevalent. It was commonly believed that the +disembodied spirit retained the exact resemblance of its former self, by +which we are probably to understand the exact resemblance of its former +body. Immediately on quitting its earthly tabernacle it began its +solitary journey to Fafa, which was the subterranean abode of the dead, +lying somewhere to the west of Savaii, the most westerly island of the +group. Thus, if a man died in Manua, the most easterly of the islands, +his soul would journey to the western end of that island, then dive into +the sea and swim across to Tutuila. There it would walk along the beach +to the extreme westerly point of the island, when it would again plunge +into the sea and swim across to the next island, and so on to the most +westerly cape of Savaii, where it finally dived into the ocean and +pursued its way to the mysterious Fafa.[168] + + [168] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 218 _sq._ Compare + G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 257; S. Ella, _op. cit._ pp. 643 _sq._ + +At the western end of Savaii, near the village of Falealupo, there are +two circular openings among the rocks, not far from the beach. Down +these two openings the souls of the dead were supposed to go on their +passage to the spirit-world. The souls of chiefs went down the larger of +the openings, and the souls of common people went down the smaller. Near +the spot stood a coco-nut tree, and if a passing soul chanced to collide +with it, the soul could not proceed farther, but returned to its body. +When a man recovered from a deep swoon, his friends supposed that his +soul had been arrested in its progress to the other world by knocking +against the coco-nut tree, and they rejoiced, saying, "He has come back +from the tree of the Watcher," for that was the name by which the +coco-nut tree was known. So firmly did the people of the neighbourhood +believe in the passage of the souls near their houses, that at night +they kept down the blinds to exclude the ghosts.[169] The "jumping-off +stone" at the west end of Upolu was also dreaded on account of the +passing ghosts. The place is a narrow rocky cape. The Samoans were much +astonished when a Christian native boldly built himself a house on the +haunted spot.[170] According to one account, the souls of the dead had +not to make their way through the chain of islands by the slow process +of walking and swimming, but were at once transported to the western end +of Savaii by a band of spirits, who hovered over the house of the dying +man, and catching up his parting spirit conveyed it in a straight +course westward.[171] + + [169] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 257 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. + cit._ pp. 643 _sq._; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. + 221. + + [170] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 219. + + [171] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 257; S. Ella, _op. cit._ + p. 643. + +The place down which the spirits of the dead were supposed to descend to +the nether world was called by a native name (_Lua[=o]_), which means +"hollow pit." "May you go rumbling down the hollow pit" was a common +form of cursing. At the bottom of the pit was a running stream which +floated the spirits away to Pulotu. All alike, the handsome and the +ugly, old and young, chiefs and commoners, drifted pell-mell on the +current in a dazed, semi-conscious state, till they came to Pulotu. +There they bathed in "the Water of Life" and recovered all their old +life and vigour. Infirmity of every kind fled away; even the aged became +young again. The underworld of Pulotu was conceived on the model of our +upper world. There, as here, were heavens and earth and sea, fruits and +flowers; there the souls of the dead planted and fished and cooked; +there they married and were given in marriage, all after the manner of +life on earth.[172] + + [172] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 258 _sq._; G. Brown, + _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 222. + +However, it appears that according to a widespread belief the world of +the dead was sharply discriminated into two regions, to wit, an Elysium +or place of bliss called Pulotu, and a Tartarus or place of woe named +S[=a]-le-Fe'e. The title for admission to one or other of these places +was not moral worth but social rank, chiefs going to Elysium and +commoners to Tartarus. The idea of the superiority of the chiefs to the +common people was thus perpetuated in the land of the dead.[173] The +king of the lower regions was a certain Saveasiuleo, that is, Savea of +the Echo. He reclined in a house in the company of the chiefs who +gathered round him: the upper part of his body was human, the lower part +was like that of a fish and stretched away into the sea. This royal +house of assembly was supported by the erect bodies of chiefs, who had +been of high rank on earth, and who, before they died, anticipated with +pride the honour they were to enjoy by serving as pillars in the temple +of the King of Pulotu.[174] + + [173] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 217 _sq._; G. + Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 221. On the question + whether the Samoans held a doctrine of moral retribution after + death, Dr. Brown observes: "I do not remember any statement to + the effect that the conduct of a man in this life affected his + state after death. They certainly believe this now, but whether + they did so prior to the introduction of Christianity I cannot + definitely say. I am inclined, however, to believe that they did + not believe that conduct in this life affected them in the + future" (_Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 261 _sq._). + Elsewhere, however, Dr. Brown seems to express a contrary + opinion. He says: "It was generally understood that the + conditions of men in this life, even amongst the common people, + had an effect on their future conditions. A good man in Samoa + generally meant a liberal man, one who was generous and + hospitable; whilst a bad man was one who was mean, selfish, and + greedy about food" (_op. cit._ p. 222). + + [174] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 259 _sq._; S. Ella, _op. + cit._ p. 644. + +But the souls of the dead were not permanently confined to the lower +world. They could return to the land of the living by night to hold +converse with members of their families, to warn and instruct them in +dreams, and to foretell the future. They could cause disease and death +by entering into the bodies of their enemies and even of their friends, +and they produced nightmare by sitting on the chests of sleepers. They +haunted some houses and especially burying-grounds. Their apparitions +were visible to the living and were greatly dreaded; people tried to +drive them away by shouts, noises, and the firing of guns. But the +ghosts had to return to the nether world at daybreak. It was because +they feared the spirits of the dead that the Samoans took such great +pains to propitiate dying people with presents; this they did above all +to persons whom they had injured, because they had most reason to dread +the anger of their ghosts.[175] However, the souls of the departed were +also thought of in a more amiable light; they could help as well as harm +mankind. Hence prayers were commonly offered at the grave of a parent, a +brother, or a chief. The suppliant, for example, might pray for health +in sickness; or, if he were of a malignant turn, he might implore the +ghost to compass the death of some person at whom he bore a grudge. Thus +we are told that a woman prayed for the death of her brother, and he +died accordingly.[176] In such beliefs and practices we have, as I have +already observed, the essential elements of a regular worship of the +dead. Whether the Samoans were on the way to evolve such a religion or, +as Dr. George Brown preferred to suppose,[177] had left it behind them +and made some progress towards a higher faith, we hardly possess the +means of determining. + + [175] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 259; S. Ella, _op. cit._ + p. 644; G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. + 219, 221, 222. + + [176] G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 151. + + [177] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 245, + 282. + +But while the Samoans thought that the dead return to earth to make or +mar the living, they did not believe that the spirits come back to be +born again in the form of men or animals or to occupy inanimate bodies; +in other words they had no belief in the transmigration of souls.[178] +The absence of such a belief is significant in view of Dr. Rivers's +suggestion that Melanesian totemism may have been evolved out of a +doctrine of metempsychosis, human souls being supposed to pass at death +into their totem animals or plants.[179] We have seen that the Samoan +system of family, village, and district gods bears strong marks of +having been developed out of totemism; and if their totemism had in turn +been developed out of a doctrine of transmigration, we should expect to +find among them a belief that the souls of the dead appeared in the +shape of the animals, plants, or other natural objects which were +regarded as the embodiments of their family, village, or district gods. +But of such a belief there is seemingly no trace. It appears, therefore, +unlikely that Samoan totemism was based on a doctrine of transmigration. +Similarly we have seen reason to think that the Tongan worship of +animals may have sprung from totemism, though according to the best +authorities that worship was not connected with a theory of +metempsychosis.[180] Taken together, the Samoan and the Tongan systems +seem to show that, if totemism ever flourished among the Polynesians, it +had not its roots in a worship of the dead. + + [178] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 221, + "They had no belief in the transmigration of souls either into + animals, inert bodies, or into different human bodies." + + [179] W. H. R. Rivers, _The History of Melanesian + Society_, ii. 358 _sqq._ + + [180] See above, pp. 92 _sqq._ + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE HERVEY ISLANDERS + + +§ 1. _The Hervey or Cook Islands_ + +The Hervey or Cook Archipelago is a scattered group of nine small +islands situated in the South Pacific about seven hundred miles +south-east of Samoa. The islands are either volcanic or coralline, and +approach to them is impeded by dangerous reefs and the absence of +harbours.[1] The two principal islands are Rarotonga and Mangaia, the +most southerly of the group. Of these the larger, Rarotonga, has a +circumference of about thirty miles. It is a vast mass of volcanic +mountains, rising peak above peak, to a height of between four and five +thousand feet above the sea; but from the foot of the mountains a +stretch of flat land, covered with rich alluvial soil, extends for one +or two miles to the coast, which is formed by a fringing reef of live +coral. The whole island is mantled in luxuriant tropical verdure. It is +difficult, we are told, to exaggerate the strange forms of beauty which +everywhere meet the eye in this lovely island: gigantic and fantastic +columns of rock draped with vines; deep valleys lying in the shadow of +overhanging mountains; primaeval forest with its many shades of green; +immense chestnut trees, laden with fragrant blossoms; miles of +bread-fruit groves, intermingled with coco-nut palms; and nearer the +beach plantains, bananas, sweet potatoes, and lastly, growing to the +water's edge, graceful iron-wood trees with hair-like leaves drooping +like tresses, all contribute to the variety and charm of the scenery.[2] + + [1] F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. (London, 1894) p. + 509. + + [2] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_ (London, N.D.), p. + 11. Compare John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises + in the South Sea Islands_ (London, 1838), pp. 16, 174-176. + According to Dr. Guillemard (_loc. cit._), the height of + Rarotonga is 2900 feet; according to W. W. Gill, our principal + authority on the island, it is 4500 feet. + +Very different is the aspect of Mangaia. It is a complete coral island +rising from deep water as a ring of live coral; there is no lagoon. A +few hundred yards inland from the rugged beach there rises gradually a +second or inner ring of dead coral, which towards the interior falls +away perpendicularly, thus surrounding the island like a cyclopean wall. +This belt or bulwark of dead coral is from one to two miles wide. To +cross it is like walking on spear-points: to slip and fall on it may +entail ghastly wounds. The streams of water from the interior find their +way through it to the sea by subterranean channels. Imbedded in the +highest parts of this inland reef of coral are many sea-shells of +existing species, and it is honeycombed with many extensive caves, which +were formerly used as dwellings, cemeteries, places of refuge, or +storehouses. Scores of them are filled with desiccated human bodies. So +vast are they that it is dangerous to venture alone into their recesses; +the forlorn wanderer might never emerge from them again. Some of them +are said to penetrate far under the bed of the ocean. In these caverns +stalactite and stalagmite abound, forming thick and fast-growing layers +of limestone rock. The largest and most famous of the caves is known as +the Labyrinth (_Tuatini_). The interior of the island is formed of dark +volcanic rock and red clay, descending in low hills from a flat-topped +centre, called the Crown of Mangaia. The summit is not more than six +hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea.[3] + + [3] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_. pp. 7 _sq._; + _id._, _From Darkness to Light in Polynesia_ (London, 1894), pp. + 6 _sq._; A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. + 271 _sqq._, 274 _sqq._ (as to the caverns). + + +§ 2. _The Islanders and their Mode of Life_ + +Though the natives speak a Polynesian language closely akin to the +Samoan and have legends of their migration from Samoa, they appear not +to be pure Polynesians. They say that they found black people on +Rarotonga; and their more pronounced features, more wavy hair, darker +complexion, and more energetic character seem to indicate an admixture +of Melanesian blood. In Mangaia, indeed, this type is said to +predominate, the natives of that island being characterised by dusky +brown skin, wavy or frizzly hair, and ample beards: their features, too, +are more prominent than those of the Rarotongans, and their manners are +wilder.[4] Cannibalism prevailed in most of the islands of the group +down to the conversion of the natives to Christianity, which took place +between 1823 and 1834, when, with the exception of a few pagans in +Mangaia, there did not remain a single idolater, or vestige of idolatry, +in any one of the islands. However, many years afterwards old men, who +had partaken of cannibal feasts, assured a missionary that human flesh +was far superior to pork.[5] + + [4] F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 509. Compare A. + Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. 257 _sq._, 269. The latter + writer remarks on the great variety of types among the natives + of these islands. In Mangaia he found the people darker than in + Rarotonga, undersized, sturdy, with thick lips, noses broad and + sunken at the bridge, which gave them a somewhat wild + appearance. As to the tradition of an emigration of the Hervey + Islanders from Samoa, see W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern + Isles_, pp. 23 _sqq._ "The Mangaians themselves trace their + origin to Avaiki, or nether world; but Avaiki, Hawai'i, and + Savai'i, are but slightly different forms of one word. The _s_ + of the Samoan dialect is invariably dropped in the Hervey Group + dialects, whilst a _k_ is substituted for the break at the end. + No native of these days doubts that by Avaiki his ancestors + really intended Savai'i, the largest island of the Samoan Group. + In Polynesia, to sail _west_ is to go _down_; to sail _east_ is + to go _up_. To sail from Samoa to Mangaia would be 'to come up,' + or, to translate their vernacular closely, 'to climb up.' In + their songs and myths are many references to 'the hosts of + _Uk_upolu,' undoubtedly the Upolu of Samoa" (W. W. Gill, _op. + cit._ p. 25). Compare _id._, _Myths and Songs from the South + Pacific_ (London, 1876), pp. 166 _sq._ + + [5] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 13 _sq._; + _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _Report of the Second Meeting + of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science + held at Melbourne, 1890_, p. 324. As to the date of the + introduction of Christianity into the Hervey Islands, see John + Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea + Islands_, pp. 491 _sq._ + +In the larger islands the natives cultivated the soil diligently even +before their contact with Europeans. The missionary John Williams, who +discovered Rarotonga in 1823, found the island in a high state of +cultivation. Rows of superb chestnut trees (_inocarpus_), planted at +equal distances, stretched from the base of the mountains to the sea, +while the spaces between the rows, some half a mile wide, were divided +into taro patches, each about half an acre in extent, carefully banked +up and capable of being irrigated at pleasure. On the tops of the banks +grew fine bread-fruit trees placed at equal intervals, their stately +foliage presenting a pleasing contrast to the pea-green leaves of the +ordinary taro and the dark colour of the giant taro (_kape_) in the beds +and on the sloping banks beneath.[6] In Rarotonga bread-fruit and +plantains are the staple food; in Mangaia it is taro. On the atolls the +coco-nut palm flourishes, but no planting can be done, as the soil +consists of sand and gravel thrown up by the sea on the ever-growing +coral. The inhabitants of the atolls live contentedly on coco-nuts and +fish; they are expert fishermen, having little else to do. But fresh +fish are also eaten in large quantities on most of the islands.[7] In +some of the islands the planting was done by the women, but in others, +including Rarotonga, the taro was both planted and brought home by the +men. Women cooked the food in ovens of hot stones sunk in holes, and +they made cloth from the bark of the paper-mulberry, which they stripped +from the tree, steeped in water, and beat out with square mallets of +iron-wood. But garments were made also from the inner bark of the banyan +and bread-fruit trees.[8] In the old days the native houses were flimsy +quadrangular huts constructed of reeds and thatched with plaited +leaflets of the coco-nut palm, which were very pervious to rain; but the +temples and large houses of chiefs were thatched with pandanus leaves. +The doors were always sliding; the threshold was made of a single block +of timber, tastefully carved. There was a sacred and a common +entrance.[9] Like all the Polynesians, the Hervey Islanders before their +discovery were ignorant of the metals. When in a wrecked vessel they +found a bag of Californian gold, they thought it was something good to +eat and proceeded to cook the nuggets in order to make them juicy and +tender.[10] + + [6] John Williams, _op. cit._ pp. 175 _sq._ + + [7] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 12, 15; _id._, + "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _Report of the Second Meeting of the + Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science held at + Melbourne, 1890_, p. 336. + + [8] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 332 + _sq._, 338. + + [9] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 16; _id._, + "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 335 _sq._ + + [10] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 16. + + +§ 3. _Social Life: the Sacred Kings_ + +The people were divided into tribes or clans, each tracing descent in +the male line from a common ancestor, and each possessing its own lands, +which were inalienable. Exogamy, we are told, was the universal rule in +the olden time; but when a tribe was split up in war, the defeated +portion was treated as an alien tribe. Polygamy was very common, and was +not restricted to chiefs. A man often had two or three sisters to wife +at the same time. Distant cousins sometimes, though rarely, married each +other; but in such cases they had to belong to the same generation; that +is, they must be descended in the same degree, fourth, fifth, or even +more remote, from the common ancestor. If misfortune or disease overtook +couples linked even by so distant a relationship, the elders would +declare that it was brought upon them by the anger of the clan-god. It +was the duty of parents to teach their growing children whom they might +lawfully marry, but their choice was extremely limited. Children as a +rule belonged to the tribe or clan of their father, unless they were +adopted into another. However, parents had it at their option to assign +a child at birth either to the tribe of its father or to the tribe of +its mother; this they did by pronouncing over the infant the name either +of the father's or of the mother's god. Commonly the father had the +preference; but occasionally, when the father's tribe was one from which +human victims for sacrifice were regularly drawn, the mother would seek +to save the child's life by having the name of her tribal god pronounced +over it and so adopting it into her own tribe.[11] Circumcision in an +imperfect form was practised in the Hervey Islands from time immemorial. +It was usually performed on a youth about the age of sixteen. The +operation was indispensable to marriage. No woman would knowingly marry +an uncircumcised husband. The greatest insult that could be offered to +a man was to accuse him of being uncircumcised. The rite is said to have +been invented by the god Rongo in order to seduce the beautiful wife of +his brother Tangaroa, and he enjoined the observance of circumcision +upon his worshippers.[12] In Rarotonga it was customary to mould a +child's head into a high shape by pressing the forehead and the back of +the head between slabs of soft wood. This practice did not obtain on +Mangaia nor, apparently, on any other island of the Hervey Group.[13] + + [11] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 323, + 330, 331, 333. + + [12] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. + 327-329. In the operation the prepuce was slit longitudinally, + and the divided pieces were drawn underneath and twisted, so as + in time to form a small knot under the urethra. As to the + ceremony of assigning a child either to its father's or to its + mother's tribe, see W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South + Pacific_ (London, 1876), pp. 36 _sq._ + + [13] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 326. + +In Rarotonga four ranks of society were recognised. These were the +_ariki_, or king; the _mataiapo_, or governors of districts; the +_rangatira_, or landowners; and the _unga_, or tenants. A man was +accounted great according to the number of his _kaingas_ or farms, which +contained from one to five acres. These were let to tenants, who, like +vassals under the feudal system, obeyed the orders of their superior, +assisted him in erecting his house, in building his canoe, in making +fishing-nets, and in other occupations, besides bringing him a certain +portion of the produce of his lands.[14] + + [14] John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the + South Sea Islands_, pp. 183 _sq._ + +The kings were sacred men, being regarded as priests and mouthpieces of +the great tutelary divinities.[15] In Mangaia they were the priests or +mouthpieces of the great god Rongo. So sacred were their royal persons +that no part of their body might be tattooed: they might not take part +in dances or in actual warfare. Peace could not be proclaimed nor blood +spilt lawfully without the consent of the king speaking in the name of +the god Rongo. Quite distinct from, and subordinate to, the sacred king +was the "lord of Mangaia," a warrior chief who gained his lordship by a +decisive victory. He represented the civil power, while the king +represented the spiritual power; but while the office of the king was +hereditary, the office of the civil lord was not. It sometimes happened +that the civil lord was at enmity with the king of his day. In that +case the king would refuse to complete the ceremonies necessary for his +formal investiture; life would remain unsafe; the soil could not be +cultivated, and famine soon ensued. This state of turbulence and misery +might last for years, till the obnoxious chief had been in his turn +despatched, and a more agreeable successor appointed.[16] Thus the +sacred king and the civil lord corresponded to the Tooitonga or sacred +chief and the civil king of Tonga.[17] + + [15] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 335. + + [16] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 293. + + [17] See above, pp. 62 _sq._ + + +§ 4. _Religion, the Gods, Traces of Totemism_ + +Yet though the king of Mangaia ranked above the civil or temporal lord, +it devolved on that lord to install a new king in office by formally +seating him on "the sacred sandstone" (_te kea inamoa_) in the sanctuary +or sacred grove (_marae_)[18] of Rongo on the sea-shore facing the +setting sun. The ceremony took place in presence of the leading +under-chiefs. The special duty of the king was by offering rhythmical +and very ancient prayers to Great Rongo to keep away evil-minded spirits +who might otherwise injure the island. For this end the principal king +(_te ariki pa uta_) lived in the interior of the island in the sacred +and fertile district of Keia. His prayers were thought to avert evil +spirits coming from the east. On the barren sea-shore at O-rongo (the +seat of the temple or grove of Rongo) lived the secondary king (_te +ariki pa tai_), who warded off bad spirits coming from the west. Besides +this primary ghostly function, many other important duties devolved upon +these royal personages. The secondary or shore king was not infrequently +a natural son of the great inland king. By virtue of their office all +kings were high priests of Rongo, the tutelary god of Mangaia.[19] + + [18] In the Hervey Islands a _marae_ seems to have been a sacred + grove. So it is described by W. W. Gill (_Myths and Songs from + the South Pacific_, p. 14), who adds in a note: "These _maraes_ + were planted with _callophylla inophylla_, etc., etc., which, + untouched by the hand of man from generation to generation, + threw a sacred gloom over the mysteries of idol-worship. The + trees were accounted sacred, not for their own sake, but on + account of the place where they grew." + + [19] W. W. Gill, _From Darkness to Light in Polynesia_, pp. 314 + _sq._ As to the installation of the priestly king by the + temporal lord, see also _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. + cit._ pp. 339 _sq._ + +But Rongo was not peculiar to the Hervey Islands. He was a great +Polynesian deity worshipped in almost every part of the Pacific, and +though his attributes differed greatly in different places, a universal +reverence was paid to him. In the Hervey Islands, he and his twin +brother Tangaroa were deemed the children of Vatea, the eldest of the +primary gods, a being half man and half fish, whose eyes are the sun and +the moon. The wife of this monstrous deity and mother of the divine +twins was Papa, whose name signifies Foundation and who was supposed to +be a daughter of Timatekore or "Nothing-more." The twin Tangaroa, +another great Polynesian deity, was specially honoured in Rarotonga and +Aitutaki, another of the Hervey Islands.[20] The famous Polynesian hero +Maui was also well known in the Hervey Islands, where people told how he +had brought up the first fire to men from the under world, having there +wrested it from the fire-god Mauike;[21] how he raised the sky--a solid +vault of blue stone--to its present height, for of old the sky almost +touched the earth, so that people could not walk upright;[22] and +finally how he caught the great sun-god Ra himself in six nooses made of +strong coco-nut fibre, so that the motions of the orb of day, which +before had been extremely irregular, have been most orderly ever +since.[23] + + [20] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. 3 + _sqq._; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 348 + _sq._ As to Rongo and Tangaroa, see E. Tregear, + _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_ (Wellington, N.Z., + 1891), pp. 424 _sq._, 463 _sq._, _svv._ "Rongo" and "Tangaroa." + + [21] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 51-58. + + [22] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 58-60. + + [23] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 61-63. + +But besides the divine or heroic figures of more or less anthropomorphic +type, which the Hervey Islanders recognised in common with the rest of +the Polynesians, we may distinguish in their mythology traces of that +other and probably older stage of thought in which the objects of +religious reverence are rather animals than men or beings modelled in +the image of man. We have seen that this early stage of religion was +well preserved in Samoa down to the time when the islands fell under the +observation of Europeans, and that it was probably a relic of +totemism,[24] which at an earlier period may perhaps have prevailed +generally among the ancestors of the Polynesians. In the Hervey Islands +there was a god called Tonga-iti, who appeared visibly in the form of +black and white spotted lizards.[25] Another deity named Tiaio took +possession of the body of the large white shark, the terror of these +islanders, and he had a small sacred grove (_marae_) set apart for his +worship. It is said that this shark-god was a former king of Mangaia, +who in the pride of his heart had defiled the sacred district of Keia, +the favourite haunt of the gods, by wearing some beautiful scarlet +hibiscus flowers in his ears. Now anything red was forbidden in that +part of the island as being offensive to the gods; and even the beating +of bark-cloth was prohibited there, lest the repose of the gods should +be disturbed by the noise. Hence an angry priest knocked the proud and +impious king on the head, and the blood of the slain monarch flowed into +a neighbouring stream, where it was drunk by a great fresh-water eel. So +the spirit of the dead king entered into the eel, but subsequently, +pursuing its way to the sea, the spirit forsook the eel and took +possession of the shark.[26] Nevertheless he continued occasionally to +appear to his worshippers in the form of an eel; for we are told that in +the old heathen days, if a huge eel were caught in a net, it would have +been regarded as the god Tiaio himself come on a visit, and that it +would accordingly have been allowed to return to the water +unmolested.[27] It is quite possible that this derivation of the eel-god +or shark-god from a former king of Mangaia may be historically correct; +for we are told that "many of the deities worshipped in the Hervey Group +and other islands of the eastern Pacific were canonised priests, kings, +and warriors, whose spirits were supposed to enter into various birds, +fish, reptiles, insects, etc., etc. Strangely enough, they were regarded +as being, in no respect, inferior to the original deities."[28] Among +the creatures in which gods, and especially the spirits of deified men, +were believed permanently to reside or to be incarnate were reckoned +sharks, sword-fish, eels, the octopus, yellow and black spotted lizards, +as well as several kinds of birds and insects.[29] In Rarotonga the +cuttle-fish was the special deity of the reigning family down to the +subversion of paganism.[30] In Mangaia the tribe of Teipe, whose members +were liable to serve as victims in human sacrifices, worshipped the +centipede: there was a shrine of the centipede god at Vaiau on the +eastern side of Mangaia.[31] Again, two gods, Tekuraaki and Utakea, were +supposed to be incarnate in the woodpecker.[32] A comprehensive +designation for divinities of all kinds was "the heavenly family" (_te +anau tuarangi_); and this celestial race included rats, lizards, +beetles, eels, sharks, and several kinds of birds. It was supposed that +"the heavenly family" had taken up their abode in these creatures.[33] +Nay, even inanimate objects, such as the triton-shell, sandstone, bits +of basalt, cinnet, and trees were believed to be thus tenanted by +gods.[34] The god Tane-kio, for example, was thought to be enshrined in +the planets Venus and Jupiter, and also, curiously enough, in cinnet +work.[35] Again, each tribe had its own sacred bird, which was supposed +to be sent by a god to warn the people of impending danger.[36] In these +superstitions it is possible that we have relics of totemism. + + [24] See above, pp. 182 _sqq._, 200 _sqq._ + + [25] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 10 _sq._ 19. Another god called Turanga, who was worshipped at + Aumoana, was also supposed to be incarnate in white and black + spotted lizards. See _id._, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 96. + + [26] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 29 _sq._ + + [27] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 79 _sq._ + + [28] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 349. + + [29] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 347. + Yet in the same passage the writer affirms that "there is no + trace in the Eastern Pacific of the doctrine of transmigration + of human souls, although the spirits of the dead are fabled to + have assumed, temporarily, and for a specific purpose, the form + of an insect, bird, fish, or cloud." + + [30] _Id._, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 289. + + [31] _Id._, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 96, 308, 309. + + [32] _Id._, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 96. + + [33] _Id._, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. 34 + _sq._ + + [34] _Id._, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. 32. + + [35] _Id._, _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 96. + + [36] _Id._, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. 35; + _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 349. + +Originally, it is said, the gods spoke to men through the small land +birds, but the utterances of these creatures proved too indistinct to +guide the actions of mankind. Hence to meet this emergency an order of +priests was set apart, the gods actually taking up their abode, for the +time being, in their sacred persons. Hence priests were significantly +named "god-boxes" (_pia-atua_) a title which was generally abbreviated +to "gods," because they were believed to be living embodiments of the +divinities. When a priest was consulted, he drank a bowl of kava (_Piper +methysticum_), and falling into convulsions gave the oracular response +in language intelligible only to the initiated. The oracle so delivered, +from which there was no appeal, was thought to have been inspired by the +god, who had entered into the priest for the purpose.[37] + + [37] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 35; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 349. + + +§ 5. _The Doctrine of the Human Soul_ + +Like other Polynesians, the Hervey Islanders believed that human beings +are animated by a vital principle or soul, which survives the death of +the body for a longer or shorter time. Indeed, they held that nobody +dies a strictly natural death except as an effect of extreme old age. +Nineteen out of twenty deaths were believed to be caused either by the +anger of the gods or by the incantations of "the praying people" or +sorcerers.[38] Hence, when a person fell ill, it was customary to +consult a priest in order to discover the nature of the sin which had +drawn down on the sufferer the wrath of the deity or the enmity of the +sorcerer.[39] But besides its final departure at death, the soul was +thought to quit the body temporarily on other occasions. In sleep it was +supposed to leave the sleeper and travel over the island, holding +converse with the dead, and even visiting the spirit-world. It was thus +that the islanders, like so many other savages, explained the phenomena +of dreams. We are told that some of the most important events in their +national history were determined by dreams.[40] Again, they explained +sneezing as the return of the soul to the body after a temporary +absence. Hence in Rarotonga, when a person sneezes, the bystanders +exclaim, as though addressing his spirit, "Ha! you have come back!"[41] + + [38] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 342. + Compare _id._, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. 35. + + [39] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 35; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 339; _id._, + _Life in the Southern Isles_, p. 70. + + [40] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 347. + + [41] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 177. + +How exactly the Hervey Islanders pictured to themselves the nature of +the human soul, appears not to be recorded. Probably their notions on +this obscure subject did not differ greatly from those of the natives of +Pukapuka or Danger Island, a lonely island situated some hundreds of +miles to the north-west of the Hervey Group. These savages apparently +conceived the soul as a small material substance that varied in size +with the dimensions of the body which it inhabited. For the sacred men +or sorcerers of that island used to set traps to catch the souls of +people, and the traps consisted of loops of coco-nut fibre, which +differed in size according as the soul to be caught in one of them was +fat or thin, or perhaps according as it was the soul of a child or that +of an adult. Two of these soul-traps were presented to Mr. W. W. Gill, +the first white missionary to land in Danger Island. The loops or rings +were arranged in pairs on each side of two cords, one of which was +twenty-eight feet long and the other fourteen. The mode of setting the +traps was this. If a person was very sick or had given offence to a +sorcerer, the offended wizard or priest would hang a soul-trap by night +from a branch of a tree overhanging the house of the sufferer or of the +person against whom he bore a grudge; then sitting down beside the snare +he would pretend to watch for the flight of the victim's spirit. If the +family enquired the sin for which the soul-trap had been set, the holy +man would probably allege some ceremonial fault committed by the sick +man against the gods. If an insect or small bird chanced to fly through +one of the loops, the priest would allege that the man's soul was caught +in the mesh, and that there was no hope for it but that the wretch must +die. In that case the demon Vaerua, who presided over the spirit-world, +was believed to hurry off the poor soul to the nether world, there to +feast upon it. The news that So-and-so had lost his soul would then +spread through the island, and great would be the lamentation. The +friends of the unhappy man would seek to propitiate the sorcerer by +large presents of food, begging him to intercede with the dread Vaerua +for the restoration of the lost soul. Sometimes the intercessions were +successful, and the patient recovered; but at other times the priest +reported that his prayers were of no avail, and that Vaerua could not +be induced to send back the soul to re-inhabit the body. The melancholy +tidings acted like a sentence of death. The patient gave up all hope and +soon pined away through sheer distress at the thought of his soul caught +in the trap.[42] + + [42] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 180-183; + _id._, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. 171. + + +§ 6. _Death and Funeral Rites_ + +The moment a sick person expired, his near relatives cut off their hair, +blackened their faces, and slashed their bodies with shark's teeth, so +that the blood might stream down; in Rarotonga it was customary also to +knock out some of the front teeth in token of sorrow. During the days of +mourning people wore only native cloth, dyed red in the sap of the +candle-nut tree and then dipped in the black mud of a taro-patch. The +very foul smell of these garments is said to have been symbolical of the +putrescent state of the corpse;[43] perhaps at the same time, though we +are not told so, it helped to keep the ghost at arm's length. + + [43] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 181; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 344. + +That the mourners were not anxious to detain the departed spirit appears +from a custom observed by the Rarotongans and described by the +discoverer of the island, John Williams. He tells us that in order to +secure the admission of a departed spirit to future joys, the corpse was +dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the head was +wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig was then +baked whole and placed on the body of the deceased, surrounded by a pile +of vegetable food. After that, supposing the departed to have been a +son, the father would thus address the corpse: "My son, when you were +alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken ill I did my +best to restore you to health; and now you are dead, there is your +_momoe o_, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain an +entrance into the palace of Tiki,[44] and do not come to this world +again to disturb and alarm us." The whole would then be buried; and, if +they received no intimation to the contrary within a few days of the +interment, the relatives believed that the pig and the rest of the +victuals had obtained for the deceased an entrance to the abode of +bliss. If, however, a cricket was heard to chirp in the house, it was +deemed an ill omen, and they would immediately break into loud laments, +saying, for example, "Oh, our brother! his spirit has not entered the +paradise; he is suffering from hunger; he is shivering with cold!" +Forthwith the grave would be opened and the offering repeated. This +usually effected the purpose.[45] + + [44] The name of the god of the Rarotongan paradise. + + [45] John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the + South Sea Islands_, pp. 477 _sq._ + +In Rarotonga the provisions which were buried with the dead person as an +offering to Tiki sometimes consisted of the head and kidneys of a hog, a +split coco-nut, and a root of kava; in the island of Aitutaki it was +usual to place at the pit of the stomach of the corpse the kernel of a +coco-nut, and a piece of sugar-cane; in Mangaia the extremity of a +coco-nut frond served the same purpose of propitiating Tiki and ensuring +the entrance of the ghost into paradise.[46] + + [46] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 170 _sq._ + +The bodies of the dead were anointed with scented oil, carefully wrapt +up in a number of cloths, and so committed to their last resting-place. +They were never disembowelled for the purpose of embalming, but some +were desiccated by being kept for about a month and daily anointed with +coco-nut oil. A few were buried in the earth within the precincts of a +sacred grove (_marae_); but by far the greater number were hidden in +caves which were regarded as the private property of certain families. +The bodies of warriors were in general carefully concealed by their +friends, lest foes should find and burn them in revenge. If a body were +buried in the earth, it was always laid face downwards, with chin and +knees meeting, and the limbs well secured with coco-nut fibre. A thin +covering of earth was spread over the corpse, and large heavy stones +were piled on the grave. "The intention," we are informed, "was to +render it impossible for the dead to rise up and injure the living." The +head of the corpse was always turned to the rising sun. It was customary +to bury with the dead some article of value: a woman would have her +cloth-mallet laid by her side, while a man would enjoin his friends to +bury with him a favourite stone adze or a beautiful white shell (_Ovula +ovum_, Linn.) which he had worn in the dance. Such articles were never +afterwards touched by the living. Many people were buried in easily +accessible caves, that their relatives might visit the mouldering +remains from time to time. On such visits the corpse might be again +exposed to the sun, anointed afresh with oil, and wrapt in new cloth. +But as the sorrow of the survivors abated, these visits became less and +less frequent, and finally ceased.[47] + + [47] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 72-76; _id._, + "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 343. + +A death in a family was the signal for a change of names among the near +relatives of the deceased. The greatest ingenuity was exercised in +devising new appellations. Sometimes these names were most offensive to +good taste. This custom of changing names after the death of a relative +has survived the conversion of the natives to Christianity;[48] probably +it originated in a desire to avoid the unwelcome attentions of the +ghost, who might be thought to be attracted by the sound of the familiar +names.[49] + + [48] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 78 _sq._; + _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 344. + + [49] See _The Golden Bough_, Part II., _Taboo and the Perils of + the Soul_, pp. 356 _sqq._ + +As soon as the corpse was committed to its last resting-place, the +mourners selected five old coco-nuts, opened them one after the other, +and poured the water on the ground. These nuts were then wrapt up in +leaves and native cloth and thrown towards the grave; or, if the corpse +had been let down by cords into the deep chasm called Auraka, the nuts +and other food would be cast down successively upon it. Calling loudly +each time the name of the departed, they said, "Here is thy food; eat +it." When the fifth nut and the accompanying pudding were thrown down, +the mourners cried, "Farewell! we come back no more to thee."[50] + + [50] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 187; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 344. + +Immediately after a decease a remarkable custom was observed in Mangaia. +A messenger was despatched to bear the tidings round the island. On +reaching the boundary of each district, he paused to give the war-shout +peculiar to the people of the district, adding, "So-and-so is dead." +Thereupon near relatives would start off at once for the house of the +deceased, each carrying a present of native cloth. Most of the athletic +young men of the entire island on the day following united in a series +of sham-fights called _ta i te mauri_ or "slaying the ghosts." The +district where the corpse lay represented the _mauri_ or ghosts. The +young men belonging to it early in the morning arrayed themselves as if +for battle, and, well armed, started off for the adjoining district, +where the young men were drawn up in battle array under the name of +_aka-oa_ or "friends." Having performed the war-dance, the two parties +rushed together, clashing their spears and wooden swords, as though +fighting in good earnest. The sufferers in this bloodless conflict were +supposed to be malignant spirits, who would thus be deterred from doing +further mischief to mortals. After the mock battle the combatants +united, and, being collectively called _mauri_ or "ghosts," passed on to +the third district. Throughout the day their leader carried the sacred +_iku kikau_, or coco-nut leaf, at the pit of his stomach, like a dead +man. Arrived at the third village, they found the younger men ready for +the friendly conflict and bearing the name of _aka-oa_ or "friends." The +battle of the ghosts was fought over again, and then with swelling +numbers they passed on to the fourth, fifth, and sixth districts, in +every one of them fighting and thrashing the ghosts afresh. Repairing at +last with united forces to the place where the corpse was laid out in +state, the brave ghost-killers were there entertained at a feast, after +which all, except the near relatives, returned to their various homes at +nightfall. So similar to actual warfare was this custom of fighting the +ghosts that it went by the name of "a younger brother of war."[51] +Apparently every death was attributed to the action of ghosts who had +carried off the soul of the departed brother or sister; and in order to +prevent a repetition of the catastrophe it was deemed necessary to repel +or even to slay the ghostly assailants by force of arms. + + [51] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 268 _sq._ + +The mourning ceremonies lasted from ten to fifteen days according to the +rank and age of the deceased. During the whole period no beating of bark +for the manufacture of the native cloth was permitted in the district +where the death had occurred. A woman who wished to beat out her +bark-cloth must go to another part of the island. This rule is said to +have been dictated by a fear of offending the female demon Mueu, who +introduced the beating of bark-cloth into the world, but who herself +beats out cloth of a very different texture; for her cloth-flail is the +stroke of death.[52] + + [52] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 182. + +Some months after the decease of a person of note funeral games called +_eva_ were performed in honour of the departed. These ceremonies +invariably took place by day. They were of four sorts. + +First, there was the _eva tapara_, or "funeral dirge." In this the +mourners appeared with blackened faces, shaved heads, streaming blood, +and stinking garments. This, we are told, was a most repulsive +exhibition.[53] + + [53] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 271. + +Second, there was the _eva puruki_ or "war dirge." In this the people +arrayed themselves in two columns facing each other, both sides armed +with spears made of a brittle kind of wood instead of the fatal +iron-wood (_Casuarina equasitifolia_), out of which the spears used in +real warfare were made. The performance began with an animated +conversation between the leaders of the two squadrons of supposed +enemies as to the grounds for war. When this was concluded, the person +most nearly related to the deceased began the history of the heroic +deeds of the clan by slowly chanting the introductory words. At the +appointed pause both companies took up the strain and chanted it +vigorously together, the mighty chorus being accompanied by the clash of +spears and all the evolutions of war. Then followed a momentary pause, +after which a new story would be introduced by the musical voice of the +chief mourner, to be caught up and recited in full chorus by both +companies as before. These war-dirges were most carefully elaborated, +and they embodied the only histories of the past known to these +islanders.[54] + + [54] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 272. + +Third, there was the _eva toki_ or "axe dirge." In this ceremony the +performers, armed with mimic axes of iron-wood instead of stone, used +to cleave the cruel earth which had swallowed up the dead; and as they +smote the ground, with tears streaming down their cheeks, they expressed +a vain wish that so they might open up a passage through which the +spirit of the departed might return. This axe-dirge was appropriate to +artisans only, who enjoyed great consideration because their skill was +believed to be a gift of the gods.[55] + + [55] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 272 _sq._ + +Fourth, there was the _eva ta_ or "crashing dirge." In this ceremony two +supposed armies were arrayed against each other as in the "war dirge," +but differed from it both in the style of composition and in the weapons +employed, the combatants being armed with flat spears or wooden swords. +In the dialogue or songs the death of their friends was explained by the +anger of the gods, for which reasons were assigned. These performances +generally concluded with a sort of comedy, the nature of which has not +been described.[56] + + [56] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 273. + +Sometimes, instead of these funeral games or ceremonies, a grand tribal +gathering was held for the sake of reciting songs in honour of the +illustrious dead. Such an assembly met in a large house built for the +purpose and well lighted with torches, for the doleful concert always +took place at night. As many as sixty songs might be prepared for the +occasion and mournfully chanted to the accompanying drone of the great +wooden drum. Every adult male relative was bound to recite a song; if he +could not compose one himself, he had to pay a more gifted person to +furnish him with the appropriate words. Some of the songs or ballads of +a touching nature were much admired and long remembered. Several months +were needed for the preparation of such a performance or "death-talk," +as it was called. Not only had the songs to be composed and the dresses +made, but a liberal supply of food had to be provided for the +guests.[57] + + [57] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 269-271; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 345. + +In general all mourning ceremonies were over within a year of the death. +But we hear of a chief of the island of Atiu who mourned for seven years +for an only child, living all that time in a hut near the grave, and +allowing his hair and nails to grow, and his body to remain unwashed. He +was the wonder of all the islanders.[58] + + [58] W. W. Gill, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 345. + +Among the caverns in which, in the island of Mangaia, the dead used to +be deposited, two are particularly famous. One of them, at Tamarua, is +the chasm called Raupa or "leafy entrance" on account of the dense +growth of hibiscus which formerly surrounded this supposed entrance to +the shades. It was the ancient burial-place of the Tongan tribe, the +descendants of a band of Tongans, who had landed in Mangaia and settled +there. The chasm is a hundred and fifty feet deep and has two openings, +the smaller of which was used only for chiefs and priests. The other +famous sepulchral cavern, called Auraka, is situated on the western side +of the island. It was the grand depository of the dead of the ruling +families, who claimed to be descended from the great god Rongo. This +chasm is not nearly so deep as Raupa, but, like it, has two entrances; +the one sacred and the other profane; the former was reserved for the +bodies of the nobility, the latter for the bodies of commoners. Besides +these ceremonial entrances there are many natural openings into the vast +subterranean cave, for the rock is everywhere perforated. It is possible +by torchlight to explore the gloomy recesses of the cavern, which in +some places contracts to the narrowest dimensions, while in others it +expands till the roof is almost lost to sight. Hundreds of +well-preserved mummies may be seen lying in rows, some on ledges of +stalactite, others on wooden platforms. Mr. Gill, who thrice visited the +cave, judged that some of the bodies were over fifty years old. The +whole neighbourhood of the great cavern was deemed sacred to wandering +disembodied spirits, who were believed to come up at midnight and +exhibit the ghastly wounds by which they had met their fate.[59] + + [59] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 71 _sq._ As + to the settlement of a Tongan colony in Mangaia, see _id._, + _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. 287 _sq._ In + native tradition the colonists were spoken of as "Tongans + sailing through the skies" (_Tongaiti-akareva-moana_). Their + leader was the first high-priest of the god Turanga. + + +§ 7. _The Fate of the Human Soul after Death_ + +The home of the departed spirits was believed to be a vast subterranean +region called Avaiki. The natives of Mangaia believed that this +mysterious region was situated directly under their island. "As the dead +were usually thrown down the deepest chasms, it was not unnatural for +their friends to imagine the earth to be hollow, and the entrance to +this vast nether world to be down one of these pits. No one can wonder +at this who knows that the outer portion of Mangaia is a honeycomb, the +rock being pierced in every direction with winding caves and frightful +chasms. It is asserted that the Mission premises at Oneroa are built +over one of these great caverns, which extends so far towards the sea +that the beating of the surf can be distinctly heard, whilst the water, +purified from its saline particles, continually drips from the stony +roof." The inland opening into the infernal regions was believed to be +the great cavern of Auraka, in which, as we have just seen, so many of +the dead were deposited.[60] + + [60] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 152-154. + +However, Avaiki was not the home of the ghosts alone; it was tenanted +also by the gods, both the greater and the lesser, with their +dependants. There they married, and multiplied, and quarrelled, just +like mortals. There they planted, cooked, fished, and inhabited +dwellings of exactly the same sort as exist on earth. Their food was no +better than that of mortals. There might be seen birds, fish, and rats, +likewise the mantis, centipedes, and beetles. There the coco-nut palm, +the pandanus, and the myrtle flourished, and yams grew in abundance. The +gods committed murder and adultery; they got drunk; they lied; they +stole. The arts and crafts were also practised by the deities, who +indeed taught them to mankind. The visible world, in short, was but a +gross copy of the spiritual and invisible world. If fire burns, it is +because latent flame was hidden in wood by the god Mauike in Hades. If +the axe cleaves, it is because the fairy of the axe is present unseen in +the blade. If the ironwood club kills its man, it is because a fierce +demon from Tonga lives in the weapon.[61] + + [61] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 154. + +The old high-road to the spirit-land used to start from a place called +Aremauku, on a cliff overhanging the western ocean. By this road a +regular communication was formerly kept up with the infernal regions. It +was by this route, for example, that the hero Maui descended in ancient +days to the home of the fire-god Mauike and brought up fire for the use +of men. However, the denizens of spirit-land in time grew very +troublesome by constantly coming up and afflicting mankind with disease +and death; they also created a dearth by stealing people's food, and +they even ravished their wives. To put an end to these perpetual +annoyances a brave and beautiful woman, Tiki by name, rolled herself +alive down into the gloomy chasm which led to the infernal world. The +yawning abyss closed on her, and there has been no thoroughfare ever +since. The spirits have not been able to come up from Avaiki by that +road, and the souls of the dead have been equally unable to go down by +it; they are now obliged to descend by a different route.[62] + + [62] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 154 _sq._ + +After their departure from the body the spirits of the dead wandered +disconsolately along the seashore, picking their steps painfully among +the sharp spikes of the coral and stumbling over the bindweed and thick +vines which caught their feet. The fragrant smell of the heliotrope, +which grows luxuriantly among these barren and rugged rocks, afforded +them a little relief, and they wore a red creeper, like a turban, round +their heads; the rest of their costume was a miscellaneous collection of +weeds which they had picked up in the course of their wanderings. Twice +a year, at the summer and winter solstices, they mustered to follow the +setting sun down into the under world. They gathered at the two points +of the island which face towards the rising of the sun at these two +seasons of the year. At the summer solstice, in January, he seems to +rise out of the sea opposite to Ana-Kura, that is, the Red Cave, so +called because it receives the red rays of the morning. It was there +that by far the greater number of the ghosts gathered for their last +sad journey with the sun: they all belonged to the southern half of the +island. The other point of ghostly muster was called Karanga-iti or "the +Little Welcome"; it faced towards the rising of the sun at the winter +solstice in June, and it was there that the ghosts born in the northern +half of the island assembled. Thus many months might elapse between a +death and the final departure of the soul from the land of the living. +The weary interval was spent by the spirits in dancing and revisiting +their old homes. As a rule they were well disposed to their living +relatives, but the ghost of a mother would often grow vindictive when +she saw her pet child ill-treated by its stepmother. Sometimes, weary of +wandering, the poor ghosts huddled together in the Red Cave, waiting for +the midsummer sun and listening to the monotonous moan of the great +rollers, which break there eternally.[63] + + [63] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 155-157. + +The exact moment of departure was fixed by the leader of the band. As +the time drew near, messengers were despatched to call in the stray +ghosts who might be lingering near their ancient haunts. Tearfully they +gathered at the Red Cave or on a grassy lawn above it, out of reach of +the foam and the billows. All kept their eyes on the spot of the horizon +where the sun was expected to appear. At the first streak of dawn the +whole band took their departure to meet the rising orb of day. That +done, they followed in his train as nearly as might be, flitting behind +or beneath him across the rolling waters or the rocks and stones of the +coast, till towards the close of day they all mustered at Vairo-rongo, +"the Sacred Stream of Rongo," facing towards the setting sun. The spot +is so named from a little rivulet which there rushes out of the stones +at the sacred grove (_marae_) of Rongo: none but priests and kings might +bathe there in days of old. At the moment when the sun sank beneath the +horizon, the entire band of ghosts followed him along the golden track +of light across the shimmering sea and descended in his train to the +nether world, but not like him to reappear on the morrow.[64] + + [64] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 157 _sq._ + +There were three such points of departure for the spirit-land in +Mangaia, all facing the setting sun. Each of them was known as a +_Reinga vaerua_ or "leaping-place of souls." One of them was at Oneroa, +where a rocky bluff stands out by itself like a giant looking towards +the west. To it a band of souls from the great cavern of Auraka used to +go in mournful procession, and from it they leaped one by one to a +second and much smaller block of stone resting on the inner edge of the +reef; thence they passed to the outer brink of the reef, on which the +surf beats ceaselessly, and from which at sunset they flitted over the +ocean to sink with the great luminary into the land of the dead. + +Such appears to have been the general notion of the people concerning +the departure of human souls at death in Mangaia. Similar ideas +prevailed in the other islands of the group, in all of which the +"leaping-place of souls" was regularly situated on the western coast of +the island.[65] + + [65] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 159 _sq._ + +The teaching of the priests added many particulars to this general +account of the journey of the soul to the nether world. According to +them the souls of the dying, before life was quite extinct, left their +bodies and travelled towards the edge of the cliff at Araia, near the +sacred grove (_marae_) of Rongo, which faced westward. But if on its way +to this fatal bourne the soul of the dying chanced to meet a friendly +spirit who cried to it, "Go back and live," the departing soul would +joyfully return to its forsaken body, and the sick man or woman would +revive. This was the native explanation of fainting. But if no friendly +spirit intervened to save the passing soul, it pursued its way to the +edge of the cliff. On its arrival a great wave of the sea washed the +base of the crag, and a gigantic _bua_ tree (_Beslaria laurifolia_), +covered with fragrant blossoms, sprang up from Avaiki to receive the +ghost. The tree had as many branches as there were principal gods in +Mangaia, and every ghost had to perch on the particular branch allotted +to members of his or her tribe; the worshippers of the great gods, such +as Motoro and Tane, had separate boughs provided for their +accommodation; while the worshippers of the lesser deities huddled +together on a single big branch.[66] + + [66] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 160 _sq._; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 346. + +No sooner had the ghost perched on the place appointed for him than down +plumped the tree with him into the nether world. Looking down to see +where he was going, what was the horror of the ghost to perceive a great +net spread by Akaanga and his assistants to catch him at the foot of the +tree! Into this fatal net the doomed spirit inevitably fell to sink in a +lake of fresh water and there to wriggle like a fish for a time. At last +the net was pulled up with the ghost in it, who, half-drowned, was now +ushered trembling into the presence of the grim hag Miru, generally +known as "the Ruddy," because her face reflected the glowing heat of the +ever-burning oven in which she cooked her ghostly victims. At first, +however, she fed, and perhaps fattened, them on a diet of black beetles, +red earth-worms, crabs, and small blackbirds. Thus refreshed, they had +next to drain bowls of strong kava brewed by the fair hands of the hag's +four lovely daughters. Reduced to a state of insensibility by the +intoxicating beverage, the ghosts were then borne off without a struggle +to the oven and cooked. On the substance of these hapless victims Miru +and her son and her peerless daughters regularly subsisted. The leavings +of the meal were thrown to the servants. Such was the fate of all who +died what we should call a natural death, and therefore of all cowards, +women, and children. They were annihilated.[67] + + [67] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 161 _sq._; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ pp. 346 + _sq._ + +Not so with warriors who fell fighting on the field of battle. For a +time, indeed, their souls wandered about among the rocks and trees where +their bodies were thrown, the ghastly wounds by which they met their +fate being still visible. The plaintive chirping of a certain cricket, +rarely seen but heard continually at night, was believed to be the voice +of the slain warriors sorrowfully calling to their friends. At last the +first who fell would gather his brother ghosts at a place a little +beyond Araia, on the edge of the cliff and facing the sunset. There they +would linger for a time. But suddenly a mountain sprang up at their +feet, and they ascended it over the spears and clubs which had given +them their mortal wounds. Arrived at the summit they leaped up into the +blue expanse, thus becoming the peculiar clouds of the winter or dry +season. During the rainy season they could mount up to the warriors' +paradise in the sky. In June, the first month of winter, the atmosphere +was pervaded by these ghosts, to whom the chilliness of death still +clung. For days together their thronging shapes hid the sun, dimming the +sky and spreading among men the heaviness and oppression of spirits +which are characteristic of the season. But with the early days of +August, when the coral-tree puts forth its blood-red blossoms and the +sky grows mottled with light fleecy clouds, the ghosts of the brave +prepare to take flight for heaven. Soon the sky is cloudless, the +weather bright and warm. The ghosts have fled away, and the living +resume their wonted avocations in quiet and comfort.[68] + + [68] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 162 _sq._ + +In their celestial home the spirits of the slain are immortal. There, in +memory of their deeds on earth, they dance their old war dances over +again, decked with gay flowers--the white gardenia, the yellow _bua_, +the golden fruit of the pandanus, and the dark crimson, bell-like +blossom of the native laurel, intertwined with myrtle; and from their +blissful heights they look down with pity and disgust on the wretched +souls in Avaiki entangled in the fatal net and besmeared with filth. For +the spirits of the slain in battle are strong and vigorous, their bodies +never having been wasted by disease; whereas the spirits of those who +die a natural death are excessively feeble and weak, like their bodies +at the moment of dissolution. The natural result of such beliefs was to +breed an utter contempt for a violent death, nay even a desire to seek +it. Many stories are told of aged warriors, scarcely able to hold a +spear, who have insisted on being led to the battlefield in the hope of +finding a soldier's death and gaining a soldier's paradise.[69] + + [69] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 163 _sq._ + +Beliefs of the same general character concerning the fate of the dead +prevailed in other islands of the Hervey Group. Thus in Rarotonga the +great meeting-place of the ghosts was at Tuoro, facing the sunset. There +at a stately tree, called "the Weeping Laurel," the disembodied spirits +used to bewail their hard fate. If no pitying spirit sent him back to +life, the ghost had to scramble up a branch of an ancient _bua_ tree +which grew on the spot. Should the bough break under his weight, the +ghost was precipitated into the net which Muru had spread out for him in +a natural circular hollow of the rock. A lively ghost might break the +meshes of the net and escape for a while, but passing on to the outer +edge of the reef, in the hope of traversing the ocean, he inevitably +fell into another net artfully concealed by Akaanga. From this second +net escape was impossible. The demons drew the captive ghosts out of the +nets, and ruthlessly dashing out their brains on the sharp coral they +carried off the shattered victims in triumph to devour them in the lower +world. Ghosts from Ngatangiia ascended the noble mountain range which +stretches across the island, dipping into the sea at Tuoro. +Inexpressibly weary and sad was this journey over a road which foot of +living wight had never trod. The departed spirits of this tribe met at a +great iron-wood tree, of which some branches were green and others dead. +The souls that trod on the green branches came back to life; but the +souls that crawled on to the dead boughs were at once caught in the net +either of Muru or of Akaanga.[70] + + [70] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. + 169 _sq._; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 346. + +In Rarotonga, as in Mangaia, the lot of warriors who died in battle was +much happier than that of the poor wretches who had the misfortune to +die quietly in bed or to be otherwise ignominiously snuffed out. The +gallant ghosts were said to join Tiki, who in Rarotonga appears to have +been a dead warrior, whereas in Mangaia, as we saw, Tiki was a dead +woman. In the Rarotongan Hades, which also went by the name of Avaiki, +this Tiki sat at the threshold of a very long house built with walls of +reeds, and surrounded by shrubs and flowers of fadeless bloom and +never-failing perfume. Each ghost on his arrival had to make an offering +to the warder Tiki, who, thus propitiated, admitted him to the house. +There, sitting at their ease, eating, drinking, dancing, or sleeping, +the brave of past ages dwelt in unwithering beauty and perpetual youth; +there they welcomed newcomers, and there they told the story of their +heroic exploits on earth and fought their old battles over again. But +ghosts who had nothing to give to Tiki were compelled to stay outside in +rain and darkness for ever, shivering with cold and hunger, watching +with envious eyes the joyous revels of the inmates, and racked with the +vain desire of being admitted to share them.[71] + + [71] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, p. + 170; John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in + the South Sea Islands_, pp. 476 _sq._ + +Such beliefs in the survival of the soul after death may have nerved the +warrior with fresh courage in battle; but they can have contributed but +little to the happiness and consolation of ordinary people, who could +apparently look forward to nothing better in the life hereafter than +being cooked and eaten by a hideous hag. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE SOCIETY ISLANDERS + + +§ 1. _The Society Islands_ + +The Society Islands are a large and scattered archipelago in the South +Pacific, situated within 16° and 18° of South latitude, and between 148° +and 155° of West longitude. They lie some three hundred miles from the +Hervey or Cook Islands, from which they are separated by the open sea. +The islands form a chain nearly two hundred miles in length, extending +from north-west to south-east, and fall into two groups, an eastern and +a western, which, on account of the prevailing wind, are known +respectively as the Windward and Leeward Islands. The Windward or +eastern group includes Eimeo or Moörea in the west, Maitea in the east, +and Tahiti, the principal island of the whole archipelago, in the +centre. In the Leeward or western group the chief islands are Huahine, +Raiatea, Tahaa, and Borabora. The islands appear to have been first +discovered by the Spanish navigator Fernandez de Quiros in 1606 or 1607, +but after him they were lost sight of till 1767, when they were +rediscovered by Wallis. A few years later they were repeatedly visited +by Captain Cook, who gave the first full and accurate description of the +islands and their inhabitants.[1] + + [1] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 6 _sq._; A. v. + H[ügel], "Tahiti," _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Ninth Edition, + xxiii. 22, 24; C. E. Meinicke, _Die Inseln des Stillen Oceans_, + ii. 151 _sqq._; F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 510. As + to Wallis's discovery of the islands see J. Hawkesworth, + _Voyages_, i. (London, 1773) pp. 433 _sqq._; R. Kerr, _General + History and Collection of Voyages and Travels_, xii. (Edinburgh, + 1814) pp. 164 _sqq._ + +The islands, with the exception of a few flat lagoon islands, are of +volcanic formation, high and mountainous, consisting for the most part +of a central peak or peaks of bold and striking outline, which descend +in steep ridges towards the sea, sometimes reaching the coast, but +oftener leaving a broad stretch of flat and very fertile land between +their last slopes and the beach. Between the ridges lie deep and +beautiful valleys, watered by winding streams and teeming with luxuriant +vegetation. The rocks of which the islands consist are all igneous, +chiefly trachyte, dolerite, basalt, and lava. They are considered by +geologists to present perhaps the most wonderful and instructive example +of volcanic rocks to be seen on the globe. Yet, though the islands are +judged to be of comparatively recent formation, there are no traces of +volcanic action in them at the present time. The craters have +disappeared: hot springs do not exist; and earthquakes are rare.[2] + + [2] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 11 _sqq._; C. E. + Meinicke, _op. cit._ ii. 152 _sq._; A. v. H[ügel], _op. cit._ + p. 22; F. H. H. Guillemard, _op. cit._ p. 513. + +The Society Islands, and Tahiti in particular, are famous for the beauty +of their natural scenery; indeed, by general consent they appear to rank +as the fairest islands in the Pacific. Travellers vie with each other in +praise of their enchanting loveliness. Tahiti, the largest island of the +group, may be taken as typical of them all. It consists of two almost +circular islands united by a very low and narrow neck of land: the +northern and larger island is known as Tahiti the Great (Tahiti nui), +the southern and smaller island is known as Tahiti the Little (Tahiti +iti). In the centre of each island the mountains rise in craggy peaks, +sometimes in the shape of pyramids or sugar-loaves, their rocky sides +clothed with every variety of verdure, and enlivened here and there by +cataracts falling from lofty cliffs, while the shore is washed by the +white-crested waves of the Pacific breaking in foam on the coral reefs +or dashing in spray on the beach. The scene is especially striking when +beheld for the first time from the sea at sunrise on a fine morning. +Then the happy combination of land and water, of precipices and plains, +of umbrageous trees drooping their pendent boughs over the sea, and +distant mountains shown in sublime outline and richest hues, all blended +in the harmony of nature, produces in the beholder sensations of +admiration and delight. The inland scenery is of a different character, +but not less impressive. There the prospect is occasionally extensive, +but more frequently circumscribed. There is, however, a startling +boldness in the towering piles of basalt, often heaped in picturesque +confusion near the source or margin of some crystal stream that flows in +silence at their base, or plashes purling over the rocks that obstruct +its bed; and there is the wildness of romance about the deep and lonely +glens, from which the mountains rise like the steep sides of a natural +amphitheatre till they seem to support the clouds that rest upon their +summits. In the character of the teeming vegetation, too, from the +verdant moss that drapes the rocks to the rich foliage of the +bread-fruit tree, the luxuriance of the pandanus, and the waving plumes +of the coconut palm, all nurtured by a prolific soil and matured by the +genial heat of a tropical climate, there is enough to arrest the +attention and to strike the imagination of the wanderer, who, in the +unbroken silence that reigns in these pleasing solitudes, may easily +fancy himself astray in fairyland and treading enchanted ground.[3] + + [3] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 14-18. Compare J. + Cook, _Voyages_, i. 172 _sqq._; G. Forster, _Voyage round the + World_ (London, 1777), i. 253 _sq._; J. Wilson, _Missionary + Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. 321 _sqq._; D. + Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and Travels_ (London, + 1831), i. 58 _sq._, 108 _sqq._, 136 _sqq._, 206 _sq._, 234 + _sq._, 316 _sq._, 555 _sq._, ii. 51-53, 59-61; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _op. cit._ pp. 511 _sqq._ C. E. Meinicke, _op. cit._ + ii. 152 _sq._; A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), + pp. 29 _sqq._ + + +§ 2. _The Islanders and their Mode of Life_ + +The islanders are, or were at the date of their discovery by Europeans, +fine specimens of the Polynesian race, being tall, well-proportioned, +and robust. Captain Cook described them as of the largest size of +Europeans. Their complexion varies from olive to bronze and +reddish-brown, frequently presenting a hue intermediate between the +yellow of the Malay and the copper-colour of the American Indians. The +hair is shining black or dark brown, usually straight, but often soft +and curly; never lank and wiry like that of the American Indians, and +only in rare cases woolly or frizzly like that of the Papuans. The men +have beards, which they used to wear in a variety of fashions, always, +however, plucking out the greater part. The shape of the face is comely, +and the facial angle is often as perpendicular as in Europeans. The +cheek-bones are not high; the nose is either straight or aquiline, often +accompanied by a fulness about the nostrils; it is seldom flat, though +it was formerly the practice of mothers and nurses to press the nostrils +of the female children, a broad flat nose being by many regarded as a +beauty. The mouth in general is well formed, though the lips are +sometimes large and protuberant, yet never so much as to resemble the +lips of negroes; the chin is usually prominent. The general aspect of +the face very seldom presents any likeness to the Tartar or Mongolian +cast of countenance; while the profile frequently bears a most striking +resemblance to that of Europeans. A roundness and fulness of figure, not +usually extending to corpulency, is characteristic of the race, +especially of the women. In general physique they resemble the Sandwich +Islanders and Tonga Islanders; according to Ellis, they are more robust +than the Marquesans, but inferior in size and strength to the Maoris.[4] + + [4] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 175 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 79 + _sqq._; C. E. Meinicke, _op. cit._ ii. 171; F. H. H. Guillemard, + _op. cit._ pp. 513 _sq._ + +Their diet is chiefly vegetable; when Captain Cook visited the islands, +the only tame animals were hogs, dogs, and poultry. Bread-fruit, taro, +yams, bananas, and coconuts are their staple food; the bread-fruit in +particular has been called their staff of life. Taro and yams are +carefully cultivated by the natives, and they also grow the sweet potato +as an article of food, though to a less extent than the other two roots; +in quality the sweet potato of Tahiti is far inferior to that of the +Sandwich Islands. The sea affords a great variety of fish and +shell-fish, which the natives catch and eat; nothing that the sea +produces is said to come amiss to them. Hogs and dogs were in olden +times the only quadrupeds whose flesh was eaten by the Tahitians; but +for the most part they rarely tasted meat, subsisting almost exclusively +on a diet of fruit, vegetables, and fish.[5] + + [5] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 185 _sq._ vi. 139 _sqq._; W. Ellis, + _op. cit._ i. 36 _sqq._, 70 _sqq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _Voyages + aux Îles du Grand Ocean_ (Paris, 1837), ii. 93 _sqq._; C. E. + Meinicke, _op. cit._ ii. 171 _sq._ + +The common houses were of an oblong shape, usually from eighteen to +twenty-four feet in length, by eleven feet in width, the long sides +being parallel to each other, but the two ends commonly rounded, +especially in the houses of chiefs. The thatched roofs were supported on +three parallel rows of wooden posts, and there being no outer walls and +no partitions, the wind blew freely through them. The floor was covered +with mats, forming a single cushion, on which the people sat by day and +slept at night. In some houses there was a single stool appropriated to +the use of the master of the family; otherwise an ordinary dwelling +contained little or no furniture except a few small blocks of wood, +hollowed out on the upper surface so as to form head-rests or pillows. +The houses served chiefly as dormitories and as shelters in rain: the +people took their meals in the open air. Chiefs, however, often owned +houses of much larger dimensions, which were built and maintained for +them at the common expense of the district. Some of these chiefly +dwellings were two hundred feet long, thirty feet broad, and twenty feet +high under the ridge; one of them, belonging to the king, measured three +hundred and seventy feet in length. We read of houses which could +contain two or three thousand people;[6] and of one particular house in +Tahiti we are informed that it was no less than three hundred and +ninety-seven feet long by forty-eight feet broad, and that the roof was +supported in the middle by twenty wooden pillars, each twenty-one feet +high, while the sides or eaves of the roof rested on one hundred and +twenty-four pillars, each ten feet high. A wooden wall or fence enclosed +the whole. This great house was used for the celebration of feasts, +which sometimes lasted for days together, and at which nearly all the +hogs in the island were consumed.[7] + + [6] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 181 _sqq._; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. + 341 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 170 _sqq._; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ ii. 84 _sqq._ As to the wooden head-rests see W. + Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 188 _sq._ + + [7] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 213 _sq._ + +Like all the Polynesians down to the date of their discovery by +Europeans, the inhabitants of the Society Islands were totally ignorant +of the use and even of the existence of the metals, and they had to +employ substitutes, chiefly stone and bone, for the manufacture of their +tools and weapons. Of their tools Captain Cook gives the following +account: "They have an adze of stone; a chisel, or gouge, of bone, +generally that of a man's arm between the wrist and elbow; a rasp of +coral; and the skin of a sting-ray, with coral sand, as a filer or +polisher. This is a complete catalogue of their tools, and with these +they build houses, construct canoes, hew stone, and fell, cleave, carve, +and polish timber. The stone which makes the blade of their adzes is a +kind of basaltes, of a blackish or grey colour, not very hard, but of +considerable toughness: they are of different sizes; some, that are +intended for felling, weigh from six to eight pounds; others, that are +used for carving, not more than so many ounces; but it is necessary to +sharpen both almost every minute; for which purpose, a stone and a +cocoa-nut shell full of water are always at hand. Their greatest +exploit, to which these tools are less equal than to any other, is +felling a tree; this requires many hands, and the constant labour of +several days."[8] The earliest missionaries expressed their astonishment +that with such simple tools the natives could carve so neatly and finish +so smoothly; our most ingenious workmen, they declared, could not excel +them.[9] + + [8] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 204 _sq._ + + [9] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 400. + +The principal manufacture of the Society Islanders was the making of the +cloth which they used for their garments. The material for the cloth was +furnished by the bark of several trees, including the paper-mulberry, +the bread-fruit tree, and a species of wild fig-tree. Having been +stripped from the tree and soaked in water, the bark was spread out on a +beam and beaten with heavy wooden mallets, till it was reduced to the +proper degree of thinness and flexibility. The finest and most valuable +kind of cloth was made chiefly, and sometimes entirely, from the bark of +the paper-mulberry and was bleached pure white. But vegetable dyes were +also commonly employed to stain the cloth with a variety of hues +arranged in patterns. The favourite colours were a brilliant scarlet and +a bright yellow; Captain Cook described the scarlet as exceedingly +beautiful, brighter and more delicate than any we have in Europe; it was +produced by a mixture of the juices of two vegetables, the fruit of a +species of fig and the leaves of the _Cordia sebastina_ or _etou_ tree. +The patterns were in this bright scarlet on a yellow ground; formerly +they were altogether devoid of uniformity or regularity, yet exhibited a +considerable degree of taste. The bales of bark-cloth were sometimes as +much as two hundred yards long by four yards wide; the whole bale was in +a single piece, being composed of narrow strips joined together by being +beaten with grooved mallets. A chief's wealth was sometimes estimated by +the number of bales which he possessed; the more valuable sort, covered +with matting or cloth of an inferior sort, were generally hung from the +roof of his house. The manufacture of cloth was chiefly in the hands of +women; indeed it was one of their most usual employments. Even women of +high rank did not disdain this form of industry; the wives and daughters +of chiefs took a pride in manufacturing cloth of a superior quality, +excelling that produced by common women in the elegance of the patterns +or the brilliance of the dyes. Every family had a little house where the +females laboured at the making of cloth; but in addition every district +had a sort of public factory, consisting of a spacious house where +immense quantities of cloth were produced on the occasion of festivals, +the visits of great chiefs, or other solemnities. In such a factory the +women would often assemble to the number of two or three hundred, and +the monotonous din of their hammers falling on the bark was almost +deafening; it began early in the morning, only to cease at night. Yet +heard at a distance in some lonely valley the sound was not +disagreeable, telling as it did of industry and peace.[10] + + [10] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 196 _sqq._; G. Forster, _Voyage + round the World_ (London, 1777), i. 276 _sq._; J. Wilson, _op. + cit._ pp. 389-392; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 179 _sqq._; J. A. + Moerenhout, _op. cit._ ii. 112 _sqq._ + +Among the other articles manufactured by the Society Islanders before +the advent of Europeans were fine mats, baskets of many different +patterns, ropes, lines, and fishing-tackle, including nets, hooks, and +harpoons made of cane and pointed with hard wood. In every expedient for +taking fish they are said to have been exceedingly ingenious.[11] They +made bows and arrows, with which, as an amusement, they shot against +each other, not at a mark, but to see who could shoot farthest. Like the +rest of the Polynesians, they never used these weapons in war.[12] + + [11] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 202 _sq._ + + [12] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 368; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. + 217-220; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ ii. 148-150. + +Society among these islanders was divided into three ranks; first the +royal family and nobility (_hui arii_); second, the landed proprietors, +or gentry and farmers (_bue raatira_); and third, the common people +(_manahune_). Of these, the landed gentry and farmers were the most +numerous and influential class, constituting at all times the great body +of the people and the strength of the nation, as well as of the army. +The petty farmers owned from twenty to a hundred acres. Some of the +great landowners possessed many hundreds of acres, and being surrounded +by retainers they constituted the aristocracy of the country and imposed +a restraint upon the king, who, without their co-operation, could carry +but few of his measures. They also frequently acted as priests in their +family temples. The common people comprised slaves and servants. The +slaves were captives taken in war. Their treatment was in general mild, +and if peace continued, they often regained their freedom and were +allowed to return to their own country.[13] + + [13] W. Ellis, _op. cit._. iii. 94-98. Compare J. Cook, + _Voyages_, i. 225 _sq._ + +The government of the Society Islands, like that of Hawaii, was at least +in form an arbitrary monarchy. The supreme authority was vested in the +king and was hereditary in his family. It partook of a sacred character, +for in these islands government was closely interwoven with religion; +the king sometimes personated the god and received the homage and +prayers of the worshippers; at other times he officiated as high-priest +and transmitted the vows and petitions of the people to the superior +deities. The genealogy of the reigning family was usually traced back to +the first ages of the world: in some of the islands the kings were +believed to be descended from the gods: their persons were always +sacred, and their families constituted the highest rank recognised by +the people.[14] + + [14] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. 93 _sq._ + +Indeed, everything in the least degree connected with the king or +queen--the cloth they wore, the houses in which they dwelt, the canoes +in which they voyaged, the men who carried them when they journeyed by +land--became sacred and could not be converted to common use. The very +sounds in the language which composed their names could no longer be +appropriated to ordinary significations. If on the accession of a king +any words in the language were found to resemble his name, they were +abolished and changed for others; and if any man were bold enough to +continue to use them, not only he but all his relations were immediately +put to death; and the same severity was exercised on any who should dare +to apply the sacred name to an animal. Thus in process of time the +original names of most common objects in the language underwent +considerable alterations. No one might touch the body of the king or +queen; nay, any person who should so much as stand over them, or pass +his hand over their heads, was liable to pay for the sacrilege with the +forfeiture of his life. The very ground on which the king or queen even +accidentally trod became sacred; and any house belonging to a private +person which they entered must for ever be vacated by the owner and +either set apart for the use of the royal personages or burnt down with +every part of its furniture. Hence it was a general rule that the king +and queen never entered any dwellings except such as were specially +dedicated to their use, and never trod on the ground in any part of the +island but their own hereditary districts. In journeying they were +always carried on men's shoulders.[15] + + [15] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 155 _sq._; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. + 329; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. 101 _sq._ + +The inauguration of a king consisted in girding him with a sacred girdle +(_maro ura_) of red, or red and yellow, feathers, which not only raised +him to the highest earthly station, but identified him with the gods. +The red feathers were taken from the images of the gods and interwoven +with feathers of other colours. A human victim was sacrificed when they +began to make the girdle, and another was sacrificed when it was +finished; sometimes others were slaughtered at intermediate stages, one +for each fresh piece added to the girdle. The blood of the victims was +supposed to consecrate the belt.[16] + + [16] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. 108 _sqq._ Compare J. Wilson, + _op. cit._ pp. 327 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ ii. 22 + _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and + Travels_, i. 526 _sq._, ii. 56. Another singular ceremony + observed at the installation of a king was this. The king + advanced into the sea and bathed there. Thither he was followed + by the priest of Oro bearing a branch plucked from a sacred tree + that grew within the precincts of the temple. While the king was + bathing, the priest struck him on the back with the holy bough, + at the same time invoking the great god Taaoroa. This ceremony + was designed to purify the monarch from any defilement or guilt + he might previously have contracted. See W. Ellis, _op. cit._ + iii. 110. + +The deification of kings in their lifetime would seem not to have been +confined to Tahiti, but to have prevailed in the other islands of the +Society Archipelago. We hear particularly of the divinity of the kings +of Raiatea. In that island a place called Opoa is said to have been the +metropolis of idolatry for all the South Pacific Islands within a +compass of five hundred miles. Hither, from every shore, human victims, +already slain, were sent to be offered on the altar of the war-god Oro, +whose principal image was there worshipped. There, too, was the +residence of the kings of the island, "who, beside the prerogatives of +royalty, enjoyed divine honours, and were in fact living idols among the +dead ones, being deified at the time of their accession to political +supremacy here. In the latter character, we presume, it was, that these +sovereigns (who always took the name of Tamatoa) were wont to receive +presents from the kings and chiefs of adjacent and distant islands, +whose gods were all considered tributary to the Oro of Raiatea, and +their princes owing homage to its monarch, who was Oro's hereditary +high-priest, as well as an independent divinity himself."[17] Of one +particular monarch of this line, Tamatoa by name, we read that he "had +been enrolled among the gods," and that "as one of the divinities of his +subjects, therefore, the king was worshipped, consulted as an oracle, +and had sacrifices and prayers offered to him."[18] + + [17] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and Travels_, + i. 529 _sq._ + + [18] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 524. + +In the succession to the throne the law of primogeniture prevailed, and +in accordance with a singular usage, which was invariably observed, the +king regularly abdicated on the birth of his first son and became a +subject of his infant offspring. The child was at once proclaimed the +sovereign of the people: the royal title was conferred on him; and his +own father was the first to do him homage by saluting his feet and +declaring him king. The public herald was despatched round the island +with the flag of the infant monarch: in every district he unfurled the +banner and proclaimed the accession of the youthful sovereign. The +insignia of royalty and the homage of the people were at once +transferred from the father to the child: the royal domains and other +sources of revenue were appropriated to the maintenance of the household +of the infant ruler; and the father paid him all the marks of reverence +and submission which he had hitherto exacted from the people. However, +during the minority of his son the former king appears to have filled +the office of regent. This remarkable rule of succession was not limited +to the royal house, but prevailed also in noble families: no sooner did +a baron's wife give birth to a child than the baron was reduced to the +rank of a private man, though he continued to administer the estate for +the benefit of the infant, to whom all the outward marks of honour were +now transferred.[19] + + [19] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 225 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. + 99 _sq._ Compare J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 180 _sq._, 327, 330, + 333; J. Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_ (London, 1813), pp. + 134, 137, 188 _sq._, 344; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ ii. 13 + _sq._ + + +§ 3. _The Religion of the Society Islanders_ + +If religion consists essentially in a fear of gods, the natives of the +Society Islands were a very religious people, for they believed in a +multitude of gods and stood in constant dread of them. "Whatever +attention," says Ellis, "the Tahitians paid to their occupations or +amusements, and whatever energies have been devoted to the prosecution +of their barbarous wars, the claims of all were regarded as inferior to +those of their religion. On this every other was dependent, while each +was alike made subservient to its support."[20] "No people in the world, +in ancient or modern times, appear to have been more superstitious than +the South Sea Islanders, or to have been more entirely under the +influence of dread from imaginary demons, or supernatural beings. They +had not only their major, but their minor demons, or spirits, and all +the minute ramifications of idolatry."[21] "Religious rites were +connected with almost every act of their lives. An _ubu_ or prayer was +offered before they ate their food, when they tilled their ground, +planted their gardens, built their houses, launched their canoes, cast +their nets, and commenced or concluded a journey. The first fish taken +periodically on their shores, together with a number of kinds regarded +as sacred, were conveyed to the altar. The first-fruits of their +orchards and gardens were also _taumaha_, or offered, with a portion of +their live-stock, which consisted of pigs, dogs, and fowls, as it was +supposed death would be inflicted on the owner or the occupant of the +land, from which the god should not receive such acknowledgment."[22] + + [20] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 321; compare J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 417. + + [21] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 361. + + [22] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 350. + +Different gods were worshipped in different islands, and even in +different parts of the same island,[23] and if a deity failed to answer +the expectations of his worshippers, they did not scruple to change him +for another. In Captain Cook's time the people of Tiaraboo (Tairaboo), +the southern peninsula of Tahiti, discarded their two old divinities and +adopted in their place Oraa, the god of the island of Bolabola +(Borabora), apparently because the people of Bolabola had lately been +victorious in war; and as, after this change of deity, they themselves +proved very successful in their operations against their enemies, they +imputed the success entirely to their new god, who, they literally said, +fought their battles.[24] Again, when the prayers and offerings for the +recovery of a sick chief were unavailing, the god was regarded as +inexorable, and was usually banished from the temple, and his image +destroyed.[25] + + [23] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 148, 160; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_ (London, + 1778), p. 539. + + [24] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 148 _sq._ + + [25] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 350. + +The pantheon and mythology of the Society Islands were of the usual +Polynesian type; some of their chief gods were recognised and worshipped +under the same names, with dialectical differences, in other islands of +the Pacific. In the beginning they say that all things were in a state +of chaos or darkness, from which the principal deities, including +Taaroa, Oro, and Tane, at last emerged. Hence these high gods were said +to be born of Night or the primaeval darkness (_Po_). Among them all the +first place in time and dignity was generally assigned to Taaroa, who +appears in other parts of Polynesia as Tanaroa, Tangaroa, Tagaloa, and +so on. By some he was spoken of as the progenitor of the other gods and +as the creator of the heavens, the earth, and sea, as well as of men, +beasts, birds, and fishes; but others were of opinion that the land or +the world had existed before the gods. Oro, the great national god of +Tahiti, Raiatea, and other islands, was believed to be a son of +Taaroa.[26] To these three great gods, Oro, Tane, and Taaroa, the people +sacrificed in great emergencies, when the deities were thought to be +angry. At such times the wrath of the god was revealed to a priest, who, +wrapt up like a ball in a bundle of cloth, spoke in a sharp, shrill, +squeaky voice, saying, "I am angry; bring me hogs, kill a man, and my +anger will be appeased."[27] + + [26] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 322 _sqq._ Compare J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. 539 + _sqq._; G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 149 _sqq._; J. + Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. + 343 _sqq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and + Travels_, i. 523 (as to Taaroa); J. A. Moerenhout, _Voyages aux + Îles du Grand Ocean_, i. 416 _sqq._, 436 _sqq._, 442 _sq._ As to + Taaoroa and his counterparts in Polynesian mythology, see H. + Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and + Philology_, p. 22; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, pp. 463 _sq._, _s.v._ "Tangaroa." + + [27] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 167 _sq._ + +Oro is sometimes described as the war-god.[28] The great seat of his +worship was at Opoa in the island of Raiatea: his principal image was +worshipped there "with the most bloody and detestable rites"; and +thither human victims, ready slain, were sent from every shore to be +offered on his altar.[29] Sometimes, instead of the bodies of the slain, +only their jaw-bones were sent to decorate the temple of Oro at Opoa; +long strings of these relics might be seen hanging about the sacred +edifice.[30] In the small island of Tahaa, off Raiatea, there was a +temple (_marae_) dedicated to Oro and his two daughters. It belonged to +the king and "was upheld for the convenience of finding a pretext to get +rid, from time to time, of obnoxious persons, of both sexes; the men +slain by assassination, or in war, being presented to the male idol, and +the women to his female progeny, who were held to be as cruelly +delighted with blood as their parent. But the human sacrifices brought +hither were not allowed to remain and infect the atmosphere. When they +had lain upon the altar till they became offensive, the carcases were +transported to Oro's metropolitan temple at Opoa, in Raiatea, which was +the common Golgotha of his victims."[31] + + [28] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 114, 529. + + [29] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 529. + + [30] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ ii. 14. In a long + house in the southern part of Tahiti, Captain Cook saw, at one + end of it, a semicircular board, from which hung fifteen human + jaw-bones, apparently fresh; not one of them wanted a tooth. He + was told that they "had been carried away as trophies, the + people here carrying away the jaw-bones of their enemies, as the + Indians of North America do the scalps." See J. Cook, _Voyages_, + i. 152, 160. + + [31] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 549. + +Oro was said to have instituted the notorious Society of the Areois, a +licentious fraternity of strolling players and mountebanks, who roamed +about in troupes from island to island, everywhere entertaining the +populace by their shows, which comprised recitations, songs, dramatic +performances, wrestling matches, and especially dances, which were often +of a lascivious character.[32] These exhibitions, which were witnessed +by crowds and appear to have been the most popular amusement of the +islanders, were given in large, substantial, sometimes highly +ornamented, houses, which were erected chiefly for the purpose of +lodging these itinerant performers, and providing them with suitable +places for their performances.[33] The first missionaries describe how, +in a long native house where they lodged for the night, they saw the +Areois men and women dancing and singing till near midnight: so great +were their numbers that they made the house appear like a village.[34] +Sometimes, apparently, the performances took place in front of the +house, the musicians, singers, and reciters occupying a sort of stage, +while the actors or dancers performed on a place marked out for them on +the ground or on the floor.[35] The subject of their songs or +recitations was often a legend of the gods, or of some distinguished +member of the Society, which was chanted or recited by the performers in +chorus seated in a circle on the ground, while the leader stood in the +centre and introduced the recitation with a sort of prologue, +accompanied by antic gestures and attitudes.[36] In these recitals the +tales often turned on romantic and diverting episodes in the lives of +ancestors or of deities. "Many of these were very long, and regularly +composed, so as to be repeated verbatim, or with such illustrations only +as the wit or fancy of the narrator might have the skill to introduce. +Their captain on public occasions, was placed cross-legged on a stool +seven feet high, with a fan in his hand, in the midst of the circle of +laughing or admiring auditors, whom he delighted with his drollery, or +transported with his grimaces, being, in fact, the merry-andrew of the +corps, who, like a wise fool, well knew how to turn his folly to the +best account."[37] + + [32] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 193-195; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. + 411-414; G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 128-135; J. + Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 56, 57, 59, 65 _sq._, 153, 154, 174, 194 + _sq._, 209, 331, 335; J. Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_ + (London, 1813), p. 364; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. + 326-328; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 229-247; Waitz-Gerland, + _Anthropologie_, vi. 363-369. + + [33] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 236 _sq._ + + [34] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 209. + + [35] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ ii. 133 _sq._ + + [36] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 235. + + [37] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 327 _sq._ + +The Society of the Areois was wealthy and highly esteemed; members were +drawn from all social ranks and greatly prided themselves on belonging +to it.[38] Indeed, they were regarded as a sort of superhuman beings, +closely allied to the gods, and were treated with a corresponding degree +of veneration by many of the vulgar and ignorant.[39] They were divided +into seven ranks or classes, the members of which were distinguished +from each other by their tattoo marks; the greater the amount of the +tattooing, the higher the rank of the person.[40] Admission to the +Society was attended by a variety of ceremonies; a protracted noviciate +followed, and it was only by progressive advancement that any were +promoted to the higher dignities. It was imagined that those who became +Areois were prompted or inspired by the gods to take this step. A +candidate for admission, therefore, repaired to one of the public +exhibitions in that apparent state of frenzy which is commonly supposed +to indicate divine inspiration. His face was dyed scarlet; his hair was +perfumed and adorned with flowers, and he wore a girdle of yellow +plantain leaves. Thus arrayed, he rushed through the crowd assembled +round the house in which the actors or dancers were performing, and, +leaping into the circle, joined with seeming frantic wildness in the +dance or pantomime. If the Society approved of him, they appointed him +to wait as a servant on the principal Areois, and after a period of +probation he might be inducted into the Society as a full-fledged +member. At his induction, which took place in a great assembly of the +body, the candidate received a new name, by which he was thenceforth +known in the Society.[41] When a member was advanced from a lower to a +higher grade, the ceremony was performed at a public festival which all +the members of the Society in the island were expected to attend. The +candidate was then taken to a temple, where he was solemnly anointed +with fragrant oil on the forehead, and offered a pig to the god.[42] + + [38] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 239, 245; G. Forster, _op. cit._ + ii. 130; J. R. Forster, _op. cit._ pp. 411 _sq._ + + [39] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 239, 244; J. Turnbull, _op. cit._ + p. 364; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 492. + + [40] G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. 128 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ + i. 238; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 491. + + [41] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 239 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 491 _sqq._ + + [42] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 241 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 493 _sq._ + +When a member of the Society died his body was conveyed by the Areois to +the grand temple, where the bones of the kings were deposited. There the +priest of Oro, standing over the corpse, offered a long prayer to his +god. This prayer, and the ceremonies accompanying it, were designed to +divest the body of all the sacred and mysterious influence which the +deceased was thought to have received from the god at the moment when, +in the presence of the idol, the perfumed oil had been sprinkled on him, +and he had been raised to the order or rank in which he died. By this +act they supposed that the sacred influence was restored to Oro, by whom +it had been imparted. The body was then buried, like that of a common +man, within the precincts of the temple, in which the mortal remains of +chiefs were interred.[43] But if for any reason the corpse were buried +in unconsecrated ground, the ghost would appear to a survivor next day +and remonstrate with him, saying, "You have buried me in common earth, +and so long as I lie there, I cannot go to heaven. You must bury me with +ceremonies, and in holy ground." After that the corpse was disinterred, +and having been doubled up by tying the arms to the shoulders and the +knees to the trunk, it was buried in a sitting posture in a hole so +shallow that the earth barely covered the head. This was esteemed the +most honourable form of sepulture, and was principally confined to +personages of high rank.[44] + + [43] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 244 _sq._ + + [44] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 273 _sq._ + +The Areoi Society comprised women as well as men,[45] but the accounts +given of the proportion of the sexes and their relations to each other +are conflicting. According to one account, the male members outnumbered +the women as five to one.[46] The first missionaries reported that the +Areois were said to have each two or three wives, whom they exchanged +with each other.[47] According to Cook, every woman was common to every +man[48]; and Turnbull affirmed that the community of women was the very +principle of their union.[49] On the other hand, the naturalist George +Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook, observes: "We have been told a +wanton tale of promiscuous embraces, where every woman is common to +every man: but when we enquired for a confirmation of this story from +the natives, we were soon convinced that it must, like many others, be +considered as the groundless invention of a traveller's gay fancy."[50] +Again, Ellis observes that, "although addicted to every kind of +licentiousness themselves, each Areoi had his own wife, who was also a +member of the Society; and so jealous were they in this respect, that +improper conduct towards the wife of one of their own number, was +sometimes punished with death."[51] Yet the same writer speaks of "the +mysteries of iniquity, and acts of more than bestial degradation" to +which the Areois were at times addicted; and he says that "in some of +their meetings, they appear to have placed their invention on the rack, +to discover the worst pollutions of which it was possible for man to be +guilty, and to have striven to outdo each other in the most revolting +practices."[52] + + [45] G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. 128. + + [46] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 326. + + [47] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 174. + + [48] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 193 _sq._ + + [49] J. Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_, p. 364. + + [50] G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. 132. + + [51] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 239. + + [52] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 243. + +It was a rule of the Society that no member should have any children; +hence the first injunction given to a new member was to murder his +offspring. Any infant that might afterwards be born to him was strangled +at birth.[53] If a woman spared her child and could induce a man to +father it, "both the man and the woman, being deemed by this act to have +appropriated each other, are ejected from the community, and forfeit all +claim to the privileges and pleasures of Arreoy for the future; the +woman from that time being distinguished by the term _whannow-now_, +'bearer of children,' which is here a term of reproach."[54] The +pretext alleged by the Areois for this cruel practice was that, on +the institution of the Society by the god Oro, the first two members, +Orotetefa and Urutetefa, brothers of the god, had been celibate and +childless, and that therefore the members of the Society were bound to +imitate them by being also without offspring.[55] + + [53] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 194; J. R. Forster, _Observations_, + pp. 413 _sq._; G. Forster, _Voyage_, ii. 129 _sq._; J. Wilson, + _op. cit._ pp. 154 _sq._, 174, 194 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ + i. 230 _sq._, 233, 240. Moerenhout says that when a chief was an + Areoi, his first-born son was spared, but all the rest were + sacrificed; but immediately afterwards he adds, with apparent + inconsistency, that "the first (by which he seems to mean the + principal) Areois only killed their first sons and all their + daughters; the other male infants were spared." See Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 495, 496. These statements, so far as I have + observed, are not confirmed by other writers. + + [54] J. Cook, i. 194. + + [55] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 230 _sq._, 232 _sq._ + +In the constant repetition of their often obscene exhibitions the Areois +passed their lives, sailing from island to island or strolling from one +chief's house to that of another, where they renewed the same round of +dances, wrestlings, and pantomimic performances.[56] But the labour and +drudgery of dancing and performing for the amusement of the spectators +devolved chiefly on the lowest members of the Society, who were the +principal actors in all their shows, while the higher orders, though +they plastered themselves with charcoal and stained themselves scarlet +like their humbler brethren, were generally careful not to contribute to +the public hilarity by any exhausting efforts of their own. Thus they +led a life of dissipation and luxurious indolence.[57] + + [56] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 236, 237. + + [57] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 238, 241. + +They seem to have moved about in great troupes. As many as seventy +canoes, with more than seven hundred of these vagabonds on board, have +been seen steering from island to island.[58] The approach of such a +fleet to the shore with drums beating, flutes playing, and streamers +floating on the wind, was a picturesque sight, and as the canoes neared +the land the dancers might be seen jigging it on stages erected on +board, while the voices of the singers mingled with the roll of the +drums, the shrill music of the flutes, and the roar of the surf on the +beach in a confused but not unmelodious babel of sound.[59] + + [58] J. R. Forster, _Observations_, p. 412; G. Forster, + _Voyage_, ii. 128. + + [59] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 236 _sq._ Compare J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ ii. 132 _sq._ According to the latter writer there + were traditions of as many as a hundred and fifty canoes sailing + at once, each one seldom containing less than thirty or forty, + and sometimes a hundred persons. + +On landing in an island their first business was to take a small +sucking-pig to the temple and present it to the god as a thank-offering +to him for having brought them safe to shore. This, we are told, was the +only sacrifice ever offered in token of gratitude by any of the South +Sea Islanders to their imaginary divinities.[60] While they were +everywhere welcomed by the vulgar for the merriment they carried with +them, and were everywhere countenanced and liberally entertained by the +kings and chiefs, who found them convenient tools of fraud and +oppression, they were not received with equal enthusiasm by the farmers, +who had to furnish them with provisions, and who durst not refuse them +anything, however unreasonable and extortionate their demands. For the +Areois lived on the fat of the land. When they alighted, like a swarm of +locusts, on a rich district, they would send out their henchmen to scour +the neighbourhood and plunder the miserable inhabitants; and when they +moved on to their next halting-place, the gardens which they left behind +them often presented a scene of desolation and ruin.[61] Such havoc, +indeed, did they spread by their feastings and carousings on even a +short visit of a few days, that in some parts of Tahiti the natives were +compelled to abandon the fertile lowlands and retreat up the mountains, +submitting to the trouble of clambering up almost inaccessible slopes +and cultivating a less fruitful soil rather than expose much of the +produce of their labour to the ravages of these privileged robbers.[62] + + [60] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 326 _sq._ + + [61] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 237 _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. + Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 326-328. Compare J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. + 174, "Wherever they go they exercise power to seize what they + want from the inhabitants. They smite their hand on their breast + and say '_Harre_, give,' whenever they covet any thing, and none + dares deny them. They never work; live by plunder; yet are + highly respected, as none but persons of rank are admitted among + them." This last statement, however, is contradicted by Ellis, + who says (_op. cit._ i. 239) that "the fraternity was not + confined to any particular rank or grade in society, but was + composed of individuals from every class." + + [62] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 197. + +Not the least of the privileges, real or imaginary, enjoyed by the +Areois was that after death their spirits were believed to pass without +difficulty to that paradise of delights to which otherwise none but the +noble and wealthy could hope to attain.[63] + + [63] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 245 _sq._, 397; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 434 _sq._ + +In spite of the profligate life which the Areoi led and their addiction +to a round of frivolous amusements and entertainments, it seems likely +that the Society was originally founded for some serious purpose, though +the accounts which have come down to us hardly enable us to determine, +or even to conjecture with a fair degree of probability, what that +purpose was. That its aim was religious might be inferred on general +grounds, and is confirmed by the close relation in which the Society +stood to the national god Oro. Not only is Oro said to have founded the +Society, but before a troop of Areois set out on their peregrinations +they were obliged to kill many pigs in sacrifice to him and to offer +large quantities of plantains, bananas, and other fruits on his altars. +Moreover, temporary shrines were erected in their canoes for the worship +of Oro's two divine brothers, Orotetefa and Urutetefa, who were +traditionally said to have been the first members of the Society and +were regarded as its tutelary deities. In these shrines the principal +symbols were a stone for each of the brothers taken from Oro's temple, +and a few red feathers from the inside of his sacred image. Into these +symbols the gods were supposed to enter when the priest pronounced a +short prayer immediately before the sailing of the fleet.[64] + + [64] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 234. + +We might be better able to understand the purpose and the functions of +the Areoi Society if we were acquainted with the nature and meaning +which the natives ascribed to the god Oro, the reputed founder of the +Society; but on this subject our authorities shed little light. He is +described as the war-god[65] and as "the great national idol of Raiatea, +Tahiti, Eimeo, and some of the other islands," and he was said to be a +son of the creator Taaroa, who at first dwelt alone up aloft, but who +afterwards, with the help of his daughter Hina, created the heavens, the +earth, and the sea.[66] By European writers Oro has been variously +interpreted as a god of the dead or of the sun; and accordingly the +Society of the Areois has been variously explained as devoted either to +a cult of the Lord of the Dead for the sake of securing eternal +happiness in a world beyond the grave, or to a worship of the sun-god; +but the grounds alleged for either interpretation appear to be extremely +slight.[67] + + [65] Above, p. 258. + + [66] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 324, 325. + + [67] Gerland takes the former view, Moerenhout the latter. See + Waitz-Gerland, _Anthropologie_, vi. 368 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 484. The only evidence adduced by Moerenhout for + his interpretation of Oro as a sun-god is a statement that in + the Marquesas Islands the Areois suspended their performances + and went into retreat from April or May till the vernal equinox + (which in the southern hemisphere falls in September), and that + during their retreat they assumed the style of mourners and + bewailed the absence or death of their god, whom they called + Mahoui. This Mahoui is accordingly taken by Moerenhout to be the + sun and equated to Oro, the god of the Areois in the Society + Islands. But Mahoui seems to be no other than the well-known + Polynesian hero Maui, who can hardly have been the sun (see + below, p. 286 note^5); and Moerenhout's statement as to the + annual period of mourning observed by the Areois in the + Marquesas Islands is not, so far as I know, confirmed by any + other writer, and must, therefore, be regarded as open to doubt. + His statement and his interpretation of Oro and Mahoui were + accepted by Dr. Rivers, who made them the basis of his + far-reaching theory of a secret worship of the sun introduced + into the Pacific by immigrants from a far northern country, who + also built the megalithic monuments of Polynesia and Micronesia. + See W. H. R. Rivers, "Sun-cult and Megaliths in Polynesia," + _American Anthropologist_, xvii. July-September 1915, pp. 431 + _sqq._ In proof of the supposed connexion between these + megalithic monuments and a worship of the sun, Dr. Rivers says + (p. 440) that the Areois "held their celebrations in an + enclosure called _marae_ or _marai_, at one end of which was + situated a pyramidical structure with steps leading to a + platform on which were placed the images of the gods during the + religious celebrations of the people." But if by "their + celebrations" Dr. Rivers means the ordinary dramatic, musical, + and athletic performances of the Areois, he seems to be in + error; for it appears to be certain that these exhibitions were + regularly given, not at the _maraes_, but in or before large + houses built or specially set apart for the purpose. See above, + pp. 259 _sq._ + +Perhaps a faint gleam of light may fall on the mystery of the Areois +from an examination of their traditionary first members and guardian +deities, the two divine brothers, Orotetefai and Urutetefai. The +similarity of the names of the brothers suggests that they may have been +twins; for it is a common custom to bestow either the same or a similar +name on each of a pair of twins in order to indicate their close +relationship to each other.[68] If they were twins, there are some +grounds for thinking that they were Heavenly Twins; for their father or +creator, Taaroa, seems certainly to have been a sky-god, and their +mother, Hina, is by some authorities regarded as the moon; moreover, the +two brothers are said to have first descended from the sky to the earth +on a rainbow.[69] If the twinship of the divine brothers could be made +out, it might perhaps explain some of the peculiar features of the Areoi +Society. For example, their remarkable custom of not allowing any of +their offspring to live; for it has been a common custom in many parts +of the world to put twins to death.[70] Further, the superhuman rank +accorded to the Areois becomes more intelligible on this hypothesis. For +among many savage peoples twins are credited with the possession of +powers superior to those of ordinary humanity; in particular, they are +thought to be able to influence the weather for good or evil, as by +causing rain or drought and the wind to blow or be still.[71] Among the +Baronga of South-Eastern Africa the supposed relation of twins to the +sky is very clearly marked. They call the mother of twins by a name +which means "Heaven" (_Tilo_), and consistently they style the twins +themselves "Children of Heaven" (_Bana ba Tilo_).[72] The mother is even +said to have "made Heaven," to have "carried Heaven," and to have +"ascended to Heaven."[73] The connexion which is believed to exist +between her and the twins on the one side and the sky on the other is +brought out plainly in the customs which the Baronga observe for the +purpose of procuring rain in time of drought. Thus they will take a +mother of twins, put her in a hole, and pour on her water which they +have drawn from all the wells, till the hole is half full, and the water +comes up to her breast. This is thought to make the rain fall.[74] Or +again, in order to get rain, the women will strip themselves naked +except for a girdle and head-dress of grass, and thus attired will go in +procession, headed by a mother of twins, and pour water on the graves of +twins. And if the body of a twin has been buried in dry ground, they +will dig it up and bury it again near a river; for the grave of a twin, +in their opinion, should always be wet. Thus they hope to draw down rain +on the thirsty ground.[75] Again, when a thunderstorm is raging and +lightning threatens to strike a village, the Baronga will say to a twin, +"Help us! you are a Child of Heaven! You can therefore cope with Heaven; +it will hear you when you speak." So the child goes out of the hut and +prays to Heaven as follows: "Go away! Do not annoy us! We are afraid. Go +and roar far away." When the thunderstorm is over, the child is thanked +for its services. The mother of twins is also supposed to be able to +help in the same way, for has she not, as the natives express it, +ascended to Heaven? They say that she can speak with Heaven, and that +she is at it or in it.[76] Among the Kpelle, a negro tribe of Liberia, +twins are regarded as born magicians, and as such are treated with +respect, and people sometimes make them presents in order to ensure +their goodwill; in doing so they are careful never to make a present to +the one twin without the other, and the twin who was born last gets his +present first, for he is regarded as the first-born. Twins are thought +by the Kpelle to do wonders; they even say that "a twin surpasses every +medicine-man."[77] Among the Fan or Fang, a tribe of the Cameroons in +West Africa, there is a curious superstition that a twin ought not to +see a rainbow. Should he by accident have caught sight of one, he must +shave his eyebrows and dye the place of the one black and the place of +the other red.[78] This superstition seems to imply a special relation +between twins and the sky, and it reminds us of the Tahitian tradition +that the two divine brothers, the first members of the Areoi Society, +descended to earth on a rainbow.[79] + + [68] J. Rendel Harris, _The Dioscuri in the Christian Legends_ + (London, 1903), pp. 1 _sqq._ _id._, _The Cult of the Heavenly + Twins_ (Cambridge, 1906), pp. 58 _sqq._; _id._, _Boanerges_ + (Cambridge, 1913), pp. 291 _sqq._ + + [69] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 230, 232. Ellis does not admit that + Orotetefa and Urutetefa were, strictly speaking, the sons of + Oro. He writes: "According to the traditions of the people, + Taaroa created, and, by means of Hina, brought forth when full + grown Orotetefa and Urutetefa. They were not his sons; _oriori_ + is the term employed by the people, which seems to mean + _create_" (_op. cit._ i. 230). With regard to Hina (Heena), + interpreted as the moon, or the goddess of the moon, see J. R. + Forster, _Observations_, p. 549; G. Forster, _Voyage_, ii. 152; + J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._. i. 428 _sq._, 458, 472; E. + Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 69. + _s.v._ "Hina," "Hina is by far the best known of all Polynesian + legendary personages. In the more easterly islands she is a + goddess, and is almost certainly the Moon-goddess." Similarly + Mr. E. E. V. Collocot observes that Hina "is generally regarded + as the Moon-goddess, and this view was spontaneously put forward + by a Tongan; in conversation with me" (_Journal of the + Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) p. 238). + + [70] Abundant evidence of the custom is produced by Dr. Rendel + Harris in his learned works, _The Cult of the Heavenly Twins_ + and _Boanerges_. + + [71] _The Golden Bough_, Part I., _The Magic Art and the + Evolution of Kings_, i. 262 _sqq._ + + [72] H. A. Junod, _Les Ba-ronga_ (Neuchâtel, 1898), p. 412; + _id._, _Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchâtel, 1912-1913), + ii. 394. + + [73] H. A. Junod, _Life of a South African Tribe_, ii. 398. + + [74] H. A. Junod, _Life of a South African Tribe_, ii. 399. + + [75] H. A. Junod, _Les Ba-ronga_, pp. 417 _sq._; _id._, _Life of + a South African Tribe_, ii. 296. + + [76] H. A. Junod, _Life of a South African Tribe_, ii. 399 _sq._ + + [77] D. Westermann, _Die Kpelle, ein Negerstamm in Liberia_ + (Göttingen, 1921), pp. 68, 212, 355. The Bambara, another tribe + of West Africa, similarly regard the last-born of twins as the + elder of the two. See Jos. Henry, _Les Bambara_ (Münster i. W., + 1910), p. 98. So, too, with the Mossi of the Sudan. See E. + Mangin, "Les Mossi," _Anthropos_, x.-xi. (1915-1916) p. 192. + + [78] L. Martrou, "Les 'Eki' des Fang," _Anthropos_, i. (1906) p. + 751; H. Trilles, _Le Totémisme chez les Fân_ (Münster i. W., + 1912), p. 593. Compare H. A. Junod, _Life of a South African + Tribe_, ii. 400, note^1, who reports the same superstition among + the Fan on the testimony of his wife, who was for years a + missionary in the tribe. + + [79] Above, p. 267. + +Another notion about twins which may possibly help to throw light on +some of the practices of the Areoi Society, is that they or their +parents or both are endowed with a fertilising or prolific virtue, which +enables them to multiply animals or plants and thereby to increase the +food supply. Thus, for example, some tribes of Northern Rhodesia keep +pigeons in their villages, and in erecting a pigeon-cote they take care +that the first stakes "are driven in by a woman who has borne twins, in +order, they say, that the pigeons may multiply."[80] Some Bantu tribes +of this region ascribe a similar virtue to both the father and the +mother of twins. They think that such parents exert a beneficial or +prolific influence at laying the foundations of pigeon-cotes, +chicken-houses, goat-pens, or any other building used for the purposes +of breeding; a certain woman who had borne twins thrice was lately in +great request at these functions.[81] The Zulus think that all goats +belonging to a twin bring forth young in couples.[82] + + [80] C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern + Nigeria_ (London, 1911), pp. 307 _sq._ + + [81] D. Campbell, _In the Heart of Bantuland_ (London, 1922), p. + 155. + + [82] Dudley Kidd, _Savage Childhood_ (London, 1906), p. 49. + +In the Central District of Busoga, Central Africa, when a woman has +given birth to twins, the people of her clan do not sow any seed until +the twins have been brought to the field. A pot of cooked grain is set +before the children with a cake of sesame and all the seed that is to be +sown. The food is eaten by the assembled people, and afterwards the +field is sown in presence of the twins; the plot is then said to be the +field of the twins. The mother of twins must sow her seed before any +person of the clan will sow his or hers.[83] These customs seem clearly +to imply a belief that twins and their mother possess a special power of +fertilising the seed. Among the Baganda of Central Africa twins were +supposed to be sent by Mukasa, the great god whose blessing on the crops +and on the people was ensured at an annual festival. The twins were +thought to be under the protection of the god, and they bore his name, +the boys being called Mukasa and the girls Namukasa. And a series of +customs observed by the parents of twins among the Baganda indicates in +the plainest manner a belief that they were endowed with a fertilising +virtue which extended, not only to the crops and the cattle, but also to +human beings. Thus the parents of twins were supposed to make people +fruitful by sprinkling them with a mixture of water and clay from pots, +of which each of the parents had one. Again, some time after the birth +the parents used to make a round of visits to relations and friends, +taking the twins with them. At every house they danced, the father +wearing a crown made from a certain creeper, and the mother wearing a +girdle of the same material. At these dances offerings were made to the +twins. These dances were most popular "because the people believed that +thereby they obtained a special blessing from the god Mukasa, who +favoured the parents of twins, and through them dispensed blessing +wherever they went." The persons whom the twins and their parents +honoured with a visit "thought that, not only they themselves would be +blessed and given children, but that their herds and crops also would be +multiplied." A ceremony performed by the father and mother of twins over +a flower of the plantain indicated in the plainest, if the grossest, +fashion the belief of the Baganda that parents of twins could magically +fertilise the plantains which form the staple food of the people. No +wonder, then, that among them a mother of twins is deemed a source of +blessing to the whole community, and that for some time after the birth +both she and the father were sacred and wore a distinctive dress to +prevent any one from touching them. The father, in particular, "could do +what he liked, because he was under the protection of the god"; for +example, he was free to enter anybody's garden and to take the produce +at will. Special drums, too, were made for the parents, one for the +father and one for the mother; and for some time after the birth these +were beaten continually both by day and by night.[84] + + [83] J. Roscoe, _The Northern Bantu_ (Cambridge, 1915), p. 235. + + [84] J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the + Baganda," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 32-34, 80; _id._, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. + 64-72. These two accounts to some extent supplement each other. + I have drawn on both. As to the annual festival of the god + Mukasa, see _id._, _The Baganda_, pp. 298 _sq._ + +Among the Hos of Togo, in West Africa, in like manner, special drums are +beaten for the parents of twins, and the parents dance publicly to the +music in the main street of the village, after going nine times round +it. Some days later the parents go the round of all the Ho towns, +everywhere executing the same dance to the same music at noon; but +should one of the twins have died in the meantime, the parents dance at +night. It is believed that, if the customary rites were not performed at +the birth of twins, the parents of the twins would be crippled. +Curiously enough, the drums, to the music of which the parents dance, +may not be beaten by any one without special reason; and no one else may +dance to their music except such as have slain either a man or a +leopard. Among these people the birth of twins is the occasion of very +great rejoicing. They say that "the road which the mother of twins goes +is better than the road which the rich man goes."[85] The saying +suggests that the Hos, like the Baganda, regard a mother of twins as +diffusing fertility wherever she goes; and, on the analogy of the dances +of parents of twins among the Baganda, we may conjecture that in like +manner among the Hos the parents of twins are supposed to confer the +blessing of fruitfulness on all the towns where they dance. + + [85] J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), pp. 202-206. + +Among the Barundi of East Africa the birth of twins is celebrated with +rites, songs, and ritual dances, which last for days and even for weeks. +As soon as the news spreads, the neighbours, friends, and relations +flock to the house to sing, bringing with them presents for the parents +or offerings to the spirits. The amount of provisions thus accumulated +is enormous, but the parents of the twins benefit little by it; the +great bulk disappears as by magic among the self-invited guests. +Festivity, dancing, and singing are now the order of the day. Dancers, +male and female, their faces painted red and white or yellow, dance like +furies in a circle for hours together, singing ritual hymns at the top +of their voices, while an old sorceress besprinkles the troop with +lustral water. It is commonly believed that if these rites were omitted, +the twins and their parents would die. At the birth of twins it is +customary to buy two black sheep or lambs and to dedicate them to the +twins, one to each. These sheep are then left at liberty to run about as +they like by day and night, and to enter the fields and browse at will. +If one of them dies it is replaced by another. The animals are described +as the guardians of the children, the receptacle or symbol of their +spirits, in short, as their fetish.[86] To some extent, they are +analogous to the pig which an Areoi used to offer to the god at the +ceremony of his consecration; for, though sometimes the animal was +killed, at other times it was liberated, and, being regarded as sacred +or belonging to the god to whom it had been offered, was allowed to +range the district uncontrolled till it died.[87] Among the Baluba, a +tribe of the Belgian Congo, there is great joy at the birth of twins, +and special ceremonies are observed on the occasion. The twins are +invariably named Kyunga and Kahya, after the spirits of two ancient +kings, and to these spirits the twins are consecrated. After being +washed and decorated they are placed side by side in a winnowing-basket +and carried by the women of the family in procession through the +village, headed by the proud father. Dancing and singing they go to the +ash-heap of the village. There they all rub themselves with ashes and +perform another dance. After that, still led by the father of the twins, +they go to the houses of the chief people, and in front of each house +the father dances, while the women beat time with their hands. Wherever +the procession halts, the householder is expected to come and admire the +twins, to compliment the father, and to deposit a small present in the +winnowing-basket.[88] Among the Herero of South-West Africa the parents +of twins are looked on as sacred, and for a time they may not speak to +any one, and no one may speak to them. But after the lapse of some days +the family goes the round of the village, visiting three or four huts +every day. The father of the twins sits down on the right side of the +hut, and the inmates make him offerings of beads, oxen, and so forth. +When he has thus gone the round of the village, he repairs to the +neighbouring villages, where the same ceremonies are repeated. It is +often a year before he returns to his own village, and when he does so +he brings back with him a great quantity of offerings. Henceforth the +father of the twins enjoys all the privileges of a priestly chief; he +may sacrifice at the holy fire, and he may represent and even succeed +the chief in the office of priest for the village. The twins themselves +are eligible for the same office. If a chief dies a natural death, he is +succeeded in his priestly function by his twin son; whereas the +chieftainship passes to the chief's legal heir, who is properly the son +of his eldest sister, and who thenceforth assumes the name of the twin. +A twin is bound by no taboo; he may eat of all flesh offered in +sacrifice; he may drink of the milk of every holy cow, just like the +chief and the priest themselves.[89] + + [86] J. M. M. van der Burgt, _Dictionnaire Français-Kirundi_ + (Bois-le-Duc, 1903), pp. 324 _sq._; H. Meyer, _Die Barundi_ + (Leipzig, 1916), pp. 110 _sq._ + + [87] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 242. + + [88] Colle, _Les Baluba_ (Brussels, 1913), i. 253-255. + + [89] J. Irle, _Die Herero_ (Gütersloh, 1906), pp. 96-99. + +In these cases we are not told that twins and their parents are supposed +to be endowed with a power of multiplying the herds and generally of +increasing the supply of food by the prolific influence which they +diffuse about them; but the analogy of the customs and beliefs of the +Baganda concerning the birth of twins renders the supposition probable. +At least on this hypothesis we can readily understand the round of +visits which the parents, or one of them, pay to the surrounding towns +or villages, and the presents which are made to them. If they indeed +possess a power of imparting fertility and abundance wherever they go, +it is obviously in everybody's interest to be visited by them, and +clearly, on the same supposition, it is everybody's duty to make some +return to them for the wonderful benefits which they have conferred. + +Similarly we may perhaps suppose that the rounds which the Areois went +from island to island, dancing, singing, and playing their tricks +wherever they stopped, were believed to quicken the fruits of the earth, +and possibly also to multiply the pigs and the fish. On that assumption, +the unlimited right which these vagabonds enjoyed of appropriating and +consuming the produce of the gardens was probably accorded to them as a +natural and proper remuneration for the inestimable services which their +mere presence was believed to render to the crops. The sexual excesses, +in which they appear to have indulged, would also be intelligible, if it +was imagined that, on the principle of sympathetic magic, such +indulgences actually promoted the multiplication and growth of plants +and animals. But this explanation of the extravagant rites observed by +the Areois, and of the quaint beliefs entertained concerning them, is +offered only as an hypothesis for what it is worth. It may be worth +while noting that among the Kpelle, a tribe of Liberia in West Africa, +there is reported to exist a Secret Society of Twins,[90] but whether +it bears any resemblance to the Society of the Areois I do not know. + + [90] D. Westermann, _Die Kpelle, ein Negerstamm in Liberia_ + (Göttingen, 1921), p. 228. + +A familiar figure of the Polynesian pantheon, who meets us in the +mythology of the Society Islanders, was the famous god or hero Maui. +Many stories of his exploits were told in the islands. It is said that +originally the sky lay flat upon the face of the earth and ocean, being +held down by the legs of a huge cuttle-fish. But Maui dived into the +sea, and, grappling with the monster, utterly dismembered him; whereupon +the sky flew up and expanded into the beautiful blue vault which we now +see above us, with the noonday sun for the keystone of the arch.[91] +Again, the natives told how, one day, sitting in his canoe, Maui let +down his line with a hook at the end of it and fished up the earth, +which had hitherto lain at the bottom of the sea.[92] Also he is said to +have held the sun with ropes to prevent him from going too fast.[93] For +it happened that Maui was hard at work, building a temple, when he +perceived that the day was declining and that the night would overtake +him before he had accomplished his task; so hastily twining some ropes +of coco-nut fibre, he laid hold of the sun's rays and tethered them by +the ropes to a tree, so that the sun could not stir till Maui had +finished the task he was at.[94] Further, Maui is said to have invented +the mode of kindling fire by rubbing the point of one stick in the +groove of another,[95] which was the way in which the Society Islanders +regularly made fire.[96] Maui was also supposed to be the cause of +earthquakes.[97] In Tahiti a curious image of Maui was seen and +described by Captain Cook. "It was the figure of a man, constructed of +basket-work, rudely made, but not ill-designed; it was something more +than seven feet high, and rather too bulky in proportion to its height. +The wicker skeleton was completely covered with feathers, which were +white where the skin was to appear, and black in the parts which it is +their custom to paint or stain, and upon the head, where there was to be +a representation of hair: upon the head also were four protuberances, +three in front and one behind, which we should have called horns, but +which the Indians dignified with the name of _Tate Ete_, little men. The +image was called Manioe, and was said to be the only one in Otaheite. +They attempted to give us an explanation of its use and design, but we +had not then acquired enough of their language to understand them. We +learnt, however, afterwards that it was a representation of Mauwe, one +of their _Eatuas_, or gods of the second class."[98] + + [91] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 526. + + [92] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 449 _sq._ + + [93] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 167. + + [94] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ ii. 40 _sq._; W. + Ellis, _op. cit._ ii. 170 _sq._ + + [95] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 526. + + [96] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 141; J. Wilson, + _op. cit._ p. 357; J. Turnbull, _Voyage round the World_, p. + 349; Wallis, in R. Kerr's _General History and Collection of + Voyages and Travels_, xii. 212; _id._, in J. Hawkesworth's + _Voyages_, i. (London, 1773) p. 483. + + [97] J. R. Forster, _Observations_, p. 540; G. Forster, _Voyage + round the World_, ii. 151. These writers spell his name O-Maouwe + and O-mauwee. + + [98] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 156 _sq._ + +Besides the high primaeval deities, born of the Night, the Society +Islanders believed in a host of inferior divinities, many of whom were +said to have been created by Taaroa, the supreme god. Thus, between the +high gods and the deities of particular places or of particular +professions, there was a class of intermediate deities, who were not +supposed to have existed from the beginning or to have been born of +Night. Their origin was veiled in obscurity, but they were often +described as having been renowned men, who, after death, were deified by +their descendants. They all received the homage of the people, and on +all public occasions were acknowledged among the gods.[99] Again, there +were many gods of the sea, among whom the principal seem to have been +Tuaraatai and Ruahatu. These were generally called shark gods (_atua +mao_), not that the shark was itself deemed a god, but that it was +supposed to be employed by the marine gods as their minister of +vengeance. It was only the large blue shark which was believed to act in +this capacity; and it is said that these voracious creatures always +spared a shipwrecked priest, even when they devoured his companions; +nay, they would recognise a priest on board any canoe, come at his call, +and retire at his bidding. A priest of one of these shark gods told Mr. +Ellis that he or his father had been carried on the back of a shark from +Raiatea to Huahine, a distance of twenty miles. Other gods were thought +to preside over the fisheries, and to direct the shoals of fish to the +coasts. Their aid was invoked by fishermen before they launched their +canoes and while they were busy at sea. But these marine deities were +not supposed by the people to be of equal antiquity with the great +primordial gods, born of the Night (_atua fauau po_).[100] Again, there +were gods of the air, who were sometimes worshipped under the figure of +birds. The chief of these aerial deities were thought to be a brother +and sister, who dwelt near the great rock, which is the foundation of +the world. There they imprisoned the stormy winds, but sent them forth +from time to time to punish such as neglected the worship of the gods. +In tempests their compassion was besought by mariners tossed on the sea +or by their friends on shore.[101] To the minds of the islanders there +were also gods of hill and dale, of precipice and ravine. "By their rude +mythology each lovely island was made a sort of fairy-land, and the +spells of enchantment were thrown over its varied scenes.... The +mountain's summit, and the fleecy mists that hang upon its brows--the +rocky defile--the foaming cataract--and the lonely dell--were all +regarded as the abode or resort of these invisible beings."[102] + + [99] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 326 _sq._ As to the inferior gods, + see also J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 451 _sqq._ + + [100] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 327-329. + + [101] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 329 _sq._ As to the worship of + birds, Captain Cook says: "This island [Tahiti indeed, and the + rest that lie near it, have a particular bird, some a heron and + others a king's fisher, to which they pay a peculiar regard, and + concerning which they have some superstitious notions with + respect to good and bad fortune, as we have of the swallow and + robin-redbreast, giving them the name of _eatua_, and by no + means killing or molesting them; yet they never address a + petition to them, or approach them with any act of adoration." + See J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 224. + + [102] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 329 _sq._, 331. + +The general name for "god" in the Society Islands, as throughout +Polynesia, was _atua_.[103] The word was also applied, in the expression +_oramatuas_ or _oromatuas_, to the spirits of departed relatives, who +were also worshipped and ranked among the deities.[104] To these we +shall return presently; meantime it may not be out of place to give some +notice of the worship of the other gods, since in the religion of the +Society Islanders, as of other branches of the Polynesian race, it was +closely interwoven with the worship of the dead. + + [103] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 333 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 440 _sqq._; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, pp. 30 _sq._, _s.v._ "atua." Captain Cook and the + first missionaries spelled the word _eatua_ or _eatooa_. See J. + Cook, _Voyages_, i. 221, vi. 149; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 343. + + [104] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 324 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 454 _sq._ + + +§ 4. _The Temples and Images of the Gods_ + +The sacred place dedicated to religious worship was called a _morai_, +or, as it is also spelled, a _marai_ or _marae_, which may be translated +"temple," though all such places were uncovered and open to the sky. The +national temples, where the principal idols were deposited, consisted of +large walled enclosures, some of which contained smaller inner courts. +The form was frequently that of a square or a parallelogram, with sides +forty or fifty feet long. The area was paved with flat stones, and two +sides of it were enclosed by a high stone wall, while the front was +protected by a low fence, and within rose in steps or terraces a solid +pyramidical structure built of stone, which usually formed one of the +narrow sides of the area, either at the western or at the eastern end. +These pyramids, which were always truncated so as to form a narrow +platform or ridge on their upper surface, were the most striking and +characteristic feature of the _morais_; indeed the name _morai_ or +_marae_ appears to have been sometimes confined, at least by European +observers, to the pyramid. In front of the pyramid the images were kept +and the altars fixed. The houses of the priests and of the keepers of +the idols were erected within the enclosure.[105] Of these interesting +monuments, which seemed destined to last for ages, only a few +insignificant ruins survive; the rest have been destroyed, chiefly at +the instigation of the missionaries.[106] + + [105] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 339 _sqq._ Compare + J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 157 _sqq._, 217, 219, 220, 222, vi. 37, + _sq._, 41; J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage + round the World_, pp. 543 _sqq._; G. Forster, _Voyage round the + World_, i. 267, ii. 138 _sq._; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 207 + _sq._, 211 _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 267 + _sq._, 271, 280 _sqq._, 549, ii. 13 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 466-470; A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. + 111 _sqq._; S. and K. Routledge, "Notes on some Archaeological + Remains in the Society and Austral Islands," _Journal of the + Royal Anthropological Institute_, li. (1921) 438 _sqq._ + According to J. R. Forster (_l.c._), the _marais_ (_morais, + maraes_) "consist of a very large pile of stones, generally in + the shape of an Egyptian pyramid, with large steps; sometimes + this pyramid makes one of the sides of an area, walled in with + square stones and paved with flat stones: the pyramid is not + solid, but the inside is filled with smaller fragments of coral + stones." + + [106] A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, p. 135. This writer has + given us a survey and description of some of the principal + remains which existed at the end of the nineteenth century (pp. + 111-148). The ruins of two _maraes_ in the island of Moorea are + described by Mr. and Mrs. Routledge (_l.c._). In one of them the + pyramid stood at the western end of the enclosure, and in the + other at the eastern end. + +Some of the pyramids erected within these sacred enclosures were of +great size. In Tahiti an enormous one was seen and described by Captain +Cook as well as by later observers. It was of oblong shape and measured +two hundred and sixty-seven feet in length by eighty-seven feet in +width. It rose in a series of eleven steps or terraces, each four feet +high, so that the total height of the structure was forty-four feet. +Each step was formed of a single course of white coral stone, neatly +squared and polished. The steps on the long sides were broader than +those at the ends, so that at the top it terminated, not in an oblong of +the same figure as the base, but in a ridge like the roof of a house. +The interior of the pyramid was solid, being filled up with round +pebbles which, from the regularity of their figure, seemed to have been +wrought. Some of the coral stones were very large; one of them was three +and a half feet long by two and a half feet wide. The foundation of the +pyramid was built not of coral, but of what Captain Cook called rock, by +which he probably meant a volcanic stone. These foundation stones were +also squared; one of them measured four feet seven inches by two feet +four inches. "Such a structure," says Captain Cook, "raised without the +assistance of iron tools to shape the stones, or mortar to join them, +struck us with astonishment: it seemed to be as compact and firm as it +could have been made by any workman in Europe, except that the steps +which range along its greatest length are not perfectly strait, but sink +in a kind of hollow in the middle, so that the whole surface, from end +to end, is not a right line, but a curve." All the stones, both rock and +coral, must have been brought from a distance, for there was no quarry +in the neighbourhood. The squaring of these blocks with stone tools +must, as Captain Cook observes, have been a work of incredible labour; +but the polishing of them could have been effected more easily by means +of the sharp coral sand, which is found everywhere on the seashore in +great abundance. On the top of the pyramid, and about the middle, stood +the wooden image of a bird; and near it lay the image of a fish carved +in stone. This great pyramid formed part of one side of a spacious area, +nearly square, which measured three hundred and sixty feet by three +hundred and fifty-four, and was walled in with stone as well as paved +with flat stones in its whole extent. Notwithstanding the pavement, +several trees were growing within the sacred enclosure. About a hundred +yards to the west was another paved area or court, in which were several +small stages raised on wooden pillars about seven feet high. These +stages the natives called _ewattas_. Captain Cook judged them rightly to +be altars, observing that they supported what appeared to be offerings +in the shape of provisions of all sorts, as well as whole hogs and many +skulls of hogs and dogs.[107] + + [107] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 157-159. The great pyramid was + afterwards visited and described by the first missionaries. + Their measurements confirm, while slightly exceeding, those of + Captain Cook. They speak, however, of ten steps instead of + eleven, and say that the lowest step was six feet high and the + rest about five. See J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 207 _sq._, with + the plate. + +The pyramids within the sacred enclosure were not usually so large or so +lofty. In the island of Huahine the pyramid of the chief god Tani or +Tane was a hundred and twenty-four feet long by sixteen feet broad, and +it had only two steps or stories. The lower step or story was about ten +feet high and faced with blocks of coral, set on their edges: some of +these blocks were as high as the step itself. The upper step or story +was similarly faced with coral, but was not more than three feet high. +The interior of both stories was filled with earth. In the centre of the +principal front stood the god's bed, a stone platform twenty-four feet +long by thirteen feet wide, but only eighteen inches high. The style and +masonry of this pyramid, as well as its dimensions, appear to have been +very inferior to those of the great one in Tahiti. The blocks were +apparently unhewn and unpolished, the angles ill formed, and the walls +not straight. Venerable and magnificent trees overshadowed the +sanctuary. One of them measured fifteen yards in girth above the roots. +It is said that the god often wished to fly away, but that his long tail +always caught in the boughs of this giant tree and dragged him down to +earth again.[108] + + [108] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 265 _sq._ + +These sacred pyramids "were erected in any place, and at any time, when +the priests required, by the slavish people. On such occasions the +former overlooked the latter at their work, and denounced the most +terrible judgments upon those who were remiss at it. The poor wretches +were thus compelled to finish their tasks (burthensome as they often +were, in heaving blocks from the sea, dragging them ashore, and heaping +them one upon another) without eating, which would have desecrated the +intended sanctuary. To restrain the gnawings of hunger they bound +girdles of bark round their bodies, tightening the ligatures from time +to time, as their stomachs shrank with emptiness. And, when the drudgery +was done, it was not uncommon for the remorseless priests to seize one +of the miserable builders and sacrifice him to the idol of the +place."[109] + + [109] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 13 _sq._ + +Temples of this sort were found scattered over the islands in every +situation--on hill-tops, on jutting headlands, and in the recesses of +groves.[110] They varied greatly in size: some were small and built in +the rudest manner, mere squares of ill-shapen and ill-piled stones. In +the island of Borabora the missionaries found not less than two hundred +and twenty of these structures crowded within an area only ten miles in +circumference.[111] The trees that grew within the sacred enclosure were +sacred. They comprised particularly the tall cypress-like casuarina and +the broader-leaved and more exuberant callophyllum, thespesia, and +cardia. Their interlacing boughs formed a thick umbrageous covert, which +often excluded the rays of the sun; and the contrast between the bright +glare of a tropical day outside and the sombre gloom in the depths of +the grove, combined with the sight of the gnarled trunks and twisted +boughs of the aged trees, and the sighing of the wind in the branches, +to strike a religious horror into the mind of the beholder.[112] The +ground which surrounded the temples (_morais_) was sacred and afforded a +sanctuary for criminals. Thither they fled on any apprehension of +danger, especially when many human sacrifices were expected, and thence +they might not be torn by violence, though they were sometimes seduced +from their asylum by guile.[113] + + [110] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 341. + + [111] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ ii. 13. + + [112] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 341 _sq._ + + [113] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 351. + +These remarkable sanctuaries were at once temples for the worship of the +gods and burial-places for the human dead. On this combination of +functions I have already adduced some evidence;[114] but as the point is +important, I will cite further testimonies as to the custom of burying +the dead in these enclosures. + + [114] Above, pp. 116 _sqq._ + +Thus Captain Cook writes: "I must more explicitly observe that there are +two places in which the dead are deposited: one a kind of shed, where +the flesh is suffered to putrefy; the other an enclosure, with erections +of stones, where the bones are afterwards buried. The sheds are called +_tupapow_, and the enclosures _morai_. The _morais_ are also places of +worship".[115] Again, after describing how a dead body used to be placed +in the temporary house or shed (_tupapow_) and left there to decay for +five moons, Captain Cook tells us that "what remains of the body is +taken down from the bier, and the bones, having been scraped and washed +very clean, are buried, according to the rank of the person, either +within or without a _morai_: if the deceased was an _earee_ or chief, +his skull is not buried with the rest of the bones, but is wrapped up in +fine cloth, and put in a kind of box made for that purpose, which is +also placed in the _morai_. This coffer is called _ewharre no te +orometua_, the house of a teacher or master".[116] + + [115] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 217. + + [116] J. Cook, _op. cit._ i. 219. + +Again, after describing the human sacrifice which he witnessed at the +great _morai_ at Attahooroo, in Tahiti, Captain Cook proceeds as +follows: "The _morai_ (which, undoubtedly, is a place of worship, +sacrifice, and burial at the same time), where the sacrifice was now +offered, is that where the supreme chief of the whole island is always +buried, and is appropriated to his family, and some of the principal +people. It differs little from the common ones, except in extent. Its +principal part is a large oblong pile of stones, lying loosely upon each +other, about twelve or fourteen feet high, contracted toward the top, +with a square area on each side, loosely paved with pebble stones, under +which the bones of the chiefs are buried.... The human sacrifices are +buried under different parts of the pavement."[117] + + [117] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 37. + +Again, Captain Cook tells us that after a battle the victors used to +collect all the dead that had fallen into their hands and bring them to +the _morai_, where, with much ceremony, they dug a hole and buried all +the bodies in it as so many offerings to the gods; but the skulls of the +slain were never afterwards taken up. Their own great chiefs who fell in +battle were treated in a different manner. Captain Cook was informed +that the bodies of the late king and two chiefs, who were slain in +battle, were brought to the _morai_ at Attahooroo. There the priests cut +out the bowels of the corpses before the great altar, and the bodies +were afterwards buried at three different spots in the great pile of +stones which formed the most conspicuous feature of the _morai_. Common +men who perished in the same battle were all buried in a single hole at +the foot of the pile. The spots where the bodies of the king and chiefs +reposed were pointed out to Captain Cook and his companions.[118] + + [118] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 40 _sq._ + +Again, in the island of Tahiti, the naturalist George Forster, who +accompanied Captain Cook, saw a stone building, "in form of the frustum +of a pyramid," constructed in terraces or steps, and measuring about +twenty yards in length at the base. "This the native said was a +burying-place and place of worship, _marài_, and distinguished it by the +name of _marai no-Aheatua_, the burying-place of Aheatua, the present +king of Tiarroboo."[119] + + [119] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, i. 267. + +Again, in the island of Huahine, the missionaries Tyerman and Bennet saw +"a pagan _marae_ hard by, where the sovereigns of Huahine were +buried--and where, indeed, they lay in more than oriental state, each +one resting in his bed, at the foot of the Sacred Mountain, beneath the +umbrage of the magnificent _aoa_ [tree], and near the beach for ever +washed by waters that roll round the world.... The great _marae_ itself +was dedicated to Tani, the father of the gods here; but the whole ground +adjacent was marked with the vestiges of smaller _maraes_--private +places for worship and family interment--while this was the capital of +the island and the headquarters of royalty and idolatry."[120] A little +later, speaking of the same sacred place, the missionaries observe, "The +first _marae_ that we visited was the sepulchral one of the kings of +Huahine, for many generations. It was an oblong inclosure, forty-five +feet long by twenty broad, fenced with a strong stone wall. Here the +bodies of the deceased, according to the manner of the country, being +bound up, with the arms doubled to their shoulders, the legs bent under +their thighs and both forced upwards against the abdomen, were let down, +without coffins, into a hole prepared for their reception, and just deep +enough to allow the earth to cover their heads."[121] + + [120] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 271. + + [121] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 280. + +One of our best authorities on these islands, William Ellis, speaks of +the _maraes_ (_morais_), whether they belonged to private families, to +districts, or to the kings, as being "the general depositories of the +bones of the departed, whose bodies had been embalmed"; and as a motive +for the practice he alleges the sanctity which attached to these places, +and which might naturally be supposed to guard the graves against +impious and malicious violation.[122] However, the first missionaries +say of the islanders that "they bury none in the _morai_, but those +offered in sacrifice, or slain in battle, or the children of chiefs +which have been strangled at the birth--an act of atrocious inhumanity +too common."[123] According to Moerenhout, the _marais_ (_morais_) +belonging to private families were often used as cemeteries; but in the +public _marais_ none but the human victims, and sometimes the priests, +were interred.[124] Thus there is to some extent a conflict of testimony +between our authorities on the subject of burial in the temples. But the +evidence which I have adduced seems to render it probable that many at +least of the _morais_ served as burial-grounds for kings and chiefs of +high degree, and even for common men who had fallen fighting in the +service of their country. + + [122] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 405. See above, pp. 117 _sq._ + + [123] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 364. + + [124] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 470. + +In more recent years the German traveller, Arthur Baessler, who examined +and described the existing ruins of these sacred edifices, denied that +the _maraes_ (_morais_) were places of burial, while he allowed that +they were places of worship.[125] He distinguished a _marae_ from an +_ahu_, admitting at the same time that they closely resembled each +other, both in their structure and in the ritual celebrated at +them.[126] According to him, a _marae_ was a sort of domestic chapel, +the possession of which constituted the most distinctive mark of a noble +family. Every chief, high or low, had one of them and took rank +according to its antiquity.[127] It was an oblong area, open to the sky +and enclosed by walls on three sides and by a pyramid on the fourth: +walls and pyramid alike were built of blocks of stone or coral.[128] The +_ahu_, on the other hand, was a monument erected to the memory of a +distinguished chief, whose mortal remains were deposited in it. But +apart from the grave which it contained, the _ahu_, according to +Baessler, hardly differed from a _marae_, though it was mostly larger: +it was a great walled enclosure with a pyramid, altars, and houses of +the priests. And the ritual celebrated in the _ahu_ resembled the ritual +performed in the _marae_: there, too, the faithful assembled to pray, +and there the priests recited the same liturgy.[129] Thus both the form +and, to some extent at least, the function of the two types of sanctuary +presented a close similarity. The islanders themselves, it appears, do +not always clearly distinguish them at the present day.[130] And the +single distinction on which Baessler insisted, that the dead were buried +in the _ahu_ but not in the _marae_, seems not to hold good universally, +even on Baessler's own showing. For he admits that, "if ever a chief was +buried in his own _marae_, it must have been in most exceptional cases, +but probably statements to that effect rest only on a confusion of the +_marae_ with the _ahu_; such a practice would also run counter to the +habits of the natives, who sought the most secret places for their dead, +and certainly concealed the heads in caves difficult of access and +unknown to others. On the other hand, the _maraes_ of humbler families +may more frequently, if not as a rule, have served as places of +burial."[131] And even in regard to the holiest _marae_, dedicated to +the great god Oro, in the island of Raiatea,[132] Baessler himself cites +a tradition, apparently well authenticated, that a great number of +warriors slain in battle were buried in it.[133] The argument that the +people buried their dead, or at all events their skulls, only in remote +caves among the mountains seems untenable; for according to the evidence +of earlier writers the practice of concealing the bones or the skulls of +the dead in caves was generally, if not always, a precaution adopted in +time of war, to prevent these sacred relics from falling into the hands +of invaders; the regular custom seems to have been to bury the bones in +or near the _marae_ and to keep the skulls either there or in the +house.[134] On the whole, then, it is perhaps safer to follow earlier +and, from the nature of the case, better-informed writers in neglecting +the distinction which Baessler drew between a _marae_ (_morai_) and an +_ahu_. In any case we have Baessler's testimony that an _ahu_ was at +once a place of burial and a place of worship. There seems to be no +evidence that any of these sacred edifices, whether _maraes_ or _ahus_, +were associated with a worship of the sun. On the other hand, it is +certain that some at least of them were dedicated, partly or chiefly, to +a cult of the dead, which formed a very important element in the +religion of the Society Islanders, whereas there is little or nothing to +show that they adored either the sun, or any other of the heavenly +bodies, with the possible exception of the moon.[135] This did not, +however, prevent them from entertaining absurd notions concerning these +great luminaries. At an eclipse they imagined that the moon or the sun +was being swallowed by some god whom they had offended; and on such +occasions they repaired to the temple and offered prayers and liberal +presents to the deity for the purpose of inducing him to disgorge the +luminary.[136] + + [125] A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. 116 _sq._, 127 + _sq._, 144 _sq._ + + [126] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 130, 131. + + [127] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 119. + + [128] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 117 _sq._ + + [129] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 130 _sq._ + + [130] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 140. + + [131] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 127. + + [132] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 124, 141. + + [133] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 127 _sq._, 144 _sq._ + + [134] See below, p. 311. + + [135] Ellis says, "I am not aware that they rendered divine + homage either to the sun or moon" (_Polynesian Researches_, iii. + 171). Speaking of the Areois, Moerenhout says that "it seems to + me clear that though they did not adore directly the sun and the + other stars, nevertheless their worship was little else than + sabeism or the adoration of the visible and animated universe" + (_op. cit._ i. 503). He interpreted both Oro and Maui or Mahoui + (as he spells the name) as the sun-god (_op. cit._ i. 484, 502, + 503, 560 _sq._); but these interpretations appear to be his own + guesses, unsupported by any statement of the natives. Maui was + the great Polynesian hero, one of whose most famous exploits was + catching the sun in a snare and compelling him to move more + slowly (E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, + pp. 234 _sqq._, _s.v._ "Maui"; see above, p. 275); but this + story, far from favouring the identification of Maui with the + sun, seems fatal to it. According to J. R. Forster, the great + god Taroa (Taaroa) was thought to have created the sun and to + dwell in it (_Observations_, p. 540); but even if this statement + is correct, it hardly implies a worship of the sun. With regard + to the moon, the same writer tells us (_l.c._) that it was + supposed to be procreated by a goddess named O-Heena, "who + presides in the black cloud which appears in this luminary"; and + the statement is repeated by his son, George Forster, who adds: + "The women sing a short couplet, which seems to be an act of + adoration paid to that divinity [O-Heena], perhaps because they + suppose her to have some influence upon their physical + [oe]conomy.... 'The cloud within the moon, that cloud I love'" + (_Voyage round the World_, ii. 152). This so far seems to imply + a reverence for the moon; and there are some grounds for + thinking that O-Heena or Hina (as the name is usually spelt) was + in Eastern Polynesia a moon-goddess. See above, p. 267, note^2. + + [136] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 331 _sq._, iii. 171. According to + another account, the sun and moon in eclipse were supposed to be + in the act of copulation. See J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 346. + +Temples such as have been described were erected on all important +occasions, such as a war, a decisive victory, or the installation of a +great chief or king of a whole island. In these latter cases the natives +boasted that the number of persons present was so great that, if each of +them only brought a single stone, the amount of stones thus collected +would have sufficed to build their largest temples and pyramids.[137] +One of the occasions when it became necessary to build new temples was +when the old ones had been overthrown by enemies in war. After such a +desecration it was customary to perform a ceremony for the purpose of +purifying the land from the defilement which it had incurred through the +devastations of the foe, who had, perhaps, demolished the temples, +destroyed or mutilated the idols, and burned with fire the curiously +carved pieces of wood which marked the sacred places of interment and +represented the spirits of the dead (_tiis_). Before the rite of +purification was performed the temples were rebuilt, new altars reared, +new images placed within the sacred precincts, and new wooden effigies +set up near the graves. At the close of the rites in the new temples, +the worshippers repaired to the seashore, where the chief priest offered +a short prayer and the people dragged a net of coco-nut leaves through a +shallow part of the sea, usually detaching small pieces of coral, which +they brought ashore. These were called fish and were delivered to the +priest, who conveyed them to the temple and deposited them on the altar, +offering at the same time a prayer to induce the gods to cleanse the +land from pollution, that it might be as pure as the coral fresh from +the sea. It was now thought safe to abide on the soil and to eat of its +produce, whereas if the ceremony had not been performed, death would +have been, in the opinion of the people, the consequence of partaking of +fruits grown on the defiled land.[138] + + [137] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 468. + + [138] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 348 _sq._ + +The temples were sacred. When a man approached one of them to worship or +to bring his offering to the altar, he bared his body to the waist in +sign of reverence and humility.[139] Women in general might not enter a +temple, but when their presence was indispensable for certain +ceremonies, the ground was covered with cloth, on which they walked, +lest they should defile the holy place with their feet.[140] For +example, some six weeks or two months after the birth of a child the +father and mother took the child to a temple, where they both offered +their blood to the gods by cutting their heads with shark's teeth and +allowing the blood to drip on leaves, which they laid on the altar. On +this occasion the husband spread a cloth on the floor of the temple for +his wife to tread upon, for she might not step on the ground or the +pavement.[141] Similarly at marriage bride and bridegroom visited the +family temple (_marae_, _morai_), where the skulls of their ancestors +were brought out and placed before them; but a large white cloth had to +be spread out on the pavement for the bride to walk upon. Sometimes at +these marriage rites the female relatives cut their faces and brows with +shark's teeth, caught the flowing blood on cloth, and deposited the +cloth, sprinkled with the mingled blood of the mothers of the married +pair, at the feet of the bride.[142] At other times the mother of the +bride gashed her own person cruelly with a shark's tooth, and having +filled a coco-nut basin with the blood which flowed from her wounds, she +presented it to the bridegroom, who immediately threw it from him.[143] +While certain festivals were being celebrated at the temples the +exclusion of women from them was still more rigid. Thus in the island of +Huahine, during the celebration of the great annual festival, at which +all the idols of the island were brought from their various shrines to +the principal temple to be clothed with new dresses and ornaments, no +woman was allowed to approach any of the sacred edifices under pain of +death, which was instantly inflicted by whoever witnessed the sacrilege. +Even if the wives and children of the priests themselves came within a +certain distance, while some particular services were going on, they +were murdered on the spot by their husbands and fathers with the utmost +ferocity.[144] + + [139] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 224; J. R. Forster, _Observations + made during a Voyage round the World_, p. 547; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 469. Elsewhere (vi. 149) Captain Cook mentions + that the baring of the body on the approach to a temple was + especially incumbent on women, who otherwise had to make a + considerable circuit to avoid the sacred edifice. + + [140] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 469 _sq._; A. Baessler, + _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. 126 _sq._ + + [141] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 536 _sq._ + + [142] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 271 _sq._ + + [143] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 558. + + [144] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 267 _sq._ + +Some of these sacred edifices are still impressive in their ruins and +deserve the name of megalithic monuments. Thus the temple (_marae_, +_morai_) of Oro at Opoa, which was the holiest temple in the island of +Raiatea and perhaps in the Society Islands generally,[145] is about a +hundred and thirty-eight feet long by twenty-six feet broad. It is +enclosed by a wall of gigantic coral blocks standing side by side to a +height of about six feet seven inches. The blocks have been hewn from +the inner reef; the outer surfaces were smoothed, the inner left rough. +One of the blocks stands over eleven feet high, without reckoning the +part concealed by the soil; it is twelve feet wide, by two and a half +feet thick. Another block is about ten feet long by eight feet broad and +one foot thick.[146] In the ruined temple of Tainuu, situated in the +district of Tevaitoa, one block is about eleven and a half feet high by +eleven feet wide, with a thickness varying from twenty inches to two and +a half feet.[147] + + [145] A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. 124, 141; D. + Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 529 _sq._ + + [146] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 142. + + [147] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 146. + +The idols or images of the gods were usually made of wood, but sometimes +of stone. Some were rudely carved in human shape; others were rough +unpolished logs, wrapped in many folds of cloth or covered with a +matting of coco-nut fibre.[148] The image of the god Oro was a straight +log of casuarina wood, six feet long, uncarved, but decorated with +feathers. On the other hand Taaroa, the supreme deity of Polynesia, was +represented by a rudely carved human figure about four feet high, with a +number of little images studding his body to indicate the multitude of +gods that had proceeded from him as creator. The body of the god was +hollow, and when it was taken from the temple, where it had been +worshipped for many generations, it was found to contain a number of +small idols in the cavity. It is supposed that these petty gods had been +placed there by their worshippers and owners that they might absorb some +of the supernatural powers of the greater divinity before being removed +to the places where they were to commence deities on their own +account.[149] With a similar intention it was customary to fill the +inside of the hollow images with red feathers in order that the plumes +might be impregnated with the divine influence and might afterwards +diffuse it for the benefit of the owner of the feathers, who had placed +them in the image for that purpose. The red feathers, plucked from a +small bird which is found in many of the islands, thus became an +ordinary medium for communicating and extending supernatural powers, not +only in the Society Islands, but throughout Polynesia. The beautiful +long tail-feathers of the tropic or man-of-war bird were used for the +same purpose. The gods were supposed to be very fond of these feathers +and ready to impart their blessed essence to them. Hence people brought +the feathers to the priest and received from him in exchange two or +three which had been sanctified in the stomach of the deity; on +extracting them from that receptacle, the priest prayed to the god that +he would continue to inhabit the red feathers even when they were +detached from his divine person.[150] The feathers thus consecrated were +themselves regarded as in some sense divine and were called gods +(_atuas_, _oromatuas_); the people had great confidence in their +sovereign virtue, and on occasions of danger they sought them out, +believing that the mere presence of the feathers would afford them +adequate protection. For example, when they were threatened by a storm +at sea, they would hold out the feathers to the menacing clouds and +command them to depart.[151] + + [148] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 337 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 471. According to Ellis, the wooden images were made + from the durable timber of the _aito_ or casuarina tree, and the + stone images were mostly rude uncarved angular columns of + basalt, of various sizes, though some were of calcareous or + siliceous stone. Some stone images, however, were rudely carved + in human form. See A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, pp. 128 + _sq._ + + [149] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 354. + + [150] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 338 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 471 _sqq._ + + [151] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 473 _sq._ + + +§ 5. _The Sacrifices, Priests, and Sacred Recorders_ + +The offerings presented to the gods included every kind of valuable +property, such as birds, fish, beasts, the fruits of the earth and the +choicest native manufactures. The fruits and other eatables were +generally, but not always, dressed. Portions of the fowls, pigs, or +fish, cooked with sacred fire in the temple, were presented to the +deity; the remainder furnished a banquet for the priests and other +sacred persons, who were privileged to eat of the sacrifices. The +portions appropriated to the gods were placed on the altar and left +there till they decayed. In the public temples the great altars were +wooden stages, some eight or ten feet high, supported on a number of +wooden posts, which were sometimes curiously carved and polished. But +there were also smaller altars in the temples; some of them were like +round tables, resting on a single post. Domestic altars and such as were +erected near the bodies of dead friends were small square structures of +wicker-work. In sacrificing pigs they were very anxious not to break a +bone or disfigure the animal. Hence they used to strangle the animal or +bleed it to death.[152] + + [152] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 344 _sq._ + +Human victims were sacrificed on many occasions, as in time of war, at +great national festivals, during the illness of their rulers, and at +the building of a temple. William Ellis was told that the foundations of +some of their sacred edifices were laid in human sacrifices, and that at +least the central pillar, which supported the roof of one of the sacred +houses at Maeva, had been planted on the body of a man. The victims were +either captives taken in war or persons who had rendered themselves +obnoxious to the chiefs or the priests. In the technical language of the +priests they were called "fish." When once a man had been chosen for +sacrifice, the family to which he belonged was regarded as taboo or +devoted to the altar, and when another victim was wanted, he was more +frequently taken from that family than from any other. Similarly, a +district which had once furnished victims was thenceforth devoted. +Hence, at the approach of ceremonies which were usually accompanied by +human sacrifices, the members of certain families and the inhabitants of +certain districts used to flee to the mountains and hide in caves till +the ceremony was over. But the doomed man was seldom apprised of his +fate beforehand. A sudden blow with a club or a stone on the nape of the +neck was the usual way of despatching him, lest the body should be +mangled or a bone broken. If the blow had only stunned him, he was soon +killed, and the corpse, placed in a long basket of coco-nut leaves, was +carried to the temple and offered to the god by being set before the +idol. In dedicating it the priest took out one of the eyes and handed it +on a leaf to the king, who made as if he would swallow it, but passed it +on to a priest or attendant. After the ceremony the body, still wrapt in +coco-nut leaves, was often deposited on the branches of a neighbouring +tree, where it remained some time. Finally, the bones were taken down +and buried under the pavement of the temple (_marae_).[153] + + [153] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 345-348. Compare J. Cook, + _Voyages_, iii. 168 _sqq._ vi. 28-41; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. + 350 _sq._; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 549, ii. 38 + _sq._ + +In the family, according to patriarchal usage, the father was the +priest, but the priests of the national temples formed a distinct class; +their office was hereditary. The high priesthood was often held by a +member of the royal family, and sometimes the king himself acted as the +national priest. The duties of the priests were to recite prayers, to +present offerings, and to sacrifice victims. Their prayers, usually +uttered in shrill, chanting tones, were often exceedingly long and full +of repetitions.[154] They had plenty of employment, being called in to +officiate on all occasions, whether at birth or at death, at feasts or +in sickness; for they were the physicians as well as the clergy of the +country. They professed to possess extraordinary powers, such as to +promote conception or to effect abortion, to cause or to heal disease, +to pray the evil spirit into food, and even to kill men outright. Hence +they were greatly feared.[155] Of the little knowledge that existed in +the islands the priests are reported to have possessed the largest +share, but it consisted chiefly in an acquaintance with the names and +ranks of the various subordinate deities (_atuas_); however, according +to Captain Cook, they excelled the rest of the people in their knowledge +of navigation and astronomy: indeed, the very name for priest (_tahowa_) +signified nothing more than a man of knowledge.[156] In the island of +Huahine the priest whose duty it was to carry the image of the god Tani +(Tane) "was a personage of such superhuman sanctity that everything +which he touched became sacred; he was, therefore, not suffered to +marry, as the honour of being his wife was too much for any mortal +woman. But this was not all; he would himself be so defiled by such a +connection that he would be disqualified for his office, and must +immediately resign it; nay, if he did not repent, and return with a +great peace-offering to Tani's house, he might expect to be first struck +blind, and afterwards strangled in his sleep. He was not allowed to +climb a cocoa tree, because, if he did, it would be so hallowed that +nobody else durst afterwards ascend it."[157] + + [154] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 342 _sq._ Compare J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. 545 + _sqq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 474 _sqq._ + + [155] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 348. + + [156] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 223. + + [157] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 279. + +One of the most important functions of the priests was to act as +mouthpieces of the gods. In the discharge of this duty they were +believed to be inspired and possessed by the deity, who spoke through +them to the people. When the time came for them to consult the god, they +assumed an odd fantastic dress, enriched with red and black feathers, +to which the deity was so partial, that when the priests approached him +in this array, he descended to earth at their call in one of the sacred +birds that frequented the temples (_morais_) and fed on the sacrifices. +As soon as the bird lighted on the sacred edifice, the god left the fowl +and entered into the priest. The holy man, thus inspired, now stretched +himself, yawned, and rubbed his arms, legs, and body, which began to be +inflated, as if the skin of the abdomen would burst; the eyes of the +seer were thrown into various contortions, now staring wide, now +half-shut and sinking into stupor, while at other times the whole frame +was convulsed and appeared to have undergone a sudden and surprising +change. The voice sank to a low pitch, and grew squeaky and broken; but +at times it would suddenly rise to an astonishing height. The words +uttered by the possessed man were regarded as oracular, and nothing that +he asked for the god or for himself in this state was ever refused him. +Of all this the priest himself affected to be entirely unaware, but a +colleague was regularly at hand to record the divine message and the +divine requirements, which were often very large. When the deity took +his departure from the priest, he did so with such convulsions and +violence as to leave the man lying motionless and exhausted on the +ground, and the oracle was so timed that this happened at the very +moment when the sacred bird, the vehicle of the god, flew away from the +temple. On coming to himself the priest uttered a loud shriek and seemed +to wake as from a profound sleep, unconscious of everything that had +passed.[158] Sometimes, however, the priest continued to be possessed by +the deity for two or three days; at such times he wore a piece of native +cloth, of a peculiar sort, round one arm as a sign of his inspiration. +His acts during this period were deemed to be those of the god; hence +the greatest attention was paid to his expressions and to the whole of +his deportment. Indeed, so long as the fit of inspiration lasted he was +called a god (_atua_); but when it was over, he resumed his ordinary +title of priest.[159] + + [158] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 349 _sq._ + + [159] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 373-375. + +We are told that in his fine frenzy the priest "often rolled on the +earth, foaming at the mouth, as if labouring under the influence of the +divinity, by whom he was possessed, and, in shrill cries, and violent +and often indistinct sounds, revealed the will of the god."[160] It +would probably be a mistake to assume that on such occasions the frantic +behaviour was deliberately assumed and the wild whirling words were +consciously uttered for the purpose of deceiving the people; in short, +that the whole performance was a mere piece of acting, a bare-faced +imposture. It is far more likely that, bred from childhood to believe in +the reality of divine inspiration, the priest often sincerely imagined +himself to be possessed by a deity, and that, under the excitement which +such an imagination was calculated to produce, he honestly mistook his +own thick-coming fancies for a revelation from the gods. A chief, who +had formerly been a prophet of the god Oro, assured the missionaries +"that although he sometimes feigned his fits of inspiration, to deceive +the credulous multitude, yet, at other times, they came upon him +involuntarily and irresistibly. Something seemed to rush through his +whole frame, and overpower his spirit, in a manner which he could not +describe. Then he frothed at the mouth, gnashed his teeth, and distorted +his limbs with such violence that it required five or six strong men to +hold him. At these times his words were deemed oracles, and whatever he +advised respecting state affairs, or other matters, was implicitly +observed by king and chiefs."[161] Thus on the ravings of these crazy +fanatics or deliberate impostors often hung the issues of life or death, +of war or peace.[162] It appears to have been especially the priests of +Oro who laid claim to inspiration and contrived to shape the destinies +of their country through the powerful sway which they exercised over the +mind of the king. In their fits of fanatical frenzy, while they +delivered their oracles, they insisted on the sovereign's implicit +compliance with their mandates, denouncing the most dreadful judgments +on him if he should prove refractory.[163] + + [160] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 373 _sq._ + + [161] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 124. + + [162] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 114 _sq._ + + [163] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 121. + +Apart from the priests there was a class of men whose business it was to +preserve and hand down to their successors the lists of the gods, the +liturgical prayers, and the sacred traditions. As these liturgies and +legends were often very lengthy and couched in a metaphorical and +obscure language, a prodigious memory and long practice were +indispensable for their preservation and transmission among a people to +whom the art of writing was unknown. Since the slightest mistake in the +recitation of a liturgy was deemed the worst of omens and necessitated +the suspension of the religious service, however costly and important +the service might be, the sacred recorders, as we may call them, were +obliged, for the sake of their credit, to practise continually the +recitation of the prayers, legends, and traditions of which they were +the depositories. To aid them in their task they made use of bundles of +little sticks of different sizes, one of which they drew from a bundle +at the conclusion of each prayer. It was their duty on solemn occasions +to recite these liturgies or sacred poems while they paced slowly by +night round the temples (_morais_) and other holy places; hence they +went by the name of _harepo_, which means "Walkers by night." We are +told that if at these times they made a mistake in a single word or +hesitated for a moment, they stopped and returned home; and if the +subject of their prayers chanced to be some enterprise in which they +desired to enlist the favour of the gods, such a mistake or hesitation +was enough to cause the undertaking to be abandoned irretrievably, since +success in it was believed to be impossible. Nothing, it is said, could +be more astonishing than the memory displayed by these men, while they +recited, word for word, and for nights together, the ancient traditions +of which the mutilated and mangled remains would demand the assiduous +study of several years. The office of sacred recorder (_harepo_) was +hereditary in the male line; the sons were trained in the duties from +their earliest years, but only such as were endowed with an excellent +memory could satisfy the requirements of the profession. They believed +that a good memory was a gift of the gods.[164] + + [164] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 504-507. + + +§ 6. _The Doctrine of the Human Soul_ + +Of the Society Islanders we are informed that "they believe every man to +have a separate being within him, named _tee_, which acts in consequence +of the impression of the senses, and combines ideas into thoughts. This +being, which we would call the soul, exists after death, and lodges in +the wooden images which are placed round the burying-places, and which +are called by the same name, _tee_."[165] When they were asked in what +part of the body the soul resides, they always answered that it was +seated in the belly or in the bowels (_I roto té obou_). They would not +admit that the brain could be the seat of thought or the heart of the +affections; and in support of their opinion they alleged the agitation +of the bowels in strong emotion, such as fear and desire.[166] Hence, +too, they called thoughts by a phrase which signifies "words in the +belly" (_parou no te oboo_).[167] + + [165] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 151 _sq._ + Compare J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage round + the World_, pp. 534 _sq._, 542 _sq._, where the word for soul is + given as _E-teehee_ or _Teehee_. + + [166] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 431. + + [167] G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. 151 note *. + +But the Society Islanders did not regard the possession of a soul as a +privilege peculiar to humanity. According to Captain Cook, "they +maintain that not only all other animals, but trees, fruit, and even +stones, have souls, which at death, or upon being consumed or broken, +ascend to the divinity, with whom they first mix, and afterwards pass +into the mansion allotted to each."[168] Their word for soul was +_varoua_, according to Moerenhout, who adds that, "It appears that they +accorded this _varoua_ (spirit, soul) not only to man, but even in +addition to the animals, to plants, to everything that vegetates, grows +or moves on the earth."[169] + + [168] J. Cook, _op. cit._ vi. 151. + + [169] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 430. + +They thought that the soul of man could be separated for a time from the +body during life without causing immediate death. Thus, like many other +peoples, they explained dreams by the supposed absence of the soul +during slumber. We are told that "they put great confidence in dreams, +and suppose in sleep the soul leaves the body under the care of the +guardian angel, and moves at large through the regions of spirits. Thus +they say, My soul was such a night in such a place, and saw such a +spirit. When a person dies, they say his soul is fled away, _h[=a]rre +p[=o]_, gone to night."[170] But they also believed that a man's soul or +spirit could be conjured out of his body by magic art or demoniacal +agency. Thus, when people had been robbed, they would sometimes call in +the help of a priest to ascertain the thief. In such a case the priest, +after offering prayers to his demon, would direct them to dig a hole in +the floor of the house and to fill it with water; then, taking a young +plantain in his hand, he would stand over the hole and pray to the god, +whom he invoked, and who, if he were propitious, was supposed to conduct +the spirit of the thief to the house and to place it over the water. The +image of the spirit, which they believed to resemble the person of the +man, was, according to their account, reflected in the water and +perceived by the priest, who was thus able to identify the thief, +alleging that the god had shown him the reflection of the culprit in the +water.[171] From this it appears that in the opinion of the Society +Islanders, as of many other peoples, a man's soul or spirit is a +faithful image of his body.[172] + + [170] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 346. In the Polynesian languages + _po_ is the word both for "night" and for "the shades," the + primaeval darkness from which all forms of life were evolved, + and to which the souls of the dead return. See E. Tregear, + _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. 342, _s.v._ "po." + + [171] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 378 _sq._ + + [172] Compare W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 396, "What their precise + ideas of a spirit were, it is not easy to ascertain. They + appear, however, to have imagined the shape or form resembled + that of the human body, in which they sometimes appeared in + dreams to the survivors." + +They believed that in the pangs of death the soul keeps fluttering about +the lips, and that, when all is over, it ascends and mixes with or, as +they expressed it, is eaten by the deity.[173] When one of their sacred +recorders (_harepo_), who had been famous in his life for his knowledge +of the ancient traditions, was at the point of death, it was customary +for his son and successor to place his mouth over the mouth of the dying +man, as if to inhale the parting soul at the moment of quitting the +body; for in this way he was supposed to inherit the lore of his father. +The natives, it is said, were convinced that these sages owed their +learning to this expedient, though none the less they studied day and +night to perfect themselves in their profession.[174] + + [173] J. Cook, _op. cit._ vi. 150. + + [174] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 507. + + +§ 7. _Disease, Death, and Mourning_ + +Every disease was supposed to be the result of direct supernatural +agency, and to be inflicted by the gods for some crime committed against +the law of taboo of which the sufferer had been guilty; or it might have +been brought upon him by an enemy, who had compassed his destruction by +means of an offering. They explained death in like manner: according to +them, it was invariably caused by the direct influence of the gods.[175] +They acknowledged, indeed, that they possessed poisons which, taken with +food, produced convulsions and death, but these effects they traced to +the anger of the gods, who employed the drugs as their material agents +or secondary causes. Even when a man was killed in battle, they still +saw in his death the hand of a god, who had actually entered into the +weapon that inflicted the fatal blow.[176] + + [175] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 395; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ + i. 433, 538 _sqq._ + + [176] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 395 _sq._ + +The gods who were thus supposed to afflict human life with sickness and +disease and to bring it to an untimely termination in death were not +always nor perhaps usually the high primaeval deities; often they were +the souls of the dead, who ranked among the domestic divinities +(_oromatuas_). And, like the Maoris,[177] the natives of the Society +Islands are said to have stood in particular fear of the souls of dead +infants, who, angered at their mother for their too early death, took +their revenge by sending sickness on the surviving members of the +family. Hence when a woman was ill-treated by her husband, she would +often threaten to insult the ghost of a dead baby; and this threat, with +the deplorable consequences which it was calculated to entail, seldom +failed to bring the husband to a better frame of mind; or if he happened +to prove recalcitrant, the other members of the family, who might be +involved in the calamity, would intercede and restore peace in the +household. Thus we are told that among these islanders the fear of the +dead supplied in some measure the place of natural affection and +tenderness in softening and humanising the general manners.[178] + + [177] See above, p. 49. + + [178] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 538 _sq._ + +Disease and death were also attributed to the malignant charms of +sorcerers, who, hired by an enemy of the sufferer, procured for the +purpose the clipped hair or the spittle of their intended victim, the +flowers or garment he had worn, or any object which had touched his +person. But the real agents who were thought to give effect to the +charms were the minor deities, whom the sorcerer employed to accomplish +his nefarious ends. For this purpose he put the hair or other personal +refuse of the victim in a bag along with the images and symbols of the +petty divinities, and buried the bag and its contents in a hole which he +had dug in the ground. There he left it until, applying his ear to the +hole, he could hear the soul of the sufferer whimpering down below, +which proved that the charm was taking effect. If the intended victim +got wind of these machinations, it was always in his power to render +them abortive, either by sacrificing to the gods or by sending a present +to the sorcerer, who thus was feed by both sides at the same time.[179] + + [179] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 539-541. Compare W. Ellis, + _op. cit._ i. 363 _sqq._ + +However, most cases of sickness apparently were set down not to the +wiles of sorcerers, but to the displeasure of the deified spirits of the +dead.[180] On this point the evidence of the early missionaries is +explicit. Speaking of the Society Islanders, they say that "they regard +the spirits of their ancestors, male and female, as exalted into +_eatooas_ [_atuas_, deities], and their favour to be secured by prayers +and offerings. Every sickness and untoward accident they esteem as the +hand of judgment for some offence committed; and therefore, if they have +injured any person, they send their peace-offering, and make the matter +up: and if sick, send for the priest to offer up prayers and sacrifices +to pacify the offended _eatooa_; giving anything the priests ask, as +being very reluctant to die."[181] "As it is their fixed opinion, that +no disease affects them but as a punishment inflicted by their _eatooa_ +[_atua_] for some offence, and never brought on themselves by +intemperance or imprudence, they trust more to the prayers of their +priests than to any medicine."[182] + + [180] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 543. + + [181] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 345. + + [182] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 404. + +They imagined that at death the soul (_varua_) was drawn out of the head +by a god or spirit (_atua_) as a sword is drawn out of its scabbard, and +that the spirits of the dead often waited to catch it at the moment when +it issued from the body. Sometimes the dying man would fancy that he saw +the spirits lurking for him at the foot of the bed, and would cry out in +terror, "They are waiting for my spirit. Guard it! Preserve it from +them!"[183] + + [183] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 396. + +When the last struggle was over, a priest or diviner (_tahua tutera_) +was called in to ascertain the cause of death. For this purpose he +entered his canoe and paddled slowly along on the sea, near the house in +which the dead body was lying, in order to watch the passage of the +departing spirit; for they thought that it would fly towards him with +the emblem of the cause through which the person had died. If he had +been cursed by the gods, the spirit would appear with a flame, fire +being the agent employed in the incantations of the sorcerers, who had +presumably drawn down the curse upon the deceased. If some enemy had +bribed the gods to kill him, the spirit would come with a red feather, +as a sign that evil spirits had entered into his food. After a short +time the diviner returned to the house, announced the cause of death to +the survivors, and received his fee, the amount of which was regulated +by the circumstances of the family. After that a priest was employed to +perform ceremonies and recite prayers for the purpose of averting +destruction from the surviving members of the family; but the nature of +the ceremonies has not been recorded.[184] + + [184] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 398 _sq._ + +When it was manifest that death was approaching, the relatives and +friends, who had gathered round the sufferer, broke into loud +lamentations and other demonstrations of sorrow, which redoubled in +violence as soon as the spirit had departed. Then they not only wailed +in the loudest and most affecting tone, but tore out their hair, rent +their garments, and cut themselves with shark's teeth or knives in a +shocking manner. The instrument usually employed was a small cane, about +four inches long, with five or six teeth fixed into it on opposite +sides. Struck forcibly into the head, these instruments wounded it like +a lancet, so that the blood poured down in copious streams. Every woman +at marriage provided herself with one of these implements and used it +unsparingly on herself on the occasion of a death in the family. Some +people, not content with this instrument of torture, provided themselves +with a sort of mallet armed with two or three rows of shark's teeth; and +with this formidable weapon, on the demise of a relative or friend, they +hammered themselves unmercifully, striking their skulls, temples, +cheeks, and breast, till the blood flowed profusely from the wounds. At +the same time they uttered the most deafening and agonising cries; and +what with their frantic gestures, the distortion of their countenances, +their torn and dishevelled hair, and the mingled tears and blood that +trickled down their bodies, they presented altogether a horrible +spectacle. This self-inflicted cruelty was practised chiefly by women, +but not by them alone; for the men on these occasions committed the like +enormities, and not only cut themselves, but came armed with clubs and +other deadly weapons, which they sometimes plied freely on the bodies of +other people. These dismal scenes began with the nearest relatives of +the deceased, but they were not confined to them. No sooner did the +tidings spread, and the sound of wailing was heard throughout the +neighbourhood, than friends and kinsfolk flocked to the spot and joined +in the demonstrations of real or affected sorrow. The pageant of woe +reached its climax when the deceased was a king or a principal chief. It +was then, above all, that the tenants and retainers came armed with +bludgeons and stones, with which they fought each other till some of +them were wounded or slain; while others operated on themselves by +tearing their hair and lacerating their bodies in the usual manner till +their bodies were bedabbled with blood. After the introduction of +firearms into the islands, these lethal weapons lent variety and noise +to the combats, as well as adding to the number of the slain. At the +death of a person of distinction these exhibitions of frenzied sorrow +sometimes lasted two or three days in succession, or even longer.[185] +On such occasions a body of armed men, composed of friends and allies, +used to arrive from a neighbouring district and request to be allowed +access to the body of the chief, in order that they might mourn for him +in due form. The request was always refused by the bodyguards, who kept +the last vigil over their departed lord; and in consequence a fight +ensued in which several warriors were generally wounded or killed. Yet +it was only a sham fight, which seems to have always ended in a victory +for the mourners who had come from a distance; and when it was over, +victors and vanquished regularly united in performing the usual +sanguinary rites of mourning. In all the islands wrestling matches, +combats, and assaults-at-arms were ordinary features of the obsequies of +chiefs.[186] + + [185] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 407-409; J. Wilson, + _op. cit._ p. 352; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 546 _sq._ + + [186] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 551 _sq._ + +The blood which women in the paroxysms of grief drew from their bodies, +and the tears which flowed from their eyes, were received on pieces of +cloth, which were then thrown upon or under the bier as oblations to the +dead.[187] Sometimes for this purpose a woman would wear a short apron, +which she held up with one hand, while she cut herself with the other, +till the apron was soaked in blood. Afterwards she would dry it in the +sun and present it to the bereaved family, who kept it as a token of the +estimation in which the departed had been held.[188] Some of the younger +mourners used also to cut off their hair and throw it under the bier +with the other offerings.[189] When the deceased was a child, the +parents, in addition to other tokens of grief, used to cut their hair +short on one part of their heads, leaving the rest long; sometimes they +shaved a square patch on the forehead; sometimes they left the hair on +the forehead and cut off all the rest; at other times they removed all +the hair but a lock over one or both ears; or again they would clip +close one half of the head, while on the other half the tresses were +suffered to grow long; and these signs of mourning might be continued +for two or three years.[190] + + [187] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 135, 218; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, p. 560. + + [188] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 410. + + [189] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 218; J. R. Forster, _Observations + made during a Voyage round the World_, p. 560. + + [190] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 352 _sq._ + +Captain Cook tells us that the custom observed by mourners of offering +their own blood, tears, and hair to their departed relative or friend +"is founded upon a notion that the soul of the deceased, which they +believe to exist in a separate state, is hovering about the place where +the body is deposited: that it observes the actions of the survivors, +and is gratified by such testimonies of their affection and grief."[191] +This explanation, in perfect harmony with the vigilance, vanity, and +jealousy commonly ascribed to ghosts, is in all probability correct. Yet +it deserves to be noticed that the custom of voluntarily hacking the +body with shark's teeth to the effusion of blood was singularly enough +practised by the Society Islanders on occasions of joy as well as of +sorrow. When a husband or a son returned to his family after a season of +absence or exposure to danger, his arrival was greeted, not only with +the cordial welcome and the warm embrace, but with loud wailing, while +the happy wife or mother cut her body with shark's teeth, and the +gladder she was the more she gashed herself.[192] Similarly many savage +peoples weep over long-absent friends, or even over strangers, as a +polite form of greeting in which genuine sorrow can hardly be supposed +to play a part.[193] It is difficult to see how such observances can be +based on superstition; apparently the emotion of joy may express itself +in very different ways in different races. + + [191] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 218 _sq._ + + [192] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 410; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. + 196, 362. + + [193] See _Folk-lore in the Old Testament_, ii. 82 _sqq._ + +The natives stood in great fear of the spirits of the dead, which were +supposed to haunt the places of their former abode and to visit the +habitations of men, but seldom on errands of mercy or benevolence. They +woke the survivors from their slumbers by squeaking noises to upbraid +them with their past wickedness or to reproach them with the neglect of +some ceremony, for which the ghosts were compelled to suffer. Thus the +people imagined that they lived in a world of spirits, which surrounded +them night and day, watching every action of their lives and ready to +revenge the smallest slight or the least disobedience to their +injunctions, as these were proclaimed to the living by the priests. +Convulsions and hysterics, for example, were ascribed to the action of +spirits, which seized the sufferer, scratched his face, tore his hair, +or otherwise maltreated him.[194] + + [194] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 406. + +This fear of the spirits of the dead induced the Society Islanders to +resort to some peculiar ceremonies for the protection of the living +against the ghosts of persons who had recently died. One of these quaint +rites was performed by a priest, who went by the name of the +"corpse-praying priest" (_tahua bure tiapa-pau_). When the corpse had +been placed on a platform or bier in a temporary house, this priest +ordered a hole to be dug in the earth or floor, near the foot of the +platform, and over this hole he prayed to the god by whom the spirit of +the deceased had been summoned to its long home. The purport of the +prayer was that all the dead man's sins, and especially that for which +his soul had been called to the region of Night (_po_), should be +deposited in that hole, that they should not attach in any degree to the +survivors, and that the anger of the god might be appeased. The priest +next addressed the corpse, usually saying, "With you let the guilt now +remain." The pillar or post of the corpse, as it was called, was then +planted in the hole, earth was thrown over the guilt of the departed, +and the hole filled up. After that, the priest proceeded to the side of +the corpse, and taking some small slips of plantain leaf-stalk he fixed +two or three of them under each arm, placed a few on the breast, and +then, addressing the dead body, said, "There are your family, there is +your child, there is your wife, there is your father, and there is your +mother. Be satisfied yonder (that is, in the world of spirits). Look not +towards those who are left in this world." The concluding parts of the +ceremony were designed to impart contentment to the deceased, and to +prevent his spirit from repairing to the places of his former resort, +and so distressing the survivors. This was considered a most important +ceremony, being a kind of mass for the dead and necessary as well for +the peace of the living as for the quiet of the departed. It was seldom +omitted by any who could pay the priest his usual fees, which for this +service generally took the form of pigs and cloth, in proportion to the +rank or possessions of the family.[195] + + [195] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 401-403. Compare J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 552. + +Soon after the decease of a chief or person of distinction, another +singular ceremony, called a _heva_, was performed by the relatives or +dependants, who personated the ghost of the departed. The principal +actor in the procession was a priest or kinsman who wore a curious dress +and an imposing head-ornament called a _parae_. A cap or turban of thick +native cloth was fitted close to the head; in front were two broad +mother-of-pearl shells that covered the face like a mask, with only a +small aperture through which the wearer could look in order to find his +way. Above the mask were fixed a number of long, white, red-tipped +feathers of the tropic bird, diverging like rays and forming a radiant +circle; while beneath the mask was a thin yet strong board curved like a +crescent, from which hung a sort of network of small pieces of brilliant +mother-of-pearl, finely polished and strung together on threads. The +depth of this network varied according to the taste or means of the +family, but it was generally nine inches or a foot, and might consist of +ten to fifteen or twenty perfectly straight and parallel rows. The +labour of making this mother-of-pearl pendant must have been immense; +for many hundred pieces of the shell had to be cut, ground down to the +requisite thinness, polished and perforated, without the use of iron +tools, before a single line could be fixed upon the head-dress. Fringed +with feathers, the pendant formed a kind of ornamental breastplate or +stomacher. Attached to it was a garment composed of alternate stripes of +black and yellow cloth, which enveloped the body and reached sometimes +to the loins, to the knees, or even to the ankles.[196] On his back the +masker wore an ample cloak or mantle of network covered with glossy +pigeon's feathers of a bluish colour. The costume appears to have been +intended as a disguise to prevent the spectators from recognising the +wearer; for George Forster, who has given us an elaborate description of +it, observes that "an ample hood of alternate parallel stripes of brown, +yellow, and white cloth descends from the turban to cover the neck and +shoulders, in order that as little as possible of the human figure may +appear."[197] + + [196] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 412 _sq._ Compare J. Cook, + _Voyages_, i. 135 _sq._, 138, 219; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ + i. 547-549. + + [197] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 74. For the full + description of the garb, see _id._, ii. 71-75; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. + 450-453. + +In this strange garb the chief mummer, who was usually the nearest +relation of the deceased, carried in one hand a formidable weapon, +consisting of a staff about five feet long, one end of which was rounded +to serve as a handle, while the other end broadened out into a sort of +scythe, of which the inner or concave side was armed with a row of large +strong shark's teeth fixed in the wood. In the other hand he bore a kind +of clapper formed of two pearl-oyster shells, beautifully polished. Thus +attired and equipped, he led a procession either from the house of the +deceased, or, according to another account, from a valley to which, as +if under a paroxysm of grief, the party had retired at the death of the +person for whom the ceremony was performed; and as he walked along he +continued to rattle or jingle the shells against each other to give +notice of his approach. With him walked a number of men and boys, naked +except for a girdle, armed with cudgels, their faces and bodies painted +black, red, and white with charcoal and coloured earths. In this +impressive style the mummers marched through the district, the people +everywhere fleeing in terror at the sight of them, and even deserting +the houses at their approach. For whenever the leader caught sight of +any one, he ran at him, and if he overtook the fugitive, belaboured him +with his sharp-toothed club, to the grievous mauling of the unfortunate +wretch; while, not to be behind their leader, the assistants plied their +bludgeons on the bodies of all and sundry who chanced to fall into their +hands. At such times safety was only to be found in the king's temple, +which served on this as on other occasions as a sort of sanctuary or +place of refuge. Having thus scoured the country, the mummers marched +several times round the platform where the body was exposed, after which +they bathed in a river and resumed their customary apparel. This +performance was repeated at intervals for five moons, but less and less +frequently as the end of the time approached. The longer it lasted, the +greater was the honour supposed to be done to the dead. The relatives +took it in turn to assume the fantastic dress and discharge the office +of leader. Throughout the ceremonies the performers appeared and acted +as if they were deranged. They were supposed to be inspired by, or at +all events to represent, the spirit of the deceased, to revenge any +injury he might have received, or to punish those who had not shown due +respect to his remains.[198] Hence we may infer that the whole of this +quaint masquerade was designed to appease the anger of the ghost, and so +to protect the survivors by preventing him from returning to take +vengeance on them for any wrongs or slights he might have suffered at +their hands. + + [198] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 138 _sq._, 219; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. 560 + _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 413 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 549 _sq._ According to Ellis, the mummers were supposed + to be inspired by the spirit of the deceased; according to + Moerenhout, they were not inspired by, but merely represented, + the ghost. The difference between spiritual representation and + inspiration is somewhat fine; too fine perhaps to be apprehended + by Tahitian intelligence. Forster says that the procession + started from the house of the deceased, Ellis that it started + from a valley. + +The same fear of the returning ghost is clearly expressed in a prayer +which the natives used to address to a dead relative at burial. They put +blossoms of bread-fruit and leaves of the edible fern under the arms of +the corpse, and as they did so, they prayed, saying, "You go to the Po +[Night, the World of Shades], plant bread-fruit there, and be food for +the gods; but do not come and strangle us, and we will feed your swine +and cultivate your lands."[199] + + [199] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and + Travels_, i. 322. + + +§ 8. _The Disposal of the Dead_ + +The heat of the climate, by hastening the decomposition of dead bodies, +rendered it necessary that corpses should be speedily removed or treated +so as to preserve them for a time from decay. As such treatment was +generally too costly for the poor and even the middle ranks of society, +families belonging to these classes were usually obliged to inter their +dead on the first or second day after the decease. During the short +intervening period the body, resting on a bed of fragrant green leaves, +was placed on a sort of bier covered with white cloth and decorated with +wreaths and garlands of sweet-smelling flowers. Round it sat the +relatives, giving vent to their grief in loud and continued +lamentations, and often cutting their temples, faces, and breasts with +shark's teeth, till they were covered with blood from their +self-inflicted wounds. The bodies were frequently committed to the grave +in deep silence; but sometimes a father would deliver a pathetic oration +at the funeral of his son.[200] The grave was generally shallow and the +corpse was deposited in a bent posture, with the hands tied to the knees +or to the legs.[201] + + [200] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 399 _sq._ + + [201] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 553 _sq._ + +But in the families of chiefs the custom was to submit the bodies of the +dead to a sort of embalming and to preserve them above ground for a +time.[202] The Tahitians had a tradition of a rude or unpolished period +in their history, when the bodies of the dead were allowed to remain in +the houses in which they lived, and which were still occupied by the +survivors. A kind of stage or altar was erected in the dwelling, and on +it the corpse was deposited. But in a later and more polished age, which +lasted till the advent of Europeans, the practice was introduced of +building separate houses or sheds for the lodgment of corpses.[203] + + [202] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 400. + + [203] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 404. + +These houses or sheds (_tupapows_) were small temporary buildings, often +neatly constructed. The thatched roof rested on wooden pillars, which +were seldom more than six feet high. The body was laid on a bier or +platform raised on posts about three feet from the ground. This bier was +movable, for the purpose of being drawn out, and of exposing the body to +the rays of the sun. The body was usually clothed or covered with cloth, +and for a long time it was carefully rubbed with aromatic oils once a +day. The size of these charnel-houses varied with the rank of the +persons whose bodies they contained; the better sort were enclosed by +railings. Those which were allotted to people of the lower class just +sufficed to cover the bier, and were not railed in. The largest seen by +Captain Cook was eleven yards long. Such houses were ornamented +according to the taste and abilities of the surviving kindred, who never +failed to lay a profusion of good cloth about the body, and sometimes +almost covered the outside of the house.[204] + + [204] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 93 _sq._, 135, 217, 218; J. Wilson, + _op. cit._ pp. 84, 212 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 404; J. A. + Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 547. + +But before the corpse was deposited in one of these temporary +structures, it was shrouded in cloth and carried on a bier to the +sea-shore, where it was set down on the beach at the water's edge. There +a priest, who accompanied the procession, renewed the prayers which he +had offered over the body both at the house and on its passage to the +shore. Further, he took up water in his hands and sprinkled it towards +the corpse, but not upon it. These prayers and sprinklings he repeated +several times, and between the repetitions the body was carried back +some forty or fifty yards from the sea, only to be brought back again to +the water's edge. While these ceremonies were being performed, the +temporary house or shed was being prepared, in which the corpse was to +remain until the flesh had wholly wasted from the bones. Thither it was +then carried from the beach and laid upon the bier.[205] + + [205] J. Cook, _op. cit._ i. 217 _sq._ Compare J. R. Forster, + _Observations made during a Voyage round the World_, p. 559. + +The practice of embalming appears to have been long familiar to the +natives of the Society Islands. The methods employed by them were +simple. Sometimes the juices were merely squeezed out of the corpse, +which was then exposed to the sun and anointed with fragrant oils. At +other times, and apparently more usually, the bowels, entrails, and +brains were extracted, and the cavities filled with cloth soaked in +perfumed oils, which were also injected into other parts of the body. +Scented oils were also rubbed over the outside daily: every day the +corpse was exposed to the sun in a sitting posture: every night it was +laid out horizontally and often turned over, that it might not remain +long on the same side. By these means, combined with the heat of the sun +and the dryness of the atmosphere, the process of desiccation was +effected in the course of a few weeks: the muscular parts and the eyes +shrivelled up; and the wizened body resembled a skeleton covered with +parchment or oilcloth. Thus reduced to a mummy, it was clothed and fixed +in a sitting attitude: a small altar was erected before it; and +offerings of fruit, food, and flowers were daily presented by the +relatives or by the priest who was appointed to attend to it. For if the +deceased was a chief of high rank or great renown, a priest or other +person was set apart to wait upon the corpse and to present food to its +mouth at different hours of the day. They supposed that the soul still +hovered over the mouldering remains and was pleased by such marks of +attention. Hence during the exposure of the body in the temporary house +the mourners would sometimes renew their lamentations there, and, +wounding themselves with shark's teeth, wipe off the blood on a cloth, +and deposit the bloody rag beside the mummy as a proof of their +affection. In this state the desiccated body was preserved for many +months till the flesh had completely decayed; Ellis was of opinion that +the best-preserved of these mummies could not be kept for more than +twelve months. The bones were then scraped, washed, and buried within +the precincts of the family temple (_morai_), if the deceased was a +chief; but if he was a commoner, they were interred outside of the holy +ground. However, the skull was not buried with the bones; it was +carefully wrapt in fine cloth and kept in a box by the family, it might +be for several generations. Sometimes the box containing the skull was +deposited at the temple, but often it was hung from the roof of the +house.[206] At marriage the skulls of ancestors were sometimes brought +out and set before the bride and bridegroom in order, apparently, to +place the newly wedded pair under the guardianship of the ancestral +spirits who had once animated these relics of mortality.[207] In time of +war victorious enemies would sometimes despoil the temples of the +vanquished and carry off the bones of famous men interred in them; these +they would then subject to the utmost indignity by converting them into +chisels, borers, or fish-hooks. To prevent this sacrilege the relations +of the dead conveyed the bones of their chiefs, and even the bodies of +persons who had lately died, to the mountains and hid them in caverns +among the most inaccessible rocks and lofty precipices of these wild +solitudes.[208] Where the mountains advance to the coast, many of these +caves exist in the face of cliffs overhanging the sea; for the most part +they are situated in places which Europeans can reach only with the help +of ropes and ladders, though the natives, it is said, can clamber up the +steepest crags with ease. Few even of the islanders know the situation +of the caverns, and fewer still will consent to act as guides to the +curious stranger who may wish to explore their recesses; for the fear of +the ghosts, who are supposed to haunt these ancient depositories of the +dead, is yet deeply rooted in the native mind. Moreover, the mouths of +the caves are generally so low and overgrown with shrubs and creepers +that they may easily be overlooked by an observer standing in front of +them. Some of the grottos are said to be still full of skulls, or were +so down to the end of the nineteenth century.[209] The mummies as well +as the bones were liable to be captured by an invader, and were esteemed +trophies not less glorious than foemen slain in battle. Hence during an +invasion the mummies were generally the first things to be carried off +for safety to the mountains.[210] + + [206] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 93 _sq._, 135 _sq._, 218, 219, vi. + 47 _sq._; J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage + round the World_, pp. 561 _sq._; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 212 + _sq._, 363 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 400 _sq._, 404 _sq._, + 405 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 554. + + [207] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 272, who observes that the + survivors "considered the spirits of the proprietors of these + skulls as the guardian spirits of the family." + + [208] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 405. + + [209] A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. 37 + _sq._, 81 _sq._, 83. + + [210] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 364. + +A dangerous pollution was supposed to be contracted by all who had +handled a corpse. Hence the persons employed in embalming a body were +carefully shunned by every one else so long as the process lasted, +because the guilt of the crime for which the deceased had died was +supposed to attach in some degree to such as touched his mortal remains. +The embalmers did not feed themselves, lest the food, defiled by the +touch of their polluted hands, should cause their death; so they were +fed by others.[211] This state of uncleanness lasted for a month, during +which the tabooed persons were forbidden to handle food as well as to +put it into their own mouths.[212] + + [211] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 403. + + [212] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 363. + +Again, when the ceremony of depositing the sins of the deceased in a +hole[213] was over, all who had touched the body or the garments of the +deceased, which were buried or destroyed, fled precipitately into the +sea to cleanse themselves from the pollution which they had incurred by +contact with the corpse; and they cast into the sea the garments they +had worn while they were engaged in the work. Having bathed, they +gathered a few pieces of coral from the bottom of the sea, and returning +with them to the house, addressed the dead body, saying, "With you may +the pollution be." With these words they threw down the pieces of coral +on the top of the hole that had been dug to receive all the objects +defiled by their connexion with the deceased.[214] + + [213] See above, p. 305. + + [214] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 403. + +When a person had died of an infectious disorder, the priests entreated +him to bury the disease with him in the grave and not to inflict it upon +other people, when he revisited them as a ghost. They also threw a +plantain into the grave, and either buried with him or burned all his +utensils, that nobody might be infected by them.[215] + + [215] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 364. + + +§ 9. _The Fate of the Soul after Death_ + +The natives of the Society Islands believed in the immortality of the +human soul, or at all events in its separate existence after death[216]; +they thought that no person perishes or becomes extinct.[217] On its +departure from the body the spirit, now called a _tee_, _teehee_, or +_tii_, was supposed to linger near its old habitation, whether the +mouldering remains exposed on the bier, or the bones buried in the +earth, or the skull kept in its box. In this state the spirits were +believed to lodge in small wooden images, seldom more than eighteen +inches high, which were placed round about the burial-ground.[218] These +images are variously said to have borne the same name (_tee_, _teehee_) +as the spirits which inhabited them,[219] or to have been called by a +different name (_unus_)[220]. Specimens of these images were seen by +George Forster in Tahiti. He says that round about the _marai_ (_morai_) +of Aheatua, at that time King of Tiarroboo, "were placed +perpendicularly, or nearly so, fifteen slender pieces of wood, some +about eighteen feet long, in which six or eight diminutive human figures +of a rude unnatural shape were carved, standing above each other, male +or female promiscuously, yet so that the uppermost was always a male. +All these figures faced the sea, and perfectly resembled some which are +carved on the sterns of their canoes, and which they call _e-tee_."[221] +To the same effect George Forster's father, J. R. Forster, observes that +"near the _marais_ are twenty or thirty single pieces of wood fixed into +the ground, carved all over on one side with figures about eighteen +inches long, rudely representing a man and a woman alternately, so that +often more than fifteen or twenty figures may be counted on one piece of +wood, called by them _Teehee_."[222] But the souls of the dead, though +they inhabited chiefly the wooden figures erected at the temples or +burial-grounds (_marais_, _morais_), were by no means confined to them, +and were dreaded by the natives, who believed that during the night +these unquiet spirits crept into people's houses and ate the heart and +entrails of the sleepers, thus causing their death.[223] + + [216] J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 222, vi. 150. + + [217] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 345. + + [218] J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage round + the World_, pp. 552, 553; G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, + ii. 151 _sq._ + + [219] J. R. Forster and G. Forster, _ll.cc._ + + [220] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 348, "the _unus_, or + curiously carved pieces of wood marking the sacred places of + interment, and emblematical of _tiis_ or spirits." + + [221] G. Forster, _op. cit._ i. 267. Compare J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 461, "_Les images des Tiis étaient placées aux + extrémités des marais et gardaient l'enceinte des terres + sacrées_." + + [222] J. R. Forster, _op. cit._ pp. 544 _sq._ In the southern + peninsula of Tahiti, both on the coast and inland, Captain Cook + saw many sepulchral buildings, and he described them as + "decorated with many carved boards, which were set upright, and + on the top of which were various figures of birds and men: on + one in particular there was the representation of a cock, which + was painted red and yellow, to imitate the feathers of that + animal, and rude images of men were, in some of them, placed one + upon the head of another." See J. Cook, _Voyages_, i. 150 _sq._ + These "carved boards" were no doubt of the same sort as the + _tees_ or _teehees_ described by the two Forsters. No other + writer seems to mention the figures of birds carved on them. + + [223] J. R. Forster, _op. cit._ p. 543. + +However, the Society Islanders appear to have been by no means +consistent in the views which they held concerning the fate of the soul +after death. Like many other people, they seem to have wavered between a +belief that the souls of the dead lingered invisible near their old +homes and the belief that the disembodied spirits went away to a distant +land, where all human souls, which have departed this life, met and +dwelt together. Or perhaps it might be more correct to say, that instead +of wavering between these two inconsistent beliefs, they held them both +firmly without perceiving their inconsistency. At all events these +islanders believed that either at death or at some time after it their +souls departed to a distant place called _po_ or Night, the common abode +of gods and of departed spirits.[224] Thither the soul was conducted by +other spirits, and on its arrival it was eaten by the gods, not all at +once, but by degrees. They imagined that the souls of ancestors or +relatives, who ranked among the gods, scraped the different parts of the +newly arrived spirit with a kind of serrated shell at different times, +after which they ate and digested it. If the soul underwent this process +of being eaten and digested three separate times, it became a deified or +imperishable spirit and might visit the world and inspire living +folk.[225] According to one account, the soul was cooked whole in an +earth-oven, as pigs are baked on earth, and was then placed in a basket +of coco-nut leaves before being served up to the god whom the deceased +had worshipped in life. "By this cannibal divinity he was now eaten up; +after which, through some inexplicable process, the dead and devoured +man emanated from the body of the god, and became immortal."[226] In the +island of Raiatea the great god Oro was supposed to use a scallop-shell +"to scrape the flesh from the bones of newly deceased bodies, previous +to their being converted into pure spirits by being devoured by him, and +afterwards transformed by passing through the laboratory of his cannibal +stomach."[227] This process of being devoured by a god was not conceived +of as a punishment inflicted on wicked people after death; for good and +bad souls had alike to submit to it. Rather, Captain Cook tells us, the +natives considered "this coalition with the deity as a kind of +purification necessary to be undergone before they enter a state of +bliss. For, according to their doctrine, if a man refrain from all +connexion with women some months before death, he passes immediately +into his eternal mansion, without such a previous union; as if already, +by this abstinence, he were pure enough to be exempted from the general +lot."[228] A slightly different account of this process of spiritual +purification is given by the first missionaries to Tahiti. They say that +"when the spirit departs from the body, they have a notion it is +swallowed by the _eat[=o]oa_ (_atua_) bird, who frequents their +burying-places and _morais_, and passes through him in order to be +purified, and be united to the deity. And such are afterwards employed +by him to attend other human beings and to inflict punishment, or remove +sickness, as shall be deemed requisite."[229] + + [224] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 396. Compare J. Wilson, _op. cit._ + p. 346; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 431; D. Tyerman and G. + Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 330. + + [225] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 396 _sq._; J. A. Moerenhout, _op. + cit._ i. 433. + + [226] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and + Travels_, i. 273; compare _ib._ pp. 330 _sq._ + + [227] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 521 _sq._ + + [228] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 150. + + [229] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 345 _sq._ + +In spite of the purification which the souls of the dead underwent by +passing through the body of a god or of a divine bird, they were +believed to be not wholly divested of the passions which had actuated +them in life on earth. If the souls of former enemies met in the world +beyond the grave, they renewed their battles, but apparently to no +purpose, since they were accounted invulnerable in this invisible state. +Again, when the soul of a dead wife arrived in the spirit land, it was +known to the soul of her dead husband, if he had gone before, and the +two renewed their acquaintance in a spacious house, called _tourooa_, +where the souls of the deceased assembled to recreate themselves with +the gods. After that the pair retired to the separate abode of the +husband, where they remained for ever and had offspring, which, however, +was entirely spiritual; for they were neither married nor were their +embraces supposed to be like those of corporeal beings.[230] + + [230] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 150 _sq._ + +In general the situation of _po_ or the land of the dead seems to have +been left vague and indefinite by the Society Islanders; apparently they +did not, like the Western Polynesians, imagine it to be in some far +western isle, to reach which the souls of the departed had to cross a +wide expanse of sea.[231] However, the natives of Raiatea had very +definite ideas on this mysterious subject. They thought that _po_ was +situated in a mysterious and unexplored cavern at the top of the highest +mountain in the island. This cavern, perhaps the crater of a volcano, +was said to communicate, by subterranean passages, with a cave on the +coast, the opening of which is so small that a child of two years could +hardly creep into it. Here an evil spirit (_varu iino_) was said to lurk +and, pouncing out on careless passers-by, to drag them into the darkest +recesses of his den and devour them. After the conversion of the natives +to Christianity the missionaries were shown the spot. Near it were the +ruins of a temple of the war god, where multitudes of the corpses of +warriors slain in battle had been either buried or left to rot on the +ground. The missionaries saw many mouldering fragments of skeletons. Not +far off a cape jutted into the sea, up the lofty and precipitous face of +which the souls of the dead were said to climb on their way to their +long home in the cavern at the top of the mountain. A native informant +assured the missionaries that he had often seen them scaling the dizzy +crag, both men and women.[232] + + [231] See above, pp. 87 _sq._, 214 _sqq._, 238 _sqq._ + + [232] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 537 _sq._ + +In the island of Borabora the fate even of kings after death was +believed to be a melancholy one. Their souls were converted into a piece +of furniture resembling an English hat-stand; only in Borabora the +corresponding utensil was the branch of a tree with the lateral forks +cut short, on which bonnets, garments, baskets, and so forth were +suspended. The natives very naturally concluded that in the other world +a similar stand was wanted for the convenience of the ghosts, to hang +their hats and coats on. Kings who shrank from the prospect of being +converted into a hat-stand after death made interest with the priest to +save them from such a degradation. So when a king who had been great and +powerful in life saw his end approaching, he would send to the priests +the most costly presents, such as four or five of the largest and +fattest hogs, as many of the best canoes, and any rare and valuable +European article which he happened to possess. In return the priests +prayed for him daily at the temples till he died; and afterwards his +dead body was brought to one of these sacred edifices and kept upright +there for several days and nights, during which yet larger gifts were +sent by his relatives, and the most expensive sacrifices offered to the +idols. The decaying corpse was then removed, placed on a canoe, and +rowed out on the lagoon as far as an opening in the reef, only to be +brought back again in like manner; while all the time the priests +recited their prayers and performed their lugubrious ceremonies +over it on the water as well as on the land. Finally, the mouldering +remains were laid out to rot on a platform in one of the usual +charnel-houses.[233] + + [233] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 331 _sq._ + +Conversion into a hat-stand was not, perhaps, the worst that could +happen to the soul of a Society Islander after death. In the island of +Raiatea there is a lake surrounded by trees, the tops of which appear +curiously flat. On this verdant platform the spirits of the newly +departed were said to dance and feast together until, at a subsequent +stage of their existence, they were converted into cockroaches.[234] The +souls of infants killed at birth were supposed to return in the bodies +of grasshoppers.[235] + + [234] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 522. + + [235] J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 455. + +But the Society Islanders were far from thinking that the souls of the +dead herded together indiscriminately in the other world. They imagined +that the spirits were discriminated and assigned to abodes of different +degrees of happiness or misery, not according to their virtues or vices +in this life, but according to the rank which they had occupied in +society, one receptacle of superior attractions being occupied by the +souls of chiefs and other principal people, while another of an inferior +sort sufficed to lodge the souls of the lower orders. For they did not +suppose that their good or bad actions in this life affected in the +least their lot in the life hereafter, or that the deities took account +of any such distinction. Thus their religion exerted no influence on +their morality.[236] Happiness and misery in the world beyond the +grave, we are told, "were the destiny of individuals, altogether +irrespective of their moral character and virtuous conduct. The only +crimes that were visited by the displeasure of their deities were the +neglect of some rite or ceremony, or the failing to furnish required +offerings."[237] + + [236] J. Cook, i. 222. Compare _id._, vi. 150; J. R. Forster, + _Observations made on a Voyage round the World_, pp. 553 _sqq._ + + [237] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 397. Compare J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 433. + +The Society Islanders, especially the natives of the Leeward Islands, +believed that some of the souls of the dead were destined to enjoy a +kind of heaven or paradise, which they called _Rohutu noanoa_, +"sweet-scented Rohutu." This blissful region was supposed to be near a +lofty and stupendous mountain in the island of Raiatea, not far from the +harbour Hamaniino. The mountain went by the name of _Temehani unauna_, +"splendid or glorious Temehani." It was probably the same with the lofty +mountain on whose summit popular fancy placed the _po_ or common abode +of the dead.[238] But the paradise was invisible to mortal eyes, being +situated in the regions of the air (_reva_). The country was described +as most lovely and enchanting in appearance, adorned with flowers of +every shape and hue, and perfumed with odours of every fragrance. The +air was pure and salubrious. Every sort of delight was to be enjoyed +there; while rich viands and delicious fruits were supplied in abundance +for the celebration of sumptuous festivals. Handsome youths and women +thronged the place. But these honours and pleasures were only for the +privileged orders--the chiefs and the members of the society of the +Areois--for only they could afford to pay the heavy charges which the +priests exacted for a passport to paradise; common folk seldom or never +dreamed of attempting to procure for their relatives admission to the +abode of bliss. Even apart from the expense of getting to heaven, it is +probable that the sharp distinction kept up between chiefs and commoners +here on earth would be expected to be maintained hereafter, and to +exclude every person of the humbler sort from the society of his betters +in the future life.[239] The other less exclusive, and no doubt less +expensive, place for departed spirits, in contrast to "sweet-scented +Rohutu," went by the significant name of "foul-scented Rohutu"; but over +the nature of the substances which earned for it this unsavoury +appellation our missionary authority preferred to draw a veil.[240] + + [238] See above, p. 317. + + [239] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 245 _sq._, 397; J. A. Moerenhout, + _op. cit._ i. 434 _sq._ + + [240] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the + South Sea Islands_, p. 476. + +According to one account, the souls of the dead were supposed to gather +in the sun, where they feasted with the god Maouwe or O-Mauwee (Maui) on +bread-fruit and the flesh of pigs or dogs, and drank never-ending +draughts of kava.[241] + + [241] J. R. Forster, _Observations made during a Voyage round + the World_, p. 553; G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. + 151. + +But wherever the souls of the dead were imagined to dwell, we may infer +that they were credited with the power of returning to earth for a +longer or shorter time to benefit or injure the living. For we have seen +that sickness and death were commonly ascribed to the action of these +spirits,[242] which seems to imply that they revisited this sublunary +world on their errands of mischief. Accordingly, whenever the natives +approached by night one of the charnel-houses in which dead bodies were +exposed, they were startled "in the same manner that many of our +ignorant and superstitious people are with the apprehension of ghosts, +and at the sight of a churchyard." Again, the souls of the departed were +sometimes thought to communicate with their friends in dreams and to +announce to them things that should afterwards come to pass, thus +enabling the dreamer to foretell the future. Foreknowledge thus +acquired, however, was confined to particular persons, and such favoured +dreamers enjoyed a reputation little inferior to that of the inspired +priests. One of them prophesied to Captain Cook on the strength of a +communication vouchsafed to him by the soul of his deceased father in a +dream; but the event proved that the ghost was out in his reckoning by +five days.[243] + + [242] See above, pp. 299 _sqq._ + + [243] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 152. + +The fear of ghosts in the minds of the Society Islanders has long +survived their conversion to Christianity; indeed, we are informed that +it is as rampant as ever. No ordinary native would dare to visit one of +the lonely caves where the mouldering bones or skulls of his forefathers +were deposited for safety in days of old.[244] At one point on the +western coast of Tahiti, where the mountains advance in precipices close +to the sea, the road which skirts their base is a place of fear to the +natives. For in these precipices are caves full of skulls, and the +ghosts who reside in the caverns are reported sometimes to weary of +their own society and to come down to the road for company, where in a +sportive vein they play all sorts of tricks on passers-by. Not so long +ago three Tahitians were riding home at dusk from Papeete, where they +had been drinking rum. Just at the pass under the cliff they were +surprised by ghosts, who threw them into the ditch at the side of the +road. So great is the dread which the natives entertain of apparitions +at this spot that the Government has been compelled to divert the road, +so that it no longer skirts the foot of the haunted mountain, but gives +it a wide berth, and runs in a long sweep by the edge of the sea.[245] + + [244] A. Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_, p. 37. + + [245] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 83 _sq._ + +Again, at another point on the west coast of Tahiti, where mighty +mountains, a glorious sea, and little coral islands with their groves of +palms, offer a view of enchanting beauty, there is said to be a cave +containing the skulls of chiefs in a jutting cliff half-way up the +mountain. The cave was in charge of an old man in whose family the +office of guardian was hereditary. It had been entrusted to him by his +father on his deathbed, and the son had kept the secret faithfully ever +since. In vain did a traveller seek to persuade the old man to guide him +to the cave; in vain did the chief himself beg of him to reveal the +grotto which concealed the mouldering relics of his forefathers. The +guardian was obdurate; he believed that the world was not wide enough to +hold two men who knew the holy place. He assured the traveller that +nobody could reach the cave without the help of the ghosts, so +perpendicular and so smooth was the face of the cliff that led up to it. +When he himself wished to make his way to it, his custom was to go to +the foot of the crag and pray, till the spirits came and wafted him +lightly up and down again; otherwise it would have been a sheer +impossibility for him to ascend and descend.[246] + + [246] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 81 _sq._ + + +§ 10. _The Worship of the Dead_ + +The belief in the existence of the spirits of the dead, and in their +power to help or harm the living, naturally led the Society Islanders, +like so many other peoples of the world, to propitiate these powerful +beings, to sue their favour, or to appease their anger by prayer and +sacrifice, in short, to worship them. On this subject the first +missionaries to these islanders tell us that, in addition to the greater +gods, "for general worship they have an inferior race, a kind of _dii +penates_. Each family has its _tee_ or guardian spirit: he is supposed +to be one of their departed relatives, who, for his superior +excellences, has been exalted into an _eatooa_ (_atua_). They suppose +this spirit can inflict sickness or remove it, and preserve them from a +malignant deity who also bears the name _tee_, and is always employed in +mischief."[247] "Every family has its _tee_, or guardian spirit, whom +they set up, and worship at the _morai_."[248] "They regard the spirits +of their ancestors, male and female, as exalted into _eatooas_ (_atuas_) +and their favour to be secured by prayers and offerings. Every sickness +and untoward accident they esteem as the hand of judgment for some +offence committed."[249] As for the mischievous spirit who bore the same +name as the worshipful spirit of a dead ancestor, the missionaries say +that "the evil demon named _Tee_ has no power but upon earth; and this +he exercises by getting into them with their food, and causing madness +or other diseases; but these they imagine their tutelar saints, if +propitious, can prevent or remove."[250] + + [247] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 344. + + [248] T. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 343. + + [249] J. Wilson, _op. cit._ p. 345. "The general name for deity, + in all its ramifications, is _eatooa_" (_id._ p. 343). + + [250] J. Wilson, p. 346. + +We may suspect that the missionaries were mistaken in thus sharply +distinguishing between an "evil demon" and a "tutelar saint," both of +whom went by the same name (_tee_). Probably the "evil demon" and the +"tutelar saint" were alike supposed to be souls of dead persons, with +this difference between them, that whereas the one had been good and +beneficent in his life, the other had been bad and maleficent; for it +is a common belief that the dead retain in the other world the character +and disposition which they manifested on earth, and that accordingly as +disembodied spirits they may benefit or injure their surviving +relatives.[251] Thus according to his character and behaviour in this +present state of existence a person's ghost may naturally develop either +into a god or into a devil. + + [251] In confirmation of my conjecture that the missionaries + mistook a general name (_tee_, otherwise spelled _tii_) for the + name of a particular demon, I may point out that the naturalist + J. R. Forster before them seems to have fallen into precisely + the same mistake with regard to another general name for + departed spirits (_oramatuas_ or _oromatuas_). Thus he writes: + "Besides these divinities of the second class, there are others + of a still inferior rank, and though called _Eatooas_, are no + more than what the Greek or Roman mythologists would have called + _Genii_, or _Dii minorum gentium_: one of them, called + _Orometooa_, is of a malignant disposition, resides chiefly near + the _Marais_ and _Toopapous_ (places of burial) and in or near + the boxes, or little chests, including the heads of their + deceased friends, each of which, on that account, is called + _Te-wharre no te Orometooa_, the house of the evil genius + _Orometooa_, The people at Taheitee are of opinion, that if + their priests invoke this evil genius, he will kill, by a sudden + death, the person on whom they intend to bring down the + vengeance of this divinity." See J. R. Forster, _Observations + made during a Voyage round the World_, pp. 541 _sq._ In this + passage we can hardly doubt that "this evil genius," Orometooa, + is simply the _oramatuas_ or _oromatuas_, the spirits of the + dead, by means of whom sorcerers were supposed to injure or + destroy any one at whom they or their employers had a grudge. + See above, p. 299, and below, pp. 323 _sqq._ + +It is to be feared that in the case of Tahitian ghosts the course of +spiritual evolution was rather in the direction of devilry than of +deity. At least this conclusion seems forced on us by the account which +William Ellis, perhaps our best authority on Tahitian religion, gives of +the character of these worshipful beings. I will reproduce it in his own +words. + +"The objects of worship among the Tahitians, next to the _atua_ or gods, +were the _oramatuas tiis_ or spirits. These were supposed to reside in +the _po_, or world of night, and were never invoked but by wizards or +sorcerers, who implored their aid for the destruction of an enemy, or +the injury of some person whom they were hired to destroy. They were +considered a different order of beings from the gods, a kind of +intermediate class between them and the human race, though in their +prayers all the attributes of the gods were ascribed to them. The +_oramatuas_ were the spirits of departed fathers, mothers, brothers, +sisters, children, etc. The natives were greatly afraid of them, and +presented offerings to avoid being cursed or destroyed, when they were +employed by the sorcerers. + +"They seem to have been regarded as a sort of demons. In the Leeward +Islands, the chief _oramatuas_ were spirits of departed warriors, who +had distinguished themselves by ferocity and murder, attributes of +character usually supposed to belong to these evil genii. Each +celebrated _tii_ was honoured with an image, through which it was +supposed his influence was exerted. The spirits of the reigning chiefs +were united to this class, and the skulls of deceased rulers, kept with +the images, were honoured with the same worship. Some idea of what was +regarded as their ruling passion, may be inferred from the fearful +apprehensions constantly entertained by all classes. They were supposed +to be exceedingly irritable and cruel, avenging with death the slightest +insult or neglect, and were kept within the precincts of the temple. In +the _marae_ of Tane at Maeva, the ruins of their abode were still +standing when I last visited the place. It was a house built upon a +number of large strong poles, which raised the floor ten or twelve feet +from the ground. They were thus elevated, to keep them out of the way of +men, as it was imagined they were constantly strangling, or otherwise +destroying, the chiefs and people. To prevent this, they were also +treated with great respect; men were appointed constantly to attend +them, and to keep them wrapped in the choicest kinds of cloth, to take +them out whenever there was a _pae atua_, or general exhibition of the +gods; to anoint them frequently with fragrant oil; and to sleep in the +house with them at night. All this was done, to keep them pacified. And +though the office of calming the angry spirits was honourable, it was +regarded as dangerous, for if, during the night or at any other time, +these keepers were guilty of the least impropriety, it was supposed the +spirits of the images, or the skulls, would hurl them headlong from +their high abodes, and break their necks in the fall."[252] + + [252] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_. i. 334-336. + +The difference in power and dignity between the great national gods +(_atuas_) and the spirits of deceased relations (_oramatuas tiis_) might +be measured by the size of their images; for whereas the images of the +gods were six or eight feet long, those of the spirits were not more +than so many inches.[253] But while these malignant and irritable +spirits--the souls of dead fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and +children--resided generally either in their little images or in their +skulls, they were not strictly confined to these material vehicles; they +resorted occasionally to the shells from the seashore, especially to a +beautiful kind of murex, the _Murex ramoces_. These shells were kept by +the sorcerers, and the peculiar singing or humming sound that may be +heard when the valve is applied to the ear was imagined to proceed from +the demon in the shell.[254] + + [253] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 337. + + [254] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 363. + +It was these malignant and dangerous demons whom the sorcerer employed +as his agents to execute his fell purposes. But to effect them he had to +secure something connected with the body of his intended victim, it +might be the parings of his nails, a lock of his hair, his spittle or +other bodily secretions, or else a portion of the food which he was +about to eat. Over this material substance, whatever it was, the +sorcerer recited his incantations and performed his magical rites either +in his own house or in his private temple (_marae_). The result was +believed to be that the demon entered into the substance, and through it +passed into the body of the man at whom the enchanter aimed his elfish +darts. The wretched sufferer experienced the acutest agonies; his +distortions were frightful to witness; his eyes seemed starting from his +head; he foamed at the mouth; he lay writhing in anguish on the ground; +in short, to adopt the native expression, he was torn by the evil +spirit. Yet his case was not hopeless; the demon could be mollified by a +bribe, or defeated by the intervention of a more powerful demon. Hence, +when any one was believed to be suffering from the incantations of a +sorcerer, if he or his friends were rich enough they engaged another +sorcerer for a fee to counteract the spells of the first and so to +restore the health of the invalid. It was generally supposed that the +efforts of the second sorcerer would be crowned with success if only the +demon whom he employed were equally powerful with that at the command of +his rival, and if the presents which he received for his professional +services were more valuable. In order to avoid the danger of being thus +bewitched through the refuse of their persons, the Tahitians used +scrupulously to burn or bury their shorn hair, lest it should fall into +the hands of enchanters.[255] + + [255] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 363-370. + +It is possible that some even of the great national gods were no more +than ghosts of dead men, whose human origin was forgotten. There is some +reason for supposing that this was true of Hiro, the god of thieves. On +the one hand, this deity was reputed to be the son of the great god +Oro;[256] and when a mother desired her child to grow up a clever thief, +she repaired to a temple, where the priest, on receipt of the requisite +offerings, caught the spirit of the god in a snare and infused it into +the infant, thus ensuring the future proficiency of the infant in the +arts of theft and robbery.[257] Yet, in spite of these claims to +divinity, there are some grounds for thinking that Hiro was himself +originally no better than a thief and a robber. He is said to have been +a native of Raiatea, from whose sacrilegious fingers not even the +temples and altars of the gods were safe. His skull was shown in a large +temple of his own construction in that island down to the early years of +the nineteenth century. His hair, too, was stuffed into the image of his +reputed father, the god Oro, and perished when that image was committed +to the flames by the early converts to Christianity.[258] + + [256] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. 112, 125. + + [257] J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the + South Sea Islands_, pp. 466 _sq._ + + [258] D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 254 _sq._ As to + Hiro, the god of thieves, see also J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ + i. 447-449. + +Once a year the Society Islanders celebrated a festival accompanied by +rites, of which one has been compared to the Roman Catholic custom of +performing a mass for the benefit of souls in purgatory. The festival +was called "the ripening of the year," and the time for its observance +was determined by the blossoming of reeds. It was regularly observed in +the island of Huahine, and vast multitudes assembled to take part in it. +As a rule, only men engaged in the pagan festivals, but at this +particular one women and children were also present, though they were +not allowed to enter the sacred enclosure. The celebration was regarded +as a kind of annual acknowledgment made to the gods. Prayers were +offered at the temple, and a sumptuous banquet formed part of the +festival. At the close of the festival every one returned to his home, +or to his family temple (_marae_), there to offer special prayers for +the spirits of departed relatives, that they might be liberated from the +_po_, or state of Night, and might either ascend to paradise +("sweet-scented Rohutu") or return to this world by entering into the +body of one of its inhabitants. But "they did not suppose, according to +the generally received doctrine of transmigration, that the spirits who +entered the body of some dweller upon earth, would permanently remain +there, but only come and inspire the person to declare future events, or +execute any other commission from the supernatural beings on whom they +imagined they were constantly dependent."[259] + + [259] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 351 _sq._ Compare + J. A. Moerenhout, _op. cit._ i. 502 note^1, 523. + +Hence we learn that the spirits of the dead as well as the gods were +believed to be capable of inspiring men and revealing to them the +future. In this, as in other respects, the dead were assimilated to +deities. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE MARQUESANS + + +§ 1. _The Marquesas Islands_ + +The Marquesas are an archipelago of eleven or twelve chief islands in +the South Pacific, situated about nine hundred miles to the north-east +of Tahiti. They fall into two groups, which together stretch in a +direction from north-west to south-east, from 8° to 11° of South +latitude. The south-eastern group, of which Hivaoa (Dominica) is the +largest island, was discovered by the Spanish Admiral Alvaro Mendana de +Neyra in 1595, but, so far as appears, it was not again visited by +Europeans until 1774, when Captain Cook touched at the islands on his +second voyage. Curiously enough, the north-westerly group, of which +Nukahiva is the largest and most important island, remained unknown +until 1791, when it was discovered by the American Captain Ingraham, who +named the group the Washington Islands. About a month later, in June +1791, the French navigator Marchand visited the same islands, and in +1797 the first missionary, William Crook, was landed from the missionary +ship _Duff_. The whole archipelago is now known as the Marquesas, a name +which the Spanish Admiral Mendana bestowed on the islands discovered by +him in honour of the Marquess de Canete, Viceroy of Peru, by whose order +the voyage had been undertaken.[1] + + [1] Captain J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 274 _sqq._; G. Forster, + _Voyage round the World_, ii. 5 _sqq._; C. P. Claret Fleurieu, + _Voyage round the World performed by E. Marchand_ (London, + 1801), i. 27 _sqq._, 55 _sqq._; J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to + the Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. lxxiii. _sqq._, 127 _sqq._; A. + J. von Krusenstern, _Voyage round the World_ (London, 1813), i. + 136; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _Îles Marquises ou + Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843), pp. 1 _sqq._, 12 _sq._; Le P. Mathias + G----, _Lettres sur les Îles Marquises_ (Paris, 1843), pp. 7 + _sqq._; P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _L'Archipel des Iles + Marquises_ (Paris, 1877), pp. 1 _sqq._; C. E. Meinicke, _Die + Inseln des Stillen Oceans_, ii. 235 _sq._; F. H. H. Guillemard, + _Australasia_, ii. 522. + +The islands are of volcanic formation, lofty and mountainous. The +interior consists generally of a range of mountains some three thousand +feet high, from which a series of spurs descend steeply to the coast, +terminating for the most part in tremendous cliffs, at the foot of which +the great rollers break in foam; for with a single exception there are +no coral reefs, and a ship can sail in deep water within a cable's +length of the rocks. Viewed at a distance from the sea, the aspect of +the islands is somewhat stern and forbidding. Bare mountains, jagged +peaks, sometimes lost in the clouds, and an iron-bound coast of black +and beetling crags, buffeted eternally by the surf, make up a gloomy +picture; but a nearer view discloses verdant valleys nestling between +the ridges which radiate from the central mountains. These valleys are +watered by mountain streams and clothed with dense tropical vegetation, +their luxuriant green offering an agreeable contrast to the bareness and +aridity of the frowning precipices and sharp peaks which soar above +them. Cascades tumbling from high cliffs into the depths of the glens +add to the beauty and charm of the scenery. So steep and precipitous are +the ridges which divide these smiling vales from each other that the +ascent and descent are in many places both difficult and dangerous even +for the natives; European mountaineers need to have stout limbs and +steady heads to accomplish them in safety. Hence in former days each +valley contained a separate tribe, which was commonly in a state of +permanent hostility towards its neighbours across the mountain +barriers.[2] Of these tribes the most famous were the warlike and +dreaded Taipiis or Typees, who occupied a beautiful valley at the +eastern end of Nukahiva, and in their mountain fastness deemed +themselves inaccessible to their enemies. However, in the early part of +the nineteenth century an American naval officer, Captain David Porter, +succeeded, not without great difficulty, in carrying havoc and +devastation into these sylvan scenes.[3] Later in the century a runaway +American sailor, Hermann Melville, spent more than four months as a +captive in the tribe, and published an agreeable narrative of his +captivity; but never having mastered the language, he was not able to +give much exact information concerning the customs and beliefs of the +natives.[4] As there is no maritime plain interposed between the +mountains and the shore, the only way of passing from one valley to +another is either to go by sea or to clamber over the intervening +ridges. It would be materially impossible, we are told, unless at +enormous and ruinous cost, to make a road or even a mule-path round any +of the Marquesas Islands, as has been done in Tahiti.[5] + + [2] As to the formation and scenery of the islands, see + Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 110; C. S. Stewart, _Visit to the + South Seas_ (London, 1832), i. 193 _sqq._; F. D. Bennett, + _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage round the Globe_ (London, 1840), + i. 299 _sqq._; H. Melville, _Typee_, pp. 8 _sq._, 17 _sq._, and + _passim_ (_Everyman's Library_); Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 138 _sq._; P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, + _op. cit._ pp. 84 _sq._; Clavel, _Les Marquisiens_ (Paris, 1885) + pp. 1 _sq._; C. E. Meinicke, _op. cit._ ii. 236 _sq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _op. cit._ pp. 522 _sq._; A. Baessler, _Neue + Südsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. 192 _sq._, 220 _sqq._ As to + the extreme difficulty of scaling the mountains and precipices + to pass from one valley to another, see particularly M. + Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_ (Paris, 1882), pp. 101 _sq._, + note. + + [3] Captain David Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the + Pacific Ocean_, Second Edition (New York, 1822), ii. 86 _sqq._ + + [4] H. Melville, _Typee_ (London, _Everyman's Library_, no + date). The first edition of this book was published in 1846. + Melville's residence among the Taipiis (Typees) fell in the year + 1841. + + [5] P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ p. 85. + +Despite their situation in the heart of the tropics, the Marquesas enjoy +an extremely healthy climate subject to none of the inconveniences +usually incidental to countries in the same latitude; endemic and +epidemic diseases are alike unknown. European soldiers can work in the +sun without accident and without exhaustion.[6] The climate has been +described as an eternal spring, without winter or even autumn; though a +perpetual succession of ripe fruits may seem to lend an autumnal air to +the landscape, which yet is never chilled by hoar frosts or saddened by +the sight of bare boughs and fallen leaves.[7] Even in the hottest days +a cool wind blows from the sea, and at night there is a breeze from the +land. Rain falls during some months of the year, especially from May or +June to August or September; but on the whole there is little variation +in the seasons;[8] the Marquesan year has been described as one long +tropical month of June just melting into July.[9] Yet we are told that +the northern islands sometimes suffer from droughts which may last for +years; at such times vegetation languishes, till a fresh cloud-burst +restores the verdure of the trees and grass as by magic.[10] It is then, +too, that the cascades everywhere enliven the landscape by the glitter +and roar of their tumbling waters, which, after dropping from the +height, flow rapidly down their steep beds into the sea.[11] + + [6] M. Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_ (Paris, 1882), pp. 304 + _sq._; P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ p. 57. + + [7] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 94. + + [8] P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ p. 57. Compare M. + Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_, pp. 304 _sq._ + + [9] H. Melville, _Typee_, p. 220. + + [10] A. Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 222 _sq._ + + [11] M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 304. + + +§ 2. _Physical Appearance of the Natives_ + +Observers are generally agreed that from the purely physical point of +view the Marquesan islanders are, or used to be, the noblest specimens +of the Polynesian race. Captain Cook remarked that "the inhabitants of +these islands collectively are, without exception, the finest race of +people in this sea. For fine shape and regular features, they perhaps +surpass all other nations."[12] To the same effect the naturalist George +Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook, gives his impression of a crowd +of Marquesan men, among whom were no women. He says: "They were tall, +and extremely well limbed; not one of them unwieldy or corpulent like a +Taheitian, nor meagre and shrivelled like a native of Easter Island. The +punctuation" (by which he meant the tattooing) "which almost entirely +covered the men of a middle age, made it difficult to distinguish their +elegance of form; but among the youths, who were not yet marked or +tattooed, it was easy to discover beauties singularly striking, and +often without a blemish, such as demanded the admiration of all +beholders. Many of them might be placed near the famous models of +antiquity, and would not suffer in the comparison: + + "_Qualis aut Nireus fuit, aut aquosa + Raptus ab Ida."_ + HOR. + +"The natural colour of these youths was not quite so dark as that of the +common people in the Society Isles; but the men appeared to be +infinitely blacker, on account of the punctures which covered their +whole body, from head to foot. These punctures were disposed with the +utmost regularity; so that the marks on each leg, arm, and cheek, and on +the corresponding muscles, were exactly similar. They never assumed the +determinate form of an animal or plant, but consisted of a variety of +blotches, spirals, bars, chequers, and lines, which had a most motley +appearance."[13] + + [12] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 284. + + [13] G. Forster, _Voyage round the World_, ii. 14 _sq._ Compare + Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 152 _sq._; U. Lisiansky, _Voyage + round the World_ (London, 1814), p. 85; G. H. von Langsdorff, + _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfurt am Mayn, 1812), i. 92 _sqq._; + Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 96 _sqq._; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 216 _sqq._; Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. + cit._ p. 39. + +Similarly, speaking of the Taipiis or Typees, Melville observes, "In +beauty of form they surpassed anything I had ever seen. Not a single +instance of natural deformity was observable in all the throng attending +the revels. Occasionally I noticed among the men the scars of wounds +they had received in battle; and sometimes, though very seldom, the loss +of a finger, an eye, or an arm, attributable to the same cause. With +these exceptions, every individual appeared free from those blemishes +which sometimes mar the effect of an otherwise perfect form. But their +physical excellence did not merely consist in an exemption from these +evils; nearly every individual of their number might have been taken for +a sculptor's model."[14] As to their stature, the same writer affirms +that "the men, in almost every instance, are of lofty stature, scarcely +ever less than six feet."[15] Similarly Captain Porter tell us that +"they are far above the common stature of the human race, seldom less +than five feet eleven inches, but most commonly six feet two or three +inches, and every way proportioned. Their faces are remarkably handsome, +with keen, piercing eyes; teeth white, and more beautiful than ivory; +countenances open and expressive, which reflect every emotion of their +souls; limbs which might serve as models for a statuary, and strength +and activity proportioned to their appearance."[16] Another observer +remarks of them that "the natives bear the palm for personal beauty +from most other of the Polynesian tribes. The men are tall and muscular, +though rather slightly framed; their deportment is graceful and +independent; their features are handsome, and partake more of the +European regularity of profile than is usual with Polynesian +islanders."[17] The nose is straight or aquiline, sometimes short or +slightly flattened, but never ill-shaped: the mouth is never large nor +the lips thick: the forehead is rather low and somewhat retreating.[18] +The hair is almost always straight or wavy; men or women with frizzly +hair are very seldom seen, especially in the north-western group. The +colour of the skin, where it is not darkened by tattooing, is a clear +brown, resembling the bronzed appearance acquired by Europeans through +exposure to a tropical sun.[19] The women are both absolutely and +relatively shorter than the men; indeed Melville describes them as +"uncommonly diminutive." Their complexion is lighter; in the parts of +the body which are seldom exposed to the sun they are even said to +appear as white as European women. Their features are good, but rather +pretty than beautiful; their hands and feet are very shapely. Unlike the +men, who are, or used to be, tattooed from head to foot, the women were +tattooed very little, and that chiefly on the lips.[20] They took pains +to whiten their skin by avoiding exposure to the sun and by washing +themselves with the juice of a small native vine,[21] or by smearing +themselves with a cosmetic in which the yellow of the turmeric root +predominated.[22] + + [14] H. Melville, _Typee_, p. 194. + + [15] H. Melville, _Typee_, p. 195. + + [16] David Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 58 _sq._ + + [17] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 304. + + [18] M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 169. + + [19] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ p. 39. + + [20] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 39 _sq._; H. Melville, + _Typee_, p. 195. + + [21] C. S. Stewart, _Visit to the South Seas_, i. 231 _sq._, who + speaks highly of the beauty of the women. But the general + opinion appears to be that the Marquesan women are much less + handsome than the men. See Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 94-96; + Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 59. + + [22] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 308 _sq._ + + +§ 3. _Food, Weapons, Tools, Houses, Canoes, Fishing_ + +The Marquesans subsist chiefly on a vegetable diet. Their staple food is +the bread-fruit, and their national dish is a paste called _popoi_, +which is prepared from bread-fruit after it has been subjected to a +process of fermentation. Fish is also a common article of diet; the +natives usually eat it raw, even when it is rotten and stinking. They +keep pigs, but seldom kill them except for a festival or at the +reception of a stranger. Hence pork is not a regular or common article +of diet with them; and apart from it they hardly taste flesh. Other +sorts of food, such as bananas, taro, and sugar-cane, are entirely +subsidiary to the great staples, bread-fruit and fish. The natives do +not readily accustom themselves to a European diet; indeed when the +experiment has been made of feeding them exclusively in our manner, they +have wasted away and only recovered their health when they were allowed +to return to their usual nourishment. Their ordinary beverage was water, +but they were also addicted to the drinking of kava, which was extracted +from the root of the _Piper methysticum_ in the usual fashion.[23] +Drawing their sustenance chiefly from the bread-fruit tree, the +Marquesans paid little attention to the cultivation of the soil; +however, they grew a certain amount of taro, sweet potatoes, and +sugar-cane; and they had plantations of the paper-mulberry,[24] the bark +of which was manufactured by the women into cloth in the ordinary way. +But the bark of other trees was also employed for the same purpose. +Since the natives were able to procure European stuffs, the indigenous +manufacture of bark-cloth has much declined.[25] Hence agriculture +engaged the men very little; fishing, though it was part of their +business, they are said to have neglected; the only work of consequence +they did was to build their houses and manufacture their arms, but these +employments occupied them only occasionally.[26] + + [23] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 42-44; Clavel, _Les + Marquisiens_, pp. 3 _sqq._ Compare G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. 27 + _sq._; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 106-108; Fleurieu, _op. cit._ + i. 115 _sq._; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 50-55; F. D. Bennett, _op. + cit._ i. 316 _sq._; H. Melville, _Typee_, pp. 120-124, 179; + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 277 _sq._; + Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 138 _sq._, 144 _sq._; A. Baessler, + _op. cit._ pp. 208-211. As to the preparation and drinking of + kava among the Marquesans, see also M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. + 64-66. + + [24] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 164; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 53; + C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 213 _sq._; F. D. Bennett, _op. + cit._ i. 345 (who says that the only root the natives cultivate + for food is the sweet potato); Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. + 148, 149; Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 18. + + [25] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 122 _sq._; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. + 116; Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 337 _sq._; Melville, _Typee_, pp. + 158-160, 210; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 137 _sq._; Radiguet, + _op. cit._ pp. 53 _sq._; Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ 55 + _sq._; Clavel, _op. cit._ 19. + + [26] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 164. + +The weapons of the warriors were clubs, spears, and slings. The slings +were made of coco-nut fibre, and the natives were very expert in the use +of them. Bows and arrows were unknown.[27] Like the rest of the +Polynesians, the Marquesans were totally ignorant of the metals until +they acquired them from Europeans. Their tools were made of stone, bone, +and shell. Thus they employed a pointed stone to bore holes with, and an +axe of black, hard stone for cutting. The axe-head was shaped like an +elongated wedge or mortise-chisel, and was fastened to the haft by +coco-nut fibre. Some of these axes weighed as much as twenty-five +pounds. The natives also used sharp-edged or toothed shells as cutting +implements, and borers made of pointed bones; while rough fish-skins +served them as polishers.[28] Like the rest of the Polynesians, they +kindled fire by the method known as the stick-and-groove, that is, by +rubbing the sharp point of one stick against the flat surface of +another, so as to form a groove in it and, by continued friction, to +elicit smoke and a glow, which, with the help of dry leaves, is nursed +into a flame. Contrary to the usage of some peoples, the Marquesans +employed the same kind of wood for both the fire-sticks, either a +species of hibiscus (_Hibiscus tiliaceus_) or a species of poplar +(_Thespesia populnea_); for this purpose they split a branch in two, +lengthwise, and used the two pieces as the fire-sticks. In former days +these fire-sticks were regularly kept in every native house.[29] + + [27] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 118 _sq._; Krusenstern, _op. cit._ + i. 162; Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 88; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. + 152 (bows and arrows unknown); Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, + _op. cit._ pp. 282 _sq._ + + [28] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 121; Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. + 162. + + [29] H. Melville, _Typee_, pp. 118 _sq._; Clavel, _Les + Marquisiens_, pp. 11 _sq._ Compare G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii. + 20; D. Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 116; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. + 143. + +The Marquesan houses are regularly built on stone platforms, oblong or +square in shape, and raised above the ground to heights varying from one +to four, eight, or even ten feet. The higher platforms are approached +from the ground by ladders or notched poles. The houses, constructed of +timber and bamboo, are oblong in shape, and comprise a high back wall, +generally inclined forward at an angle, from which the thatched roof +slopes down steeply to a low front wall, while two short walls close the +house at either end. The door is in the middle of the front wall, and +is so low that it is necessary to stoop in entering. Sometimes the +fronts of the houses are entirely open except for the low pillars which +support the roof. The interior of the house forms a single chamber +undivided by partitions. Two trunks of coco-nut palms extend parallel to +each other along the whole length of the floor at an interval of four or +five feet; the innermost log, a foot or two distant from the back wall, +forms a pillow on which the heads of the sleepers rest, while the other +supports their feet or legs. The space between the two logs is paved +with stone, and spread with mats. In the single apartment the whole +family live and sleep. Such at least were the domestic arrangements in +the old days. The size of the houses naturally varies. Some of them +measure eighty feet by forty, others only twenty-five feet by ten, or +even less.[30] + + [30] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 285 _sq._; G. Forster, _op. cit._ + pp. 21, 24; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 131, 134 _sq._; Lisiansky, + _op. cit._ p. 84; Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 159; Langsdorff, + _op. cit._ i. 109-111; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 39 _sq._; C. S. + Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 209-211, 212, 267 _sq._; Bennett, _op. + cit._ i. 302 _sq._; Melville, _Typee_, pp. 81-83; + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 274-276; + Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 122-129; Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. + 36-38; Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 44 _sq._; Clavel, + _op. cit._ pp. 15 _sq._; Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 200-208. + +The platforms on which the houses are built consist often of large +blocks of stone neatly and regularly laid without mortar or cement, in a +style which would do no discredit to European masons.[31] Sometimes the +stones are described as enormous blocks of rock,[32] some of which would +require ten or twelve men to carry or roll them.[33] Water-worn +boulders, washed down from the mountains in the bed of torrents, were +especially chosen for the purpose.[34] + + [31] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 109 _sq._ + + [32] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 129. + + [33] Langsdorff, _l.c._ + + [34] Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 15. + +Sometimes, though far less commonly, Marquesan houses were raised above +the ground on posts from eight or ten to sixteen feet high. Such houses +were lightly built of wood and thatched; the floor was an open work of +split bamboos. Sometimes these raised dwellings resembled the ordinary +Marquesan house in structure; at other times they were quadrangular, +with perpendicular walls and an ordinary roof. They were approached by +ladders and resembled the habitations in use among the Malay tribes of +the Indian Archipelago. No dwellings of this type have been noticed in +Nukahiva, the principal island of the archipelago; but they have been +seen and described in Tauata (Santa Christina) and Hivaoa +(Dominica).[35] + + [35] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 303 _sq._; Baessler, _op. + cit._ pp. 207 _sq._ + +The Marquesans built canoes of various sizes, the smaller for fishing, +the larger for war. These latter might be from forty to fifty feet long. +They were fitted with outriggers. The prow had an ornamental projection +rudely carved to represent the head of an animal. Sometimes the prows of +war canoes were decorated with the skulls of slaughtered enemies. But in +general the Marquesans appear to have been inferior to the other South +Sea islanders in the arts of canoe-building and navigation.[36] This +inferiority may perhaps have been partly due to the absence of those +lagoons which, formed by coral reefs, elsewhere enabled the natives to +acquire confidence and skill in sailing on smooth and sheltered waters. +The same cause may also, perhaps, explain why fishing was comparatively +little practised by the Marquesans. We are told that as an occupation it +was despised by such as owned a piece of land of any extent, and that +only the poorer class of people, who depended on the sea for a +livelihood, addicted themselves to it. They caught fish by means both of +nets and of lines with hooks neatly made of mother-of-pearl; also they +stupefied the fish by a certain mashed root, which the fisherman +distributed in the water by diving, and then caught the fish as they +rose to the surface.[37] + + [36] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 287; Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. + 163 _sq._; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 150; Porter, _op. cit._, + ii. 12-14; Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 338; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 280-282. + + [37] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 163. + + +§ 4. _Polyandry, Adoption, Exchange of Names_ + +The social life of the Marquesan islanders presented some peculiar +features. Thus they are said to have practised the rare custom of +polyandry. On this subject Stewart observes: "We have yet met with no +instance, in any rank of society, of a male with two wives, but are +informed that for one woman to have two husbands is a universal habit. +Some favourite in the father's household or retinue at an early period +becomes the husband of the daughter, who still remains under the +paternal roof till contracted in marriage to a second individual, on +which she removes with her first husband to his habitation, and both +herself and original companion are supported by him."[38] Melville +describes the custom in substantially the same way, and adds, "No man +has more than one wife, and no wife of mature years has less than two +husbands,--sometimes she has three, but such instances are not +frequent." He seems to have attributed the practice to a scarcity of +women; for he tells us that "the males considerably outnumber the +females."[39] The same view was taken at a later date by Dr. Clavel, who +observes: "In the islands where the women are in a minority we may to +this day observe tolerably numerous cases of polyandry. Thus at Ua-Una I +met some women who had each two husbands, almost always one of them +young and the other old. Such households of three are not worse than the +rest and never give rise to intestine dissensions."[40] According to +Radiguet, the right of having more husbands than one was not general and +hardly belonged to any but chieftainesses,[41] but this limitation is +denied by a good authority.[42] The Russian navigator Lisiansky, who +visited the Marquesas in 1804, seems to have supposed that the custom +was restricted to wealthy families. He says: "In rich families, every +woman has two husbands; of whom one may be called the assistant husband. +This last, when the other is at home, is nothing more than the head +servant of the house; but, in case of absence, exercises all the rights +of matrimony, and is also obliged to attend his lady wherever she goes. +It happens sometimes, that the subordinate partner is chosen after +marriage; but in general two men present themselves to the same woman, +who, if she approves their addresses, appoints one for the real husband, +and the other as his auxiliary: the auxiliary is generally poor, but +handsome and well-made."[43] + + [38] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 317. + + [39] Melville, _Typee_, pp. 203 _sq._ + + [40] Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 60. + + [41] Radiguet, _op. cit._ 173. + + [42] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 111. + + [43] Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 83. As to polyandry in the + Marquesas, see further E. Westermarck, _History of Human + Marriage_, Fifth Edition (London, 1921), iii. 146 _sqq._ + +Another peculiar habit of the Marquesans was to give away their children +to be adopted by other people soon after their birth. When a woman was +pregnant, she and her husband would discuss to whom they should give the +child that was about to be born. They received offers from neighbours, +and often knocked down the infant to the highest bidder; for the +adopting parents regularly made presents to the child's family, +consisting of cloth, tools, and pigs, according to the fortune of the +contracting parties. After birth the child remained with its mother for +some months till it was weaned, upon which it was sent away to its +parents by adoption, who might inhabit a different district and even a +different island. It is said to have been exceptional for parents to +bring up their own offspring.[44] + + [44] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 19 _sq._; Clavel, _op. + cit._ pp. 56, 61 _sq._ + +Another mode by which the Marquesans created artificial relationships +was the exchange of names. Such an exchange was equivalent to a +ratification of amity and good-will between the persons, who thereby +acquired a claim to mutual protection and the enjoyment of each other's +property and even of their wives, if they happened to be married men. +The custom was not limited to the natives; they readily exchanged names +with Europeans and granted them the privileges which flowed from the +pact. It is even said that some natives gave their own names to animals, +which thenceforth became sacred for them and for the rest of the tribe. +This led to so many inconveniences that the priests had to forbid the +practice of exchanging names with animals.[45] + + [45] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 16 _sq._, 158 _sq._; Clavel, _op. + cit._ pp. 61 _sq._ + + +§ 5. _Amusements, Dancing-places, Banqueting-halls_ + +A favourite amusement of the islanders was racing or combating on +stilts. A stilt was composed of two pieces, a pole of light wood which +the runner held in his hand, and a step or foot-rest of hard wood, on +which he planted one of his feet. The step or foot-rest was often +adorned with human figures curiously carved, which are said to have +represented gods. The races or combats took place on the paved areas +which were to be seen in most villages, and which formed the scene of +public entertainments. In these contests each runner or combatant tried +to get in the way of his adversary, and, balancing himself on one stilt, +to strike his rival with the other, so as to bring him to the ground +amid the laughter and jeers of the spectators. It has sometimes been +supposed that the use of stilts in the Marquesas originated in the +practical purpose of enabling people to cross a stream without wetting +their feet. But the supposition is highly improbable. For, on the one +hand, the streams in the islands are mere rivulets, which dry up for the +greater part of the year; and, on the other hand, the natives are almost +amphibious, often spending whole days in the water, and swimming for +hours without fatigue. Hence it is absurd to imagine that they invented +stilts simply to keep their feet dry at crossing a shallow stream.[46] + + [46] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 119 _sq._, 124; Langsdorff, _op. + cit._ i. 146; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 124-126; Vincendon-Dumoulin + et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 284; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. + 96. As for the ability of the natives to swim in the sea for + hours without fatigue, compare J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to + the Southern Pacific Ocean_, p. 129. + +But perhaps the most popular recreation of the Marquesans was dancing +and singing, which formed a leading feature of their festivals. Every +inhabited district had its dancing-place, a sort of public square, where +places were set apart for the use of the performers, the musicians, and +the spectators. These have been described by the missionary, C. S. +Stewart, from personal observation. He says, "Our walk terminated at +what may be called the _theatre_ or _opera house_ of the settlement, a +large rectangular platform of stone pavement, surrounded by low terraces +also laid with stone; the first designed for the public exhibitions of +the song and the dance, and the last for the accommodation of the +spectators who assemble to witness the performance. Entertainments of +this kind are the most fashionable and favourite amusements at the +Washington and the Marquesan groups. Every inhabited district has its +_Tahua_, or public square of this kind; some of them so extensive, it is +said, as to be capable of accommodating ten thousand people."[47] Again, +speaking of another of these dancing-places, the same writer observes, +"This _Tahua_, or theatre, is a structure altogether superior to that +visited by us yesterday, and so massive and well built as to be capable +of enduring for ages. It is a regular oblong square, about sixty feet in +length and forty broad. The outer wall consists of immense stones, or +slabs of rock, three feet high, and many of them four or six feet long, +joined closely together and hewn with a regularity and neatness truly +astonishing, in view of the rude implements by which it must have been +accomplished. On a level with the top of this outer wall, a pavement of +large flat stones, several feet in width, extends entirely round, +forming seats for the chiefs, warriors, and other persons of +distinction, and singers performing the recitatives and choruses +accompanying the dance. Within this, and some inches lower, is another +pavement still wider, having large flat-topped stones fixed in it at +regular intervals of six or eight feet, used as seats by the beaters on +the drums, and other rude instruments of music, and immediately within +this again, an unpaved area, some twenty feet long by twelve broad, +constituting the stage on which the dancers exhibit their skill."[48] + + [47] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 214 _sq._ + + [48] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 233 _sq._ Compare + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 265 _sq._ + +Some of these dancing-places appear to have been much larger than those +seen by Stewart. According to Langsdorff they were sometimes not less +than a hundred fathoms in length, and the great smooth pavement +consisted of blocks of stone, several feet broad, laid so neatly and so +close together that you might have imagined it to be the work of +European master-masons.[49] Radiguet describes one such dancing-place as +a rectangular area eighty metres (about two hundred and sixty feet) long +by thirty metres (about one hundred feet) broad, and surrounded by a +terrace paved with stone, on which the spectators were seated.[50] + + [49] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 138. + + [50] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 195. + +The festivals (_koikas_) celebrated at these places were either +periodical or occasional. Among the periodical perhaps the most +important was that held at the ingathering of the bread-fruit harvest in +February and March. Among the occasional were those held after a +successful fishing, at the ratification of peace, and after the death +of a priest or chief, who had been raised to the rank of a deity. A +messenger decked in all the native finery repaired to the surrounding +villages inviting the inhabitants to attend the festival. Immense +numbers of hogs were killed and huge troughs filled with bread-fruit +were provided by the hosts for the banquet. The festivals were attended +not only by the people of the particular valley in which they were held, +but by the inhabitants of other valleys and even of other islands; for +so long as a festival lasted, a special taboo forbade the natives to +harm the strangers in their midst. A general truce was observed; members +of hostile tribes came to share the pleasures of the festival with the +foes whom they had recently fought, and whom they would fight again in a +few days.[51] Yet such visitors were careful to observe certain +precautions: they never came unarmed, and they always kept together on +one side of the festival ground, in order that they might rally the more +easily for mutual defence, if they should be suddenly attacked.[52] + + [51] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 236 _sq._; F. D. Bennett, _op. + cit._ i. 318; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. + 264 _sq._; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 69 _sqq._; Radiguet, + _op. cit._ pp. 192 _sq._ + + [52] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 138. + +The performers who sang and danced at these festivals for the +entertainment of the public were called _Hokis_ or _Kaioas_: they are +described as a sort of wandering troubadours or minstrels, who went from +tribe to tribe, seeking their fortune. They took great care of their +persons, which they artificially whitened. At once poets, musicians, and +dancers, they nevertheless did not enjoy the public esteem; on the +contrary, their effeminate habits incurred the contempt of a people who +had small taste for the fine arts.[53] Thus these wandering minstrels +and mountebanks would seem to have corresponded to the Areois of the +Society Islands.[54] The dances were accompanied by the beating of drums +and the songs of a chorus, it might be of a hundred and fifty singers, +who sat on the upper platform along with the chiefs and warriors. +Sometimes in the intervals between the dances a choir of women, seated +on an adjoining and elevated platform, would chant in dull monotonous +tones, clapping their hands loudly in unison with their song. The +subjects of the songs were various and were often furnished by some +passing event, such as the arrival of a ship or any less novel incident. +Not unfrequently, like ballads in our own country, the songs caught the +popular fancy and became fashionable, being sung in private by all +classes of society. So passionately addicted were the Marquesans to +these entertainments that they undertook the longest and most fatiguing +journeys from all parts of the island in order to be present at them, +carrying their food and suffering great hardships by the way; they even +came in their crazy canoes, at the hazard of their lives, from other +islands, and accepted the risk of being knocked on the head at one of +the brawls with which such gatherings usually ended.[55] + + [53] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 231. + Compare C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 237, who calls the + performers _Kaioi_. + + [54] See above, pp. 259 _sqq._ + + [55] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 234, 236, 237. + +Closely connected with the festivals were the banqueting-halls, as they +may be called. These were houses, or rather sheds, thatched with leaves +and open in front, where the lower end of the sloping roof was supported +on short wooden pillars, of which the upper parts were rudely carved in +the likeness of the god Tiki, thus forming a sort of Caryatids. These +sheds varied in length from thirty to sixty and even two hundred feet in +length. They stood on quadrangular stone platforms of the usual type, +ranging from three or four to six, eight, twelve, and even fifteen feet +in height. The blocks of stone put together to form the platforms were +sometimes enormous, many of them measuring eight feet long by four feet +thick and wide; and they were hewn and polished into such perfect form +as to excite the wonder of the European beholder, who reflected with +astonishment on the vast labour requisite to bring these huge rocks from +the sea and to chisel them into shape without the help of iron tools. +Access to the platforms was afforded by sloping trunks of trees notched +into steps. In these open sheds the men feasted and prayed. Before each +repast it was customary to offer to the deity a small portion of food +wrapt in leaves. Sometimes the priests would thrust the morsels into the +mouths of Tiki's grotesque images. No woman might enter these +banqueting-halls or mount the platforms on which they stood. The place +was strictly tabooed to them, and the taboo was signified in the usual +way by long pennants of white cloth attached to the posts of the +house.[56] + + [56] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 38 _sq._; F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ + i. 317 _sq._; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 54-56; Melville, + _Typee_ pp. 93-95. Of these writers it is Porter who gives the + dimensions of some of the blocks of stone composing the + platforms and expresses his amazement at the labour involved in + their construction. He concludes his description as follows (ii. + 39): "When we count the immense numbers of such places, which + are everywhere to be met with, our astonishment is raised to the + highest, that a people in a state of nature, unassisted by any + of those artificial means, which so much assist and facilitate + the labour of the civilized man, could have conceived and + executed a work, which, to every beholder, must appear + stupendous. These piles are raised with views to magnificence + alone; there does not appear to be the slightest utility + attending them: the houses situated on them are unoccupied, + except during the period of feasting, and they appear to belong + to a public, without the whole efforts of which they could not + have been raised, and with every exertion that could possibly + have been made, years must have been requisite for the + completion of them." Of one of these structures seen by him in + the anterior of Nukahiva, Stewart observes, "The stones, bearing + marks of antiquity that threw the air of an old family mansion + around the whole, were regularly hewn and joined with the + greatest nicety, many which I measured being from four to six + feet in length, nearly as wide, and two or more deep" (_Visit to + the South Seas_, i. 267 _sq._). + + +§ 6. _Social Ranks, Taboo_ + +Socially the Marquesans were divided into chiefs or nobles and +commoners; but the chiefs seem to have possessed very little authority, +and to have received few outward marks of deference and respect. A +monarchical government in any proper sense of the word was unknown.[57] +The power of the chiefs, such as it was, rested mainly on their superior +wealth, particularly on their landed property; for the larger their +estates, the greater the number of the tenants whose services they could +command. Hence the government has been called aristocratic and compared +to the feudal system.[58] In a fruitful season the chiefs had a right to +a fourth part of the produce, and in other seasons a share according to +circumstances. Their dignity was hereditary.[59] There was no general +government of the archipelago as a whole. Each island was quite +independent of all the rest; and in every island there were several +independent tribes, which were generally at war with each other.[60] + + [57] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 165; Langsdorff, i. 112 _sq._; + Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 132-134; Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 64; + Melville, _Typee_, p. 199; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, + _op. cit._ p. 225; Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 24 _sq._ + + [58] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ 101 _sq._ + + [59] Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 80. + + [60] Lisiansky, _op. cit._ pp. 79 _sq._; Clavel, _op. cit._ p. + 62. + +A powerful instrument in the hands of the nobles was the taboo or +_tapu_, which, though it seems to have been originally a religious +institution,[61] was turned to political and economic account by the +chiefs and priests acting in conjunction. One of our best authorities on +the Marquesans describes the institution as a tool of despotism for the +gratification of the passions and caprices of such as could wield +it.[62] But this is a somewhat one-sided and imperfect view to take of +its scope. There is no doubt, as other good authorities on the +Marquesans have pointed out, that in the absence of a strong government +which could maintain order and protect life and property, the taboo to a +great extent served the purposes which in more civilised society are +fulfilled by laws.[63] The taboo was a sacred interdiction, a breach of +which was believed of itself to entail disastrous consequences on the +transgressor. The interdiction might be either public or private. To +give examples of public interdictions, when the quantity of breadfruit, +on which the people depended for their subsistence, was from any cause +seriously diminished in a district, the chief had the right to impose a +taboo on bread-fruit trees for twenty months, during which no one might +gather the fruit. This close time allowed the trees to recover their +strength and fertility. Similarly, if fish were scarce, the chief might +pronounce a taboo on the neighbouring bay, or a part of it, in order to +allow the fish to multiply undisturbed and replenish the sea in the +neighbourhood of human habitations. Again, in the prospect of a great +festival, a chief might lay an interdict on pigs for two or three years +in advance, in order that, when the time came, there might be plenty of +pork for the multitude at the banquet. Similarly, when the +paper-mulberry, from which the Marquesans made their bark-cloth, +threatened to give out, the chief might lay the trees under an +interdict for five years, at the end of which the crop was sure to be +magnificent.[64] In these and similar cases the taboo was of public +utility by ensuring a proper supply of the necessaries of life. However, +its imposition was not always guided by rational considerations, and +hence it sometimes failed of its purpose. For example, so long as the +bread-fruit was unripe, almost all kinds of fish were taboo and +therefore might not be eaten, and this interdiction, instead of +alleviating, tended naturally to aggravate the scarcity of food. The +reason for the taboo was a curious superstition that if any one were to +eat fish while the bread-fruit was unripe, the fruit would fall from the +trees.[65] + + [61] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 47 _sq._; Vincendon-Dumoulin + et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 259. + + [62] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 153. + + [63] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 258 _sq._; + Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 65 _sq._ + + [64] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 35 _sq._ Compare + Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 155. + + [65] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 118. + +But the taboo also served a useful purpose by ensuring respect for +private property, which is a fundamental condition of social prosperity. +"The priests only," we are told, "can impose a general taboo, but every +individual has a right to pronounce one upon his own property: this is +done by declaring, if his wish be to preserve a breadfruit, or a cocoa +tree, a house or a plantation, from robbery and destruction, that the +spirit of his father or of some king, or indeed of any other person, +reposes in this tree, or house, which then bears the name of the person, +and nobody ventures to attack it. If any one is so irreligious as to +break through a taboo, and should be convicted of it, he is called +_kikino_; and the _kikinos_ are always the first to be devoured by the +enemy, at least they believe it to be so, nor is it impossible that the +priests should so arrange matters as that this really happens."[66] +Again, if a man's pig had been stolen, and he suspected who had done the +deed, he would lay a taboo on the swine or other property of the thief +by giving his own name, or the name of somebody else, to the animals or +the trees or whatever it might be. After that, in the opinion of the +people, the property so named was bewitched or haunted by the spirit of +the person, whether alive or dead, whose name it bore; and this belief +sometimes sufficed to compel the thief to abandon his possessions and to +settle elsewhere.[67] A wreath of leaves or a strip of white cloth +attached to a house, a canoe, a fruit-tree, or other piece of property, +was the symbol of taboo, and in ordinary circumstances was enough to +protect it.[68] + + [66] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 172. In this quotation I have + altered the spelling _tahbu_ into _taboo_. + + [67] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 116. + + [68] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 157; Melville, _Typee_, p. 230; + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 264. + +But the taboo was an instrument which could be used capriciously to +thwart, as well as to further, the course of justice. Thus we read how, +under the French government of the islands, a wife set out for the +police-office to complain of the ill-treatment to which she had been +subjected by her husband. But scarcely had she put her foot outside the +door, when her husband, aware of her intention and determined to +frustrate it, called out after her, "The road from here to the +police-office is your father." On hearing that, the woman at once +stopped short, for under no circumstances would she dare to trample on +the author of her being. On the contrary, she immediately roasted two +little pigs and carried them to the tomb of her father as an offering to +appease his ghost, which might reasonably be supposed to fret at the +mere thought of being trodden under foot by his own daughter.[69] This +instructive example shows how closely the taboo was associated with the +fear and worship of the dead; by bestowing the name of a dead person on +a thing you rendered the thing inviolate, since thereby you placed it +under the immediate protection of the ghost. + + [69] Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 68. + +Among the multitude of taboos which were religiously observed by the +Marquesans it is perhaps possible to detect a trace of totemism. Thus +the sting ray fish was taboo to the tribe of Houmis. Not only would they +not eat the fish, but they fled in horror if it were even shown to them. +Their horror was explained by a tradition that once on a time a great +chief of the tribe had been out fishing with his people, when a gigantic +sting ray upset their canoes and gobbled them all up.[70] This aversion +to eating and even looking at a certain species of animal, together with +a traditionary explanation based on an incident in the past history of +the tribe, is very characteristic of totemism. + + [70] Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 67 _sq._ + + +§ 7. _Religion and Mythology_ + +The consideration of taboo introduces us to the subject of religion; +for, on the one hand, the foregoing evidence tends to establish a +connexion between the institution of taboo and the doctrine of the human +soul, and on the other hand some of our best authorities on the +Marquesans have stated that the taboo was believed to be an expression +of the will of the gods conveyed to the people through the mouth of a +priest.[71] The definition may be accepted, if under gods we include the +spirits of the dead, who were worshipped by the Marquesans and lent +their sanction, as we have just seen, to the taboo. + + [71] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 258; + Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 48; Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 153; + Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 65. + +The Marquesan term for a god was the usual Polynesian word _atua_ or, as +it is sometimes spelled, _etua_. But their notion of divinity, as +commonly happens, was vague. One of the earliest writers on their +religion, the Russian navigator Krusenstern, informs us that "a confused +notion of a higher being, whom they call _Etua_, does indeed exist among +them, but of these there are several kinds; the spirit of a priest, of a +king, or of any of his relations, being an _etua_. They likewise +consider all Europeans as such; for as their ideas do not extend beyond +their own horizon, they are firmly convinced that their ships come from +the clouds; and they imagine that thunder is occasioned by the +cannonading of vessels which float in the atmosphere, on which account +they entertain a great dread of artillery."[72] The _atuas_ or deities +of the Marquesans, we are told by another writer, "are numerous and vary +in their character and powers. Besides those having dominion +respectively, as is supposed, over the different elements and their most +striking phenomena, there are _atuas_ of the mountain and of the forest, +of the sea-side and of the interior, _atuas_ of peace and of war, of the +song and of the dance, and of all the occupations and amusements of +life. It is supposed by them that many of the departed spirits of men +also become _atuas_: and thus the multiplicity of their gods is such, +that almost every sound in nature, from the roaring of the tempest in +the mountains and the bursting of a thunderbolt in the clouds, to the +sighing of a breeze through the cocoa-nut tops and the chirping of an +insect in the grass or in the thatch of their huts, is interpreted into +the movements of a god."[73] + + [72] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 171. + + [73] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 243 _sq._ Compare + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 240; Radiguet, + _op. cit._ pp. 218 _sq._ + +But the Marquesans, not content with deifying some men after death, +deified others in their lifetime. Amongst them there is, or rather used +to be, a class of living men "who claim the title and attributes of the +Deity; not through a professed inspiration or possession by a +supernatural influence or power, but in their own right of godship as +those who control the elements, impart fruitfulness to the productions +of the earth or smite them with blasting and sterility, and who exercise +the prerogatives of the Deity in scattering disease and wielding the +shafts of death. They are few in number, not more than one or two at +farthest on an island, and live in a seclusion and mysticism somewhat in +unison with their blasphemous pretensions. There is none at present in +the near vicinity of Taiohae,[74] though the former abode of such an +individual is pointed out at the foot of a bold cliff, high in the +mountains. The Rev. Mr. Crook gives the following account of an Atua, at +the island of Tahuata, in the Windward or Marquesan group, while he +resided there temporarily in 1797, as a missionary from the London +Missionary Society: 'He is now of great age, and has lived from early +life at Hanateiteina, in a large house surrounded by an enclosure called +the A. In the house is an altar, and from the beams within and upon the +trees around it are human carcasses, suspended with their heads downward +and scalped. No one enters the premises but his servant, except when +human sacrifices are offered. Of these, more are offered to him than to +any other of their gods, and he frequently seats himself on an elevated +scaffold in front of his house and calls for two or three at a time. He +is invoked in all parts of the island, and offerings everywhere are +made to him and sent to Hanateiteina.'"[75] Similarly a Catholic +missionary tells us that in the island of Nukahiva he was personally +acquainted with two living human deities, a priest and a priestess, both +of whom, it was said, had the right to demand the sacrifice of human +victims to themselves. He adds, however, that they did not abuse the +right, and that nobody in the world appeared more affable and polite +than these divinities; he even entertained hopes of one day baptizing +the priest.[76] Of the reverence in which the priestly class in general +was held by the people, Captain Porter remarks that "their priests are +their oracles; they are considered but little inferior to their gods; to +some they are greatly superior, and after their death they rank with the +chief divinity."[77] + + [74] The principal harbour of Nukahiva. + + [75] C. S. Stewart, _op cit._ i. 244 _sq._ Compare + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 226, 240 _sq._ + The missionary William Crook was landed in the Marquesas from + the missionary ship _Duff_ in 1797. See J. Wilson, _Missionary + Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, pp. 131 _sqq._ + + [76] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 45. + + [77] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 114. + +Little seems to be recorded of the theology and mythology of the +Marquesans; but among their myths was the widespread Polynesian story of +the origin of fire. Of old, it was said, fire used to be jealously +guarded by Mahoike in the infernal regions. Hearing of its utility, Maui +descended into the nether world to steal some of the element; but he +failed to elude the vigilance of its guardian and was obliged to resort +to force to extort the boon from him. In the struggle which ensued +Mahoike lost an arm and a leg, and to save his remaining limbs he +consented to give fire to the victorious Maui. At the same time he +offered to rub it on Maui's leg; but Maui was too cunning to agree to +that, for he knew that in that case the fire which he took to earth +would not be sacred. Finally, Mahoike rubbed the fire on Maui's head, +and said to him, "Go back to the place you came from and touch with your +forehead all the trees except the _keïka_: all the trees will yield you +fire."[78] + + [78] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 223 _sq._ For the names of the + Marquesan deities, among whom Tiki appears to have been the most + famous, and for some myths concerning them, see Mathias G----, + _op. cit._ pp. 40 _sqq._; Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 221 _sqq._; + Amable, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xix. (1847) + pp. 23 _sq._; Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 27 _sqq._ + +In the Marquesas there was a class of men called _tauas_, who were +supposed to possess an hereditary gift of inspiration and to become +deities after their death. They could cause a god to dwell within them. +Often at night they might be heard conversing with the divinity in their +bodies, the deity crying out in a shrill voice, while the man answered +him in his own ordinary voice. Sometimes they would make a rustling +noise with their fingers in the leaves, and say that they had been +miraculously taken through the thatch of the house and brought back +again by the door. In their fits of inspiration they became convulsed +and glared fiercely with their eyes; then, with their hands quivering +violently, they would run about, while they prophesied death to their +enemies in squeaky tones, or demanded human victims for the god by whom +they were possessed. With the function of prophecy they combined the +office of physician or rather of exorciser. For every internal disorder +was believed to be inflicted by some god, who had taken possession of +the sufferer's person; and the _tauas_, or high priests, as we may call +them, were called in to heal the patient by ridding him of the divinity +who had entered into him. This they commonly did by feeling for the +mischievous deity till they found him, when they smothered him between +the palms of their hands.[79] Sometimes the good physician would +converse with the spirit whom he had thus caught between his hands, and +would elicit from him in conversation the cause of the sickness, which +usually consisted in some breach of taboo, such as a theft of +bread-fruit or coco-nuts from a sacred tree. At the same time the +affable spirit would reveal to the physician the penalty which the sick +man must pay in order to expiate his crime and thereby ensure his +recovery. A sacrifice of pigs would appear to have been usually deemed +indispensable for the patient's complete convalescence; the animals were +conveyed to a temple and there consumed by the priests for the benefit +of the sufferer.[80] The _tauas_ or high priests were supposed to become +gods after death; when one of them departed this life, it was essential +for his deification that human victims should be sacrificed. The number +of victims varied with the rank of the new deity; it was never less than +seven, but oftener ten. Each victim was sacrificed for the sake of a +particular part of the deity's body, as for his head, or his eyes, or +his hair. To procure the necessary tale of victims, predatory +expeditions were undertaken against the tribes in neighbouring +valleys.[81] + + [79] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 245 _sq._; Vincendon-Dumoulin + et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 227 _sq._ + + [80] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 136. The writer's language seems + to imply that the spirit whom the priestly physician caught in + his hands and interrogated was the patient's own soul. + + [81] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 45; C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ + i. 247; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 228 + _sq._ + + +§ 8. _The Soul, Death, and Funeral Customs_ + +Like most savages, the Marquesans thought that they possessed souls +which could quit their bodies and wander far away in dreams. Thus a +young girl once related how, the night before, she had sailed in a +splendid canoe to Tiburones, a mythical paradise to the west of +Nukahiva; there she had seen beautiful things such as do not exist here +on earth. "There," said she, "the trees are very tall, and the people +very handsome; there they sing songs to music sweeter than ours. Ah! +when shall I be able to return to Tiburones?" On another occasion a +woman's soul appeared to a priest to inform him that she had committed +the heinous crime of eating a fowl, but that she would expiate the +sacrilege by an early death. The French authorities summoned both the +priest and the woman to the bar of justice. There the priest stuck to it +that he had received the revelation, and the woman expressed her regret +for the escapade of which her soul had been guilty without her +knowledge. It was necessary to reassure her on the subject of her soul's +rash act and melancholy prediction, otherwise she might have fulfilled +the prophecy by refusing food and dying outright.[82] + + [82] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 238 _sq._ + +At death the soul was supposed to depart from the body by the mouth or +the nose; hence in order to delay its departure and so to prolong the +life of its owner, affectionate relatives used to stop his mouth and +nostrils, thus accelerating the event which they wished to retard.[83] + + [83] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 245; Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 44, + note^1. Compare Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 115. + +The Marquesans have, or used to have, a sovereign contempt for death, +and do not fear its approach. When a native felt that he must die, he +took it calmly and ordered his coffin, which he caused to be brought to +the house while he was still in life. The coffin is hollowed out of a +single log and resembles a canoe. If the sick man after all recovered, +the coffin was kept in a corner of the house till it was wanted. No +attempt was made to hide it or to disguise its purpose. Should a +stranger ask, "What is that?" he would be told, "It is So-and-so's +coffin"; though So-and-so might be present and within hearing.[84] +Nevertheless, when it was clear that a serious illness was about to +terminate fatally, and that all the efforts of the priestly physician or +sorcerer to avert the inevitable end were fruitless, the house would be +filled by wailing women, who danced naked round the mat of the dying +man, cutting themselves with sharp stones or shark's teeth as in a +frenzy, and uttering the most piercing lamentations. This lasted till +the moment of death, when all united in a terrific and prolonged +howl.[85] Similar demonstrations of sorrow were continued or renewed +after the decease. If the departed was a married man and his widow +survived him, she would bruise her flesh with a stone, scratch it with +her nails, and cut her forehead, cheeks, and breast with shark's teeth +or splinters of bamboo till the blood trickled down.[86] Captain Porter +saw a woman with deep wounds still unhealed, which she had inflicted on +her neck, breast, and arms for the loss of her husband, who had been +devoured by a shark.[87] After the death, too, the widow would place +herself in front of the corpse, and three or four girls would surround +her; whereupon they would all engage in a lascivious dance, with +outstretched arms, tripping in cadence to the accompaniment of a funeral +hymn or lamentation, which was chanted by a choir in honour of the dead. +After executing the dance, which would seem to have been intended to +attract the attention of the deceased and recall his wandering spirit, +they would stoop over the corpse, and cry, "He has not stirred! He +stirs not. Alas! alas! he is no more." It was only after they had thus +practised their seductions in vain on the dead man that the widow gave +way to her frantic outburst of sorrow by mauling herself with a sort of +saw.[88] This funeral dance a widow was apparently expected to renew in +public at every festival for months after the death. At a festival, +which he called the Feast of Calabashes, Melville saw four or five old +women, stark naked, holding themselves erect and leaping stiffly into +the air, with their arms pressed close to their sides, like sticks +bobbing up and down in water. They preserved the utmost gravity of +countenance, and continued their strange movements without a single +moment's cessation, though they did not appear to attract the +observation of the crowd around them. The American was told that these +dancing or leaping figures "were bereaved widows, whose partners had +been slain in battle many moons previously; and who, at every festival, +gave public evidence in this manner of their calamities."[89] When the +deceased was a chief, the lamentations and the dances went on day and +night for some time. A priestess or sorceress, in festal costume, led +the choir of female mourners and vaunted the exploits of the dead +warrior, recalling his mighty deeds and the incidents of his life. The +dances were accompanied by the music of drums. The crowd of spectators, +in their best array, ate and drank to repletion, and, flushed with +liquor, abandoned themselves to excesses which transformed the mortuary +chamber, lit up at night by smoky torches, into a scene of low +debauchery. From time to time remarks of a gross nature were addressed +to the dead man on the helpless condition to which he was reduced; and +now and then the women would slash their faces and breasts with +splinters of bamboo in the usual fashion. The orgy went on till the +provisions were completely exhausted, which might not be for a +considerable time, since hecatombs of pigs were sometimes slaughtered +for the purpose of celebrating the obsequies of a chief in a manner +worthy of his rank.[90] + + [84] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 114. _sq._; Eyriaud des + Vergnes, _op. cit._ p. 58. Compare Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 260 + _sqq._ + + [85] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 263; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 249 _sq._ + + [86] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 284; Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 39. + + [87] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 121. + + [88] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 283 _sq._ Another writer mentions + that at the moment of death it was customary for a number of + matrons to strip themselves naked and execute obscene dances at + the door of the house, crying out at the pitch of their voices, + "Father! father!" See Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 116. + + [89] Melville, _Typee_, pp. 180, 201. + + [90] Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 43 _sq._ + +The soul of the dead was believed not to abandon the corpse definitely +for two days after the death. In the interval it was thought to haunt +the house, watching the conduct of the survivors, and ready to act as a +friend or a foe according as the mourners behaved towards the deceased +and his remains. Hence, to keep the ghost in good humour it was +customary to offer him food, in the shape of breadfruit paste and other +dainties, which were wrapped up in leaves, hung on the edge of the +coffin, and frequently renewed.[91] On the third night after the death a +priest, stepping out on the terrace in front of the house, implored the +wandering soul of the deceased to depart; and by way of enforcing the +request a band of men, armed with spears and other lethal weapons, went +about in the outer darkness, beating the bushes and stabbing the +thatched roofs of the houses in order to drive the lingering ghost away. +If, roused by the clamour, the dogs began to bark, the priest would say, +"The soul is departing."[92] + + [91] Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 46. + + [92] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 284 _sq._ + +From the moment of death till the priests had completed the litany or +songs chanted on such occasions, all the assembled people fasted, no one +touched the provisions collected for the funeral feast, and no fire +might be kindled within sight of the house.[93] The litany consisted in +the mumbling of a long speech in an unintelligible language accompanied +by the constant beating of drums.[94] Among the victuals provided for +the funeral feast special importance appears to have been attached to +the head of a pig, which was cut off and attached to the bier.[95] We +are told that the professed intention was thereby "to propitiate the +gods, and obtain for the deceased a safe and peaceable passage through +the lower regions." But, in point of fact the priest took possession of +the pig's head and devoured it secretly, leaving only a small piece of +it under a stone.[96] + + [93] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 265; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 251. + + [94] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 133. + + [95] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 285. + + [96] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 173. Compare Langsdorff, _op. + cit._ i. 133; C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 265; + Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 251. + +When death had taken place, the body was washed, neatly dressed in +garments of new cloth, and laid on a bier constructed of bamboos or of +spears and other warlike weapons, fastened together with wicker-work and +spread with mats.[97] If the deceased was a chief and a warrior, his +body would be arrayed in his finest ornaments, and his club, plumed +helmet, necklaces of whale's teeth, and skulls of the enemies he had +killed, would be laid beside him. Thus exposed, the corpse might be kept +for weeks in the house, where, in spite of the stench, the family +continued to eat, drink, and sleep beside it. Sometimes, however, and +perhaps more usually, the body was transferred to a small house or shed +adjoining the dwelling of the deceased, where it received the necessary +attentions. Finally, it was removed to a little hut or shed, where the +bier was supported on posts under a thatched roof. To be buried in the +earth was a mark of ignominy reserved at most for a young girl of the +lowest rank who had died childless. Beside the corpse food was hung for +the use of the ghost, it might be fish, roast pork, or coco-nuts, and +there it was allowed to remain till it rotted and fell to the ground; +none but children would be greedy or impious enough to partake of the +sacred victuals, and that only in the greatest secrecy. Often the house +in which the death had taken place was tabooed and abandoned after the +remains had been deposited in their last home.[98] + + [97] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 172 _sq._; Langsdorff, _op. + cit._ i. 133; Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 81; C. S. Stewart, _op. + cit._ i. 264. + + [98] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 116 _sq._ As to the + decoration of the corpse, see Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 43 _sq._ As + to the temporary house or shed in which the body was kept for + some time after death, compare C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 264, + 266; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 250. As for + the custom of keeping the body for months in the ordinary house, + surrounded by the family, see Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 286. As to + the practice of hanging food beside the body, even after its + removal to its last place of rest, see J. Dumont d'Urville, + _Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l'Océanie, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. + (Paris, 1842), p. 33; Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 46. + +The bodies of the dead were regularly subjected to a kind of embalmment, +which had the effect of preserving them for a longer or shorter time. As +soon as decomposition appeared imminent, the corpse was stripped of its +ornaments and placed in the usual canoe-shaped coffin, the trunk being +propped up so as to facilitate the work of the embalmers. The task of +embalming was entrusted to women, relations of the deceased, who rubbed +the body daily with coco-nut oil and perfumes. They had no intercourse +with the rest of the family, and took their meals apart without ever +washing their hands. According to one account, the anointment was +performed by night, while during the day the body was exposed to the sun +on the stone platform of the house. The products of decomposition were +carefully received in vessels and carried away to the place of +sepulture; and the corpse was gradually eviscerated through the rectum. +The friction was continued until the desiccated body was reduced to the +state of a mummy, though sometimes, in spite of all precautions, it +crumbled into dust. If the operation was successful, the mummy, wrapt in +many bandages, was covered by a second canoe attached to the first, and +was then placed on a scaffold in a _morai_ or sanctuary specially +consecrated to it. But sometimes the mummy was fastened up to the roof +or wall of the house wherein the person had died; and it might be kept +there even for years. When it was deposited in a _morai_, no woman was +allowed to approach it under pain of death.[99] Sometimes the head was +detached from the body and kept in the house, where it was treated with +respect. Sometimes it was carried away and hidden in some almost +inaccessible cave in the mountains or beside the sea. This was done as a +precaution to save the skulls from falling into the hands of enemies, +who were eager to bear them off as trophies.[100] + + [99] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 173; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. + 133 _sq._; Melville, _Typee_, p. 206; Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. + 286 _sq._; Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 44 _sq._ In a house in + Nukahiva the missionary Stewart saw a canoe-shaped coffin + containing the remains of a man who had died many years before. + It was raised on a bier of framework, at a height of two or + three feet above the ground. Stewart adds, "The dead bodies of + all persons of high distinction are preserved in their houses + for a long period in this way." See C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. + 259. + + [100] Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 45 _sq._; Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. + 233 _sq._ + +Each family had its own _morai_ or burial-place, where the mouldering +bones or mummies were finally deposited and left to decay.[101] Such +family cemeteries were scattered about the valleys; the choice of a +site seems to have been determined by no special rule.[102] The _morai_ +or burial-place of ordinary people was near their houses, and not far +from it was a taboo-house, where the men feasted on the flesh of +pigs.[103] But the cemeteries of chiefs were situated in the interior of +the valleys, often so deeply imbedded in dense foliage that it was not +easy to find them without the guidance of a native.[104] Similarly we +are told that the cemeteries (_morais_) of priests lay quite apart from +all dwellings.[105] + + [101] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 127, 173; Langsdorff, _op. + cit._ i. 115, 134. Other writers on the Marquesas in like manner + speak of a _morai_ simply as a place of burial. See Porter, _op. + cit._ ii. 114 ("the gods at the burying-place, or morai, for so + it is called by them"); Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 52 ("un _morai_ + (sépulchre) en ruine"); Melville, _Typee_, p. 168 ("the 'morais' + or burying-grounds"). So, too, the term was understood by the + French navigator, J. Dumont d'Urville. See his _Voyage au Pole + Sud, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1842), pp. 27, 33. + + [102] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 253. + + [103] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 115. According to Krusenstern + (_op. cit._ i. 127), the _morais_ in general "lie a good way + inland upon hills." + + [104] F. D. Bennett, _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage_, i. 329. + + [105] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 115. + +The ordinary form of a Marquesan _morai_ or burial-place seems to have +been a thatched shed erected on a square or oblong platform of stones, +exactly resembling the stone platforms on which the Marquesan houses +were regularly built. Thus Vincendon-Dumoulin and Desgraz say that "the +_morais_, funeral monuments where the bodies are deposited, are erected +on a stone platform, the base of all Nukahivan edifices."[106] Again, +describing what he calls "a picturesque _morai_," Radiguet observes, +"Four posts, erected on a platform, supported a small plank covered with +a roof of leaves. Under this roof could be seen the remains of a +skeleton, perhaps that of the daughter-in-law of the neighbouring +house.... At the two ends of the platform two upright stones, about ten +feet high, and resembling the Breton _menhirs_, formed an exceptional +ornament to this _morai_, which the bushes were in course of invading +and the storms of demolishing."[107] Again, Stewart describes as follows +what he calls "a depository of the dead": "It stands in the midst of a +beautiful clump of trees, and consists of a platform of heavy stone +work, twenty feet or more square and four or five high, surmounted in +the centre by eight or ten posts arranged in the shape of a grave, and +supporting at a height of six or seven feet a long and narrow roof of +thatch. Close beneath this was the body enclosed in a coffin."[108] +Again, in the island of Tahuata (Santa Christina), Bennett describes a +chief's burial-place as follows: "A low but extensive stone platform, +beneath the shade of a venerable _fau_-tree, marks the more consecrated +ground; and on this is erected a wooden hut, containing an elevated +trough, shaped as a canoe, and holding the perfect skeleton of the late +chief. In front of the sepulchre are two hideous wooden idols, and +several bundles of coco-nut leaves."[109] The shed, which was erected on +the stone platform, and under which the body rested on a bier, seems to +have consisted for the most part simply of a thatched roof supported on +wooden posts.[110] Sometimes, however, instead of a simple shed, open on +all sides, a small house resembling the ordinary houses of the natives +appears to have been erected for the reception of the corpse or mummy. +Thus in the island of Tahuata (Santa Christina) Bennett describes a +burial-place as follows: "The most picturesque mausoleum we noticed was +that which contained the corpse of one of Eutiti's children. It was +placed on the summit of an isolated hill, rising from the bosom of a +well-wooded savannah, and was covered entirely with the leaves of the +fan-palm. The posterior, or tallest wall, was twelve feet high, the +anterior was low, closed by a mat, and decorated with six wooden +pillars, covered with stained cinnet and white cloth. Strips of tapa +[bark-cloth], fixed to a wand, fluttered on the roof, to denote that the +spot was tabooed; and for the same purpose, a row of globular stones, +each the size of a football, and whitened with coral lime, occupied the +top of a low but broad stone wall which encircled the building. The +interior contained nothing but the bier on which the corpse was +laid."[111] From the sketch which Bennett gives of this particular +mausoleum, as he calls it, we gather that the sepulchral hut containing +the body was not raised on a stone platform, but built on the flat. + + [106] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 253. + + [107] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 92. One of these stones was said + to have been erected by the French navigator, Captain Marchand, + and to have formerly borne an inscription recording his taking + possession of the island. Hence it would be unsafe to draw any + conclusion from the supposed antiquity of these two tall upright + stones. + + [108] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ i. 260. + + [109] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 329. + + [110] Compare J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage au Pole Sud, Histoire + du Voyage_, iv. 33, "Sous un hangar se trouvent quelques + supports formant, à 2 mètres au-dessus du sol, une estrade sur + laquelle est déposé le _toui-papao_. C'est le nom que les + naturels donnent au cadavre enveloppé d'herbes et de _tapa_ + (étoffes de papyrus faites dans le pays). On n'aperçoit du corps + ainsi habillé que les extremités des doigts des pièds et des + mains." + + [111] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 331. + +There seems to be no evidence that the stone platforms on which the +sepulchral sheds or huts of the Marquesans were erected ever took the +shape of stepped or terraced pyramids like the massive stone pyramids of +Tahiti and Tonga. So far as the mortuary platforms of the Marquesans are +described, they appear to have been quadrangular piles of stone, with +upright sides, not stepped or terraced. Megalithic monuments in the form +of stepped or terraced pyramids seem to have been very rare in the +Marquesas Islands; indeed, it is doubtful whether they existed at all. +With regard to the island of Tahuata (Santa Christina), it is positively +affirmed by Bennett that none of the valleys contain "any _morais_ or +other buildings devoted to religious purposes, nor any public +idols";[112] and by _morais_ he probably means stepped pyramids like +those of Tahiti and Tonga. However, in the valley of Taipii (Typee), in +Nukahiva, a megalithic monument, built in terraces, was seen by Melville +in 1842. He describes it as follows: + + [112] F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 322. + +"One day in returning from this spring by a circuitous path, I came upon +a scene which reminded me of Stonehenge and the architectural labours of +the Druids. At the base of one of the mountains, and surrounded on all +sides by dense groves, a series of vast terraces of stone rises, step by +step, for a considerable distance up the hillside. These terraces cannot +be less than one hundred yards in length and twenty in width. Their +magnitude, however, is less striking than the immense size of the blocks +composing them. Some of the stones, of an oblong shape, are from ten to +fifteen feet in length, and five or six feet thick. Their sides are +quite smooth, but though square, and of pretty regular formation, they +bear no mark of the chisel. They are laid together without cement, and +here and there show gaps between. The topmost terrace and the lower one +are somewhat peculiar in their construction. They have both a +quadrangular depression in the centre, leaving the rest of the terrace +elevated several feet above it. In the intervals of the stones immense +trees have taken root, and their broad boughs, stretching far over and +interlacing together, support a canopy almost impenetrable to the sun. +Overgrowing the greater part of them, and climbing from one to another, +is a wilderness of vines, in whose sinewy embrace many of the stones lie +half-hidden, while in some places a thick growth of bushes entirely +covers them. There is a wild pathway which obliquely crosses two of +these terraces, and so profound is the shade, so dense the vegetation, +that a stranger to the place might pass along it without being aware of +their existence. + +"These structures bear every indication of a very high antiquity, and +Kory-Kory, who was my authority in all matters of scientific research, +gave me to understand that they were coeval with the creation of the +world; that the great gods themselves were the builders; and that they +would endure until time shall be no more. Kory-Kory's prompt +explanation, and his attributing the work to a divine origin, at once +convinced me that neither he nor the rest of his countrymen knew +anything about them."[113] Melville was accordingly disposed to +attribute the erection of these remarkable terraces to an extinct and +forgotten race.[114] The hypothesis is all the more probable because the +monument appears to have been entirely abandoned and unused by the +natives during the time when they have been known to Europeans. But it +is doubtful whether the edifice was a pyramid; all that Melville's +somewhat vague description implies is that it consisted of a series of +terraces built one above the other on the hillside. + + [113] Melville, _Typee_, pp. 166 _sq._ + + [114] Melville, _Typee_, p. 167. + +According to some accounts the remains of the dead, instead of being +deposited in sheds or huts erected on stone platforms, were buried in +the platforms themselves. Thus, according to William Crook, the first +missionary to the Marquesans, "they have a _morai_ in each district, +where the dead are buried beneath a pavement of large stones."[115] +Similarly, in Nukahiva two or three large quadrangular platforms +(_pi-pis_), heavily flagged, enclosed with regular stone walls and +almost hidden by the interlacing branches of enormous trees, were +pointed out as burial-places to Melville, and he was told that the +bodies "were deposited in rude vaults beneath the flagging, and were +suffered to remain there without being disinterred. Although nothing +could be more strange and gloomy than the aspect of these places, where +the lofty trees threw their dark shadows over rude blocks of stone, a +stranger looking at them would have discerned none of the ordinary +evidences of a place of sepulture."[116] To the same effect, perhaps, +Porter observes that, "when the flesh is mouldered from the bones, they +are, as I have been informed, carefully cleansed: some are kept for +relics, and some are deposited in the _morais_."[117] Again, Krusenstern +says that twelve months after the death "the corpse is broken into +pieces, and the bones are packed in a small box made of the wood of the +bread-fruit tree, and carried to the _morai_ or burial place, where no +woman is allowed to approach under pain of death."[118] However, these +statements do not necessarily imply that the bones were buried under the +stones of the platform at the _morai_. + + [115] Quoted by J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_, p. 144. + + [116] Melville, _Typee_, p. 205. + + [117] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 123. + + [118] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 173. + +But whether deposited on biers or buried under the pavement, the remains +of the dead were liable to be carried off in time of war by foes, who +regarded such an exploit as a great deed of heroism. Hence when an +invasion of the enemy in force was expected, the custom was to remove +the bodies from the _morai_ and bury them elsewhere.[119] The heads of +enemies killed in battle were invariably kept and hung up as trophies of +victory in the house of the conqueror. They seem to have been smoked in +order to preserve them better.[120] It is said that they were used as +cups to drink kava out of.[121] + + [119] Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 134. + + [120] Melville, _Typee_, p. 206. + + [121] Clavel, _op. cit._ p. 47. + +After ten months or a year the obsequies were concluded by another +funeral feast, which might last from eight to thirty days according to +the rank of the deceased and the opulence of his family. At the same +time offerings of food were presented afresh at the tomb, and the +decorations were renewed, consisting of branches and leaves and strips +of white bark-cloth, which waved like flags at the end of little white +wands. At these anniversary feasts, to which, if the deceased was a man +of quality, only chiefs were in many cases admitted, great quantities +of pigs were consumed.[122] The intention of the feast is said to have +been to thank the gods for having permitted the dead person to arrive +safely in the other world.[123] + + [122] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 117 _sq._ + + [123] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 173. + + +§ 9. _Fate of the Soul after Death_ + +The souls of the dead were supposed to depart either to an upper or to a +lower world, either to heaven or to a subterranean region called +Havaiki. The particular destination of a soul after death was +determined, not by moral considerations, not by the virtue or vice of +the deceased, but by the rank he had occupied in this life: people of +quality went to the upper world, and common people went to the lower, to +Havaiki.[124] According to a more precise account, heaven was inhabited +by deities of the highest order, by women who had died in childbed, by +warriors who had fallen on the field of battle, by suicides, and +especially by the aristocratic class of the chiefs. This celestial +region was supposed to be a happy land, abounding in bread-fruit paste +(_popoi_), pork, and fish, and offering the companionship of the most +beautiful women imaginable. There the bread-fruit trees dropped their +ripe fruit every moment to the ground, and the supply of coco-nuts and +bananas never failed. There the souls reposed on mats much finer than +those of Nukahiva; and every day they bathed in rivers of coco-nut oil. +In that happy land there were plenty of plumes and feathers, and +boars'-tusks, and sperm-whale teeth far better than even white men can +boast of. The nether world, on the other hand, was peopled with deities +of the second class and by ordinary human beings, who had no pretensions +to gentility. But it was not a place of misery much less of punishment +or torture; on the contrary, we are told that both the upper and the +lower regions were happier than the earth which the living inhabit.[125] +The approach to the lower world, curiously enough, was by sea. The soul +sailed away in a coffin shaped like a canoe (_pahaa_). When it came +near the channel which divides the island Tahuata from the island +Hivaoa, it was met by two deities or two opposing influences, one of +which tried to push the soul into a narrow strait between Tahuata and a +certain rock in the sea, while the other deity or influence endeavoured +to contrive that the soul should keep the broad channel between the rock +and Hivaoa. The souls that were thrust into the narrow strait were +killed; whereas such as kept the open channel were conducted safe by a +merciful god to their destination.[126] + + [124] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 44. + + [125] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 220; Melville, _Typee_, p. 185. + Compare Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 40. + + [126] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 220 _sq._ + +Sometimes the land of the dead was identified with a happy island or +islands called Tiburones lying somewhere in the ocean to the west of +Nukahiva. Not uncommonly natives of the Marquesas sailed away in great +double canoes to seek and find these happy isles, but were never heard +of again. On one occasion, for example, forty men in the island of +Ua-pu, who had revolted against their chief and been defeated, embarked +secretly by night and put to sea, hoping to discover the Fortunate +Islands, where they would be beyond the reach of their offended lord, +and where they might pass the remainder of their days in liberty and +bliss. What became of them is unknown, for they were seen and heard of +no more in their native island.[127] + + [127] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 51 _sq._; Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. + 238 note, 239, 269, 270; Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. + cit._ pp. 238 _sq._; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ pp. 234 _sq._ + +But even the souls that went to heaven were supposed to stand in need of +a canoe in order to reach the place of bliss. On this point Porter +writes: "I endeavoured to ascertain whether they had an idea of a future +state of rewards and punishments, and the nature of their heaven. As +respects the latter article, they believed it to be an island, somewhere +in the sky, abounding with everything desirable; that those killed in +war and carried off by their friends, go there, provided they are +furnished with a canoe and provisions; but that those who are carried +off by the enemy, never reach it, unless a sufficient number of the +enemy can be obtained to paddle his canoe there. For this reason they +were so anxious to procure a crew for their priest, who was killed and +carried off by the Happahs. They have neither rewards nor punishments +in this world, and I could not learn that they expected any in the +next."[128] + + [128] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 113. + +In the valley of Taipii (Typee), in the island of Nukahiva, Captain +Porter visited "the chief place of religious ceremony." It was a +platform of the usual sort situated in a fine grove at the foot of a +steep mountain. On the platform was an idol of hard stone, rudely +representing a deity in human shape of about life size and in a +squatting posture. Arranged on either side of this idol, as well as in +front and rear, were several other images of about the same size and of +the same model, but better carved out of bread-fruit wood. The place was +decorated with streamers of white cloth. A few paces from the grave were +four fine war canoes, furnished with outriggers, and decorated with +human hair, coral shells, and many white streamers. In the stern of each +canoe was the effigy of a man with a paddle, steering, in full dress, +decked with plumes, ear-rings, and all the usual ornaments. On enquiring +of the natives, Captain Porter was informed that the dignified effigy +seated in the stern of the most splendid canoe represented a priest who +had been killed not long before by their enemies the Happahs. In the +bottom of the priest's canoe Captain Porter found the putrefying bodies +of two Taipiis (Typees) whom he and his men had recently killed in +battle; and lying about the canoe he saw many other human carcasses, +with the flesh still on them. The other canoes, he was told, belonged to +different warriors who had been killed or had died not long since. "I +asked them," continues Captain Porter, "why they had placed their +effigies in the canoes, and also why they put the bodies of the dead +Typees in that of the priest? They told me (as Wilson interpreted) that +they were going to heaven, and that it was impossible to get there +without canoes. The canoe of the priest being large, he was unable to +manage it himself, nor was it right that he should, he being now a god. +They had, therefore, placed in it the bodies of the Happas and Typees, +which had been killed since his death, to paddle him to the place of his +destination; but he had not been able yet to start, for the want of a +full crew, as it would require ten to paddle her, and as yet they had +only procured eight. They told me also that the taboo, laid in +consequence of his death, would continue until he had started on his +voyage, which he would not be able to do until they had killed two more +of their enemies, and by this means completed the crew. I inquired if he +took any sea stock with him. They told me he did, and pointing to some +red hogs in an enclosure, said that they were intended for him, as well +as a quantity of bread-fruit, coco-nuts, etc., which would be collected +from the trees in the grove. I inquired if he had far to go; they +replied, no: and pointing to a small square stone enclosure, informed me +that was their heaven, that he was to go there. This place was tabooed, +they told me, for every one except their priests."[129] + + [129] Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 109-111. A similar, or the same, + effigy of a dead chief seated in his canoe was seen by Melville + in the same valley (_Typee_, pp. 183 _sq._). He says that "the + canoe was about seven feet in length; of a rich, dark-coloured + wood, handsomely carved, and adorned in many places with + variegated bindings of stained sinnate [cinnet], into which were + ingeniously wrought a number of sparkling sea-shells, and a belt + of the same shells ran all round it. The body of the figure--of + whatever material it might have been made--was effectually + concealed in a heavy robe of brown tappa [bark-cloth], revealing + only the hands and head; the latter skilfully carved in wood, + and surmounted by a superb arch of plumes." + +But it was deemed necessary to provide a dead priest or chief with human +victims for other purposes than to paddle his canoe to heaven. When a +great chief died, two commoners were sometimes sacrificed for the +purpose of escorting him to the abode of bliss; one of them carried the +chief's girdle, and the other bore the head of the pig that had been +slaughtered for the funeral feast. The head was intended as a present to +the warden of the infernal regions, who, if he did not get this +perquisite, would revile and stone the ghost, and shut the door in his +face.[130] The number of human victims sacrificed at the death of a +priest varied with the respect and fear which he had inspired in his +lifetime;[131] a common number seems to have been three.[132] + + [130] Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 163. + + [131] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ p. 228. + + [132] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i, 170. + +The runaway English sailor, Roberts, who had long resided in the +islands, assured the Russian explorer Lisiansky "that, on the death of a +priest, three men must be sacrificed; two of whom are hung up in the +burying-ground, while the third is cut to pieces, and eaten by +visitors; all but the head, which is placed upon one of the idols. When +the flesh of the first two are wasted away, the bones that remain are +burnt. The custom of the country requires, that the men destined for +sacrifice should belong to some neighbouring nation, and accordingly +they are generally stolen. This occasions a war of six, and sometimes of +twelve, months: its duration, however, depends upon the nearest relation +of the deceased priest; who, as soon as he is acquainted with his death, +retires to a place of taboo; and till he chooses to come out, the blood +of the two parties does not cease to flow. During his retirement, he is +furnished with everything he may require, human flesh not +excepted."[133] + + [133] U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 81 _sq._ + +A curious mode of preparing a dead man to appear to advantage before the +gods in the other world was to flay his corpse. A Catholic missionary +tells us that when a dead body began to swell up, in consequence of +internal putrefaction, it was customary to flay it and to preserve the +skin as a precious relic in the family treasury, where the eye of a +profane stranger could never fall on it.[134] The reason for observing +the custom is not mentioned by this missionary, but it is explained by +another missionary, Father Amable. It happened that the king or head +chief of the island of Tahuata died, and that his body was brought to +the house of the queen on the bay where Father Amable resided. For +thirty days she kept the corpse in the house and occupied herself with +skinning it with her fingers. Questioned by the missionary as to her +reasons for this strange procedure, she answered that her husband's body +must be without spot or stain, in order that the great goddess Upu might +give him leave to dwell in her land and to bathe in her lake. For this +deity rules over a sort of submarine Eden, planted with all sorts of +excellent fruits and beautified by the calm waters of an azure lake. The +natives of Tahuata believe that the souls of all who die in the +archipelago assemble on the top of a high mountain called Kiukiu. When a +great multitude of souls is there gathered together, the sea opens and +the souls fall plump down into the paradise of the goddess Upu. +However, not all of them are permitted to enter the happy land and to +enjoy the pleasures which it offers. Only such are admitted as have +owned in their lifetime many servants and many pigs and have not been +wicked. Further, none may enter in who bear on their body any marks of +tattooing.[135] Hence the reason for flaying dead bodies seems to have +been to efface, by removing the skin, the tattooed marks which would +have acted as a fatal bar to the entrance of the ghost into paradise. As +to the souls of slaves and the poor, in the opinion of the natives of +Tahuata they go to a gloomy land, which is never illumined by the sun, +and where there is nothing but muddy water to drink.[136] Nevertheless +the people would seem to have believed that the souls of the dead +lingered for a time beside their mouldering bodies before they took +their departure for the far country. In this belief they sacrificed to +them pigs, some baked, and some alive. The baked pigs they put in a +hollow log and hung from the roof of the hut, and they said that a god +named Mapuhanui, who in the beginning had bestowed pigs on men, used to +come and feast on the carcasses in company with the ghost. But when they +offered live pigs, they tethered the animals to the hut in which the +dead body lay, and they fed them till the flesh dropped from the +skeleton; after that they allowed the pigs to die of hunger.[137] +Perhaps, like some other peoples, they imagined that the ghost hovered +about his remains so long as the flesh adhered to the bones, but that +when even that faint semblance of life had vanished he went away and had +no further occasion for pigs, whether alive or dead. + + [134] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 116. + + [135] Lettre du R. P. Amable, in _Annales de la Propagation de + la Foi_, xix. (1847) pp. 22 _sq._, 24. + + [136] Lettre du R. P. Amable, _op. cit._ p. 24. + + [137] Lettre du R. P. Amable, _op. cit._ pp. 23 _sq._ + +However, the souls of the dead were not supposed to be permanently +confined to the other world. After a long sojourn in it, all alike, +whatever the region they inhabited in their disembodied state, could +return to earth and be born again.[138] Indeed, according to the natives +of Nukahiva, the interval between death and reincarnation was not unduly +long; for "every one here is persuaded, that the soul of a grandfather +is transmitted by Nature into the body of his grandchildren; and that, +if an unfruitful wife were to place herself under the corpse of her +deceased grandfather, she would be sure to become pregnant."[139] +Occasionally the soul of a dead person might even inhabit the body of an +animal. Once when a whale was stranded on one of the islands, a +priestess declared that it was the soul of a certain priest, which would +wander until eight human victims were sacrificed to the gods. In vain +her son would have substituted turtles for human beings; the people +would not hear of it; the prescribed victims were captured from a +neighbouring tribe and put to death in order to lay the ghost of the +whale, or rather of the priest who had animated the whale's body.[140] + + [138] Lettre du R. P. Amable, _op. cit._ p. 24. + + [139] Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 89. + + [140] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 161 _sq._ + +But the souls of the dead were also believed to return from the spirit +land for other purposes than to be born again in the flesh. They might +come as ghosts to haunt and torment the living, and as such they were +greatly dreaded by the people.[141] The first watch of the night was the +hour when they were supposed especially to come on errands of +mischief.[142] Particularly dreaded were the ghosts of high priests and +great chiefs, who retained in their spiritual form the passions and the +rancours which they had nursed in life, and who returned in ghostly +shape to earth to meddle with the affairs of the living, and to punish +even trivial offences. To guard against these dangerous intrusions, the +intervention of a priest or priestess was deemed indispensable; it was +his or her business to counteract a spell cast on a family, or to heal a +sickness inflicted on an individual by one of these ghostly +vagrants.[143] Such was the fear of wandering ghosts that no Marquesan +would dare to stir a step abroad at night without the light of a torch; +for well he knew that evil spirits lurked beside the path to knock down +and throttle any rash wayfarer who should dare to leave his footsteps +unillumined.[144] Indeed, we are told that, of all beliefs in the minds +of the natives, the belief in ghosts was the most deeply rooted. It is +impossible to express the dread which they felt of spectres and +apparitions; nobody was exempt from it. But it was only at night that +these phantoms were to be feared. Though they remained invisible, they +revealed themselves to the terror-stricken wanderer by sound and touch; +the least noise heard in the darkness disclosed their presence; the +least contact with them was a sentence of death, sudden or slow, but +sure. Hence, if a man was obliged to go out after sunset, he would +always take somebody with him to bear him company, even if he had to +wake a comrade for the purpose. Among the women the fear of ghosts was +yet greater, many of them would not stir abroad on a moonless night even +in company. In passing by a burial-ground or a solitary tomb, people +used to throw food towards it for the purpose of appeasing the ghost, +who otherwise would have attacked them.[145] + + [141] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 40. + + [142] Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p. 210. + + [143] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 224 _sq._ + + [144] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 227, 240. + + [145] Eyriaud des Vergnes, _op. cit._ pp. 31 _sq._ + +This deep-seated fear of the dead has survived the conversion, real or +nominal, of the Marquesans to Christianity. No native would even now +venture into a cave where the remains of the dead have been deposited, +not though the greatest treasures were to be found there, for such spots +are believed to be constantly haunted by the ghosts of the departed. +Nobody, it is said, would live in a house in which somebody has died; +every such dwelling is immediately burnt down. Hence, when a person is +grievously sick, a little primitive hut is erected beside the house, and +he is carried out to die in it, and when he is dead, the hut is in like +manner destroyed with fire.[146] A woman will sometimes commit suicide +in order that her ghost may haunt and torment her unfaithful +husband.[147] + + [146] Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 234. + + [147] Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 193 _sq._ + +On the other hand, ghosts in the olden time had also their utility, for +they could be summoned up by a priest or priestess to give information +on various subjects, such as the issue of an illness. On these occasions +the wizard would hold a conversation with the spirit, whose voice could +be heard by the listeners, though his or her shape, as usual, was +invisible in the darkness. Sceptics thought that such communications +were made by means of ventriloquism, and indeed a priestess, who had +professed to evoke the soul of a dead chieftainess, solemnly maintained +that she could make the voice of anybody, whether dead or alive, to +speak from her stomach.[148] + + [148] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 227-238. + +In such beliefs and customs are contained as in germ the whole theory +and practice of the worship of the dead. + +NOTE.--We possess no thorough account of the native Marquesan society +and religion as these existed before they were transformed by European +influence. Some of the writers who have described the islanders and +their customs spent only a few days or at most a few weeks among them. +Captain Cook was at the Marquesas only five days, from the 6th to the +11th of April 1774.[149] The French explorer Marchand spent eight days +in the islands from the 13th to the 21st of June 1791.[150] The Russian +explorers Krusenstern and Lisiansky were with their two ships, the +_Nadeshda_ and _Neva_, at Nukahiva for ten days, from the 7th to the +17th of May 1804; along with them was the naturalist Langsdorff, who +wrote an independent account of the voyage.[151] But though their stay +was short, they had the advantage of meeting with two Europeans, an +Englishman named E. Roberts, and a Frenchman named Jean (or Joseph) +Baptiste Cabri, who had lived long in the islands and spoke the native +language. These men acted as interpreters to the Russians and supplied +them with most of the information which they give in their books +concerning the customs and beliefs of the Marquesans. Roberts told them +that he had been seven years in Nukahiva and two years previously in +Santa Christina (Tau-ata); that he had been put ashore on the latter +island out of an English merchant ship, the crew of which had mutinied +against their captain and could not prevail upon him to join their +party; and that in Nukahiva he had lately married a relation of the +king's, by which he acquired great consideration, so that it would be +easy for him to be of assistance to them. At the same time he earnestly +warned them against the Frenchman, who had also resided for some years +in Nukahiva, but whose character he painted in very dark colours. The +two Russian captains, Krusenstern and Lisiansky, accordingly put their +trust in Roberts and drew most of their information concerning the +natives from him. On the other hand their naturalist, Langsdorff, made +most use of the Frenchman. He admitted, indeed, that the Englishman was +a man of better character, greater natural intelligence, and much higher +education; but on the other hand he tells us that the Frenchman had +been longer in the island and possessed a more thorough mastery of the +language and a greater intimacy with the natives, among whom he had +lived as a savage among savages so long that he had almost forgotten his +own native tongue. But Langsdorff took care to question both these men +and only accepted as true statements in which they agreed with each +other, and to this agreement he naturally attached the greater weight +because his two informants were bitterly hostile to each other and +therefore were unlikely to unite in deceiving him.[152] On the whole, +then, the account which Langsdorff gives of Marquesan society and +religion is perhaps more trustworthy as well as fuller than that of his +two compatriots and companions, Krusenstern and Lisiansky. + + [149] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 274-281; compare G. Forster, + _Voyage round the World_ (London, 1777), ii. 5 _sqq._ + + [150] C. P. Claret Fleurieu, _Voyage round the World performed + during the years 1790, 1791, and 1792 by Étienne Marchand_ + (London, 1801), i. 31, 51. Marchand's brief account is + supplemented from other sources by his editor Fleurieu (_op. + cit._ i. 55 _sqq._). + + [151] A. J. von Krusenstern, _Voyage round the World in the + years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806_ (London, 1813), i. 108 _sq._, + 133 _sqq._; U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_ (London, + 1814), pp. 62, 95; G. H. von Langsdorff, _Bemerkungen auf einer + Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803 bis 1807_ (Frankfurt am + Main, 1812), i. 75, 161. + + [152] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 110-112; Lisiansky, _op. cit._ + p. 79; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 77, 83-85. As to the subsequent + history of Roberts and Cabri, see Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843), pp. + 356-359. + +Captain David Porter of the United States Navy was with his ship the +_Essex_ at Nukahiva from October 24th till December 9th, 1813.[153] A +great part of his time was spent on shore and in close contact with the +natives, and though he did not learn the language, he was able to employ +as an interpreter an Englishman named Wilson, who had lived for many +years in the islands, spoke the language of the natives with the same +facility as his own, and had become a Marquesan in every respect except +in colour. He proved indispensable to the American as an organ of +communication with the people; and much of the information which Porter +gives concerning the customs of the Marquesans was derived by him from +this man.[154] + + [153] Captain David Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the + Pacific Ocean in the United States frigate Essex in the years + 1812, 1813, and 1814_, Second Edition (New York, 1822), ii. 5, + 141. + + [154] D. Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 17 _sq._ + +The American naval chaplain, the Rev. C. S. Stewart, paid about a +fortnight's visit to Nukahiva, from July 27th to August 13th, 1829, +while his ship, the _Vincennes_, was anchored at the island. But he +received much information from the Rev. W. P. Crook, who spent nearly +two years (1797 and 1798) in the Marquesas, having been the first +missionary landed in the islands by the missionary ship _Duff_. During +his residence in the islands Mr. Crook kept a journal, which he allowed +Mr. Stewart to consult. The contents of the journal corroborated Mr. +Stewart's own observations as to the inhabitants, and the account which +he gives of the religion of the islanders is based mainly on the +information derived from Mr. Crook[155] and is therefore valuable; for +at the time when Mr. Crook landed in the Marquesas the customs and +beliefs of the islanders were still practically unaffected by contact +with Europeans. + + [155] C. S. Stewart, _Visit to the South Seas_ (London, 1832), + i. pp. x _sq._, 193, 331. The writer speaks (p. 331) of his stay + of "a fortnight at the Washington Islands." Mr. Crook first + landed in the island of Santa Christina (Tau-ata) on June 6th, + 1797. See James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), pp. 129 _sqq._ As to his + subsequent history in the islands, see Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. + Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou Nouka-hiva_, pp. 35-40. + +The surgeon F. D. Bennett, on a whaling voyage spent a few days in +Santa Christina (Tau-ata), from February 28th to March 4th, 1835; and +his descriptions of what he saw are good so far as they go; but +naturally he could collect but little accurate information as to the +habits and ideas of the people in so short a time.[156] + + [156] F. D. Bennett, _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage round the + Globe from the year 1833 to 1836_ (London, 1840), i 296, 346. + +One of the early Catholic missionaries to the Marquesas, Father Mathias +G----, spent two years in the islands and has given us, in a series of +letters, an account of the native customs and beliefs, which, though far +from complete or systematic, is based on personal observation and is +among the best that we possess.[157] + + [157] Le P. Mathias G----, _Lettres sur les Iles Marquises_ + (Paris, 1843). The writer is not explicit as to the dates of his + residence in the Marquesas; but he tells us that he spent two + years in habitual intercourse with the natives (p. 49), and from + other allusions which he makes in his narrative (pp. 28 _sq._) + it would seem that the years were 1839 and 1840. The first + Catholic missionaries landed in 1838 (_ib._ p. 22), and others + in 1839 (_ib._ pp. 23 _sq._). Among the latter were Fathers + Garcia and Guilmard (_ib._ p. 24). Father G----may have been one + of them. + +Hermann Melville lived among the Taipiis (Typees) in Nukahiva for more +than four months,[158] and wrote a lively narrative of his experiences. +His personal observations are valuable, but as he did not master the +native language, he was not able to throw much light on the inner life +of the people, and in particular on their religious ideas. + + [158] H. Melville, _Typee_ (London, _Everyman's Library_), p. + 254. + +On the 1st of May, 1842, the Marquesas Islands were taken possession of +for France by the French Admiral, Du Petit-Thouars;[159] and next year, +to satisfy the interest of the French public in their new possession, a +comprehensive work on the islands and their inhabitants was published by +MM. Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz.[160] The authors had visited the +islands with the expedition of the French navigator, J. Dumont +d'Urville, in his ships the _Astrolabe_ and the _Zélée_. But as the +expedition stayed only about a week at Nukahiva, from August 26th to +September 3rd, 1838,[161] the writers had little opportunity of making +personal observations. Their work is mainly a careful compilation from +earlier sources, and as such it is a useful and trustworthy summary of +what was known about the archipelago and its inhabitants down to the +date of publication. + + [159] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 119 + _sqq._ + + [160] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou + Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843). + + [161] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage au Pole Sud et dans + l'Océanie, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1842), pp. 5, 49. + +Max Radiguet, one of the members of the expedition to the Marquesas +under Admiral Du Petit-Thouars, passed a considerable time in the +islands and wrote a graphic account of his experiences, which contains +some valuable information as to the natives, their customs, religion, +and mythology.[162] In the part which concerns the mythology he was +assisted by an officer of artillery, M. Rohr, who had lived for several +years in Nukahiva and was familiar with the language and customs of the +people.[163] + + [162] Max Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_, Nouvelle Édition + (Paris, 1882). The author does not inform us as to the exact + length of his stay in the islands. + + [163] M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 221 note. + +In 1877 a good general account of the archipelago and its inhabitants +was published at Paris. The author was a naval lieutenant, P. E. Eyriaud +des Vergnes, who having lived in the islands in the official capacity of +Resident for about six years (from 1868 to 1874) had ample time and +opportunity for obtaining accurate information on the subject.[164] His +work, though somewhat slight, is valuable so far as it goes; but it does +not tell us much about the native religion, which in his time had +probably lost a good deal of its original character through the +influence of the missionaries and of civilisation.[165] + + [164] P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _L'Archipel des Iles Marquises_ + (Paris, 1877). + + [165] Some years previously a naval lieutenant, M. Jouan, who + had been in command of the French military post at Nukahiva, + published in the _Revue Coloniale_ (1857-1858) some notes on the + Marquesas, which are said to contain some useful information on + the archipelago. See M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 310 note. I have + not seen the work of M. Jouan; but according to Radiguet it + shows that in the twelve years and more which had elapsed since + the French occupation of the islands the presence of French + missionaries and of a French garrison had done little to + civilise the natives. + +Some years later, in 1881 and 1882, a French naval doctor, Clavel by +name, passed six months in the Marquesas. During his stay he made +personal observations and collected information on the natives. These he +subsequently published in a little work, which contains much of +value;[166] but when he wrote almost all the natives had been nominally +converted to Christianity and their ancient religion was practically +extinct.[167] + + [166] _Les Marquisiens_, par M. le Docteur Clavel (Paris, 1885). + + [167] Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 68-71. + +Towards the end of the nineteenth century the German traveller Arthur +Baessler paid a short visit to the Marquesas. In his book of travel in +the South Sea he has given us descriptions of the islands and the people +as he saw them, including some account of the scanty remains of their +stone monuments and images.[168] + + [168] Arthur Baessler, _Neue Südsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. + 189-242. The writer omits to mention the date of his visit to + the islands, and the length of his stay in them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE HAWAIIANS + + +§ 1. _The Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands_ + +The Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands form an archipelago lying in the North +Pacific Ocean just within the northern tropic. They stretch in a +direction from north-west to south-east for more than four hundred miles +and include eight inhabited islands, of which the most important are +Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai. Of these Hawaii is by far the largest; +indeed it is the largest island in Polynesia with the exception of New +Zealand. The islands are all mountainous and of volcanic formation. In +Hawaii two of the mountains are between 13,000 and 14,000 feet in +height, and two of them are active volcanoes; one of them, named +Kilauea, possesses the greatest active crater in the world, a huge +cauldron of seething lava, which presents a spectacle of awe-inspiring +grandeur when seen on a moonless night. The other and much loftier +volcano, Mauna Loa, was the scene of a terrific eruption in 1877 and of +another in 1881. Craters, large and small, hot springs, and other +evidences of volcanic activity, abound throughout the archipelago. One +of the craters on the island of Maui is said to be no less than fifteen +miles in circumference and about two thousand feet deep. The islands +appear to have been known to the Spaniards as early as the sixteenth +century; but they were rediscovered in 1778 by Captain Cook, who was +afterwards killed in a fight with the natives in Hawaii.[1] + + [1] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 4 _sqq._; J. J. + Jarves, _History of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands_ (London, + 1843), pp. 1 _sqq._; J. Remy, _Histoire de l'Archipel Havaiien_ + (Paris and Leipzig, 1862), pp. vii _sqq._; C. E. Meinicke, _Die + Inseln des Stillen Oceans_, ii. 271 _sqq._; _Encyclopaedia + Britannica_, Ninth Edition, xi. 528 _sqq._; A. Marcuse, _Die + Hawaiischen Inseln_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 1 _sqq._; F. H. H. + Guillemard, _Australasia_, ii. 533 _sqq._ + +Viewed from the sea the islands are apt to present an appearance of +barrenness and desolation. The mountains descend into the sea in +precipices often hundreds of feet high: their summits are capped with +snow or lost in mist and clouds; and their sides, green and studded with +clumps of trees in some places, but black, scorched and bare in others, +are rent into ravines, down which in the rainy seasons cataracts rush +roaring to the sea. With the changes of sunshine and shadow the +landscape as a whole strikes the beholder now as in the highest degree +horrid, dismal, and dreary, now as wildly beautiful and romantic with a +sort of stern and sombre magnificence.[2] Inland, however, in many +places the summits of the ridges crowned with forests of perpetual +verdure, the slopes covered with flowering shrubs or lofty trees, the +rocks mantled in creepers, the waterfalls dropping from stupendous +cliffs, and the distant prospects of snowy peaks, bold romantic +headlands, and blue seas, all arched by a summer sky of the deepest +azure, combine to make up pictures of fairy-like and enchanting +loveliness.[3] + + [2] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 94; W. Ellis, _Polynesian + Researches_, iv. 34, 379; C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the + Sandwich Islands_, Fifth Edition (Boston, 1839), pp. 69 _sqq._, + 140; D. Tyerman and G. Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and Travels_, + i. 366, 391; Ch. Wilkes, _United States Exploring Expedition_, + New Edition (New York, 1851), iii. 373. + + [3] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 13 _sq._; C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ + pp. 213 _sqq._, 229 _sqq._; Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. + 426 _sqq._; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. xiv _sq._; Ch. Wilkes, _op. + cit._ iii. 390 _sq._; F. D. Bennett, _Narrative of a Whaling + Voyage round the Globe_ (London, 1840), i. 198 _sqq._ The vale + of Anuanu, which runs up into the mountains from the plain of + Honululu in the island of Oahu, is especially famed for its + natural beauty. + +The climate naturally varies with the height above the sea. On the +coasts, though warm, it is remarkably equable, and perhaps no country in +the world enjoys a finer or healthier climate than some parts of Hawaii +and Maui. On the mountains all varieties of climate are to be found, +from the tropical heat of the lowlands to the arctic cold of the two +great peaks of Hawaii, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa with their perpetual +snows, which are not, however, always visible from the sea or from the +foot of these giants. In the lowlands frost is unknown. The fresh +breezes, which blow from the sea during the day and from the mountains +at night, temper the heat of the sun, and render the evenings delicious; +nothing can surpass the splendour and clearness of the moonlight. Rain +falls more abundantly on the windward or eastern side of the islands +than on the leeward or western side. Thus at Hilo, on the eastern side +of Hawaii, it rains almost every day, whereas in Kena, on the western +side, rain hardly ever falls, and along the coast not a single +water-course is to be seen for many miles. In general it may be said +that the archipelago suffers from drought and hence occasionally from +dearth.[4] + + [4] J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. xvi _sqq._ Compare J. Cook, + _Voyages_, vii. 99 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 21 _sq._; Ch. + Wilkes, _op. cit._ iv. 283 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. + 12 _sqq._; _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, 9th edition, xi. 530. + + +§ 2. _The Natives and their Mode of Life_ + +The natives of the Sandwich Islands are typical Polynesians. In general +they are rather above the middle stature, well formed, with fine +muscular limbs, open countenances, and features frequently resembling +those of Europeans. The forehead is usually well developed, the lips +thick, and the nostrils full, without any flatness or spreading of the +nose. The complexion is tawny or olive in hue, but sometimes reddish +brown. The hair is black or brown and occasionally fair or rather ruddy +in colour, in texture it is strong, smooth, and sometimes curly. The +gait is graceful and even stately. But in these islands, as in other +parts of Polynesia, there is a conspicuous difference between the chiefs +and the commoners, the superiority being altogether on the side of +the chiefs. "The nobles of the land," says Stewart, "are so strongly +marked by their external appearance, as at all times to be easily +distinguishable from the common people. They seem, indeed, in size and +stature to be almost a distinct race. They are all large in their frame, +and often excessively corpulent, while the common people are scarce of +the ordinary height of Europeans, and of a thin rather than full +habit."[5] And the difference between the two ranks is as obvious in +their walk and general deportment as in their stature and size, the +nobles bearing themselves with a natural dignity and grace which are +wanting in their social inferiors. Yet there seems to be no reason to +suppose that they belong to a different race from the commoners; the +greater care taken of them in childhood, their better living, sexual +selection, and the influence of heredity appear sufficient to account +for their physical superiority. The women are well built and "beautiful +as ancient statues" with a sweet and engaging expression of countenance. +Yet on the whole the Hawaiians are judged to be physically inferior both +to the Tahitians and to the Marquesans; according to Captain King, they +are rather darker than the Tahitians, and not altogether so handsome a +people. On the other hand they are said to be more intelligent than +either the Tahitians or the Marquesans. Captain King describes them as +of a mild and affectionate disposition, equally remote from the extreme +levity and fickleness of the Tahitians, and from the distant gravity and +reserve of the Tongans.[6] They practised tattooing much less than many +other Polynesians, but their faces, hands, arms, and the forepart of +their bodies were often tattooed with a variety of patterns.[7] + + [5] C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, p. 104. + + [6] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 112 _sq._, 115 _sq._; U. Lisiansky, + _Voyage round the World_, pp. 123 _sq._; L. de Freycinet, + _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. Deuxième partie + (Paris, 1839), p. 570; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 23; C. S. + Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. 104, 106; J. + J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 77 _sqq._; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. + xxxvii _sq._; F. D. Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 209. The last of + these writers speaks in unfavourable terms of the personal + appearance of the women, whom he found less handsome than the + men and very inferior to the women of the Society Islands. + + [7] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 213 _sq._, vii. 121; W. Ellis, _op. + cit._ iv. 23. + +The staple food of the Hawaiians consists of taro (_kalo_), sweet +potatoes, and fish, but above all of taro. That root (_Arum_ or +_Caladium esculentum_) is to the Hawaiians what bread-fruit is to the +Tahitians, and its cultivation is their most important agricultural +industry. It is grown wherever there is water or a marsh, and it is even +planted on some arid heights in the island of Hawaii, where it yields +excellent crops. Artificial irrigation was practised and even regulated +by law or custom in the old days; for it was a rule that water should be +conducted over every plantation twice a week in general, and once a +week during the dry season. The bread-fruit tree is not so common, and +its fruit not so much prized, as in the Marquesas and Tahiti. The +natives grew sweet potatoes even before the arrival of Europeans. Yams +are found wild, but are hardly eaten except in times of scarcity. There +are several sorts of bananas; the fruit for the most part is better +cooked than raw. In the old days the cooking was done in the ordinary +native ovens, consisting of holes in the ground lined with stones which +were heated with fire. After being baked in an oven the roots of the +taro are mashed and diluted with water so as to form a paste or pudding +called _poe_ or _poi_, which is sometimes eaten sweet but is more +generally put aside till it has fermented, in which condition it is +preferred by the natives. It is a highly nutritious substance, and +though some Europeans complain of the sourness of taro pudding, others +find it not unpalatable. Fish used to be generally eaten raw, seasoned +with brine or sea-water. But they also commonly salt their fish, not for +the sake of preserving it for a season of scarcity, but because they +prefer the taste. They construct artificial fish-ponds, into which they +let young fish from the sea, principally the fry of the grey mullet, of +which the chiefs are particularly fond. Every chief has, or used to +have, his own fish-pond. The natives are very skilful fishermen. In the +old days they made a great variety of fish-hooks out of mother-of-pearl +and tortoise shell as well as out of bone, and these they dragged by +means of lines behind their canoes, and so caught bonettas, dolphins, +and albicores. They took prodigious numbers of flying fish in nets. At +the time when the islands were discovered by Captain Cook, the natives +possessed pigs and dogs. The flesh of both of these animals was eaten, +but only by persons of higher rank. Fowls were also bred and eaten, but +they were not very common, and their flesh was not very much esteemed. +The sugar-cane was indigenous in the islands, and the people ate it as a +fruit; along with bananas and plantains it occupied a considerable +portion of every plantation. Captain Cook found the natives skilful +husbandmen, but thought that with a more extensive system of +agriculture, the islands could have supported three times the number of +the existing inhabitants.[8] He remarked that the chiefs were much +addicted to the drinking of kava, and he attributed some of the +cutaneous and other diseases from which they suffered to an immoderate +use of what he calls the pernicious drug.[9] + + [8] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 215 _sq._, 219, 224 _sq._, vii. 126 + _sq._; U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_, p. 126; Archibald + Campbell, _Voyage round the World_ (Edinburgh, 1816), pp. + 161-63, 182 _sq._, 194-197; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 61, 215 + _sq._, 420 (as to irrigation); C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the + Sandwich Islands_, pp. 111-113; Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ + i. 412, 426, 428, 430, 472; O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise um die + Welt_ (Weimar, 1830), ii. 96; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 68 + _sq._; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. xxiv _sq._, xliii; F. D. Bennett, + _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage round the World_, i. 213 _sqq._ + As to the system of irrigating the taro fields, see especially + O. von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and + Beering's Straits_ (London, 1821), i. 340 _sq._ + + [9] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 113 _sq._ + + +§ 3. _Houses, Mechanical Arts_ + +Captain King observed that in some respects the natives of the Sandwich +Islands approached nearer in their manners and customs to the Maoris of +New Zealand than to their less distant neighbours of the Society and +Friendly Islands, the Tahitians and the Tongans. In nothing, he says, is +this more observable than in their method of living together in small +towns or villages, containing from about one hundred to two hundred +houses, built pretty close together, without any order, and with a +winding path leading through them. They were generally flanked towards +the sea with loose detached walls, intended for shelter and defence.[10] +The shape of the houses was very simple. They were oblong with very high +thatched roofs, so that externally they resembled the top of hay-stacks +or rather barns with the thatched roof sloping down steeply to two very +low sides, and with gable ends to match. The entrance, placed +indifferently in one of the sides or ends, was an oblong hole, so low +that one had rather to creep than walk in, and often shut by a board of +planks fastened together, which served as a door. No light entered the +house but by this opening, for there were no windows. Internally every +house consisted of a single room without partitions. In spite of the +extreme simplicity of their structure, the houses were kept very clean; +the floors were covered with a large quantity of dried grass, over which +they spread mats to sit and sleep upon. At one end stood a kind of bench +about three feet high, on which were kept the household utensils. These +consisted merely of a few wooden bowls and trenchers, together with +gourd-shells, serving either as bottles or baskets. The houses varied in +size with the wealth or rank of the owners. Those of the poor were mere +hovels, which resembled the sties and kennels of pigs and dogs rather +than the abodes of men. The houses of the chiefs were generally large +and commodious by comparison, some forty to sixty feet long by twenty or +thirty feet broad, and eighteen or twenty feet high at the peak of the +roof. Chiefs had always a separate eating-house, and even people of the +lower ranks had one such house to every six or seven families for the +men. The women were forbidden to eat in company with the men and even to +enter the eating-house during the meals; they ate in the same houses in +which they slept. The houses of the chiefs were enclosed in large yards, +and sometimes stood on stone platforms, which rendered them more +comfortable.[11] + + [10] J. Cook, vii. 125. + + [11] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 214 _sq._; U. Lisiansky, _Voyage + round the World_, p. 127; A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, + pp. 180-182; C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, + p. 107; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 320-322; Tyerman and Bennet, + _op. cit._ i. 371 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 67 _sq._ + +In the mechanical arts the Hawaiians displayed a considerable degree of +ingenuity and skill. While the men built the houses and canoes and +fashioned wooden dishes and bowls, the women undertook the manufacture +of bark-cloth (_kapa_) and mats. Bark-cloth was made in the usual way +from the bark of the paper-mulberry, which was beaten out with grooved +mallets. The cloth was dyed a variety of colours, and patterns at once +intricate and elegant were stamped on it and stained in different tints. +The mats were woven or braided by hand without the use of any frame or +instrument. The materials were rushes or palm-leaves; the mats made of +palm-leaves were much the more durable and therefore the more valuable. +The coarser and plainer were spread on the floor to sleep on; the finer +were of white colour with red stripes, rhombuses, and other figures +interwoven on one side. Among the most curious specimens of native +carving were the wooden bowls in which the chiefs drank kava. They were +perfectly round, beautifully polished, and supported on three or four +small human figures in various attitudes. These figures were accurately +proportioned and neatly finished; even the anatomy of the muscles +strained to support the weight were well expressed. The fishing-hooks +made by the men, especially the large hooks made to catch shark, are +described by Captain Cook as really astonishing for their strength and +neatness; he found them on trial much superior to his own.[12] + + [12] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 218 _sq._, vii. 133-135; L. de + Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. 611 _sq._; + A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 192-195; W. Ellis, + _op. cit._ iv. 109-113; C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the + Sandwich Islands_, pp. 114-116; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 66 + _sq._ + +The mechanical skill of these people was all the more remarkable because +of the extreme rudeness and simplicity of the tools with which they +worked. Their chief implement was an adze made of a black or +clay-coloured volcanic stone and polished by constant friction with +pumice-stone in water. They had also small instruments made each of a +single shark's tooth, some of which were fixed to the forepart of a +dog's jawbone and others to a thin wooden handle of the same shape. +These served as knives, and pieces of coral were used as files. Captain +Cook found the natives in possession of two iron tools, one of them a +piece of iron hoop, and the other an edge-tool, perhaps the point of a +broadsword. These they could only have procured from a European vessel +or from a wreck drifted on their coast. No mines of any kind are known +to exist in the islands.[13] + + [13] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 220-224; A. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. + 198; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 322; O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise + um die Welt_, ii. 97 (as to the kava bowls); J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ p. 66. As to the absence of mines in the Hawaiian Islands, + see J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xvi. + +Their weapons of war included spears, javelins, daggers, and clubs, all +of them made of wood. They also slung stones with deadly effect. But +they had no defensive armour; for the war-cloaks and wicker-work +helmets, surmounted with lofty crests and decked with the tail feathers +of the tropic bird, while they heightened the imposing and martial +appearance of the wearers, must have proved rather encumbrances than +protections. Captain Cook found the natives in possession of bows and +arrows, but from their scarcity and the slenderness of their make he +inferred that the Hawaiians, like other Polynesians, never used them in +battle.[14] + + [14] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 227 _sq._, vii. 136 _sq._; W. + Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 156 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 56 + _sq._ + + +§ 4. _Government, Social Ranks, Taboo_ + +The government of the Hawaiian Islands was an absolute monarchy or +despotism; all rights of power and property vested in the king, whose +will and power alone were law, though in important matters he was to a +certain extent guided by the opinion of the chiefs in council. The rank +of the king and the chiefs was hereditary, descending from father to +son; but the appointment to all offices of authority and dignity was +made by the king alone. Nevertheless posts of honour, influence, and +emolument often continued in the same family for many generations. Nor +were hereditary rank and authority confined to men; they were inherited +also by women. According to tradition, several of the islands had been +once or twice under the government of a queen. The king was supported by +an annual tribute paid by all the islands at different periods according +to his directions. It comprised both the natural produce of the country +and manufactured articles. But besides the regular tribute the king was +at liberty to levy any additional tax he might please, and even to seize +and appropriate any personal possessions of a chief or other subject. +Not infrequently the whole crop of a plantation was thus carried off by +his retainers without the least apology or compensation.[15] However, +the government of the whole Hawaiian archipelago by a single monarch +was a comparatively modern innovation. Down to nearly the end of the +eighteenth century the different islands were independent of each other +and governed by separate kings, who were often at war one with the +other; indeed there were sometimes several independent kingdoms within +the same island. But towards the close of the eighteenth century an +energetic and able king of Hawaii, by name Kamehameha (Tamehameha), +succeeded in extending his sway by conquest over the whole archipelago, +and at his death in 1819 he bequeathed the undivided monarchy to his +successors.[16] + + [15] U. Lisiansky, _op. cit._ pp. 116 _sq._; A. Campbell, _op. + cit._ pp. 169 _sq._; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 411 _sq._; C. S. + Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, p. 102; Tyerman + and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 380; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 30 + _sqq._ According to Jarves (_op. cit._ p. 33), "Rank was + hereditary, and descended chiefly from the females, who + frequently held the reins of government in their own right. This + custom originated in the great license existing between the + sexes; no child, with certainty, being able to designate his + father, while no mistake could be made in regard to the mother." + + [16] C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, p. 101; + J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 30; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. lxi + _sq._; _Encyclopĉdia Britannica_, 9th Edition, xi. 528. + +The whole body of chiefs fell into three classes or ranks. The first +included the royal family and all who were intimately connected with it. +The second included such as held hereditary offices of power or +governorships of islands, after the time when the whole archipelago was +united in a single kingdom. The third class embraced the rulers of +districts, the headmen of villages, and all inferior chiefs. The members +of the first two classes were usually called "high chiefs"; they were +few in number and closely related both by blood and marriage. The +members of the third class were known as "small" or "low" chiefs. They +were by far the most numerous body of chiefs in any island, and were +generally called _haku aina_ or landowners, though strictly speaking the +king was acknowledged in every island as the supreme lord and proprietor +of the soil by hereditary right or the law of conquest. When Kamehameha +had subdued the greater part of the islands, he distributed them among +his favourite chiefs and warriors on condition of their rendering him +not only military service, but a certain proportion of the produce of +their lands. In this he appears to have followed the ancient practice +invariably observed on the conquest of an island.[17] For "from the +earliest periods of Hawaiian history, the tenure of lands has been, in +most respects, feudal. The origin of the fiefs was the same as in the +northern nations of Europe. Any chieftain who could collect a sufficient +number of followers to conquer a district, or an island, and had +succeeded in his object, proceeded to divide the spoils, or 'cut up the +land,' as the natives termed it. The king, or principal chief, made his +choice from the best of the lands. Afterwards the remaining part of the +conquered territory was distributed among the leaders, and these again +subdivided their shares to others, who became vassals, owing fealty to +the sovereigns of the fee. The king placed some of his own particular +servants on his portion as his agents, to superintend the cultivation. +The original occupants who were on the land, usually remained under +their new conqueror, and by them the lands were cultivated, and rent or +taxes paid."[18] + + [17] C. S. Stewart, _op. cit._ p. 97; W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. + 412 _sq._, 414; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 33. Compare J. Cook, + _Voyages_, vii. 137 _sqq._ + + [18] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ iv. 34. + +Below the chiefs or nobles were the commoners, who included small +farmers, fishermen, mechanics, such as house-builders and +canoe-builders, musicians and dancers, in short, all the labouring +classes, whether they worked for a chief or farmer or cultivated patches +of land for their own benefit.[19] According to one account, "the common +people are generally considered as attached to the soil, and are +transferred with the land from one chief to another."[20] But this +statement is contradicted by an earlier and perhaps better-informed +writer, who spent some thirteen months in Oahu, while the islands were +still independent and before the conversion of the people to +Christianity. He tells us that commoners were not slaves nor attached to +the soil, but at liberty to change masters when they thought proper.[21] +On this subject Captain King observes: "How far the property of the +lower class is secured against the rapacity and despotism of the great +chiefs, I cannot say, but it should seem that it is sufficiently +protected against private theft, or mutual depredation; for not only +their plantations, which are spread over the whole country, but also +their houses, their hogs, and their cloth, were left unguarded, without +the smallest apprehensions. I have already remarked, that they not only +separate their possessions by walls in the plain country, but that, in +the woods likewise, wherever the horse-plantains grow, they make use of +small white flags in the same manner, and for the same purpose of +discriminating property, as they do bunches of leaves at Otaheite. All +which circumstances, if they do not amount to proofs, are strong +indications that the power of the chiefs, where property is concerned, +is not arbitrary, but at least so far circumscribed and ascertained, as +to make it worth the while for the inferior orders to cultivate the +soil, and to occupy their possessions distinct from each other."[22] Yet +on the other hand we are told by later writers that "in fact, the +condition of the common people is that of slaves; they hold nothing +which may not be taken from them by the strong hand of arbitrary power, +whether exercised by the sovereign or a petty chief." On one occasion +the writers saw nearly two thousand persons, laden with faggots of +sandal-wood, coming down from the mountains to deposit their burdens in +the royal store-houses, and then departing to their homes, weary with +their unpaid labours, yet without a murmur at their bondage.[23] When at +last, through contact with civilisation, they had learned to utter their +grievances, they complained that "the people was crushed by the numerous +forced labours and contributions of every sort exacted from them by the +chiefs. It was, indeed, very hard to furnish the chiefs, on every +requisition, with pigs, food, and all the good things which the folk +possessed, and to see the great despoiling the humble. In truth, the +people worked for the chiefs incessantly, they performed every kind of +painful task, and they paid the chiefs all the taxes which it pleased +them to demand."[24] + + [19] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 413. + + [20] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 417. Compare J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ p. 34. + + [21] A. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 169. As to the length of + Campbell's residence in Wahoo (Oahu), see _id._, p. 153 note. + The date of his residence was 1809-1810. Compare O. von + Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and Beering's + Straits_ (London, 1821), iii. 246: "The people are almost + subject to the arbitrary will of the lord, but there are no + slaves or vassals (_glebae adscripti_). The peasant and the + labourer may go wherever they please. The man is free, he may be + killed, but not sold and not detained." + + [22] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 141 _sq._ + + [23] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 415. + + [24] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. 167. + +Certainly commoners were bound to pay great outward marks of deference +to their social superiors, the chiefs, or nobles. Indeed, the respect +almost amounted to adoration, for they were on no occasion allowed to +touch their persons, but prostrated themselves before them, and might +not enter their houses without first receiving permission.[25] Above +all, the system of taboo or _kapu_, as it was called in the Hawaiian +dialect,[26] oppressed the common people and tended to keep them in a +state of abject subjection to the nobles; for the prescriptions of the +system were numerous and vexatious, and the penalty for breaches of them +was death. If the shadow of a subject fell on a chief, the subject was +put to death; if he robed himself in the cloth or assumed the girdle of +a chief, he was put to death; if he climbed on the wall of a chief's +courtyard, he was put to death; if he stood upright instead of +prostrating himself when a vessel of water was brought for the chief to +wash with or his garments to wear, he was put to death; if he stepped on +the shadow of a chief's house with his head smeared with white clay, or +decked with a garland of flowers, or merely wetted with water, he was +put to death; if he slept with his wife on a taboo day, he was put to +death; if he made a noise during public prayers, he was put to death; if +a woman ate pig, or coco-nuts, or bananas, or lobster, or the fish +called _ulua_, she was put to death; if she went in a canoe on a taboo +day, she was put to death; if husband and wife ate together, they were +both put to death.[27] + + [25] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 413; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. + 33 _sq._ Compare J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 137. + + [26] In the Hawaiian dialect the ordinary Polynesian T is + pronounced K, and the Tongan B is pronounced P. Hence the Tongan + _taboo_ becomes in Hawaiian _kapoo_ (_kapu_). See E. Tregear, + _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. xxiii. + + [27] J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. 159, 161, 167. + +In Hawaii, as in other parts of Polynesia, the taboo formed an important +and essential part both of the religious and of the political system, of +which it was at once a strong support and a powerful instrument. The +proper sense of the word taboo (in Hawaiian _kapu_) is "sacred." This +did not, however, imply any moral quality; it expressed rather "a +connexion with the gods, or a separation from ordinary purposes, and +exclusive appropriation to persons or things considered sacred"; +sometimes it meant devoted as by a vow. Chiefs who traced their +genealogy to the gods were called _arii taboo_, "chiefs sacred"; a +temple was a _wahi taboo_, "place sacred"; the rule which prohibited +women from eating with men, and from eating, except on special +occasions, any fruits or animals ever offered in sacrifice to the gods, +while it allowed the men to partake of them, was called _ai taboo_, +"eating sacred." The opposite of _kapu_ was _noa_, which means "general" +or "common"; for example, _ai noa_ signifies "eating generally" or +"having food in common." Although it was employed for civil as well as +sacred purposes, the taboo was essentially a religious ceremony and +could be imposed only by the priests. A religious motive was always +assigned for laying it on, though it was often done at the instance of +the civil authorities; and persons called _kiaimoku_, "island keepers," +a kind of police officers, were always appointed by the king to see that +the taboo was strictly observed.[28] + + [28] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 385 _sqq._ Compare L. de + Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. 597. + +The application of the restriction implied by taboo was either general +or particular, either permanent or occasional. To take examples of +permanent taboos, the idols and temples, the persons and names of the +king and other members of the royal family, the persons of priests, +canoes belonging to the gods, the houses, clothes, and mats of the king +and priests, and the heads of men who were the devotees of any +particular idol, were always taboo or sacred. The flesh of hogs, fowls, +turtles, and several sorts of fish, coco-nuts, and almost everything +offered in sacrifice were taboo or consecrated to the use of the gods +and the men; hence women were, except in cases of particular indulgence, +forbidden to partake of them. Particular places, such as those +frequented by the king for bathing, were also permanently taboo. As +examples of temporary taboos may be mentioned those which were imposed +on an island or district for a certain time, during which no canoe or +person was allowed to approach it. Particular fruits, animals, and the +fish of certain places were occasionally taboo for several months, +during which neither men nor women might eat them.[29] The predecessor +of Kamehameha, king of Hawaii, "was taboo to such a degree that he was +not allowed to be seen by day. He only showed himself in the night: if +any person had but accidentally seen him by daylight he was immediately +put to death; a sacred law, the fulfilment of which nothing could +prevent."[30] + + [29] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 387. + + [30] O. von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea + and Beering's Straits_ (London, 1821), iii. 247. + +The seasons generally kept taboo were on the approach of some great +religious ceremony, immediately before going to war, and during the +sickness of chiefs. Their duration was various, and much longer in +ancient than in modern times. Tradition tells of a taboo which lasted +thirty years, during which men might not trim their beards and were +subject to other restrictions. Another was kept for five years. Before +the reign of Kamehameha forty days was the usual period; but in his time +the period was shortened to ten or five days, or even to a single day. +The taboo seasons might be either common or strict. During a common +taboo the men were only required to abstain from their usual avocations, +and to attend morning and evening prayers at the temple. But during a +strict taboo every fire and light in the district or island must be +extinguished; no canoe might be launched; no person might bathe or even +appear out of doors, unless his attendance was required at the temple; +no dog might bark, no pig grunt, and no cock crow; for if any of these +things were to happen the taboo would be broken and fail to accomplish +its object. To prevent this disaster the mouths of dogs and pigs were +tied up, and fowls were put under a calabash, or a cloth was fastened +over their eyes.[31] + + [31] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 387 _sq._ + +The prohibitions of the taboo were strictly enforced; every breach of +them was punished with death, unless the delinquent had powerful friends +among the priests or chiefs, who could save him. The culprits were +generally offered in sacrifice, being either strangled or clubbed at the +temple; according to one account, they were burnt.[32] + + [32] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 389. As to the taboo in Hawaii, + see also J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 146 _sq._; L. de Freycinet, + _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. 597; C. S. Stewart, + _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. 31 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, + _op. cit._ pp. 50-52; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. xxxviii _sq._, 159 + _sqq._ + +The system seems to have been found at last too burdensome to be borne +even by the king, who under it was forbidden to touch his food with his +own hands, and had to submit to having it put into his mouth by another +person, as if he were an infant.[33] Whatever his motive, Liholiho, son +of Kamehameha, had hardly succeeded his father on the throne of Hawaii +when he abolished the system of taboo and the national religion at a +single blow. This remarkable reformation took place in November 1819. +When the first Christian missionaries arrived from America, some months +later, March 30th, 1820, they were astonished to learn of a peaceful +revolution, which had so opportunely prepared the way for their own +teaching.[34] + + [33] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 388. + + [34] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 603; O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise um die Welt_, ii. 109 _sqq._; + W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 30, 126 _sqq._, 137, 204, 312; C. S. + Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. 31, 32 _sq._; + Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 378 _sq._, 397 _sq._, 442 + _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 197 _sq._, 201; J. Remy, + _op. cit._ pp. lxv, 133 _sqq._; H. Bingham, _Residence of + Twenty-one Years in the Sandwich Islands_ (Hartford, 1849), pp. + 69 _sqq._ King Kamehameha the First died 8th May 1819. + + +§ 5. _Religion, the Gods_ + +Of the native Hawaiian religion, as it existed before the advent of +Europeans and the conversion of the people to Christianity, we possess +no adequate account. The defect is probably due in great measure to the +readiness with which the islanders relinquished their old faith and +adopted the new one. The transition seems to have been effected with +great ease and comparatively little opposition; hence when the +missionaries settled in the islands a few months after the formal +abolition of the ancient religion, paganism was already almost a thing +of the past, and the Christian teachers were either unable or perhaps +unwilling to record in detail the beliefs and rites which they regarded +as false and pernicious. Be that as it may, we possess no such +comparatively full and accurate records of the old Hawaiian religion, as +we possess, for example, of the old pagan religion of the Tongans and +the Samoans, who clung much more pertinaciously to the creed of their +fathers than their more enlightened or more fickle kinsfolk in the +Sandwich Islands. Hence we are obliged to content ourselves with some +more or less meagre and fragmentary notices of the ancient Hawaiian +system of religious belief and practice. But as the Hawaiians are, or +were, pure-blooded Polynesians, we may assume with a fair degree of +probability that in its broad lines their religious system conformed to +the ordinary Polynesian type. + +On this subject Captain King, the colleague and successor of Captain +Cook in his last voyage, observes as follows: "The religion of these +people resembles, in most of its principal features, that of the Society +and Friendly Islands. Their _Morais_, their _Whattas_, their idols, +their sacrifices, and their sacred songs, all of which they have in +common with each other, are convincing proofs that their religious +notions are derived from the same source. In the length and number of +their ceremonies this branch indeed far exceeds the rest; and though in +all these countries there is a certain class of men to whose care the +performance of their religious rites is committed, yet we had never met +with a regular society of priests, till we discovered the cloisters of +Kakooa in Karakakooa Bay [in the island of Hawaii]. The head of this +order was called _Orono_; a title which we imagined to imply something +highly sacred, and which, in the person of Omeeah, was honoured almost +to adoration.... It has been mentioned that the title of _Orono_, with +all its honours, was given to Captain Cook; and it is also certain that +they regarded us generally as a race of people superior to themselves; +and used often to say that great _Eatooa_ [_atuas_, spirits] dwelled in +our country. The little image, which we have before described as the +favourite idol on the _Morai_ in Karakakooa Bay, they called +_Koonooraekaiee_, and said it was Terreeoboo's god, and that he also +resided amongst us. There are found an infinite variety of these images +both on the _Morais_, and within and without their houses, to which they +give different names; but it soon became obvious to us in how little +estimation they were held, from their frequent expressions of contempt +of them, and from their even offering them to sale for trifles. At the +same time there seldom failed to be some one particular figure in +favour, to which, whilst this preference lasted, all their adoration was +addressed. This consisted in arraying it in red cloth, beating their +drums, and singing hymns before it, laying bunches of red feathers, and +different sorts of vegetables, at its feet, and exposing a pig or a dog +to rot on the _whatta_ that stood near it. In a bay to the southward of +Karakakooa, a party of our gentlemen were conducted to a large house, in +which they found the black figure of a man, resting on his fingers and +toes, with his head inclined backward, the limbs well formed and +exactly proportioned, and the whole beautifully polished. This figure +the natives call _Maee_; and round it were placed thirteen others of +rude and distorted shapes, which they said were the _Eatooas_ [spirits] +of several deceased chiefs, whose names they recounted. The place was +full of _whattas_, on which lay the remains of their offerings. They +likewise give a place in their houses to many ludicrous and some obscene +idols, like the Priapus of the ancients."[35] + + [35] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 142-144. + +The general Hawaiian name for god was _akua_, corresponding to the more +usual Polynesian form _atua_.[36] The four principal Hawaiian deities +were Ku, Kane, Kanaloa, and Lono.[37] Their names are only dialectically +different forms of Tu, Tane, Tangaroa or Tagaloa, and Rongo, four of the +greatest Polynesian gods.[38] Of these deities it is said that Ku, Kane, +and Lono formed the original Hawaiian triad or trinity, who were +worshipped as a unity under the name of Ku-kau-akahi, "the one +established."[39] The meaning or essence of the three persons of the +trinity is said to be Stability (Ku), Light (Tane), and Sound +(Lono).[40] "These gods," we are told, "created the three heavens as +their dwelling-place, then the earth, sun, moon, and stars, then, the +host of angels and ministers. Kanaloa (Tangaroa), who represented the +spirit of evil, was a later introduction into the Hawaiian theology; he +it was who led the rebellion of spirits, although Milu is in other +traditions credited with this bad pre-eminence."[41] We read that when +the trinity were at work on the task of creating the first man, the bad +spirit Kanaloa, out of rivalry, also made an image, but he could not +endow it with life. So, in a rage, he cried to Kane, "I will take your +man, he shall die!" And that, it is said, was the origin of death. The +reason why the spirits, under the leadership of Kanaloa, rebelled was +that they had been denied the sacrifice of kava. For their rebellion +they were thrust down to the lowest depth of Darkness or Night +(_Po_).[42] + + [36] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xxxix; E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian + Comparative Dictionary_, p. 30, _s.v._ "Atua." + + [37] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xxxix; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. + 40; H. T. Cheever, _Life in the Sandwich Islands_ (London, + 1851), p. 11; A. Bastian, _Die heilige Sage der Polynesier_ + (Leipzig, 1881), p. 131; _id._, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_ + (Berlin, 1883), p. 225; A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, + pp. 97 _sq._ + + [38] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ 425, 461, 464, 540, _s.vv._ "Rongo," + "Tane," "Tangaroa," "Tu." + + [39] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ p. 425, _s.v._ "Rongo." + + [40] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ pp. 461, 540, _s.vv._ "Tane," "Tu." + + [41] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ p. 540, _s.v._ "Tu." + + [42] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ p. 464, _s.v._ "Tangaroa." According + to another account, the evil spirit was not Kanaloa, but Ku; + Kanaloa was a younger brother of Kane, and helped him in his + beneficent labours. See A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, + pp. 97 _sq._ This latter version agrees with the view of Kane + and Kanaloa as divine twins. See below, pp. 394 _sq._ + +A fuller account of these momentous transactions presents a close, +perhaps a suspicious, resemblance to the Biblical narrative of the same +events. It runs as follows: + +"According to ancient Hawaiian traditions, there existed in the chaos +three mighty gods, Kane, Ku, and Lono. By their common action light was +brought into the chaos. Then the gods created three heavenly spheres, in +which they dwelt, and last of all the earth, sun, moon, and stars. Out +of their spittle they thereupon created a host of angels, who had to +render service to the three original deities. Last of all came the +creation of man. His body was fashioned out of red earth, and his head +out of white clay, and Kane, the highest of the gods, breathed into this +Hawaiian Adam the breath of life. Out of one of his ribs the Hawaiian +Eve was created. The newly formed pair, by name Kumuhonua and +Keolakuhonua, were placed in a beautiful paradise called Paliuli, which +was watered by the three rivers of life, and planted with many fine +trees, among them the sacred bread-fruit tree. The mightiest of the +angels, Kanaloa, the Hawaiian Lucifer, desired that the newly created +human pair should worship him, which was forbidden by God the Father, +Kane. After vain attempts to create a new man devoted to himself, +Kanaloa, out of desire for vengeance, resolved to ruin the first human +pair created by the gods. In the likeness of a great lizard he crept +into Paradise and seduced the two inhabitants of the same into +committing sin, whereupon they were driven out of Paradise by a powerful +bird sent by Kane. Then follow, as in the Bible, the legends of the +Hawaiian Cain (Laka) and the Hawaiian Noah (Nuu), by whom the ancestors +of the Hawaiian people are said to have been saved from the universal +flood."[43] The story of the creation of the first woman out of a rib of +the first man appears to have been widespread in Polynesia, for it is +reported also from Tahiti,[44] Fakaofo or Bowditch Island,[45] and New +Zealand.[46] + + [43] A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 97. + + [44] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 110 _sq._; Tyerman + and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 312 _sq._ + + [45] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 267 _sq._ + + [46] J. L. Nicholas, _Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand_ + (London, 1817), i. 59. Compare _Folk-lore in the Old Testament_, + i. 9 _sq._ + +Of the three persons in the Hawaiian trinity, Kane (Tane) is said to +have been the principal. He was especially associated with light; in a +fragment of an ancient liturgy he is called Heaven-father (_Lani-makua_) +and in a very ancient chant he is identified with the Creator. When +after the great flood the Hawaiian Noah, who is called Nuu, left his +vessel, he offered up sacrifice to the moon, saying, "You are doubtless +a transformation of Tane." But the deity was angry at this worship of a +material object; nevertheless, when Nuu expressed his contrition, the +rainbow was left as a pledge of forgiveness.[47] + + [47] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ p. 461, _s.v._ "Tane." + +According to one account, the two great gods Kane and Kanaloa were +twins. In Hawaii twins are regarded as superior to ordinary mortals both +in mind and body; hence it was natural to conceive of a pair of divine +twins, like the Dioscuri in Greek mythology. And, like the Dioscuri, the +divine Hawaiian twins sometimes appeared together to their worshippers +as helpers in time of need. Thus, in a season of dearth, when people +were dying of hunger, a poor fisher lad in the island of Lanai set up a +tiny hut on the sea-shore, and there day by day he offered a little from +the scanty store of fish which his family had caught; and as he did so +he prayed, saying, "Here, O god, is fish for thee." One day, as he sat +there, racked with unsatisfied yearning for the divine assistance, two +men came walking that way and rested at the hut; and, taking them to be +weary wanderers, the fisher lad willingly gave them what little food he +had left over. They slept there that night, and next day, when they were +departing, they revealed themselves to him as the two gods Kane and +Kanaloa, and they told him that his prayer had been heard, and that +salvation would follow. Sure enough, plenty soon returned to the land, +and on the spot where the little hut had stood, a stone temple was +built in stately terraces.[48] Again, we hear how when drought had +lasted long in the island of Oahu, and death stared the farmers in the +face for lack of water, the gods Kane and Kanaloa appeared in the +likeness of two young men and showed them a spring, which was afterwards +consecrated to the divine twins.[49] Once more, it is said that, when +the two deities were in Oahu, it chanced that they could find no water +with which to moisten their dry food. Then at Kane's direction Kanaloa +struck a stone with his spear, and from the stone there sprang a +fountain, which bears the name of Kane to this day, and still it rises +and sinks on the day of the moon which is sacred to that divinity.[50] + + [48] A. Bastian, _Die heilige Sage der Polynesier_, pp. 131, + 132. + + [49] A. Bastian, _op. cit._ pp. 132 _sq._ + + [50] A. Bastian, _op. cit._ p. 133. As to the divine twins in + Hawaii, see also _id._, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 243. + +The god Lono was, as we have seen, no other than the great Polynesian +deity Rongo, the two names being the same word in dialectically +different forms. He was one of the most popular gods of Hawaii;[51] the +seasons and other natural phenomena were associated with him, and +prayers for rain were particularly addressed to him.[52] According to +one account, he was an uncreated, self-existent deity;[53] but according +to another account he was an ancient king of Hawaii, who rashly killed +his wife on a suspicion of infidelity, and then, full of remorse, +carried her lifeless body to a temple and made a great wail over it. +Thereafter he travelled through Hawaii in a state of frenzy, boxing and +wrestling with every one whom he met. The people in astonishment said, +"Is Lono entirely mad?" He replied, "I am frantic with my great love." +Having instituted games to commemorate his wife's death, he embarked in +a triangular canoe for a foreign land. Before he departed, he +prophesied, saying, "I will return in after times, on an island bearing +coco-nut trees, swine, and dogs." After his departure he was deified by +his countrymen, and annual games of boxing and wrestling were instituted +in his honour.[54] When Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii, the natives +took him to be their god Lono returned according to his prophecy. The +priests threw a sacred red mantle on his shoulders and did him +reverence, prostrating themselves before him; they pronounced long +discourses with extreme volubility, by way of prayer and worship. They +offered him pigs and food and clothes, and everything that they offered +to the gods. When he landed, most of the inhabitants fled before him, +full of fear, and those who remained prostrated themselves in adoration. +They led him to a temple, and there they worshipped him. But afterwards +in a brawl, when they saw his blood flowing and heard his groans, they +said, "No, this is not Rono," and one of them struck him, so that he +died. But even after his death, some of them still thought that he was +Rono, and that he would come again. So they looked on some of his bones, +to wit his ribs and his breastbone, as sacred; they put them in a little +basket covered all over with red feathers, and they deposited it in a +temple dedicated to Rono. There religious homage was paid to the bones, +and thence they were carried every year in procession to several other +temples, or borne by the priests round the island, to collect the +offerings of the faithful for the support of the worship of the god +Rono.[55] + + [51] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 41. + + [52] A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 98. + + [53] E. Tregear, _op. cit._ p. 425, _s.v._ "Rongo." + + [54] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 135; O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise + um die Welt_ (Weimar, 1830), ii. 88 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ pp. 41 _sq._; H. Bingham, _Residence of Twenty-one Years + in the Sandwich Islands_ (Hartford, 1849), p. 32; A. Bastian, + _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 246. + + [55] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 134-136; Tyerman and Bennet, _op. + cit._ i. 376; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. 29-37; O. von Kotzebue, + _Neue Reise um die Welt_, ii. 98 _sq._ + +The great Polynesian god or hero Maui was known in Hawaii, where the +stories told of him resembled those current in other parts of the +Pacific. He is said to have dragged up the islands on his fishing-hook +from the depths of the ocean, and to have brought men their first +fire.[56] One day, when his wife was making bark-cloth and had not time +to finish it before night, Maui laid his hand on the sun and prevented +it from going down till the work was completed.[57] + + [56] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, p. + 236, _s.v._ "Maui"; A. Marcuse, _Die Haiwaiischen Inseln_, p. + 98. + + [57] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 433; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ p. 26. + +The national war-god of Hawaii was named Tairi (Kaili). In the evening +he used to be seen flitting about near his temple in the form of a sort +of luminous vapour, like a flame or the tail of a comet. A similar +appearance is also occasionally seen in the Society Islands, where the +terrified natives formerly identified it with their god Tane, and +supposed that the meteor was the deity flying from temple to temple or +seeking whom he might destroy.[58] The image of the war-god Tairi used +to be carried to battle by the priest, who held it aloft above the +ranks. It was four or five feet high; the upper part was of wicker-work, +covered with red feathers; the face grinned hideously; the mouth +displayed triple rows of dog's or shark's teeth; the eyes gleamed with +mother of pearl; and the head was crowned with a helmet crested with +long tresses of human hair. In the battle the priest used to distort his +face into a variety of frightful grimaces and to utter appalling yells, +which were supposed to proceed from the god whom he bore or attended. +But the national war-god was not the only deity whose image was borne to +battle. Other chiefs of rank had their war-gods carried near them by +their priests; and if the king or chief was killed or taken, the god +himself was usually captured also. The presence of their deities +inspired the warriors with courage; for they imagined the divine +influence to be essential to victory.[59] The diviners were consulted +immediately before a battle. They slew the victims, and noticed the face +of the heavens, the passage of clouds over the sun, and the appearance +of a rainbow. If the omens were favourable, the image of the principal +war-god was brought out in front of the whole army and placed near the +king. The priest then prayed to the gods, beseeching them to prove +themselves stronger than the gods of the enemy in the ensuing +engagement, and promising them hecatombs of victims in the event of +victory. The bodies of foes slain in the battle were dragged to the king +or priest, who offered them as victims to his gods.[60] + + [58] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 119. + + [59] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 158 _sq._ + + [60] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 157 _sq._, 159. + +The gods of Hawaii fell into two classes, according as they were +believed to have been primaeval deities born of Night (Po), or the souls +of men who had been deified after death. For it was believed to be +possible to detain the soul of a beloved or honoured person at death by +keeping his clothes or his bones; and the soul could thereafter be +invoked and could speak through the mouth of the person into whom it had +entered. Both classes of deities, the primaeval and the human, were +credited with the power of making people ill.[61] One way of obtaining a +guardian deity for a family was to take the body of a still-born child +and throw it into the sea or bury it in the earth; in the former case +the embryo was supposed to turn into a shark, in the latter case into a +grasshopper. When it was deemed necessary to obtain the help of a deity +(_akua_) for a special purpose, such as success in fishing or in +canoe-building, the divine spirit could be conjured into an image +(_kii_), and could thereafter appear in a dream to his worshipper and +reveal to him what food he desired to have dedicated to him, and what +accordingly the worshipper must abstain from eating. Often the god +showed himself to the dreamer in the shape of a stone or other object; +and on awakening the man was bound to procure the object, whatever it +was, and to honour it with prayer and sacrifice, in order to ensure the +protection of the deity. Prayers addressed to private gods were usually +the property of the owner, who was commonly also their author; whereas +prayers addressed to a public god, such as Kane, had to be learned from +a priest or other adept.[62] + + [61] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, pp. 269 _sq._ + + [62] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, pp. 271 _sq._ + +Among the deities who had once been men would seem to have been the god +of medicine, the Hawaiian Aesculapius. It is said that many generations +ago a certain man named Koreamoku received all medicinal herbs from the +gods, who also taught him the use of them. After his death he was +deified, and a wooden image of him was placed in a large temple at +Kairua, to which offerings of hogs, fish, and coco-nuts were frequently +presented. Oronopuha and Makanuiairomo, two friends and disciples of +Koreamoku, continued to practise the healing art after the death of +their master, and they too were deified after death, particularly +because they were often successful in driving away the evil spirits +which afflicted the people and threatened them with death. To these +deified men the priests addressed their prayers when they administered +medicine to the sick.[63] + + [63] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 335 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ p. 71. + +Of all the deities of Hawaii the most dreaded was Pele, the goddess of +the volcanic fire, whose home was in the great and ever active volcano +of Kilauea. There she dwelt with the other members of her family, +brothers and sisters. They were all said to have come to Hawaii from a +foreign country called Tahiti after the great deluge had subsided. The +cones which rise like islands from the vast sea of boiling lava, +vomiting columns of smoke or pyramids of flame, were the houses where +these volcanic deities lived and amused themselves by playing at +draughts: the crackling of the flames and the roaring of the furnaces +were the music of their dance; and the red flaming surge was the surf +wherein they sported, swimming on the rolling fiery waves.[64] The +filaments of volcanic glass, of a dark olive colour and as fine as human +hair, some straight, some crimped or frizzled, which are to be seen +abundantly on the sides of the crater, and on the plain for miles round, +are called by the natives "Pele's hair"; in some places they lie so +thick as to resemble cobwebs covering the surface of the ground.[65] +Near the crater grow bushes bearing clusters of red and yellow berries +resembling large currants; of these the natives formerly would never eat +till they had thrown some of the clusters into the thickest of the smoke +and vapour as an offering to the goddess of the volcano.[66] Vast +numbers of hogs, some alive, others cooked, used to be cast into the +craters when they were in action or when they threatened an eruption; +and when they boiled over, the animals were flung into the rolling +torrent of lava to appease the gods and arrest the progress of the fiery +stream. For the whole island had to pay tribute to the gods of the +volcano and to furnish provisions for the support of their ministers; +and whenever the chiefs or people failed to send the proper offerings or +incurred the displeasure of the dreadful beings by insulting them or +their ministers, or by breaking the taboos which had to be observed in +the vicinity of the craters, the angry deities would spout lava from the +mountain or march by subterranean passages to the abode of the culprits +and overwhelm them under a flood of molten matter. And if the fishermen +did not offer them enough fish, they would rush down, kill the fish with +fire, and, filling up the shoals, destroy the fishing-grounds +entirely.[67] People who passed by the volcano of Kilauea often +presented locks of hair to Pele by throwing them into the crater with an +appropriate address to the deity.[68] On one occasion, when a river of +lava threatened destruction to the people of the neighbourhood, and the +sacrifice of many hogs, cast alive into the stream, had not availed to +stay its devastating course, King Kamehameha cut off some of his own +sacred locks and threw them into the torrent, with the result that in a +day or two the lava ceased to flow.[69] In the pleasant and verdant +valley of Kaua there used to be a temple of the goddess, where the +inhabitants of Hamakua, a district of Hawaii, formerly celebrated an +annual festival designed to propitiate the dread divinity and to secure +their country from earthquakes and floods of lava. On such occasions +large offerings of hogs, dogs, and fruit were made, and the priests +performed certain rites.[70] Worshippers of Pele also threw some of the +bones of their dead into the volcano, in the belief that the spirits of +the deceased would then be admitted to the society of the volcanic +deities, and that their influence would preserve the survivors from the +ravages of volcanic fire.[71] Nevertheless the apprehensions uniformly +entertained by the natives of the fearful consequences of Pele's anger +prevented them from paying very frequent visits to the vicinity of the +volcano; and when on their inland journeys they had occasion to approach +the mountain, they were scrupulously attentive to every injunction of +her priests, and regarded with a degree of superstitious veneration and +awe the appalling spectacle which the crater, with its sea of molten and +flaming lava, presented to their eyes.[72] They even requested strangers +not to dig or scratch the sand in its neighbourhood for fear of +displeasing the goddess and provoking her to manifest her displeasure by +an eruption.[73] + + [64] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 237, 246-249; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ pp. 42 _sq._ + + [65] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 363 _sq._; Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ + iv. 129. + + [66] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 234-236. + + [67] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 250. + + [68] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 350. + + [69] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 59. _sq._ + + [70] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 350. + + [71] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 361. + + [72] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 275. + + [73] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 239. + +The service of Pele was regularly cared for by an hereditary steward +(_kahu_) and an hereditary priestess. The duty of the steward was to +provide the materials for the public sacrifices, including the food and +raiment for the goddess; it was for him to furnish the hogs and fowls, +to cultivate the taro, sweet potatoes, and sugar-cane which were to +serve her for nourishment, to tend the plants from which her garments +were to be made, and to have all things in readiness for the offerings +at the appointed seasons. Of the plantations sacred to this use, one was +on the sea-shore, and another in the broken ground within the precincts +of the crater; and the steward with his family resided sometimes in the +one place and sometimes in the other. When the time came for offering +the sacrifice, the priestess descended into the depths of the volcano, +and there approaching as near as possible to the spot where the fire +burned most furiously, she cast into it her gifts, saying, "Here, Pele, +is food for you, and here is cloth," whereby she mentioned each article +as she flung it into the flames.[74] Sometimes the priestess claimed to +be inspired by Pele and even to be the goddess in person. One of the +priestesses, in an interview with the missionary William Ellis, assumed +a haughty air and declared, "I am Pele; I shall never die; and those who +follow me, when they die, if part of their bones be taken to Kilauea, +will live with me in the bright fires there." In a song she gave a long +account of the deeds and honours of the goddess, who, she said, dwelt in +the volcano and had come in former times from the land beyond the sky. +This song she chanted or recited in a rapid and vociferous manner, +accompanied by extravagant gestures, working herself up to a state of +excitement in which she appeared to lose all self-command. She also +claimed to be able to heal the sick through the indwelling spirit of the +goddess.[75] But the goddess was served also by priests. We read of one +such who offered prayers to her and assured the people that thereafter +she would do them no harm.[76] + + [74] C. S. Stewart, _A Visit to the South Seas_ (London, 1832), + ii. 104. + + [75] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 309-311. For other interviews with + priestesses of the goddess see _id._, iv. 275 _sq._; C. S. + Stewart, _Visit to the South Seas_, ii. 100-103. + + [76] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 378. + +The Hawaiians also paid religious reverence to certain birds, fish, and +animals. In a village Captain King saw two tame ravens which the people +told him were _eatooas_ (_atuas_, _akuas_), that is, gods or spirits, +cautioning him at the same time not to hurt or offend them.[77] The +native authors of a work on the history of Hawaii, speaking of the +ancient religion of their people, tell us that "birds served some as +idols; if it was a fowl, the fowl was taboo for the worshippers, and the +same for all the birds which were deified. The idol of another was a +four-footed animal, and if it was a pig, the pig was taboo for him. So +with all the animals who became gods. Another had a stone for his idol; +it became taboo, and he could not sit upon the stone. The idol of +another was a fish, and if it was a shark, the shark was taboo for him. +So with all the fish, and so they deified all things in earth and +heaven, and all the bones of men."[78] Further, the same writers observe +that "the trees were idols for the people and for the chiefs. If a man +had for his idol the _ohia_ tree, the _ohia_ was taboo for him; if the +bread-fruit tree was the idol of another, the bread-fruit tree was taboo +for him. The taboo existed likewise for all the trees out of which men +had made divine images, and it was the same also for food. If taro was a +person's idol, taro was taboo for him. It was the same for all the +eatables of which they had made gods."[79] This deification of birds, +fish, animals, plants, and inanimate objects resembles the Samoan system +and may, like it, be a relic of totemism.[80] Among the living creatures +to which they thus accorded divine honours were lizards, rats, and +owls.[81] + + [77] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 144. + + [78] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. 165. + + [79] J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. 163, 165. + + [80] See above, pp. 182 _sqq._, 200 _sqq._ + + [81] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 594. + +Among the deified fishes it would seem that the shark held a foremost +place. On almost every cape jutting out into the sea, a temple used to +be built for the worship of the shark. The first fish of each kind, +taken by the fishermen, were always carried to the temple and offered to +the god, who was supposed to have driven them towards the shore.[82] +When the king or the priests imagined that the shark wanted food, they +sallied forth with their attendants, one of whom carried a rope with a +running noose. On coming to a group or crowd of people, they threw the +rope among them, and whoever happened to be taken in the snare, whether +man, woman, or child, was strangled on the spot, the body cut in pieces, +and flung into the sea, to be bolted by the ravenous monsters.[83] +Fishermen sometimes wrapped their dead in red native cloth, and threw +them into the sea to be devoured by the sharks. They thought that the +soul of the deceased would animate the shark which had eaten his body, +and that the sharks would therefore spare the survivors in the event of +a mishap at sea.[84] It was especially stillborn children that were thus +disposed of. The worshipper of the shark would lay the body of the +infant on a mat, and having placed beside it two roots of taro, one of +kava, and a piece of sugar-cane, he would recite some prayers, and then +throw the whole bundle into the sea, fully persuaded that by means of +this offering the transmigration of the soul of the child into the body +of a shark would be effected, and that thenceforth the formidable +monster would be ready to spare such members of the family as might +afterwards be exposed to his attack. In the temples dedicated to sharks +there were priests who, at sunrise and sunset, addressed their prayers +to the image which represented the shark; and they rubbed themselves +constantly with water and salt, which, drying on their skin, made it +appear covered with scales. They also dressed in red cloth, uttered +piercing yells, and leaped over the wall of the sacred enclosure; +moreover they persuaded the islanders that they knew the exact moment +when the children that had been thrown into the sea were transformed +into sharks, and for this discovery they were rewarded by the happy +parents with liberal presents of little pigs, roots of kava, coco-nuts, +and so forth.[85] The priests also professed to be inspired by sharks +and in that condition to foretell future events. Many people accepted +these professions in good faith and contributed to support the +professors by their offerings.[86] + + [82] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 90; compare _id._, pp. 129 _sq._ + + [83] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 422 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, + _op. cit._ p. 45. + + [84] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 361. + + [85] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 595 _sq._ + + [86] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ ii. 65. + +From the foregoing account it appears that some at least of the +worshipful sharks were supposed to be animated by the souls of the +dead. Whether the worship of other sacred animals in Hawaii was in like +manner combined with a theory of transmigration, there seems to be no +evidence to decide. We have seen that a similar doubt rests on the +worship of animals in Tonga.[87] + + [87] See above, pp. 92 _sqq._ + + +§ 6. _Priests, Sorcerers, Diviners_ + +The priesthood formed a numerous and powerful body. Their office was +hereditary. They owned much property in people and lands, which were +heavily taxed for their support. Each chief had his family priest, who +followed him to battle, carried his war-god, and superintended all the +sacred rites of his household. The priests took rank from their gods and +chiefs. The keeper of the national war-god, who was immediately attached +to the person of the king, was the high priest.[88] In the inner court +of the great temple dedicated to Tairi, the war-god, stood a lofty frame +of wicker-work, in shape something like an obelisk, hollow within and +measuring four or five feet square at the base. Within this framework +the priest stood and gave oracles in the name of the god, whenever the +king came to consult the deity on any matter of importance, such as a +declaration of war or the conclusion of peace; for the war-god was also +the king's oracle. The oracular answer, given by the priest in a +distinct and audible voice, was afterwards reported by the king, +publicly proclaimed, and generally acted upon.[89] When the villages +failed to pay their tribute punctually to the king, he used to send +forth a priest bearing the image of the great god Rono, who scoured the +country of the defaulters for twenty-three days and obliged them to pay +double tribute. The priest who bore the image was strictly tabooed; +during his peregrination he might not touch anything with his hands; his +food had to be put into his mouth either by the chiefs of the villages +where he halted or by the king himself, who accompanied him.[90] + + [88] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 48. + + [89] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 97. + + [90] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 596. + +Distinct from the regular priests were the diviners or sorcerers who +formed a sort of lower priesthood or clergy. Their services were +employed for various purposes, such as to discover the cause of illness +or to detect a thief. The people generally believed that all deaths, +which were not due to acts of violence, were wrought either by the +action of a deity or by the incantations of a sorcerer. Hence in cases +of protracted illness the aid of one of these inferior clergy was almost +invariably sought by all who could procure a dog and a fowl for the +necessary sacrifice to the god, and a piece or two of cloth as a fee for +the priest. But the offerings to the god and the fees to the priest +naturally varied with the rank or wealth of the sufferer. After +sacrificing the victims the priest lay down to sleep, and if his prayers +were answered, he was usually able to inform the invalid of the cause of +his illness, which had been revealed to him in a dream. But the same +men, who could thus heal the sick by ascertaining and removing the cause +of sickness, were supposed to possess the power of praying or enchanting +people to death by the recitation of spells or incantations. The prayers +or incantations which they employed for these beneficent or maleficent +purposes varied with the individual: every practitioner had his own +formulas, the knowledge of which he carefully confined to his own +family; and he who was thought to have most influence with his god was +most frequently employed by the people and derived the greatest +emoluments from his profession.[91] Of this class of men the most +dreaded were those who invoked the god Uli as their patron deity. Their +special business was to kill people by their spells, which they recited +secretly, and for the most part by night; but to render these effectual +it was necessary for them to obtain some of the personal refuse of their +victim, such as his spittle, the parings of his nails, or the clippings +of his hair, which they buried or burned with the appropriate +incantations.[92] Hence the king of Hawaii was constantly attended by a +servant carrying a spittoon in which he collected the royal saliva to +prevent it from being used by the king's enemies for his injury or +destruction.[93] Ordinary chiefs seem to have adopted the same +precaution; a confidential servant deposited their spittle carefully in +a portable spittoon and buried it every morning.[94] + + [91] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 293-295. Compare U. Lisiansky, + _op. cit._ pp. 120 _sq._; A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, + pp. 171 _sqq._; C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich + Islands_, pp. 202 _sq._; Tyerman and Bennett, _op. cit._ i. 414; + J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 36 _sq._, 71 _sq._; A. Marcuse, + _op. cit._ pp. 103-105. + + [92] A. Marcuse, _op. cit._ p. 104. + + [93] O. von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea + and Beering's Straits_ (London, 1821), i. 313. + + [94] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 365. + +A form of divination or magic was employed to detect a thief. The person +who had suffered the loss used to apply to a priest, to whom he +presented a pig and told his story. Thereupon the priest kindled a fire +by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and having taken three nuts he +broke the shells and threw one of the kernels into the fire, saying, +"Kill or shoot the fellow." If the thief did not appear before the nut +was consumed in the flames, the priest repeated the ceremony with the +other two nuts. Such was the fear inspired by this rite that the culprit +seldom failed to come forward and acknowledge his guilt. But if he +persisted in concealing his crime, the king would cause proclamation to +be made throughout the island that so-and-so had been robbed, and that +the robber or robbers had been prayed to death. So firm was the belief +of the people in the power of these prayers, that the criminal, on +hearing the proclamation, would pine away, refuse food, and fall a +victim to his own credulity.[95] + + [95] A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 171-173. + + +§ 7. _Temples, Images, Human Sacrifices_ + +Of the Hawaiian temples, as they existed before the abolition of the +native religion, we seem to possess no good and clear description. When +Captain Cook first visited Hawaii and was sailing along the coast, he +noticed from the ship at every village one or more elevated white +objects, like pyramids or rather obelisks; one of them he judged to be +fifty feet high. On landing to examine it, he could not reach it on +account of an intervening pool of water. However, he visited another +structure of the same sort in a more accessible situation, and found +that it stood in what he calls a burying-ground or _morai_ closely +resembling those which he had seen in other Polynesian islands and +especially in Tahiti. This particular _morai_ was an oblong space, of +considerable extent, surrounded by a wall of stone, about four feet +high. The area enclosed was loosely paved with smaller stones; and at +one end of it stood the pyramid or obelisk, measuring about four feet +square at the base and about twenty feet high. The four sides were +composed, not of stones, but of small poles interwoven with twigs and +branches, thus forming an indifferent wicker-work, hollow or open within +from bottom to top. It seemed to be in a rather ruinous state, but +enough remained to show that it had been originally covered with the +light grey cloth to which the natives attached a religious significance. +It was no doubt with similar cloth that the white pyramids or obelisks +were covered which Captain Cook beheld in the distance from the deck of +his ship. Beside the particular pyramid which he examined Captain Cook +found a sacrificial stage or altar with plantains laid upon it. The +pyramids or obelisks which he thus saw and described were presumably the +structures in which the priests concealed themselves when they gave +oracles in the name of the god. On the farther side of the area of the +_morai_ of which Captain Cook has given us a description stood a house +or shed about ten feet high, forty feet long, and ten broad in the +middle, but tapering somewhat towards the ends. The entrance into it was +at the middle of the side, which was in the _morai_. On the farther side +of the house, opposite the entrance, stood two wooden images, each cut +out of a single piece, with pedestals, in all about three feet high, not +badly designed nor executed. They were said to represent goddesses +(_eatooa no veheina_). On the head of one of them was a carved helmet, +and on the other a cylindrical cap like the head-dress worn at Tahiti. +In the middle of the house, and before the two images, was an oblong +space, enclosed by a low edging of stone and covered with shreds of the +same grey cloth which draped the pyramid or obelisk. Within this +enclosure seven chiefs lay buried; and outside the house, just on one +side of the entrance, were two small square spaces in which a man and a +hog were buried respectively, after being killed and sacrificed to the +divinity. At a little distance from these, and near the middle of the +_morai_, were three more of these square enclosed places, in which three +chiefs had been interred. In front of their graves was an oblong +enclosed space in which, as Captain Cook was told, three human victims +were buried, each of them having been sacrificed at the funeral of one +of the three chiefs. Within the area of the _morai_ or burying-ground, +as Captain Cook calls it, were planted trees of various kinds. Similar +sanctuaries appeared to Captain Cook to abound in the island; the +particular one described by him he believed to be among the least +considerable, being far less conspicuous than several others which he +had seen in sailing along the coast.[96] + + [96] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 183-187. The cloth-covered pyramid + or obelisk was called a _henananoo_ (_ib._ p. 187). + +From his description we may infer that the temples (_morais_) observed +by him did not contain stone pyramids like those which formed such +prominent features in the Tahitian sanctuaries and in the burial grounds +of the Tooitongas in Tongataboo; for the pyramids, or rather obelisks, +of wicker-work seen by Captain Cook in the Hawaiian sanctuaries were +obviously structures of a wholly different kind. But there seem to be +some grounds for thinking that stone pyramids, built in steps or +terraces, did occur in some of the Hawaiian temples. Thus Captain King +saw a _morai_, as he calls it, which consisted of a square solid pile of +stones about forty yards long, twenty broad, and fourteen [feet?] in +height. The top was flat and well paved, and surrounded by a wooden +rail, on which were fixed the skulls of captives who had been sacrificed +on the death of chiefs. The ascent to the top of the pile was easy, but +whether it was a staircase or an inclined plane is not mentioned by +Captain King. At one end of the temple or sacred enclosure was an +irregular kind of scaffold supported on poles more than twenty feet +high, at the foot of which were twelve images ranged in a semicircle +with a sacrificial table or altar in front of them. On the scaffold +Captain Cook was made to stand, and there, swathed in red cloth, he +received the adoration of the natives, who offered him a hog and chanted +a long litany in his honour.[97] + + [97] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 5-7. + +When Kamehameha was busy conquering the archipelago in the last years of +the eighteenth century, he built a great temple (_heiau_) for his +war-god Tairi in the island of Hawaii. Some thirty years later the +ruined temple was visited and described by the missionary William Ellis. +He says: "Its shape is an irregular parallelogram, 224 feet long, and +100 wide. The walls, though built of loose stones, were solid and +compact. At both ends, and on the side next the mountains, they were +twenty feet high, twelve feet thick at the bottom, but narrowed in +gradually towards the top, where a course of smooth stones, six feet +wide, formed a pleasant walk. The walls next the sea were not more than +seven or eight feet high, and were proportionally wide. The entrance to +the temple is by a narrow passage between two high walls.... The upper +terrace within the area was spacious, and much better finished than the +lower ones. It was paved with flat smooth stones, brought from a +distance. At the south end was a kind of inner court, which might be +called the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, where the principal idol +used to stand, surrounded by a number of images of inferior deities.... +On the outside, near the entrance to the inner court, was the place of +the _rere_ (altar) on which human and other sacrifices were offered. The +remains of one of the pillars that supported it were pointed out by the +natives, and the pavement around was strewed with bones of men and +animals, the mouldering remains of those numerous offerings once +presented there. About the centre of the terrace was the spot where the +king's sacred house stood, in which he resided during the season of +strict _tabu_, and at the north end, the place occupied by the houses of +priests, who, with the exception of the king, were the only persons +permitted to dwell within the sacred enclosures. Holes were seen on the +walls, all around this, as well as the lower terraces, where wooden +idols of varied size and shape formerly stood, casting their hideous +stare in every direction."[98] + + [98] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 96-98. Compare J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ pp. 45 _sq._ + +From this somewhat indistinct description we gather that the temple was +a large oblong area enclosed by high stone walls and open to the sky, +and that at some place within the enclosure there rose a structure in a +series of terraces, of which the uppermost was paved with flat stones +and supported the king's house, while the houses of the priests stood in +another part of the sacred enclosure. If this interpretation is correct, +we may infer that the temple resembled a Tahitian _morai_, which was a +walled enclosure enclosing a sort of stepped and truncated pyramid built +of stone.[99] The inference is confirmed by the language used by Captain +King in speaking of the temple which he describes, for he calls it a +_morai_,[100] and the same term is applied to the sacred edifices in +Hawaii by other voyagers.[101] + + [99] See above, pp. 278 _sqq._ + + [100] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 5. + + [101] O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise um die Welt_, ii. 89 _sq._; + A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, p. 175. + +Another ruined temple (_heiau_) seen by Ellis in Hawaii, is described by +him as built of immense blocks of lava, and measuring a hundred and +fifty feet long by seventy feet wide. At the north end was a smaller +enclosure, sixty feet long and ten wide, partitioned off by a high wall, +with but one narrow entrance. The places where the idols formerly stood +were apparent, though the idols had been removed. The spot where the +altar had been erected could be distinctly traced; it was a mound of +earth, paved with smooth stones, and surrounded by a firm curb of lava. +The adjacent ground was strewn with bones of the ancient offerings.[102] +Another temple (_heiau_), in good preservation, visited by Ellis, +measured no less than two hundred and seventy feet in one direction by +two hundred and ten in another. The walls were thick and solid; on the +top of them the stones were piled in a series of small spires. The +temple was said to have been built by a queen of Hawaii about eleven +generations back.[103] Once more in one of the _puhonuas_ or cities of +refuge, which in Hawaii afforded an inviolable sanctuary to fugitives, +Ellis saw another temple (_heiau_), which he describes as "a compact +pile of stones, laid up in a solid mass, 126 feet by 65, and ten feet +high. Many fragments of rock, or pieces of lava, of two or more tons +each, were seen in several parts of the wall, raised at least six feet +from the ground." Ellis was told that the city of refuge, of which this +temple formed part, had been built for Keave, who reigned in Hawaii +about two hundred and fifty years before the time when the missionary +was writing.[104] From his descriptions we may infer that some at least +of the Hawaiian temples deserved to rank among megalithic structures, +and that the natives had definite traditions of the kings or queens by +whom the temples had been built. + + [102] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 116. + + [103] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 117 _sq._ + + [104] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 169. + +In the island of Oahu a temple (_heiau_) visited by the missionary +Stewart was forty yards long by twenty yards broad. The walls, of dark +stone, were perfectly regular and well built, about six feet high, three +feet wide at the level of the ground, and two feet wide at the top. It +was enclosed only on three sides, the oblong area formed by the walls +being open on the west; from that side there was a descent by three +regular terraces or very broad steps.[105] This brief account confirms +the inference which I have drawn from the more detailed description of +Ellis, as to the terraced structure of some Hawaiian temples. + + [105] C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. + 226 _sq._ + +In the mountains of Hawaii, at a height of about five thousand feet +above the sea, Commodore Wilkes saw the ruins of an ancient temple of +the god Kaili (Tairi), round about which stood eight small pyramids +built of compact blocks of lava laid without cement. These pyramids were +said to have been erected at the command of Umi, an ancient king, to +commemorate his conquests. They seem to have measured each some ten or +twelve feet square. The temple which they surrounded was about +ninety-two feet long by seventy-two feet wide; the outer walls were +about seven feet high and as many thick. Internally the edifice was +divided by partition walls three feet high. The building was said to +have been formerly covered with idols, of which no traces remained at +the time of Wilkes's visit.[106] + + [106] Ch. Wilkes, _op. cit._ iv. 99 _sq._, with the plate. + +Often, apparently, a Hawaiian temple consisted of little more than a +walled or palisaded enclosure containing a number of rudely carved +images and a place of sacrifice in the form of a platform raised on +poles. Such a temple is described by the Russian navigator Lisiansky. +The images in it were grouped and arranged so as to form a sort of +semicircle. The chief priest of the temple informed the Russians "that +the fifteen statues wrapped in cloth represented the gods of war; the +two to the right of the place of sacrifice, the gods of spring; those on +the opposite side, the guardians of autumn; and that the altar was +dedicated to the god of joy, before which the islanders dance and sing +on festivals appointed by their religion." With regard to the temples in +general, Lisiansky observes that they "were by no means calculated to +excite in the mind of a stranger religious veneration. They are suffered +to remain in so neglected and filthy a condition, that, were it not for +the statues, they might be taken rather for hog-sties than places of +worship."[107] + + [107] U. Lisiansky, _op. cit._ pp. 105-107. He says (p. 106) + that the temple was "called by the natives _Heavoo_, not + _Morai_, as some navigators have said." The word _Heavoo_ is + probably identical with the word _heiau_, which other writers + give as the Hawaiian name for a temple. As to the form of the + temples see also A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 175 + _sq._: "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 [_atua_, + _akua_] is placed." Remy (_op. cit._ p. xl) describes the + Hawaiian temples as "simple enclosures of stones, roofless, + where the religious ceremonies were performed." + +The images of the gods were usually carved of wood. When a new idol was +to be made, a royal and priestly procession went forth, with great +ceremony, to the destined tree, where the king himself, with a stone +axe, struck the first blow at the root. After the tree was felled, a man +or a hog was killed and buried on the spot where it had grown.[108] +Sometimes, apparently, the direction to carve an idol out of a +particular tree was given by a god in a dream. There is a tradition that +once when the woodmen were felling such a tree with their stone axes, +the chips flew out and killed two of them; whereupon the other woodmen +covered their faces with masks, and cut down the tree with their +daggers.[109] Another famous idol was said to be made of wood so +poisonous, that if chips of it were steeped in water, and anybody drank +of the water, he would die in less than twenty-four hours.[110] The +Hawaiians seem to have made their idols hideous on purpose to inspire +terror.[111] The features of some of the images were violently +distorted, their mouths set with a double row of the fangs of dogs, +their eyes made of large pearl oysters with black nuts in the middle; +some had long pieces of carved wood, shaped like inverted cones, rising +from the top of their heads;[112] some had tongues of a monstrous size, +others had no tongues at all; some had mouths that reached from ear to +ear; the heads of some were a great deal larger than their bodies.[113] +Some of the idols were stones. In the island of Hawaii there is a pebbly +beach from which pebbles used to be carried away to be deified or to +represent deities. They were generally taken in couples, a male and a +female, and having been wrapt up very carefully together in a piece of +native cloth, they were conveyed to a temple (_heiau_), where ceremonies +of consecration or deification were performed over them.[114] + + [108] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 450. + + [109] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 92 _sq._ + + [110] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 91. + + [111] A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 101. + + [112] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 6, 15; compare A. Campbell, _op. + cit._ p. 76. + + [113] U. Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 107. + + [114] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 212 _sq._ + +The human sacrifice offered at the making of an idol was intended to +impart strength to the image.[115] But human sacrifices were offered on +many other occasions, such as on the approach of war, on the death of a +chief, and so forth. There is a tradition that Umi, a famous king of +Hawaii, once offered eighty men to his god as a thank-offering for +victory. The victims were generally prisoners of war, but in default of +captives any men who had broken taboos or rendered themselves obnoxious +to the chiefs were sacrificed. It does not appear that they were slain +in the presence of the idol or within the temple, but either on the +outside or where they were first taken; in all cases an attempt seems to +have been made to preserve the body entire or as little mangled as +possible. Generally the victims were despatched by a blow on the head +with a club or stone; sometimes, however, they were stabbed. Having been +stripped naked, the bodies were carried into the temple and laid in a +row, with their faces downwards, on the altar immediately before the +idol. The priest thereupon, in a kind of prayer, offered them to the +gods; and if hogs were sacrificed at the same time, they were +afterwards piled on the human bodies and left there to rot and putrefy +together.[116] + + [115] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. 161. + + [116] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 150-152; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ + pp. 47 _sq._; J. Remy, _op. cit._ pp. xl _sq._ Compare U. + Lisiansky, _op. cit._ pp. 121 _sq._; Tyerman and Bennet, _op. + cit._ i. 423 _sq._ + +When a new temple was about to be dedicated, some of the people used to +flee into the mountains to escape being sacrificed. The last human +sacrifices are said to have been offered in 1807, when the queen of the +islands was seriously ill.[117] Whenever war was in contemplation, the +diviners used to sacrifice animals, generally hogs and fowls, and to +draw omens from the manner in which they expired, from the appearance of +their entrails, and from other signs. Sometimes, when the animal was +slain, they disembowelled it, took out the spleen, and, holding it in +their hands, offered their prayers. But if the contemplated expedition +was of any importance or the danger was imminent, human sacrifices were +offered to ensure the co-operation of the war-gods in the destruction of +their enemies.[118] + + [117] A. Marcuse, _op. cit._ p. 103. + + [118] W. Ellis, iv. 150 _sq._ + + +§ 8. _Festivals_ + +In every lunar month the people celebrated four festivals. The festival +of the new moon lasted three nights and two days; the three others +lasted two nights and one day. These nights and days were taboo or +sacred: men who took part in the festivals might not speak to a woman +under pain of death, and all the people were forbidden to sail the sea, +to fish, to make bark-cloth, and to play games.[119] Besides these +monthly festivals there was one called Macahity, which lasted for a +whole month and seems to have celebrated the end of the old year. It +fell in November, and has been compared by Lisiansky to our festival of +Christmas. He tells us that "it continues a whole month, during which +the people amuse themselves with dances, plays, and sham-fights of every +kind. The king must open this festival wherever he is. On this occasion, +his majesty dresses himself in his richest cloak and helmet, and is +paddled in a canoe along the shore, followed sometimes by many of his +subjects. He embarks early, and must finish his excursion at sun-rise. +The strongest and most expert of the warriors is chosen to receive him +on his landing. This warrior watches the royal canoe along the beach; +and as soon as the king lands, and has thrown off his cloak, he darts +his spear at him, from a distance of about thirty paces, and the king +must either catch the spear in his hand, or suffer from it: there is no +jesting in the business. Having caught it, he carries it under his arm, +with the sharp end downwards, into the temple or _heavoo_. On his +entrance, the assembled multitude begin their sham-fights, and +immediately the air is obscured by clouds of spears, made for the +occasion with blunted ends. Hamamea [the king, Kamehameha] has been +frequently advised to abolish this ridiculous ceremony, in which he +risks his life every year; but to no effect. His answer always is, that +he is as able to catch a spear, as any one on the island is to throw it +at him. During the Macahity, all punishments are remitted throughout the +country; and no person can leave the place in which he commences these +holidays, let the affair requiring his absence be ever so +important."[120] The ceremony of throwing a spear at the king during the +festival of Macahity has been described also by the Scotch sailor +Archibald Campbell, who may have witnessed it. He says: "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."[121] This curious rite may perhaps have been a relic +of an old custom which obliged the king to submit once a year to the +ordeal of battle, in order to prove his fitness for a renewed tenure of +office, death being the penalty of defeat and the kingdom the reward of +victory in the combat.[122] During the continuance of the festival the +priests were employed in collecting the taxes, which were paid by the +chiefs in proportion to the extent of their territories; these taxes +consisted of mats, feathers, and the produce of the country. The people +celebrated the festival by dancing, wrestling, and other +amusements.[123] The victor in the boxing matches and martial evolutions +was crowned and treated as king of the festival, which was held in +honour of the god Rono.[124] + + [119] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 595. Compare U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_, p. 118. + According to the latter writer, there were no taboos (festivals) + in the eleventh month. + + [120] U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 118 _sq._ From + A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, p. 178, we learn that the + festival fell in November, and from a brief native notice we may + gather that the New Year celebration was the festival of + Macahity. See J. Remy, _Histoire de l'Archipel Havaiien_, pp. + 167, 169, "_à la célébration de la nouvelle année, les citoyens, + les chefs, les femmes, les enfants se livraient à des boxes + furieuses, et plusieurs recevaient dans ces jeux des blessures + très graves_." + + [121] A. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 179. + + [122] Compare _The Golden Bough_, Part III. _The Dying God_, pp. + 117 _sq._ + + [123] A. Campbell, _op. cit._ pp. 178 _sq._ + + [124] O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise um die Welt_, ii. 88 _sq._ + +No one might go to war during the New Year festival; all the people had +to repair to the temples (_morais_). Three kinds of idols were +worshipped at this season; the principal of them, called Kekou-Aroha, +was carried round the island by a priest; everything that he could seize +with his left hand he had the right to appropriate, whether it was dogs, +pigs, vegetables, or what not; and any person on whom he in like manner +laid a hand was bound to assist him in carrying or leading to the temple +the tribute or booty he had thus taken possession of.[125] + + [125] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 596. + +Of the rigour with which the laws of taboo were enforced during one of +these festivals we may gather an idea from a statement of the Russian +navigator von Kotzebue. He says: "As Kareimoku's guests, we were present +at the celebration of a _Tabu pori_, which lasted from the setting of +the sun to sunrise on the third day. It is already known what degree of +sanctity is imparted to him who joins in this communion with the gods +during the time. Should he accidentally touch a woman, she must be +instantly put to death. Should he enter a woman's house, the flames must +immediately consume it."[126] + + [126] O. von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea + and Beering's Straits_, iii. 248 _sq._ Compare A. von Chamisso, + _Reise um die Welt_ (Leipzig, 1836), ii. 312. + + +§9. _Death and Funeral Rites_ + +The Hawaiians explained life as usual by the hypothesis of a soul +(_uhane_), which animated the whole body, but had its seat especially in +the sockets of the eyes, and above all in the lachrymal gland. During +sleep the soul quits the body, wanders away, and sees the places and +things which appear to it in dreams; usually it returns in time to +resume its functions in the body without endangering the health of the +sleeper. Occasionally, however, it happens that in its rambles it loses +its way through falling in with a ghost or spectre, who frightens it; +but even then it may be brought back with the help of a familiar spirit +despatched to seek out and guide home the wanderer. When a man falls +sick, his soul begins to feel ill at ease in his body, and if the +sickness proves fatal, the soul quits him never to return.[127] +According to another account, the Hawaiians held that every man had two +souls in his body, of which one never left him in life, while the other +went forth from time to time in dreams or ecstasy, but only to return to +its corporeal tabernacle. Sometimes a diviner would warn a man that he +had seen his dream-soul roaming about, and that perhaps it might never +come back, because a certain deity was angry with him. Upon that the +terrified owner of the soul would naturally engage the diviner to +recover his spiritual property by propitiating the angry deity with a +valuable offering.[128] + + [127] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, pp. 272 _sq._ + + [128] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 39 note; A. Marcuse, _Die + Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 105. + +Sickness was commonly explained by the presence in the sufferer of an +evil spirit, who must be exorcised if the patient was to be restored to +health. For this purpose the services of a priest (_kahuna_) were +engaged, who by the recitation of a suitable incantation invited or +compelled the demon to declare through the mouth of the sick man why he +had entered into him, and on what terms he would consent to take his +departure. Sometimes, the demon was induced to perch on the head or +shoulders of one of the bystanders, and from that coign of vantage to +answer the interrogatory of the priest. But at other times he burrowed +so deep into the patient's body and held his tongue so obstinately, that +the priest had no alternative but to prick the sick man's body with +bamboo needles and to drop water into his eyes in order to drive out the +evil spirit.[129] + + [129] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 269. + +When all remedies had proved vain and death had followed, the bodies of +common people were buried in a crouching position. The upper part of the +body was raised; the face was bent forwards to meet the knees; the hands +were put under the hams and passed up between the knees; then head, +hands, and knees were bound together with cinnet or cord. Afterwards the +corpse was wrapt up in a coarse mat and interred on the first or second +day after death. But the corpses of chiefs and priests were not thus +doubled up; they were laid out straight, wrapt up in many folds of +native cloth, and buried in that posture. Priests were generally +committed to the earth within the precincts of the temple in which they +had officiated. A pile of stones or a circle of high poles marked their +grave. But it was only the bodies of priests or of persons of some +importance that were thus interred. For ordinary people natural graves +were preferred, where suitable places could be found, such as caves in +the face of cliffs or large subterranean grottos. Sometimes the +inhabitants of a village deposited their dead in one great cavern, but +generally each family had a distinct sepulchral cave. Their artificial +graves were either simple pits dug in the earth or large enclosures, +which might be surrounded with high stone walls so as to resemble the +ordinary temples (_heiaus_). Occasionally they buried their dead in +sequestered spots near their dwellings, but often in their gardens, and +sometimes in their houses. The graves were not deep, and the bodies were +usually placed in them in a sitting posture.[130] A rude method of +embalming by means of the flower of the sugar-cane was often practised, +whereby the entrails and brains were extracted and the body +desiccated.[131] When the dead was interred in the dwelling, the house +was not uncommonly shut up and deserted, the survivors seeking for +themselves a new habitation.[132] The custom no doubt sprang from a fear +of the ghosts, which were supposed to linger about their final +resting-places and to injure such as came within their reach; hence +their apparitions were much dreaded. For the same reason burials were +conducted in a private manner and by night. If people were seen carrying +a dead body past a house, the inmates would abuse or even stone them for +not taking it some other way; for they imagined that the ghost would ply +to and fro between the grave and his old home along the path by which +his corpse had been carried.[133] Sometimes, apparently, to prevent the +ghost from straying, his grave was enclosed by a sort of fence composed +of long poles stuck in the ground at intervals of three or four inches +and fastened together at the top. At all events Ellis saw a priest's +tomb thus enclosed, and he received this explanation of the fence from +some people; though others merely said that it was a custom so to inter +persons of consequence.[134] Nightmare was believed to be caused by a +ghost attempting to strangle the dreamer; under the influence of this +belief a strong man has been seen to run shrieking down the street, +tugging with both hands at his throat to tear the incubus away, till he +reached the door of a neighbour's house and, bursting in, fell fainting +on the floor. He thought that the ghost of a chief, who had died the day +before, had a grip on his throat and was trying to throttle him.[135] +Sometimes, however, affection for the dead sufficed to overcome the fear +of the ghost, and the mouldering bones were carried about as relics by +relations and friends.[136] When the Scotch sailor Archibald Campbell +was in the islands in the early years of the nineteenth century, his +patroness the queen kept by her the bones of her father wrapt up in a +piece of cloth. Whenever she slept in her own house, the bones were +placed by her side; in her absence they were set on a feather-bed which +she had received from the captain of a ship, and which she used only for +this purpose. On being asked by the Scotchman why she observed this +singular custom, she replied that it was because she loved her father so +dearly.[137] More usually, however, the bones of a beloved chief were +carefully hidden to prevent his enemies from finding them and making +arrow-heads out of them, with which to hunt rats, or otherwise profaning +them. Hence there was a proverb to the effect that the bones of bad +chiefs were not concealed. When the great King Kamehameha died in 1819, +his bones were hidden and disappeared completely in some secret +cave.[138] + + [130] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 359 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ pp. 73 _sq._ + + [131] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 73; J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. + xlvii. + + [132] Tyerman and Bennet, _op. cit._ i. 429. + + [133] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 360 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. + cit._ p. 74; A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inslen_, p. 109. + + [134] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 129. + + [135] H. T. Cheever, _Life in the Sandwich Islands_ (London, + 1851), pp. 11 _sq._, quoting Sheldon Dibble, _History of the + Sandwich Islands_, p. 99. + + [136] O. von Kotzebue, _Neue Reise um die Welt_, ii. 98; A. + Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 261. + + [137] A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 206 _sq._ + + [138] J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. 153. + +The death of a king or great chief in former days was the occasion for +the observance of some singular ceremonies and customs. The grief, real +or pretended, of the people found expression in many extravagant forms. +Men and women knocked out some of their front teeth with stones; but the +custom seems to have been observed even more extensively by men than by +women. The kinsmen or friends of the deceased chief set the example, and +their retainers were obliged to imitate them. Sometimes a man broke out +his own tooth with a stone, but more usually the service was rendered +him by another, who fixed one end of a stick against the tooth and +hammered the stick with a stone till the tooth broke off. If the men +deferred the operation, the women would perform it on them in their +sleep. More than one tooth was seldom sacrificed at one time; but as the +mutilation was repeated at the decease of every chief of rank or +authority, few men of mature years were to be seen with a whole set of +teeth, and many lost all their front teeth both in the upper and the +lower jaw. Another mutilation practised at such times was to cut one or +both ears, but it seems to have been comparatively rare. Much commoner +was the custom of burning circles or semi-circles on the face or breast +by means of strips of burning bark. The mourners also polled their hair +in various ways. Sometimes they made bald a small round piece on the +crown of the head, like the tonsure of Catholic priests; sometimes they +shaved or cropped close the whole head except round the edge, where a +short fringe was left to hang down; sometimes they made their heads +quite bald on one side and allowed the hair to remain long on the other; +occasionally they cut out a patch in the shape of a horse-shoe either at +the back of the head or above the forehead; sometimes they shore a +number of curved furrows from ear to ear or from the forehead to the +neck. When a chief who had lost a relative or friend had his own hair +cut after any particular pattern, his followers and dependants usually +cropped their hair in the same style. Not to clip or shave the hair in +mourning was regarded as disrespectful to the dead, but the particular +manner of cutting it was left to the taste of the individual.[139] Some +people in their frenzy knocked out their eyes with clubs and stones and +cut as well as burned their flesh.[140] Another peculiar badge of +mourning, adopted principally by the chiefs, was a black spot or line +tattooed on the tongue. The painful operation was performed by +puncturing the tongue with sharp fish-bones dipped in colouring +matter.[141] But though these personal mutilations were popular and +almost universal on the decease of chiefs, they appear not to have been +practised by the common people among themselves. Thus a wife did not +knock out her teeth on the death of her husband, and a son did not thus +express his grief for the loss of his parents, nor they for the death of +a child.[142] + + [139] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 175 _sqq._, 181. Compare U. + Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 123; A. Campbell, _op. cit._ pp. 142 + _sq._; J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xlvii. + + [140] C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, p. + 166; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 65 _sq._ + + [141] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 177, 180 _sq._ + + [142] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 180. + +Similar extravagances in the expression of grief were commonly exhibited +by mourners, as we have seen, in other parts of Polynesia; but in Hawaii +the rites observed at the death of a king or high chief were in so far +peculiar that they assumed the character of a Saturnalia or orgy of +unbridled lust and crime. On this subject the Russian navigator +Lisiansky, who visited the islands while the ancient system of +superstition was still in full vogue, reports as follows: "On the death +of the king, a scene of horror takes place that is hardly credible. +Twelve men are sacrificed; and shortly after the whole island abandons +itself for a month to the utmost disorder and licentiousness. During +this period, both sexes go entirely naked, and men cohabit with women +without any distinction: the woman who should dare to make resistance, +would be considered as violating the laws of the country. The same +licentiousness is observed on the death of a noble; but it does not +extend beyond the domains of the deceased, and is of a much shorter +duration, not continuing, as Mr. Young informed me, more than a few +days, though attempts are made by the youth of the party to prolong the +period. Those who are put to death on the demise of the king, or any +great personage, are such as have offered themselves for the purpose +during the life of their master; and they are in consequence considered +and treated by him as his best friends, since they have sworn to live +and die with him. When I reflect upon the horrid nature of this +ceremony, I hardly know how to credit its existence amongst a race of +men so mild and good as these islanders in general appear to be; but Mr. +Young, whose veracity I had no reason to doubt, assured me of the +fact."[143] + + [143] U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 122 _sq._ + +This John Young, who gave Lisiansky information as to the customs and +religion of the Hawaiians, was an Englishman who had resided in the +islands for many years at the time of the Russian navigator's visit in +1804. Originally a sailor, born at Liverpool, he had been compulsorily +detained by the natives when he landed from his ship in Hawaii in March +1790. But from the first he received the kindest treatment from the +king, Kamehameha, whose full confidence and high esteem he enjoyed and +deserved. The king gave him a fine estate and appointed him to several +responsible offices; in particular Young was governor of Hawaii for no +less than nine years during the king's absence. He married a native +woman of rank, by whom he had six children. While he remained warmly +attached to his native country and rendered essential services to +English vessels touching at the islands, he remained a voluntary exile +for forty-five years in Hawaii, where he died at the patriarchal age of +ninety-two in December 1835. During this long period he enjoyed the +favour of the kings, chiefs, and people, and was highly respected and +esteemed for his intelligence and good offices by European voyagers to +the islands.[144] Thus he had the best opportunities for acquainting +himself with the customs and beliefs of the natives, and it is much to +be regretted that of the ample store of knowledge which he thus acquired +nothing remains but a few scattered notices recorded by travellers to +whom he had verbally communicated them. + + [144] G. Vancouver, _Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific + Ocean and round the World_ (London, 1798), ii. 135 _sq._; W. + Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 96; Tyerman and Bennet, + _Journal of Voyages and Travels_, i. 377 _sq._; F. D. Bennett, + _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage_, i. 238 _sq._ + +In 1809, some five years after Lisiansky's visit to Hawaii, the Scotch +sailor Archibald Campbell witnessed one of these Saturnalia held on the +occasion of the death of the king's brother. He says: "The public +mourning that took place on this occasion was of so extraordinary a +nature that had I not been an eye-witness, I could not have given credit +to it. The natives cut out their hair, and went about completely naked. +Many of them, particularly the women, disfigured themselves, by knocking +out their front teeth, and branding their faces with red-hot stones, and +the small end of calabashes, which they held burning to their faces till +a circular mark was produced; whilst, at the same time, a general, I +believe I may say an universal, public prostitution of the women took +place. The queens, and the widow of the deceased, were alone exempted. +When the captain of a ship that lay in the harbour remonstrated with the +king upon these disgraceful scenes, he answered, that such was the law, +and he could not prevent them."[145] + + [145] A. Campbell, _Voyage round the World_, pp. 142 _sq._ + +To these enormities the French navigator L. de Freycinet bore similar +testimony a few years later. He says: "The despair which is affected +after the loss of royal personages or great nobles presents also a +remarkable resemblance to what takes place under similar circumstances +among the inhabitants of the Marianne Islands. When we landed in Owhyhi +[Hawaii], signs of sorrow everywhere presented themselves to our eyes +and witnessed to the excesses that had been committed at the recent +death of Tamehameha. At such a crisis anarchy displays all its horrors: +the laws and the rules of taboo are broken without shame: the prohibited +foods are devoured without scruple, chiefly by the women: the rights of +property are ignored; force becomes the supreme law: the voice of chiefs +is powerless: old enmities are avenged by blood or pillage: in a word, +incredible scenes of disorder, of cruelty, and of lust are everywhere +renewed under the stimulus of impunity. Calm does not begin to reign +again until the heir is definitely invested with the royal power. Such +is the mode in which the common people, freed for the moment from all +restraint, express the grief which they are supposed to feel at the +death of their sovereign."[146] + + [146] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 602. + +The early missionaries to Hawaii also testified to the disorders which +prevailed on these occasions, though they seem not to have witnessed +them. From their accounts we gather that at such times the rights of +property were as little respected as the chastity of women. "On such an +occasion," says Stewart, "every restraint was cast off, and all were in +the habit of following the impulse of any and every wild passion that +might seize them. Rights of person or of property were no longer +regarded; and he who had the greatest muscular powers committed whatever +depredation he chose, and injured any one he thought proper. Even the +chiefs lost their ordinary pre-eminence, and could exert no influence of +restraint on the excesses of their subjects. It was the time of +redressing private wrongs, by committing violence on the property and +person of an enemy; and everything that any one possessed was liable to +be taken from him. Their grief was expressed by the most shocking +personal outrages, not only by tearing off their clothes entirely, but +by knocking out their eyes and teeth with clubs and stones, and pulling +out their hair, and by burning and cutting their flesh; while +drunkenness, riot, and every species of debauchery continued to be +indulged in for days after the death of the deceased."[147] To the same +effect Ellis writes that "as soon as the chief had expired, the whole +neighbourhood exhibited a scene of confusion, wickedness, and cruelty, +seldom witnessed even in the most barbarous society. The people ran to +and fro without their clothes, appearing and acting more like demons +than human beings; every vice was practised, and almost every species of +crime perpetrated. Houses were burnt, property plundered, even murder +sometimes committed, and the gratification of every base and savage +feeling sought without restraint. Injuries or accidents, long forgotten +perhaps by the offending party, were now revenged with unrelenting +cruelty."[148] According to Jarves, the early historian of Hawaii, on +these occasions no women were exempt from violation except the widows of +the deceased.[149] + + [147] C. S. Stewart, _Residence in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. + 165 _sq._ + + [148] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 177. + + [149] J. J. Jarves, _History of the Hawaiian or Sandwich + Islands_, p. 66. Compare J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xlvii. + +Such outbursts of passion, released from all restraints of custom or +law, are not unknown elsewhere on the occasion of a death. Among the +Ba-ila of Northern Rhodesia it is customary at funerals for the women to +sing lewd songs. "Under ordinary circumstances it would be reckoned +taboo for women to utter such things in the presence of men; but at +funerals all restraints are removed. People do as they like. Grass may +be plucked out of the thatched roofs; the fields may be robbed of the +growing corn; all passions are let loose; and no complaint for damage, +theft, or adultery can be made. This last item used to be the case; +nowadays fines are claimed."[150] + + [150] E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, _The Ila-speaking Peoples of + Northern Rhodesia_ (London, 1920), ii. 113 _sq._ + +The number of human victims sacrificed at the death of a chief varied +with his rank. For a king of Hawaii the general number would seem to +have been ten or twelve.[151] But when King Kamehameha died in 1819, the +priest declared somewhat differently the custom in regard to human +sacrifice on such an occasion. When the corpse had been removed from the +king's own dwelling to a consecrated house for the performance of the +proper rites, a sacred hog was baked and offered to it by the priest; +for the dead king was now deemed to be a god. Then addressing the chiefs +and the new king, the priest spoke as follows: "I will now make known to +you the rules to be observed respecting persons to be sacrificed on the +burial of his body. If you obtain one man before the corpse is removed, +one will be sufficient; but after it leaves this house four will be +required. If delayed until we carry the corpse to the grave, there must +be ten; but after it is deposited in the grave, there must be fifteen. +To-morrow morning there will be a tabu, and if the sacrifice be delayed +until that time, forty men must die." However, on this occasion, no +human blood was shed, but three hundred dogs were sacrificed.[152] The +victims who were killed at the death of the king, princes, and +distinguished chiefs, and were buried with their remains, belonged to +the lowest class of society. In certain families the obligation of dying +with the different members of such or such a noble house was hereditary, +so that at the birth of a child it was known at whose death he must be +sacrificed. The victims knew their destiny, and their lot seems to have +had no terror for them.[153] + + [151] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vii. 145; U. Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. + 122. + + [152] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 189, 190. Compare J. Remy, + _op. cit._ pp. 125, 127; H. Bingham, _Residence of Twenty-one + Years in the Sandwich Islands_, p. 71. + + [153] O. von Kotzebue, _Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea + and Beering's Straits_ (London, 1821), iii. 247. + +At Honaunau, in the island of Hawaii, there was a sort of mausoleum in +which the bones of dead kings and princes were deposited. For some +reason it was spared in the general destruction of pagan monuments which +took place in 1819, and it was still almost intact when the missionary +Ellis visited and described it a few years later. It was a compact +building, twenty-four feet long by sixteen feet wide, built of the most +durable timber, and thatched with leaves. It stood on a bed of lava +jutting out into the sea, and was surrounded by a strong fence, leaving +a paved area in front and at the two ends. Several rudely carved male +and female images of wood were placed on the outside of the enclosure, +some on low pedestals under the shade of a tree, others on high posts +planted on the jutting rocks which overhung the edge of the water. A +number of effigies stood on the fence at unequal distances all around; +but the principal assemblage of idols was at the south-east end of the +enclosed space, where twelve of them stood in a semicircle on a +crescent-shaped basement of stone raised about two feet above the +pavement. Some of them rested on small pedestals, others on pillars +eight or ten feet high. The principal idol, distinguished by the +variety and superiority of the carving on its body and especially +on its head, stood in the middle, the others on either side of it, +"as if perpetual guardians of 'the mighty dead' reposing in the house +adjoining."[154] + + [154] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 164 _sq._ + +When a death had taken place, the house in which it occurred, was deemed +defiled, and continued in that state until after the burial. But if the +deceased was a chief, the whole land was polluted, and the heirs sought +a residence in another part of the country, until the corpse was +dissected and the bones tied in a bundle; for when that was done the +season of defilement terminated. Hence on the death of King Kamehameha, +his son and successor, Liholiho, had to retire for a time to another +district.[155] + + [155] J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. 191; H. Bingham, _Residence of + Twenty-one Years in the Sandwich Islands_, pp. 71 _sq._; J. + Remy, _op. cit._ pp. 127, 129. + + +§ 10. _Fate of the Soul after Death_ + +The Hawaiians in general believed that the human soul exists after +death, but their notions on the subject were, as usual, vague, confused, +and contradictory. Some said that all the souls of the departed went to +the Po, or place of night, and were there annihilated or eaten by the +gods.[156] According to another account, the souls of the dead that had +no claim to divinity fluttered about their old homes till the moment +arrived when they became the food of the gods. It is not certain, adds +de Freycinet, that they recognised the immortality of the soul in the +case of persons of the lowest class.[157] Others said that some souls +went to the regions of Akea (Wakea) and Miru (Milu), two ancient kings +of Hawaii. Of these two, Akea was reported to have been the first king +of the island. When he died, he descended into the nether world and +there founded a kingdom. His successor on the throne of Hawaii, by name +Miru or Milu, also descended into the underworld at death, and shared +the government of the infernal realm with his predecessor Akea. Their +land is a place of darkness, their food, lizards and butterflies. But +there are streams of water of which they drink, and wide-spreading trees +under which they recline.[158] Milu is described as the Hawaiian Pluto, +the lord of the lower world to whose dominions departed spirits go. His +abode was in the west, hence the ghosts of such as died on the eastern +shore of an island always had to cross to the western shore before they +could set out for their final place of rest in the spirit land. Some +said that Milu had his dwelling under the ocean, and that he was the +prince of wicked spirits.[159] However, according to some accounts, the +two ancient kings, Milu and Akea, ruled over separate regions in the +spirit land, which were tabooed to each other, so that nobody could pass +from the one to the other. Akea or Wakea dwelt in the upper region, and +there the souls of chiefs dwelt with him; whereas Milu occupied the +muddy lower region, and there the souls of common folk abode with him. +In the upper region all was peaceful and orderly, and there persons who +had faithfully complied with the precepts of religion in life were +received after death. On the other hand the lower region, ruled over by +Milu, was noisy and disorderly; evil spirits played their pranks there, +and the souls of the dead subsisted on lizards and butterflies.[160] +When persons recovered from a death-like swoon, it was supposed that +their souls had gone to the underworld and been sent back to earth by +Milu. The best account of the spirit land was given by one who had spent +eight days in it, and on returning to life reported to his family what +he had seen. According to his observations, the spirit land is flat and +fruitful, it is tolerably well lighted, and everything grows there +spontaneously, so that, contrary to some reports, the palace of Milu is +a really delightful place. Milu himself is not married to any one +particular wife; but from time to time he chooses for his consorts the +most beautiful of the female ghosts when they arrive in deadland, and +the women thus honoured are naturally taboo for the male ghosts. All +souls live there in exactly the same state in which they quitted their +bodies. The souls of those who died young, especially of those who fell +in battle, are hale and strong; whereas the souls of those who perished +of disease are sickly and weak, and weak, too, are the souls of such as +died in old age.[161] + + [156] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 365 _sq._ + + [157] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 594. + + [158] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 366; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ p. + 38; A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 262. Ellis gives + Miru as the form of the name, but the correct Hawaiian form is + Milu; for in the Hawaiian dialect the ordinary Polynesian R is + replaced by L. See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative + Dictionary_, p. xxiii. In New Zealand and Mangaia the name Miru + was given to the goddess of hell or of the dead. See E. Tregear, + _op. cit._ pp. 243, 244, _s.v._ "Miru." + + [159] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp. + 243 _sq._, _s.v._ "Miru." + + [160] H. T. Cheever, _Life in the Sandwich Islands_ (London, + 1851), p. 12; A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, pp. 264 + _sqq._; A. Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 99. + + [161] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 264. + +There were three places in the islands from which the ghosts took their +departure for the other world. One was at the northern extremity of the +island of Hawaii; one was at the western end of Maui; and one was at the +southern point of Oahu.[162] According to one account, the ghosts on +their passage to Milu's subterranean realm went westward in the +direction of the setting sun, and either leaped from a rock into the sea +or vanished into a hole in the ground.[163] + + [162] H. T. Cheever, _Life in the Sandwich Islands_, p. 12; A. + Marcuse, _Die Hawaiischen Inseln_, p. 99. + + [163] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, p. 265. + +But before bidding a last farewell to earth, the soul of the deceased +was believed to linger for a time in the neighbourhood of the grave or +of the house. It had now become an _akua_ or divine spirit, but during +its stay on earth it was dreaded as an _akua-lapu_ or "terrifying +spirit," because it appeared to the living as a spectre or ghost. In +time, however, it grew weaker and weaker and gradually disappeared +altogether, like the other spirits (_akuas_). By that time it had found +a guide to show it the way to Milu's realm, from which there is no +return. Sometimes, however, the guardian god of a family would oppose +the passage of a soul to the other world, and send it back to life, so +that the seemingly dead man recovered.[164] It is said to have been a +firmly established belief that the dead appeared to the living and +communicated with them in dreams.[165] The priests in particular were +favoured with such messages from the other world.[166] + + [164] A. Bastian, _op. cit._ p. 266. + + [165] L. de Freycinet, _Voyage autour du Monde, Historique_, ii. + 594. + + [166] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 367. + +A legend tells how a certain chief of Hawaii, sorrowing for the death of +his wife, applied to a priest, who furnished him with a god called +Kane-i-kou-alii (God of Chiefs), to guide him to the nether world of +Milu, whither his beloved spouse had departed. Journeying together, the +god and the man came to the end of the world, where grew a tree, which +split open and allowed them to glide down into the depths. There the god +hid behind a rock and allowed the chief to go on alone, but first he +rubbed stinking oil over the chief's body. On arriving at Milu's palace +the chief found the whole court full of spirits engaged in such noisy +and tumultuous sports, that he could steal in among them unobserved, all +the more because the nearest spirits mistook him for a ghost newly +arrived with the stench of his dead body still on him, so that they +turned away from him in disgust and made uncomplimentary remarks on his +unsavoury condition. When they had played all sorts of games, the chief +suggested that, as a new form of sport, they should all take out their +eyes and throw them in a heap. The suggestion was accepted, and every +one hastened to comply with it. But the chief took care to mark where +the eyes of Milu fell, and snatching them up he hid them in the coco-nut +beaker which he carried with him. As all the spirits were now blind, it +was easy for the chief to make his way to the neighbouring realm of Akea +or Wakea, which was tabooed to the spirits that swarmed in Milu's +kingdom and might not be entered by them. However, after long +negotiations, Milu was allowed to recover his eyes, on condition that +the soul of the chief's wife should be sent back to earth and reunited +to her body, which was happily accomplished.[167] + + [167] A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in Oceanien_, pp. 265 _sq._ + +The Hawaiians were not without some notion of a general resurrection of +the dead. When the missionary William Ellis was conversing with some of +the natives on that subject, they said that they had heard of it before +from a native priest named Kapihe, who had lived at their village in the +time of King Kamehameha. The priest told the king that at his death he +would see his ancestors, and that hereafter all the kings, chiefs, and +people of Hawaii would live again. When Ellis asked them how this would +be effected, and with what circumstances it would be attended, whether +they would live again in Hawaii or in Miru (Milu), the Hades of the +Sandwich Islands, they replied that there were two gods, who conducted +the departed spirits of their chiefs to some place in the heavens, where +the souls of kings and chiefs sometimes dwelt, and that afterwards the +two divine conductors returned with the royal and princely souls to +earth, where they accompanied the movements and watched over the +destinies of their survivors. The name of one of these gods was +Kaonohiokala, which means the eyeball of the sun; and the name of the +other was Kuahairo. Now Kapihe was priest to the latter god, and +professed to have received a revelation, in accordance with which he +informed King Kamehameha that, when the monarch should depart this life, +the god Kuahairo would carry his spirit to the sky and afterwards +accompany it back to earth again, whereupon his body would be restored +to life and youth; that he would have his wives again and resume his +government in Hawaii; that at the same time the existing generation +would see and know their parents and ancestors, and that all the people +who had died would rise again from the dead.[168] It is to be feared, +however, that the priest was a deceiver; for King Kamehameha has not yet +come to life again, and up to the present time the general resurrection +has not taken place in Hawaii. + + [168] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iv. 144 _sq._ + +That must conclude what I have to say about the belief in immortality +and the worship of the dead in Polynesia, The notions which the +Polynesians entertained on this subject cannot but strike a civilised +European as childish, while the customs which they based on them must +appear to him in great part foolish, even where they were not barbarous +and cruel. How far such childish notions and foolish customs tend to +confirm or to refute the widespread, almost universal, belief in the +survival of the human soul after death, is a question which I must leave +my readers to answer for themselves. + + + + +NOTE + +TABOO AMOUNG THE MAORIS + + +The power which Maori chiefs possessed of imposing, or at all +events of enforcing, a taboo seems not to have been quite so absolute +as might perhaps be inferred from the statement in the text.[1] We +are told that the power of the taboo mainly depended on the influence +of the person who imposed it. If it were put on by a great +chief, it would not be broken, but a powerful man often violated the +taboo of an inferior. A chief, for example, would frequently lay one +of these sacred interdicts on a road or a river, and then nobody +would dare to go by either, unless he felt himself strong enough to +set the chief's taboo at defiance. The duration of the taboo was +arbitrary, and depended on the will of the person who imposed it. +Similarly with the extent to which the prohibition applied: sometimes +it was limited to a particular object, sometimes it embraced +many: sometimes it was laid on a single spot, at other times it +covered a whole district.[2] + + [1] Above, p. 47. + + [2] R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and its + Inhabitants_, Second Edition (London, 1870), p. 168. Compare J. + Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et à la recherche de + la Pérouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833), ii. 530. + +To render a place taboo a chief had only to tie one of his old +garments to a pole and stick it up on the spot which he proposed +to make sacred, while at the same time he declared that the prohibited +area was part of his own body, such as his backbone, or +that it bore the name of one of his ancestors. In the latter case +all the persons descended from that particular ancestor were in +duty bound to rally to the defence of the chief's taboo, and the +more distant the ancestor, and the more numerous his descendants, +the greater the number of the champions thus pledged to the +support of the family honour. Hence the longer a man's pedigree, +the better chance he stood of maintaining his taboo against all +comers, for the larger was the troop of adherents whom he enlisted +in its defence. Thus chiefs, with family trees which reached backward +to the gods, were in a far better position to make good +their arbitrary interdicts than mere ordinary mortals, who hardly +remembered their grandfathers. In this as in other respects the +taboo was essentially an aristocratic institution.[3] + + [3] R. Taylor, _op. cit._ p. 169. + + + + +INDEX + + + Abortions, spirits of, dreaded, 49 _n._^1 + + Adam, the Hawaiian, 393 + + Adoption among the Marquesans, 339 + + Aesculapius, the Hawaiian, 398 + + _Afiatouca_, burial-place, 102, 103 + + Agriculture of Maoris, 8 _sq._; + of the Tongans, 59 _sq._; + Samoan, 164 _sqq._; + of the Hervey Islanders, 221 _sq._; + of the Society Islanders, 249; + of the Hawaiians, 378 _sq._ + + Air, gods of the, 277 + + _Aitu_, Samoan gods embodied in visible objects, animals, birds, etc., + 182, 201, 207 + + Akaanga, a god, spreads a net to catch ghosts, 242, 244 + + Akea (Wakea), king of the nether world, 427, 428, 430 + + _Akua_, god, in the Hawaiian dialect, equivalent to _atua_, 392, 398 + + _Akuas_, spirits, 429 + + Alai Valoo, a Tongan god, 74 + + Alo Alo, a Tongan god, 71 _sq._ + + Altars in the Society Islands, 291 + + Amable, Father, Catholic missionary, 367 + + Ambler, English sailor, 84 + + Amusements of the Marquesans, 339 _sqq._ + + Ancestors worshipped by Maoris, 32 _sqq._; + skulls of, brought out at marriages, 288, 311 + + Ancestral spirits watch over the living, 33; + do not follow their kinsfolk among strangers, 34; + cause disease, 49; + worshipped by Society Islanders, 300, 315; + guardians of newly wedded pairs, 311 + + Angas, G. F., 48 _n._^1 + + Animals, gods in form of, 66, 92 _sqq._, 182 _sqq._; + deified spirits of men resident in, 227 _sq._; + worshipped in Hawaii, 401 _sqq._ + + Anointing a king of Samoa, 177 + + Anuanu, vale of, 376 _n._^2 + + _Ao_, titles of chiefs in Samoa, 172 _sq._ + + Apolima, Samoan island, 149, 151 + + Apparitions dreaded, 205, 217 + + Araia, 241, 242 + + Aremauku, starting-place for spirit-land, 239 + + Areois, Society of the, 259 _sqq._ + + _Arii taboo_, sacred chiefs, 387 + + _Ariki_, sacred chief, 41; + king, 224 + + Astronomy of priests, 293 + + _Atua_, the Polynesian word for god or spirit, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42, 44, + 46, 64 _n._^3, 89, 277, 322, 323, 348, 349. + _Compare akua, eatooa, etua_ + + _Atuas_, consecrated feathers called, 291; + inspired priests called, 294; + great national gods, distinguished from _oramatuas tiis_, the + spirits of dead relatives, 324 + + Auraka, a burial cavern, 233, 237, 238, 241 + + Avaiki, subterranean region, home of the dead, 238, 239, 241, 243, 244 + + Axes or adzes of stone, 61, 180, 233, 251, 335, 382 + + + Ba-ila, their licence at funerals, 425 + + Baessler, A., 221 _n._^1, 279 _n._^1, 285, 286, 374 + + Baganda, superstition as to twins among the, 270 _sq._ + + Baldness as penalty of impiety, 95; + the penalty of breach of taboo, 209 _sq._ + + Baluba, of the Congo, customs as to twins among the, 273 + + Banishment of chiefs in Samoa, 176 + + Banqueting-halls of the Marquesans, 343 _sq._ + + Baptism among the Maoris, 16 + + Bark-cloth, manufacture of, 61, 168, 222, 251 _sq._, 334, 381; + not made in time of mourning, 234 _sq._ + + Baronga, of S.E. Africa, their superstitions concerning twins, + 268 _sq._ + + Barundi, of E. Africa, customs as to twins among the, 272 _sq._ + + Bastian, Adolf, on sun-worship, 131 _n._ + + Bathing after burial, 21; + of king at installation, 255 _n._^1; + after contact with a corpse, 313 + + Bats, goddess incarnate in, 185; + local deity, 196 + + Bay of Plenty, 23 + + Bennett, F. D., 332 _sq._, 359, 360, 372 + + Best, Elsdon, 6 _n._, 33, 35 + + Birds, gods incarnate in, 187 _sq._; + sacred, 228; + small land birds formerly oracular, 228; + gods in the form of, 277, 294; + worshipped in Hawaii, 402 + + Birth, a man's god determined at, 200 _sq._, 223; + ceremonies after a, 288 + + Blackened faces in mourning, 231, 235 + + Blood of chief sacred, 45 _sq._; + human, acceptable offering to deity, 188; + offered to the dead, 209; + of relatives offered to bride at marriage, 289; + of bride's mother offered to bridegroom, 289; + of mourners offered to the dead, 303, 304, 311 + + Bolotoo (Boolotoo, Bulotu), fabulous island, residence of Tongan gods + and of noble dead, 65, 66, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89 _sq._, + 92, 93, 98, 135 + + Bones of Captain Cook worshipped, 396 + + ---- of dead dug up, 21; + painted red, 21; + concealed, 21; + profaned, 21; + festival at removal of, 22; + burned, 23; + of sacrificial victims not broken, 291; + of famous men carried off by enemies, 311; + thrown into volcano, 400; + carried about by relatives, 419 _sq._; + hidden to prevent profanation, 420 + + ---- of dead chiefs buried in temples (_morais_), 311; + hidden in caves, 312, 420 + + Boolotoo Katoa, a Tongan god, 94 + + Borabora, one of the Society Islands, 246, 281, 317 + + Bows and arrows, unknown to Maoris, 10; + used by the Society Islanders as an amusement, 252 _sq._; + unknown to the Marquesans, 335; + found among the Hawaiians, 383 + + Boxing-matches in mourning, 211 + + Branch plucked from sacred trees, 255 _n._^1 + + Bread-fruit the staple food of the Society Islanders, 249; + of the Rarotongans, 222; + and of the Marquesans, 333, 334 + + Breath of chief sacred, 45 + + Brenchley, J. L., 124, 125 _n._^1 + + Brown, Dr. George, 56, 161, 173 _n._^1, 201, 204, 206 _n._^1, 212, + 213, 214, 216 _n._^2, 218 + + Buffoonery in mourning for the dead, 211 + + Burial, Maori modes of, 20 _sq._; + in house, 20, 27; + on a stage, 20, 21; + on a tree, 20 _sq._; + secret, 21; + and mourning, rites of, in Tonga, 132 _sqq._; + by night, 419 + + Burial customs in Samoa, 209 _sqq._; + in the Hervey Islands, 231 _sqq._; + in the Society Islands, 308 _sqq._; + in the Marquesas, 356 _sqq._; + in the Hawaiian Islands, 418 _sqq._ + + ---- ground dreaded, 27 + + ---- places (_morais_) of the Marquesans, 357 _sq._ + + Burying the sins of the dead, 305 + + Busoga, superstition as to twins in, 270 + + + Cabri, J. Baptiste, 371 + + Cain, the Hawaiian, 393 + + Campbell, A., 385, 412 _n._^1, 415, 419, 423 + + Cannibalism, 26, 62, 158 _sq._; + in the Hervey Islands, 221 + + Canoe-shaped coffins, 20, 353, 356, 363 + + Canoes, Maori, 9; + Tongan, 59; + Marquesan, 337; + provided for the dead to enable them to reach the spirit land, + 364 _sqq._ + + Caterpillars, servants of owl-god, 188 + + Caves, bones or bodies of dead deposited in, 22, 232, 233, 237, 312, + 320 _sq._, 357, 418 + + Centipedes, family god in, 188 _sq._; + worshipped in Mangaia, 228 + + Ceremonies, magical, of Maoris, 13 _sq._; + observed at death, 19 _sqq._; + to facilitate passage of soul to other world, 24 _sqq._, 29; + magical, of Tongans, 67 _sq._; + observed for unburied dead, 205 _sq._; + of mourning in the Hervey Islands, 234 _sqq._; + at the inauguration of a king, 254 _sq._, 255 _n._^1; + over dead Areoi, 261; + after childbirth, 288; + at marriage, 288 _sq._; + for the protection of the living against ghosts, 305 _sqq._ + _See_ Rites + + Ceremony of anointing a king of Samoa, 177; + performed by parents of twins to fertilise plantains, 271 + + Chiefs descended from the gods, 29; + their souls immortal, 29; + tabooed, 41 _sqq._; + physical superiority of, 58 _sq._, 377 _sq._; + Samoan, 171 _sqq._; + deified, 204; + embalmed, 205; + in the Marquesas, 344; + in Hawaii, 384 _sq._ + + Chiefs' language in Samoa, 173 _sqq._ + + Chieftainship hereditary in Samoa, 176 + + Children sacrificed, 75 _sq._, 81 _sq._ + + Christianity in Tonga Islands, 60 + + Circumcision, in the Tonga Islands, 81; + in the Hervey Islands, 223 _sq._; + invented by god Rongo, 224 + + Civil lords and sacred kings in Mangaia, 224 _sq._ + + Clans, gods of, in animals or other natural objects, 94, 95 _sq._ + + Clavel, Dr., 338, 374 + + Cockles, god in, 183; prayers to cockle-god, 188 + + Coco-nuts, god in, 183; offered to the dead, 233 + + Coffins shaped like canoes, 20, 353, 356, 363 + + Collocot, E. E. V., 65 _n._^2, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98 _n._^1, 267 _n._^2 + + Comedies acted in mourning, 236 + + Commoners, the question of their souls, 66, 85 + + Communistic system in Samoa, 170 _sq._ + + Confession of sins, 189 + + Cook, Captain James, 1, 9, 53, 55, 57, 59, 60, 61 _n._^2, 63, 81, 86, + 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 111 _n._, 117, 123, 128, + 129, 132, 246, 248, 249, 251, 257, 258 _n._^5, 262, + 275, 277 _n._^2 and ^4, 279, 280, 282, 283, 293, + 297, 304, 310, 314 _n._^3, 315, 321, 328, 331, 371, + 375, 379, 382, 383, 391, 395 _sq._, 406, 407, 408 + + ---- or Hervey Islands, 219 _sq._ + + Cooking in ovens of hot stones, 222, 379 + + Coral reefs, their formation, 55 _sq._ + + Corpses, sent adrift on the sea or exposed on stages, 210; + broken in pieces, 362; + flayed, 367 _sq._ + + Courage seated in liver, 85 + + Cousin marriage, 223 + + Creation, Hawaiian tradition of the, 393 + + Cremation among the Maoris, 23 + + Crickets, omens from, 231 + + Crimes, Tongan ideas about, 67 + + Crook, William P., first missionary to the Marquesas, 328, 349, 361, + 372 + + Cruise, R. A., 31 _n._^2 + + _Curse of Manaia_, 12 + + Curses, Maori, 15; + Tongan, 67; + of sisters specially dreaded, 207 + + Customs observed at the birth of twins, 268 _sqq._ + _See_ Burial customs, Ceremonies, Rites + + Cuttings in mourning for the dead, 19, 208 _sq._, 231, 302, 309, 311, + 353; + in Tonga, 133 _sqq._; + intention of the, 145 _sq._ + + Cuttle-fish, household god in, 184; + omens from, 190; + temple of, 195; + myth of the, 202 _sq._; + a god in Mangaia,228; + myth of Maui and the, 275 + + + Dances at the birth of twins, 270 _sqq._; + funeral, 139, 353 _sq._; + of widow, 353, 354 + + Dancing among the Marquesans, 340 _sq._ + + ---- -places of the Marquesans, 340 _sq._ + + Danger Island, 230 + + Darwin, Charles, on coral reefs, 55 + + De Sainson, 112 + + D'Urville, J. Dumont, 11, 58, 110, 123, 357 _n._^3, 359 _n._^3, 373 + + Dead, disposal of the bodies of the (Maori), 20 _sqq._; + buried in sitting posture, 20; + spirits of, appear in dreams, 31, 91 _sq._; + spirits of the dead become gods, 31; + taboo entailed by contact with the, 39,137 _sq._; + buried in _morais_, 117 _sqq._, 282 _sqq._, 311; + worship of the, in Samoa, 204 _sq._; + blood offered to the, 209; + buried with head to the east, 210; + buried with the head to the rising sun, 232; + songs sung in honour of the, 236; + buried in sitting posture, 262; + images of spirits of the, 287 _sq._, 313 _sq._, 324 _sq._; + blood of mourners offered to the, 303, 304, 311; + fear of the spirits of the, 304 _sq._; + disposal of the, in the Society Islands, 308 _sqq._; + souls of the, in images, 313 _sq._; + worship of the, in the Society Islands, 322 _sqq._; + assimilated to deities, 327; + disposal of the, among the Marquesans, 356 _sqq._; + in the Hawaiian Islands, 418 _sqq._; + evocation of the, 370 _sq._; + buried in crouching posture, 418. + _See_ Ghosts + + ---- men deified, 276 + + Death, Maori notion as to the cause of, 16; + stories as to the origin of, 16 _sqq._, 392; + Maori goddess of, 18; + fate of the soul after, 24 _sqq._, 85 _sqq._, 213 _sqq._, + 238 _sqq._, 313 _sqq._, 363 _sqq._, 427 _sqq._; + the second, 29; + theories of the Society Islanders concerning, 299 _sqq._; + Marquesan contempt for, 352 _sq._; + Hawaiian beliefs and customs concerning,417 _sqq._ + + Deaths caused by the anger of the gods or by sorcery, 229; + traced to the agency of gods or sorcerers, 405 + + Decadence of magic, 68 + + Deification of ancestors, 33, 35; + of kings in their lifetime, 255; + of dead men, 276; + of men after death, 351 _sq._, 397; + of animals, 402 + + Deified kings, priests, and warriors, 227 + + ---- men, 276, 349; + the spirits of,resident in animals, 228 + + ---- spirits of chiefs, 204 + + Deities, primaeval, personifications of nature, 32, 34 + + Deity, Maori conception of, 35 _sq._ + + Democratic spirit of Samoans, 171, 175 + + Desgraz, C., 118, 358, 373 + + Despotism in Hawaii, 63 + + Dieffenbach, E., 6 _n._^2, 8 _n._, 48 _n._^1 + + Diet of the Samoans, 164 _sq._; + of the Hervey Islanders, 222; + of the Society Islanders, 249; + of the Marquesans, 333 _sq._; + of the Hawaiians, 378 _sq._ + + Dirges in the Hervey Islands, 235 _sq._ + + Disease, caused by souls of ancestors, 49; + and death ascribed to agency of gods, spirits, or ghosts, 206 _sq._, + 217; + theories of the Society Islanders concerning, 299 _sqq._; + of the Marquesans concerning, 325. + _See_ Sickness + + Disorders, internal, supposed to be caused by entrance of a god into + the patient, 351 + + District gods, 182, 185 + + Divination, in Samoa, 190 _sq._; + to detect thieves, 298, 406; + to ascertain the cause of death, 301 + + Diviners consulted before battle, 397, 414; + Hawaiian, 404 _sq._, 414, 417 + + Division of labour among the Samoans, 166 _sqq._ + + Dogs, sacred, 94; + omens from, 190; + eaten, 379; + sacrificed, 405, 426 + + Doobludha, land of dead, 86 + + Dramatic performances of the Areois, 259 _sq._, 263, 266 _n._^4 + + Dreamers held in repute, 320 + + Dreams, Maori theories of, 12; + souls of the dead appear in, 31, 91 _sq._; + Samoan theory of, 205; + ideas of the Hervey Islanders concerning, 229; + ideas of the Society Islanders concerning, 297 _sq._; + souls of the dead communicate with the living in, 320, 429; + Marquesan ideas about, 352; + revelations to priests in, 405, 429; + Hawaiian ideas about, 417 + + Drums, special, beaten after the birth of twins, 271; + accompanying dances, 342, 354 + + Du Petit-Thouars, 373 + + Duke of York Island, 212 + + + Earth cleft with axes, as a mourning rite, 235 _sq._; + fished up from the sea by Maui, 275 + + Earthquakes, Tongan theory of, 72; + caused by Maui, 275 + + _Eatooas_, gods, spirits of the dead, 277 _n._^4, 300, 322, 391, 392, + 402. + See _Atua_ + + Eclipses, superstitions as to, 287 + + Eel-god, 227 + + Eels sacred, 95, 182, 184, 185 + + Eimeo or Moörea, one of the Society Islands, 246, 266 + + Ella, S., 206 _n._^1, 212 + + Ellis, William, 117, 118 _n._^1, 247, 249, 256 _sq._, 262, 265 _n._, + 267 _n._^2, 276, 277, 284, 286 _n._^5, 290 _n._^3, + 292, 295, 298 _n._^2, 308 _n._^1, 311, 314 _n._^1, + 315, 319, 323, 327, 401, 409, 410, 411, 419, 424, + 426, 430, 431 + + Embalmment of the dead, 117, 205; + in Samoa, 210, 213; + in the Society Islands, 309, 310 _sqq._; + in the Marquesas, 356 _sq._; + in Hawaii, 418 + + Erskine, J. E., 114 + + Ethical influence of the Tongan religion, 146 _sq._ + + _Etua_, a god, 348. + Compare _Atua_ + + Eua, one of Tonga Islands, 52, 123 + + Euhemerism, 69 + + Eve, the Hawaiian, 393 + + Evocation of the dead, 370 _sq._ + + Exogamy, Samoan religious system independent of, 201; + in the Hervey Islands, 223 + + Exorcisers, 351 + + Exorcism practised for the healing of the sick, 206 _sq._, 417 _sq._ + + Expiation for sacrilege, 74 _sqq._; + for eating sacred animal, 184, 185 + + Eye, spirit or soul thought to reside in, 42, 417; + of human victim presented to king, 292 + + + Fafa, subterranean abode of the dead, 215 + + Fakaofo or Bowditch Island, 394 + + Family gods embodied in visible objects, 182 _sqq._; + analogous to totems, 200 + + Fan or Fang, of West Africa, their superstition about a twin, 269 + + Farmer, Sarah S., 57 _n._^1, 61 _n._, 92, 97, 111 _n._ + + Fasting after a death, 210, 355 + + Fate of the soul after death, 213 _sqq._, 238 _sqq._, 313 _sqq._, + 363 _sqq._, 427 _sqq_. + + Fear of the dead, its humanising influence, 300; + of ghosts, 369 _sq._, 419. + _See_ Ghosts + + Feast of Calabashes, 354 + + Feasts, funeral, 144, 355, 362 _sq._, 366; + annual, in honour of the gods, 187 _sq._ + _See_ Festivals + + Feathers, sacred red, 254; + gods conjured into, 265; + placed in images of the gods, 290 _sq._; + called gods, 291 + + Female line, nobility traced in, 75 + + Ferry-boat for souls of dead, 26 + + Fertilising virtue attributed to twins, 269 _sqq._ + + Festival, great annual, 289; + called "the ripening of the year," 326 _sq._ + + Festivals, of the Samoans, 188; + of the Marquesans, 341 _sq._; + Hawaiian, 414 _sqq._ + _See_ Feasts + + _Fiatooka_, place of burial and of worship, 103, 104, 105, 109, 116, + 120, 132, 133 + + Fijian influence in Tonga, 59 + + Fingers mutilated in mourning, 19; + sacrificed, 80 _sq._ + + Finow, king of Tonga, 79, 80, 81, 82, 91, 92, 103, 105, 120, 121, 135, + 136, 137, 139, 140; + obsequies of, 135 _sqq._ + + Finow the Second, king of Fiji, 135 + + Fire, Polynesian knowledge of, 56 _sq._; + kindled by friction of wood, 181; + robbed by Ti'iti'i from Mafuie, 203; + kept up in house after a death, 209, 212; + first brought to men by Maui, 226, 239; + hidden in wood by Mauike, 238; + stick and groove method of kindling, invented by Maui, 275, 335; + stolen by Maui, 350; + first given to men by Maui, 396 + + Fires not kindled near house of death, 355; + extinguished during periods of strict taboo, 389 + + First-born sons, sacrifice of, 89 + + First-fruits, offerings of, in Tonga, 122; + in the Society Islands, 257; + of taro presented to eel-god, 188 + + Fish, sacrifices of, 257, 291; + human victims called fish, 292; + worshipped, 402; + offered to shark god, 402 + + ---- hooks made out of bones of dead, 21, 23, 311 _sq._ + + Fishing, modes of, 252, 337, 379 + + Flax cultivated by Maoris, 9 + + Flaying the dead, custom of, 367 _sq._ + + Flood, tradition of a great, 393, 394 + + Flying-foxes, gods in, 96; + incarnations of war-god, omens from, 190 + + _Fono_, representative assembly, parliament, 159, 179 + + Food buried with the dead, 24, 232; + not to be touched by tabooed person with his hands, 38, 44, 45, 137, + 138, 209, 312; + not eaten in a house so long as a corpse is in it, 209; + offered at tomb, 362 + + Footprints in magic, 15 + + Forbes, Dr. Charles, 12 + + Forster, George, 262, 283, 287 _n._, 397, 314, 331 + + Forster, J. R., 117 _n._^1, 278 _n._^1, 287 _n._, 314, 323 _n._^1 + + Foundation sacrifices, 292 + + Fowls bred and eaten, 379 + + Freycinet, L. de, 423, 427 + + Friendly Islands. _See_ Tonga + + Funeral dances, 139, 353 _sq._; + feasts, 144, 355, 362 _sq._, 366 + + ---- games in Tonga, 140, 144; + in the Hervey Islands, 235 _sq._ + + ---- rites in the Hervey Islands, 231 _sqq._ + + Futtafaihe or Fatafehi, family name of the Tuitongas, 108, 109 + + _Fytoca_, grave, burial-place, 67, 82, 102, 103, 137, 139, 141 + + + G----, Father Mathias, 373 + + Games, funeral, in honour of the dead, 140, 144, 235; + athletic, at religious festivals, 188 + + Garment, evil magic wrought through, 67 + + Gerland, G., 266 _n._^4 + + Ghost personated by priest or kinsman, 306 _sqq._ + + Ghosts, fear of, 27, 31, 304 _sq._, 320 _sq._, 369 _sq._, 419 _sq._; + their passage to nether world, 27 _sq._; + live on sweet potatoes, 30; + slaying the, 234; + journeying with the sun, 239 _sqq._; + caught in nets, 242, 244; + eaten by Miru, 242; + driven away by force of arms, 355; + food offered to, 355, 356 + + Gill, W. W., 221 _n._^1, 225 _n._^1, 227, 228 _n._^1, 237, 238 + + Girdle, sacred, of kings, 254 + + God, patron, determined at birth, 200 _sq._, 223 + + "God-boxes," inspired priests, 228 _sq._ + + Godless, the Samoans called, 181 _sq._ + + Gods, chiefs and priests descended from the, 29; + confused with spirits of the dead, 31; + the great Polynesian, 35 _n._; + of the Maoris, 36 _sq._; + of the Tongans, 64 _sqq._; + souls of dead men as, 64 _sq._, 66, 69, 70, 84, 91; + men descended from, 66; + omens sent by, 67; + in form of animals, 66, 92 _sqq._, 182 _sqq._; + the primary or non-human, of Tonga, 68 _sqq._; + national and tribal, of Tonga, 93 _sq._; + temples of, in Tonga, 73 _sqq._, 99 _sqq._; + worship of, 79 _sqq._; + annual feasts in honour of, 187 _sq._; + tame, 191; + vegetable, 192; + totemic, 202; + high gods, 202 _sqq._; + the life of the, 238; + punished, 257; + born of Night (_Po_), 258, 277; + of the sea, 276 _sq._; + of the air, 277; + worship of the gods in the Society Islands, 277 _sqq._; + the causes of disease and death, 299, 351; + Hawaiian, two classes of, 397 + + Government, monarchical and aristocratic, of the Tongans, 62 _sq._; + democratic, of Samoans, 171 _sqq._; + of the Society Islands, 253; + in the Marquesas, 344 _sq._; + in the Hawaiian Islands, 383 _sq._ + + Grandfather, soul of, reborn in grandchild, 368 _sq._ + + Grange, Jérôme, 60 _n._^5, 113 _sq._ + + Grasshoppers, souls of dead children in, 318 + + Graves, sacred, 99; + in relation to temples, 99 _sqq._; + of Tongan kings, 103, 105; + prayers at, 121, 217; + of great chiefs religiously revered, 120; + enclosed with stones, 211; + in Society Islands, 309; + in Hawaii, 418. + _See_ Tombs + + Guardian deity, how obtained, 398 + + Gudgeon, W. E., 41, 42 _n._^1, 48 _n._^1 + + Guillemard, F. H. H., 132 + + + _Haamonga_, megalithic monument in Tonga, 125, 126 + + Haapai (Haabai), one of the Tonga Islands, 52, 95, 126 + + Haddon, A. C., 6 _n._^2 + + Hahunga, Maori festival, 22 + + Hair cut in mourning, 19, 303 _sq._, 420_sq._; + ceremonies at cutting the, 44 _sq._; + used in evil magic, 300, 325, 405; + offered by mourners to the dead, 303, 304; + sacrificed to volcano, 400 + + Hale, Horatio, 6 _n._^2, 63, 214 + + Hands tabooed, 38, 45, 137, 138, 209, 312, 404 + + Happahs (Happas), a tribe of Marquesans, 364, 365 + + _Harepo_, sacred recorder, 296, 298 + + Harris, J. Rendel, 267 _n._^1 + + Havaiki, subterranean region of the dead, 363. _Compare_ Avaiki + + Hawaii, 375, 376, 378, 394, 400, 406, 409, 410, 411, 413, 426, 429 + + Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, 375 _sqq._ + + Hawaiians or Sandwich Islanders, 377 _sqq._ + + Hawaiki, original home of Maoris, 5 _sq._, 29, 155 + + Head, sanctity of the, 44, 212, 388 + + Heads of dead dried and preserved, 23 _sq._; + of chiefs cut off and buried separately, 212; + of children moulded, 224; + of pigs attached to biers, 355; + of slain enemies kept as trophies, 362 + + Heart the special seat of the soul, 85 + + Heaven, ascent of souls to, 24 _sqq._, 29 + + "Heavenly family," gods incarnate in animals, 228 + + Hebrew prophets, Renan on the, 147 + + _Heiau_, temple, 409, 410, 411, 412 _n._^1, 418 + + Herero, of S.W. Africa, customs as to twins among the, 273 _sq._ + + Herons sacred, 95; + omens from, 190; + superstition about, 277 _n._^2 + + Hervey, Philip, 123, 125 _n._^1, 127 + + Hervey or Cook Islands, 219 _sq._ + + Hervey Islanders, 220 _sqq._ + + _Heva_, ceremony observed after a death, 306 + + Higgolayo, god of the dead, 86 + + Hikuleo, god of the dead, 88 _sq._, 90 + + Hina (O-Heena), a goddess, perhaps of the moon, 266, 267, 287 + + Hine-nui-te-po, the Maori goddess of death, 17 _sq._ + + Hiro, god of thieves, 326 + + Hivaoa (Dominica), one of the Marquesas Islands, 328, 337, 364 + + Hogs, sacrificed, 79; + to volcano, 399. + _See_ Pigs + + Holiness and uncleanness blent in taboo, 173 + + Honolulu, 376 _n._^2 + + Hos of Togo, customs as to twins among the, 271 _sq._ + + _Hotooas_ (_atuas_), gods, 64 + + Houmis, a tribe of Marquesans, 347 + + House, dead buried in, 20, 27, 418; + dying people removed from the, 39; + abandoned after a death, 356 + + Houses, Maori, 8; + Samoan, 163 _sq._; + in the Society Islands, 250; + of the Marquesans, 335 _sqq._; + of the Hawaiians, 380 _sq._ + + Huahine, one of the Society Islands, 117, 246, 280, 283, 284, 289, + 293, 326 + + Human sacrifices at burials, 24; + to the sun, tradition of, 158; + not offered by Samoans, 158; + at making king's girdle, 254; + offered to Oro, 258 _sq._; + in the Society Islands, 291 _sq._; + offered to living men, 349 _sq._; + at deification of men, 351 _sq._; + at the death of chiefs and priests, 365 _sqq._, 421 _sq._; + to sharks, 402 _sq._; + in Hawaii, 413 _sq._, 421 _sq._, 425 _sq._ + + Hunchbacks thought to be favourites of spirits, 153 + + Hurricanes in Samoa, 153 _sq._ + + + Idols, Hawaiian, 412 _sq._ _See_ Images + + _Ifi_ tree, 74, 121, 133, 137 + + Image of basket-work, 275 _sq._; + wooden, of deified man, 398 + + Images of the gods, 290, 391 _sq._; + in which the souls of the dead were supposed to lodge, 287 _sq._, + 313 _sq._, 324 _sq._; + carried to battle, 397; + spirits conjured into, 398; + of the gods, Hawaiian, 411 _sqq._ + + Immortality, belief in, its effect on the Maoris, 51; + restricted to chiefs and their ministers, 85; + of the human soul, 313. _See_ Soul + + Incantations, Maori, 13 _sqq._; + of sorcerers, 325; + Hawaiian, 405, 417 + + Incarnation of gods in animals, 182 _sqq._ + + Inconsistency of savage thought, 84, 90 _sq._ + + Indonesians, 3 + + Infanticide, in Polynesia, 157; + among the Areois, 263 + + Infants, souls of dead, cause disease, 49, 299 + + Inspiration by drinking kava, 75, 77 _sqq._; + by souls of dead, 91; + of Samoan priests, 194; + of priests, in the Society Islands, 293 _sqq._; + of men by deities, 351 + + Inspired men, 350 _sqq._ + + Iron in Tonga, 61 _n._^2 + + ---- tools among the Hawaiians, 382 + + Irrigation practised by Maoris, 9; + artificial, in Hawaii, 378 _sq._ + + + Jarves, J. J., 383 _n._^2, 425 + + Jaw-bones of human victims hung in temple, 258 + + Jumping-off stone of souls of the dead, 214, 215. + _See_ Leaping-off place + + Jupiter, the planet, emblem of deified chiefs, 204; + the shrine of a god, 228 + + Justice, administration of, in Samoa, 159 _sq._ + + + _Kahuna_, priest, 417 + + Kaili. _See_ Tairi + + Kamehameha (Tamehameha), king of Hawaii, 384, 388, 389, 400, 409, 415, + 420, 422, 425, 427, 430, 431 + + Kanaloa, a great Hawaiian deity, 392, 393, 394, 395 + + Kane, a great Hawaiian deity, 392, 393, 394, 395, 398 + + Kaonohiokala, "eye-ball of the sun," a Hawaiian god, 431 + + Kapihe, a priest, 430, 431 + + _Kapu_, taboo, in Hawaiian dialect, 387 + + Karakakooa Bay in Hawaii, 391 + + _Karakias_, prayers or spells (Maori), 32, 39 + + Kauai, one of the Sandwich Islands, 375 + + Kava as source of inspiration, 75, 78, 229; + offered to the gods, 79, 187; + offered to whales, 93; + offered at graves, 121, 205; + drunk by the Marquesans, 334; + by the Hawaiians, 380 + + Keolakuhonua, the first woman, 393 + + Kilauea, volcano in Hawaii, 375, 399, 401 + + King, Captain, 378, 379, 385 _sq._, 391, 402, 408, 410 + + King, of Samoa, 176 _sq._; + customs observed on the death of a king in Hawaii, 420 _sqq._ + + "King of Fiji," a Samoan family god, 192 + + Kingfisher sacred, 93; + superstition about, 277 _n._^2 + + Kingfishers, incarnations of war-god, omens from, 190; + gods of families, villages, or districts, embodied in, 193; + consulted oracularly, 196 + + Kings, two, in Tonga, one civil, the other religious, 62 _sq._; + the priests or mouthpieces of a god, 224; + sacred, in the Hervey Islands, 224 _sq._; + primary and secondary, in Mangaia, 225; + as gods or descended from gods in the Society Islands, 253 _sq._; + as high-priests, 253, 255; + in Hawaii, 383 _sq._ + + Kingship, double, 63 + + Kitchen, dying chief carried into the, 82 + + Koreamoku, a deified man, 398 + + Kotzebue, O. von, 385 _n._^4, 388 _sq._, 416 + + Kpelle, of Liberia, their superstitions about twins, 269, 274 + + Krusenstern, A. J. von, 346, 348, 362, 371, 372 + + Ku, a great Hawaiian deity, 392, 393 + + Kuahairo, a Hawaiian god, 431 + + Kumuhonua, the first man, 393 + + + La Pérouse, 149 + + Labillardière, 81 + + Langsdorff, G. H. von, 118, 341, 351 _n._^2, 371, 372 + + Language, Polynesian, 2; + special form of, used in speaking of chiefs, 173 _sqq._ + + Leaping-off place for souls of dead, 27, 241. + _See_ Jumping-off stone + + Leeward Islands, 246, 319 + + Lifuka (Lefooga), one of the Tonga Islands, 52, 73, 109 + + Lightning, omens from, 191 + + Lipolipo, king of Hawaii, 389 _sq._, 427 + + Lisiansky, U., 338, 366 _sq._, 368 _sq._, 371, 372, 411, 412, 414, + 421, 422, 423 + + Litany chanted after a death, 355 + + Liturgies, in the Society Islands, 296 + + Liturgy, ancient Hawaiian, 394 + + Liver, the seat of courage, 85; + a disease of, attributed to breach of taboo, 76 _sq._; + of pig a god, 98 + + Lizard, the tempter in the form of a, 393 + + Lizards feared as causes of disease, 50; + gods in, 66, 92, 94, 96, 182, 227, 228; + omens from, 190 + + Lono (Rono), a great Hawaiian deity, the equivalent of Rongo, 392, + 393, 395; + Captain Cook identified with, 396 + + Lord of Mangaia, 224 + + Lucifer, the Hawaiian, 393 + + + Macahity, a Hawaiian festival, 414 _sqq._ + + Mafanga, burial-place of chiefs in Tongataboo, 120, 121 + + Mafuie, god of earthquakes, 203 + + Magic, among the Maoris, 13 _sqq._; + among the Tongans, 68; + black, not practised in Samoa, 161; + in the Society Islands, 300, 325 _sq._; + in Hawaii, 405 _sq_. + _See_ Sorcerers + + Magicians (Maori), 13 _sqq._ + + Mahoike, god of the infernal regions, original possessor of fire, 350 + + Mahoui, a god, apparently identical with Maui, 266 _n._^4, 286 _n._^5 + + Maitea, one of the Society Islands, 246 + + Malays, how related to the Polynesians, 2 _sqq._ + + Man, the creation of, 393 + + _Mana_, 42 + + Manaia, 13, 23 + + Mangaia, one of the Hervey Islands, 219, 220, 221, 222, 224, 225, 228, + 232, 233, 237, 238, 239, 240, 244 + + Manona, Samoan island, 149 + + Manua, group of Samoan islands, 149, 155, 158, 162, 215 + + Maoris, 5 _sqq._; + their culture, 8 _sqq._; + beliefs concerning the souls of the living, 10 _sqq._; + beliefs concerning the souls of the dead, 19 _sqq._; + their notion as to the cause of death, 16; + their story of the origin of death, 16 _sqq._; + mourning, 19 _sq._; + disposal of the dead, 20 _sqq._; + their conception of deity, 35 _sq._; + taboo among the, 37 _sqq._, 432 + + Mapuhanui, a Marquesan god, 368 + + _Marae_. _See Morai_ + + _Marae_, a sacred grove, 225 _n._^3, 240, 241 + + _Marai_. _See Morai_ + + Marchand, Captain E., 358 _n._^6, 371 + + Marcuse, A., 393 + + Mariner, William, 62, 64, 67, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78 _sq._, 80, + 82, 83, 86, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98 _n._, 99, 102, + 103, 110 _n._^1, 127, 135, 136, 138, 141, 142, 143 + + Marquesan islanders, 331 _sqq._ + + Marquesas Islands, 328 _sqq._; + _morais_ (_marais_) in the, 116 _sqq._ + + Marriage rites, 288 _sq._, 311 + + Martin, John, 64 + + Maruiwi, primitive inhabitants of New Zealand, 8 + + Mask worn by an actor personifying a ghost, 306 + + Masons in Tonga, 127 + + _Matabooles_, minister of Tongan nobles, 65, 66, 74, 85, 76, 77, 79, + 85, 87, 121, 136, 139 + + Mateialona, Governor of Haapai, 126 + + Mats, fine Samoan, 168 _sq._; + Hawaiian, 381 _sq._ + + Maui, mythical Polynesian hero, 266 _n._^4; + his contest with the goddess of death, 16 _sqq._; + said to have drawn up the Tongan Islands on a fish-hook, 72; + puts god Hikuleo in durance, 88; + said to have brought great stones from Uea, 125; + a kind of Polynesian Hercules, 126; + brought fire to men, 226, 239; + his exploits, 275, 287 _n._, 396; + his image, 275 _sq._; + steals fire from Mahoike, 350 + + ---- one of the Sandwich Islands, 375, 429 + + ---- Atalanga, mythical first owner of fire, 57 + + ---- Kijikiji, the Polynesian Prometheus, 57 + + Mauike, the fire-god, 226, 238, 239 + + Mauna Kea, mountain in Hawaii, 376 + + ---- Loa, volcano in Hawaii, 375, 376 + + Mausoleum of the kings of Hawaii, 426 + + Medicine, the Hawaiian god of, 398 + + Megalithic monuments of the Tooitongas, 119; + in the Pacific, Dr. Rivers's theory as to, 119; + of the Tongans, 123; + in Lefooga (Lifuka), 128 _sq._; + their supposed relation to sun-worship, 266 _n._^4; + in the Marquesas, 360 _sq._ + + Megalithic tombs, 119, 123, 132 + + Meinicke, C. E., 118 _n._^2 + + Melanesian blood, admixture of, in the Hervey Islands, 221 + + ---- type, 6; + population of New Zealand, 6 _sq._ + + ---- totemism, 218 + + Melanesians, now related to Polynesians, 2 _sq._; + magic among the, 161; + sham-fights at funerals among the, 212 + + Melville, Hermann, 330, 332, 333, 338, 354, 357 _n._^3, 360 _sq._, + 361 _sq._, 373 + + Men deified in their lifetime, 349; + deified after death, 351 _sq._, 397 + + Metals unknown to the Polynesians, 61, 222, 250, 335 + + Metempsychosis, theory that Melanesian totemism has been developed out + of, 218 + + Milu (Miru), king of the nether world, 427, 428, 429, 430. + _See_ Miru + + ----, a rebel spirit, 392 + + Minstrels, wandering, in the Marquesas, 342 + + Miru, king of the nether world, 427; + goddess of hell or of the dead, 428 _n._^1; + the Hades of the Sandwich Islanders, 431. + _See_ Milu + + ----, an infernal hag, devours ghosts, 242 + + Moerenhout, J. A., 118, 263 _n._^2, 264 _n._^3, 266 _n._^4, 284, + 286 _n._^5, 297, 308 _n._^1 + + Monarchy, absolute, in Hawaii, 383 + + Mooa, old capital of Tongataboo, 106, 108, 111, 112 + + _Mooas_, middle-class in Tonga, 66, 85 + + Moomooe (Moomooi), king of Tonga, 83, 91, 108, 133, 141, 145 + + Moon, family god in, 192; + tradition of sacrifice to the, 394; + festival of the new, 414 + + Moon-goddess, 267, 287 _n._ + + Mo'ooi (Maui), Tongan god, 72 + + _Morai_ (_marai_, _marae_), burial-place, temple, 103, 116, 117, 118, + 119; + dead buried in, 117 _sqq._, 282 _sqq._; + in the Society Islands, 278 _sqq_. + + _Morais_, bones of dead chiefs buried in, 311; + burial-places, 357 _sq._, 361 _sq._; + mummies deposited in, 357; + in Hawaii, 391, 406 _sqq._; + dead chiefs buried in, 407 _sq._ + + Morality reinforced by superstitious terrors, 83; + not influenced by religion, 318 + + Mortality of souls of commoners, 66, 85 + + Motoro, a great god in the Hervey Islands, 241 + + Mourning for death of divine owl, 186 _sq._ + + ---- customs of Maoris, 19 _sq._; + in Tonga, 132 _sqq._; + in Samoa, 208 _sq._; + in the Hervey Islands, 231; + among the Society Islands, 301 _sqq._; + of the Marquesans, 353 _sqq._; + in Hawaii, 420 _sqq._ + + Mouth and nostrils of dying stopped to prevent the escape of the soul, + 352 + + Mueu, a female demon of death, 235 + + Mukasa, great god of the Baganda, 270 + + Mullets sacred, 95, 184 + + Mummies kept in the house or deposited in a _morai_, 357 + + Muru, a god, spreads a net to catch ghosts, 244 + + Mythology of the Society Islanders, 257 _sq._, 277; + of the Marquesans, 348 _sqq._ + + + Nails, parings of, used in evil magic, 325, 405 + + Names of relatives changed after a death, 233; + of kings sacred, 254; + new, given at admission to the Society of the Areois, 261; + exchange of, 339 + + Namuka, one of the Tonga Islands, 52 + + Nature, personifications of, 32, 34; + worship of, 93 + + Necromancy among the Maoris, 30 _sq._ + + Negritoes, 3 + + Net to catch ghosts, 242, 244 + + New Zealand, the Maoris of, 5 _sqq._; + Melanesian population of, 6 _sq._ + + Neyra, Alvaro Mendana de, 328 + + Ngati-apa, a Maori tribe, 23 + + Nicholas, J. L., 16 _n._^3 + + Night, or the primaeval darkness (_Po_), 258, 276, 277, 298 _n._^1, + 305, 315, 323, 393, 397, 427; + burials by, 419 + + Nightmare caused by a ghost, 419 + + _Noa_, common, 38, 39, 40; + general, as opposed to _taboo_, sacred, 388 + + Noah, the Hawaiian, 393, 394 + + Nobility traced in female line in Tonga, 75 + + Nobles, souls of dead, as gods, 64, 66, 84, 91 + + North Cape of New Zealand, place of departure for souls of the dead, + 27, 28, 30 + + Nukahiva, one of the Marquesas Islands, 328, 337, 350, 352, 360, 361, + 364, 368, 371, 372 + + Nuu, the Hawaiian Noah, 393, 394 + + + O-Heena, a goddess, 287 _n._ + _See_ Hina + + O-rongo, in Mangaia, 225 + + Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands, 375, 376 _n._^2, 385, 395, 411, 429 + + Obsequies of kings and chiefs in Tonga, 133 _sqq._; + of the Tooitongas, 140 _sqq._; + of Samoan chiefs, 211 _sq._; + of chiefs, in the Society Islands, 303 + + Octopus, god in, 95, 96, 183 + + Offerings to gods, 79; + to Samoan deities, 187, 188, 189; + to priests, 195; + to the dead, 311; + of food at tombs, 362; + to volcanic goddess, 401. + _See_ Sacrifices + + Omens sent by gods, 67; + from sacred birds, animals, or fish, 189 _sq._; + from sacrificial victims, clouds, and rainbow, 397, 414 + + Opoa, metropolis of idolatry in the Society Islands, 255, 258, 259, + 289 + + Oracles delivered by priests, 295; + given by priests in the name of gods, 404 + + _Oramatuas_ or _oromatuas_, worshipful spirits of departed relatives, + 277, 299, 323 _sq._; + sacred feathers called, 291 + + Origin of Samoan gods of families, villages, and districts, 200 _sqq._ + + Oro, war-god in the Society Islands, 255, 255 _n._^1, 258, 259, 261, + 263, 265, 266, 289, 295, 315, 326 + + Orono, head of a priestly order in Hawaii, 391 + + Orotetefa, patron deity of the Areoi Society, 263, 265, 267 + + Ovens, souls of dead in, 26 _sq._; + of hot stones, 222, 379 + + Owl god, festival of, 188; + kept tame, 191 + + Owls sacred, 95, 182; + mourning for dead, 186 _sq._; + omens from, 190 + + + Pantheon recruited by dead men, 98 + + Papa, goddess of earth, 34 _n._^2; + wife of Vatea, 226 + + Papatea, mythical island, 158 + + Papo, Samoan war-god, 186 + + Paradise of the Society Islanders, 319, 327 + + Parliamentary form of government in Samoa, 179 _sq._ + + _Pas_, Maori forts, 8 _n._^3 + + Pele, goddess of the volcano Kilauea in Hawaii, 399 _sqq._ + + Personifications of nature, 32, 34; + of ghost by an actor, 306 + + Pied fantail in Maori story of origin of death, 18 _sq._ + + Pigeons, divine, 184; + kept tame, 191 + + Pigs' liver a god, 96 + + Pigs offered to the dead, 231; + sacrificed, 264, 265, 291; + for recovery of sick, 351; + to the dead, 368. + _See_ Hogs + + Planets, the shrine of a god, 228 + + Pleiades, emblems of deified chiefs, 204 + + Po, region of departed souls (Maori), 27 + + _Po_, Night or the primaeval darkness, the abode of the gods and of + the dead, 258, 277, 298 _n._^1, 305, 308, 315, 316, + 317, 323, 393, 397, 427 + + Pollution caused by death, 312 _sq._, 427 + + Polack, J. S., 7 _n._^1 + + Polyandry among the Marquesans, 337 _sq._ + + Polygamy in the Hervey Islands, 223 + + Polynesians, 1 _sqq._; + their origin and language, 2 _sqq._; + mode of life, 4; + dispersal from Savaii (Hawaiki), 6, 154 _sq._; + or from Tonga, 56; + their knowledge of fire, 56 _sq._; + ignorant of metals, 61, 250 + + Polytheism developed out of totemism, 94 + + Porpoises, gods in, 66, 92 + + Porter, Captain David, 330, 332, 344 _n._^1, 350, 353, 357 _n._^3, + 362, 364 _sq._, 372 + + Pottery unknown to the Samoans, 181 + + Prayers to the gods, 79; + to the dead, 121; + to animal gods, 182; + for temporal benefits, 189; + before going to war, 189; + for the dying, 208; + offered to souls of dead relatives at their graves, 217; + rhythmical and ancient, 225; + offered to kings, 255; + of the Society Islanders, 257; + for the recovery of the sick, 257, 398; + to Oro, 261; + liturgical, 295 _sq._; + over the dead, 310; + for the dead, 318; + at temples, 327; + before battle, 397 + + "Praying people," sorcerers, 229 + + Presents brought to dying people, 207 _sq._ + + Priestess claiming to personify goddess, 401 + + Priests practise enchantments, 13 _sq._; + descended from the gods, 29; + their souls immortal, 29; + summon up spirits of dead, 31; + Tongan, their inspiration, 77 _sqq._; + Samoan, 192 _sq._; + inspired, 194; + consulted as to cause of sickness, 207; + inspired, called "god-boxes," 228 _sq._; + speaking in name of gods, 258, 293 _sqq._; + of shark gods, 276; + in the Society Islands, 292 _sqq._; + inspired by sharks, 403; + Hawaiian, 404 + + Property buried with the dead, 20, 140 _sq._, 211, 232 _sq._; + private, in relation to taboo, 47 _sq._; + rights of, in Samoa, 169 _sqq._ + + Prostitution, general, of women at the death of a great chief, 423 + + Pukapuka, Danger Island, 230 + + Pulotu, Samoan name for abode of the dead and of the gods, 204, 205, + 214, 216, 217. + _Compare_ Bolotoo + + Punishments in Samoa, 159 _sq._ + + Purification of king at installation, 255 _n._^1; + of land after defilement, 287 _sq._; + after contact with the dead, 210, 313; + of the souls of the dead, 316 + + Pyramidal tombs, 115 + + Pyramidical temples of Tahiti and the Marquesas, 119 + + Pyramids, stepped or terraced, 116, 117, 278 _sqq._; + of stone, stepped or terraced, in Hawaii, 408 _sqq._ + + + Quiros, Fernandez de, 246 + + + Ra, the sun-god, caught by Maui in nooses, 226 + + Radiguet, M., 338, 341, 357 _n._^1, 358, 373 + + Raiatea, one of the Society Islands, 246, 255, 258, 259, 266, 289, + 315, 317, 318, 319 + + Rail-bird sacred, 95; + omens from, 190 + + Rainbow worshipped, 93, 182; + omens from, 191, 397; + emblem of deified chiefs, 204 _sq._; + superstitions about, 267, 269 + + _Rangatira_, gentleman, 43, 44; + landowners, 224 + + Rangi, god of sky, 34 _n._^2 + + Rarotonga, one of the Hervey Islands, 219, 221, 222, 224, 226, 228, + 232, 243, 244 + + Raupa, a burial cave, 237 + + Recorders, sacred, 295 _sq._, 298 + + Red, bones of dead painted, 21; + tabooed, 227; + feathers regarded as divine, 290 _sq._ + + ---- Cave, 239, 240 + + Reincarnation of the dead, 368 _sq._ + + Reinga, leaping-off place of souls (Maori), 27 + + Religion of Maoris concentrated on worship of dead kinsfolk, 34; + homogeneity of Polynesian, 35 _n._; + the Tongan, 64 _sqq._; + ethical influence of the Tongan, 146 _sq._; + of the Samoans, 181 _sqq._; + of the Hervey Islanders, 225 _sqq._; + early stage of, 226; + of the Society Islanders, 256 _sqq._; + without influence on morality, 318; + of the Marquesans, 348 _sqq._; + of the Hawaiians, 390 _sqq._ + + Remy, J., 412 _n._^1, 415 _n._^1 + + Renan, Ernest, on the Hebrew prophets, 147 + + Respect for chiefs in Samoa, 171 _sqq._ + + Resurrection of the dead, Hawaiian notions about the, 430 _sq._ + + Rewards, posthumous, no belief in, 67, 146 + + Rhodesia, Northern, belief as to mother of twins in, 269 + + Rib of the first man, the first woman created out of the, 393 _sq._ + + Rites, of burial and mourning in Tonga, 132 _sqq._; + funeral, in the Hervey Islands, 231 _sqq._; + religious, of the Society Islanders, 257; + of purification, 288. + _See_ Ceremonies + + River of the Water of Life (Maori), 28; + in the nether world, 216 + + Rivers, W. H. R., 4 _n._^1, 119, 124 _n._^1, 128, 202, 218, 266 _n._^4 + + Roberts, E., 371 + + Rohutu, the abode of the dead, 319 _sq._, 327 + + Rongo, god of peace and agriculture, 35 _n._; + a great Polynesian god, 224, 225, 226, 392, 395; + his sacred stream and grove, 240, 241; + god, inventor of circumcision, 224 + + Rono, a great Hawaiian god, 404, 416. + _See_ Lono + + Roscoe, J., 271 + + Routledge, S. and K., 279 _n._^1 + + Ruahatu, a sea-god, 276 + + + S[=a]-le-Fe'e, the Samoan Tartarus, 216 + + Sacredness of chiefs, 172 _sqq._ + + Sacrifice of children, 75 _sq._, 81 _sq._; + of hogs, 79; + of fingers, 80; + of first-born sons, 89; + as magical, 83; + of pigs to the dead, 368; + of hogs to volcano, 399 + + Sacrifices in the Society Islands, 291 _sq._; + of pigs for the recovery of the sick, 351. + _See_ Human sacrifices + + Sacrilege, 67; + its expiation, 74 _sqq._, 183 _sqq._ + + Samoa, general name for the group of islands, 148; + original seat of Polynesian race, 154 + + Samoan Islands, 148 _sqq._; + volcanic activity in, 151 _sq._; + climate, 152 _sqq._ + + ---- Islanders, their appearance and character, 156 _sqq._; + houses, agriculture, and industries, 163 _sqq._; + rights of property, 169 _sqq._; + government, 171 _sqq._; + religion, 181 _sqq._ + + ---- worship of natural objects, 93, 96 _sq._; + of animals and other natural objects developed out of totemism, + 200 _sqq._, 218 + + Sanctity of kings in the Society Islands, 253 _sq._; + of priest of Tani (Tane), 293 + + Sanctuaries for criminals, 282 + + Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands, 375 _sqq._ + + Sandwich Islanders, 377 _sqq._; + their four chief gods, 35 _n._ + + Saturnalia at the death of a king or high chief in Hawaii, 421 _sqq._ + + Savage thought inconsistent, 84, 90 _sq._ + + Savages not addicted to sun-worship, 131 + + Savaii, one of the Samoan islands, centre of Polynesian dispersion, 6, + 148 _sq._, 150 _sq._, 154 _sq._, 192, 195, 202, 215 + + Saveasiuleo, the king of the lower regions, 216 _sq._ + + Scalps of slain foes taken, 162 + + Sea, gods of the, 276 _sq._ + + ---- eels sacred, 93, 94, 185 + + ---- gull sacred, 93 + + ---- -snake as god, 185 + + ---- -urchin, family god in, 183 + + Second death, 29 + + Secret burial, 21 + + Semites sacrifice first-born sons, 89 + + Serfdom, alleged, in Hawaii, 385 + + Shadow, soul associated with, 205 _sq._ + + Sham fights at obsequies of Samoan chiefs, 211, 212; + at Melanesian funerals, 212; + after a death, 234, 235, 236, 303 + + Shark-gods, 227, 276 + + Shark's teeth, omens from, 191 + + Sharks as ministers of justice, 77; + gods in, 96, 182; + sacred, 93; + still-born children turned into, 398, 403; + worshipped in Hawaii, 402 _sqq._ + + Shells (_Murex namoces_) in which the souls of the dead were supposed + to lodge, 325 + + Shortland, E., 6 _n._^2 + + Sick people carried to temple, 195 + + Sickness supposed to be caused by evil spirits, 417. + _See_ Disease + + Sinnet tenanted by a god, 228 + + Sins of the dead buried in a hole, 305 + + Sisters, curses of, specially dreaded, 207 + + Skins of the dead preserved as relics, 367 + + Skulls of dead kept in houses, 118; + of ancestors kept in temple or house, 288, 311; + of dead rulers worshipped, 324; + of dead hidden in caves, 357 + + Sky raised by Maui, 226, 275 + + Slaves killed to accompany their dead lords, 24; + in the Society Islands, 253 + + "Slaying the ghosts," 234 + + Smith, E. W. and Dale, A. M., 425 + + ----, S. Percy, 155 + + Snakes, water, gods in, 66, 92 + + Sneezing, Hervey Islanders' theory of, 229 + + Social ranks in Samoa, 171 _sqq._; + in Rarotonga, 224; + in the Society Islands, 253; + among the Marquesans, 344; + in Hawaii, 383 _sqq._ + + Society Islanders, 248 _sqq._ + + Society Islands, 246 _sqq._ + + Songs in honour of the dead, 236. + _See_ Dirges + + Sorcerers (Maori), 13 _sqq._; + disease and death ascribed to arts of, 300, 325 _sq._; + Hawaiian, 405. + _See_ Magic + + Soul, Maori ideas concerning the, 10 _sqq._; + as shadow, 11; + as breath, 11; + departure of soul from body, 12 _sqq._; + its fate after death, 24 _sqq._, 66, 86 _sqq._, 213 _sqq._, + 238 _sqq._, 313 _sq._, 427 _sqq._; + survival of, 24; + ascent to heaven, 24 _sqq._, 29; + Tongan theory of, 66, 84 _sqq._; + Samoan belief concerning the, 205 _sq._; + associated with shadow, 205 _sq._; + of the same shape as body, 205; + belief of the Society Islanders concerning the, 297 _sqq._; + beliefs of the Hervey Islanders concerning the, 229 _sqq._; + beliefs of the Marquesans concerning the, 352; + Hawaiian beliefs concerning the, 417 + + Souls of commoners mortal, 29; + souls of chiefs and priests immortal, 29; + of the dead appear in dreams, 31, 91 _sq._; + of ancestors cause disease, 49; + of dead infants cause disease, 49, 299; + of dead nobles as gods, 64 _sq._, 66, 84, 91; + of dead men as gods, 64, 66, 69, 85, 91, 351 _sq._, 397; + of Tongan commoners mortal, 66, 85; + caught in traps, 230 _sq._; + leaping-place of, 27, 241; + ascribed to animals, trees, and stones, 297; + of the dead eaten by the gods, 315, 427; + of children supposed to transmigrate into sharks, 403 + + Spells (Maori), 13 _sqq._ + + Spencer, Herbert, his theory that temples are derived from tombs, 100 + + Spirit world, Maori ideas of, 29 _sq._ + + Spirits of the dead become gods, 31 _sq._; + threatened, 208. + _See_ Gods, Souls + + Spittle used in magic, 15, 300, 325, 405; + collected to prevent its use in magic, 405 _sq._ + + Stair, J. B., 152, 173 _n._^1, 203 _n._^2, 206 _n._^1 + + Star, shooting, worshipped, 93 + + Stars observed by the Samoans, 161 + + Sterndale, H. B., 197, 198, 199 + + Stewart, C. S., 157 _n._^7, 337 _sq._, 340 _sq._, 344 _n._^1, + 348 _sq._, 349 _sq._, 358, 372, 377, 424 + + Stick-and-groove mode of kindling fire, 181 + + Stilts, racing or combating on, 339 _sq._ + + Stinging ray fish, divine, 184, 185; + taboo to some Marquesans, 347 + + Stone-cutting in Tonga, craft of, 127 + + Stone monuments in Samoa, 197 _sqq._ + + Stone temple, ruins of, in Samoa, 196 _sq._ + + Stone tools and weapons, 10, 61, 180, 250 _sq._, 335, 382; + in Tonga, 61; + in Samoa, 180 + + Stonehenge, trilithons at, 123, 129, 130 + + Stones worshipped, 182, 187; + piled on graves to prevent the dead from rising, 232 + + Succession of eldest sons at their birth, 255 _sq._ + + Sugar-cane cultivated, 379 + + Suicides, their fate after death, 363 + + Sun, supposed secret worship of the, in the Pacific, 119; + Stonehenge supposed by some to be a temple of the, 130; + Tongans not worshippers of the, 131; + tradition of human sacrifices to, 158; + not worshipped in Samoa, 192; + ghosts journeying with the, 239 _sqq._; + caught and stopped by Maui, 275, 287 _n._, 396; + not worshipped by the Society Islanders, 286; + souls of the dead gather in the, 320 + + Sun god caught by Maui, 226; + supposed worship of, 266, 286 _n._^5 + + Sun worship, savages not addicted to, 131 + + "Sun-dried gods," title applied to embalmed bodies of chiefs, 205 + + Superstitious terrors reinforce morality, 83 + + + Taaroa (Taroa), a great god, 255 _n._^1, 258, 266, 267, 276, 287 _n._; + supreme god of Polynesia, 290. + _Compare_ Tanaroa, Tangaloa, Tangaroa + + Taboo (_tapu_) among the Maoris, 32, 34, 37 _sqq._, 432; + contracted by contact with the dead, 39, 209; + of sacred chiefs, 41 _sqq._; + its effect in confirming the rights of private property, 47 _sq._; + ultimate sanction of, 49; + supposed effects of breaking a, 76 _sq._; + consequent on touching a dead body, 137 _sq._; + comprises ideas of holiness and uncleanness, 173; + signified by white cloth, 344; + in the Marquesas, 345 _sqq._; + a definition of, 348; + in Hawaii, 387 _sqq._; + breaches of, punished with death, 389; + abolished in Hawaii, 389 _sq._; + rigour of, 416; + an aristocratic institution, 432 + + Tabooed priest, 404 + + Taboos imposed by chiefs, 175, 432 + + Tahaa, one of the Society Islands, 246, 258 + + Tahiti, 246, 247, 255, 266, 279, 282, 283, 314, 321; + _morais_ in, 116 _sqq._, 279 _sqq._ + + _Tahowa_, priest, 293 + + Tahuata (Santa Christina), one of the Marquesas, 349, 359, 360, 364, + 367 + + Taipii (Typee), valley of, in Nukahiva, 360, 365 + + Taipiis or Typees, a tribe of Nukahiva, 330, 332, 365, 373 + + Tairi (Kaili), the national war-god of Hawaii, 396, 397, 404, 411 + + Takalaua, a Tooitonga, 108 + + Tali-y-Toobo, Tongan god of royal family, 70, 73, 77, 79, 121 + + Tame gods, 191 + + Tamehameha, king of Hawaii, 384, 423. + _See_ Kamehameha + + Tanaroa, Tangaroa, Tagaloa, Taaroa, dialectically different names of + a great Polynesian god, 258, 392 + + Tane (Tani), a great Polynesian god, 35 _n._, 241, 258, 280, 284, 293, + 392, 394, 397 + + Tane-kio, a god, enshrined in the planets Venus and Jupiter, 228 + + Tangaloa, god, drew up Tonga Islands on a fishing-hook, 65, 72 _sq._; + god of artificers, 72; + puts god Hikuleo in durance, 88; + ancestor of Tui-ta-tui, 127; + temple of, 196; + principal god of Samoans, the creator, 202 _sq._; + said to have fished up the islands, 202, 203 + + Tangaroa, god of ocean, 35 _n._; + a great god, brother of Rongo, 226 + + _Tapu_. _See_ Taboo + + Taro the staple food of the Samoans, 165; + of the Mangaians, 222; + and of the Hawaiians, 378 + + Tattooing, not applied to the Tooitonga, 81; + nor to the sacred kings of Mangaia, 224; + as a punishment in Samoa, 160; + of the Marquesan islanders, 331 _sq._; + marks of, removed from corpse, 368; + of the Hawaiians, 378; + of the tongue in mourning, 421 + + _Tauas_, inspired men, 350 _sq._ + + Tauata (Santa Christina), one of the Marquesas Islands, 337 + + Taylor, R., 7 _n._^1, 32 _n._^1, _n._^2, 36, 42 + + _Tee_, _teehee_, _tii_, spirit of the dead, guardian spirit, 313, 322, + 323 _n._^1 + + Teeth, loss of, penalty for breach of taboo, 209 _sq._; + knocked out in mourning, 231, 420, 423, 424 + + Tekuraaki, a god, incarnate in the woodpecker, 228 + + Temple, dead Areois buried in, 261; + bones of human victims buried in, 292; + bones of dead chiefs buried in, 311 + + Temples of the gods in Tonga, 73 _sqq._, 99 _sqq._; + and graves, question of, 99 _sqq._; + and tombs, 99 _sqq._; + Samoan, 194 _sqq._; + in the Society Islands, 278 _sqq._; + dedicated to sharks, 402, 403; + Hawaiian, 406 _sqq._ + + Theft, ordeal for detection of, 77 + + Thieves, Hiro the god of, 326; + divination to detect, 406 + + Thunder and lightning, no Tongan god of, 71; + Tongan idea concerning, 90 + + Thunder-god kept in captivity, 191 _sq._ + + Thomas, Rev. John, 57 _n._^1, 111 _n._ + + Thomson, A. S., 6 _n._^2 + + Thomson, Sir Basil, 87 _n._^1, 106, 107, 115, 116, 124, 125, 126, 127, + 128, 129 + + Tiaio, a god of the Hervey Islanders, 227 + + Tiaraboo (Tiarroboo, Tairaboo), the southern peninsula of Tahiti, 257, + 283 + + Tiburones, a mythical paradise, 352, 364 + + Ti'iti'i, hero, robs Mafuie of fire, 203 + + _Tii_, a worshipful spirit of the dead, 324. + Compare _Tee_ + + Tiki, the god of the dead, 231, 232 + + ----, a heroine, 239; + warder of the land of the dead, 244 _sq._ + + ----, a Marquesan god, 343, 350 _n._^4 + + Timatekore, a god of the Hervey Islanders, 226 + + Tofua, Tongan island, 96 + + Togo, in West Africa, 271 + + _Tohunga_, Maori priest, 16 _n._^3 + + Tombs, megalithic, of the Tooitongas, 99 _sqq._, 105 _sqq._, 119, + 123, 132; + and temples, 99 _sqq._ + + Tonga or Friendly Islands, 52 _sqq._ + + ---- Islanders, 57 _sqq._; + their religion, 64 _sqq._; + their national and tribal gods, 93 _sq._ + + Tongataboo, 52, 86, 94, 106, 111, 112, 113, 114, 119, 120, 123 + + Tonga-iti, a god in the Hervey Islands, 227 + + _Tooas_ (_tuas_), Tongan commoners, 66, 85, 86, 87 + + Toobo Toty, a Tongan god, 71 + + Toogoo Ahoo, king of Tonga, 81 + + Tooi fooa Bolotoo, a Tongan god, 70 _sq._ + + Tooitonga, sacred chief or king of Tonga, 62, 66, 73, 81, 82, 94, + 106, 107, 108, 110, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121, + 122, 123, 126, 127, 144, 145; + tombs of the Tooitongas, 105 _sqq._; + obsequies of the, 140 _sqq._ + + Tooi-tonga-fafine, sister of the Tooitonga, 110 + + Totemic gods of Samoa, 202 + + Totemism, Tongan polytheism developed out of, 94; + Samoan worship of animals developed out of, 200 _sqq._, 218; + theory that it has been developed out of metempsychosis, 218; + relics of, in the Hervey Islands, 227 _sq._; + traces of, among the Marquesans, 347; + relics of, in Hawaii, 402 + + Trade guilds among the Samoans, 167 _sq._ + + Transmigration of souls not believed in by the Samoans, 218; + of souls of children into sharks, 403 + + Traps set for souls, 230 + + Tree, family god in, 192; + on which ghosts perch, 241 + + Trees, dead deposited on, 20 _sq._; + tenanted by gods, 228; + sacred, 281 _sq._; + worshipped, 402 + + Tregear, E., 6 _n._^2, 126 _n._^2, 392 + + Tribes or clans among the Hervey Islanders, 223 + + Trilithon in Tongataboo, 123 _sqq._ + + Trilithons at Stonehenge, 123, 129, 130 + + Trinity, the Hawaiian, 392 + + Triton-shell, god in, 228 + + Tropic-bird sacred, 93 + + Tu, Maori war-god, 35 _n._; + a great Polynesian deity, 392 + + Tuaraatai, a sea god in the Society Islands, 276 + + Tufoa, volcanic island, 53 + + Tui-ta-tui, a Tooitonga, 127, 128 + + _Tulafales_, householders or gentry in Samoa, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180 + + Tuoro, in Rarotonga, the meeting-place of ghosts, 243, 244 + + Turnbull, J., 262 + + Turner, Dr. George, 183 _n._^1, 203 _n._^2, 206 _n._^1, 212, 213 + + Turtles, family god in, 183 _sq._ + + Tutuila, Samoan island, 149, 175, 176, 180, 215 + + Twins, divine, 226; + heavenly, 267; + customs and superstitions concerning, 267 _sqq._; + thought able to influence the weather, 267 _sq._; + fertilising power ascribed to, 269 _sqq._; + divine Hawaiian, 394 + + Tyerman and Bennet, 260, 281, 283, 295, 315, 386 + + Tylor, E. B., 3 _n._^3 + + Typee. _See_ Taipii + + Typees or Taipiis, a tribe of Nukahiva, 330, 332 365, 375 + + + Uea (Wallis Island), 125 + + Uganda, human sacrifice in, 84 + + _Uhane_, soul, 417 + + Ui, a heroine, beloved by the sun, 158 + + Uli, a Hawaiian god, 405 + + Umi, king of Hawaii, 411, 413 + + Unburied dead, Samoan ceremonies for, 205 _sq._ + + Uncleanness, and holiness blent in taboo, 173; + caused by contact with a corpse, 312 _sq._, 427 + + Underworld, home of the souls of the dead, 27 + + Upolu, Samoan island, 149, 152, 155, 162, 185, 196, 202, 214, 215 + + Upu, a Marquesan goddess of the dead, 367, 368 + + Uriwera, a Maori people, 15 + + Urutetefa, patron deity of the Areoi Society, 263, 265, 267 + + Utakea, a god incarnate in the woodpecker, 228 + + + Vatea, a primary god, 226 + + Vavau, a Tongan island, 52, 53, 73 + + Veachi, sacred personage in Tonga, 66 + + Veeson, George, 86 + + Vegetable gods in Samoa, 192 + + Ventriloquism, 370 + + Venus, the planet, the shrine of a god, 228 + + Vergnes, P. E. Eyriaud des, 374 + + Village gods, 182, 185 + + Villages, Samoan, self-governing, 178 _sq._ + + Vincendon-Dumoulin, 118, 358, 373 + + Virtue, Tongan ideas of, 66 _sq._, 146 _sq._ + + Volcanic activity in Tonga Islands, 53 _sqq._; + in Samoa, 151; + in Hawaii, 375 + + Volcano, goddess of, in Hawaii, 399 _sqq._; + offerings to, 399 _sq._ + + + _Wahi taboo_, sacred place, temple, 387 _sq._ + + _Wahine ariki_, 40 + + Waimate Plains in New Zealand, 23 + + Wakea. _See_ Akea + + Wallis Island (Uea), 125 + + Wallis rediscovers Society Islands, 246 + + War gods, Samoan, 186, 188, 189 _sq._ + + War-gods, images of, carried to battle, 397 + + Warriors tabooed, 40 _sq._ + + Warriors, fate of souls of dead, 242 _sq._, 244 _sq._ + + Water of Life, River of the, 28; + in the nether world, 216 + + Weaving practised by Maoris, 9 + + West, Thomas, 114 + + Whale, soul of dead priest in a, 369 + + Whales worshipped, 93 + + _Whattas_, altars, 391, 392 + + White cloth as mark of taboo, 344; + flags as marks of property, 386 + + Widowers tabooed, 39 + + Widows killed to accompany their dead husbands, 24; + tabooed, 39; + strangled and buried with their husbands, 145; + dances of, 353, 354 + + Wilkes, Charles (Commodore), 57, 61 _n._, 87, 89 _n._^1, 90, + 155 _n._^1, 384 _sq._, 411 + + Williams, John, 80, 157 _n._^7, 158, 181, 185, 221, 231 + + Wilson, James, 264 _n._^5 + + Winds imprisoned by two gods, 277 + + Windward Islands, 246 + + Wiro, evil spirit, 27 + + Woman, the first, created out of a rib of the first man, 393 _sq._ + + Women well treated by Tongans, 61 _sq._; + well treated by the Samoans, 157; + excluded from temples, 288 _sq._; + forbidden to eat with men, 381; + forbidden to partake of sacrifices, 388 + + Woodpecker, gods incarnate in the, 228 + + Worms, souls of the dead in the shape of, 29 + + Worship of ancestors among the Maoris, 32 _sqq._; + of the Tongan gods, 79 _sqq._; + of nature, 93; + of the dead tends to encroach on the worship of the high gods, + 97 _sq._; + of animals and other natural objects in Samoa, 182 _sqq._, + 200 _sqq._; + of the dead in Samoa, 204 _sq._; + of the dead, elements of the, 205; + of the sun, supposed, 266, 286 _n._^5; + of the dead in the Society Islands, 322 _sqq._; + of animals in Hawaii, 401 _sqq._ + _See_ Religion + + Wrestling matches as funeral rite, 140, 144, 211; + at obsequies of chiefs, 303 + + ---- and boxing matches at obsequies of Samoan chiefs, 211; + in honour of Lono (Rono), 395, 416 + + + Yam festival in Tonga, 71 _sq._ + + Yams, new, offered at grave, 122 + + Young, John, 422 _sq._ + + + Zulu superstition as to twins, 270 + + + +THE END + + +_Printed in Great Britain by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. + + + + +WORKS BY SIR J. G. FRAZER + + + THE + BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY + AND THE + WORSHIP OF THE DEAD + + VOL. I. + + THE BELIEF AMONG THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, THE TORRES STRAITS + ISLANDS, NEW GUINEA, AND MELANESIA. + + THE GIFFORD LECTURES, ST. ANDREWS, 1911-1912. + + 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. + +Mr. EDWARD CLODD in the _DAILY CHRONICLE_.--"'If a man die, shall he +live again?' is a question asked chiliads before Job put it, and the +generations of mankind repeat it. In this profoundly interesting volume, +Professor Frazer, out of the treasury of his knowledge, and with +consummate art of attractive presentment, gives the answers devised by +the Lower Races." + +_FOLK-LORE_.--"It displays all the best qualities, both in respect of +style and matter, that characterise Dr. Frazer's former works." + +_NEW STATESMAN_.--"Dr. Frazer does not profess to explain the ultimate +source of religion, but only to attempt to follow the steps of its +growth among the races of men. It is his aim to set before us a +continent of facts known, or partly known, to the anthropologists, not a +solution of the mystery of the Universe. That aim he has achieved with +masterly success and lucidity." + +Mr. A. E. CRAWLEY in _NATURE_.--"The analysis of belief and practice +among the aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits, New Guinea, and +Melanesia, which occupies nearly 400 pages of this volume, is a masterly +performance." + +_GUARDIAN_.--"The bare facts which Dr. Frazer sets before us are of an +absorbing interest.... The Biblical student may gain much from the +perusal of Dr. Frazer's work." + +_OBSERVER_.--"The importance of the work which Dr. Frazer has undertaken +cannot be overrated. His study of religion is a contribution to human +knowledge of such quality that the country to which he belongs may well +be proud of him.... Dr. Frazer has arranged the mass of detail from +which he has had to draw with a skill and judgment which in the work of +another man would be surprising; and he tells each story with the point +and clarity of an artist, so that, apart from the book's high mission, +it could be read as a storehouse of good tales. His comments, moreover, +are always brief and decisive." + + * * * * * + + THE GOLDEN BOUGH + + A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION + + Third Edition, revised and enlarged. 8vo. + + Part I. THE MAGIC ART AND THE EVOLUTION OF KINGS. Two volumes. + 25s. net. + + II. TABOO AND THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. One volume. + 12s. 6d. net. + + III. THE DYING GOD. One volume. 12s. 6d. net. + + IV. ADONIS, ATTIS, OSIRIS. Two volumes. 25s. net. + + V. SPIRITS OF THE CORN AND OF THE WILD. Two volumes. + 25s. net. + + VI. THE SCAPEGOAT. One volume, 12s. 6d. net. + + VII. BALDER THE BEAUTIFUL: THE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE + AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE EXTERNAL SOUL. Two volumes. + 25s. net. + + Vol. XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GENERAL INDEX. 25s. net. + +_TIMES_.--"The book is a great book, in just the sense in which the work +of Darwin, Zola, or Balzac is great. It has explored and mapped out a +new world. But it combines artistry with science. Not only does it +describe the greater part of the magical and religious beliefs and +practices of the lower races and peasant peoples of the world, with +a scientific precision and completeness superior to those of the +encyclopĉdic biologist; it also narrates, with greater truth and +vividness than has ever been essayed, the tragi-comedy of human +superstition." + +Mr. A. E. CRAWLEY in _NATURE_.--"This new edition is something more than +a mere enlargement. It is a new book, or a series of books; yet it is +the same 'Golden Bough.' The reader will find it full of good things, +new and old. He will also realise that 'The Golden Bough' is a great +book, one of the great books of our time." + + * * * * * + + THE GOLDEN BOUGH: A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION. + Abridged Edition. With Frontispiece. 8vo. 18s. net. + +This abridgment has been prepared in response to numerous requests that +the work should be issued in a more compendious form. While the book has +been greatly reduced in bulk, by omission of all the notes and +occasional condensation in the text, all the main principles of the +complete work are retained, together with a sufficient amount of +evidence to illustrate them clearly. Nothing has been added, and no +change has been made in the author's views. It is hoped that in this +abridged form the book may prove welcome to students and general readers +who cannot afford to buy and read the complete edition. + + * * * * * + + FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Studies in Comparative Religion, + Legend, and Law. Three vols. 8vo. 37s. 6d. net. + +_TIMES_.--"The idea of illustrating the Old Testament by analogies drawn +from the myths, customs, and superstitions of various primitive peoples +is not, of course, a new one ... but no one has hitherto published +anything to be compared with the vast and varied store of information +which Sir James Frazer now places before us.... His book is a mine of +instructive facts for which all future students of the subject will be +grateful." + +_NATURE_.--"These three volumes should be the household companion of +every religious teacher, nay, of every one who cares or dares to see +what that latest daughter of science, folk-lore, has to say about the +cherished beliefs from the Old Testament, absorbed in infancy, and +rarely visualised differently in later life." + +_SPECTATOR_.--"We may say at once that Sir James Frazer's new work is +profoundly interesting, and that it throws a flood of light on many +familiar episodes and references." + + * * * * * + + TOTEMISM AND EXOGAMY. A Treatise on Certain Early Forms of + Superstition and Society. With Maps. Four vols. 8vo. 50s. net. + +Mr. A. E. CRAWLEY in _NATURE_.--"That portion of the book which is +concerned with totemism (if we may express our own belief at the risk of +offending Prof. Frazer's characteristic modesty) is actually 'The +Complete History of Totemism, its Practice and its Theory, its Origin +and its End.'... Nearly two thousand pages are occupied with an +ethnographical survey of totemism, an invaluable compilation. The maps, +including that of the distribution of totemic peoples, are a new and +useful feature." + + * * * * * + + THE MAGICAL ORIGIN OF KINGS. (Formerly published as "Lectures on + the Early History of the Kingship.") 8vo. 10s. 6d. net. + +_ATHENĈUM_.--"It is the effect of a good book not only to teach, but +also to stimulate and to suggest, and we think this the best and highest +quality, and one that will recommend these lectures to all intelligent +readers, as well as to the learned." + + * * * * * + + PSYCHE'S TASK. A Discourse concerning the Influence of + Superstition on the Growth of Institutions. Second Edition, + revised and enlarged. To which is added "The Scope of Social + Anthropology." 8vo. 6s. 6d. net. + +_OUTLOOK_.--"Whether we disagree or agree with Dr. Frazer's general +conclusions, he has provided us with a veritable storehouse of +correlated facts, for which, and for the learning that has gone to their +collection, and for the intellectual brilliance that has gone to their +arrangement, we can never be sufficiently grateful." + + * * * * * + + PAUSANIAS'S DESCRIPTION OF GREECE. Translated with a Commentary, + Illustrations, and Maps. Second Edition. Six vols. 8vo. 126s. + net. + +_ATHENĈUM_.--"All these writings in many languages Mr. Eraser has read +and digested with extraordinary care, so that his book will be for years +the book of reference on such matters, not only in England, but in +France and Germany. It is a perfect thesaurus of Greek topography, +archĉology, and art." + + * * * * * + + STUDIES IN GREEK SCENERY, LEGEND AND HISTORY. Selected from Sir + J. G. FRAZER'S Commentary on Pausanias. Globe 8vo. 5s. net. + +_GUARDIAN_.--"Here we have material which every one who has visited +Greece, or purposes to visit it, most certainly should read and +enjoy.... We cannot imagine a more excellent book for the educated +visitor to Greece." + + * * * * * + + SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY, AND OTHER LITERARY PIECES. Crown 8vo. 8s. + 6d. net. + +_DAILY TELEGRAPH_.--"These various studies, biographical, fantastic, and +romantic, are the fine flower of scholarship and taste, touched +continually by the golden light of imagination, and full of that +interpretative sympathy which is half-sister to creation." + + * * * * * + + LETTERS OF WILLIAM COWPER. Chosen and Edited, with a Memoir and + a few Notes, by Sir J. G. FRAZER. Two vols. Globe 8vo. l0s. net. + [_Eversley Series._ + +Mr. CLEMENT SHORTER in the _DAILY CHRONICLE_.--"The introductory Memoir, +of some eighty pages in length, is a valuable addition to the many +appraisements of Cowper that these later years have seen.... Dr. Frazer +has given us two volumes that are an unqualified joy." + + * * * * * + + ESSAYS OF JOSEPH ADDISON. Chosen and Edited, with a Preface and + a few Notes, by Sir J. G. FRAZER. Two vols. Globe 8vo. 10s. net. + [_Eversley Series._ + +_NATION_.--"Sir James Frazer, who writes a Preface, quite in the Addison +manner, has done his work of selection as only a scholar of his breadth +and distinction could achieve." + + + +LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. + +2. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest +paragraph break. + +3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the paragraph +in which they are referenced. + +4. The original text has certain words which use "oe" ligature which is +indicated by [oe] within this text. + +5. There are certain letters with diacritical marks in the original text +which are indicated in this e-text version using: + + [=a] letter a with macron above + [=o] letter o with macron above + [)a] letter a with breve + +6. In the original text, the words lulu'u, A'ana and Tuia'ana use single +high-reversed-9 quotation mark which has been replaced by plain single +quotation mark in this e-text version. + +7. 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