A Woman's Journey Round the World Part 9

I was not a little astonished on hearing that, in this country, where there is yet no post, or, indeed, any regular means of conveyance from one place to another, that a railroad was about being constructed from here to Santiago. The work has been undertaken by an English company, and the necessary measurements already begun. As the localities are very mountainous, the railroad will have to make considerable windings, in order to profit by the level tracts, and this will occasion an enormous outlay, quite out of proportion to the present state of trade or the amount of pa.s.senger traffic. At present, there are not more than two or three vehicles a day from one place to the other, and if by chance ten or fifteen pa.s.sengers come from Santiago to Valparaiso, the thing is talked of over the whole town. This has given rise to the belief that the construction of a railroad has merely been seized on as an excuse, in order to enable those concerned to search about the country undisturbed for gold and silver.

Persons discovering mines are highly favoured, and have full right of property to their discovery, being obliged merely to notify the same to the government. This licence is pushed to such an extent, that if, for instance, a person can advance any plausible grounds for a.s.serting that he has found a mine in a particular spot, such as under a church or house, etc., he is at liberty to have either pulled down, provided he is rich enough to pay for the damage done.

About fifteen years ago, a donkey driver accidentally hit upon a productive silver mine. He was driving several a.s.ses over the mountain, when one of them ran away. He seized a stone, and was about to throw it after the animal, but stumbled and fell to the ground, while the stone escaped from his grasp, and rolled away.

Rising in a great pa.s.sion, he s.n.a.t.c.hed a second from the earth, and had drawn his arm to throw the stone, when he was struck by its uncommon weight. He looked at it more closely, and perceived that it was streaked with rich veins of pure silver. He preserved the stone as a treasure, marked the spot, drove his a.s.ses home, and then communicated his important discovery to one of his friends, who was a miner. Both of them then returned to the place, which the miner examined, and p.r.o.nounced the soil full of precious ore. Nothing was now wanting save capital to carry on their operations. This they procured by taking the miner's employer into partners.h.i.+p, and in a few years all three were rich men.

The six days had now elapsed, and the captain sent me a message to be on board with my bag and baggage the next day, as he intended putting out to sea in the evening; but on the morning of his intended departure, my evil genius conducted a French man-of-war into the harbour. Little imagining that this was destined to overturn all my plans, I proceeded very tranquilly to the landing- place, where I met the captain hastening to meet me, with a long story about his half-cargo, and the necessity he was under of completing his freight with provisions for the use of the French garrison at Tahiti, and so forth: in a word, the end of the matter was, that I was informed we should have to stop another five days.

In the first burst of my disappointment, I paid a visit to the Sardinian Consul, Herr Bayerbach, and told him of the position in which I was placed. He consoled me, in a most kind and gentlemanly manner, as well as he could; and on learning that I had already taken up my quarters on board, insisted on my occupying a chamber in his country-house in the Serra Allegri. Besides this, he introduced me to several families, where I pa.s.sed many very pleasant hours, and had the opportunity of inspecting some excellent collections of mussel-sh.e.l.ls and insects.

Our departure was again deferred from day to day; so that, although, in this manner, I spent fifteen days in Chili, I saw nothing more of it than Valparaiso and its immediate neighbourhood.

As Valparaiso is situated to the south of the Equator, and, as is well known, the seasons of the southern hemisphere are exactly the contrary of those of the northern, it was now autumn. I saw (34 degrees South lat.i.tude) almost the same kinds of fruits and vegetables as those we have in Germany, especially grapes and melons. The apples and pears were not so good nor so abundant as with us.

In conclusion, I will here give a list of the prices which travellers have to pay for certain things:--

A room that is at all decent in a private house costs four or five reaux (2s.) a day; the table d'hote a piaster (4s.); but was.h.i.+ng is more expensive than anything else, on account of the great scarcity of water, for every article, large or small, costs a real (6d.). A pa.s.sport, too, is excessively dear, being charged eight Spanish dollars (1 pounds 12s.).

CHAPTER VII. THE VOYAGE FROM VALPARAISO TO CANTON VIA TAHITI.

DEPARTURE FROM VALPARAISO--TAHITI--MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE--FETE AND BALL IN HONOUR OF LOUIS PHILIPPE--EXCURSIONS--A TAHITIAN DINNER--THE LAKE VAIHIRIA--THE DEFILE OF FANTAUA AND THE DIADEM--DEPARTURE--ARRIVAL IN CHINA.

On the 17th of March, Captain Van Wyk Jurianse sent me word that his s.h.i.+p was ready for sea, and that he should set sail the next morning. The news was very unwelcome to me, as, for the last two days, I had been suffering from English cholera, which on board s.h.i.+p, where the patient cannot procure meat broth or any other light nourishment, and where he is always more exposed to the sudden changes of the weather than he is on sh.o.r.e, is very apt to be attended with grave results. I did not, however, wish to miss the opportunity of visiting China, knowing how rarely it occurred, nor was I desirous of losing the two hundred dollars (40 pounds) already paid for my pa.s.sage, and I therefore went on board, trusting in my good luck, which had never forsaken me on my travels.

During the first few days, I endeavoured to master my illness by observing a strict diet, and abstaining from almost everything, but to no purpose. I still continued to suffer, until I luckily thought of using salt-water baths. I took them in a large tub, in which I remained a quarter of an hour. After the second bath, I felt much better, and after the sixth, I was completely recovered. I merely mention this malady, to which I was very subject in warm climates, that I may have the opportunity of remarking, that sea-baths or cooling drinks, such as b.u.t.termilk, sour milk, sherbet, orangeade, etc., are very efficacious remedies.

The s.h.i.+p in which I made my present voyage, was the Dutch barque Lootpuit, a fine, strong vessel, quite remarkable for its cleanliness. The table was pretty good, too, with the exception of a few Dutch dishes, and a superfluity of onions. To these, which played a prominent part in everything that was served up, I really could not accustom myself, and felt greatly delighted that a large quant.i.ty of this n.o.ble production of the vegetable kingdom became spoilt during the voyage.

The captain was a polite and kind man, and the mates and sailors were also civil and obliging. In fact, as a general rule, in every s.h.i.+p that I embarked in, I was far from finding seamen so rough and uncivil as travellers often represent them to be. Their manners are certainly not the most polished in the world, neither are they extraordinarily attentive or delicate, but their hearts and dispositions are mostly good.

After three days' sailing, we saw, on the 21st March, the island of St. Felix, and on the morning following, St. Ambrosio. They both consist of naked, inhospitable ma.s.ses of rock, and serve at most as resting places for a few gulls.

We were now within the tropics, but found the heat greatly moderated by the trade wind, and only unbearable in the cabin.

For nearly a month did we now sail on, without the slightest interruption, free from storms, with the same monotonous prospect of sky and water before us, until, on the 19th of April, we reached the Archipelago of the Society Islands. This Archipelago, stretching from 130 to 140 degrees longitude, is very dangerous, as most of the islands composing it scarcely rise above the surface of the water; in fact, to make out David Clark's Island, which was only twelve miles distant, the captain was obliged to mount to the shrouds.

During the night of the 21st to the 22nd of April we were overtaken by a sudden and violent storm, accompanied by heavy thunder; this storm our captain termed a thunder-gust. While it lasted flashes of lightning frequently played around the mast-top, occasioned by electricity. They generally flutter for two or three minutes about the most elevated point of any object, and then disappear.

The night of the 22nd to the 23rd of April was a very dangerous one; even the captain said so. We had to pa.s.s several of the low islands in dark rainy weather, which completely concealed the moon from us.

About midnight our position was rendered worse by the springing up of a strong wind, which, together with incessant flashes of lightning, caused us to expect another squall; luckily, however, morning broke, and we escaped both the storm and the islands.

In the course of the day we pa.s.sed the Bice Islands, and two days later, on the 25th of April, we beheld one of the Society Islands, Maithia.

On the following morning, being the thirty-ninth of our voyage, we came in sight of Tahiti, and the island opposite to it, Emao, also called Moreo. The entrance into Papeiti, the port of Tahiti, is exceedingly dangerous; it is surrounded by reefs of coral as by a fortress, while wild and foaming breakers, rolling on every side, leave but a small place open through which a vessel can steer.

A pilot came out to meet us, and, although the wind was so unfavourable that the sails had to be trimmed every instant, steered us safely into port. Afterwards, when we had landed, we were congratulated heartily on our good fortune; every one had watched our course with the greatest anxiety, and, at the last turn the s.h.i.+p took, expected to see her strike upon a coral reef. This misfortune had happened to a French man-of-war, that at the period of our arrival had been lying at anchor for some months, engaged in repairing the damage done.

Before we could come to an anchor we were surrounded by half-a-dozen pirogues, or boats, manned by Indians, who climbed up from all sides upon the deck to offer us fruit and sh.e.l.l-fish, but not as formerly for red rags or gla.s.s beads--such golden times for travellers are over. They demanded money, and were as grasping and cunning in their dealings as the most civilized Europeans. I offered one of them a small bronze ring; he took it, smelt it, shook his head, and gave me to understand that it was not gold. He remarked another ring on my finger, and seizing hold of my hand, smelt this second ring as well, then twisted his face into a friendly smile, and made signs for me to give him the ornament in question. I afterwards had frequent opportunities of remarking that the natives of these islands have the power of distinguis.h.i.+ng between pure and counterfeit gold by the smell.

Some years ago the island of Tahiti was under the protection of the English, but at present it is under that of the French. It had long been a subject of dispute between the two nations, until a friendly understanding was at last come to in November, 1846. Queen Pomare, who had fled to another island, had returned to Papeiti five weeks before my arrival. She resides in a four-roomed house, and dines daily, with her family, at the governor's table. The French government is having a handsome house built for her use, and allows her a pension of 25,000 francs per annum (1 pounds,041 13s. 4d.).

No stranger is allowed to visit her without the governor's permission, but this is easily obtained.

Papeiti was full of French troops, and several men-of-war were lying at anchor.

The place contains three or four thousand inhabitants, and consists of a row of small wooden houses, skirting the harbour, and separated by small gardens. In the immediate background is a fine wood, with a number of huts scattered about in different parts of it.

The princ.i.p.al buildings are--the governor's house, the French magazines, the military bakehouse, the barracks, and the queen's house, which however is not quite completed. Besides these, a number of small wooden houses were in the course of erection, the want of them being greatly felt; at the time of my visit even officers of high rank were obliged to be contented with the most wretched huts.

I went from hut to hut in the hopes of being able to obtain some small room or other; but in vain, all were already occupied. I was at last obliged to be satisfied with a small piece of ground, which I found at a carpenter's, whose room was already inhabited by four different individuals. I was shown a place behind the door, exactly six feet long and four broad. There was no flooring but the earth itself; the walls were composed of wicker work; a bed was quite out of the question, and yet for this accommodation I was obliged to pay one florin and thirty kreutzers a-week (about 7s.)

The residence or hut of an Indian consists simply of a roof of palm- trees, supported on a number of poles, with sometimes the addition of walls formed of wicker-work. Each hut contains only one room, from twenty to fifty feet long, and from ten to thirty feet broad, and is frequently occupied by several families at the same time.

The furniture is composed of finely woven straw mats, a few coverlids, and two or three wooden chests and stools; the last, however, are reckoned articles of luxury. Cooking utensils are not wanted, as the cookery of the Indians does not include soups or sauces, their provisions being simply roasted between hot stones.

All they require is a knife, and a cocoa sh.e.l.l for water.

Before their huts, or on the sh.o.r.e, lie their piroques, formed of the trunks of trees hollowed out, and so narrow, small, and shallow, that they would constantly be overturning, if there were not on one side five or six sticks, each about a foot long, fastened by a cross-bar to preserve the equilibrium. In spite of this, however, one of these boats is very easily upset, unless a person steps in very cautiously. When, on one occasion, I proceeded in a piroque to the s.h.i.+p, the good-hearted captain was horror-struck, and, in his concern for my safety, even reprimanded me severely, and besought me not to repeat the experiment a second time.

The costume of the Indians has been, since the first settlement of the missionaries (about fifty years ago), tolerably becoming, especially in the neighbourhood of Papeiti. Both men and women wear round their loins a kind of ap.r.o.n, made of coloured stuff, and called a pareo; the women let it fall as low down as their ancles; the men not farther than the calf of the leg. The latter have a short coloured s.h.i.+rt underneath it, and again beneath that, large flowing trousers. The women wear a long full blouse. Both s.e.xes wear flowers in their ears, which have such large holes bored in them that the stalk can very easily be drawn through. The women, both old and young, adorn themselves with garlands of leaves and flowers, which they make in the most artistic and elegant manner. I have often seen men, too, weaving the same kind of ornament.

On grand occasions, they cast over their ordinary dress an upper garment, called a tiputa, the cloth of which they manufacture themselves from the bark of the bread and cocoa trees. The bark, while still tender, is beaten between two stones, until it is as thin as paper; it is then coloured yellow and brown.

One Sunday I went into the meeting-house to see the people a.s.sembled there. {73} Before entering they all laid aside their flowers, with which they again ornamented themselves at their departure. Some of the women had black satin blouses on, and European bonnets of an exceedingly ancient date. It would not be easy to find a more ugly sight than that of their plump, heavy heads and faces in these old- fas.h.i.+oned bonnets.

During the singing of the psalms there was some degree of attention, and many of the congregation joined in very becomingly; but while the clergyman was performing the service, I could not remark the slightest degree of devotion in any of them; the children played, joked, and ate, while the adults gossiped or slept; and although I was a.s.sured that many could read and even write, I saw only two old men who made any use of their Bibles.

The men are a remarkably strong and vigorous race, six feet being by no means an uncommon height amongst them. The women, likewise, are very tall, but too muscular--they might even be termed unwieldy.

The features of the men are handsomer than those of the women. They have beautiful teeth and fine dark eyes, but generally a large mouth, thick lips, and an ugly nose, the cartilage being slightly crushed when the child is born, so that the nose becomes flat and broad. This fas.h.i.+on appears to be most popular with the females, for their noses are the ugliest. Their hair is jet black and thick, but coa.r.s.e; the women and girls generally wear it plaited in two knots. The colour of their skin is a copper-brown. All the natives are tattooed, generally from the hips half down the legs, and frequently this mode of ornamenting themselves is extended to the hands, feet, or other parts of the body. The designs resemble arabesques; they are regular and artistic in their composition, and executed with much taste.

That the population of this place should be so vigorous and well- formed is the more surprising, if we reflect on their depraved and immoral kind of life. Little girls of seven or eight years old have their lovers of twelve or fourteen, and their parents are quite proud of the fact. The more lovers a girl has the more she is respected. As long as she is not married she leads a most dissolute life, and it is said that not all the married women make the most faithful wives possible.

I had frequent opportunities of seeing the national dances, which are the most unbecoming I ever beheld, although every painter would envy me my good fortune. Let the reader picture to himself a grove of splendid palms, and other gigantic trees of the torrid zone, with a number of open huts, and a crowd of good-humoured islanders a.s.sembled beneath, to greet, in their fas.h.i.+on, the lovely evening, which is fast approaching. Before one of the huts a circle is formed, and in the centre sit two herculean and half-naked natives, beating time most vigorously on small drums. Five similar colossi are seated before them, moving the upper parts of their bodies in the most horrible and violent manner, and more especially the arms, hands, and fingers; the latter they have the power of moving in every separate joint. I imagine, that by these gestures they desired to represent how they pursue their enemy, ridicule his cowardice, rejoice at their victory, and so forth. During all this time they howl continually in a most discordant manner, and make the most hideous faces. At the commencement, the men appear alone upon the scene of action, but after a short time two female forms dart forward from among the spectators, and dance and rave like two maniacs; the more unbecoming, bold, and indecent their gestures, the greater the applause. The whole affair does not, at most, last longer than two minutes, and the pause before another dance is commenced not much longer. An evening's amus.e.m.e.nt of this description often lasts for hours. The younger members of society very seldom take any part in the dances.

It is a great question whether the immorality of these islanders has been lessened by French civilization. From my own observations, as well as from what I was told by persons well informed on the subject, I should say that this has not yet been the case, and that, for the present, there is but little hope of its being so: while, on the other side, the natives have acquired a number of useless wants, in consequence of which, the greed for gold has been fearfully awakened in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. As they are naturally very lazy, and above all things disinclined to work, they have made the female portion of the community the means of gaining money.

Parents, brothers, and even husbands, offer to their foreign masters those belonging to them, while the women themselves offer no opposition, as in this manner they can obtain the means for their own display, and money for their relations without trouble. Every officer's house is the rendezvous of several native beauties, who go out and in at every hour of the day. Even abroad they are not particular; they will accompany any man without the least hesitation, and no gentleman ever refuses a conductress of this description.

As a female of an advanced age, I may be allowed to make a few observations upon such a state of things, and I frankly own that, although I have travelled much and seen a great deal, I never witnessed such shameful scenes of public depravity.

As a proof of what I a.s.sert, I will mention a little affair which happened one day before my hut.

Four fat graces were squatted on the ground smoking tobacco, when an officer, who happened to be pa.s.sing, caught a glimpse of the charming picture, rushed up at double quick pace and caught hold of one of the beauties by the shoulder. He began by speaking softly to her, but as his anger increased, he changed his tone to one of loud abuse. But neither entreaties nor threats produced the slightest effect upon the delicate creature to whom they were addressed; she remained coolly in the same position, continuing to smoke with the greatest indifference, and without deigning even to cast upon her excited swain a look, far less answer him a word. He became enraged to such a pitch, that he so far forgot himself as to loosen the golden ear-rings from her ears, and threatened to take away all the finery he had given her. Even this was not sufficient to rouse the girl from her stolid calmness, and the valiant officer was, at last, obliged to retreat from the field of battle.

From his conversation, which was half in French and half in the native dialect, I learned that in three months the girl had cost him about four hundred francs in dress and jewellery. Her wishes were satisfied, and she quietly refused to have anything more to say to him.

I very often heard the feeling, attachment, and kindness of this people spoken of in terms of high praise, with which, however, I cannot unreservedly agree. Their kindness I will not precisely dispute; they readily invite a stranger to share their hospitality, and even kill a pig in his honour, give him a part of their couch, etc.; but all this costs them no trouble, and if they are offered money in return, they take it eagerly enough, without so much as thanking the donor. As for feeling and attachment, I should almost be inclined to deny that they possessed them in the slightest degree; I saw only sensuality, and none of the n.o.bler sentiments. I shall return to this subject when describing my journey through the island.

On the 1st of May I witnessed a highly interesting scene. It was the fete of Louis Philippe, the King of the French; and the governor, Monsieur Bruat, exerted himself to the utmost to amuse the population of Tahiti. In the forenoon, there was a tournament on the water, in which the French sailors were the performers. Several boats with l.u.s.ty oarsmen put out to sea. In the bows of each boat was a kind of ladder or steps, on which stood one of the combatants with a pole. The boats were then pulled close to one another, and each combatant endeavoured to push his antagonist into the water.