A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26 Volume I Part 7

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

A few scattered huts raised on the margin of the little river, gave tokens of human habitation. In one of these, occupied by an old married pair, our travellers pa.s.sed the first night. Mait.i.ti seemed to consider himself quite on a foraging party, and Mr. Hoffman was under the necessity of begging him to moderate his zeal, and leave the care of the entertainment to their host. The old man fetched a pig, and Mait.i.ti, with great dexterity, played the part both of butcher and cook. Mr.

Hoffman describes the operation of lighting the fire on this occasion, in the following manner:--A Tahaitian took two pieces of wood of different degrees of hardness, laid the softer upon the ground, and very rapidly rubbed its length backwards and forwards with the harder. This made a furrow, in which the dust rubbed from the wood collected, and soon became hot; it was then shaken among dry leaves and burst into a flame. The whole process seemed easy and quick; but Mr. Hoffman could not succeed in it though he made many attempts. Before supper, the master of the house recited a prayer aloud, the family repeating it after him, but not audibly. They then ate a hearty but silent meal, and prayed again before lying down to sleep. The couch offered to Mr.

Hoffman was a raised platform in the hut, thickly spread with mats, with a pair of sheets of the Tahaitian manufacture, called Tapa, for its covering.

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

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

At noon the travellers reached a hut inhabited by a friend of Mait.i.ti, named Tibu; the owner also of another hut some miles further up, where his wife lived with the pigs and dogs! This being the last station on the road to the Wahiria Lake, it was determined to spend the night here.

Before they set forward in the morning, a large pig was tied up, to be prepared for killing on the expected return of Mr. Hoffman and his a.s.sociates, whom the hospitable Tibu accompanied on the remainder of their journey.

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

Another steep precipice was to be climbed before they could reach the Valley of the Wahiria. This stretches from north to south, and forms an oval, in the centre of which lies the lake, according to barometrical measurement, one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea. The surrounding rocks rise perpendicularly more than two thousand feet. The lake is above a mile and a quarter in circ.u.mference,[4] and receives the springs from the mountains. A little brook also flows into it from the north, but no channel could be found by which its waters might be carried off. The depth of the lake near the sh.o.r.e is eleven, and in the middle not more than seventeen toises. After Mr. Hoffman had satisfied his curiosity, he returned with his companion to Tibu's hut, and happily reached its shelter before a heavy storm that followed them had begun to discharge its fury. Exhausted by the fatigue of the march, and the oppressive heat, Mr. Hoffman threw himself on his couch to take a little repose, while his companions killed and roasted the pig. The storm now burst in tremendous violence over the hut. The thunder rolled fearfully along the valley, and reverberated from the rocks; the lightnings gave to the thick darkness a momentary illumination equal to the brightness of mid-day, and the rain pouring down in torrents, suddenly swelled the rivulet, near which the frail dwelling was erected, far above its natural channel. Whoever has witnessed a violent storm in the high mountains of a tropical country, will never lose the impression of its awfulness.

The following day being Sunday, Tauru, immediately on rising, repeated a long prayer, and then read a chapter of the New Testament, of which at least one copy was to be found in every hut. After a good breakfast, Mr.

Hoffman wished to proceed, but his guides were not to be moved, and threats and entreaties were equally unavailing. They a.s.sured him that a continuation of the journey would be a profanation of the Sabbath, a crime for which they would be hanged, should it come to the knowledge of the Missionaries. This was a little too strongly expressed; and the tempting remains of the roasted pig had, no doubt, as much influence in supporting their resolution, as their religious scruples, or their fears of the Missionaries. The next morning they made no objection to setting out. Our travellers were joined on the road by many families, laden with mountain bananas, so that they arrived in a large company at Matarai.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to Humboldt, the alt.i.tude of the highest mountain in Tahaiti is ten thousand feet; according to the barometrical measurement of Mr.

Long, only eight thousand feet above the level of the sea.

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

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

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

The islands which I discovered on my former voyage in the s.h.i.+p Rurik,--the Romanzow, Spiridow, Dean's Islands, the Rurik's Chain, &c.

whose longitude I had not then an opportunity to rectify upon Venus Point, lie 5' 36" more to the west than I at first supposed.

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

On the morning of the 24th of March, we broke up our tent on the Venus Point, left our dwelling-house, and s.h.i.+pped all our instruments and effects. The afternoon was appointed for our departure. The Tahaitians now boarded the s.h.i.+p, bringing as many provisions as they could carry.

They expressed great regret at losing us; and, to prove the disinterestedness of their good-will, would accept no presents in return. They unanimously a.s.sured us, that of all nations whose s.h.i.+ps had visited their island, none pleased them so well as the Russians. They took leave of us with the most cordial embraces, and many of them shed tears. They accompanied us in their canoes to the mouth of the Bay, and were standing out to sea, when a sudden and violent gust of wind forced them to return. The same gust very nearly carried away one of our sails, and the proximity of the land placed us for a minute or two in a critical situation, but the coolness and skill of our officers and men relieved us from the momentary danger. In half an hour the regular trade-wind returned, and with the liveliest wishes for the future welfare of the good Tahaitians, we lost sight of their lovely island.

To the remarks concerning them already made, I will add some on their language, from the work on this subject which I have before mentioned.

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

Although, in comparison with European languages, that of Tahaiti, as belonging to an ignorant and uncultivated people, is necessarily very defective, it perhaps surpa.s.ses all others in strength, precision, and simplicity,--in the personal p.r.o.nouns especially. Its resemblance to the Hebrew, in the conjugation of the verbs, as well as in the roots of some of the words, can easily be proved. Many of the words really appear of Hebrew origin: as for example, _mate_, dead; _mara_, or _maramosa_, bitter; _rapaon_, to heal, &c.

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

The princ.i.p.al dialects are,--that spoken in the Sandwich Islands, or the Hawaiian; that of the Marquesas; that of New Zealand; the Tongatabuan, spoken by the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands, and the Tahaitian.

All the others, as far as they are known, are more or less related to these.

The Tahaitian dialect is distinguished by its melody, as it has no broad or hissing consonants. The p.r.o.nunciation is rendered difficult by its numerous diphthongs.

The substantives do not change their terminations in declension; but the cases, of which there are but three, are formed by syllables prefixed: for example--

SINGULAR.

Nom.--_Te taata_--the man.

Poss.--_No te taata_--of the man.

Object.--_He taata_--to the man--and the man.

PLURAL.

Nom.--_Te mau taata_--the men.

Poss.--_No te mau taata_--of the men.

Object.--_He mau taata_--the men--and to the men.

The Tahaitians have a great number of definite and indefinite articles, and prefixes, which they apply in a peculiar manner. The article te often stands before proper names; also before G.o.d, _Te Atua_; sometimes _o_, which then appears to be an article; as, _O Pomare_, _O Huaheine_, _O Tahaiti_. Sometimes this o is placed before the personal p.r.o.nouns in the nominative case.

_O vau_, I; _o oe_, thou; _o oia_, she, he, it. In these p.r.o.nouns the Tahaitian, and those languages to which it bears affinity, are particularly rich. They have not only the dual of the Orientals, but two first persons in the singular as well as plural: for example--

_O Taua_--thou and I.

_O Maua_--he and I.

_O Tatou_--you and I.

_O Motou_--we three, or several.

By this the conjugation of the verbs is made more complicated than in other languages, but it again becomes easier from neither the person nor the tense changing the word itself, but all the variations being expressed by particular particles: for instance--_motau_, to fear; _te matau nei au_, I fear; _te matau ra oau_, I feared; _i motau na oau_, I have feared; _e matau au_, I shall fear.

Since my readers will hardly wish to study the Tahaitian language very thoroughly, I here close my extracts from its grammar.--Whoever really desires to learn it must go to Tahaiti. I must, however, warn him to arm himself with patience; for though the Tahaitians are very ready with their a.s.sistance, they have quite as bad a habit as ourselves of laughing at any one who speaks their language ill,--I say this from experience.

Some months before us, the French Captain Duperre had visited Tahaiti upon a voyage of discovery, in the corvette Coquille. He returned home in safety, and is about to publish his travels, of which he has already had the goodness to send me some portions. An important acquisition to science may be expected from this work.

THE PITCAIRN ISLAND.