Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

They have great quantities of tapa cloth, in a thin sort of which they use to roll themselves at night, as a security against the musquitoes, with which their island abounds. The new town is beautifully situated in a bread-fruit and cocoa-nut grove, which gives it perpetual shade, whilst it is sufficiently open to admit the cool breeze.

On the 26th, agreeably to my engagement, I moved the ship to the island of Pangai-Moutu, in order to be near the place of meeting of the conference between the two belligerent parties, and to protect both from the treachery they seemed mutually to fear. Pangai-Moutu is about three and a half miles from Nukualofa, and is now considered as neutral ground; the anchorage is a good and safe one. Our messenger, Anne Eliza Tubou, returned, and gave me assurances that the heathen were willing to meet in conference; that they desired peace, and to be left in the quiet enjoyment of their land and their gods, and did not wish to interfere or have any thing to do with the new religion. They again asked me, if they came, would I protect them fully? In reply to this, I sent the strongest assurances of protection to them. My hopes, however, of producing a peace and reconciliation among them, began to decline; for 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.

He

On the 28th, our boat returned from Moa, bringing an old blind chief, called Mufa. The wife of Faatu came in place of her husband, accompanied by four or five lesser chiefs, who had been deputed to attend the council. The wife of Faatu is a large fat woman. himself was willing to attend, but his chiefs and people interfered and prevented him, as he was coming to the boat, fearing lest he should be detained as a hostage; and they made such an outcry (according to the officer) against it, that he was obliged to yield.

Mufa is the grandfather of Taufaahau, and was supposed would have some influence with him. From every thing we saw, we became satisfied that the heathen were desirous of making peace, at least the people of Moa. I gave orders to provide them with every thing for their comfort, giving them full assurance of my protection, and their safe return; and finding them ill at ease on board ship, I ordered a tent to be pitched on shore for their accommodation, and had them. supplied with rice and molasses, as well as the food they are in the habit of eating, consisting of yams, taro, &c.

Deeming it advisable that Faatu should be present himself, I again sent a boat for him. The people of Moa, though heathens, have not taken an active part in the late disturbances, which are for the most part confined to Bea and Houma; and although the Moans are more strongly allied to the latter, they have always kept up an intercourse with Nukualofa.

One can readily enter into the feelings of the heathen, who are inhabitants of the sacred Tonga, and have always been looked up to by the inhabitants of the rest of the group, who were obliged to carry thither offerings, &c., to the gods, as superior to themselves, when they see an attempt made to subjugate them, by those whom they have always looked upon with contempt, and to force upon them a new religion, and a change in every thing they have hitherto looked upon as sacred. Such feelings are enough to make them war against any innovation in their social polity and laws; and after having been acknowledged from time immemorial as pre-eminent throughout the whole group, including Wallis, Hoorn, Traitor's and Keppel's Islands, it is not surprising that they should be found the active enemies of religious encroachments. Their vexation is augmented by the disappointment they experienced in the last election of the King of Tonga (Tui Kanakabolo); Tubou, although the brother of his predecessor, was chosen by them in preference to Mumui, the son, because they believed him to be favourable to their side, and opposed to the Christian party; Mumui, on the other hand, was brought up by the missionaries, speaks English tolerably well, and is the missionaries' principal school-teacher. Mr. Tucker informed me that Mumui is now considered as the son of Tubou, and will be entitled to the succession, for which both Faatu and Taufaahau, are likewise candidates, on the death of Tubou.

The singular custom is said to prevail in Tonga, that none of the royal family ever receive a title of office; for by so doing, I was told, they would virtually renounce their right to the kingdom. The Tui Kanakabolo has the power of rescinding titles. In one view, the government may be considered a kind of family compact, for the persons holding titles and offices, address one another by the names of father, son, uncle, and grandfather, without reference whatever to their real degree of relationship.

The titles generally consist of the name of the district over which the chief rules, and of which they receive the revenues, with “ Tui,” a word synonymous with lord, before it. This, however, is not always the case, for there are others who have distinct titles, as Lavaka, the King of Bea, one of the bitterest opponents of the Christians, and who

[blocks in formation]

is determined to die rather than submit to them; and Ata, Takafauna. and Vaea, the great chief of Houma. The latter was deposed a short time since, yet still retains his title among the heathen.

Shadrach, or Mumui, as he is also called, is a good sample of the Tongese. I saw him at Mr. Tucker's, where he was introduced to me; and I must confess myself not a little surprised to hear him address me in tolerably good English, asking me the news, and what occurrences had taken place in Europe. It appeared ridiculous to be questioned by a half-naked savage upon such subjects; but I must do him the justice to say he seemed quite familiar with some of the events that have taken place during the last fifteen or twenty years. He is one of the missionaries' most zealous converts, and I believe to Mrs. Tucker is due the credit of teaching him; he has, I understood, sole charge of their large school of three hundred scholars, and it, in order and regularity, equals, if it does not exceed, any in our own country. Mrs. Tucker thinks this is partly to be ascribed to his being a high chief, whom they are brought up to have a great respect for. Mumui's countenance shows much intelligence, but his figure is rather out of proportion: his age is under thirty.

On the 27th, I visited Nukualofa, on business respecting the English schooner Currency Lass, Captain Wilson, which vessel was found here. The master reported that two of his men had been seized by King George, and imprisoned, until a ransom was paid, and the four Feejee women he had on board were delivered up. On inquiry, it proved that two of the crew of the Currency Lass, with the knowledge of the commander and owner, (who was present,) had taken the Feejee women on board at Vavao, knowing it to be against the laws of that island; they thence sailed for Tonga. On their leaving Vavao, a canoe was immediately despatched to Tonga, to inform King George of the occurrence, and it arrived before the vessel. King George, on her arrival, immediately sent on board for the purpose of a search; but the women were concealed below, and they were believed not to be on board. It however became known, in some way, that they were there, and when four of the vessel's crew were sent on shore to mend the casks to receive oil, King George seized them, and tied them to trees. He then sent word, that the women must be given up, and that the owner must pay a ransom of muskets for the men. I found no difficulty in arranging the business. King George was very frank and straightforward about it, and told the facts very much as they are above related. On my pointing out to him that he had taken the wrong course, and was punishing the innocent men of the crew, he said he had no means of telling who were the guilty, but that if he had done any

thing wrong he was willing to make amends. I thought that the conduct of the Currency Lass had been improper, and the decision being left to me, I determined that the men should be set at liberty, the women given up, and the muskets paid;. that King George should return the water-casks, and pay for those that had been injured. I took occasion, however, to impress upon King George the necessity of not being so precipitate in punishing the innocent for the guilty. The men of the Currency Lass who had received bad treatment at his hands, received a recompense, and so the affair was ended.

On the morning of the 29th, it was reported to me that Mufa, the old blind chief, and his companion, had decamped, without giving any notice of their intention, and after eating their fill of the good things set before them, besides carrying off the remains of their feast. This movement, I afterwards learnt, was owing to their having received intelligence of the people of Bea having made another attack upon the yam-grounds of the Christians, and carried off a large quantity; and they were fearful lest some retaliatory measures should be taken to intercept them.

This day the kings visited me, with a number of their chiefs and people in a large canoe, and made a fine appearance on approaching the ship; it was the largest we saw during the voyage: it was one hundred feet in length, and of the double kind, which consists of two canoes of different size joined together by a deck thrown across them both; on this deck a small house is constructed, which serves for a cabin to keep off the weather; above the house was a small platform, eight feet square, with a railing on each side; the mast, which is about thirty feet long, is supported by guys, having a long yard attached to it, with its mat-sail of huge dimensions furled.

In all canoes, both double and single, small hatchways are left at both ends, with high combings, and when under way, a man is always seen in each baling out the water. Their mode of propelling the canoe by sculling is peculiar to the Tongese and Feejees; the sculler, instead of using the oar as we do, stands behind it, and holds it perpendicularly. The oar has a broad blade, and is ten feet in length: the sculler thus has the whole weight of his body to assist his strength in using it: it is confined in a hole in the platform. There is generally one of these oars at each end, and they are enabled to propel one of these large canoes between two and three miles an hour by means of them.

The Tongese are great adepts in managing their canoes when under sail; and they sail much more swiftly on a wind than before it. As this canoe is of Feejee origin, I shall defer describing it until a succeeding chapter.

The canoe of these chiefs was seen advancing slowly over the calm sea by the efforts of its scullers, and was filled with men, all singing the following air, keeping perfect time and making excellent music; the notes were obtained by Mr. Drayton.

#

@: #

To this they sing any words, but generally such as are applicable to the mission of business or pleasure they may be on; and although the air and bass are heard most distinctly, the four parts are all sung in the most perfect harmony. From the fact that the tenors and basses sing parts of a bar, alternating with each other, and come in perfectly, it would seem that they cultivate music in their own rude way, producing a wild but agreeable effect. To this the scullers keep time.

This music has a great resemblance to that of the Samoan Group, and it is the custom in both to sing it while at work. It may therefore be inferred that it is native, for the Tongese never had foreign music of any kind taught them. The missionaries themselves do not sing, and declared they were not able to tell Old Hundred from God save the King, if the same words were adapted to both! The females of this island, generally, have very musical voices, whose pitch is the same as that of European women; the voices of the men are a full octave below, round and full; all are very apt in learning a tune. Mr. Drayton remarks that he did not hear a single strain in the minor mood in singing, nor even in their natural sounds in speaking. Music might be cultivated among this people with great success, from the evident delight they take in musical sounds, and their strong desire learn; but they could with difficulty be prevailed upon to sing, for the state of the country and the fear of the missionaries, or the order of the king, prevented it.

Finding me engaged on the island of Pangai-Moutu, at the observa

« PředchozíPokračovat »