These Low Hollow Coral Islands Bear
No Proportion To The Vast Ocean Out Of Which They Abruptly
Rise; And It Seems Wonderful, That Such Weak Invaders Are
Not Overwhelmed, By The All-Powerful And Never-Tiring Waves
Of That Great Sea, Miscalled The Pacific.
November 15th.
- At daylight, Tahiti, an island which
must for ever remain classical to the voyager in the South
Sea, was in view. At a distance the appearance was not
attractive. The luxuriant vegetation of the lower part could
not yet be seen, and as the clouds rolled past, the wildest
and most precipitous peaks showed themselves towards the
centre of the island. As soon as we anchored in Matavai
Bay, we were surrounded by canoes. This was our Sunday,
but the Monday of Tahiti: if the case had been reversed,
we should not have received a single visit; for the injunction
not to launch a canoe on the sabbath is rigidly obeyed.
After dinner we landed to enjoy all the delights produced
by the first impressions of a new country, and that country
the charming Tahiti. A crowd of men, women, and children,
was collected on the memorable Point Venus, ready to
receive us with laughing, merry faces. They marshalled
us towards the house of Mr. Wilson, the missionary of the
district, who met us on the road, and gave us a very friendly
reception. After sitting a very short time in his house, we
separated to walk about, but returned there in the evening.
The land capable of cultivation, is scarcely in any part
more than a fringe of low alluvial soil, accumulated round
the base of the mountains, and protected from the waves of
the sea by a coral reef, which encircles the entire line of
coast. Within the reef there is an expanse of smooth water,
like that of a lake, where the canoes of the natives can ply
with safety and where ships anchor. The low land which
comes down to the beach of coral-sand, is covered by the
most beautiful productions of the intertropical regions. In
the midst of bananas, orange, cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit
trees, spots are cleared where yams, sweet potatoes, and
sugar-cane, and pine-apples are cultivated. Even the brushwood
is an imported fruit-tree, namely, the guava, which
from its abundance has become as noxious as a weed. In
Brazil I have often admired the varied beauty of the
bananas, palms, and orange-trees contrasted together; and
here we also have the bread-fruit, conspicuous from its large,
glossy, and deeply digitated leaf. It is admirable to behold
groves of a tree, sending forth its branches with the vigour
of an English oak, loaded with large and most nutritious
fruit. However seldom the usefulness of an object can
account for the pleasure of beholding it, in the case of these
beautiful woods, the knowledge of their high productiveness
no doubt enters largely into the feeling of admiration. The
little winding paths, cool from the surrounding shade, led
to the scattered houses; the owners of which everywhere
gave us a cheerful and most hospitable reception.
I was pleased with nothing so much as with the inhabitants.
There is a mildness in the expression of their countenances
which at once banishes the idea of a savage; and
intelligence which shows that they are advancing in
civilization. The common people, when working, keep the upper
part of their bodies quite naked; and it is then that the
Tahitians are seen to advantage. They are very tall, broad-
shouldered, athletic, and well-proportioned. It has been
remarked, that it requires little habit to make a dark skin
more pleasing and natural to the eye of an European than
his own colour. A white man bathing by the side of a
Tahitian, was like a plant bleached by the gardener's art
compared with a fine dark green one growing vigorously in
the open fields. Most of the men are tattooed, and the ornaments
follow the curvature of the body so gracefully, that
they have a very elegant effect. One common pattern, varying
in its details, is somewhat like the crown of a palm-tree.
It springs from the central line of the back, and gracefully
curls round both sides. The simile may be a fanciful one,
but I thought the body of a man thus ornamented was like
the trunk of a, noble tree embraced by a delicate creeper.
Many of the elder people had their feet covered with
small figures, so placed as to resemble a sock. This fashion,
however, is partly gone by, and has been succeeded by others.
Here, although fashion is far from immutable, every one
must abide by that prevailing in his youth. An old man
has thus his age for ever stamped on his body, and he cannot
assume the airs of a young dandy. The women are tattooed
in the same manner as the men, and very commonly on their
fingers. One unbecoming fashion is now almost universal:
namely, shaving the hair from the upper part of the head,
in a circular form, so as to leave only an outer ring. The
missionaries have tried to persuade the people to change this
habit; but it is the fashion, and that is a sufficient answer
at Tahiti, as well as at Paris. I was much disappointed in
the personal appearance of the women: they are far inferior
in every respect to the men. The custom of wearing a white
or scarlet flower in the back of the head, or through a small
hole in each ear, is pretty. A crown of woven cocoa-nut
leaves is also worn as a shade for the eyes. The women
appear to be in greater want of some becoming costume even
than the men.
Nearly all the natives understand a little English - that is,
they know the names of common things; and by the aid of
this, together with signs, a lame sort of conversation could
be carried on.
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