Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

fifty-five; Bassie, fifty-five; and Mawonie, about fifty years of age; who received the presents with marks of the most perfect thankfulness.

"Owallie made the following statement: A long time ago the people of this island, upon coming out one morning, saw part of a ship on the reef opposite to Paiow, where it held together till the middle of the day, when it was broken by the sea, fell to pieces, and large parts of it floated on shore along the coast. The ship got on the reef in the night, when it blew a tremendous hurricane, which broke down a considerable number of our fruit-trees. We had not seen the ship the day before. Four men were saved from her, and were on the beach at this place, who we were about to kill, supposing them spirits, when they made a present to our chief of something, and he saved their lives. They lived with us a short time, and then joined their people at Paiow, who built a small ship there and went away in it. None of those four men were chiefs: they were only subordinate men. Those things which we sell you now have been procured from the ship wrecked on that reef, on which, at low water, our people were in the habit of diving and bringing up what they could find. Several pieces of the wreck floated on shore, from which we procured some things; but nothing has been got from it for some time back, as it has become rotten and been drifted

away by the sea. We killed none of the ship's people at this place, but several dead bodies were cast on shore, with the legs and other members mutilated by the sharks. The same night another ship struck on a reef near Whannow and went down. There were several men saved from her, who built a little ship, and went away five moons after the big one was lost. While building it, they had a great fence of trees round them to keep out the islanders; who being equally afraid of them, they consequently kept up but little intercourse. The white men used often to look at the sun through something, but we have none of those things. Two white men remained behind after the rest went away; the one was a chief, and the other a common man, who used to attend on the white chief, who died about three years ago. The chief with whom the white man resided was obliged, about two years and a half ago, to fly from his country, and was accompanied by the white man. name of the district which they abandoned was Pawcorrie; but we do not know what has become of this tribe. The only white people or foreigners the inhabitants of this island have ever seen were, first, the people of the wrecked ships, and secondly, those before me now.'

66

The

"By the natives' account, Whannow is at no great distance from Paiow, where the people of Denimah say there are some heavy pieces of

iron. The Tucopian interpreter, with his native impudence, flatly contradicts this old man's assertion, saying that he has been there, and no such thing exists at Paiow.

"While sitting in the temple, a man entered with a bow and bundle of arrows in his hands, who seeing us take notice of his arms, desired the interpreter to inform us that we had nothing to dread; that he had heard of our arrival, and came from the hills to visit us; and that it is customary always to travel armed in Mannicolo. I then embraced him, and presented him with a few fish-hooks.

"As night was approaching, and our friends had disposed of all their valuables, we began to think of returning; but before re-embarking, presented the women and children with some beads, and then embracing each other, parted. I promised that Peter would call upon them shortly, and directed them to pick up in the mean time every article in their neighbourhood that belonged to the wreck.

"Few cocoa-nut trees were to be seen on this part of the island, and the only domestic. animals I could perceive were a few full-grown diminutive native pigs, of a blackish colour."

This account from the officer in charge pleased me extremely; but I had serious cause to be dissatisfied with the boats' crews, who

took advantage of the officer's absence to plunder the rum, with which one of them became so drunk as to be unable to do his duty, and lose his oar, which in our present situation (not having a spare one on board) was a serious inconvenience. The others had not injured themselves so much as this fellow, but their condition was sufficiently unbecoming to merit the most severe reprehension; for when the boats came alongside, suspecting from the men's behaviour that all was not right, I visited them, and beheld their cutlasses thrown in confusion all over the bottoms of the boats, and the front of one of the stern-lockers torn out.

The fourth chief, for whom I sent the present, was named Pawme, and had lost his life in an affair of honour as our countrymen would term it. Having alienated the affections of a wife from her husband, who was a subordinate of his own tribe, the injured man called out this Lothario to give him satisfaction. The chief was not slow in accepting the challenge, and both parties repaired to the field, armed with their bows and arrows, to settle their dispute; when having been mutually wounded, in the course of five days they both died, leaving the sable cause of their difference a forlorn widow.

17th. Thick cloudy weather, with rain, so as to retard our proceedings in the equipment of our boats.

We had two native canoes off to-day. One brought a little fish and a few cocoa-nuts for Rathea; the other came off from our neighbours at the watering-place with two strangers, who brought two lots of old bolts to exchange for adzes. It appeared to me that they had come from a great distance, to dispose of their bolts for more serviceable kinds of tools. strangers arrived, they were always accompanied to the ship by one of the inhabitants of the village off which we lay, who instructed them how to trade, and what to demand in exchange for the things they brought.

When

18th.-Pleasant weather throughout the day. The ship was visited by several canoes, principally laden with cocoa-nuts, for eight or nine of which nothing less than a two-inch chisel or a good plane-iron would be accepted. Some bananas were also purchased at the same high rate for one of this description of iron tools, for which at Tonga I could obtain a large hog, or from two to three hundred cocoa-nuts.

Finding I could not get the long-boat equipped as soon as I expected, and not wishing to lose a moment longer, I fitted out three whale-boats, and put them under the command of the draughtsman, to proceed round the island, with the underwritten letter of instructions for his guidance. They were furnished with three days' allowance of provisions, presents for the three

« ForrigeFortsæt »