A visit to the South Seas, in the U.S. Ship Vincennes, : during the years 1829 and 1830; with scenes in Brazil, Peru, Manila, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena

Front matter

STEWART

A VISIT TO THE

SOUTH SEAS

Contents

LETTER ]pAGB

XV. An evening, religious meeting, and sabbath

scenes . 184

Letter I. Arrival At Tahiti

Matavai Bay at Tahiti, / August 17, 1829. S

A CLUSTER of low islands and coral reefs lies about midway, in a direct line, between the Washington and Georgian groups, rendering the navigation at that point somewhat intricate and dangerous. From a supposition, that we might be obUged to lie to at night, when in that vicinity, we did not expect to accomplish the passage from Nukuhiva to Tahiti. — a distance of seven hundred miles — in much less time than a week.

In this, however, we were favorably disappointed. The trade wind proved unusually fine ; and having made the first of the low islands early on the 14th instant — the second day from Taiohae — we succeeded in running by the whole chain the same evening, and, with an open sea before us, hastened on our course with unchecked speed.

Five of the low islands — the Tikoas, the Palliser, and Elizabath island — were passed by us within two or three miles of their shores. Elevated a few feet only above the water, scarce in sight at a distance of six and eight miles, and but scantily tufted with groves of the cocoanut and pandanus, they present a strong contrast to the loftiness and magnificent

O THE LOW ISLANDS.

scenery of the groups between which they he. Though small— some fifteen or twenty miles only in circumference — they are inhabited : but the subsistence they afford is scanty and miserable, consisting almost exclusively, besides fish from the sea, of cocoanuts and the berry of the pandanus.

Happily for the race dwelling upon them, though reduced in their outward circumstances almost to the condition of the brute, the rich blessing of the gospel has reached their desolate shores. Through the influence of native missionaries from Tahiti, they have, within a few years, forsaken their idols and embraced the religion of the cross— have learned ta read — possess the scriptures in the Tahitian version — and daily pay their vows to God by hymns and prayer, in neat and humble chapels of their own workmanship.

On Saturday, the 15th instant, at twelve o'clock, we descried Matea, or the Island of Osnaburgh — having run some distance from our course to make it. Perceiving it to be only a lofty, volcanic rock, rising abruptly from the water in a truncated cone — once evidently a burning funnel — we did not approach nearer than twelve or fifteen miles ; and bore away for Tahiti, the principal of the Georgian Islands, of which we gained an indistinct view, forty miles distant, at sunset the same evening.

Having been under short sail during the oight, we were yesterday morning still far from land ; and it was ten o'clock before we were near enough ta Point Venus to send a boat on shore, previously to bringing the ship to anchor.

SCENERY AT MATAVAI. ^

The morning was hazy and unfavorable for the strength of impression which the subUmity and loveliness of the scenery is calculated to make.

In this — ^particularly in reference to my fellowvoyagers — I felt a disappointment. The image left in my mind, by a first sight of the same section of Tahiti in 1825, when on our voyage from the Sandwich Islands to England, was still so beautiful and so vivid, that I had hoped every circumstance in making the land at this time, would have been equally propitious to a similar effect on those now with me.

Scarce any scene before beheld, had excited an admiration equal to that I then experienced. We had not yet made land, when I retired to rest the night previous ; a fine moon, however, enabled us to press on without hazard ; and, at the dawn of the day, we were close on the shores of the district of Matavia. It was not yet sunrise, when I went on deck ; but the whole heavens were filled with the glow and richness of the near approach of *Vthe king of day," and sufficient light was already cast upon the island, not only to disclose its general formation, but to present every distinct feature along the coast and in the mountains above, in the fullness of its verdure and beauty. The wild peaks and bare cliffs towering high in the centre of the island were uncovered, and in strong illumination from the sun, still beneath a watery bed. A belt of vaporish cloud hung midway on the purple sides of the mountains beneath, while the rich lowland — a mile and more in width — intervening between their bases and 2*

10 BOARDED BY A NATIVE

the beach, heavily covered with groves of the bread-fruit, cocoanut, and other luxuriant tropical growth, stood in the purity of the morning, with a refreshing nearness and beauty on the sight.

Spacious chapels of the purest white, with numerous lofty doors and windows — seeming in my eye, after a residence of three years at the Sandwich Islands, in the early stages of improvement there, like so many palaces amidst their palmy groves — were seen, at intervals of two and three miles^ along the water's edge, while the plastered and whitened habitations of the missionaries and chieftains, and the cottages of the common people, studded the shores in long perspective, till, at a distance of five and six miles on either side, low points, richly covered with cocoanut trees, terminated the view.

The most conspicuous objects were now still the same ; but, with a noonday sun and misty atmosphere, they were seen under every disadvantage of shade and coloring, and excited a less lively admiration,, than they otherwise would huve done.

While two or three miles from Point Yenus, we were boarded by a boat containing one of the inferior magistrates of the district, in a dress of nankeen pantaloons, round jacket of blue silk, white shirt, and black cravat, with a Guayaquil hat. He introduced himself with great civility, and tendered hi& services to pilot the ship into the bay ; but Capttvin Finch learning from him, that there was ^ regular pilot appointed by the government, declined the offer till he should come off, and till Mr. liardner, our sailing master, should go in with a cutter and

M

AND BRING SHIP TO ANCHOR. II

make some observation for himselfj as to the best anchorage.

In the meantime a boat was lowered, and Lieutenant Dornin dispatched on a visit to the Rev. Mr. Wilson, the resident missionary at Matavia. Having a slight personal acquaintance with Mr. Wilson, I accompanied him. We were received very kindly by this gentleman on the beach^ and accompanied him to his cottage, a few rods distant, on the bank of a considerable river, running from the mountains through this part of the district. Finding him at leisure to go off to the ship, and knowing that our return would be looked for with impatience, after an introduction to Mrs. Wilson and her daughters, and a few moments conversation,, we took our leave till the Vincennes should be at anchor.

The trade-wind was blowing very fi^sh, with a heavy sea for a small boat, and the row off was tedious and unpleasant ; we reached the ship without accident, however, and the pilot having at the same time joined her. we passed round the Dolphin — as a shoal, extending from Point Yenus some distance along the shore, is called — and dropped anchor inside of it, within a mile of the beach, nearly opposite a high red bank, called " one tree hill."

Mr. Wilson remained to dinner with the captain, and then landed to secure permission from the proper authorities, for the interment of a lad who had died on board, the night previous, of a consumption. Some objection was at first made by the natives, lest the disease, with which he had died, might have been contagious ; but when assured, that this wfis not the case, a grave was prepared in the burial ground of

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF the chapel ; in which, at sunset, with slow procession and an admonitory service, we deposited the body — there to rest till " time shall be no longer."

I remained at Mr. Wilson's to tea, in company with the captain and surgeon ; and passed most of the evening at his cottage, in agreeable conversation. It was nine o'clock before we returned to the ship ; the row off was delightful — a fine moon throwing a double charm, by its brightness, over the loveliness of the scenery around.

From an early hour in the morning till noon to-day, the Yincennes was crowded with people from the shore, bringing various articles of refreshment and curiosity, for trade and barter. Ignorance of the comparative value of the articles they have to dispose of, and those they wish to secure ; and anxious to make the exchange at the highest rate of gain on their part, the exorbitance of their demands and their seeming cupidity, are in some cases such, as to be exceedingly vexatious to those attempting to deal with them ; but, there is nothing of the wild shouting, rudeness, and nakedness, so annoying at Nukuhiva — nor any thing in their whole appearance that is offensive, or indicative of any trait of character not to be found, in every market-place in a civilized and Christian country.

The effect produced on them by our band, in comparison with that on the Nukuhivans, was very striking, and very pleasing. It is long since they have acquired a taste for the combination of sounds characterizing the music of European countries ; and since, they have learned themselves to sing various parts in sacred music, with correctness and some de-

THE PEOPLE AND EFFECT OF THE MUSIC. 13

gree of taste. Though the Nukuhivans would listen to the band for a first time, with a kind of wonder and momentary gratification, it was evident they had no particular relish for the style of music, or harmony of sounds produced by it ; and, doubtless, thought it unequal, in the pleasure it aflforded, to the monotonous beat of the drum, and the dull recitative of their own songs — but here, when the musicians were ordered on deck, hundreds clustered round in the manifest expectation of a rich enjoyment ; and the moment they commenced playing, they hung in the rigging and upon the guns, in a silent delight, which none could avoid observing ; while many evidently drank in the strains of varied harmony, with all the luxury of enjoyment of so many amateurs at home, at the performance of the first masters in the country.

During the forenoon we had a visit from the chief justice of the island^a respectable-looking, welldressed, and dignified old man — at present at Matavai for the trial of several persons accused of sedition. He held a court at sunrise this morning, which I should have been glad to have attended, had I been apprised of it in time. Two or three persons were convicted of the transgression of special laws, and received the sentence annexed to the respective statutes broken.

You are aware, that before the death of Pomare II., in 1821, a regular code of laws — including an equitable judiciary, and the important right of trial by jury — adapted to the state into which the nation had been brought, by a conversion from paganism to

Christianity, was drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Nott, one of the first missionaries that came to the islands, and adopted by the king and whole body of chiefs in public council. Every law has a specific penalty attached—rendering the administration of justice, after the guilt of a person is established, perfectly equal : no discretion being left to the judge, in a modification of the sentence. The rehearsal of the law and its penalty, both of which are familiar to the person under trial — as every family is furnished with a printed copy of the code — is the only judgment pronounced.

With the " Polynesian Researches " of our beloved friend Ellis before you, it will be unnecessary, however, for me to enter upon any elucidation of facts of this kind, that may come under my notice, during the visit we shall make at the Georgian and Society Islands. The original state of the people as found by the missionaries, their habits and customs, their religion, civil polity, and history — including the conversion of both groups from idolatry, the establishment of Christianity, and their present condition — are portrayed in his volumes with so much talent and such lively interest, with such perfect candor and minute correctness, and in such fullness of information, that I at once refer you to them for every thing connected with this section of the South Seas, except the incidents which may pass under the immediate observation of myself and shipmates, the few days we may remain within its limits.

SCENERY ALONG SHORE. 15

LETTER 11.

HARBOR OP PAPEETE.

Matavai Bay, at Tahiti, 7 August 26th, ia29. S

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and daughters dined with Captain Finch on Monday; and on Tuesday, a party from the ward-room and steerage^ consisting of the lieutenants Stribling, Dornin, and Lardner, Dr. Wessels, midshipmen Maury, Keith, Hawkins, and myself, visited the harbor of Papeete, six or seven miles westward of Matavai.

The scenery along the intervening shore, beautifiil by nature — both in w^ild mountain and palmy plain — ^is now doubly so, from the neat cottages and lofty chapels, which, at the short intervals of two and three miles, insensibly blend thoughts of civilization and piety, with the impressions made on the mind by the luxuriance and grandeur of the natural imagery. We sailed the whole distance within a coral reef, which, shortly after leaving Matavai, lines the coast at a half a mile from the beach to the entrance of the harbor, and arrived at Papeete at eleven o'clock.

The bay, about three miles in circumference, is formed by an indenture of the shore between two points covered with groves of cocoanut trees ; while the coral reef in front — through which there is an

16 S&ETCH OP t>APEETE.

entrance by a narrow ship channel — with a small islet based upon it, protects it so fully from the swell of the sea, that it is, at all times, as smooth as a lake. The panorama, from the anchorage, is rich and lovely. A spacious and elevated white chapel presents a conspicuous and pleasing object in the centre of the view inland. On one side of this, within a neat inclosme planted with shrubbery, stands the cottage of the resident missionary ; and on the other, ^corresponding to it, the parish school-house: from both of which the habitations of the natives — some in the primitive and some in the modern style of building— stretch in half embowered perspective along the curvature of the beach, to the cocoanut points, jutting on either hand, at a distance of half a mile or more, in heavy groves towards the leef. Clumps of the orange and lemon tree — of the hibiscus and pandanus, with rich plantations of the bread-fruit, cocoanut, and broad-leafed banana, and here and there a single tree of the lofty and wide spreading vi — spondias dulcis — fill up the remaining parts of the foreground ; while lofty and abrupt hills, overtopped by bold and verdant mountains, complete the sketch interior.

Our party was welcomed on the beach, by Mr. Marenhaut, a Dutch gentleman temporarily at Tahiti, and by Captain Brock, late commander of an English vessel wrecked on the eastern side of the island — both of whom had visited the Vincennes the first day of her arrival. Learning from them, that the Rev. Mr. Pritchard, the missionary at this

MR. AND MRS. PRITCIIARD. 17

Station, w^ quite ijil, \v:e accompanied them to their cottage, before calling at the mission house.

At twelve o'clock, we paid our respects to Mr. and Mrs. /Pritchard ; apd were delighted with the neatness, taste, and vheauty of their humble dwelling* Mr. Pritchard, a well educated and intelligent man, though much indisposed, received us with great cordi^ty and kindness • and in Slrsv JPiitchard, we were pleased to meet, in this happy and honorable exile, a refined and lovely woman. Their Httle parlor-^ though furnished with Or plainness and simplicity appropriate to the situation and character of the occupants— wore an aspect of refinement and Gultivq.tion that bespoke a familiarity with more polished scenes than those in which they are now found. Two fine, healthful, and neatly dressed children, beside their mother oa a sofa, added greatly to the charm of a home scene, so welcome tons, after the exhibit tions of heathenism with which we ha.d been conversant at Nukuhiva. An hour, papsed rapidly away under such circumstances ; when we took leave, to pass over the bay to the islet in front of the harbor, v^heve we had made arrangements to partake a repast, furnished from stores brought with us from the Vincejines.

This is a delightful little spot ; a few rods only in circumference, but covered with groves, in miniature, of almost every variety of growth found on the mainland. Bene9,th the thick shade of these, fanned by a refreshing sea breeze, we enjoyed our pic-nic till it became time to return to the ship, as we intended calling ©n 4he way at a point two miles „ above.

18 PLAISTTATION OP MR. BICKNELL.

ocQupied by Mr. Bicknell, an English planter, and at the missionary station, under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Nott, in sight of Matavai.

The habitation of Mr. Bicknell is a respectable, new frame building — weather boarded at the sides and end with a roof of thatch in the native style — the wooden part being neatly painted in cream color, with doors, Venetian blinds, and a covered veranda in green. Within, the arrangement, finish, and furniture, correspond with the neatness, and even elegaiXce, for this part of the world, of the exterior: while horses and mules, herds of cattle and flocks of goats in the adjoining enclosures — a. sugar mill and boilers, and a warehouse filled with beautifully grained sugar, molasses, and rum — testify to the resources, and promising circumstances of the propri- ^or. On landing, in front of the establishment, we were received at the gate, and very kindly welcomed by Mr. Bicknell, introduced to Mrs. Bicknell, and welcomed to the hospitality of his house.

From this point, apart of our number walked along the beach to the residence of Mr. Nott. It was quite dark before we reached his grounds, and we called with the intention of stopping a moment only ; but the kindness and hospitality of himself and wife obliged us to remain to a cup of tea ; and it was late in the evening, before, much gratified with our visit, we rejoined our barge, and rowed in safety beneath a lovely sky, the remaining distance to the Vincennes.

On Thursday, I made a second visit to Papeete, with Lieutenants Magruder and Sullivan, and Mid-

TURNPIKE A'i^TAttlTI. 19

shipraen Irving, Maury, Taylor, and Anthony. We spent the day much in the manner of the last ; byt in returning, yoiing Arithony and myself took a turnpike, which has been constructed almost entirely around the island-^ra distance of near a hundred miles —as far as Mr. Nott's, at Pare. This road is a fine and praiseworthy work for such a p^ople—^the labor principally of convicts, proved guilty of, various breaches of the laws. It is a broad, gravel way, extending, for the most part, in a direct line from point to point along the coast, smoqthly and well finished, and provided with narrow bridges of plank over the water courses and streamlets, running from the mountains to the sea. Thickly embowered with luxuriant groves of various trees-^-skirted, here and there, with the humble but comfortable habitations of the islanders — opening occasionally upon a bright glade or extensive meadow land, with fine views of the mountains on one side, and the ocean on the other, it is, in many places, beautiful as a drive in the pleasure grounds of an Americ^in mansion, or the park of a gentleman in England.

Tha distance we travelled over it at this time, was about three miles ; and we were treated with great civility and kindness by all whose habitations we passed, and by those met on our ivay. Within about a mile of Mr. Nott's, a side road leads to the ^oiiit occupied by the residences of thp royal chieftains ; and we turned into it, for the purpose of visiting their establishment.

Pomare III., only surviving son df Pomare II, havinjg died in his childhood two years since, while

20 ROYAL RESIDENGE AND

pursuing" his ediication at the South Sea Academy, on the neighboring island of Eimeo or Morea, as the natives more frequently call it, was succeeded in the supreme authority of Tahiti, Eimeo, Tabuae-manu, or Sir George SandersMsland— which three constitute the Georgian cluster— by an only sister, under the style of Pomare Vahine I. of Tahiti, or the Female Pomare I. of Tahiti. She is now about eighteen, and has been married some years to the eldest son of the prince, or head chief of Tahaa, one of the Society Islands, a hundred miles or more northwest of Taliiti and Eimeo.

Tamatoa, king of Raiatea, the principal island of that group is the materrial grandfather of the young queen, and she witli her husband, mother, and an aunt — both daughters of the king of Raiatea, and associated in a regency during the minority of the queen — is at present on a visit there. We of course did not expect to find any person of much distinction ; and were received by an inferior chief and his wife, left in charge of the estabKshjnent during the absence of the party.

These two are a respectable couple of middle age ; and occupy a large, airy, and well kept hotise, standing near the sea side. A Sandwich Island woman is residing with them at present — the wife- of an Hawaiian, sent to Tahiti by Governor Boki, of Oahu, as supercargo of the brig Ainoa, in a voyage from w^hich, she has just returned to the Sandwich Islands. The supercargo has remained, to dispose of the goods ; and is, at present, with the queen's party at the Society Islands, while his wife keeps a shop

TOMB OP POMARE. 21

for the disposal ot Chinese goods, blank books, stationery, slates, pencils, &c., and various articles of hardware, all in demand here, and purchased for cocoanut oil and arrow root. It is not believed, however, from the character of the agent, that this attempt in cominercial enterprise will prove very profitable to the governor.

The point is covered with majestic and delightful groves, beneath whiqh is the habitation X)f the queen, and the dwellings xDf her immediate dependents. Her house of frame, wattled and plastered, has an entrance, hall, and four rooms on the ground floor^ besides an attic ; and is a neat and comfortable building, but, in the absence of the royal party, un* furnished and shut up.

The mausoleum of Pomare 11.^ — in which the remains of his son Pomare lU. are. also deposited-— like the dwelling of the queen, is a white plastered house, in a large enclosure, embowered in the deepest shades of the groves. Near it, a section of the great royal chapel erected by him after his conversion to Christianity, is stiU standing ; and is kept in good repair as a school-house. The original area of the building was more than seven hundred feet inlength, by fifty in breadth.

A short distance fairther towards Matavai, on an elevated arid conspicuous site, stands the chapel of the Rev. Mr. Nott — a neat, well-finished, and even elegant place of worship. It is an oval, ninety-eight feet in length by fifty in breadth, two stories high, with numerous windows furnished with Venetian Winds. The roof is a beautiful thatch; and the 3*

22 ^ SCHOOLS AT THE

floor, seatSj and puipit, neatly wrought from timber of the bread-fruit tree. The whole is of native workmanship; and would compare to advantage, both in appearan<:e and comfort, with most country churches, in aiiy part of the United States. We joined the boat again at this spot^ and reached the Vincennes early in the evening.

On a following day, I made the same excursion for a third time, with Captain Fiiich and a small party. In going we sailed outside the reef, and entered the harbor by the ship channel. Tlie only incident of interest, varying this from the preceding visitS) was the attendance of an hour at a school under the charge of Mr. Pritchard. The number of scholars was about one hundred and fifty of both sexes, from six, to ten and twelve years of age. It is established on the monitorial system ; and the exhibition made by the pupils of native intelligence, and their proficiency in reading and writing, in rehearsing hymns and portions of scripture, in answering catechetical questions, and in singing, were such as greatly to interest and gratify us ; and to elicit from Captain Finch— in an address to the scholars, interpreted by Mr. Pritchard — high encomiums on the attainments they had already made, and warm encouragement to a persevering attention to the means of improvement and intelligence with which they are favored.

The handwriting of many was quite equal to that of children of the same age, in schools in America ; and the elder scholars are pursuing an elementary course in arithmetic, geographyj and history. Very

MISSIONARY STATIONS. 23

few district schools in the interior of our own country, are accommodated with so pleasant, convenient, and spacious a school-hou^Q ; and no school that could be visited, would present an appearance of greater neatness in the children, more brightness and happiness of look, modesty of apparel, and order and propriety of deportmfent. Schools of a similar kind are under the daily superintendence of the missionaries at every station ; and facilities for securing the arts of reading and writing atvleast, are thus aflforded to the w^hole population. ,

Letter III. A Tahitian Sabbath

Matavai Bay at Tahiti, ) August 22d, 1829. i

The first missionaries to the Georgian Islands, having made the voyage from England by the Cape of Good Hope, without an allowance for th6 gain of time in sailing eastward, were on their arrival at Tahiti, a half day and more in advance of visitors, coming to the islands by Gape Horn. This difference still continues; and, consequently to-day, though only Saturday, the 22d, in the record on board the Vincennes, is Sunday, the 23d, on shore.

A number of the officers and crew attended the services of Mr. WilsonV chapel, both in the morning and afternoon. The exercises on each occasion

SABBATH SCHOOL were so similar^ that I shall speak only of those of the morning worship, whiiDh I witnessed, in company with Oeiptain Finch and a party from the ward-room and steerage.

We landed at nine o'clock, previously to which we had seen the people, in large numbers, going to, £tnd returning from, a prayer meeting at sunrise. Hearing the sound of recitations in the school-house — a neat and comfortaWe building between the cottage of Mr. Wilson and the chapel — we directed our course to it. A sabbath school, consisting of about one hundred and fifty boys and girls, from the ages of three and four years to fifteen and seventeen, was here assembled, in which several respectable, middle aged men acted as teachers and superintendents, while others of the same age and character walked along the passages at the sides arid centre of the building, holding long, slender rods of the light hibiscus, with which to touch any of the younger scholars, when disposed to be mischievous and troublesome. Many of the parents and friends were also present as spectators.

When we entered, the whole school was repeating the answers of a catechism simultaneously, with great promptitude and correctness. This was followed by a recitation from the Bible, in which one scholar would rehearse a section of a chapter, and another that succeeding — thus alternating from individual to individual, and from class to class, with the greatest readiness ; ^and manifesting, by the unhesitating manner in which they continued the exercise from verse to verse, and chapt^ to chapter,

AT MATAVAI.

no ordinary tenacity and strength of memory. A hymn was then sung, in which all joined ; when the school was closed with an appropriate prayer by the superintendent. Mrs. Wilson and her daughters were present as teachers and manetgers of the female scholars; and in the whple aspect of the school, there was a cleanliness and propriety of dress, and. personal appearance, and an iiitelligence and order equal to those found in any of the kind in our own country. • While at prayer,

" The sound of the church-going bell/'

with its sweet and elevating associations^ in the pious mind, began to reach us from a neighboring grove ; and shortly after, the scholars, in a procession of two and two— the boys led by a native superintendent, and tlie girls by Mrs. Wilson and her daughters — quietly made their way to a temple of God, founded within the last fifteen. years, on the ruins of altars which for time unknown had been steeped in blood. Crowds of islanders, of every grade, were also seen gathering, by well-made gravel walks, leading in various directions, berieath the thiclr shade of the trees covering th^e point, to the same spot, all clad in neat and modest apparel, principally white, of their own or foreign manufacture: and exhibiting in their whole aspect, a dignity and respectability of character becoming a Christian people. Almost every individual had in his hand ^ copy of the portions of the scripture, translated into the language of the group, and a book of hymns.