Chapter 10

Soon after the King's departure, a regular rebellion broke out in the island of O Tuai. Its former ruler, Tamari, was dead, and his son, a young man who had been brought up in the United States of America, and had unfortunately fallen into bad company, was desirous to recover for himself the independent dominion of the island. Karemaku and Kahumanna immediately hastened thither with an army, and on our arrival at Hanaruro we found the war still raging at O Tuai, though it was supposed to be near its close. The government of Wahu was entrusted, during the absence of the Regents, to another wife of Tameamea, named Nomahanna, conjointly with a Yeri called Chinau.

On the morning after our arrival, I rowed ashore with some of my officers, to pay my respects to the Queen Nomahanna, and on landing was met by the Spaniard Marini, who accompanied us to her Majesty as interpreter. On the way I was recognised by several old friends, with whom I had become acquainted on my former visit. They saluted me with a friendly "_Aroha_." I cannot say there was much room for compliment on any visible improvement in their costume; for they still wore with much self-complacency some ill-assorted portions of European attire.

The residence of Nomahanna lay near the fortress on the sea-shore: it was a pretty little wooden house of two stories, built in the European style, with handsome large windows, and a balcony very neatly painted. We were received on the stairs by Chinau, the governor of Wahu, in a curious dishabille. He could hardly walk from the confinement his feet suffered in a pair of fisherman's shoes, and his red cloth waistcoat would not submit to be buttoned, because it had never been intended for so colossal a frame. He welcomed me with repeated "_Arohas_," and led me up to the second floor, where all the arrangements had a pleasing and even elegant appearance. The stairs were occupied from the bottom to the door of the Queen's apartments, by children, adults, and even old people, of both sexes, who, under her Majesty's own superintendence, were reading from spelling-books, and writing on slates--a spectacle very honourable to her philanthropy. The Governor himself had a spelling-book in one hand, and in the other a very ornamental little instrument made of bone, which he used for pointing to the letters. Some of the old people appeared to have joined the assembly rather for example's sake, than from a desire to learn, as they were studying, with an affectation of extreme diligence, books held upside down.

The spectacle of these scholars and their whimsical and scanty attire, nearly upset the gravity with which I had prepared for my presentation to the Queen. The doors were, however, thrown open and I entered, Chinau introducing me as the captain of the newly-arrived Russian frigate. The apartment was furnished in the European fashion, with chairs, tables, and looking-glasses. In one corner stood an immensely large bed with silk curtains; the floor was covered with fine mats, and on these, in the middle of the room, lay Nomahanna, extended on her stomach, her head turned towards the door, and her arms supported on a silk pillow. Two young girls lightly dressed, sat cross-legged by the side of the Queen, flapping away the flies with bunches of feathers. Nomahanna, who appeared at the utmost not more than forty years old, was exactly six feet two inches high, and rather more than two ells in circumference. She wore an old-fashioned European dress of blue silk; her coal-black hair was neatly plaited, at the top of a head as round as a ball; her flat nose and thick projecting lips were certainly not very handsome, yet was her countenance on the whole prepossessing and agreeable. On seeing me, she laid down the psalm-book in which she had been reading, and having, with the help of her attendants, changed her lying for a sitting posture, she held out her hand to me in a very friendly manner, with many "_Arohas!_" and invited me to take a seat on a chair by her side. Her memory was better than my own; she recognised me as the Russian officer who had visited the deceased monarch Tameamea, on the island of O Wahi. On that occasion I had been presented to the Queens; but since that time Nomahanna had so much increased in size, that I did not know her again. She was aware how highly I esteemed her departed consort; my appearance brought him vividly to her remembrance, and she could not restrain her tears, in speaking of his death. "The people," said she, "have lost in him a protector and a father. What will now be the fate of these islands, the God of the Christians only knows." She now informed me with much self-gratulation that she was a Christian, and attended the prayer-meeting several times every day. Desirous to know how far she had been instructed in the religion she professed, I inquired through Marini the grounds of her conversion. She replied that she could not exactly describe them, but that the missionary Bengham, who understood reading and writing perfectly well, had assured her that the Christian faith was the best; and that, seeing how far the Europeans and Americans, who were all Christians, surpassed her compatriots in knowledge, she concluded that their belief must be the most reasonable. "If, however," she added, "it should be found unsuited to our people, we will reject it, and adopt another."

Hence it appears that the christianity of the missionaries is not regarded with the reverence which, in its purity, it is calculated to inspire in the most uncultivated minds. In conclusion, Nomahanna triumphantly informed me, that the women might now eat as much pork as they pleased, instead of being, as formerly, limited to dog's flesh. At this observation, an intrusive idea suddenly changed her tone and the expression of her features. With a deep sigh, she exclaimed--"What would Tameamea say if he could behold the changes which have taken place here? No more Gods--no more Marais: all are destroyed! It was not so in his time:--we shall never have such another king!" Then, while the tears trickled down her cheeks, she bared her right arm, and showed me, tattooed on it in the O Wahi language--"Our good King Tameamea died on the 8th of May 1819." This sign of mourning for the beloved monarch, which cannot be laid aside like our pieces of crape, but accompanies the mourner to the grave, is very frequent on the Sandwich Islands, and testifies the esteem in which his memory is held: but it is a still more striking proof of the universal grief for his loss, that on the anniversary of his death, all his subjects struck out one of their front teeth; and the whole nation have in consequence acquired a sort of whistle in speaking. Chinau had even had the above words tattooed on his tongue, of which he gave me ocular demonstration; nor was he singular in this mode of testifying his attachment. It is surprising that an operation so painful, and which occasions a considerable swelling, should not be attended with worse consequences.

Nomahanna spoke with enthusiasm on the subject of writing. Formerly, she said, she could only converse with persons who were present; now, let them be ever so far distant, she could whisper her thoughts softly to them alone. She promised to write me a letter, in order, she said, that I might prove to every one in Russia that Nomahanna was able to write.

Our conversation was interrupted by the rattling of wheels, and the sound of many voices. I looked from the window, and saw a little cart to which a number of active young men had harnessed themselves with the greatest complacency. I inquired of Marini what this meant, and was informed that the Queen was about to drive to church: an attendant soon after entered, and announced that the equipage was ready. Nomahanna graciously proposed my accompanying her; and rather than risk her displeasure by a refusal, I accepted the invitation with many thanks, though I foresaw that I should thus be drawn in as a party to a very absurd spectacle.

The Queen now put on a white calico hat decorated with Chinese flowers, took a large Chinese fan in her hand, and, having completed her toilette by drawing on a pair of clumsy sailor's boots, we set out. In descending the stairs, she made a sign that the school was over for the present; an announcement that seemed very agreeable to the scholars, to the old ones especially. At the door below, a crowd had assembled, attracted by curiosity to see me and their Queen drive out together. The young men in harness shouted for joy, and patiently waited the signal for the race. Some delay, however, occurred in taking our seats with suitable dignity. The carriage was very small, and my companion very large, so that I was fain to be content with a seat upon the edge, with a very good chance of losing my balance, had not her Majesty, to obviate the danger, encircled my waist with her stout and powerful arm, and thus secured me on my seat; our position, and the contrast presented by our figures, had no doubt a sufficiently comical effect. When we were at length comfortably settled, the Governor Chinau came forth, and with no other addition than a round hat to the costume already described, mounted a meagre unsaddled steed, and off we all went at full gallop, the Queen taking infinite pains to avoid losing me by the way. The people came streaming from all sides, shouting "_Aroha maita!_"--our team continually increasing, while a crowd behind contended for the honour of helping to push us forward. In this style we drove the whole length of Hanaruro, and in about a quarter of an hour reached the church, which lies on an ugly flat, and exactly resembles that at O Tahaiti both in external and internal appearance.

The congregation was very small. Nomahanna and an old lady were the only individuals of their sex; and Chinau, myself, and a few others, the only males present. Even the people who had drawn us did not enter the church; from which I infer, that the influence of the missionaries is by no means so considerable as at O Tahaiti; and certainly the converts are not yet driven with a stick into the house of prayer: nor would it be easy to fasten on the minds of the people the fetters so patiently endured on the Society Islands, where the labours of the missionaries are seldom interrupted by the intervention of strangers. The Sandwich Islanders are engaged in constant intercourse with foreign sailors, mostly of licentious characters, who indeed profess the Christian religion; but brought hither by the desire of gain, or the necessity of laying in provisions for their ships, are generally wholly occupied in driving crafty bargains, and certainly are no way instrumental in inspiring the islanders with ideas of religion or morality, but on the contrary, set them examples which have a direct tendency to deprave their minds. Such among these crews as have been guilty of offences on board ship, frequently run away and settle on the islands. This was severely prohibited in Tameamea's time, but is now permitted, from Christian charity. Such characters as these, reckless of every thing sacred, do not hesitate to make a jest of the missionaries, whose extraordinary plans and regulations offer many weak points to the shafts of ridicule.

When Mr. Bengham had concluded a discourse in the O Wahi language, which might possibly have been highly edifying, but that it was addressed to little else than empty benches,--for I did not understand him, and the minds of the few other persons present were evidently occupied with very different matters,--we returned to the palace in the same style that we had left it. I then took my leave, having received a promise of being amply supplied with provisions: the Queen also, at my request, ordered a small house near her own to be prepared for our astronomical observations, and our astronomer, M. Preus, took possession of it on the following day.

Our arrival had created a great sensation on the island. A foreign ship of war is an uncommon spectacle here--one from Russia more especially, as the attempt of the insane Dr. Scheffer, in 1816, to raise the island of O Tuai against Tameamea, in the hope of annexing it to the empire of Russia, had naturally introduced a fear of similar projects, although the absurd design was entirely discountenanced by the Emperor Alexander. The English also, even in their writings, have contributed to spread the ridiculous idea, that Russia entertained views against the independence of the Sandwich Islands; and that Rio Rio's voyage was only undertaken for the purpose of imploring the assistance of England against our government. From the air of protection which England has for some time past assumed towards these islands, it is probable that she herself secretly harbours such a design, and only waits a favourable opportunity for its execution; although the English always profess to acknowledge the sovereignty of the native monarch, and the King of England, in writing to Tameamea, calls him, "Your Majesty."

I am, however, far from desiring to maintain this opinion as founded on any sufficient grounds. The alarm of the islanders, on the present occasion, had been in great measure excited by a paragraph in a Mexican newspaper, recently imported, which contained a new version of the English fiction. The mistrust, however, did not long subsist. My assurances of friendship, and the particularly good behaviour of the whole crew, by which they were advantageously distinguished from those of the other ships lying here, soon attracted towards us the confidence and esteem of the natives and their governors. During the whole of my stay on the island, I had not the slightest cause to be dissatisfied with the conduct of my men, notwithstanding the temptations to which they were exposed, from the example of other sailors. All that could be spared from the ship were, every Sunday, allowed to go ashore; this being generally known in Hanaruro, a crowd of Wahuaners were always in waiting to welcome the arrival of our boat. The friendly intercourse which at all times subsisted between our people and the islanders was truly gratifying.

I observed with regret, in my daily visits to Hanaruro, that the Wahuaners had lost the simplicity and innocence of character which formerly distinguished them. The profligate habits of the settlers of all nations among them, and of the numerous foreign sailors with whom they constantly associate, have most prejudicially affected their morals. Fraud, theft, and burglary, never heard of in Tameamea's time, are now frequent. Murder implies a degree of wickedness to which they have not yet attained; but a circumstance that occurred shortly before our arrival, may perhaps become an example even for this worst of crimes. The crew of an English whaler, in which much drinking had been permitted, mutinied, and the Captain received a blow on the head, which, though it did not destroy life, produced insanity; nor could all the efforts of our physician wholly restore his reason. He had indeed lucid intervals, during which he became reconciled to his crew, and at length sailed for England; but I have reason to believe the vessel never reached its destination.

One very unpleasant consequence has attended progressive civilization in Hanaruro:--painted signs, that the means of intoxication might be purchased within, hang from many of the houses: their keepers are runaway sailors, who, to increase their own profit, naturally have recourse to every means that may tempt the people to excess; and these liquor-shops accordingly enjoy a constant overflow of visitors. Others are fitted up in a superior style, for the exclusive accommodation of Yeris and ships' officers, admission being refused to Kanackas and sailors. Carousing is here also the order of the day, but billiards and whist form part of the entertainments; the latter game especially is a great favourite with the Wahuaners, who play it well. Whist parties may be seen every where seated on the ground, in the streets or in open fields, among whom large sums of money and valuable goods are at stake. The players are always surrounded by spectators, who pronounce their opinions very volubly at the close of every game. The parties themselves are extremely animated, and the affair seldom terminates without a quarrel. Many other games are also in favour; and through the prevalence of a custom which cannot be observed without regret, this once industrious and flourishing people are rapidly acquiring confirmed habits of idleness and dissipation. A great part of the well cultivated tarro-fields, which formerly surrounded Hanaruro, now lie waste. On the great market-place, horse and foot races are proceeding all day long, and give occasion to extensive gambling. The Wahuaners have as great a passion for horse-racing, as the Malays for cock-fighting, and without hesitation venture their whole stock of wealth on a race. The purchase of a horse is, indeed, the great object of their ambition; and little attention having hitherto been directed to the breeding of these animals, they are imported from California, at an expense of from two to three, or even five hundred piastres; so that many a Wahuaner is obliged to hoard his whole earnings for years together, to raise the means of indulging in this luxury. In these races the horse is not saddled, and a string supplies the place of a bit; the rider is usually quite naked, but very skilful in the management even of the wildest horse; but, as the treatment is injudicious, they are soon worn out.

Large sums are also staked at the _ship-games_, as they are called, in which the islanders display their seaman-like tastes. The players are usually clever ship-builders. They build pretty little vessels, in conformity with the rules of art, and, by their good management of the keel, make them good sailers; they rig them completely, and decorate them with flags and streamers. Then assembling on the banks of some large pond, the owners spread the sails, make the helm fast, and launch the little fleet. The ship which is best built and rigged, first gains the opposite shore, and wins the prize. The spectators take great interest in the game, and a loud shout announces the victory. The children also, in imitation of their fathers, make little ships, and have sailing-matches on the smaller pieces of water.

From the partiality of the Sandwich Islanders for a sea-life, and from their geographical situation, it is probable that, in time, they will become powerful at sea. Tameamea left to his successor above a dozen good ships, all manned with natives. They obtain excellent nautical educations on board the United States' vessels trading between America and Canton; and the Americans, who are equal to the English as seamen, bear witness to the abilities of the islanders.

Luxury has made great advances in Wahu. Even among the lowest class of the people, some article of European clothing is universal. The females especially set their hearts upon the most fashionable mode of dress: whatever the Queen wears is their model, which they imitate to the utmost of their power. The men are importuned to gratify this feminine vanity; and if their means will not enable them to do so fairly, they will often have recourse to fraud. The love of foreign wares, and especially of such as serve for dress and ornament, is by far the most fertile source of crime. The shopkeepers are emulous to make their assortment of goods as attractive as possible, and sometimes allow their customers credit, in which case they never fail to charge double, though their profits are at all times enormous. I have myself seen young girls paying two Spanish dollars for a string of common glass-beads which would scarcely reach round the throat. The tradespeople practise every species of deception with impunity, for the laws are not yet sufficiently civilized to meet offences of this description; which therefore inflict a double injury on their dupe, by robbing him of his property, and affording him an example of successful fraud, which he will generally at least endeavour to imitate. On Sunday, the inhabitants of Wahu make their appearance at church in full dress to be admired; and if the spectacle on these occasions is not so thoroughly laughable as at O Tahaiti, it is certainly sufficiently comic.

The domestic utensils, formerly in use here, have entirely disappeared even from the poorest huts; and Chinese porcelain has superseded the manufactures from the gourd or the cocoa-nut.

Fourteen days after our arrival, I received a message from Karemaku, who was still at O Tuai. He assured me that he was rejoiced at my coming, stated that he had sent orders to Chinau to supply my ship with the best provisions, and added, that having happily concluded the expedition, he should soon return to Hanaruro.

Meanwhile, we had no cause to complain of our situation: every thing was to be had for money; and Nomahanna overwhelmed us with presents of fat hogs and the finest fish, putting all the fishermen into requisition to provide abundantly for our table. We had all reason to be grateful for her attention and kindness, and are all therefore ready to maintain that she is not only the cleverest and the most learned, but also the best woman in Wahu, as indeed she is considered both by the natives and settlers. But I can also bear testimony to another qualification, of equal importance in her estimation--she has certainly the greatest appetite that ever came under my observation. I usually visited her in the morning, and was in the habit of finding her extended at full length upon the floor, employed in inditing her letter to me, which appeared to occasion her many a head-ache. Once, however, I called exactly at dinner-time, and was shown into the eating-room. She was lying on fine mats before a large looking-glass, stretched as usual on her prodigious stomach: a number of Chinese porcelain dishes, containing food of various kinds, were ranged in a semicircle before her, and the attendants were busily employed in handing first one and then another to her Majesty. She helped herself with her fingers from each in its turn, and ate most voraciously, whilst two boys flapped away the flies with large bunches of feathers. My appearance did not at all disturb her: she greeted me with her mouth full, and graciously nodded her desire that I should take my seat in a chair by her side, when I witnessed, I think, the most extraordinary meal upon record. How much had passed the royal mouth before my entrance, I will not undertake to affirm; but it took in enough in my presence to have satisfied six men! Great as was my admiration at the quantity of food thus consumed, the scene which followed was calculated to increase it. Her appetite appearing satisfied at length, the Queen drew her breath with difficulty two or three times, then exclaimed, "I have eaten famously!" These were the first words her important business had allowed her time to utter. By the assistance of her attendants, she then turned upon her back, and made a sign with her hand to a tall, strong fellow, who seemed well practised in his office; he immediately sprang upon her body, and kneaded her as unmercifully with his knees and fists as if she had been a trough of bread. This was done to favour digestion; and her Majesty, after groaning a little at this ungentle treatment, and taking a short time to recover herself, ordered her royal person to be again turned on the stomach, and recommenced her meal. This account, whatever appearance of exaggeration it may bear, is literally true, as all my officers, and the other gentlemen who accompanied me, will witness.