Part 5
August 20, 1800.—We hear great preparations are making, whether for war or peace is to be determined in a short time, by some heathenish divination. If it should prove for war, those who are eager for blood seem determined to glut themselves, we rejoice that the Lord of Hosts is the God of the heathen as well as the Captain of the Armies of Israel; and while the potsherds of the earth are dashing themselves to pieces one against the other, they are fulfilling his determinate counsels and foreknowledge.
In the month of June Pomare instituted a wholesale massacre to subject the entire island to his rule, and by brutal force gained the object of his ambition. In 1808 the political situation was such that the missionaries found it necessary for their safety to leave the island, and fled with Pomare, November 12th, to the island of Moorea. Pomare's cruelties and atrocities practiced upon the natives during his tyrannical rule are well described in a pen-picture drawn by Moerenhout:
After having massacred all whom they had surprised (in Attahura), after having burned the houses, they went on to Papara, where Tati, who is still living (1837), was chief; but fortunately a man who had escaped from the carnage of Punaauia came to warn the inhabitants of Papara, so that they had time, not to unite in defense, but to fly. Nevertheless, in that infernal night and the day following a great number of persons perished, especially old men, women and children; and among the victims were the widow and children of Aripaia (Ariifaataia) Amo's son, who, surprised the next evening near Taiarahu, were pitilessly massacred with all their attendants. Tati and some of his warriors succeeded in reaching a fort called Papeharoro, at Mairepehe; but they were too few to maintain themseives there, and were forced to take refuge in the most inaccessible parts of the high mountains, from whence this chief succeeded in getting to a canoe which some of his faithful followers provided for him, and kept in readiness on the shore, at the peril of their lives. With him were his brother and his young son, whom he had himself carried in his arms during all this time of fatigue and dangers.
Opuhara became chief of Papara, and soon afterward chief of the island, and remained the chief personage of Tahiti during the next seven years. Ellis, the historian of the missionaries, described him as an intelligent and interesting man.
At Moorea, Pomare's friends were Paumotuans, Boraborans, Raiateans, missionaries, and outcasts. Even these at last abandoned him. The missionary journal shows that they had long regarded their work as a failure, and after identifying themselves with Pomare, in spite of emphatic warnings, no other result was possible. So the missionaries, leaving only Mr. Nott at Moorea, sailed for Australia, not daring to accept the proffered protection of the Tahiti chiefs, because they could not separate themselves, in the minds of the common people, from Pomare and his interests. At Moorea, Pomare urged the visiting chiefs to become Christians. On the 18th of July, 1812, he announced his own decision to the missionaries, and shortly afterwards, on invitation from his old district of Pare Arue, he returned to Tahiti, where he was permitted to remain for two years, as an avowed Christian, unmolested by his old enemies. He took up his residence at Pare Arue as a Christian chief, August 13, 1812, and kept up a correspondence with the missionaries at Moorea.
The missionaries returned and were more successful in Christianizing the people. On the 17th of February, 1813, Pomare wrote: "Matavai has been delivered up to me. When I am perfectly assured of the sincerity of this surrender I will write to you another letter." The missionaries made a tour of the island; many conversions took place; in Moorea several idols were publicly burned; there could be no doubt that the Christians were pursuing an active course, and that their success would bring back the authority of Pomare over the whole island; but neither Opuhara nor Tati interfered, and the peace remained. Yet, after waiting two years at Pare, vainly expecting the restoration of his government, and endeavoring to recover his authority in his hereditary districts, Pomare returned to Moorea in the autumn of 1814, accompanied by a large train of adherents and dependents, all professing Christianity. At the same time the Christian converts in Tahiti became an organization known as the Bure Atua, and every one could see that Pomare was making use of them, and of his wife's resources, to begin a new effort to recover by force his authority in the island. War was inevitable, and Pomare, with his Christian followers and missionaries, could choose the time and place.
Pomare himself was not a soldier, nor had he anything of a soldierly spirit. He left active campaigning to his wives, who were less likely to rouse the old enmity. His two wives, Terite and Pomare vehine, came over to Pare Arue May, 1815, with a large party of Christians, and urged their plans for the overthrow of the native chiefs. The chiefs had no other alternative than to get rid of them, and fixed the night of July 7th for the combined attack. Opuhara led the forces, and it is said that he had given the two queens timely warning to effect their escape. For his delay some of the other chiefs charged him with treachery. He replied that he wished no harm to the two women or their people; that his enemies were the Parionuu; and he marched directly into Pare Arue, and subdued it once more.
While Pomare and the missionaries grew stronger, and, as Ellis expressed it, "became convinced that the time was not very remote when their faith and principles must rise preeminent above the power and influence" of the native chiefs, the chiefs themselves exhibited vacillation. Pomare returned, with all his following, apparently armed and prepared for war. The native converts were trained to the use of firearms and the whole missionary interest became, for the moment, actively militant. The native chiefs remained passive. Under the appearance of religious services, Pomare and the missionaries kept their adherents under arms and prepared them for any hostilities that might arise.
With his army numbering eight hundred, two war canoes, one manned with musketeers, the other with a swivel gun in the stern, commanded by a white man, Pomare, on November 11th, took possession at or near the village of Punaauia, near Papara, with pickets far in advance. Opuhara hastily summoned his men in the famous battle of Fei-pi (the ripe plantains). The field of battle was among the foothills near the coast. Opuhara's warriors made a valiant attack and pierced the front ranks of the enemy till it reached the spot where one of the queens, Pomare vehine, and the chief warriors stood. There one of the native converts leveled his gun at Opuhara, fired, the chief fell, and in a very short time expired. The leader of the native forces was killed by one of his own people who had cast his lot with Pomare and the missionaries.
This war was brought on to force the natives to Pomare's rule, and not for the purpose of removing obstacles to the Christianization of the islanders, as the chiefs were not opposed to the peaceable dissemination of the teachings of the gospel. It was a political and not a religious war, and in this political endeavor the missionaries and their converts took the leading part. The missionaries evidently forgot the legitimate object of their mission and unmercifully slaughtered the natives who took up arms to defend their rights. The Christians on Pomare's side were fighting for supremacy, unmindful of the teachings of the sacred Scriptures.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment St. James ii: 13.
When Opuhara fell, his men lost courage, retreated, and were not pursued. The death of Opuhara was deeply regretted by Tati, his near relative and successor in the government of the district. In the ranks of his followers it was firmly believed Opuhara, few as his forces were, would have vanquished the enemy, had not the native missionaries been taught to shoot as they were taught to pray, and been supplied with guns along with Bibles. With the death of Opuhara the last hope of the natives was dissipated and submission to Pomare's rule became a stern reality. Neither the missionaries nor the natives had any idea of allowing Pomare to recede into his old ways. They made him refrain from massacre or revenge after the battle of Fei-pi. Tati, the chief of Papara, maintained peace from that time by his wise rule in that part of the island. He began by the usual island custom of binding Pomare to him by the strongest possible ties. The rapid extinction of chiefly families in Tahiti had left the head chief of Moorea heir to most of the distinguished names and properties in both islands. Marama, the head chief of Moorea, had only one heir, a daughter, a relative of Pomare. This great heiress, almost the last remnant of the three or four sacred families of the two islands, was given by Pomare in marriage to Tati's son, immediately after Tati himself was restored to his rights as head chief of the Tevas. In doing so he claimed for his own the first child that Marama (the bride) should have and made at the same time a compact that the children from the marriage should marry into the Pomare family. These conditions were made to render himself more influential with the most refractory of the conquered tribes. Pomare II. died December 7, 1821, leaving a daughter, Aimata, and a son, Pomare III., a child in arms. Aimata was never regarded with favor by Pomare, her father, who was frank in saying that she was not his child; so the infant son was made heir to the throne. Moerenhout made the statement that Pomare, on his deathbed, expressed the wish that Tati should take the reins of the government in his hands, but that the missionaries and other chiefs were afraid to trust Tati, and preferred to take the charge of the infant king on themselves. The missionaries in due time went through the formal ceremony of crowning the infant, April 22, 1824, at Papara, and then took him to their school, the South Sea Academy, which was established in March, 1824, in the island of Moorea at Papetoai. There he was taught to read and write, and educated in English, which became his language, until he was seven years old, when he fell ill, and was taken over to his mother at Pare, where he died January 11, 1827. During the reign of the infant king, Mata, a friend of the family, managed the affairs of state and became the guardian of Aimata, as the Queen, Pomare IV., was always called by the natives. Aimata was married at the age of nine years. She led an unhappy life, domestic, political, private and public, until at last the missionaries, English and French, fought so violently for control of her and the island that she was actually driven away.
Among other laws which were supposed to have been passed through the influence of the English missionaries, to prevent strangers from obtaining influence in the island, was one dated March 1, 1833, forbidding strangers, under any pretext, from marrying in Tahiti or Moorea. Ariitaimai, of noble birth, the historian of Tahiti, was not inclined to marry a native chief, a decision which met the approval of Marama, her mother. She finally consented to become the wife of Mr. Salmon, an Englishman, who was held in high esteem and consideration in the island; and Aimata suspended the law in order to enable her friend to be married to the man of her choice. The missionaries virtually ruled the island for forty years.
WARS BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES
In 1836 two French missionary priests landed at Tahiti to convert, not pagans, but Protestants to the Roman Catholic faith. The Protestant missionaries, who held the reins of the government, indignant at this interference, invoked the aid of the British consul, Pritchard, who caused the Queen to order their arrest and expulsion. The order was executed December 12, 1836. The two priests made a protest to their government, and King Louis Philippe sent a frigate to Papeete with the usual ultimatum, to which the Queen naturally acceded. Then began a struggle on the part of Consul Pritchard and the English missionaries to recover their ground, which led to a letter from Queen Pomare to Queen Victoria, suggesting a British protectorate, whereupon the French government sent another warship to Tahiti, in 1839, and made Aimata repeat her submission. As the British government at that time did not take much interest in missionaries, and Sir Robert Peel had a very precise knowledge of the value of unclaimed islands all over the world, Queen Victoria did not accept the proposition made by the Tahitian Queen, and the missionaries were again thrown on their own resources.
The chiefs ignored the missionaries, and in September, 1841, decided that, between such powers as England and France, they could not hope to maintain independence or even a good understanding, and since England refused the proffered protectorate, they would turn to France. So they drew up the necessary papers for the Queen to approve, but a British war vessel arrived in that critical moment, and this reenforcement of British interests induced the vacillating Queen to refuse to sign them. The next August another French naval force arrived, and the chiefs again met in council, with the admiral's aid and advice. The chiefs sent the following letter to the French admiral, Du Petit—Tuhouars:
Inasmuch as we can not continue to govern ourselves so as to live on good terms with foreign governments, and we are in danger of losing our island, our kingdom, and our liberty, we, the Queen and the high chiefs of Tahiti, write to ask the King of the French to take us under his protection.
In response to this formal request the French admiral, on September 30, 1842, hoisted the flag of the protectorate. This did not end the political and religious troubles of the little island. Consul Pritchard, who had been absent from his post for some time, returned from England February 23, 1843, and declared violent war against the French. As usual, Queen Pomare yielded to his wishes, and refused to obey those of the French admiral. The admiral lost his patience and temper, landed troops and took possession of the island, declared the Queen deposed, and, when disturbances arose, which he believed to be fomented and fostered by Pritchard, he arrested him and had him expelled from the island. This act excited much attention, both in the English and French press, which resulted in an order from the King of France to the admiral to restore the protectorate.
It will be seen that the last wars of Tahiti were caused by a religious intolerance on the part of the English missionaries, who objected to the presence of two Roman Catholic priests in the island. European governments were appealed to and had to interfere in establishing in the island free religious thought. It was a fight between two religious denominations which kept the natives in a state of warfare, a most serious reflection on Christian charity,
Alas for the rarity
Of Christian charity
Under the sun.
HOOD.
The constant unrest of the islanders caused by outside interference provoked frequent rebellions, for "general rebellions and revolts of an whole people never were encouraged, now or at any time; they are always provoked."
The two priests, bent upon a humane mission, who, by their presence in Tahiti, without any fault of their own, incurred the enmity of the Protestant missionaries, were the direct cause of French intervention which resulted in the protectorate and later annexation of the island. The priests remained, new ones came, and today nearly one-half of the population of the island are members of the Roman Catholic church.
The teachings and example of the English missionaries and their conduct toward the Catholic priests prove only too plainly:
Christian graces and virtues they can not be, unless fed, invigorated and animated by universal charity.
ATTERBURY.
THE LAST WAR
Our country sinks beneath the yoke;
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
SHAKESPEARE.
The disturbances which preceded and followed the establishment of the French protectorate induced the Queen to seek safety on a British ship, and the whole Pomare following took up arms and established themselves in the stronghold of native power and influence near Papeete. Another civil war broke out which waged between the natives and Europeans from 1844 to 1845. Tired of foreign dictation and oppression, the natives fought with desperation. Forts, which remain today in a good state of preservation, were erected by natives and the French. Most of the ruins of these forts are scattered along the ninety-mile drive between Papeete and Papara. From time to time, determined attacks were made with varying fortunes of war. The natives were superior in number but could not stand up against the well-directed firearms of the professional soldiers. A last and crushing attack was ordered by the French admiral, which meant certain defeat for the natives.
It was at this critical time that a woman came to the rescue of her people and prevented a wholesale slaughter of the heroic defenders of the island. This woman was Ariitaimai, the authoress of the book we have been following so closely in sketching the history of the island. She was the daughter of the famous Marama, of Moorea, the wife of Mr. Salmon, and the mother of Tati Salmon, the present chief of Papara. She recognized the hopelessness of the cause of her people and determined to prevent further useless bloodshed and establish peace. It required good judgment and a great deal of courage to undertake the task which she finally accomplished with such a brilliant success. She was one of those who believed that
Almost all difficulties may be got the better of by prudent thought, revolving and pondering much in the mind.
MARCELLINUS.
She was intensely patriotic and had no fear of the results of her daring mission. She was very popular with the natives and well known to the French authorities, which aided her very much in formulating and carrying out her plans. She had no time to lose, as the decisive attack on her countrymen had been ordered and was to take place the next day. She called on Bruaat, the governor of the island, with the determined intention to end the war. He granted her twenty-four hours to accomplish her task. She then called a meeting of the head chiefs and urged them to surrender on the conditions stipulated by the French, in view of the hopelessness of the island's cause. At that time this woman was the most conspicuous figure in the politics of the island, loved and respected by the chiefs and the people throughout Tahiti and Moorea. The head chiefs received her proposition with favor. Notable speeches complimentary to her were made on this occasion. One chief said:
Ariitaimai, you have flown amongst us, as it were, like the two birds, Ruataa and Toena. Your object was to join together Urarii and Mauu, and you have brought them into this valley. You have brought the cooling medicines of _vainu_ and _mahainuieumu_ into the hearts of the chiefs that are collected here. Our hearts yearn for you, and we can not in words thank you; but the land, one and all, will prove to you in the future that your visit will always remain in their memory. You have come personally. I have heard you speak the words out of your own mouth. You have brought us the best of all goods, which is peace. You have done this when you thought we were in great trouble, and ran the risk of losing our lives and property; you have come forward as a peacemaker for us all.
What beautiful thoughts in simple, homely language! What a splendid specimen of natural oratory!
In oratory, affectation must be avoided; it being better for a man by a native and clear eloquence to express himself than by those words which may smell either of the lamp or ink-horn.
LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY.
The chiefs unanimously accepted the terms of peace, and after the adjournment of the council, Ariitaimai hastened to Papeete with the message of the chiefs, which was accepted, and once more the protectorate flag was raised and was recognized and respected by the chiefs and the people. During all these great final trials of the island, the Queen remained in the island of Moorea and even after peace was restored and she was formally requested to return, she refused to do so. The French authorities offered the crown repeatedly to Ariitaimai, but as often, she refused the great honor. The exiled Queen was her intimate and dear friend and
Ennuis has well remarked that "a real friend is known in adversity."
CICERO.
She was content with having accomplished a patriotic deed and with the respect, love and gratitude of her people.
So true it is, that honor, prudently declined, often comes back with increased lustre.
LIVIUS.
She could say:
Give me a staff of honour for mine age;
But not a sceptre to control the world.
SHAKESPEARE.
and
Tis less to conquer than to make wars cease,
And, without fighting, awe the world to peace.
HALIFAX.
Ariitaimai made several visits to the unhappy Queen, urging her to return and resume her reign of the island, and had the satisfaction, finally, to bring her back from Raiatea on her third visit.
True friends visit us in prosperity only when invited, but in adversity they come without invitation.
THEOPHRASTUS.
The Queen, on her return, was received with regal honors by the French authorities and by the people.
Pomare V. was the last of the kings of Tahiti. He was the oldest son of Queen Pomare IV. and known as Ariiane Pomare. He was married to Marau Taawa Salmon, Tati Salmon's sister, and had two daughters: Teriimii-o-Tahiti, and Arii mainhinihi. Under European influences and customs he became a degenerate Tahitian, profligate and dissipated, and it is said that he was largely responsible for the annexation of the island to France as a colony in 1880, as he received a substantial remuneration for his influence in that direction and a pension of sixty thousand francs a year. He died in 1891. Since Tahiti has become a French possession the island has enjoyed uninterrupted peace. The French government has been exceedingly liberal with the natives, having interfered as little as possible with their habits and customs.
That is the best government which desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.
MACAULEY.
The island is governed under the French laws, but local laws and tribal rule remain and administer the local affairs. In completing the eventful history of this little island it becomes apparent:
What is public history but a register of the successes and disappointments, the vices, the follies and quarrels of those engaged in the contention for power.
PALEY.
The government has established and enforced religious liberty, observing the precept: "The protection of religion is indispensable to all government" (Bishop Warburton). Taxation is limited to road tax only. The annexation was looked upon with great disfavor by the natives, but was finally accepted with good grace, and peace and happiness have reigned since.
THE NATIVES