POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES.

CHAPTER I.

Historical notice of the discovery of the Pacific-Extent and limits of Polynesia-Voyages of Cook-Discovery of the Georgian and Society Islands Origin of their designation-Number, names, and relative situation of the islands-Key to the pronunciation of native names-Extent and apparent structure of the islands-Beauty of the scenery-First approach to the shore of Matavai-Inland scenery-Description of Eimeo-Coral islandsTetuaroa, the fashionable watering-place of Tahiti-Harbours-Islets on the reefs-Soil in the Islands-Climate-Winds-Rains-and Tides.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

THE Pacific, the largest ocean in the world, extending over more than one-third of the surface of our globe, was discovered in the year 1513, by Vasco Nugnez de Balboa, a courageous and enterprising Spaniard, governor of the Spanish colony of Santa Maria, in the Isthmus of Darien.

The desire of finding a more direct communication with the East Indies had prompted Columbus to the daring voyage which conducted him to the borders of the New World. In that immense and unexplored region his followers pursued their career of enterprise, until Balboa, by discovering the great South Sea, accomplished what Columbus, notwithstanding his splendid achievements, had failed to perform. In his march across the isthmus which separates the Atlantic from the Pacific (an enterprise designated by Robertson as the boldest on which the Spaniards had hitherto ventured in the New World), Balboa, having been informed by his Indian guides that he might view the sea from the next mountain, advanced alone to its summit; and, beholding the vast ocean spread out before him in all its majesty, fell on his knees, and rendered thanks to God for having conducted him to so important a discovery. He hastened towards the object he had so labo

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riously sought, and, on reaching its margin, plunged up to his middle in its waves, with his sword and buckler, and took possession of it in the name of his sovereign, Ferdinand of Spain.

Seven years after this important event, Magellan, a Portuguese despatched by the court of Spain to ascertain the exact situation of the Molucca Islands, sailing along the eastern coast of South America, discovered the straits that bear his name; and, passing through them, first launched the ships of Europe in the Southern Sea. It is, however, probable that neither Balboa, while he gazed with transport on its mighty waters, nor Magellan, when he first whitened with his canvass the waves of that ocean whose smooth surface induced him to call it the PACIFIC, had any idea either of its vast extent, of the numerous islands that studded its bosom, the diversified and beautiful structure of those foundations, which myriads of tiny architects had reared from the depths of the ocean to the level of its highest wave, or of the varied tribes of man by whom they were inhabited. Boldly pursuing his way across the untraversed surface of this immense ocean, Magellan discovered the Ladrone, and subsequently the Philippine Islands. The object of the voyage was ultimately accomplished; the Victory, the vessel in which Magellan sailed, having performed the first voyage ever made round the world, returned to Europe: but the intrepid commander of the expedition terminated his life without reaching his original destination, having been killed in a quarrel with the natives of one of the Philippine Islands.

Several distinguished Spanish, Dutch, and British navigators followed the adventurous course of Magellan across the waters of the Pacific, and were rewarded by the discoveries they made in that part of the world, which, under the appellation of POLYNESIA,* from a Greek term signifying many islands, geographers have since denominated the sixth division of the globe. This designation was, in the sixteenth century, given by Portuguese authors to the Moluccas, the Philippines, and other islands to the eastward of Java; and was first

* According to De Brosses, Malte Brun, Pinkerton, and others, POLYNESIA includes the various islands found in the Pacific, from the Ladrones to Easter Island. The principal groups are-the Ladrone Islands, the Carolinas, the Pelew Islands, the Sandwich Islands, the Friendly Islands, the Navigators' Islands, the Hervey Islands, the Society Islands, the Georgian Islands, and the Marquesas.

DISCOVERIES OF COOK.

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appropriated to those clusters and islands, in reference to which it is employed in the present work, by President de Brosses, in his History of Navigation, published in Paris, 1756.

But although many single islands and extensive groups, of diversified form and structure, some inhabited by isolated families of men, others peopled only by pelicans or aquatic birds, have been visited and explored, fresh discoveries continue to be made by almost every voyager; and it is by no means improbable that there are yet many islands, and even groups of islands, which remain unknown to the inhabitants of the other parts of the globe.

Most of the early voyages of discovery in this ocean attracted unusual attention: those made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the facilities they were expected to afford in the ultimate discovery of the long-sought southern continent, or the rich booty they furnished to the daring adventurers, who often captured the Spanish vessels, loaded with specie or precious metals. The narratives of voyages of a later period were equally attractive, by the fascinating descriptions they presented of countries and people before unknown. Among these, none appear to have excited a livelier interest, or produced a deeper impression, than those performed by Captain Cook, in the close of the eighteenth century. They were instrumental, in a great degree, in diverting public attention from the splendid and stupendous discoveries in the New World, and directing it to the clustering islands spread over the Pacific; exhibiting them in all the loveliness of their natural scenery, the interesting simplicity, and novel manners of their inhabitants. The influence of Cook's discoveries appears to have been felt by voyagers and travellers of other countries, as well as by those of his own. Humboldt, speaking of his laborious researches in South America, remarks, that "the savages of America inspire less interest since the celebrated navigators have made known to us the inhabitants of the South Sea, in whose character we find such a mixture of perversity and meekness: the state of half-civilization in which these islanders are found gives a peculiar charm to the description of their manners. Here, a king, followed by a numerous suite, comes and presents the fruits of his orchard; there, the funeral festival imbrowns the shade of the lofty forest. Such pictures,

no doubt, have more attraction than those which portray the solemn gravity of the inhabitants of the Missouri or the Maranon."*

Since the death of Captain Cook, several intelligent and scientific men from England, France, and Russia, have undertaken voyages of discovery in the South Seas, and have favoured the world with the result of their enterprises. Their accounts are read with interest, not only by those engaged in nautical pursuits, and the promotion of geographical science, but by the philosopher who seeks to study human nature under all its diversified forms, and by the naturalist who investigates the phenomena of our globe, and the varied productions of its surface. Voyages of discovery are also favourite volumes with the juvenile reader. They impart to the youthful mind many delightful and glowing impressions relative to the strange and interesting scenes they exhibit, which in after-life are seldom obliterated. There are few who do not retain the vivid recollections of their first perusal of Prince Leeboo, or Captain Cook's Voyages. Often, when a schoolboy, I have found the most gratifying recreation, for a winter's evening, in reading the account of the wreck of the Antelope, the discovery of Tahiti, and other narratives of a similar kind. Little, however, did I suppose, when in imagination I have followed the discoverer from island to island, and have gazed in fancy on their romantic hills and valleys, together with their strange, but interesting inhabitants, that I should ever visit scenes the description of which afforded me so much satisfaction. This, however, in the providence of God, has since taken place; and I have been led,-not indeed on a voyage of discovery, commercial adventure, or naval enterprise, but, as a Christian missionary, on an errand of instruction,— not only to visit, but to reside a number of years among the interesting natives of those isolated regions. The following pages record my observations in that part of the world. The accounts of the ancient customs, &c. of the people, and recent changes, have been derived principally from the people themselves, by my own inquiries, or the communications of my predecessors or companions in missionary pursuits, with occasional illustrations from those who have visited the islands for purposes of commerce or science.

* Humboldt. Rers. Nar. Preface.

SITUATION OF THE ISLANDS.

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TAHITI, and the isles in its immediate vicinity, are situated between five and seven degrees of latitude within the southern tropic. The principal island is supposed by some to have been discovered by Quiros, towards the end of the sixteenth century: on this point, however, different opinions exist, and no authentic knowledge of Tahiti was obtained until Captain Wallis, in the Dolphin, crossed the Pacific, about sixty years ago. He anchored in Matavai Bay on the 19th of June, 1767, gave to the harbour the name of Port Royal, and to the land King George the Third's Island. The adjacent island of Eimeo was seen by Captain Wallis, and from him received the designation of Duke of York's Island. In 1769, Captain Cook, who, with a number of scientific gentlemen, had been despatched to the South Seas for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus, anchored in Matavai Bay. By him the native name was affixed to the island, which, through a slight mistake that a foreigner might easily make, he called Otaheite. Bougainville, manifesting in this respect a nicer discrimination of sound, rejected the O, which is no part of the name, and called it Taiti; he, however, omitted the aspirate. By the natives their island is called Ta-hi-ti. The i having the sound of e in their language, it is pronounced as if written in English Tahe-te. Captain Cook visited several parts of Tahiti and the neighbouring islands; and, in honour of his majesty George III., by whom the expedition had been sent, he designated the cluster of which Tahiti is the principal THE Georgian Islands: another cluster which he discovered about seventy miles to the westward he called THE SOCIETY ISLANDS, in honour of the Royal Society, at whose recommendation the expedition had been appointed. The Georgian Isles include Tahiti, Eimeo, Tabuaemanu, or Sir Charles Sanders's Island, Tetuaroa, Matea, and Meetia. The Society Islands include Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, Borabora, Maurua, Tubai, Moupiha or Lord Howe's Island, and Fenuaura or Scilly Islands; with the small islets surrounding them. The two clusters extend from 16 to 18 degrees S. lat., and from 149 to 155 degrees W. long., and are often included by geographical writers, among others by M. Malte Brun, under the general designation of the Society Islands.* As the islands are politically as well as geo

* System of Geography, vol. iii. p. 630.